Warrington not overlooking Hyland

By Boxing News - 07/18/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBC, #5 IBF featherweight contender Josh Warrington (23-0, 4 KOs) isn’t overlooking his next fight against the 32-year-old Patrick Hyland (31-2, 15 KOs) on July 30 at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. Warrington, 25, sees this as a tough test despite the fact that Hyland was blown out of the water in just two rounds in his last fight against WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. last April.

Warrington will soon have to face one of the featherweight champions. He’s been nursing his unbeaten record by taking on weak opposition in record-padding fights since he turned pro in 2009. The fights against weak opposition will need to stop when he finally faces the likes of Russell Jr. or IBF champion Lee Selby.

It’ll likely be one of those two that Warrington faces for the title. I can’t see him going after WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz or WBA “regular” featherweight belt holder Jesus Cuellar. What Warrington’s promoter Eddie Hearn might choose to do is to set him up with a fight against Carl Frampton if he beats Santa Cruz in their fight this month on July 30. I cannot picture Warrington even being competitive with Frampton, but he’ll be in the same situation against the other champions.

Russell Jr., Selby and Cuellar would be much too good for the likes of Warrington. As such, we’re basically talking about which of these guys gives Warrington the best payday in a fight that he will almost surely lose and lose badly. Heck, I can’t see Warrington even beating the top featherweight contenders like Abner Mares, Jessie Magdaleno, Ronny Rios, Joseph Diaz, and Miguel Marriaga.

“There’s a lot at risk against Patrick but that’s how it should be,” said Warrington to skysports.com. “I’ve seen how he fights and I know I’m not going to have to go looking for him. He comes to fight and has a dig on him, you need that bit of fear factor to go into fights and that’s what I have got. Patrick has been on my radar for a while, a good year or so, he’s a very good fighter and as tough as they come, he’s got a good KO ratio and I am in for another hard night.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi9E-K9lFwo

Normally, I would say that any top fighter in the featherweight division has nothing to worry about in fighting the likes of Hyland, but in this case, we’re not talking about a true top fighter in Warrington. He hasn’t faced anyone good since he turned pro and his resume is filled with no names.

Sadly, the best guy that Warrington has fought since he turned pro is fringe contender Hasachi Amagasa, and he struggled against that guy in his last fight in April. Warrington is totally untested at this point. Hearn hasn’t put him in with any quality opposition at all, period. The fact that Hearn has Warrington fighting a guy that was knocked out in the 2nd round in his last fight is quite sad, because it doesn’t tell us anything. I expect Warrington to beat this guy, but he sure as heck isn’t going to beat him the way that Russell Jr. did, because he doesn’t have his power, speed or talent.