By Charles Brun: Josh Warrington’s fans might want to make sure they tune in for his rematch with Mauricio Lara because this could be the last time they see him in action before he retires from the sport.
According to the BBC, Warrington’s promoter Eddie Hearn and his manager Steve Wood are looking at making the rematch with Lara in August or September. They want the fight to take place in front of fans, and there’s a chance that crowds will be allowed back by then.
As the saying goes, ‘Pride goeth before a fall.’ Warrington was too cocky for his own good when it came to his fight against Lara, and he paid a steep price for his foolish pride.
Warrington’s same arrogant attitude will likely lead to him getting blasted out in the rematch with Lara, which he should avoid.
The former IBF featherweight champion Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs) insists on taking the immediate rematch with the powerful Mexican fighter Lara (22-2, 15 KOs), and he says he’ll hang up his gloves if he loses to him a second time.
Lara, 22, destroyed Warrington in a ninth-round knockout on February 13th in a fight that resembled a massacre at the SSE Arena in Wembley.
Warrington never stood a chance against the younger, stronger, and bigger Lara. The Leeds fighter was outgunned in every department by Lara, which is why it seems like a poorly thought-out idea for Warrington to mess with the Mexican talent a second time.
Promoter Frank Warren thinks Warrington should steer clear of Lara for the next two years before looking at facing him again, and he’s right. It’s a bad idea for Warrington to get back in the ring with Lara so soon.
In addition to Warrington being dropped twice in the knockout loss, he also suffered a shoulder injury that will need to heal. Right now, Warrington is hoping that he won’t need surgery, but if he does, it would be smart for him to take a tune-up when he returns to the ring.
“There’s no point in hanging about if I can’t mix it with this guy,” Warrington said to BBC Sport Boxing. “What’s the point?
“For my own mental self, I don’t think I would be able to settle if other people go in there and blast this guy out. I need to know I can get over this hurdle.
“Whether it be 12 rounds of being dominant or me knocking him out, I need to do it for myself. If I can’t, then I’m calling it a day, simple as that.”
Well, Lara has already been beaten, so it’s not as if Warrington will lose anything if someone hands him another defeat before he gets his chance. I mean, Lara isn’t a major talent at 126.
The Mexican warrior Lara is a hard puncher, huge, young, and he’s got a bad style for fighters like Warrington. But you can’t say that Lara would have any chance of beating WBO champ Emanuel Navarrete or WBC champion Gary Russell Jr. Those guys would likely make easy work of Lara. The same goes for Kid Galahad.
Warrington has several excuses for why he lost to Lara:
- Inactivity
- Peaking too soon
- Time spent in the bubble
- Overconfident
“I was too relaxed like it was a sparring session with a novice,” Warrington said about his loss to Lara. “I was winking at Lara and stuff. I’ve never had that mindset. I look back now and think, ‘why were you in that mindset?'”
It’s obvious why Warrington was overconfident for the fight. His wins over Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad made him believe what some boxing fans were saying, that he was the #1 guy in the 126-lb division.
In reality, you can argue that Warrington was never remotely close to being the #1 guy in the featherweight.
Warrington has always been a blue-collar type of fighter rather than one of the elite fighters blessed with power, boxing skills, and speed.
I mean, Warrington never was tested against these talented 126-pounders and likely would have lost to all of them by now:
- Gary Russell Jr
- Emanuel Navarrete
- Shakur Stevenson
- Rey Vargas
- Tugstsogt Nyambayar
- Eduardo Ramirez
- Jessie Magdaleno
- Isaac Dogboe
Warrington is a good fighter, but he’s not in the same league as any of those guys, and he clearly isn’t good enough to beat Lara.
If Warrington does choose to stubbornly take the rematch with Lara in August or September, hopefully, he has a good retirement speech ready to give to the fans after the match.