Josh Warrington

The 32-year-old English professional boxer Josh Warrington is the first-ever boxer from Leeds to win a significant world title. He is a former two-time International Boxing Federation featherweight champion from 2018 to 2022. There is also a documentary-type film shot around Josh Warrington’s journey of becoming the IBF featherweight champion in his hometown called ‘Fighting for a City.’

Starting his professional career in 2009, Warrington is currently on a record of 31 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw. Out of his 31 wins, eight are via knockout, and the rest of the twenty-three are via decision. The orthodox boxer is nicknamed ‘The Leeds Warrior’ in and out of the squared circle.

Latest News Update for Josh Warrington

Josh Warrington is set to make his boxing return on October 7, 2023, against Leigh Wood at Utilita Arena Sheffield in Sheffield, England. Warrington has not competed since losing his IBF featherweight title to Luis Alberto Lopez in his last fight in December 2022. This time, Warrington will face Leigh Wood for the WBA featherweight title.

Josh Warrington Facts

Early Life and Career

Josh Warrington was born on November 14, 1990, in Leeds, England. Earlier, he was disbarred from John Smeaton Academy as he did not achieve the minimum grades required to carry on with his education. However, following his father Sean O’Hagan’s advice, Warrington retook the tests and was able to earn a degree from the University of Leeds in 2013.

For his professional debut, Josh Warrington faced Delroy Spencer on 31st October 2009 and won the bout via PTS. The four-round fight took place at Leisure Centre in Huddersfield, England. His second fight was carried out on December 20, 2009, against Pavels Senkovs, and he won the four-round bout via PTS.

In 2010, Josh Warrington had three fights against Danny McDermid, John Riley, and Youssef al-Hamidi, respectively. He won all three fights via PTS, where two of them took place at Leisure Centre in Huddersfield and the latter one at Elland Road in Leeds, England.

In addition, Warrington had his highest number of fights in the calendar year of 2011. He faced Steve Gethin, Chris Riley, Marc Callaghan, Dougie Curran, and Ian Bailey, respectively, and he won five of them via PTS. Before steeping onto his championship ventures, Josh Warrington had two more bouts against Dan Naylor and Ibrar Riyaz, respectively, and won both of them via PTS.

Josh Warrington Championship Bouts

On November 9, 2012, Josh Warrington had his first championship bout against Chris Male for the English featherweight title. He won the bout via a unanimous decision in a ten-round matchup at The Venue in Dudley, England. Warrington also made two successful title defenses in 2013 against Jamie Speight and Ian Bailey, respectively. He won both bouts via unanimous decision.

Josh Warrington had a twelfth-round TKO win against Samir Mouneimne for the vacant Commonwealth featherweight title. The fight took place on November 2, 2013, at Hull Ice Arena in Hull, England. Warrington also made a successful Commonwealth title defense on April 19, 2014, against Rendall Munroe. He won the bout via a referee's technical decision in the seventh round of a twelve-rounder at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

On 21st May 2014, Josh Warrington faced Martin Lindsay at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England, and won the bout via a unanimous decision. The titles on the line for both fighters were the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles. Warrington, hence, successfully defended the Commonwealth and won the British featherweight titles.

Josh Warrington won the vacant European featherweight title by TKO’ing Davide Dieli at 1:42 in the fourth round on October 4, 2014, at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Warrington was on impeccable record of 19 fight undefeated win streak back then.

Warrington became the WBC International featherweight champion on April 11, 2015. He faced Dennis Tubieron for the vacant WBC title and won the bout via a unanimous decision at the First Arena in Leeds, England. Warrington also made a successful WBC and Commonwealth title defense against Joel Brunker on September 5, 2015. Moreover, on April 16, 2016, Josh Warrington made another WBC title defense against Hisashi Amagasa and won the bout via another unanimous decision. Josh Warrington had a majority decision win against Kiko Martinez on May 13, 2017, where he successfully defended the WBC title for one last time before going for the IBF title.

On May 19, 2018, Josh Warrington won the International Boxing Federation featherweight title via a split decision against Lee Selby. The fight took place at the Elland Road in Leeds, England. There was even a documentary-type film shot around Warrington’s anecdote behind the greatest achievement in his career till then. The movie was named ‘Fighting for a City.’

Moreover, Warrington had three successful title defenses against Carl Frampton, Kid Galahad, and Sofiane Takoucht and won the bouts via unanimous decision, split decision, and a TKO, respectively.

Josh Warrington’s first professional loss came from his fight against Mauricio Lara on February 13, 2021, via TKO, and he lost the IBF featherweight title. The bout lasted for nine rounds at The Wembley Arena in London, England. Warrington immediately had a rematch against Lara on September 4, 2021, but the bout was ruled a draw via a technical decision as Lara suffered a cut from an accidental headclash.

However, Warrington won back the IBF featherweight title by defeating Kiko Martinez via TKO at 2:12 in the seventh round. The fight took place on March 26, 2022, at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.

For his last outing, Josh Warrington lost his IBF featherweight title to Luis Alberto Lopez via a majority decision. The fight took place on December 10, 2022, at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Warrington is yet to make his next outing against the current WBA featherweight champion, Leigh Wood, on October 7, 2023.

Josh Warrington Record

*Last updated on October 3, 2023.