JOSH WARRINGTON is kicking himself for fighting fire with fire and getting scorched by young hotshot Mauricio Lara.
Leeds’ featherweight hero thought he had a Wembley Arena tune-up on Saturday – after 15 months out – before bidding for a second world title in the Spring.
Josh Warrington was stunned by Mexican hotshot Mauricio LaraCredit: ©Mark Robinson Ltd
But the former IBF 9st king suffered his first loss when the 22-year-old stunned him with a fourth-round left hook and brutalised him until ref Howard Foster stopped it in the ninth.
Warrington, 30, suffered a fractured jaw and a burst eardrum after trying to out-bang a banger.
And he is clever enough to know exactly where he went wrong to end up briefly in hospital and facing a painful rebuild.
He said: “I went to hospital on Saturday night, just as a precaution, and passed all the tests.
“It was the first time I have been down and touched the canvas as a professional.
“I’ve got a fracture on my jaw and some swelling around my lips but that is to be expected when you trade with a big-punching Mexican.
“Congratulations to Lara, he grabbed his opportunity. Looking back, I should have boxed more clever and made it easy for myself.”
Sky Sports’ ringside pundits Adam Booth and Johnny Nelson were fuming Warrington took five more rounds of punishment after being brutally felled in the fourth.
Josh Warrington was brutally put to the canvas in the fourth
Warrington was floored after taking a stunning left hook to the face
The fighter’s father and trainer Sean refused to throw in the towel and Foster gave him multiple chances to recover when it might have been wiser to end his assault.
But Warrington defended his dad and the ref for letting the hard-to-watch contest continue until he was floored again and needed oxygen from the medics.
He said: “I was hurt and down in the fourth but I was always conscious and never felt like I couldn’t carry on, even though I was stumbling.
“I went down again in the ninth but I told the referee that I was getting up. But he told me I wasn’t and it was all over.
“I will take some time now to recover. I was out of the ring for 15 months but I had been training all the way through, waiting for a date, and that was difficult”.
Warrington, who spent Sunday licking his wounds and celebrating the third birthdays of his twin daughters, had a hit list of champions he wanted to meet before the shock loss.
Josh Warrington was battered and bruised after the fightCredit: ©Dave Thompson/Route One Ltd
And he hopes his ability to sell-out the Leeds arena with £1million gates will still earn him another title shot soon.
“I still believe I can fulfil my dreams of more world titles,” he said.
“There are still big fights out there and hopefully I can look back at this as just a bump in the road.”
Josh Warrington works up a sweat in the gym ahead of big fight
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
