Josh Warrington Aiming For Fresh Peaks in 2021, Eyes Xu Clash

It’s not been the storybook year Josh Warrington had anticipated.

The IBF featherweight champion had hoped to unify and add to his belt collection while bolstering his bank balance but not much has happened on either front.

Instead, he’s turned 30 and lost a year of his prime to the global implications of coronavirus.

Still, Warrington’s positive disposition has allowed him to focus on what he has managed to do this year rather than what he has not.

“It’s been a blessing having my own gym,” said Warrington, who’s kept in shape throughout 2020. “Especially through these lockdown periods. It’s given me the chance to work and graft and my next fight is going to be against someone who’s got one of the best engines in the business so I’m obviously going to have to be fit and it’s a chance to maintain my level of fitness and take it to another level.”

He’s talking about the fight the thrill-seeking fans want against Can Xu that could be on tap for early February.

With that assignment in mind, he’s started work on getting stronger and fitter, and he’s enlisted strength and conditioning coach Andrew Langford.

As a consequence, without the mileage of fights and sparring, he’s ready to go again now.

“It’s given me a year to work with my new strength and conditioning coach, it’s given me a year to realise how much I’ve missed with my kids, and I didn’t think I’d missed much because I do my camps at home but with no fight date on the horizon and everything up in the air it was probably the most relaxed I’ve been,” he said.

“Normally I only get that feeling two weeks after the fight when you’ve had the fight and then you’re on to the next one. I go home when I’m in camp after training but sub-consciously I’m not fully relaxed because I’m thinking about it, or that sparring session tomorrow… or that press release I’ve got to do… There’s always something chipping away. I know other people have got jobs where there’s always pressure but the only thing I can liken it to is a boss of a company might feel the same stress because all of the decisions ultimately come down to him and when it comes to fight night you can’t get it wrong, it all comes down to that – so even when I’m playing with the kids I’m not fully there. This year I’ve had that time and I realise how much I’ve missed.”

Warrington's recently turned 30 and hasn’t fought since October 12, 2019, when he defeated Sofiane Takoucht but he still sees himself as lucky rather than a victim of the pandemic.

“At the start of the year I was thinking I’m going to be unified champion, the bank balance would be looking well and I’m going to do all this under the age of 30,” he explained. “I would have gone beyond a dream, [but] I can’t complain. I can’t moan because every time I have had a little sulk or thought it’s a shocking situation to be in, I think about other people who have lost their jobs or businesses that have gone down.”

He’s also seen it as a time to reevaluate what he does and what he needs to do.

“[With age and experience] I need to adapt and the first few weeks in February [he started working with Langford] and we’ve had a good year to get used to each other and he’s got science behind him, freshened everything up and it’s given me a good base,” Josh added.

“If anything, I think it’s been a learning year. When I first left Eddie [Hearn] and went to Frank [Warren] I had about 11 months out and it was a learning year between Patrick Hyland and Kiko Martinez and it worked wonders, maybe this is a nice little rest before the final chapter of the journey.”

That final chapter could start against Xu. Warrington is 30-0 and he hopes to add Xu’s WBA belt to his IBF crown.

“From a promoter’s point of view, when I was with Frank and now with Eddie we’ve always said it would be a great fight,” said the Leeds hero. “The guy throws about a million punches a fight and CompuBox have him throwing about 140 punches in the 12th round and that whets my appetite for an entertaining fight. At the same time, I’m ready to fight anyone. [Emanuel] Navarrete called me out earlier this year, Gary Russell is still lingering about, there’s all these big fights and all I want is to be part of big nights.”

He is not certain, however, that he will fight his mandatory challenger, Kid Galahad, if has to again. The Sheffield man pushed Warrington to the wire when they fought and Warrington wants marquee names rather than going over familiar ground.

“You have to deal with your mandatories but in an ideal world it’s a box ticked,” he continued. “As ugly as the fight was I won the fight, I threw a lot more punches than he did, I don’t think he can do anything different he’s managed to get himself back into the mandatory position but for me it’s a box ticked and it’s a short career, you want to push on and fight the best names. It’s not like I want to win this belt and mollycoddle it and have steady fights, I want to be in the big fights, I want punishing fights, I want to test myself. I still feel like there’s more to bring out. I’ve had this reign for two years but I still feel like I haven’t been properly tested. I’ve had a hard one against [Carl] Frampton and [Lee] Selby was skilful but I’m waiting for these big tests – whoever it is.”

And then he’s back to positivity, of being thankful for a year behind closed doors, of being with his wife and their young twins, building his base and preparing for the last charge of his career.

“Sometimes these things work to your benefit,” he concluded. “It’s been a year of strengthening the body and I brought on another strength and conditioning coach to take it to that next level and I think we are working towards peaking a little better now.”