Frank Warren doesn’t think the criticism of Josh Warrington’s last performance was warranted.
Warrington’s promoter placed the blame for that ugly clutch-fest solely on Kid Galahad, who was Warrington’s mandatory challenger. Warren blasted Galahad on Wednesday for not coming to fight June 15 in a 12-round featherweight title bout between British rivals.
Warrington won a split decision in a 126-pound championship match marred by holding and wrestling. Two judges scored that fight for Warrington (116-112, 116-113), but one judge had Galahad ahead when it ended (115-113).
Warren expects Warrington to look appreciably better Saturday night. That’s when he’ll make an optional defense of his IBF belt versus France’s Sofiane Takoucht at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England, Warrington’s hometown.
“The last fight, he didn’t get beat,” Warren said during a press conference Wednesday. “He won the last fight. And it takes two to make a fight. And [Galahad’s] tactics were to come and nick it, not to win it, not to come in there and stand and have a fight. He was trying to nick it. And the referee [Phil Edwards], I don’t think, got it right. He should’ve docked points [from Galahad for holding]. It would’ve been a different fight.
“But [Warrington] won it, and that’s what champions do – they win. They keep winning, they keep winning, and that’s what he did against a guy – you know, we didn’t want the fight, let’s get it right. No one wanted it. We all knew it was gonna be a pain-in-the-ass defense, and we got stuck with it. So, that’s what it was. He won the fight, done what he had to do.”
Sean O’Hagan, Warrington’s father and trainer, acknowledged Wednesday that Warrington was distracted during their fight due to all the trash talk that transpired between him and Galahad.
“We’ve learned a lot from that last fight,” O’Hagan said. “I think the big issue in that last fight is with all the bad-mouthing and the bad talk between Josh and [Galahad], I think what happened was we took his eye off the job and he just wanted to beat him up so badly, trying so hard.”
Whereas Galahad (26-1, 15 KOs) was undefeated when he challenged Warrington (29-0, 6 KOs), the champion is regularly listed as a 50-1 favorite over the lightly regarded Takoucht (35-3-1, 13 KOs). Takoucht, 33, has won seven straight bouts, but he has beaten mostly pedestrian opponents during that winning streak.
Warrington-Takoucht will headline a BT Sport telecast in the United Kingdom (7:30 p.m. BST). It’ll be streamed by ESPN+ in the United States (2:30 p.m. EDT/11:30 a.m. PDT).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
