Josh Warrington vs Leo Santa Cruz would be entertaining

[EasternEuroFan]

Warrington has indeed been underrated, he looks a force to be reckoned with right now.

BUT...and this is a BIG but, if ever I've seen someone who looks incredibly suspect from Peds it's Warrington. With Selby I wasn't sure but I put it down to Selby maybe being tight at the weight and he also had been buzzed up a little in previous fights, but Frampton?...His chin is battle tested. The only time I've really seen him visibly shook up was against Donaire. Even against Gonzales they were flash knockdowns.

How does a guy who has been in with 70-80% ko ratio guys all of a sudden start getting buzzed up and nearly stopped by a 20% KO guy. It's not like Warrington was matched extremely tough coming through the ranks either, it was a normal trajectory and all of a sudden the guy is like a prime fw Margarito.

I'm not coming out and saying flat out this guy is cheating, and you can argue that Frampton was over the hill, weight drained, and a combination of other things but Josh looks really suspect to me.

Yeah, i know what you're saying.

Then again, it's not like he's still stopping many people even now. His last two opponents still went the 12, keeping his KO Ratio low.

Maybe he can punch a bit, just not really a fighter that can finish guys off that easily.

Who knows. When i watch him fight now, i wouldn't think it was the same guy that arguably got a gift v Kiko Martinez 18 months ago

[kidbazooka]

Santa Cruz beats him from Pilar to post.

[sunny31]

Interesting observations.

Let's see if Warrington gets VADA tested at some point and if that makes him any less effective.

It will be interesting how his career develops but I've certainly got my doubts right now. Look weve all seen fighters who punch harder than their record suggests, but this feels unusual, he wasn't struggling at all even with his breathing, there was no strain there, even after the fight.

If he's not cheating then this is a underhanded compliment in a way, but his last two performances don't make sense in the context of what we've seen previously

[EasternEuroFan]

Santa Cruz beats him from Pilar to post.

He would be favourite but Warrington is very relentless, great chin and just doesn't stop throwing.

If you don't have the power to discourage him, i think you're in for a very hard fight and better be prepared to fight at a fast pace for 12 rounds.

[EasternEuroFan]

It will be interesting how his career develops but I've certainly got my doubts right now. Look weve all seen fighters who punch harder than their record suggests, but this feels unusual, he wasn't struggling at all even with his breathing, there was no strain there, even after the fight.

If he's not cheating then this is a underhanded compliment in a way, but his last two performances don't make sense in the context of what we've seen previously

Yeah, even in the Selby fight, i remember watching it thinking Warrington's entire body looks like it was made stone or something, absolutely solid and strong. I dunno how to describe it. Not just ripped. It just looked like you could crack him all day and barely budge him.

Maybe it's just how he looks.

[MulaKO]

I’d say this would be a great matchup
I tend to lean Cruz’s way
Only because I think he would have the power to break down Warrington and probably score the late tko

[MulaKO]

Great matchup
If we can get the champs on board then we would have even better matchups

[sunny31]

Yeah, i know what you're saying.

Then again, it's not like he's still stopping many people even now. His last two opponents still went the 12, keeping his KO Ratio low.

Maybe he can punch a bit, just not really a fighter that can finish guys off that easily.

Who knows. When i watch him fight now, i wouldn't think it was the same guy that arguably got a gift v Kiko Martinez 18 months ago

Yeah, even in the Selby fight, i remember watching it thinking Warrington's entire body looks like it was made stone or something, absolutely solid and strong. I dunno how to describe it. Not just ripped. It just looked like you could crack him all day and barely budge him.

Maybe it's just how he looks.

Yeah I know what your saying like punches are just bouncing off him no matter where they land. It is true he's still not stopping them, but the guy I'm seeing now would have walked through lower tier guys in a few rounds. Fightees can improve their punch power obviously...but this has been all of a sudden in the last two fights, before that he looked like a regular guy.

Also he was just EATING Frampton shots, like he was nothing, and I know PEDs don't give you a better chin, but they can improve punch resistance in other ways. Frampton has shook up most top fighters he's been in with, he broke Quiggs jaw, and at the very least he will stop you in your tracks. If you look at LSC fights with Mares and Frampton, the difference was Framptons strength and pop, he made LSC think a little more and he couldn't just rush Frampton with combos like he could Mares because of the danger.

Let's be honest as well, the scorecards in both Selby and Frampton fights flattered those guys, in reality Josh won at least 8 rounds in both, he gave them both a pasting for the most part, and as you said something he couldn't do with Kiko.

There are a lot of things which don't add up

[sicko]

Warrington made me a fan, he is relentless! I think Warrington will stay domestic though and build up a fight with Kid Galahad and make that fight before he looks to unify with Valdez or Leo Santa Cruz

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

A mix and match between the belt holders would be good.

100%, they’d all be great stylistic matchups as well IMO. Warrington-Valdez is pretty likely for 2019 from my perspective