By Keith Idec

Josh Warrington has an opponent for his next hometown title defense.

Promoter Frank Warren announced Wednesday that Warrington will defend his IBF featherweight championship against France’s Sofiane Takoucht on October 12 at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. The Warrington-Takoucht fight will be broadcast by BT Sport in the United Kingdom and streamed by ESPN+ in the United States.

The 28-year-old Warrington (29-0, 6 KOs) will make the third defense of his IBF 126-pound championship versus France’s Takoucht (35-3-1, 13 KOs). The 33-year-old Takoucht is ranked No. 4 in the IBF’s featherweight ratings.

“From what I’ve seen, Takoucht is tough and got his IBF ranking through hard work,” Warrington said. “This is a massive opportunity for him. I have to stay focused and not take my eye off the ball, because I am after the biggest fights in the division.”

Warrington wants title unification bouts, but according to Warren, those types of fights weren’t available at this time.

Oscar Valdez announced last week that he’d give up the WBO featherweight title to move up to the junior lightweight division. Gary Russell Jr. (30-1, 18 KOs), the WBC champ, and Leo Santa Cruz (36-1-1, 19 KOs), the WBA champ, are affiliated with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, which makes fights with them difficult to put together due to competing promotional and network allegiances.

The Valdez bout would’ve been easier to make because Mexico’s Valdez (26-0, 22 KOs) is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc., Warrington’s co-promoter.

“We wanted to make the Oscar Valdez unification fight for Josh,” Warren said, “but he is giving up the WBO title and moving up in weight. I know how much Josh wants the WBA champion, Leo Santa Cruz, but [Santa Cruz] doesn’t seem keen right now. If you look at the IBF ratings, number one and two are vacant, and Takoucht was pretty much the next available contender.”

Takoucht has won eight straight fights, but none of those victories were produced against top opposition. Four of those wins were even recorded against opponents with losing records.

In Warrington’s last bout, the unbeaten Brit edged England’s Kid Galahad (26-1, 15 KOs) by split decision in their 12-rounder June 15 at First Direct Arena.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.