Josh Warrington’s ring return is still penciled in for September 4 at Headingley, despite the event being refused a license by the local council.
Warrington, the former IBF featherweight champion, had been lined up for a rematch with Mauricio Lara, of Mexico, at Emerald Headingley, the home of Leeds Rhinos rugby league team on September 4.
Lara shocked Warrington, inflicting his first defeat, at Wembley Arena on February 13, when he stopped the Yorkshire fighter in the ninth round. Last year, Warrington, had been due to face Can Xu, the WBA regular champion from China, at Headingley, but that event was scrapped by the pandemic. Warrington ended up not boxing last year and, when he hoped to face Can again, plans were scuppered when the IBF refused to allow the match ahead of his mandatory defense against Kid Galahad.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter, had done a deal to stage the rematch at Headingley, but a license to stage the event was refused by Leeds City Council after objections from neighbors.
But Hearn hopes an appeals from the Rhinos will allow the fight to go ahead.
“Warrington is waiting on the council to approve Headingley, because they had about six complaints from residents about noise,” Hearn said. “So, September 4, Mauricio Lara is still the plan.”
The late finish time of 11pm – around 90 minutes after an evening rugby match would typically finish – was one reason put forward for the rejection.
“The committee noted steps the stadium had proposed to take to reduce public nuisance and disorder and to promote the licensing objectives,” a Leeds City Council spokesperson, told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“However, the events proposed were very different in nature and duration, finishing at 11pm, compared to regular events at the venue and the noise was likely to last longer into the night significantly impacting local residents, including children. The stadium now has the right to appeal this decision.”
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.