Josh Warrington and Kiko Martinez have finalized a deal for a bout for the featherweight championship belt in the Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington match. On Saturday, March 26, the fight will happen at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. The ring walk for Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington will happen at around 5.15 PM ET. But it depends on the outcomes of the matches between the undercards. The Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington match will be broadcast live across the globe on DAZN Global. The start time for the match night has not been confirmed yet. It is one of the matches promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing on DAZN in the United Kingdom. The Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington match can lead to a unification match later in the year.
When the two boxers met each other more than five years ago, Warrington won by a majority decision against his rival. Then, the boxers moved in separate directions. But their individual campaigns in the previous year modified their career paths drastically. In the middle rounds, Warrington got a shocking loss to Mauricio Lara, where he endured a brutal beating. In the rematch held half a year later, the match ended in a technical draw after the initial rounds because a clash of heads left his rival with a bad cut. Martinez was not the top choice for his match against Kid Galahad. But he got the most significant victory of his career. The two boxers meet again in the Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington match. Perhaps, it is Martinez who has the momentum with him right now.
Martinez Had Pulled Off a Sensational Victory Recently
Martinez got a great win against Kid Galahad in the middle rounds in one of the biggest upsets of the year. In November, he got this shocking win. He knocked out his rival Galahad to set up another match with Warrington in his hometown of Leeds. The win of Martinez came as a shock for Warrington. The latter said that he dropped the kebab he was eating all over the carpet after he found that Martinez had won the match. Martinez was widely expected to lose the match against Kid Galahad. Now, Martinez will be seeking revenge for the loss that he suffered against Warrington nearly five years ago at the First Direct Arena. Both the boxers met each other for the first time at a press conference organized by Matchroom for the Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington match that will take place this month.
This was a match not expected by many fans in the United Kingdom. This was because they were supporting their fellow Brit Kid Galahad to easily overcome his rival Martinez and get the IBF world championship belt. It is claimed that Martinez was challenging Warrington as soon as he came back inside the dressing room after defeating Galahad. Five years ago, their previous encounter against each other at the First Direct Arena was not a very memorable match. Warrington won that match on points. But it looks like the Spaniard has never completely comprehended what happened during that match.
The Previous Year Was Frustrating for Warrington
The previous year was quite frustrating for the British boxer. He was going to be involved in a big featherweight match against the then-WBA belt holder Xu Can. But there were a lot of issues that stopped the man from Leeds from converting that dream into a reality. First, he decided to give up his IBF featherweight championship belt after the governing body did not approve his request for a unification bout. Instead, they instructed the boxer to go against the mandatory challenger Kid Galahad again. Following that, he had to fight against Mauricio Lara from Mexico. After a whole year of inactivity because of the coronavirus pandemic, the boxer hoped that Lara would be a very simple fight to get back in the mix against Xu Can a few months later. But the opposite happened, Warrington was badly beaten by Lara before the referee Howard Foster got involved and stopped the match in the final rounds at the Wembley Arena.
After getting back to his home in Yorkshire the following morning, it was back to square one for the boxer who had just got the first defeat of his pro career. There was no chance for any world championship match for him. The only choice was to go against Lara for another match to get some revenge. But this time, he would not have the fortune of getting the support of his home venue. The match was set for some months later. It was believed that this match would be where Warrington redeems himself on the global stage. But it was a false start once again in front of a capacity crowd in Britain. In the opening rounds, a clash of heads between the two boxers resulted in his rival getting a deep gash on his head. This resulted in the match being called a no contest.
Warrington said, “I guess I must be. It’s funny because he was going to be a sparring partner last year before the Mauricio Lara fight. We were going to pay for him to come over. After the fight, I heard he was saying my name in the changing rooms. He’s desperate for the fight, so that’s something he wants to put to bed, now he’s got an opportunity to do it. He ain’t knocking me out, simple as that. I got knocked out against Mauricio Lara, but I took five rounds of clean shots before I got knocked out. Kiko can bang, but he’s not doing a one-punch knockout to me like he did against Kid Galahad. Yeah, the Lara fight, the first one, was bad, getting knocked out, the second one I think I was warming into it; we had an idea about what we wanted to do,” he added. “There are game plans in boxing. For instance, when I boxed Carl Frampton, I had to start really fast, so the first two rounds were really exciting.”
“These two were just about mentally finding myself in the first few rounds and showing a bit of boxing skill. I did that, I thought the game plan was going to come off lovely, but I never got the opportunity to do so, so frustrating, yeah, but what an opportunity I’ve got now to become a two-time world champion. I don’t think he’s going to turn up on March 26th and start dancing around the ring with his hands down. What he brings is a ferocious pace, he’s energetic, and he throws lots of punches. I guarantee he’ll do the same, and he probably thinks he can knock me out as well. He’s seen me be put on the canvas, so he probably thinks I’m susceptible, but we’ll be ready for whatever he brings. Whatever opportunity presents itself. I’d love to tick that box for a unification, then I can just bow out and fight Lara, finish that and ride off into the sunset.”
Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington Stats
Kiko Martinez vs. Josh Warrington Fight Card