Warrington vs Martinez Preview
The IBF featherweight title will be on the line Saturday March 26th at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England as champion Kiko Martinez will defend his belt in a rematch with Josh Warrington. Martinez will be heading into hostile territory having to defend his title in Warrington’s backyard of England.
Martinez is coming off a sixth round TKO over Kid Galahad in November to win the title. The win was the 36-year old’s 43rd and his 30th by knockout in his storied career. The Spanish fighter is a two-time world champion having previously held the IBF super-bantamweight title from 2013 to 2014.
Martinez is no stranger to title fights as he has challenged for four other major titles in his career. He has key victories in his career which dates to 2004 over Marc Vidal, Lorenzo Parra, Hozumi Hasegawa, Jeffrey Mathebula and Jonatan Romero.
Martinez is just as surprised as everyone else that he is once again a world champion in his career.
“Galahad was this fearsome name in the UK who had a high reputation throughout the world. Nobody in boxing gave me a chance. To win in the way I did was amazing. And to make a lot of money for the people in this town who bet on me was wonderful. It was a dream come true,” said Martinez. Who would have thought I would become world champion again after so many years? There were difficult times before this fight, trust me, working, fighting and getting up again after defeats, yet somehow I still kept believing there was a future there. I could not, and would not, let go of my dreams.”
As far as facing Warrington, Martinez is taking the same approach he always has. “Warrington is very similar to Carl Frampton, in that he’s a really good person. It’s just a fight and, after it, we will be friends like nothing happened. There is no rancour between us at all, no grudge. Ultimately, it’s a hard fight with a world title on the line. We are rivals in a tough sport but he’s a good person with two daughters just like me, who wants to take care of his family. There is nothing more in it than that.
He went on to say, “I can’t wait to get to Leeds. I just feel so full of excitement, travelling to England as world champion, and getting to fight in a stadium full of 15,000 people in Leeds, coming in and holding my title belt. Honestly, can I ask for anything more? I really don’t think that I can.” Martinez lost a majority decision to Warrington at the same venue in 2017.
Warrington is the former IBF featherweight champion and held the belt from 2018 to 2021. He lost the belt by 9th round TKO to Mauricio Lara in February 2021 and then suffered a draw in a rematch with Lara in September of 2021. Warrington has found himself back in the position to win the title and is focused on Martinez as he is ready to rebound in a big way.
"I've had slip-ups in the last year but it's time to get on top now," Warrington said on Thursday. "It reminds me of four years ago when I first became world champion, I have the same sort of energy for a fight,” said Warrington.
The 31-year-old British fighter went on to say, "This sport goes in circles," Warrington said. "We were meant to be sparring partners for the Lara fight, and then Martinez is gone on to win the world title and he wants me as his first defense."
"Kiko has mentioned it's win or retire for him," Warrington said. "I've just focused on winning and having my hand raised."
Warrington (30-1-1 with 7 KO) has key wins in his career over Kid Galahad, Carl Frampton, Lee Selby and Dennis Ceylan. The winner of this fight could be looking at a fight with WBA “regular” featherweight champion Leigh Wood, also from England.
The main card can be seen on DAZN.
