Renowned pundit Steve Bunce reveals his choice for the best display by a British boxer this year
After an impressive victory in May, when he won the IBF World featherweight title from three-year reigning champion Lee Selby, 27-year-old Josh Warrington is set to defend the honours for the first time.
Warrington had amazing success against Selby in his home city of Leeds, and is considered the best victory in his career so far.
The next bout against two-weight world champion Carl Frampton from Northern Ireland will be his career-defining fight. Although outworking the Welshman with sheer determination, the question over Selby outgrowing the weight was raised post-fight and now the 27-0 28-year-old needs a strong maiden title defence to silence the critics oncend for all.
His forthcoming Belfast opponent stated immediately after his win over Australian Luke Jackson last August that a meeting with the 'Leeds Warrior' was clearly expected and has since been set for December 22 in Manchester.
The two opponents are very much alike regarding their success – Frampton has 26 wins and a single loss, while Warrington has so far managed to win all 27 of his battles. BBC Radio live analyst Steve Bunce stated the following about Josh Warrington: "I don't think after seeing the win over Selby that you can write off Warrington. That, at the moment, is the best display by a British boxer in 2018. Frampton will have to be faster, sharper and nastier than he was against Luke Jackson”.
Even though Frampton is considered a favourite and many expect from him to steal the belt from the ‘owner’, Warrington always seems to have an ace hidden up his sleeve.
The bout was initially set to take place in a stadium, but the location was changed for Manchester Arena, live and exclusive on BT Sport Box Office.
The festive fight has already seen a flurry of bets in the hope of a Christmas bonus from punters. Many online bookmakers have got Frampton the favourite with odds of 4/9 and online casinos are also offering the possibility of placing bets on many sports on the forthcoming fight. The online casinos offer other gaming fun whilst awaiting the fight, for example, if you consider you have a lucky number, you could bet on it using an online roulette as you wait to see some punches exchanged between Warrington and Frampton. The possibilities you have on the Internet are countless, from classic roulette games to the ones created for the advanced players. Moreover, you could also try spinning some reels during the break between rounds. With a large range of bets you can place, online slots offered by most casinos are highly entertaining with various themes and visuals that can satisfy even the most exigent gamblers.
With Frampton the favoured fighter due to his previous reigns as world champion and the greater experience, especially at world level, under his belt, Warrington could be seen as being overlooked in this fight. His workrate and determination elevated his status from unbeaten prospect and local hero to IBF World champion, and he could well defy the odds with his tenacity and pertinacity again.