Josh Warrington insists Patrick Hyland has his full attention as he prepares to defend his WBC International Featherweight title at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on July 30, live on Sky Sports.
Warrington puts his title on the line for the third time against Hyland as the Leeds hero looks to build up momentum for a World title shot. The 25 year old has been busy planning his August wedding and has had to contend with continued talk of a potential World title clash with IBF king Lee Selby, but Warrington knows he has to be on his guard in his latest outing.
Hyland enters the bout having challenged for the WBC World title against the talented American Gary Russell Jr in March and Warrington knows he has to be at his best against the dangerous Irishman to protect his World title ambitions – putting both World title talk and his forthcoming nuptials to the back of his mind.
“There’s a lot at risk against Patrick but that’s how it should be,” said Warrington. “I’ve seen how he fights and I know I’m not going to have to go looking for him. He comes to fight and has a dig on him, you need that bit of fear factor to go into fights and that’s what I have got – it should be a great fight for the fans on top of a brilliant card. The fans are going to be here from 5pm until the last bell and they’re in for a treat.
“Patrick has been on my radar for a while, a good year or so, he’s a very good fighter and as tough as they come, he’s got a good KO ratio and I am in for another hard night. I didn’t expect to be getting such a hard fight with the wedding coming up, I thought it might have been a bit of a tick over in the States or Germany, but all of a sudden there’s guys that want to fight and Eddie wanted to come back to Leeds with me headlining so we’ve got another tough fight in front of us with Patrick.
“I’m not looking at any other fight than a World title fight if I come through against Patrick. Whether it’s Selby or any of the other World champion’s, it doesn’t matter I’m ready now and I really want a World title fight next.
“That’s why my full attention is on Patrick. I know that this is a really tough fight against a guy that has operated at a higher level than I have, so I need to prove that I’m ready for the biggest fights out there.”
Warrington’s clash with Hyland is part of a huge night of action in Leeds as Luke Campbell MBE faces his toughest test in the paid ranks to date in the shape of former World champion Argenis Mendez.
Huddersfield man Tyrone Nurse defends his British Super Lightweight title in an all-Yorkshire affair with Hull’s Tommy Coyle, bitter Heavyweight rivals Dillian Whyte and Dave Allen meet for the vacant WBC International title, Barnsley’s Josh Wale gets a shot at the Commonwealth Super-Bantamweight title against Birmingham’s unbeaten starlet Gamal Yafai and classy Belfast man Ryan Burnett defends his WBC International Bantamweight title.
Tickets are on sale now priced at £30, £40, £60 and £100 available from the First Direct Arena at www.firstdirectarena.comand on 0844 248 1585. VIP tickets priced at £150 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing at www.matchroomboxing.com.
Tickets for July 30 are also available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ – StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing.
