Featherweight Josh Warrington (31-1-1, 8 KOs) regained the IBF title by stopping reigning champion Kiko Martinez (43-11-2, 30 KOs) in round seven at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Warrington was better the whole fight, dropping Martinez in round one and getting a referee’s stoppage with a barrage of unanswered punches at 2:12 of the seventh stanza. Warrington won a controversial majority decision over Martinez in 2017. This time there was no doubt.
Damn!
Warrington was agressive from the opening belt, he was clearly there to take his belt back!!
No doubt about what unfair is the boxing in England. At least 15 headbutts by Warrington that destroy Kiko’s face !! Good strategy !! The referee didn’t want to see that in any case. What a embarrasing fight !! If you do not believe me watch the fight carefully…shame.
PSG.
Dont be a hater just because Kiko was getting his arse kicked from the opening round and Kiko was hitting Warrington after the break.
Go Warrington.
It wasn’t just the head either. He really used his shoulder too. It’s funny, because on appearance you’d have expected Kiko to be the one using and needing these tactics.
I would point out the nicely tuned punch on the break by Kiko. Maybe it was self policing, but I suspect it was strategic and bought him some needed time.
Final note: Kiko was definitely losing the fight, but I still question the stoppage. Warrington missed most of the final flurry and Kiko had proven earlier the ability to fight back. I didn’t bother with post fight comments, so I wonder if the corner stopped it?
Scott I agree with what you said about the stoppage. I am just getting on here now because I finally watched the Tszyu which I recorded. Back to Warrington yes he was way ahead but I hate those stoppages where the offensive fighter overwhelms his opponent yes but lands very few clean punches in the barrage. There were definitely a lot of head butts but Warrington was winning handily no dispute there. I just hate those type of stoppages. It is like to offensive fighter is selling it to the ref as opposed to trying to really KO his opponent if that makes any sense.
before writing, watch the fight…headbutts, shoves…that’s how you box and steal in England. But it’s simple…I don’t pay to see robberies or thieves…and whoever knows boxing, let him think, Who knows about stealing, shut up.
Bet you dont live in England, so shut up!!
Bald head dude gas went down south! No mas, and just like that he gave up the belt back to his owner! Bald head vs warrington 3 to settle the score for once and for all!
Marvin Hagler,Evan Holyfield were both masters of the headbutt,,a dirty tactic like the forearm”push”, that often leads to cuts in head and blind referees and judges!!
Martinez beat him in the first fight but was robbed and I give him props for taking such a hard fight at his first defence..
Another British controversy ? What a surprise..
I didn’t think Warrington was that impressive. Kiko is a notoriously slow starter and Josh started fast. After that, I felt Kiko worked his way back into the fight. Warrington vs Wood is a good fight.
Kiko definitely won the 3rd and probably the 4th in my book, but lost the next two and was losing the 7th prior to the stoppage. With that said, I still felt it was stopped too soon. Most of the final flurry missed and I didn’t see any of those punches seriously rock Martinez. I don’t think he would have won had it continued, but we’ll never know. Warrington was spending a ton of energy and Kiko seemed very willing to continue throwing homerun shots.
You’re right about Wood vs Warrington being a great fight, but I’d love to see another fight with Martinez. Both are huge sellers in England! It is definitely a great time for that whole Region Boxing wise. I’ve watched since the late 70’s and I can’t recall a better Era for them in my lifetime.
Note: to any hardcore fan, DAZN is SOOO MUCH better than ESPN+ and Showtime can’t even list their times correctly. I recorded the Tsyzu fight and missed it due to incorrect listing!
Like to see Warrington vs Santa Cruz next.
Kiko broke the mandible in te fight, u cab see X-ray now.
The referee was a thief, all the Kiko,s cut came from headbutt, and still, let the bait boxer continue with the headbutt show.
This was a fucking schame…
It’s not our cut from headbutt, there was 4 cuts from josh head…..
It’s not the first time, against Lara and against Frampton happen the same.
After getting completely demolished by Lara, Warrington realized his only way to keep from getting his ass kicked was to use headbutts. It’s entirely disgusting, and it’s why he will be remembered as a dirty fighter, whereas Kiko will be remembered as a warrior.
Warrington’s tactics were not clean but he did connect in his shots and win the fight. However I called it that the ref would stop it a little prematurely. Only in the UK…