Warrington vs Lopez: Leeds Warrior Defends His World Title Against Tough Mexican Mandatory
Britain’s Josh Warrington (31-1-1, 8 KOs) defends his IBF Featherweight world championship against mandatory challenger ‘El Venado’, Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez (26-2, 15 KOs) this Saturday at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England live on DAZN. There are expected to be over 8,000 fans in attendance for the fight.
The fight, which once again pits Britain against Mexico – the third for Warrington in his last four, is expected to be a fan-friendly encounter and a battle of resilience and heart. American fans make Lopez a strong favourite against the Leeds warrior but the Mexican’s lack of profile in the UK unfortunately means the fight doesn’t have as much interest this side of the Atlantic.
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After a shock defeat and disappointing technical draw with Mauricio Lara in 2021, Warrington bounced back by beating Kiko Martinez for the IBF title earlier this year but subsequently broke his jaw and has been out of the ring ever since.
Warrington is represented by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing who will be hoping to match Warrington with Leigh Wood next should he get past Lopez. Mexican dangerman Mauricio Lara is also a trilogy fight that both men want, Lara told NoSmokeBoxing in an exclusive interview that he would like nothing more than to knock out Warrington again.
‘El Venado’ signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank earlier this year. Arum/TR also promote the WBO champion, Emanuel Navarrete who recently signed an extension with the company and will be hoping to land a fight with Lopez should he pull off the upset.
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Warrington vs Lopez Undercard
In the co-feature, Australia’s Ebanie Bridges (8-1) defends her IBF world Bantamweight title against mandatory challenger, and also from Australia, Shannon O’Connell (23-6-1).
O’Connell has been calling Bridges out for years with no response and when the bout was first ordered in July, Matchroom requested a voluntary defence first leading O’Connell to believe that Bridges was scared to face her.
The pair have had a war of words over social media in recent weeks with O’Connell suggesting Bridges wanted this bout, a fight between two Aussies, in the UK because of favourable scorecards. O’Connell also called Bridges a ‘skanky stripper’. The IBF champion has responded by stating how much she couldn’t wait ‘to shut this annoying c**t up’.
Liverpool’s James Metcalf (23-2, 14 KOs) defends his WBA Continental super welterweight crown against American Courtney Pennington (16-5-3, 7 KOs). Metcalf signed with Matchroom earlier this year after upsetting Spain’s biggest boxing star Kerman Lejarraga in Bilbao.
The Liverpudlian is #4 in the world with the WBA and hoping a routine win will set him up for a world title eliminator/shot in 2023. Pennington is coming off a career-best win over Greg Vendetti, who extended Erislandy Lara twelve competitive rounds, in October and is hoping to pull off the upset on away soil.
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Felix Cash (15-0, 10 KOs) makes his ring return against Portugal’s Celso Neves (9-2-2) over eight rounds. Cash and Ammo Williams (12-0, 9 KOs) have now signed to fight each other in an eliminator for the WBA world middleweight title targeted for early 2023, Williams will be ringside on Saturday.
Hopey Price (8-0) vs Jonathan Santana (9-3-1)
Shannon Courtenay (7-2) vs Gemma Ruegg (5-5)
Junaid Bostan (3-0) vs Aljaz Venko (2-1)
Rhiannon Dixon (6-0) vs Kristine Shergold (7-6-1)
Cory O’Regan (8-0) vs Antonio Rodriguez (7-27-8)
Koby McNamara (3-0) vs Nabil Ahmed (1-12-2)
Warrington vs Lopez Channel, Time, Ring Walks
Warrington vs Lopez will be live on sports streaming service DAZN around the world (excluding Australia and New Zealand). DAZN is available to subscribe to for £7.99.
The preliminary action, shown on the Matchroom and DAZN YouTube channels, is scheduled to begin at 2:15 pm GMT (9:15 am ET, 6:15 am PT). There will be seven bouts on the prelims from 2:15 pm to 7 pm.
The main card action starts after the England vs France football game, which will be shown live in the arena, is finished. A 7 pm kick-off puts the end time at around 9:00 pm GMT (4 pm ET, 1 pm PT) unless it goes to extra time/penalties.
There will be main card bouts before the Warrington vs Lopez main event ring walks which are expected at approximately 10:30 pm GMT (5:30 pm ET, 2:30 pm PT).
Warrington vs Lopez Running Order, Weigh In Results
14:00 DOORS OPEN
14:15 LIVE ON BEFORE THE BELL
8 x 2 mins Lightweight contest
RHIANNON DIXON 134.8lbs v KRISTINE SHERGOLD 134.3lbs
(Wigan, England) (Exeter, England)
followed by
6 x 3 mins International Super-Welterweight contest
JUNAID BOSTAN 155.9lbs v ATHANASIOS GLYNOS 155.8lbs
(Rotherham, England) (Athens, Greece)
followed by
8 x 3 mins International Super-Bantamweight contest
HOPEY PRICE 123.2lbs v JONATHAN SANTANA 123.8lbs
(Leeds, England) (Las Palmas, Spain)
followed by
6 x 3 mins International Lightweight contest
CORY O’REGAN 137.8lbs v ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ 136.7lbs
(Heckmondwike, England) (Madrid, Spain)
followed by
8 x 2 mins Super-Bantamweight contest
SHANNON COURTENAY 124.7lbs v GEMMA RUEGG 124.8lbs
(Watford, England) (Bournemouth, England)
followed by
6 x 3 mins Super-Bantamweight contest
KOBY MCNAMARA 120.1lbs v NABIL AHMED 120.3lbs
(Leeds, England) (Batley, England)
followed by
10 x 3 mins WBA Continental Super-Welterweight
JAMES METCALF 153.6lbs v COURTNEY PENNINGTON 153.1
(Liverpool, England) (Brooklyn, USA)
followed by
21:00 LIVE ON DAZN
8 x 3 mins International Middleweight contest
FELIX CASH 166lbs v CELSO NEVES 166.2lbs
(Wokingham, England) (Basel, Switzerland)
followed by
10 x 2 mins IBF Bantamweight World Title
EBANIE BRIDGES 117.75lbs v SHANNON O’CONNELL 117.35lbs
(New South Wales, Australia) (Slacks Creek, Australia)
followed by
12 x 3 mins IBF Featherweight World Title
JOSH WARRINGTON 125.3lbs v LUIS ALBERTO LOPEZ 124.3lbs
(Leeds, England) (Mexicali, Mexico)
By Darshan Desai – Follow For Warrington vs Lopez Round By Round Updates
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