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IBF featherweight champion Kiko Martinez 43-10-2 (30) has promised to finish off former world champion Josh Warrington 30-1-1 (7) within the distance when they clash the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England on Saturday night.
“I’m confident because as I said last time, I was going to become world champion and I did it,” the 36-year-old Spainiard said. “I said I was going to beat Kid Galahad within the distance and I did. The same will happen on Saturday, I will beat Josh Warrington within the distance. Maybe he’s too confident and doesn’t understand he’s facing Kiko Martinez.”
The bout will be rematch of their 2017 encounter at the same venue that Warrington won by majority decision.
“I must have upset him in some way because he’s demanded this fight,” the 31-year-old Warrington from Leeds said. “I’ve said it in many interviews, it’s how this sport work, it goes in circles.
“We were meant to be sparring partners for the [Mauricio] Lara rematch, it’s funny he’s gone on to win a world title and his first defence is against me. He’s confident and I’m sure he would have trained hard, but I’ll be ready for everything he brings on Saturday night.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn said the future of both boxers will be on the line.
“I think we’ll get a great fight that are, desperate is a strong word, but especially when it comes to a world title, but in terms of them saving their careers,” the Matchroom Boxing boss said to Boxing Social.
“I think with Kiko, especially with the middle part of his career, I remember when we used to do fights with Kiko, he was a liability. He was preparing badly, he was volatile and he was a bit crazy.
“It seems like as he’s matured, he’s worked harder and harder and I don’t think he wants boxing to end because it was about to end in the Kid Galahad fight when he turned around a remarkable victory [last November].
“For Josh, it’s the same. To be honest with you, if Josh Warrington loses on Saturday night, he retires from boxing. So, that’s a scary thought when you love something.
“Can you imagine if the pressure was on you in this interview with me, and this was the last interview that if you didn’t get this right, your days of interviewing what be over? That’s a lot of pressure. Could you handle that pressure?
“If you love to do something and they say, ‘If you lose this, it’s over.’ That’s a scary thought because what else are you going to do in your life when you’ve given so much like something like this?
“Both of those guys are not only fighting for a world title but to hold on to what they love and that’s why you’re going to get a great fight.”
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