After 30 successive wins the British featherweight was beaten by Mauricio Lara in February, and admits he has struggled to recover as he prepares for the rematch
“I have always feared losing,” Josh Warrington says softly after he has spent an hour talking about the shattering first defeat he endured as a professional boxer seven months ago. In his kitchen in Garforth, on the outskirts of Leeds, Warrington has proved again that boxers are more open than other sportsmen and women in confronting raw emotion and the potentially catastrophic consequences of their trade with vivid honesty and intricate detail.
On Saturday night Warrington has a chance to avenge his loss against Mauricio Lara in February when he again faces the previously unheralded Mexican in front of a crowd of 20,000 at Headingley. The atmosphere will be intense and raucous, as Warrington’s supporters are the most passionate in British boxing. But Warrington, who describes himself as “a bit of a deep thinker”, uses this quiet morning at home to reflect on his harrowing defeat.