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WARR BY NAME
JOSH WARRINGTON has every rival featherweight champion in his crosshairs after blasting away a professional British soldier on the rifle range.
Leeds’ IBF king prepared for his Saturday night defence against Sofiane Takoucht with a trip to the 6th Regiment RLC in Dishforth, Yorkshire.
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He jumped behind the wheel on a monster eight-heel trucke and into a shoot-out simulator up against three genuine marksmen.
And the 28-year-old walked out of the remote military base with another feather in his cap after coming third in the virtual combat situation, ahead of one of the regiments finest.
Looking dashing in his borrowed camouflage uniform, that he joked could land him baby No3 if he’s not careful.
The unbeaten ace told SunSport: “I am here for more than the uniform... although it might go down well with the missus I can take it home.
"I have always been a big supporter of the armed forces.
"As a young lad, 15 or 16 years old, if my boxing had not have taken off, I would have been looking to join the Royal Marines or the British Forces in one way or another.
“Luckily my dad convinced me to really give boxing a go and it has worked out, but that has meant I now have the time and opportunity to come back and meet the troops.
“The lads and ladies always seem to be very welcoming and it is an honour to be here.
“That was honestly the first time I had ever done any shooting practice but I did OK, I guess a childhood playing video games wasn’t a total waste after all!
“I used my focus and accuracy and hopefully impressed a few people, I might be able to help them out one day if they ever need me.”
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Warrington, like heavyweight Dillian Whyte who spent four hours of his last Sunday training local fans and amateurs in Brixton, does not give up his time for press coverage or praise.
Away from the cameras and without most of us ever knowing, the 29-0 ace visits similar bases in York and Harrogate to inspire the troops or support their boxing shows.
Before handing out 75 tickets to the assembled soldiers, he mingled with the brave men and women effortlessly and even spotted a few old faces from around his manor.
The father of two girls said: “I am lucky enough to be able to travel around and visit more bases in the North of England like Harrogate and it is inspiring and we bounce off of each other.
“There are a lot of soldiers here that are very local to me, some of them have only just left school and are perhaps looking for some direction or purpose that they might have been lacking, so they have joined the forces where I am sure they will find it.
“Quite a few of the people here are Leeds fans and from the areas close to me, so it’s always nice to see a familiar face.
“But, on a serious note, most of these people are very working class, like myself, and the army gives them a chance to make a better life for themselves.”
Josh Warrington's Four-Man Support Team
Sean O’Hagan
Me and my dad have made a truce not to argue for this fight, because we argued quite a lot last camp.
It’s one of them, father-son, he’s a proud man and he’s brought me up a certain way.
He’s never wrong and I’m never wrong, it’s one of them things.
Mark Hurley
My strength and conditioning coach. He’s been with me since I boxed for my first title, the English title in 2012, he’s been with me ever since for this journey.
Nick Manners
He loves the limelight, he’s been with us since the Rendall Munroe fight in 2012.
He’s very, very loyal to our camp and very, very loyal to the whole team in general.
Jimmy Harrington
Jimmy runs the gym in Doncaster where we do most of our sparring.
Again a very meticulous man, probably got OCD but wears the camp on his sleeve.
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After ripping the red 9st belt from Lee Selby in May last year, Warrington silenced his doubters with a follow-up win over brilliant Irish ex-champ Carl Frampton in December.
In June he was forced into a low-profile mandatory defence against Yorkshire rival Kid Galahad and was hoping his second fight of 2019 would be his big coming out party in the USA.
But Leo Santa Cruz and Oscar Valdez vacated their WBA and WBO honours respectively and protected Gary Russell Jr remains painfully elusive.
But relentless Warrington who has earned won SIX of his 29 wins inside the distance, will doggedly hunt down his overdue unification fight.
He said: “I did tell my fans that we would be going to the States after the Galahad fight and we would be going for a unification fight because there is no-one really left for me to fight.
“When you are talking about progression and bettering yourself, I am a world champion with three others out there and I thought that at least one of them would put their hands up and want to fight, but none of them did.
Josh Warrington swings and misses Kid Galahad during their fight in June
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“Two have vacated and moved up a weight class and the other isn’t interested.
“A lot of my fans have been with me ever since I turned pro ten years ago, that have been on every step of the journey and they just want to see me in these big fights.
“I have gone from Selby to Frampton and Galahad and, after Sofiane Takoucht, I just want to keep climbing the ladder.”
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Josh Warrington on retirement, family and his world title defence this Saturday against Carl Frampton
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