Eddie Hearn has detailed how the 'strange' fight between Kiko Martinez and Josh Warrington materialised ahead of their March 26th bout, while warning the loser could be 'done'.
Leeds fighter Warrington returns to the ring for a shot at the IBF World Featherweight belt, which he previously held before vacating his position as champion.
That decision was made in the hopes of securing big fights in the United States for Warrington but that did not materialise, with a surprising defeat to Mauricio Lara derailing those plans that were initially pushed back due to the pandemic.
Warrington's plan for 2022 was to bring the Lara saga to a close, having seen a rematch end in a technical draw after a cut sustained by his opponent in the second round, or to take a fight in the US.
However, Martinez had other ideas and swiftly made clear his intention to face Warrington five-years after their first bout following his triumph against Kid Galahad - paving the way for Warrington's shot at becoming a two-time world champion.
"It's a strange fight. When Kiko produced one of the most unbelievable comebacks I've ever seen against Kid Galahad, I didn't think we'd do the Josh Warrington fight. Josh made it clear to me he wanted Lara or a big fight in America," he told LeedsLive.
"And Kiko said 'I want Josh Warrington, I feel like I beat him last time and now I feel like I'll knock him out'. When I phoned Josh, he was a bit shellshocked. I asked him if he fancies being a two-time world champion and said Kiko wants him. He said 'does he think I'm done?' and I said yeah, he does actually.
"We put it all together, March 26th, it's kind of like the biggest moment for both of their careers, it could be the last fight of their careers as well. It's weird that you get a fight for a world title where you probably say that the loser is done.
"Kiko has been there and done it all but he's a changed man since the Kid Galahad fight. He fancies it. The first one was a brilliant fight, this one will be even better. This won't go the distance, that's the difference."
The event on March 26th is highly anticipated and sales have been extremely successful, with thousands being sold in the first hour that they became available - a trend that Hearn has noticed.
"We're seeing better ticket sales than ever. They've just told me it's done over 6,000 tickets in the first hour. People want to go back to these fights, nobody is not going out, people are more interested than ever to go out. They want the adrenaline of a big night out and that is what you get when you go to a Leeds fight."
