Leeds United mad Josh Warrington wants Marcelo Bielsa to walk him out while holding his world title at his next fight should he beat Kiko Martinez next weekend. The Whites fan became the first Leeds native to win a world title when he defeated Lee Selby at his beloved Elland Road in 2018.
Wins against Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad turned Warrington into a household name but a shock defeat to Mauricio Lara stopped the 31-year-old in his tracks. Now, on his mission to become a two-time world champion, Warrington wants to pay tribute to one of Leeds’ most popular managers ever. Bielsa’s last game in charge was a 4-0 hammering away at Tottenham, meaning supporters were unable to give the Argentine a home-crowd send-off.
If Warrington beats Martinez - who he beat on points almost five years ago - he wants Bielsa to walk him out to the ring and get the reception he deserves.
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“It would have been a huge honour to have him there on Saturday,” he told the Mirror. "But I have nothing for him to carry this time. He’d just be walking out alongside me. If I was to win the belt it’d be a huge honour to have him there next time.
“Just to have him back and give him a proper send-off, whether it meant him getting in the ring before or after the fight, it would be brilliant, so let’s see what happens.”
Warrington also claims he is not taking his Spanish opponent lightly despite getting the win nearly half a decade ago. He added: “We had a good ding-dong and I knew by beating him that I could go on and win a world title. There’ll be some of the same game plan but a bit different as well.
“I know it would be easy to say, ‘Let’s just do what we did last time’, but a lot of people thought it was close, including him, he thought he’d won it. When you start standing toe-to-toe with him, you have to do it smartly, you have to do it culturally. If you start doing it wild, which I kind of did in that fight, that’s when you’re playing his game.”
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