Josh Warrington: I wasn't at my best in Dennis Tubieron win
Sunday 12 April 2015 20:31, UK
Josh Warrington admits he wasn't at his best when beating Dennis Tubieron in front of potential opponent Lee Selby on Saturday night.
Warrington added the WBC International featherweight title to his collection when comfortably outpointing Tubieron at Leeds Arena, with IBF featherweight challenger Selby sat ringside.
Selby faces Evgeny Gradovich at London's O2 Arena on May 30 and talked up the possibility of handing Warrington a title shot in future if he wins the belt next month.
Although Warrington won by a landslide on the judges’ scorecards, the ‘Leeds Warrior’ insists he can perform a lot better, but has vowed to learn from the experience.
"Looking back, I don’t think it was my best performance, but it’s all about learning and it’s another 12 rounds under my belt," he told the post-fight press conference.
"Maybe if I’d listened to my instructions a little bit more, I’d have got him out of there, but it’s all about experience. I can take so much from that fight.
“There were some points in the fight where he just didn’t seem to want to be in there. But he was tough and managed to survive.”
"He was a tough fighter. I hit him with some cracking shots. I didn’t want to get too silly so I just stuck to my boxing towards the end.
"I could hear everyone ringside shouting ‘body, body’, but I did what I had to do to win - I felt comfortable in there."
When asked if Tubieron is the toughest fighter he has ever had to break down, Warrington replied: "I think so - I hit him with some very good shots.
"A couple of times I hit him to the body and he was wincing, but he was a tough fella, and we can’t blame him for having heart.
"I thought I had him hurt a couple of times and I thought one more punch would do it, but every time he came up with something, he threw something back to keep himself in it, and credit to him.
"There were some points in the fight where he just didn’t seem to want to be in there. But he was tough and managed to survive."
Meanwhile, Warrington’s fan-base is growing by the bout and the 24-year-old paid tribute to his support.
He said: "These people aren’t just the best fans in the country, they’re the best fans in the world. The noise was phenomenal - you don’t see that enough in boxing.
"With them fans behind me, I’ll go and win a world title."
