Lee Selby (IBF) vs. Josh Warrington - May 19th 2018

[Boxerbeetle]

I’d not heard of Magic Weekend before. It basically looks like 7 rugby league games in 2 days, is that right?

[mickey1975]

I’d not heard of Magic Weekend before. It basically looks like 7 rugby league games in 2 days, is that right?

Yes. Big games, too.

[dirk2686]

How many League fans would want to share a stadium with a bunch of coked up loudmouth footie fans though?

It's not football fans though.

Classic dismal promotion from Warren.

[mickey1975]

How many League fans would want to share a stadium with a bunch of coked up loudmouth footie fans though?

It's not football fans though.

Classic dismal promotion from Warren.

Erm... yes it is. The vast majority are football fans who’ll only go to Warrington fights.

[wesshaw1985]

[Taansend]

Only a week to go til this fight.

Anyone leaning towards Warrington as the fight approaches? He had a great 2014 but hasn't shined as much since then although his results are spot on.

Even though both fighters prefer skills to KOs I think we'll see a bit of a war late on. I don't have Selby as big a favourite as most.

It's not a terrible bill either. Not the best but some names on there. I just wish Mark Heffron was being given a bit more of a test.

There's also a young fighter from Leeds named Jack Daniel

[maverick23]

I think Selby will win but I’d like Warrington to win.

Just had a look at the undercard - it’s average.

[Taansend]

I think Selby will win but I’d like Warrington to win.

Just had a look at the undercard - it’s average.

I'm interested in how Willy Hutchinson progresses. Not sure how quick he'll be moved but there's some decent British talent at 175.

[mickey1975]

Jack Daniel is very good, as is his brother. Seen both since kids.

[Taansend]

Jack Daniel is very good, as is his brother. Seen both since kids.

Is his brothers name Jim Beam

[mickey1975]

Jack Daniel is very good, as is his brother. Seen both since kids.

Is his brothers name Jim Beam

Olly Simpson from same tiny gym. Won world juniors....

[mickey1975]

Jack Daniel is very good, as is his brother. Seen both since kids.

Is his brothers name Jim Beam

And Killer Kez. Got a feeling Camp Eddie will only keep him on Khan cards.

[keirw]

I had Selby favourite at first, with Warrington walking head first into traps most of the night.

But as the fight nears I feel that Warrington's work rate could see him cause an upset here.

Selby has never really been a quick starter and will likely find himself several rounds down by the halfway point.

If Warrington can keep the activity high enough in the second half of the fight I can definitely see him picking up a points win.

[dookus]

Jack Daniel is very good, as is his brother. Seen both since kids.

Saw him as a 14-year old sparring at Tigers years ago when I lived in Leeds. Beautiful timing, reflexes and footwork. Four-time National Schoolboys champ, Junior ABA champion, GB Youth Championships gold medallist and senior ABA finalist (lost on points to Reece Bellotti - I felt Daniel should have had the nod with his accurate counterpunching). Excited to see how he develops as a pro!

[TheLeprechaun]

It's fight week.

I'm actually coming round more and more to Warrington doing well in this. I initially thought Selby easy on points but I have not been impressed by Selby recently and I think Warrington can make it competitive. He covers up well so I don't think he's going to be shipping much. He doesn't really counter that well and he's going to have problems getting to Selby himself. I don't see Selby running away with it like I did before. I see it as a closer fight. I also think that Warrington might have the mentality needed to push it if he's behind. He seems pretty tough and has a decent chin. I wouldn't back Selby at 1/4.

[handsofstone]

Seems like this fight has took forever to happen, thankfully its finally here, I'm not particularly looking forward to it I'm just wanting to find out who the best is, ive always thought from day one that Selby is far too slick and technically skilled for Warrington but I defo see it a lot closer these days

Selby has had things a bit easy(in the ring) lately, he coasted against Ramirez last time without getting out of 1st gear and still won wide, I thought Warrington put in a career best performance against Ceylan in his last fight but looked ordinary against Martinez the previous fight, its a bit of a cliché but I do think both guys will bring out the best of each other, the crowd will inspire both men, Selby isn't the type to get intimidated, he's about as mentally strong as you can get, I think he'll thrive on putting on a big showing in front of Warrington's own fans

Warrington himself will obviously be inspired, fighting for a world title at his home football teams stadium, big pressure though this fight has been built up and dragged on so much he has to deliver

Selby is a lot more polished than Warrington but can switch into sparring mode and allow his opponents to get into fights their losing comfortably up until that point, he cant do that against Warrington who has an excellent engine and wont need coaxing out into a scrap, Warrington is gonna be all about the pressure and making things uncomfortable as possible for Selby, he can either make himself a siting duck for Selby to play with or he can stop Selby from getting into a rhythm

As I said I Selby has had things a bit too easy in fights lately and I wonder if he'll be able to muster the type of performance that can stop Warrington from taking his title, the crowd will play a big part as well, I would never write off someone as skilled as Selby dominating the more basic Warrington but I think Warrington's workrate will trump Selby countering over the stetch

[Boxerbeetle]

Seems like this fight has took forever to happen, thankfully its finally here, I'm not particularly looking forward to it I'm just wanting to find out who the best is, ive always thought from day one that Selby is far too slick and technically skilled for Warrington but I defo see it a lot closer these days

Selby has had things a bit easy(in the ring) lately, he coasted against Ramirez last time without getting out of 1st gear and still won wide, I thought Warrington put in a career best performance against Ceylan in his last fight but looked ordinary against Martinez the previous fight, its a bit of a cliché but I do think both guys will bring out the best of each other, the crowd will inspire both men, Selby isn't the type to get intimidated, he's about as mentally strong as you can get, I think he'll thrive on putting on a big showing in front of Warrington's own fans

Warrington himself will obviously be inspired, fighting for a world title at his home football teams stadium, big pressure though this fight has been built up and dragged on so much he has to deliver

Selby is a lot more polished than Warrington but can switch into sparring mode and allow his opponents to get into fights their losing comfortably up until that point, he cant do that against Warrington who has an excellent engine and wont need coaxing out into a scrap, Warrington is gonna be all about the pressure and making things uncomfortable as possible for Selby, he can either make himself a siting duck for Selby to play with or he can stop Selby from getting into a rhythm

As I said I Selby has had things a bit too easy in fights lately and I wonder if he'll be able to muster the type of performance that can stop Warrington from taking his title, the crowd will play a big part as well, I would never write off someone as skilled as Selby dominating the more basic Warrington but I think Warrington's workrate will trump Selby countering over the stetch

Interesting analysis I actually think Warrington’s high work rate might end up being his undoing - can see him getting countered & stopped mid-flurry late on.

[TheLeprechaun]

Seems like this fight has took forever to happen, thankfully its finally here, I'm not particularly looking forward to it I'm just wanting to find out who the best is, ive always thought from day one that Selby is far too slick and technically skilled for Warrington but I defo see it a lot closer these days

Selby has had things a bit easy(in the ring) lately, he coasted against Ramirez last time without getting out of 1st gear and still won wide, I thought Warrington put in a career best performance against Ceylan in his last fight but looked ordinary against Martinez the previous fight, its a bit of a cliché but I do think both guys will bring out the best of each other, the crowd will inspire both men, Selby isn't the type to get intimidated, he's about as mentally strong as you can get, I think he'll thrive on putting on a big showing in front of Warrington's own fans

Warrington himself will obviously be inspired, fighting for a world title at his home football teams stadium, big pressure though this fight has been built up and dragged on so much he has to deliver

Selby is a lot more polished than Warrington but can switch into sparring mode and allow his opponents to get into fights their losing comfortably up until that point, he cant do that against Warrington who has an excellent engine and wont need coaxing out into a scrap, Warrington is gonna be all about the pressure and making things uncomfortable as possible for Selby, he can either make himself a siting duck for Selby to play with or he can stop Selby from getting into a rhythm

As I said I Selby has had things a bit too easy in fights lately and I wonder if he'll be able to muster the type of performance that can stop Warrington from taking his title, the crowd will play a big part as well, I would never write off someone as skilled as Selby dominating the more basic Warrington but I think Warrington's workrate will trump Selby countering over the stetch

Interesting analysis I actually think Warrington’s high work rate might end up being his undoing - can see him getting countered & stopped mid-flurry late on.

Selby is too in love with trying to be a master boxer to KO Warrington for me. Doesn't hold his feet anymore

[Boxerbeetle]

Seems like this fight has took forever to happen, thankfully its finally here, I'm not particularly looking forward to it I'm just wanting to find out who the best is, ive always thought from day one that Selby is far too slick and technically skilled for Warrington but I defo see it a lot closer these days

Selby has had things a bit easy(in the ring) lately, he coasted against Ramirez last time without getting out of 1st gear and still won wide, I thought Warrington put in a career best performance against Ceylan in his last fight but looked ordinary against Martinez the previous fight, its a bit of a cliché but I do think both guys will bring out the best of each other, the crowd will inspire both men, Selby isn't the type to get intimidated, he's about as mentally strong as you can get, I think he'll thrive on putting on a big showing in front of Warrington's own fans

Warrington himself will obviously be inspired, fighting for a world title at his home football teams stadium, big pressure though this fight has been built up and dragged on so much he has to deliver

Selby is a lot more polished than Warrington but can switch into sparring mode and allow his opponents to get into fights their losing comfortably up until that point, he cant do that against Warrington who has an excellent engine and wont need coaxing out into a scrap, Warrington is gonna be all about the pressure and making things uncomfortable as possible for Selby, he can either make himself a siting duck for Selby to play with or he can stop Selby from getting into a rhythm

As I said I Selby has had things a bit too easy in fights lately and I wonder if he'll be able to muster the type of performance that can stop Warrington from taking his title, the crowd will play a big part as well, I would never write off someone as skilled as Selby dominating the more basic Warrington but I think Warrington's workrate will trump Selby countering over the stetch

Interesting analysis I actually think Warrington’s high work rate might end up being his undoing - can see him getting countered & stopped mid-flurry late on.

Selby is too in love with trying to be a master boxer to KO Warrington for me. Doesn't hold his feet anymore

Whilst that’s definitely true, I’m hoping (probably far too optimistically) that Selby will try for the KO in this fight.

[Marlo Stanfield]

Interesting analysis I actually think Warrington’s high work rate might end up being his undoing - can see him getting countered & stopped mid-flurry late on.

Selby is too in love with trying to be a master boxer to KO Warrington for me. Doesn't hold his feet anymore

Whilst that’s definitely true, I’m hoping (probably far too optimistically) that Selby will try for the KO in this fight.

Agreed. Hope we see the Selby that iced Smith! He really held his feet that night

[arlovski]

agree with some who've said Selby has really flattered to deceive in recent fights, pretty one paced and average compared to his early/mid career. Is that down to his opponents being better quality or him not being motivated for pretty uninspiring names?

Could be either, but I reckon this fight isn't an easy one sided win for him; as a few have pointed out, Warrington has a superb engine, can fight for 12 hard rounds, has an underrated defence and decent skills all over.

If Selby is out of sorts or as lacklustre as he's been in some recent fights the last type of opponent he needs is someone who can pressure for 3 mins a round at a decent pace, with his home crowd pushing him on even more.

Regardless of the result I reckon it's pretty amazing what Josh has done -
no standout amateur career, fighting away from home from day one without a major promoter or tv backing, taking a chance and fighting an undefeated lad in his home town for his first title, working his way up the old school way - English, Commonwealth, British, European - boxing different styles of opponent, grafting his arse off since day one of selling his own tickets personally across the city in order to build his fanbase whilst working a full time job, consistently winning on his headline shows then being brave enough to leave the UK's biggest promoter for a new opportunity - before finally landing a world title shot at home, by beating a decent quality undefeated fighter by stoppage in a career best performance.

I reckon Warrington and his team have done amazing things so far in his career whilst doing it the relatively hard way, and should be an inspiration to a lot of fighters, regardless of what happens on Saturday night

[TheLeprechaun]

I don't see Warrington getting near Selby for the majority of the fight, provided Selby brings his power game early.

Warrington also doesn't really counter punch - it's high hand guard and take them on the gloves. The thing about Selby is, we saw him stand and trade with absolutely no problem vs Steven Smith. Since that time he has gone on the run in fights and to be honest, stunk the joint out as his main style. If Warrington fights the fight he needs to fight, he will be moving on the outside and then sporadically coming forward and punching on his way in. He will try to fight in bursts like this and either be too far away from Selby or be too close to Selby.

Selby has two options, he can try to angle out of the situations and make Warrington miss and have to reset (which will not be successful 100% of the time) or he can meet fire with fire and throw counters and engage in exchanges with Warrington. He will have to choose option 2 at some times, actually he won't have a choice. I think Selby needs to belt Warrington with hard shots early and let him know that he can't afford to make mistakes. If he comes in with the same shoe shine punches that Skeete used vs the Spanish guy a couple of weeks ago, he could just end up losing this on points.

It's not really a difficult fight for Selby because Warrington is slower and predictable. He should see everything coming and be able to land his own shots first in exchanges. Selby just needs to come in with an authoritative attitude. Thinking he's the man here, f*ck these Leeds c*nts, I'm going to do a right number on this Warrington pr*ck. I'm getting too much of a Degale kind of feeling with Selby where he is just cruising through and shoe shining too much. He can't afford that here.

[Counter-puncher]

Excellent post

[rd350lc]

Jack Daniel is very good, as is his brother. Seen both since kids.

Is his brothers name Jim Beam

kerching !

[rd350lc]

I think there could be as much action in the cheap seats as in the ring .

It will be kicking off all over the shop .

Hope security are getting double bubble for this one