After historic wins against big names Lee Selby and Carl Frampton the 'Leeds Warrior' defended his IBF Featherweight world title once more.
It was an all- Yorkshire clash this time around as the Sheffield-based mandatory challenger Kid Galahad stood in Warrington's way.
The build-up was marred by controversy with a war of words between the two fighters surrounding Galahad's previous drugs ban.
The tension spilled over during a fiery weigh-in on Friday when some fans chased Galahad out of the room at Leeds City Museum.
Warrington weathered an early good spell from Galahad and can now look forward to a potential stateside unification but.
For now he will enjoy a job well done once again after sending the fans home happy once more.
Key Events
AND STILL!!!!
Split decision but Josh won’t care, he is still the world champion!!!!!
Trip to Vegas anyone?
Fight over!
Big flurry at the end from Josh - decision incoming...
Josh thinks he’s won - he may have clawed it back but we’ll see!
End of round 11
Decent again from Warrington, struggled to land as many but imposed himself on Galahad
Lots of grappling again - Josh’s team and the majority of the crowd berating the ref
End of round 10 - good from Warrington
Much better from Warrington, and the noise from the crowd has gone up a few levels
Stayed on top of Galahad for a lot of that and looked as though he inflicted a cut on his eye - going to be close this one..
End of round 9
Galahad is warned about grappling again, lots of people here calling for a point to be docked.
Another fairly even round, into the last 3
End of round 8
Similar theme, couple of times where Warrington has a flurry - he’s been very busy as usual.
Galahad is getting clean shots in though and is definitely frustrating Josh - interesting to see how the judges are scoring this
End of round 7
Feels as though Warrington is struggling a little with Galahad’s style, who is grappling a lot but is also landing some decent shots.
When Warrington gets on top he does look dangerous but his good spells aren’t as long-lasting or effective as the Selby and Frampton fights - yet..
End of round 6
Warrington with some good work there, he was caught by a big Galahad shot though.
Galahad finally warned about grappling which has been a constant throughout the fight
Midway point and all to play for
End of Round 5
Just finished round 5 - better from Warrington, managed to get on top of Galahad with combinations a couple of times.
Couldn’t say I’d be confident of Josh being ahead on points at the moment so he’ll need some big rounds now
Round 5 - WIFI issues
Apologies there - WIFI dropped out in the arena! We’re heading into round 5 now.
Galahad has actually done ok and landed a few shots, getting a fair bit of grappling in too which the fans aren’t happy about.
Some good flurries from Josh though and a good fight so far
WIFI permitting we’ll hopefully be round by round from now on!
Final round..
Going into the final round of the last undercard fight Zelfa Barrett v Lyon Woodstock, a great fight and fair to say Woodstock has some chin on him.
You’d imagine Woodstock needs a KO now but we’ll see..
Into the closing stages of Zelfa Barrett v Lyon Woodstock
Just into round 8 of Zelfa Barrett v Lyon Woodstock , both landing but no knockout blow as of yet.
In the interval Darude- Sandstorm comes on and a load of fans whirl their shirts over their heads - fair to say they’re up for it!
Whole crowd on their feet
A rendition of ‘If you hate Man U stand up’ goes round - this is Leeds so obviously everyone stands up!
Whole arena is bouncing now - well into the last undercard fight so not long left to wait now!
Onto the last undercard fight
Going into round 3 of Zelfa Barrett v Lyon Woodstock, it’s a good fight this.
Depending on how this fight goes we’re probably looking at a Warrington v Galahad ring walk at about 22:20 or so
Prince Naseem in the ring
Well, that was awkward..
Former world champion ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed was brought into the ring and presented with a belt from Ring Magazine, yet after an initial warm reception left to boos..
He’s wisely sat back in his ringside seat now!
JJ Metcalf wins
Good fight that between Jason Welborn v JJ Metcalf.
Metcalf claims the stoppage win after a great body shot.
It’s Zelfa Barrett v Lyon Woodstock next, then it’s Josh Warrington time!
So, who will win?
So, how will this fight go?
Our Josh has beaten two big names in a row in Lee Selby and Carl Frampton, so ‘Barry from Sheffield’ should be a walk in the park, right?
Not according to everyone. A lot of people think that if Galahad manages to disrupt Warrington’s rhythm and keep his distance this could be a real challenge for the ‘Leeds Warrior’.
This fight breakdown from BT Sport is a great watch which breaks down how the fighters match up.
Jason Welborn v JJ Metcalf
It’s Jason Welborn v JJ Metcalf now fighting for the for the vacant Commonwealth super-welterweight championship.
This is a fight dubbed one to watch by our sister site Birmingham Live.
Sheffield win
Shakiel Thompson of Sheffield takes the win on points, JJ Metcalf v Jason Welborn is up next
Dream win for Jack Bateson
Some snaps from a dream evening for Jack Bateson - a win in front of a home crowd
Another all-Yorkshire clash
We have another all-Yorkshire clash on at the moment, Shakiel Thompson of Sheffield v Alistair Warren of Huddersfield.
I would say it’s a case of #TeamWestYorkshire but Leeds and Huddersfield don’t tend to see eye to eye, so we’ll stay out of this one.
Three more fights to go..
So, the BT Sport cameras are now broadcasting live, and we have a few more fights before the Leeds fans raise the roof from this arena.
First up we have a middleweight contest, Shakiel Thompson v Alistair Warren, before JJ Metcalf v Jason Welborn for the vacant Commonwealth super-welterweight championship.
Then finally, we have Zelfa Barrett v Lyon Woodstock for the vacant Commonwealth super-featherweight championship, and after that, it’s time for Warrington v Galahad!
How to watch the fight
For any who aren’t sure how you can watch the fight tonight, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide with everything you need- you can check that out here.
WINNER!
Jack Bateson wins with a comfy points decision - hopefully not the last Leeds victory tonight!
Final round..
It’s the final round for Leeds’ Jack Bateson, not to jinx him but you’d think this should be his barring anything surprising in the final stages.
Leeds lad Jack Bateson in action
The crowd is filling up and they have a local to cheer on now! Leeds lad Jack Bateson is in action at the moment against Bayardo Ramos.
Jack earned a knockdown in the first round and has been in control throughout.
We’re about to go into round 5 of a scheduled 8.
Welcome!
Welcome to our live coverage of Josh Warrington v Kid Galahad at Leeds First Direct Arena!
Follow this blog for live updates from the undercard and we’ll have round-by-round coverage of the big fight later on
