Warrington heavier than Lopez for title fight

2 years ago 35

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Venue: Leeds Arena, Leeds Date: Saturday, 10 December
Coverage: Listen on BBC 5 Live sports extra from 22:00 GMT and live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app.

World champion Josh Warrington weighed in heavier than Luis Alberto Lopez for their IBF featherweight title fight at Leeds Arena on Saturday.

Home favourite Warrington, looking to retain the belt he won in March this year, came in at 125.3lbs.

Mexican Lopez, 29, weighed 124.3lbs as he looks to upset Warrington, 32, in front of an expected crowd of 9,000 in the Leeds fighter's home city.

Both weighed in below the 126lb limit.

Warrington knocked out Spain's Kiko Martinez earlier this year to become two-time IBF featherweight champion, having previously held the title between 2018 and January 2021.

He was cheered on by a vocal crowd at the weigh-in, which was held at the Aspire in Leeds, and his home supporters are expected to once again provide a memorable atmosphere on Saturday.

Words were exchanged in a feisty face-off, with both Warrington and Lopez looking supremely confident.

"Saturday night will be wild, obviously with the football as well," said promoter Eddie Hearn, referencing the World Cup quarter-final match between England and France, which will be shown midway through the card.

"If you ask a serious question - who wants it more? - you'd probably have to say Lopez because he has never experienced it. However, Warrington doesn't want to let it go.

"What sits at the end of victory for him is Elland Road, the City Ground, unifications, Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden - everything he has always dreamed of."

The chief support fight on Saturday sees Ebanie Bridges, 36, look to defend her IBF bantamweight title against Shannon O'Connell, 39 in what has been described as the biggest female fight in Australian boxing history.

Bridges weight in at 117.75lbs for the eagerly anticipated contest, while O'Connell was 117.35lbs.

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