Josh Warrington warning for Lee Selby
By Simon Crawford
Josh Warrington has warned Lee Selby that there will be "nowhere to run, nowhere to hide" once he beats Dennis Ceylan in next month's IBF world featherweight title eliminator in Leeds.
Welshman Selby is the current champion but hopes he could be persuaded to face Warrington (25-0, 5KOs) this year were dashed by what promoter Frank Warren labelled as some 'outrageous demands'.
But the governing body have agreed that the winner of Warrington’s bout with Dane Ceylan in Leeds on October 21 will become the mandatory challenger for Selby's belt.
"Finally it looks as though I'm getting there ... it's not a world title fight but for me Dennis is just the gatekeeper to where I want to be," Warrington told sportinglife.com.
"We tried and we tried to get the Selby fight without having an eliminator. Massive credit to Frank [Warren] who attempted to get the fight on, but he couldn't make it happen and this is why we are in this situation now.
"Obviously I can't look past this fight with Ceylan, but if I win then I've got Selby and a world-title fight. He can't run and he can't hide after that but whether he is still champion or not by then, I will have a chance to win a world title and that's the dream.
"He's said before that I didn't want to fight him but that is a load of b******s. All I wanted to do last year was change the date, but he couldn't or wouldn't wait a few extra months. Some of the things his camp have been saying are absolutely ridiculous, but what can I do?
"I've never slagged his boxing skills - he's a great champion but he's not that appealing. He's got to world level but he's not knocking people out or stopping them."
Warrington, 26, is once more banking on fanatical support in his home city to give him the edge when he faces former European champion Ceylan (18-0-2, 8KOs).
The Dane holds a victory over Briton Ryan Walsh and also defended his European strap against Warrington's stablemate Isaac Lowe back in March, with the fight being halted in the fourth round after 2012 Olympian Ceylan suffered a nasty cut after an accidental clash of heads.
Last time out in May, Warrington beat former world title challenger Kiko Martinez and believes his greater level experience will prove crucial.
"I couldn't ask for anything more than to have the fight with Ceylan in Leeds," he said.
"To be honest, I don't think this guy travels too well. He's never fought outside of Scandinavia and at the press conference he was taking photos and trying to take it all in - I don't think he's been in anything like this before.
"We'll see what he's like on fight night when he walks out in front of thousands of people all screaming at him.
"I feel I've been at a higher level than him in fighting the likes of Martinez, Patrick Hyland and Joel Brunker - and beating them.
"Of course I won't be taking Ceylan lightly, not when the prize for beating him is so great. But when I saw him against Isaac I saw a couple of things that I hope I will be able to use to my advantage.
"I am so focused for this fight and I'm convinced he will not be able to beat me. I haven't come this far to fall at the final hurdle."
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