By Terence Dooley

Eddie Hearn of Matchroom today confirmed that Josh Warrington has been added to the undercard of Arthur Abraham’s WBO Super middleweight title rematch with Paul Smith in Berlin on February 21st.  The Leeds-based British, Commonwealth and European featherweight champion will also headline a show in his hometown on April 11—both fights will be shown live on Sky Sports here in the U.K. 

The 24-year-old fighter told Matchroom.com that the experience of fighting away from home will aid his development.  “It will be a good experience to go abroad and fight on a massive bill,” said Warrington when confirming the double date.  “I have never boxed abroad as an amateur or pro so it will be great to get the experience.  This year has been a massive year for me and it will be hard to top winning three titles, but I am progressing all the time and the aim is that 2015 will be even bigger than 2014.  Leeds in April is something to look forward to.  The last two times have been very special and it is only going to get bigger and better.”

He added: “There are a lot of options and lots of routes I can go down.  I have the British, Commonwealth and European titles so I can defend any of those, or move on and look towards World title eliminators.  Either way, it will be a huge fight and a great night.”

“I can’t wait to return to the First Direct Arena in Leeds in April,” stated Hearn.  “The atmosphere we witnessed back in October was very special and Leeds is now established as a pivotal stop on our boxing calendar.  It’s great to be able to give Josh the experience of boxing out in Berlin and he will be able to sharpen the tools before a major fight on his home patch on April 11.” 

Warrington has had an amazing couple of years.  He was the English featherweight titlist at the turn of 2013, but added the vacant Commonwealth belt by the year’s end after a 12-round TKO win over Samir Mouneimne.  The 19-0 (3) fighter added the scalp of former world title challenger Rendall Munroe in April (W RTD 7) and posted wins over Martin Lindsay (W12 to add the British title to his belts) and Davide Dieli in October (W TKO 4 with the vacant EBU belt on the line).

The crowd pleasing fighter has a lot of support in Leeds and fans and broadcasters alike love the crowd noise that he brings—2015 could be another significant year for the undefeated youngster.

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