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With a love of Leeds and a hatred of Manchester United, Josh Warrington had the pressure of the world on his shoulders when he participated in a challenging quiz based around his home city.
Knowing that a loss would result in him having to take home a copy of Gary Neville's autobiography, he simply couldn't afford to lose.
On Saturday evening, the boxing legend will battle it out with Leigh Wood at the Sheffield Arena in a bid to become a 3x world champion. But the weight of expectation he'll inevitably feel during his walk to the ring won't even enter the same stratosphere as when I sat across from him and asked 20 of the most important questions of his life.
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Upon starting the recording, I explained the rules to the fighter, revealing that if he scored ten or above, he'd win 'Fifty Shades of White' — Gary Edwards's fifth book, in which he goes into detail on some of his outrageous and incredibly amusing tales of supporting the Yorkshire club. But if Warrington were to lose, his life would change forever, and certainly not for the better, as the prospect of having to read through Neville's life story is enough to strike fear into the heart of any Leeds fan.
Beginning to succumb to the heat of the moment, he told Daily Star Sport: "I will just say that I've boxed for many years, and while it's a beautiful sport, it does have a bit of an underlying health effect on your memory. Sometimes, I feel the pressure, and I'm forgetful at times; that's all it is. Let's crack on."
In his remarkable career, 'The Leeds Warrior' has become accustomed to upsetting the applecart, most notably defeating Lee Selby at his beloved Elland Road, when nobody gave him a chance. Thus, when the questions started rolling, the born-winner adapted and overcame all the hurdles placed in front of him.
Showcasing his knowledge on Billy Bremner, local hospitals and the Leeds Water taxi, it soon became apparent that Warrington was not only going to hit his target, but exceed it.
From knowing the best spot to get Indian food, to being familiar with Leeds Rhinos' mascot, 'Ronny the Rhino', and even claiming that 'The Three Legs on The Headrow' is known for fighting, the 32-year-old looked en route to a clean sweep. Alas, after 15 consecutive correct answers, he didn't know that Harry Houdini almost drowned in Tetley's beer at the Empire Theatre.
Tragically, Warrington lost his composure and couldn't answer that workmen digging near Leeds Gyratory found bones belonging to an extinct species of hippo. But as Rocky once said, "It's ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."
And with those words in mind, the sporting great jumped back on the horse, nailed the next few questions, and concluded by answering that it was, in fact, "That ugly kid, Josh Warrington', who beat Selby at Elland Road to bag a respectable 18/20.
Following his victorious showing, he triumphantly lifted the Leeds book above his head, prior to viciously launching Neville's autobiography out of the ring. It goes without saying, that we hope he shows the same venom when he collides with Wood, live on DAZN, on Saturday night.
Kidding aside, Warrington has gone on a remarkable journey, from fighting in leisure centres, to winning a world title at his boyhood club's stadium. And he's happy to say that his fans have stuck with him through the good and the bad, and even got to enjoy a couple of nights in Germany in between.
Warrington laughed: “I boxed in Berlin a fair few years ago, and that gets spoken about quite often by those who went. It’s a bit of a folktale story. What an amazing four days that was for those who travelled out there. A lot of memories were made, some good, some bad.
When the bell rings on October 7, the formidable boxer will look to give his supporters another epic chapter in his rollercoaster story. And should he win, he'll go out of his way to give them the fairytale ending — a Las Vegas fight night.
He beamed: “It’s the final chapter. I’m not getting any younger. But I still have bold ambitions to fight in the States. People might say, ‘You’re f***ing obsessed with the States; you bring it up in every interview’. But that’s because I grew up watching the likes of Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe. It used to be a case of if you go to fight in the US, you’ve made it.
“I’ve done everything I want to do over here. I’ve headlined Elland Road and won a world title there. I’ve done Headingley, and Leeds Arena ten times. I’ve done Manchester Arena against Carl Frampton. So, everything has been done over here.
“In order for me to finish off the bucket list, I need to win this fight, become champion and then Las Vegas and New York become accessible. Get me out there.
"I guess for all those who’ve followed me from the leisure centres to the arenas, it'd be quite something for them to go to Vegas. It would be good for me, but for them too, who’ve been on that journey, to say they’ve supported me from through thick and thin.”
And there are two men, the Brit would love to take on.
He concluded: "I really want to run it back with Luis Alberto Lopez. I want him to have to deal with the Josh Warrington who finished the second half of the fight, but from round one. He’s had some recent success and everyone’s talking about how dangerous it is, without mentioning how slow I started because of my jaw injury. I keep banging about it, but you saw in the second-half of the fight, when I stopped worrying, I dominated.
“With that being said, Rey Vargas has the green and gold. It’s a beautiful belt. I’ve never won it, and I’m ranked highly with the WBC. I feel like I have his number."
- Gary Neville
- Leeds United FC
- Boxing
- Manchester United FC
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