Eddie Hearn and his Matchroom Boxing promotion are at the First Direct Arena in Leeds this Saturday with a card featuring a handful of bouts for British, Commonwealth and other WBC regional titles. The main event of the card features undefeated (20-0) Josh Warrington of Leeds facing Dennis Tubieron (19-3-2) of the Philippines for the vacant WBC Featherweight title. Right now Warrington is a stout (-4000) favorite over Tubieron, who comes back at (+1600). There is no over/under posted for this fight. Warrington is the story here, as he has held the British, Commonwealth and European Featherweight titles. He started his professional career in October of 2009, and though he won all his fights, he did not earn a stoppage win until November of 2013. He has four total in his career over twenty wins, so he is a boxer, not a big puncher. Tubierion is coming off a December 28th bid for the same vacant WBC International title against Carlos Magali, but that fight resulted in a majority draw. Though Tubieron has cracked the International scene, at one point in his career holding the WBC International title at Bantamweight, all of Tubieron’s 19 wins and two draws come while fighting in the Philippines. He is (0-3) on the road, dropping matches in Japan, Australia and South Africa. In going to the UK to fight the 24 year old Warrington, he may be facing his most inhospitable welcome yet. Vying for the WBC International belt at Super Featherweight are Maxi Hughes (13-1-2) and Martin Joseph Ward (10-0-2). The two men met last December, in a BBBofC title eliminator that wound up going to a Majority draw. The close outcome in the first meeting resulted in a much closer line than the Warrington-Tubieron fight as Ward is favored at (-240) and Hughes is coming back at (+180). It is a good thing for both guys that an International title is on the line at this level, since both fighters do not have a lot of fights in their careers. Both men have spent very little time in the ring with quality opponents, as their records are filled with journeymen and trial horses from the British scene. To more clearly draw the picture, both men own a win over Kristian Laight, who is known as “Mr. Reliable” because he shows up and can be relied on to lose. Laight’s overall record is (9-197-7) with two of those losses coming to Hughes and Ward. It might have been worth asking Laight what he thinks of both opponents, but it is doubtful he remembers. The live event has nine fights scheduled, and with Bob Ajisafe (14-2) and Daniel Wanyonyi (21-6-2) vying for the vacant Commonwealth Light Heavyweight title and with Super Lightweights Chris Jenkins (16-0) facing Tyrone Nurse (30-2) for the vacant British title in twelve round bouts, and you can expect to see more lines pop up at the books as fight day approaches. The undercard features several of Eddie Hearn’s projected next generation, with Super Middleweight Rocky Fielding (20-0) facing Jose Manuel Iglesias in an eight-rounder. In the UK, the fight event will air on SKY.
