Perfect game plan sealed title success

Josh Warrington shows his delight after stopping Samir Mouneimne to win the Commonwealth title. Pic: Richard Sellers/PA Wire.

The plan couldn’t have worked better as Warrington’s superior fitness saw him through 11-and-a-half gruelling rounds against Samir Mouneimne before producing a first stoppage win of his career.

At crucial points in the fight, O’Hagan offered calming words to his son, all the time with a confidence that they would inflict a first defeat on Hull favourite Mouneimne.

Speaking after the dust had settled on the best display of his career, Leeds United fan Warrington revealed: “My dad put the game plan together and it worked to a T.

“We knew he was going to come out like a raging bull for the first six rounds but that he would tire and when he did, I was able to step the pace up a gear.

“I caught him with a good shot in the fifth and from that moment the fight changed.

“It was a very hostile atmosphere and I was asked not to walk into the ring to (Leeds anthem) Marching On Together because we were in Hull.

“I stood there before the entrance and some of the things the Hull fans were saying to me, I just couldn’t repeat, but my dad told me in 40 minutes you will have silenced this lot and that is what we did.

“It was definitely the best performance of my career, we were both unbeaten fighters and I’ve gone into the kid’s back yard and got the stoppage win.

“I though the first four rounds we were pretty even but from the fifth onwards I dominated the fight and that was shown with the way all three judged scored it.

“A lot of his shots were either missing or I was catching them on my arms and gloves and he wasn’t really hurting me”

Warrington also praised his small band of fans who travelled to Hull but, despite being vastly outnumbered by the big home support, certainly made themselves heard.

Warrington added: “I got quite emotional after. It had been a hard training camp and I’d gone into the lion’s den and produced a first stoppage win of my career and everything seemed to come over me at once.

“I went straight over to my fans to salute them and they were absolutely superb.

“I’d only got 60 tickets and some lads went straight from the Leeds United game to my fight but they never stopped shouting and cheering me on.

“I’m still buzzing and it’s only after I’ve watched the fight again a couple of times that it’s begun to sink in.”