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European, British and Commonwealth Featherweight champion Josh Warrington will feature on the undercard of Arthur Abraham vs. Paul Smith II before topping a huge hometown show in a major fight at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, on April 11, live on Sky Sports.
The 24 year old, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise since winning the Commonwealth title in November 2013, will see his first action of the new year in Berlin as part of the show headlined by the WBO Super-Middleweight title rematch between Abraham and Smith on February 21.
He will then return to Leeds in April, where his passionate and growing fan base roared him to victory as he captured the European title with a fourth-round stoppage of Davide Dieli in October.
“It will be a good experience to go abroad and fight on a massive bill,” said Warrington. “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. 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.”
Warrington’s promoter Eddie Hearn added: “I can’t wait to return to the First Direct Arena in Leeds in April.
“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.”
Full details of the Matchroom Boxing show in Leeds in April will be announced early in 2015.
