JOSH WARRINGTON cannot afford another slow start against Leigh Wood after blowing recent world title and father’s race efforts.
Leeds’ 32-year-old former IBF featherweight champ failed to reclaim his old red belt from Luis Alberto Lopez in December, despite a strong finish.
And he was late out of the traps again earlier this summer when representing twin daughters Eliza and Olivia at their sports day.
The Elland Road diehard challenges the Nottingham Forest fan on October 7 at the neutral Sheffield Arena - for Wood’s WBA 9st crown - and only a burst out of the bell will be good enough.
“Oh, thanks for reminding me!” Wazza laughs when SunSport asks about his slow starts.
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“I went into the Lopez fight after jaw surgery and I was just too tentative and worried about it getting whacked.
"I finished the fight well on top but the damage is done and it is one that will haunt me forever. But the girls’ sports day wasn’t much better.
“My wife had won the mum’s race and the girls did well in all of their events, being a professional athlete I think most people thought my run would be a formality.
“I wasn’t really bothered about it but as I looked along the start line I suddenly spotted a lot of dads in top-of-the-range kit and equipment.
“My eye slipped off the ball again and I was rubbish out of the blocks.
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"It was a bit embarrassing but I am sadly getting a bit used to that lately.”
Warrington hasn’t embarrassed anyone, swapping a career as a dental technician for professional fighting in 2011, his highest hopes were a new car and a British title.
Today he is a millionaire, a former world champion, a Yorkshire icon and still a lovely fella.
The only thing missing from his CV - which includes career-defining wins over Lee Selby and Carl Frampton - is a bout in the USA where he can emulate his hero Ricky Hatton by taking thousands of supporters on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
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If that dream ends in the freezing Sheffield Arena - the ring perched above the Steelers’ ice rink - it will rob Warrington of something so important to his legacy.
“It does play on my mind almost constantly,” he said. “Some of the people who come to my fights now are the same people who were in Huddersfield and Bolton for four-round fights, at the end of the night when the cleaners were coming in to close up.
“We have come close to the Vegas or New York missions before so I know people have credit cards in kitchen draws specifically for it and are ready to risk holidays and relationships just to be there with me!
“And I have to reward these people for the time and money they have invested in me.
"I have managed to build a nice life for myself on the back of their support.
“I cannot let these people down, I cannot let this city down.
“I still meet people now at football or fights who tell me they were in Vegas for Ricky’s biggest nights - wins and losses - and that they were the best times of their lives.
“I have to deliver that to my lot, I owe it to them, and I will.”
