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Josh Warrington has shot back at the recent statements from WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr.
As BoxingScene.com previously reported, Russell was insulted by an offer of $1 million, from promoter Eddie Hearn, for a fight with Warrington.
Warrington was stunned by Russell’s position on the offer.
He feels Russell is not the big box office draw that he believes he is.
“He’s unbelievable, I don’t know where he gets it from,” Warrington told Mirror Sport. “A lot of these American fighters seem to want humongous pay checks when they’re not bringing anything to the table.
“I’ve said it before, they all want to be paid like Floyd Mayweather, but they don’t have the same profile as Floyd Mayweather. I don’t think Gary Russell Jr. is selling out arenas and selling thousands of tickets, he’s not the biggest of names. He knows he’s not got long left. He’s 32, he’s not a young fighter anymore so he probably wants to cash in.”
Warrington is back in the ring on Saturday night at Wembley Arena, in his first fight in 16 months against Mauricio Lara.
A victory would lead Warrington to a potential fight with WBA “regular” champion Xu Can.
The fight with Can had previously been in play, but the champion from China withdrew from the contest citing travel concerns with the ongoing pandemic.
“We were originally scheduled to fight Xu Can and then he pulled out for whatever reason, I’m still not to sure,” Warrington said.
“I think it was something about him worried about catching Covid over here. I thought that was laughable. He’s using that as an excuse when he’s not boxer for so long. You’d think he’d be itching to get back. But if I come through this one, Eddie is saying the fight could be made quite soon after.”