Josh Warrington v Luis Alberto Lopez predictions and boxing betting tips

Free boxing tips, best bets and analysis for Josh Warrington v Luis Alberto Lopez at the Leeds Arena on Saturday.

Where to watch

DAZN, from 7pm Saturday

Best bets

Warrington
3pts 4-5 Coral, Ladbrokes

Warrington to win via stoppage
1pt 8-1 bet365

Josh Warrington v Luis Alberto Lopez preview

There’s plenty of top-class boxing action for bettors to get stuck into this weekend, with Terence Crawford taking on David Avanesyan and Teofimo Lopez facing Sandor Martin, but Josh Warrington’s clash with Luis Alberto Lopez is the most interesting from a punting perspective.

Warrington is a tough come-forward fighter and that durability carried the Leeds man to an IBF featherweight title victory over Lee Selby in 2018.

Warrington seemed unbreakable after wins over Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad and he decided to vacate that title in pursuit of even bigger riches. However, that plan was undone by defeat to Mauricio Lara last year. The following rematch ended in a technical draw, after an accidental head clash ended the contest prematurely.

Warrington got back on track against Spanish veteran Kiko Martinez earlier this year, and La Sensacion has since gone on to beat the capable Jordan Gill, so that form has a decent look to it. However, the Leeds Warrior suffered a broken jaw in the Martinez contest and his resilience could be tested once again by Lopez.

The Mexican had been in with the decent Ruben Villa, but El Venado was mixing it at a pretty low level before taking on Isaac Lowe at the York Hall last year.

Lopez caused a major upset, knocking down Lowe three times and eventually stopping him in round seven. That effort suggests that Lopez can carry a threat on Saturday night, but what was more remarkable about that performance was just how high Lopez carries his chin.

It’s hard to see how Warrington, who likes to just stay in the pocket and let his hand go, isn’t going to penetrate Lopez’s wide-open guard.

Warrington certainly has questions to answer in this fight, but at the prices looks big enough to back a positive response. The Yorkshireman doesn’t have stunning one-punch power and only eight of his 31 victories have come inside the distance.

However, the 32-year-old has stopped Martinez and Sofiane Takoucht in two of his last four fights, and with this contest almost certain to develop into a slugfest, it could pay to take the big prices about a Warrington stoppage win.

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