Josh Warrington: Promoter Eddie Hearn Eyes Elland Road Date with Lee Selby

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believes new European featherweight champion Josh Warrington is on a collision course with stablemate Lee Selby.

Warrington (19-0, 3 KO) stopped Italian Davide Dieli inside four rounds to claim the vacant title at Leeds’ First Direct Arena on Saturday night.

The win means the 23-year-old is now in possession of three belts, with the British and Commonwealth titles completing the set. Hearn sees a bright future for Warrington.

"In 12 months from now, I believe he can be challenging for world titles," he told a small number of journalists at a press conference in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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If you are not yet following @J_Warrington - please press that button! You are going to be hearing plenty about him! #mot

— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) October 5, 2014"

The win puts Warrington just behind Selby in the British featherweight ranks, but the latter is expected to challenge for a world title much sooner.

Bookmakers expect Selby to take Australian Joel Brunker out of the picture this weekend when the pair clash in an IBF eliminator at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.

Hearn is confident the Welshman will become a world champion before long and believes Warrington could challenge him in future.

Indeed, he has already touted Elland Road, home of Leeds United Football Club, as a potential venue for a title fight.

Hearn added, "You've got Lee Selby fighting Joel Brunker next week in a final eliminator, and this is a big shoutout to Selby, because he owned all three of these belts as well.

"Eventually, that's a big fight, I mean we're talking Elland Road for that one.

"If Selby can win a world title, a fight between Lee and Josh at Elland Road is the way it's going."

According to Hearn, Warrington was accountable for almost 2,000 of the tickets sold for Saturday's event at First Direct Arena, and his fanbase is seemingly growing with every performance.

And should Selby fail to fulfil his potential, Hearn still believes Warrington—who is from Leeds—is destined to fight at the home of his local football team, which has a capacity of almost 40,000.

Picture: Jamie Casey

"This guy will end up fighting at Elland Road, 150 per cent," Hearn added in the press conference. "It might even be next summer; we're moving that quickly. But the plan is to come away and give him a little rest and probably come back very early next year."

All quotes obtained firsthand by the author of this article.

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