Josh Warrington put on liquid diet and facing six-week lay-off after suffering broken jaw in IBF title win over Kiko Martinez

The Leeds Warrior won back the IBF featherweight title which he had vacated last year, sensationally knocking out Kiko Martinez in the seventh round in front of a raucous home crowd.

The 31-year-old was unable to celebrate his victory as he would have liked and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he was told he needed surgery after breaking his jaw.

Warrington also damaged his hand in a brutal and thrilling contest against the veteran Martinez. He admits he is looking at a six-week lay-off at least and with the damage to his jaw, he is currently halfway through a two-week liquid diet.

“I’ve got a broken jaw, I’ve got a metal plate in the side of my face, I’ve got a damaged hand, but I guess you can’t go swimming without getting wet. It’ll probably be a minimum of six weeks before I’m back in the gym, which is absolutely killing me, I can’t even eat.”

After a disciplined training camp, Warrington had hoped to enjoy some takeaways after becoming a world champion again. He jested that he had considered putting a kebab through a blender but the nicest thing he has enjoyed since his victory is a Mars milkshake. He continued: “I’m on a liquid diet. I was looking forward to eating cakes and cheeseburgers and I can’t have them.

“Everything goes through the blender. I’ve still got a six pack and I weigh less than I did on Saturday morning. But do you know what, I’m world champion again so that’s better than anything.”

The Leeds Warrior revealed that adrenaline was the only thing that kept him fighting through his injuries.

“I didn’t know at the time it was broken, I knew it was a good shot and my face felt weird after,” he added.

“I didn’t know whether it was swelling or what, but my face certainly felt different. After that happened, I had a surge of adrenaline and once I had that surge, I wasn’t going to stop throwing punches.”

Warrington feels his performance against Martinez was enough to show he is back to his best.

He came out aggressively against the Spaniard with a huge level of intensity, knocking down Martinez in the first round before unloading a flurry of punches in the seventh round which was enough for the referee to step in and wave the contest off.

After losing for the first time in his career against Mauricio Lara in February last year and then drawing with the Mexican after the fight ended early due to an eye injury for Lara, Warrington felt he was “levels above” those displays as he reclaimed his IBF featherweight title.

“Looking back on my last two fights, it was like another 10 levels above them,” he reflected.

“Everyone has been saying to me it was like the Warrington of old. There was that same intensity that I had in my fights against Lee Selby and Carl Frampton. It certainly felt like that as well. I felt really good.”