Warrington v Martinez 2: Josh Warrington ready to use past experience to get the better of IBF champion Kiko Martinez

Warrington faces the Spaniard aiming to win back the IBF featherweight title he vacated early last year.

Martinez won the belt in stunning fashion in Yorkshire in November as he knocked out Kid Galahad in the sixth round of their contest to end the Sheffield fighter’s short reign as world champion.

For Martinez , it was his second world title after previously claiming the IBF super-bantamweight crown in 2013.

Four years later he was in Leeds to face Warrington for the Yorkshireman’s WBC international featherweight title.

The Leeds Warrior was eyeing his first world title shot ahead of facing Martinez and knew a victory would be crucial to keep those dreams alive.

Warrington did not have an easy time of it against Martinez who, by that point, was taking part in his 45th-professional contest. The Leeds Warrior did emerge victorious with a majority decision with two judges scoring the fight in his favour while the third official scored the fight as a draw.

The win saw Warrington extend his record to 25-0 and two fights later he would be a world champion as he dethroned Lee Selby at Elland Road.

Against Martinez, Warrington was made to work hard but was commanding for large spells of the bout, as was reflected on the scorecards with two judges giving him the win with 116-112.

Warrington came forward sharply in the opening two rounds before a doctor was called at the start of the third to examine a lump on Martinez’s head.

The visiting fighter tried to force his way into the contest by aiming most of his shots towards Warrington’s body.

The Leeds Warrior responded well with a strong right in the fourth round which shook Martinez who hit back with a left hand towards the end of the round. Martinez enjoyed some of his better rounds in the latter stages but Warrington had done enough by the end of the contest to have his hand raised.

Martinez was 31 years old when he last faced Warrington and, despite being 55 fights deep into his professional career and having turned 36 earlier this month, he cannot be taken lightly this weekend warns the Leeds Warrior.

“What you see is what you get with Kiko. He is 55 fights deep but has revamped his career by winning that world title,” said Warrington.

“He is in the latter stages of his career; I don’t think he is going to come out of the corner with a different kind of style. With his attributes, he is a short fighter with short arms and he has always come forward.

"We know he has strength, we know he has got knockout power. That is one of the last things you lose, is your punch power and he has certainly still got that.

“He has boxed some of the best bantamweights, super bantamweights and featherweights in the world. We are looking back on the last fight, we know that if we try and go punch for punch, he will stand there with you.

“This time it has got to be a little more clever and a little more accurate. It is about looking for the right punches rather than just swinging away.”

Warrington knows that landing the right punches will be crucial as he enters the final days of preparation for one of the biggest nights of his career.