Lee Selby not concerned about fighting in Josh Warrington’s hometown

Lee Selby will travel from Wales to Leeds, England on Saturday to defend his IBF featherweight title against hometown star Josh Warrington, but he says that going to his opponent’s yard doesn’t bother him at all.

“I’ve traveled to America to defend my title, I’ve fought whoever wanted to fight me so going to Leeds won’t bother me at all. Of course he thinks it’s his time but he will have to wait a little bit longer for my title, what’s mine is staying mine. Fighting in his backyard doesn’t bother me at all, part of being a world champion is that you are willing to fight anywhere, you don’t pick and choose.”

Selby (26-1, 9 KO) will be making the fifth defense of his IBF belt, which he won from Evgeny Gradovich back in 2015. So far, he’s beaten Fernando Montiel, Eric Hunter, Jonathan Victor Barros, and Eduardo Ramirez, all by decision.

Warrington (26-0, 6 KO) is fighting for a world title for the first time, and says he’s excited to do it at home:

“It’s going to be a great event and I’m just going to enjoy it. But when I get in that ring the horse blinkers go on and I’ve got 36 minutes to concentrate on the job at hand and that’s to win that word title. … This is definitely the most hostile crowd [Selby] has been in front of. With Kaiser Chiefs playing, I would like to be in the stands enjoying it with the boys, but someone has got to do the business on the night.”

We’ll see on Saturday if the crowd plays a factor.