Josh Warrington believes his costly slip-up set in motion a chain of events that led to Leigh Wood becoming world champion ahead of their all-British showdown this weekend.

Warrington vacated his IBF featherweight crown in January 2021 to pursue a fight with WBA titlist Xu Can but the following month a tune-up went horribly awry as he was brutally stopped by Mauricio Lara.

As Warrington licked his wounds, Wood stepped up to dethrone Xu while earlier this year the Nottingham fighter avenged his own knockout defeat to Lara by outpointing the Mexican to regain his WBA title.

In the interim, Warrington won back and lost the IBF belt but he can now become a three-time world champion at 126lbs against an opponent he believes has enjoyed success as a result of his setback.

“Credit to Leigh, he’s taken the opportunities that have been put in front of him,” Warrington (31-2-1, 8KOs) told the PA news agency.

“His drive has got him into this position but that position has come through me, technically – he got the opportunity to fight Can Xu because I lost against Lara. His fights with Lara are what’s made his stock rise, Lara became big because of me.

“I’ve been involved in all this and unfortunately for Leigh Wood, I’m going to squash it as well.”

Warrington has previously admitted he was too embarrassed to leave his house in the weeks after the Lara defeat and the Yorkshireman endured a few sleepless nights when he dropped his world title in December last year following a razor-thin majority points loss to Luis Alberto Lopez.

However, neither retirement nor a tick-over fight were options for Warrington, who still harbours ambitions of a Las Vegas bout if he is able to defeat Wood at Utilita Arena in Sheffield on Saturday.

“I didn’t want to be dropping down from world level, I didn’t get stopped, it was a close decision, there were one or two rounds in it and I thought I won,” the 32-year-old added of his loss to Lopez.

“(In the weeks after that) it was probably more on a night time in my head when I was trying to sleep – coulda, woulda, shoulda.

“But you can’t cry over spilled milk, you can only learn from it and the best way to get round it is by putting the gloves back on, getting back in the ring and doing the business.

“I only want to be in big fights. I don’t need warm-up fights or comeback fights.

“I know in my heart of hearts I can become a three-time world champion and still be at the top. You know as a man, a boxer and a person when you’re done. No one else can ever tell you, you know inside.”

Three-belt world super-welterweight champion Natasha Jonas is to take on Canada’s Kandi Wyatt for the IBF welterweight title, promoters Boxxer have announced.

The fight will take place on the undercard to the Savannah Marshall v Franchon Crews-Dezurn undisputed world middleweight bout at Manchester’s AO Arena on July 1.

It will be Liverpudlian Jonas’ first outing of the year after a stellar 2022 in which she stepped up three divisions to claim the WBC, IBF and WBO belts at super-welterweight.

She now has the chance to become a two-weight world champion after deciding to step back down to the 147lb division to fight for the vacant IBF title.

“I feel in good shape,” Jonas told the PA news agency. “It’s been a great camp and I’m ready. I’ve been ready for a long time.

“After such a busy and successful year last year, I just want to get the ball rolling and get back out there.”

Jonas, the first woman to qualify to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, has won 13 of her 16 professional fights, eight by knockout, with just one defeat.

Wyatt, the WBA Intercontinental champion, has previously challenged for welterweight world titles on three occasions.

Jonas, 39, said: “There isn’t much that we’ve seen of her, but I’ve underestimated people before and it didn’t work out well, so I will never do that again.

“Every fight now I come to be the best version of me and prepare for the best version of them.”

On her decision to drop a division, she said: “It’s about opportunities, but I was never a 154lb fighter.

“The heaviest I weighed in was 149 and that was with clothes on. It made sense just to drop down and go for more world titles at another weight and take the opportunities as they come.”

Becoming a world champion at a second weight would be a rare feat, but Jonas is focusing on the victory rather than the glory.

She said: “I’d be Liverpool’s first to do that – I know that – and it is a great thing, but I’m not focused on the accolades. I’m just focused on going in on the night and getting the win.

“There is an air of confidence you get when you are a champion, but the goal is just to get in the ring and win. Everything else that comes with it is just a bonus.”

Boxxer chief executive Ben Shalom said: “I’m very excited to see Natasha compete at the top of the welterweight division. When you look at what she’s achieved in the last year alone, you know you’re looking at an extra special fighter.”