It is customary in combat sports for a fighter who is about to retire, and has usually just lost, to leave their gloves in either the ring or cage as a kind of symbolic gesture.
We see this often in mixed martial arts and occasionally, too, in boxing, a sport just as difficult to leave and then leave behind for good.
Recently we saw Josh Warrington, the former featherweight world champion from Leeds, drop his gloves in the ring following a loss against Anthony Cacace in September. That represented the fourth defeat of Warrington’s pro career, while the removal of his gloves in the aftermath represented a fighter who had now clearly had enough.
However, as we approach the end of November, that may no longer be the case. Two months later, in fact, Warrington, 31-4-1 (8), is already wanting to erase that gesture from people’s minds and proceed as if thoughts of retirement had never even crossed his own. In an interview with DAZN, he said, “I don’t think so,” when asked about stopping. “I laid my gloves down in the ring, [but] it felt like a rash decision. One of my friends, [kickboxer] Liam Harrison did something similar.
“I thought, with my frustrations that I couldn’t get going [in the fight], that maybe it’s not there. I’m always critical. I can be winning a fight and think I’m not doing good enough.
“After analysing it, and watching back with my team, I still think there’s enough there to compete at the highest level, and to win as well. Physically, I feel good.
“I do feel that if my mental side had been good [against Cacace], it might have been a different outcome. I can’t complain about it, because what has happened has happened.
“I believe if it’s gone physically, it’s gone. You can’t get that back. But the mental side can be changed. I’ve pinpointed the reasons why I wouldn’t let the shots fall as I usually do.”
At the age of 34, Josh Warrington certainly isn’t “old” or showing any signs of alarming regression. He is also yet to lose to an opponent who is levels beneath him, which is something that invariably happens to fighters who have gone on too long and outstayed their welcome.
It is, however, still worth noting that once a fighter thinks of retirement, they are typically halfway out the door – their mind a few steps ahead of their body. To then go the extra step and leave behind his tools following a job suggests that Josh Warrington, if only for one night, was perhaps more than halfway out the door at Wembley Stadium.