Josh Warrington’s gloves remained in the center of the ring long after he and Anthony Cacace had begun the trek back to the dressing rooms at Wembley Stadium. 

The center spot of the national stadium may seem a very public setting for such a personal moment yet the small but symbolic gesture will have been missed by most. Those seated in the far reaches of Wembley Stadium will have needed binoculars to spot a pair of broken down, sweat soaked 8ozs Cleto Reyes laid out on the canvas while those in the plush seats quickly turned away from the ring to take in the scene or spot the next celebrity. 

The super featherweight fight never quite caught fire but, for Cacace, the scrappy nature of his unanimous decision victory meant little and he floated away, secure in the knowledge that his future was secure. 

Two-time featherweight world champion, Warrington, will have barely noticed the consoling pats on the back from strangers or well meaning friends telling him that he had been robbed. His mind was elsewhere. 

A couple of hours later, the 33-year-old made his way back onto the pitch to watch Daniel Dubois’ dominant victory over Anthony Joshua.

Warrington has been responsible for filling stadiums himself in the past but only he will know whether the thrilling spectacle motivated him to commit himself to one final effort or whether it hammered home to him that his own days as a headline attraction are over. 

“Frustrated, a lot of questioning. I need to go away and do a lot of questioning and speak to my family about what I want to do now for the future. Do I end the journey here or do I come away and carry on? If I do, then I’d need to be out sooner. I feel that the ring rust showed out there,” Warrington told Matchroom in the dressing room after the fight.

Inactivity has killed many careers but for a fighter who thrives on momentum, it is an especially cruel way to go.

Now 33, Warrington has boxed just twice in two years and won just one fight since 2019. After losing his IBF title to Luis Alberto Lopez and then suffering a shattering stoppage loss to Leigh Wood last October, last night was his third consecutive defeat.

Despite the results, Warrington remains a more than capable fighter and tough work for almost anyone but there has been a slow erosion of the qualities that made him special. 

The hope was that after spending his entire professional career campaigning at featherweight, the belated move to 130lbs would reinvigorate him and provide him with the chance to end an outstanding career on a high. 

On Saturday, at least, it wasn’t to be. His performance was reminiscent of the first half of his unanimous decision loss to Lopez back in 2022. Warrington just couldn’t muster his trademark ferocity. Despite eventually losing a close majority decision, he was able to find a thread of hope and drag himself back into the fight against the awkward Mexican but he readily admits that he found hope hard to come by against Cacace.

Warrington is a smart fighter and an intelligent, proud man. He understands boxing and wasn’t oblivious to what went on against Cacace. He now needs to decide whether inactivity or time have sapped his reserves.

“Taking nothing away from Anto but you know how I fight, that was a shocking fight from me,” he said. “Slow pace and everything we worked on. Credit to my dad again, [the] gameplan, down to a tee. We knew what he was going to do and the shots he was going to throw and he did exactly that but I didn’t react to the gameplan. I didn’t do what I’d been asked to and what I’ve been working on for the last 12 weeks and it was frustrating and after six rounds it's as though my head started dipping and I started saying, ‘I’m getting frustrated’ in the corner. I shouldn’t have been. It’s just going to be one of them where I come away, I have a chat with my dad and my team and then we go from there.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X