Josh Warrington says Leo Santa Cruz is the one fighter he wishes he had been able to face in his career, after he confirmed to DAZN he would fight on once more in 2025.
The Leeds Warrior will look to return to the ring after a fourth career loss at Riyadh Season Card - Wembley Edition against Anthony Cacace by unanimous decision.
During two spells as IBF featherweight champion, Warrington was one of the best fighters in the world, with major wins against Lee Selby and Carl Frampton among others.
But there are still bouts that got away from him, and speaking to DAZN, the 34-year-old confirmed that the four-weight world champion was the foe he most wanted to have.
"It is probably Santa Cruz," he said. "I think that would have been a fantastic fight. With him fighting Carl Frampton in the past, it was a name a lot of my supporters knew too.
"Gary Russell Jr. was relatively known but not as well as Santa Cruz, and Shakur Stevenson didn’t have the profile that he has now at the time [we could have fought].
"So it is probably Santa Cruz. He had boxed on Sky Sports, and he had the fights with Carl Frampton too, so he probably would have been wider known."
Warrington admits that one fight he wishes he could have contested was a bout he was already booked to headline, against then-WBA featherweight champion Xu Can.
The two had been set to meet in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and by the time Warrington returned to the ring, the encounter had fallen through.
"Beyond Santa Cruz, the fight with Xu Can is another," he admits. "We were meant to fight in early 2020, for The Ring magazine belt.
"Which, you know, it's the Rocky Balboa belt. Not many fighters get to win one of them throughout their career."
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