Josh Warrington vs Sofiane Takoucht Odds & Picks

• Warrington vs Takoucht goes Saturday, October 12th at 2:30 pm EST
• Can Warrington get another world title victory in front of the Leeds faithful?
• Will Takoucht shake up the foundations of the featherweight division? 

Warrington vs Takoucht promises to be an intriguing display of the sweet science. The event goes at First Direct Arena in Leeds, Yorkshire on Saturday, October 12, 2019. There are several intercontinental and commonwealth titles up for grabs on this event but Warrington vs Takoucht is for the world title.

The IBF world featherweight championship is what these two pugilists will be going to war for. BT Sport1 and ESPN+ will broadcast the proceedings for fans at home. Peep the odds for this fight and check out my analysis of the bout below.

Warrington vs Takoucht Odds

*Odds taken 10/08/19

Warrington aims to defend his IBF title for the third time against a largely unheralded contender. Warrington was looking for some unification bouts at 127 lbs but many champions moved up in weight to pursue other challenges. The Oscar Valdez unification fight won’t happen because he is giving up the WBO title and moving up in weight. The WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz also doesn’t seem ready to sign a contract to fight Warrington as of yet.

Warrington Gets it Done

This left an opportunity for Takoucht once the proverbial dust settled. Warrington has the benefit of being the home town fighter once more and he has proven that he can thrive under that sort of pressure. Conversely, this is Takoucht’s first time competing in the UK. Takoucht is confident though.

He eagerly accepted his fight when it was first offered to him, he understands the public perception that he’s one of Warrington’s weaker recent opponents, and he’s still determined he’ll get it done Saturday night. I just don’t see it happening.

Takoucht’s record is littered with a variety of journeyman fighters with his only forays against reputable competition yielding inconclusive results for him. Although it’s worth noting hat he has never been finished and all three of his losses went to the judge’s scorecards. This coupled with the relatively lower knockout rate of Warrington leads me to believe that this one will also go to the judges. Warrington’s resume reads like much more of a who’s who of the present landscape with him actually testing himself against elite European fighters and internationally ranked pugilists.

"The fans have really taken to UFC because the champions fight each other." ?

"Why wouldn't you want to test yourself against the best?"

"Lomachenko, man… get him into the bear bit!" ?

All Josh Warrington wants is to fight the best out there. A true champion ? pic.twitter.com/i2AC8EU8AD

— Boxing on BT Sport ? (@BTSportBoxing) October 8, 2019

Warrington isn’t looking past his opponent though. He knows that he wants those big fights in the future and a loss here very much derails him from that path. After all, it wasn’t long ago that Warrington shocked the boxing world with his upset wins of Lee Selby and Carl Frampton. The Leeds Warrior certainly doesn’t want to be on the opposite end of that narrative against Takoucht. After all, Warrington was on the verge of tears campaigning for a big title fight in his last outing. He cares way too much about this to let short-term ego considerations sabotage him.

Warrington vs Takoucht Tale of the Tape

This reads like a showcase performance for Warrington on paper. Hopefully, it will yield an impressive enough win where a big world title fight can be booked next. I see Warrington scoring a thoroughly dominant unanimous decision victory in this prizefight.

Pick: Warrington (-5000)