Featherweight Josh Hargreaves signs with Frank Warren
Exciting amateur star Josh Hargreaves has signed a long-term promotional contract with Queensberry.
The Batley boxer won National Senior Development titles at Under-60kg in 2018 and 2019, and was victorious in 15 of his 16 senior amateur bouts.
Hargreaves will box professionally at Featherweight and hopes to make his debut in April.
He wants to mirror his idol Gennady Golovkin with a rack of chilling performances and says: “I want to stop people and give fans watching a really good fight.
“TV networks and viewers want to see somebody knocked out. And, if fights go 12 rounds they want to see a war.”
Hargreaves, 26, started boxing aged nine, but drifted away when he was still at school and returned to the sport when he was 20.
“I had six or seven years out. Like a lot of kids I quit boxing because I was bored and then as I got older, I realised it was something I was good at,” added the Yorkshireman.
“I didn’t start boxing again to become anything. It was because I started enjoying it.”
Despite being a huge GGG fan his gym-mates have nicknamed Josh ‘Baby Canelo’.
Hargreaves, who is also a five-times Yorkshire champion, will be trained by Mo Patel at Purge Boxing Academy and his brother Ben will also help out.
He said: “In the gym I’m called ‘Baby Canelo’ because I have a similar style. I have had that nickname since I returned to boxing.
“I won’t change the nickname, but still don’t have one yet to go in the middle of my name like a lot of boxers.
“Lets see what people think and fans can give me a nickname. That is the way to go about it.
“I will definitely sell tickets when fans return. I have a lot of people behind me because I am exciting to watch.”
Hargreaves planned to have one more season as an amateur, but the COVID-19 pandemic persuaded him to turn professional sooner.
He explained: “Amateur championships are unlikely so this opportunity has come at the right time.
“There are a lot of kids turning over straight from the Juniors, but those Senior bouts were hard and prepared me for this.
“In the first 12 months, I want to win five or six fights and get a few stoppages.
“Everybody dreams of winning a world title, don’t they? But, I want to win a British title. I’ve definitely got the capabilities to do that.
“Once you win a British title you can move on from there and get into world title contention.”
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