Leeds United ace Luke Ayling to lead Josh Warrington into arena for world title fight
The international break means there is no game for Leeds United this weekend but one of their players will still be busy in the sporting world.
Defender Luke Ayling has been chosen by Leeds boxer Josh Warrington to lead him into the Leeds Arena on Saturday for his IBF World Featherweight title fight against Kiko Martinez.
The 31-year-old fighter is looking to retain his IBF title having previously beaten Lee Selby, Carl Frampton, Kid Galahad and Sofiane Takoucht and now he hopes to win again in his home city.
Ayling will be in his corner against the Spaniard on Saturday but thankfully for Jesse Marsch, he won’t be stepping in anytime soon.
Boxing champion of Thorp Arch
This news got us thinking, who in the Leeds United squad would win a boxing tournament at the training ground?
Ayling is one that would be favoured by many owing to his dogged defending in football and scrappy nature but the same can be said of Stuart Dallas and Kalvin Phillips too.
Someone like Dan James might be a surprise contender as he can overcome his lack of power with mesmerisingly quick feet and hand movements that could bamboozle his opponent.
Illan Meslier is more used to using his hands than any other Leeds player so might be in the mix but his babyish face makes you think he’d be incapable of hurting someone else intentionally.
The same could be said of Robin Koch too but his defensive partner Liam Cooper might be the pick of the bunch should a punch-up take place.
Could we even count out the boss? Maybe Marsch has that boxer’s instinct in him to defeat any of his players in the ring.
In other Leeds United news, one of BT Sport’s pundits “felt sorry” for this Whites player after what he saw at Molineux last week.