By Joe Ellis

27th Mar, 2022 | 1:40pm

Leeds United players Luke Ayling and Kalvin Phillips spotted at big boxing event

Leeds United may have not had a game to play this weekend but that didn’t stop some of Elland Road’s favourites from taking in another big sporting event.

The international break and no call-up for a number of Whites players saw some of them head to the Leeds Arena on Saturday (26 March) to watch the city’s own Josh Warrington fight for the IBF World Featherweight title.

Defender Luke Ayling walked Warrington into the arena pre-fight before taking up his viewing point and he was joined in the crowd by recovering midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

Had he not been injured, Phillips may have been playing for England at the same time but instead, he was pictured getting a front-row seat for the big fight by DAZN Boxing on Twitter.

Warrington came out victorious in front of a rowdy home crowd as he knocked Spaniard Kiko Martinez out in round seven to defend his world title.

As one

This is fantastic to see for everyone associated with the city because Warrington has been a loud and vocal supporter of Leeds United ever since he emerged into the public eye.

He’s even fought at Elland Road before and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him do so again in the future.

But for the club, they need this collective attitude across all of the city’s major sporting teams and personalities to really springboard themselves to another level.

There are a lot of things the players and staff could learn from Warrington and he isn’t the only thriving sporting icon in the area either.

Leeds Rhinos rugby league team are another country-leading side that could add huge benefit to Jesse Marsch’s team as well as Yorkshire County Cricket Club who play their games at Headingley in the city.

All of these working together would make Leeds an unstoppable force on the sporting stage.

In other Leeds United news, further developments have emerged in the ongoing transfer saga of this Whites star.