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Josh Wagner remains undefeated following 16th win, claims second title

July 27, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Local boxer, Josh Wagner, is garnering international attention after winning his July 8 fight against Argentinian Williams Andres Herrera at the Sadlon Arena in Barrie. Josh won the fight by a unanimous decision.

The win brings Josh’s pro record to 16-0 and moves him up to the top 30 boxers worldwide.

The bout was also a title fight, and Josh now has the IBO Americas Welterweight belt, in addition to the International Boxing Association (IBA) Intercontinental Championship belt he earned last September.

It was an evenly matched night in the ring. Herrera, fighting out of La Calera, Cordoba, Argentina, came to the ring with a 15-1 record.

It was a tough fight, with Josh getting the advantage in the early rounds, but Herrera started picking it up in the middle of the ten-round bout.

Josh has shown a habit of finishing strong in the later rounds, and this fight was no exception. He praised his opponent’s toughness and tenacity, saying many of the fighters he has been up against would have hit the canvas after he delivered some hard punches, but Herrera rolled with the punishment and kept coming back.

“He (Herrara) was number one in Argentina with 15 wins and one loss,” Josh said. “He had a couple of belts himself. He was a very game opponent and he came to win. In the first three or four rounds I out-boxed him. He had a surge in [rounds] five, six and seven. Then I turned it on at the end.”

The fact that Josh has a lot of gas in the later rounds, he said, comes down to his training.

“In the later rounds, eight, nine, and ten, you want to rely on your boxing skills. I thank my coach [Stevie Bailey] for that too. He was saying the right things in the corner. We’ve been together for almost two years now, we have more of a bond now and know each other better – he knows the right things to say.”

It was a tough fight, and Josh said his opponent could really take a punch.

“I hit this guy with some shots that would have put other men down, but he just kept coming. He was there to win,” Josh noted.

He said he is going to take it easy for a couple of weeks and relax, then get back into training.

With a 16-0 record, the international boxing community is now taking a hard look at him, and he is expected to get some overseas offers in the near future.

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