It feels like a long time ago that Anthony Joshua added another knockout to his CV in mid-December but boxing finally makes a welcome return to these shores this weekend.

As many people took part in 'Dry January', boxing was forced into a similar drought by the UK government in the first month of the year and the comeback starts with JOSH WARRINGTON against Mauricio Lara at the Wembley Arena.

After 1,000 fans saw Joshua overcome Kubrat Pulev at the same venue, we are back behind closed doors again and if anyone is going to miss having a crowd in, it is Warrington. The raucous atmosphere created by his Leeds faithful is now famous and he will have to quickly get used to the lack of that vociferous backing on Saturday night, while he also has a long absence to overcome.

Back fighting under the Matchroom promotional banner for the first time since 2016, this will be his first outing since October 2019 and it means he has only had those two rounds it took to blow away Sofiane Tackoucht in the last 20 months. Add to that the disappointment of recently giving up his IBF featherweight title and it would be no surprise if the unbeaten the 30-year-old isn't at his best here.

However, the good news for Warrington is that he looks to have been handed a nice starter by Eddie Hearn in the shape of Lara, who is expected to be devoured with minimal fuss before the promised main course of a big-name title fight in the summer.

The Mexican might be on a winning streak of 10 but his 21-2 record has been assembled at a low level in his native country and this represents a huge step up in class for the 22-year-old. Beaten on his debut, he was also stopped in the first round by a novice in 2018 and while he has improved since, his winning run against mediocre opposition doesn’t justify his place topping the bill against a fighter of Warrington's calibre.

It was a long road to the top for Warrington, who came up the hard way on small-hall shows, but he really announced himself on the big stage when ripping the belt from Lee Selby in a big domestic upset on a noisy night at Elland Road in the summer of 2018.