MOMENTS after Anthony Cacace’s hand was raised at Wembley Stadium, the defeated Josh Warrington laid his gloves down in the middle of the ring. The message seemed clear: The Leeds Warrior was done fighting.

But only a few weeks on from that balmy evening at the national stadium, Warrington was back in the gym and wondering whether he had called time a little too early on his 36-fight career, which had gleaned two world titles at featherweight.

And now seven months after that Wembley gesture, the gloves will be laced up tight again as he returns in a low-key 10-rounder against 19-6-1 (5) Asad Asif Khan at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, where Dalton Smith against Mathieu Germain tops the bill. “We go again, don’t we?” Warrington says with a wry smile.

It has been a difficult few years for the 34-year-old, who has boxed just six times in the last six years. Worse than that level of activity, however, have been the results with just one victory registered across those half-dozen outings. The Cacace defeat, the first via unanimous decision in his career, was his third loss on the bounce.

Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that the father of three decided immediately to bow out, although, crucially, no official announcement was made.

“I wanted to put something out about retirement,” Warrington tells The Ring. “I actually had a bit of an argument with my media manager, James Marshall, because I just wanted to get it out, anything out, a video or a statement of something.

“But he said just to relax and to think about it. Listen, I had like two weeks of moping about, feeling sorry for myself and so I needed to let out some frustration. I went back to the gym and felt like everything was still there; the fitness, the timing, the sharpness, a little bit of sparring, a little bit of pads.

“I thought to myself ‘f--king hell! There’s loads left here’. Why didn’t it happen on the night against Cacace? So then I started to delve a bit deeper to try and work out what went wrong and all of a sudden you come to the conclusion that it’s still there physically and mentally, it just needs adjusting in a few places and that’s it.”

So what was his conclusion?

“I think the main thing not in my favour has been inactivity,” he says. “I’d become No.1 in the world by the time I’m 30 because I was boxing three or four times in a 12-month period. All of a sudden you’re boxing twice in 23 months. It’s like any athlete - you can’t do that and expect to shine.”

So once his decision to return was confirmed, the next job was to find a date. After the initial conversations with his promoters, Matchroom, seemed to suggest that a headline date would not come until July, Warrington decided he needed to be out sooner so he could get busy as quickly as possible.

“I wanted the big spotlight in Leeds to be honest,” he adds. “But I didn’t want to be inactive and July is a long way off. Then they phoned us and said they were announcing a show tomorrow and would I want to be on it. I knew I wasn’t a million miles away from being ready so I said ‘of course I can be ready’. I’ve been here enough times to be ready when I need to be.”

Of course, a fourth straight defeat on April 19 would likely put Warrington into retirement - and keep him there. But a victory over underdog Khan could open doors for far bigger opportunities. He will campaign at super-featherweight and will be keeping a close eye on the fight between his last two opponents, Leigh Wood and Cacace, who meet in Nottingham on May 10.

“First of all,” Warrington adds. “I just want to return, get the arm raised and dust some cobwebs off. Then I want to be busy - I’d like to think I could get another two fights this year.

“There’s no reason why not. I know I haven’t got a belt at the moment but I’ve got a big fanbase behind me and nine times out of 10, I’m in an entertaining fight - although it was a little bit of a stinker at Wembley.

“But I’m a two-time world champion with a great resume so I don’t see why I can’t walk into some big fights or at least keep active and busy.

“I’d love to put the Leigh Wood one to bed and then to get the Cacace one after that would be even better. I’m disappointed that we could never get the Wood rematch over the line in the first place.

“Mick Conlan is another one where our names have always been mentioned over the years but just hasn’t come to light. But most definitely - he has been in some entertaining fight and people just want to be entertained don’t they?”

Warrington and his wife Natasha welcomed their third child, a son, just before Christmas and the arrival has brought things into sharp focus for the rejuvenated super-featherweight.

“I just want to hold onto every f--king second,” he says. “But it just flies by.

“I used to be a bit snappier with my daughters because I had a busy time when they weren’t sleeping. But these days, you just swallow it. If he’s crying, it doesn’t f--king matter. He won’t be whining forever.

“Training has been no problem. I’ve worked a 9-5 before so I can’t start crying about having to go to the gym for a few hours a day. I know it won’t be long before I’m back home where I can switch off and focus on the family. There are times when I don’t want to leave the house because I want to be with him every little second of the day but I’m going to the gym for a reason.”

And maybe one day his son can say his dad was a three-time world champion.