Josh Warrington bemoaned the difficulty of setting up a featherweight unification fight after confirming he will defend his IBF belt against Sofiane Takoucht.

Warrington, who has twice retained his title since beating Lee Selby at Elland Road in May 2018, will face Frenchman Takoucht (35-3-1) at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on October 12.

But the 28-year-old (29-0) acknowledges he would rather have been facing a fellow champion, with his attempts to secure such a fight coming up empty.

Gary Russell Jr and Leo Santa Cruz both turned potential bouts down, the media were told at a news conference.

"I said we'd potentially be looking for a unification fight, I felt there was nowhere else for us to go, but it's not worked out like that," Warrington said.

"That's no fault of our own, the manager or the promotion. The other champions just don't seem to want it.

"It's proving very difficult to make a unification fight, but I'm a champion and I don't want to sit on the sidelines. I don't want to call myself a champion without fighting, you've got to be active - especially at this level.

Leeds Warrior Josh Warrington makes the third defence of his IBF World Featherweight Title against Sofiane Takoucht at the FD Arena on October 12th pic.twitter.com/GZGT9HcSYM

— Frank Warren (@frankwarren_tv) August 7, 2019

"I've been at a stage where I've had 11 months of inactivity and I've come back and it's not been good. You need to be active. We're back, back in Leeds.

"Takoucht has got a massive opportunity here. He's a tough fighter, but he's been given a golden ticket. He's got a tough camp ahead of him and I'm sure he's going to bring a fight.

"All I'm concentrated on is winning and winning in style."

Warrington also offered an apology for the nature of his scrappy win over Kid Galahad in June.

"I just apologise for the way the fight turned out," he said. "I always give it my all and I always try to entertain the fans.

"Obviously, Mr Barry [Galahad] didn't want to make it a fight, he was there to survive and get paid. But job done, we move forward."