Firstly, I would like to say congratulations to Michael (Sprott) for his victory. To my fans, and anyone who cares for my well being, although I am disappointed to have lost, I am physically and mentally OK. As fighters, we aim to inflict maximum damage on our opponents, but at the end of the day it is a sport with a winner and a loser.
The punch (of which I obviously didn't see!) was a great shot, landed flush and it was sweet goodnight. But as Michael's expressions showed, it was not in tune with the fight till then and it can be argued it was a lucky shot to some degree.
But that is boxing and no excuses; I ignored the cardinal rule of boxing, and paid the ultimate price (hands up at all times, or at least when in range).
After knocking him down and having such a good first round, I lost focus and went forward rather than sticking to the game plan. I dropped my hands to open him up, hoping to land a clean shot that would send him home. I was sinking in body shots to help soften him up and although he rushed me a bit in the 2nd round I felt it was just a matter of time before I landed a telling blow. (I broke the other rule of boxing here – don't look for the knockout as it won't come.)
That is pretty much it, plain and simple. I could mention many things that went wrong in camp or how I was feeling after the high of the Williams win, but it’s irrelevant as I got in there and was good enough to win.
Once again, the papers and critics are out in force, which is understandable and I almost can see their point that my career appears over. But we are talking about ME here and maybe I am delusional or just plain crazy, but I feel determined (maybe more so now) to rectify this loss and move on in my career.
to be continued
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