Fowler victorious on return but Lionhearts fall to Mexico
BySportsbeat
Published 27/02/2015 at 12:20 GMT
Rob McCracken insists it is not all doom and gloom for his British Lionhearts despite losing their 100 percent home record in the World Series of Boxing after falling 3-2 to the Mexico Guerreros.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Commonwealth gold medallist Anthony Fowler returned from injury to win his middleweight bout with Misael Rodriguez and remain unbeaten in the World Series of Boxing (WSB).
However, Fowler had to rely on a split decision from the judges to win after the cut above his eye, which he sustained against Russia, reopened in the first round.
The Rio hopeful battled through though, landing some big hits and McCracken conceded he did not perform to his full ability.
"Fowler has been out for a while and did a professional job in the end," he said.
"Fowler is one of the best in WSB. He knows he will learn from tonight and he has to bring his boxing skills into matches more often.
"It's very tough and the time we had to prepare was short but we are pleased and Fowler is certainly catching the eye."
McCracken was particularly pleased with Lionhearts debutant Harvey Horn, who was beaten by Joselito Velazquez in the light-flyweight class.
The England Boxing National Elite Champion was lured into a dogfight with his southpaw opponent during a battling encounter but McCracken insisted Horn will learn from such a fight.
"Harvey Horn, did well under the circumstances," he added.
"The guy was skinning his head for three rounds. It was very difficult for Harvey, he is a youngster as well and he will only learn from it.
"He did really well under the pressure and showed a lot of promise for the future."
The Lionhearts' only other winner was in the bantamweight class as current English champion Qais Ashfaq beat Brian Gonzalez by unanimous decision.
It was a scrappy bout with Ashfaq being thrown to the floor on a number of occasions by his opponent, but the Commonwealth silver medallist managed to show great speed and agility to claim the victory.
"Ashfaq showed some real improvement from his last fight and showed he has learnt a bit and that’s what you do in WSB," said McCracken. "You learn from what you've done before."
Sam Maxwell opened the night's action against Garcia Curiel, who is ranked the third best light-welterweight in the competition, but the Commonwealth bronze medallist lost unanimously.
Romanian Ionut-Mirel Jitaru had a similarly tough night on his Lionhearts debut as the heavyweight lost to Irishman Gary Sweeney, who was also making his debut.
© Sportsbeat 2015
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