Anthony Fowler To Return on 10/21 After Third Successive TKO
By Elliot Foster
Anthony Fowler is keen to get better and better after scoring a stoppage in his home city.
The Liverpudlian, who is at super-welterweight in the paid code, took four rounds of a scheduled six at the ECHO Arena to get rid of durable journeyman Jay Byrne on Saturday.
Byrne had been scheduled to box on October 21 in Belfast on a Sky Sports-aired card, but Fowler put paid to that with a glittering display and finish.
Fowler, 26, admitted afterwards that there is plenty to work on as he moves through the ranks and looks to make a statement in the 154-pound division.
“I’ve still got a lot to work on,” he said. “I want to be known as the best. I got caught with a few daft jabs coming in and [my coach] Dave Coldwell told me off. He told me that he's [Byrne has] got a great chin, so to go down below, and I did.”
The Irishman –– who had been in with Fowler’s GB team-mates Felix Cash and Josh Kelly –– looked intent on lasting the distance, whether a win would come his way or not, but the power of the Commonwealth Games gold medallist was ultimately too much and the referee Mark Lyson called a halt to proceedings after a second knockdown, with an official time of one minute and 56 seconds of the fourth recorded by the timekeeper.
“I have a lot of love for my city,” the proud Scouser continued. “It’s great to fight here. I have got my head down in the gym, I'm staying humble and just want to get my job done and become the best.”
The promoter of Fowler, Eddie Hearn, confirmed afterwards that Fowler will be back in action on the undercard of Ryan Burnett’s showdown against Zhanat Zhakiyanov in Belfast, at the SSE Arena, on October 21, effectively replacing Byrne on the card.
He also said that ‘The Machine’ can be moved quickly and that there is “no excuse” as to why, after five or six fights, the Olympic crop shouldn’t be fighting for “at least English” titles.
