By John Evans
Anthony Farnell and the fighters at his Failsworth gym are currently going through something of a frustrating period. In the space of a week, the former WBU middleweight champion has seen his 9-0 (5) welterweight hope Ronnie Heffron ruled out of a highly anticipated showdown with Liam Smith with a hand injury, Matthew Hall come up just short in a rough, tough British light middleweight title eliminator with Sam Webb and, as we’ll find out, Farnell heard his pleas for a British title chance for his super flyweight Paul Butler fall on deaf ears.
For insiders, the Heffron-Smith bout was one of the most eagerly awaited fights of the year and the news that the fight would be postponed came as a big disappointment. Thankfully, according to Farnell, we shouldn’t have to wait too long for the pair to lock horns.
“Ronnie was sparring two guys – doing one in, one out – and he hit one with a left hook” said Farnell when talking to BoxingScenecom.. “The guy went down and Ronnie’s hand swelled up badly. Obviously he didn’t wanna say anything and was icing it and saying, 'Arnie it’ll be alright!', but I said it’s not worth it. We took him for a scan and there is no break but it looks like ligament or tendon damage. He’s gutted because he wanted to fight and still wants to fight now but I told him that it’s not worth risking in a big fight like this. You’ve gotta be 110%. They’ve told him not to punch anything hard for three or four weeks but he’s in the gym everyday shadowboxing and working on his skills.”
One “trade fight” which did take place was this past weekend’s clash between Sam Webb and Matthew Hall. The fight was an eliminator for the British light middleweight title and was close and keenly contested throughout. Webb eventually prevailed via a split decision, 115-114, 116-112, 112-117, but Farnell feels the hard charging Hall, now 24-5 (16), was extremely unlucky.
“On the night I thought it was really close but I’ve watched back on tape twice since and I thought he well won!” says Farnell.
There was a massive misunderstanding during the fight with the Hall corner seemingly convinced the fight was scheduled to be a ten rounder. “El Torito’ managed to continue pushing forward after giving his all in the 10th and – what he thought to be – final round but came out on the wrong end of the decision.
“We got told it was a ten rounder so obviously he went all out didn’t he?” said Farnell. “That’s probably my fault. I should have looked into it. I know that official eliminators are twelve rounds. On the night I couldn’t have complained at the result but looking back at it, how has Webb won that?!
“Matthew was gutted afterwards but says he’s watched it about four times since. He said ‘Arnie, I’m kind of happy with it now because things I was doing in the gym were working and I know for a fact I didn’t lose that fight”. Matthews really honest and if he thinks he lost, he’ll say so”.
Exciting super flyweight Paul Butler, 6-0 (2), returns to action on May 11 and is desperate to get in the title mix. Lee Haskins’ decision to give up the British belt to concentrate on other opportunities means that Butler could get his wish sooner rather than later.
“Paul was sparring today with Paul Edwards and did well” says ‘Arnie’. “Paul’s sparred Ashley Sexton before and Ashley wouldn’t last eight rounds with Paul. Sexton was supposed to be fighting this week [Thursday’s BoxAcademy bill has now been cancelled], so he’s obviously fit. Now the British titles vacant, I spoke to Dean Powell and said we’d take that fight. They got on to Sexton and said they could make it for the British title and he point blank said no. That’s after saying him and Butler would be a great fight and that he wants Butler”.
They say bad luck comes in threes – Anthony Farnell and his team will be hoping that that saying proves true and that their recent frustrations are followed by some hard earned success.
By @John_Evans79
