Tweet
No, Cammarelle was the only time I ‘froze’. It was a one off really, but what a time for it to happen.
I’d only been stopped once before in the amateurs, by Canada’s Bermane Stiverne in 2004. I was quite new to the England set-up back then, wasn’t that fit and just walked into a big right hand. It wobbled me and the ref stopped me on me feet.
Though I’d been down a few times in the amateurs, I’d always got up to win, which I like to think showed my grit and character. In the 2004 Europeans, I was only 20 - and a young 20 - when a good Norweigan called Andreas Barkhall, who’d previously stopped Robert Helenius, put me flat on my back with a big right hand. But I got up to drop him and beat him convincingly by about 10 points.
Probably the most notable time I was down, the one everyone keeps carping back too, was when that big Indian southpaw (Varghese Johnson) dropped me three times in the 2006 Commonwealth Games semi in Melbourne. I just wasn’t seeing his shots but my fitness pulled me through and I stopped him in the fourth (with just 12 seconds remaining).
The only other time I can think of was when Alan Kasango, an African representing Wales, steamed out swinging, and caught and dropped me with a left hook when I wasn’t concentrating in the opening round of the 2005 Four Nations. I got up to win that one on points. The Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Glazkov also stopped me at the Strandja Cup in Bulgaria but that was on that stupid 20 point ‘outclassed’ ruling.
I’d only been stopped once before in the amateurs, by Canada’s Bermane Stiverne in 2004. I was quite new to the England set-up back then, wasn’t that fit and just walked into a big right hand. It wobbled me and the ref stopped me on me feet.
Though I’d been down a few times in the amateurs, I’d always got up to win, which I like to think showed my grit and character. In the 2004 Europeans, I was only 20 - and a young 20 - when a good Norweigan called Andreas Barkhall, who’d previously stopped Robert Helenius, put me flat on my back with a big right hand. But I got up to drop him and beat him convincingly by about 10 points.
Probably the most notable time I was down, the one everyone keeps carping back too, was when that big Indian southpaw (Varghese Johnson) dropped me three times in the 2006 Commonwealth Games semi in Melbourne. I just wasn’t seeing his shots but my fitness pulled me through and I stopped him in the fourth (with just 12 seconds remaining).
The only other time I can think of was when Alan Kasango, an African representing Wales, steamed out swinging, and caught and dropped me with a left hook when I wasn’t concentrating in the opening round of the 2005 Four Nations. I got up to win that one on points. The Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Glazkov also stopped me at the Strandja Cup in Bulgaria but that was on that stupid 20 point ‘outclassed’ ruling.
Comment