By Ben Lettman
“It was just one of those nights”
After failing in his bid to recapture the Commonwealth Bantamweight crown from the world class and ever-improving Tshifhiwa Munyai last night, British 118 pound champion Martin Power very kindly spoke about what went wrong.
BL: Commiserations Martin, it was a great fight. What are your thoughts?
MP: “I thought it was going to plan. At the beginning of the fight I wasn’t working the body but every time I tried to work the body he kept bringing up beautiful uppercuts and catching me. At the end of the second round I felt my right arm give way. I never thought nothing of it but it did worsen.
“At the end of the round Johnny said, ‘What’s the matter with you? I’m going to pull you out.’ I said, ‘No, I’m alright.’ I came back to the corner at the end of the third and he said, ‘Martin I’m pulling you out.’ I said, ‘No John, please give me another round.’ When I was out there I took a lot of punishment but if I was fully fit I would have thrown more punches back. I was just trying to cover up.
Normally I would throw more punches back but I couldn’t because of my right arm. It was so sore. He’s a very good kid. I’m not taking anything away from him I think he is very good. I think he will go on to do big things. But it was just one of those nights for me. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be again sadly”.
BL: Do you know what actually caused the damage to your arm?
MP: “I’m not too sure. It could have been a clash of arms or catching my elbow on the side of his head. I’m not too sure to be honest. I’ve had the same kind of feeling in sparring but tonight it went dead on me. When I was throwing it back it was hurting me to throw it”.
BL: What will the next step be for you?
MP: “The next step is Ian Napa. He’ll be fighting for the European title soon. Hopefully he can win that and I will defend my British title against his European. We’ll have to wait and see”.
BL: It was a great performance, commiserations again.
MP: “Nice one mate. Thanks”.
Courtesy www.frankmaloney.com