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DAY’S DEATH HURTS DEEP Reborn Fitz aims for British title
PATRICK DAY’S death is another timely reminder of the dangers in the sport we all love.
It is also a reminder that we must keep looking to improve the safety of boxing.
There are already incredible measures to ensure when brain injuries happen the right care is there at ringside. But we can always evolve and find new ways.
Every little improvement may help save another fighter so we must keep working.
Day’s death is of course a tragedy and we send all our well wishes to his family.
We must think about his opponent Charles Conwell who will also be struggling.
But we must learn as much as we can from Day’s passing to see what went wrong and if there could have been anything we could have done.
There may not have been, as sometimes tragedies just strike.
But now we must make sure the name of the American boxer (inset) lives on in the sport and some good comes out of this very ■
Interview by CHRIS McKENNA dark moment. There have been four deaths in four months in boxing but every single one hurts those involved in the sport. It never diminishes the pain.
Looking forward, we are on the hunt for heavyweight star Daniel Dubois’ next opponent.
Doncaster’s Dave Allen was at Josh Warrington’s IBF featherweight title defence last week and we had a good discussion with him. He seemed up for taking on Dubois and we matched the figure he asked for.
Then he came looking for more money and again we agreed to meet his number. But Allen, who is coming off a bad loss to David Price, has now asked for unrealistic money.
He wants a lot more than he got for the Price fight.
What does that tell us? It means he doesn’t really fancy taking on Dubois.
We will move on and make sure Dubois is given a good test in December. (right)
SCOTT FITZGERALD billed himself as the “Mad Man” before he beat Olympian Anthony Fowler.
Now he insists the craziness is over as he looks to become the British light-middleweight champ against Ted Cheeseman in Newcastle tonight.
Fitzgerald, 27, puts it down to the arrival of son Archie-William – and living in trainer Mick Jennings’ converted garage in Chorley for his training camp.
He said: “It’s been good, I’ve been training, resting, eating the right things. I am going to be the fittest I’ve ever been.”
Getting away from his home city of Preston was his dad – and coach – Dave’s advice as Fitzgerald was often in trouble as a teenager.
He said: “I was drinking from 13. Before my first amateur fight I was out on the cider the night before. It’s a dark life.”
Fitzgerald started boxing at 15 and won a Commonwealth gold medal at Glasgow 2014 after giving up “eating McDonald’s every day” before he turned pro.
But he was floating along in the paid game with a reputation as a talented fighter not taking the sport seriously, despite being unbeaten in 12 fights.
Then he was given a against old amateur Fowler in March.
The build-up was the pair exchanged public.
“My dad used to have the DVD of Fowler beating me in the amateurs,” said Fitzgerald.
“If I was winding my dad up, he’d say, ‘I’ll get Fowler down here and he will sort it out.’
“It was a big deal. When I won I felt I’d reached a summit.”
But he insists he is still dedicated ahead of tonight’s clash.
“The Mad Man has been tamed,” he said. shot rival
nasty and barbs in