Broken hand heartbreak loss for Zach

ZACH Parker has vowed to come back stronger after a broken hand cost him his unbeaten record as a professional against John Ryder in London on Saturday night.

The Swadlincote middleweight had to quit at the end of the fourth round in their WBO super-middleweight title fight.

There had been nothing in it in four action-packed rounds up to then and there was plenty of mutual respect from the fighters afterwards, Ryder admitting Parker had started the fight better.

“Zach got behind the jab well, he was moving well. He was peppering me a bit there but I felt like the tide might be starting to turn and I was getting more on top,” said Ryder.

“Zach’s a good fighter. He’s obviously got an injury to heal but the door’s there for him to come again and I’m sure he will.”

Parker said: “I’m obviously absolutely gutted but he’s a good lad and he’ll go on and do good things in boxing. Obviously, I’ll come back stronger than ever.

“It was the start of the round, I hit him with an uppercut and I think I hit his elbow or something.

“It’s cracked out of place and I can feel it moving.

“I thought I was up on the cards but I couldn’t keep him off with one hand – you can’t do that at the top level.

“I was trying to punch with it but it was just going to get worse.

“I’ll just have to regroup and see what next year brings.”

Later, Parker showed a picture of his x-ray on Twitter, showing a clean break to a metacarpal and he is due to see a specialist.