Ryan reckons he deserved Arena victory

RYAN Walsh insists he should have been given the victory following his draw with Isaac Lowe at the Manchester Arena on Saturday.

The Rochdale-born boxer drew with Lowe after 12 rounds of action, with the judges scoring the fight 116-114 in Walsh’s favour, 115-114 in Lowe’s favour, and then 115-115.

While the draw means Walsh retains his British featherweight title, he felt he did enough to be given the win outright.

“I was happy with how I finished in the championship rounds and that’s where I think I won the fight. I thought I won the 10th, 11th and 12th round and that should have been enough,” he said.

“He earned my respect in the ring but I was a bit rusty. The opening rounds was Isaac at his best as he started fast, but I think he knew at the end of the fight that I should have won. Maybe we can have the rematch for a lot more money.”

The draw means that Walsh has taken his record to 22 wins, two draws and two defeats, while Lowe has a record of 14 wins and three draws.

It is Lowe’s third straight title fight that has ended in a draw, but he felt he should have had his hand raised in the fight.

“I think I won the fight by a couple of rounds. I stuck to my boxing pretty well and then in the later rounds I matched him at his own game,” he said.

“I stood toe-to-toe with him for three rounds and I thought I was winning the exchanges. He might have been catching the one or two power shots but I was catching in flurries. I had to grind out those last three rounds to make sure we won it and I thought I’d done it. Maybe a couple of rounds in the middle where I slacked off cost me the fight.

“You can look at it from all different angles but I thought I did more than enough to win the fight. It won’t knock me down, I’ll keep my chin up and I want to keep moving on and want the rematch as soon as possible. I spoke to Ryan and he said he’s up for the rematch. I’m more than ready for it and I want that rematch because I know next time I’ll make a better job of it.”

‘I think I won the fight by a couple of rounds’