Kerry Hope says Grzegorz Proksa was too good for him – Boxing News
Kerry Hope, the former EBU (European) middleweight champion, in a recent media interaction commented that he lost his title and the bout to a better man, adding that Grzegorz Proksa was too good for him despite the strenuous training he underwent.
Kerry was scheduled to defend his newly acquired EBU title against the Polish pounder Grzegorz. Things did not go well for the Britain and he lost the bout via eighth round technical knockout.
Hope, a southpaw, was unable to defend himself during the bout against Grzegorz’s heavy-duty jabs that kept on coming and battered him every now and then. Interestingly, this was the second time that the duo collided.
The July 7, 2012 bout was a sequel to the duo’s last bout in which Kerry emerged victorious by grabbing a majority decision. Proksa was definitely not happy with the loss as it was he who by most critics gave the tough time to Kerry and dominated the bout.
Kerry, 30, entered the bout with the experience disadvantage. The only advantage Hope had was the psychological prior win one but it did not help him much. Grzegorz left no chance at all for the Briton to hold his ground and kept the pressure on by connecting
powerful jabs.
From the very first second, it was Grzegorz who not only set the pace of the bout but later on maintained it as well unlike last time when Proksa’s sluggish body movement cost him the bout and the title.
The Polish pounder duly learned from his last clash experience and used his left jab optimally to connect inside out punches. In almost every round, Proksa connected a powerful jab to Kerry’s face but the defending champion did not lose hope and kept on
attacking.
Hope lost all his strength, gas, and determination when in the eighth round Proksa penetrated Kerry’s defences and connected a huge thunderous punch. The Briton fell on the ring floor and though he was able to break the referee’s 10-count yet was rendered
unable to continue the bout.
As a result, the bout-referee announced Proksa as the winner and the new owner of the EBU gold via technical knockout. Kerry, while explaining his stance on the dismal loss stated, “It was a tough night, I was beaten by the better man and that's boxing for
you. Having trained really hard I went in there feeling confident but he was simply too good on the night. He took me more seriously this time and I upped my game, but it wasn't enough and that's the way it goes. I felt as if I was coming back into things
and the adrenalin was pumping. But he caught me on the ear with his head and I couldn't get into the fight after that.”
The win has improved Proksa’s resume to 28 victories in a total of 29 bouts whereas Kerry has collected his fourth loss in a total of 21 bouts.
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