No wins, but mammoth respect.
It goes to Kyle Redfearn and Adam Hutchinson who left the comfort of the North East to be the away fighter and come home without a win.
Both visited the canvas, but top marks to each fella for giving it a go in the lion’s den.
Redfearn was knocked out in the opening seconds of the third round of his international battle with Berlin bruiser Nick Hannig in Germany.
Hannig went into the shoot-out of the undefeated light-heavyweights in Wolfsburg with a reputation as a KO specialist.
That, sadly, was reinforced when, with the first punch of the third round, he landed a left firmly on the button. Referee Joerg Milke reached “zwei” in his count before waving it off to allow the doctor into the ring.
Thankfully, Redfearn was soon up.
“Tough lesson to learn,” assessed the MTK fighter, who had Gary Barr in his corner
“But I’ll take more from that fight than fighting a journeyman and I’ll be back stronger.”
He certainly will. The Ferryhill star was always up against it, given he was boxing away to a man with lethal fists, but he was prepared to forgo the security of an NE or DH postcode and put his record on the line. Well done Kyle, you will be back and back with a bang.
Hutchinson will be back too having lost out to Scottish debutant Craig Morgan in Paisley.
A junior champion at home and in Europe, the 18-year-old sent over 100 fans wild at the Lagoon Leisure Centre where he put down the Darlington fighter in the first round.
However, Hutchinson (pictured after his recent win in Dunston) is as tough as they come and he duly got up before using his nous and resilience to negotiate the remaining rounds to lose a points result.
Coach Pete Shepperson said: “Adam moved around to see out the fight. Lost on points, but believe me that kid is going to be something special, watch out for Craig Morgan.
“Very proud of Adam as always.”
Well done to both Redfearn and Hutchinson for flying the North-East flag with pride.
Words: Roy Kelly
