Joe Maphosa must wait for his first professional title but it will come.
The Thornaby boxer came up just short on Friday night when he was outpointed by Craig Derbyshire in their gripping 10-round battle for the vacant English super-flyweight title.
Maphosa recovered with great spirit from having been put on the canvas in the opening round at Rainton Arena and this headline contest on Phil Jeffries’s first show of 2021 went all the way.
The master of ceremonies, Billy Hardy, was the man who delivered the scores of the judges, starting with a 97-92 for Derbyshire from Terry O’Connor, immediately equalized by a 95-93 from Ron Kearney.
Those totals brought gasps from the huge crowd inside the Houghton venue, could Joe have pulled it off?
It was like a scene from X Factor as there was a significant pause from Sunderland’s former British, Commonwealth and European champion before announcing the 96-93 verdict from Phil Edwards and its destination: Craig Derbyshire.
There could be no real complaints – the best man on the night won.
Maphosa knew before the fight that there were two Craig Derbyshires – the man who turns out and earns money as the opponent and the man who gives everything in title contests.
Friday night marked the ‘B’ side of the 30-year-old from Bentley, near Doncaster.
The former English champ put the unbeaten Thornaby boxer down in the first with a left-right combination and while the 27-year-old recovered and produced a few moments of nice boxing and stood and traded with his rival, he did not produce enough to change the course of the fight.
Maphosa told punch-lines that one of the first things he plans to do is to concentrate on flyweight, rather than super-fly.
“Maybe it will flyweight [from now],” he said.
“I weighed in at 8st 1lb for this fight, that’s just a pound above the flyweight limit, so I think it’s a definite possibility.
“I don’t think the inactivity during the pandemic helped, but everyone’s been in the same boat so I don’t want to be making excuses.
“I’ll come back stronger from this.
“It’s not the first time I’ve lost, I’ve been beaten before in the amateurs and come back and will come back from this.
“I’ve got a great team around me and we are still going to do good things in the North-East.”
Maphosa has the talent and with coach Imran Naeem and manager Phil Jeffries guiding his career then the Stockton-trained boxer has indeed a bright future.
He was a wonderful army of fans too – over 350 were at Rainton and supported him brilliantly from beginning to end.
“I can’t thank those people enough,” said Joe. “I love them from the bottom of my heart and I’m so sorry I let you down.”
Joe, you let no one down, you did yourself, your team and your town proud.
It was only his first title contest of his career (contrasted to the sixth of Derbyshire) and the experience gained will be invaluable.
The pride might be hurting today but Joseph Maphosa will be back.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Tom Collins
