Anyone thinking that Tommy Ward’s time in the top echelon of boxing is over is going to have to think again.
A first professional defeat last week in Newcastle at the powerful hands of Otabek Kholmatov in their final WBA featherweight eliminator has “dented” rather than destroyed his world ambitions.
So says one half of the double act of Neil Fannan and Dave Garside who have successfully guided his career over the last 10 years, so successful in fact that Ward had shared the longest unbeaten run in British boxing with world heavyweight champ Tyson Fury at 33-0-1 until losing his ‘0’ to the unbeaten Uzbekistan fighter.
The Co Durham talent’s eyes remain focused on glory with coach Fannan telling punch-lines that the 28-year-old would be happy to take on the best, including the likes of Michael Conlan, Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood.
“Tommy knows he is at this level,” said Fannan.
“We’ve spoken since Saturday night and he’s told me ‘I just want to be in the big fights’ and ‘I need the big fights’.
“There are some great featherweight fighters out there like Leigh Wood, Josh Warrington and Michael Conlan and he’ll fight them all.
“His confidence hasn’t been dented.
“He showed the heart of a champion in defeat and I was very proud of him, not just the way he fought in the ring but how he conducted himself afterwards.
“That was the first time in 12 or 13 years that he’s been beaten, but he took it like a man.
“Tommy is a proper fighting man and a top-class fighter.
“He just came up against something special.
“I’d watched Kholmatov and I knew he was as good as any of the world champions at featherweight.
“I couldn’t see any weaknesses in him. He’s going to be a superstar.”
It was hard to judge in advance just how dangerous Kholmatov actually was – his amateur record was certainly good but not out of this world and while the Florida-based assassin blew away his first nine opponents, none were what you would describe as top opposition.
Was he a worthy WBA number two? We discovered he certainly was after putting down Ward in the first, fourth and fifth rounds with Mike Alexander waving it off just seconds from the end of round five after Fannan had thrown in the towel.
“Tommy would have fought on,” added the trainer. ”But he’s a top-class boxer and I was saving him for another day.
“Once you’ve been down three times you are not going to win and I wouldn’t have let him go on.
“When we spoke the day after the fight he said ‘when can you get me out again?’ and I’ll be looking at around July time.
“Tommy will have two or three weeks off and then we’ll just ease back into it.”
There was plenty of spirit and skill from Ward against Kholmatov and it was the mark of the man that he went to the 24-year-old’s dressing room to congratulate him and his team fully before heading back to ringside at the Utilita Arena to support his old Fannan team-mate, Lewis Ritson, in his WBA eliminator.
Coming back won’t be a mission impossible for the NES Security-sponsored boxer who began this month rated in the top 10 of three of the major sanctioning bodies – WBA (1), WBO (3) and IBF (7). He will need to score a significant win but don’t think he can’t.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jennifer Charlton
