22 lBOXING NEWSlJANUARY 11, 2018 http://www.boxingnewsonline.netT’S hard to believe a
four-fight professional
novice can be on the
receiving end of such
abuse. But Anthony
Fowler has already
seen the ugliest
side of social media.
“People have said they hope I get killed
in the ring and everything. I swear. Some
people don’t like me. I remember when I
was boxing for my Olympic spot and some
lad from England put a picture up of my
opponent saying, ‘This lad can make my
dream come true if he beats Fowler today.’
I thought, ‘Is your life that sad, mate, that
you’re sitting there your dream is for me
to get beat? Where’s your own dreams and
aspirations? Your dream is for me to get
beat.’ I just looked at it, laughed and just
beat the kid,” Fowler toldBoxing News.
“A fellow Brit, supporting a German over
myself. What have I done to him? Apart
from give my opinion on a few matters
he might not agree with. It is what it is.
You can’t please everyone,” he reflected
ruefully. “If someone I don’t know on
Twitter is sitting behind a keyboard
saying Fowler’s terrible, he’s got flat
feet or whatever, it doesn’t bother me.
Because they’re nothing to me, they’re just
keyboard warriors.”
“I’ve always had stick. I’m one of those
boxers, I always give my opinions. I don’t
want to sit back on the fence. I think it’s
important to engage with people and get
your personality across,” the Liverpudlian
added. “I have always been known, before
I turned pro.”
Fowler did have an eventful amateur
career. He won the ABAs in 2010, when
Fowler dropped his hands to walk
through Tom Baker at York Hall, the
first of multiple titles. He won gold at
the Commonwealth Games, flooring and
hurting Vijender Singh in the final at
Glasgow 2014, to go with the bronze medal
he picked up at the World championships
the previous year.
And Fowler has always talked
a good game. After qualifying
for the Olympics he went to
Rio 2016 full of confidence.
But his hopes came crashing
down in his first bout, against
Kazakhstan’s Zhanibek
Alimkhanuly. It was a humbling
experience. “The Olympics was
hard. It was hard to take. I’m
not going to lie,” Anthony said. “I was
heartbroken because I put so much into it.
I trained wrong, I trained too hard, looking
back. But I did try so, so hard, even in the
whole preparation.
“I over-trained. I want to do that little
bit more than my opponents. I always
think I need to do more than them
because what separates us all? We all want
to win, everyone wants to win but what
separates the man from the other man?
I think it’s who works a little bit harder.
“It was hard to take the Olympics, it wasvery, very hard. I won’t be over it, until
I win a belt [as a pro].”
“That Kazakh was elite,” he continued.
“That kid was the youngest world
champion in history at middleweight. He
was a special kid him. He was massive.
He’s a light-heavyweight now, I’m a super-
welter.”
With a heavy southpaw cross
Alimkhanuly put Fowler down. It was a
shocking introduction to Olympic boxing.
“I did think I won the first round,
and obviously he caught me in the second
round. He was good. He was very,
very good,” Anthony recalled.
“Rob [McCracken, the GB
performance director] said,
‘even though you’ve lost, you
showed you’ve got pure mettle.’
Even though the second round
he did hurt me. I got up and
went right back at him. I didn’t
go into my shell. I finished the fight
pushing him back. I did show that I’m
tough.”
It was the end of an utterly gruelling
international run. “We worked like dogs
down there. People think GB’s all a life of
luxury travelling the world. You live like
a dog, I promise. They put you in these
horrible hotels round the world. Pro
boxing’s so much better than amateurs.
You’d stand in a queue in your boxers [for
weigh-ins]. Now you’re weighing in with all
the cameras [the day before]. You’d fight
four times in four days. GB, it’s brutal.➤I
It’stime for the updated “Machine”
as Anthony Fowler goes back to basics.
At Dave Coldwell’s gym in Rotherham
he speaks toJohn Dennen
ANTHONY
★FOWLER★BIG INTERVIEW