SOUTHAMPTON, England – Promoter Frank Warren was full of praise for his pocket-size “Piranha’ Ryan Garner after the Southampton’s man’s big win over Michael Magnesi at St Mary’s Stadium.
Garner burst out of the blocks and maintained a frenetic pace through 12 exhausting rounds and, having talked about his destiny in the build-up, there was a strong feeling that he would not be denied.
Hall of Fame promoter Warren was asked by BoxingScene whether it reminded him of any other boxers in his 50 years in the sport, and Warren quickly replied: “Ricky [Hatton]. I think Joe Calzaghe when he fought Mikkel Kessler… Same thing. There’s been lots of times like that. And it’s just great. But this is what I as a promoter love, which is working hard to make these events happen and we do it as a team, all of us. We work hard. You’ve got to have faith in each other and you work together. This is what happens. And we’ve done it with Carl Frampton in Belfast in the stadium there. We did it for him. Josh Warrington, in Leeds. I mean, lots of guys over the years.”
Garner was so spent following the 12 high energy sessions that he did not speak to the media afterwards.
Instead, feeling nauseous, he had a towel draped over his head in his locker-room as he tried to make sense of what had happened, scoring the biggest win of his career by defeating Magnesi to earn the WBC’s vacant interim super featherweight title.
“He’s resting up at the moment, because obviously it’s been quite a hotly and fiercely fought fight, so he’s been checked out by the doctors, so he won’t be coming in,” Warren said.
“I thought the fight was unbelievable. I mean, two gladiators in there. It takes two to make a fight like that. And they gave everything. As soon as that first bell went, they were just right on it, down to it, letting their shots go, and I think those first three rounds, they could have had them in the telephone box. I think it was the third round, they didn’t even move off that one position from the ropes, just stood there, just letting their shots go. It was phenomenal. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t expect it to go 12 rounds when it was a fight like that, at that pace, but the pace, the excitement level, the commitment… two absolute gladiators”
Warren was asked what might be next for the Southampton star and one would believe the idea would be for another stadium fight for the 28-year-old next summer.
“There’s various options, Top Rank – Bob Arum – has got a couple of guys so we’ll be talking to them. There’s a massive domestic fight with Anto Cacace. They’re both similar backgrounds in as much that they turned their careers around from maybe lacking a little bit of dedication for a part of their careers and they’re two lovely fellas, that would be an unbelievable, unbelievable fight.”
Warren has been with Garner since “The Piranha” turned pro, and the promoter acknowledged the difficult periods as well as the payoff.
“The guy’s got talent,” said Warren. “From day one, he always had magnificent talent. I loved watching him to start with and he just had that little… they’re young people. Boxers have to give up their youth. Their mates are all out, their friends are out having a good time. “He decided he was going to go out with friends a couple of times and it was a problem, but he’s matured. He’s got himself, as [coach] Wayne [Batten] said, the support of Wayne and everybody and he’s got his life back on track. He’s a dad now. He’s got his own responsibilities. He’s turned his life around in a big way and he deserves everything for it. “Talent and dedication gets you there. Talent on its own doesn’t do it.”
Warren was also pleased to see a strong crowd turnout and career a cracking atmosphere.
“Look, this has come alive down here,” he said. “You’ve got Royston [Barney-Smith, who was ringside], you’ve got two other guys on there tonight, [Taylor] Bevan and Lewis [Edmondson]. And, of course, there’s great opportunities there. But that’s what, from our perspective, Queensberry, that’s what we do. We’re promoters. We build the audience. We work hard on doing that. And that’s what’s happened. And everybody’s turned out. And next time, it’ll be bigger. It’ll be a bigger crowd next time.”
Warren was then asked about the explosive start of the fight, and he admitted he was nervous about how the fight might turn out.
“They could have had that fight in the phone box,” Warren said. “They weren’t moving, were they? They were just on the ropes, just letting shots go, and I was screaming… it’s easy when you’re on the outside and you’re looking in just sitting and looking, looking and thinking, just a couple of little tactical moves could have made it [different]. But he did what he had to do and they’ve done it his way. And it was a fabulous fight. And again, it’s another great night in British, European and world boxing. That’s what it is. This fight went out all around the world. All around the world. Unbelievable.”
