Hopefully Anthony Small will have another opportunity to answer his critics if the article on the Frank Warren website is accurate: This content is protected This content is protected In my opinion, there is no doubt that Anthony is surely the most exciting light middle weight prospects in recent years and was on the wrong side of a poor ref decision during the Bradley Price fight....this will give hiim the opportunity to show his championship credentials and move back up the rankings.
The decision to stop the fight against Pryce looked harsh at first but in the replays you could see his eyes were gone. He gathered his senses quickly after the ref stepped in but Pryce surely would have clocked him a couple more times had the decision not been made. At times he looked superb in that fight, spontaneous and incredibly quick throwing punches from unpredictable angles in short bursts but the overall performance was too laid back, frankly looking lazy at times. No shame in losing to Pryce who is a solid fighter.
No question, the lads got ability to burn, but he's young and naive in many regards, if he learns from his errors he will come back a stronger man. He's got to forget his own hype, knuckle down to some hard graft, respect EVERY opponent, if he can manage that, he'll have very good pro career.
I agree Anthony does need to learn from this loss and whether he was seriously hurt or simply tucking up and showboating the strategy didn't pay off with the 3rd man in the ring being somewhat over zealous? A point worth noting was the "generous" nature of the ref during the Amir knockdown as oppose to the harsh decision during Anthony's fight...perhaps this is about consistency of refs, or lack of it? I suspect the showmanship and hype with Anthony is more about entertaining the viewing public - something that boxing needs as fans migrate to the glitz of UFC etc - rather than a reflectionon on how he trains, prepares and respects his opponents?
Every fight is different and referee's are thinking of the fighter's well being when they intervene. Khan was slightly dazed but the punch that put him down did so more with momentum than concussive power. Small took a couple of big shots from Pryce (who is known to bang a bit) and was not defending himself. The referee obviously saw the glazed expression on his face and intervened to stop him taking any more shots flush on his chevy. Possibly over zealous but I certainly don't consider it a false stoppage.
the loss - however controversial - will hopefully do the lad good. What i saw was a highly talentented fighter who need polishing. a rematch with pryce with decent ref would be good. I still think pryce may have won but for me the stoppage was awful.
i think hes a huge talent and if he gets past woolcombe id favour him to beat pryce in a rematch. Anthony needs to grow mentally aswell as technically coz he has a style that could get him far in boxing
Small's next opponenet then - his fellow South East Londoner - Hotstuff - should not be overlooked - not the greatest of fighters - but hard to beat .
I like woolcombe, it should be a good fight. Small will have to win and make it convincing if he wants to make anyone believe that he is not all wind and ****.
