Josh Taylor advice delights East Kilbride boxer after narrow win at Gladiators III event
Lewis Connelly continued his 100 per cent start but was left frustrated by his own display
East Kilbride boxer Lewis Connelly admits some words of encouragement from former undisputed light-welterweight Josh Taylor champion eased his frustrations after a narrow win at the Gladiators III event on Saturday night.
The 24-year-old, from Calderwood, was fighting in front of a home town audience at Playsport and maintained his 100 per cent start to his pro career, defeating Mario Valenzuela Portillo by a score of 39-37.
Connelly, who is now sitting on 3-0 in his fights so far, was frustrated by his display but a chat with the four-time world champion, who was in attendance, cheered him up.
He said: 'It was tougher than I expected. He [Portillo] was quite an awkward guy to catch clean. I kind of struggled to put my punches together on him, to be honest.
'I think my persistence paid off. I was more active and just stayed on him, I didn't allow him to build any momentum after the first round.
'But I wasn't too pleased with my performance. It was quite a frustrating one. He was quite hard to pin down so I'm just glad I got through it and got the win.
'I was chatting to Josh afterwards and I was telling him about my frustrations with the fight and he was giving me some advice, saying you are going to have fights like that. They don't always go to plan, it is just about getting through them and pushing forward.
'He was telling me not to beat myself up about it.
'It was really good to get that from him, it made me realise I was maybe being too hard on myself, if he has been there and been in that position before.
'It makes you realise it maybe isn't as bad as you think it is. I'm 3-0 so I can't argue with that. It has gone well so far.'
It certainly wasn't plain sailing for Lewis with him taking a blow to the side of the head and suffering a burst eardrum that is set to limit his training for a fourth test in his career.
Connelly could be due to perform in the next Gladiators event, set to be held in October, and that could be a more realistic next target.
He added: 'I'll rest up for a wee bit now because I suffered an injury.'I burst my eardrum, so that was a sore one. I think it'll take a couple of months to heal.
'I will be back in the gym this week but I can't do too much.'We are back in October at Playsport but I am hoping for another fight before that, but I'll need to see how it goes with the injury.'
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