Points defeat angers Craig Morris

The Ludlow boxer thought he had edged his tight fight with hometown favourite Jack Flatley after ‘taking over’ the middle rounds.

But the welterweight was left emotionally crushed when the three judges ruled 98-93, 97-94 and 97-93 in Flatley’s favour.

“There was a bit of controversy with the decision because the points margins were massive” said Morris. “I was really disappointed with the result.

“They had him winning a lot of rounds, it was ridiculous. Most people had me winning six rounds to four. Or at the very least the draw. “It was a hard one to swallow. He didn’t do the scorecards, it wasn’t him. But there was definitely the influence of the home crowd.

“I took 45 followers so a few of us went up. If it was a draw or a split decision it would be a bit easier to take, but the points margins were so far from the actual margins it’s hard to take.” Morris admitted it was a hard fight and ‘toe-to-toe’ all the way and conceded that Flatley nicked an early round.

But he felt he was catching his opponent with clean shots in the middle rounds before a clash of heads caused some swelling on the top of his eye.

“It was just a bit of a wounder,” said Morris, a former Midlands champion. “Because in my head I wasn’t losing, I was coming away with a belt, it’s hard to take the loss.”

The defeat has hit the 27-year-old hard, who admitted he was planning to take some time out to gather his thoughts before deciding his next move.

When asked if he would like a rematch, he said: “It’s going over old ground, I don’t know if I could get up for the same fight after that.

“I don’t know what the next stage is, I’ll have some time with the kids, have some time out.”

Morris also thanked his supporters and his sponsors Mapei adhesives and Sigma, as well as local companies JRS Construction, Worm Dangling Adventures and Morris Autos