Anthony Fowler pays tribute to Craig O’Brien following Sky Box Office clash

Liverpool light middleweight Anthony Fowler [7(6)-0] praised both Craig O’Brien and his vocal following after the pair’s pay-per-view opener at the O2 Arena last night.

The Matchroom fighter stopped the Dubliner in the sixth round of their clash in sensational fashion on the undercard of Dillian Whyte v Joseph Parker, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

It’s a shot that will forever decorate the Rio Olympian’s highlight reel and a finish that will be consumed over and over again online.

However, their was much more to the fight that just the final seconds and Fowler, who administered a gameplan that eventually led to the one punch stoppage, admitted that O’Brien [8(0)-1(1)] did ask him questions throughout the fight.

Fowler always appeared the aggressor and the more powerful, but the Paschal Collins-trained fighter asked the kind of questions he never had to answer in the pro ring and produced flashes of quality before being stopped.

To his credit Fowler, who had shared words with the 28-year-old Irish champion before the clash, admitted as much after.

“Craig O’Brien gave me a real fight tonight and caught me with a few punches my coach won’t be happy with,” Fowler said afterwards.

“Respect to the lad, he was better than I thought, I watched him on YouTube and I wasn’t too impressed but in there he was better than what I thought, he was quite slick, fast hands, and had good footwork – so respect to Craig and I wish him all the best,” he then told IFL TV.

The prospect was also impressed with the travelling contingent of O’Brien supporters from Dublin and made a point of saying “credit to his fans they were brilliant I heard them at the start of the fight and I was laughing. Credit to the Irish they get behind their own, so well done to Craig O’Brien and his fans.”

Speaking about the left hook that ended the fight in dramatic and eye-catching fashion, Fowler claimed it came from the notable body work he invested in early in the fight.

“It was lovely. Early on I thought ‘I don’t care about head shots, get the body tire him out’ and I knew that shot would come. I can’t rate Dave [Coldwell, trainer] high enough as a coach, he completely changed my boxing around. All my stamina issues are gone, I am not loading up anymore, I found my range and I got him out of there.”

“I feinted to the body because I knew I was hurting him then whip the overhand and you saw the effect.”

Watch Anthony Fowler’s interview with IFL TV in full below: