Eyes on the Prize

After extending his career record to 9-0 this past weekend, boxer Matty Rennie is focussing his efforts on claiming a first pro title this summer.

Manxman Rennie beat the previously undefeated Efstathios Antonas on Saturday at Liverpool’s Olympia.

Boxing out of Liverpool, Rennie dropped just one round in the six round bout, wining four of them, leaving him with a 59-56 win in what was probably, even with our slightly biased view, the bout of the night.

With Antonas appearing to have the slightly longer reacher, Rennie’s footwork and combination shots saw him through, despite being cut above his left eye early in the fourth.

Speaking after the fight, Rennie said it was a ’50-50 fight’ that had grabbed the crowds interest, with his interviewer suggesting it could have even topped the bill.

He said: ‘I think after Covid, we’ve kind of get to that now where you have to take a chance sooner than normal. That was a fight we didn’t have to take, but the only way you get better is by taking flights like that, if I was to fight a journeyman, I probably would have won 60-40 and I’ve probably learned more there.

‘I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but when you got 5/6 and 0, you need these little tests to bring you on and that’s what this was.’

Ever the Manxman, Rennie was keen to thank his travelling support who had gone from the island to watch the bout.

Having overcome his latest challenge, Rennie said he is going to sit down with his manager and plot where they go next. Speaking to Gef, he said: ‘I still want to box for a title this summer central area title something like that would be amazing.’

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You can watch the fight in full below: