Teammates Nick Ball and Peter McGrail both won their fights on separate shows
Everton Red Triangle teammates Nick Ball and Peter McGrail both won their professional boxing fights 100 miles apart at the weekend.
Ball was in Birmingham performing live on BT Sport on a Frank Warren event and McGrail was making his pro bow on a Matchroom show in his home city of Liverpool.
Both young boxers won their fights and impressed crowds two hours drive and 100 miles apart on Saturday, October 9.
Wrecking Ball
Undefeated featherweight prospect Nick Ball (14-0, 7KOs) wasted no time in his ring return after 15-months out and blasted Polish title contender Piotr Gudel (10-7-1, 1KO) away in just 56 seconds!
On the undercard of Brad Foster vs Jason Cunningham on the October 9 Queensberry Boxing event, the 24-year-old got off to a flying start as he floored the visiting fighter with a well-timed uppercut just 20 seconds into the scheduled eight-round contest. Matured and experienced, Ball didn’t rush in and gave himself enough room to land a sweet one-two combination to down the European for a second time, then he closed the show with half a dozen left uppercuts to force the stoppage with less than a minute on the clock.
After the fight, he urged his promoter Frank Warren to get him a title fight next.
Peter Perfect
Back in Liverpool, Ball’s teammate Peter McGrail (1-0) secured a punch-perfect, shutout six-rounds points win against the tough Ed Harrison (2-9) from Blackpool, who is a bit of a banana skin for young prospects, having beaten two undefeated opponents already from the away corner.
On the Matchroom Sports show, which featured a local derby in the main event between Liam Smith and Anthony Fowler, 2020 Tokyo Olympian McGrail didn’t let the occasion or opponent faze him in any way as he set about attacking to the body and the head of the tall Thai-born fighter from Lancashire.
The 25-year-old, who won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, showed off his sublime skills, fancy footwork, aggressive attacks, then almost stopped his opponent in the sixth and final round with his persistent pressure.
Nicknamed ‘The Liverpool Lomachenko’, the outstanding amateur made a smooth and impressive transition into the professional ranks.
Everton Red Triangle
Both trained by Paul Stevenson at the century-old Everton Red Triangle gym in Liverpool, the talented pair also have three other unbeaten teammates to train alongside, including knockout artist Andrew Cain, skillful all-rounder Brad Strand and hard-hitting welterweight Jack McKinlay, as well as Peter’s talented younger brother, Joe, who has attained his pro boxing licence and is preparing for his debut early next year.
The successful gym in Albion Street is home to both amateur and professional boxers and has been producing champions for over 100 years.
Two of the talent-laden gym’s top amateurs, Tony Preston and Alfie Satchell, won National titles in Newcastle just earlier this month.
Head coach Paul Stevenson praised his hard-working group of fighters, “We’ve got good schoolboys, juniors, and all the way through to the seniors at the moment, so it’s a really good crop of boxers training there right now.
“We’ve also got great pro stable. We’ve got five pros training with us, some on the verge of title fights and capable, I believe, of winning world titles in the coming years. Peter McGrail was the club’s first ever Olympian and now he’s off the mark and ready to win big in the professional ranks.
“I’d say that it’s the best pro stable we’ve ever had!”
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