No trouble in Tokyo for Peter McGrail as he secures fifth straight stoppage victory
26-year-old Peter McGrail (6-0, 5KO) was back in Tokyo just 17 months after competing in the Summer Olympics there in July 2021. Remarkably, the fledgling pro returned to the Land of the Rising Sun unbeaten in five fights with four KOs, fresh from headlining his own show in his last fight.
The rising star faced local talent Hironori Miyake (9-13-2, 1KO) in an eight-round featherweight contest on Tuesday, December 13, on the undercard of Paul Butler’s undisputed bantamweight clash with ‘Monster’ Naoya Inoue at the 15,000-capacity Ariake Arena in Koto-ku, Tokyo.
Despite the 6,000-mile trip and only fighting last less than two months ago, McGrail was as sharp as ever in his sixth professional bout, landing cleanly, accurately, and strongly in the opening round, wasting no time in putting the pressure on the 34-year-old from Hiroshima.
Trained by Paul Stevenson, the southpaw had Miyake trapped in the corner in the second stanza as he patiently lined up and landed with his backhand left. Miyake managed to counter McGrail to escape from the corner, but was caught by another straight left to the head, then a swiping right hand to the cheek as he backed up.
Back to the centre of the ring, McGrail leaned in from range to land a straight left to the body, then he landed with a long-ranging uppercut to the head, which prompted Miyake to throw a very lackadaisical overhand right which left him wide open to McGrail’s swift one-two counter bang on the chin to send him sprawling backwards.
He bravely rose to his feet but was stopped at 2minutes of round two of a scheduled eight by referee Takeru Okaniwa. That’s five KOs in a row and McGrail’s third second-round stoppage victory of his short six-fight pro career.
Everton Red Triangle head coach praised his 122lbs student’s performance, “Peter was pinpoint accurate in there tonight. He has it all, precision, power, speed, perfect balance, and a next-level boxing brain.
“He started getting to his man straightaway, landing cleanly and heavily in the first, then dropped his man in round two. Pete calmly picked his shots and set up a finishing combination.”
Peter expects to enjoys his Christmas after experiencing six fights in 14 months but plans to be back early in the New Year to pick up where he left off.
Tokyo 2020 Olympian McGrail won his pro debut on points in October 2021, winning all six rounds against journeyman Ed Harrison. After that, the 26-year-old must have decided he didn’t like the sound the final bell makes so has stopped the rest of his five opponents in a row, none of which made it past the midway stage in their respective bouts.
The former Team GB star has ended the year on a high, with his sixth win, which followed a win over a WBC International and WBA Fedelatin titlist, Alexander Espinoza, in his first headlining fight. The Liverpool ace topped the bill at the Olympia in his home city, rising to the occasion in the spotlight to stop the Nicaraguan in five rounds of a scheduled 10.
As an amateur, McGrail won European Championships and Commonwealth Games gold medals, as well as two bronze medals in the World Championships and representing Great Britain in the Olympics.
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