Windle: I’ll fight on in light-fly division

Matt Windle…wants to get straight back in the title mix

MATT Windle has stressed his future remains at light-fly – despite the conclusive nature of his Commonwealth title defeat in the exotic surroundings of the Cayman Islands.

Birmingham’s Windle – one of the most articulate boxers in the business – is still picking the bones of that loss to Craig Derbyshire. And he pulls no punches in the critique of a contest that cost him the cherished light-flyweight belt.

It was, the 33-year-old said with unerring honesty, a “dreadful performance”. He has yet to discover a reason for it and there may not be one, defining factor.

Even championship boxers are burdened by human frailties and every human is prone to a bad day at the office.

On December 8 in George Town, Derbyshire dominated before trainer Spencer McCracken pulled out the champ after a rocky fifth round.

The boxer who lost to Derbyshire was a long way from the tough, all action, resilient athlete who rose from small hall obscurity to gain top honours.

“The experience as a whole (fighting in the Caribbean) was overwhelmingly positive,” Windle said. “I am delighted to be a part of it. I can take losing in good spirit because, in the past, I’ve lost and performed.”

It’s the nature of this loss that stings.

“I just had no energy,” said Windle. “I made him look like a huge puncher because everything he hit me with was sending me flying. Nothing hurt me, I just didn’t have the legs to absorb the punches. Imagine a tree that has a branch for a trunk – it will snap it easily.

“That’s what I regret. Not the result, it’s more that it was a new audience, new relationships, new connections and I didn’t do myself justice.

“It was nothing to do with training, I trained very hard. I was fit, I was doing good numbers, I just had nothing in me.

“He (Derbyshire) was less aggressive than I thought he would be in that he was jabbing and moving. He said after the fight I hurt him in the fourth with a body shot. How flat I was, in my head it made him look and feel faster.

“One million per cent, I’d like a rematch, but I know an immediate re-match wouldn’t make sense. One look at my record tells you I’m not into four or six round fights just to pad my record. I want to get straight back into the mix.

“I spoke to someone over there (Cayman Islands) from one of the smaller governing bodies and they said they’d be happy for me to fight for one of their titles. I’d like to fight for a continental or European title from one of the smaller governing bodies.”

Despite being at an age when boxers move upwards through the weights, Windle has no plans to leave the light-fly division.

“I’m too small for flyweight,” he insisted. “When I landed in Grand Cayman, I was on the flyweight limit and you usually hold weight during a flight. That was six days before the fight.

“If you can make weight six days before a contest, you’re in the wrong weight division.”