Windle loses brave bid for top fly titles

Calm before the storm…Windle (right) and Butler

THERE was no fairytale ending to Matt Windle’s Cinderella story at Liverpool Olympia.

Birmingham’s punching poet’s bid to lift the vacant European flyweight title was thwarted by home favourite Connor Butler. The unbeaten Merseyside prospect’s Commonwealth crown was also on the line.

Windle may have lost Friday’s 12 rounder by unanimous points decision, but he can still call himself a champ.

The Commonwealth light-flyweight belt he won last October is still in his possession. Matt, a professional poet by day, moved up to chase double glory against Butler and it proved a step too far.

Connor – now unbeaten in 12 – deserved the decision and one judge had it a surprisingly wide 118-111. He started fast, put together flashy combinations and showed good footwork. The man was razor-sharp.

But Matt was always in the fight and never stopped pressing.

Whatever the outcome, the big fight capped an amazing climb to the top for Windle. The 32-year-old entered the pro ranks without fanfare in 2015, was controversially turned back in two bids to take Midlands title, yet kept plugging away.

Last year, he was given the opportunity to fight for the Commonwealth light-flyweight title, a division that had long been dormant in this country. There’s a reason for that: Light-flys weigh 7st 7lbs and the UK has heavier primary school pupils.

Matt seized the chance and halted South African Siphelele Myeza in 11 rounds.

Butler, fighting on home turf, proved a very different proposition. Speaking to me on the morning after the bout, Matt admitted the contest underlined the fact his championship future lies at the lower weight.

“I can’t blame the weight, as such,” he said. “There were no excuses going into the ring. I showed my fitness and endurance in the contest.

“But when you look at my record, it’s clear to see I’m a light-fly. I don’t have the same impact at fly. I see a tremor in opponents when I hit them at light-fly. At flyweight, the punches just bounce off them. At fly, I hit hard enough to make them think, ‘I’ll get on my toes and try to outbox him’, but not hard enough to make a dent in them’.

“If I’d won yesterday, I had 48 hours to decide which title I was going to vacate (Commonwealth fly or light-fly). Flyweight was the one I would’ve vacated. Physically, flyweight is not where I’ll have my success.”

Of the fight itself, Windle said: “I felt I got myself back into it. He tried to put it on me in the first. In the second I showed I was not going to be bullied. From round three onwards, I felt I was getting back into it, I felt I was in the fight. When we got to round six, I thought, ‘you are feeling this’.

“Connor Butler has achieved a great feat in a short space of time. He was probably even sharper than I anticipated. I was having pockets of success, but that was what it was – pockets of success. I couldn’t gain any momentum. I’m chipping away and slowing him down and he’d have a flurry and produce an eye-catching three punch combination.”

The future remains bright for Windle after 13 pro outings, but it shines brightest at light-flyweight.