Napa suffers points defeat in return to the ring
Hackney boxer plans to move back down to bantamweight for his next fight
Hackney’s former British and European bantamweight champion Ian Napa’s venture into the super-bantamweight division did not go to plan on Sunday.
At Sunderland FC’s Stadium of Light home, Napa was outpointed by North East boxer Martin Ward, but the Hackney fighter revealed he wasn’t fazed by the defeat.
“I’m not disappointed with losing,” he said.
“I am happy that I managed to go 10 rounds after being out for so long.
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“The fight has done me a whole lot of good and the result is nothing new to me.”
Napa admitted that he thought Ward deserved to win the fight, despite the Hackney boxer being the more aggressive of the two in the ring.
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“Ward did what he had to do and that won him the fight,” he said.
“He is a good fighter. But I was more aggressive, I pressed the fight and he was boxing on the back foot.
“I bossed the fight.”
Napa also revealed that the fact Ward was a southpaw did cause some concern to the Hackney boxer when he was in the ring.
“It’s not just that Ward is a southpaw, he is a very good southpaw,” he said.
“Technically he was very good and he was difficult to box against.
“In boxing and in training you don’t come up against many southpaws, let alone good ones.
“Fair play to the boy.”
The Hackney boxer is still desperate to prove he has what it takes to compete at the top and has targeted a shot at a British title, in the not-so-distant future.
“I know that I can still compete with and beat the best boxers,” he said.
“Otherwise I wouldn’t still be boxing.
“I woke up the morning after the fight and I felt good.”
For now though Napa has set his sights on a return to the ring in September, on the undercard of the European Bantamweight title fight between Jamie McDonell and Stuey Hall at the Doncaster Dome.
“I spoke with my promoter Frank Maloney and they have sorted out this fight for me in September for which I am really grateful,” said Napa.
However, Napa reveals that he plans to move down a weight division, after stepping up for the Ward fight to super-bantamweight.
“I will be moving back down to bantamweight,” he said.
“I moved up to super-bantamweight because I was struggling to make my fighting weight.
“But I feel more comfortable at bantamweight.”
