Rob Hunt likely to box on despite title loss
Stafford's Rob Hunt is likely to box on despite being counted out of his second chance at a title thanks to a body shot at Walsall Town Hall last weekend.
Former Midlands champion Steven Pearce, from Stourbridge, wrestled the vacant International Masters welterweight belt away from him in the fifth round.
Hunt admirably tried and failed to beat referee Robert Chalmers' count and was clearly in great pain, but insists he's still a fighter despite another title blow.
The 28-year-old previously lost a crack at the British Masters crown in six rounds to Ben Lawler three years ago, but insists his seven-year pro career is not over.
He said: "It's boxing, it's not the end of the world. But I want to continue, I will have a break now and see where we go from here."
Hunt had started the bout like a house on fire and caught Pearce with a right hand over the top, an uppercut to the ribs and a snapping right hook to the body over the first two rounds.
Pearce shrugged off the blows and mounted an offensive, as both spent the third round trading punches. Blood leaked from the nose of Hunt in the fourth as the finish loomed large.
Pearce put all of his might behind a right hook that cracked Hunt square on the sternum, forcing him to take a knee and concede the victory 33 seconds into the fifth round.
Hunt said: "A fight is a fight, it was a delayed reaction as the punch had taken everything out of me. I tried to get my breath back, but I couldn't in time.
"It was a good fight, one wins and one doesn't and that's the sport. I am not making excuses, but I had problems with a head cold in training for the night.
"He was a strong kid, he caught me right in the solar plexus. I couldn't recover, the pain was unreal. I had caught him with a punch at the same time, too."
