Walsall's Liam Morris goes down swinging in first televised bout

Lewis Morris (8-3) put in a valiant display against Joe McGrail (11-0), having plenty of success but coming up short on the scorecards at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester.

The 22-year-old from Walsall was seen as a heavy underdog against the much-hyped McGrail, and that hype looked to be justified as he dropped Morris with a sharp left hand in the second round.

However, it wasn’t to be a quick night as Morris recovered well and started to land power punches of his own in the third. McGrail was starting to get a bit frustrated and landed numerous low blows, twice being warned by referee Steve Grey.

Implored on by Wolverhampton Boxing Club coach Richie Carter, ‘Stut’ kept his composure and came back with body shots of his own.

Morris kept his tight guard but seemed comfortable trading shots when the two men got up close and personal.

The Liverpool man has a lovely jab, but Morris showed good head movement and looked strong as the fight entered the later stages.

A big right hand looked to trouble McGrail in the seventh, but he showed his class by finishing the last round on top, getting his hand raised with a wide score of 79-72.

There was a disappointed look from Morris as MC David Diamante read out the score, but after putting on a good performance in his first televised bout, his stock will have grown in defeat, and a mouth-watering Midlands title rematch with Ryan Griffiths is still in his sights.

“What a great experience last night fighting on a Matchroom Boxing and DAZN show,” he said. 

“It was something I’ve dreamed of my whole life.

"I genuinely thought the fight was a hell of a lot closer than the scores.“I didn’t get hit much after the knockdown and even landed big shots of my own, but I have learnt an incredible amount and have already been told I’ll be back on these platforms in the future.”