Rob Hunt vows to bounce back
Stafford's Rob Hunt was vowed to bounce back as a better fighter after taking on former European title challenger Scott Lawton as his new trainer.
Stafford's Rob Hunt was vowed to bounce back as a better fighter after taking on former European title challenger Scott Lawton as his new trainer.
Stoke's Lawton, who retired in January, was a Midlands and two-time English lightweight champion and unsuccessfully went for the British, Commonwealth and European titles.
The 34-year-old has come on board after Hunt's regular mentor, Paul Dykes, retired from training fighters to concentrate on management.
Lawton will be in the corner when Hunt returns to the ring on Friday night, going up against journeyman Matt Seawright at the Deeside Leisure Centre in Queensferry, Wales.
All eyes will be on Hunt after he lost his undefeated record in brutal fashion last November, stopped in six rounds by Ben Lawler after being knocked down three times in the first two sessions.
The light welterweight also missed the chance of his first title that night, the British Masters crown, and spent his 25th birthday two days later with a perforated eardrum, suffered in the first round.
But Hunt – one of only two professional boxers from Stafford, the other being middleweight Grant Cunningham – insists quitting never came into his mind.
And, with Lawton behind him, Hunt feels the only way is up.
He said: "I was never going to quit, no chance, I never thought like that.
"I can't really remember much about the Lawler fight, apart from not being able to hear anything after the first round.
"I had to go hospital the following morning and they told me not to do anything for six weeks, I was doing little bits but was not allowed to bounce up and down.
"Me and Scott haven't spoken about it, we have got straight back into training and work a bit more inside, if I do get caught on the inside again. It's basics really, drilling them back into my head.
"He's got a lot of experience and I was a fan of his as a fighter because he was like me - tall and rangey. He still spars but it's more technical, rather than a war.
"I will be a better technical boxer as a result, 100 per cent."
