JUST over two weeks have passed since Robbie Davies Jnr took an innocuous step away from a Darragh Foley right hand and felt his leg crumble beneath him. The shock of leaving the ring with a broken fibula has worn off and his rehabilitation program is about to begin.
For the moment, all Davies can do is think and one thing is playing on his mind more than anything else.
It is frustrating him more than being forced onto the sofa with nothing to do except watch endless hours of daytime television. It is irritating him even more than that itch inside his cast that he just can’t reach.
“It’s been put down as a TKO loss,” he said. “No punch landed at all in that third round so how did [referee] Marcus McDonnell start a count? You can see on the replays that he’s looking right at it. He isn’t at an awkward angle or anything. I step back, Foley throws a punch, I’m well out of range and you just see my leg crumble underneath me and I fall to the floor. The ref starts counting but even then, as I rollover, I look at Shane [McGuigan, his trainer] and tell him, ‘It’s snapped.’ Out of pride I still jump up thinking, ‘You’re not counting me out, there was no punch.’
“Immediately after I go down, Shane started waving the white towel. It was a retirement.
“Getting carried out of the ring because your leg’s broken isn’t something that ever comes into your mind, but the worst part is sites putting ‘TKO for Foley’ and putting out a photo of me on my back with him stood looking over me.”
Robbie Davies Jr looks on (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
Davies still holds some hope that he may be able to go through official channels and get the result of the fight altered, something which would at least soothe his damaged pride whilst he figures out the full repercussions of that night in Liverpool.
The former British, Commonwealth and European super-lightweight champion knows that a conclusive defeat would be difficult to come back from at this stage of his career but the way the fight played out is another source of frustration for the Liverpudlian. For a round-and-a-half Davies looked – and felt – good, then a right hook from Foley changed everything.
“It was only a high-pressure fight because he was a late replacement because I was supposed to be fighting Liam Paro. In that one, he had everything to lose and I had it all to gain. With the switch of opponent, the shoe went on the other foot,” Davies said.
“I’ve always been a slow starter, but I probably had the best first round I’ve ever had in my life. He hit me once in two rounds. I got so comfortable in the first round and a bit that my hands came a bit low. I was leaning back and he threw a punch.
“I jumped up so quickly out of embarrassment. I said, ‘Good shot’ to him laughing. The bell goes, and Shane asked how I was. I told him I was alright and then he asked how my ankle was. He said he’d seen my body weight land on my ankle before it popped back underneath me. I sat on the stool and he’s giving me instructions and I just felt like a warmth wrap round my leg. The clapper went and he asked ‘Is it alright?’ and I said ‘I’ll tell you now.’”
Davies didn’t have to wait long to find out. Normally any incident or unusual finish has reporters in the press seats craning their necks for a glance of the television crew monitors for a replay. This time, nobody felt the need for a second look. Davies – somehow – sat calmly on a stool whilst doctors tended to him but the look of shock on his face told the story.
“I’ve never broken a big bone, but I just knew it was broken. It was either wait for the stretcher or just get out of the ring. When I got into the back I was sitting down and they were offering me drugs and morphine but I didn’t need it. They took me to the hospital and I was sitting on a bed. I started cooling down and the adrenaline was leaving me. I started to feel it and they gave me something for it. No pain ever actually kicked in. I just felt it start to sting a bit.”
Boxing moves quickly. Foley took the fight as a late notice underdog but it didn’t take long for the rumour mill to begin turning with speculation that the result would see him parachuted straight into a big fight. Davies has had his fair share of misfortune and ordinarily would find it hard to begrudge a fellow fighter capitalising on a touch of fortune but, at 33, he needs to think selfishly. Davies feels like he still has plenty left to give but needs meaningful fights rather than pure revenge missions. Correcting the result in a rematch may be consuming his thoughts while he sits in his living room watching Holly and Phil, but he is going to have watch things play out before he can plot a route back.
“People don’t need to be thinking I’m gonna be out for the rest of the year,” Davies said.
“I’m stewing on it. In the ring, Foley started celebrating but he came over to me and said that he didn’t realise what had happened. He said I didn’t have to give him the chance so that I could have a rematch, it would be the right thing to do. He’s saying this to me and I’m not giving him much back. My head has just fell right off. I’m just looking at him nodding. That’s the last thing I was thinking about then.
“At this level you normally fight twice a year. We fought in March so anytime from the end of July to September, I’ll be back. I want the fight that so, so much. It’s so frustrating.”