The perfect left hand that Peter McGrail drove into Brad Foster’s body last weekend couldn’t have been delivered at a better time.

The shot hit Foster in the worst possible place at the worst possible time and quickly ended the junior featherweight fight. Thanks to this, fans remembered at the right time what the 28-year-old Liverpool player is capable of.

McGrail was an outstanding amateur, and his talent was so great that fans quickly began to take his victories for granted. Last December’s shocking and sudden loss to relatively unknown Ja’Rico O’Quinn was a major shock.

In April, McGrail (10-1 (6 KO)) came back from defeat, defeating the arduous Marc Leach in comprehensive but understandably watchful fashion and needed an eye-catching result.

Foster is a former British and Commonwealth champion but – at least in terms of results – is in needy form.

The red “L”s on a fighter’s BoxRec page don’t leave much room for nuance and don’t do justice to how close Foster’s defeats were to Jason Cunningham and Rhys Edwards. No one even came close to doing what McGrail did to him.

“I felt like it was on the cards, you know what I mean? He’s been hitting the body well in sparring lately, so that’s been good,” McGrail’s trainer Paul Stevenson told BoxingScene.

“It was always quite an uphill battle because he [Foster] he is good, has great weight and is powerful. He has good tactics. He’s astute and experienced and no one has ever done this to him before. And he was ready for it.

“Obviously this is the best type of finish you can get. All it takes is one shot and we go home in the second round against an opponent like that, because it could be a long night

“I don’t remember who it was now, but someone said he was sort of like what Liam Davies is now when they were supporting and pushing him a few years ago. And his losses were pretty close anyway, right?

In recent weeks, British and European champion Dennis McCann was cleared to defend both of his titles against McGrail.

Given McGrail’s amateur pedigree, the decision was quickly made to jump him through the world rankings, and he bypassed the burgeoning British scene and concentrated on climbing the WBA ladder.

Over the past few years, the outstanding Liam Davies has established himself as a top-10 player in the world at 122 pounds, while McCann has matured and begun to develop into the talent that many predicted he would be when he burst onto the scene as a teenager.

Suddenly, the prospect of facing British rivals became much more attractive to McGrail. Yes, domestic bragging rights would be at stake, but the fights with Davies and McCann would now have global ramifications as well.

“With the Riyadh season you can pay them accordingly, so it makes sense for everyone. Well, certainly for us,” Stevenson said.

“You can go on the British route and you can have really difficult fights to the death for a slight rise in the world rankings, and I just never really liked that route unless you had a boy who you were sure that was his limit.

“With Nick [Ball, the WBA featherweight champion]We didn’t even care about it. We just shot up the WBC rankings.

“But like I said, I think out of the guys you mentioned, we have the best kid in Pete, so the one who will give Pete the best development and the best finances is him.”

As Stevenson mentioned, Riyadh Season is the place to be, and the fight between McGrail – repped by Matchroom – and Queensberry’s McCann looks to be a chance for the second installment of the 5v5 series, pitting fighters from promotional giants against each other.

McGrail’s team is certainly interested.

“I don’t think they want that. “I think he made a bit of noise because Pete didn’t smoke in his last fight and he got beat in his last fight and he probably thinks it’s the right time for him,” Stevenson said. – But of course when he saw her do it [to Foster]now Dennis McCann makes different sounds.

“It’s up to them. We’re doing our thing anyway, so if it’s not them, it’ll be someone else, and if not the Saudi, it’ll be somewhere else, but we’ll just keep making progress and Pete can be world champion for 18 or even 12 months from now. Just see what happens.

The gala will continue even without the only vital title fight.

confirmed that Brian Norman Jr. will no longer appear on ESPN’s November 8 show at The Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. An arm injury suffered during training camp forced the undefeated WBO welterweight champion to withdraw from his defense against Derrieck Cuevas.

Norman-Cuevas was scheduled to co-headline the show. Dan Rafael of Fight Freaks Unite was the first to report that the fight would be postponed to the first quarter of 2025.

The remainder of the event – which The Ring has learned is sold out for the first show – will go ahead. Local Keyshawn Davis (11-0, 7 knockout) will face Argentinian Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KO) in a 10-round lightweight fight. For the 2020 Olympic silver medalist, this is the first hometown event Lightweight The Ring model with number 7.

Norman (26-0, 20 KO), the Ring’s fifth-ranked welterweight, was recently promoted to full WBO titleholder. He won an interim version of the belt after a tenth-round knockout of Giovani Santillan on May 18.

Norman’s conversations with IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis (31-0, 28 KO) were widely publicized. It’s more of a stance, although Ennis needed a better opponent. Ring’s No. 1 welterweight has been ordered to face mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian in an unnecessary rematch following his January 2023 victory.

Norman held on for as long as his team felt the undefeated Georgian was worth. When Ennis and Matchroom Boxing failed to hit that number, Norman moved up to a birdie that was already in hand – a spot on Davis’ card.

Now he will have to wait for his first title defense. The upcoming postponed gala will also be Cuevas’ first title fight in his career.

Top officials were unable to comment on the development as the news is not official (yet). However, The Ring has learned that the likely candidate for the fresh joint film will be from the planned lineup, provided there is an appropriate update in the coming days.

Davis’ goal is to restore the tradition of boxing in Norfolk once established by the slow Hall of Fame great Pernell Whitaker in the 1980s and 1990s.

Whitaker played at the Scope Arena ten times, including a revenge-fueled victory over Jose Luis Ramirez in August 1989 to avenge his controversial first career loss. His last fight was a repeat victory over James “Buddy” McGirt and defense of the lineal champion and WBC welterweight championship in October 1994.

Former Ring/lineal heavyweight champion Hall of Famer Larry Holmes fought the final fight of his legendary career at the Scope Arena. This came after a July 2002 decision victory over Eric “Butterbean” Esch.

Davis dominated with a ten-round unanimous decision over Miguel Madueno (31-3, 28 KO) on July 6 in Newark, Recent Jersey. The seventh lightweight fighter of The Ring organization served as a support for long-time friend and three-division champion Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KO).

Five months earlier, he defeated former two-division champion Jose Pedraza (29-6-1, 14 KO). This fight took place on the Top Rank card before the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

“The Businessman” is now at the forefront of his quest to become the lightweight champion.

It will face the toughest test in its history, at least on paper.

Argentine Lemos (29-1, 19 KO) was unlucky to suffer a lone defeat in his last fight.

The 28-year-old from Argentina was attacking Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins, who made an unpopular decision during the DAZN main event on April 6 in Las Vegas. Most viewers and those in attendance felt that Lemos deserved the nod for the IBF 140-pound title.

Lemos will fight in the United States for the second time in a row. His proposed fight with Davis will mean a return to lightweight.

Follow @JakeNDaBox