He said: 'The journey isn’t finished yet'

“I’m going to sign out of social media. I'm absolutely gutted. I took on a fight on 10 days’ notice and tried my best but just wasn’t good enough tonight with the time we had. Nelson Birchall is a very good kid and great team around him. I wish him all the best moving forward.” These were the words of Grimsby’s Levi Giles (17-4-1(4)) following his brave seventh round stoppage loss against Morecambe’s unbeaten former English Featherweight Champion Nelson Birchall (13-0(10)).

The fight, which took place on Saturday, October 17, at London’s O2 Arena, opened the main TV Card on DAZN as part of the Daniel Dubois v Fabio Wardley rematch for the WBO World Heavyweight Title, promoted by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. The opening couple of rounds saw Birchall edge into a two-round lead with Giles having his moments but the busier and better work coming from the Morecambe fighter.

Rounds three and four were closer affairs with Giles trying to pressure Birchall, but the better moments were still coming from Birchall, keeping his momentum going. Birchall caught Giles with a peach of a right hand shot to the body which dropped Giles just past the halfway point of the fifth round. Giles showed true grit to battle back as he tried to regroup.

Round six saw Birchall look to apply more pressure on Giles who was dropped for the second time by an uppercut with more than two minutes of the round left. Giles again dug in against the inevitable onslaught from Birchall to reach the round’s end.

Birchall dropped Giles for the third time with a flurry of heavy shots early on in the seventh round. Giles again rose to ‘beat the count’ but Referee Sean McAvoy had seen enough to wave off proceedings timed at fifty-one seconds.

Giles should be applauded for accepting the fight on ten days’ notice but unfortunately came up short to make it a ‘hat-trick’ of brave defeats in visits to the capital. “It wasn’t our night tonight. Levi Giles fought his heart out, but the better man won,” said Giles’ Trainer Matty Teague.

He added: “It's some achievement for a rough and ready Nunsthorpe kid to box on such a huge stage at the O2 Arena. We're a very proud team.”

Giles said: “A massive thank you for the support. I always give 100%. I’ll never be a 'what if ', I’ll always be a 'let’s go and try my best'. I’ll be back, proper, and I'll rebuild in 2027. The journey isn’t finished yet. It’s at super-featherweight - I’ll drop back down to and go again.

“I’d like to thank my Coaches Matty Teague, Andy Blackett and Dan West who put in endless hours to get me ready and everybody who came down to London to support me. I'd also like to thank Carl Greaves, who is the best in the game for getting me these opportunities, Frank Warren and Queensbury Promotions for having me on a massive show, my partner Demi for all her support, my ‘Training Stablemate’ Tom Ramsden, my family and friends and all my sponsors for their support. I couldn’t do any of this without their support,” he added.