Light-heavyweight prospect from Tiptree in Essex – Darrel ‘The Baptist’ Church (2-1) has been forced to withdraw from a scheduled rematch with former conqueror Angelo ‘Concrete’ Crowe (3-6) on October 17th at Grays Civic Hall.
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The Carl Greaves Promotions show will still go ahead as planned with Southern Area champion Adam Dingsdale (13-2-1) vying for the vacant English lightweight title against Kevin Hooper (17-3) in the main event.
The 26-year-old operating in the 175 pounds division stated, “With a heavy heart, I’ve had to pull out of my October fight due to a back injury.”
He explained, “I went to grab a few bits for work and slipped down the stairs and jolted my back. I tried to carry on with training and I’ve done little bits here and there but it just didn’t feel right.”
The cancelled rematch was arranged immediately after Church suffered his first loss to Crowe on June 20th at the same venue, desperate to even the score as soon as possible.
“It’s just not worth it to be going in to a fight at only 80%. I want to be at my very best as it’s the biggest fight of my career and if I lost, then it’ll take a lot to come back from,” he said.
Post-fight, Church was understandably deflated after tasting his first ever defeat in any boxing contest so far which includes three professional and 11 semi-pro contests.
“I’m disappointed but, on the other hand, it could be the best thing for me. To have two or three months out could be good for me because everyone in the gym has been advising me to have a breather and they all think that I’m too eager to get back in there to right the wrong.
“It gives me that little more time to wind down a bit and to get that aggressive, revenge attitude out of my head. This will allow me to collect myself and be a bit more calm and levelheaded in my approach.”
The Baptist kicked off his pro career with a points win over Curtis Gargano (0-1-1) in July 2014 and then doubled the win tally four months later with another points win over debutant Haidar Sadiq in November, both sessions at the Grays Civic Hall.
Prior to this, Church had spent five years on the unlicensed scene which is extremely popular in Essex, since taking up boxing at the age of 19, winning all 11 fights.
Trained by Kevin Lilley and managed by Carl Greaves, the light-heavyweight optimistically remarked, “I’m 26-years-old so I’m still young with lots of time on my side and plenty to look forward to.
“I just want to recover now, get this next fight done and then get back on track and start knocking on the door for opportunities. The next fight will now be December 3rd on a dinner show at Grays Civic Hall.”
Teammates Liam Desmond (5-0), Paul Hilz (1-1), Joe Jackson Brown (2-0) George Hennon (1-0) and Shaun Hussein (1-0-2) will all be appearing on the bill headlined by Adam Dingsdale (13-2-1) and Kevin Hooper (17-3) for the vacant English lightweight championship.
Two debutants complete the line-up in welterweight John Wheatley from Harwich, Essex and Nigerian light-welterweight, Idris Hill.
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