‘TOMMY’S BETTER THAN THAT…’

Despite his recent defeat to Galal Yafai … Sheffield’s Tommy Frank can be a champion again, says Fight Academy and Fightzone chief, Dennis Hobson. Former British Flyweight Champion, Frank, took on Birmingham’s Yafai at his home city’s Utilita Arena in August and was expected to give the 2020 Olympic Gold Medallist the toughest test of his early pro career. Despite losing his British crown to Welshman Jay Harris in his previous fight in May, ‘Super’ Tommy had far greater experience and pro rounds heading into the contest, with the Brummie boxer having just his fifth pro outing. Unfortunately for Tommy, who was topping the bill on DAZN, the fight was over in under two minutes.  Starting fast and catching the Yorkshireman cold, Yafai scored an early knockdown before throwing a flurry of unanswered punches that prompted Tommy’s trainer Glyn Rhodes to throw in the towel. With back-to-back stoppage losses – albeit in top level company – now on his 15-4-1 (3) record, Tommy will inevitably have some thinking to do about where he goes from here in his career.  Having previously won both British and Commonwealth belts though, the 30-year-old has already achieved more than most fighters do – and plenty of good fighters have suffered defeats after getting caught cold. Hobson, who has seen and done it all in the boxing game, says there’s still a future for Tommy despite the setback, if he wants to carry on … “I’m going to sit down with Tommy because we can still get him some good fights, and we were going to move him up to super flyweight before that fight anyway.  But we did fancy it and I’m still not convinced about Yafai – someone’s got to hit him back before we see how good he is.  He’s very talented and hopefully he goes on to do massive things in the pros but I thought Tommy would’ve been in the fight, started hitting him back and we’d have seen the true Yafai. “Tommy came out cold, with all the experience he’s got.  Not covering up and trying to fight with his left hand down.  He got caught with the first shot and was a bit naïve with how he reacted.  “He was upset, we were all upset, because Tommy really did fancy the fight, but he never gave himself an opportunity.  There are plenty of great fighters who’ve been caught cold early on though, which is what happened and we’ll never know now whether he was ever going to be in the fight.  “He never gave himself an opportunity, and it’s a shame but I do think Tommy would’ve given a good account of himself if he’d have got the chance to settle.  Galal did a number on him but Tommy’s much better than that, and he can come again.  We’ll get him another title shot if he wants to go again.  We’ll sit down with him and see where we are.”