Brad Foster was looking forward to going out for a boogie after bringing the Lonsdale belt back to Lichfield.
Father and trainer Martin had the honor of putting the prestigious belt around the 22-year-old’s waist after his unanimous points win over James Beech jnr in the first post-lockdown professional boxing show in Britain.
The BT Sport studios were the venue and television viewers saw Foster run out a points winner by scores of 116-113 and 117-111 (twice).
“The Lonsdale belt was one of my goals coming into boxing and now I’ve got it,” said Foster, who boxed from the eighth round with a cut on his left eyebrow having earlier inflicted a similar wound on his challenger.
“Now I want to go out for a boogie.
“I’ve just been working and training. I’ve missed going out for a boogie with my mates.”
Foster added after winning the Lonsdale belt outright in only 16 months: “I didn’t feel I was at my best. I didn’t feel I really woke up and found my distance until the seventh.”
That could be put down to what happened before the fight.
Manager PJ Rowson revealed: “We were told Brad would be boxing at 10.45 pm.
“He arrived at nine o’clock and after completing all the paperwork and testing he had just 20 minutes to get his hands wrapped and warm up.
“So to go out and do what he did was remarkable.
“If he had time to warm up properly, we would have seen him box that way from round one instead of round seven.
“For me, Brad boxed well within himself – and he still won unanimously.
“I thought he was in control throughout and could turn it up a notch or two at any point.”
Rowson added: “To win the Lonsdale belt outright is a fantastic achievement. Brad is rewriting the record books.”
The victory over Beech made Foster the youngest winner of a Lonsdale belt outright for 18 years and he produced quality moments that hinted Rowson may be right to believe his future is at world level.
By the end of the fourth, Foster had opened a cut on Beech’s eyebrow and was surely ahead on the scorecards.
He did appear to allow Beech back into the fight, but even in those closer middle rounds, Foster still looked to be producing the cleaner work and he really turned it on in the last two.
Early in the last, Foster slipped a jab and crashed a right hand onto Beech’s jaw, a moment of real class and arguably his best punch of the fight.
Beech took that shot without folding, but in the closing minute, Foster had him in real trouble. Again, Foster made him miss and countered with a left to the pit of Beech’s stomach that made him screw up his face in pain, back up to the ropes and hold desperately.
The bell came to Beech’s rescue.
