Father Dave vs. Barry Hancock - October 5th, 2014

This fight took place the day after my intense encounter with Kevin Selby (https://youtu.be/a_ZImHoU0bg). It was a turning point for me in two ways.

Firstly, it's the first time I've ever knocked down an opponent with body shots, That was a great confidence booster, especially given that I was still tired from the fight the day before.

Secondly, it revealed to me how incompetent boxing officials can be, and why you need to have a good corner team to hold them accountable.

My opponent held my left arm continuously but was never penalized. And after getting up from a knock-down from a shot to the ribs, and after waiting out the count, my opponent told the ref that he'd been hit in the groin. She gave him another 30 seconds rest!

The fight really should have been stopped in my opinion, but after a knock-down and two standing eight counts, the judges gave me a split decision! What was going on!?

I realised in retrospect that I had become a victim of my own publicity. The boxing officials loved me - telling me before the fight how much they loved me and the work I did for at-risk kids - but they just couldn't take me seriously as a fighter. One of the judges even came up to me after this fight and told me not to fight again as he didn't want to see me get hurt! I appreciated the good-heartedness behind the recommendation but it felt like a slap in the face for me, coming off what I thought was the easiest win I'd ever had!

Father Dave
http://www.fatherdave.org
http://www.fighting-fathers.com
http://www.boxersforpeace.com