Boxing is a sport that divides opinion with some fans loving a good punch- up, where others prefer the ring craft approach. I am firmly in the latter camp and have always loved the so-called ‘boxer’s boxer.’
One fighter I never tire of watching is Huddersfield’s Tyrone Nurse who always seems effortlessly at ease between the ropes – a real classy operator. But the problem that fighters such as Nurse often encounter in the ring is that there are fewer more unforgiving sports when complacency hits.
Last Saturday, Nurse got into the ring with Joe Hughes to defend his British Light Welterweight title in the Leicester Arena on the undercard to Tommy Langford’s defeat to Georgia’s Avtandil Khurtsidze for the WBO Middleweight interim title.
Nurse was the strong favourite before the bell rang with many seeing it as a formality before he would step up to challenge on the world stage. But as we have seen countless times in boxing, there is rarely such a thing as formality.
Despite giving up significant height and reach, Hughes took Nurse to places he does not like going and what ensued was a gruelling 12 round slugfest. As Nurse looked nervously towards the judges after the final bell rang, his blushes were spared when the final judge called it a draw resulting in a split decision. Nurse has kept his belt – for now.
That was the fifth defence of his British title, but it could well be the fight that defines the 27-year-old’s career. Talk of word title challenges has been put on hold and while nobody doubts Nurse has the quality there will have to be a raising of the bar for the likeable Yorkshireman before he can think about genuinely stepping between the ropes with the likes of Julius Indongo, Eduard Troyanovsky or Terence Crawford.
Nurse is coached by his father, Chris Aston, at the Northern Fitness Gym in Linthwaite and it is obvious for all to see that he has spent quality time honing his craft. He glides round the ring and at times seemingly picks off his opponents at will with his rangy style and deadly accurate punching.
But despite his obvious class he suffers from a complacency that only seems to affect fighters with all the tools. Too often he has been guilty of underestimating opponents and not sticking to what he does best for the full 12 rounds. It is sometimes as if the concentration levels just aren’t there.
If he can add a ruthless streak to his approach to every fight there is no doubt he could mix it with the very best in the division but his next few fights will be crucial to where his career ultimately ends up.
