A dangerous fight, and a must-win situation
All fighters train and perform better with a goal. For many, that goal is financial. For most, it is recognition – a higher ranking, or winning or retaining a title.
For welterweight boxer Paul Peers, he is indeed motivated by those very things, but it is the pursuit of something bigger still that pushes him on: revenge.
On September 17 on the Boyle’s Pro Boxing promotion ‘Battle of the Belts’ in Mansfield, Peers faces not only a dangerous test but also a must-win situation.
Victory would land the Liverpudlian two world title belts, with both WBU and PBC 147lb honours on the line, but defeat would be an enormous setback that would undo years of momentum.
And while Peers, at 34, knows averting such defeat is crucial, he also believes victory could set him up for some very big things – including the fight he wants most of all.
Learning from losing to the best
“I would love the Scott Harrison rematch,” says Peers of the bout he is best remembered for, when he took on the formidable former two-time WBO champion.
Peers was the designated opponent for Harrison’s long-awaited comeback in July 2020. Understandably, he was the underdog, but he surged to an early lead before Harrison’s class told in Aberdeen and the veteran got the win most had expected. But Peers took a lot of positives back to his adoptive home in Orkney, where he runs the UK’s northernmost boxing gym.
“The experience of being in there with a real world champion, someone who’s been there and done it, it taught me a lot just to get in there with someone at that level”, he says.
“I felt the difference. It wasn’t a normal fight. His name got in my mind. It’s hard to explain. But it won’t happen again.”
Not even as Peers approaches another big fight? True, his next opponent, Samuel Akrogo, does not bring anything like Harrison’s reputation to the table, but there are two titles on the line and the Ghanaian is a known puncher who will have ambitions of his own.
“No, no other boxer can make me feel like Harrison did,” says Peers, 10-5 (8).
“Akrogo’s got nothing on me. His record shows he’s heavy-handed, but he’ll not catch me that easily.
“If he can take a shot – and he’s never been stopped – it could be a long night. I’ll have to stick to my boxing. But the fans can expect a great performance.”
A win would lead to bigger things
And if he delivers on such expectations, Peers will take two shiny new belts back to his island home.
“The titles give me focus, but those titles are for my girls [daughters Ellie, four, and four-month-old Isla]. Two titles for my two girls,” he says.
“For me, they could lead to bigger things. [Manager] Lee [McAllister] has won these titles and he’s just as proud of them as any other.
“He’s won WBU, WBF, PBC as well as British and Commonwealth, and he’s just won a WBO [Intercontinental] title.
“So they’re not just Mickey Mouse titles. If Lee hadn’t just won the WBO, if he hadn’t been keeping active, I might not have bothered, but you see they do lead to bigger things.
“It would mean everything to follow in Lee’s footsteps.”
Titles could tempt Harrison back
It’s never advisable to look past an opponent, but a win over Akrogo would certainly give Peers options. He might seek to reschedule his twice-scuppered showdown with Indian star Neeraj Goyat, or there could be a Stateside assignment with the flamboyant Michael Williams Jr, another boxer with whom he’s been repeatedly linked.
But one potential opponent still appeals more than any other: Scott Harrison.
Only problem is, Harrison hasn’t fought since the Peers bout, and even announced his retirement earlier this year when a fight fell through at the last minute.
But Peers believes the legendary Scot can be tempted back.
“I don’t know where his head is at, but I’m sure he still wants to fight. He won’t ever stop wanting to,” says Peers.
“A world title, he’d come back for that.
“And in a rematch? You saw what I could do in that first round [of their fight, which Peers won comfortably].
“And that was without sparring, not really training because of lockdown, and my first time fighting at lightweight, which absolutely killed me.
“If I went to Aberdeen [where McAllister runs a busy gym] for an eight- or 10-week camp, got a job there and not worry about finding sponsors, he wouldn’t even touch me.”
First, though, he must defuse the threat posed by Akrogo, who has knocked out all but two of the men he’s beaten.
As much as a win, and the titles that come with it, could open doors, Akrogo could slam them shut in Peers’ face.
But he welcomes the challenge.
“I can feel the mood changing,” he says. “I can’t wait.”
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