Beaten Leo pledges: I’ll never surrender!

Crestfallen Fanthome after his points loss to Ryan Frost

THERE are positives that Leo Fanthome can take from bitter defeat on Saturday night.

In losing to Ryan Frost, the welter known as “Lionheart” showed plenty of heart. After a shocking start on Scott Murray’s fine show at Cannock’s Chase Leisure Centre, the 27-year-old had hauled himself back into the battle and by the fourth I believed he was poised to gain victory on work rate.

He will have learned a lot from the tough scrap, which saw him cut above the left eye.

The negatives cannot be ignored and Lee Spare, who trains Fanthome at his Nuneaton gym, will know there’s work to be done. It’s a case of back to the drawing board.

For a start, Fanthome struggled to cope with Frost’s southpaw left hand. It dropped the Redditch ticket-seller in the first and final round.

Frost, from Colchester, rallied from the fifth. That suggests Fanthome, taking part in his sixth contest, may have made the jump from four to six rounds too soon.

And he and his team can’t hide from the fact Leo now has two losses on his record and been floored three times.

Frost gave a taste of what was to come in the first when a looping left sent Fanthome down. He was up at one for the standing count and cautiously began to work his way back into the bout in the second as Frost spent too long looking to again land that pay-off punch. The visitor wasn’t throwing enough, but still threatened danger.

Leo targeted the body in the second and despite blood seeping down the side of his face, defiantly fought back in the third.

The fourth was his best session. Fanthome connected with an eye-catching right and bossed the action.

It was a false dawn. He took two right hooks in the fifth and was dropped by a left down the pipe in the final session. This time he rose at three and, to his credit, blazed back.

It was not enough, referee Ryan Churchill scoring 57-55.

On social media, Leo defiantly told his many fans: “Win some, lose some, but never surrender. Recharge, re-set, but I’ll be back.”

Both men scaled 10st 8lbs.