Lewis: I’m capable of so much more than I’ve shown in bouts
Lewis Morris…in action next Saturday. Picture: Manjit Narotra/BCB
YOU can hear the frustration in Lewis Morris’ voice when he says: “I know the level I’m at and that hasn’t happened on the night.”
After a silence, the Walsall featherweight admits: “I’m not sure why. The public haven’t seen anything near what I’m capable of. It will happen – I’m only 24, I’ve got a long time left in the sport.
“It’s not happening on the night, but I believe in myself. The best of me is yet to come.”
It’s a puzzle picked over by his Wolverhampton gym team who’ve assured me many times Morris has the tools to beat the best.
As it is, Morris, at 24, is a good, solid 10 rounder fighter who has shown his worth by featuring in two gruelling Midlands title fights with Ryan Griffiths, a man tried and tested at top level. He narrowly lost the first and drew the second. But there’s so much more in the tank, he and his team insist.
Next Saturday, September 5, on BCB’s “Unfinished Business” bill at Bescot Stadium in his home town, Morris eases back after five months away with a four rounder. In the opposite corner will be Mario Ramon Valenzuela Portillo, a Mexican outpointed by Lewis’ former stablemate Callum Seedhouse in Wolverhampton in June.
It’s a return that follows defeat on the big stage. On a Matchroom card screened by DAZN, Morris was soundly outpointed by unbeaten, but untested Alfie Middlemiss over eight. I believed the Manchester lad had made a mistake, that Lewis, taking part in his 15th contest, would prove too experience, savvy and rugged.
Afterall, Morris had given big punching Joe McGrail – currently 13-0 – a real argument.
Yet he was cut, hurt to the body and, at times, dominated. Lewis and his trainers are, I’m sure, honest enough to admit the performance was below par.
“I was not myself,” Morris said. “As soon as the cut happened, I went to pieces, it wasn’t great. Alfie Middlemiss was the better man on the night, I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in.
“I know I’m better than what I was last time out. I think I can win a British title, I know I can compete at that level, I’ve sparred world class fighters.”
He and fellow BCB boxer Griffiths, who also appears on the Bescot show, have both expressed a willingness to fight for a third time - with a more significant belt on the line. Theirs is a rivalry without bad blood, it’s strictly business.
“I get on well with Ryan,” Lewis added, “it’s unfortunate we have to punch each other so often. We’ve spoken about it (a third fight) and both agree we wouldn’t do it for a Midlands title, we both believe it deserves a bigger opportunity than that.”
Truth is, Morris and Griffiths are so well matched they’ll always produce a war. For that reason, you can’t blame the pair for wanting the stakes raised. The kinds of epics they’ve taken part in shortens careers.