Derek Fitzpatrick’s gym welcomes new boy Robbie-Lee Warner
ROBBIE-LEE Warner, the scrapper from Shakespeare country, aims to celebrate Christmas with a hat-trick of pro victories.
The Stratford 24-year-old has his third paid bout on BCB’s December 20 show at West Brom’s Supreme venue, with Ebonie Cotton topping the bill in a Midlands bantamweight title clash.
For Robbie, the four-rounder – an opponent has yet to be named – is something of a new beginning: it’s his first with Derek Fitzpatrick acting as trainer, although the lad’s still under Black Country Boxing’s banner.
At Derek’s Leamington gym Warner has been smoothing the rough edges, adding more guile to his aggressive style and building the stamina needed for the 10 round title fights he believes will surface next year.
Away from the graft, he’s concentrating on building a fan base: Stratford’s known for literature, not lumps and bumps. It’s not a fight town.
“It’s really going good, love Derek,” Warner said. “I’m an aggressive fighter and love my inside work. Derek’s trying to get me to box at range, be able to work my way inside. He’s training me to be a bully on the outside as well, picking my shots. It’s a lot of different fundamentals for me to learn.
“It’s a big move from BCB (gym) to Fitzpatrick’s. I miss everyone at BCB, but had to move away because of family circumstances.
“I’m seeing my power develop, I’m getting stronger. There are a lot of things that I did before that I’m doing differently. We’re turning that four round task into a fast four round task, we’re introducing new parts to my engine.”
Warner is still at the apprenticeship stage of his career, with his previous bouts coming against Nabil Ahmed and Stephen Jackson, both journeymen with far more losses than wins.
He’s striving to shift more tickets, although shows so close to Christmas are always a difficult sell: punters have other things to spend money on, family schedules are busy.
“The more fights the better,” Warner, who turned pro in March, said, “end the year on a high.
“I would’ve liked to have been a bit further ahead in my career, had a couple more fights, but it’s life and things happen.”
Warner wants to move steadily towards a Midlands title fight and believes, with a day-before weigh-in, he can make super-fly: I think bantam’s a better option.
Warner and Fitzpatrick on the pads. Their first fight is on December 20
“I need to build on experience and keep training hard,” he said. “When the time is right we’ll go for the 10 rounds. It’s about being in condition for 10 rounds, it’s about when I’m ready and my team say it’s time to shine.
“I’d love to fight for a Midlands when the time’s right. I’ve just got to keep training hard and, hopefully, we get some opportunities.
“It’s about trying to build my fanbase and getting those people behind me. If we can get a good crowd, get a good atmosphere going it will push me to bigger things.”
Derek Fitzpatrick said: "It's been a little bit of a getting-to-know-you process with Robbie. I liked what I saw at the start and nothing I've seen since has made me change my mind.
"Robbie is a young, dynamic fighter who has a good engine. There are lots of positives and there always will be lots of things to improve on. Things are starting to come together and as a partnership we have gelled really well.”
He added: "I'm looking forward to this fight as it is an honour when you step through the ropes on anybody's debut, you know, for the gym. So, looking forward to this one and hopefully a busy 2027 when we'll be pushing on for some sort of area title ourselves, all being well."