Shawn Archer may not have come away with a victory during his first boxing match in over a year, but he did come away with something nearly as good — an invitation from the promoter to come back and fight again at the next show.
Archer lost to Toronto’s Daniel Roach by unanimous decision at a pay-per-view only event in Vancouver, the first boxing card since COVID-19 cancelled most sporting events across North America.
Archer said Roach did a major weight cut to make the 152-pound catch weight for the fight, adding Roach was 22 pounds heavier than him on the night of the fight, and was even told he didn’t have to take the fight.
Archer, who fought his first pro bout in February of 2020, wasn’t about to let the valuable opportunity go to waste.
“I came all this way. I’m either fighting him or I’m fighting you,” he recalled saying to the promoter.
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Roach entered the fight with a seven inch height advantage, as well.
“He fought the smart fight, no hard feelings,” Archer said. “We were hanging out after. He’s a good guy.”
After feeling each other out for the first round, Roach decisively won the next two, landing a flurry of punches to the ribs which put Archer down in the third round.
“It was actually three punches, the first one knocked the wind out of me. I was like: ‘OK, it’s bad, but I can survive it,'” Archer said, explaining the moment. “He landed another one. I was like ‘oh no,’ and then another one. I could have survived it, but I’ll just be a punching bag. So I took the knee, got my composure, and got back up.”
With the fight scheduled for four rounds, and Roach scoring a knockdown, Archer knew he had to make something happen.
“You have to knock the other guy down to recover and even get a draw,” he said. “That’s why in the fourth round I was just swinging for the fences.”
Fighting riskier paid off with a won round, as Roach just looked to close out the fight without taking risks. Even so, Archer managed to bloody Roach’s face, and looked ready to go another four rounds after the fight, showing no effects from the body shots.
“I do way better in deep water, that’s where most guys end up drowning,” Archer said. “I need more rounds, because I start slow and by the time I start picking up speed the fight is over already.”
Archer hopes to take more fights in 2021, as sports continue to return with the slowdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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