Kevin Greenwood gave his thoughts on his fight with Tyrone Eliffe last Saturday night at BYB 33.
The 41-year-old Greenwood handed Eliffe his first defeat, winning a five-round unanimous decision.
It was a bounceback win for Greenwood. The pro boxing veteran turned bare knuckler suffered a devastating KO defeat to newly-crowned BYB champ Marko Martinjak earlier this year.
Greenwood also spoke about how the Martinjak fight turned to be a blessing for him, his dream of fighting in America, and the differences between fighting with and without gloves.
Read on for an entertaining interview with a true warrior!
Thanks for taking the time. On Saturday night, you handed Tyrone Eliffe his first defeat in the bare knuckle ring.
What are your thoughts on the fight?
Kevin Greenwood: My thoughts on the fight? I thought it was a great fight. Plenty of action, plenty of drama.
I think it was to and fro. I think from the build up, the backwards and forwards between me and Tyrone, I think we delivered it on the night.
Tyrone knew I wanted to get up close and personal and box close. He done his best to make it messy for me, and to tie me up and try and wear me out.
I thought the fight was great. If you was a fan watching that fight, I hope it delivered and the fans enjoyed it.
Do you feel redeemed in any way? It seemed like a lot of people had you as the underdog heading into the match.
Kevin: I do feel redeemed, yes. I’m quite used to going in as the underdog. I believe my first fight, I was the underdog. Brad Scott-I was the underdog. Probably definitely Marko, I was the underdog. I imagine all my bare knuckle fights so far. And that’s just the way I like it.
Whether it’s right or wrong, if I’m classed as an underdog or not, I know I’m no spring chicken and Father Time is catching up with me.
I believe there’s still plenty in me, and I can use my experience to get ahead in the matches. And (if) I come out victorious in the end, that’s all I wanted.
Switching gears, earlier this year, you lost to Marko Martinjak. You got stopped early with a big left. Did you have any thoughts about retirement, given you’ve been fighting professionally for over a decade?
Kevin: The Marko fight earlier on in the year … .From day one, I decided. Bare knuckle-I want to be at the pinnacle. I want to fight the best.
I got to fight Marko. And there’s levels in bare knuckle boxing, just like there’s levels in gloved boxing.
I can say this now. That guy is of high level. And when he beat me, I was gutted. I was gutted it was over so quick. I like the long, drawn out affairs. I thought we was gonna have a good seven rounds of shedding blood and sharing blood.
We didn’t. He fought a perfect fight. I can’t take anything away from him.
In that fight, I thought I was indestructible. I thought I could take shots off anyone. And I didn’t even see it coming. He hit me with a sweet one-two. He fought the perfect fight.
There was nothing in me saying to retire. No, because I fought the best at that point. So for me, that was the best thing that could have happened to me, losing to Marko. Because I knew there were things I gotta work on.
I gotta move my head. I gotta do the things that I do best. Not just be there, think I can take punches to deliver some back.
I’ve been fighting a long time. There’s still a few fights in me left. I just wanna climb back to the top.”
Any thoughts on who’d you like to fight next?
Kevin Greenwood: Thinking about the next fights…is there anyone I’d like to fight?
I’ve fought some big names already. Marko, Brad Scott, Tyrone Eliffe. I wanna keep adding names to that resume.
I’ve come down a few weight categories now. I wouldn’t say there’s anyone in particular I want to fight. I would like to fight for one of those prestigious titles again, and I would like to fight in America.
That’s the thing on my radar right now. It’s not who I want to fight, it’s where I want to fight.
I want to cross the water and I wanna perform in front of the American fans. That’s my dream. That’s my goal.
You came to BKB from a pro boxing background. How much of a difference is there in fighting without gloves in terms of punching and blocking punches?
Kevin: Yes, there are major differences. I come from a pro gloved career and there’s major differences.
You know, it’s not just your face that feels it, your hands feel it. When you’re catching punches with your elbows, your forearms.The next day I can feel it all in my forearms, my neck, every part of my body.
The next day. Win, lose, or draw hurts.
A jab could knock someone out. Where in the gloved game, a jab just sets things up. It’s a completely different sport.
Yeah, taking knowledge from the pro game will help you, but it’s a completely different sport.
And to be completely honest, I love it!
That’s all the questions. Anything else you’d like to say or anyone you’d like to thank?
Kevin: As a finish, I just want to thank everyone.
Obviously, I want to thank my corner team. Sean Boylan, Keegan Boylan, Kieran Boylan, Dominic Negus.
Everyone else that helped me along the way like Gary Rowlands.
I’d like to thank all my sponsors. NYP Construction, CSR, Railsafe Group.
And the guys at BYB and the guys at BKB that believed in me.
And I’d like to thank everyone that came to support. And I hope to keep on going and get one of those prestigious titles.
All Photos Courtesy of BYB Extreme. Thanks to Don and Cam from BYB.
