Brad Rea warns of dangerous Ezra Taylor after Willy Hutchinson defeat
The Manchester light-heavyweight says losing makes a fighter dissect his own performance, and expects a different Taylor at the Manchester Arena from the one who lost widely on points in March.
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Brad Rea has warned that he is fighting Ezra Taylor at a dangerous time, with Taylor coming off a wide points defeat to Willy Hutchinson in March.
The light-heavyweight bout at the Manchester Arena is a second home-city appearance in a row for Rea, 28, who stopped Liam Cameron in the fourth round in Manchester in May. Rea has lost twice himself, to Tyler Denny and Lyndon Arthur. He said he knows how Taylor will be feeling, because he remembers how he felt after his first defeat and after the Arthur fight.
Rea said: “You go back and dissect your performance to an extent that you don’t really do when you win, so I can’t watch old Ezra Taylor fights and think that’s the version I’m going to get.” He added that he could face a completely different version of 'The Cannon' on the night.
The win over Cameron, a fighter Rea knows and respects, left him with mixed emotions. He was delighted to win at home in front of a big audience, but felt guilty afterwards about what he had done to Cameron. Rea said he finds it easy to flick the switch on fight night and puts a mask on for as long as the fight lasts.
He said: “Some people struggle with that. They might pretend to not like their opponent at a weigh-in or a press conference, whereas I don’t have to do that. Whether I like you or not, I’m coming to knock you clean out.” Rea spent a week of his camp training in Spain, to break up the routine and get away from the wind and rain at home. He said: “It was really hot out there as well, so the first session was a bit of a shock to the system. But I got used to it as the week went on and felt fitter than ever coming back home.” Rea expects experience to decide the fight. He has boxed since the age of eight, while Taylor took up the sport at 19.
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