Tyrone McKenna insists he isn’t “p****d off” by his defeat to Ohara Davis and is determined to stay in the mix for more high profile fights down the line.
The Belfast fighter was unlucky to come out on the wrong side of a majority decision in Wednesday night's Golden Contract final live on Sky Sports.
One judge scored the super lightweight contest a draw while the other two adjudicators ruled 96-94 in Davies’ favour across the 10 rounds.
Sky pundit Barry Jones thought McKenna deserved to have his hand raised and speaking to IFL TV on Youtube, McKenna said he “one hundred percent” felt he should have won.
“I’m not going to cry and scream robbery like other fighters would,” he said. “The judges saw what they saw and they obviously thought Ohara did the better work.
“I felt I was boxing brilliant and what I was doing was working. The way Ohara came out the last few rounds and tried to end things, he knew or felt he was behind.
“But what can you do? He got the decision and I’m not going to cry. I’m not p****d off, I’m just dejected. I felt I’d done enough, but the judges didn’t see that.”
After losing a nip and tuck final and beating Mohamed Mimoune in the semi-finals, McKenna believes he has shown he belongs at the top level of the division.
And after taking time off with his family, the 30-year-old says he’ll be eager to dust himself down and go again early next year.
He told IFL TV: “I’ve always proved I belong at this level. I beat Mimoune who was a highly ranked fighter and I got beat by a point by Jack Catterall who’s fighting for a world title.
“Although I’ve lost here, I don’t want to go backwards. I want to still have big fights and there are a lot of big fights out there domestically and internationally.”
While Wednesday’s fight was billed as a ‘grudge match’, McKenna showed his respect for Davies when he congratulated the Essex fighter in his changing room after the fight.
