"I've been devastated, but it's all learning. I've taken so many losses in life and I always come back better. This is no different," April Hunter vows to revive world title ambitions after shock defeat
Monday 22 November 2021 14:57, UK
April Hunter did not waste any words while answering an inevitable question about a first defeat.
"I was terrible," she told Sky Sports when asked about last month's loss to Kirstie Bavington.
Hunter lets out a laugh, almost out of disbelief.
"You got the worst April Hunter on the night. I don't want to get into it, I'm not making any excuses, but anybody that knows me watched that fight and said, 'Wow, you didn't look yourself.'
A former Newcastle United player, she had toured St James' Park like a new signing earlier in the week and was expected to deliver an emphatic hometown victory.
But it never happened.
Hunter trailed on the scorecard, despite drawing blood from Bavington's nose, and could not salvage victory in an exhausting final round.
Bavington's busy work-rate was rewarded with a points verdict, leaving Hunter to ask for painful answers.
"I was gutted. I went back to the changing room and I was like, 'What just happened there?
"It was a mad feeling. I've never boxed from round one and I couldn't get going.
"I've never felt like that in a boxing ring. It was like everything was delayed. I could see the punches that I wanted, but I just couldn't get them off.
"It was half a wrestling match, half a boxing contest. It wasn't planned to go like that."
Her close friend, Savannah Marshall, defended her world title with a scorching stoppage of Lolita Muzeya in the main event.
Frenzied speculation about a super fight between Marshall and Claressa Shields then followed, but the champion still sought out a stunned Hunter late that night.
Tears were shed and promises were made. Hunter will be back.
"Yes, we will see the rematch," she said.
"I will stop Kirstie Bavington, I guarantee it. I didn't even let my hands go and I hurt her.
"There was a moment where I hit her with a right hand and I needed to go again - and it wasn't there.
"She never hurt me once, she can't punch."
Hunter has already experienced plenty of turbulence in a promising career, with Marshall even stepping in to assist her corner team during a chaotic fight in Barcelona.
World title ambitions can be revived with a handful of wins, and Hunter has lost her unbeaten record, but not hope.
"It's going to happen. Let people doubt me, let them go off that last performance, and they'll get a shock," she said.
"I've been devastated, but it's all learning. I've taken so many losses in life and I always come back better.
"This is no different and I'm hungrier than ever."
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