“YOU can’t judge a boxer off one threeround fight,” says Peter McGrail who, despite such pragmatism, a burgeoning undefeated pro career and an amateur trophy cabinet creaking under the weight of other accomplishments, is still – for now – defined by the mere nine minutes he spent in a ring at the Tokyo Olympics.
In what was the first upset of the Games, and one of the biggest, McGrail – considered among Team GB’s brightest medal hopes – was outsmarted by Chatchai Butdee of Thailand in August last year.
McGrail has been nicknamed the “Scouse Lomachenko”. It speaks to his slick, elusive defensive manoeuvres and unorthodox, spiteful counter-punching, and while the natural southpaw admits to being
