The bright lights of Las Vegas have bedazzled many a tourist and the same was the case for Australian fighter Will Tomlinson last weekend.
Tomlinson made his US debut on the undercard of the Saul Alvarez versus Alfredo Angulo bout at the MGM Grand on Saturday but suffered an upset loss, the first defeat of his professional career.
The Victorian super featherweight went down 99-91, 98-92, and 98-92 to American Jerry Belmontes in what was a tough night at the office.
Tomlinson headed into the fight as the favourite, with Belmontes having lost three of his past four bouts, but the Texan proved to be exceptionally craft, quick and hard to hit.
According to Tomlinson, the loss was down to his own performance.
“I’m not sure what happened Saturday night… I fought a terrible fight,” he said.
“The most frustrating thing is that hand on heart I know that I could of done so much better and beaten that guy if I fought the way I normally fight but something wasn’t right and I had a bad, bad night. The loss is hard to swallow but I’m determined to roll my selves up and do the hard work to get myself back into the position I just lost.”
Despite the value that many put in an undefeated record, a loss could be the real making of Tomlinson. The 27-year old can learn a lot from this setback and the experience of fighting on boxing’s biggest stage.
Tomlinson is adamant that he didn’t underestimate the Texan and that this won’t be the end of what has been a promising career.
“He was exactly the type of fighter I prepared to face but as I said something went wrong and I wasn’t able to transfer the work and the game plan that we established in the gym into the fight,” he said.
“I will have a couple of weeks rest then simply just get back into the gym and get ready to put in some serious work! Hopefully aim to be back in the ring around June.
“The thing I learnt from this fight was that, man I need to relax. Keep a cool head and box to win rounds not to try and take my opponents heads of, which I know I am capable of I guess I just got caught up in the moment.”
Elusive and with good movement, Belmontes is the kind of fighter that can be problematic to face. Tomlinson, an all-action, front-foot fighter who prefers wars to cagey affairs, will be disappointed he couldn’t handle the American’s holding and slippery style.
The learning curve in the US is very steep, but Tomlinson has the mental strength to bounce back. He has four more fights on his deal with Golden Boy and will be better for this experience in the long run.
The real work for Tomlinson starts now.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
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