BoxerCurtis Woodhouse lost out to the impressive Derry Mathews on Saturday night as the Driffield man was knocked out in the fourth round.
Half-dazed and stumbling all over the place from a good punch Curtis still found a way to have a pop at the referee.
No doubt it is a habit he could not kick from his days on the football field but he will also now be remembered as a boxer.
That is all he has ever wanted and to have shared a ring with a known warrior like Derry Mathews, despite losing at the Liverpool Olympia, shows how far he has come.
His shot at becoming Commonwealth lightweight champion was taken away in the fourth round when a short right hand thundered onto his chin and put him down.
Woodhouse bravely got up but was unsteady on his feet and made referee Mark Green’s decision to wave the fight off an easy one.
Mathews, who has had four fewer professional fights than Woodhouse, was one of the first to check on his opponent’s health backstage.
Woodhouse was fine to speak. He said: “The best man won and I’ve got no excuses. I trained hard and gave it all I could but I came up short.
“I was strong at the weight, I didn’t crash weight off and I didn’t go in there feeling weak.
“There is definitely no quit in me. I still think I can get there..”