An emotional Harry Garside has revealed the hidden anguishes that were plaguing him before his Australian title defence, dedicating the victory to his mother, who was last week diagnosed with breast cancer.
Wearing pink socks, Garside was well ahead on the scorecards against Layton McFerran before winning via a seventh-round TKO.
He held back tears speaking to reporters afterwards, when he praised his mother’s fighting spirit.
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“This one was for her,” he said.
“If it was going to happen to anyone in the family, I’m grateful it happened to her – she’s the strongest one by far. So she’ll be fine.
“It was tough, it was the reason I wore the pink socks. I knew I had to do it for her. I knew she’d be watching, she couldn’t come because she couldn’t risk getting COVID. I know she’ll be cheering at home.”
He was asked if he thought he’d made her proud. The answer? Always.
“I’ve got the best parents in the world. Very lucky,” Garside added.
And while it pales in comparison to the news about his mother, he also announced that his hands were severely injured in the lead-up.
“The hands are pretty f–ked,” he said before quickly apologising for swearing.
“My hands are pretty screwed, mate. That’s for sure.
“I knew prior to this fight that they were bad, but I never back out of a fight. I wouldn’t back out of the opportunity to fight in Newcastle.
“I’m pretty sure it’s boxer’s knuckle in this one (his left). Not too sure about this one. I’ll get all the scans I need to get done and then whatever the doctor says. But hopefully I can have two or three fights before the year’s out.”
Garside said that while he wasn’t making excuses, the condition of his hands did affect his ability to land heavy hits.
“It was a good performance, he was a tough opponent. I couldn’t really load up my shots, no excuses, I’m not a massive puncher, I know that, but I couldn’t really load up my punches because I knew my hands were screwed,” Garside said.
“I was happy with how I was picking my shots, I landed a few good, clean shots. Got caught with a couple, always room to improve and get better.”
Garside leaves Newcastle with his title safely in hand, and with plenty of praise for McFerran, who fought valiantly.
“It was a bloody hard fight, mate, my hands are very sore. He was a tough opponent,” Garside said.
“In the first minute of the seventh round he was coming in strong, I really had to pull something out of my bum in that last minute before the stoppage.
“He showed he’s an incredible opponent and there’s a reason why he’s only had one loss prior to me.”
After a much more even first couple of rounds than anticipated, Garside knew something had to change.
“Johnny said about the third or fourth round (I needed to step it up). I wanted to feel out the first two rounds, I knew he had a couple of dangerous overhand rights so I had to be careful of them.
“Once I found my groove in the third and fourth, I could really start picking away.”