Lesser fighters would have rushed back to their dressing room, locked themselves away and felt sorry for themselves.
But Jono Carroll knew that he had to think about more than himself after he fell to the first defeat of his professional career on Friday night.
Carroll showed tremendous heart to hear the final bell after being outclassed for large portions of his clash with IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer in Philadelphia.
The final decision wasn’t a close one, with Farmer coming out on top thanks to scorecards which read 117-110, 117-111 and 117-111.
Rather than shy away into the solitude of his dressing room, a bloodied Carroll took the time to shake hands, pose for photos and let the travelling Irish fans know that their support was most definitely appreciated.
🇮🇪 @jono_carroll shows some love to the traveling Irish fans. 🤳 #FarmerCarroll pic.twitter.com/3zWf6juAnM
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 16, 2019
To watch Carroll’s reaction, you’d be forgiven for believing that he was the victor because he had a smile spread across his face as he made his way from the ring.
The Dublin-born, Dunshaughlin-raised fighter clearly enjoyed his time on the world stage and he will likely be back competing for big titles before long.
It wasn’t just his fans who thoroughly enjoyed Carroll’s aggressive performance and impressive refusal to give up because promoter Eddie Hearn praised the Irishman’s showing post-fight while Farmer’s promoter, the legendary Lou DiBella, was blown away by the effort shown by Carroll.
“This guy should be proud and I told him that after the fight,” DiBella said.
“I’ve got an awful lot of respect for this guy.”
“He came in and executed the best he could. He didn’t get the decision but he earned the respect of the entire boxing world.
“Anyone who says this fight and doesn’t respect this guy doesn’t know anything about the sport.”
