Cranbourne boxer Daniel ‘Porky’ Lovett is struggling to come to terms with the death of his best mate Matthew McEvoy.
By Glen Atwell
CRANBOURNE boxer Daniel ‘Porky’ Lovett may miss a career-defining title fight as he struggles to comprehend the death of his best mate Matthew McEvoy.
Lovett, 25, is scheduled to fight Australian light heavyweight champion Tim Bell in a bout at Docklands on 5 October, but must first convince his trainer Jim Slatter he is physically and emotionally fit.
Matthew, 24, died on Sunday night after an incident in the city early that morning.
In an instant, Lovett lost his best mate, his number one fan and a groomsman for his wedding in February.
“I’m shell-shocked,” he said.
“We had our first suit fitting last week. I had dinner with Matthew afterwards and we were laughing and joking about the wedding.”
Days later, Lovett visited The Alfred hospital to give ‘Macca’ one last hug.
“It was heartbreaking,” he said.
Lovett has been waiting to fight Bell for more than a year.
“It’s the fight I’ve always wanted, and a chance to win the Australian light heavyweight title. But I’m not sure if I’ll recover from this in time,” Lovett said.
“I can normally block my mind out when I train but I haven’t been able to do any gym work for the past few days.
“Matthew came to all my fights and cheered between rounds. He would even send me text messages with famous one-line quotes to rev me up,” Lovett said.
Trainer Jim Slatter said his star boxer had been overcome with sadness.
“Macca was Porky’s best mate and number one fan. He even flew interstate to watch the fights,” Slatter said.
“He (Porky) has to be 100 per cent physically and emotionally fit to step into the ring for this bout. It’s my job to make sure Porky is ready to go,” he said.
Police have charged two men from Roxburgh Park, both with one count of intentionally causing serious injury.
They appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday and were remanded to reappear at a later date.
