Welsh boxer Dale Evans has said he was persuaded to keep fighting by the family of tragic Dundee boxer Mike Towell when he attended the 25-year-old’s funeral.
“Iron” Mike Towell died after collapsing at the end of his fight with Evans in Glasgow on October 1.
The fight had been stopped in the fifth round after the Dundee boxer was knocked down for the second time.
Evans, 24, said he considered giving up boxing in the wake of Towell’s death.
He travelled to Dundee to attend Towell’s funeral and says he received support from the boxer’s family about his own career.
Now he says he wants to with the British welterweight title – and bring it to Dundee to show Towell’s family.
He said: “Nothing would make me happier than winning the British title and taking it up to Dundee and showing Mike’s family and friends.
“Winning it would make me so proud, and I think it would make the family proud and Mike, too.”
Evans is the mandatory challenger for the title, which is currently held by Bradley Skeete.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales sport, Evans said: “I considered knocking boxing on the head because I couldn’t deal with this happening again.
“But the British title…I would love to win it for myself, but now there is more incentive now than I’ve ever had before.
“Everything now – training hard, hitting that bag harder, work to a higher intensity – it is not just for me.
“It is for Mike, his family, his little boy, his support. It would be fantastic to do it for them.”
He added: “At the funeral, they were unbelievably understanding. Quite a lot have messaged me since or spoke to me at the funeral and said they wanted tickets to come and watch my next fight.
“That was touching, really nice. They are getting behind me – it is like supporting Mike by supporting me and that has really lifted me.”
Towell is survived by his partner Chloe Ross. The couple had a young son, Rocco. Ms Ross declined to comment.
Towell received treatment in the ring after collapsing before being taken to hospital. He died the next day.
Evans said he had hoped the Dundee boxer would pull through, even when it was clear he was not going to survive.
He said: “We were told by members of Mike’s team that he wasn’t going to pull through and we just had to wait, which wasn’t nice. I always clung to the hope that he would pull through.”
Hundreds of mourners attended Towell’s funeral at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Dundee.
An online fundraiser set up by former world champion boxer Ricky Hatton raised over £46,000 for his family.
