To quote Tunde Ajayi, everything is timing. Around two weeks after promising Liverpool super-welterweight Anthony Fowler, a once-beaten former Olympian, confirmed an amicable split from Dave Coldwell, he has announced new trainer Shane McGuigan, via social media.
"Pleased to announce I’ll now be trained by world class coach @McGuigans_Gym," Fowler posted on Twitter. "I’m looking to get 4 wins under my belt this year and really excited for the new journey ahead."
While many observers, myself included, took Fowler’s hints at loneliness while staying in Sheffield when working at Coldwell’s Rotherham gym as an indication he would relocate closer to Liverpool, he has in fact moved much further away. That said, McGuigan’s other three charges in Canterbury - Lawrence Okolie, Luke Campbell and Chris Billam-Smith - stay in the same accommodation very close to the University of Kent where they train, so if Fowler were to move in with them, he would enjoy plenty of company. He and Okolie were Team GB teammates and both competed at Rio 2016.
News broke of Fowler parting from Coldwell just one day after Josh Taylor announced he had left Cyclone Promotions and signed with Top Rank, rendering his relationship with trainer McGuigan untenable. Fowler wasted little time in filling the void in Shane’s select but high-achieving stable.
