Australian boxing legend Jeff Fenech has sung the praises of Brock Jarvis, who overcame the odds to launch a stunning comeback and win his American boxing debut earlier in October.
Jarvis, 23, had a 19-0 record before the fight with Mexican Alejandro Frias, and his unblemished record looked in serious trouble in the second round of the contest.
However, he managed to turn the tables to score an incredible fifth-round TKO.
Fenech, who trains Jarvis, gave some incredible praise for the young boxer in the context of what he’d achieved.
“Just imagine going through that yourself and you’ve got to sit down and (decide) whether to counter-attack, can I do that again,” Fenech told SEN Drive.
“What he did was amazing, I’m not just saying this, it’s one of the great things in Australian sport for a long time.
“People don’t realise what it’s like being beat up for two and a half minutes, and then he’s got to sit down and listen to me tell him that he can do it again, and then go out and turn it around.
“It was an amazing performance, something very, very special.
“I did really enjoy being a part of it.”
The referee was close to calling the fight in the second round, with Jarvis copping incredible punishment.
Fenech says he too wasn’t far off ending it, but he held off because he knew what Jarvis was capable of.
“I was praying just for that round to finish, for him to hold on,” he said.
“I was yelling at him to take a knee, to go down on your knee, you get a 10-second count.
“He was very badly hurt, he was concussed, he didn’t really hear what I was saying.
“I let him fight on because I know the boy, I know he’s super, super fit. I knew he just needed to come back and regroup, I knew that he had the talent and the skills to turn the fight around.”
Jarvis will now have a well-earned rest after the tough contest, his next fight yet to be confirmed.