Boxing Social spoke to Dan Naylor, promoter of Rylan Charlton, following defeat to Adam Azim.
Naylor had faced criticism for making the fight, after Charlton took a battering from the highly-rated prospect and was eventually stopped in the second round. However, in the build-up, many fans viewed the fight as a good test for Azim. The dominant performance tells more of the quality of Azim, than the ability of Charlton, who has caused problems for plenty of big-name fighters.
Naylor on Charlton’s injury and return to the ring:
“I don’t think he will be back in the ring any time soon, with that kind of injury [fractured orbital bone]. It took a long time to heal last time and obviously is has gone again. There was a few fights where it held up but with it going now, for a second time, in the same location, it will be quite a long time out of the ring.”
Naylor on why he made the fight:
“Rylan is thirty, he has had a kid this year, I work for him, he wanted the biggest fight at 135 or 140lb. I’m not going to lie, he wanted a big pay day and rightly so if there are offers out there. I went out there and got him that. We had the chat, I’m never going to throw him into fights, he gets offered fights all the time and we sit down and have the discussion. He is a mate before a boxer. I do this because I love the sport. When people are throwing things out there like ‘Oh Dan Naylor his manager has chucked him in, just to earn some money for their 25% [cut]’, I don’t take close to 25%, I never have done. I didn’t get paid for the first three or four years.”
In the full interview (below), Naylor defends his decision to make Azim-Charlton, despite a worrying injury for Charlton and provides an update on the future of ‘The Pintsize Powerhouse’.