Ennis-Brown accuses Bowes of being ‘weak minded’ ahead of their domestic dust up
WITH their British and Commonwealth title fight just days away, Akeem Ennis-Brown has labelled his opponent Phillip Bowes as ‘weak minded’ after he refused to engage with him during the build-up.
On Friday night Ennis-Brown and Bowes will finally come face-to-face at York Hall as they battle it out over 12 rounds in the capital.
After initially being scheduled to fight in November of last year, the two have been exchanging words over social media for several months.
Bowes, who is slightly more experienced than Ennis-Brown with 23 fights as a professional compared to the 24-year-old’s 13, had refused to engage with Gloucester’s super-lightweight before calling him ‘rude and ignorant’.
However, Gloucester-based Ennis-Brown says Bowes’ reluctance to respond to his criticism shows a weak mindset.
“The quiet mouth doesn’t get fed and the quiet person gets forgotten easily,” he said.
“I think Bowes is weak minded, he wants to avoid confrontation with me but he should be lapping it up,” he said.
“We are boxers and we have to sell the fight to the fans so you can’t just get by telling everyone how much of a nice guy you are, that’s a sign of weakness to me.
“If someone brings the heat to you, you have to bring it back to them. If Bowes was smart he’d use what I’m saying to build his profile but he’s stupid.”
The 24-year-old says he has no issues in being outspoken when it comes to his boxing career, as he is fully aware that being talented and performing well in the ring is just a small part of what it takes to be successful.
The super-lightweight, who trains with Jon Pitman at his Fight Factory Gym says he has spent hours watching successful fighters such as Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather in order to gain inspiration.
“When I first came into boxing I studied fighters and how they built their profile, so I watched a lot of stuff from Ali and Mayweather,” he added.
“I’ve been doing that since I was young, so when I got into boxing, I couldn’t wait to be able to do that stuff.
“I love all of the promotion stuff like pictures, videos and interviews and you have to do it, it’s all part of the sport.
“I have to think back to times where no one wanted to give me an interview and no one wanted to hear what I had to say.
“There are thousands and thousands of boxers and you have to show them what makes you different from the rest.”
