Fowler vs Fitzgerald results: Scott Fitzgerald drops and upsets Anthony Fowler

We came in with a pair of unbeaten 154-pound prospects who had talked a huge amount of trash in the build-up, knowing one of them was leaving without the “0” on his record anymore.

Anthony Fowler was favored, fighting at home in Liverpool, but it was Scott Fitzgerald who got his hand raised in the end, and a dramatic final round knockdown that made the difference on the cards.

Fitzgerald (13-0, 9 KO) upset Fowler (9-1, 8 KO) via split decision, with two cards of 95-94 to Fitzgerald and one 96-94 score to Fowler. BLH scored the fight 96-93 for Fitzgerald.

Fowler looked sharp early on, but Fitzgerald settled into the fight nicely in the middle rounds, while Fowler was caught sort of treading water a bit, looking a little tired from expending a lot of energy in the first half of the fight by often loading up on punches.

With the fight clearly close, Fowler had a big ninth round, hurting Fitzgerald a bit, but the underdog took the shots, stayed on his feet, and weathered the storm.

The fight was still clearly up for grabs in the 10th and final round when Fitzgerald connected on an uppercut and a couple of left hooks that put Fowler on the canvas. Fowler got back to his feet, but was on very unsteady legs.

Fitzgerald began to attack again, looking for the finish, but may have punched himself out, as he backed off with about 30 seconds remaining and played to the crowd a bit. There was some concern that he could regret that, but it was the knockdown that won him the fight.

“Winning this fight is just gonna kick me on now, because this will put me in the top 15 in the world,” Fitzgerald said, referring to the WBA International title that he picked up with the victory.

“I knew, to be honest, how tough that guy is. I could hit him with a bat and he’d still keep going,” Fitzgerald added. “I respect how determined he is. He’ll come back.”

“I went down, I wasn’t hurt,” Fowler claimed. “But fair play. I put everything into the ninth round. Then obviously, he caught me. I don’t like the kid, but fair play. He was the better man tonight.”

This was a well-matched, very entertaining fight, and a rematch could definitely make sense, either immediately if they want to go that route, or later on, when both are potentially bigger names.