Anthony Fowler retires from boxing at age 32

After a decorated amateur career and six years as a pro, super welterweight contender Anthony Fowler has hung up the gloves at age 32.

Fowler, a former Commonwealth Games champion and world bronze medalist, ran afoul of Janibek Alimkhanuly in the opening round of Rio 2016 before turning pro a year later. He quickly won his first nine in a row, never going past six, before dropping a a split decision to Scott Fitzgerald. Though a rematch never materialized thanks to Fitzgerald completely self-destructing to the point where he’s now serving a nearly yearlong jail sentence for assault, Fowler got back on track with another six-fight run.

This set up a major domestic clash with Liam Smith, and though Fowler started strong, he fell apart down the stretch en route to an eighth-round TKO loss. His subsequent bout, a decision over durable victim-to-the-stars Lukasz Maciec in 2022 that raised his record to 16-2 (12 KO), would be his last.

Fowler inarguably underachieved as a professional, but he gave us some good fights and is getting out with all his faculties intact, which is always laudable. Safe travels, Tony.