TRAINER Paddy Fitzpatrick revealed cruiserweight Luke ‘The Duke’ Watkins got hurt in the opening round before suffering his first defeat as a professional.

The 28-year-old saw his Commonwealth title removed in the third round after Lawrence Okolie brutally dispatched the Swindon man with one minute 40 second on the clock in the third round at Bethal Green’s York Hall on Wednesday.

Fitzpatrick, who has been in the Watkins corner since he turned professional, said the Duke did well to collect himself after suffering such an early setback.

“Duke got hurt 20 seconds in and I think he did well not to go down from that shot,” said Fitzpatrick.

“He still wasn’t right when he came back to the corner at the end of the first round but he didn’t realise he was hurt in the first round.

“I thought he started to find his way a little bit in the second round and then at the end of the second I told him he was trying to defend first and then punch, but he needed to punch with Lawrence.

“At the beginning of the third he went out straight away and jabbed with Okolie, which stopped him from stepping forward.

“Almost straightaway they fired a combination off on each other and it looked as if Duke had got his speed back, there was a bit of sharpness about him.

“Then Lawrence got him again. What happened is what everyone thought would happen, one of these men stopped the other one.”

Despite Watkins’ defeat, Fitzpatrick insists credit has to go to both men for taking such a risky fight while their professional careers remain in their infancy.

“You have to give respect to them both because they are two fighters, they are two warriors,” he said.

“There is nothing to sulk or moan about, you give respect and you move on.

“I think we put together a good plan, I really do, we just got hurt 20 seconds in.

“Mike Tyson said it, everyone has got a plan until you get hit in the teeth. When you get hurt early in a fight, it can be the best thing that happens to you, or it could also be the worst thing.

“Sometimes when you get hit early you then know you can survive their power, it almost brings more out of you.

“However, Luke didn’t get hit on the chin by Lawerence’s shot, he got hit behind the ear and it just discombobulated him.

“That is what happened, he got hit 20 seconds in and after that, everything changes.”

Fitzpatrick insists there is no immediate rush to resolve Watkins’ future and expects his man to take a long break from the gym before they sit down and plot the cruiserweight’s next move.