AFTER re-watching his third-round defeat to Lawrence Okolie, Swindon boxer Luke ‘The Duke’ Watkins says he believes there wasn’t a vast difference in ability between him and his opponent.

Okolie, who fought to the 2016 Rio Olympics, now boasts a record of 9-0 after his knockout win saw him take Watkins’ Commonwealth cruiserweight title.

Despite the fight being brought to an end by referee Michael Alexander with one minute 40 seconds remaining in the third, 28-year-old Watkins felt he was more than able of competing against Okolie.

“I’ve watched it back and I said to Paddy (Fitzpatrick, trainer) before I watched it that I thought I got hurt in the first round,” he said.

“I actually believe it was the end of the second round. Don’t get me wrong, I got caught in the first round.

“The damaging shot which didn’t allow me to recover was at the end of the second, going into the third round.

“A lot of people have been commenting on the reach of Lawrence, but I was aware of that and I was up for it being a problem that evening.

“We had a game plan and specific moves which would counter the long arm and him holding it out. The plan was to punch with him.

“I have to give credit to him, he hit me with two good shots on my ear that I couldn’t recover from.”

Former New College student Watkins also added his gratitude to the referee after he allowed the Swindon fighter to return to his feet, despite being floored by Okolie.

Going into the bout, many people had predicted a slugfest between the two cruiserweights, but Watkins says the fight played out as he expected it to.

“Paddy has already said thank you to the referee for letting me act like a champion and I’m grateful for that too,” he added.

“When I went down, I got up. Even when I went down for the second time with the referee stood over me, I still wanted to get up.

“Up until that happened, it felt like I was in the fight and there wasn’t masses separating us in terms of ability.

“I just have to give Lawrence credit for his power and landing his shots. That is what it is about, landing and getting the other person out of there.

“I said it from the beginning, I didn’t think the fight was going to be what people expected. People expected a war but I said it would come down to boxing smart.

“That's what happened. He landed a certain punch and when you’re above a certain weight, I believe you can knock anyone out.”