What does the future now hold for Foster?

Brad Foster...beaten by perfect body shot on Saturday

I’VE seldom seen a boxer’s face betray such abject agony as Brad Foster’s did on Saturday night.

He grimaced in pain after being dropped by a perfect left hook to the body by former Olympian Peter McGrail at Canon Medical Arena, Sheffield.

His features were distorted, yet somehow Lichfield’s brave former British super-bantamweight champ made it to his feet as referee Michael Alexander completed the full count at one minute, eight seconds of the second.

Fans will have seen the perfect finisher delivered by Evertonian McGrail. It was chilling and textbook, briefly paralysing. Providing a blow by blow commentary of the action is pointless: I’d be telling you what you already know.

It is the questions raised by Brad’s first stoppage loss in a 21 fight career that need to be considered.

And at the forefront of those is, will Foster, at just 26, retire? I’m sure it’s something being mulled over by the boxer and his father.

 He’s been in the business a comparatively long time, having turned over – after a star-studded kick-boxing career – as the country’s youngest pro at just 18. He’s achieved an awful lot including outright ownership of a Lonsdale Belt and suffered more than his share of bad decisions.

If he does walk away, he can do so with head held hight.

I hope not. Foster still has a lot to offer – at feather, not super-bantam. I was unsure of the wisdom of returning to the division that brought so much glory for McGrail.

He is not damaged goods. He was not halted by headshots, the fight did not take a lot out of him. He is still a magnificent fighter.

“I wouldn’t want him to finish like that,” said veteran and respected manager PJ Rowson. “But if Brad decides that’s it, that’s it.

“He’s had his up and downs with the sport, but, remember, Brad had no amateur background. I think what he has achieved is remarkable. He has never taken a knee in sparring or a championship bout.

“I still have faith in Brad, I believe he can still come up and do something, but it has to be Brad’s wishes. It’s down to Brad.”

That is it in a nutshell. Foster has the tools to succeed at a high level, it’s whether he has the drive and determination to embrace what that entails. Whether he wants it as much as he once wanted it.

And, make no mistake, that punch from McGrail would’ve finished most opponents.

“It was a perfect body shot,” said PJ. “It was something Brad had been working on, but McGrail beat him to it.

“Weight making was not a factor. McGrail had the better of the first round, but I expected that. I could see the shots Brad was landing showed a little more pep than Peter’s. After one round I thought, ‘this could turn into a real humdinger’.

“But a shot like that is going to stop anyone. The only thing to do is congratulate Peter McGrail for such a world class shot.”

That it was. It drove McGrail to new heights and condemned Foster to a long climb back to the top.

Can he find the motivation for that trek? Only Brad Foster can answer that.