Peter McGrail wins excellent fight against late sub Rhys Edwards; Lee McGregor defeats Isaac Lowe

Peter McGrail had been due to face Dennis McCann, but after McCann failed a VADA test for more than one substance, Welshman Rhys Edwards picked up the phone with three days’ notice.

After a 20-hour trip, Edwards was in the ring and matching Liverpool southpaw McGrail punch for punch, losing only narrowly on the scorecards.

Following 10 rapid-fire rounds, all three scores favored McGrail by 96-95 and 96-94 (twice).

McGrail’s work was snappier early on, but Edwards took plenty on the arms and gloves and was back in a fast-paced encounter.

McGrail was cut by the side of his right eye from a head clash with a minute to go in the third, and although Edwards was sometimes countering well, there was a lumpy look to his left eye.

The blood flowed freely from McGrail’s left eye, but it did so down the side of his face rather than into his optic.

Edwards was often on the front foot, but McGrail threw more until around halfway through the eighth, when Edwards landed several clean shots and briefly caused the Liverpool man to hold.

“All you’ve got to do is let your shots go,” said Edwards’ trainer, Gary Lockett, in the corner. 

Both featherweights opened up more in the ninth, and the 10th was filled with action, volume and grit from both in a free-flowing affair. 

By the end, McGrail’s right eye was soaked in blood and Edwards’ left eye was almost swollen shut.

McGrail’s only previous defeat was in the US, a shocking stoppage loss to Ja’Rico O’Quinn in December 2023. He had won twice since, beating Brad Foster and Marc Leach.

McGrail is now 11-1 (6 KOs), but Edwards did himself proud and took the call of a lifetime, showing plenty of other fighters the importance of staying in shape and staying in the gym. He is now 16-1 (6 KOs).   

There was no feeling-out process in the junior lightweight clash between Scotland’s Lee McGregor and Isaac Lowe. They each landed solid left hooks in the initial moments of their fight, but then things settled down and evened out.

There was a more polished look to McGregor’s work, but Lowe was making it physical, punching on the inside and grappling when he felt necessary.

Lowe, one of the best friends of Tyson Fury, the headliner in Riyadh, took a clean right hand in the fifth and, shortly after, McGregor was warned for coming in head first.

Lowe bled from a cut by his left eye.

By the sixth, McGregor had found a rhythm and was able to strike Lowe with rangy blows, putting real distance between them.

Lowe was game and keen and kept coming, but he was taking on damage. McGregor could win on the front foot or the back foot, and he was happy to mix between the two, and when McGregor landed a clean left hook, a frustrated Lowe dropped his hands and challenged McGregor, “Come on!”

At the end of the seventh, Lowe really tried to force the pace, but McGregor merely moved and teased him and did not get involved.

Lowe was content to walk through whatever McGregor landed, and Lowe’s team was warned by the referee for losing his mouthpiece on a second occasion. He lost a point when it came out again in Round 9.

Lowe needed to gamble to try and turn things around, but in his pursuit he was continuously picked off and his right eye was bleeding heavily. Lowe lost another point in the 10th for the same infraction but was rewarded on the scorecards for his industry, losing by 96-92 and 97-91 (twice).
Lowe dropped to 25-3-3 (8 KOs), while McGregor is now 15-1-1 (11 KOs).