Tommy Coyle is entertaining and that is a fact.
But start to peel away the layers of the Hull Lightweight and you start to realise that this is a multi-faceted character, with much greater depth than his joker persona would have you believe.
Fresh from exposing Eddie Hearn’s backside to the world, in his first and quite likely only professional bout on American soil, ‘Boom Boom’ produced an all action display to out hustle Massachusetts Ryan Kielczweski over 10 toe to toe rounds.
With local hero Micky Ward in attendance, Coyle was keen to impress and he put in the kind of bullish performance that we became accustomed to seeing from Lovell’s Ward and his nemesis Arturo Gatti, in the late nineties and early noughties.
Scoring a heavy knockdown with a left hook in 7th round, Coyle could perhaps have finished proceedings had he followed trainer Jamie Moore’s instructions and gone to the body.
But by his own admission he went ‘head hunting like a debutant’, such was his eagerness to give the Boston crowd a fight that his opponent justifiably commented, ‘could have taken place in a phone box’.
In his post-fight interview Coyle humbly admitted, “Im no world champion, I know I’ve got limitations,” as he also admitted he had experienced the week of his life.
“I was back stage with Canelo and Rocky Fielding mid-week, its been a mad week, dreams do come true. I’ve stayed at Times Square New York, I shouldn’t be doing these things.”
Sky’s Adam Smith echoed probably ever viewer’s sentiments when he quickly fired back, “Why shouldn’t you be doing these things?”
The truth is – good things come to good people and Tommy Coyle asks for no praise for his out of the ring activities. The Tommy Coyle Foundation in his hometown of Hull is a not for profit organisation that aims to inspire young people in the local community, through the health and well-being benefits of physical activity.
The foundation provides free sessions to anyone under the age of 17, as Tommy looks to inspire the youth with his own philosophy on life, “You don’t have to be the most talented individual in order to achieve success. If you are willing to work hard, make sacrifices and persevere when things don’t go to plan, you will eventually succeed and achieve your goal.”
Away from boxing and from inspiring the youth in his tight knit Hull community, Tommy has founded ‘The Barrow Boys’ bar and restaurant, along with his brothers, as he goes about securing a future away from the squared circle.
He will certainly be missed by the boxing world, whenever he hangs up his gloves and he acknowledges that retirement from boxing could possibly be only 2 fights away.
A big advocate for the ‘law of attraction’, Coyle’s positivity in every aspect of his life seems to be attracting the rewards he richly deserves and a big domestic clash with Lewis Ritson, followed by a sign off bout in his beloved Hull would be a perfect send off.
But regardless of how this boxing journey ends, good things lie in wait for Tommy Coyle – joker, fighter, businessman, giver, achiever and of course full on entertainer!
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