HULL hero Tommy Coyle suffered a brilliantly brave defeat to ex-world champion Chris Algieri in their super-lightweight clash.
The courageous ace, 29, climbed off the floor from a sickening fourth-round body shot but was pulled out after the eighth when trainer Jamie Moore felt he had taken too much punishment.
Coyle jabbed to the body throughout the first round and wasted no time getting out of range when Algieri tried to retaliate with long right hands.
Gym-mate Carl Frampton was ringside and was impressed with Coyle’s first contribution. And the little Irishman was screaming with joy seconds later when Coyle flew up the gears.
The Brit rocked the American almost as soon as the bell rang for the second and piled on the pressure. A string of combinations followed, with Algieri pinned to the ropes at one stage and desperately covering up.
But the 35-year-old’s brilliant legs refused to betray him and he survived the round, with Coyle pinging him one more time with a sweet left hook in the final seconds to emphasize how he won the session.
Round three was less successful after Coyle threw a hopeful right and was countered, he stumbled but did not touch down. The shot grazed his temple but a lack of balance almost took him to the canvas.
Algieri, who has only lost to legend Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and Errol Spence Jr, he showed his class in the fourth when he dropped Coyle.
A rib-wrecking bodyshot sucked all the breath from his lungs and he barrelled backwards into his corner. Algieri chased him down and battered his torso again, before the Englishman went down.
A lesser man would have accepted a valiant defeat but Coyle rallied, laughed at his opponent and urged him to meet in the middle of the ring for a shootout. Coyle recovered brilliantly and saw out the rest of the round.
In the sixth, Coyle roared back into the fight and got the travelling fans on their feet, covering up and absorbing blows on his gloves, he was firing back left hooks that hurt Algieri, whose eyes were swelling up.
At the start of the seventh, Coyle was the victim of a low blow but only took a few seconds to recover and dive back into the action. But it was a dominant round for Algieri, despite the welts on his cheekbones telling a different story.
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Coyle was dominated again in the eighth but another looping left hook in the final seconds proved he was still dangerous.
But, before he could start the ninth, coach Jamie Moore pulled his man out of the onslaught leaving him heartbroken but, most importantly, healthy.
Fans wise enough to get inside Madison Square Garden early, ahead of the Anthony Joshua fight four hours later, got their money's worth and cheered their man out.
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