Loss for Mark Lloyd on points to Nasser Al Harbi
Boxer Mark Lloyd suffered a narrow defeat against Birmingham's highly-rated Nasser Al Harbi in Manchester last night.
But the 37-year-old's coach and manager Errol Johnson said his Telford fighter's 59-57 points loss still served an important purpose.
Lloyd will travel to Gloucester next month for a shot at the British Masters Welterweight title against unbeaten Chris Higgs on November 23.
His six-round bout with Al Harbi, fought at light-middleweight, was his first since he suffered a defeat to Canadian puncher Pier Olivier Cote in May.
And despite the defeat, it allowed Lloyd to get some valuable ring time in ahead of the title shot.
Johnson said: "It was close. He cut Al Harbi around both eyes and Al Harbi got a warning for holding but he was a bit slicker earlier on.
"But it was ideal preparation for the Higgs fight. Al Harbi is fighting at a higher level than Higgs and he is bigger as well."
Lloyd had taken the fight at short notice after Al Harbi's original opponent, unbeaten Mick Hall, had to pull out injured.
