SOLOMON Dacres refused to make excuses or feel sorry for himself after David Adeleye inflicted his first professional defeat, losing the English heavyweight title inside a round last month.

Being beaten on the continent as an amateur, where very few aficionados can keep tabs on you and coverage is limited, is one thing. Getting dropped heavily and sharply stopped, barely 80 seconds into a title fight live on TNT Sports in-front of thousands is another entirely.

During an interview with October Red, the 31-year-old reaffirmed a desire to get back on the proverbial horse and rebuild, as his most recent foe did to end a 13-month layoff emphatically last month.

Adeleye was in a similar position after a seventh-round stoppage defeat by British champion Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) and after injury rescheduled their matchup, the 28-year-old got an early Christmas present on December 7. Dacres hopes to be back out in April and insists whenever the time comes, there's a readiness within to continue climbing the ranks, as he was doing before.

"I've been boxing for 10 or 11 years, not everything has gone my way, I know how the process goes. I've not had an easy life as an amateur, sometimes the hurdles make your character, boxing is the greatest sport for that, look at how many people have lost and come back better? Mentally it [defeat] won't faze me, one day's work isn't going to undo it all. It's another life experience, that's what makes you stronger."

Comments on this highlight video are wide-ranging, from those defying others suggesting it was a rigged outcome and praising the David Haye-esque looping left hook that finished the show for one of trainer Adam Booth's newest additions. Some were already matchmaking the future, a few declaring it was inevitable Dacres would one day suffer a knockout defeat.

"I lost before and have avenged defeats in the amateurs, as a pro, you can't get into comments and get stuck up on that. Gotta take no notice of it, just work in the gym and get back to it. I've had other boxing coaches tell me it's a strange shot, 'we've been looking at it,' people who know what they're talking about, it's just one of them innit? Go back to the drawing board, I'm in this for the long game and it won't define me."

Dacres made his amateur debut in 2014 and after defeat by fellow debutant Rafal Zmarzly in their West Midlands Championships semi-final the previous year, avenged it 13 months later.

He won the Senior Development Championships three weeks later, clinched National Championship and Three Nations winners' medals in 2017 before venturing outside his comfort zone as fights in Finland, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Bulgaria beckoned for a well-schooled boxer expected to feature at the coronavirus-impacted Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Instead, the Warley man didn't wait the extra year and turned professional in 2021 where his first seven bouts were under Eddie Hearn's Matchroom banner on Sky and later, exclusively with DAZN. Now, he's under contract with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions, where the likes of Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs) and former WBO cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs) have both rebounded after losses.

Having sparred some of the world's best, including two-time heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury and current IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois, Dacres has taken solace from the freakish manner of his defeat, if nothing else.

"I never say it because I know I can take a shot, been in there with the biggest punchers, never been dropped, wobbled, stopped or anything - none of them have put a dent in me. I was ready, the prep for this fight... was the best I've ever felt going into a ring."

Not long after the stoppage defeat, he was asked if he wanted to spar with Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) again in preparation for the 27-year-old's title defence against Joseph Parker on February 22. He didn't hesitate and will be training alongside him again for another week's worth of work before they venture to Saudi Arabia shortly.

"It's not a light spar, it's with Dubois in camp... to see what's what, get touched with something and see [how I react]. Just to reiterate to myself I am gonna be able to go where I want, no marks on my face, I've got the validation from boxing and physically doing it. Nothing's changed, I know I've still got it."

Dacres, who sparred Dubois in preparation for his much-anticipated Joyce bout, is taking inspiration from a champion deemed damaged goods by many after two stoppage defeats by Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk two years apart.

"People wrote him off and now look at him. Would he be heavyweight champion of the world right now if he stopped when they told him to?"

Having shared the ring in training with both Dubois and Parker, he was also asked for his opinion on the fight. Like many, he's undecided.

"I can't really pick a winner, Joe beat two of the biggest one-punch fighters and did it with a gameplan - nullified the Wilder backhand, he and Andy Lee know what they're doing, analysing fights. Got put down a few times against Zhang but stuck to the plan, they'll have a very good strategy going in. Dubois is heavy-handed and a punch could change something in there."