Lowe gets ready to fight for real

By Craig Lowe, BBC Radio Merseyside

Lowe will be offered a five-fight deal if he beats Kyle Anthony King

For most boxers making their professional debut, the biggest concerns are doing themselves justice and fighting without a head guard and vest for the first time.

For light-flyweight Paul Lowe from Huyton, the stakes are a little higher.

Standing at 4ft 8in and weighing little over eight stone, the 28-year-old stuntman and actor is fighting for a future in the sport.

Lowe has nominal amateur experience due to the difficulties of getting fights and now, on his pro debut he is due to face former Welsh amateur star Kyle Anthony King in Stoke on Friday.

"Because I'm small I never thought I'd be able to box," he told BBC Radio Merseyside. "But, through my stunt work, I became a brown belt in Thai boxing.

"I moved back to Liverpool after three years in London and because there was no Thai boxing classes around I got more involved in boxing."

When Lowe steps through the ropes at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex he will be among the smallest men, in terms of height, to have ever appeared in a professional ring, although he has had to 'bulk up' after the match was made at flyweight.

It's not purposely in my head to prove people wrong but I love facing adversity

Paul Lowe

But he plenty of incentive to do well, having been offered a potentially lucrative five-fight deal with Gleason's Gym in New York should he beat King.

"My manager John Rooney owns Gleason's Gym in London, which is connected to Gleason's Gym in New York.

"All going well in this fight and I do the business, then I have a chance of Frank Maloney possibly looking after me, getting fighters over for me to fight and I'll also be able to go to New York and fight on the Gleason's bill," he said.

Despite the high stakes, Lowe exudes calm, perhaps a result of what he describes as his "extreme" out-of-the-ring assignments working as a stuntman.

"I've been hit by cars, I've been thrown off cliffs, I've done all sorts. I know boxing isn't the same, as I've got to cope with pressure and people trying to hit me. I might get hurt more, I might get hurt less, who knows?"

Lowe's film credits include the first Harry Potter film, the Order of the Phoenix, as well as The Mask of Zorro - and he admits he found the prospect of singing with Catherine Zeta Jones scarier then anything he could face in a boxing ring.

"Catherine is lovely," he said. "There was a party for the producer and the karaoke came on.

"I can sing a little bit because of my acting and she was trying to get me up to sing karaoke and I was thinking I don't care if you're Catherine Zeta Jones or anyone. I'm not singing karaoke."

Asked if he had missed his big chance with Zeta Jones, Lowe quipped: "You're kidding aren't you. Michael Douglas would knock me out."

When his attention is brought back to boxing, a recurring word in Lowe's vocabulary is adversity and the fact he gains strength from having grown up being shorter than his contemporaries.

"When I learnt to horse ride people said you'll never be able to as you only have little legs, it's going to be awkward. Well, I can horse ride now.

"It's not purposely in my head to prove people wrong but I love facing adversity.

"When I used to box as an amateur I'd walk out and I could see people thinking 'he's only tiny look at him, he's got no chance', but my style is aggressive.

"I'm only small but I'm strong at my height and weight."

Paul Lowe faces Kyle Anthony King over four rounds at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke on Friday night (29 May).