On once occasion in the second round he hurled a couple of right-handed haymakers on to the top of Dawson’s head, leaving his own chin unguarded. Dawson spotted it and hit him on the chin. Flintoff fell to the canvas, but quickly picked himself up. According to Barry McGuigan, who had spent four months teaching Flintoff the sweet science from scratch, “he got a wee bit overexcited, the crowd got to him, he forgot to protect himself.” But the good thing was, as McGuigan conceded, he kept going, kept chasing, kept landing punches.