DALE Evans will take a break from boxing to consider his future in the sport after a second failed attempt to claim the British welterweight crown.

Tony Borg-trained Evans, 25, was comfortably outpointed (120-109, 119-109, 119-109) by reigning champion Bradley Skeete at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday night.

In losing, the St Joseph’s ace saw his hopes of honouring the late Mike Towell shattered – the Scot passed away last September following a title eliminator defeat to Evans.

Evans admitted he was “gutted” not to win the Lonsdale Belt for Towell, some of whose fans had travelled down from Scotland to support the Welshman.

Magor-based Evans also revealed that Towell’s girlfriend, Chloe Ross, messaged him immediately after the fight to say how proud her late partner’s family were of his brave effort.

“I hope Mike would have been proud of me,” said Evans.

“What’s brilliant is that his girlfriend texted just after the fight to say they were all proud of me, and my girlfriend and mum said the same.

“I felt I really was doing this for Mike as well as myself, and he was in my mind all the way through the fight, but I just couldn’t produce the goods.

“I’m so gutted I couldn’t do it for him, his family and everyone else, and I’m very grateful to everyone who came and supported me.”

Evans said he had “shivers going down my spine” as Flower of Scotland blasted out to signal his walk to the ring, while the West Walian again wore shorts sporting Towell’s ‘Iron Mike’ nickname.

The first few rounds appeared to be fairly even as Evans did his best to counter Skeete’s clear height and reach advantage.

But once the Londoner sussed out his opponent’s tactics it became increasingly harder for Evans to land any punches that were going to cause Skeete problems.

All three judges agreed that Skeete, who gets to keep his Lonsdale Belt after three successful defences, was a clear winner.

Evans will now take time out to mull over his future – and he is unsure as to whether that involves boxing or not.

“I did ask myself before this fight what would I do after it,” he added. “Boxing is not just a sport for me, it’s my living.

“It’s a very hard living which doesn’t have a fantastic income, so I’m going to have to sit down and see what the future holds.

“I don’t really know if I want to continue doing this.

“I know what sort of money is involved at this level and it’s a hard way of living, so if I can’t win a British title I don’t really know what the future holds.”

Assessing the fight itself, he continued: “I thought I started off well. I was coming underneath his shots and catching him on the inside, which was the plan.

“I executed the plan very well but I think he caught on to it and I didn’t really have much else.

“He was just that bit too long for me and I couldn’t get inside his shots once he was leaning back and getting out of range.

“I just didn’t have the range but gave it everything I had and I couldn’t have asked for anymore from myself.

“There’s no shame in losing to someone as good as Bradley Skeete, who will probably go on to be a world champion.”