Phil Rowe | Tired of Fighting Himself

Phil Rowe sat at the table stationed in the media room at State Farm Arena in Atlanta fresh off a come-from-behind, third-round stoppage win over Ange Loosa looking anxious. When he began to answer the first question asked of him, the words didn’t immediately come out, so he started tapping the fingers on his left hand against the table and took a couple deep breaths.

Once he found the words — but still occasionally strumming the table with his long fingers — he began by explaining that he and his family have been going through some things, his mother having been diagnosed with and fighting a battle against cancer. As he shifted to speaking about the fight, where he seemingly couldn’t get…