Bermudian Muay Thai fighter Deondre Morris is back in Bermuda after fighting “a giant” on an historic pay-per-view card in Canada.

Morris fought for a world title against local favourite Alec Spivey at Rise of The Warrior 8 in the first sanctioned Muay Thai fight card in Ontario, but came up short after losing on points.

Given the way the event panned out and the disadvantages he faced against a far taller opponent, Morris is proud of his performance.

“I lost the decision but considering the circumstances, I still feel like I won,” Morris said.

“My opponent was literally a giant and all the information I got about the fight beforehand was a bit off.

“He was massive and was at least 6ft 5in and I know for a fact that he was over 270lb, so I’m proud that it went to decision and I made it all three rounds. The judges gave him the decision but I’m happy to have won one round.”

Morris’s movement needed to be good in the bout with the aim of avoiding the giant fists of his opponent and he was pleased with his ability to avoid taking some heavy blows.

“I got hit clean maybe twice with two big shots,” Morris said.

“But considering his size, I’m completely healthy, no concussion, no bruises, no blood, nothing broken, and I feel great. I have no regrets, I still feel really good competing at this level and representing Bermuda on the biggest stage.

“I actually came out of the ring feeling euphoric to be back and competing at this level.”

After the fight, victor Spivey told the vanquished Morris just how much of an inspiration he had been.

“My opponent’s first ever fight came on the card where I won the Destiny World Title ten years ago,” Morris said.

“He told me that he was there when I won the title in 2016 and that his first fight was on that card. He said I was an inspiration to him and that really meant a lot to me.

“I’ve fought through literally two generations ― people who started way back in 2009 and 2010 stopped in the mid 2010s or right before Covid and now here we are against a whole other generation of fighters.”

It was ten years since Morris had competed for a world title and he has been busy in the last couple of years, so a break is on the agenda.

“I’ve been pretty active the last 18 months, so I’m going to take a bit of a break and let my body rest. I’ve been non-stop training for the last 18 months, so I’m going to slow down again and see going to see what opportunities are available before announcing what’s next.

“You have to give your body time to properly recover and restore. Even though I feel fine, I know I couldn’t just jump right back into a competition right now. It's too much physical and mental stress.”

Now he is 36, Morris’s eyes are turning to the future and he is looking forward to inspiring the next generation of fighters.

“I’m almost there because really what I’m doing this for is the next generation,” he said.

“I have to make sure that the experience that I have and the networking that I do is at an appropriate level that when I do finally stop and focus 100 per cent on coaching, that I’m able to make them promises that I can keep.

“I need to be able to take them among these promoters, into different countries and keep them safe. I’ll use my experience to not just get them matches, but bring them home safe as well. I’m almost ready to hang it up, but just not quite there yet.”