Chris Colbert appeared in good spirits following his haunting knockout loss Saturday at The Armory in Minneapolis.
The Premier Boxing Champions lightweight fought Jose Valenzuela in Showtime's last ever boxing broadcast in a rematch having beaten the southpaw by decision in March.
This weekend, Valenzuela flipped the script as he finished Colbert in the sixth round, dropping the American who was held up only by the bottom rope.
Out cold from the right hook, Colbert seemed to be in a bad way but said hours later on Instagram that, though the knockout loss was "a hard pill to swallow," he wanted to "thank God for getting me out the ring safe."
He said: "I wanna thank my team for being by my side through whatever. I wanna thank showtime for the opportunity, I wanna thank Al Haymon and PBC.
"I’m sorry to all my fans friends and everyone that supported me I let you down, but I’ll be back in promise."
Despite the conclusive nature of Velanzuela's win, the series is tied one victory each, and so Colbert wants to run it back. "[Velanzuela] was the better man tonight," he said. "Let's do it again."
Valenzuela, meanwhile, called Colbert "a hell of a fighter."
He said: "If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. It takes two to tango, so I’m grateful for him."
However, that gratitude only extends so far. Valenzuela, instead, wants to fight Gervonta Davis.
"I don’t think the fans want to see a rematch, I beat him twice,” said Valenzuela, dismissing the result in the first fight.
"I was patient for a reason. This was a title eliminator and I want to fight for the title. So ‘Tank’ Davis, let’s get it on man. Let’s give these people a great show … I think I’m ready.
"I put my heart and soul into this and I beat him twice now so I think I deserve it.”
