The recent tragic death of boxer Scott Westgarth has led Dodworth's Ben Davies to call time on his own career.
Davies, 28, had been due to headline at the Metrodome a week today in a Central Area super-middleweight title clash against Harry Matthews. But the sad news of Westgarth's death, following a fight at the Doncaster Dome a fortnight ago, forced him into making a tough decision and he has opted to retire.
He said: "After the news broke last Monday I sat down with my wife and we agreed that I had too much to lose and that it just wasn't worth it. I could always tell that my wife supported me but didn't really want me fighting."
Davies had been close to both fighters involved with Westgarth being a former stablemate at Sheffield Boxing Centre and Westgarth's opponent Declan Spelman a regular sparring partner. Davies has entertained crowds with his all-action style. While that has boosted his popularity it has also played a major part in his decision.
"I am always in a position to get hit," he admitted.
"The way I fight is to wear my opponents down. I am not in pretty fights and I have done 94 hard rounds. There are only so many times you can go to the well."I had recently been taking a lot more punches on the gloves but there is still rattling going on around your head."
Davies finishes with a record of nine wins, six losses and one draw. His highlight was beating former Welsh champion Frankie Borg at the Metrodome in 2015.
"That is the fight that sticks in people's minds. An inspector from the board (British Boxing Board of Control) said it was the best smallhall fight he had seen live in five years. He said that it was a proper slugfest and that is a real compliment considering all the fights he must have seen. I gave everything in that fight, blood sweat and tears to get the win."
Davies has seen the good and the ugly side of the sport. It helped drag him away from trouble as a teenager and has helped him to set up a home for his family, which includes two boys Jacob, four, and Isaac, three, as well as a fitness business which he runs out of a unit at the Acorn Centre in Grimethorpe.But when you are not a big star and having to sell tickets, it becomes a real slog for little financial reward.
"Boxing is too much of a hard living. I hope I have given a lot of people entertainment because, when I fought, I gave everything. At my best I could have got an English title fight but that would have earned me about £5,000. That is not going to change my life and how many more hard rounds would I have go through to get there? Don't get me wrong, I have got as much as I could out of boxing.
"It pulled me away from trouble as a teenager and I can use boxing in my gym to make it fun for people. I've got my family, my business and my health and that is all I need."
