Former boxing world champion Lee Selby will step out of retirement tonight to make his bare-knuckle boxing debut in Cardiff. The 39-year-old Welshman, who retired four years ago after a successful career, said he missed the structure and routine of fighting.
From Zoo to Ring
Selby, a former featherweight world champion, had settled into a quiet life with his menagerie of animals, including two horses, five dogs, 20 chickens, a ferret, and a cat. But after months of horse riding and dog walking, he grew bored. He returned to the gym to coach fighters and was drawn to the fast-paced nature of bare-knuckle events.
“I got back in the gym and started coaching fighters. Once I started coaching a bare-knuckle fighter, I saw the shows from the corner. I'm a boxing purist and a boxing fan, but sometimes the boxing shows are really boring. And then you go to the bare-knuckle fights and it's just so fast-paced; it's like a conveyor belt of fights,” Selby explained.
Family Concerns
While Selby is excited about his new challenge, his family has mixed feelings. His brother Andrew will also transition to bare-knuckle boxing seven years after ending his own boxing career. However, his father and sister are less supportive.
“I've had different opinions from people, and a load of stick on social media, but it's from people who have never had a fight in their life, so they wouldn't understand,” Selby said. “My brother is all for it but my dad's a boxing purist, so he hasn't really mentioned the fight and I know he's against it, to be honest, and my sister is worried I'll get hurt.”
Rediscovering Purpose
Selby admitted he had concerns about returning to combat sports after a financially secure retirement. “I did have some concerns. I retired from boxing financially secure, with the same two brain cells I started with, and I did wonder whether I really needed to push the boat out. But I started training and realised that's what's been missing in my life; the routine and structure, and once I started hitting those pads and sparring again, I felt like me again,” he said.
