PEACE AT LAST

THERE is a sense of trepidation when you phone a former fighter. Are they going to sound punchy and force you to confront what they did for a living? Are they skint with no real means of making and retaining money? Will they sound like they’ve been out on the p**s for days, weeks or even months?

You are right back to using them as a means rather than an end. If you get 30 minutes or more you get your four pages and your byline. Then the article has to go to some dark places, as that is what sells, so you have to peel back the layers and ask the kind of questions you wouldn’t even pose to your own family. Sometimes, though, you end up pleasantly surprised as you find that someone has found some inner-peace post-boxing.

Frankie Gavin had it all. He was our first amateur World champion after beating Roman Amanov, handing Aleksei Tischchenko his first loss in over four years and outpointing Domenico Valentino in the final back in 2007. He was expected to do great things as a professional. However, and despite fighting for a major belt against IBF welterweight boss Kell Brook in May 2015, Gavin never hit the