Special K & the Fireball

LAST month Kell Brook called time on his professional boxing career, some 18 years after making his debut, and British boxing fans celebrated both the decision and the legacy he had left.

Meanwhile, another boxer from Sheffield, John ‘Fireball’ Fewkes, also announced his retirement from the sport in May, 18 years after launching his career on the same night as Brook.

“It was September 17, 2004 at the Don Valley [Stadium, Sheffield],” Fewkes told Boxing News. “He boxed Peter Buckley and I boxed Mark Dane. I remember it like it was yesterday.

“We’ve always had a little, with one of us saying, ‘You wanna ring the bell?’ We always said that was going to happen at some point when we’re both done. We just didn’t expect to retire within weeks of each other.”