CALLING IT A DAY
Laight, Cunningham and Renda retire, writes Matt Bozeat
Kristian Laight, Craig Cunningham and Cello Renda hang up their gloves
KRISTIAN LAIGHT was out delivering parcels when Boxing News rang him to discuss his retirement after 300 fights. “I’ve had to go out and get a job,” he said, facing up to the consequences of quitting his night job as “Mr Reliable”, British boxing’s leading journeyman.
Laight says his points loss to Luke Beasley in Coventry last month will be his last fight, putting his decision down to “wear and tear,” including a slipped disc in his back and a torn muscle in his arm that’s meant he’s “hardly been able to throw a right hand for the last few years.” “Mentally and physically I’m exhausted,” he said. “300 fights is enough. I’m 38 and I’ve still got my marbles. But it feels strange, like I’ve got nothing to do, and what am I going to do with my Saturday nights? Watch X Factor?
“At least it means I get to spend more time with my lad [two-year-old Lucas].”
Laight says his immediate plan is to “get really fat,” but added: “I’m going to get my seconds’ licence and help out at the Eastside gym.
“I could teach a few tricks, but a lot of good fighters couldn’t do what I do. You have to be physically and mentally tough [to be a journeyman]. It’s hard training and getting in there knowing you’re probably going to lose. But the way I look at it, there’s a bad way to lose and a good way to lose. You don’t have to get knocked out. You can lose, but still have fun and not get hurt.”
Perhaps the true gauge of Laight’s capabilities is that in his 279 defeats, he was stopped only five times. He drew nine and won 12. “People look at my record and think: ‘He was rubbish,’” said Laight, who equalled the triple century reached by Peter Buckley between 1989 and 2008.
“But they don’t realise I only had 10 amateur fights and in my fourth pro fight I went in with Kevin Mitchell. I never had any easy fights and because of that, I was a defensive fighter from the get go. I used to think that if my attack was as good as my defence, I would be world champion. “But it’s hard to switch on attack mode when every week you are just moving and trying to survive. The job was always to go in there, have a look and decide if the fight’s winnable or not. If it’s winnable, you don’t want to get hurt.”
Laight rates Mitchell among his toughest opponents, along with Lewis Ritson, Tommy Coyle “and so many
more.”
The highlight was his points wins over Carl Chadwick (2-0) on the Luke Campbell-tommy Coyle undercard at Hull’s Craven Park in August, 2015.
“Len Woodhall had just passed away,” said Laight. “He had been in my corner
‘THE JOB WAS ALWAYS TO GO IN THERE AND DECIDE IF THE FIGHT WAS WINNABLE’
‘SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DO IT THE HARD WAY BUT YOU CAN’T DO IT THE HARD WAY’
for 50 or more fights and that was for him.” The record books – or Boxrec, these days – show Laight boxed 18 times this year, losing 17 and drawing once. “Coming towards the end, I knew it could end at any time,” he admitted, “and I did think a few times: ‘What am I doing? I’m too old for this. I need to get a proper job.’ Now I’ve got one.”
Laight ended his career boxing out of the Eastside gym in Birmingham and manager Jon Pegg said: “The last year it was getting tougher for Kristian, but it would have been heartbreaking if he hadn’t got to 300. I said to him: ‘Let’s not drag it on too long, finish on your own terms’ and I’m glad he has. People don’t realise how good Kristian was, how good his ring generalship was. He was so good at shutting people down.
“Too many fighters get called a legend these days, but Kristian really was.”
Pegg has also this week lost two more fighters, including a middleweight once ranked No 11 by the WBC. Craig
Cunningham found himself there after upsetting 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo in Birmingham in October, 2016.
Through no fault of his own, that was as good as it got for Cunningham and at just 30, the skilled southpaw has decided to walk away.
“I’ve found myself in no man’s land,” said Cunningham, “and rather than hang around hoping for something to come up, I would rather spend time with my family. They have missed out on a lot and I wasn’t getting anything out of boxing. I was flying in 2016 [there were Midlands-title wins over Ryan Aston and Jason Welborn as well as the Ogogo victory], but the WBC title didn’t get me the big fights I thought it would.
“Everyone wanted to protect their record and there was nobody around for me to defend the Midlands title against. This is the side of boxing the public don’t see, the politics. If you’re not with a big promoter and don’t have sponsors, you have to do it the hard way and sometimes you can’t do it the hard way.
“I fought whoever I was told to fight, beat them – and then they got the big fights ahead of me.”
Cunningham missed out on a Britishtitle shot after Tommy Langford instead opted to challenge for interim WBO honours and proposed fights in Russia and Singapore didn’t happen either.
This year, a mooted match up with Andrew Robinson fell through and Cunningham finishes with a 19-3 (4) record after a points loss to Jack Culcay in Germany in March.
“I just went through the motions,” he said. “I could have stepped it up, but there was nothing there. After that, I knew the hunger had gone and it was time to walk away.” Value-for-money middleweight Cello
Renda also retired this week, following his fifth-round loss to Luke Crowcroft in Doncaster [see page 32]. The 34-yearold from Peterborough bows out with a 29-13-2 (13) record compiled over 14 years. Fans will remember him for his ‘Prizefighter’ ding-dong with Martin Murray and his double knockdown against Paul Samuels. His victory over Leon Mckenzie last year was a belter, too.