Boxing was my saviour... now I want to give other kids a fighting chance
Tom Hopkinson
LEE SELBY has just started his warm-up when he spots a youngster across the gym who looks like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Come and give me a hand,” he shouts, with an encouraging smile, but the young boy, Fabien, isn’t interested.
That changes a few minutes later, however, partly because he has just watched Selby larking around in the ring with another visitor.
But also because the former IBF world featherweight champion has just offered him a pound for every time he manages to tap him on one of his knees.
He follows Selby tentatively at first. But soon he is bounding across the canvas, l unging at the Welshman’s legs while sporting a huge grin in a scene which encapsulates the way barriers are broken down with so many of the youngsters who walk into the Bristol gym that houses the Empire Fighting Chance charity.
Set up by CEO Martin Bisp and Jamie Sanigar, Selby’s manager, the charity uses boxing to help young people tackle problems including mental-health issues, drink and/or drug dependency, under- performance at school, and challenging family lives. And in Selby, it has the perfect ambassador.
The 31- year- old has spoken openly about his problems with drink and drugs in his youth, about the death of his elder brother Michael 10 years ago, and the impact it had on him.
He has talked about losing his mother, Frankie, in the days leading up to his rematch with Jonathan Victor Barros in 2017 and, a week after that fight, the death of his grandfather, Peter.
Questions
But despite all the setbacks he has faced, Selby has somehow found the strength to stay positive and he now uses the highs and lows of his life to help others.
“I’m trying to pass on my experiences and advice,” said Selby. “I’m not the greatest public speaker, I’m not someone who can just stand up and tell people like it is, so I just let them ask the questions and we start from there.
“Off their questions, I bounce back and I can get to them that way.
“If I wasn’t a boxer they wouldn’t acknowledge me, but when they have seen me on TV, they sort of look up to me and really take in what I have to say. We go into
LEE SELBY will kick-start his bid to become a two-weight world champion this year after losing his IBF world featherweight title to Josh Warrington last May.
Selby will step up to superfeatherweight or lightweight after struggling to make the nine-stone featherweight limit for years. “I