John McDermott too old to box
At 44, John McDermott feels “too old” to box again.
John McDermott feels “too old” to box again.
The 44-year-old former fighter retired in 2013 as the English heavyweight champion and while he thinks the widening market in Saudi Arabia would like his style, he feels it is a decade too late to make a comeback.
He told Boxing News magazine: “I think they would like me in Saudi but I’m too old.
“I have put on a bit of weight since I stopped boxing but I still go to the gym to do one-on-ones and my job is all about lifting things and pulling things.”
John now owns a rubbish clearance company but it took some time after he left boxing to find the right career path.
He said: “I was thinking, ‘Boxing isn’t good for me and then I got offered a job on the railways.
“I was working nights and it didn’t do me any good. I didn’t know what day it was.
“I did that for two and a half years and then set up my clearance business.
“I’m trying build it up and I have a couple of people helping me when I get busy, but it’s hard.”
John famously faced Tyson Fury twice in the Gypsy King’s early career but his daughters Ava, 13, and 10-year-old Eliza – who he has with wife Stephanie – are not impressed.
He said: “Boys come up to them at school and say, ‘Didn’t your dad box Tyson Fury?’ but they don’t give a monkey’s. They are too busy on YouTube.”
