Rotherham electrician fights for Team GB at Thai boxing tournament

For Hardwick, the brutal side of the sport is something he has come to terms with.

“When I first started at 10, it was very intimidating,” he said.

“I wear 10oz gloves but you get elbows to the head, knees to the head, leg kicks…”

His list of injuries is long and extensive.

“Black eyes, bust noses. I haven’t been able to breathe through my nose for three years,” he said.

“My toes crack. I’ve had hematomas all over my shins.”

He admitted that it had at times got “too much” for his mother.

“She doesn’t ever come to my fights because right from the start she said she doesn’t want to see her ‘young-‘un’ fight.

“She’d jump into the ring!”