It’s a decision he’s delighted with, given he “never liked fighting” and felt like he was “never fully confident in myself”.
“I don’t want to fight with anybody, I don’t want to fight with anything. I don’t want to fight my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions. I don’t want to do that anymore.”
He took up boxing when he was about seven years old, introduced to the sport along with his sister by their father at St Agnes’ Boxing Club in Andersonstown – a place he described as “beyond words” in its importance to the community.
But, while he said he had plenty of positive experiences with coaches during his career, there were those “who’ve been hard as well and who haven’t been pleasant and who haven’t been nice”.
These weren’t just harsh words, he added. It could be coaches “leaving you out of certain things, not talking to you for a few days, saying things behind your back that’s getting to other people and then it’s getting back to you”.
“I’m a very sensitive person and I take things to heart, so all of a sudden the coach stops talking to me for a week without explanation… you start to question yourself, is it me? What have I done?”
Nowadays, he’s studying for a Masters in sports psychology and aiming to be an advocate for mental well-being in sport, someone who can help young athletes with support and advice.
“My whole thing is sitting with an individual, being there with them, regardless if you’re giving them advice, comfort, whatever it may be – putting an arm around someone’s shoulder and saying: ‘I’m there with you.'”