BOXING: I'D RATHER DIE IN RING THAN DO NOTHING.
Byline: VINCE ELLISBANNED boxing bad boy Shaun Cummins is on the verge of an incredible fight comeback five years after his career was brought to a sensational end.
The fiery light-middleweight watched his world title dreams go crashing in 1996 when he failed a routine brain scan.
And ever since he has been fighting a relentless battle to clear his name.
But now, at 33, the former WBA penta-continental light-middleweight champion is back - licensed by the Irish Boxing Union - and ready to risk death for one final shot at stardom.
'I've lost the best part of my career to this injustice, but I've come through it,' he roared.
'Now I have all the motivation I need to get back to the top.
'Boxing is my life, it's everything. I know the risks, I always have, but I would rather die fighting in the ring - doing what I love - than sit and wonder what might have been.'
Cummins is now looking forward with relief to securing a date for a return contest which will put him back on the boxing map and on a fast-track to major titles.
The controversial boxer can afford to smile again as he concentrates on re-building a career in the super-middleweight division with the likes of Glenn Catley, Richie Woodhall and Joe Calzaghe in mind.
His new licence does not allow him to fight in England - but now he has got Irish Boxing Union backing for his return, he is confident that will only be a matter of time.
It is a million miles away from the depression and anguish he suffered after his nightmare in '96 when the BBBC kicked him out of the sport.
Cummins - based in South Leicester and now part of Coventry star Neil Simpson's stable - is convinced that his incident-marred life outside the ring, which has included two six month jail sentences, had a bearing on the Board's decision.
But without boxing, his life suddenly had no direction or meaning.
'I was down, the lowest I have ever been in my whole life,' he admitted.
'I have been through some difficult times and to be honest I have always felt like a marked man, an underdog.
Career
'But nothing ever hit me like this did. My career was torn away. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that it could all be over.'
Months of soul searching only led Cummins to the same conclusion - he could not accept his fight days were gone.
So he dedicated himself to another battle, the one to clear his name and unlike the six defeats he suffered in the ring during a 29 fight career, this was one showdown he was determined to win.
'Once I'd come through the bad times I realised I couldn't live without boxing,' he said.
'I had everything against me. I had managed to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons due to a nightclub brawl then another incident at the birth of my son when I was accused of being racist.
'No-one in the boxing hierarchy was ever going to do me a favour after that, in fact they would do everything in their power to make it even more difficult for me to get back.
'But my livelihood - the thing I live for - was too important to let go.'
Cummins spent hundreds of hours exhaustively investigating his condition, calling experts and employing solicitors to act on his behalf.
The boxer amassed a dense file proving his condition could have been caused by any number of other factors other than boxing, including a fractured skull when he was a tot.
When the BBBC refused to re-licence him after a second MRI scan, it was a huge blow for Cummins and he was ready to bring the curtain down on his relentless battle.
Instead he approached the boxing union in Ireland and was amazed when he was given a warm reception.
'Looking back I wish I had approached them right from the start,' he admitted.
'It could have saved me from years of knocks. They looked at all the information I had put together, explaining how I could have sustained my abnormality, and they accepted it.'
At 33, he is in the twilight of his career, but is fired up by the years of frustration: 'I'm a driven man. All these years of inactivity have made me angry,' he said.
'I know the risks of the game I'm in. But I rather get in there and die fighting than wonder about what might have been.
'All I need now is an opponent, a date and I'll prove to everyone I can compete with the best again.'
ENDS
CAPTION(S):
FIGHTING BACK... Shaun Cummings
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| Publication: | Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England) |
|---|---|
| Date: | May 27, 2001 |
| Words: | 791 |
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