Wayne Elcock retires from boxing

Birmingham's former British middleweight champion Wayne Elcock has picked a Black Country school as the place to announce his retirement from boxing.

Elcock is hanging up the gloves to work on his business 'Box Clever,' teaching non-contact boxing to children, and revealed the news during the last week of his placement at Brierley Hill Primary School.

The 37-year-old calls time after 10 years in a pro ring and a career that brought him English, British and world honours with the WBU, also boxing for the IBF world title against Arthur Abraham in 2007.

A shock win over Howard Eastman in 2007 remains perhaps his greatest-ever victory but Elcock also broke the heart of Dudley's Darren McDermott the following year at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

The Brummie played the pantomime villain that night to a crowd left stunned by the end of the fight after just two rounds, McDermott ruled out with a cut caused by a clash of heads.

His last fight came nine months later in March 2009, the much-anticipated 'Battle of Brum,' where Elcock lost the British title after future star Matthew Macklin took him out in three rounds.

Elcock came within three days of a shot at getting the belt, vacated after Macklin won the European title, back later that year against Commonwealth champion Darren Barker, but had to pull out with gastroenteritis.

And that ended up being the last fight Elcock ever trained for, although he was offered a fight in Birmingham at the LG Arena against Olympic gold medallist James DeGale last year.

But there's still no regrets for Elcock, who insists his latest calling in life has given him the new lease in life that he needs to retire.

He said: "Now I have gone, I am gone. I knew that, once I decided to hang up the boxing gloves, that was it for me, but Spencer Fearon tried to talk me out of it at the boxing awards last month!

"I have had a fantastic career and I don't think I will regret retiring because, at the same time, I am still involved in boxing and giving something back to the sport.

"The kids are throwing punches for me, if you like, and I think that will stop from going insane by leaving the game.

"I am a full on person and I have always got to be doing something, you will never hear of me putting my feet up.

"Alright, I haven't made the sort of money some fighters have made in the game but, even if I did, I would still be doing the things I am doing.

"I am still fit and on the weight, I haven't lost that, it just got to the stage where I wasn't getting the vibe, the spark seemed to have gone.

"I was getting more involved with the coaching side and seeing kids progress, kids I was told that I would never get to do anything.

"Then, all of a sudden, these kids were working like Trojans for me.

"I was getting as much satisfaction from that as I had winning any title, the buzz was back – just in a different way."

Elcock believes he's giving back to the sport by instilling the disciplines of boxing that changed his own life when he was young – after all, he didn't pick up the nick-name 'Mad Dog' for nothing.

Mending his ways allowed him to build a proper future for himself and, a year ago, Elcock decided he wanted to work with children in the hope they would follow his lead.

Forming a business out of his own pocket poses inevitable risks before you factor in the work actually involved, but the personal rewards are far greater to the man involved.

The first-ever 'Box Clever' actually took place in the Black Country, at Dovecotes Primary School in Pendeford, a known hot-spot for gangs.

Bouncing across the West Midlands is frequently becoming the norm but the 'Wayne Elcock way' appears to be getting through.

He said: "The kids can relate to me because I have been where they have been, a little bit of an attitude and a chip on my shoulder, but boxing grounded me and gave me respect for other people.

"I am from the same background as some of them, my parents never had any money, but boxing has given me a half decent life.

"The young kids that I am getting now, probably 95 per cent of them have never been in a boxing gym. Over the weeks, the kids get pointed and, at the end of it, the winner gets a trophy.

"It doesn't always go to the most naturally gifted boxer there, nine times out of 10 it goes to the kid who gives it 110 per cent every week.

"We were at Moseley Park School in Wolverhampton and there was a kid there who really should have picked a trophy up, but lost out because his behaviour dipped off dramatically in school.

"Basically, we are trying to promote performing and doing your best, not just in boxing but all the way through.

"And, at almost every school we have been at, the teachers have said that the behaviour of the kids while they are doing the program has been superb, even the ones that are usually quite naughty."

Apart from putting bread on the table, Elcock's hopes for the future of 'Box Clever' is that he may even be able to see the progression of a young person under his tutelage through to the very end.

There's no telling how far, from a boxing stand-point, Elcock could go with a promising student, especially now he has ABA club status for 'Box Clever' and a pro trainer's licence of his own.

He's even still got his old training base in Garretts Green, Birmingham, which his old trainer Paddy Lynch is happy for him to use and could even help him run, despite now also being 'retired' himself.

It's not the out and out plan, but Elcock admits it could happen in the future.

He said: "I can't rule that out, I am getting the opportunity to see kids that have got a bit of potential, maybe they could come along with me and see how they go.

"The beauty of Box Clever is that we have got two ABA coaches and me as a pro coach, who knows the game both as an amateur and as a pro.

"If these kids want to turn professional, I would never rule out going back into the paid ranks with one of these kids, or a few of these kids.

"Forming a gym pull of pros from the Midlands area does appeal."