Walsall born boxer Niall Farrell fighting for a golden future

The 24-year-old is among the favourites for gold in the featherweight division, with his campaign due to get underway at the NEC on Saturday.

It will be a special moment for Farrell, who is originally from Walsall and now lives in Kingstanding, a long-time member of the GB squad who has overcome a career-threatening injury to reach this moment.

The first round fight will be his first in Birmingham for seven years and he joked: “I wish in some ways the organisers could have just given me the tickets and I could have sold them for them, we’d have got a lot more in.

“I’m looking forward to it, boxing in my hometown after fighting all over the world with the GB squad.

“It’s not just living the moment. It is so that when I am old and looking back at the memories I’ve had, I make sure I have taken all of this in. Memories like this don’t go, they are there forever so I have to make sure I enjoy it as much as I can.”

Farrell was first called-up to the GB national squad, based at the Sheffield Institute of Sport, at the same time as Ben Whittaker six years ago. The Toyko 2020 silver medallist, who is also in action on Saturday when he makes his professional bow in Bournemouth, will be rooting for his friend as he chases Commonwealth gold.

A silver medallist himself at flyweight at the 2017 European Championships, Farrell appeared to be on the fast track to stardom until a serious hand injury forced him out of action for three years and prompted genuine concerns he might never fight again.

Two successful surgeries later, he made his return at last year’s world championships and travelled to Tokyo as a sparring partner to the Olympic squad. A controversial last-16 exit at May’s European Championships, when he was on the wrong side of what many observers was a premature second round stoppage, proved a disappointment but he is heading into the Commonwealths in confident mood.

“It pushes you on,” he said, of the European exit. “In this sport, anything can happen. It is boxing. You take it on the chin and move forward and that’s exactly what I have done.

“I am pushing myself day-in, day-out. In and out of the ring I am putting myself in a place where I am going to be ready for the Games.”

Farrell sees Birmingham 2022 as more than just a platform fpor his efforts inside the ring. Away from boxing, he does extensive charity work and is a trustee of Support Futures, the Black Country-based initiative which aims to improve the lives of young people through sport. He is also an ambassador for the Good Shepherd charity, which tackles poverty in Wolverhampton.

“I want to be a person who inspires and shows people with hard work just what can happen,” he says.

“In terms of Support Futures, I want to be the best representative I can. I want people to have a second chance. Who are we, if people are working hard, to tell them no?

“We give them opportunities. I work closely with Good Shepherd too, which does unbelievable stuff. It fits together nicely. It is all positive.

“I am a very positive person and try to take that into everything I can do. I always try to make the best of any situation.”

It is an attitude which has seen Farrell bounce back from some sobering lows. The next 10 days offer him the chance to hit the highest point yet.

“The honest truth is this is a massive platform for me,” he said. “I am not looking at anything else past the Commonwealth Games. This is the perfect opportunity for me to push myself and put myself out there.

“I have been boxing for England for a long time now, since I was 15. But I still get the same feeling every time I get the phone call or the nod that I have been selected to box for my country. It is such a big thing.

“I know Paris 2024 is there on the horizon but at the moment I am solely focused on these Games. I will do everything in my power to get that gold medal around my neck, on top of that podium in front of all my fans.”