Louie Lynn, RUBBISH boxer, completes a remarkable journey from DIY equipment to BT Sport headliner Friday.
The 25-year old, upbeat featherweight was infectiously positive and took a job as a recycler during lockdown when boxing and his promising career were suspended.
Instead of moping or mopping, he built his own gym out of the trash people had thrown away.
Ex-scaffolder, he has a reputation for brilliant ingenuity since his early days of working on websites. His Instagram account is filled with videos of his creations.
His dedication paid off with the top spot on Frank Warren’s first prospect’s show, where he takes on Amin Jahanzeb (8-0).
He laughed, "I just had the duty to help people figure out which skip or bin they should use, green waste over there, metals, and plastics there'.
"The hardest thing was not being allowed to physically help people because of health and safety rules. So even when people brought heavy stuff, we weren't allowed to give them a helping hand.
"It turned to be that there was a lot more time, so after all the cleaning up and tidying up I had plenty of time to do some shadow boxing and training.
"I was told off for not training on the job a few times, but I decided that if I'm going to be fired for any reason then training would be the best option.
"I created a small gym in one of the empty bays. I also had a swinging bag to practice head movement.
"It was going great until they opened the bay up to another skip. So I was evicted."
The Epsom lad is now back training full time at the new Peacock Gym out in Epping.
It’s a long slog for the 9st whirlwind but it’s got a lot easier since his uncle helped him out with a new car after his last motor went up in smoke, a victim of Lynn’s commitment to training.
Lynn said: “The drive from my house in Epsom to the new gym in Epping isn’t too bad, about an hour around the M25.
“It was a lot worse when the gym was in Canning Town and I had no car and had to get the train over and get a lift from my coach Andre.
“It was my own fault though, I had bought a car after my sixth fight, it was a BMW but it had a few miles on it, and didn’t really service it or look after it and it died on me.
“It started smoking while I was driving it but I knew I still had to get to training so I kept on driving it and I couldn’t get it to go over 50mph. I pushed it and pushed it and finally I went too far.
“Anyone else in their right mind would have got it serviced or repaired but I was only worried about getting to training and paid the price.
“Thankfully my uncle decided to sponsor me and got me a lovely truck.”
Lynn continues his training at home, not content to train under Martin Bowers, a fitness fanatic and his super-fit crew.
For head movement and footwork, he uses swiveling light fittings to make punch bags and tie ropes across his bedroom.
Lynn's mum is struggling with a lot, but it's paying off. He was recently compared to Josh Warrington, a fellow Brit featherweight.
He said, "I use my bedroom as a gym at home." It drives my mum crazy, but she allows me to do it. She was the first to see my potential as a child and loves boxing.
It's wonderful to get the positive feedback, but it can't affect me. I must keep my feet on ground and ignore praise.
"But I believe that I will be a world champ, I have believed it since I was a child and, God willing.
