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McAllister quits boxing

McAllister quits boxing

The days of the Aberdeen Assassin having an opponent in his sights are no more as Lee McAllister hangs up his gloves.

McAllister, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Saturday, has called time on his fighting career.

The head and heart was still willing, but McAllister knows the time has come to listen to what his aching body is telling him.

He said: “I was back training for a fight on November 16 but I suffered another injury and it was then I realised there was no point in flogging a dead horse and it was time to hang up the gloves. I want to fight top earners at championship level. I worked hard to get to that level, but you can’t do that when you are not able to train properly.

“Boxing is all about preparation. You train well and you fight well. If you don’t train well you’re going to be in trouble at some stage.

“That’s where I am. I want to fight and I still have the heart for it, but physically 20 years of doing this has taken its toll.

“If I can’t fight for titles then what’s left? Getting in the ring with nobodies and running the risk of a hungry young lad who’s not as good as me catching me? No thanks. I’m going out at the top on my own terms.”

McAllister built his reputation as a bold, outspoken character, but he lived up to his billing by bringing title fights to the Granite City on a regular basis.

The former two-weight World and Commonwealth champion was dismissed as an entertainer by some, but he can be proud of his accomplishments.

In 2004, McAllister lay in a coma having sustained life-threatening injuries in a road accident in Crete.

Doctors warned him he would never box again.

McAllister sustained a broken jaw, fractured cheek-bone, ruptured spleen and had over 100 stitches in his right leg after the accident but incredibly, he was back in the ring just eight months later.

Despite his titles and his success the 30-year-old will reflect on opportunities missed too.

He said: “I’ve had a good run at it and no matter how disappointed I am I know I am doing the right thing.

“I’m still relatively good looking and I don’t want my face smashed in or to lose my faculties.

“I haven’t achieved as much as I wanted to, but I’ve done a lot more in this game than anyone else from Aberdeen did.

“I’ve got regrets, as everyone does.

“I let myself go off the rails a bit when I was younger and I didn’t always heed the advice I was given. But I can hold my head high.

“There hadn’t been a decent fighter from Aberdeen until I came on the scene. I decided at 11-years-old I was going to be the main man and people didn’t believe me.

“My pals laughed at me and even my teachers at school dismissed me, but I proved them all wrong.

“I served my time as a joiner and served my time in the ring too, becoming a professional boxer who won titles.

“I wrote my own path for my life at an early age and I’ve always had the dedication and mental attitude for it.

“I’m strong-minded and if I decide I want to do something I make it happen. I’m content I can look back and say I did what I wanted to.”