"Rockin"
Robin Deakin had a dream ....
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| "Rockin" Robin Deakin Celebrating A Rare Win |
.... he wanted to be a professional boxer.
It all started quite promisingly, with a fairly successful amateur career - 40 wins out of 75 bouts - including making it to the semi-finals of the British Youth Championships. So he turned professional in 2005/06 and he won his first lightweight bout in in 2006
But then things started to go pear shaped. He lost, and he lost and he, well, lost, as he went on to lose fifty fights in a row. So bad was his record that at some point in that run he had lost his British Boxing Board of Control licence, partly because they feared for his health - his speech is slurred because of too many blows to the head.
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| This 2nd Win Didn't Change Fortunes ... |
But he fought on under a under a licence from Malta, and according to records office BoxRec he officially has one of the worst boxing records of all time. He had a bit of success in August 2015 when he won another fight, his 53rd professional fight, beating Latvian Deniss Kornilovs on points .... he got very excited at this, and apparently believed that it signalled a turn in form.
"Fucking come on I'm back £winning! People call me the real-life Rocky - I am a professional underdog. I'm a fighter. I'm going to fight my way back to the top - you'll see. All those people that called me Britain's worst boxer can eat their words - they just made me punch harder. People saying I'm the worst made me stronger. I did everything different this time and worked my hardest - and it showed."
However another win turned out to be just as elusive and his depressing run continued, as he lost his next two bouts. He had previously said: "When fights have been set up for me, they haven't always had my best interests at heart - I've been paying people's mortgages and it cost me my licence. You look at boxers like Amir Khan and they have one big fight a year, at one point I had 19 fights in 24 weeks".
But Britain's worst professional boxer finally hung up his gloves in February 2020. His claims to fame being the worst ever British professional fighter, and that he once famously challenged Justin Bieber to a fight. But apart from a draw, he had a relentless record of failure. He reportedly then went into bare knuckle brawling instead – but has now stopped that too.
His final professional record was Fought 55, Won 2, Draw
1 Lost 52. His dream finally over, but apart from relief that he's stopped because there must be serious concerns about his future health, the sad thing is that he said he quit because of the constant trolling by keyboard warriors.
When asked he said that:“I can’t deal with it. I’ve had messages on Twitter and messages on Instagram. If you are the best or the worst you get stick no matter what. They put you down because they haven’t got the guts to do it."
“One bad comment can make you feel really low. It can ruin the whole day. No matter how hard I try and how much I put myself out there to be the best, someone puts you down. I have had so many negative comments – what’s the point? It really gets to me."
“If I have grandchildren I can at least say I have been there and done it. I’m not someone that talks – at least I have done it. If they think that they can find me and tell me where they are, let’s meet up and have it out.”
He has now started a new career as a fishmonger (or butcher ~ accounts vary), but said that he would like one last fight so that he can bow out on his own terms, but only if the money is right. He had previously 'retired' in 2018, only to carry on.
One comment when he retired, did make me laugh ...
'Robin you gave it your all mate, so there's nothing to be ashamed of! I was a boxer and had 53 fights, and 52 knockouts, and then, I won one! First time in the ring I was like greased lightening, hook, hook, jab, jab, the Ali shuffle, the lot, the crowd was going wild, and then, this other geezer in boxing gloves climbed into the ring!
The next thing I knew, everything went suddenly dark and I woke up with a crowd around me! I spent more time on the canvas than Vincent Van Gogh, and decided that since I had developed a 'cauliflower arse' through being hit by the canvas so often, I'd become a greengrocer!'
.... sorry Robin, but it was funny. But we wish you well in your new career and hope you have a healthy and wealthy future.
This is both a funny and sad story. You can't help laugh at his "fighting" record if thats what it can be called, but sad that he was so obviously badly advised by family and friends who should have persuaded him to years before he did.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the promoters AND the British Boxing Board should have more of a duty of care to boxers who are obviously not good enough and risking their futures by fighting pointlessly, literally.
Interesting human interest story though.
Yes it is ... I sympathise with him being cruelly attacked by trolls, and perhaps this story can be interpreted in the same light, but I tried to be fair, and let him speak for himself via the quotes I could find. I agree that he was let down by any advise that encouraged him to carry on fighting after his first straight ten defeats. Thanks for the comment.
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