By Terence Dooley
Sheffield's talented John 'Fireball' Fewkes has announced his early retirement from the sport of boxing. Fewkes, 25, told Boxrec News's Ian McNeilley that his heart is not in the game any more due to the rigours of making weight.
“It’s the weight. I don’t know what it is – even when I train hard and eat right I end up sitting in a sauna in a sweat suit, not seeing straight. It got to the point that I wouldn’t have minded passing out and then I wouldn’t have to box,” admitted Fewkes, 19-1-1 (2 early).
He added: “It’s not a spur of the moment thing. I’ve been battling with it for a while now and have spent a month thinking about it. I just found it harder and harder to get up in the morning and do the running. It’s something I’ve done for fifteen years but it was making me depressed, to be honest.
“I’ve had three fights in two years. If I really wanted to fight I’d have been chomping at the bit, pestering Glyn (Rhodes, his long time trainer) to get me something sorted. But I haven’t been. Two fights fell through recently. I wasn’t happy but I wasn’t exactly devastated.
“It wouldn’t have been fair to Glyn or Richard Poxon (Hatton Promotions) or my family to keep going and not being ready for fights.
“Not being a big head or anything but I kept thinking, ‘you’re too talented to throw it away’. I even thought of fighting heavy but can you imagine me fighting at light-middleweight or middleweight or something…I’d look like James Toney at heavyweight! I’d have to fight at light-welter and I just can’t do it.”
In a nice touch, Fewkes singled out WBA light-welterweight boss Amir Khan as an inspiration, praising Amir's commitment to the sport. “I look at kids doing well and I think ‘I’m better than them’ but the bottom line is that they want it more than me. That’s why I love Amir Khan – I look at what he’s done and it’s obvious he wants it 150%. You’ve got to want it and I don’t want it enough.”
Sad news from Fewkes and a shame, also, for British boxing. John turned over in 2004 with a stoppage win over Mark Dane. I was fortunate enough to sit at ringside for a few of his fights, the most memorable was his July 2006 TKO win over Kristian Laight.
David Haye topped the bill, going the distance for one of only two times in his career thus far to register a wide decision win over Ismail Abdoul. Haye put in a tactical performance that night leaving Fewkes to provide a touch of entertainment further down the card; the fledgling pro had clearly taken in the good aspects of Zab Judah's defeat to Floyd Mayweather in May of that year, he mimicked Zab's rapid fire feints and was enjoying his boxing at this point in his career.
A points win over Craig Watson in February 2007 proved one of the high points of Fewkes's time in the sport, his other big night came when defeating rugged veteran Toncho Tonchev in July of the same year. Sure, he also picked up the British Central Area light-welterweight belt by out-pointing Tony Montana in February 2006 but the victory over Watson, a future Commonwealth champion, was arguably his finest performance.
Indeed, Billy Graham praised John's ability and singled him out as one to watch during one of our interviews. Sadly, though, there were constant rumours about John's struggle with the scales. An English lightweight title fight against Martin Gethin in 2008 proved the final straw. Fewkes boiled himself down in order to make the weight. These struggles were written large in the fight itself, 'Fireball' started brightly but fell apart en route to a fourth-round stoppage reverse.
After an inactive 2009, only one fight, and a mixed 2010 – a win and a draw against Billy Smith and Scott Haywood respectively – Fewkes has come to this difficult decision; he has made the right choice at the right time. Hatton Promotions welcomed him onto their books last year and would no doubt have guided him back into the title mix. Championships, however, mean weigh-ins and John would have found himself on the treadmill again; he ran the risk of suffering more nights like the Gethin one. We wish him well for the future.
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