Crowds watched former Premier League footballer Jamie Lawrence knock out his opponent in a white-collar boxing match at The Clapham Grand on Thursday night.
Lawrence, who is inspired by American boxer Marvin Hagler, fought in the light-heavyweight category as part of the London Boxing Club’s Sparks Will Fly event on Thursday evening.
Lawrence played for Leicester City and Bradford City in the Premier League and has also turned out for Tooting & Mitcham and is currently first team coach at Conference South side Sutton United.
The 44-year-old described the atmosphere as electric and, despite admitting his opponent was tough to beat, he still knocked him out in the first round.
He told SW Londoner: “I am a strong believer that if you work hard, it will pay off.”
After his top-level football career, the 44-year-old decided to set himself a further challenge by taking up boxing – something that gives him a completely different buzz compared to football.
He said: “In boxing, if you make a mistake you get knocked out, but in football you have 10 other people on the team to help you out.”
Lawrence will return to his day job at Sutton today as they prepare to begin this season’s FA Cup campaign away at FC Romania in the second qualifying round.
Image courtesy of FIFATV via YouTube, with thanks
