The Great Britain boxing coaches thought Dan Chapman, our current world bantamweight champion, had every chance of getting a medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
So well was Dan performing for Wales and Great Britain, he was picked him to box in an Olympic qualifier – and then disaster struck.
Days before he was set to leave, Dan was injured in a horrific road accident that left doctors telling him he may never walk again, let alone box.
Dan is a fighting man, so of course, he didn’t give up, but the road to fitness was a long one. He started off lifting weights and once he was back on his feet, he hung up a boxing bag and started letting his hands go again.
The chances of him fighting again at that stage still looked remote, but Dan got the extra motivation he needed at one of our shows.
He headed to the O2 Arena in London to cheer on a Welsh fighter and fell in love with bareknuckle boxing.
Footage of his bareknuickle debut – a win in inside a minute- went viral on the internet and he’s gone on to win the world bantamweight championship.
Next is his first defence against Sean George, his fellow Welshman, on BKB 21 on Saturday, August 14.
That is a terrific top-of-the-bill fight and Dan’s chance to prove he is bareknuckle boxing royalty.
Sean is already in our Hall of Fame and Dan wants to put his name in there alongside him. He said after winning the world bantamweight title that he wants to go down in history as a bareknuckle boxing legend – and beating Sean is the next step.
I know that Dan has been wanted by top professional managers and promoters, but he’s committed his future to BKB™.
He sees the bright future the sport has and now the deal with Virgin Media is in place, Dan and every other one of our fighters can become a household name.
Until next week
Joe Smith-Brown