Last month when the Sedgefield boxer Bradley Saunders was disqualified, in his bout with Renald Garrido, after head-butting his opponent, there was an air of disbelief in the arena.
In getting disqualified Bradley lost his unbeaten record but it turns out the whole episode was borne out of pure frustration.
Bradley, who had been absent from the ring taking a sabbatical, had undergone surgery to correct problems with his hands.
However, during the reference fight, the problems with his hands returned and Bradley ruptured tendons and ligaments in both fists.
Talking about a problem which the fighter believes could see him head into retirement, Bradley has remarked,
‘I’m going to talk to my manager and my family.
‘I will do what’s best for me and my family.
‘I knew this was going to happen, I didn’t think it would be this soon. I’ve been going in and out of hospital with hands all my boxing life and I’m at the point where I’m past caring.
‘I’m sick, I’ve never let anyone down but my body has let me down.
‘Some people won’t even know the injuries I have, and the things I’ve been through because I thought I could be number one. I believe if I had two good hands I could go to the top but my body won’t let me go that far.
‘Long-distance runners have bad knees, I’ve got the same with hands, and when I was in there I didn’t want to be there.
‘I sat down in the corner and I said, my hand has gone, and then in the fourth round my other hand went, it was like being a footballer with broken feet or a tennis player with no racquet. It was impossible.’
It?s hard to comprehend the despair Bradley Saunders has been going through and it does go some way to explaining why he was driven to, sadly, head-butting his opponent on that night up in Liverpool last month.
Bradley Saunders Contemplates Retirement
