Lonely life of a pro behind ‘phenomenal talent’

BOXING, more so than most sports, is a pursuit littered with tragedies and untimely deaths.

Behind the glitz and glamour, it is predominantly a lonely sport requiring huge personal sacrifice and physical toil to get to the top.

On Monday afternoon Irish boxing lost a world champion in the making when Olympic bronze medallist Darren Sutherland was found dead in his London home, after taking his own life.

At just 27 years old, the Blanchardstown man’s death was a tragic end to a life filled with promise, and one which has shocked the world of boxing both in Britain and Ireland.

In a short but stellar career, the man know as The Dazzler also had his fair share of setbacks.

Following a serious eye injury three years ago, Sutherland thought his boxing days were over.

After an operation to put a plate in his eye socket he admitted to becoming depressed about his future in the sport, with his fear of appearing cross-eyed following the operation leading him to refuse to leave the house.

However, like most great athletes he bounced back to win three Irish titles before claiming the famous bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Following his decision to turn professional, he was tipped by many to be a future world champion, but admitted his dedication to his sport had led to him leading a “loner life”.

Speaking yesterday, friend and fellow professional boxer Jim Rock said most people don’t realise the sacrifices boxers make to get to the top.

“No one sees when you’re getting up at 6am, they don’t see you when you are going out running where there’s hail, rain, snow and you’re out pounding the roads.”

“While you’re locking yourself away, everybody else is out having a good time. It’s a hard life and people don’t see that side of it.”

RTÉ boxing commentator Jimmy Magee expressed his sadness at the news and also highlighted the difficulties of moving up from the amateur ranks.

“It’s a lonely, hard life being a professional. How can any of us know the inner depths of another’s mind? Those of us who were relatively close to him, mind you, only through the boxing stuff, never really got that close to him,” he said.

Like many others in the boxing world, former Irish world champion Barry McGuigan believed Sutherland had the talent to become a world champion.

“I am deeply shocked and deeply saddened by this news and my heart goes out to Darren’s family. It is an absolute tragedy. I would describe Darren as a phenomenal talent.

“He represented his country with pride as an amateur and I believe he would have become a world champion in the professional ranks one day,” he said.

This was a view shared by Brendan Ingle, the Dublin trainer man who discovered former world champion Prince Naseem Hamed, and who trained Sutherland as a teenager in Sheffield.

“Everybody is shocked. Listen, he was up there with the whole lot of them. In my opinion, he could have won everything.”

The tragedy is that we will never know.