Still up for a scrap

Belfast boxer Martin Rogan describes his own battle for recognition as well as the spats he’s had en route to becoming Commonwealth champion.

The black cab is gone these days. Martin Rogan had to get rid of it because even the takings combined with the occasional fight wasn’t paying the bills, so off he went and got a lorry instead. But just the mention of it reminds you of a story from his finest half-hours. It was 2008 when the Belfast man got the better of Audley Harrison, yet in the build-up to that bout the Olympic gold medallist had thrown plenty of jibes at his opponent over his profession. Rogan bided his time with a retort and as he made his way back to the bowels of the ExCeL Arena in victory, he couldn’t resist sticking his head into the Englishman’s dressing room.

“Silence,” he recalls. “There were five or six of these black guys, massive men, staring at me stunned. The entourage! I just let out this huge roar, ‘Taxi for Harrison’ and ran out of there.”