Warren warns Gavin over conduct

Frank Warren has warned Frankie Gavin he will not fight again until he has addressed his personal issues.

Warren yesterday met Gavin to read him the riot act after he walked out of training and withdrew from last month’s WBO inter-continental welterweight clash with Frank Haroche Horta.

England’s first world amateur champion, 26, has been told that talent alone will not sustain him in the professional ranks.

“In my opinion he’s not ready to fight and I won’t put him on anywhere until I we get to the bottom of whatever the problem is,” said Warren.

“He’s got a lot of issues outside of boxing that he must overcome before he gets involved in the dangerous sport that he’s involved with.

“He’s a big talent, but there have a been a lot of big talents in boxing. In this business you don’t get by on talent alone.

“You must have dedication because talent will only take you a certain amount of the way. We’ve seen that with a lot of fighters.

“If you really want to crack it, you must live the life and be prepared to make sacrifices. If you don’t do that you can forget about it.”

Gavin has won all 11 of his professional fights but appeared laboured in his last two outings, against Curtis Woodhouse and Young Mutley.

Warren believes the lethargic performances are partly because he is competing in the wrong weight division.

“To me he’s certainly not a welterweight,” he said.

“There’s no reason for him to be fighting these big welterweights when he could be meeting people his own size.”