Lee Connelly: Sheffield boxer to hang up gloves after 99 professional fights

It’s the final bell for Westfield-based Lee Connelly on Sunday – and the 35-year-old hopes to spoil the party against Doncaster’s Jimmy Joe Flint at the Magna Centre in Rotherham.

Connelly, a well-respected journeyman, no longer has to worry about upsetting managers and promoters with retirement looming.

He said: “I’m going to try and go for the win.

"I can’t say I have put myself in the best position to do that because these days I don’t train as much.

"I’m not as dedicated as I used to be and I have been ill a few times in the last couple of months, which has set my progress back.

"But when I get in the ring and that bell rings I’m going to give it my all.”

Flint, 25, was well aware of the threat Connelly possesses with nothing to lose and said: "I’m not going to stop him, he’s a tough, tough guy.

"A win by any means possible and that would be me made up before Christmas.”

The pair previously fought in 2019 with the four-round bout scored as a draw.

“The only blemish on his record, other than a title fight loss, is against me,” said Connelly, who still has to work full time as a labourer during fight week.

"Some people felt I won that fight. He’s going to be looking to improve against someone like me at this stage of his career.

"He should be able to beat me so there’s more pressure on him.”

Flint, a roofer when he's not in the ring, has taken time off from the day job to prepare.

He said: “I need to be beating lads like this, I need to do what I should have done the first time.

"When he is working on the road a draw to him is like a win because I understand how hard it is to get a win on the road.”

Connelly had been on track to reach 100 fights as a professional before the British Boxing Board of Control, the sport’s governing body in the UK, suspended his license earlier this year.

He said: “I took an eight-round fight at a day’s notice and although I didn’t get stopped I took a lot of punches.

"These days I take more punches than I used to and it’s not the most sensible sport.

"To me 100 is just a number. I’m not going to be pushed into doing it and how many people do 99 and retire? It’s unique.”

Dad-of-one Connelly is also under strict orders from his partner and mother of their son Gabriel, Rosa, to retire this year.

“Unless we have a big fall out I’m just going to stick to 99,” he added.

"She will think we can live what might be more of a normal life but for myself it will be an adjustment and sense of disappointment in the missed opportunities and things not going the way I wanted at the start.

"But at the same time I can be proud of what I have achieved.”

On the prospect of bowing out with a rare win, Connelly said: “I wish it would mean more to me than it will.”