I’ve had so many injuries. I even hit myself with an axe when I was cutting wood. It looked like a murder scene...
CHARLIE FLYNN WAS THE CHARISMATIC BOXING POSTIE WHO LIT UP GLASGOW 2014. YET, WHILE HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER FAILED TO TAKE OFF, HE HAS NO REGRETS
I did my neck, my elbow, my back... I was on crutches. It was one thing after another
HE has been bobbing and weaving for more than 20 years. ‘I was about seven when I first went down the street to the gym,’ says Charlie Flynn.
‘I went with my brother, Danny, but they wouldn’t let me in because I was too young. so I just sneaked in through the fire exit. They eventually got fed up throwing me out, so they just let me stay. They gave in.’
surrender is not a word associated with Flynn, king of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. It is three years since he has had a fight and the chances of a return are slim. he was a victim of freakish, brutal injuries.
‘I must have had about 20 injuries in my pro career,’ he says. ‘There was this one day... well, I cracked my ribs in sparring in the morning. I went to the hospital got strapped up. But I have an obsessive personality. I used to chop down trees for training. I was into my axes and had this swedish one that was shaving sharp. I swung at a wee tree and in went right through and into my ankle.
‘I didn’t know then that I had broken a bone in my ankle. But I did know I was two miles into the woods with a pair of high top trainers and a T-shirt with a dead phone and blood pouring out everywhere.
‘I managed to tie my calf tight with a sock, that helped a bit. I was like Bear Grylls, man wandering though the woods with blood everywhere. I managed to get back to the car and went straight to hospital. I walked in and within minutes the reception was like a murder scene.
‘The same doctor saw me. he just said: “You are on a mission to kill yourself”.’
Flynn laughs and details a series of injuries that would fuel a series of
Casualty. The point, of course, is that cancelled fights earn no one money and motivation dips when hard training is not rewarded with a night in the ring.
his love for the sport continues, though. he is a mentor with scottish Boxing, working with the younger boys pre-Covid. It takes him back 20 years. ‘I remember getting leathered by the older boys. I remember bursting someone’s nose and I was buzzing,’ he says.
The lessons at Newarthill Boxing club remain within him, though the building was burned down last year.
Flynn is funny, with a lovely line in patter. But he is wonderfully articulate and insightful on what boxing gave him. how is this for a philosophical insight?
‘It gave me an understanding of hard work,’ he says. ‘how life works. It teaches an understanding of sacrifice and reward, whether it is a business, relationship, your wife, your children. The higher level of sacrifice you put in, the higher level of reward you get. That was the lesson I learned. I started to apply it to other things in life. how to work hard, how to set targets, how to sacrifice.’
he is married with two children and a couple of businesses, the most prominent being a cleaning firm.
he is about to resume training after the Covid hiatus and is looking forward to returning to his mentoring duties. ‘someone has just reached out to me this week and it will be great to get back in the ring,’ he says.
What is the greatest lesson he can give a youngster? ‘Probably to not fit the mould. It used to be a certain type they wanted in scottish boxing. It was all about a tight guard, coming out of a square stance, But I learned the pro game was different. I had problems coming out of that style.
‘I think you should watch a lot of other boxers, particularly the americans, how they move, how they move their head in particular. You should let your personality seep into your boxing. Don’t be so rigid.
‘Boxing scotland is trying to do that now, to let personality come into boxing and not everybody come off a production line. It is about thinking outside the box. You can drop your hands, have a slick stance. Let the boys have their own styles, let them express themselves.’
FLYNN expressed himself in words and action when he won the 2014 Commonwealth lightweight title in Glasgow. Buzzing like a jar of wasps, he replied when asked how he felt after one victory. Other press conferences included references to ants, the colosseum and his da’ doing the washing. Josh Taylor was the best boxer at the games but Flynn was the star. he immediately left his job at the Post Office and embarked on a pro career.
But the day after his gold medal victory saw another opportunity open up. ‘The phone rings and my uncle says that someone wants me to do an inspirational speech to the scottish rowers,’ he says. ‘I had never spoken in front of anyone. I spoke in front of my class at school once for a project. a disaster. I had to sit down.
‘so I says: “Naw, no way”. But my uncle says they will give me 300 quid. You’ve never seen me move so fast. I went into the room where all these big bearded guys were sitting and I thought of Braveheart. so there I was pacing the floor, shouting about sons and daughters of scotland, and fighting to the end. They all ended up roaring.
‘People from the scottish Institute of sport were there and word got around and I was booked up for after-dinner speeches, business meetings. hunners and hunners of them.’
he stopped taking bookings when his pro career took off, with Flynn winning 10 out of 12 bouts. But the injuries eventually proved to be an unassailable barrier.
‘I did my neck, my elbow, did my back, was on crutches, so it was one thing after another. sponsors lose patience and you lose motivation. You train and train and then something happens and there is no fight.’
he will always have Glasgow 2014, however.
‘It was unbelievable,’ he says. ‘It didn’t cross my mind before I came into it that I would become famous. You need a bit of luck. You need everything to happen at the right time. say it had been India or australia? It had to be in Glasgow for me to make an impact. That was lucky, that was the platform. What an opportunity.’
he took his shot but it was his team-mate, Taylor, who excelled. he won the light welterweight title in Glasgow before becoming one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. he is a unified world champion and now faces Jose
It didn’t cross my mind that I would become famous. You need a bit of luck at the right time
Ramirez next month in Las Vegas for all four belts.
‘I send Josh a message every now and again,’ says Flynn. ‘We keep in touch and we chat away. Scottish boxing is in a good place with Lee (McGregor) and Kash (Farooq), too.
‘I honestly think Josh will demolish Ramirez. His style suits him perfectly. I can’t see how Josh loses it.’
Does he ever wonder if he could have risen as high without the injuries? ‘Not really,’ he replies. ‘Say I went on and won a world title, I still think the Games would be my best memory. It was out of this world. Josh might say the same thing.’
He adds: ‘There was something about the Commonwealth Games. It was before money came into it. Money makes it different. It doesn’t make it as enjoyable with the money. It’s then a business.’
He is more than content with his lot. ‘I am happy go lucky. I am married with two young kids and I am happy. I would just like to be back fighting. Not to be a world champion or do x, y or z. Just back for a couple of fights.’
He accepts the odds are stacked against him. ‘I don’t get fussed about what happened,’ he says. ‘Sometimes things don’t happen. There may a reason for it. I couldn’t keep doing it. Your life is moving on outside your boxing. You have to feed your family.’
His businesses do that but he is ready to feed his inner drive. ‘A mate has called and I am getting back into the training, looking at my diet, ready to go again,’ he says.
Whether as a competitor or a mentor, the ring awaits. Flynn is not ready to stop bobbing and weaving.