Beech: I came close to quitting the game

James Beech….fighting for British featherweight title in Glasgow

THE snakes and ladders of professional boxing can be truly dramatic.

That’s because championship class boxers walk a tightrope slung between glory and disaster.

Manchester City and Arsenal can lose a match and still be on course for the Premiership title.

For a boxing champ, one slip-up – one off night – can spell curtains.

Bloxwich’s James Beech is an illustration of how precarious professional pugilism can be.

He was written off in some quarters and contemplated retirement following his loss to Dennis McCann last July.

James was banged-up and hurt before trainer Pete Hickenbottom wisely threw-in the towel in the eighth.

That appeared the end of the 25-year-old’s top flight dreams: he had previously been outpointed by Brad Foster in a British super-bantamweight bid.

Beech – a real pros’ pro – dusted himself off and dared to face Birmingham’s unbeaten Raza Hamza in December.

The gamble paid off, with the underdog taking a clear points decision – and that victory earned the battled scarred Black Country warrior a shot at the British featherweight title.

He’ll face unbeaten Scottish southpaw Nathaniel Collins for the vacant belt on March 10 in Glasgow. Collins’ Commonwealth title will also be on the line.

After 18 fights and two Midlands titles, James, son of a former pro, deserves another chance to have the Lonsdale Belt wrapped round his waist.

James told me: “If I’d lost to Hamza I think I would’ve been done. I want to be boxing for titles. I didn’t want to go back to boxing four or six rounders or go down the journeyman route.

“The McCann loss really knocked my confidence. I was sure I was going to get to him, I was sure I was going to beat him – I was going to ‘old man’ him. I was convinced.

“But he boxed my head off on the night and fair play to him. I hope he goes on to much bigger things.”

Beech isn’t the kind of fighter who watches wall-to-wall videos of opponents. He believes in turning up and doing his thing.

Next month’s British title fight will be no different.

“I don’t know much about Collins, to be honest,” he admitted. “I know he’s a southpaw and a decent boxer. I’ve studied opponents in the past, turned-up on the night and it’s been completely different. Now I leave all that to Pete.

“I think Collins has been tested more than Hamza, but he’s not been properly tested.”

Beech stressed the title fight has come at the right time. He’s older and wiser – and stronger at feather.

He said: “My attitude’s changed,” he said. “If I win, I win, if I lose, I lose. You can’t go on beating yourself up over every setback.

“You can see the difference in my body shape at featherweight, but I could still make super-bantam if something came up. Making super-bantam doesn’t take too much out of me.”

In Glasgow, another chapter in James Beech’s roller-coaster career will be written – and it’s a story that deserves to include a British title victory.