The gloves are off as McIntyre plots a route back into the ring

Thursday 18 October 2012

KEVIN McINTYRE, the former British welterweight champion from Paisley, has had enough of the constant drudgery of shedding the pounds to make the 10st 7lb limit.

Kevin McIntyre, right, will use his boxing experience as he carves out a new career as a referee. Picture: SNS

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Jim Black

The 34-year-old postman has decided to bring the curtain down on his 14-year career, but he will not be lost to the sport altogether.

McIntyre, winner of 30 of his 39 professional bouts, plans to pursue a new ring career as a referee after being made a licensed trainee official by the British Boxing Board of Control.

The Scot will get his first chance to prove himself in his new pursuit when he is put under the microscope in his home town tomorrow evening on a Saltire Boxing Promotions show at Paisley Town Hall."I am still very passionate about boxing and I wanted to find a way to stay involved in the sport in a role that would not take up too much of my time," he said. "Training and promoting fighters is very time consuming and I want to put my family first."I feel that this is an ideal route to go down. I will be on probation as a trainee referee for a full season and won't actually be in the ring to begin with."I will produce unofficial scorecards from ringside and they will be compared with the referee's or the judges' scoring. My progress will be measured by how close I am to the official scoring."I don't have to be in complete agreement so long as I am there or thereabouts and not mucking up. I also need to learn a few rules, but, hopefully, after six months to a year, if all goes well, I will become a B-star referee.McIntyre will call upon his experience in the ring to help with his progress. "Having been on the other side of the game, I feel that my experience will stand me in good stead, in terms of my understanding of the sport and knowing if boxers are simply holding on to survive or looking for a way out," he said.McIntyre has not fought competitively since February, when he lost to Frankie Gavin but he admitted that there are times when he hankers after a fresh taste of action when watching championship bouts on television."Every now and again when I see a good fight I miss it just a little," he said. "But I am also enjoying being away from boxing because the last year was tough making welterweight."To be truthful, doing the weight in the hope of getting another crack at the British title was killing me. I won three of my last four fights but I was put down by body shots in every one of them. I could have moved up to light-middleweight but there didn't seem much point, and it felt like a good time to call it a day."I haven't been given my schedule by the BBBC but it's good to be starting locally on a show being promoted by my former trainer, Colin Belshaw."In the meantime, McIntyre will keep himself in shape by working part-time as a personal trainer at Belshaw's Saltire Gym.

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The gloves are off as McIntyre plots a route back into the ring

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