It’s the year for Eales to deliver at top level

Ashlee Eales…”I’ve a year to get fit enough to face best.” Pic: Aidan Hewitt

CONTRARY to popular belief, for 95 per cent of professional boxers, there is little glamour, just graft, and their hard journey is not fuelled by bulging purses.

In fact, less than five per cent make a lucrative living from taking punches.

I caught up with Ashlee Eales in Skegness during his day job as a delivery driver. Nuneaton’s former champ had set-off from home at 4.30am, would be back at the gym for 6pm, tucked-up in bed just after 8pm.

A professional fighter’s lot is a difficult one.

For Eales, who claimed the Midlands light-middleweight belt with a magnificent performance against Stanley Stannard, 2026 provides intriguing possibilities.

For starters, major promotional outfit Boxxer kind of owe him one. When red-hot prospect Elliot Whale’s opponent fell ill only hours before December’s major show in Leeds, Ashlee stepped-up to the plate and agreed to fill the gap.

The 31-year-old was elevated from a slot on the undercard to the 10-round chief support. Eales fought valiantly before being rescued in the sixth: only his second loss in a 13 bout career. Not surprisingly, he lacked the match fitness needed for a boxing marathon.

Ashlee is confident Boxxer will stay true to their pledge and reward him with work on another big, televised show.

“I’m hoping to be out again March or April,” he said. “Boxxer have a show in Cardiff in April – it could be that one, but I don’t know.”

Former dancer Eales is one of the local game’s larger than life individuals. Some are colourful characters – his personality dazzles so brightly an interviewer needs shades. And in the ring, he’s an unorthodox box of tricks with more angles than Pythagoras.

He also carries real power and has paid the price through a catalogue of hand injuries.

“I have a full year to get as fit as I can to face anyone on the planet,” Eales said. “I want the big fights.

“The performance against Elliot Whale has given me confidence, it proved I belong on that platform, but I only showed the slightest glimpse of my capabilities.”

Eales freely admits his focus has wandered at times, although he now knows what it takes to reach the top.

He added: “Up until my first loss I’d been complacent, there was more I could do in sessions. Now I realise I have a limited number of years in the sport and don’t want to waste them.”