No regrets as River calls end to career

River Wilson-Bent (left) with fellow Coventry fighter Amir Abubaker

RIVER Wilson-Bent, Coventry’s former marauding middleweight champ, has made it official and announced the time for retirement has come.

The statement comes only weeks after Brendan Norman, the trainer who has been with River from the very beginning, publicly cast doubts over whether the crowd-pleaser would box again.

The fighter with a heart as big as a bucket has been inactive since losing in three rounds to thunderous punching Shakiel Thompson for the IBF European and WBO Global belts last September.

At 31, River can walk away with his head held high: In a 24 bout career, he fought the division’s iron, captured the Midlands title with a truly spectacular KO and won a “fight of the year” gong. He was never in a bad contest.

There was talk of a final farewell performance – a “gimme” win against limited opposition on home soil – but the gladiator wanted no part of it.

River, one of the game’s true nice guys, said: “I didn’t want to fight a journeyman, I’ve never got up over fighting a journeyman, I’ve always wanted to sell people good stuff. I didn’t want to sell them that kind of stuff for my last one.”

Wilson-Bent, who trained out of the respected Bulkington gym, side-stepped no one during an exciting, rollercoaster career.

In 2020, he gave TV viewers the punch of the year – a pulverising straight right – to poleaxe Troy Coleman in three for the Midlands title.

He faced world ranked dangerman Hamzah Sheeraz, former European champ Tyler Denny twice, gave former American amateur star Ammo Williams trouble and featured in a thriller with Ryan Kelly for the Commonwealth silver belt.

And let’s not forget that, with the English title on the line, his first fight with Denny – a real talent – ended in a technical draw and Tyler pushed to a split decision in the return.

“There’s no regrets, I’m happy with what I’ve done,” River told me. “The only regrets are the losses. I can tell I’m getting old – the last fight, I was doing a lot to get me through the training side of it, things I hadn’t had to do before. That was sticking out in my mind.

“It’s been a year since I boxed and the last year I’ve been there for my kids (aged one and four). I’ve been there for bath-time, bedtime and dinner time. It’s just been nice.”

The Coleman title victory will forever be a standout memory.

“It was in lockdown,” River recalled. “I started training in March and we fought in December, just keeping myself super-fit, waiting for the phone call. I was in fantastic shape and everybody watched it – there was nothing else to do (because of lockdown) except sit in front of the telly.”

“There are so many good memories, I made so many good friends,” River added. “Before I fought Tyler Denny there was a bit of bad blood at the start, afterwards we sat down, spoke and realised we were the same kind of people. We became friends.

“I’ve done things I never thought I’d do, met people I never thought I’d meet. I’ve been on the same table as icons.”

There are, as yet, no plans to stay in the game as a trainer.

River added: “To be a coach you have to put as much in as the boxer and that’s taking away from my kids again.”