Warner back from a dark place and ready to explode on debut

Robbie-Lee Warner…long awaited first fight takes place next month

FOR Robbie-Lee Warner, the Stratford fighter aiming to be bigger than Shakespeare, the nightmare is finally over.

Robbie-Lee Warner, the Bard country bantam, has emerged from a very dark place and will make his debut on March 21 at Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton.

That’s very welcome news for a young boxer who, just six months ago, thought he would never box again.

Warner announced he was turning pro at the start of 2025, only for the dream to be seemingly destroyed after Board of Control medical tests detected a possible aneurysm – blood clot – on the brain. That’s the worst possible neurological discovery. Frankly, that’s curtains.

The “Council House Kid” has spent £9,000 to prove the Board’s fears were unfounded – money raised with the help of sponsors. He has seen specialist after specialist. He has endured a battery of tests: in one, a catheter was expertly guided from an incision in the arm to his neck. He has spent sleepless night after sleepless night. He has slipped into depression.

Warner has fumbled through a lot of darkness before seeing the light.

“If I couldn’t box again, what else could I do?” Warner, reflecting on the bad times, told me. “I thought mental health was for the weak, I didn’t believe in it. I believe in it now. My life went from all sunshine to pitch black.

“Someone telling me I couldn’t box again was the worst news I could have, the worst opponent I could have.”

The 23-year-old has emerged from the personal and professional crisis a better fighter, he insists. He used to be a “guns blazing” pocket dynamo, the medical scrutiny has made him more measured, more aware of the risks.

In boxing, one punch can have life-long consequences. He’s also more determined.

“I’m a lot more hungry,” he said. “I’ve got to be smarter. I’ve sparred big names, I’ve trained in Tenerife a number of times. Liam Davies (former world super-bantam champ) is top of the food chain. Being in the gym with him, watching him, if I can pick up things from people like him…

“There are so many world class fighters in one stable. I feel I’m soaking everything up like a sponge. I used to think I can hurt people, now I know I can hurt people.

“I’m a lot hungrier now, I’m going for it a lot more.”

Warner is also more measured in his soundbites. When I spoke to him last year, Robbie predicted he’d be bigger than Shakespeare: nice line, but I felt it was Much Ado About Nothing.

Today he wants to be as well-known as Shakespeare for a modern audience in his hometown. Still a big ask, but in an era of social media soundbites, it’s possible.

Sadly, I have no doubt there are some young people in Stratford more versed in Katie Price than our greatest author and playwright.

In a stop-start, 13 year amateur career, Robbie flitted from gym to gym, had around 30 bouts, but failed to make a title impact. Even then he had a big following, selling more than 100 tickets for one show.

He believes, after the uncertainties surrounding his professional start, that fanbase has stayed strong, but admits worries.

“I’ve already had two fight dates fall through,” he said. “Will people still buy tickets? My sponsors are a different group of sponsors.

“I’ve been in a dark place, I’ve been off the radar. I want to close doors and put the past behind me. I’ve been getting ready for this for the last 45 days.”

He added: “I want to be the town’s (Stratford’s) champion, I want young people to see what can be achieved if you commit to something.

“I want to explode on my debut. After what I’ve been through, the nerves have gone. I’m just hungry. It’s been the hardest battle and now the lion needs to eat.”

*Warner wants to thank sponsors: Wins Wins Wins, Rio Driving School, Legion Landscapes, Mark Minibus Hire, Whitehall Estates.