 Northern Ireland’s reigning kickboxing champion Gary Hamilton has announced his withdrawal from an upcoming boxing bout at the Kings Hall after picking up a freak injury at work.
The WKN lightweight champ had been due to join the undercard of Wayne McCullough’s comeback fight in Belfast on December 1. It was part of Hamilton’s plan to concentrate on boxing for a time, and taking a complete rest from kickboxing. However, the chef nicked his finger at work – and doctors have said the minor injury required surgery to fix damaged nerves. He will need at least eight weeks to recover, putting the kibbosh on his big fight night.
"Some nick - 12 stitches and a two hour operation and he still wants to box on." said Billy Murray his coach.
“He’s gutted. He had been working hard in the gym, making himself a better boxer.
“He narrowly missed lifting the Northern Ireland light welterweight professional boxing title in Belfast last month, going down on points to the experienced Jamesy Gorman close. Since then he has been fixing his game.
"He’s always been fit and he was simply working on technique."
“This is a blow – no doubt about it – but Gary will bounce back stronger. That’s the fight game. You have warriors in the ring in the midst of battles that could shake buildings to their foundations, but if the doc says a nick on your finger means you’re out, then you’re out!”
  
Gary spoke from his bedside at the Ulster hospital just minutes after his operation, "I'm really disappointed that this has happened. I just found out I was on the Kings Hall bill just days ago.
"I haven't stopped training since my last boxing match and haven't lifted my foot in anger since then. I'll just have to wait a little bit longer to prove I can cut it, excuse the pun. "
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