Golden boy Campbell faces big decisions over future

From fulfilling their lifetime goals by winning gold at London 2012, to glorious homecomings, a national parade and endless television and sponsorship commitments, the feet of our Olympic heroes have barely touched the ground.

The only semblance of normality is when they eventually get back on the bike, back in the gym, or back in the ring and return to the day job they do so successfully.

Even then, the big conundrum they face is how much hunger they still have for the sport they have given so much of their life to, and which they have now effectively mastered.

Luke Campbell has been going through all those emotions and more in the last six months.

He had to conquer the nerves of preparing for his first Olympics and then the anxiety of fighting in front of 10,000 people in the early rounds of the bantamweight division.

Then he was overcome by elation and relief that all his hard work had been worthwhile as he lifted the title.

After that came the chat shows, the joyous homecoming to his beloved Hull and even the birth of his second son, Lincoln, earlier this month.

It does not end there for the pride of East Yorkshire. There is a decision to be made about his future, whether he opts to stay on and defend his title in Rio in four years, or heads to the paid ranks to earn the kind of money he dare not even dream about at the start of the year.

That decision will be made by the end of January, by which time Campbell will have temporarily swapped his boxing gloves for ice skates, as a contestant on ITV’s Dancing on Ice.

“At least I can pop across the road to get a few hours training in,” laughed Campbell, in reference to iceSheffield being next door to his some-time training base at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport.

“It’s been a whirlwind really since the Games. It’s all good, I’m very busy.

“But this is the right time to enjoy it.

“It was something I worked very hard for over a lot of years. The longest I’ve ever had out of boxing is two weeks in 13 years.”

He is back in training, with a move into the professional game and a first fight in the paid ranks a distinct possibility in the late Spring.

Although he is keeping his cards close to his chest about where his future lies, the number of promoters – Amir Khan’s UK arm of Golden Boy and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom in the mix – wafting their cheque book in his face could be hard to resist.

He is, after all, a young man born to box.

“That’s what I do best. I’m a boxer,” he said.

“I entertained all the people at the Olympics with each and every one of my fights, and I want to get back into the ring and entertain everybody again.

“I met McFly a few weeks ago. I was watching them perform, when they got on that stage they loved entertaining the crowd.

“I want to get back into the ring to entertain the boxing fans, because that’s what I do best.”

Campbell did it to the very best of his ability at London 2012.

His was one of the more uplifting stories of that magnificent fortnight.

He was the early teen who lost six of his first nine fights but still had the burning desire to get better.

Campbell was the young man who thought about packing it all in after hitting rock-bottom in 2009.

He was the model fighter with the weight expectation of the city of Hull on his shoulders, and a two-year-old son, Leo, at home who he wanted to do proud.

“It really was overwhelming,” Campbell told the Yorkshire Post as he reflected on his life-changing Olympic experience.

“To make my friends and family so happy, was very rewarding.

“When you work so hard for something and only get one moment in your life to get it right, then it’s very tough.

“And that was my one moment, so when I got it right, I was just in total shock.”

Campbell’s journey to the top step was the polar opposite to that of Yorkshire’s other great Olympic champion Nicola Adams, who revelled in the spotlight and attention from the moment she walked into the ring.

Campbell, whose passion for boxing was ignited at St Paul’s Amateur Boxing Club in the city more than a decade earlier, was considerably more wary of his exalted surroundings.

“I was very nervous my first fight, going out to that crowd of 10,000 people, not knowing how to handle them, having the stress of trying to impress them all,” he reflected. “Not only that, the Italian (Vittorio Piranello) I fought in the first round, he had just come off beating the Cuban (Lazaro Alvarez) and John Joe Nevin.

“He was on form, he was on fire, I’d never boxed him before but I knew he was one of the top three or four in the world.

“It was always going to be a tough fight because he knew what he was doing.”

Even through the nerves, though, Campbell’s self-belief in his ability – honed under the guidance of Rob McCracken at the British squad’s Sheffield base – never wavered.

“I was confident. I went there knowing I could win gold. I had proven I could by reaching the world championship final the year before,” said the 25-year-old.

“I worked hard, took my time, concentrated on things I needed to work on and I knew if I performed on the day I could beat any of them on their day.

“Each fight was a tough fight, but what I can happily say is I beat each of them convincingly.

“When I got the medal it was just shock that it had finally become a reality.”

The tears he shed as he outpointed Nevin 14-11 in the final, showed the fierce competitor at his most vulnerable. It was one of the those raw images that summed up a summer laced with emotion.

Campbell now heads into an exciting future, tentative at first on his ice skates, but with doors ready to open for him that can lead to the fulfilment of his next ambition; to be the best in the world. He will do it all content in the knowledge that as a world silver medallist, former European champion and now Olympic gold medallist, he is the most decorated amateur in British boxing history.