NATHAN GORMAN needed 16 months to recover from a week of hell but is diving back into a make-or-break night.
The Nantwich heavyweight lost a British title barnstormer in July 2019 against Daniel Dubois, after playing down the fact son Nathan Jr had spent most of his training camp in hospital fighting for his life.
The little tyke won his battles with pneumonia and a tumour on his chest but Dynamite Dubois blew Nathan Sr away when he threw out the box-and-move gameplan and went toe-to-toe with the powerhouse.
Beaten and deflated, Gorman turned his phone off for two months and focused on his young family, then the pandemic hit and his hiatus was drastically extended.
Now he has hurled himself back into the firing line with a Saturday night clash with dangerman Richard Lartey and admitted defeat will leave him considering a career switch.
He told SunSport: “Daniel beat me absolutely fair and square and I will never use the situation I had with my son as an excuse.
“He had spent three weeks in intensive care with pneumonia and then needed surgery to remove a tumour on his chest and more hospital time to recover.
“I felt like it might have motivated me even more but, looking back, I should have pulled out or postponed the fight but I was too proud to pull out, I felt I could not let everyone down.
“Afterwards I just wanted to disappear for a bit, I turned my phone off for two months and just regrouped with my family at the same time as realising how lucky I was.
“Now I have made some changes, trained all through lockdown and demanded a genuine fight that I have to win to kickstart my career again”.
Lartey’s name and face will be familiar to British boxing fans who remember the third round of his April 2019 clash with Dubois.
The Ghana giant, with the shock of orange beard, stunned the Greenwich powerhouse with a sensational exchange that had the Wembley crowd on the edge of their seats – before Dubois knocked him out.
Gorman, still just 24, could have had a far easier comeback but the shaven-headed hardman wants to to remind the world – and himself- of his potential, with his future on the line.
He said: “I know I don’t look 24 but I am and I could have used that to have another learning fight, to ease my way back in? but I wanted to test myself and put on a show.
“Fans will remember Lartey’s shootout with Daniel and I have seen already on social media that some people are thinking I get beat.
“That’s great for me, I need to announce myself back on the scene in a big way and this battle of the beards is the perfect chance.
“If I don’t beat this man – with all of the right preparation – then I will have to answer some serious questions about my career and future because I am not in this dangerous sport just to help out.”
