Spurs ace Jermain Defoe: I wanted to be a top boxer

Posted Saturday, October 22, 2011 by The Sun

Spurs ace Jermain Defoe: I wanted to be a top boxer
GLOVE AFFAIR ... how Spurs ace Defoe would look if he took up boxing

JERMAIN DEFOE is Tottenham's knockout striker who wishes he had been a boxer.

The Spurs hitman is used to punching holes in rival defences — and he will hope to floor Blackburn tomorrow.

But he admits he would have loved to have been like his undefeated ring hero Floyd Mayweather.

Defoe, a big pal of Olympic gold medallist and reigning European super-middleweight champion James DeGale, is a massive boxing fan.

He is a regular visitor to Londoner DeGale's gym near Tottenham's Essex training HQ at Chigwell.

And he has also seen 'Money' Mayweather, who has yet to taste defeat in his 42-fight career, train for a bout at his Las Vegas base.

Defoe revealed: "I'd have been up for a career as a boxer and I would have been just like Floyd!

"He never gets hit. That's why he is a five-division world champ who has won seven world titles.

"I've seen him train... he is so clever defensively.

"I put the gloves on. I have a bag at home and also at the training ground. We get the mitts out and a few players go for it. I see James at his gym. He won the European title last week but I couldn't be there in Liverpool as we were playing in Newcastle — but I did wish him luck.

"Boxing is such a hard game. James told me for his last fight he did 175 rounds of sparring."

Defoe came on as a sub last week and hit Spurs' second goal in the 2-2 draw at St James' Park.

It is a situation he is used to in his time playing for England.

He has never completed 90 minutes at international level in 46 appearances over seven years — with 17 of those being starts.

But his record as an international scorer is up there with the very best, with one goal every three games. He said: "If England are winning and I am playing well, then great.

"Even if I don't score and come off, I don't see it as a problem. If you had said all those caps and I'd not started one match, then maybe that would be a problem. But I have started 17 — I'll take that.

"I've scored when I've started, I've scored when I have come on — so what is the problem?

"I scored a hat-trick for England against Bulgaria a year ago and came off with 10 minutes to go.

"Then in my next England game against Switzerland, I picked up a bad ankle injury and have played only once for my country in the last six months. I have always enjoyed things with England, it's been good — up until that Swiss match."

Defoe had no idea how bad his ankle injury was when he came off in Basel and was even telling people he would be all right for the weekend's club game.

He said: "All the ligaments came off my ankle. There was not much swelling but I still had to come off on a stretcher because I couldn't put any weight on it.

"An hour or so after the game, I was walking around, went into the shower, then got on the plane where it kicked in.

"The next day I went for a scan and got the bad news the ligaments had come away and the bone had chipped. It was three months minimum."

Defoe threw himself into his recovery when he got the all-clear from medics. But, like so many players, he went for broke trying to get fit as fast as he could.

He said: "I tried to come back too quickly. We had the Champions League matches as well as the Prem — imagine it... sitting there watching the lads do so well against the likes of Inter Milan. I just wanted to be out there playing.

"This season I've had no problems. I've hit five goals and the manager says he wants 20 from me. I take that as a compliment because I want 20 goals myself. And, yes, it would be nice to play 90 minutes for England."