Dean Richardson has his eyes on the road as well as the ring
As if it wasn’t hard enough pursuing a professional boxing career, former Dale Youth ABC starlet Dean Richardson, aged 21, has also been putting in some hard graft outside the ring, as he has just completed The Knowledge and become a licensed black taxi driver. Having turned 21 at the beginning of August, Richardson is one of London’s youngest cabbies. He was presented with the coveted Green Badge on 26th August 2016.
After leaving school at 18 and not knowing where to turn next bar boxing, the former Ruislip High school pupil opted to follow his dad’s path and train to become a cab driver, something Ray has been doing for nearly 20 years.
He said: “When I was younger I was never really interested in becoming a cab driver. But when I came out of sixth form still not knowing what I wanted to do apart from boxing, my dad turned to me and said what about becoming a cab driver?’
‘I knew I wanted to become a professional boxer, but at the same time I needed something to fall back on as you don’t know what’s around the corner.’
‘It’s been just over three years of hard work but I’m now reaping the rewards from it.’
He continued: ‘It’s a job I can do for life, and I can work on it when I have some spare time between training. I have that freedom, so I’m in a good position now.’
The prospect of that is no doubt an exciting one for the Richardson, who has made a flying start to his professional career, with back-to-back knockouts in his first two fights against Aleksejs Grustans and most recently Ivan Duvancic.
Richardson trains at State of Mind Fitness in Hammersmith and recently had the opportunity to train with Dale Youth ABC legend George Groves, one of a host of boxers he looks up to in the current day.
‘He’s someone who has fought in some really big fights in his career already,’ said Richardson. ‘That includes one of the biggest British bouts in recent history and he’s also been out to Vegas. You can’t ask for a better training partner really than George.’
Richardson’s next fight is on 29th October at York Hall, Bethnal Green. Tickets are available on 07512 542168.
