Ben Caunter flew all the way to Tanzania to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional boxer
A North London man has made the brave decision to become a professional boxer at the age of 47. Ben Caunter decided six years ago that he would set out to do something he was told was improbable.
Ben, from Barnet, is a marketing professional, but during the pandemic, he used boxing to keep fit. He was going through a tough time in his personal life and having to look after his two children, so boxing was an escape for him. After deciding to take part in a few white-collar boxing matches, Ben started to consider going professional.
Ben told MyLondon: “I don’t have any amateur experience. It was an unrealistic dream, but I imagined what it would be like to have one professional fight in my life. I knew it was unlikely, but I thought I’d try and see.”
Over the last couple of years, Ben approached organisations and trainers in the UK about obtaining a license, but was told that, with no amateur experience and his age, the chances of him being sanctioned as a professional fighter were low.
“I learnt in the past few years, if you want to make something happen, there’s really only one person that can make it happen and that’s you,” he added.
That is how Ben ended up fighting in his first professional bout in Tanzania last week (May 15), winning and becoming ‘Britain’s oldest UK boxer’. He wants to show that there is no barrier to living your dream and inspire his kids at the same time.
Ben said: “Travelling to Tanzania was an experience. It was nice. It’s a long way to go for 12 minutes of action. The venue wasn’t big, and it put things into perspective as it was a sports bar in a local neighbourhood. I never thought this would happen, and now I need to have more fights to convince the British Boxing Board of Control to license him.
“I remember my daughter was disappointed one time about a trial that didn’t go well. I told her that I lost a fight before and won my first professional fight. I told them that I didn’t give up and that I didn’t get disheartened by losing. It is important to show them that you aren’t going to win everything, but that you have to keep working towards it. They’re very proud.
Being an older fighter, Ben isn’t able to train as a 21-year-old would, and balancing time as a parent, his day job, and his boxing career proves difficult, but he is finding ways to balance it all.
He continued: “As much as the fight was successful, the main thing was hopefully inspiring others. You have one life, and you need to make the most of it. I am huge on anything that contributes to positive mental health.”
Ben has raised money for CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) through his fights so far and wants to continue raising awareness for charities that support young people.
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