Smash hit

Relaxing with Jennifer

My girlfriend, Jennifer, moved in about 18 months after I bought this place. She asked me how long I’d been here. I said, ‘It must be 18 months.’ She couldn’t believe it. The instructions on how to work the cooker were still inside the oven. I’m not as wild as I used to be when I’m away from the gym and maybe Jennifer’s played a part in that, though I think it’s also about becoming older and more mature. Staying in and watching TV or a DVD is something I do more often these days. A few weeks ago I appeared on the TV series Green Green Grass. I had a small part. Me and Jennifer haven’t booked our invitation to the Oscars after my performance

Trophy cabinet

My Lonsdale belt [for winning the British title], Fighter of the Year belt for 2005 from The Ring and world title belts are here. I’m not a show-off but I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I’m the only British boxer to win The Ring’s Fighter of the Year honours and when the belt was handed to me I thought, ‘F***ing hell, it doesn’t get much better than this’

Phil Taylor’s darts

These are the actual darts used by Phil Taylor when he won his 10th world championship. Phil’s a big boxing fan and a great friend. Chris Mason, a professional darts player now living in Stoke, came to the gym this week to watch me train and he took a shirt round which he had signed by all the lads, Phil, Dennis Priestley, Wayne Mardle, all of them, wishing me luck for the fi ght with Mayweather

Wayne Rooney framed photograph

I’ve been very fortunate to have met and become friends with a lot of famous people over the years, Sylvester Stallone, Mike Tyson, Tom Jones, Jake LaMotta to name a few, and I’ve had my picture taken with most of them. Wayne Rooney carried my belt into the ring when I boxed Jose Luis Castillo in June in Las Vegas. As we were stood in the tunnel before beginning the ring walk, the TV girl was counting us down and I looked round to see Wayne going, ‘Phew! Phew!’ I said to him, ‘Wayne, it’s all right, you're not fighting Castillo, I am.’ He said to me after the fight that he enjoyed the whole experience. ‘But my arse was going like mad, waiting there behind you,’ he admitted

Sombrero

I don’t usually go round the house wearing this but it’s an authentic Mexican sombrero given to me by Marco Antonio Barrera, which I wore into the ring for my last fight against Jose Luis Castillo. Marco and I have been friends for many years. As you go upstairs, you’ll see a portrait of him from his fight against Naseem Hamed in which he said to Naz in the final round, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ He told me he was that far in front [on points] and he’d had to put up with so much abuse before the fight that he wanted to let Naz know who was boss. They’re both friends of mine now

Oasis guitar

When people say to me, ‘What do you love?’ I tell them, ‘Family apart, it’s boxing, Manchester City and Oasis.’ I love Oasis. They’re a Manchester act and Noel and Liam Gallagher grew up probably just 15 minutes from here. This is a guitar signed by both of them. I’ve been out for a pint with Liam and he did get a little louder with each drink we had. Mind you, we must have knocked back eight pints of Guinness that night

Boxing gloves

My gloves that I wore on my professional debut against Colin McAuley at Kingsway Leisure Centre in Widnes, September 11, 1997. Billy Graham, my trainer, sent me these, all cased up, in a taxi the night before I boxed Kostya Tszyu for the world light welterweight title. The engraved message reads, ‘From the first day I saw you I knew this day would come. Luv yer, Billy.’ I thought I’d lost these gloves but Billy had them all along

Roy Chubby Brown’s suit

Chubby Brown gave me this suit because he reckoned that between fights it might just be my size and my style. Actually, it was at Bernard Manning’s 75th birthday bash that he presented me with it. He sent me a letter a few years ago, telling me, ‘I’ve been a big fan for years.’ Maybe so, but the suit’s staying in the case

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