Have you ever watched boxing legends such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquaio and George Foreman and thought I would love to become a professional boxer?

That’s exactly what LLS graduate Alex Murphy thought back in 2016 when he decided to join his local boxing gym in Eccles. 

Since then, Alex has turned his passion for boxing into a full time career by signing as a professional boxer and competing in regular fights, with the goal in mind of one day becoming a world champion.

Let’s look back at his journey so far…

Back in 2016 before joining the LLS Multi-Sports Programme, Alex started training at his local boxing gym – Eccles Boxing School. He soon developed not only a passion for boxing but for coaching as well so started to offer one to one sessions at the gym and take over some of the classes during the week.

This provided Alex with a great opportunity to gain valuable work experience and also develop his knowledge as a coach. Work experience is part of the LLS winning formula in gaining a career in sport so Alex was already off to a great start! 

In 2017, Alex became an LLS student in Bolton. During the first year of the course, Alex  enjoyed exploring different areas of sport whether that be playing, coaching or analysing as well as experiencing the unique opportunities provided by LLS such as the Learning Exchange to Madrid. 

In his second year of the course, Alex delved into the coaching side of the course and enjoyed learning about the different qualities a coach needs to have such as approachability, confidence and adaptability. 

With this in mind, he decided his next step after the LLS programme was to go down the University pathway. With the help of his qualifications and work experience, Alex was accepted into Edge Hill University onto the Sports Coaching and Development course. 

As well as studying at University, in 2021 Alex took the next step in his boxing career and signed as a professional boxer. 

“Because of how committed I am and how dedicated I am, I always knew I could go pro somewhere down the line. It was just a matter of when.”

To make the transition from amateur to professional, Alex focussed on multiple factors that would take him to the next level which included going to a nutritionist and creating a strict training schedule which consisted of two to three sessions a day.

On Friday 20th August 2022, Alex entered in the super lightweight category for his professional boxing debut at Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester. 

Before the big day, the LLS marketing team spent time with Alex and helped to spread the word about his first professional fight by creating a small documentary of his journey so far. During the filming, Alex explained: 

“Of course I’m nervous about the fight but with all the hard work and training I’ve been doing over the past year, I just want to enjoy myself on the night.” 

The hard work certainly paid off with Alex becoming the champion of his first professional fight. 

Years down the line and Alex is still continuing with his career as a professional boxer with an impressive ten professional fights under his belt. 

When we spoke to Alex about what is next step looks like he had this to say: 

“I think I’m going to go for a British title then a European title. The end goal is obviously the world title but I think you should never stop pushing your target forward.” 

We’re very excited to see what the future holds for Alex and will continue to support him every step of the way. 

Do you want to create a career in the boxing industry? Maybe even become a professional boxer? Apply for the LLS programme to start your journey today! https://llsonline.uk/apply-now/