After taking 14 months away from boxing, Aidan Walsh opens up about his mental health issues and the 45-minute decision that saw him return to the sport.
"I was done with boxing," the Belfast fighter, 27, told BBC Sport NI."I was out of the ring for 14 months... didn't do one bit of training... walked the dog, that was probably about the height of it."There was no real spark that reignited my passion for boxing," he says. "It was just a phone call. Would I be interested in going to the Olympics?
At the same tournament, Dean Walsh - no relation - had failed to qualify at light-middleweight. Had the Wexford boxer done so then Aidan Walsh would never have received that phone call, and there would have been no talk of a comeback. The Olympic bronze medallist was also struggling with his mental health - and that was his biggest consideration when he made his decision.
"Or do you come back and put all that pressure on yourself, qualify and then have to go through it all again? Mental health was at the front of it all."A lover of Chinese food, Walsh had to build his way back into physical shape for the first World Qualification Tournament in Italy in May."I always kept myself in good shape, even though I didn't train. I lost a lot of muscle. That was probably the hardest - building that back up.
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