Lee McGregor celebrates victory with six-mile morning run

Despite turning in a career-best performance to stop Ryan Walker in the fifth round, Edinburgh boxer Lee McGregor continues to go the extra mile.

Not content to rest on his previous evening’s work that saw the 23-year-old register his ninth consecutive win as a pro with a tantalising fifth-round stoppage, the reigning British and Commonwealth bantamweight champion was up and pounding the pavements of his hometown this morning.

Not even a four-hour through-the-night car journey from Wakefield in West Yorkshire - which included a scheduled pit stop at McDonald’s - was enough to convince McGregor to take things down a notch.

“I’m just doing six miles to keep me going,” he told the Evening News mid-run. “I got home in the early hours and I just thought I’m not going to stop here. I want to become world champion as soon as a I can so I need to stay fit and ready to go again. I didn’t even enjoy my McDonald’s. It was disgusting. I’ll still go and enjoy eating some of the things I like but I’m done with anything like that.”

The adrenaline was clearly still pumping throughout McGregor’s body more than 12 hours on from his latest triumph and rightly so.

It was an as assured performance he has produced since signing his first professional contract fast approaching three years ago. Londoner Walker had only encountered a solitary defeat in his previous 12 contests prior to Wednesday’s duel but he was simply outclassed by a razor sharp McGregor.

“I’m so glad I was able to put on a performance like I did,” the former Meadowbank amateur explained. “I wanted to put my point across that I’m a different fighter having added a nutritionist to my team. I just feel so much better and there’s still so much more to give too. I’m happy physically and mentally.

“I knew I was going to break him down, it was just a matter of when but he was a fighter, I’ll give him that. I just couldn’t see how he could last ten rounds with me. There was blood coming out of his ear which is dangerous stuff. To be honest, I can’t see any domestic fighters lasting ten or 12 rounds when I’m in that kind of form.

“I didn’t mind fighting without any crowd there to be honest. You switch off when you’re in the ring so it didn’t really bother me. It’s not something I would want to do a lot going forward though because there’s nothing better than the crowd singing your name and stepping into a packed arena.”

Asked if he could be back in the ring when Josh Taylor makes the first defence of IBF and WBA world super lightweight titles against Thailand’s Apinun Khongsong, in London, in just over four weeks’ time, MTK Global’s McGregor said: “That’s probably going to be a bit too soon for me. I’m off on holiday tomorrow to Turkey for ten days with my girlfriend Amber and daughter Maddie so I’ll speak to my team when I get back. I’ll be taking my gear over with me though so I plan to go out running and keep myself ticking over.

“We’ve been waiting on this holiday for so long. We were meant to be going last month and it got put back because of the fight so we can now go and enjoy some much-needed family time. Amber has been an absolute angel in helping me to prepare for this fight, cooking all my meals and giving me the support I need. So, now is the time for us to unwind.”