There may come a point in the future, perhaps when he has finally laid down the gloves for good, that Lee McGregor will elect to fully unburden himself of the demons that have accompanied him in recent times.
Some of the tragic events to have haunted the Edinburgh boxer are already in the public domain, most notably his mum dying of cancer on the same night he became British amateur champion and, years later, his dad being struck by a lorry but mercifully surviving.
Somehow McGregor endured these dark moments and kept progressing, becoming Commonwealth, British and then European champion in his first 10 professional contests, an achievement that remains a record.
A close ally of Josh Taylor, it looked certain McGregor would follow him to become Scotland’s next world champion. And then it all stalled. There was a first draw on his record and then, last summer, a maiden defeat. In contrast to his rapid rise, the appearances were becoming more sporadic and less glamorous, McGregor finding himself back on the boxing dinner show circuit. A much-anticipated rematch with Kash Farooq was shelved when the Glasgow boxer was forced to retire.
McGregor’s star was fading fast and nobody beyond his inner circle really knew why. He would reveal in snatches about ongoing issues, hinting that his absence was down to more than just nagging injuries or other minor inconveniences but never willing to expand on exactly what that was.
The man known as Lightning, though, is back fully in the public glare this week. And in a big way, too, with a slot on the undercard of Saturday’s heavyweight rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk when he steps into the ring with Isaac Lowe in Riyadh with the WBC International featherweight title on the line.
It is a massive opportunity to reignite his flagging career and, although he is bullish about his prospects, McGregor again revealed the road to reach it has been far from straightforward.
"I’ve worked so hard through a lot of tough times to get to this point,” he says. “But I can now look forward to this opportunity in front of the whole world.
“The times I’ve been through have been horrendous. Brutal. There are so many things that people don’t know and might never know. The amount of problems and setbacks that I’ve had to overcome.
“In the last year or two there have been so many things going on that nobody’s really aware of. For me to deal with that mentally has been really, really challenging. It’s maybe a story for another time. But there were doubts on whether I could carry on in the sport, to be honest.
“That seems mad to say that when I’m just days away from a fight that could change my life again on the biggest stage in the world. I reckon it will be quite emotional when I do it because of all these setbacks. I’ve had to put up with a lot of s*** recently and just had to take it on the chin and keep grinding away.”
Pushed to shed a bit more light on the darkness that has troubled him, to give his supporters and boxing fans in general a bit more insight on what he’s been going through, McGregor chose again to keep his powder dry.
“It’s some personal stuff but mostly to do with my career,” he added opaquely. “Things that made my career doubtful, put it that way. But we overcame those struggles and problems and we’re now heading into one of the biggest sporting events of the year and I’m going to be involved in it. That’s just mad.”
McGregor was fighting little known Colombian Jorge Moya in the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on the same night as the original Fury vs Usyk clash in May, quickly showering and changing after his second-round knock-out to watch the action from Saudi. Now he’s a central part to this weekend’s extravaganza as the two heavyweights go at it again.
“When the first fight was taking place I was also fighting in a hotel in Glasgow” added McGregor, who expects to be in the ring late on Saturday afternoon, UK time. “From being on big stages, having been Commonwealth, British and European champion, fighting live on Channel 5 and other big nights like the Kash fight, going back – no disrespect – to a small-hall show was hard. But if it wasn’t for opportunities like that I wouldn’t be here this week.
“I remember having a quick shower and getting back down just in time to watch the action on the big screen. And now you fast forward seven months and I’m on the card for the rematch. It’s crazy how quickly things can change.”
McGregor and Lowe were meant to fight this time last year only for it to be called off when the Scot sustained an injury. Second chances don’t come up too often in boxing and McGregor wants to make the most of it, knowing victory over the highly fancied Lowe will give him a platform to push towards world title contention.
“I wasn’t that sure that this fight would ever happen,” admits McGregor who has been back training with John McCarron, his old amateur coach. “But I go back to the Karim Guerfi fight [for the European title in March 2021] and how tough it was when that one kept falling through for Covid and other reasons. But when it did happen there was such relief that I got him out of there in the first round.
“I’m trying to use the same mindset for this one. All those horrible moments will be worth it when they raise my hand as the winner on Saturday. And then I’ll be knocking on the door for a world title shot in 2025. People won’t be able to ignore me any more after this one."
