Leigh Griffiths insists he’s discovered the eye of the tiger as he bids to get his career back on track. A summer of gym sessions have taken the 31-year-old back to the fighting weight which saw him rattle in 40 goals for the Hoops back in their 2015-16 season.
Griffiths spent the end of the last campaign at Falkirk after ending an eight year spell at Parkhead back in February but he insists a strict six days a week boxing regime has him feeling fight ready. He said: “It’s a difficult time just now as I see clubs going back for pre-season and wonder when is it going to be my turn?
“I’m not going to lie, it gets lonely. It knocks my confidence not having my future sorted but people such as Martin Clifford at the boxing gym have been brilliant at keeping my head above water. Six days a week I’m in training and all of this work will come to the fore when I get back onto the pitch. “
I’m ready to go but when is that chance going to come, is it going to come? Some of the sessions Martin puts on are absolutely brutal. I don’t envy any boxer who does this work to prepare for a fight as it’s so intense. Boxers are a different breed and footballers get it easy compared to them.
“I wish I’d done this type of training earlier in my career and if I’d done more in the off-season I wouldn’t be in this position. I’m now a free agent and hopefully I’ll be back scoring goals shortly.
“I’ve lost 5 kilos so far but I’ve never been heavy even if other people would disagree with that and I still have a bit to go as I want to lose another two kilos. My best weight is 73 kilos, when I had my best scoring season at Celtic I was around 72-73 kilos.”
Griffiths insists his Celtic goal record has provided a proud and lasting legacy from his time at the Hoops.
He said: “People can hate me or not hate me but what they can’t take away is where I sit in the all-time scoring chart at Celtic which is 18th or 19th. That’s something I will have forever but I still have plenty more goals and targets ahead of me.”
