Sheffield cancer survivor, 23, set for home boxing debut

And the main emotion Sheffield's Owen Durnan will take into the ring on his home-city professional debut this month will be one of joy - he's happy simply to be around to take part in the contest.

Owen, 23, was diagnosed as having Hodgkin lymphoma in April 2022.

A routine dental check-up had located a lump in his neck.

It was a three by two cm tumour, but one that surgeons were able to remove.

And after months of worry, Owen was confident enough to get on with the rest of his all-action life, including training and fighting.

The former Forge Valley schoolboy, from Wisewood, took his first pro fight away from home in November, against winning-record fighter Jensen Irving, and won the six-rounder on points.

Now he can't wait to take part in Izzy Asif's GBM Sports bill at Sheffield's Park Community Arena, on February 9.

Reflecting on his last two years, Owen recalled: "I didn't know I was ill, although I often felt run down, I put that down to being very active as a person, working as a bin man and training and running all the time.

"When they found the lump, and told me it was cancer, it was nerve-wracking, I was 21 and it is too young for someone to go.

"I was thinking the worst things like chemotherapy and radiotherapy but I didn't have to have it, because they cut the whole thing out in one.

"I can't explain why it's not spread, but that was good and I got a second shot at life.

"Nowadays, you can't help worrying about it but I do try not to; why think about the negative, the positive is I am here, so touch wood it never happens again."

Owen says he is well most of the time, although he suspects his immune system is far from perfect as he frequently gets colds.

But he has undergone stringent medical checks as the British Board of Boxing wanted to be 100 percent sure he was fit to start his career in the paid ranks.

"I reached the stage where it was really important to me to have that fight in November, against Jensen Irving.

"Boxing had been taken away from me for what felt like a long time and it is all I wanted to do. So I was very relieved to get out there, and like being on a roller coaster, I wanted to do it again."

His diary is filling up nicely at the start of 2024.

He boxes Newark journeyman Fonz Alexander this month.

And then in April, the Roger Sampson-trained super lightweight confronts Conner Lee Doherty, from Leeds, at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Norton.

"I want to be as active as possible this year" says Owen, who laughingly describes his style as "a dirty, horrible southpaw."

His strong-arm conviction in the ring belies his nickname as the 'Boxing Geek' - he claims to rock the Harry Potter look.

"I was bullied as a kid - I am still a geeky-looking kid with big glasses.

"At school, I was always smaller than the others, and quiet, - I can see why I was targetted.

"The bullying happened for a few years.

"The main kid who picked on me actually got kicked out of school, he was a bit of a bad lad and I still see him around every now and then.

"In a weird way, I think: 'Thank you, you made me the person I am today and I am following my dream.' It benefited me.

"Now I can't wait for February 9.

"I am happy that I am in in the home corner, it is nice to have people around me who care and support me" said Owen, whose stepfather is the original Sheffield boxing bin man, Carl Wild.