Knottingley fighter Tiffin's brave challenge ends in world title loss

Father of three Tiffin had a shot at sporting greatness when he challenged Lorawnt T ‘Smash’ Nelson for the world bare knuckle boxing championship in New York.

Middleweight king Nelson, regarded by most as the best and certainly most dangerous bare knuckle exponent in the world lived up to his name, but he was given a huge shock before he defended his title.

Tiffin knew he could not hang around against his big punching opponent and came charging out from the bell to enjoy early success.

He looked on course for a stunning victory when he caught Nelson with a left hook that dropped the champ to the floor in the first minute.

But as he went in looking to finish the job the man named ‘Smash’ fought back and his own left hook saw Tiffin knocked down.

As the pair went toe to toe it was Nelson who then came up with another decisive big punch and although the Knottingley man climbed off the floor the referee stopped the contest as he felt he had not recovered sufficiently to carry on.

Afterwards Tiffin said he had never been hit so hard, but there was mutual respect with Nelson knowing he had been in trouble in the fight first.

In the build up to the world title fight Tiffin had said turning to bare knuckle boxing had helped him become a better person.

He explained: “I was driving home from fishing in 2009 and a car came towards us on the wrong side of the road. I swerved, crashed into a tree and my best friend died.

“It ruined me. I was getting flashbacks. I was taking medication and then psychiatrists suggested I take up a sport. I had a lot of aggression and they thought I should try boxing.

"I started around four years ago, went into a hay bale fight and won. I thought: ‘This is my type of medication.’

“I was aggressive, I was horrible and I wasn’t like that before (the accident). The only way to let it out was to go to the gym to spar. I felt good when I left. It sorted me out. I had no aggression left in me.”