CHRIS Higgs, the most successful boxer the Forest has ever produced, is quitting the sport.

The 25-year-old from Lydney had planned to go to America to try and make a name for himself over the pond.

However, now he says his heart is no longer in the sport.

He told The Forester: "I sat down with my dad and my manager and we agreed it's the best thing to do.

"Your health is your wealth and my heart's just not in it anymore. I just want to come home and chill out, not train myself into the ground. I've done that for years. Watching everything you eat is the worst.

"I've got to think of the people around me too, my mum hates me boxing.

"And my eye is not the same as it was."

Higgs lost his first 11 fights as an amateur but went on to win a bronze medal at the 2004 Junior Olympics and represent his country – also winning national schoolboy and junior ABA titles.

He turned pro in 2008 and became the first ever fighter from the Forest of Dean to win a professional boxing title, beating Walsall's Joel Ryan in an epic battle for the vacant light welterweight British Masters at the GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester in 2012 in front of 1,300 fans.

However, his bid to win an International Masters title ended in a shock defeat to underdog William Warburton.

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