“The sound, the smell, and the spray. You will take them all away,” warbled The Smiths singer Morrissey on his 1995 single, Boxers.

Now you too can experience the thrill and adrenaline of boxing, but without going 12 rounds in the ring.

Former WBF Middleweight World Champion Cornelius Carr, 39, from Southbourne is offering exclusive boxing training in Bournemouth. His training classes are aimed at men and women of all ages and fitness standards.

“Boxing is an excellent and fun way to get in shape and stay fit, while learning a realistic form of self-defence. The boxing training utilises padwork, bag work and fitness drills to improve your reactions, movement and punching power. And there is definitely no contact involved,” says Cornelius.

With the reassurance of no physical contact, I nervously visited Bournemouth Amateur Boxing Club behind Stokewood Leisure Centre to learn the ropes from a World Champion.

Walking into the club, even Sylvester Stallone would have been impressed by the sight of swinging punch bags, big fight posters and the imposing boxing ring.

Stepping in-between the ropes, Cornelius calmed my nerves as I put on boxing gloves for the first time and we started with some light padwork. Though before I even threw a punch I had to lea-rn how to move around the ring.

“The thing nobody realises about boxing is that it all begins with the right footwork. A punch starts from the feet,” said Cornelius.

With the correct stance I was soon floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee, well almost.

It soon became clear that boxing was more than just brute strength, you need quick reactions and mental agility.

After 15 minutes I’d mastered a six-punch combination and even a tasty left hook, but I was praying for the seconds-out bell to be rung.

Boxing takes an enormous amount of energy and long after I’d thrown in the towel, my arms were still burning. If you want to get fit and I mean really fit, this is the workout for you.

While taking a much-needed breather, I found out more about John ‘Cornelius’ Carr’s boxing pedigree. Having fought the boxing greats of Steve Collins and Dingaan Thobela, his illustrious career was at its peak in 1999 when he achieved a life long dream and became WBF middleweight champion of the world in a hard-fought battle against Manchester’s Steve Foster.

At the height of his fame, Cornelius even starred in the music video to Morrissey’s song Boxers and appeared on the front and back cover of the album World of Morrissey.

Unfortunately, his professional career of 39 fights with only four defeats was cut short by a hand injury in 2001. That same year Cornelius moved to Bournemouth from London.

“It was after a Bank Holiday to Bournemouth that the wife and I decided we'd make the move to permanently.

“Why wouldn’t you, it's so beautiful here.”

After a spell working as a chauffeur, Cornelius realised that he was not making the most of his talent for boxing.

“I'd been a professional boxer for 14 years and wanted to give something back. I kicked myself that I hadn't gone into personal training years ago.”

Now using the skills he’s learnt in the ring and with the popularity of exercise classes such as boxercise, Cornelius Carr is sure to be a knockout success.

  • For more information please see boxingbournemouth.com