The world champion who still works the night shift

Kickboxer Leon Dunnett says it is frustrating to train like an Olympian but not have the sport recognised

A kickboxing champion working night shifts at a factory said it was frustrating to train to the same level as Olympic athletes without recognition for his sport.

Leon Dunnett, of Badwell Ash, Suffolk, is a two-time world champion but has to balance daily training sessions with his job.

He said while he was pleased to see Team GB's Olympians pick up medals, he would like similar recognition for being at the top of his own sport, which he hopes will one day feature in the Games.

"I love the adrenaline of it; it's like a rollercoaster," he said.

The 27-year-old took up the sport at his father Peter’s kickboxing club, aged four.

He currently trains at the Combat Kickboxing Academy in Thurston, run by his father, who has been his coach throughout his career.

"I've lived and breathed the sport forever, from the age of three or four to finally win a world title [and] I've reached the pinnacle of my career," said Dunnett.

He said he still worked night shifts at British Sugar in Bury St Edmunds because there was not enough income in kickboxing.

Dunnett has reached the pinnacle of his sport, becoming a two-time world champion

On watching the Olympics, he said: "It's nice to see people do well in their sport but it is frustrating from my part when I've trained as hard as them all my life and dedicated my life to the sport and got to the pinnacle of my career, like they have, and still have a day job to think about and not really any media coverage.

"I remember showing someone at work my diet plan and he said 'Oh, it's not just as simple as turning up and punching someone is it?'"

Dunnett trains twice a day, six days a week, to keep himself in peak fighting condition.

"It's hard work, hard graft, especially fitting it in with a full-time job and working shifts and a family life as well. It adds to the success even more," he said.

Dunnett also coaches at his father Peter's gym, hoping to inspire the next generation of kickboxers

Dunnett took time away from the sport and came back to it during the pandemic to lose weight.

His dad said it showed his son's determination as an athlete.

"He's the best; he gives everything," he said.

"He works 12-hour shifts, trains twice a day, every day. If he's got his eyes set on something, he'll do it."

Dunnett also coaches at his father's club, hoping to inspire the sport's next generation.

"When I'm not fighting, I get a lot of benefit and it's quite rewarding getting other people titles, getting other people fights," he said.

He hopes kickboxing will be made an Olympic sport in the future but worries it is "a long way off".

"I have been sitting watching Team GB bring home some golds," he said.

"I'd like to be sat there in 10 or 20 years and see them do it with the kickboxing."