• Super-bantamweight

Munroe comes out of retirement

Rendall Munroe admits if he got his old job back as a binman he would not be returning to the ring © PA Photos

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Rendall Munroe will return to the ring after coming out of retirement - only because he was unable to secure his previous job as a binman.

The former European and Commonwealth super-bantamweight champion hung up his gloves in December after losing to Scott Quigg - the third defeat of his career - in a battle for the WBA title, and Munroe cited problems with his weight as a factor for retiring.

The 32-year-old though will resume his career by fighting next month, with an opponent yet to be named, and has desires on competing in the two weight classes above at featherweight and super-featherweight.

"I know I can still be a world champion. I've been sparring and it's definitely still there. I won't say I feel better than I used to, but I'm enjoying the training more," Munroe told the Leicester Mercury.

"I'm still eating healthily and now I'm eating more. I had been making 8st 10lbs for a long time and I don't think keeping my weight down for all those years did me any good. I walk around at ten stones these days - and that's a lot of weight to lose for a fight.

"I had got fed up with the way I was being treated as well. I had worked hard, proved I was good enough to fight at world level and ended up fighting at domestic level again. I struggled to get up for my last fight."

The main reason for Munroe returning to boxing is that his attempt to reclaim his former job emptying dustbins was thwarted. "If they had me back on the bins, I wouldn't be thinking about boxing again," Munroe admitted.

"It was the perfect job for me. I was outside, exercising, seeing people and enjoying myself. I was there for eight years and only had one day off sick when they sent me home.

"We worked as a team. I was never disrespectful, did my work well and never had any disciplinary problems. I always said I would go back on the bins when I stopped boxing. I've been told they won't have me back because I've got an attitude problem, and that's rubbish."

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