Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan thought his career as a professional boxer was all but over.
After a fairly humbling defeat to the up and coming Chris Eubank Jr. just over two years ago, O'Sullivan admitted to The Sun that he had "nearly packed [boxing] in altogether.
The wrong side of 30, O'Sullivan found the means for prolongation in the same place as his fellow Cork man, Roy Keane:
I met this guy called Dave O’Connell at a wedding. He came up to me and said, ‘Excuse me, I know who you are, I’d love to work with you'.
They have designed a routine for me which I do three times a day — it’s more or less yoga. It’s something that Roy Keane did later on in his career, Ryan Giggs too. It prolonged their careers.
In 2005, Keane opened up to Manchester Evening News about how yoga had helped him tackle potentially career-threatening injuries:
I think there is a couple of types of yoga, there is a yoga where you sit and meditate. It's not that kind, it is the physically demanding stretching yoga, I think is has definitely helped me.
I think it has definitely been a benefit without a doubt.
Although Keane's career at Manchester United wouldn't last much longer after this interview, it is clear that his revelations have helped athletes like O'Sullivan prolong their own careers subsequently.
Speaking ahead of a massive fight against Antoine Douglas tonight on the same card as Billy Joe Saunders', the 33 year old was incredibly positive about the impact Keane's influence - among others - had had:
I do feel the best in my life after doing the yoga. I am in better shape now than I have been as I am getting older.
A win tonight could propel O'Sullivan into a potential title fight early next year. For now, the Cork man is determined to show Douglas that he has made a "huge mistake" in agreeing to fight "Spike".
