Former professional boxer Jimmy Tibbs was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder. Since his release he has become a Born Again Christian and a highly regarded trainer of young boxers.

Reporter IVAN SAGE met up with Jimmy to hear his story.

Jimmy Tibbs was a lucky man. At 24 years of age he was a capable professional boxer with a loving wife and two young children.

But his life changed in a most dramatic fashion after he was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison, following a trial that rocked the east end of London.

Jimmy is now a free man, a Born Again Christian, living a happy and contented life with his family - a man who has built up a reputation as one of the finest boxing trainers around.

Now living in Ilford, Jimmy, 53, is happily married to Claudette, the woman who stuck loyally to him through those dark days. The couple have two sons, Mark and Jimmy, and three grandchildren.

I met Jimmy at The Peacock Gymnasium, Canning Town. From his reputation, I had expected to meet a hard man, a bit of a thug, perhaps.

However, a warm smile and firm handshake welcomed me and preceded what was to follow - a fascinating chat about Jimmy's past life and how he has come to terms with all that has happened to him.

Jimmy joined West Ham Boys Boxing Club when he was 11 years old. Over the next few years he fought for schoolboys titles twice, won the NABCs, and was the North East Divisional champion senior. He was a London semi-finalist but was beaten by Mark Rowe who went on to become the British middleweight champion as a professional.

Jimmy boxed for London and England as an amateur then turned professional after receiving a good offer from Terry Lawless. He had 20 professional fights of which he won 18, drew one and lost one.

"I never actually won any titles, but I wasn't such a bad fighter," said Jimmy, "but, when I was 24 and in training for a comeback fight, something happened in the family that caused a lot of trouble in the area.

"My youngest brother was seriously hurt by someone and I got involved because it was family. That led to me serving four years, 10 months of a 10-year prison sentence after I was found guilty of attempted murder.

"Looking back, I was just a young man who wanted revenge. I regret it now - in fact, I regret a lot of things I have done, but there's an old saying 'you can't put a wise head on young shoulders'.

"It's not as if I was ever a hard man. I didn't wake up that morning and decide to be a gangster. In my eyes, I was just defending myself and my family.

"Since then I've sometimes been referred to as a 'gangster', but ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you it's not true.

"My prison sentence was a tremendous strain on Claudette, who was left to look after our two young children. Thank God she had a good family and friends behind her.

"Claudette stuck by me and she brought the boys up very well. In fact, whenever she came to visit me in prison with the children, I could see they were always spotlessly clean. I was so proud of her."

Jimmy was released in 1976 after serving his time in prisons in Maidstone, Chelmsford, Wormwood Scrubs and Wandsworth. He was 29.

"It was very hard to adjust to life when I got out," he recalled. "I went back to work for the family scrap business, built it up and then, to cut a long story short, the Greater London Council bought the yard so it could be built on.

"When I walked into Terry Lawless's gym and he asked me what I was doing, I told him about the yard and he asked if I wanted to help out with training at the gym for a couple of weeks. That was almost 20 years ago, and it's gone on from there.

"After Frank Bruno was beaten by Tim Witherspoon for the world heavyweight title, Terry and I parted company. I joined Frank Warren for the next 12 years, and now I'm with Lennox Lewis's promoter Panos Eliades.

"I've trained some of the best fighters in this country, and some from America. The highlights? When Nigel Benn won the world title in Italy and when Chris Pyatt won the world middleweight title in Leicester."

Boxing was Jimmy's main pre-occupation - a sport he had thrown himself into with a passion, but, in 1990, something happened to change his whole outlook on life.

"I loved my fighters so much that I would get angry if they even made one mistake - I wanted the best for them, and I would rant and rave at them to get it right.

"After I had been doing a lot of work for a forthcoming bill, I was speaking on the telephone to someone who told me everything had been cancelled. I went crazy - screaming and swearing about it to this fella standing near me in the gym.

"He just looked at me and said: 'You need the peace of Jesus.'

'You what?' I said, 'What on earth are you on about?' - but, at the end of the day, I couldn't get what he had said out of my mind.

"Eventually, I began to ask him questions about this Born Again Christian business.

After he explained it something just happened to me - I just knew this was the right thing to do and I made a commitment to the Lord - a commitment I meant with all my heart.

"I'm not saying I'm perfect - far from it - I'm just an ordinary fella, but I truly believe that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.

"That's why I made that commitment and, with the grace of God, I've stuck with it for 10 years.

"At first, some people found it hard to accept. One of my best mates thought I was having a nervous breakdown, but I knew exactly what I was doing.

"That commitment has changed my life completely," he said. "It's still hard to get a living these days, but I'm at peace with myself and so contented.

"I've got a better attitude and outlook on life and I'm invited all around the country to talk about my life's experiences. That's why the Lord picks on people like me.

"Some people, before they meet me, may think 'Jimmy Tibbs - he's that gangster, isn't he?' because of something they've read in the papers. We all do that, don't we?

"I had thought I'd lose that tag but, at the end of the day, I'm quite at peace with myself."

Contented man: Finding religion gave Jimmy Tibbs, pictured by a statue of the late boxer Bradley Stone, a new outlook on life.

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