Ex-Football League star is now professional boxer fighting on Eddie Hearn shows
Former Football League star Paddy Lacey is all set for his third professional in one of Eddie Hearn's boxing shows on Saturday.
The 28-year-old currently plays for sixth tier side Chester FC alongside his fledgling boxing career, where he is 2-0 ahead of his fight on the Conor Benn vs Chris Algieri undercard in his hometown, Liverpool.
Lacey’s route to boxing has been an unconventional one, having initially dreamt of making it as a Premier League before failing a drug test which turned his world upside down.
He had been playing for Accrington Stanley in League Two when, aged 23, he was found to have traces of cocaine in his system from a Christmas night out the previous week.
Lacey was slapped with a 14-month ban and had his Accrington contract terminated.
He faced even more trouble when he was arrested at Glastonbury festival a few weeks later, having been in possession of cocaine, MDMA and more than £500 worth of counterfeit notes.
The Liverpudlian was released five months into his 16-month sentence and his story ever since is a remarkable lesson in how someone can turn their fortunes around.
Speaking to Matchroom Boxing on their YouTube channel, Lacey said: “My bad times have been publicised everyone’s seen what’s happened to me obviously with the ban, with jail.
“People can do wrong things and no one will find out about it. Mine was there, it was in the paper, it was on Sky Sports news.
“But I didn’t let it deter me I just knew hard work would get me to where I want and luckily five years on…”
Do you think Paddy Lacey will go on to win any boxing titles? Let us know in the comments section.
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And it was a tough few years, with Lacey suffering from an ACL injury and sepsis before returning to football as a midfielder and running his carpet-fitting business in Bootle.
He will also showcase his skills in his third profession, boxing, on the undercard of Algieri, whose fight against Amir Khan he had attend six years ago.
He said: “My last game in the Football League was against Leyton Orient on 11th December 2016.
“Five years later I’m fighting in the M&S Bank Arena.
“If you’d told me that five years ago, I’d have never believed you.”
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