Video: Freddie Flintoff weighs-in looking lean

Fair play to Freddie Flintoff; he’s really gotten himself into solid shape for his professional boxing match against American, Richard Dawson.

Flintoff has been training solidly for over four months with former world champion Barry MuGuigan and feels he’s not disrespecting the sport by attempting an professional fight after promoter Frank Warren called it “car crash television.”

He told The Telegraph, "There’s a lot of passionate people about boxing, and they want to protect it," adding, "But maybe it’ll attract a different audience to boxing, who will see how hard it is, the sacrifices we make."

His opponent Dawson will be a formidable challenge, despite only taking up the sport a couple of years ago; he’s won every fight he’s had at heavyweight, and predicts that he will knock the former England cricketer out before the end of the scheduled four rounds because he “doesn’t trust the judges.”

Flintoff weighed in at the required 15st 6lb and looked extremely lean; he’s obviously been taking this seriously – as would you if someone was planning on punching you on the head repeatedly.

The event is to take place tomorrow night in The Manchester Evening News Arena and all 5,000 seats have been sold out.