Flintoff dedicated towards boxing

Andrew Flintoff, who has taken up boxing professionally, is committed about it and doesn't treat it as a cheap indulgence, finds Stephen Moss, who met the ex-cricketer recently. Flintoff doesn't miss cricket, writes Moss in the Guardian, and the reason he didn't take up commentary after retirement was because he wasn't passionate about it the way he is about boxing.

When he finally arrives half an hour late, it is a much slimmer version of the cricketing Flintoff. Four months of training with former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and his fitness coach son Shane have knocked 40lb off Flintoff's weight and given him chiselled cheekbones, only offset slightly by a crooked nose caused by taking punches while sparring. The weight loss and the bashed-up nose dispose of the first question: this is no stunt; Flintoff intends to do it properly.