Bobby Gunn Announces Retirement After Decorated Career

Following Wednesday’s unanimous decision loss to ex-world champion Glenn Johnson, former IBA cruiserweight champion Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn has announced that he has stepped between the ropes of the squared circle for the last time in his career.

Gunn has had a decorated career inside and out of the ring spanning 24 years, having participated in wars with former champions and future hall-of-famers, as well as what some call the most notorious and controversial match of the decade—his first fight against Shelby Gross.

Nowadays boxing has become about paydays, politics and coddling fighters. Gunn was raised in an era of boxing when fighters fought, plain and simple. They didn’t duck other fighters out of fear of blemishing their perfect records.

Throughout his career, Gunn has prided himself on never shying away from a fight; he has called out champions and has always backed up his word. And he never made excuses when he came up short in a fight.

Few know that in 2000, Gunn fell off a roof and sustained an injury to his heel that would’ve ended other fighters’ careers. But his drive to get back into the ring again became his focus, and though at times the pain was nearly unbearable, he pushed through because being a warrior is all he knew.

Despite all of the controversy he faced through his career, he kept sight of what it was all about—being a warrior and going to battle between the ropes.

Boxing has been coursing through the blood of Gunn since the ripe age of six when “The Celtic Warrior” competed in his first amateur bout. Boxing and fighting became a lifeline for Gunn early on, and he worked hard to become the best he could be in his craft.

On September 16, 2006, all of Gunn’s hard work inside and out of the ring paid off as he stopped Shannon Landberg in the seventh round to claim the vacant IBA Cruiserweight Title. That moment truly defined Gunn as “The Celtic Warrior”.

Through his career as a pugilist, Gunn claimed seven titles.

Outside of the ring Gunn has a mystique about him due to his upraising within the bare knuckle boxing circuit, where he has successfully competed in over 70 bouts without suffering a loss.

In 2011, Gunn participated in the first sanctioned bare knuckle boxing match since 1889, defeating Richard Stewart to claim the vacant World Heavyweight BKB Title, last held by John L. Sullivan.

Gunn has established himself as the top fighter in bare knuckle boxing worldwide, and despite his ferocious demeanor when standing toe-to-toe, he is a quiet and humble gentleman outside the ring.

He has never allowed himself to get caught up in the fame of holding a world title, or working with HBO and other major media outlets. He fought simply out of desire to do what he loved, and to show his son—amateur standout Bobby Gunn Jr.—how hard work and unrelenting determination pays off.

He was admired and respected by his colleagues in the fight game, and looked up to by fans across the globe.

Gunn has striven to be a pioneer in fight sports, whether it be in boxing or BKB. He is adamant about bringing the sports back to their roots, back to a time when fighting was about fighting, when the sport was genuine and true and free from the poisons that continue to plague it today.

Even with the glory and success he found in and out of the ring, Gunn never let it go to his head. As world champion, he continued to work full time to support his family, because that is what he put first and foremost with everything he did in his life.

For Bobby Gunn, boxing wasn’t about making it into the record books, making millions of dollars and getting sports endorsements; it was about pushing yourself to the limit, and going further when everybody else said you can’t.

Gunn defied odds from day one, and although boxing critics and haters did their best to bring him down, they were far from successful.

Anybody who has had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Gunn will attest that he is one of the most genuine and true warriors of the sport, and that gloved boxing is losing a special fighter with the announcement of his retirement.

Gunn had the following to say in regard to his announcement. “All my life I did things that people said I could never do. I went against obstacles that, in reality, I should never been able to do. I had a wonderful career, and I have no regrets.

“I want to thank God for all the blessings he has given me. I have fought some of the best fighters out there. A lot of people don’t realize the injuries and the inactivity I had throughout my career. If I never had all the letdowns and setbacks, I truly believe I could’ve been somebody in this sport.

“I got to share the ring with the best, legends and hall-of-famers, and that is something nobody can ever take away from me. I go by something in my life that the great men, Theodore Roosevelt wrote about, called the Main in the Arena.

“There are two kinds of people in this world; the ones who talk about it and the ones who do it. I am the guy that did it. Fighters fight.

“God bless to all my family and friends, to my fans, because without you, I would’ve left this sport a long time ago. At the end of the day, if you can’t look at yourself with dignity and pride, you did something wrong.”

Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn may be retiring from boxing, but in no time soon will what he has given this sport be forgotten.

Gunn has worked with his son Bobby Jr since the boy could walk, and plans on focusing his full-time efforts on training the rising star as he enters the pro ranks and looks to establish a name of his own.

The next chapter of the Gunn legacy will surely be continued on by Bobby Jr., with The Celtic Warrior by his side to pass along his insight and knowledge—both of the sweet science and of life.

Warriors aren’t defined by their successes—but rather by the amount they are willing to sacrifice, how much adversity they are willing to overcome and how much blood and sweat they are willing to shed to get to the top.

Bobby Gunn defines the word “warrior”.

We thank you Bobby for all you have given to the sport of boxing. God bless.