Magee had fallen out with a respected figure in Republican circles and, in a gruesome attack in 2004, his left leg was clubbed to a pulp. He suffered a compound fracture of his tibia and fibia, a shattered knee, and a punctured lung. They called him the Miracle Man when he returned to the ring.

Magee’s legs stick out of his dressing gown and the lumps and scars provide graphic proof of that terrible beating. “It still gives me pain,” he says, balancing a beer on his knee as he studies his left leg. “The doctor thought I’d never walk again but I was in the gym a year later.”

I suggest we leave the house and go for a walk around Magee’s neighbourhood. Rather than waiting inside for a knock on the door, we will be less exposed to any stray visitors.
Magee agrees but, first, we remember his son who was stabbed to death in May 2015 – by the jealous ex-husband of his girlfriend. Eamonn Jr was so different to him, studying engineering at university while also boxing, and the grief becomes too much. Magee starts to cry, a muffled ache falling from his mouth as tears roll down his face.

I say how sorry I am and Magee squeezes my hand only to curse the pain in his broken finger, before wiping his eyes. We talk about his book and, of the title, he says: “The Lost Soul was beautiful. My mother called me a lost soul and she was right.”

Magee goes upstairs to get dressed. When he returns, wearing a hat straight out of Peaky Blinders, he almost looks dapper. The old fighter sinks the dregs of his beer. We walk outside and Magee takes me on a tour of the murals.

Afterwards he hugs me in the street, calling me a gentleman and a scholar, even if I can’t stay for a lunchtime drink.

Magee lifts his broken hand in a stately wave as my taxi drives away. I check my recording in the back of the cab and Magee’s ghostly voice echoes again as we drive through Belfast: “I’ve seen things not many people have seen but if they hadn’t happened I wouldn’t be the man I am today. So I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m more than happy with my wee life.”

The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee by Paul Gibson is available at www.guardianbookshop.com

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