FORMER boxer Tony Jeffries has revealed popstar Robbie Williams “changed his life” when he trained the musician.
Jeffries, 38, won a bronze medal for Team GB at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
He then turned professional and won nine of 10 fights – drawing the other.
But he was forced to retire in 2012 due to repeated hand injuries and an unsuccessful surgery.
After hanging up the gloves, he opened his own boxing gym, Box ‘N Burn, in Los Angeles.
This led him to train former Take That member Williams, 49, who was looking to get in shape for touring.
And Jeffries has now claimed the singer was a major figure in helping him to give up alcohol.
He said: “Robbie wanted to switch up his regime and start to do boxing in his everyday life.
“I worked closely with Robbie for all 2019 and I went onto train him in 2020 too, I went with him in Vegas.
“Working with Robbie was great, absolutely brilliant person, someone who inspired me a lot actually as well.
“I was with him five days a week, just about every single week in 2019. He inspired me to quit alcohol and I quit alcohol, and I’ve not drank for four years now.
“I’ve got a lot to thank Robbie for and we became good friends.”
Jeffries also explained the type of training he did with Williams – who even ended up body sparring.
He added: “We did boxing fitness, every session was boxing-oriented.
“I trained him like I would train a fighter other than the sparring, even though he did want to spar. We just did the body spar. He loved it and he had great results. He told me he was able to perform better on stage.
“Boxing is great for your every day feel-good factor. It’s physical but also mental.
“When you’re not being punched in the face, it’s fun. You’re not just getting fit but you’re learning skill as well, it’s great for your mind as well as your body.”
Back in 2019, Williams challenged long-time rival Liam Gallagher to a boxing fight.
But, despite fans clamouring for the clash, a bout against the ex-Oasis singer never materialised.
Meanwhile, Jeffries was forced to close his gym in 2020 following coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, he has begun a hugely successful set of YouTube channels which have 4.5 million followers between them.
