By Terence Dooley

Scotland's 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist (60kg) Charlie Flynn is currently undefeated as a professional with 10 wins (one by KO) and two draws, and he has also taken up another battle after adding his name to a mental health campaign, Time To Talk, that aims to take youngsters out of the house and off their phones.

The undefeated 24-year-old has told Ben Ramage of the Daily Record that young people of today are under intense pressure to look, live and feel a certain way, and he believes that they should engage in regular sporting or physical activity in order to ensure that they find the right balance between their online and real lives.

“Sport helps to balance your life,” he said.  “Young people are obsessed with their phones now but we need to get them more into sport.  Whether that's boxing, cycling, football, tennis, whatever.  Exercise is so important as it keeps your mind active and releases happy endorphins.”

“The Fireman” added that social media has had an isolating effect on the next generation, with many leading monadic online lives.  Not to mention an often brutal reality TV culture, plus the continued and cruel growth of relentless online bullying and negativity.

Flynn has not fought since fighting to a Technical Draw with Ryan Collins in March; the vacant Celtic lightweight title was on the line for that one but an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut on Flynn and forced referee Shaun Messer to halt the contest at 2:16 of the fourth round.

Flynn and Collins also fought a TD in April of 2017, a clash of heads prompted Michael Alexander to stop the action in the third round.  Flynn required 25 stitches after that one and was out for almost six-months, there is still some bad blood between the two boxers and he will surely hope to kick on during the coming season with or without gaining a W over his Scottish rival.

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