SPORTING icon Andrew Flintoffs foray into boxing will be made easier by the presence of his trusty 3lb bat.
The World Boxing Association has approved the former cricketer’s application to fight using his Wormwood cricket bat provided he avoids his opponent’s genitals.
Flintoff’s trainer Barry McGuigan said: This turns Freddy from a boxer with no real aptitude for the sport at all, into a very, very dangerous fighter indeed.
“He’s already clubbed six sparring partners unconscious.”
Flintoff said: “With my bat I’m like a surgeon. It’s a weapon, a shield and if you hold it at either end across your opponent’s throat you can use it like a garrotte.”
He followed up his comments by brutally cover-driving journeyman fighter Stephen Malley straight to the temple.
Flintoff said: Ive really missed that sound of skull on willow, and the combination of the blood and linseed oil gives the bat a lovely rich sheen.
Flintoff is the second person to be allowed a sporting weapon in the boxing ring. Seve Ballesteros fought Chris Eubank with a 9-iron at a 1993 fundraiser where the boxer famously lost use of his soft palate.
