Keeping out of Keano's way
Sunderland light-heavyweight boxer Tony Jeffries won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. In the first part of his new Journal blog, he explains what he has been doing since - including hunting for his Beijing prize and avoiding an angry football manager.
I've not been in the ring since my Olympic semi-final in Beijing but there's been no shortage of incident - or excitement - in that time.
It's five weeks since I got back from China and you don't realise how unfit you get in that time. Compared to the average person I'm still quite fit, but compared to where I was, I'm way behind. I was due to go back to the English Institute for Sport in Sheffield last week but I've had a chest infection so all I've done is a few little jogs.
It was good to have a break. Before this I'd only had one holiday in the past 20 months - after qualifying for Beijing. I've made all sorts of appearances since winning my bronze medal but none as nerve-wracking as my homecoming party at the Stadium of Light - or should I say the morning after!
I did a speech at the party and I was dead nervous before it. I'd never spoken in front of a lot of people before, although it made it easier because I knew everyone. By the end I didn't want to come off the stage! During my speech I said I wanted to give my dad, Phil, something money can't buy, to thank him for all his support. I gave him my Olympic medal but I didn't realise how much stress it would cause me.
I woke up that morning and couldn't remember a thing. I was guest of honour at the opening of South Hylton Community Centre but when I looked for my medal, it was nowhere to be seen. I phoned my dad and asked if he had it but he said, "No, you had it." It was mad, we were searching high and low for it. Everything was going through my head. We were asking the football club to check the security cameras and everything. It took about three or fours hours before my dad opened his cutlery draw and saw it was there, where he put it for safekeeping when he got in the night before!
I'm a Sunderland lad and a fan of the club so to have a do at the Stadium of Light was great. I was back soon afterwards as a guest for the Manchester City game. It wasn't the best game for me to go to - the lads lost 3-0 - but to go onto the pitch at half-time was fantastic.
After the match I went into the boardroom and I was due to meet Roy Keane. But I was told he wasn't in a very good mood after the defeat so I decided to give it a miss!
I've got loads of other things lined up, I'm a guest at a Newcastle Falcons game and I'm doing a question-and-answer session at Tommy Conroy's boxing show at the Marriott Hotel in Sunderland on Friday (October 3). I'm a special guest at a boxing show in Birtley on October 24, I've got a few different schools to visit, and on October 25 I'm opening an old people's home in Consett. On the 30th I'm at a function for Sir Bobby Robson's cancer charity on the top table with Sir Bobby and Sir Alex Ferguson, which I'm really looking forward to.
It's good doing all these charity functions because I enjoy them and I normally get a free meal! The only problem is I'm skint at the minute because I'm not getting paid anything, except my expenses. But I realise I'm in the public eye now and it's good to be able to help charities. If I can use my profile to promote a good cause, that's great.
I've come up with a charity idea of my own and I'm organising a boxing night for local businessmen in Houghton on December 11. I was at a boxing show before the Olympics and there were a couple of rich men having a bit of banter and winding each other up. They were saying they'd easily beat each other in a fight and one of them jokingly suggested I set one up for them, so when the Games were over I said we should do it for charity. We're going to raise a lot of money for charity - we sold 850 tickets at £50 each in four days. I've been training some of them in the last few weeks and they've been working really hard. It's been good to be in charge of the training instead of having to do it myself for once.
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Tony you are a star been reading all you are doing for charity,also read sunderland council have done nothing for you,you have put sunderland on the map,we all proud keep up the good work.