By Frank Warren, courtesy of The Daily Star

BOXING must do more to help our fighters when they retire.

And the sport needs to find a role for Frank Bruno that keeps him out of the ring.

The former heavyweight world champion said this week he wants to fight again, but it is fanciful to say that could happen.

Any fighter at the age of 54 applying for a licence, they are not going to get one from the British Boxing Board of Control and nor should they.

That is not even taking into account his sad battle with mental illness which also means he is unfit to fight.

The board simply would not stand for it.

Bruno was a top fighter and has been a great ambassador for the sport as well as mental illness.

He has not shirked it, he has been up front. He has drawn attention to how people suffer from bi-polar and mental illness.

But he has had his problems adjusting his life after leaving boxing and that is where the sport collectively needs to help.

I hope what we can do as a sport is find a role for him.

He may be able to help training kids, working with kids from poor areas or helping other boxers who struggle to deal with retirement.

It is not just boxers, you see it with footballers and other sports. But I think boxing has a responsibility to look after fighters when they retire if they need help adjusting.

There are a lot of boxers who have struggled, you only have to look at Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe and Bruno in recent times.

It is all about keeping the former heavyweight out of the ring, happy and out of hospital.

Bruno is an absolute physical specimen at the moment and there are a lot of fighters I work with that I wish could get in his shape!

But physically looking well and actually being in the ring with someone firing back at you when you’re 54 years of age is a different thing.

Hopefully the sport can help him stop wanting to lace them up again.