Felix Cash is rated as one of the top 10 in many independent ratings, including No. 8 by The Ring, but after a horrible run of tragedy in his private life, his career is on the backburner.
Promoter Matchroom have tried to usher Cash towards a fight with Austin “Ammo” Williams, and Cash has been through camps with trainer Tony Sims, but because of everything he has had to deal with outside the ring, Cash has withdrawn from fights in case he has not been ready for them inside the ropes.
Cash Withdraws from Fights Due to Mental Health Struggles
Cash is 16-0 with 10 wins inside the distance and he fought in February and December last year, defeating Magomed Madiev and Celso Neves respectively, but he failed to dazzle each time and he also has withdrawn from contests against Vaughn Alexander in the summer and last month against European champion Matteo Signani, which many would have expected Cash to win.
“He [Cash] pulled out of the last fight on the week of the fight, and he’s had mental difficulties so it’s hard to say what he’s going to do,” admitted Sims. “It’s a shame because he’s a real talented kid. Obviously the last fight he had, fighting Signani and obviously he was an overwhelming favourite to win that [European] title, but when your mind’s not right, it’s hard to put anyone in a boxing ring and his mind’s just not right.”
Felix Cash's Personal Life Impacts Boxing Performance
Cash, who is 30-years-old and rated by the WBA, WBO and IBF, is going through a divorce, and four of his cousins were killed in a car crash in October of 2021 and both things have had a severe impact on the middleweight star who shone brightly when dismantling middleweight contender Denzel Bentley in April 2021 in three rounds.
“It's a shame, because we trained pretty hard for the [Signani] fight, he had a good camp but mentally he’s just not right to fight so there’s not much you can do,” Sims added. “It’s an accumulation of things that have happened to him over the last 18 months to two years… his divorce break up, not seeing his kids, his cousins all dying, just loads of things. It’s like a build-up of everything and he’s just not right to fight. When we talk about mental health, he’s just not mentally right to fight. It’s not just always about the physical side of getting ready to fight, it’s about mentally not being there and he’s just not there. But I can’t really say what his future is going to be, really, but it’s a real shame because when you look back two years ago when he knocked out Denzel Bentley, you’d be thinking this kid’s going to go on and win a world title. But since that fight, he’s had two fights and hasn’t looked that great in either of them and he’s just not mentally there. It’s a shame really.”
Denzel Bentley's Success Highlights What Could Have Been for Cash
Bentley, conversely, went on to win the British middleweight title and defend it before fighting for the WBO middleweight crown against Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and losing a decision in Las Vegas in a fight that saw the Englishman’s stock rise.
Talking about Cash, who was ringside in Cardiff to see his stablemate Welsh star Joe Cordina become a two-time world champion on Saturday, Sims continued: “He [Cash] knocked Jack Cullen out [KO 8], knocked Denzel Bentley out and Denzel Bentley went and did 12 rounds with Zhanibek, so you can see what sort of road Felix was on and at that time. No one wanted to spar him because he was dangerous but since his personal life fell apart, he’s just not right mentally and it’s a shame. He had to pull out against Vaughan Alexander on the day of the fight, then he’s pulled out against Signani on the week of the fight, it’s just hard really. I feel gutted for him.”
Felix Cash vs Austin Williams Fight Unlikely in the Near Future
American southpaw Williams is 14-0 and he and Cash have had angry confrontations in front of the cameras but it does not seem as though a fight between the two will be on tap any time soon.
Williams last boxed in London on April 1 on the Anthony Joshua-Jermain Franklin bill, stopping River Wilson-Bent in eight rounds and he fought four times in 2022.
