IN a business where he trusts so few people, it is hard to imagine that Jamie Cox will finally make his return to the ring next month.

But the road for Cox has been far from smooth. Contract disputes, horrific hand injuries, a conviction for assault and the tragic death of his father Tony in 2011 – it is little wonder that the southpaw hasn’t completely walked away.

Yet on Valentine’s Day, Cox will be spending the night with the sport he loves as he faces Alistair Warren in what will be his first fight in 20 months.

A former Commonwealth light-middleweight champion, the ex- Walcot amateur appeared to have the world at his feet when he turned professional.

At the age of 19, Cox headed to the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and it was a trip that would change his life forever.

A walkover victory over Lesotho’s Moses Kapo, who pulled out of the final injured, secured the young star the gold medal and he returned home to a hero’s welcome.

“It was a wicked reception,” he recalled about his return to Swindon. “My street was full of banners, all my family, friends, everyone I knew were there.

“The Advertiser put on a bus for me, the people in the town were wicked.

“I had such great support when I was over in Australia; people were waking up at silly hours to watch my fights.”

But Cox admits that boxing wasn’t something that had come natural to him, all the success that he achieved was down to hard work.

As a youngster walking into the Walcot gym and meeting Harry Scott - a man without whom Cox says he would not be boxing today - for the first time, he says he had wondered what he had let himself in for.

Despite getting into scrapes at primary school, Cox wasn’t the biggest and, at that stage, he was by no means the hardest, but he soon found the routine and discipline that is needed to be a success was what drove him forward.

By the time Cox had reached 14 he was starting to make waves, earning a spot on the England team and impressing on international duty.

When he had returned home from Australia triumphant, he could have stayed amateur and tried for a spot on the Great Britain team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Instead, Cox went professional and, despite offers from all and sundry, chose the country’s leading promoter at the time, Frank Warren.

Having linked up with former WBC super-middleweight world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Richie Woodhall, his successful pro bow followed in July 2007 on the undercard of Nicky Cook’s unsuccessful bid to become the WBO featherweight world champion against Steve Luevano at the Millennium Dome.

While Cox’s relationship with Warren was to temporarily sour over a contract dispute, that is all behind him now.

“I wanted to go pro, but my family wanted me to stay amateur because they felt that it was the best move for me and maybe I should’ve stayed on for the Olympics,” said Cox, who is undefeated in 17 bouts.

“I had offers from all the big promoters at the time and, then, Frank was biggest, I’m working with him again now – he is one of the biggest promoters in the world.

“He’s definitely the biggest in the UK. I know that you have got (Matchroom’s) Eddie Hearn, but Frank Warren has been doing this all his life, he has BoxNation, a boxing (television) channel.

“At the time (of splitting from Warren) I felt the contract was void, I wasn’t fighting, I had hand injuries and I didn’t think that I was going to box again.

“But it is all behind me now – I hate talking about the negative side of my life. I try to forget the negativity, you can be surrounded by people who want to bring you down and I want to concentrate on happy times and doing good things – that is my goal.

“You can’t trust many people in boxing, if you find a little ounce of trust in someone take it, because you don’t get that too often.”

As Cox made his way in the pro game, he joined forces with trainer John Costello and, along that route, there had been spells with Ferndale Road trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick and Newport’s Tony Borg.

Now he has found a man he feels is right for his career in Costello, Cox also has had to tough it out against some of the hardest man in the business – boxers who were there to teach the up-and-coming pugilists their trade.

These men, such as the late Smith brothers – Billy and Ernie – were there to give prospects valuable time in the ring, only Cox went through them with ease, stopping Ernie in one round and Billy in five.

“I stopped both of the brothers, God bless them – they were great journeymen fighters,” Cox said.

“The journeymen are very important to boxing, they will fight at the drop at a hat – they are the guys that will test you to see if you are going to make it as a professional.”

However, as Cox started along his professional road, his old hand problems started to flare up and that is when it almost came to an end for him.

But having linked up with hand specialist Mike Haydon, he says that his hands are better than ever.

“I started to live normally when I was injured,” he explained. “I started to go out and I had never really drunk that much before.

“I also went to a few hand specialists. I saw Joe Calzaghe’s hand specialist and he said that he couldn’t mend it.

“Frank Warren said at the time I broke my hand it was the worst that he had seen in boxing - he has seen a lot of hands.

“I just thought that was it – boxing was over.

“Then I met Mike Haydon, he has worked with Tony Bellew, David Price, Edwin van der Sar and a few goalkeepers and mended my hand in a couple of months.

“I had an operation before I had met Mike, but it wasn’t successful. Mike put it right.”

Before his meeting with Haydon, Cox admits that was one of the hardest times of his life.

“I was down,” he said. “You get depressed don’t you? I didn’t know anything else other than sport.

“But it was one of those things and it may sound strange – I love the bad times just as much I as I do the good.”

While Cox was rising to the top there was a time that saw him make headlines for all the wrong reasons, when he was convicted of an assault.

“People make mistakes,” Cox reflected. “I was out of boxing for 15 months and after that I broke my hand so it was one unlucky moment after another - I don’t know how I’m still competing.

“But nothing compares to losing my father (Tony, in 2011).”

Aside from feeling down, Cox started to look at his life beyond the squared circle.

A fitness fanatic from an early age, he went on to secure personal trainer qualifications and just a few months ago, along with Steve Murtagh and John McDonagh, set up the Arena Health and Fitness gym at Crowood House on Gipsy Lane.

“It is slowly building up to be something quite popular,” Cox said. “It has been open for about four months now and we have gone from 20 members to about 100 people now.

“I’m pretty lucky; as I grow hopefully the gym will grow. I have got two other partners and got personal trainers doing the classes so it is self-running and it gives me time to work on my training.”

But before Cox finally hangs up his gloves, he still has that burning ambition to conquer the world.

Returning as a middleweight, although he hasn’t completely ruled out stepping back down to light-middle – a division where he won his only professional title – the stylish southpaw feels he has what it takes to earn a shot at a world title once he has dealt with Warren in next month’s bout.

“My aim is to be in the top 10 of the world in the next six months – that is my first goal,” he said.

“Realistically, I feel that I have it in me to fight for a world title.

“I have been sparring some good people – people like Amir Khan. He has been world champion, why can’t I?

“I know he’s a great fighter, but I’m more than capable of doing what he has done.”