Truer words have never been said in your case, from the pinnacle of your sport where you were idolized and feted by millions of fans, to being in the dock awaiting sentence after being found guilty by a jury of your peers.

Enough is never enough in today’s world it seems and you allowed yourself to be seduced by the opulent lifestyle your wealth and fame afforded you.

The world was yours for the taking & you threw it all away for what? The empty thrills of heroin and cocaine.

I hope you take heed of your wrong choices and learn the error of your ways, you are still a young man and if you learn from this you can perhaps make something of yourself once again.

I hereby sentence you to a term of 5 years with a non-parole period of 18 months.”

The big man walked slowly around the prison exercise yard.

The other prisoners stayed out of his way, he was still well known enough that no-one wanted to tempt his wrath, especially after the way that he had attacked the weights during his time of imprisonment. His already hard frame had bulked up even further, his body chiselled thanks to the hard work he put into it plus the extra food he got from the guards.

It was amazing what he could get in exchange for a clandestine selfie taken on one of the guard’s mobile phones, corruption was what it was, but it got him what he needed. Protein powder, extra rations, even the occasional slice of pizza came his way from time to time.

The first few months had been the hardest, when the gang’s tried to recruit him to fight their little wars for them.

He’d had to break quite a few bones before they got the message and left him alone; world’s most dangerous man they’d called him in his fighting days & it was not just an empty title in his case.

The pompous old windbag of a judge had one thing right; he’d have the chance to get back to the top again. He’d done nothing but train since he’d been locked up and when he was out, he’d make mincemeat of the pretenders wearing his title belt.

Twelve months that’s all he had left to serve, then he’d show them, all of the people who’d abandoned him & written him off, his day would come.

“Breaking news from our sources in Vegas; former heavyweight champion Titus O’Donnell who had embarked on a miraculous comeback to the sport after five years imprisonment has been found dead, the victim of an overdose.

O’Donnell who was released from prison a mere eleven months ago had been due to fight for the title this weekend in a fairy tale story of redemption as he sought to reclaim his title.

Alas it was not to be, Titus O’Donnell dead at the age of thirty-five, Rest in Peace Champ.”