ALMOST from the first moment he laced up his gloves, there was something special about Paul Ingle the boxer.

It wasn't just his willingness to give as good as he got, even when he was sparring with a bigger opponent, nor his technique, which was rough around the edges when he first started. It was his heart.

When I was a youngster in Scarborough, a group of us decided to learn how to box. So we enrolled in a club. Generally, the odd bust nose and fat lip apart, we enjoyed our rope work, beating the punch bag and learning how to spar with one another. But we dreaded the times when young Paul Ingle would be among our number. And we positively hated sparring with him.

By rights, things should have been the other way around. We were a lot older than Ingle. Most of us were taller and heavier. But it didn't work out that way. Ingle didn't care. No matter how big his opponent he just kept on coming. He also hit harder than any of us, moved faster and could work for longer.

He had courage and spirit. The same courage that probably made him go out for the 12th round in Sheffield on Saturday night when there was nothing left in the tank.

True champions don't give up their crowns easily. Even though Ingle was behind on the judges' scorecards, had been knocked down in the 11th and looked all in, he still wanted to go on.

And boxing has shown that last minute comebacks can, and do, happen - sometimes.

That's what happened when Chris Eubank found a special punch to put down poor Michael Watson in their gruelling (and ultimately tragic) world championship encounter several years ago. It's how James "Bonecrusher" Smith inflicted Frank Bruno's first serious professional defeat and made us all realise that Britain's great heavyweight hope had a glass chin.

Since the Eubank-Watson fight, which ended with Watson fighting for his life, British boxing has tightened up its safety rules. Paramedics were at the ringside on Saturday night. A permanent telephone line had been set up with the local hospital and both fighters had undergone stringent medical checks beforehand.

But boxing is still a contact sport. Sadly accidents still happen. Hopefully Paul Ingle will make a full recovery. Even if he does, the latest incident has already led to calls for boxing to be banned.

Far more people are killed or seriously injured in sports such as motor racing, motorcycling, mountain biking, snow boarding. Should we ban those?

For me, learning how to box was one thing. Actually getting into a ring and doing it was quite another. I quickly decided the best place to enjoy the sport was from the comfort of an armchair via the television.

Since then, I have watched Ingle's career with interest, seen him test Prince Naseem Hamed and go on to become a deserving world champion in his own right. Now he faces his biggest fight of all. I wish him well