The road to the ring is rarely a straightforward one for boxers, while the path that leads away can often be perilous.<\/span><\/p>\n Francis Ampofo is a man who fought his way from the streets of London, where he moved as a child from Ghana, to the top of British boxing in the 1990s – yet the canvas was not to be his only source of glory.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n After stepping out of the ring, he took on the world of business in 2003 with the purchase of a 26-acre farm in Norfolk with 10,000 chickens – a nod to his own early life running free in Kumasi.<\/span><\/p>\n “I always loved chickens, from back in Ghana,” Ampofo, 55, told BBC Sport Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n “As soon as I came here (to the farm), I knew this is it: boxing is over – I want to get into chickens now.” <\/span><\/p>\n Twice holding both the British and Commonwealth flyweight titles, Ampofo also challenged for the world title on four occasions – the first coming when losing to South Africa’s “Baby” Jake Matlala for the WBO title at London’s York Hall in 1994.<\/span><\/p>\n In a 12-year career, Ampofo won 17 of 28 professional bouts but after retiring in 2002 he returned to something far closer to his heart.<\/span><\/p>\n “I was born in Ashtown, Kumasi, which is right in the Ashanti region,” he explained. “I didn’t really know my mum that well, because she came here (to England) when I was three. <\/span><\/p>\n “She came to work in the National Health Service and then I was looked after by my grandmother for another three years and that’s where reality started – start working.<\/span><\/p>\n “I was selling mangoes, oranges, so she’d peel them all, put them in a bowl that I’d carry on my head and go around selling them, then go back for more.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ampofo would work around his schooling in Ghana, where he loved living. <\/span><\/p>\n “It was a fantastic time. When I first came to this country, I really, really wanted to go back to Ghana. My mum doesn’t know this but I hated it because it was like prison to me.<\/span><\/p>\n “Ghana, from six in the morning, I’m out – nice and sunny – doing what I want, or I go to work in Kumasi market. In this country, it’s different. <\/span><\/p>\n “You are locked in all the time, you are inside the house. You don’t go out unless you’re going to school. After school, you’re home. That’s it, there’s no out.” <\/span><\/p>\n His sense of boredom was not helped by the fact that he “didn’t know anyone really” in England, a big contrast to his homeland. <\/span><\/p>\n “Where we lived (in Ghana), we had about maybe six or seven chickens and they had a little coop where I would go to get all the eggs before giving them to my nan. <\/span><\/p>\n “So every morning, that was my job: cleaning chickens, feeding them, giving them water – and all that played a big part in this.<\/span><\/p>\n “I think [of] young me and I like animals, birds, chickens, so those early days played a big part in me coming (to the farm).”<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Francis](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/onesport\/cps\/624\/cpsprodpb\/4A4D\/production\/_126812091_mediaitem126812090.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span>Defending himself at school<\/h3>\n
![\"Francis](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/onesport\/cps\/624\/cpsprodpb\/E6F1\/production\/_126812195_mediaitem126812194.jpg\")