Lee Selby's heart and integrity puts the Mayweather-McGregor show to shame

Selby took to the stage at the Wembley Arena on Saturday night, three days after the death of his mother, to beat Jonathan Victor Barron. He is an exceptional fighter with exceptional spirit

The Welshman boxed like a dream to beat his opponent (Getty)

In the adapted ring inside the ancient Empire Pool and under the adoring eyes of 12,500 fanatics, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor did their best on Friday night to sell their fight next month. They each staggered across lines of decency, more an expanding grey area than a clearly recognised destination in boxing, to smash away at each other and send their crowd into repeated raptures. There was enough unintentional comedy to make it all just about believable.

At the same time as McGregor was strutting his way to the ring and Mayweather was standing off stage in isolation, a fighter called Lee Selby and his manager Chris Sanigar were sitting down to watch the latest Planet of the Apes film. The genuine boxing duo had chosen the science fiction option for their Friday night entertainment, a film based on fantasy and not the fantasy fight based on many layers of fiction.

The fighter and his manager have a nice routine before fights, their time to be together in silence and escape the inevitable pressure of the following night's world title fight. Sanigar is one of boxing's increasingly rare beasts: a former amateur boxer, professional fighter, trainer, promoter and manager. Selby was just a kid with distant dreams when they first met and not a polished product of the wealthy amateur system. They suited each other.

On the Saturday night inside the same Wembley Arena, but not the three-sided, loose-roped stage McGregor and Mayweather had performed on, Selby was defending his IBF featherweight for the third time and his latest opponent, Jonathan Victor Barron, was resilient, experienced and the type of man that demands your full attention at all times. Selby, however, had every right to be distracted.

"We had missed most of the carnival with Mayweather and McGregor," said Sanigar. "It was all around us, but Lee likes to take himself away in the week of the fight and avoid distractions. We went for the film, we always go for a film." They walked the Wembley streets after the horde had left, counting down the hours before Saturday’s fight.

At the McGregor and Mayweather jamboree the insults started to slowly fade by about 9pm on the previous night and after one last solo act the pair left the stage and the fans started to file away. The venue emptied quickly and outside McGregor fans stood in huddles, singing and laughing; Irish flags worn like capes and at their feet fast-emptying plastic bags of beer.

Selby won on points to retain his title (Getty)

But all of this paled in significance to the news Selby had received in the dark, lonely hours of Wednesday morning.

Selby had driven from South Wales at about 7pm on Tuesday night, arriving in London after 10pm. He had left behind his family in Barry, including his mother, Frankie. His brother Andrew, also a professional, stayed in Barry and planned to join Lee and Sanigar and Tony Borg, the trainer, in London later in the week. All was fine and then around 3am Wednesday there was some terrible news from home: Frankie had been rushed to hospital and was pronounced dead. Selby found out and at dawn it looked like his world title fight was off. The Welshman, however, wanted to fight.

Selby with his team after Saturday's victory (Getty)

On Wednesday he was at the public workout, his secret safe and the trusted men at his side watching his every move, looking for a collapse that never came. Selby got through Wednesday and Thursday and made the weight on Friday. There was still no cause of death from Barry, no tiny respite from the dark loss and Selby was grieving deep inside his usual fight preparation. Nobody knew and the remarkable kid was quite brilliant.

On the Saturday Mayweather flew back to Las Vegas, McGregor was reunited with his baby son and Selby was in his fight dressing room, his focus as solid as ever. "It was Lee doing what he does - he was just getting ready for a fight," added Sanigar. In the ring, just 24 hours after McGregor and Mayweather had completed their wonderful vaudeville act, Selby boxed like a dream: fluid, slick and he won clearly on points to retain his world title.

After the fight he jumped in a car and was back in South Wales by about 5am. I have no idea when he saw his mother and I have no idea how he coped all week, knowing she had died so suddenly. Selby is an exceptional fighter with exceptional spirit who, at times like these, puts everything into perspective.