91Èȱ¬

"I was talking and I just started slurring. Initially I sort of laughed at myself. Then it got worse. I felt one side of my face drop and my arm going.

"It's one thing feeling like you're going to pass out and another thing feeling like your whole body is screaming at you. It was the latter."

Recalling the moment he suffered a stroke while in the ring shortly before a training session in 2017, Bristol boxer Dan Sarkozi says he knows how lucky he is to be doing what he loves again. Boxing.

Less than 18 months after having surgery to fix a hole in his heart - found to have caused the stroke - back in October 2018, the 31-year-old Bristol fighter is ready for the third bout of his comeback.

His initial 11-month wait for surgery saw him lose his professional boxing licence but he regained it after passing medical tests in April 2019.

By October 2019, he was back in the ring and winning again, and he backed that up with a second straight win on points a month later.

The 6ft super welterweight faces Sheffield's Natha Hardy on Saturday at Whitchurch Leisure Centre in Bristol.

"Obviously people say 'you're not going to be able to box again, and I just said 'well, why?," Sarkozi told 91Èȱ¬ Points West.

"The stroke was unrelated. It was because of the hole in the heart.

"If I can get the hole in the heart fixed and I have no lasting effects - which thankfully I don't - then realistically I should be better than ever."

Sarkozi's wife, Jenny, added: "His and my world was turned upside down. I knew, deep down, that he'd make a comeback.

"There hasn't been a boxer in Dan's situation before, where they've ended up getting the opportunity to fight again, after having a stroke."

Saturday's fight will be the 15th of Sarkozi's career - he has won 12 of the previous 14.

He will need a yearly medical check-up every April to keep his licence but says he feels better than ever.

"The consultants and surgeons who looked after me at the hospital were there to see it [my winning return to the ring] and it's all I can do really, to thank them," he added.

"This is fruits of their labour. They help people like me continue with the rest of their lives.

"I am literally better in every department. It's not lost on me how lucky I am to be back here doing what I love again."