Crime fighter!

Mike Holden, 37, is currently five weeks through his mentorship with PC Lisa Bell and will start on the town centre beat in one month.

Mike, originally from the Tameside area of Manchester, won the title in 2000 by beating Julius Francis, who famously fought and lost to legend Mike Tyson, on points in a 12-round fight at London's York Hall.

Three years later, Mike hung up his gloves to pursue his dream of joining the police force.

"I am a heavyweight boxer but I have joined the police to instill discipline not promote violence," he said.

"Becoming a police officer is something I have always wanted to do."

He said he passed entrance exams to Greater Manchester Police more than ten years ago but when a recruitment freeze was imposed he took up a career as a boxer.

During his career he was self managed and had 19 pro fights. When he won the British title in 2000 he was the first Mancunian to win it.

"No other Mancunian has done it and let's hope they don't ever," he added.

Mike's last fight was against Matt Skelton in September 2003, which he lost by a technical knockout in the sixth round.

Highly-rated Skelton, the current British heavyweight champion, lost a fight on Saturday with Danny Williams for the Commonwealth heavyweight title.

Inspector Damian Darcy is hoping that Mike, who weighs in at 16 and half stones and is 6ft 4in tall, will be popular with the public.

"The public like to see big police officers on the street," he said.

"We're really pleased to have Mike on board. Shoplifters and criminals in the town centre should be ready to throw the towel in because they'll be on the ropes."

Insp Darcy said Mike would be able to use the skills of discipline that he had learnt as a boxer.

"Police officers are trained to prevent violence through tactical communication and the last resort in their arsenal is the use of force," he added.