HE’S been the pride of the St Joseph’s boxing club in Newport for a decade, but now Gary ‘Dynamo’ Buckland is set to hang up his gloves and focus on a career in training, the South Wales Argus can reveal.

The 29-year old former British champion and Prizefighter winner is set to call it quits after losing out to Sean Dodd at the weekend in Liverpool.

Buckland only took the fight on short notice, having been lined up to face British lightweight champion Scott Cardle.

However, Cardle withdrew with injury and now Buckland would be at the back of the queue to face the British champion, with Dodd moving ahead of him.

And after a 37-fight career, with more wars on his resume than Attila the Hun, including two fight of the year contenders with ex-Newbridge world champion Gavin Rees, Buckland is now apparently ready to call it a day.

“We’ve been talking to Gary since the weekend, I’ve agreed completely that this would be the right time to retire and he’s still leaning that way,” trainer Tony Borg told Argus Sport.

“There was nothing wrong with performance on Saturday, he lost a close, good fight, but he knows he’s not perhaps got as much left in the tank as he did have.

“He’s had a good career, a great career on a domestic level, been in lots of wars and it’s about how you want to go out.

“Gary is still competitive and dangerous, he’s not fighting bums and getting knocked out by nobodies, but he’s not the type to slide down cards.

“He’s been a British champion, travelled the world and he’s got a nice house, a lovely wife and three beautiful children, why would he not be satisfied?

“All boxers go on too long; I’d love Gary to not be in that group.

“At the next British Boxing Board of Control meeting, Gary will apply for a training license and he’s already looking into courses.

“There will always be a place for him in St Joes and I’d expect he could be working the corners with me sooner rather than later.”

Buckland could help to train not just brother Mitchell, but a host of St Joes boxers including world champion (and sparring partner) Lee Selby, Andrew Selby, Commonwealth title contender Craig Evans as well as local boxers including Lee Churcher and top amateur prospects like Sean McGoldrick.

Buckland’s manager Brian Powell, who also manages Gary’s younger brother (and fellow pro fighter) Mitchell, believes Gary can be the missing link in his brother’s career.

“We’ve already got Gary enrolled on a training course, he’ll take to it very well, I would expect,” he told the Argus.

“I think he’ll obviously do a lot of work with Mitchell, but all the boys in the gym respect Gary and will listen to him.

“I know Tony Borg likes the idea of working with Gary, I actually think Gary can be the missing piece of the jigsaw for that gym and help them go even further.”

Buckland had indicated to the Argus before his weekend loss that he had no intention of calling it quits.

“I definitely feel like I’ve got a good few years in me yet. I’m 29 now but I feel my last fight I thought I was as good as when I was 24 or 25,” he said.

I’ve had 36 fights now and I’ve had some tough fights but those are the fights I like to be in and they’re the fights people like to see. That’s my style but I don’t think they’ve taken too much out of me.

“St Joes a good place to be because it’s a gym full of champions and that’s where you want to be.”

Buckland is a former, Celtic, British and Prizefighter champion who also competed for European and Commonwealth crowns, campaigning between super feather, light and super middleweight.

He won 30 of his 37 professional fights, 10 inside the distance, most notably when he knocked out British champion Gary Sykes in claiming the super featherweight Prizefighter in 2010.

However, he’ll probably be best remembered for two out and out wars with Gavin Rees at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, the first fight in particular (which Buckland won) remembered as a fight of the year contender against a former world champion.

“I’ve never worked with Gary, but he’s the kind of fighter you can’t help but admire, he’s got a warrior spirit,” Rees’ trainer Gary Lockett said of Buckland after the second fight.