Former "boxing binman" Rendall Munroe has thrown in the towel after his hopes of returning to refuse collecting were dashed.
The 32-year-old had planned on going back to his job as a binman in Leicester after retiring from his professional sporting career in December.
Five weeks ago, the dad-of-two met with bosses from refuse company Biffa and asked whether he could rejoin his colleagues on the Eyres Monsell round.
But he told the Mercury he had not heard anything since the meeting and was now turning his attention to finding something else.
Rendall, a former English super bantamweight title-holder, said: "I have not heard anything.
"Even a phone call to say I can't have my job back would be something – at least I would know.
"I was there for eight years and only left because I wanted to follow my dream, but I always had it in my head that I was going back on the bins.
"My plan was once I'd had enough of boxing, I'd be emptying the bins again and I'd be happy.
"People keep telling me to forget about the bins, that I can do better. But the binman thing made me."
During his nine-year boxing career, the fighter and his corner team would come out in fluorescent yellow jackets to signify the binman links.
In 2011, Rendall gave up his beloved job – but kept the nickname the Boxing Binman – and became a full-time professional after securing a £1,000-a-week sponsorship deal with Derbyshire company Elite Construction.
But the dream ended after about a year, finishing with a draw – and a gaping wound above Rendall's eye – and then a defeat to Bury boxer Scott Quigg.
Rendall said: "When I gave up working, that's when it all went wrong for me. I started over-training and thinking too much about the boxing.
"When I cut my eye, I had it in my mind that was it for me.
"All I want now is to go back to work and the bins is the only thing I really know."
But with the former fighter admitting he does not think a return to his old job his now likely, he has enrolled on a course at Loughborough College, with a view to becoming a child mentor.
"I'm doing my gym instructor level two, then I can go on to do a mentoring course," he said.
"It's something I've thought about for a while and, you never know, it might be a blessing in disguise.
"If boxing has taught me anything it's that I know how to pick myself up and carry on."
The Leicester Mercury asked Biffa to comment on whether it was considering re-employing Rendall.
A spokeswoman said: "No comment."
