Boxer's new career is a KO

Now 36, the former Wolverhampton middleweight set up in a new venture - Diana Doors and Conservatories - two years ago with his brother David.

Unlike many hard-luck stories associated with boxers, Carter's business is booming.

The firm offers the full domestic service of uPVC doors, windows and conservatories from their showroom in Fordhouses.

But the father-of-two still has regrets about his premature decision to hang up his gloves after just 12 pro fights in the 1990s, winning 10 with one draw and a defeat.

And his decision is backed up by his former manager and promoter, Ron Gray, who made Carter his 48th signing.

Gray said: "The Boxing News rated Richie as their top middleweight prospect two years running at a time when Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank were dominating the division.

"Richie was a good boxer and a good jabber and he used to sell Wolverhampton Civic Hall out.

"He was good to work with because he had a lovely left jab and he was an excellent prospect.

"But he probably missed a few sessions at the gym when he was young and you can never get it back.

"He probably never knew how good he could have been. But it's very hard when kids are young and you're trying to instil discipline in them.

"In the fight game, that's what you've got to have because you're written off very quickly.

"In football, if Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea lose a couple of games, no one thinks they won't win the title.

"But if a boxer loses two fights in a row people think 'that's it, he's finished'.

"Richie only ever lost one fight, so we'll never know how good he could have become."

Carter agrees, saying: "I do miss the buzz of boxing. When I came out of it, I'd been doing it from the age of nine when I started at Bilston Golden Gloves.

"But a couple of fighters have asked me to train them and it's something I'm thinking about because I'd love to put something back by training a champion.

"The way I look at things now is totally different.

"The Boxing News used to pick three prospects in each weight category and for two years running it was Benn, Eubank and me."

Carter believes it may have been a case of too much, too soon for him after he started boxing under Pat Cowdell's old trainer, Fred Wolfindale as a schoolboy amateur.

"I got to the ABA schools finals at 12 and 13, and then got to a junior ABA final before turning pro at 17 after I heard George Collins had apparently been paid £50,000 for joining Frank Warren's stable," he said.

"But they changed the rules that year and you had to be 18 to turn pro so I made my debut on my 18th birthday.

"I went from pummelling amateurs to being in with real men at 18 - you think you're a man but you're not."

Carter's career petered out as he became disillusioned with the game.

He was briefly lifted by joining Alan Rickuss, who trained former British 11st champion Larry Paul before finishing for good.

"He turned me around in two months, but my heart had gone out of it," he said.

"I got up one day and said to myself: 'that's it, I'm having a year off' and never went back."

Now he's throwing all his weight into succeeding in business.

"I'm steaming at the minute - we've gone from strength to strength and it's getting better and better all the time," he said.

"We started off doing front and back doors but now we're doing windows and conservatories.

"My brother was a builder who used to make the bases, so we started doing the whole package - fascias, guttering and everything plastic, so hopefully we're going to be one of the big boys.

"Boxing opens up opportunities for people because you meet a lot of influential people.

"A lot of people don't realise that at time, but I think I had the gift to see those pointing me in the right direction."

The move into his latest business venture was borne out of personal upset in the Carter family.

"I used to keep the Victoria pub in Deans Road for 10 years but I've been out of there for two and a half years," he said.

"But I lost all heart after my dad died because he used to organise the quiz night, his mates were there and there were so many memories.

"I had a lot of good times with the pub but it was time for a change of direction."