The gloves are off... and the wife isn't happy!

It was bad enough watching him box with gloves – and now he’s decided to fight bareknuckle.

Cooper has signed a four-fight contract with promoters BKB and makes his debut for them in Leeds on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t want me to do it,” admitted the 29-year-old from Walsall. “People in boxing don’t like it, my dad isn’t keen and I daren’t tell my wife!

“I just signed the contract and said: ‘I’m going to be a bareknuckle boxer’. When I told her she said: ‘What?’

“Sharon didn’t like it, but ever since she’s known me I’ve been a fighter. She knows this is in me, this is what I do and she says she will support me.

“To me, bareknuckle boxing looks fun. I know people think it’s brutal – but I think it’s exciting.”

Cooper proved his toughness in his 18-fight pro gloved career, giving knockout specialists Mark Chamberlain and Sam Noakes competitive rrounds.

Noakes next month fights for the world lightweight championship in Saudi Arabia. Cooper walked away from boxing a couple of years ago – and piled on the pounds.

He scaled 110kgs at one point and explained: “I was just eating and enjoying family time with my wife and children Noah, Nelly-Jean and Nate.

“Mentally I was struggling. I knew I had to do something.

“I didn’t have the mentality to go back to the pros. It would have taken time to get back to the big TV fights, but I missed fighting.

“I have been watching BKB and it’s given me back the fire in my belly. It made me want to fight again.

“The way I see it I have nothing to lose.”

Cooper admits he has regrets about how his professional career turned out.

“I didn’t get as far as I wanted to in the pros,” he said. “My record doesn’t show how good I was, but I lost interest in the last four or five fights.

“BKB have offered me some great fights and I want to see how far I can go.

“I’m excited to be fighting again.”