A man who beat cancer has helped raise more than £2million for charity through a boxing match despite being told he shouldn’t take part.

John Empson, 41, was diagnosed with skin cancer in October and underwent two operation on the melanoma on his shoulder to have it removed and was given the all-clear from cancer.

He signed up to Ultra White Collar Boxing, an eight week intense training course culminating in a boxing match last Sunday at Liquid nightclub in Colchester, in support of Cancer Research UK.

He said: “I was advised by my GP and my consultant not to fight as l had put my shoulder muscle under a lot of strain and l needed to rest it but l didn't want to let anybody down.

“l was caught hard to back of my head in the first round which l didn't really recover from but l managed to win the first round.

“I took quite a beating, although I managed to stay standing.

“At end of round two, l knew I was in trouble and I threw the towel in.

“My opponent was the better man on the day and we have a lot of respect for each other.

“We was all winners on the day and with a sold out crowd of well over 900 we gave them a great evening of boxing with 38 fighters in 19 matches.

“We all should feel proud - we had the guts needed to get in the ring and with such a large crowd watching, it wasn't an easy thing to do.”

He raised £387 in donations and overall the matches, held nation-wide, raised more than £2million for the charity.

He has put himself forward for the next event on December 6.