Frank Bruno has been readmitted to hospital after suffering a relapse in his battle with bipolar disorder.
The boxing legend, who has been sectioned three times in the past 12 years, went -voluntarily with a “severe bout of depression”, according to reports from the Mirror newspaper.
It came after friends and family grew concerned about him.
Speaking to the Mirror, one close friend said: “It is terribly sad but Frank has been struggling for the last few weeks now and needed to get some help.
“He has taken this step in a bid to try to make sure he gets better and back to his best as soon as he can.
His spokesman Dave Davies added: “After a very busy period Frank decided to seek medical assistance to help with a severe bout of depression.”
Frank was due to talk about his glittering career at a dinner in Lincoln on Friday night but pulled out due to his illness.
Boxer David Haye is now set to host the event.
Three years ago Mr Bruno said he wanted to be out of hospital for good after another spell battling the condition on a psychiatric ward.
Speaking in detail about being sectioned twice in the space of six months following a relapse, he said: “I was in there five weeks but it felt like five years. It is harder than being in the ring.
“At least in boxing it is 12 rounds and then you come out. In hospital I could never see when it was going to end.
“I felt it was a bad place for me. In the end all I wanted to do was get out.
“Now I am out I want to stay out. I take my medicine and I do what the doctors say. I am just working on staying alive.
“After I got out I remember sitting at home looking at my belts again. I hold my memories of boxing very, very close, in many ways it does inspire me.
“This may well be the toughest fight of my life, but I’ll do all I can to win it.”
Mr Bruno told how he got through the ordeal by doing 4,000 press-ups a night and by praying to God. He also became a mental health ambassador.
Last year, the dad-of-four joined Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb in a campaign trying to improve the care offered by the Government to people suffering with conditions such as bipolar and depression.
He was widely credited in helping bring about improvements.
Mr Bruno, who remains one of Britain’s most-loved sports stars despite quitting the ring 16 years ago, has openly spoken about his illness in the past and the need to break down mental health stigma.
In a 2011 interview he said: “Being sectioned was the best thing that ever happened to me. Getting put in hospital meant I could stop, get myself sorted and come back stronger.
“Up until that point I wouldn’t surrender, I wouldn’t give in.
“Now I don’t feel ashamed to say, ‘Yes, I needed help.’
“If there is one thing I’ve learned from my illness it is that there is no shame and no harm in saying you need help.
"Mental illness can happen to anybody. You can be a dustman, a politician, a Tesco worker… anyone. It could be your dad, your brother or your aunt. People need to have compassion for others.
“After I came out of hospital people would cross the road rather than walk past me in the street,” he says.
“I felt like I was in panto again. It made me realise there is still a huge stigma attached to mental health. It is embarrassing for many people to deal with.
"But admitting you are ill and getting help is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not shameful to have a nervous breakdown like it was in the old days.
“It’s nice just to let it out because the more you keep it in, the worse it can be when it does come out.
“I now realise there is no shame in asking for help if you need it.”
Two years ago, the Londoner’s battle with bipolar was featured in a moving BBC documentary fronted by his daughter Rachel Bruno.
My Dad Frank, Bipolar Disorder and Me was widely acclaimed for the way it described the fighter’s torment.
Speaking two years ago, Rachel - a campaigner on the condition - said: “Before he was sectioned we’d lost my dad and if he hadn’t got treatment I’m not sure we would have got him back.
"It has brought us closer together. Now we can say, ‘Oh, you seem a bit down today, what’s wrong?’ And that can perk him up.
“If I saw the signs returning I’d tell him straight away.”
Frank won 40 out of 45 professional fights and was crowned champion of the world in September 1995.
Article Courtesy of UK Telegraph