Ian Brown gave up boxing for his health

Ian Brown gave up boxing because he "kept getting hurt".

The former Stone Roses frontman started learning the contact sport when he was 18, but only lasted two weeks because he was in too much pain.

He said: "I did boxing because I wanted to learn how to take a punch. After a couple of weeks I realised you have to enjoy taking a punch, and I didn't.

So I just did the training instead of sparring because I kept getting hurt. I was 18 and these 14-year- old kids were knocking me all over."

The 45-year-old singer is a keen follower of British soccer club Manchester United, and was such an avid supporter when he was young he used to wait outside famous player George Best's Manchester boutique Edwardia to try to get a glimpse of his hero.

Ian revealed to Britain's Observer Sports monthly magazine: "When I was seven or eight we used to go into town and he had a boutique on Bridge Street next to the barber. That was one of our haunts, hanging outside his boutique, waiting for him. I remember him pulling up in a yellow Lotus Europa car with a blonde.

"There was a sweetshop round the corner and a few times George got us kids a bag of sweets like Fruit Salads and Black Jacks and said, 'You can't hang here all day, lads.' "