Kye MacKenzie returns to the ring after two-year layoff

But for some, their toughest battles are not fought in the ring. For some, the biggest challenge they face are their own demons.

Kye MacKenzie is one who knows all too well what it is like to fall victim to your past.

The Tamworth-born boxer endured a tough childhood while growing up in Gunnedah, which ultimately left him with PTSD and an alcohol addiction that started after his first professional loss in 2015.

"I was suffering from my upbringing," MacKenzie said.

"I suffered with PTSD. That knocked me around and led to alcohol."

It was the beginning of a steep slide from his ranking of second in the world, when he was flirting with a possible fight against Vasiliy Lomachenko, the then-lightweight world champion.

But tomorrow, when he steps into the ring for the first time since 2021, MacKenzie intends to turn his story into one of redemption.

"I went down the wrong path, and I've turned my life around," MacKenzie said.

He will take on Youssef Dib, the unbeaten younger brother of lightweight world champion Billy Dib, in a 10-round bout in Campsie.

The 30-year-old's last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Bruno Tarimo, which marked a low point in his life and career.

It was in that moment, he said, that he chose to change.

"The world kicked me to the ground, because that's how I was behaving," MacKenzie said.

"So I had to stop behaving that way and get on track. I had to pick myself up, because no-one else is going to do it. They can help you, but that's all they can do."

Tomorrow's bout will also take place on the same day as his son, Axton's, seventh birthday.

MacKenzie's journey back to sobriety and the ring can be traced in no small part to his love for Axton, to whom he hopes to be a role model.

"When I was a young man, I didn't see much light," he said.

"I didn't want to be the same darkness for my son. I had to step up and be a man, and give my craft the best that I can."

After a two-year battle with himself to become sober, MacKenzie expects a similarly attritional encounter with Dib in the ring.

He described his opponent as "a good fighter", and "definitely not one to take lightly".

But this fight camp has been one of the best of MacKenzie's life, and after years of having a "love-hate" relationship with the sport, he finally feels in the right place both physically and mentally to make a run through the top of his division.

"I feel like I'm 18, to be honest," he said.

"I believe I look better than when I was 20, to be honest. No injuries, I'm healthy, I eat healthy."

To signify this latest chapter of his life, MacKenzie has even changed his nickname.

From his debut in 2012, he went by "Mr Frenzy". Now, after breaking free of his demons, he is Kye "Pretty Fly" MacKenzie.

"I dropped 'Mr Frenzy', that's my old name and it's not me anymore," he said.

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