He came to the rescue when his wife Kelli, 26, suddenly started to give birth at their Bristol home and there was no time to get her to hospital.

Former WBC super middleweight world champion Catley, 31, took instructions over the telephone from ambulance headquarters until a midwife and paramedics arrived in the nick of time.

"It was very frightening, I don't recommend it, but in the end it was fantastic," he said.

"It was a bit manic at the time. At one time there were seven of us in the bathroom - two paramedics, two midwives, myself, Kelli and her mother."

Telephone instructions

The baby, who has been named Riley, was a week overdue when the drama unfolded at their home in Frampton Cotterell.

"We knew the baby was coming, so I phoned the ambulance and he told me to stay on the line and he would help me deliver the baby.

"I thought: 'What the hell do I know about delivering a baby?"'

Mr Catley said he helped his wife as much as he could and just as he saw the baby's head begin to appear a midwife arrived.

"It was amazing, we went from contractions to giving birth on the bathroom floor in 25 minutes."

Catley won the WBC Super Middleweight title in 2000 when he beat German Markus Beyer with a final-round knockout.