VERY Weird (Will He/She Wear Boxers or Briefs?)

Rob Newbiggin, a 44-year-old British boxer, says he's being driven out of the town he loves after admitting he will undergo a sex-change operation.

According to the Southport Visiter report, Newbiggin will soon begin a new life as a woman known as Mercedes following the operation, but when the news broke in a daily tabloid newspaper, he lost all his friends. "I have lost every friend I have ever had in the world in this town," he said.

Newbiggin, who has sparred in the ring with former welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, claims that the tabloid made him out to be "some kind of freak."

"My friends don't want to know me. I've got people winding their windows down shouting abuse at me while I go for my run -- that's why we are having to relocate. I have to think about my kids," Newbiggin told the Visiter.

Despite the harsh reaction from the town of Southport, his wife Emma is standing by him through the sex change. "Emma has been my rock," Newbiggin said. "She understands what I'm going through and we are going to stay together."

Newbiggin doesn't feel it matters whether he's a mother or a father, just as long as he's a good parent to his three children. "And I think I'll be a better parent as a woman. I haven't provided enough financial stability in my male life for my children."

He's currently slated to fight Michael Gomez on August 14 in his last male fight, but his plan is to apply for a female license from the Boxing Board of Control so that he can continue his 20-year boxing career.

See Chick's WOUNDED CHILDREN.