Nigel Benn is returning to boxing at the age of 55 because he needs closure, says Johnny Nelson

Johnny Nelson understands Nigel Benn's decision to return to boxing, because the Sky Sports Boxing pundit believes the 55-year-old needs closure.

Nigel, like myself, loves keeping fit, loves training, so he will be better than the average 55-year-old man. This is what you need to understand. Those people from the outside looking in, you'll be thinking 'Nigel what are you doing?'

The training he is doing is intense, it's hard. He'll never be the Nigel Benn at 25-years-old, but he knows for a fact where his body is, where he's at. Nigel is at a level where he thinks 'I'm fit enough, I'm strong enough, I'm smart enough and I know I can do it'.

I think it's about closure, I absolutely do. He's not doing it for a career. This is when people misunderstand, they think Nigel Benn wants to start boxing again. Nigel Benn wants closure. He doesn't think he's going to go in there and compete with Callum Smith and people like that, he wants closure.

I know he tried initially to fight Chris Eubank, and that fell on deaf ears. That set a fire in Nigel, then he chased down Steve Collins, they even tried Roy Jones Jr. This isn't just a whim, it's been bugging Nigel for the last few years.

We all still think we can fight, we've all still got that gene inside us

I totally get it. I nearly did the same thing myself. I was very close and did everything possible to get a fight with a man who was young enough to be my son in Marco Huck.

People misunderstood, it wasn't for a career, it was for one fight. I knew my body was in a position where I thought, 'I can do this, and I can do it with you, you are perfect.' It was risk and reward and the reward was so much higher because he was very beatable.

It's not easy, it's not a pushover, and Nigel has done the same. He's not picked an exhibition fight, he wants to get out there and get down and dirty. You've got to respect him for it. Yes, on the outside it's a crazy move, because in reality he's not going to gain any more glory than he did in his prime. This is for him, this is what's inside him.

Fighters will understand what I'm saying. You look at Joe Calzaghe, you look at Carl Froch who has not been retired that long, and he's still got that bug. We all still think we can fight, we've all still got that gene inside us. Nigel, even with all he's achieved, he's not any different.