THE farmer’s son from Chatteris who became a British and European boxing sensation today adds a new honour to his name... MBE.

Dave ‘Boy’ Green is awarded the MBE for his charitable services, particularly to boxing, in Cambridgeshire.

A trip to the Palace will be the latest in a long line of accolades for the 58-year-old boxer turned businessman who has always widely proclaimed his Fen heritage.

He described his honour as “unbelievable” and said he had been in a state of shock since finding out.

“I had a letter on November 17 and it’s been hard to keep it a secret since then,” he said. “But the family is delighted and so am I.”

He said he had been involved with charities for most of the 30 years since he retired from boxing.

“I know they can’t give an honour for boxing but if it wasn’t for the boxing I wouldn’t have been able to do so much for charity since,” he said. He said he celebrated last night after letting close friends and family into the secret.

“They were all due round anyway,” he said. “I had no idea until November this was going to happen. It’s amazing.”

Mr Green took up boxing in his early teens and never looked back and although never considered a natural pugilist his courage and determination saw him through.

He lost his first fight as an amateur but eventually, in the late 60s, the results came and before turning pro had won a third of his fights with a knock out.

He went onto win the British light welterweight and then the European Light Welterweight title against the Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Piedvache.

He also fought Sugar Ray Leonard twice – and losing - he went onto do two things. Firstly become a life long friend of Leonard.

And then he became a successful businessman, helping to building his Renoax marketing logistics company into a massive enterprise.

FULL CAMBRIDGESHIRE LIST OF HONOURS

KNIGHTS BACHELOR

Professor Geoffrey William Hill. Poet and Critic. For services to Literature. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. Scientist, Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology. For services to Molecular Biology. (Granchester, Cambridgeshire)

Professor John Gerald Patrick Sissons. Regius Professor of Physic, University of Cambridge. For services to Research and Education in Clinical Medicine.

ROYAL VICTORIAN ORDER

MVO

Matthew Norman Hawkshaw Moss. Private Secretary to the vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge.

ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

CBE

Professor Trevor William Robbins, FRS. Director, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Cambridge. For services to Medical Research. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Professor John Wallwork, DL. Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and director of Transplantation, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge. For services to Healthcare. (Cambridgeshire)

Dr Paul Zollinger-Read. Formerly chief executive, NHS Cambridgeshire. For services to the NHS. (Essex)

OBE

Mrs Trudy Anne Couchman. Grade B1, Ministry of Defence. (Chatteris, Cambridgeshire)

Dr David Charles Pencheon. Director, National NHS Sustainability Unit, East of England SHA, Cambridgeshire. For services to Public Health and the NHS. (Near Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

MBE

Mrs Maureen Adams. Founder, Regional HIV/AIDS service. For services to people affected by HIV/AIDS. (Peterborough, Cambridgeshire)

Michael George Baker. For services to the community in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. (Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire)

Peter Carpenter. Honorary Executive secretary, University of Cambridge Kurt Hahn Trust. For services to Anglo-German relations and to Higher Education. (Cambridgeshire)

David Robert Green. For charitable services, particularly to Boxing in Cambridgeshire. (Chatteris, Cambridgeshire)

Christopher Michael Heaton. Head of Planning, Policy and Culture, Libraries Learning and Culture, Cambridgeshire County Council. For services to Libraries. (Cambridgeshire)

Dr Caroline Mary Heaven Herbert. Chief executive of Red Balloon Learner Centre Group. For services to Education. (Cambridgeshire)

Richard Howe. Formerly Executive director, Estates and Facilities, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. For services to the NHS. (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

Ping Nam Lee. For services to the Chinese Community in Cambridge. (London and Cambridge)

Mrs Rosemary Pennington. For services to the community in Cambridge.

Mrs Eileen Patricia Wheatley. Formerly Senior Social Worker, Cambridgeshire

County Council. For services to Children and Young People. (Cambridgeshire)