-Credit:X: @loureed4
Former Wales international Lou Reed has lifted the lid on his surprising new career after quitting rugby at the age of 30.
The giant former Scarlets and Cardiff lock announced his retirement in 2017 after becoming “sick of being injured and having aches and pains”. As well as winning five international caps, he also had a short spell with Sale Sharks and represented Merthyr RFC for a season and a half before hanging up his boots.
These days, however, Reed finds himself in not one, but two very different lines of work. After moving into a medical sales role shortly after retiring, the 6ft 7in star now provides security to some of boxing’s biggest names – including Tyson Fury.
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In fact, the Welshman has even appeared on screen as the former heavyweight champion of the world, with the two men bearing a striking resemblance to each other as well as their similar frames.
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Appearing on the latest episode of the BBC’s Scrum V podcast alongside former teammates Ellis Jenkins and Alex Cuthbert, Reed explained how the move came about and exactly what his new role involves. He admitted his new career is, in many ways, similar to his rugby past but he has no regrets about walking away from the game when he did.
“I’m a medical salesman, for now, and a little bit of security,” he said. “It’s quite broad, it’s quite different but it seems to have helped me with the transition [from rugby], which is daunting for anyone.
“When I called it a day on my career, I sent a couple of emails out. I was actually in Morgan Stoddart’s rental home in Aberporth, and I sent an email to a guy from Bridgend who was in charge of Wimbledon security.
“I was then on the tennis courts at Wimbledon, a complete baptism of fire because I had no experience on the radio. These guys are military trained on the radios, they know everything about everything and there was me on Court Three with all the top seeds, trying to work out where I fit in. But it served me well, keep it light and wing it and you’ll be surprised how far you can go.
“I’m 1737120442 part of Tyson Fury’s security team, the wider security team. We work closely with the Riyadh Season over in Saudi Arabia and if there’s work in the UK, we also jump in and do that. We travel the world.”
Reed in action for Wales in 2013
Explaining what his job actually entails, Reed also revealed that he is primarily tasked with looking after legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer while out in Riyadh.
“The week is really similar to a rugby week, which is why I’m so familiar with it,” the 37-year-old added. “I think that’s why I’m used in the positions I’m used. My exclusive job in Saudi Arabia is to deal with Michael Buffer, the ring announcer.
“How that came about was someone needed a break and the door was empty, so I was told to stand on the door. He came out and we started chatting, light-hearted. It’s very difficult sometimes in security because you’re there to do a really serious job, but you can be diligent and light-hearted, you’re easy to be around.
“I think I went above and beyond really, because that’s how I like to treat people. I made him feel good and got the rota for his day and tried to stick to it and communicate with him. Essentially, I would walk him to the stage, he’d do his announcing and I’d walk him back to his car, keep fans who were a bit overzealous from getting on to him, and that would be my week.
“There’d be a press conference where he would be announcing it and I’d stand at the side of the stage, there would be weigh-ins, where the boys would stop the fighters from getting at each other,” he added. “Some do it for the camera but others are genuinely that passionate. For the night itself, I get to the arena and walk him into the ring, down the actual fighters walk. It’s in a stadium so I get that rugby feel, I really do. I don’t struggle from not playing rugby but it’s really nice to dip your toe in now and again.”
Reed added that running security at huge fights is “such a military and strict operation”, admitting that “if it goes wrong, that’s the job gone”.
“The culture is very different to ours and you have to adhere to it and respect it,” he explained. “Nothing kicks off, it’s about making sure that you weigh up what could happen and pre-empting it, getting things in place.
“We reccy the routes before doing them on the actual night, we rep the show like a team run. We work very long hours, 14 hour days, and a lot of it is just pre-empting things and making sure it goes really smoothly. Thankfully, it always has.”
Reed provided security for legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer in Riyadh last month -Credit:X: @loureed4
While the former Wales international is not Fury’s main security guard – “I’m just part of a big clockwork of people who fit in on occasions” he explains – he has a good relationship with the British heavyweight and has even starred in an advert as his body double.
“[Me and Tyson] are more or less the same height,” he said. “He has got a really long wingspan. I always thought I was like a golden eagle, but he is a big, big man with a big powerful personality. These boxers are lovely people, really easy-going and accomodating.
“[Tyson] has got a drink called Furocity, an energy drink. The girl who runs it all rang Brendan [Lyons, Fury’s main security guard] in the gym and I was next to him. She said, ‘Who is the big guy who looks similar to Tyson?’. I don’t think I look similar to Tyson, I think I’m big and bald and got a bit of a beard, and a better body!
“But they asked me to go up to Manchester for a day and there’s a Furocity advert out there where they had to run around a big forest. He was the huntsman and gunslingers were chasing him. I got up there and changed into exactly how he looked.
“He was there, we had a chat. I put on a mask, we had to look identical. He came and did all the video bits, the serious stuff and the promotions, and then I ran round, cutting about pretending to be him. Everything you see with the mask on is me and everything without is him. Not a lot of people believe me, but if you know me and you see how I move, you can pick up that it’s me.”
Reed is clearly enjoying his new life away from rugby, but he has admitted that finding a new purpose was harder than he expected, despite retirement being on his mind for years.
“When I first had an eye on retiring, I was at the Blues and honestly, deep down, I was thinking of retiring from about 25, just because of how I felt,” he said. “I’m one of the bigger second rows, I’m 6ft 7in and at my heaviest playing, I was 135kg. But now I’m 150kg! When the artificial surface stuff came in, I really didn’t take a liking to it. I could feel every bump and every impact.
“When I retired from rugby, I felt like I actually retired like an old man would retire. I thought I’d have a couple of months off and find something else to do. But because I felt like I retired completely from everything, it took me a lot longer to find my feet and find another career.
“[But] I don’t [miss playing rugby]. I really, really don’t. I was ready to finish, I’d done enough. I’ve heard other players, from the older generations, saying they’d done enough and I felt like there’s nothing I didn’t see or do or ask, so I was ready to finish.”