April 2023

I was introduced to boxing at a very early age through two of my dad’s best friends, one was fighter called Jimmy Monaghan – good fighter was Jimmy I used to always listen to and hear about those fights and the training – I was only a kid in the 70’s but it was intriguing to me – the other was a fighter called Pat Brogan from Stoke-On-Trent and Pat was a middleweight boxer who fought Alan Minter twice, lost by 7thTKO in one of the fights, he was a great fighter but also a brilliant coach – I’ve noticed the difference between great fighters and great coaches – sometimes you can do both, sometimes you can do one or the other.

When Pat retired he became a promoter and used to bring all the old greats over to the UK for evenings – so I had the chance to meet Larry Holmes, Ernie Shavers, Marvin Hagler who became a family friend – he was just such a lovely man, and Lamotta, Joe Frazier and Jnr – I was imbued with fight history and was always into it, as kid I did a lot of martial Arts training my dad got me into martial arts, not the boxing, that came in my mid 20’s when I started training with a friend of mine Clay O’Shea who was also a pro in West London – he started shaping me up and got me moving properly – horrific training sessions, he said I had a lot of power but the defence was terrible! And I was not very good with my feet so when Pat used to bring these fighters over I’d always try and get little nuggets from them.

What happened later in life I found Tony Jefferies in the US, he was an Olympic bronze medallist and a phenomenal coach, just unbelievable, he turned it all around for me very quickly. What I love about boxing is discipline, that comes along with sport, the camaraderie and the respect – for anybody to get in the ring and have a bout, there’s so much respect there you know. It’s a very difficult, beautiful, technical sport – something you can only understand once you’ve delved in.

Well I had a few when I was younger, I loved watching Nigel Benn fight I just thought he was a powerhouse and Steve Collins who was friend as well. Of course earlier than that John Conteh who became a family friend, strong guy. But I loved Benn, just his visceral power – and Ricky, loved Ricky Hatton and of course he’s a Manchester boy as well. Went to a lot of his fights in Vegas and saw him drop a lot of guys with body-shots, you knew instantly he’d cracked a couple of ribs and that was it, it was over. Just blew me away that power, I was there unfortunately for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr. An amazing fight. But I do think now, in the last few years Tyson Fury is just a phenomenal boxer, for an out and out fighter with dialogue with aptitude I’d have to say Tyson Fury is now my favourite British boxer of all time.

With the Americans I love Tommy Hearns, met him once – huge! But Marvin was amazing, for shear brutality I’d have to say Mike Tyson, his work-rate and blunt force, in his peak my favourite fighter

That’s simple as it’s my favourite film of all time RAGING BULL – DeNiro worked so hard to get into that shape, roadwork – he did a lot of training with Pete Savage – who was LaMotta’s friend – and of course with LaMotta as well. Scorcese was also very specific with the camera and made a choice to, for the first time really – they’d been a couple of boxing movies before then – but Scorcese was the first one to go ‘let’s put the camera in the ring’ and create the boxer’s point of view in a fight, and he choreographed it very, very carefully. If you watch the film the only time we’re out of the ring is when LaMotta get’s defeated. That’s my favourite boxing flick, but ironically is not really about boxing it’s about the anatomy of a man, if that makes sense.

I’ve just finished a 7-part series with Idris Elba for Apple TV and currently trying to finance my film MR GOODNIGHT which is about the firm in Manchester in the 1960’s – it’s a love story really but centred around a group of chaps that were a formidable, incredible, powerful group of chaps. Music…couple of albums, instrumental, high vibes album called ZEUS, I’ll probably take that on the road next year – do a week a Ronnie Scotts, London then maybe a week or two in Japan.

Keep on keeping on man. Be here now, very important. You know, an old adage this…the past we can’t change, and tomorrow we’ve got no idea what’s gonna happen there – so the only thing you can really do is be present right now in this moment and live your best life and be kind. It’s interesting because it seems to be an oxymoron, there seems to be no control on our path, I feel that, but equally one shouldn’t just sit on one’s arse expecting things to happen. Now while that doesn’t move things forward, you know getting up and pushing for things it does, what it does is keep you active and busy which I think is a good thing. The irony is it’s also good to be still and do nothing and watch the mind go up and down like a Donkey’s D—K!

I'd always grown up around boxing as my late father was a massive boxing fan, the only time he'd let me stay up past my bedtime was to watch those classic boxing matches with greats like Marvin Hagler, Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns.

I first got involved in boxing after I got injured whilst playing football, someone mentioned as part of my rehab to incorporate some boxing drills and training and it started from there, I was hooked. The discipline was what I was inspired by and addicted to.

This was a hard one for me as there are so many to choose from, but I think the boxer that had the biggest impression on me was Lloyd Honeyghan for what he did to Don Curry, going to Atlanta and beating, at the time, someone who was considered the pound for pound best and unbeatable.

It was such an eye-opener for me to see an English boxer, go to America and defeat an American world champion, something I'd never previously seen before.

Rocky 4 ... James brown performing "living in America " before the Apollo Creed fight, Ivan Drago, what a beast. Great popcorn boxing movie!

I am currently manager and director of boxing at stormldn.com Queens Park. I'm very fortunate that I have a job where I can do something I love, teaching people from all walks of life. Some who are just starting their boxing journey, and others who are hoping to evolve their boxing skills. We are a social enterprise at stormldn.com and along with our charity partners, we teach kid/teens through the medium of boxing.

Having been a diabetic for 27 years, then going on to have a 14 hour double organ transplant operation; being in hospital for 6 months, to being a father of 4 young children and now working in boxing, I will always advise that humility and keeping still enough to accept, receive and pass on my blessings and being present in the moment are the things I've learnt most. For me it's the destination....not just the journey.