A boxer in my gym once told the coach that I was the best boxer in the gym, something I am very proud of to this day. That person was Fabio Wardley, for those who don’t know Fabio, he is an undefeated knockout artist, one of the most dangerous men in heavyweight boxing, he has headlined the O2 in London multiple times, fought on mega cards in Saudi Arabia, headlined the first-ever boxing event at Portman Road, and now finds himself as the number one contender for the WBO heavyweight world title and will soon find himself up against undisputed heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medallist Oleksandr Usyk.

I was good. I was very good although I think Fabio’s comment was wrong. I wasn’t the best in the gym. Ryan Copland was, he was not just the best, but he worked the hardest. I worked hard, but he worked harder. I have never seen anyone able to train as hard as him. Unfortunately, Ryan’s professional career was cut short by a freak accident where he lost some of his fingers. My work ethic played a big role in obtaining the skills I did. When I am in the zone, I have always taken training seriously. Early mornings, hard work and hard sparring. There is no cheat code. You either work hard, or you get found out, and you don’t want to get found out. Trust me.

There is nothing like setting foot into the squared circle. The adrenaline, the fear, the focus. There is no rush like it. All the hours of preparation can never truly prepare you for this moment. The fear never goes, no matter how many times you step in the ring, the adrenaline will always be there. Until the final bell goes, you are the man, and this is your moment.

When the fight starts you better be ready, it’s the loneliest place in the world in there and if your opponent is getting the better of you, no one is coming in to help you out, you’ve got to fight your way out. You’ve got to bite down on your gum shield and dig deep, you’ve got to remain strong mentally and physically. You drown out the noise around you and pick out that one voice that is so familiar to you, that voice that has been with you throughout the journey, that voice who has pushed you to your limits, that voice who instructed you to do all the hard work, the skipping, the running, the press-ups, the pull-ups, the bag work, the pad work, the footwork drills and the sparring as well as all the other weird and wonderful stuff we do. Carrying jerrycans full of water for hundreds of meters whilst your arms are going to fall off, smashing giant tyres with sledgehammers, being wheelbarrow walked on your hands for minutes at a time, pushing cars around the block and all the other strange methods we do. (admittedly, none of this is as weird as Juan Manuel Marquez drinking his own piss, that is something I have not and do not plan to do!)

Since I started boxing 15 years ago, I have done tens of thousands of press-ups, been punched thousands of times, punched people thousands of times, ran thousands of miles, got into the shape of my life, got out of the shape of my life, got back into the shape of my life, been hit so hard I’ve seen stars and heard ringing for half a minute and still carried on, I’ve put people on the canvas and thankfully never been put on the canvas myself, I’ve made friends, I’ve sweat gallons and I’ve lost an awful lot of blood, I’ve been bruised, I’ve broken my nose and I’ve had a fucking hell of a time but most importantly to me that I’ve grown, I’ve grown as a man, I’ve learned a lot about myself, I’ve learned that what I thought were my physical limitations are not my physical limitations. I’ve learned that if you practice anything hard enough and long enough you can and will become very good, I’ve learned discipline. Motivation gets you started but discipline keeps you going, I’ve gained levels of self-confidence that as a timid teenager, I never thought I would have, I thought I was destined to be shy forever, to be afraid of talking to strangers, of speaking out in my defence, or in defence of others but boxing changed that. It’s helped me through serious bouts of depression. It’s always been there to answer my call no matter how dark my thoughts have gotten. It’s shown me that I can deal with any situation life throws at me. I cannot overstate how thankful I am that I found boxing.

Boxing gyms are full of all kinds of people, I came from a relatively modest upbringing, but if you go to any boxing gym, you can be certain to find people who will tell you that boxing has saved their lives, and that if they didn’t find the sport they would be dead or in jail. There is no other sport that takes as many kids off the street and turns their lives around as boxing does. Bernard Hopkins was in jail when he found out about boxing and turned his life round, becoming world champion, Manny Pacquiao grew up on the streets of Manila stealing food just to survive and through boxing is now a household name. Dillian Whyte was stabbed and shot before he found boxing and used it to escape the possibility of becoming another statistic. These are just a few examples of famous boxers who have reached the elite levels, there are many more. But for every person who was saved by boxing and managed to reach the elite levels of the sport there are thousands more ordinary people that just used it to get away from crime, poverty, poor upbringings, suicidal depressions and more.

Boxing is not about revenge or anger — it’s about discipline, respect, and becoming a better person.

Peace and love everybody, peace and love!