 Felly, rwy'n credu i'n gwybod i gael mewn y pethoedd yma ar y cyfrifol ddweud y gweithgareddau a rwy'n credu'n ddweud y cwmau'n gweithgareddau i'r ddweud y mae'n gweithgareddau felly mae'r ei gweithgareddau i'r panhau ymlaen chi'n gweithgareddau i gael. Rwy'n digud yn ysgolol, a rydyn ni wedi'n digwydd yn golygu. Rydyn ni wedi'n gweithgareddau i'r gweithgareddau i'r gweithgareddau i'r hwnnw, a geni'n gwneud eu bwysig bob ei wedi gwneud heddiw i'r cyfrodedd mewn dyna ond felly rydyn ni wedi ei bod yn siaradeg i chi'r bynnag mae'n rhaid i chi'n gweithio arall suppressed mae'n ei, stram y dyma, mae e'n rhaid i chi'n rhaid i chi'n gwneud beth bod yn y rhai gwaith mwych oedd mae rhaid i chi'n rhaid i chi'n gweithio roi ei wedi cyrraedd i chi gweithio ar y cyfrodedd i ddreidio yma pwngfaen i gyhoedd i roffa ar bod y ceisd. ..a'w'r ddweud i'r wych i'r perffyn o'r dynny... ..en i'n cyfweld a'i ychydig i mewn cymryd. Yn mynd i'n mynd i ddim... ..y'r gyfrindio ffordd ym Ffordd. Yn gweithio'r ddweud i'r oed. Mae gennym o'r ddweud i gydig am ffordd i'r rŷn... ..y'r ddweud i ddim... ..i eisiau gwybod dwi ddigon i ddim yn ymrŷn. Mae'n oed yn gallu'n ffordd i'r syniad... Mae hyn yn baron ymdbloeth mae bod nhw'.ol Llywodraeth, cyffredig yn cyhoedd, a da wasgaf drosiad yn gywybroon enjoyd yn gwybod ac mae wasgafdeddiaid am cael eu 13mai ran gael mewn gweithio'n rhawdd, ond frag steadily wneud dros Suutod phone brifi yn ei storfi a dyfi. Rwyf yn cael ei maes bod gyhoedmesion cyd-egisio a ddaeth bryd ac y Lead Ysgolwyd dyn nhw. I had to take time out because I can't be going in the ring sparing and wanting to get hit and wanting to feel pain and crying behind my gloves. Benderon, today's guest we've got boxer Luke Campbell. How are we brother? Yeah, I'm good yourself. Yeah, really good, thanks. Thanks for bringing this in, you're Jim, beautiful place. Good for you boys to be here. Yeah, how's life? Yeah, no complaints. Life is good. Obviously my last fight didn't go as planned. And I had a few days of sulking, I was upset and whatnot. But we're just ourselves down and we move on, don't we? Yeah, that's all you can do. Just push on for the future. Phenomenal fight which we'll touch on later. I always go back to the start with my guest brother. Where'd you grow up and how it all began? Yeah, so I grew up in Hull in Westall and just your average family. I think there was four of us living in a three bedroomed house. Normal, I played a little bit rugby growing up, rugby league. And then for some reason I wanted to go into boxing. No reason for it. Didn't know anybody that was involved in boxing. They didn't probably know a single boxer, but someone wanted me to go into boxing. I got to about the age of 13. I was a little short, chubby kid that played rugby. Went into the gym, really loved it. I just kept going from there. Lost about nine kilos and then started growing tall. So you're going to be fat ass? Yeah, I was a second row rugby league player. So I was one of the forwards. How was your sculling? Yeah, I was alright. I'm dyslexic. So I always struggled in school. I was taking out some of my classes with a couple of other my mates. You know, having to read different books and practice spellings and things like that. But it never stopped me from doing anything that I wanted to do. Yeah, it's mad that a lot of people that sport stand out of you, a lot of them do struggle with dyslexia. They kind of find another because your sculling isn't what grain-genery person you become later on in life. Do you think that's one of the reasons why you became so successful? Did you laugh at or bullied at school? No, no. I'd like to say I was lucky there. I never got laughed at. I think I never got laughed at or bullied for it because I was never bothered about it. I was never shy that I had something that was stopping me from being with the rest of them. I had what I had dyslexia. It's not a big deal. And I never shied away from it. So I think being open about it, no one ever mentioned it to me. What gym did you box in at home? So the first gym I was at was a gym called Fish Trades. Bit of a weird name, I know. But they had a lot of success 40 years ago, I guess. It's an old gym. So I started at that gym, Fish Trades. I had nine fights as an amateur there. I won only three. So after having one season there, I decided I need a bit of coach. I need a bit of gym where I can do some good sparing and progress. So then from there I moved to St Paul's, which is actually probably about a five minute walk from where we are. Cos I know when you speak about a defeat after a fight, you've not had many but you're fucking disheartened. So how did that affect you then at a young age if you lost nine? Do you know what, mad, because I look back on it now thinking, wow, I think I lost like five in a row at one point. And I just think, why did I carry on? What was driving me to keep going? But I think the passion of just wanting to be better every day was what kept me going and given me the drive to like, no, it's all right. I've had a loss but I don't want to lose. So I need to keep working harder. I need to get back in the gym and practice this and do that. I think that's giving me more drive. You've got one of the biggest amateur records in British history, I think, is that over 150 fights. Why were you fighting so much? Is that just to keep constantly improving? No, really, it was one where I think in about 26 fights I got onto the international scene. So I had about 26 fights at your gym locally and then doing championships. But then when I got picked for England, I started going away on tournaments. And when you start going away on tournaments, you could have three, four, five, six fights in a tournament in some of them. So I guess if you're going away on three or four tournaments a year and you're winning goals and you're having three fights there or five fights there and five fights there and four fights, then the numbers start adding up. When did you start realising you could have a career from boxing? I think it got to 2008. I actually didn't make the Olympic team that year even though I was number one in the country for winning the ABAs. Why is that? They sent another guy who qualified in the first tournament for that Olympics, for Beijing Olympics. So obviously I didn't get a chance to go there, but listen, everything happens for a reason. So later that year I won the European Championships in Liverpool and I was the first British man to do that in 47 years. I think from that point I thought, I can mix it with the best. I've got four years now for the next Olympics. I can mix it with the best and I can do this. Was that your incentive then to go to the next Olympics in 2012? Always for the Olympics. I never thought about being a professional boxer or not once. I wasn't particularly interested in that. What my goal was was to be an Olympic champion. And you go that gold medal. How was life before that? I spoke to a few boxers now and some of them have had two and three jobs to try and keep their head above water. How was your life running up before the Olympics? Yeah, so basically when I was on GB camps I was getting picked to go on training camps. So you maybe get picked. You get a letter through the door saying you're down in Crystal Palace between this day and that day. Do you accept and then you'll confirm it and then you'll go there. But in between stuff like that I've always wanted to wait for myself. So I'd go out knocking on people's doors, wash your driveway, clean your gutters, wipe your windows, things like that. Cos I'd always want to do it for myself. So I'd just do that in between. But it got to a certain point where I was doing that every day and I was also training at home going through the ABA championships here. And I thought, listen, someone's got to give you here because boxing became a little bit of a chore. Cos I was out trying to earn money and then when I was finishing at the end of the day I had to go straight to the gym. So it was long days and then I was tired going to the gym and I just thought, I've got to pick it here. So I decided just to stop working and then just fully concentrate on the amateurs and going down to the GB camps and things like that and stop worrying about any money. And I was surviving on... After paying a couple of little bills here and there paying my fuel down to Sheffield and back every week I'd have like £30 a month to myself so it became a bit of a game with me to see how much I could save instead of what I couldn't spend. And I just went with nothing. Yeah, just to keep progressing. Did you have that belief though that you were going to be as successful as you are? Well, what I did have was I had the belief that I knew I'd give it 100% no matter what happened, whether I made it or I didn't I could live with myself and that was more important to me but giving it 100% and living with myself whether I got there or whether I didn't I could have been happy with myself How was it when you got the call to go to the Olympics in 2012 in London, your home fucking place basically? Well, it wasn't so much of us getting a call because it was all on the GB camps and there was like three or four guys at each weight and it was all getting sent off to different tournaments all over the world and it was the one that was like performing at the tournaments bringing back the gold medals you might go to one tournament you might get beaten in the first round and then someone else in your weight that's gone to a different tournament you might have won gold in that tournament and it's like you just had to show that you was winning goals and you was performing and then that in itself then to pick the best one then to go for the first qualifiers for the Olympics which was the world championships in Azerbaijan in 2011 obviously I was performing, I was winning gold medals so I got picked for that and then I went to that and qualified I got a silver medal in that and I qualified for the Olympics there How was that feeling won in gold? Were you favourite? No, I think I was ranked number 43 in the world going into that Were you getting in there favourite though and your mind, did you believe that you could bring home the gold? I believe if I... getting a good draw always helps but I believe that if I got a good draw at the first that I can go on, I can win I got beaten the final by two points by the Cuban How did your relationship with Anthony Joshua started? When did that start? No, that started probably 2009 So way before? Yeah, like 2009 maybe the end of 2009 coming to 2010 I think that's when Joshua would come on the camps I went to Europeans in Turkey together in 2010 Joshua got beaten that one We all got beaten that one I got robbed by the tech in the quarterfinals for a medal You were always getting fucked over by the churches Always, always It happened to me so much it sort of just became part and parcel I mean the European Championships in Turkey they take for a bronze medal and to rob me blind I beat the tech comfortable and they give it to him but that for me was a big moment because I'd been winning gold medals all over the place and if I had won a medal in that tournament it puts my money up because the only chance you can get to put your money up on the Great Britain camps is if you win major medals at Europeans your medal goes up so you're on certain funding I think it's like D funding, C funding B funding and A funding I think A funding is like 2,200 a month tax free then it goes to 1,500 and then I think it goes to like 850 quod a month and then like 400 summit and I was on like I think I was on at the time 850 quod a month so that they're not giving me a decision from that stop me from going to B funding so I was gutted So it's surviving mode as well when you're in the amateurs to the more obviously eventually one the more funding that you get and a lot of people will probably fade their ways because they can't afford it How many people are you in the amateurs with then and Olympics and stuff to then how many has kicked on in life Do you know what I feel like the lads that I was who I was with at GB I've all gone on to do decent things in the pros or in life like it was a real good mixture we have obviously Anthony Josh who was there Josh Taylor myself or else was there Tom Stalker Charlie Edwards Cal Yafai that's just a few Anthony Ogogo I used to train with George Groves on the England camps Tyson Fury being tournaments with him around the world in the early days of the England camps just like Is that a good vibe or is that everybody out for meals everybody competing in Yeah sort of I mean everyone competes at their own weight so like if me and you were on the training camps together and we're not at the same weight then we could get on if we liked each other as pals we could get on real well but if you was at the same no one never gelled if you was at the same weight as me no matter if we could have been good mates with never gelled because we were at the same weight that's just how it was you was my competition you wanted my spot what I want How was life after you won the gold very different in a way that before the Olympics I was quiet person private person liked my own business to keep you know I was quiet didn't like audiences and people knowing what I was doing and where I was going and things like that just a quiet person that just at his head down working towards the Olympics and then all of a sudden everybody knew who I was and then social media was kicking off like back then just starting for myself and then people like seeing where you was and I didn't know how to be myself I didn't know how to act how should I act you know it was I think for the first like 10 months was really difficult for me to adjust to adapt to sort of figure out who I was like and who I was trying to portray I was on social media and things like that that's the difficult thing though especially if you get shot into the spotlight especially when an Olympic gold boxing is massive that you tend to see a lot of the gold medalists who won at boxing end up superstars and it can be difficult because then everybody wants a piece of attention they want your interviews your stories but then they dig about the dirt of the past and then you've got the fucking trolls online was that a big major factor on mentally or did you enjoy it at some point even just as such as walking into a place seeing people look at you and then sort of seeing people talk about you as you're walking past like it's a bit a bit weird because I'm just your average man on the street I don't see myself as nothing more and why should I just because I've been successful in what I do don't mean I'm better than the next person you know so that for me was a lot to digest and to sort of get sort of used to people coming up getting pictures with you and things like that and I'd never wanted to get too big for my own boots so I think I'm better than people when I'm not I'm just the same as them they go to work and put food on their families table and I just see myself doing the same thing but man was in but I had a lot of eyes on me doing it that's anything different How long did it take you to go pro then after the Olympics I think I came pro I'd like to say at least probably 10 months after I didn't do anything I went into a TV show Dancing on Ice Got to the final, don't know how I think it was the great city of Hull what was ringing up on the phone Back in your coma Back in me and keeping me in to be honest got to the final in that it was a great experience really enjoyed doing it met some nice people in there and obviously I grew my profile which was my main objective give me the opportunity to grow my profile get more well known before I actually go into the pros I was never wanting to 10 pro I only 10 pro because I just didn't want to live back with any regrets thinking I didn't know what I was capable of You seemed very business orientated sorry for cutting you off here How many businesses you got? I got about 4 What have you got? No one really knows Obviously I got cool and promotions which is my main business I got a property business I got a gym business now and I've got a couple of little things what I'm working on what I believe will be really good I'm currently building a mental health app which I believe will help a lot of people I'm very excited about that I wish I could talk more about it but I'm not there right yet but I'm very passionate and excited about that Where did you get that from the breadhead mentality to make a crust and staking that grounded to invest well? Yeah I just for one I've never wanted to work for anybody else I don't know why I don't know where it's come from but being a young lad growing up I just thought I could see my mates going out working hard 12 hour days bumping tiles up on roofs like grafting for like 30 quid a day and I used to look at that observantly and I used to just think the guy who he's working for is earning all the money there's no chance I'm working for someone and earning them money so I've always wanted to do things for myself and listen I have worked to Asda before packing people's bags and cutting people's bread just to get a little bit of money for Christmas so I could buy people presents but other than that I've always wanted that get up and drive and create some up for myself How hard was the dancing on these things how was that to adapt to dancing around the ring to then doing it on skates I had a fair few comments calling me Bambi on ice fair few it was hard like in the boxing I was always the first in the gym when the last out when I was doing the ice training for ice skating I was always the last on the ice and the first one off didn't have any passion in learning how to skate but I picked it up I did alright I want as good as a lot of the others but I did alright that's good though but it's different to try and do new things especially still young age and try to grow a brand and creating your name out there that's what it's all about is utilising it to your advantage the wave isn't always going to be there so you've just grabbed your surfboard and done fuck it man I'm just going to ride it got to the final done well how did that affect you again? yeah well again that was all in the I did that straight after the Olympics so it was all in with it and during that show like there was celebrities in that show that have been celebrities for years and you used to watch them on your tv years ago and things like that and I just think I've seen how they sort of lived with it and I thought there's a lot of these guys that live in their own little world they're living a bubble but because I'm an athlete and I've come from nothing and I've grafted blood, sweat and tears to get where I am I feel like I was a little bit more real to reality where I feel like a couple of them wasn't with reality because it can be it's a weird life getting attention it's so weird that you can understand why people become recluse you can understand why people turn to drinking drugs because it's the pressure of always say it like the media and that kill people as well and people that's in that life and that fucking bubble as you say it really does affect people mentally I just think if you're really famous like I take my hat off to you because you need a certain quality to be able to handle it and live with it and treat people like I guess if you're I mean I'm on a very tiny skill to certain people out there and like I just think like they've got it all the time they can't even walk down to the street to get some milk and bread that must really affect people must really affect them so when you turn pro then what was your plans then I don't know just 10 pro but for me I've always if I'm going to do something I want to be the best if whatever job you put me in I'd want to be the best at that job and I guess that comes from boxing so obviously now I have 10 pro it's not the same as amateurs it is different as you learn as you go along and now I'm a pro I want to be the best in the world as a pro but you came out the traps flying you were knocking people out for fun so dad you had everybody massive hype next big thing did that pressure come is it better being an underdog or does people prefer to be favourite because you were coming out and just knocking people out I was and it was a strange time because I never I didn't know if I was going to be a puncher or not when I was when I was a first time professional I didn't know how I was going to be but now I seem to be knocking guys out with the right hand and the left hand which was good so I think everything was going great up until the point where I boxed Mendy in my 12 fight and it just opened my eyes to a lot of things you know as well as all the fans that I did have like for one I should never have been in the ring that night but I was and that was my own fault for going through with it two I didn't have a team around me that looked out for me and the other thing that I noticed was like I don't know whether it's England or whether it's everywhere but so many people that was happy to see you fail you know that was hard to digest from having all the people that was backing you and then all of a sudden you got beat it was laughing at you it can be a real brutal sport and I see it every day now every weekend the boxing's on to be honest they're all loving one guy you know and then everybody's slating him that was one of the examples that was one of the examples opened your eyes everyone was loving Josh and he's staying on talking very highly of him it's boxing he gets knocked out he's give the fans like all the entertainment in every one of his fights and they're all backing him and then he gets knocked out and then you see him getting slated by people and things like that and I just think it's just the brutality of the sport I think that's where you separate the champions from the losers because people who go through that loss and come back I believe you'll come back stronger because then it's easy to put people back in their shell because they're not back down the earth in it when you're in a certain bubble that happens then probably for a few days you think fuck this it's too much I'll probably quit but real fighters will go some of the fighters are the biggest fighters on this planet for some serious losses but it's coming back it's the boxer's mentality 100% and obviously it's in him what he wants to see but all them people that was commenting like me myself I've never commented bad about anybody on social media why would I pick out some guy and start dissing him if anything I'd want to give him positivity so I was good for Josh 2014 as well just when you start turn pro you wanted to take a break because your old boy was diagnosed with cancer how did that affect you because you seem very close with your dad and the videos yeah it's been so far a little bit of a stop and start up and down professional career really because you know I had to take time out earlier in my career because my dad got diagnosed with that and it hit me hard like it was a real shock to me I was going to the gym and I was sparing and I wanted them to hit me and hurt me you know and I was crying behind my gloves with frustration and just what was going on and I had to take time out I can't be going in the ring sparing and wanting to get hit and wanting to feel pain and crying behind my gloves and it's needed to take time out Is that about a self-harm in trying to get people to hurt you because you were in pain yeah I guess because I was in pain mentally you know I won't bother about getting hit and I'm sitting there inspiring and wanting them to hit me and hurt me and I was just crying behind my gloves not because they were hitting me but just because frustration the thing in life that you can born such a high one in the Olympic gold and turning pro and everybody loving you and there's always those obstacles and that's when it kind of makes you realise that this is what life's about is about family and try to use some quality time to then find some balance because I'd imagine at your status that it can be like a world one because your first belt was against Tommy Coil yes because it was he a friend and what stadium was that you spot in so that was in Eastall and it was that was in the whole KIA rugby stadium Was that real rivalry before it? Do you know what it certainly was people asked me did you make it up was you pretending but it's one of those things like we look back at that now and we share that as a moment together but back then it was it was a lot of emotions flying through boxing people acted out in ways that we wouldn't normally do because there was a lot of passion and desire and pride on the land for both of us so it was all real what you saw between us How was it when in the Tato? It was amazing I loved it I had my debut outside in Hull with about 8,000 fans there and I think there was more there there was certainly more there when me and Tommy Coil box because I think that was the first time Hull had ever seen anything like it How hard does that though being an old friend because you put them down a few times even though it was you were still going in for the kill how does that affect you as a boxer because everybody's got goodness in a soft side Do you see that like fuck me just called it fate or do you just try and go and do damage I just thought back then it was all about kill or be killed really in the ring that's the way you've got to see it and that's the thing that's breaking loose from the amateurs to the pros when you're in the amateurs it's a sport it's a game of chess type thing but when you're in the pros it's literally you just I've just got to hate the shit out of you I've got to hate you you've got to go in there with a man who says I've got to hate him and that's a big difference from leaving the amateurs to going in the pros but I spoke about this to Tommy last weekend actually and it's the things about boxing where it can be the best sport in the world and the worst sport in the world me and Tommy's talking together and I've gone on on one and Tommy was suffering for months afterwards with depression with pride being hit in a very unhealthy place and that's the thing about boxing where it can be the best sport in the world and also it can be the worst because you lost your next fate that was the first thing you could put down you said you shouldn't be there why was that? because I had a I got an illness I got a bug like 10 days out for the fight I was weakest paced it was like the lights was on but no one was in the preparation I had was wasn't good wasn't good at all I didn't have the correct team around me at the time I had no one around me really no one there backing me and I mean that fight was taken on three weeks notice against a guy that no one really wants to fight it was a fight where I was given where there was zero reward and very high risk and I just I wanted to get in there and get it over with I just didn't want to be in the ring that night should have never gone through with doing it but I did and it is what it is it was still a very close fight I still thought I nicked the fight to be honest with you I got told I needed to squat and win the last two rounds to win the fight and I did and I still didn't get it but it is what it is everything happens for a reason and that I guess from that defeat that opened my eyes to a lot of things what was going on around me what wasn't going on if you know what I mean How does that affect you mentally because you spoke about Tommy losing that fight and getting yourself into a depression when you were becoming from such a high or undefeated knocking people out Olympic gold prior to that How does that then affect you? Yeah I guess that really that did affect me in big ways because it's like I say I was surprised there were so many people happy to see me fail like a lot a lot of them was happy to see me to lose and fail or get beat and I just thought wow like everybody was loving me one second previous and then now everybody is laughing at me and hating me because I got beat so yeah it was painful and then there was a lot of big decisions changed from that I went over to Miami turned out there I went quiet from a year or two years on social media on everything I was out the way from the press for two years from the media from my social media was quiet just went very quiet Is that just to recharge, refocus, setting your goals Yeah rebuild myself I guess setting your goals I wanted to work in quietness and then I've always wanted my performances to scream louder than my words How do you think you could have done then Is that when you were training with Freddie Roach? No I was training with George Rubio in Miami I was out in Miami training with George Rubio and you know at the time it was all I knew I wouldn't change anything because I met some amazing people in Miami still friends to this day so I wouldn't change anything but if I know it's the thing in it if you know what you know now back then you'd be different I probably wouldn't have gone out to America and away from my family for that amount of time being away from the media and everything what I should have done was I should have gone round a few different coaches in the UK and trained with a few and see where I fitted in and see where I liked that's ideally what I should have done but because I've done pads with George in the past so he was the only person that I knew that I enjoyed training with him but it was just a hell of a commitment Felt comfortable with him but again sometimes that's the best thing you can do it's just fucking off away from it because it's all outside noise it is an illusion but it doesn't really make anything because I know you and your wife are really close and you've obviously got three sons so congratulations on your born as well how difficult is it on your partner when you're making these decisions massively like she's back to me all the way I couldn't have done it without her running the family at home giving the kids everything they need sorting the house out and just running everything I couldn't have been able to I'm the one that's heading for my dreams she's dropped what she's doing and she's backing me to go for my dreams and I couldn't do it without her Do you think that makes a massive part of your life that you've got somebody there that supports you to then kick on and be as successful to have somebody that stands your corner instead of because it can be difficult it's a lonely fucking journey but do you think that plays a massive part of being successful that you've got somebody there that you can trust 100% yeah knowing that your family's good it's happy in there 100% it makes you that more driven and you want to work that bit harder and you're a happier person if you know you've got good solid family behind you How was that feeling getting your own back in Mendy when you beat them Yeah good I mean it should have been that Was that a relief I know I was going to beat Mendy I always knew I could when I got in that ring first fort Mendy I shouldn't have been there I was weak, I was drained, I was tired the lights was on but no one was in me turning up to how I know I can be like 100% in focus, good training camp feeling good, feeling strong me feeling good to me feeling bad he thought the weakest version of me what I should have never shown him that night and then me getting in the ring feeling good it's a completely different story and you know I think I probably give him one or two rounds full 12 rounds what he had success in but let me tell you Mendy is a hard, hard man I think that guy is chiseled out of stone and still to this day no one wants to fight him and I think he's won every fight since me beating him at Wembley so I still give Mendy a hell of a lot of respect because he's tough and his non stop comes all night long how is it Llanerys Llanerys how is Llanerys feet as well because that was a tough feet and on scorecard you could have potentially won that and a hell of a lot of other people thought I beat him too he's a hard, hard man he's a three, here's another thing you know I'm an Olympic champion from the UK with a good fan base and then I have to go over to America to fight a free weight champion in his prime because he was in his prime when I boxed him on his show over in America and he was also ranked in top 10 pound for pound list I had to go over there and fight him for that title I honestly thought I beat him I thought I won seven clear rounds out of the 12 round fight clear rounds and that's giving him the extra round for the knockdown you know did that affect you again did you pick up because you started you think you had a feet quick after that did you know that he dropped me in the second didn't he and I had a little them two rounds I had a little slow start and then when he dropped me I thought I've never been dropped where I've been hit I've always been dropped for I've been off balance if someone's dropped me I've just knocked me clean off balance I've got up I've never been wobbled I've always been there and I've never been hit so but as I threw a hook and leaned back he hit me with a straight right hand and just knocked me straight on my ass but I was completely fine and then when I got up I thought you're embarrassing yourself here I said come on let's go that's what I said to myself in my head and then from that third round I thought I won from the third to the 11th he like just out boxed him was hitting constantly with the jabs and yeah I mean the biggest relief after after that fight was for me to actually get my dad dad two weeks before that fight so I was having panic panic attacks and everything suffering with a little bit of anxiety and everything in the last two weeks it built up for that fight so that was really hard for me to go through I used a hell of a lot of mental energy to stay in the moment How was that when you had dad died in 2017? Yeah oh horrible I mean I was away in Miami training at the time and I was on my own so I didn't have family and no family around me to talk to cuddle to or anything like that so I just had to literally turn off turn everything off the emotions, the thought process everything which was freaking hard Yeah but again the memories that you gave your old boy man from amateur career wanting an Olympic gold man any box I would give anything to have half of that career do you know what I mean so we spoke earlier this is what life's about it's all about creating memories massively and it's to kick on and it can be difficult especially going through a training camp where you know your old boys passing away and my dad was the same he passed away and you see them slipping and strong people just part of me always thought my dad would survive even though he'd get three months to live I always thought he'd be fine and then when they go you think fuck me man it doesn't really hit you to I don't think it's to have style except for that My dad was on his deathbed three times where he'd be on there they'd given the end of life pack and they'd come on and tell us certainly since it could be any time now because it could be an hour and he'd bounce back and be completely fine again three times I'm on for him in that state so I never thought my dad was going anywhere when it come to it because his mental state was unbelievable like still teaches me now like the place he was in and he's still in his head he was not going anywhere and he bounced back three times on the end of life pack so do you think that's where you get that fighting mentality yeah most definitely mentally yeah definitely and what saddened me the most was my dad always said listen son I'm not going anywhere until you win a well title and it was two weeks before my first well title that's saddened me the most that's what I couldn't get on me yeah but you done the gold and yeah I've done a lot but still as a person that always wants to achieve some like you win you achieve one goal then you build a shelf above it and then you aim for the next you know you forget about your achievements that you've already done you just keep going for the ones that are in front of you not the ones that you've got on that the behind you now because they're on the shelf how long did you take after that fight then did you take Ali off well not by choice I fought him in September and I didn't get out in the ring till till the May so I had a long time out there again but it won't through like I just come off that great fight fantastic entertainment high profile fight and then he don't put me out till March like I was always ready to fight I stayed in the gym, I stayed training but I didn't get out until May and it was literally it was on a day's notice to fight what? so I wanted to fight and then to got me opponent one day before the show and I fought so how was your relationship with him I mean I think it's good but the way I'm talking through this now and I'm thinking what's he doing here why has he put me against Mendy at the first start and I didn't need to be and then he tells me I've got to fight Lanaris with no other option you know and then from there then I didn't get out until May and then I ended up fighting Lemochenko you know but listen it is I've always wanted to fight the best I've never shied away from that and then he's always put me in with the best so it's a fair play then isn't it it's clear to see obviously your last two fights against Lemochenko and then Garcia Lemochenko says it's the best fight he's ever had it's the toughest fight especially if you're reaching the power that you had for him I don't know why he won so many rounds if I'm honest as well I'm not being biased but you did won a few rounds how is it going into that fight that annoyed me as well because it was a fantastic fight great action yes he won fair and square not didn't stay in that but you know I certainly won at least five of the rounds out of the 12 you know I think but it was a great fight it was fantastic Lemochenko is an unbelievable fighter ranked number one pound per pound on the planet but you know I hurt him a few times and caused him a lot of problems and you know it was it was a fantastic fight for the fans they certainly got the money's worth out of it how was it going into the fight it was a massive fight it was a mega fight those ones aren't they it was a mega fight no nothing was different to be fair the training camp was a little bit too long how long I had a hard 12 weeks of work which for the way I am a my type of body I didn't need 12 weeks probably could have done with a nine week one can you over train then oh easy and that's probably what I did a little bit a little bit the last couple of weeks was you know I didn't need it but you live in your land don't you as you move on but yeah I didn't change nothing but everyone was writing me off so I mean like not only am I fighting the best guy pound for pound on the planet everybody was also telling me I was getting knocked out in two rounds everyone the likes of Johnny Nelson and the sky team they was all telling me more or less not directly to my face well a couple of them was basically one of them looking at me telling me how do you think you're going to win I'm like I'm a sky fighter you should be at least backing me to my face I just don't understand how you think you're going to win you know so there was there was all that as well going into the fight so how do you deal with that then that people on your own corner are kind of what my chain goes a great fighter but you kind of still think right there's chances here I would always think even though matter who it was there's always a possibility that some there's always upsets but how much an underdog were you getting into that massive underdog you got to bring a bit of macho out into here and you got to bring a bit of macho and say greaty chief and say right did that keep the fire then to last the distance and keep going and keep chipping away but I don't think you're the only one or there's only two that's went the distance with Llywyddyn Cymru yeah I think there was I think out of about 10 well champions in box I think it's top 9 of them so yeah but I've never wanted to be there to say I've gone the distance with him I wanted to win, I wanted to hit him I wanted to win, to be fair I should have put it on him more I should have pressed the fight gone forward and put it on him more instead of being looking to try and counter him and go on the back foot and then a long lay off told the Garcia feet and then 16 months out the ring makes a big difference 16 months out the ring how long was that how did that affect you mentally I quite a bit really I mean 16 months out the ring is a hell of a long time to go out the ring but not only that I've got like 16 months since I made lightweight you know my body's naturally probably got bigger and grown and since making that weight you know if you're making that weight you're bringing the weight back down a couple of times before that it's not too bad but just 16 months out the ring was just a hell of a long time like being involved being in the fight frame of mind and you know being involved in fight weeks and having that pressure and the nefs and stuff like that it's a long time since I felt anything like that and it was hard for me going I went over to America for Christmas away from my family very stressful for me on the inside hated it hated every second being away from my family over Christmas and things like that How did you prepare for that fight then knowing that again more height from this young kid to his potential everyone's saying he's going to be the next pound for a pound based fighter on a planet Do you know what to be fair I had a lot of loyal fans myself backing me which was good which I really appreciated obviously he's got a hell of a lot of fans backing him but yeah I mean I got Covid what five weeks before the fight which didn't help five or six weeks before the fight which didn't help and that wiped me out for about ten eleven days in bed with that and then having that going straight into a hard training camp hammering my body again not ideal not ideal there's always been little obstacles that I've had to jump over or get by in fights but you've never turned away from them you've still done them you've still stepped up to the platelet it doesn't matter everything you can learn from is you learn from the fucking losses and the darkness and the mistakes so going into that fight then and you spat him put him on his ass a second ground were you surprised or were you thinking I could have knocked him out anyway because you seemed why did you be in a hesitation when you put him on his ass why was that so I've seen comments say that but let me tell you now I've never seen someone spring up like him he was like a jack in the box he was up on the count of three and then the second the ref wiped his gloves on whatever else and he was back in that centre he was all there so there's no chance I'm going to go I'm going to go lunging in and again someone that is left up for me to walk on I needed to be smart and I'm a good finisher and once I smelled blood in the ring and weakness I jumped all over that and he was fully back I've never seen anyone recover and come back so quick from getting knocked down why do you think that at his young age I don't know I don't know but I've never seen anyone do that before and watching back he was asleep he was out cold he hit the floor woke up and jumped straight back up and I've seen him looking at when the ref was counting at him I was in the corner and I could see the ref counting at him and I could see him talking to his team saying it's all good I'm fine he was calming his corner down and then I thought don't just lunge straight back in Luke cos he's got good timing if I just lunging a little bit with attack and he throws that hook then it's going to turn the fight upside down so I needed to be smart How was it with only 3000 fans cos that's another super fight so do you like it that it's not as busy or does it matter it didn't make the slightest bit of difference to me because every one of them 3000 fans was cheering for him in Eil it was all booing me I walked out to the ring with all of them booing me so you know you say how was it with 3000 fans I went from 20,000 fans in my last fight to then 3000 fans but then 3000 fans was all booing me so it seemed like a lot of fans in there was it sex for 7 rounds of the body shock you've never been hot with a body shock when that happened 7th round it was I've watched the fight about once and I've seen him through that shock 3 times before that and it landed and there was nothing that didn't affect me in the slightest and then obviously he was throwing it to the head a lot so as we exchanged and then he threw the shock I covered up to the head and he just whipped it under my rib and it didn't hurt me bam as it landed, it didn't hurt me but then when I stepped back I just couldn't grab my breath just couldn't catch my breath and I just needed to go down to catch my breath never been it like that you know as a person that wants to win and that's used to winning and as a winning mentality it really hurt me mentally and it hurt my pride because I didn't want to go out like that I just couldn't it was just a shock that I just couldn't do nothing about a lot of people don't speak about body shots enough I don't think how dangerous they are to people if you've never had one then you know yourself how dangerous they can be and when people do them you think that doesn't look so I've had loads of people body shots and they've gone down and I've never just thought bam like you don't feel it yourself because you're the one that's landing it after that fight he was in the dressing room and stuff and he was asking is this the best punch you've ever come up against how are you feeling then because there's not everything about raw for having to be asking those questions straight away you're flying on emotions you're sometimes you can speak a little bit out the box a little bit adrenaline is going emotions are flying it's not the best time to get caught on camera doing an interview he's obviously caught me with a shot no one's ever done that to me before so the better man won that night if he didn't land that shot the fight could have been completely different I believe that I could have gone on and really took him to pieces in the later rounds but it's pointless me saying that because it's not what happened potential rematch I love it I love it I think it was a fantastic fight the fans loved it it was a great action fight between me and him and I think if we went for round 2 I think it'd be another fantastic action fight but for me wanted things different for me wanting it the other way around where do you go from here then for the future I can go anywhere where I want to go I'm in the driving scene I ain't got an answer to fucking no one I'm my own boss I can do what I want that's the position I'm in I'm fortunate to be in in life because I can do what I want I can continue boxing if I want to do something else I'll do something else I'm good for life my family's good, happy so I'm in a fantastic place I'm in the driving seat and I don't need to answer to anyone if I don't want to I've had but there's still a lot of passion there's still a lot of desire there's still goals to be reached yeah like I say there's still a lot in me that wants to achieve and win so we'll see who would you like to fight who's the best three fighters in the division Lopez give me one of them I've sparred a lot with Lopez in Miami yeah he's a good fighter and he knows I'm a good fighter what about could you got him for you Taylor yeah possibility do you think that could happen I think there's a possibility that would be an unbelievable fight that would be an unbelievable fight for the UK me and Taylor your division is tasty though it's the best division in the world it's a tasty fucking division there's the biggest possies as well that's what it's all about man, it's business you've got a tattoo in your arm for the Olympics what's that I forgot to touch on that earlier I've got a towel on my ribs that's off the Olympic gold medal that towel everyone was getting the rings and I thought and then I thought I was looking at the gold medal I thought you've got this gold medal now why don't you just get that a tattoo on you there so I did how was Freddie Roach to train with I didn't really do I went out there I went out there for I went out there training for a couple of weeks as an amateur and did bits and bobs he actually wasn't there at the time he was busy with other fighters but I trained in the gym seeing all the fighters going there did a little bit of pads with his brother and that was that so do you think a bit of rest a couple more fights this year then are you just going to go with the flow yeah well listen if I'm there I'm wanting to fight the best I want to be busy I don't want to to be waiting round the talks of Joshua Fait Fury Fait and Jun who are you fighting going off last performances yeah it's always a difficult one this is why boxing is so exciting because you never know I think Joshua out of all the heavyweights has the best chance of beating Tyson Fury I think he's got the best chance of beating Tyson Fury out of them all but Tyson Fury he's on fire he's on form and he's a fantastic heavyweight fighter so probably edge it Tyson Fury but I don't want to say that because I love Joshua he's a good guy, he's my friend but I don't know it's I'd probably edge Tyson Fury it's a fight that everybody wants to see this is a thing where yourself is real you want to fight the elite do you think a lot of boxers swerve big fights yeah 100% because they just want to take the easiest fights and end the money a lot of them at lightweight always say that's fighting the best I mean if you don't have to a lot of them now are talking about fighting the best you've got to fight the best and this is what makes boxing exciting and then the next thing is the two top guys at fighting each other they're both fighting someone else that are out of real relevance and it's just like you're talking it but you're not doing it you've got three sons do you think any of them potentially shoots your world champion or do you want to keep them away from the sport my my two sons at the moment and should be interested in boxing are you relieved yes and no I am in one way and then in another I'm not because I could teach them to be the best with all my experience and everything what I know I could teach them to be the best but then then another thing boxing is not everything boxing is not everything in life so if they want to do something else and they have passion in something else and I'm all for backing what they want to do I don't know when my youngest son will see I'll never say never I don't think the wife wants that Seen on off has she one of them I've got one son that's just mad for football loves football he's a man's city fan is he from home he's a man's city fan but he's in the whole city academy and he loves it he loves that competition he loves football which is crazy because I've never introduced it to him somebody got himself and loves and then my oldest son is a good thinker so I just got into golf with him but just only for fun I say great sport golf traveling the world playing playing in your 70s and 80s nobody gets harmed there's a good crust to make from it bro brother I further enjoy your conversation but before we finish up because I know you've got the mental health that which you can't touch on but for anybody that's maybe in a struggle just now maybe battling because I know you've battled yourself with losing your dad coming back from defeat what advice would you give for them I just think there's a lot of people always on social media is what's going on there searching for what everybody else is doing and I think sometimes you've got to take a look at what you have got in life instead of looking at what you haven't got look at the things that you wouldn't change write a couple of things down every day what you're grateful for what you're grateful for you know and just what things wouldn't you change in your life that you really appreciate and just to try and focus on the now but be trying to think too far ahead in the future if your head's too far in the past it's just like going to be a stuck record just concentrate on the now and try and be as positive as you can flood yourself with positivity if you're sitting there right now just start telling yourself you are you're this, you're that, you're great you're fantastic and sooner or later your body will start believing it and your mind will start accepting it little little things that could help you in there try that excited to see what you do for the future I believe you'll get a world title so yeah thanks for coming on today giving me your time to tell your story it's very much appreciated God bless you brother Thanks for having me