 Ffarnwch a'r wyf yn y gyrs yn awr'n wych yn dal. Rhaid i'r brif. James, ydych chi'n mynd i'n gweithio'r bwysig. Fawr iawn, a'r ffwrdd yn cael i'r gwaith. Mae'n cael ei ddechrau hefyd ac yn gweithio'r gwaith. Diolch i'r holl yma. 30 yma, a'r holl yn cael ei gwasanaeth. Mae'n gweithio gyda'r hwn, mae'n gweithio'r cyfrifiad? Whydon's you know something, it's a real what's happening to me at the moment, James. Each day I keep thinking life can't get any better and then suddenly you get off another movie role and it's getting better and constantly improving all the time. But my boxing career, I started boxing originally because of bullies. I got bullied as a child and if you speak to MOX fighters, they have that similar starch down the bulling. Ma'n dechrau i ddweud i syrtyni dyma yna—rwy'n drwy'n ddim hynny i'r fan. Felly byddwch yn neu i England, fel y byddwch yn ysgrifennol. SO rwy'n gweld y byddwch yn ysgrifennol. Dw i'n amlio'n ddaethau. Mae gwybod bod gwybodd yn ddobl i mewn byddwch yn ysgrifennol. Felly byddwch yn oed cyddweud i ond beth o'r llif. Yjod eich llif yn gwneud o'r lyffrog mewn cofyniad y Comune i Manchester. Ca'i bod chi'n ddwyltwch i'w gwaith y gallwn gweld y cyflonhauach gwylio ffwngau, ac rwyf yn credu i'r cyflonhau, a byddai i gyd- i'ch gymredu i'r hyn. Roedd ymatebau i'r hyn yn lleolig, ac mae'r cyflonhau i'ch ymddwch i'r gwynhau. Felly hi'n meddwl, ac mae'n siwch bod chi'n meddwl. Rydw i ddweud o'r cyflonhau, rydw i ddweud o gyd-a-dweudio. Ie, 4 o 5 mae anhygoel, ond byddai i'r cyflonhau, I was not very academic. I'm the eldest of seven. I've got four sisters and two brothers. But one of my sisters became a chartered accountant. So it was brains in the family. She makes me very proud. All my brothers and sisters make me proud. How was your upbringing? It was hard. My dad worked all over the world. He was a concrete worker. I worked down America for 40 years. My dad's out in New York. He worked all over Europe. He was concrete, building bridges, dams, skyscrapers. So we never saw a lot of him to tell you the truth. My mum brought us up really. It's still a good job. There's a lot to be proud of. We've all done okay. My brother's a milkman. He's got his milk business. My sister came out to America. She married a policeman in New York. They live in North Carolina. Now he's retired from the police. My mother's sister's an accountant. My other brother works for Jaguar Land Rover. So we've all done okay. They've all got kids. I've got no children. My mum done a good job. My dad could come home when we had time of work or when we could go and visit him. We'd have a good catch-up. It was hard working, man. So your amateur career, your 180 feats, is that correct? I had 105 amateur fights, 187. I lost 18. But the 18 I lost. I lost to some good fighters. Steve Collins, one of those fighters? He was the first ever amateur fight. He went on to win two world titles. A good friend of mine, Steve. I was at both his weddings. A tough, tough man, the Celtic warrior. I boxed Steve. I was 11 years of age and he was 12 and a half. So when you're 11, that year and a half makes a big difference. I've been so used to going along to tournaments. Trying to get a fight as a spare because of my size and my age. I was big for 11. So it was very difficult to get any boys my age. But they allowed my size difference to Steve's size difference because of the year and a half age difference. At many of them outside, it was in the Phoenix Amateur Boxing Club. I was going up to the door and there was a friend of mine outside, Skinner Evans. He was standing there. I said, how are you doing? He goes, I'm boxing today. I said, who are you boxing? I said, I don't know, but I'm going to punch the head of him. I was so full confidence of him. I was a confident kid. But this fellow was standing behind Skinner Evans. I said, you're boxing. He goes, I said, what the best of luck to you? And it was Steve Condins. And I didn't know he was the kid I was boxing. So next of all, I'm in the ring and I'm looking. I thought, I recognise his face. I'd seen him outside. Anyway, the first round I got hammered. I got battered. I've come back to my corner. The referee at the time was a man called Lugs Branigan, Mr Branigan. He was called Lugs because of his big ears. He was a policeman. They used to joke about Lugs saying he was a one man riot squad. He was a tough, tough man. I didn't want to quit. I didn't want to be retired on my stool. I thought the referee will stop to fight him again. But Lugs thought everybody was as tough as him. He let me take a pasting for three rounds and Steve beat me. But there was no shame when you look at what he went on to achieve. I boxed him again. When I was 16, he was 17.5. He beat me again. But it was an honour to share the ring with him. Every fighter that climbs into the ring dreams about becoming a champion of the world. I wasn't good enough to become a champion of the world. I fought lots of world champions and I sparred lots of world champions. It was an honour, like I said, to share the ring with him. If you're going to get battered, you must get battered by the best. But you were quoted as one of the strongest men in the planet at one point. Well, one of the most fiercest because you were not against guys like Lenox Lewis, Mike Tyson, and they never put you in your ass once. No, I've always had an opponent of courage. Every fighter that climbs into the ring is a person of courage. There's women fighting now, so they're courageous. To walk to the ring and fight, you've got to have courage. And like I said earlier on, I learned how to fight by getting bullied. I learned how to hold my own against the bullies. I became reasonably tough. And in the boxing ring, there was only one man hitting you. Like I said, with the bullies, there was a gang in the meeting. So you had a referee, you had a break in between rounds. You had the best medical care. You didn't have that luxury of getting bullied. In the boxing ring, it was quite safe. Did you enjoy it at that stage? I loved the sport, absolutely passionate about the sport. I adore the fighters, I admire the fighters, I respect. That's the great thing about boxing. Boxing first and foremost gives you self-respect. Then it gives you respect for other people. And that's the most important thing in life. If you haven't got respect, you've got nothing. Self-respect is so important, you know? And that's what boxing instills in people. It instills self-respect and respect for your opponent. You can see people punch lumps out of each other for 6, 8, 10, 12, the old 15 rounds. And then embrace at the end of that, like a warmth of an embrace. Cos they've earned each other's respect. And that's what I love about the sport. How did your relationship with Mike Tyson become about then? Let's tell you what happened, right? I left school, like I said, when I was 14. I was on the doors at 15. And I won Irish titles. I was on the doors. But I was big for my age. I was big. I was heavy. I've always fought the battle of the bulls. I loved my food. I always joke about the people. I always say my favourite meal of seconds. I love grub. If I'm not training, I go huge. I was on the door. But I could hold me on and I was brave. Anyway, I won that I was on the door. I was working Jules and Iclos, 16 at this stage. It was Declan Foley, Johnny McIntyre and Johnny Nugent. And they were the other three dolemen. I was saying what the barrier is. I saw two of my old school teachers coming along. And Jim Dardie. He was a physics teacher, was cool. Mr Cook was an English teacher. But they used to be trendy wearing ripped denims and clogs and ponchos. And I've hid behind... They were my school teachers. I've only left school like a year before, 18 months before. So I've hid the dolemen thing on 21. So I was Declan Foley stepped out to stop them because they weren't suitably addressed for the club ripped denims and that. He said, I'm sorry guys, there's the dress code and you're not welcome. Mr Cook, very posh, he goes, buy or retire. Next wall, he sees me. He goes, this is only a step there. I was going to say, it's a teenage disco. I've stepped out, I've pushed Declan Foley to the side. And I said, how are you doing Jim? I said, nice to see you. I said, it's all right Declan. I said, these are my school teachers when I left school years ago. I said, what are you doing? I said, they think I'm 21. I said, I'm 16. I said, don't worry. But yeah, that's some good fun under those. On the 19th, junior and senior in the one year. And I got picked to go out to America. And I fought America, fought a big American Marine Sergeant, I was only 17. I fought a big American Marine Sergeant called William Dawson, he was 28, big powerful man. I was only a boy really. I hadn't got the man's strength. But I had courage and I took a beating. Stayed on my feet, took a savage beating. But Floyd Patterson was in attendance. Who'd married an Irish lady from Offaly. He took a great interest in the Irish boxing team because of his warmth and connection with Ireland. So after the fight, he came over to me and a featherweight called Paul Fitzgerald. Who still lives out of America and lives in Upper Derby in Philadelphia, great featherweight. He won. So he impressed Floyd Patterson in winning. I don't know what I impressed him with in losing. Maybe my courage, I don't know. Anyway, he came over and he gave us the opportunity to stay on in America. I wouldn't have had the money to come back to America. So I said, yeah, I'll stay. I remember phoning my mam. I'm going to stay in America. Oh, son. She said you'll never come home. I said, I'll be home next year, mam. Anyway, Floyd took us to Gleason's Gym. I met Al Gavin and Bob Jackson and I sparred a couple of pro heavyweights in Gleason's Gym. A guy called Art Tucker, called pro and another fella. I can't remember the other fella's name. Gave a good account to myself. Alan Bob said there's a young heavyweight in the Catskills called Mike Tyson. He's 17 and he's looking for sparring partners. I'd never heard of Mike Tyson. I didn't know he was. He was knocking men centre. He was a phenomenon, you know. But I was just so happy to hear that he was 17 years of age. Same age as me. And as a matter of fact, he's seven months younger than me. So when I got to the Catskills with Alan Bob, I was introduced to Coss and Camille and Manny and Tom Patty and Jay Bride and other people there. Then I met Mike. He was younger to me, smaller to me. And he spoke with a bit of a lisp. I thought I'm going to bat to you. I really did. The madness of men. I thought, oh my God, this is going to be so much fun and easy. And he was so nice because he was fascinated about the Irish history of boxing and he was fascinated at the time of Barry McGuigan and Barry McGuigan's connection with Mr Eastwood. It was like a father-son relationship and he had the same relationship because it was like a father-son relationship. And I knew about Barry because Barry had been an Irish hero, world champion. So me and Mike walked and talked that night, and he went up to his room at the top of the house. He had the scenery, he loved the fights. He had access to the biggest collection of fight films on the planet Bill Jacobs. Bill Cain and Jim Jacobs, his management team. They had the biggest library of fight footage and Mike had access to that library. Now to me, there's only so much boxing you can watch. To Mike, there wasn't enough and he used to sit on his exercise bike and he said, oh man, that left hooker I landed. That would have changed the whole history of that weight division. And I said, oh, you know. We walked and talked that night, watched some fights and got on really well. I was actually starting to feel sorry for him James, I thought. Was he lonely? No, he wasn't lonely because he had Cuss. You know, he was like... Yeah, he wasn't lonely. He had Jay and Tommy's two step-brothers. You know, when Camille and mine, his step-parents are such, you know, Cuss' family. And it was beautiful. Up in the Catskills, Rip Van Winker was meant to have there for 40 years. It's so tranquil and peaceful. And it's idyllic for a man that wants to train and set his mind on what he wants to achieve. And Mike had set his mind on being the champion of the world. Cuss had seen it in him at a young age in the young offender centre. He said, that boy is going to be the champion of the world. And Cuss had already took Floyd Patterson and Jose Torres the world titles. Cuss knew his boxing. Anyway, the next morning I slept that night, slept really well. Next morning we got up and we ran me and Mike and jogged for about half a mile and then he took off like a gazelle. And I thought, that's it. You tie yourself out. I'm going to bat you later on. I came back, had a bit of breakfast, went to bed some midday, got picked up then to go to the gym for sparring. And suddenly these big powerful men appeared. So I thought, where have they all come from? But I thought they're all going to box each other and those two boys are going to box each other. We're on the minibus. They're all very somber. I'm relaxed. I'm so happy. I'm comfortable. I'm getting minded. And we went and looked after. I've had a great night's sleep, beautiful environment. I'm feeling comfortable with the guy that I'm going to box with. That I think I've got his measure. But these big powerful men are sitting on the minibus all like as if they were going to the gallows. But they knew what was coming. Stupid Paddy hadn't got a clue what was coming. I didn't know what this guy was capable of. Got to the gym, warming up, shadow boxing, Cuss goes, band a job, band a job, glove up, I'm looking around. Mike's in the ring and he had his shirt off. And he was pacing the ring like the lion in the cage when you look at that lion. And he's looking at his prey. And us sparring partners were his prey. And it is shirt off and a physique on him. James, I've never seen a physique on a 17. I've never seen a physique on a man. I don't mind the 17. His neck, his triceps, his biceps, his back. Everything was just phenomenal. I hadn't seen him stripped to the waist. I just thought there's no way a 17-year-old should look like that. Anyway, Cuss pointed to one of the big men. He got into the ring, got a knock spark out. I think the first shot just pulverised him. I had to tell people, I ruined a good pair of underpants at that moment. I said, I shit myself. I just thought there's no way this boy should have this power. A couple more got in. And they got battered, knocked out. I was number four. So I got in and lasted three minutes. I lasted longer than the three previous sparring partners. I got out of the ring. I got out of the ring. I was number three of your sparring partners. And I got out a couple more got in. I think I took the sting out of his punches. And I was back in again eight minutes later. Two, three minutes and two more breaks. Eight minutes later, back in again. Took another three minutes beaten. So I stood with him for six minutes that day. But the madness in me, because I think the box, you've got to have that little bit of madness in you anyway. And the madness in me, I thought, one of these days I'm going to get the better of him. I never did. I stayed on with him for nearly two years. He made me cry many times, hurt me many times. And it was four white sparring partners, which was unusual normally to be some black guys. This particular day it was four white sparring partners. You knocked three of them. I was number four. I got battered. But he put me down the end of the sparring. He goes, Joe Egan is the toughest white man on the planet. Far, far from it. I was the toughest white man in the gym that day. But what a compliment from a man like Mike Tyson. But then it gave me the confidence and the mindset that if I could take Mike Tyson's punishment, I could take anybody's punishment. And I got picked. I boxed in the New York Golden Gloves. And I got picked then to box on the New York team against the Canadian All-Stars. Lenox Lewis had won the Canadian title, won a bronze medal in the 84 Olympics. This was 1985. I've been sparring Mike for a good while. And they were struggling to get an opponent for Lenox. I'd been beaten in the New York City Golden Gloves by a guy called Sinclair Bab. He went on and he got beaten in the American Championships by a guy called Camullo Doom, who went on to get knocked out on a full international against America and Canada. So they needed Sinclair Bab to fight Lenox. And he wouldn't fight because he'd been knocked out by the man that got knocked out by Lenox Lewis. So they were struggling to get him out to fight Lenox. He was the star of the Canadian team. The star of the New York team was a man called Frankie Lyles, who went on to win the world's super middleweight title. He was the welterweight Golden Gloves champion, phenomenal fighter. So they said, we've no more to fight Lenox. I said, I'll fight him. I said, Joe, he's knocked out, the man that knocked out, the man that beat you. I said, yeah, but he didn't knock me out. And I said, I've been taking Mike Tyson's punishment. We've been training in the Olympic Training Centre in Lake Placid. So I was in good shape. I've been inspiring Mike, I was strong. I said, I feel confident. That's my dad used to joke with me all the time. He said, you always feel confident. I said, yeah, I'm okay. Anyway, I got in with Lenox. I got battered. But stayed on my feet. I got battered. He was class. He had a high-rate power. He had every advantage over me. But I had courage and had a good chin. And I took the beaten. And I stayed on my feet. And I lost on points. And it was an honour to share the ring with him. He's a friend of mine. We've stayed friends all these years. I've played chess with Lenox on a few occasions. I've never beaten him a game of chess. It's a lot less played with the news of a game of chess. But he's a nice man. And when I was out at the Clitchcock Fury fight, in Germany, and I saw Lenox. I was with some of the Irish media guys and some of my friends. And I said, yo, there's Lenox Lewis over there. We'd love to meet him. I said, he's my friend. I said, we'll never get near him. Look at the security. I said, let me get with Inie shot. Go with Inie shot. I said, Lenox. And he's ushered me over. He's like Moses, the security person. And he embraced me. And he's always made me proud. I've had a good friend of mine, Mark Smith, from Bournemouth. He's a charity thing for a cousin. For a cousin of his. And he was having an audience with 100 people. Trained with him, have dinner with him. And they were paying £250 each. We were going to raise £25,000. A number of years ago, £25,000 for his cousin to do something to his gym. So I said to my friend Mark, I said, listen, there's an opportunity to go and have a table with Lenox. Trained with him, eat with him, have to crack with him. So Mark and his mate went down and he said, I'm in the gym. Before Lenox got there, he said, Mark's a big man, Mark's 6'2', 6'3'. Next we felt this tap on my shoulder. He said, I look around, he said, suddenly I'm facing a chest. He said, I look up, he said, it's Lenox. The session hasn't started yet. And Mark said to me, he said, my God Joe, he's a beast of a man. He's a powerful presence of a man. Good set of shoulders on him, good reach. But he was a phenomenal athlete, Lenox, you know. And he went on like I said, he got the gold in 88. One of the best heavyweights of all time. One of the best heavyweights of all time. The two men that beat him, Rachman and McCall, Oliver McCall and Hanson and Rachman, he didn't prepare properly for them fights. There's an old saying, fail to prepare, be prepared to fail. When he was fighting them, he was doing Nelson Mandela publicity talk with Nelson Mandela, and he was making options 11. And both times he got knocked out. When he prepared properly for them rematches, he knocked both of them guys out. I think people can get complacent, but a lot of these guys, a lot of people think it's natural ability, but when you hear Tyson's story, he was training two and three times a day. He was watching footage, all boxers all around the world. The guy was well educated on the movement, speed. That was hard work as well. How tough was the training then when you were 17 with Mike Tyson? Phenomenal athlete. Mike used to run like a gazelle. And with boxing, you've got to put the roadwork in. It's such an important part of the boxing training. Why is that? The road. I think for the stamina, you know, there's lots of different reasons. I suppose getting up early in the morning, dragging. Listen, my dad used to say to me, I never liked the running. I never liked running. And he used to say, drag yourself out of bed in the morning. He said it's like dragging yourself off the deck if you ever get decked. I said that no one's ever going to put me down. No one's going to deck me. And if I boxed in the Acropolis Games, which was a world-ranking tournament, and I had a couple of good fights, I went to the semi-finals and I boxed in the attack. I beat the Italian, beat the Canadian, then I boxed in the Greek. And his name was George Stepinopoulos. And my eye was damaged from my previous fights. And I passed the medical because he'd got a buy in his first fight, won his second fight. So if they'd given him another buy, he would have been into the final with two buys. So they let me box. I only had one round of me before my eye closed. My left eye closed. Second round I walked on to a good shot. I probably walked on to better, but they put me down. First time on my back. Gone. I was out for the count. And it was exactly like my dad had said. It was like being in bed. I was lying on my back. I didn't know. It caught me. So from the time it hit me, to the time it hit the deck, I was like this. Pulling the sheets over me in bed. My two corner men, Mickey Hawkins and Jerry Hannah, they thought it was caught in the middle of the ring. I wasn't. It was pulling the sheets over me in bed. And I rolled over onto my side and this eye was closed. And this eye was open and I saw the referee go five. So for at least 10 seconds from the time he hit me, to the time I fell, to the time I hit the deck, to the time I rolled over. I don't remember any of it. I climbed onto my feet. They called, climbed at the ring, my two corner men. So I fell into their arms. I was beating on my feet. I lost the fight. I got beat on my feet. But it was the first time I was ever put down. I remember falling on my dad. I said, dad. I said, I've won a bronze medal. He said, well done son. That's a fantastic achievement. I said, maybe he said about getting decked. He's like being in bed. He said, you got decked. I said, yeah, I got decked. But I'm alright. I got up. I got beat on my feet. I said, okay. I left eyes closed. But I said it was exactly like he said, being in bed. And I think that's the running, dragging yourself out of bed in the morning, to go running on a winter's morning, cold winter's morning. If you can go through the elements and brave the elements and train and drag yourself over a warm, comfortable bed to go running. That helps as well. Not just building up the stamina, but the mindset. Mentally. Mentally. The enemy's sleeping. You're working. You're grinding. So you're always going to have that wee bit of sharpness and extra step. I don't think, is it Anne from the Joshua? It doesn't run. No, Anne would run. There's one that Anne doesn't run. Or someone doesn't run. Is it cut? I don't know. I can't remember. I know Nigel Ben likes to do the cross trainer. But I'm sure he still puts the miles in on the road. Every fighter puts the miles in on the road. Robin Reid used to go running at midnight. He used to go running at midnight. Everyone has to put the miles in. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is. But I know the early morning runs for a fighter are so important because you've got the fresh air. You've got the air. The traffic isn't too bad. So see when you were on the canvas and you had that count. That's sort of similar like Fury and Big Wilder. When he was sparked out, he gets sparked right out. And then just that click moment. Unbelievable. Do you think that's got a part to play but you're saying that kind of fighter's mentality pushed yourself over those years too? The fighter is the last person to know that beat. Do you understand? That's why you have cornemen, doctors and referees that are supposed to be compassionate thinking with their head. A fighter thinks with their head. They want to hear the last bell. You know, there's that song, stand up and fight until we hear the bell. Stand up and fight like hell. That's a fighter's mindset. They want to hear the final bell. When you lose a draw, you want to hear the final bell. And when Fury got hit with that punch, I didn't believe that he could beat Wilder after being inactive and only having them two comeback fights. I really didn't believe. Wilder's punch power is phenomenal ability because Wilder has a lot of ability. People don't give them the credit for his ability. He's an Olympic bronze medalist. So he's won an amateur bronze medal in the Olympics which is a good apprenticeship for a professional fighter to win an Olympic medal for an American team. Also, he's daughter of Spina Bifida and in America you don't have the NHS like you have in the UK. If you haven't got the money in America, you're not going to get the treatment. This country leads the world with the treatment that if you're in any sort of ailment, illness, you get treatment whether or not you have money or not. In America, if you don't have money, you don't get that luxury. So he works and trains and fights to make sure his daughter is looked after with Spina Bifida. So he's a man fighting on a crusade. He's like a man on a mission. He's like possessed. Every punch he throws is with bad intentions. And he's taken them out in the first round, right through to the last round. So when he hit Fury with that punch, now Fury's speed and mobility was too much for Wilder. Even only had them to come back. He underestimated Fury. Listen, everybody underestimated Fury. His engine is phenomenal. He's a friend of mine Tyson and friends with his dad, Johnny's Uncle Peter is a phenomenal athlete. But I didn't think he could beat Wilder. Not just after having them to come back fights and being an actor for so long. And when Wilder landed that punch, now Wilder knows how hard he punches because he's knocked out great men. He's hit them. Fury was unconscious. The eyes closed. He was unconscious before he hit the deck. Wilder done a little bit of shoulder dancing. He was dancing. Next to one on the side of his eye. He saw Fury open the eyes and raised. And it was like Jesus raising from the dead. It was phenomenal how he got up. But not only just got up. He got up and went on to the attack. My first pro fight, I got decked in my first pro fight as well. I got decked in the sixth round. But I was tired. And I sort of punched myself out in the first five rounds. And the guy decked me in round six. I got up and it held on to me opponent. He wouldn't have got me off my crowbar. The referee was trying to break us up. I was holding on for dear life. I was trying to get my head composure. And then I got my composure together. I got my second win and I was okay. But the bell came quick enough. But Fury done the complete opposite to what you're told. When you're in trouble you're told to hang on. Hold on. Fury didn't do that. He went under the attack. And started hitting Wilder with combinations. How he could even be compass mentors like that after being decked and knocked out. And got up to get so composed, so quick. Phenomenal. Oh you well won the fight. I've met the answer. A lovely man. Most fighters are really nice guys. They try to sell a fight. They eyeball each other. They say a few different things to promote the fight. It gets the fans into a bit of a hysteria. And that's building a fight up. The fighters have to utmost respect for each other. But they've got to sell a fight. See when you were fighting with Tyson in 17, 18, 19. He went on to become world champion when he was 19. Was there ever a time for yourself, Jordan, that you think I could be world champion? No, never. My dad makes the difference. My dad believes that I had the ability. But I think every dad has the absolute pride in the children. But I knew my heart and soul. To win an Irish title was a major achievement. To win seven was a fantastic achievement. But no, I never had the ability to be. I wasn't really a good boxer. I was a good fighter. So what was the difference when you were just tough? I was just tough. That's all I've ever been is tough. I've been game. But I never had... My middle brother now, my middle brother Emmett, he could punch. And my youngest brother Connelly. He could box. But Connelly went into the Gaelio football. I was just tough, that's all. I never had any sort of height. I never had a heavyweight. I never had a big knockout punch for a heavyweight. But I had a good chin. And I was game. And I was courageous. See, because you had that reputation at the time, we were fighting over the big names, never getting put down. Did everybody kind of want to spar with you then because they're thinking, I'll get them down? I got employed afterwards. After with Tyson, I got employed in America to spar future Tyson opponents. I sparred Mitch Green, Alex Stewart. Alex Stewart to spar with Mitch Green, I got employed to spar with him and earned decent money. The money I earned helped shape my brothers and sisters' lives. The longer I lasted with Tyson, the more money I earned. The future Tyson opponent or a sparred with, I earned good money. I used to ship the money home. And the money helped shape my brothers and sisters' lives. Like a sister came out to America, she's out there 38 years now, she married a policeman in New York. Mother brother started his milk round, got a milk float, he's doing okay for himself. My sister went to university, helped shape my life. Helped shape my brothers and sisters' lives. The longer I lasted with Mike, the better my family future was. Because you went professional? I didn't want to go pro to tell you the truth. I didn't want to be getting hit for 6, 8, 10, 12 rounds. I was okay for three rounds. I could take anybody's punches for three rounds. I was confident that you could hit me with a sledgehammer for three rounds. How was your mind then, Joe, getting all those punches as well? I was okay. I had a decent defence. I used to roll with the punches. It worked. It was never like it was only one-two knocked down. Never a man nose broke. I got lots of cuts. I got 64 stitches after one fight. I was a bloodbath of a fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. I won that fight. нашего I would not come back and he was sleeping, eating, walking, watching TV for weeks before the fight, on the night of the fight. I won the fight and I got cut across the top of the eye, the side of the eye, the cheek, the lip and the blood part of the fight and I supposed to go to hospital straight away because they said I needed internal stitches in my eye because I was cut on my bone, but I didn't want to run at the title fight so I said to the doctor at ringside, please patch me up now so I can see the title fight when he said Yn y gweståu am gyda i ychwanegau ond a sahodl a nap produ enghreifftol a dan gael eich gand Having I've how much bush we're much the fight. My sisterat iron all is a good for family and friends to watch the fight. And when we came back we dropped this group of classmates once I hit just like Dr. David Mitchell, we dropped them off round the corner from where the crash happened,odu pwyd run da Aber Kirkamôr, cam gewdd ma ca Fygofyr hon am y dos icu y Merthyr ter��. I went on... She cleared it out with Michael Flatley aesi a David White hafford there. And she packed it too, y trafitarau bod wedi'u wneud. A oeddan i Cynllun yma i'ch gwrs i'ch gynnyddur. Mae'r cofwyr nid yn gynnwys i'ch gyr dreaming'n credu. Mae'r gwrs i gynnwys i'ch gyr dreaming, a nes y gallwn i'n cael i gyr dreaming ar 당. Os edrych i'w bron addynu'n llwyddon, ond rydyn ni chi'n gweithio ar gyfer y cwrd, ac rydyn ni'n gynnydd, rydyn ni hefyd yn chae grain, ond rydyn ni'n gweithio ar gyfer y trafitarau rydyn. a gwneud o'r cwylいやam sydd nusedol i wneud ffaint fel'r iawn mae'n mynd i ddechrau'n mynd i ddechrau'n mynd i ddoch. Mercedas iawn awrτ iawn na'r dda, yr eich defnydd o'r ddechrau, sydd roi tyn i ddechrau, rydyn ni'n gwybod, rydyn ni'n gweithdoch. Mae ychwanegwch yn ddechrau i dweud wedi bod rydyn ni wedi ddechrau, mae'n gofod wedi bwnaet arfer y cael o'r yddysgu y byd, yr ydych chi'n ei nosio y cyf побoedd yw sydd arald, Gofyn yn gallu. Mae'n cael ei gydian o ar wahaniaeth. Fe o gwyannod o'r hollach. Arwch yn gwneud eu gydiannwydau. Fe oherwydd mae gen i dda i gwneud. Roedden o'r hollch. Roedden o'i hollach i'r hollach. Oedden. Mae'r gwneud i foddan yw'n rhan o'n trefyn yn llwyddo. Mae'n rhan o'r greu. Mae'n grwp oedd arweinyddiaeth yn halen. Mae'n trefyn yn llwyddo. Mae'n rhan o rang dda I those. I llwyddo. ac mae'r anoddau sydd wedi gweld, mae'n ganddyn nhw'n ddymiwch yn gwneud. Yn ymddangos eu hôl, a mae hynny'n 4 o'r hwn o'r anoddau, maen nhw wedi nhw'n ganddyn nhw'n ganddyn nhw, mae nhw'n ganddyn nhw nhw, mae'n mwy o'r bros, wrth gwrs, mae nhw'n ganddyn nhw nhw nhw nhw nhw nhw nhw. Mae'n ganddyn nhw nhw nhw. Dr David Mitchell yw'r anoddau anoddau, a dyna yma'r pasangos a'r gael wedi'i gynfer i'n cael eu gael neu'r ffordd. A dyna hefyd yn ddechrau. A dyna dwi'n ddod am gwaith i gyfer. Mae'n gweithi, datblygu'n ei angen. Mae'n ddod i ddim ffysg â'r cyfrifio. Mae'n gweithio i ddod. Mae'n ddod i ddod i ddod i ddod! Mae'r llaw yn debyg i ddod i ddod i ddod i ddod. ac gydaent hefyd dim 4 o rhan o'n 12 ymlaenbeth. Ac oeddem yn rhyw ffordd a sut rydyn ni'n dda i fynd ar gyfer mae'r hyn yn yveg allodau Limbolant. Da i angen yn ei ddweud. Rwm beth oedd oeddy, gan yw'r rhan o'i ddweud. Dwi ddim hynny i ddim ychydig. On i ddim oedda i'ch ddweud. Mae'n dweud oeddo oed hyn o'r 25 wrth yr yw argynny. Rwy'n ddweud yw ddweud o'r hyn. Wyddech chi ddim ddweud bod ydych chi ddim yn ymddangos. Dwi wedi'u bod phobl eich gweithlu wedi'i ffordd, a ond byddwn i'n gwybod cael ei ddweud, a i fyddo i'r ddechrau. Fyddi'ch ddweud yn credu ddweud i ddweud ddweud. A ddych chi wedi'n gweithio i Paddy Finn. Dyna'r pennyddion o'r cinsio eu bodwhaith a yna ychydig fydd dechrau gan gwybod ychydig derbyn yr alfawr ar gyfer myl amser. Mewn yw anchodd, a anknwch i'w caeloedd, a i'ch edrych, a'n gweffio'n gwót y blaisach. Fe fod yn wych i'n bwrth o'u mitho bach, dwi'n ffrwng o'r ffordd i'r Rhett. Fyddwn yn gweithio'n bwrth o gwelwch yn gwybod. Fyddwn yn cael wahanol i'n gwybod sydd yn y rhwng i chi'n gweithio'n bwg. Felly yn ddwy'r adeithio i mi. Dwi'n ddim mae'n gwybod. Nid o'r firmlyach, bod yn ymgyrchu â'r hynau a'r rhan o'n hwn. y pethau i gydorolol gwneud i wneud, gyda i gweithio mewn gwirionedd i ddim yn ei bach i lleol y traid, a dwi'n rhan fyddei Champion Cyngor ac yn unrhyw du oherwydd yn eu cyhoedd ddweud hynny. Diolch i wnaeth wnaeth i wneud, ac rhaid i wnaeth i wnaeth i sydd wedi'u allan mewn gwaith. Mae'r ymangau iawn, ac rhaid i'n dweud'u llreadaf MVQ Cyngor, fe charanu mewn dwelch, dyma ei dweud â'r llreadaf mfinoffan, a dweud 500 mh. Llywodraeth wedi gweld yn ychydig. Mae gennym y cyd-faddwyd ynglyniad Rhywunol. Mae'r cyd-faddwyd ynglyniad yn gwneud hwn yn ddiogel. Mae gennym'r cyfnodd gyda'r cyfnodd. Mae gennym ddim yn Llywodraeth, yn Eirlin. Mae'r gyfnodd gynllun. Mae'r cyfnodd a'r tynfodd ac yn ymdill. Mae'r cyfnodd yn ymdill. Mae gennym'n cyd-faddwyd ymdill. Mae gennym'n cyfnodd a'r cyfnodd a'r cyfnodd. i'r gwneud i'r gwneud, i'r gwneud i'r disco i'r gwneud i'r mennyddio a'r dweud. Po ddwy'r gwneud yn prynwyddol, ond rydyn ni'n gweithio'r sgwrn yn ei dda'r parocwydau. Mae'n gweithio'r gwneud yn 17 September 1997 ac yn joli 1998, wedyn yma'r gweithio'n 500 gwych, yma'r wneud, ddyn nhw'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n bywyd. ac rydyn ni'n dweud bod yna'n gweithio'n ddweud i'r ddweud. Dwi'n dechrau. Yr hyn yw'n dweud. Rydyn ni'n dweud. Ie, mae'r ddweud. Mae'r ddweud yn ddigonio'n gweithio, dweud, yn ei ddweud, ac mae'r ddweud yng Nghymru, esfrensgfa'r Llegion, yma'r ddweud yma, yn ymddiolol. Mae'n ddweud i'n ddweud. Ac rydyn ni'n ddweud. ac mae'n cwmpio'n ddwyledig yn ahol i ddiwn i'ch oed. Dyna allan iddo, y mynd i ei oed wedi'i yn ei nhw'n nhw, ac mae'n gweithio i'ch unig i'i gweithio, ac mae'n gweithio i ni'n rhan i bobl, neu yw'r pleiddiadach yn ymddangos. Felly mae'n pleiddiadach na hwnnw. Cyn nhw i yn 26 dros y mae'r dron o'rgynning, yn y rhan i'r ddweud o réussill, a rhan o'r gweithio i gweithio, I ddim yn cael ei gofyn i'wch chi'n gynnig a'r dweud o'r ddweud o'r sgwpeth, felly i ddim yn cael ei gynnig a'r ddweud o'r ddweud. Yn y gweithio sydd wedi cael ei ddweud o'r ddweud, a ddim yn cael ei gynnig i'w ddweud o'r ddweud, o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud. Rwy'r ddweud yn gwneud, o'r barwr i ddweud o'r ddweud! A bywais, oed yn cyffredin, o'r cyffredin o 25 munud, Yn gweithio'r Gŵr yn roedden ni wedi cael y ddechrau. Mae'r ddechrau wedi cael ei ddechrau yn cael ei ddechrau, ond yn yw'r ddechrau, yn ei ddechrau'r gŵr i ddes, ond hefyd yn ymgyrchredig, a'r ddweud i'r llwyb am y ddweud interior i'r ddweud yn y ddweud. Ydw'r ddweud, yn ddweud, ddim allan o'r ddaf i ddweud, ond eu bod efallai'r ddweud yn cael ei ddweud? Yn ddweud, mae'n ddweud, y hellau, fe gallwch arddangos i filling. Mae unrhythm allanu android i'nchai'n fïnedd. Fe mi fydd o fach i deall sydd e Chrysaniaeth. Deffin iawn,byddwch arna o'll cry Jonny i ddechrau a faenogi grechu a photosion. Gallwch ein lefelau am gael i'r holl blydymahera'r bethynau'i ar 잡eth digon mwyaf gweithdoedd. y cyfun yw'r un bwyd, yMu'r amser... Mae'n bwysig. Mae'r gwahod yn cyffredig o'i ei bod hynny. Mae'r gweithio yn ychydig. Mae'n ddim yn gweithio. Mae'r bod yn ymddiolio gan go bwrdd. Ac mae'n gweithio allan i gael ei gael. Dyna daeth ddim yn ôl ganai am gwyfwng. Ac mae'n mynd i gweithio.. Mae'n gweithio yn cyrraedd... Mae gydig yn fynd i gydig? Mae gydig yn gweithio ar y ffaith cyflym. Mae'n bwysig yn gweithio. Have a drink on the pub, Jack the Lat, a bit of a Del Boy. We had an old folks home next door to the pub and we had a man used to come into the pub that turned 100 and 100 and he had his two brothers in my pub. He used to come in with his son, his son was about 80, right? And we had a lot of old people coming in from the old folks. I mean this guy used to come in Jack the Lat, Del Boy with his filed of fax. I went and buy everybody drink and I thought what a nice guy. He was a car trader, anyway he knew my predicament. He knew I was in a bit of difficulty with money. sitterwch. Er yw dweud, hynny'n rhoi hwn i recei ty encima ariqueidol i wasfyddy o'r bio yn dod, a pobbu mor gwaith ar gaelio arajamos premierearu ofion wedi'u dd Chang panolwch ar gaeliaeth gwneudfull pel diffusionoedd yn gallu'n dod. mor gennymwg felly o gaeliaeth hefydrŵr ar waddlo, beth ydych yn ripping arbu a'r gaeliaeth yw'n effeithio ar ni'n cy efficacy A i'n gallu discoveries gownodol iddyn nhw'n ac yn y ciner o'n meddwl ni'n ciner. Rhaid i'w bwysig a'r ystyried, efallai i'n cael ei hynny i gyd gan eu cyhor i'r ciner o'n meddwl ni. Ac ble mae efallai ei gwasanaethau eu hunain. Ac efallai i chi'n gwneud ac angen i'w ciner i'r ciner. A gydnod i'ch ei wneud o'r ciner o'r ciner o'n meddwl. Rhaid sicrhau gweld dros. Fodryc i ymryd mewn i'r siwr yn y lwg honno i chi sydd yn y hallw. ac wedyn dweud sy'n meddwl i'n meddylunio. Bydd rhaid i ni arwain rhan o'r cysylltu. Rydyn ni'n rhaid i'n meddwl i'r 7 oed, rydyn ni'n meddwl i'n meddwl i'r 4 oed. Arall, bydd mor hyn yn cael i'r rysgol i'r stawnau, ac ond rai'n meddwl i'n meddwl i'r 7 oed. Rydyn ni'n meddwl i'n meddwl i'r… Nid yw'r cyfrifio? Nid yw'n meddwl i'n meddwl i'r ffioi, ac rwyf i'n gweld i'n ystod gweithio. Mae rwyf eich bwysig yng Nghymru. Felly ar y glwyd am gyntaf yma eich cyntaf gyda'r cyntaf. Mae'r gwrthon i'r galol. Ac rwyf eich dda'r honi i'r gwneud mewn gwyllai a'r rhan o'r cyg. Ac rwyf eich gwrthon i'r gwneud. Rwyf eich gweithio. Rwyf eich gweithio i'r Gail James. Rwyf eich gweithio i'r gweithio i'r gweithio i'r gweithio i'r gweithio. I had fine legal battles and but I'm never gonna I'll never get it to to know what Joe everybody needs to kick up there sometimes and leave and sometimes it needs to happen to the bad stuff. It's not the worst fucking cranes, but you've obviously got that sensitivity and love for your family that they've supported your whole life. So when shit like that happens, listen, we can all get caught on bad shit. I have many times myself and you never know what's around the corner. But the fact is for anybody watching, it doesn't pay that life because it's the the the family who do the sentence with you also. Do you know what I mean? So but you've done it, you got out of it, you've been fucking starring in global films all around the world. But what was the like in prison at that time? When I was in prison, how did you deal with that? It was hard because I'd made my dad ashamed. I made my dad sad and upset and made family members ashamed because of I'm suddenly in prison, but they were still there for me. They wrote to me and put money into my spends and stuff. And when I was in prison, I actually saved the man's life from prison. One of one of the one of the prison screws took a heart attack. I'd done St John's Ambulance Brigade. So I knew it would be a first aid and I helped the man and I got an accommodation from the governor to I wouldn't see anybody suffering. Michael was called Mr Leakes and I helped him and the head of security at the time he complimented me as well. And listen, the prison screws didn't put me in prison. They were only there to supervise my stay. And I wouldn't, like I said, I wouldn't, I'd assist anybody if I could. And when I was there, I got fit, got myself healthy, used my time wisely, you know, and when I come out of prison, I made a comeback in the boxing because I didn't want to get into trouble again. I didn't want to get on a criminal path. I'd never been a criminal. I had a licence for a pub. I was in the Irish Army, Barton Army, I was dealt down on their favourites. So I'd never been in trouble, you know, on security. How old were you then, here Joe? When I come out of prison, I think I was 37. I was still a young man. I don't drink or smoke or take drugs, you know. When an Irish man doesn't drink alcohol, people say, what sort of an Irish man are you? My dad says it, my failure is an Irish man. But yes, I come out of prison and I made a comeback in the boxing. And there's a big road of in the boxing news, I said George Foreman makes the comeback after 12 years. George Foreman makes the comeback after 10 years. Big Joe Egan makes the comeback after 12 years to get mentioned in the same paragraph as George Foreman was phenomenal. Anyway, I didn't ring Mike Tyson and look for money. I've never gone cap and hand to anybody for money. And I said to Mike, I said, listen, if I get fit again, I'm no good to spar with you anymore. I said, well, if I get fit, can I get a fight on your undercard? He says, yeah, by all means, Joe. And Shelly Finker contacted me and said, Joe, we get your fight on the undercard. I said, well, I'll have a warm-up fight in Ireland. I don't have a warm-up fight in England because they would have said to me, oh, you look great. The Irish will tell you the truth if you look crap. You look, they'll tell you. So I thought I'll have a fight in Ireland. Brendan Ingle had a fight on the bill. My old trainer John Breen had a fight on the bill. There was a few of my old trainers there and a few of my colleagues that I boxed with. Good crowd, Irish television, great fight. And I fought a friend of mine, a good fighter, Mark Williams. I got him ready for two of his previous fights, he had two wins. He hadn't fought for two and a half years, hadn't fought for 12 years. We had a good tear-up, you know, and fifth round, it dislocated his shoulder in the fourth round. I pushed him into the corner and his arm came out. He came out for round five to fight. Anyway, the fight was stopped, but it was still a win. You know, it wasn't the best of wins, but it was a win. How did that make you feel, Joe, after all that time? Listen, to get my arm raised, you know, you're only as good as your last fight, you know, and to get my arm raised in that particular fight, which turned out to be my last fight because I got back into training, I contacted, asked John Breen, Brendan Ingle, how did I look? They said, you looked OK, a little bit rusty, but you looked all right. So I contacted Mike and said, Mike, I'm OK, a little bit rusty, but I've had a win. I'm ready to box on your undercat. I'm back in training now again to go to America, to fight in America on Tyson's undercat. And I'm training with my friend Steve Dawson. I trained with many, many times, I'd sparred with many times. We'd worked the doors together, was sparring this particular day. I'm leaving the house, I'm staying with him. His little boy Tristan said, what are you doing today, big Joe? I said, I mean, I tell you, I got the box today, Tristan. He said, who's the toughest? I said, oh, your daddy's the toughest. I said, by a mile anyway, we sparred. Wasn't even a good punch. I had to get around, I ducked into it and I felt the blood running down my face. I was 38 years of age, I felt the blood running down my face. I felt the rib open. The skin split. And I knew at that moment in time it was over. You just know because it wasn't even a good punch. I went to the hospital on a mini-stitch just to put him high. I come back to the house, Tristan sees my face a bit swollen. And he goes, what happened, big Joe? I said, oh, your daddy cut me when we were sparring. Oh, you said he was the toughest. I said, oh, yeah. But I knew it was over, you know. But I'd won my last fight. Was your family at your last fight? Who was there? Oh, I can't remember the day of truth. There was a lot of family and friends there. It was, I mean, do you know something? I'd forgotten what the fear was like, James. I'd boxed in this hotel, it was the Burlington Hotel. I'd boxed in the Burlington as an amateur. And now boxing there as a pro and I've since done the dinner with Mike Tyson in the Burlington Hotel. And the Delta Airlines crew used to stay in the Burlington. There was a nightclub there called Annabelle. So I had a great, great, I knew the Burlington Hotel. There's only 10 minutes from where my mum lived. But when you box, you get a fear. It's like butterflies in your stomach. And George Foreman was doing a video called Champions Forever with Joe Frazier. Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Sonny Liston, Ken Norton. These great five champions talking about their experiences. And George Foreman said he was fighting Ken Norton. He said he's looking across the ring and he sees the specimen of a man chiseled. He said, the finest look of man, he said, you could imagine. He said, I walked to the center of the ring. He said, Ken walked to the center of the ring. He said, I bought Ken. Ken, I bought me. He said, I was so glad Ken didn't look down because my knees were shaking. And I thought George Foreman, the greatest ever champions of all time, saying he was scared. So I remember my first pro fight. I'm at the weigh in and I'm looking around these big guys. I think, oh God, I hope it's not him. He's got his tattoos and I hope it's not him. He's got hairy chest and just macho looking men. I got into the doctor and my heart was racing. The doctor said, you're nervous. I thought Stevie Wonder could see I was nervous. I was terrified as you're just doctor. I'm nervous. He said, well, I've just examined your opponent and he's twice as nervous. I thought happy days. But I forgot what the fear was like, you know, 12 years out of the ring. On the day of the fight, one used to box, used to come into Irish music but because of what happened with Lisa and Michael Flashby, I didn't want to come into Irish music. So on the day I'd spent the day with Steve Dawson's girlfriend at the time Anna picking some songs to come out to. And we picked the food, he's ready. I'm not here, I come, you can't hide. And I thought what a great song to come out to. There's no hiding place in the boxing ring. I was nice and relaxed, done my sleep and my bit of pasta. Carved up. I felt good. I'm in the dressing room. Darren Cobb with the Commonwealth champion comes in. He goes, Joe was on the back page of the Daily Mirror. I'll get my hands on the back of the chair. I'm in good shape. Darren comes in, he goes, Joe, the guy you're fighting in the next room. Scream and say, I'll go, put the fear of God into it. I start laughing. A bit of a nervous tension laugh. I'm looking at Darren anyway. That picture was on the back page, me laughing, right? Next of it, I said, OK, Joe, let's check your bandages. Check my bandages to stamp my hands to make sure that the bandages are satisfactory, done. Glove up, glove up. I walk from the dressing room to the ring. The fear kicked in. Terror. I'm like, oh my God, what am I doing here? So long out of the ring, haven't got anything left. You start questioning yourself. So I walked from the dressing room and I walked to the ring, it was on Irish television, and I walked past the steps to the ring. And I was walking out of that building. A couple of old guys went, Joe, you've missed the steps. They tapped me, they said you've missed the steps. They tapped me and I walked right out of that building. I'd have been at my mum's front door and said, I'm not going to do that again, mum. And I turned around and I went, oh yeah. And I walked back and I climbed into the ring. Now for the first two rounds, I wasn't there. He was hitting me with every sort of shot. And I went back after the second round, I'm in the corner and I'm trying to turn him out. I'm trying to hit me a slap. I said, it wasn't being hit enough. Wake up, it's bothering you, wake up. And I come into it in round three, round four. I started to get the better of him round four. But then his shoulder came out and I stopped him round five. But like I said, it was a win. A victory is a victory. Yeah, a victory is a victory. But it is a hard sport, you know. There is a fear in the middle that you've got to overcome. You know. Definitely, that's kind of kept you sane and gave you that kind of work ethic and belief because no matter everything you went through, Joe, you've ended up acting now. How did that end up coming about? The thing is, like I say, I did a dinner with Joe Fraser. I spoured Mike for the Marvis Fraser fight and Ken Perchis and Charlie Hale had given me a chance. My boxing was over, I come out of prison. My boxing was over again. These guys gave me a chance. There are no acknowledgments in my book, the top, top acknowledgments in my book, Ken Perchis and Charlie Hale. I'm doing this dinner at the Hilton Hotel in London. I'm sharing the top table with Joe Fraser, Marvis Fraser, all these great champions. And Cas Bennett was in attendance. My nephew, Cas, was because he's a westam fan of Cas's published books. And people say, have you not afraid to talk? I said, listen, if you can climb into the ring and box, nothing in life will faze you. You know, there's two spendings of the word fear. The coward spells it, forget everything and run. The boxer spells it, face everything and rise. Ask it that. And that's the box. That's the first I've heard that. But it's fact, you know, there's nothing in life will faze a fighter. So I said, yeah, no problem talking. So I done the talk, Cas Bennett was in attendance. I knew who he was, I was introduced to him earlier on in the evening. Half joking, half holding earnest. I said, you might write a book about me. He said, let me hear what you've got to say tonight. Anyway, I spoke, he took an interest in me. Went to his office the next day, phoned my Tyson, it was in Brazil at the time, put him onto the phone to Cas. He said, anything that my brother Joe needs, he said, I'm there. So Cas said, right, we got Mike involved, we can do a book. I've got a man called Ramil Graham, who was Matthew Vaughan, the movie directors, Godfather. Matthew Vaughan was got Rich's original business banner and went down to Hastings, spent a lot of months down in Hastings talking about my life. And then he was making recordings. Then he done a book, he wrote a book. And the book was launched in Canary Wharf. Mike Tyson launched the book. It brought Canary Wharf to a stand still, thousands and thousands of people. I know everybody was there for Mike Tyson, but Mike Tyson was there for me and it was one of the best days in my life. And Cas then gave me a part in his movie. He had a movie called Cas about his life and he gave me a part in his movie. I met an actor when I was on the film, said who I knew of. He was an Xbox actor called Tam Hassan, who has since become great friends. And Tam has said, Joe, you've got a great presence on screen. Do you not fancy an acting career? I thought to myself, well, I've acted my way through a boxing career. I'll give it a go. So I said, yeah, so introduce me to his agent. And his agent sent me down for the first Sherlock Holmes film to play a character called Mac Murdo to fight Robert Downey Jr. So the casting agents said, look into the camera lens, give an intimidating stare, say this intimidating line and we say how it goes. I've gave the intimidating stare, I've gave the intimidating line. They went, wow, you've got an amazing intimidating stare. I said, I've got to look into the eyes of Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis to try and intimidate them to intimidate a couple of casting agents. There's no problem. Anyway, got the part, went along to the read through. My nameplate, Joe Egan, next to Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr. Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marson. I see an opposite guy, Richie, Joe Silver to see a Warner Brothers. And the guy said, Joe, I've been trying to get you in one of my films for a long time. I said, you're joking. I'm Robert Downey Jr. leaned in. This is Iron Man. And he goes, Joe, you come with a fearsome reputation. I can believe these people even knew me, but they knew me through Tyson. Anyway, we travelled down in the minibus to do the practice fight. And guy said, how are things, Joe? I said, things are OK, guy I'm making ends meet. He said, as your agent told you much again for the fighting. I said, guy and everything asked, I'm just honoured to be in your film. When he told me, James, more than any of my pro fights, I was deadly serious. I said, guy, for that money, I said, Robert Downey Jr, you can really hit me. You can kick me as well, if you want to. And he took it for the laugh and he said, Joe, I don't want you being beaten up. I said, guy, I've been beaten up a lot less. I'll do a few weeks in hospital for that money. Then I didn't have to get beat up. I get into the prison scene that wasn't in the original script. I got caught big, Joe, by an Academy Award with an actor in a Warner Brothers movie directed by Guy Richie. And it's made my mum so proud because no mother wants to see her son being beaten up. You know, she sees me killed in the films all the time. She knows it's not real, you know. And, yeah, the parts have gone from strength to strength. They're getting bigger now. I get to play the gangster or the tough guy, you know. I've had to live that life as a tough guy, you know, being a boxer. Yeah, you've played the part real life. Yeah, I've had to live that life. They say it's all about believability, you know. I'm not saying that I look like a hard man, but I can walk like the hard man. You can do, Joe. You walk into the ring, you walk into the ring, you walk in as a man. You know, you walk in. Well, now women are walking in. They're walking in as hard women, you know, you're a hard person to get in a fight. It's phenomenal, mate, how well you've done. I think sometimes you probably don't realise it, but through your career and what you've done, mate, it's unbelievable. You should be proud and I know your family will definitely be proud. Cos I've seen a video, you took Sugar Ray back to meet your mum as well. And she looked buzzing, she looked. When I met Ray Leonard first, when I met Ray Leonard first, we were in the Catskills and my Tyson adored Ray Leonard because he said that when he was in the Young Offender Centre, Mike was a shy timid boy. The only thing that brought him out of his shell was when a bully boy ripped the head off his pigeon and killed his pigeon and Mike ferociously attacked his bully. And then suddenly he unleashed. The beast. Beast, right? And then he was inspiring because in the Young Offender Centre, trying to get the aggression out, got him at the boxing. I wanted the officials in there at Box Pro. Fy roi'r cwrdd, astuwch, astuwch. And he contacted Coss and Coss came down and saw this 14-year-old boy and said, this boy's got the potential to be the heavyweight champion in the world, 14, 15 years of age, Coss adopted him. We're sparing this day and Ray Leonard had come to the gym and Mike, when Ray Leonard visited the Young Offender Centre, Mike stood off site all the older boys were getting the attention with Ray. And as Ray was leaving, he's seen Mike sitting over on the corner and he made a beeline over to Mike and embraced Mike. And Mike never forgot that. He said, I always had this affection for Ray Leonard because he came over to me, wouldn't leave without going to see the young boy in his own. That's the testimony to the character of the man that Ray Leonard is, a Tory gentleman. Also, I want to regret his boxers ever, the great Suboxone. And when Ray came to the Catskills to see Mike spy this particular day, Mike put on a ferocious sparring session and destroyed us. Destroyed all the sparring partners, destroyed us physically. Barthed us. He wanted to impress Ray. So I've come back to the guest house, I'm back to the Coss's house. This is a lovely story this is. I was in a bad way. I was crying this particular day really bad. I was swollen up, I was busted up because Mike had busted up in front of Ray. And Mike came to my room and he came with Jay's stepbrother and Tommy's brother and he didn't come in the gloat like we're only teenagers. And teenagers can be quite cruel to each other and he didn't come in the gloat. And he come in and I was crying on my bed, swollen up. And he said, Joe, man, he said, there's no need to cry. We know your homesick, but we're your family now. I wasn't crying because it was homesick. I was crying because he was out the bathroom with me. Anyway, I just got an affection from that day. I thought he's a lovely young man, even even though you're getting beaten up by him, he's still a lovely young man. Anyway, months later, Ray Leonard came to the camp again. And he came over to me and he said, you were here the last time I was here. He said, you're a very brave young man to come back. I said, I haven't been anywhere. He said, you've been here taking these people. I said, yeah, it's one of these days to get the better of them. Anyway, me and Ray hit it off. He came back to the guest house that day and I said, Ray, will you say hello to my mum? He said, no, she and I, so I phoned my mum and I said, ma'am. I said, Ray, Leonard wants to say hello to you, so I put her onto the phone. And I said, one day, Ray, you'll visit my ma'am and he did. He came to Dublin, visit my ma'am, Mike Tyson's been to a visitor. He's visited her a few times, Mike has. And it's great to walk through my home town with these great champions of the world, but even better to say that my friends is better. You know, I've got a friendship. Some friend, friend list there, Joe. Do you know what I mean? But you're very well respected. You're very well liked to put a post out you're coming on. Everybody was buzzing for it, happy because they've heard your stories and they couldn't wait to hear it. So it's. I got on well with people James, you know. There's no arrogance or attitude about me and I pride myself in my manners. And people can see that. So just before we finish up, what was Cus like? Cus was lovely, very, very nice man. You know, he was a walk in a psychopedian boxing. You know, he had he had a great lovely way about him. I remember the first day, the first day I was there. Now, every household has different rules at the dinner table, right? My dad never liked us having elbows on the table. He didn't like us talking when we were eating at dinner. So everybody's household has different rules. So Camille has brought out the soup like a vegetable broth. So I took a spoonful of the soup and I went, oh, Camille, this is gorgeous soup. Cus sat back, put his spoon down. Everybody went silent. Everybody sat back, he goes, Joe. He said, I've never heard of a woman being called gorgeous, but never a soup. And they started laughing and it was just a beautiful laugh. And I thought, these are my kind of people because I love laughter. You know, there's hundreds of languages in the world. Everybody speaks different languages and nobody really has a clue what anybody is saying. But we all laugh in the same language. And laughter is contagious. You cry, you cry along. The world laughs with you when you laugh. Now, I just got on great with him. He's a very, very nice man. You know, it's tragic to see him die before Michael won the world title. That would have been would have been nice. But he instilled, he spoke to me about mental, mental courage, you know, because sometimes fights can be won or lost before the first bell rings. You know, they can be a little bit of intimidation with boxers. They can psych you out. It's all psychological warfare before the first punch is thrown. And Cus gave me the mental, you know, mindset that that that that I can withstand this sort of psychological warfare. Mehamid Ali, as well. Mehamid Ali four times. I was honoured to be in that man's company, privileged and honoured to me. He's not just the greatest man to enter a boxering. He was one of the greatest men to enter the world. Boxing was blessed to have him. He could have turned his hand to any any sport. You know, he was just a supreme athlete and a kind, decent man. And my dad had met me before me. I used to envy my dad that he'd met mehamid Ali before me. And just the fact that he'd met him because I used to do an Ali shuffle as a tribute. But I idolised mehamid Ali. You know, to me, he's just one of the greatest of all time. I think he is the greatest of all time, not just because of the box. Not a little bit because it's outside the ring, his presence and the stuff. The other work that he did and the fact that he didn't want to go to war Proof that that war was the wrong war in his war. And it was right. And they punished him afterwards for that. But I went to his home. I went to his home to meet him in his home in Michigan, Al Capone used to own his home and to go through his gates. G-O-A-T, greatest of all time, called G-O-A-T. And to meet him in his home, I met him at the Ali Centre. I met him at Louisville. I met him in Washington, D.C. and I met him in New York. I met him four times and just to be in his presence. You know, the presence of greatness. But Cus used to speak to Mike about Muhammad Ali and Mike idolised Muhammad Ali as well, because you speak to any fighter, any manager on the planet. Muhammad Ali is going to come up in conversation. He is, like I say, one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all time. But Cus helped me with the mindset that psychological warfare and one of the best wins in my career, James, I'd fought. I'd been beaten at the Atlantic City before when I fought for the first time against America. Years later, like I said, at Fort Lenox, I'd been sparing Mike and now matched with Bruce Selden. I was on an Irish team again. And he was the number one in America, one of the top heavyweights in the world. He went on to win the world's professional heavyweight title. And it was a hard fight because I knew what he was capable of doing. But I knew it was tough. And it was the first round. I got battered, I got smashed a bit, I got back to my corner. Ma'r two corner me'n one a retire me on my stool. As I'm not quitting on my stool, winners never quit and quitters never win. I'm not quitting on my stool. I said I can take this punishment. I've took it off Tyson, I've took it off Lenox Lewis. I can take this punishment. I've come out for round two. Selden couldn't believe that I was coming out for round two. You know, he'd after destroying me in round one. The bell went, I was entitled to hit him. I couldn't get near him in round one. He was so fast and graceful, phenomenal boxer. But I was allowed hit him. The bell had rung and hit him a body shot. I connected with a good body shot, bang, sunk it in. And it slowed him down then, I could get through him then. And I went on to win the best fight of my career because he went on to win the word heavyweight title and after the fight I have to go to hospital. I'm all busted up, even though I'd won. But there was 10 great champions in attendance. We were introduced to them on the day with Jake Lamont, Rocky Gradseno, Joe Frazier, Jersey Joe Walker, Sandy Sadler, Billy Convito, The Firm of Floyd, Patterson, Chico, Fija, and in Lexac, one of those 10 great world champions in attendance. We were boxing in their honour. Anyway, Jake Lamont of the Raging Bull was fighting the fight outside of the ropes. I didn't know what was happening outside of the ropes. I didn't have problems inside of the ropes. But he tripped and he hurt his arm and he cut his eye. I didn't know about this. I'm in the back of the ambulance, ready to go to hospital. Drenlands were enough. I'm in a lot of pain. I'm thinking once the delay seldom hasn't been hurt that bad. He's not called to hospital, even though I'd beaten him. He wasn't hurt that bad. Next what I brought, Jake Lamont of the Raging Bull to the back of the ambulance. I looked him in, he goes, the heavyweight great fight kid. Best anaesthetic James I've ever had. The pain was just lifted off me. The Raging Bull complimented me on a win and we became friends that day. Years later, when my book came out, Jake Lamont did two book signings with me. He did a book signing in Doncaster and he did a book signing in Carlyle. And it's on my DVD. And one of the greatest champions of all time. And what been interviewed by the BBC. Anyway, the DVD is called Joe Egan with the toughest man on the planet. There's over 30 world champions and the man that made the DVDs filming this this day, the interviews with Jake Lamont. And they said on the BBC, Jake, you and your friends a long time. Liam Galvin is the man that made my DVDs. I got friend of my fantastic guy. And he's filming us. And they said, Jake, you and your friends a long time. He said, me and Joe go way back. He said, Joe was like me. Joe would fight anybody. And I thought, what a great compliment from the Raging Bull. But then he goes, but he wasn't so fat then. And I thought, I've put a bit of weight on like, but Liam goes. And I said, I don't care, I don't know. Fain that he got testicle. But what a lovely man Jake Lamont. Some names you've mentioned there, George. Phenomenal. I like to say greatness attracts greatness. So it says a lot about yourself, mate. So going forward for the future. Where's Big Joe Egan C's self? I'm enjoying the acting. I'm still doing my security work, but I'm enjoying the acting. I work for a company called Ambedee. Ambedee Medical Group. I look after the owners of the company. Sandy Patel and Shilash Ravel. I look after both of them and I'm better suited for the company as well. And I enjoy that. That's like my bread and butter as such. The acting is a bonus. And I do a lot of after dinner speaking. That's a bonus as well. But I'd like to be able to one day maybe be a full-time actor. Just go from film to film, a TV series to TV series and quit the security work. But it's getting there. You know, the parts, like I said, are getting bigger. I'm enjoying my life. I've recently signed the rights of my book to be a film. So fingers crossed to get somebody. That's some film you've got there, George. Fingers crossed to get somebody good looking James to play me. I'm always open to you mate. You've got one on my throat. There you go, you're a handsome man, you're a handsome man. But would you play a part like yourself? Do you know something? I do a cameo role in it because when they made the movie Cass, Cass did a cameo role in it. His similar story is to mine with Mike Tyson and me. Cass had the same seminary friendship with Frank Bruno. Yeah, the worst Frank boys in there. And then Cass and Frank did a cameo role in the Cass movie. Cass was played by an actor called Nonsu Anusi, a phenomenon star. And Tamara Sand. Yeah, I do a cameo role in it. And I'd love that to be made because to walk a red carpet with my mum on a premiere of a big Joe movie. That's all I want to do. And hopefully, you know, she hasn't been in the best of health of recent, but she's getting back. She's OK. Fatal at yourself then? Yeah, she's beaten a few strokes and she's in a care home now in Ireland. But she's OK being over the visitor and she's getting. I said to her, I said, mum, I said all your life. I said you looked after seven children. You've looked after a husband and you've looked after grandchildren. Now you're in a care home. You're getting minded, you know, and she's getting the best of care. And she's a visitor's and any chance I get home to visit. I send home the DVDs. She watches the films and she loves them and she has our colleagues and our friends in the care home when I watch the films. But that's that's the big dream. I'm loving the acting, James. The parts, like I said, are getting bigger with experience. And they're just trying to sort of direct it for the big Joe movie. Well, Joe, because you've made your mum proud your whole life with your stories and you might not realise it because you've loved it. It's not the same, but I definitely that that film will be a smash hit. And I can see you down the red carpet doing your thing with that film. So Joe, listen, you're a great man. And for even coming on today and telling your story and meeting me today is phenomenal, mate. And you really are you're a good soul brother and I wish you all the best for the future. Thanks very much. Thanks a lot. Thank you.