 Rydyn ni fod yn ôl i'w gwaith y peth sy'n bydd arall yn cyfnod y gweithio mewn gwahanol yn ymddangos yn gweithio'r cyfnodau ac yn dod amser i'r ddych chi'n cyfnod gyffredinol, ac yn y ddau'r ddweud o'r dweud, felly mae'n gweithio'n gwahanol i ddod am yr hynny'n gweithreit yn ymddangos. Mae'n cyfnod yn y 19, 18, Fe ydych chi'n dod yn ei bod ynintagef arall yn Mc Gastor... ...rei'r ffordd ac erioeddodd yn y ffyrdd. Roedd sefyd yn oedlaiiff. Mae Gwyl gweld yn y troolu newydd. Mae gymryd ddim yw'r ymgynogi. Mae fy mwy ffrindol i'r mord mewn. Mae ffyrdd maed i'r rôl yn y fath, mae gwnaeth i fath. Mae gennym yn ei fath. Mae gennym yn niem yn oed mewn mwy maes youn. Mae gennym yn eich gael. I got to understanding, the brothers got killed, they got shot, I think I was crying actually, and I was sad.. ..where my brother died because they only died 20 seconds from where I lived, You can walk there, I was sad on that, I must have had a bit of an argument with my mum or maybe, and I would have gone and sat where my brother died, I was sad there, I loved my best friend when I was 16, he got stabbed and I know that.. I can imagine, I don't know, felly y gallwn yn ydynnu yw mae'r mwy flyn yn ymdwy? DziЖiwch arall, defnyddwch yo arall. Mae'n fyddwn gwirionedd yn fwy. Mae fyddwn gwirionedd yn ddefnyddio. Mae'n ddefnyddio? Dwi'n ddefnyddio, dwi'n ddefnyddio. Mae'n ddefnyddio, mae'n ddefnyddio. Mae'n ddefnyddio'n gondol, rwy'n meddwl agynczyć. Mae'n ddefnyddio, ond mae'n ddefnyddio, ond mae'n ddefnyddio... ..o thysgu oedd yn ei fod ymdwys.. i chi'n gwybodaeth i'r bwysig yn y gallu gŵr. Ie, mae'n cael ei waldo. Errych! Dwi'n cael ei chyfnod. Gwadwch yn fawr. Lai ddwy'n hyn yn gallu, y brif. Rwy'n cael ei gyd. Rwy'n cael ei chyfnod. Mae'n gweld yn gyfnod yn ddechrau. Mae. Mae. Mae'n gweld yn afarau. Mae'n cestau. Mae'n ddechrau. Mae'n gweld. Mae'n gweld. Mae'n gweld. First of all, congratulations on your last one. You were a massive underdog. Gensiard-de, powerful hitter, great boxer as well, but now people are calling you the best jab in the world, do you know? It's overwhelming, it's nice to hear it, you train for so long to get to different points in your career and when it's finally happening it's achievable now. The world title and stuff like that, it's not too far away anymore. Is that your top ten now? Ranked? Your top ten rank now? Yeah, I think I've been for a minute, I think I was maybe eight or nine, maybe ten before boxing. Now I'm either six or four, but I'm top ten in the ring magazine as well. That's the thing that I forgot that you could even get ranked in, and I got to see this thing on Twitter like top ten and see my name on the bottom and I was like, oh, okay. Eighteen or no? Eighteen, yeah. It's phenomenal what you're achieving still in twenty nine. Do you think you fight better when you're underdog? Do you know what? It's not nothing that I really, I don't really, because I don't feel like I'm underdog. With the yard fight, I never ever believed that I was going to lose. I knew it was a dangerous fight, I knew the chance that you can get knocked out, but I didn't think I was going to lose, so it didn't really affect me. It was kind of fun, it was kind of fun position to be in, because there's no real pressure. There's no, I have to do this or I have to do that. You've got to win. That's what we do anyway as a fighter, as a boxer, so this is what it is. You must be getting a lot of support coming from the top streets of Manchester to now you're achieving big things. Now you're moving on to the next level. Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there. We're not finished yet, but I'm getting there and it is nice to know that I started boxing at nineteen, eighteen, so I'm not been in boxing that long in my gas to a lot of other fighters. I have to reach where I'm at sixth in the world in some organisations. It's crazy, crazy. So I'll let it start there as well to then get to these heights, but that shows you anybody watching that you can make changes at any age. Yeah, yeah, there's no real age to when you start, because when I was probably fifteen, sixteen, seventeen or later, I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't know, I had no idea. So in my head when I was thirteen, fourteen or twelve, thirteen, fourteen, I wanted to be a barrister. Some friends used to laugh when I said that, but to me I've heard barristers earn a lot of money in the world of crime and stuff like that and it's interesting. So that's what I wanted to do when I was younger and when I got to seventeen it's like eighteen. Yeah, and it's came into your boxing, now it's your blood and now you're potentially going to be world champion. That's amazing. I always go back to the start of my guess brother, where you grew up and how it all began. Mostyn is, you know, I live with my mum. Great woman, great woman. As I said, I've said that a million times, I never got brought up struggling in regards to eating and stuff like that. It's not that deep in regards to that, but you know, Mostyn and Lightban, where I came from, it's in a state where there are a lot of things happening, a lot of drugs selling, a lot of stolen cars, a lot of stolen, just a lot of things that I suppose you see on the estate and it would have been easy to... To do that, right? Yeah, yeah, it's easy because all your friends are doing it, all your friends are selling drugs, all your friends are stealing cars, all your friends are doing the wrong stuff today, so it would have been a lot easier. Was it tough schooling and stuff then? Not so much tough, but like I said, I never grew up. My brother, when I was young, he always looked after me, my mum always looked after me, my dad always looked after me, so I think we had to grow up tough, it was just a case of do what your friends do. I got kicked out of school, I did get kicked out of school, so yeah, I got kicked out of school. I was even fighting, I was easily led, I didn't really even do nothing in my eyes obviously. Yeah, he wasn't me, he wasn't me. It was probably just a case of different things, building up and just messing about constantly and constantly and constantly because school probably was like enough. So when you also touch on it straight away because I know you won your last fight you dedicated to your brother, you lost your brother to murder when you were only 10, how did that play a massive part on your life, not to go down the same route to then make any changes? He probably affected me more when I was older because when I was 10, I probably didn't understand it, I just knew that I'd lost my brother, my big brother, my wrong mother in life I suppose, I didn't really, I didn't really get it, I just knew that he wasn't there no more and the more when I got older and I got to understanding, he probably got killed, he got shot. He kind of, he kind of like, he would go through stages of teenagers like you think you're bad, you think you can do everything, you're evil, you kind of want to know because you think you're going to do something if you find out so that's probably why I started smoking weed and started doing nonsense, you know what I mean, and probably get arrested a few times and stuff like that, so I probably paid a part more after when I got older, rather than younger. Because it's a getaway in it when you start smoking weed or creating violence, that's a scream out for help that you're struggling with something because we don't know how to deal with trauma, especially at 10 years old, you're thinking you're not really, you're just blossoming in life and if you're getting brought up in that environment it is easy so fast to want revenge even now that your life is flying, you'll still think, because I've lost family members and friends to murder and shitting, you always, revenge always crosses your mind for some reason, no matter how well you're doing, it's crazy, when you're such a young age you don't know the difference but then when you hit 12, 13, 14 you start to understand it and then you probably think I'm a bad man because you think it's weird that being coming from a rough area, that becomes a Norman life, which is scary that young kids think it's normal. It's not normal to go through that trauma and pain, it's not normal to go through that misery because you'll still battle with those thoughts every day. I'm not really a talker, I'll be on the other side of the talk now, but in regards to my own issues or problems I'm thinking of something, I don't really know what I'm going through, I just plodd along and I just do alright. So how did you deal with that when you were 14, 15, 16, did you gain a gang yourself? Not really a gang but not a gang, I won't say a gang, I was just a bunch of friends and we just do what people do. It looks fun, I mean doing the smoking and everyone's in the car, going out on your stay every day because you've had a motorbike going around that you know might be stolen and everyone's at the bottom of the estate that was just fun. How did that affect your mum and dad losing your brother? Mum, I haven't got the same dad. It would be different with my mum. Tough, does she still battle with it? I believe so, I believe so. You would though. I've got kids now so I understand that, I can't even imagine. What I felt and it's my brother, so losing his son, that would be a trauma. It's something that you'd never get over, you only ever get used to it and you'll know yourself, you'll never get used to somebody not being there, you'll never get used to them being gone, you'll never get over the fact that they're gone. It's like, I mean you obviously see pictures of them every day and you think of them 24 seven, so consciously you were thinking of them 24 seven. Because even though you're doing amazing things, even though you won the Yardife fight, when you're looking up at the sky, your brother's still getting mentions so even though your mum's proud of you, it still brings back the memories of that. So it is difficult that your mum will be so proud that you've gave her the light and something to look forward to in life when she's walking down to the shops, people will be asking about you and that's what it's all about. Do you know what I mean? That all the other shit that comes externally, it doesn't really mean fuck all, we spoke earlier and it says that, the people saying how well you're doing amazing, you don't feel it because you know how far you can go. You want to go, you're not even nearly touch a surface somewhere, you actually want to be it. And then when you get there, you might not even think, this is the case of, like you say making your mum proud and making your kids proud and making your family or your friends even. People that support you, making them proud and actually achieving. Because like I said a minute ago, it's easier to not achieve. It's easier to not achieve than it is to achieve. It's easier to be a bum doing nothing. It's easier because you don't have to do anything. You could easily just sit in bed every day or not get up or it's easier to go and start selling drugs. That's the easy life to do what, not even just what I'm doing but to be a sportsman in itself or to do anything in fact, anything, only business even to what you're doing. It's an achievement and it's hard to do. It's easy to make it. It's hard to maintain because with success becomes all the other issues, all the other problems. There's so many different things coming into play but this is what separates the winners from the losers because no matter what gets put in your way, I don't fault her. You'll not fault her. We just kick on again. We handle certain pressures, certain situations because the pressure comes with success and it's difficult. Did your mum, when you were growing up, worry that you could have potentially went down that route also? Most definitely, most definitely. Especially when I'm going out and getting in fights. I left my best friend when I was 16. He got stabbed and I know... I don't know because I never asked but I can't imagine that my mum hearing that would have thought maybe you coming next. I was stupid so I was probably getting in fights most weekends all. Come home and be in bed and my mum come and check in me when I've been out at night. She's like, you okay? I wouldn't have understood then that she was coming in because she's probably worried about where I was the night before kind of thing. As a teenage you don't really understand that you probably should be a little bit more mindful in that situation of what your mum might be going through. But you become selfish don't you? You think we know everything at that age but the traumatic stress and pain that you went through from 10, 16, you had every right to have the fuck it button to then go, I'm just going to become a bad man. I'm just going to inflict pain on the others because you would have been suffering not know how to deal with that misery in those losses because we don't get counselling. Of course it's about to say that you don't get told that if you talk about something like that so then in a minute you get into a rut of well this is how it be anyway. I just deal with it and it is what it is. Even to this day now I can be a little bit selfish in the aspects of I've been through worse so I don't understand why you're feeling like that and towards something I've done. Do you know what I mean? It's not like that but I've been through worse. I've lost this many people. The pain I've been through is not as bad as that but the pain I might have put you through or you've been through sorry. Everybody is sensitive in different aspects of life. Some people are more sensitive than others and because we've barrails up all this shit and misery that we've put through also put through others. Do you know what I mean? It comes with a cost and we don't see how other people are affected by their little things but they haven't been through the extent. So what we say, for example say you've been in a situation where you might have hurt somebody or whatever because that's the worst thing they've been through it's nothing like what you know I've been through the worst thing we've been through it's kind of dismissed. There's no feelings because it's not as bad. It's not as bad yet but it is. To them it is but to me or to whoever it's always been through worse. It's not... You can't brush it off as if to say it's not that bad, pick yourself up but really. But if somebody says that to us there's people being through more trauma than us they'll probably think fucking tuffing up. Going through more is better. It's a constant battle. So what made you go to the boxing gym then? Were you boxing prior going to gyms? I see the first time I went I think I was talking to Jim was by my brother actually. I was in about 5, 6 and he came to my house and got me into something to Jim in the thoughts I was going to get beat up. This was a fun kind of thing to watch two kids spar and I beat the kid up chasing me I remember it's a weird memory because I remember chasing the kid I don't remember much of it but I remember chasing the kid around the ring that's probably about 5, 6 then obviously then a few years later my brother died then like you say after that 15, 16, 17, 18 I was doing whatever smoking weed and that and I just I don't know I must have just got upset one day and just must have got a bit of popular bed a bit of the better of me I think I was crying, well I was crying actually and I sat where my brother died because he only died 20 seconds from where I lived you can walk there. I was sat on the I must have had a bit of an argument with my mum or maybe and I've gone and sat where my brother died and I was sat there and my mum mum phoned Pat can you come and get lending wherever and Pat's come and got me from there and from there I live with Pat well I took Pat Pat to me and I stayed with him for about a week or two and he took me to a weight shim because Pat likes to keep fit and that he started doing weights for about a week and then he took me to the boxing gym introduced me to Brian all the boxers in there all the pros in there introduced me to Brian and he's like come on that's box just to take my mind off things still started hitting the bag started training Brian Hughes said to Pat like he could be good him and it's just like on a he could be good not proper stare he could be good and Pat couldn't see it because obviously Pat knew I was just smoking weed and just coming at us to literally get my mind off things after a bit I kept training I kept training I kept going there Brian wanted to put some time into me so Pat said to me look you whatever tell Brian you want to be and keep fit and you're just doing it to be for fun I was taking it serious I was doing nothing at the time I had no path so I was like alright I'll give it a go and from there I was there I kept going every day stone still smoking still smoking every time that I go in the gym and stone sparring stone and all that stuff I used to go in the gym because I'm sweating because I'm sweating and I smell a weed everyone used to laugh Tommy McDonough, Scott Quig Reese Roberts, Matthew Wall Mike Jennings a lot of them used to laugh at me because I used to just come in half asleep just get there on time or a little bit late strolling my eyes closed still sleeping my eyes and just skipping just getting on with it that's how I got into the gym How did that change you mentally from a breakdown breaking point at 19 crying thinking your life's going nowhere See I believe I'd done the exact same when I was 30 broke down after my 30th party had been on the fucking gear for 3 days I had a breakdown I was thinking why am I going with my life it's weird that you'll get it as well when you've lost people that you love you feel as if that's them it's like a sign they give you boom and then something happens you kind of get clarity and you kind of go on I'm fucking my life up here you've done it at 19 that took me 30 years and it's there's like a moment for you to then go on from weed potentially it's like you might sound crazy to people but like guardian angels like spirit guides kind of when you just know you know you're fucking up but a lot of people ain't bold enough to say I'm my life's a mess you went 19 obviously you were still smoking but how did that help you from going that kind of breaking down everything kind of hitting you that was a 10 year process from losing brothers friends then 10 years later how did that change you mentally a lot but as I say this a lot about boxing but even if I never took boxing serious I just was in the gym training and doing whatever it would have still given me a sense of of structure and a sense of direction I think it gives you a sense of it allows you to be okay with authority because you have to listen to your coach and authority is in our life all the time and that's probably what a lot of people struggle with coming from the estate and whatnot so in regards to changing it's great because also at the same time I'm around probably people like me as well in the boxing gym because not everybody the gym is on the estate I live 20 seconds from the gym so that's on the estate and these people in the gym that probably they come from a same kind of thing as me so to be around them and to see to see them doing well as well it's like I want to do that Robin Robin Reid was there at the time he was huge or just at the back end of being huge you know what I mean he was probably just at the back end of his boxing career so seeing him and seeing how people react to him and stuff like that it's great I open up for somebody of my age when you're 18, 19 and you're thinking what do I want to do you see them training now you see them reaping the rewards and stuff like that it's like okay let me just let me stop doing what I'm doing let me focus on this let me see what I can do with this How hard was it for you to get off the weeds? Oh weeds, it's hard It's difficult, innit? It's hard because it's It's fun in it It's fun in it It's chilling and not every single one of my friends every single one of them smoked every single one of them so when I initially stopped smoking weed I had to not be around them I told Jim home, Jim home until I got to the point where I don't want to spend no more That's the hard part It's an addiction but at the same time because it's just weed you think it's not an addiction you think I can stop when I want to You think because you're doing no harm but you know yourself you're getting late your kinder does change your mentality but I had to distance myself from my friends and I love my friends but the kinder resent you for it if I was to puff weed me I put on so much weight my skin tone changes I'm just late for everything I've not got the same drive people can smoke weed and they're still active I'm not that kinder guy I mean in Syria we're like 2 in a month I mean fucking bitches it's like everything everything everything it's a difficult one but when I was stopped I was quit in 3 months but if I started back again it was full blown again just after going out with your friends it was easy to do as well I go on then and the next thing you know you twit it it's fucking a lot of stuff on Monday it's always Monday you start I smoke for a week and that's it it's 6 months passes when you started when did you realise you could have made a career out of it was it a short period or did it take time I'm the first fire when I was 19 I stopped the guy in the first round David understood that I stopped him that's all like unknown what's the boxing and I carried on you know what I was probably still smoking there was times when I was still in fact I wasn't always I was still smoking because John he used to call me iron lungs because he was the only one out of the family the only one that knew I smoked or around apart from friends and that so I used to be good in the first round so down in the second and by the further so he used to call me iron lungs so I was probably still smoking I got my first five or six fights of my amateur then I started doing well started winning and the boxing kids I've had 30 of fights when I only had like 7 8 beat them got some amateur style went in the championships got to the final of the championships but I was probably still smoking then as well stopped for like 2 weeks before my fights got to a final of beat didn't want to get beat again in such a in such a final of a like a championship so then the next year had a few fights got to another final won under 20s it's called national novices winning the ABAs about 4 months so with me at that point it was a case of I had to keep my mind focused so if I because I was kind of big and kind of like strong and look strong I couldn't really get amateur fights so when I wasn't fighting for like say a mum for two it's like I'm on my spliff I'm not fighting so then I think a coach Tommy at the time amateur coach he got on to that so straight after the amateur under 20 novices what I won it's like right you're going to go in the ABAs dairy march or April keep training what the ABAs it's like a national championships now so you're going to be you're going to fight everyone in your country and then in the country it's like alright part member part come in and sit me down it's like right Linden just listen just take 6 months out of your life chill go training come home focus on boxing please yeah so it's like alright cool let's see what it is I took 6 months out of my life got to the ABA finals actually boxing is a guy called Joshua Boatsey he's one of the best in England as well as I got to the final got the good fight then got called up for GB in Great Britain team it's like wow probably that at that point where I was thinking he probably talked to us about 22, 23, 24 when I got called up to think actually this might actually work now I've got assessment to go on a GB if I get on this getting paid because I'm not sure you don't get paid boxing but when you get on a GB so you start getting paid and it's like ah okay I can get money from this make a living it's not enough to make a living but if you're getting paid for something you've been doing for a few years and I've got a penny from so you're still doing whatever now I'm getting paid I'm being around the likes of Josh Wood Great Box, Anthony Fowler Josh Wood, Olympians you've been around winners and it kind of gives you a a direct path as well okay let me take this a little bit more serious when did you turn pro? I think it was 26 about 25 or 26 so you've only been doing that a few years pro? I think this is my it's my having my fourth year 29 it's my having my fourth year and you've reached those heights 18 and all you should be world title when next couple of fights it can be I've been offered quite a big fight but we don't know I've got an operation on my arm I've got that on Tuesday so I've got to a position now where I can let me now build myself absorb but you've done it right so you're still with the same team you're with them a lot then that man's seen potential in you when nobody else probably did that was part put me on his promotional shows he started his promotional show so he could take me and Zelfo put us on the small hall shows rather than put us on the big shows so any mistakes we're going to make as a professional we can make them behind not on a telly kind of thing so then when I got to like 9, 10 I know it's like right you can go to Frank Warren now and that's what we did sort of guided you well how hard is it though when you start making that transition getting well known getting the recognition to come away from your friends like to try and stay on the path completely starting to distance yourself from you don't speak to anyone but it's hard how did you deal with that it's easy to I'll be going out you're coming and I'm fighting you know I can't I got training in the morning I can't you always have to remember and Tommy McDonnell he said this to me it's alright going on party with your friends it's alright there drinking it's alright doing that but you've got to come gym Monday morning no matter what you do Friday Saturday you have to come gym Monday morning someone is trying to knock you out Monday morning that's how you kind of got to think of it I might have to spar Monday morning so no matter what I'm doing on the Friday other Saturday you have to get up and you have to go that kind of gives you a mindset of do I really want to be feeling rough Monday morning I might get hit with a circuit no just guys not to do that when you got your Commonwealth title how was that feeling that was a tough fight that was a tough fight that was a tough fight see I got into a kind of of a false sense of I'm going to knock everybody out kind of thing because I was until and until I fought him I don't believe I fought anyone really that good kind of thing I was beating people and they were going down and they wouldn't get back up or they'd get carried out or just beat them to the quick kind of thing so when I fought him out and I thought oh he's a tough African kid I thought he's going to be kind of the same thing I'm going to hit him I'm going to beat him I watch him through his fight so he looks slow he looks easy kind of underestimated him in my head take nothing away from him the one I got in there I remember throwing the first round to be fair my left arm was injured they'd go in the changing rooms it was the same thing it was all my right arm but anyway no excuses I went in there and I remember throwing a jab and he slipped it and I threw another one and he slipped it again and I thought he's going to be around next I can't hit him that's what I thought and then he just gave me a barrage of attack punch man was thinking wow this is what boxing is like this is it now this is the tough fight and I put him down in the fourth round and I thought he was going to stay down and he didn't stay down and he got back up I started hitting me again I thought what's supposed to happen supposed to be a 10 count and then I got through that 12 first times doing 12 rounds and I got through that and it's a kind of relief kind of a relief like I know I kind of understand now I've been 18 idiots it's not what boxing is going to be like he kind of puts you humble you a little bit like you're not as good as you think you are yet kind of thing still learning don't get ahead of your pay grade you're not there yet that was and I opened him into my next level where I want to go but that's what you're going into how was it winning a belt it was good but again at the same time it's like I always no matter what even now obviously but I think I'm going to be a believer so it's not it's just stepping stone stepping stone small steps until I get there it's difficult though isn't it to keep working hard but as long as you've got that belief you've got to believe you have to set your goals you can't set them you have to not be scared to set goals you can't even believe you can achieve and boxing told me that set your goals that's what you think you can achieve you might a boxer also told me this he set his goals he wanted to be he wanted to get to a certain point so he's trying for that point he's working, he's working he's working for that point and he got there and it's like I mean so it achieved it achieved everything so what I'm saying is don't set your goals to achieve your goals set them to things you think are unachievable so when you get there so in a sense you can kind of never get there you have to keep, you have to set your goals to mass amount of things you want to achieve in life and everything's doable, everything's limitless that's the beauty of life and that's the law of attraction it comes into play you must believe you already have it and once you achieve it write some new goals keep raising the bar, keep pushing keep putting yourself in a place of discomfort he smashed it boxer he smashed it where he's came from, the battles and obviously had his crash last year as well and it's scary though we can have all this shit but your life can get took away as you're not fucking interested he kind of got it at that point let me keep smashing it but let me enjoy it let me enjoy it life's short what do you do for enjoyment and stuff just chill you know just chill with my friends we play obviously everyone plays Playstation I play poker I'm not too good with my film friends laughing I won a couple games now so I feel like I'm higher now you're in poker with the coke obviously we're in lockdown it's fucking weird, it's tough how are you dealing with that alright I got positive for the virus so obviously I'm an athlete so I can still go to the gym I can still get in and train so it's not been too bad I've still been working in a sense because I've still had a couple of fights in lockdown the Spelman fight was in lockdown and the Yard fight was in lockdown so I'm still able to I'm still in a better position than a lot of other people that might be struggling with it because mental health is true exactly I can understand it can be hard I've got something to keep me focused where I can understand it probably how are you dealing with your first fight with no fans I enjoyed it my coach part he'll tell me you've boxed better with no fans because I like to I'll talk to people outside the ring and I'll acknowledge people he goes mad at me what the fuck are you looking at them for he's like you've boxed better without I don't think we should bring fans back I enjoyed it it's different and at the same time I have to dismiss the crowd anyway so I can't really think too much into it it's like no matter what that person there is going to try and knock me out be on end of the ring so I have to be focused how did you have the jab there when you were 19 or something that you've worked on the first punch you learned in boxing anybody in boxing will tell you that it's the first thing you learn I started punching me there he got a good jab he reminded me of Bob Foster I didn't know where that was at the time but again I was thinking Bob Foster when I watched back he kind of see the similarities but I just worked on my jab from the first day I got in the gym and it just happened to be good the yarder fight came massive wonder dog everybody thought it would be easy for yarder is a powerful man he's a powerful man big guy but you've had 10 knockouts as well 12 I've been under 13 he came in confident quite rightly so he's put a lot of good people fighters in the rest as well so how are you feeling being the underdog coming in and people kind of discrediting you did that annoy you a little bit more from I might have been mind game but more from his coach because I'm probably him a little bit because at the same time you have to think like he was doing but like he was talking about me as if I was just going to be a push over walk over me and it's like it's not going to be as easy as you think it's going to be like a box and I can hit pretty hard but it was but these days there are the kind of things that you can put is that put doubt in your mind sometimes even though you're confident and you always believe you're going to win do you ever think if they're right no is that just mind games again I've said I was always confident in myself that I could beat him from the minute that they put me in him together as a potential opponent I was always confident in that he's a good strong fighter so but I just feel like a good box will always be a good fighter regardless there was definitely a thought of this could be I could get knocked out here because he is powerful and he has got 18 knockouts and 19 knockouts and it's funny because I actually said to my son and mum and said don't let him watch the fight just in case I didn't think I was going to lose but like I have to be real in it you have to like kind of if he clips me he could this is the thing my coming off title fight was a tough fight that's where my mum was supposed to be my hardest fight this fight now he might actually get clipped it can happen it's boxing I'm not in any sense thinking that it's going to happen but just in case don't let my son watch it that's what he kind of gave me but then that probably gave me a bit of edge to be a little bit sharper to keep you on your toes do you think you can get into a fight too confident of course I think that's what he did so it was a split decision what were you thinking then did you know you had won or were you thinking either way it could go any way he gave me 170, 111 and I lost for that 6 rounds and he gave it to him sorry and I thought he's not giving me this one by one round but that was to me and the third card read that same card and I thought it might have given me how was that feeling for you it was good you see that if you can watch it at the end of the fight you can see that I was just relieved and again not to the fact that I'd won because it always falls on a win but I proved everybody wrong again and that's why you'll see me sit down on the ropes and just sit down and look around acknowledging the people that I was at knowledge you mean now I've done what you thought I couldn't do in such a short period how does that then do you get emotional after a fight knowing that other people are looking down on you supporting you mentality that's just emotional really emotional it's happy it's emotional he can because obviously your mum watching she must be buzzing it's they that enjoy it most you can't I can't enjoy it as much as the other person I'm happy and I'm inside and my friends up there watching they're going screaming we had four or five people in there but they were screaming like they were in a full arena they're screaming when I won they probably enjoy it and the fact that I know what they do because when I watch my friends fight say Sonny or someone like when I'm watching him fight and he wins I'm probably more excited than he is so I understand the get from the outside of looking in you're looking at someone that you're actually proud of you are, I can imagine and after that you're just possibly thinking where do I go next? you're probably going to get rewards for the next week or two the hype it dies off quick he's going to fight next boxing is a naked sport you're entertaining and the public and they might still come in social media now but they want to use the fight next I might be doing the dog again so the same people that think I'm good now will probably go on up and he's better though the guy I'm next opponent so he's better he's going to knock him out how was it though, winning that fight because that must have enhanced your profile tenfold all the attention because I've seen your video on the news just what you were doing because that is inspirational for people watching people will get inspiration from your story brother it's unbelievable and I'm happy to give even if it's just one person like I said before a woman mentioned me about the son where to kill himself and he's a big fan of me and just for you watching me and watching a bit of my story and my YouTube videos he's now not and he's now into boxing training and so it's like that's deep that you pretend the other people look up to you that you can save lives because people see inspiration that wait a minute he's been through a lot of shit but yet he's on route to be bang on course to become world title folder it gives him a sense of why I can do it too so what's the plans for you now after that big fight where do you go have you got your path planned out for the rest of the year world title straight away I don't know my team most sorry they'll do it all I do is train what about potential going up to heavyweight heavyweight I don't know any Joshua then boys are big are you happy with like heavyweight I can make the weight relatively easy the new weight to call bridge weight it'll probably eventually it'll probably be something I look at but right now I'm comfortable where I am I'm enjoying it you've got to win your titles there first anyway I'm comfortable not comfortable in a sense making weight is always hard but I can make it so there's nothing I'm thinking about all I'm struggling because you look at it, is it your sick he went from was it cruiser weight heavyweight his fight who did he fight there later last fight big Chisora done well man but I think if Chisora caught him he can take a dig though that he can but I don't know if he's going to be able to play with the big boys I don't think so I'm not a boxing I'm not a coach or anything but for watching it my toppings I just think Tyson Fury is too good there now I'll be honest I just think he's a different animal I'm a fan of the top of the heavyweight but Tyson Fury I feel like he's got the edge on everything I don't know his mentality his mindset I love what his dad says as well about all the fame and attention he kind of deals with it well he's the same kind he's been through the same kind of thing where he's had a deep depression and stuff like that he's come back from you know what I'm still shocked that I got up from the wild not down in the 12 round I was still thinking like how do you get help from somebody you should have won that I believe so as well but that shows what kind of person he's inside to be able to overcome so much what he's done and still still do that in such a short space of time of coming back but that goes to show the mentality of the mind you keep believing and keep working hard but everybody doubted him as well even though he's wetted Germany and beat Klitschko on his own yard even though Wilder was underdog I think he was only like 2 maybe 3 fights back after 4 years I've been back on the booze and charlin 3 year binge 3 year binge 3 year binge and he believed and he skilled him first time and absolutely skilled him the second time how are you dealing with it I've had many boxers on now with the politics side of things there's a lot of people always trying to fuck you over there's just like a team deal where you've got a solid team around you so much politics there is I'm lucky enough to not have had to deal with any of that so to speak yet so it might come and I might hate boxing through that I've been lucky enough to not have to deal with any of that yet but as you say when you keep levelling up it's gonna come there is a lot of politics in boxing I hear about it but now you're becoming like he says you have just levelled up there you've become a target for all the sharks you're obviously street wise so you know plus you've got an knockout punch I might level it up a little bit what about America see yourself fighting there that's my dream I want to fight in it I'm Jim Grand I love to fight over there well that's coming someone from America actually caught me up straight after my fight I'm getting noticed now I didn't but you're in America I definitely want to fight in America what about football stadiums in Manchester Manu fan Sky Sky we're top of the table I forgot city friend fans where the fuck is that came from it was only six weeks ago there weren't so sharks head I know this is the thing we all had done to see in Ferguson I think it was only one game or two games away from getting sacked and ended up winning and it turned it all round you have to give it time when you lose someone as big as and as good as Ferguson was you can't get somebody straight away you have to give somebody a chance I'm not saying it's always the person but it's doing alright I don't understand that if Ollie wins the league then he's potentially the next Manchester United manager for 10 to 20 years he's not just a short fix he's going to learn the craft because United's in his blood and he's just brought a carry can and fletchering oh no sorry he's just brought a fletchering yeah man it's hopefully it's been painful it's been painful it's been horrible being united but to be at the top for 20 years when Ferguson was there the tables do turn but then they go round again that's the thing about them tables they always turn to I'm here for it so potentially though you could be walking out full stadium with a belt this year once every all the fans get back obviously I can't wait for the fans to come back but that would be great Manchester same as Liverpool Glasgow even Irish they support their own you look at Ricky Hatton fucking hell 15, 20,000 to Vegas the guys they even go there to get in the arena they just went there for the atmosphere to be in the pubs or the bars I'd love to be able to take some it's not all some of it some of that fan base some of that support so such a nice guy such a nice person I've been to many colours fights I was there when he won the world title when he fought for it anyway I was definitely there the arena it's madden you think I'd love to be able to bring a crowd like this to an arena one day and have people singing for me like that it's kind of like colours from Boston so it's definitely doable and it kind of gives me my inspiration I don't know anything heavyweights or heavyweights from Manchester has there been many? there's a couple but part of what I say there's not really many Crool, what again even at Mets City wasn't the best fighter but what an amazing career it worked hard though you need tables to turn but be of a journey in the early parts of his career and he come back and he's a world champion filling out arenas in his hometown because he didn't say that that he'd lost fights at the start again if a quit always believed such a nice guy every boxer I've interviewed you know what I've been absolutely on the money yourself Croola, Josh Warrington, Tony Bellew Willie Lemon, Scottish Guy just good fucking guys man just no bullshit he's a creator of himself but Croola's just a nice fucking guy just a nice guy mate he could just sit, I don't drink but if I was going to go for a pint I would go for a croat and everyone likes him everyone likes him it's hard to be a likable guy everyone's got someone to say about your body I've never heard anyone say a body about Croola so he's a good person what's your plans for the future then I know you want to set new heights new dreams, what's your plans, your goals I want to be a world champion and defend it multiple times and be one of Manchester's greatest boxers to come out of here of my hometown that's it make my mum proud if I can ever do that I just want to succeed I've got kids for them as well how many kids you've got? I've got two I've got two I've got two that's why I asked I took it I was pregnant at the same time five months apart I don't know about that life yet it doesn't make you a bad person I love my kids man it's like you just know that feeling that somebody's got a couple of kids then you go it's just that people it's just difficult what have you been through you've kind of got the same traits it's difficult but again it's the pressure and to make people proud do you know what I mean you've got to do everything for yourself first and foremost to get to levels but it's the people around you then the kids to look up to you you want your son to be gone I want to be like my daddy that moment when you've got photos up on your wall you can look back 20 years and say you know what man I've had a good life we work hard and I always try and tell people to enjoy the journey but it's difficult because I've got goals and I've got finishing lines in my head that I want to achieve but even when I do achieve them it doesn't fulfil you you never say it before we'll never be happy until we can actually take a look from outside the box when we've finished or retired to think I actually did that right there like you say we're in it now and like the hard fight is a great milestone for me I've beat one of the best boxers to come out of Britain one of the most dangerous powerful boxers I've beaten but and to everyone else it's a huge thing but to me it's like I thought I was going to do that anyway what next that's it it's done now I need to go forward it's not where I want to be nearly even thinking about being I want to be a world champion and I want to know a world title so that's just a stepping stone so I can't really can't really look at it and enjoy it who would you like to fight next or like and Jen know if you were to pick one fight fight at Old Taff or two would it be to fill a world title as a matter of who is whether it's Faker or whether someone's got it fill a world title it's coming bro it's in arms reach now when you just started boxing you think I'm going to be a world champion you always think you always kind of think can I really I mean I'm here you've been up there it's like it's there so it's in arms reach how do you feel if you'd lost that fight I'd have been hurt I'd have been quoted I can't say I'd be gutted more than Yad but he's still got he's built his profile already so you'll be able to come back from that where it would have been a little bit harder for me because nobody knew me and everyone thought I was going to lose anyway it's not as good as everyone thinks it's not even good not even everyone thinks it was because nobody apart from the people around me and me the people thought it was good so that for losing that fight would have been would have been a little bit harder to come back from why were you not getting the credit why was it always I don't know I'd probably I'd only boxed Emmanuel in him Dex I could treat Dex I could fight that was supposed to be my hardest fight I made it look easy I made it look easy then I thought you know I don't know the book has had me 9-2 4-1 40-1 split decision I don't know I have no idea see when you do one is that like a fuck you yeah kind of thing go on let against me again and it was all good as well because I swear down I had about 3 maybe 400 messages saying I put money on you you've done Christmas for me I paid for a lot of people's Christmas that was nice people eating good at Christmas I've got my friends I've got a few thousand pounds so I'm glad I didn't really put a bet on myself if I'm honest you're known as a king King Lyndon Arthur how did you get to come about with that name my last name is Arthur King Arthur that's a stupid question it makes me sense Alex Arthur he's measuring me he's measuring me he's got the same name he's got the same name great fire as well he's measuring me like if kings need to meet any time I'm in Scotland I probably will hit him up because I've got Josh Taylor on as well he's another great he's an elite he's just tell he's going to be something different I've never seen him I've seen him in the Commonwealth Games I think I've seen him in the Commonwealth Games when I watched him on TV he's serious serious the first time I've seen him I just thought I'm going to watch him do you watch all the fights as well any fight any boxing that's on he's a good speaker on that as well so even after boxing and shit many years so much opportunities come from presenting jobs because there's fights all over the world do you know what I mean people it's a mega sport now it's just next level it's become bigger and it's got bigger obviously I think Eddie Hearn and stuff play a massive part in that they've done well how to promote it and take it down different avenues but so obviously everybody loves the boxing so obviously without it it's a great entertainment sport humans man we're just as crazy as it is we like to see people getting hurt as well even boxing is a bit tapped it's all combat sport fights you've got to be a little bit stupid in there to enjoy getting hit in the face do you ever get scared or anything scared of getting injured when you see it doesn't really happen a lot but when you wear your box it's dying it's like I'm in that sport it can probably happen it can probably happen it takes your brain and your skull it's not you can get hit and that's it it's like German cleaning the guy you banked for Michael Watson it's possible that can happen obviously there's a lot more health and safety now and stuff like that but it's still in there and it's still fighting it's dying and stuff like that so it's kind of scary and stuff you might have a little headache and it's a sport for me I really want to go when somebody comes from spy and he's like he might have had a bad spy I don't know for what box anymore split second thoughts but it's like it's scary what's your training camp like how long do you do it for 8 weeks it depends the hard one was only for like 4 and a half that was an early one we knew about it for like 8 weeks but I've got coronavirus so I had to not train for like 2 weeks of the camp and I was like I just started camping and I felt ill sorry I was ill I was ill for like 2 days like bed bound and I thought and I was coughing about 5 days later I got over it and when I got tested and it came back positive and it was like 6 and a half weeks before the fight I had to go on quarantine for 10 days 14 days so I had to do that and it was like so you lost weeks but I get an actual help tube because then it was like it happens for a reason I'm a strong believer in that everything happens for a reason and everything will sort itself out so what's meant to be will be for anybody that's watching brother you want to start boxing or maybe going through a struggle maybe lost a loved one that's maybe battling with some sort of mental health what advice would you give for them just start if you want to start much start again it's never too late it will take your mind off things it can give you a path it can give you self-defensive whatever you're going through if boxing can help not even just boxing and just beating the gym you can be around new people you can find new friends it's just to people to talk to it's sort of strangers maybe you might need it boxing help me so I will always speak of boxing that's the heist form of a thing that I've used to change my life around so I know first hand that it can it can definitely help in regards to them kind of things there just get in the gym you don't have to fight you just go and enjoy it go and let something out it can be a mind settler fair play listen brother phenomenal career so far you've proven all the doubters wrong world title this year for coming on today and telling your story honestly I appreciate it and can't wait to see you winning the world title brother God bless you mate check out more of my podcasts on the right and be sure to like share and comment your thoughts on this week's podcast thank you