0:02

This is 5 Live Boxing.

0:04

So believe it or not, Buncy has

0:06

had a day off. Rumour has it,

0:09

spa day, massage, pedicure, reiki therapy, the

0:11

whole works. But less about Buncy

0:13

in his speedos, because meanwhile he sent me along

0:15

to a press conference ahead of a big clash

0:17

in the £140 division. It's

0:20

Jack Catterall versus former two-time world

0:22

champion Regis Pro Grey. And it's

0:24

at the brand-spanking new co-op live

0:26

arena here in Manchester. So in

0:28

Buncy's absence, there was only one

0:30

thing for it, send a

0:32

mank. So here I am, to take

0:35

you inside the arena, set for its

0:37

big boxing debut. And you're going to

0:39

hear from Catterall and Pro Grey, Eddie

0:41

Hearn, plus plenty of others. I'm Stacey

0:43

Copeland, and this is 5 Live

0:45

Boxing. Now

0:49

some of you might be old enough to remember the

0:51

box office movie in the early 90s, Four

0:54

Weddings and a Funeral. Well how about one

0:56

wedding and two huge nights of boxing? Might

0:59

need a little work on the title, but

1:01

as you'll hear, that's been the story of

1:03

Jack Catterall's summer. I arrived at the

1:06

arena, made my way round 100 secret

1:08

corridors, gave a nod to

1:10

a wink and a lucky guess at a

1:12

password to get through a few doorways, and

1:14

eventually managed to sneak into the Decibel Club,

1:16

which is the co-op live arena's own nightclub,

1:18

complete with a swish bar, posh furniture,

1:21

chandeliers, the lot. More

1:23

like something you'd expect to see from

1:25

a Quentin Tarantino film set than a

1:28

boxing conference. Either way, that's where I

1:30

found Jack Catterall, sitting quietly and calmly,

1:32

taking it all in. We

1:35

chatted about what it means to headline the

1:37

first night of boxing in this new arena,

1:39

a little bit about tennis. We

1:41

started with summer, and just how great this

1:43

one is shaping up to be for Jack.

1:46

It's been a good year,

1:48

in and out of the ring. This

1:51

one that we've both worked hard for, a

1:55

lot of pressure on the last fight, being

1:57

so close to the wedding, we

1:59

should have had a number of weeks

2:01

more but the fight got rescheduled so there's a

2:03

lot of pressure riding on it but I always

2:05

believed I could beat him. We

2:08

did that I went and married my best friend and then I

2:10

find myself no honeymoon straight

2:12

back to the gym and

2:16

I'm on form and I feel good I've got

2:18

that momentum now I've had periods in my career

2:20

where I've been inactive and it's not been going

2:23

to plan I've got the best team

2:25

around me so I'm excited to get

2:27

in there August the 24th the new Corp

2:30

Live Arena in Manchester so things are really

2:33

good I'm absorbing it and being present but

2:35

I'm working hard. In

2:37

terms of for those who might not be

2:39

familiar with just how difficult the

2:41

boxing business itself so not what goes on in

2:43

the ring but out of the ring is you've

2:46

talked about wanting to be active and having these

2:48

long waits to get the right opportunities just

2:51

how difficult is it not physically but mentally

2:53

and emotionally to stay focused to keep the

2:56

faith and also to keep that

2:58

love for the sport while all of that that's

3:00

out of control is going on. Yeah I think

3:02

physically for me it's easy to

3:05

train I won't say it's easy we have tough

3:07

days in the gym but I enjoy being fit

3:09

I enjoy being active I've got a great group

3:11

of friends and we're always up to different sports

3:13

so being in the gym training is something that

3:15

I enjoy but when

3:17

you go look at the mental side of it boxing

3:20

is a difficult business and

3:22

I found myself probably before the first Taylor

3:24

fight and after it before

3:27

the first Taylor fight I was going back to work I

3:30

was probably almost two years without

3:32

a fight I was at number one in the

3:34

WBO waiting for the world title fight there

3:36

was row block after row block I've

3:39

got a young family now so it's you've

3:41

got to make that decision you've got to be you've

3:44

got to be smart but I

3:46

always believe in myself my family my team believed

3:48

in me and I

3:50

can finally close that chapter on that

3:53

inactivity then frustrations I've got a

3:55

matchroom Sam Jones I've got my trainers my

3:57

family and I'm on a great run right now

3:59

so I'm making most of it. You've both coming

4:01

into this, coming off the back of build-ups to fights

4:03

that had loads of ill feeling and bad blood, of

4:06

course Pro Grey with Haney and you with Josh Taylor,

4:08

your fight before that with the Naras was

4:11

really courteous, respectful. What do you

4:13

expect the build-up to this one will be and

4:15

what did both scenarios bring out in you do you think?

4:17

Have you got the preference for one or the other or

4:19

just take it in stride? Yeah there's really no preference

4:21

for me I know

4:23

what I've got to do come fight night and I

4:25

would prepare for every fight for

4:28

that opponent to be the best version of myself and I

4:30

know what I've got to do now I

4:32

understand it from a promotional point of view from the fans

4:34

point of view. We like to

4:36

see it as a boxing fan as well I like to see

4:38

the needle between fighters but

4:41

you speak to my people I'm not the

4:43

most I wouldn't say not talkative but I'm

4:46

pretty layered back but I'm there

4:48

for it as well we've seen it in the

4:50

last fight where it needed to be switched on.

4:52

I'm respectful but the second they

4:54

show disrespect then it's game on but for

4:57

this fight and like you just touched on both

5:00

of our previous fights there was that needle there maybe

5:02

we get that maybe we don't I

5:04

still believe it's a tremendous fight and and

5:07

bang up for it. Haney was saying in

5:09

the build-up to his fight with Pro Grey that

5:11

he's a one-trick pony as he worded it and

5:13

he was saying that basically if that one thing

5:15

didn't work he came unstuck is that

5:17

something you've seen plenty of him is that something that

5:20

you see? One-trick

5:23

pony you could you could say that but

5:25

I've watched Regis's fight so I remember watching

5:27

him live in 2019 when he boxed Taylor

5:29

I was at his last fight in December

5:31

I was

5:34

at his fight against the former opponent of mine

5:36

Tyrone Mckennan in Dubai so I've been

5:38

watching and I've been seeing him I know what he does I

5:40

know what he's about and you'll just

5:43

say the same about me but we've

5:45

both got a big job to do and I

5:48

left no stone unturned and I'll prepare and I'll

5:50

beat him. Just a couple more you've

5:52

mentioned other sports now you do a bit of outdoor

5:55

swimming and all that which Buncie pretends he does and

5:57

he definitely doesn't but anyway it's another story um

6:00

There's loads going on at the minute. Wimbledon,

6:02

the Euros, the Olympics coming up. What other

6:04

sports do you enjoy, whether it's watching or

6:06

participating in yourself? Yeah, we enjoy watching the

6:08

Wimbledon. My girlfriend and her family are big

6:11

into the tennis. For

6:13

me, I like all sports. Maybe not so much tuning

6:15

in and watching them, but I like being active. I

6:17

like that you said. I like going out swimming. I'm

6:20

at the gym on the badminton courts, tennis courts,

6:23

out running on the mountain bikes. I like being

6:25

out there and involved. Yeah, it's

6:27

great. I love cycling. It's a brilliant one. Finally,

6:30

then, you've mentioned that this is a brand new venue.

6:32

I mean, we've had some amazing nights of boxing in

6:34

Manchester over the years. Your coach has been involved in

6:37

it and a few of them, of course, Jamie Moore.

6:39

But this is a new chapter

6:41

now and you're getting to sort of begin

6:43

a new era of memories, especially for younger

6:45

fight fans who are going to aspire to

6:47

want to be the next Jack Catterall. How

6:50

do you mean, do you visualise that moment before

6:52

you walk out? And if so, what are you

6:54

expecting and what describe those feelings before you walk

6:56

out to a home crowd who are passionately

6:58

supporting you? Yeah, so like last time

7:00

I take all the confidence to

7:03

be able to walk out into the arena from

7:05

the weeks, the months, the years of hard work that I've

7:08

gone into to preparing for that

7:10

fight. I mean,

7:12

I work extremely hard in the gym so

7:14

you can walk out, do

7:16

your warm up in the dressing room, enter

7:18

the arena and absorb all that energy, all

7:20

that good energy. I've been in scenarios where it's

7:22

been a split crowd or a crowd

7:25

that's more supporting my opponent, but nonetheless,

7:27

you go out there, you absorb it

7:30

and I've got a job to do and when it's time to switch on,

7:32

you do that. But as far as this

7:35

one goes, it's really exciting. It's a new arena

7:38

on the road from where I live. So firstly,

7:40

grateful to be in a position to fight

7:42

here, but I'm going to make the

7:44

most of it. And final question, what's more

7:47

nerve-wracking, walking to the ring or walking down

7:49

the aisle? He did look very dapper, by the

7:51

way, but I know a lot of people are nervous on the

7:53

wedding day. You know what, and I didn't think I was going

7:55

to get nervous. I'm not a cryo. I'm

7:58

the man of the house. I've got... Because seven brothers

8:00

you've got to be tough, but when

8:03

I seen both the girls walking down the aisle

8:05

it brought me a little bit That's how it's

8:07

meant to be well listen. It's great to chat

8:09

to you What an amazing occasion and you know

8:12

it's just brilliant because you deserve this moment. You've

8:14

waited a long time It's going to inspire a lot of

8:16

people and what a fantastic new venue to start new memories

8:18

in so Best of luck and thanks for chatting to us.

8:21

Oh appreciate your time. Thank you very much So

8:24

that was Jack Catterall Relaxed

8:26

focused and present as he

8:28

mentioned in the opposite corner

8:30

of the room sat three Americans One

8:32

of them the imposing giant figure

8:34

of former bodybuilder and world-class track

8:37

star Evans Tobler the man responsible

8:40

For coaching Regis Pro Gray who

8:42

admitted when he asked how he was when I first

8:44

walked over He was really tired

8:46

having just flown in that morning Jack

8:48

lag will get to the best of us,

8:50

but despite his body clock being topsy-turvy There's

8:53

no doubt that he felt he was

8:55

exactly where he's meant to be we

8:57

chatted basketball dress sense in the UK

9:00

He doesn't seem too overly impressed by the

9:02

way we talked British fight fans and all

9:05

sorts of other stuff Including

9:07

how he's found arriving in the

9:09

UK. It's cool. This is my second

9:11

time being here This is my first time in Manchester,

9:13

but it's my second time being here, so it's cool

9:15

so far in and yeah You are dressed a little

9:17

different, but yeah Some

9:20

of the people here just are different. They don't just

9:22

dress different. They just are I

9:25

never been here. I'm gonna have to find

9:27

out You're a cool see you're allowed you

9:30

can dress how you want in

9:32

terms of them Perception then as

9:34

a fighter coming over from the US, and it's

9:36

just your second time here What's the perception of

9:39

you know boxing over here and boxing fans over

9:41

here for you? Well not

9:43

even a perception because I I did it so it's

9:45

not it's not really a perception for me If like

9:47

say for a perception will be if I didn't come

9:50

but not I know like the fans over here like

9:52

for an addict They love boxing. Yeah, how did you

9:54

find it? What was you know? What was your take

9:56

on it having been here and done it well because

9:58

I just I like it over here just because it's

10:01

like they you know they really appreciate boxing you know

10:03

like in America I mean we know

10:05

but it's way different over here in America

10:07

we compete with like football we compete with

10:09

basketball we compete with different things but over

10:11

here is it's like boxing is like if

10:13

you were boxing like you know

10:15

the top of the top so I mean of course

10:17

I'm a fighter so I like that I do like

10:20

that. Have you got all the sports that you sort

10:22

of either participating or enjoy watching? Oh

10:24

yeah I did everything I mean the first

10:27

thing I did was like karate when I was

10:29

younger I played basketball but basketball was my love.

10:31

Is that your favorite? I love basketball was. It's

10:33

a great game. I could never get into American

10:36

football or anything like that. Really? Yeah but

10:38

that's a typical English thing. You know what's

10:40

going on. Basketball I loved it and March

10:43

Madness. Yeah yeah yeah. That was just. I

10:45

loved it. Yeah I loved it. So talking

10:47

about obviously what's ahead you posted a video

10:49

recently saying that

10:52

you need goals and you were

10:54

specific about it you said you know I want it to

10:56

be two-time world champion I want to achieve

10:58

that like what's next which is a great mentality

11:00

to offer any athlete what is

11:02

it about this opponent this venue the timing

11:05

of it everything it could lead

11:07

to that was enough of a goal to

11:09

ignite that fire in you to take this

11:11

fight? Because for me I want to I

11:13

want a resume. That's that's important to be

11:15

having a resume having it's like about like

11:17

who you fought you know that's what that's

11:20

kind of when I think about boxing it's like about

11:22

everybody always say all right who did you fight you

11:24

know for me I think Jack is a real good

11:26

name that would be on my resume he is the

11:28

biggest name in the division right now without a belt

11:30

you know obviously I won't be a champion I do

11:33

want to be a champion again but this is the

11:35

biggest fight that that they can make without a belt

11:37

so that's why that's why

11:39

we're here. And I was just talking to Jack a moment

11:41

ago how both of you coming off fights that had a

11:44

real nasty streak in the build-up to

11:46

say the least you with Haney and

11:48

him with Josh Taylor this seemingly so

11:50

far is different more respectful and

11:52

courteous without that but did

11:54

how did you find that impact did you do is that natural

11:56

to you do you like having that bit of spite in it

11:58

does it not make any difference How are you now? It's

12:02

like I like it, but we got too much into

12:04

that. Like, especially me and big man over there, we

12:06

got into it too much over there. We was like,

12:08

you know, we was, it was cool,

12:10

but we just, it was just a little too much. We

12:12

got, I wanted to feel like

12:15

in the build up, it's like, all right, I want

12:17

to like go fuss when I want to fight. Like,

12:19

I remember for the, just the

12:21

way and on Friday is

12:24

like, we was ready to like

12:26

rumble. You didn't so much adrenaline and energy done

12:28

it. Yeah, we were ready to just like, like,

12:30

if something happened, like if he like

12:32

look at me wrong, not look at me, if he touched me

12:34

or something like that, like we were ready to like tear the

12:37

whole stage up, you know what I'm saying? So, but

12:39

you know, you got to leave all that energy for the

12:41

fight. And so I feel like that's, I feel like that's

12:43

how it'll be, you know, for this fight. It's just leaving

12:45

for the fight. What does fight day look

12:47

like for you? Do you have any superstitions? Do you

12:49

have a certain routine? Is it, what does it involve

12:52

sort of on the day? And then once you arrive

12:54

at whatever venue you're boxing at? Well,

12:56

fight day, yes, definitely have a routine and stuff like that.

12:58

Like they usually so now I can eat out, I'll be

13:00

back. I can eat and stuff like that again. So that'll

13:03

be cool. Um, usually just like

13:05

I said, wake up like

13:07

kinda, I will usually like wake up kind

13:09

of early always, of course, eat breakfast and

13:12

just chill in my room. Usually when I'm even like fight

13:14

week, I just. So I've been on your own on fight

13:16

day all around. Yeah, I like being, yeah. All around my

13:18

coaches and my, the same team have been in camp with

13:20

me the whole time. Not like, of course, I don't want

13:22

to be around all my friends and like my kids and

13:25

all that. They haven't been in camp with me. You know,

13:27

I'd be around the people that sing camp with me, you

13:29

know. So, um, and then just

13:31

really like chill out and waste

13:33

a good arena. You know, the waiting part is the worst

13:36

part. I'm sure you're like awful. The fight day you have

13:38

to wake up and you eat breakfast and then usually I

13:40

go back and take a nap and you have just wait

13:42

so much. And that's like the

13:45

worst part of it. You know, it's like, man, when I wake up, because

13:48

when you train, you wake up and you go straight to the

13:50

gym. Like say you spar and you go do that. Yeah. But

13:52

when you have, when it's like fight day, you have to wait.

13:54

Then you go to arena like three hours early, you have to

13:56

watch the TVs and all that stuff. Then you have to start

13:58

getting ready. It's like, man. I wish I could just go and

14:01

just go fight and go get a dope. I totally

14:03

agree. Because people have said to me

14:05

before, oh, what's that ring look like? Is it awful?

14:07

I'm like, no. It's great. It's the waiting before

14:09

it gets awful. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, you're right at

14:11

the gold one. Just a couple more, then.

14:13

You're obviously coming into Jack's backyard here in

14:16

Manchester. Is that something that you

14:18

thrive on? Does it not bother you at all?

14:20

How do you find for you fighting away from

14:22

home? I'm not tripping about it right now. I

14:25

feel like this is the best place to make

14:27

this fight, because it's going to sell more. It'll

14:30

have more fans here. For

14:33

me, I understand the business side of the box, and

14:35

so I understand that this is probably the best place

14:37

to make this fight. And finally,

14:39

then, when you have gone through all that

14:41

waiting and had your hands wrapped,

14:43

you've got your gloves on, everything's ready, and

14:45

you're just about to walk out into any

14:47

arena, home, away, wherever it might be, describe

14:50

how you feel in that moment. What's it like for you

14:52

just before you're about to make that ring walk? I

14:55

mean, you're definitely nervous. You're nervous and anxious. You're

14:57

just ready to get over with. You're nervous, but

14:59

you just want to go and get over with.

15:01

I feel like one of the

15:03

best ways I ever described this was, did

15:05

you ever watch the movie Gladiator? Yes. Russell

15:08

Crowe. Yeah, yeah. So do you remember when

15:10

it was not as- Give me a

15:12

soldier's death. It's not as

15:14

drastic as like- It's quantitative, isn't it? It's kind

15:16

of like that. You know when they walk into

15:18

that. Do you know what it is for you as

15:20

an individual, isn't it? Because it's you that's actually getting

15:22

in there against another man

15:25

who's highly trained and sort of-

15:27

Exactly. It's you all them.

15:29

So it's different circumstances, but

15:31

the brain doesn't differentiate between any types of

15:34

fear. It's still that massive adrenaline. It's

15:36

still a risk. So

15:38

if I can compare it to something, it'll

15:40

be like that. Like when the Gladiators walk

15:43

to the arena, it's

15:45

like that feeling of the nervousness but the

15:47

anxiousness too. You want to do what you've

15:49

been trained to do, but you're still nervous

15:51

about it. That's how it is. So

15:53

there you have it. Regis Progré, genuinely

15:55

decent fella. And he was equally

15:58

as measured and controlled throughout the press conference. His

16:00

coach, however, that giant fella I was telling

16:03

you about before, he really sparked

16:05

a life during the presser. That

16:07

was after Sam Jones, the outspoken manager of

16:09

Jack Catterall, started to liven things up and

16:11

push a few buttons. First chance

16:13

he got on the mic, he was on

16:15

the front foot, all out attack, and then

16:17

immediately admitted afterwards that Evans Tobler could crush

16:20

him to death with one hand at any

16:22

time. Sam was on form

16:24

though and he had some cracking one-liners, none

16:26

more so than when he asked Regis what

16:28

he was going to do once he felt

16:30

the full force of the dirty, sweaty Charlie

16:33

Jab. That in reference to

16:35

Jack's home town of Charlie and of course his

16:37

Jab. I can't remember the reply but the description

16:39

got a good laugh from everyone that's for sure.

16:42

Coming up we'll hear from promoter Eddie Hearn,

16:44

a fighter on the undercard and a man

16:47

who's been there and done it as fighter

16:49

and coach. This is

16:51

Five Life Boxing. We've

16:56

heard from both fighters embracing the

16:58

sophisticated interior of the Decibel Club

17:00

in the Co-op Live Arena. Now

17:03

it's time to hear from one man

17:05

who's no stranger to luxurious surroundings or

17:08

to delivering huge nights of

17:10

boxing. Plenty of them by the

17:12

way, right here in Manchester. It

17:14

is of course Matrin Boxing's head

17:16

honcho Eddie Hearn, but even he

17:18

hasn't had many experiences of being

17:20

the first to bring boxing to

17:23

a brand new arena. We

17:25

got into all that plus the fight itself, but

17:28

we actually start by talking about

17:30

everything he's up to outside of

17:32

boxing, including his recent 15 minutes

17:35

of football fame. I

17:38

like doing new things. I like kind of testing

17:40

myself a little bit and I think in

17:43

boxing, although you've always got the challenge to

17:45

put on good fights, I

17:47

don't feel like I've reached my ceiling but that's

17:49

why we keep going into new territories to kind

17:52

of challenge ourselves and test ourselves. But

17:54

even beyond that, it's like when I wrote a book and

17:56

like doing podcasts, like this is things that at

17:59

school I'll teach. or I would have laughed at,

18:01

do you know what I mean? And I just

18:03

like doing different stuff. And in my head, there's

18:06

so much more that I can do in my life

18:08

and my career, but I'm quite deluded. But I think

18:10

it's really good to be deluded. But you're still dead

18:12

young as well. I mean, given what you've already achieved.

18:14

I just think, I feel like you've got to be

18:16

a little bit deluded and to have

18:18

that kind of wild mind that think, I could do

18:20

anything really. I mean, I don't know, a bit of

18:22

acting. Yeah, we'll give that a go. I don't know,

18:24

you know, other sports. You did all right on the

18:26

trailers, didn't you? Yeah, not bad. Yeah, it was good

18:28

producer, to be fair. But I

18:30

don't know, I just like rolling

18:33

the dice on stuff. No call

18:35

from Southgate, though, was not the target one. No,

18:38

no, no. But after the first game, and even

18:40

the game on Sunday, maybe I thought we'd get

18:42

a call. But again, soccer, I just think, I

18:44

wasn't actually going to do soccer, and

18:47

some of the lads in the office were like,

18:49

you've got to do it. What an experience. And

18:51

it was one of the best things I've ever

18:53

done, honestly. Sports sport, yeah, it is well, isn't

18:55

it? Yeah, because I'm a, like, you know, you've

18:57

been at a good level, but I'm a failed

18:59

athlete. That's why I'm not even an athlete. I'm

19:01

just like every other bloke, middle-aged bloke, that would

19:04

have loved to have been a professional sportsman. And

19:06

I wasn't good enough. But I work in sport, and

19:08

that's like the next best thing. But

19:11

it's just like living a dream of going out. And

19:13

I'm like, on the practice, you know, three days, I've

19:15

got like Theo Walcott, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Will Shear,

19:17

David James, and we're all like- No one's got the

19:19

syndrome, then. And we're like, I'm looking at it, and

19:21

I can't believe it. I went on, when I went

19:24

on at Stanford Bridge for those famous 15 minutes, or

19:26

as some people remind me, 12. Like,

19:28

I turn around, I've got like Michael Essian there,

19:30

Patrice Everett, and Usain Bolt behind me, and I'm

19:32

actually thinking. You're actually a better not knowing who

19:35

they are, weren't you really? I know, it's amazing.

19:37

That's how people are gonna feel around you though,

19:39

aren't they? In different industries, though. Maybe in this

19:41

world, yeah. Yeah, of course they

19:43

are. I never feel that. You know,

19:45

I still feel, I guess

19:48

part of me still feels like the young kid

19:50

that used to follow my dad around, really, these

19:52

shows, you know. And I don't know,

19:55

but I think because I started there, I

19:57

never sort of feel like, you know, the

20:00

boss. sport, all like yeah I'm really

20:02

hurt and I'm just you know I

20:04

feel lucky to still be now

20:06

feel like a fan a lot of the time because

20:08

of my life isn't that important in success just like

20:10

for a fighter if they forget

20:12

what got them there yeah but I think

20:14

it can go away quickly then

20:17

you should you shouldn't pack it

20:20

in especially in boxing I mean not not

20:23

in my world but as a fighter because

20:26

it's the toughest sport in the world like that once

20:28

that love passion and hunger

20:30

goes it's time you know and fighters

20:32

carry on a long while after

20:34

that but deep down they know yeah but you're kind

20:36

of hanging on to a payday or thinking because don't

20:38

forget for a fighter when you get to 30 or

20:40

35 your career is

20:43

done it's quite a scary thought

20:45

to think well if I haven't made the

20:47

money in my career that I need to

20:49

to live a happy retirement I'm 35 especially

20:53

I haven't done anything else job I got providing

20:55

a lot of pay my mortgage you got you

20:57

know get the kids to school I got provide

20:59

for the family so you know it's and it's

21:02

you're talking about the minuscule percentages yeah that are

21:04

able to live that life from this sport you

21:06

know so I came a passenger out but it

21:08

cost me bloody fortune to play boxing anyway I

21:10

wouldn't change it and right let's talk about this

21:13

event then I mean you've put on some and

21:15

delivered some massive fighting nights in Manchester and as

21:17

a mancunian you know I've been part of being

21:19

able to enjoy that of course this is a

21:22

brand new arena though I mean it's it's

21:24

hard to describe just how amazing it is I mean

21:26

it does feel it's like getting in a brand new

21:28

car isn't it that certain smell and the whole place

21:30

is like that what was it that

21:32

made you want to put on the first matroom

21:34

show here for a new era of Manchester boxing?

21:36

You know they're an arena group that we deal

21:39

with a lot I mean last week we were

21:41

at the footprint center in Phoenix which is another

21:43

one of their venues next week we're in Wells

21:45

Fargo in Philadelphia for Duron Ennis that's another one

21:47

of their venues and they told us about this

21:49

obviously a long time ago and I

21:51

think in British boxing you know you've got those two

21:53

big flagship arenas you've got the O2 and you've got

21:56

Manchester Arena and when you do a big fight they're

21:59

the two venues that you look to

22:01

hire and they're not often available because

22:03

of the size and big acts wanna

22:05

hire the venue out. So this

22:07

adds another dimension. It's also 23,000

22:09

and the biggest arena in Europe.

22:12

But whenever there's, you know, I was thinking

22:15

about arenas that have opened since

22:17

I've been promoting boxing. Leeds is one

22:19

of them, but actually beyond that, like

22:21

I don't really, the O2 actually opened

22:23

when I first started out in boxing

22:25

and we had Froch Kessler there like

22:28

back in the day, and

22:30

I remember when that opened, it was like, wow, it was like this walking

22:32

in here. You know, the taps, they've got

22:34

no handles. Smells of some shells now.

22:36

I know, even the toilets smell great. So it

22:39

won't last forever, but they do a good job.

22:41

And I just feel like they're gonna be very

22:43

hungry to bring big events here.

22:45

The UFC's coming here, you know, I think

22:47

a month before us, they've done a huge

22:49

gate. And we know that casual

22:51

prograe, whilst it's a huge

22:54

fight, it's not AJ Fury. So

22:56

unlikely we'll do the 23, but

22:58

we're gonna go double digits and build a

23:01

great card here because fans are excited for

23:03

the fight. But also, you know,

23:05

there is an element of coming here for the first

23:07

time to watch boxing. And there'll be a lot of fans that

23:09

come here for this that wouldn't come for something else, like music concert

23:11

or whatever it might be. So in

23:13

terms of this fight itself, then you've said

23:15

a number of times, it was really, really

23:17

easy to make, which makes everybody's jobs easier.

23:20

But how important is it for Jack at this stage

23:22

of his career and for Regis at his point

23:25

as well? The best fights are the ones

23:27

that get made unexpectedly and quite quickly as

23:29

well. So we were looking at

23:31

Arnold Barbosa, who with all due respect is

23:33

not in Regis's class, in my opinion, but

23:35

he's number two with the WBO. And,

23:38

you know, as good as Jack Catchel, Josh

23:40

Taylor was, it was still quite depressing after

23:42

that, when you think like, Jack should be

23:44

undisputed world champion. But that fight

23:46

in Leeds was a lot closer than the

23:48

one in Scotland, right? That he also won,

23:51

but never got the decision. So there's an

23:53

element of, I feel like if Jack doesn't

23:55

get another shot at the world title, like

23:58

it would be an injustice. But

24:00

in the meantime, there's no point just sitting around.

24:02

And that was the thing that impressed me most

24:04

about Jack. He said, look, because of the Josh

24:06

Taylor saga, I feel like I've kind of sat

24:08

around for a long time. And

24:10

actually, I want to get active. I'd

24:12

like to fight two more times this year. I'm like, well, if you

24:14

want to do that, you really need to fight in August. Well,

24:17

that's great, you know. I'm getting married next week, and then

24:19

I'll get back in the gym. I was saying to most

24:21

people happy with the week and bed at the summer, is

24:24

that an absolute blind? So I said, are you sure? He

24:26

said, no, I really want to be active. So he said,

24:28

I'll fight anyone. And Regis was coming

24:30

off the defeat to Devin Haney. I

24:32

didn't expect him to take it, because I would have

24:35

thought he would want to fight an easy fight

24:37

in New Orleans or Houston or wherever. Different direction,

24:39

yeah. He said, no, I need to challenge myself.

24:41

And I think he's so good for boxing that

24:43

outside of the World Championships, the best in the

24:45

division are fighting as well. Because Jack

24:47

could have just waited. And you've got a few of them in this team, didn't

24:49

you? And I look at this now, I think the winner of this will go

24:51

on to be number one with a WBO, and

24:53

probably be mandatory for Tiafimo Lopez.

24:56

Or should fight Liam Parro, our other guy, who's world champion

24:58

in one quarter. Either in a massive fight as well. Yeah,

25:00

exactly. But the winner of this fight,

25:02

I will make sure fights for a World Championship, because

25:05

they've risked it. And that's what you want in

25:07

the sport. Fight has put it on the line. And a

25:09

final question then, the undercard, I've had a couple

25:11

announced already. I mean, this

25:14

is one of those that locally people have

25:16

just come in to support Jack anyway. I

25:18

really need to build a special night of

25:20

boxing, because in the new arena,

25:22

I want four or five fights where people go, oh, that's a

25:24

good fight, oh, that's a good fight, oh, it's a good night

25:26

of boxing. Well, we had an interior, we

25:29

had a Dixon, Terry Alpers, he's a Baltimore, isn't he?

25:31

You've got a Women's World Championship, two Brits, one from

25:33

Warrington, one from Sheffield. And they've both got great backstories

25:35

as well, haven't they? That's a great fight. William

25:38

Crowler, who we've just signed out of a razor sharp,

25:41

starts with his career. Campbell Hatton, we've battle,

25:43

obviously, City Graham, just the stones throw. But

25:46

also, we need two or three big championship fights as well,

25:48

and we'll announce those next week, because we want to put

25:50

a special night of boxing here, Co-op Live on August 24th.

25:53

Brilliant, we can't wait. Thanks for your time. Thank

25:55

you. Eddie Hearn then, ready to bring us more

25:58

big nights of boxing, since his football career. hasn't

26:00

quite taken off. So as

26:02

well as the headline fight there is the

26:05

promise of a stellar undercard. We want lots

26:07

of championship fights for this big occasion at

26:09

this special venue. Those are the words of

26:11

Eddie Hearn during the press conference. We don't

26:14

yet know everyone who will feature on the

26:16

undercard but we do know one of the

26:18

contests and it's an absolute cracker. The

26:21

WBO World Lightweight title is on

26:23

the line. Currently it belongs to

26:25

Rhiannon Dixon and the woman she'll

26:27

be defending it against, Terri Harper,

26:29

has the opportunity to become a

26:31

three-weight world champion. Both of

26:33

them have great stories in and out of

26:36

the ring and two of the most likable characters in

26:38

boxing. Unfortunately Terri wasn't able to

26:40

be there but I did manage to catch

26:42

up with Rhiannon after the press conference in

26:44

the posh room where we reminisced about sparring

26:47

together a few years back her fairy tale

26:49

journey so far and boxing at the new

26:51

arena. She was relaxed in good

26:53

spirits and cruising around in a fairly dodgy

26:56

pair of up slippers but we'll overlook that

26:58

and concentrate on what it's going to be

27:00

like being under the lights on the big

27:03

stage in just a few weeks time. I

27:05

actually thought Terri Harper was older than me you

27:07

know because she's been around for such a long

27:10

time obviously you know starting a lightweight then

27:12

she went down to super featherweight and just come

27:14

like went for opportunities when they became available and

27:16

then going up to super and then she's back

27:19

down at a natural weight now but I

27:21

think it's a really interesting fight and a

27:23

fight I'm really excited for. And

27:25

it's pretty incredible because not only of

27:27

you to add you know really interesting

27:29

you know ascendancy in terms of what's

27:31

happened in the ring but also you've

27:34

got really interesting back stories and

27:36

you know you've obviously had your pharmaceutical background

27:39

she worked in the chip shop it's like

27:41

High Street Wars isn't it? It's amazing isn't

27:43

it to look at you haven't come through

27:45

that perhaps what people might consider the traditional

27:49

pathway of you know international amateur boxing

27:51

or anything like that so there's a

27:53

real inspirational story of you two coming

27:55

together as well outside the ring. Yeah

27:57

definitely and to be in an arena

27:59

like this and for a world title. I

28:01

think it proves to young girls, not like five

28:03

year olds, six year olds, because they can get

28:05

into the sport now. But you know, like older

28:08

girls who are like 20, 21, it's

28:10

never too old to get into boxing or a sport that

28:12

you like or anything, really, because

28:14

me and Terry did it. The

28:16

credit to both of you, because you're saying

28:18

that and it isn't too late and you're

28:20

right, but you also have to be prepared

28:23

to take those risks, yes, the opportunities, but

28:25

they're also risks, aren't they? And both of

28:27

you have done that, you know, gone out

28:29

your comfort zone, taking fights

28:31

that people have considered a stretch or a

28:33

challenge. You've both done that, which is why

28:36

you're here now and you deserve this opportunity,

28:38

both of you. Yeah, definitely. And

28:40

people keep on like saying to me, oh, you

28:42

know, this is a really hard test. But I

28:45

feel like all my other fights I've had, Katarina

28:47

Fandas, Karen, they've all been like harder

28:49

tests. And I feel like this is a natural

28:51

progression for me. Like I'm a world champion now.

28:53

You can't turn around and say, oh, I don't

28:55

want to fight that person. You want

28:57

to fight the biggest names. Is she on

28:59

your radar at any point? Because obviously we

29:02

all know in boxing people at or around

29:04

your weight, you've kind of got

29:06

half an eye on them because you think maybe down

29:08

the line that could happen. Has she been on

29:10

your radar? I mean, initially when I turned over professional,

29:12

yeah, because we were in the same way or

29:14

there about where she went up to super well to

29:16

where I thought she looked really good at the way,

29:19

you know, like it was a natural weight. So

29:21

I didn't think there was any chance of her ever

29:23

coming back down. But obviously things were going wrong

29:25

up there or I don't know why she wanted to

29:27

leave it. But now she's come back down to

29:29

her natural weight. So as soon as she said, they

29:32

said, oh, you know, we'll fight a one

29:34

four seven and then go back down to one four

29:36

five. I thought, oh, right. Well, he's back. You're back

29:38

on my radar again. How's it feel

29:40

being here in the Co-op live arena? I mean,

29:42

it's brand new, obviously your local I'm local. We

29:45

knew about this for ages and you have heard

29:47

about it and there's been concerts on

29:49

and you know, now you're actually fighting here,

29:51

which I've got to imagine wasn't in your

29:53

mind when you first heard about this arena

29:55

opening. What's it like being here and seeing

29:57

it for the first time and knowing going

30:00

to actually be fighting here next month. It's

30:02

crazy because obviously we've come into this press

30:04

conference and it looked so boujee like just

30:06

listen put a few LED lights in front

30:08

of me I'm amazed. It smells like a

30:11

brand new car. So I came in there

30:13

was a woman showing me around everywhere offering

30:15

me drink tea coffee everyone was saying the

30:17

tea and coffee were dead boujee and

30:20

then there was that massive LED screen and I

30:22

thought whoa this is big time big time. And

30:24

how does that feel then when you get that

30:26

sense of how big an occasion is? Is it

30:28

adrenaline? Is it nerves? It is what's what's that

30:30

feeling for you then when it dawns on you?

30:32

This is big. Oh do you know what I

30:35

love it because I can go home and say

30:37

to mum and dad oh I'm fighting out of

30:39

that couple. You know what what are your other

30:41

kids doing? Nothing nothing on me. Sibling

30:44

rivalry. Sibling rivalry. I think you've trumped them

30:46

this time. I'm definitely one up now. What

30:48

about fighting here so locally

30:50

for you? I mean do you do

30:52

you prefer that? Is there extra pressure? Is it

30:55

great having extra support as opposed to fighting away

30:57

from home? Oh I love it like Manchester's like

30:59

a second home to me. I went to university

31:01

of Manchester so it's a place that holds a lot a

31:03

big place in my heart so I love it and I

31:06

love like I love coming out after it. I love all

31:08

my friends and family being here and coming out. Come here

31:10

I'm into this nice night club. I ain't well they let

31:12

me in. 40 and a hundred quid jumping. Am I not

31:14

getting? I might say sorry not

31:16

tonight love not with them shoes. That's all I

31:18

thought I'd offer the last after this one. I

31:21

know it's all I buy everyone like please I've

31:23

just fought. What have you seen in Terry Harper

31:25

that both impresses you but also where you see

31:27

those openings for you to exploit or as much

31:30

as you feel comfortable talking about

31:32

tactically? I mean you've got to give her a

31:34

lot of accolade for what she's done at such

31:36

a young age you know she's been in be

31:38

evil wall-stream some big names who were reigning champions

31:40

for a long time and loads of

31:43

different weights as well. But obviously

31:45

you know I'm not taking it lightly

31:47

she's very good but

31:50

I do believe I'm better and there's a lot of

31:52

things that she does really well but

31:54

there's a lot of things that she does wrong as well and

31:57

obviously you know Anthony is good. going to come up with

31:59

a game plan. He says he's going to come up with

32:01

a game plan. We'll say. I have to say the banter

32:03

between all of you, but you

32:06

two and the others in the gym, it's

32:08

first class. I think I was put on Earth to

32:10

humble him. I think I was put on

32:12

Earth to humble him. I actually don't like

32:14

him. You absolutely torture him. Do you know what it

32:17

is? Yeah, right. He shares everything about them, craft twins

32:19

and Will and all the other lads in the gym

32:21

apart from James. He doesn't share anything about me. So

32:23

I think, do you know what? Right. I'm going to

32:25

edit your face to make you ugly. 100%. I make

32:28

him fat and I make him ugly. So I

32:30

think if you're not going to share me. Don't

32:33

need a lot. Not much editing. They think they're

32:35

ready to. They're not. Just back and real. So

32:37

I just edit his pictures all the time. So I think

32:39

that's how I'm going to get you back. I think it's,

32:41

how is that though, that relationship with you two? Because clearly

32:44

that works for you both and it's important to

32:46

have that and it's different for everyone and what

32:48

works for one doesn't work for another. Why does

32:50

that work for you and everyone in your gym?

32:52

I don't know. You know, I think it's just

32:54

kind of the environment that we've all built. Like

32:56

I think in the beginning it was me, Jake,

32:58

James, Dylan and James Morcroft. And

33:00

I think it's just the environment we've built. But

33:03

like we're all friends at the end of the

33:05

day and we all do really care and want

33:07

the best for each other. And I feel like

33:09

I've built this team around me with like Paul,

33:11

Dom, Anthony, Martin, Johnny, and these people actually genuinely

33:14

care about me. So I know

33:16

that if they believe in me and say I'm

33:18

doing things right or like you'll literally be on

33:20

my ass if I've done something wrong. Like it's

33:22

a big team, isn't it? Yeah. And finally, this

33:24

is one of the things I mean, there are

33:26

so many things to love about sport. But

33:29

one of the things that I love is that, you know, you and

33:31

I many moons ago, we're sparring

33:33

together at Hatton's gym when you were sort of

33:35

just starting out really, you're with other trainers then

33:37

of course. And I think I was coming back

33:40

from yet another injury or whatever it was. And

33:42

now here we are sort of

33:44

sat chatting about you being on

33:47

the undercard of a massive fighting, a massive arena

33:49

in Manchester. I mean, that's you

33:52

have to pinch yourself sometimes or how

33:54

do you feel about it? To think back then

33:56

now I'm a world champion. I like I had

33:59

no experience. I remember getting my ass

34:01

handed to me by you. It's just... And

34:04

it's just, yeah, it is a pinch-me-moment. I think

34:07

it'll be a massive pinch-me-moment when I walk out

34:09

and, like, it's everyone's there and it's that. What

34:11

are those feelings for you like? Like, you know,

34:14

just before you're about to walk

34:16

out, you know, you've picked your ring, walk song, you know what

34:18

to expect, you know who's going to

34:20

be there, you know, you've got a feel for

34:22

the atmosphere, the arena, you know, all your kit

34:24

you've chosen, everything's done. What are

34:27

those feelings like for you just before you walk

34:29

out? Do you know what it's like? You probably

34:31

feel like yourself, like, you've just got a job

34:33

at hand and I'm really fortunate that I've got

34:35

Ross. Ross has got his seconds license and he's

34:38

allowed in my corner, so you are there with

34:40

me before I walk out, aren't you? So

34:44

it's just a nice moment between us and

34:46

then it's just kind of like... Not a usual date

34:48

now, is it? No, it's not a usual date. Unusual.

34:50

Yeah, yeah. But it works. Well,

34:53

listen, I'm delighted for you. You

34:55

deserve it. You've fantastic role model and

34:57

a fighter that's just come on and on and on

34:59

and are absorbing everything in every experience that you have

35:02

in and out the ring, which is just a wonderful

35:04

thing to see. So can't wait to watch you in

35:06

action on the 24th and thanks for chatting to us.

35:09

Thank you. So

35:11

we've heard from the fighters, we've heard from

35:13

the promoter, but there's one other

35:15

man I really wanted to chat to before I

35:17

left, a proper boxing chat

35:19

with a proper boxing man who's been

35:22

there and done it as a fighter

35:24

and now he's living it as a

35:26

coach. And that man is Jamie Moore.

35:28

He himself, a British, European and Commonwealth

35:30

champion now enjoying great success as a

35:33

coach. He's been full circle on the

35:35

boxing roller coaster, but what a ride

35:37

it continues to be. We talk about

35:39

his memories of big boxing nights in

35:41

Manchester, his approach to tactics for fights,

35:44

his acting career, yes, really, and so

35:46

much more. And by the way, we

35:48

were being kicked out of the venue,

35:50

so we didn't get to chat in

35:52

the high class joint we'd enjoyed earlier,

35:55

but the alternative was even

35:57

better. So we've just

35:59

been inside the brand new... snazzy co-op

36:01

live arena and nonetheless

36:04

in this amazing so-called nightclub part

36:06

the VIP bit where my head

36:08

probably already mentioned the shampers is

36:11

1400 quid a bottle so I've got a few of

36:13

them in my bag along with a couple of lamps

36:15

and cushions and no I'm just kidding but

36:17

now it's slightly different scenery because I'm

36:19

outside in Jamie

36:22

Moore's van yeah I know where I'd

36:24

rather be absolutely this van every time

36:26

it's done so mileage this in more

36:28

than more than one way I'm not

36:30

gonna ask there's a couple

36:32

of body bags in the back

36:35

the last video I saw of you that came up

36:37

a couple of weeks ago I'd

36:39

never heard this story before was about Trav

36:41

Nigel Travis of you coped it obviously and

36:45

dragging you into Peaky Blinders and you're having

36:47

a chat with another cast member saying

36:50

takes ages this done it did you do much of this

36:52

and it was killing the lead cast member

36:55

so as Hollywood beckons to

36:57

be honest probably one of the

36:59

most embarrassing moments in my life

37:01

but you hang about with traps

37:03

and we live in there I've

37:05

actually become not embarrassed by

37:08

night anymore because it's that frequent the embarrassment

37:10

you got in back though with pants down

37:12

didn't you yeah you know what proud of

37:14

you he gets everybody he gets everybody with

37:16

a d-bag and a couple of times I've

37:19

got him now but the only thing is

37:21

I don't film it yeah so someone did

37:23

though someone's filmed one of them yeah

37:25

I think it was in the gym and you

37:27

know what it was somebody was in filming a

37:29

bit of a documentary the one I saw was

37:31

it like a kitchen it's like

37:34

a gathering like it's some sort of gathering

37:36

party about a reason Jack's

37:38

wedding that was recently I've been there it

37:40

was a good way Jack's wedding he was in the

37:42

kitchen yeah the night before yeah I forgot about

37:46

that well anyway Hollywood's loss yeah do you

37:49

know what to be fair last night had

37:51

a conversation with my missus watching TV said

37:53

you know what I reckon I

37:55

could be a good actor and she just looked

37:57

at me with a bit of like a sad

38:00

I went, okay, maybe not. I

38:02

think you could. Speaking of acting,

38:05

that was a great press conference, wasn't

38:07

it? And I was

38:09

talking to Jack and I was talking to Regis

38:11

about the fact that they're both coming off of

38:14

the back of fights. There was loads of bad blood in

38:16

the build-up. And it was like genuine. Yeah, of course.

38:18

It was a proper needle. This

38:20

is very different, a bit more like the Linares environment

38:23

so far anyway, where it's been Curtis, respectful. There's a

38:25

great deal of respect between the two of them. And

38:28

then of course, Sam Jones is

38:31

the manager, Jack's manager. And then

38:33

Evans, of course, the coach of

38:35

Regis got it

38:37

going. And your face was a picture because you're just

38:39

smiling all the way through like you're just enjoying it.

38:41

But it was in good humour, I thought as well.

38:44

Yeah, he spiced it up. Especially the, how are you

38:46

going to cope with a dirty, sweaty, chawly

38:48

jab was the question to Sam. And do you

38:50

know what, Sam, he's like my

38:52

mate. People love him, people hate him.

38:54

But I love him to bits. I think he's

38:57

brilliant. He's such a good manager. He brings something

38:59

to it though. You've got two quiet fighters

39:01

or quiet sofa. Exactly. He brings another element,

39:03

doesn't he? He did. He livened it up

39:05

today. And his work

39:07

ethic as a manager is second

39:09

to none. I've

39:11

never seen anything like it. For instance,

39:13

the Josh Taylor rematch would never, ever,

39:15

ever happen if it wasn't for his

39:18

work ethic and his determination to get

39:20

it done. For three months, I had

39:22

him on the phone on FaceTime, near

39:24

enough every night with

39:26

different scenarios saying this is never going to

39:28

happen. I'm going to go to

39:30

Ben Shalom because I've told Eddie. If

39:33

he's not going to do it, I'm going to make them

39:35

do it. Sky want to put it on, which he was

39:37

right. Then it was going to Saudi Arabia.

39:40

Then Eddie realised the value in the fight

39:42

and wanted to put it. It was a

39:44

scenario like I've never seen before. And it

39:46

only got made because of Sam Jones. So

39:48

there's his props. Now, his

39:51

value also is in a bit

39:53

of comedy. Jack

39:56

and Pro But

40:00

Sam Jones is always good for a

40:03

bit of entertainment, but I

40:05

believe he's right I think you

40:07

know as good as progress I've

40:09

always been a massive believer in Jack Carroll

40:12

and I just feel like I said four

40:14

years ago I said Jack Carroll is the best

40:16

140 pound fighter in the world He's

40:19

just not had the opportunity to prove it yet and when

40:21

he does you'll see you have a

40:23

really good Relationship with your fighters it's clear from

40:25

the outside and people on the inside know it

40:27

that yes You want them to fulfill a potential

40:29

in the ring? But you also really care about

40:31

them and you know you've got like say a

40:33

real relationship with them What is

40:36

this chapter in Jack's life? You

40:38

know beyond boxing? He's personal he's

40:41

personal from the point of view that Like

40:44

when when you have a relationship like we've had

40:46

with Jack, you know he came to us in

40:51

2018 I think I want to say maybe yeah, it's

40:54

2018 So

40:56

he's talking six years. We've had him and along

40:59

that journey We've

41:02

had a lot down We've been sat in the gym It

41:05

was at a point in the time where he was a

41:07

mandatory challenger for the world title And it looked like it

41:09

was never gonna happen Eventually

41:11

when everything opened back up you

41:13

have the scenario where they said

41:15

Ramirez. He's gonna fight hook up

41:17

the unification fight happened Then

41:19

Jack could have fought the winner of that then they

41:21

said Josh Taylor wants to fight Ramirez Become

41:24

undisputed and if you do that they

41:27

both said they'll fight you You know

41:29

they'll fight you we had all

41:31

that scenario Jack in all this time. He's going

41:33

to us in the gym. I Need

41:36

to get a job, you know, I can't

41:38

you said that before you pay the bills Yeah,

41:40

I'm never good. You know, this isn't meant to

41:42

be for me. You know, we have we've lived

41:45

through that with him. So on

41:48

that night in Scotland in 2022 I Grabbed

41:52

him by the face and I said see

41:54

I told you it all Happen

41:57

it all come together for you. I was

41:59

so happy for him and then five minutes later he

42:02

got snatched away from him and

42:05

at that point in time I thought

42:08

do you know what he was right he

42:10

should have walked away from it and just had

42:12

nothing to do with it but

42:16

that's how it gets you though that role emotion isn't

42:18

it? I feel like and

42:20

not just in this particular

42:22

instance but in every aspects in life

42:24

everything happens for a reason and

42:26

eventually when he does win a world title it'll make

42:29

it all that most we are. It's going to be

42:31

unbelievable when he does and I know that you do

42:33

live and breathe it with them and I know you're

42:35

quite a philosophical person as well aren't you? Stick

42:37

to your values in the way that you deal with

42:39

with your fighters in and out the ring and I

42:43

know you said recently you're just glad to get Josh

42:45

Taylor off your mind and not to think about him

42:47

anymore which I totally understand when it

42:49

comes to thinking about fighting because obviously you know

42:51

somebody might not even be on your radar and

42:53

once you know you're fighting them or your fighters

42:55

fighting them that's it you are consumed by it

42:57

now as a fighter that might mean you're thinking

43:00

about them every waking hour or

43:02

just when you're in the gym or watching footage

43:04

or whatever for you how did

43:06

that manifest as a fighter when you were

43:08

focused on opponent and how is it different

43:10

all the same now focusing on someone you're

43:12

gonna be facing as a coach? I tend

43:15

to go about it the same way as

43:17

a fighter and I'd watch whoever

43:19

the particular fighter was I was fighting and

43:22

I'd watch a certain amount of

43:24

footage until the point where I'd seen flaws

43:26

or stuff what I knew I could get

43:28

to or I could work on stuff to

43:30

get to him and then I wouldn't watch

43:32

him anymore because a couple

43:34

of times I'd done it and attended

43:36

to second-guess myself and overthink

43:39

it and go around in circles

43:41

and then I'd complicate it for

43:43

myself and I

43:45

found the same doing it with the

43:48

fighters the difference is now I've

43:51

got nine fighters so

43:53

I don't know at different

43:55

levels at different levels and early on in the

43:57

careers you don't have to analyze it as well

43:59

much because there's not as much

44:01

thought needed. And after

44:03

time you don't know the opponent till three days

44:06

before anyway so it's a different development isn't it?

44:08

And the talent will take him through a

44:10

lot of the time on its own but when you get

44:12

to the high echelons of the

44:14

sport it takes a lot of homework,

44:17

a lot of repetition, you

44:19

know going through these... Do

44:21

you enjoy that bit? I love it. The tactical

44:24

side of it I love and I learnt a

44:26

lot of that from Oliver. Oliver

44:28

Harris and my coach was a massive

44:30

believer in tactics and he said

44:32

this to me a lot of the loads of times. He

44:34

said a lesser

44:37

fighter will be a

44:40

better fighter than them if they get

44:42

the tactics right. And he

44:44

was right and he shot... He'd

44:47

sit there with me and we'd watch videos of

44:49

fights and he'd explain it, you know the reason

44:51

why this guy was going to win and I

44:53

was like you're an

44:55

absolute genius. And I feel

44:57

like I've took all those lessons

44:59

on board and I'm passing that on to my fighters now

45:01

as well. But

45:04

I'm also a big believer in you've got to have

45:07

time away. Because if you don't have

45:09

time away, number one

45:12

you overkill it and number

45:14

two you end up... I

45:16

would love to do this now

45:18

until the day hopefully I'll go to sleep one

45:21

night and I won't wake up. Everyone

45:23

wants to go out like a light. Hopefully

45:26

I'll be 80 years old and I want to be

45:28

involved in this sport until then because I love it. I

45:30

don't want to be involved in it where it consumes

45:32

your life that much that you get sick of it

45:34

and go I don't want to be involved in it anymore.

45:36

What do you do for that break from it? I'm

45:39

a big family man. So my

45:41

wife's my best mate and I

45:43

go home and tonight I go home I'll

45:45

have a glass of wine, we'll watch a

45:47

better teller, we'll have a chat, we'll talk

45:49

about stuff and boxing's off out

45:52

of bounds. We can't talk about boxing because it's not

45:54

healthy. It consumes it all. And then when I wake

45:56

up in the morning I'll have a couple of hours

45:58

before I go to the gym and I do my

46:00

own work. Before I go to the gym,

46:02

it's like it's fresh in my mind and I know what I've got

46:04

to do work on when I fight. Do you know what's great about

46:06

that as well because boxing, I'd

46:09

say probably more than other sports in some

46:11

ways, but every sport's the same, that the

46:13

ups and downs are massive and there isn't

46:15

a high, you'll know you've had them as

46:18

big as anyone, those highs, there's nothing else

46:20

in your life, you can't get it again,

46:22

you can't replicate it and the lows are

46:24

the same and having that normalcy and that

46:27

what really matters core, like families are foundation,

46:29

is great for both because everyone thinks a

46:31

lot of people got in the down times,

46:33

no when you come off their minds, you

46:36

need that normal, whatever that normal is to you

46:38

and that core foundation as much as you do in

46:40

the low times. So important. And that's why it's great

46:43

that you talk about it because that's something hopefully that

46:45

your fighters will get from you as well. Exactly and

46:47

you know what I feel like's important as well

46:50

is when we're

46:53

lucky that the vast majority of the time our

46:55

fighters win, they don't

46:58

need me to help them celebrate a win, but

47:00

I'll tell you what, they need you when they lose a fight because

47:03

they're lost and they don't know what to

47:05

do and I've been there and I

47:08

know what it's like so I feel like it's more

47:10

important for me to be there for me fighters when

47:12

they lose than it is when they win because

47:15

they've got everybody's there when

47:17

you win. They've got 20 mates, 30 mates who

47:19

want to go out with them, they've got all

47:21

the fun they want to celebrate with them and

47:23

rightly so, but when they lose the

47:25

phone doesn't mean... And it's also people don't know what to say. Whereas

47:28

because you've been there you know when to speak,

47:30

when not to speak. No you're right. I think

47:33

for some people it's not always that they don't

47:35

want to, they just don't know what to

47:37

say and it's a bit they don't say anything

47:39

they know they just don't contact them or

47:41

they don't come near them whereas you've been there.

47:43

The final question is I mean there's been

47:45

some fantastic nights of boxing in Manchester you've

47:48

obviously been part of some of them in

47:50

that war with Macklin. That's gone down in

47:52

British and Manchester boxing folklore hasn't it? It's

47:54

etched in people's memories. So in

47:57

terms of starting a brand new era literally because

47:59

this is a brand new venue, first time that

48:01

boxing would have been at it to be part

48:03

of that, with a fighter like Jackie you've been

48:05

through all these ups and downs with. This,

48:08

I mean how special do you feel it's going

48:10

to be when, you know, I don't know your

48:12

routine in terms of, you know, what you're doing,

48:14

the change you're doing before or when you walk

48:16

out or behind and what, you know, it's different

48:19

for each coach and boxer isn't it? But when you

48:21

walk out, I mean, wow, what's that going to be

48:23

like? Unbelievable. The

48:25

atmosphere for Jack's fight last time was

48:28

phenomenal, but it was in Leeds and

48:30

it sort of, for me,

48:32

it should have been in Manchester. Well, Liverpool

48:34

was good, but that wasn't the same as

48:36

Manchester, it's different, isn't it? Exactly. And this

48:39

was available for the Josh Taylor rematch and

48:41

Josh didn't want to come to Manchester because

48:43

it was Jack's sort of hometown, which was

48:45

unfortunate because it would have been, and

48:48

they would have sold this out, you know, they did 11,000 or whatever

48:50

in Leeds, they

48:52

would have sold this arena out. But I'm

48:55

so proud to be part of this because

48:59

I've went to the M.A. Arena when I was like

49:01

16 years old or something

49:03

and watched Nigel Benfort,

49:06

Steve Collins, and over

49:09

the years watched Ricky Harton fight there so many

49:11

times, I boxed there myself a couple of times,

49:14

this is going to be the new arena for Manchester.

49:16

And we were just laughing in there about

49:18

it with Nigel saying, as

49:21

the years go on now, over the next 10, 15

49:23

years, we're going to come to some huge fights here

49:25

and we're always going to be able to walk in

49:27

and go, guess what? We were first. We were part

49:29

of the first big fight here. And what a part

49:31

of history that's going to be. And I think what's

49:34

lovely is that every generation of boxing

49:36

fans in Manchester have got,

49:38

and you know, boxers, they've boxed at

49:40

any level, whether it's just Amateurs or

49:42

the Gonpro, they've got their memory of

49:44

their era in the arena or the

49:46

G-MEX, you know, wherever it is, they've

49:49

had those memories of it, of whether

49:51

it was Hatton era, Crawler era, whatever.

49:53

And when you go back in the

49:55

gym the week after with, you know,

49:57

his million dollar song gone and you're over it around.

50:00

going, I'm being crawler. Gives you goosebumps.

50:02

Yeah, there's gonna be a whole generation inspired by

50:04

Jack of kids who want to want to be him now

50:06

and that's what you did for our generation and he's going

50:08

to do it for the next and it's how special for

50:10

you to have been part of it multiple generations. It's amazing.

50:12

If you can leave a little mark on the sport

50:14

or your love then what a

50:17

compliment that is. So like you say

50:19

there, Ricky, Auntie Crawler, people like that

50:21

who've had such an impact, such an

50:23

impact is massive and

50:25

if Jack Carroll can have anything like

50:27

the impact he's had on this arena

50:30

here then it'll be somewhat special. Manchester,

50:33

it's just the best city in the world. Absolutely. So

50:36

there we go, we've talked champagne, basketball, big

50:38

fights and Hollywood and half this mob seem

50:40

to have an idea of making it in

50:42

the movies but if they do

50:45

we've already got a star cast who've

50:47

got an intriguing plot, drama, well that's

50:49

guaranteed and tonight they all graced boxing's

50:51

equivalent of the red carpet for a

50:53

press conference which had an extra splash

50:56

of razzmatazz and a big dollop of

50:58

glamour held in the shiny pristine co-op

51:00

live arena. Those fancy surroundings

51:02

though outside the ring will be in

51:04

stark contrast to the action in the

51:06

ring in just a few weeks time. Some

51:09

big acts have performed here in the few

51:11

months since it opened but nothing compares to

51:13

the atmosphere brought by the

51:15

coming together of elite fighters in

51:18

the most brutal stage show of them all.

51:20

Catterall, Pro Grey,

51:23

24th of August. Once you'll be back with

51:25

your next time but I've been Stacey Copeland

51:27

and this is Five Live Boxing. How

51:30

would a world heavyweight boxing champion call if

51:32

they were left alone on the desert island?

51:35

When you're preparing for a fight a

51:37

big part of it is isolation, this

51:39

preparation to get ready for battle and

51:41

to be victorious. Hello

51:43

I'm Lauren Laverne, presenter of Desert

51:45

Island Discs from BBC Radio 4

51:47

and I'm here to tell you

51:49

about a very special castaway, the

51:52

world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.

51:54

When you look at a lion and they're showing affection

51:56

you think oh they're so amazing I'd love to give

51:58

one of those a cuddle. Then

52:01

you put a gazelle in front of a line

52:03

and you see it's pupil widen. I feel we

52:06

all have that nature, right? When it's time to

52:08

eat, I love to hunt. That's just in my

52:10

nature. Anthony Joshua on

52:12

Desert Island Discs. Listen on

52:14

BBC Sounds.