BORN: Bradford
MARRITAL STATUS: single
FAMILY: 5 brothers, two sisters
FIRST STARTED BOXING: 11yrs old – went to the gym with a friend who was already into it, helped with self-defence
FAMILY LINKS WITH BOXING: dad boxed back in Jamaica
MOST ADMIRED BOXER: Sugar Ray Leonard stands alone. Also loved the Benn, Eubank, Watson era. Rated Bomber Graham but thought his style was too brave for me to try! Bomber was the best British fighter never to win a world title
AMATEUR EXPERIENCE: 119 fights, 80 wins; boxed Ryan Rhodes, Dean Francis, Steven Bendall, Michael Jones and Shea Neary.
AGE TURNED Pro: 22
QUALIFICATIONS OUTSIDE THE RING: qualified computer service engineer, spent two years at technical college in Bradford
WHY CHOOSE WINCOBANK TO TRAIN AS A PRO?: As an amateur my natural style was already similar to the Ingle way, based on reflexes and switching. My amateur trainer, Alec Allan, convinced to come down to Sheffield to train and refine my skills with Brendan and his sons
BEST OPPONENT: technically it was Zab Judah, but the hardest fight I ever had was against Lovemore N’dou after I’d broken my hand. To be honest, unlike some prospects I’ve had danger fights all the way through my career – when I fought Jan Piet Bergman (1998) he was ranked #3 in the world by the IBF and it was only my tenth pro fight!
TOP TIP FOR A YOUNG FIGHTER: Get the right trainer!
FIGHTER FOR THE FUTURE: Muhsen Nasser – he’s fast, he’s got the skills and the determination to train and succeed. He WILL come through.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN TEN YEARS TIME: a retired champion! I’d also like to become a trainer. |
