ITโS a strange old place, Jeddah. Itโs where I had my last fight, against Callum Smith in the World Boxing Super Series final, in September 2018. I lost.
Since then, Amir Khan and Anthony Joshua have boxed in Saudi Arabia too, but by the time AJ fought there, it was similar to what weโre used to in the States or in the UK where it was more organised, open and the people around it were a bit more boxing intuitive.
But when I was there, the questions coming out at the press conference were from people who had never seen a boxing match in their life. Iโd gone from fighting Chris Eubank Jnr in a massive fight in the UK to what felt like off the grid in Saudi Arabia where nobody really cared.
We didnโt know about visas and I spent a lot of money and time making sure they were fine. We didnโt take any women with the team and not even my wife came because we werenโt sure about logistics. It was the first and only one of my fights she ever missed. That was a bit weird and quite sad for me.
The place itself was very hot, of course. Youโre not outside that much. Why would you be? But you have that feeling where you donโt want to spend any time outside, because it saps your energy. If there is anything happening outside during fight week, they need to be careful.
Everyone is friendly and itโs a nice place, but it just doesnโt have that buzz. Itโs hard to tell whether or not that will help or hinder Joshua. What is certain is that it doesnโt matter where Usyk is โ he will show up and perform, because thatโs what he does. He doesnโt care, he doesnโt rely on the crowd, he goes out and gets the job done regardless. I make him the heavy favourite.
For me, it was really strange. I knew it was going to be my last fight, so from the end of the [WBSS] semi-final, I was just thinking, โhow am I going to get fit?โ We were arguing with the promoters of the tournament because they wanted me to fight in June, but Eubank was the end of February and it was going to be at least 12 weeks until I could throw a punch again.
The date finally got set for September and Iโd done a s**tload of rehab, I was dead set that I had to box and I wouldnโt take no for an answer. This was destiny and this was what it had to be. I backed myself to get fit enough to beat Smith in the final, but heโs a great fighter and big for the weight, which isnโt ideal when your shoulder wonโt really go very high.
Iโd spent all that money on visas and flights and everything else, but it got down to the point where I could pull out and maybe go again, but I didnโt want to do that. I just thought โIโve done the work now, Iโve just got to fightโ.
I remember going for a sweat run on the morning of the flight to Saudi. I was all packed and ready to go but I was going to flip a coin to decide whether Iโd get on the plane or not. That was before the run โ and then the run didnโt go very well.
I remember running and then walking down the A4 crying, getting back to my house and then telling myself โ youโre not going to flip a coin, just go and get on with it. Thatโs what I did. But, annoyingly, I didnโt win. If I had won I wouldโve said โf**k you, coin, what do you know?โ
This might sound like one big excuse. And itโs not like I finished boxing on a negative, but I was genuinely very tired; physically, mentally and emotionally tired. I was ready for a little break, but I hadnโt ever had a break before, from the age of seven when I first thought Iโd become a world champion.
I got to a point where I could be happy with what I had and what I achieved and I was ready to part ways with the sport โ preferably on a win, but it wasnโt meant to be. I keep my hand in now by doing some punditry, taking some of the boxers on the pads down at my old club, Dale Youth, and Iโve started a boxing podcast, too.
But Iโll never forget that fight week in Jeddah. I stayed in a suite at the Sheraton. A hotel room for a whole week can get quite repetitive, but this suite was the biggest Iโd ever seen. It must have been 2,000 sq ft. It was bigger than my house, room after room, so I got lost there for a week. That helped, because thereโs not a lot to do.
I took a Lego Bugatti Veyron over there and I challenged myself to build it. It was about a foot long and I had the whole fight week to do it. In the suite I had this presidential banqueting table where I could spread out all the different pieces.
I got to a point where I built the front half and the back half, but I couldnโt connect them together. I got Shane McGuigan and Josh Pritchard in, but they couldnโt do it either. I never completed it, so really Jeddah was a complete bust. People say I didnโt win the fight โ but I didnโt complete the Bugatti!
I think this might be bust for AJ, too. Itโs very difficult to predict with heavyweight boxing, not just because one punch can change everything but because sometimes they just donโt show up. But I think Usyk shows up โ no coin toss required.
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