You’ve had more fights, and wins, than boxers like Anthony Joshua, but you’ve gone under the radar –
does that bother you at all?
I’m not bothered about being under the radar. I know what I want and I’m just going to train hard. Listen, if you put me under the radar my fighting will do the talking and it will come out eventually. Fighters can’t keep avoiding me forever. I’ll keep fighting, fighting good people and it [his profile] will come up by itself.
You’re a lot more reserved than your cousin, Tyson, why is that? Is it to do with the way Peter has raised you?
I respect all fighters. At the end of the day it takes a lot of guts to get in the ring, it’s a hard life, the fighter’s life, there’s a lot of dedication. There’s no point in trash talking other people. Listen, I always say, let your fists do the talking. Forget mouthing off to each other and just get in there and fight.
What do you make of Tyson’s outbursts?
It’s funny. We’re two different characters, he does his things, he talks the talk and I just focus on what’s going on in the ring.
You’ve had issues with the copper levels in your blood, which has affected you physically. Can you explain the situation a bit more?
I’ve had lots of issues, particularly to do with food allergies. I’m allergic to a lot of food. I’m on the right track now though, everything’s coming together and my body’s improving. I was proper down, I literally couldn’t pick 10 kilograms up at one stage.
I lost a lot of weight. I’m allergic to all dairy products, chicken, so much stuff you eat every day I’m allergic to. There’s about 10 pages of it. Wheat, everything. Now it’s just hard to eat the right food every day, I can’t have any breaks from it otherwise my body will just break down. It’s so difficult. I can’t even enjoy a Nando’s!
So what can you eat?
Very plain food. It’s all got to be gluten-free as well. Rice, beef, potatoes, but we have to watch it very closely in terms of what it’s cooked in and with. I can’t just go into a restaurant because they can mix it with sauces or whatever else, I’ve got to be super careful.
When did the issues start?
I’ve had it near enough my whole life, it’s just been getting worse and worse. The allergies don’t really show on the outside, it’s inside that they affect me. It just breaks me down, makes me weak, takes my strength, sometimes my skin breaks out badly. It all goes downhill. It’s coming together now though, I saw a specialist about a year ago and found out what I’m allergic to, but then I got checked again and found even more stuff I’m allergic to. I’m on the right track now though, I’m feeling good in training and I can’t wait to get back in there now and keep fighting.
Was there ever a point where you felt it was too much to handle?
Yeah, there was one point where I thought I’d never fight again. Thank God everything came right again. That was about a year ago, I thought it was definitely going downhill. Sparring, I couldn’t even do a round, I just thought, ‘What’s the point?’ I’d been doing this my whole life and look what’s happened.
But it’s worked out and we’re here.
You boxed on the Nick Blackwell-Chris Eubank Jnr card in March, after the main event. Was it difficult to go out and perform after seeing Nick rushed to hospital?
It was difficult. Also, they told me my fight was off, then five minutes later they said, ‘You’re on’ then as I was warming up, they told me it was off again. I went back to the changing room, then I was told the fight’s back on. It was mad, one o’clock in the morning, no music, hardly anyone there. I jumped in there, had the fight but it didn’t even feel like a fight. I was so worn down. I was just in one gear.
