What are your thoughts on the Matty Askin British title fight now?
Before the fight Askin was โabove British level,โ โheโs fringe world levelโ. Thatโs what everyone said, thatโs what everyone believed and thatโs what he showed with his performances. As soon as I beat him in a scrappy kind of affair, but I beat him [clearly]. Watching the fight back I couldnโt give him much of an argument for winning in the sense that he wasnโt active, despite the clinching and so on and so forth. He wasnโt boxing from range, he wasnโt doing anything really. It showed me that I was able to beat someone at that level even with my inexperience. Because I always find a way to win. But more importantly it showed me the stuff I need to work on, not just for my next fight or the fight after that but just for my career. Itโs become clear that Iโm tall, strong, powerful and I hit hard and Iโm very difficult to cope with from range. Now I need to know everyone that I box is going to be diving towards my chest. In sparring I spar heavyweights, good fighters who are good enough to be able to be able to keep it long with me or try different stuff out. In a fight I think people feel my power and then make a desperate attempt to get on my chest. So itโs what do I do now? Now I know that, itโs happened to me twice, itโs what do I do now in training to prepare myself for the next time someone tries getting on my chest.
You must take satisfaction from winning the British title so early in your career?
Of course. Itโs similar to the Olympics in that I wasnโt meant to get to the Olympics after 19 amateur fights, boxing against the worldโs best fighters with such little experience. But I did it. So now Iโve won the British title in 10 fights, a year and a half as a pro โฆ it shows me the level Iโm at now and if I put in the right work, smart work, where I can get to given time.
Because it was an ugly fight, is that a sign now it would be good to do a few defences?
I have to be honest with myself and not deluded. If Iโm honest with myself, thereโs key stuff that I need to work on for the next little bit of my career before I can say I can beat every style.
To win convincingly or to win in impressive fashion, thatโs a different story. And also thereโs another level of boxers who wonโt allow me to hold. Theyโll be working in clever ways. They wonโt allow me to hit and close the range down. Theyโll be work on stuff like that. Itโll be what do I do against someone of that level. I have to working on it from now.
Whatโs the backlash been like?
More so on the day of the fight, the day after, there was a lot. But obviously itโs just social media, itโs easy to put my phone down.
Come back and they have a new fight the next week to criticise. That wasnโt so bad. Itโs more the realism of it. When people whose opinions I respect say stuff about the fight, thatโs when I take it more seriously.
I need to adapt completely and show, like Iโve shown in other fights, I can be extremely destructive.
I wouldnโt be where I am if I listened to public opinion, if I listened to people who told me I canโt. They told me I couldnโt go to the Olympics. [They said] itโs too soon, blah, blah, blah.
If you want to talk performance-wise, it might have been too soon for Askin. [But maybe] thatโs how his style and my style gel together. I can work on techniques but itโs also up to my opponents to show the will to win. Because opponents that have come and exchanged with me non-stop, have been stopped. [Isaac] Chamberlain and Askin, who were clever enough to slip and slide, get on the chest, not really do too much work, get into an ugly fight.
Has anyone caught your eye as a potential next opponent?
A few but everyone knows the way to do it is just to talk rubbish on Twitter and itโll probably be you.
The fight I was looking at was Craig Glover who just beat Simon Vallilyโฆ Probably next year me and him will battle it out.
Thereโs a guy called Jack Massey, heโs been talking a bit on Twitter as well.
Do you an idea of when you might fight next?
I want to box one more time before the end of the year because I feel like Iโm still learning so I need to box at least four times a year.
I know Iโm having longer fights and longer camps but I need to be out one more time before the end of the year.