A series of documentaries are being screened on Sky Sports, following three 2016 Olympians as they turn professional. Not surprisingly they follow Sky fighters Joshua Buatsi, Lawrence Okolie and Antony Fowler.
All three were top British amateurs but it was Buatsi who won an Olympic medal in thrilling style at Rio 2016. While his film doesn’t dwell much on his feats for GB or accomplishments which drew global attention at the last Olympic Games, it does give genuine insight into how he became a boxer, his roots in London as well a behind the scenes insight into the pressure around showcasing himself for a pro debut.
Buatsi even goes to a training camp in Jamaica with Lennox Lewis who, as a mentor, serves up some valuable lessons.
“To be a great fighter you have to learn how to box on the inside and the outside. You have to be able to throw all different kinds of punches,” Lewis, the former undisputed heavyweight champion, said. “I’ve got an arsenal filled with punches I can throw at any given moment. So that makes me a pugilist specialist.”
On Buatsi, Lennox said, “I like his focus, he’s a thinking boxer. He reminds me of myself. People always said you’re thinking too much. Sometime you do get in that thing of thinking too much. But what allows you not to think too much is repetition. If you’re training and you repeat it all the time, this is something that you do naturally without thinking.”
Chasing the Dream, made by Wilson Worldwide Productions, is on Sky Sports. The final instalment is aired on Boxing Day.
