THE owner of JSM Rubbish Clearance was too busy to talk when Boxing News contacted him and had to ring back.
“It’s like that in this job,” explained John McDermott. “Yesterday I had nothing, I’ve got two jobs today and then I’ve got loads on tomorrow.
“Some days I have too much on and other days I’ve got nothing. I do house clearances, garden clearances, that sort of thing.
“Here’s me doing this for £100 and there’s Tyson Fury trying to become a billionaire.
“If I had his money in the bank, I don’t think I would be fighting [Oleksandr] Usyk again. I would be on holiday with my family enjoying myself. I know there’s no adrenaline rush like boxing in front of thousands of people, but it’s a dangerous sport. You get damaged in fights and in sparring.
“Tyson has taken the risks and got his rewards. I wish I had his money, but good luck to him.”
Fury and McDermott have history. Twice they fought.
In September, 2009, McDermott put his English heavyweight title on the line against Fury at the Brentwood Centre. It was McDermott’s 32nd fight, only Fury’s EIGHTH.
“He won’t last four rounds with me,” was the 21-year-old Fury’s pre-fight assessment.
It lasted the full 10 rounds and there were dramatic scenes after the 98-92 decision went Fury’s way.
Sky Sports were astonished by referee Terry O’Connor’s reading of the fight, promoter Frank Maloney had a mild heart attack at ringside and fans fought furiously among themselves.
“He did catch me with sneaky jabs,” conceded McDermott, “but I still thought I won easy.”
McDermott and coach CJ Hussein thought they had figured out how to beat Fury.
“We were practising the double jab, right hand over the top and looked to set a pace he couldn’t cope with,” said ‘Big Bad John’.
“I trained so hard for that fight. I know my body didn’t look like it, but I was running eight-10 miles for that fight.
“He had some bottle. I hit him as hard as I possibly could and saw his eyes roll in his head more than once – and he came straight back at me.
“I know he plays the fool, but he is a tough, tough man.”
The rematch went ahead nine months later, after a couple of delays.
During that time, McDermott switched trainers from Hussein to Jim McDonell and didn’t miss many days in the gym.
“I had trained so hard for such a long time and by the time we fought I didn’t feel myself,” he said.
“I had glandular fever a few weeks before as well, but I was getting married and if I didn’t get paid for that fight we would have had to put the wedding back. I couldn’t afford to pull out. I had paid sparring partners and was getting married.”
There was a furious row over gloves before the fight went ahead at a sweltering Brentwood Centre.
Fury later said he had it written into his contract that he could wear Cleto Reyes gloves, rather than the BBE gloves worn by fighters on Maloney’s promotions.
Believing the Furys were trying to gain an advantage, McDonnell threatened to pull McDermott out of the fight and away from the Board officials and television cameras, the two camps headed outside to resolve the matter.
The fight went ahead and McDermott faced a very different Fury.
“He changed a lot,” said McDermott, now 44 years old.
“The first fight he came for a fight and the second time he was grabbing and holding and using his size. He was putting his arm around my back and grabbing my other arm. Fair play to him. If I had arms long enough to do that, I would do it myself.”
McDermott did well enough to have Fury apparently close to defeat. He bled from a cut on his right eye in the sixth and was docked a point for holding in the next as he gulped in air.
McDermott, all 254lbs of him, was also feeling the pace and the decisive moment came late in the eighth.
Fury let go a combination of short punches in the closing seconds – and McDermott went down.
Fury finished him in the next.
McDermott and Fury sparred after their rematch and McDermott says they ran into each other at an amateur tournament around a decade ago.
“My nephew was boxing and I think Tyson was there to support (cousin) Hughie,” said McDermott. “He saw me and said: ‘What are you doing here?’”
The McDermott fights were turning points in Fury’s career. He said that during the rematch, the thought of having to get a job should he lose pulled him through.
As for McDermott, he retired with a 28-8 record that shows three losses in British-title fights.
‘Bedford Bear’ Matt Skelton caught him cold and beat him inside a round and there were two points losses to Danny Williams.
Sky Sports were disbelieving after Williams won their first fight on a majority vote in Dagenham in July, 2008.
“How could I have lost that fight?” said McDermott.
“He had three points deducted [in the last two rounds] and I must have had a 10-8 round in the fifth as well [when he dropped Williams].
“You can’t lose. I thought they had made a mistake and were going to come over and raise my hand. But that’s life. What can you do?”
Despite his grievances, McDermott isn’t bitter about his decision to follow his father into boxing.
Stan McDermott was a 13-6-1 heavyweight who was beaten in five rounds by Neville Meade in a British-title eliminator, on the biggest night of his career, in December, 1980.
“I was playing rugby at a good level,” said John. “I played for the County and had England trials.
“I went off boxing at the end of the season because I had nothing to do, enjoyed it and it went from there. I won the ABAs in my seventh fight [at super-heavyweight with a points win over Ben Harding in 2000] and turned pro a bit too young, at 20 because I had no money. I had to borrow money to get to the gym and then run home because I couldn’t afford the bus.”
Stan was in his son’s corner throughout his 13-year pro career.
“Dad was there for a bit of support,” said McDermott. “He let CJ do the talking. I don’t think John Fury is the right bloke to have in your corner. He was shouting too much [during the Uysk fight]. It was chaos.”
McDermott walked away from boxing as the English champion. He had the satisfaction of reversing his stoppage loss to Skelton to win the St George’s belt for a second time – and never boxed again.
Fights with Hughie Fury and Dillian Whyte fell through and McDermott said: “I was thinking: ‘Boxing isn’t good for me’ and then I got offered a job on the railways.
“I was working nights and it didn’t do me any good. I didn’t know what day it was. I did that for two and a half years and then set up my clearance business. I’m trying to build it up and I have a couple of people helping me when I get busy, but it’s hard.”
McDermott says that if he was 10 years younger he would fight again. “I think they would like me in Saudi,” he said, “but I’m too old. I have put on a bit of weight since I stopped boxing, but I still go to the gym to do one-on-ones and my job is all about lifting things and pulling things.”
The other week, McDermott popped in to see Hussein at the St Pancras Boxing Club while out celebrating daughter Sophie’s 20th birthday.
Hussein handed him gloves and gowns from his career that McDermott put in the loft of his Stanford-le-Hope home he shares with wife Stephanie and their daughters Ava (13) and Eliza (10).
“Boys come up to them at school and say: ‘Didn’t your dad box Tyson Fury?’” said McDermott, “but they don’t give a monkey’s. They are too busy on YouTube!”
