THE end is never expected. A fighter, especially one who has enjoyed success, wants to keep going. The determination, which drove them through the hard years of their career, spurs them forward. It will encourage them to continue on regardless. But reality has to bite.
After losing to Sean โMasherโ Dodd, Thomas Stalker knew it was over.
โI said before the fight if he beats me I won’t fight again, because I still say now that he’s not the best fighter. So to beat me what does that make me?โ Stalker tells Boxing News. โI looked at myself in the mirror and I thought Iโm not going to get past British level, European level. Iโm not going to be in a fight for a world title. I donโt think I was good enough to fight for a world title. So I thought why take the punches? When thereโs life after boxing.โ
โI was thinking before the fight thereโs no way heโll beat me. But when I was in there it was a close fight and he was just nicking the rounds. I thought I was doing better than what I was doing and I was losing. He beat me, he was the better man, the better man beat me. I still say for ‘Masher’ Dodd to beat you, that just sums up my career,โ he added. โIn Liverpool, heโs from Birkenhead. It was lucky I moved to bloody Marbella because it would have been hard!โ
His management company MTK were also offering him a role as a scout. He took it. โI looked at myself in the mirror after that fight I thought Iโm only going to keep taking the punches for what? To be a British champion? Because thatโs all I was going to be. I donโt think I was going to do much more. I thought Iโd keep my health. Iโve got four kids, Iโve got a good family, Iโve got a good job. Thatโs why I decided to go that way,โ he explained.
It is still a hard admission for a proud man to make. He had never expected to find himself in this position, finishing with a record spotted with draws to Tommy Carus and Craig Evans, and losses to Jack Catterall as well as Evans and Dodd.
Stalker was not a world beater as pro. He had been though an amateur. There was a time when he was Britainโs most decorated amateur boxer, with medals from the World and European championships as well as the Commonwealth Games. In 2010 he was a key part of Rob McCrackenโs GB team. His success at the European championships of that year represented a turning point for that new-look squad. โWhen I beat [Domenico] Valentino I got out the ring I was crying with emotion, because I knew I beat the World champion,โ Stalker said. โIโd done it.โ
He also defeated boxers who would go on to become hugely successful professionals. Stalker handed Jeff Horn a one-sided drubbing at the Gee Bee tournament in Finland. โI beat him 21-4 or something. If someone had said seven years later heโs going to fight Pacquiao and become a world champion I would have gone what?! Do you know what I mean?โ Stalker says with a smile.
Josh Taylor, a unified super-lightweight world champion now, is probably the best boxer in Britain right now and the finest in his division. Stalker beat him twice, in the Commonwealth Games final and edging him out in the first GB championships in Liverpool. โHe was winning going into the last round,โ Stalker recalled of that one. โI knew back then he was going to go on and do big things, Josh, the way he had that pro style and all that. Heโs a great fighter.
โI am proud of him.โ
Stalker credits the success of that London 2012 team to the structure Rob McCracken put in place as performance director. But there was also a remarkable constellation of talent in that squad. At the time though Stalker, the captain, was a leading figure of the team. His room-mates back then were Anthony Joshua and Callum Smith, elite world champions now but back then Stalker was ahead of them in the amateur game. โI should have made them more cups of tea!โ he laughs.
โYou can never look at other peopleโs paths and say that could have been me. Everyoneโs on their own path,โ he adds. โYou can never compare yourself to anyone. Everyoneโs on their own journey in life.โ
His progress through boxing has brought him a long way. โ16 years ago I was robbing cars,โ he reflects. He went from there to captaining the GB team, no mean feat. But of all his disappointments, the London 2012 defeat still remains the most acute. โThe only loss that hurt me more than anything was the Olympics, getting beat by a point for a medal. That kills me to this day,โ he said.
After that, he could not bring himself to do it all again. He couldnโt face it, even though GB offered him the chance to develop into a coach if he stayed for the next Olympics. โI couldnโt have done another four year cycle and go through the whole competitions and everything. [I thought] I canโt do that again,โ he said. โLooking back if Iโd done another cycle I donโt think Iโd be in the position Iโm at now.
โTurned pro, it still worked out for me in a better way. Iโve experienced that. Iโm at a stage in my life where Iโm pushing on to do good things with all the fighters coming through. I have got a good eye for it because Iโve seen it all.โ
He has experienced the different sides of professional boxing. When he turned pro he got the star treatment. He headlined his debut show, โStalker and The Prizefightersโ if you remember that 2013 bill at York Hall, with Audley Harrison in a heavyweight Prizefighter tournament on the undercard.
โEddie Hearn gave me the big dressing room. In the other room, all the heavyweights were in there, Audley Harrison as well, all in one room warming up. I had the big one. But thatโs just boxing. When youโre the star attraction itโs all for you. But when youโre not doing so wellโฆ Thatโs what I say to fighters, itโs alright when youโre doing well and everythingโs going good, but then boxing if you lose, I think when you do lose, take a defeat, you do need a good team behind you to get you back where youโre going. Pro boxingโs a business. So if you donโt sell tickets, youโve got to be a superstar,โ he said.
Stalker also worked with promoter Frank Warren, the other major promoter in the UK. He was well looked after. His first stumbling block was a crushing defeat to Jack Catterall but that was a match he chose himself. โThe story with Jack, Iโd done a lot of sparring with him before it. I chose to fight him over Chris Jenkins. They said box Chris Jenkins for the British [title] or Catterall for the WBO [European], I thought Iโll get a world ranking and go that way. I thought it would be an easier fight because I done a lot of sparring with him. [In the fight] he was hitting me with the jab in the first round and I thought f****** hell. But heโs gone on to do good things,โ Tom said. โLosing for the first time to Jack, when you get beat itโs a hard sport. I had a good following, I always sold good tickets, even when I got beat. I had real good, strong support. But selling the tickets, itโs hard.โ
Thereโs the stinging criticism, that frequently descends to abuse, which boxers now have to endure from social media. But worst of all Stalker was having to confront new limitations. He was not what he had imagined himself to be. The taxing fights to follow reinforced that unwelcome understanding. โIt gets you down. Going from being one of the best fighters in the world, going and turning pro and not have that and itโs not nice,โ he said ruefully. โI had three good fights with Evans and then the โMasherโ Dodd thing was probably the icing on the cake.โ
It had to end but he is still trying to work out why. โI canโt put my finger on it, all I can say is in all my fights Iโve trained as hard as I could. I was always dedicated and I lived the life,โ he says. โMaybe I was just a three-round fighter. Basically I think I was. I was fit, I could do the rounds. Something just wasnโt right.โ
โI just couldnโt put my finger on it why I couldnโt do it in the pros. I was fit, I had a decent enough chin, I had my amateur background. I donโt know what it was. I donโt know if it was my concentration over the rounds. Three rounds, youโre throwing punches, that was great for me because Iโm a hyper person anyway. Youโve got think a lot more in the pros,โ he continued.
‘Maybe I was just a three-round fighter. I think I was. I was fit, I could do the rounds. Something just wasnโt right’
โYouโve got to think and youโve got to mix it up, itโs more like chess. I think over nine minutes I was one of the best in the world. In the pros it was a different sport. I found out first-hand that itโs a different sport.โ
He resisted the temptation to attempt a final, farewell fight. In boxing there can always be one last time. โIf Iโd have had one more fight Iโd have thought Iโve still got it,โ he says. โI wonโt make excuses for not doing well as a pro. That was my own fault. I couldnโt do it in the pros. Iโll always be in good fights, because Iโm not a big puncher Iโd be in hard fights all the time. After the โMasherโ Dodd fight, the next day I went to put money in the bank, I couldnโt think, I was concussed. It took me a couple of days [to get back to normal]. I honestly believe if I carried on boxing another two years Iโd be punchy. Iโm dozy anyway.
โItโs only now you look back on it and think frigging hell I definitely made the right choice.โ
His consolation is that he gave it his all. โAt least Iโve had a good go. I can say, you know what, I tried my best in the pros but it didnโt really quite work out. Like Josh Taylor, there are a lot of good fighters who became world champions who I beat in the amateurs. If I wouldnโt have turned pro [Iโd have thought] I could be a world champion. It hasnโt quite worked out,โ he said. โAll you can ever say to yourself is I tried.โ
โIโve been there and done it,โ he concluded. โItโs nice to sit here as a scout and look at the future.โ