#20 Ben “The BEAST” Hussain

Born in Brisbane and raised in the rough streets of Sydney’s west, Ben “The Beast” Hussain’s story is built on struggle, identity, and raw survival.

With his father deported and raised by a single mother, from a young age, he struggled to find his voice, both literally and in the classroom, making it hard to learn, connect, and fit in. 

That struggle made him a target, and the bullying only fueled something deeper inside him — a refusal to ever be pushed around again.

Ben found his way into a boxing gym and from there, the hunger grew and the discipline sharpened. Today he is ranked #1 in the super middleweight division, with a record of 13-2 and 8 knockouts.  Holding titles across WBC, WBA, IBO and Australasia.

But what separates Ben isn’t just his achievements — it’s his mindset. 

This is a fighter who has stepped into the ring with a broken jaw and damaged knuckles and still chose to go to war. No excuses, no fear, just pure grit and determination. 

In this episode, we dive into the journey behind the fighter — the mentality that drives him and the sacrifices that come with chasing greatness.Now training out of All Star Boxing and preparing for his next big fight on the Melbourne stage, Ben is more focused than ever. 

But beyond the titles and the violence of the sport, his greatest pride is being a father and protecting the life he’s built. He lives by keeping his circle small, valuing loyalty over numbers, and staying locked in on what truly matters.

This is more than a boxing story, its proving that no matter where you start, you can fight your way to the top.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Welcome to Burning Bridges Podcast. My name is Timana. And I'm Renee. We started this podcast through my own life experiences and a journey to healing. I have always been curious of what others have gone through and the moments that defined them.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

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SPEAKER_03 0:26

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SPEAKER_02 0:32

The following episode may contain discussions of sensitive and potentially distressing topics. Viewer discretion is strongly advised. This content is intended for mature audiences and may not be suitable for all listeners for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

My name's Benjamin Hussain. I'm a professional boxer, 13 and 2. I'm a professional class clan, and um I'm here with Banner Bridges podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Ben, thank you for being here. It's a pleasure having you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yeah, no, thanks for having us. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

Yeah, it's great to have you here. And you've just come from sparring 12 rounds.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, yeah. Cheeky little 12 round spark of all boys from the gym helping me out. Uh chasing lever. So that was good work. Uh nice hard push before a good potty.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Yeah, very thanks for that. And another all-star boxing, uh fight out of all-star boxing. Yeah, yeah. So it's like we we've got a common thing going on here with all-star boxing, old Benny.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah, getting all the boys in.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Yeah, yeah. And then um, and then we've got another all-star that's been affiliated with all-star boxing coming up after after you.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Yeah, yeah. Who you got? Who you got? Bleach, big bleach, yeah, yeah. Big cricket player. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

That's him. Yeah. So yeah, we have a yam with him as well. Yeah, it's pretty cool to have you here, and I know you got a a story to tell and share, and even with your boxing career, and to be featured on Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Yeah, yeah. That's pretty cool. How'd you feel about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Um, I don't know, man. When I when it happened, I was still up in hospital. Um, so I didn't, I it took them three days to get me the surgery. And because the the injury was so bad, we will get into it later, but I couldn't I couldn't sleep. So I was awake for like three days and then that came out, and I was and then everyone was like messaging me. My phone was blown up, and I was like, fuck that. But looking back on it, yeah, I don't I don't feel too much about it to be honest with you. It was yeah, cool, maybe not. I'd like to be on there for something else, but I don't I don't definitely don't mind, you know. Yeah, all promotion is a good promotion. So true that, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

We want to learn about you, Ben, and where where you grew up. Yep. And what your childhood was like, though if you can take us through through that.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yeah, no, um, I grew up in oh, actually, I started up here and then um I don't remember any of it. I remember my brother was lighting fires everywhere, and that's about it. Um, and then I moved to Madruit. It's kind of where my life kicked off. Probably where I become the person I am. Uh, very motivated. Yeah, it was super competitive, probably my biggest trait. And yeah, just grew up down there, just being a little grub running the streets, having a bit too much fun, and then um, but it was lots I love it. Uh I had a good time, and I still like it. Every time I fight in Sydney, I head down there, I see the boys I play footy with, and yeah, it's sick down there. It's still my home.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

That's good. And what was school like for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Uh primary wasn't too popular. Uh little brokey. And then uh high school during um I put on a lot of like uh weight and I had a growth spurt between year six and seven, that small holiday. Thank goodness I did. Um I was a bit of a grub at the start of high school, a bit of a bully, someone I didn't really want to be, but I was kind of I didn't want to be bullied anymore. Yeah, uh at high school I become someone I probably didn't want to become, become a bit more popular, which means absolutely jack shit now. And um, and then yeah, when I when I moved here, um new kid, I was popular and I realized that's not what I wanted anymore. I started boxing and turned everything around, you know.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Your family, how many siblings have you got?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

I got um I got two older brothers, a little brother, I got an older sister and uh younger sister. So I was somewhere in the middle. It was uh a bit of a jungle in the house at times there. I wasn't I wasn't at home too much. I was kind of like there was a rule I had to be home once a day with um my bag full of uh with my school clothes and I stayed out every night. Like I don't I can't remember too many nights I was home growing up.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

And you grew up with both your parents?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Nah, my sadly, apparently my dad got deported before I was born. So it's not even a sad thing. It's like being sad you don't have a girlfriend you never had. So um, so I just got on with it, you know.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Where was he deported back to?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Uh he was Pakistani, so I'm Aboriginal Pakistani, which is a weird mix. You don't even see those people in the same room, let alone being together. So never met my dad.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

And your mum's at full blood aboriginal, is she?

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Nah, she's like half guy, she's a white Aboriginal. Oh yeah. So um that's when you were asking about Shane earlier before you met Uncle Shane. So um so I'm I'm probably like a quarter Aboriginal, quite a bit Pakistani, and then something white as well. So somewhere in the middle, I need to get a test done to find out. That's what I need to do.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

So you were you were born in Brisbane?

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Yeah, I was born in Brisbane. Okay, but um, like I said, I just have no real memories from being here younger. I've pretty slow learning early on. I didn't really learn how to talk till I was like four or five, so I was pretty, pretty slow on learning. And I heard uh that's something like you don't learn how to talk until you vocab I mean you don't have memories, so your vocabulary starts building. First memories are in Sydney, so it feels like I was born in Sydney.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

How would you explain Mount Druid for those people that don't know Mount Druid?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Yeah, it's a rough old place, but I don't know. Uh there's beautiful, uh beautifulness in the struggle, you know. Uh lots of good people. Yeah, there's not many fake people. Um, I'm not a big city person. I definitely like suburban people more. I'm more relatable, but it's just a dangerous place. You gotta you gotta be careful, you know. You get straight smart quick down there. I do think the people are better there. You get some high quality people there, you get a lot of low quality people too. But the ones that are good, you know, they stand with you, they stand by you. I've mates that I don't speak to very often, and they support me 100% in everything I do. Even like when I get team shirts, you know, people won't get them and I won't even speak to these guys and they just send me a photo, like, oh, it's coming in the mail. Like, yeah, they always support, you know, good people down there. How old were you when you moved up to Brisbane from outdruck? I was 15, yeah. Uh 14, 15. So I had a few trips back and forth on the XBT. So long train trips.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

And and so why were you bullied? Because you said you turned into being a bully because you were being bullied.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

I think that I couldn't I couldn't read growing up, still not great at it now. That was definitely one thing. Being uh Middle Eastern in a very big like Aboriginal area, I looked very um Middle Eastern when I'm younger, I do now still, but I looked very Middle Eastern when I was younger. I definitely couldn't pass as an Aboriginal. And then I don't know, just little things. I wasn't I wasn't very good at talking, wasn't very good socially, so just a lot of things. And then like I said, uh new kid at school, um, there's a kid named Josh Potts, who um I was very close to him, like a single mum's group. He was super fast, super athletic. And my first day of high school, I seen him, and I remember there was a meme, like it was like your first last day of primary school, and you're like walking out, backpack on, and then it's like first day of high school, and you're one-strapping and you're coming home, and that's how it felt there. It was like um my first day of seeing him, and then we were just being grubs in the back of the class. I remember those videos going around by a guy named Mike Choni, um, some YouTuber, and they're like, it was like hand your phone over and they're like hand it over, and you wrote it on a piece of paper and gave it to the teachers. Like, that was me first day of high school, and the first last day of primary, I was like back straight, finger on my lip, like behaving. Yeah, so it's pretty wild.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Yeah, I can relate to finding it hard to learn in school, and it was interesting what you said about not being able to talk until you're four, and like you don't have much of memory until you um become vocal in speaking. That's interesting to know that. My earliest memory as a as a child, I don't know, I'm guessing three, maybe four. Because I had trouble speaking as well. Um, and then that affects your learning. Yeah, that's how I felt too in school.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Yeah, my first memory was probably year one. I don't even know how old you are in year one, but I was still here. I remember I misbehaved in class, and the teacher made me write lines, and I had to look up like five times to spell one word, and then I got caught on the same line like ten times, and I was only supposed to write like two-line sentence, and I wrote like three pages worth, and I was so frustrated, and I just lashed down from then on. I was just checked out of school. I I remember also my brother started fire in a bin, and I was running as a kid, and he's like, Don't you dare stop, and I'm crying, like just hard memories I remember from being in Queensland.

SPEAKER_03 8:46

So how was it for you when you moved up to Brisbane?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I come from a very rough place, and we moved to Kabich uh Kabucho, which is apparently a rough place. I think it's beautiful, um, especially compared to Mount Druid. Straight off the bat, um, I was much more ruthless than other kids, and I was a lot more of a loose canon, so I didn't really get bullied at all. And then I was new, so I was like a popular kid for like a week, and I decided I started boxing around that time. I decided that's not what I wanted anymore. So I handed it, I hung out with some Islanders named like uh Tim Efu and Zion Aki, like Islander kids, and we just played the guitar and listened to music and played footy and did some weights, and I kind of decided that's not what I wanted anymore. I didn't really value being cool. There was a guy named Harry Price from my old gym, he's a private school kid, looks like a pretty boy, and he was at my gym and he was actually like a three, four-time national champion, and he pumped me when we spied, and I just couldn't believe this kid could beat me in a fight. And that's when I realized like you don't have to be uh have people intimidated of you to be a cool person or have people like you and respect you. So that definitely changed my life. Uh so I was a big, big part of it all.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

And where'd you start going? What gym did you start going training?

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Uh I could watch PCYC or spiders boxing, but they um PCYC just moved to their new sport and they still have it down there. Yeah. So yeah, they got a lot of the space now. So they're starting to have some good amateurs come through again too now, which is good. They're getting back into the amateur boxing.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Why boxing for you?

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Weirdly enough, I've always liked boxing. Uh, another one of my early memories was Anthony Mundine versus um Anthony Mundine versus Danny Green. They fought, and I remember it was so big it kind of swept the world at the time. Like I was just a kid, I wasn't even watching sport. I just remember how big that fight was. My mum went to a house party and I was there. And uh they had the fight on, and um everybody everyone was at the back partying, and I remember I would have been, I would have been young, man. I might have been nine, and I was sitting there cold with a blanket on watching these guys, and like I said, our time was getting bullied. I'm like, one day I'm gonna be like that. I'm gonna be dodging punches like the Matrix. And I had no idea what boxing about it was whoever's the biggest and the toughest wins, which it's absolutely not. But I remember I was there and I'm just watching, and this guy was picking on me. He he went to tour and I was scratching my leg and he pulled the blanket off, and I didn't know what happened. I do now that I'm older, and he actually punched me, and then he just and then he looked at my leg and I was just scratching my leg, it was red. And he walked down. I'm like, one day, like these people aren't gonna be able to treat me like this anymore. And I remember watching the fight, and I just thought, like, I'll dig deep. Like when the day comes, I want to be that. So it's pretty cool to be fighting on big stages, on big TV. But it's just weird that I wounded up boxing years later, like eight, nine, ten years later, like however long it was. I don't know when that fight was, you can probably look it up. But I was very young, and I remember like even just then, like getting hit in the mouth while watching a boxing fight, and then they walk out the room, it's like another six rounds, and I'm like, one day they can't do this to me. Yeah, it was it was a big thing, it's pretty crazy. Sydney's crazy place.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

That's awesome to hear a story like that, which was a you know, pivotal moment for you in your life, being a young kid sitting there watching the Mundine Green Fight and sort of being harassed there, yeah. Trying to watch it, and then you you made that choice there and then.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah, but I see I was so far away from starting. I was in I ended up starting in another state and almost another lifetime. Like I was so it wasn't even connected. But um, and it's not even like I don't believe in that like it was fade or things were gonna happen. Just I feel like I've been lucky enough where right enough dominoes have fallen in place and they've kind of fallen over now for me to do what I love. But um, it's just crazy looking back and having that memory of something, yeah, pretty dramatic thing. And I was loving it. I remember I wanted to box as a kid too. Like I remember there's a as I got a bit older and I went to high school, there's a kid with a bit of money and he was doing one-on-one PTs with a boxing coach, and I was always like, Can I go? And he's like, Oh, it's $50. And I'm like, $50. My mum won't even pay for me to get footy registration for the year, let alone $50 for an hour. So I just thought it was a rich person's sport, which um I was very wrong, but again, I didn't know nothing about it. I just loved footy. Um, as you can tell by my jacket, which I shouldn't be wearing because we got fresh last night. Not even fresh, it was a rough game. It was a rough old game to watch. But y'all missed it, didn't you watch it? Not as bad as being a Dolphins fan, though.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

Well, I I saw the results of the storm, got pumped.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Penrof is just that good at the moment. I love seeing Pamroff do well.

SPEAKER_03 13:29

Talking about footy, are you blues or queens?

SPEAKER_00 13:31

I go for blues. Yeah, I go for blues. Well, thanks for this episode. Please it's very weird. I um I always wanted to go for the blues, but I've always liked winning individually. So when I actually lived in uh when I lived, this is um hot take, but when I lived in uh New South Wales, first game I went to was Dogs Tigers and Benji Marshall ran. Everyone loved the Tigers and what was that lie cut, and I was like, fuck it, I'll go for the dogs. And then dogs slaughtered a field goal, I've loved dogs ever since. But when I lived in Queensland, and no one knows this, I actually went for uh when I lived in New South Wales, I was actually went for Queensland and we won every year, and I remember just sticking it to everyone, but I've always liked winning by myself, and then ever since I moved to Queensland, I'm a blue supporter at heart because I get way more filthy when we lose. So um, but I just always like winning individually. So yeah, when I lived in Queensland for years, I was just I'm a Queensland supporter, yeah, pretty wild. But yeah, it's definitely more fun being a Queensland supporter, but um, but I do love the blues. I even like the the way the game comes across, like where Queensland they all pull up in their purple blazers, maroon blazers, they look sharp, they're very serious, and I like the way the blues get off the bus with their speaker and their bomber jackets, and I I like the contrast in it. Um definitely more of a bluish, you know what I mean? Like at heart, like I'm a bit of a grow-up kid. I relate to the people, I relate to like the RB and the music, and and Queensland's very strict, they're almost like private school, how serious they are. They're wearing what you're wearing now to games, and and yeah, they're very serious, and they're not really allowed to do things game week, but obviously it works. They're they're winning the games, but I do like the contrast of it, and hopefully blues don't get too serious. Keep it loose. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

Do you remember the last game that New South Wales won prior to Queensland winning uh eight eight years in a row?

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Was that Jared Hayne? With the tri celebration? Uh is that where he ran into the crowd?

SPEAKER_03 15:31

No, no, no. So the tri celebration was when um Um Fletcher threw the grenade, used the football as a grenade, and then all the New South Wales players like just throwing the ground, and it was really dissing the Queensland players. Yeah, yeah. And from that point on, Queensland won eight years in a row after that.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Oh nah, nah. So I'm I I wasn't, I don't know if I was watching footy at the start of the nine-year run, uh yeah, or nine year run, yeah. Whatever, it could have been twenty. It felt like eight years, it felt like twenty.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

But um the worst thing that New South Wales could have ever done.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Yeah, nah, but I I um man, when we won, I remember we won and then Jared Hahn got the ball and he ran it dead and he sprinted in the crowd and he jumped in and he was crying. I was at home crying. That was such a big moment when Blues finally like undone the streak, even though I supported Queensland for half of the streak. So man, it was big. I remember being at home and he's just in the crowd. He's like, You could see it meant so much to the man, it was pretty special. And then um, he did some silly things. The hame plane.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

The hame plane, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah, that was massive. Yeah, the hame plane, he was good in the city. He played for para and then paramount is near Mount Draw, and everyone was doing the hame plane. Then you had Benji Marshall with the flick pass in 06, everyone's on the flick pass, Campbell Town's close to Mount Draw. Then you had um Michael Jennings, everyone loved Jennings, yeah. They really got around their footy there. I just don't know how we can't win Origin. I swear we like it more than it's like in Pam in Madrid, like Pemrafera footy's so big. Yeah, so big. There's like five divisions for every team that you play, and here they only have A's and B's in Sydney. Like you go to play St. Clair or St. Mary's, and there's five, six, seven divisions. Uh it's stacked down there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:17

Well, you know why New South Wales didn't win a lot.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Please tell me. Okay. I'll let them know.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

And the reason why Queensland did win?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Because Queensland chose the black fellas. New South Wales wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Yeah, I think um that I you know what? We have 22 players or a farming. Like they just pick two bigger names. You can't have like a bunch of game breakers out there. You need people that just get into their work and get it done. I feel that's what Queensland does well. They have a bunch of players that just do their job and they they make it very simple. Your job's to kick chase hard, make the tackles, win the rock, and but then you got like with with the blues team, you just got so many big names, they all feel like they want to have their moment. Everyone's at their aura farm, and they we need some simple men to do some simple jobs because you have too many people trying to break the game open out like the team's so stacked. You need it, you need some robots and uh just get the job done. You don't need everyone out there trying to have their big moment. Like you have fucking 18 people that want to hit a two-point field goal to win the game, it doesn't work. But uh Queens don't know who their go-to strike weapons are, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

Yeah, good footy talk boys.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Yeah, footy you wanna come in on this? Oh, last night I was so upset after the game. I was fuming, I was losing it. My partner's family's over, she's like, Ben, you need to settle down. And there's like 20 minutes left, and it wasn't even like we lost that much, it was just like the errors, and I'd watching the last 20 minutes in the room, and when we lost, I went to sleep and I woke up when the Penriff game started. I had a two-hour sleep. I'm like, I can't, I can't function, I was losing it. And then it was good. I got those 12 rounds out today because I'm still not happy about it. And this was in the back of my car. I come straight from I'm like, I don't want to smell like booty hills, so I'll wear it in, I'll wear it in.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

Yeah, no, it's good, man, that you you so you haven't had much sleep. You go take your anger out on in your 12 rounds because the bulldogs got pumped.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, then we get pumped, man, just yeah, bad game. Discipline was not there. We have Senners on the bench. Man, we're gonna better for ages. Back to your boxing career.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

When you decided to choose to go to boxing, how old were you?

SPEAKER_00 19:39

I was 15.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

You're 15. So how old are you now?

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Um I just turned 27.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Okay, so is that how long you've been?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Yeah, I've been boxing for how long was that? Twelve years. Yeah, okay. Quick mass. But um, nah, I got into it um I I just like playing any sport. I really like competing. Like, even though my hands are bugging, I go down to the basketball court and I won't even shoot hoops. I would just go down there when boys are down there, but can I play? And I'll just get absolutely torched. I just love competing. Like, I just love it there. So my mate was um, we played some basketball, I got better than my basketball playing league, I got better than my league, and then he actually got me, he was training for ages. He didn't tell me, it was like my best man, I don't know how he got away with it. Then I started boxing in like two weeks, I just loved it more. We went down to a gym, and then he stopped boxing, I kept going. I just loved it though. Like, I just like that, you know, like like I said, I got bullied at school. I got um, and then in high school, I was pretending I'm someone I'm not, and this, and then like even at home, like I couldn't listen to the music I like. I really like old R and B. You get called gay and you get picked on by your older siblings. And I feel like when I was sparring, like my second day in the gym, that was the first time I ever could express myself however I wanted. I was in complete control. It was something real special. Your coach, I'll put your hands up. You know, make me like I could do whatever I want. It was it was um, yeah, it was like I could just express myself in this magical way, and no one had any input. I could do whatever I want, and everything was on me, everything was up to me, every mistake I had to wear. I yeah, I really liked it. It was something empowering in that, so it was nice.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

Yeah, yeah, that's a good mindset to to be free, you feel free.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yeah, it was and it was it was weird to be able to express myself just for who I was and not have any input or any worry about how people would perceive it. It was just all up to me. Yeah, it was nice.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Are you still like that now in the ring?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yeah, or you gotta be a bit more structured at a higher level. But um but a lot of my amateurs uh just kind of I just fought. Like I fought very unorthodox, I fought southboard, I fought orthodox, I fought on the inside, I fought on the outside, I had my hands up, I had my hands down, and I was a bit of a loose cannon as an amateur, and it was and it came from that school of thinking, and I also had a coach. That really nurtured me being different as a fighter. And um, but uh obviously I've had some hand issues, so I gotta rein it back a little bit. I can't just send it. But um so I fight a lot more smart now, a lot more safe, and also like it's a different sport 12 rounds, 10 rounds, and little gloves. Then to amateurs, you're fighting in big gloves over short rounds, it's more of a sprint, so I had to had to wind it back a little bit and be a bit more reserved.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

What's your favorite type of fighting then?

SPEAKER_00 22:30

I I like dogging it out, like big pace and really trying to beat someone up and break them down and demoralize them. I really like it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

Yeah, you're in the right spot.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

And your upcoming fights on 29th of April?

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Yeah, it's uh Wednesday this month, last Wednesday of the month. I'm terrible with mom saying days. I reckon they have numbers for a reason. Yeah, I reckon a month. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Is it is that the day of the month?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Well, 29th, yeah. 29th, yeah, 29th of this month.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Yeah, you said it a few times, like you realised being cool at school wasn't really the thing to be.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah, for sure. Did you realise that just like recently, or is that something that back then you kind of I realised back then, so um I got expelled from Talouong in like three months, then I got expelled from Kabucha pretty fast, then I got expelled from Horizons twice pretty fast, just for the simple fact that I was a class clown projecting that I'm not very smart academically, and then I also I was also ruthless, like when I first moved here, and like boxing just took it out of me. Like boxing, like it's almost like you know, people talk about being a humble Christian, like boxing just really changed who I was as a person. And I remember towards the end of schooling, I was kind of getting into the bullies, like every time at every corner I could see their bullying, so I'm not just stick it to them every time. Yeah, I become like a bullies bullier. It was very weird. My evolution for school, but I was never when I was a bully, it wasn't like bashing people, it was more just being a class guy. I was a bit of a grub having a laugh, and I I thought I wanted to be called cool for like two weeks. I'm like, this is shit. This is you're just a terrible person a lot of the time. A lot of the time they're just getting off on picking on people, and I like I say I realized that so young and so quick once I was popular, because in Sydney I was more popular, but I was popular in my group, and it was nice. We had a nice group of like people that were like athletic and people that were this was like a good centre group, but then when I started at Talwong, I was in like like there was a different hierarchy here, and I was like the cool kid, and I hated it. It just sucked, it was boring, man. They just sat around and did nothing and just talk nonsense, and yeah, it was losers.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

So if if you were to talk to a kid that was going through the same sort of situation, you'd definitely go just give yourself a hand at boxing or to get into that mindset.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yeah, I don't think boxing's for everyone, but I was at the basketball courts for the first time in a while, just shooting hoops at like 10 p.m. clearing some head noise, and there was a kid down there that was like 17, 18, and it was just talking about he was very, very small, very short kid, and um he might have been like five foot four, and he was just telling me how cool he is at school and how much he's this and how much is that, and I could just tell he wasn't, and I was like, brother, doesn't even matter. All those people are peaking, like a lot of those kids now, like in jail or on drugs, and it's sad. Like, not too many of the kids that peaked in high school do too well, like some do, of course. It's not like you're cooked if you're you're cool and popular. Like my son's probably gonna be popular, he's the quickest thing he's got at the moment. He won cross country, he's the highest academic for his age and he's uh school, he's good looking, like he's gonna be popular, but it's it's so it doesn't mean you're cooked. Hopefully, he's not cooked, but uh but but it's just it's just not the be or end all. Like it really just doesn't matter, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:54

And you teach that to your son, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Um, yeah, he's definitely not a bully, very kind, very nice. So we had parent teacher interviews uh two days ago, very proud.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Yeah, and you just got the one son?

SPEAKER_00 26:06

No, I've got a daughter who's seven months old. Oh, congratulations, yeah. No, very cute. Um, we sing happy in Unilata, and she just learned how to clap-ish. And every time it comes on, she's like and holds her hand sealing. She has like two little teeth, very cute.

SPEAKER_03 26:21

She's crawling now.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Nah, she's not crawling yet. So but um, she's very big. She's like 10 kilos, she's like in the top 98% of her baby's age. So man, she always she's rolling, she rolls like 10 times to get somewhere, she'll roll back. She's very big, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

So where did you meet your partner?

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Actually, met in the valley on a night out when I was 18. Um, it was after I went to the YouthConwalt Games and I was feeling myself. And um, and I went out and I met my partner, and like I'm a big believer in like you don't go out looking for chicks like to be with for your life, you know. But we were both in the smokers area and neither of us smoke. I've never smoked, and we're both like in there covering our mouths because our friends are in there and we don't want to be alone, and I was just like, let's just like leave and grab a drink, and then the rest was history, and that's how I remember it, real smooth and cool. I'm sure I'm sure she has a different story. I'm sure she does, yeah. But um, but yeah, so I just it was like when the smoke's area suffocating, so we just grabbed a drink, and yeah, it was it was nice. And then the next day, like I always just usually you don't care, and I'm like, you know, I kind of want to see again, and I want to see her again. I'm like, oh fuck it. I didn't even ask her to be my find out. Uh I was like such a grub because I was 18. I'm like, I guess we're dating. It was terrible. She loves bringing that up.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

So yeah, you didn't do the whole you want to be my girlfriend.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

I'm not like a cringe, it feels a bit cringe, you know. So I was just like, I guess we're dating. She's like, Oh we? I'm like, Yeah, she's like, Okay, and then yeah, so smooth bin. That's all uh I guess we're married. Just put a ring on the bedside, she'll kill me.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

Don't you dare.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

Yeah, no, I won't get away with it.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

So it's like being a dad.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Awesome, yeah. People always say, like, it wrecks your life and oh, don't do it, or like kids take up all your time. Best thing in the world. There's actually nothing better than it. And I think like people say, being a parent's hard, it's hard for like two weeks. But if you have like the smallest sliver of compassion, it's just the easiest thing in the world to be a good parent. If you just have the smallest bit of compassion, it's so easy to be a parent. You just look at them and you go, need a dub change or they need this. It's not tough. Parenting is not tough. Maybe like when they're teenagers, it might be tough. But my son's not at the moment, it's been smooth out, and he's a good kid. I'm sure my daughter's gonna be a terror, but but it's been very easy for the first seven months. I got a good partner, which helps obviously, but she hasn't struggled with it at all either. So being a parent's great. Have kids, 70 of them.

SPEAKER_03 28:49

One of those things where your kids like other kids probably won't want to mess with your kids because their dad's a pro fighter, or the dads won't want to mess. Yeah, pro fighter.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

My son just doesn't get issues there. He doesn't box either.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Oh, he doesn't? Does he get excited? He knows obviously what you do.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Yeah, he he gets excited for it, but he doesn't even want to box like remotely. I've been trying to push him in the league for years. He watches league, and then someone gets knocked down, he's like, That's why I don't do it, Dad. I'm like, Well, he's smarter than me. Yeah, he's smarter than me. But no, he has no interest in boxing. I have no interest in inboxing. If it was up to me, I would none of my kids will box, hopefully. And if they want to start boxing, they can start a bit later so they can know what the boxing is about. Because a lot of kids start at like eight or seven or fucking whatever age, four, and they dominate and they don't know what it's like to actually get better than someone. Like it's a skill to get better than someone at something. And a lot of kids are just front runners. So I want them to like take some beatings and know what boxing is about. Because some kids get to 15, they win all their fights, they lose one fight, and they go home and they cry, and they're like, This isn't for me. And it's like that that's actually what boxing is. Like there's ups and downs, and for a lot of kids it's just ups because they start so early, that definitely won't be the case if my kids want to box. But they're not boxing anyway. I'm I'm I'm sold on it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:05

You're saying before, like a couple weeks ago or recently, you went down just to shoot around the basketballs to clear head noise. Yeah, yeah. What head noise are you putting in with?

SPEAKER_00 30:17

I don't I don't I don't even know what the head noise was at night. Um again, I can just be in a bad mood, just wake up. I know the best thing for me is to go get some activity, you know, and you can't always run because your shins won't like that, especially a few months ago when I was fat. So um, so yeah, I just put up some shots. It's just good to go down there, just quiet, because it's um even like when I run now, it's been helping me. I might go for a 5k run, I'll pull up uh out 5k and I'll walk home 2K and like I'll take my headphones off and just turn it off because you never just realize how distracted we are all the time. Like all the time. Like I can't even sit on a train and just listen to the train. I have music on. Or I'll be driving and I'll never just drive. Like it'll be music or it'll be a podcast, I'll be talking to someone. And like that's why running is good. When you're running, you get heaps of mental reps done, and you think about the fight, you can and you just think about things, especially I can't be great for fighting to run by yourself. I've been running with Hayden, my mate, Hayden Emerson heaps, and like this camp, I haven't been running with it much, and I've been turning off the headphones and walking home and just and I'm like, fuck, we just don't get a breakout, and just feeding like like the stuff with the wall the time now, it's just constant, just everything's constant, and it's just constant noise. And I feel like that's been helping me. That's what a basketball court was for me before I had these hand surgeries. Just go down there, dead silent, put some shots up, he's therapeutic, hearing the ball bounce, and after it ran, you're just headphones out and walkers, so much noise. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

I think a lot of people too, they're too scared to be alone with their own thoughts.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Yeah, for sure. It can be scary sometimes, especially people that feel alone and like feel a sense of emptiness. The second they're alone, they feel like I know when I felt alone and lost as a kid, like there was nothing worse than being by yourself. So I was constantly with people and constantly behaving a certain way with people just to keep myself feeling fulfilled. And then I know I'd go home on my own. You can't sleep with it, I'd be home in my own bed and you feel empty and you feel it's hard to be by yourself sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

What was one of the toughest things that you went through in your life?

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Uh I went through a lot, a lot of tough things. I I probably don't touch on too many, but just just um like I said, definitely not the toughest, but something's just like I said, there's nothing, there's no worse feeling than feeling alone and feeling isolated. And as a kid getting bullied at school and feeling out of place at home and just feeling like you have no one to talk to and all your issues just compound, just being young, like 10, 11, 12, and just thinking, like I have no one, like no, no one to lean on, no one to talk to, just yeah, feeling lost. And that's why when people are struggling now, like I always just try and be a listener near because it's just yeah, it's it's a scary feeling to be by yourself and just have nothing. So, but yeah, I went for a lot of things, don't like I haven't been there and made it and done what I want to achieve. And I don't know if I overtouch on some things, but yeah, just feeling alone is a pretty shit feeling.

SPEAKER_03 33:11

I think with with people feeling alone, I think they need to I don't know, you have their their outlet. People need their outlet, like you know, like yours is going out and being active and you know, whether it's sport, I know what it is. Some people might like to read a book. Who knows what it is? I think it's just finding that that thing for themselves that helps them through it.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

No, absolutely. No, I think I think it's important. Like I'm I'm just lucky uh I've ran into boxing to be honest with you. Like if I didn't run into boxing and probably drink too much, probably play footy, probably end up in some trouble. Very fortunate. It's a saying that boxing saves lives, but for for me it really did, and not in the terms like I would have died or anything like that, but I would have just went through life just floating, just doing whatever. Like I don't really know where I'd be. Like, boxing put me in a position to have a missus, maintain a missus, have a family, have a kid, have a house. Uh I'm I'm not ready for that without like good male role models in my life. And the gym has a ton of them. The gym the gym has male role models personified, and it's also it's just like everyone's tough, everyone's an honest, hard worker. It teaches you just good fundamentals in life as well, just being around like real men. Yeah, not you're not too caught up with just like upsetting people. They just say how it is, it's great, it's great for young people, but it's not for all young people, it's a it's a tough go. A lot of people lose weight and they go, Oh, you know, is boxing good for losing weight. I just told them there's easier ways to lose weight. If you're just boxing to lose weight, just go hit the treadmill, go live some weights, diet. There's easier ways to lose weight. Boxing's not for many people, I don't think.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Who's someone that you've looked up to training through boxing?

SPEAKER_00 34:51

Uh professionally. Now that I'm older and I'm in the boxing sport, I realize how filthy it is. Um, being a pro boxer, so it's not as glamorous. So I probably haven't looked up to anyone. When I was younger, I really looked up to Fluid Mayweather. Leading into my first fight, he was fine Pacquiao. And I remember it was on the TVs like the whole night, and I was just up, just watching it on free TV. And then I would get up in the morning, I'd be doing sit-ups and punching with dumbbells and running and training three times a day. And um, and my first tattoo I got is if you want to be the best, you have to work overtime, which is a fluid Mayweather quote. But it ended up being Andre Ward. Andre Ward's like a very religious man. Do you know Andre Ward? Great, great boxer, one of the best super middle weights ever. And he's not genetically gifted like Floyd or Pacquiao or Sugar Leonard. He's the best decision maker ever, and he's calloused in the mind, and he just knows like you're like he's not the biggest punch, he's not the most athletic, but he doesn't let people bully him and he gets it done, and he retired undefeated, and in my opinion, one of the best ever. I really like him, and he's just a strong man and a good man. So um, uh he's probably my biggest role model. Not that I act anything like him, but yeah, no, I really like Andre Warden.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

It's good to have if you don't have any male figure mentors or people to look up to, role models, and then you can look outside, you know, whether it's like you said, you know, you you looked up to Floyd, maybe the Pacquiao and people like that to help you sort of move forward in life and train for it.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

It's um with like the role models for me. I was very fortunate that I like sport because growing up like a former uncles were hectic. Like they were getting in and out of jail, and I thought they were hectic and everyone's smoking weed and doing this and doing that. And I really was like, I want to be a tough guy, which I wasn't very tough. I was quite small and malnourished. But I wanted to be tough, but I always watch rugby league. Oh, WWE first. I know none of them smoke, which I probably do. I in my head, I was like, none of these guys smoke. Now I wanted to be a rugby league player and I'm like, none of these guys smoke or do drugs. So I was doing all the dumb shit without like hurting the body, but it's it's so easy for kids to look up to their dads and be like, that's what cool is. He's six foot two, six foot five, and he he's smoking people and bashing people at the shops. That's sick. Like, that's that's the role model for kids. We're lucky with like that's one thing where media has helped us. We can just surround ourselves with other people's voices, like good people. It's hard, you know, when you're role models or be cool, tough people, like all the role models in Madrid were drug dealers. Like, that's what we were all like to have nice cars and nice chains and nice watches. Yeah, we didn't have that. We had like shoes with tape on them, so we could go to school without ripping our socks, you know what I mean? So, yeah, role models is a weird one. Yeah, I have one good role model, my uncle Clink is a functionable addict, and he was always good, always supported my journey in sport. So I was I was very lucky with that. But um, yeah, not too many good role models in my life, especially male ones. But again, the the day I walked through the gym, there's a ton of them. There's lots of good male role models in boxing.

SPEAKER_02 37:45

And who was your first coach?

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Um, PCYC Spiders Boxing. Yeah, Luke Sheen was my first coach.

SPEAKER_02 37:50

And how did that gel with yeast cheese?

SPEAKER_00 37:52

It was good, it was good. I was down there, uh, I was just training hard. I remember I used to go and he let me train for free because he got sick of counting strapnol. I was going in and I would do like five sessions and I'd take like a bunch of coins, and he's like, mate, keep the money. He's like, because I was taking in coins, and I was I remember I was like this tall, skinny kid with long hair, and I was riding the training every day on a pink penny board because that was my only way to get around. And I was riding from Toluong over to near the hospital on a pink penny board every day, and then my penny board snapped, so I was like walking through bushes trying to get to the gym faster after school, and I'll go there straight from school and I'll be there from like 4:30 to like 7.30 at night, and then he'll drive me home, and then I got kicked out of home and he let me live with him for ages when I was very early in the boxing. I wasn't even good. I might have had like seven fights, and he's a good man, he just took me in and he let me live with him for a while, and um, and he made me get a job and he made me get a license, and again, another one of those good role models in boxing, you know. Very fortunate to have gyms for people like me, you know. And it saves it saves a lot of lives, and um to a biggest extent than me, you know, like Javante Davis always talks about all his mates that he grew up with, and all the boys in the gym got shot and killed, but because he stayed in the gym, you know, I helped him. There's lots of boxes like that. I was fortunate I wasn't in that sort of danger to that extent, but it saved me on it on a different level, just being a good person and being a functionable person in society.

SPEAKER_03 39:19

That's powerful to have great men around like that. Yeah, for sure. So take these young men in and help them in life to to grow and develop them and teach them about the normal things in life that you know, even just to get your car license, yeah, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Like I said, I didn't have one until I was 15. And then the second, like I realized so quick I was still 15 and I'm at school, and I'm like, nah, this isn't what it is anymore. And I to be truthful, I was just waiting in school and going to the gym every day. But at least I had at least I had a purpose, I had a vision, I had something to focus on, and I was no longer being a grub, you know what I mean? I was standing out of trouble, and now I don't advise people to not go to school and box or do that for any sort, like go to school, do school. Because I'll tell you, the second I left school, I was um, I did furniture removalists, and within a week I was like, I want to go back to school. So if my son, I told my fun, if my son ever goes, Oh dad, I don't want to do school anymore, I want to get a trade, I'm just gonna give him a week off, send him to a site, and he's gonna come back and tell me he doesn't want to trade and he wants to finish year 12. So I tried to go back to school. I caught around, and no school on the state would take me. Um, because I got expelled like four times in like a year and twice from a behavior school. I couldn't go to any school. I called like Dacobin, I called Glass, I called everywhere, couldn't get in any school.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

So what did you just didn't finish school then?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

Yeah, I just didn't finish school. I got out at 15 and I just started boxing and school of hard knocks.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

It's good that the boxing gyms give these young men a purpose in life.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

I feel that's the story we've been hearing all the time. In boxing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

Yeah, well, it it doesn't have to be even boxing, just even like say combat sports, whether it's like boxing or other martial arts. Yeah, the gym that they go to, it's it's it's given them purpose and it's humbled them and it's kept them from fighting on the streets.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

I remember I was getting into fights all the time, and the day I started boxing, I didn't get into one fight. I got I've been into one fight since I was 15. One fight on the street, that's it, since I was 15.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

And how do you explain that? Because we had another fighter on here, he said the same thing, and you would think it would be the opposite.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Yeah, for me, I'm always a play that safe sort of guy. I realized how soft you need to be hit to get chinned, and I was like, I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want to get hurt. Because you can hit someone so soft and knock them out, like it's crazy, it's really crazy. That's why this King Hidden stuff's outrageous. Because you can hit somebody so soft and just hurt them. I remember when I was in Sydney, I was playing some basketball, actually had a like a homemade gun pulled on me, and I thought it was fake. So I was like, brother, if you want to fight, hop on the grass. Because I didn't want to like drop him, hurt him, and and he had me at like gunpoint, and then and then someone hopped off a motorbike with a helmet and hit me with a hook, and then I told him to hop on the grass, and then nothing ended up happening. I ended up walking back to my mate's house, pretty crazy day. Um, thought the gun was fake, and then a few days later the gun got fired, and someone killed their best mate because the the chamber broke. It was pretty crazy. I was at Wilmot Shops, they were they were robbing the shops, and yeah, someone got shot with it. It was pretty uh pretty scary.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

That's full on.

SPEAKER_00 42:36

Yeah, pretty full on. I was down there for holidays as well. Like, I've done it for two weeks. No, I wasn't living there at the time, I might have been 17. And he's like, You think you're good because you're boxing? That's how it started. There was a kid I went to primary school with I haven't seen in like six years, and we're just playing basketball, and he's like, You think you're better than us now? Just because I went back to play basketball. I wasn't doing nothing. It was pretty crazy. I was just shooting hoops.

SPEAKER_03 42:57

So that happens, eh? Because now, like when you become a fighter, then people want to call you out.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

I've been quite lucky with that though. I feel like um I'm intimidating-ish, but I'm not intimidating enough, and uh, I'm not pussy looking enough, and then I'm not huge, but I'm not small. So I feel like I've been in a good middle where people are like, Oh, I won't test myself against him, he looks like a nice guy. But and then other people like, oh, he looks scary enough where I won't mess with him. Like I'm somewhere in the middle. Where some people are here, like they're like the scary bloke, six foot six, everyone wants to fight long because they're a boxer. But then you get little guys that are like five foot two, and everyone wants to fight long because they're a boxer. And I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle. So that's the only time I've actually ever had that issue. And it happens all the time. Like people just go, I go to the pub, people want to find me. But yeah, I've never had that issue ever. Like no one ever wants to find me, other than that one time. And that's like the story that everyone says that when you start doing better, people want to pull you down. I just go back there to shoot hoops. I've only had like fourteen amateur fights, want to stay tight, done absolutely nothing. And then, yeah, dude from my past wants to try and shit on me, you know.

SPEAKER_03 43:58

In your hand with your fighting. How long ago did you have the injury?

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Yeah, a couple I got two glass hands. I was a professional. I had two boxing fights in like a month. Then I took a fight on like two weeks' notice, got my jaw broke, as we all know. And then um one fight after that, I actually injured my tenant, and then I I had like seven fights of the tenant bad. So what ended up happening over time, tenant slipped off, broke my knuckle, then I broke that side of the knuckle because this one went flat and the tenant slipped off. Um so both knuckles were broken, tenants were off. I had a ton of fights with it like that until I beat Karl Mazudia, which was a massive win for me, the biggest win of my career so far. And then I got two knuckle reconstructions. Yeah, so I fought basically my whole career one-handed. So yeah, we busted knuckles, and the knuckles are so bad they were flat.

SPEAKER_02 44:46

Any point somebody said to you that you shouldn't fight?

SPEAKER_00 44:50

Yeah, I've been getting told that since I broke my jaw. Um, when I broke my jaw, like everyone wrote me off. The bad hands, we knew they were bad, and I just kept trying, kept trying, kept trying. I ended up fighting. I had a fight where I fought a dude named Um Phil Bad, I forgot his name. He's a good fighter, old fighter. He wears a spinny hat. He's very good. He was like he was like 23 and like two when I fought him, and I f and I was like, I was like four and one. And I fought him south for the whole fight because my hand was so busted, and um, and I win in the fight pretty clearly, and that's the extent of the injury. The injury was so bad I was fighting and the opposite stands. But when I got to after that, uh I had another loss, and then after that, I just went, you know, I'm just sending it like I don't even care. And I've won, I think I've won seven or eight in a row and like six by knockout since my last loss, because I just went, pfft, I don't hand to hands, they're gonna hurt part of the game. And it's like the saying, if it was easy, everyone would do it. So I just I've just dogged it out and gotten into it, got stuck into my work and no complaints. And I'm before the injury, I was ranked the highest I've ever been ranked. I had three regional titles. Um, I had a world ranking and I'll be back there very soon.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

And you're in super super worldway, 69.8 kilos. And there'd been a title fight this this coming fight with uh Andrew Hunt.

SPEAKER_00 46:07

Yeah, we're fine for an IBF title. So again, a big one. The win I'm like, probably get a world ranking, I'd assume. I'm very excited for it, you know. Um he's undefeated, Polynesian. Uh, hopefully he gets a lot of support out there. Hopefully I get lots of boosts because I love that. Um, I love being the badger. I I can't wait to go out there and just revel in it. Can't wait to beat him down. Yeah, I'm I'm honest, I'm stoked that the promoter of this thing or this matchmaking name, Brendan Burke, he messaged me, and the fight actually happened like this. He goes, I got this much money to put towards a fight. I said, sweet, how are we spent? He said 50-50. And he goes, Who do you want to fight? And I said, Who have you had on your cards? I already knew they had Andy Hunt on the card. They're like, Oh, you know, we had Andy Hunt out that way, he fight Mania Fighty. And I was like, sweet, I'll fight Andy. Like, I knew already. And then they called Andy, and then Andy's team was keen straight away too, but there was a bit of an issue with weight, and then they come to the party and the fight's on, and I got the fight I wanted. I'm cheering. I was retired when I was watching that, and I was like, I seen the fight and I'm like, I'd love that fight. I had a couple fights back, got myself healthy, and then it was just coincidence that this matchmaker reached out to me with an opportunity to fight whoever I want, and that's who I wanted. And I I got it locked in, and he's a slight favourite, which I don't think he'll be come fight night, and yeah, I can't wait to put hands on him.

SPEAKER_03 47:28

Because you've had a a few um issues with contracts in the past.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

I haven't had issues with contracts. I wanted a release from No Limit.

SPEAKER_03 47:35

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:36

I was pretty I was very, I was very um fortunate they granted me release, they didn't make me pay my way out, which is very nice. A lot of promoters in boxing, yeah. That's where I give No Limit a great job. They were promoting me. I was one of their guys, I wasn't their main guy. I just said, listen, I feel like we're not on the same page. Um, no, and no limit just released me. And I had lots of fights on my deal. I had bad hands, I was out for ages. I was a bit of a fucker and then they released me. Super fortunate because a lot of promoters sue fighters, they hold them the contracts. Yeah, no, I'm I'm I'm very grateful to them. And for that, like I'm super excited to fight on their cards. They have guys on their cards at the moment that I want to fight. Like, I know Mikhailovic for his card, he's with Tasman. I'd love the Mikhailovic fight next if he can lose some weight. We got Blake Wells who's with No Limit now, and I'd love to have that fight. There's lots of middleweights around and super middleweights fights I'd love to make happen. And I'm so willing to work with No Limit just because of the good faith they showed me, you know. Like I pulled up to fight Paul or Acusa on one day's notice again from the good faith that no limit showed me. So I'm very appreciative. But I'm sorry, but no, I'm managed by no one. I run my own ship. I get to carry on how I want to carry on. I can get kicked out of I can get kicked out of uh promotional things if I want. I can pull up to Wayne's at Suncorp and troll people. I can do whatever I want. It's nice.

SPEAKER_02 48:55

Why do people go under contract then? Why do fighters do that?

SPEAKER_00 48:58

You're you're aligned with a big promotion. Usually you there's two sorts of or there's lots of sorts of contracts, but there's kind of two sorts. You're you're either one of their guys and you're on a tiered contract and you win and you keep going, and they're gonna progress you and invest in you and hopefully push you to that world level in a world time, and then there's one where they you sign a contract and you get paid a fixed amount, but you're there to win and lose and just be make up the numbers. So you sign with them to be aligned with them. But I don't I don't like the fact that you can have people over here saying they want fights and people over here saying they want fights, but fights never happen because they go, Oh, managers or matchmakers, but I'll fight anyone. But I'm in a position where I run my own ship and I'll I'll fight whoever I want and whatever promotion I want. That's how I got this fight. Like, I just they just called me and said, Do you want to fight? I said, bloody earth. Like, I just want big fights, I don't mind, I don't care where they are, what promotion they are. There's so many people hide behind promotional walls or contracts, and I don't, I just don't. It's not to say I'm gonna manage and promote myself forever because I'm not a great manager nor a promoter, but I got myself in a good position on this one. I got the fight I wanted, and I'm excited. And hopefully I get picked up by a good promotional company that has a vision for me. And if they don't, I'll probably ask for another release, or I just won't sign. Hopefully, I know because you can get promised a lot of things, and then you sign in. And that's not what happened with No Limit. No Limit signed me on a good contract at the time. I feel like I outgrow that contract. Also I had injuries, and at that rate, I was gonna be on that contract for 20 20,000 years because I couldn't string together two fights in a year. Like I said, grateful they released me, but now I'm running my own ship doing what I want and carrying on like a pork chop. It's fine. It's fine.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Well, wouldn't it be a thing within contracts? You'd have like an exit clause in there, no?

SPEAKER_00 50:41

No, contrast and boxing, very one-sided. Yeah, like if you were to swing them by a lawyer, they would say, oh, this is only in their favour. But they're the they're the matchmakers, they're the promoters, and that's that's been the structure of boxing forever, you know? They they they sell the product, we're the product, but we're the piece of meat, they're the butcher. Like we just we just go in and put our lives on the line and and make most of us make not a lot of money. Unfortunate we're not making an average amount of money, and uh, some fighters like 1% of fighters are making a good amount of money in Australia. Um definitely somewhere at the top, uh man, a lot of fighters like are getting somewhere between like $2,200 like $6,000. And $6,000 is a lot for a lot of fighters. Like, I have mates that haven't even been paid six, and they're good fighters, fought for regional titles on big stages. We're not getting paid a lot. And like Muay Thai and MMA is even worse, I'm sure you've heard like your Muay Thai fighters getting paid a grand for world titles. It's just it's a rough game, but that's why you sign with these promoters. Hopefully they have your best interest. And hopefully I would I would always advise people to have a tiered contract now that I know about contracts, three fights. You win, you get this, you win this, you get this, instead of getting a fixed rate, a fixed rate's pretty rough. But you just want a tiered, a nice tiered contract where there's clear progression, clear goals. But why do people sign? So you're in favor. There's so many times you fight, like for example, I'm not signed, so a lot of the time I need to win by knockout or so, evidently clearly, to get a decision, because they know who the A-side is, they know who the the fighter that they're invested in is, and the and the sadly the the referees and the uh judges feel a pressure for the A side to win, which they shouldn't, but they do. That's the business of boxing. Because if A side loses, they lose their investment. Their investment can be 10,000, it can be 50,000, a million. Big investments in the fighters.

SPEAKER_02 52:36

That's a lot of red tape and a lot of politics, hey.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

Yeah, well, that's just the style, that's just contracts. Yeah, it gets crazy. It's a it's a sticky old tool. That's what I said. I used to love boxing, pro boxing. I used to love it, I used to relish it. I used to watch all of the fights, and I used to just have active favorite fighters. I have no favorite fighter that's active. Oh, Benabitas, and that's it. That's because he's trying to fight everyone. But outside of him, I don't have any favourite fighters. Like I just watch boxing to for study. I don't really like anyone because I know a lot of the best fighters aren't even the best fighters, and we're not getting a lot of the best fights with politics and and promotional wars and sanctioning bodies and yeah, everything else. It's pretty crazy. Boxing's a icky sport.

SPEAKER_03 53:17

A week leading into a fight, what's your mental mindset and your physical leading into it?

SPEAKER_00 53:24

Uh physically, a week out, you're very beat up and sore and damaged. Um, and I kind of take the week of training, to be honest. I do a light session once a day for a week. I do a water load. I uh eat healthy, lose lots of weight, and just take it easy the last week. And the mindset, I try and just I'm thinking about the fight obviously, but I just kind of isolate myself from like doing chores and yelling at the kids because the last thing you need to do is be yelling at your nine-year-old or scrubbing dishes when you're about to like put your life on the line for your family, for your kids, and like a lot of pressure. So I usually just isolate a lot of time to sleep in the spare room. Um, this fight, because it's a big one, I'll be down in Melbourne for five days before the fight, not really seeing anyone just in my room, just isolating, just hanging out, losing weight, just making sure I get the little things right, recovering the body and just preparing for war. Um, pretty simple. I I might play, I usually download a phone game that's absolutely brain dead, and I play it for a week and I try and become like the top ten best in the world in a week. I spend a stupid offensive amount of money on the game. I know I'm deleting the day after the fight, but just past time. But I don't really think about the fight too much anymore. Like I used to get real caught up in it. I'm real, and then I lost to a very average guy named Lachlan Higgins, who I'm glad he won. Um, and I he'll have something to show when he's done his career because he hasn't done much other than that, but he can have the regional title and a good win. He's a very average fighter. Yeah, I haven't lost to someone that bad in a long time, but it was really beneficial because now I just don't even care. Like I don't I used to get emotional, I used to worry about fights and worry about things. And my coach sent someone to a group chat. I don't know if it triggered all the boys by triggering me. It was I it was like LeBron or Kobe or one of those great basketball players now talking about do you get nervous? And he's like, I do get nervous, but why do we get nervous? He goes, All you can do is work and then like lay all the bricks, and then it will be what it's gonna be. You can't control what your opponent's gonna do, you kind of control what's gonna happen on the night. You can only control preparation, and I don't I barely get nervous for fights anymore. All I do, I just do the best I can, train the best I can, and I know on night I'm gonna do the best I can. I try and do as much damage as possible. If they beat me, they probably deserve it. But no one's beat me since I had that mentality, and spiraling partners are having long days.

SPEAKER_03 55:40

So the day of the fight, what's your what's your routine?

SPEAKER_00 55:43

This is terrible. I have a fat, I have like two eggs bennies in the morning. Might have strawberry milkshake if I'm feeling naughty. Um and my stomach's not upset from the weight cut. But yeah, two eggs bennies. I usually go into the fight with the empty stomach, so I'll probably just snack from there on to the fight, which will be 9 p.m., 10 p.m. But I just snack on nuts, a bit of fruit, a bit of lollies, shake up a flat coke, take that into the warm-up for a bit of bit of caffeine, a bit of sugar. Man, I take it easy. I I lay in bed. Uh recently, I've just been having the boys hang around and just talking shit and shadow spine in front of the mirror, and I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. Just I just treat it like a sparring day. Like I don't I don't even like I said, I used to just isolate, you should lay in bed and be like, I'm resting my legs, so I'm ready to go. And I used to worry about everything and panic about everything, and I need to be serious, I need to be telling myself my why. Why do I box? Why do I do this? Like remembering my whys. All you're doing is putting pressure on yourself that you don't need, you're gonna go out there. Like people like motivational speeches, all those things, they get you to the dance. You're never like 20k into uh 21k run, and you're like, oh, what's my why? You're like, it's just digging deep now. You're like, it just gets you there. Motivation just gets you there. So I don't even I don't need to be motivated. I just pull up and get the job done. And I don't need to remember my whys because you're not gonna be 10 rounds in getting hit in the job and what's my why? Like it's not happening. Yeah, it's just buy it down.

SPEAKER_02 57:06

And you like being an underdog?

SPEAKER_00 57:07

Yeah, it's not even being an underdog. I like uh you know how people want everyone to like them. I really just don't care. I just feel like people that have 700 friends, red flags, bad people, bad friends. You can't have 700 friends. Like if you go to someone's wedding and they have 10,000 people at their wedding, make that make sense. Like, how strong are your connections with these people? I have like five good friends and I hang out with like maybe five, ten people. That's it. Because my but I know the people that got me, they got me. But if you're trying to like message this person, message that person, message this person, do this, do that. Like, I just I feel like the more people that dislike me, it just keeps my circle closer. Because you you have a lot of people in your circle that don't even like you and want to see you downfall, I don't have one of them because I they're all wheezed out easy, and I just I just don't really do social things. Other some out of camp have a baby's with the boys together footy, but I'm not a real social person, I don't really get around people too much, do too much stuff. We just train, do sport, that's it. I like circles super small. Um, and one thing that's so good about having a family, all the noise in the world, everyone can hate you, but you can just go home and it doesn't matter. Like they're they're not at your door, like we hate you. And the other thing is like every time I go to a boxing fight, everyone has stuff to sell online. I've never had one person press me out of fight or say something mean to me out of fight. Everyone's asking for photos, and everyone's spraying me. But I just think, and like growing up, I used to love Randy Orton um from WWE. Everyone hated him, but they respected him, you know what I mean? And I like that. I just think like yeah, dislike me, and then when I win, I you have that. It's the same thing with the origin or the same thing with who I went for in footy at the game. Whenever I went for targets, I probably like targets more. I went for dogs, but he slaughtered a field guy, and I'm just like, stick, have that. And if I lose, I wear it. But I don't I don't I don't mind losing. I don't I don't mind being the bad guy as long as I'm being myself. A lot of people go out there trying to be cool, trying to be a bad guy, trying to be a good guy, and then when they lose and it blows up in their face, it hurts them or it affects who they are. They're oh, I didn't mean that. Like I don't everything I say I stand on. And if I lose and it blows up my face, it's fine because I that's who I am, and those are the things I said, and I believe all of them, and I stand on all of them. But some people um from a gym called Shape Up, fuck you guys. Nah, some people um they go out there and they get told to act a certain way, and when they lose crickets, they uh they regret things and they come back a nice guy and this and that. It just fucking I just I just am who I am, and every time I lose, I've doubled down on who I am. I become a bigger girl, but I become a bigger pest, I upset more people, I do more damage in my fights, I but I get more hate, more spite. I like it. I'm here for it. And I I hope everyone comes down and supports Andy Hunt in Melbourne, and I hope everyone's cheering and yelling and and cussing me out because when I win, they're gonna hear it. I'm gonna say, fuck you as well. And if I lose, I'm gonna wear it. It is what it is. Um, everyone will say, Oh, you said this or you wanted this. That's fine. I lost.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:16

I think the the hate more drives you to motivate you to to win even more.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:20

Yeah, there's a fighter called Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest middle weights ever, who's like that. Like the hate just drives it. It's not even like hate is drive me. It's just like I just I just like being a little controversial. I just I like people not liking me. It's nice because uh because I know I know who who do like me, they they like me, they're my good friends. I was strong friends. I don't I I can honestly say I don't have one person in my friend group, like because I don't have many friends. And I could have friends, I can be likable, I can I can message everyone on Instagram and share around stuff and hey, buddy this and hey, buddy that, and because that's how people are friends now, they're just sharing stuff on Instagram and DMing each other and they're best mates. I I don't I don't really like anyone's stuff, I don't share anyone's stuff. I less uh the way it works is if you send me something that ask me to share it, I share it. That's how you get shared on my page. I don't share anything, I don't like anything, I don't care. I don't even consume content. That's why you gotta send stuff to me for me to post. Yeah, yeah, I just I just don't care.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:14

Are there any quotes you stand by?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:16

I say this one too much. Live by the sword, die by the sword. You gotta pay the cost to be the boss. Uh my favourite is uh the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed them more. So just staying prepared. Gardener, you've all we've all heard you'd rather be a gardener in the wall than or worry in a garden or some shit like that. Those sort of quotes. Uh I just yeah, live by the sword, die by the sword. That's it. Yeah, I feel like that's where you gotta be. Uh not the way you gotta be. There's a lot of boxes that aren't because they don't take the hard fights or take tough fights, but me, that's that's the way I want to live. Go out there. Anything I do, give myself give it my 100%, and and hopefully it rubs off all my kids and they realise like thrown the world now you can't say certain things, and well, I'm not gonna get all political, but just you just can't say things, you can't act certain way, you can't be a certain way. I teach my kids, man, like someone called my son the sook the other day and was upset. I'm like probably a sook. I don't know what to tell you. Like people usually usually get told what's true, and I don't think you should call them a sook back or call them names back. It is what it is, but it's just yeah, be be honest. Uh like uh like if someone if someone's big and you call them big, I don't I don't think there's an issue with that. Like, I just think I think it's fine. I think everything's fine. If people don't like me and people call me a grub or whatever they call me, I'm so fine with it. Like, I I don't mind though. Like, as long as you're being yourself, if like even when I I was fat not long ago and all the boys call me fat, and I'm like, bro, fat's happy. I enjoy eating my food. I'm enjoying my food, I'm enjoying a couple drinks with the boys. You can call me whatever you want. I'm happy. If that is happy, I'm being myself, it's fine. Like everything's fine. I feel like you should just feel how to say things. I teach my son that anything you say, you just gotta stand on.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:57

And that's it, that's a healthy way of looking at it. Back yourself up. What you say? That's you gotta, yeah, you gotta back yourself up. But this is a society we're living in, right? Where everybody's so precious, yeah, you can't say certain things.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:10

Yeah, it's dangerous, it's very dangerous, it's very unhealthy. It is. You have a lot of sad, sick, unstructured people, unstructured society, unstructured kids, unstructured role models, stereotypes, it's gonna it's gonna end up sticky.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:26

Yeah, and I mean social media doesn't help, like you said, and I think that's why for me too, I have a very small circle.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

And they're they're my real ones, and no matter what. So I think all of these people that have so all of these friends and all of these, yeah, I just don't think they've really got there yet of realizing like real true love, true friendship.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:48

Yeah, I like, yeah, I don't I don't even have birthday parties or anything. I don't I just feel like you know, a birthday party for me, I watch game with a couple of my mates. Like I just and that's that's that thing of like we're talking about before, wanting to be accepted. So you wanted this abundance of people, these people are just dragging you down. I like when I was 18 or 17, I remember all my mates were out and it was New Year's and I was in the gym. I went, whoever doesn't add to my life subtracts, and I got rid of everyone. I was I was very lonely from like maybe 17 to like 20, had no mates, not one. I just said, uh besides people in the gym, I just said, if you don't add to my life, because I was a grub, or we're just going out partying, going to house plays. I didn't even drink. We're going to house parties, doing this, doing that, uh running market out at 2 a.m. chasing girls, just doing great stupid stuff as a teenager. And then I was just lonely for like two, three years, just locked into boxing, very flat all the time. But I knew what my goal was and my vision was. And now I'm surrounded by people like-minded and it's helped. That's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:43

You're a product of your environment, aren't you?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

100%. My son, I always tell him when he was real young, I say, you know, if you surround yourself with preps and you run the 100 every day, you're winning every day. But you're never gonna get quicker. If you surround yourself with the sixes, you run every day and you're losing, but you're pushing to get better. I'm like, you get better. You gotta surround yourself with people better than you, or just like-minded. They don't need to be better than you. You just need like-minded people that are on the same mission as you, and even if they're on the same mission as you, they're supporting you on your mission.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Like I got I got Emerson, who again pro boxed from my gym. Me and him run every night, we do strength every night. Like, we got we go strength session tonight. Dude's not even in camp. He had a couple drinks at the valley last night for his girlfriend's birthday. He's gonna come and do red zone running. And then I got I got my mate Chris who plays league. He's a bit of a ghost, but when he shows up, it's always a good time. But he's always got me whenever I need him. Got my mate Moo, who's actually my strength trainer, and he's one of my closest mates now. And then like they're just like minded people, you know. And then I've got a mate called Blake, and I got a mate Harry, and and I just they're they're more social mates. But we we still don't really do stuff. But we just hang out and talk and I know they got me if I need them, but that's like the extent of my circle. And then I've got my little brother Tristan, who's a problem child, but but I love him the bits, but he he's always got me and um That's on that's probably like the extent of my group. I don't even think I'm probably if you got a one or two, and I'd probably be upset, but I don't think I am. I think I've got six mates. Like that I can remember just list off the top of my head. I got six mates. That's how small it is.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:14

A lesson from what you were just talking about before, with you just isolated yourself, you had no friends, you just went to the gym, and those people end up being your friend. I've heard some people even say to myself and ask, they're wanting change, but they don't know how to leave that lifestyle, and they don't know they just don't know how to do it. It's about you've got to be around people that you want to be like. And if it's something that you want to do, whether you want to be a bodybuilder, whatever that is, say a bodybuilder, go into a gym and start training. You're gonna see other bodybuilders in there, you form a uh friendship with them, and then you start living like them. And then those friends that you were hanging around with before, you're not so much hanging around them. Yeah. Because you've you're adding other people into your life better for yourself. Things that don't serve your purpose in life, yeah, they're the things you need to get rid of.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:02

Yeah, distance yourself from. But a lot of people like they'll say, like, oh, you know, like how do I do this? How do I do that? Or how am I supposed to like I can't just meet these people, and but it's actually the e it's the easiest thing in the world, just show up. Like if you want to, even like in relationships, I've made so like find girlfriends, and I'm like, bro, just you like reading books, go to a book club. Like just step in the door. People, I want to get fit and I want to lose weight, but I don't I want to lose weight before I get to the gym, or I want to have a box before I get to the gym. And it's like that's not how it works, just step into the gym. Or if it's I want to get better grades, but I don't want to look dumb at my lecture, so I'm gonna study for no, just go to your lecture, take some fucking notes and go home work on it. Like, I feel like you like people want to have a perfect game plan before they're in there, but they don't even know what it is. Like, that was like me. I thought boxing was just being strong and tough. That's all I thought boxing was, and I was like, Yeah, I'm strong and tough. And I walk in, I had no fucking clue, but the only way I got it was walking in. But if I was like, technically, I want to be great, I want to have a good job before I go, you lose six months, or you just never get brave enough to do it. Even like my mates, they're like, Oh, I want to be a singer, I want to be a rapper, and they're like, but I don't want to post it and get judged online. It's like just do it, and then you'll see six people that support you, and 90% of people that pick on you, they're you six people, and a lot of them aren't gonna be familiar faces, a lot of them might be your mate's mum who's like, you know, he's having a crack. And like uh like a lot of the time, especially early on, support comes from unfamiliar places at, and then when you start doing good, it's the same thing, like you really just need to, yeah, you just need to start. Like, because I have so many rates every day, like oh I want to get into boxing, how do I do it? I can I can tell you how to do it, or you can just step into the gym and learn how to do it properly fast, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:50

Yeah, you just need to start. Yeah, I would like to talk about your boxing, this fight that you got into where you did.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:57

You actually break your jaw? I broke my chin and my jaw, that's why it dropped.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:01

Wow, okay. So, how long had you been fighting before you before that fight?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:06

Like I was fighting for ages. I was an amateur, representing Australia a bit. I was 74 and 9 as an amateur, uh, boxed for boxed for quite a lot while but I was only I was pro for like two months. And I got a call, I spawned a bloke named Dennis Hogan, who like fought four titles, and like, hey Ben, do you want to fight Ben Miney on three weeks' notice? And I was like, Yeah, why not? So signed up for the fight, uh, prepared. Uh I was fit anyway, because I was fighting as an amateur lots, but I was only pro for like two months. The dude was like 10-0 at the time. I went in still confident I was gonna get the job done, very confident actually, and I beat him now. And I think if he didn't beat my jaw, I'd probably beat him back then. But I was punching with my mouth open because the amateurs are sprint. So I'm like, But I probably was like, it's like more of a marathon. I got hit on the jaw in the first round, like 70 seconds in, broke my jaw, broke my chin, and my jaw and it dropped, and then yeah, fought seven rounds with it like that. And then I'm sure you have questions, so whatever questions you have, I'll answer.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:04

Oh no, just so you you fought for seven rounds.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:07

Yeah, I think I think it got stopped in the seventh, so I think like six chances in between the rounds.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:11

So the doctor came over, checked you out.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:13

Yeah, probably could have stopped it in the first channel. I still want to stop it in the sixth. There was only an eight-round fight. But how much pain were you in? It was more discomfort. But this that's what I was talking about with like they could have stopped it in the first, and they chose not to. They knew my jaw was broken, but then I'd stop it in the seventh because it looks better for their guy's record if he has a knockout. You know what I mean? Like, it's like the that's what I believe anyway. Definitely not a conspiracy.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:37

So you think that they should have stopped the fight.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:39

Well, if you're gonna stop it in the seventh for the exact same injury, and because I remember the doctor comes over, he goes, show me around that. He's like, Your jaws broken. I'm like, I fucking know. And then my corner's like, they're like, Are you gonna stop it? Time my corner? My corner's like, no, they're like, Are you gonna stop it? He's like, No. And then he walked off and I fought four more rounds after that point. That was like round three. When they realized it was broken, that's what you call the ref in.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:00

So, how many rounds was that fight? Total of rounds? I think it was eight. It was eight rounds.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:04

They stopped at the start of the seventh. And I was like, I wasn't gonna win the fight, but I was I was starting to do better because uh I've rallied the storm. Um, I got I got through it mentally, like it was a big roadblock, I was only 21, having a snap jaw. Um, but it it didn't hurt, it was very, very lots of discomfort. My pain tolerance has always been pretty good, but I remember because I broke my chin and my jaw, I could feel my chin scratching here and I was swelling, and then um I swallowed lots of blood and my my throat was swelling and I was running out of oxygen, and there was a lot going on. There was a lot going on.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:40

Because I heard you when I think when they were talking to you, the umpire and that and you were saying to him, But that means I'll lose the fight.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:46

Yeah, I definitely wanted to keep going and the round before I actually hit him with a big overhand that and he actually people don't know, but he sent me a message, he fractured his jaw, and then um not bad, it was but he fractured it, and then but and then he also said I'm the hardest city he's been in there with, but he'll never say that because he's blocked me on everything because he yeah, he blocked me on everything because I'm I'm a pest. And I beat a and I beat a guy he had a draw with and he didn't want to rematch me, which is fine. Okay, yeah, uh promotions, he's doing his own thing, completely fine.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:23

So that's like something obviously if they would have let you fight that extra round and he still didn't knock you out, like obviously you were the better fighter.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:32

Nah, that doesn't mean I'm better fighter, like I am a better fighter, but it doesn't make me a better fighter. It actually doesn't change the result. I could have got through the next two rounds and I would have lost the decision because it was it was close or it was his way and it was on his promotion, so I was never gonna get a decision. It's just I wanted to get to them personally, but it doesn't change anything, regardless. It's still in the lost column, like it doesn't change anything at all. Now, if my jaw didn't get broken, I probably beat him up, and that does change things. But whether the doctor just stopped it or not, it didn't change anything. But I think my reaction is what made it big because I was like pleading. I was like, please, man, just let me fight. Like you could have stopped this. That's what I said to him. I'm like, you could have stopped this a round ago, like in the first round. But you made me fight to here and you're gonna stop it. I was distraught, I was upset, man. I was a I was a young kid who wanted to have a crack and I had an opportunity and they took it off me. But like I say, live by the sword, die by the sword.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:25

You were fighting seven years amateur, yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah. What were your titles that you won during then?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:32

I won, I won like a national title. Every year I went to States, I won states, so it's like six of those. I won a golden gloves, I got silver as well. I won an international tournament, I got like a Hong Kong uh thing. I fought like the Chinese, Taipei, Taiwan Olympic teams. I beat them. I went to Landai C and Com Games, I lost a split to the guy who won gold, but I lost in the first round, so I didn't meddle. I had fights in like Poland, Czech Republic, uh where else? Uh Hong Kong, Philippines, like so I fought around. I had I had quite a good amateur career. That's what I mean. Life was crazy at that point because I remember as a kid to come to Queensland. I used to catch XBT, which is 12 hours on a train, which is wild. The first time I've ever been on a plane in my life, I was heading to nationals, and I remember on the plane, I had my cheap headphones on, I'm listening to like some music, and I'm like, I've made it. Like I've made it. Like I'm on a plane for free, getting free accommodation to go fight. Then, and then I didn't even think I was gonna win the tournament. I fought three times in three days. I won, I made down to 18 come off games. A month later, I'm on the plane going to the Bahamas, and I'm like, that's when I was like, fuck, this can be my life. Like I can do something. It was special, man. I was like, because I wasn't even boxing that long. I was boxing two years, and I was the only Queenslander, the youth Queensland to make the 18 games. The year before they took a team of people that could make it, not one of them made it, I made it, and I was on the plane, like shit, it's kind of cool. I was looking at the blue water, I'm like, I've made it, this is my life. I'm just I'm island hopping. And uh, I was as an amateur. I got the trouble a lot, and I'm very grateful for that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:09

What's a great memory out of that? Would it been that going to the Olympics?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:12

Yeah, the understanding com games was pretty special. Yeah, it was pretty special. Just fighting every weekend because as an amateur back then, they they didn't pre-match, so you just weigh in. So we used to I was weighing in like I had 44 fights in two years my last two years as an amateur. I just weighed in every week, and every week it was like I weigh in, I fight, I win a party. Like it was like a party, like we'll just go, we'll go buy sugar, eat macca's, you'll talk shit with your team, like oh, you see this, I did that, I did this. I thought it was cool. Because it was like a team sport. There'd be like seven kids going to a tournament, you're on a bus, and you're just all talking shit. Like it was great. And then the traveling was fun, you know, like obviously hopping on the plane, being with like-minded people. It wasn't always fun, you know. I struggled my first few trips just being an outcast. A lot of the people have boxed their whole life, and I haven't. Maybe they feel like I didn't own my spot, whatever it was. But it was a great time. Good people, you go to travel. Like, I'm traveling for sport with like-minded people, special thing. And especially as like a kid, again, never been on a plane, and now I'm like in Poland. Um I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere. I'm like, this is crazy. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:18

And when you go pro, what does that mean? Is it because you get to a certain number of fights or somebody says you're going pro? Like, how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:24

Nah, the the going pro, it's it's a different sport. So you can turn pro tomorrow. So how much do you weigh?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:31

One 109.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:33

1-1. So he's 100 kilos, lean and mean. Nah, so you could just do this. You could go, I'm a heavyweight. They need an opponent for Nelson, who just turned pro on the limit. They go, we need an opponent for him. We need someone who looks healthy, we need someone who looks young, who looks like they can fight, and you're like, I've never had a fight. Yeah, but you fit the build. We'll give you 20,000 to fight him. And you just go get a medical. That's your qualification to be a pro. That's why there's so many pros that are like two wins and 48 losses. That's how. There's no qualification to being a pro boxer. There's a qualification to being a good pro boxer. You have to have a decent amateur career, good amateur. It's like doing an apprenticeship or doing a trade or going to union. It's like you do the hours, you do the prep, you do the work. Then when you turn pro, it pays dividends.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:18

I've been knocked out before and didn't get paid nothing for it. So I'll get paid 24 friends.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:23

A lot of people a lot of people do that, eh? Yeah, yeah. Serious man, people, there's people called journey men. They just go out and they lose matches and get paid and they do it once a month. It's pretty crazy. Uh yeah, so that's like the qualifications to being a pro. It's not not very tough. But to be a good pro, obviously, you gotta win your fights.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:39

What's your best pro fight that you've had? The one that you just recently had?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:43

Nah, nah. They're they're they'll if I'm being honest, like that dude was 4-0, but it was more of a comeback fight. This one, this one's up there with one of my big ones, and then Cohen's up there with a big one, and then I got where's Kappa, that's the dude I forgot before. He's up there with another big one. Um, they're probably the big three at the moment. I want much bigger fights, you know. And Andy's a stepping stone. Um I'm excited to put my hands on him.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:06

Uh uh I'm excited to put my hands on him.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:09

Do you do much trash talk? Yeah, I do heaps, mate. That's what I said.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:13

I'm a I'm a no, yeah, I know, but like, yeah, lock in the ring.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:17

Oh nah, nah, nah. But I definitely say some stuff. Yeah. Yeah. But most people don't talk like it just doesn't you, it's just hard to think about talking in there. But um, but usually when I land a good body shot, because that's like my signature, people always pretend it's low, and then they'll like take an in, they might get a five-minute rest. I just cuss them out five minutes. Fucking pussy. I know I know you hurt. I'm I'm coming. Um, and then I said something to someone else, but I'm gonna I don't I don't want to tear them down or bring up old things.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:48

What's an opponent that's gotten at you with something they've said about you or to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:18:52

No, I can be honest, no one's ever gone to me. Yeah, things get to me, but not not no fighters gone to me. I just don't care enough. But I know I haven't gone to everyone. I get I get to everyone. Um, yeah, nah, I'm trying to think of one. I can't, yeah. Nothing, nothing comes to mind that I just got and I just approached it, we'll see what sticks. And I also like learn a lot about the people I'm fighting before I fight them to learn what makes them tick. Um I even know like when I fought um that Wes Kappa, I knew he found a cat in a drain and he named it after a ninja turtle. I know everything about these guys. Because I I wanna because some people you shouldn't pick on, and he's one of them. I did not say anything bad about him. He's an old guy, he's been there, done it, good record, can punch, respected. And I went, I don't I don't even need to make this guy angry. When you get these young guys that are bullies and they're they're pushing everyone around and they're feeling like they're hot shit. Uh you might need to say something to them. Didn't their confidence a little, show them you're there to show up. So I actually learn, and like Andy Hunter, I haven't said too much about him. But everyone else I do. So I kind of learn and maybe I got something for him, maybe I don't. You have to wait and see. But um, but no, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I just find out what makes people tick. And some people like me, you don't really want to talk bad about it anyway, because if they say something about me, I'll be at the gym at 2 a.m. running like a lunatic. Like some people it gets them to tick and some people it don't. So I just yeah, I take it fight fight by fight case, but I definitely talk a lot of shit for a fighter.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:16

I'm not talking about fight by fight case after the hunt fight. Are you able to share with us anything that you've got in the plans after this fight?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:25

Yeah, I can I can tell you what I want. I can't I can't tell you what's gonna happen because again, no promoter, no manager. What will happen is I'll beat him and I'll get offered a big opportunity somewhere else, and I'll go beat them and I'll get a big opportunity somewhere else. Like I actually don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:38

Um, where he also doesn't manage it, so if he wins, he doesn't know what's next either. So it's kind of cross across some paths, you know, we're we're both relevant, we're both at a big stage in our career in the battle off. The the winner goes up and the loser probably ends on 3k fight again. Like it's very cut throat. But um after this fight, like I said, I know Mikelovic called me out. I'd like that. What was the old man's name? I like Blake Wells, he's got an IBF title at middleweight, which is one of the things.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:04

Who's your number one that you want to fight? Like, who who would be that one person that would be just yeah, like of that like dislike, I just want to fight? Well, as in you know, well, that's the title, or yeah, even that.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:17

Yeah, Brock Jarvis. Brock Jarvis can get it. Yeah, no, I'd like to fight Brock. That'd be my number one. Um, just because he said he wants to fight everyone, and then no fights happen. I just don't like that. Like I said, you're gonna say something, stick to it. Every fight that I've said I want to make happen or I try and make happen, I I get after it. Uh, and some. So yeah, I'd like to fight Brock Jarvis. Uh no limit knows my number. So hopefully they can make it happen. Uh Blake Wells is there too. I'd like that to happen. He's got IBF titles. So, but yeah, no, I'm pretty open for anything. So if anyone wants to call me out, so I'm making happen. Don't just talk about it. Yeah, I'm here for it. I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:59

Yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:00

So, what are you what are the titles that you have at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:03

So I don't hold any currently because I went up in weight, had some time off. You get stripped of your titles, but oh okay. Every time you move weight, yeah, if we're like stripped your titles. Again, it's a business. So if you have three titles, every time you fight, you have to sanction those titles. Those titles might cost 15,000. You fight four times a year, they make 60k on you to defend your title, and then if you lose, the other person gets it, and then next time they pay sanctioning fees, so it's almost a burden. But the promoters pay for it. Promoters pay for it, but they're making money, you know what I mean? So, um, so if you're not fighting, they take the title off you. What titles? Oh, you can look at my phone and yeah, of course, right. I don't because I don't I don't really care about titles too much, yeah. I I just um I'd rather be people. Uh I had a WBC, a WBA, IBO, they're all Australasian titles or something like that. And then I have an Australasian title. So I have I have four titles. Um, but yeah, I don't really care about belts. Yeah, I don't I don't that's why when I I thought Colin, you might have seen it. I made him bet his purse on the fight. I made him put his whole purse on the fight. It was a big fight. I was a massive underdog in that fight too. People like, why why why'd you make that bet? And I said, because I I don't care about the titles, I don't care about the ranking, I don't even care about the money. I just want to take everything. I want everything. I want it all. So when I fight Andy, I don't care about the title, I don't care about the money. I just want to take his own. Like I want to take everything off him. I want to leave. I want this is the way I want it. I want after the fight, see my kids getting a big kiss, a big cuddle, and me sitting in a fucking boiling hot shower after the fight, just sitting on the floor, like we we just stole everything. That's how I want it to be. I want everything. So winning's not enough for me. Um so if he wants to bet his purse, we can do that too. But I gotta stop my coach, I gotta stop doing that. So um, yeah, but I don't but that's another thing. Everyone has to pay fees to their coaches. My coach is great, Benny doesn't take a cent off me. Um, when I make more money, eventually, I'm sure he will, but at the moment he doesn't take a cent off me. He never has. He doesn't even charge me for gym fees. Great bloke. Um, I manage myself so I don't have to pay a manager. So my money's my money. And I didn't I didn't realize this when I bet with the uh dude I did bet with that he probably had to pay his manager 15%, he had to pay his coach 10%, he had to tax 30%. I didn't know about tax. So I've been paying tax on money I gave to someone else if I lost. But um, so I know a bit more now.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:32

So you're training out of all-star boxing?

SPEAKER_00 1:24:34

Yeah, I trained out of all-staring. And he's your coach there, uh Benny Harrington, but Caden Salone's my head coach, and then Benny's like an advisor slash coach. But Benny's I've been training with Benny more this camp just because of work. But um, but Caden's my head coach, like head of the corner, Benny's in the corner, and Chris Evans too, all red.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:53

And you're working as well as you're a pro fighter, but you still got to work.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:58

Yeah, I'm I'm very fortunate. I've had hand issues, usually are concrete. Um, my mate's dad, Hayden, he let well Tim, he lets me work at uh bottle shoppers around the corner, that's where you fellas found me. So I work there only three days a week, and then I run barrows for the boys as well. So I was on the tools last Friday as well to make ends meet. Partners on maternity leave, you get a little one, you'll do what you gotta do, you know. So um, but yeah, I I I don't even mind working in boxing. It'd be nice not to work, but the thing is, people are like, oh, full-time boxer. How much time do you need to box? Like you don't box 12 hours a day. You do your session, you might do a two-hour session, you drive home, that's three hours. And you might run out and I'll do strength, that's another hour, that's four hours a day. And then let's say you do recovery, stretcher, ice bath, that's five hours a day. What do you do for the other ten? Like you like you can work and box, but it's when you're like laboring, like when you're out there putting in 12 hours, you can't work in box, which I have done in the past, but I'm pretty lucky that I don't have to do that anymore.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:59

The grind of a pro boxer.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:02

Yeah, she's a she's a rough old sport, and that's why I don't advise people to do it. Go have a crack at amateurs, have some fun, use it as a tool to like help you focus on whatever you need to focus on in life, but it's probably not a sport I'd advise for anyone. Like I said, if my kids end up being a pro boxer, I wouldn't be very happy.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:19

So, what would your pinnacle be like to win um in boxing? Like, where would you want to end up?

SPEAKER_00 1:26:25

Yeah, everyone, this is what everyone goes. This is the answer everyone will give you that every time you're a pro that'll be like, my goal's to be undisputed and the best fight ever. That's what everyone says. But the truth is, I want that, and can I can I get to world champion? Absolutely. But I'm a fight-by-fight sort of guy. You you gotta like as an amateur, everyone's like, I wanna go Olympics, not me. I just win a fight, I win my next fight, I win my next fight, oh I'm on this trip, I win my next fight, oh I won gold. Like that's what happened. I don't, I don't think, like I wanna be world champion, of course, but if people that go like this want to be world champion, there's no doubt about it. They're fucking lying. They're just lying. You can get cut, you can get clipped, you get hit by a car tomorrow. You're not just gonna be world champion, that's not how it works. You gotta I don't I don't know. I don't think anything's given. I think everything you gotta earn. I don't even I don't even believe in like things happening for a reason. I don't believe in any of it. I think everything is and whether it's true or not, I don't know. But I just believe that everything, nothing's intentional, like you have to go after everything. Um there's this saying, is it Charlotte's Rose? Is that what the where they talk about um it's someone like that, but it's like it's like if there's a garden, you can be the biggest flower in the garden and the most beautiful flower and still not get picked. You to get picked, you have to be the bigot. Like you gotta be bigger than the bigot, you know what I mean? So it's like you can only work as hard as you can, make yourself stand out and art, and then you need a hint of luck in there. Uh me, I'll just be ruthlessly ambitious and I keep winning, I get to the top. And if I get if I get knocked over on the way. And we start again and we go again.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:01

Strong mindset. Moving forward for our closing questions. Question I like to ask everyone, even on the street, random people. What does healing mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:11

What does healing mean to me? I think I don't do a lot of healing. I honestly think I just kind of drown myself in hard work. Maybe that's that's my healing now. But what's healing to me? Um, I don't have the answer. And if I did, I'd be bullshitting everyone.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:27

Thanks for all the honesty.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:29

Yeah. I don't know a lot of the people that are like, oh, maybe that's what healing is, and I don't know, boys.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:35

But yeah, that's it. You just drown yourself in in work and fire.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:39

I just work hard and and surround myself with good people and try and do things I like doing, mainly physical.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:46

That's what you do without even realizing.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:48

Yeah, yeah, for sure. But like obviously everyone's healing, but how do we go about it? I just guess I try and keep myself positive and busy.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:58

And my final question for you is what is the meaning of life to you?

SPEAKER_00 1:29:02

Meaning of life, just the cliche, being happy, I guess. Um, how do you get to happiness? I don't know. I feel like I struggle with being happy all the time because I'm very ambitious. Not just with sport and boxing, but I will I just I'm greedy. I just want more and I want more and I want this and I want that and I want to achieve this. And like after fights, I win my fights, and then I'm happy for about an hour, and then I'm in the cut, like I said, I'm sitting in the shower and I'm like, yes, I won. Then I get out of the shower and I'm like, that doesn't even matter anymore. Like that's forgotten next week. There will be another fight and everyone will forget about what I just did, and it never feels enough. So I feel like happy, trying to like trying to be happy. But being happy is a I think it's a struggle for a lot of people to be genuinely happy all the time, or you can't be happy all the time. So I don't know. I don't know, trying to be happy, I guess, just trying to get through life, being happy. Now that I'm older, I think it's hanging out with the little ones for sure. Like when the little ones are doing well, shit, if it makes my weak. You know what I mean? So I think I think I think kids are a big part of whatever life's about. I think kids might be 80% of it, and another 20 might be being happy. I'm not too sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:14

Everything in life, happiness is it's only temporary. Yeah. And I think what what you're saying there too is the desire. You've got a desire, you achieve certain goals and achievements, and then you d have a desire to go the tear up, keep going, keep climbing.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:30

Yeah, I think I think it comes from a place of like having so little, like being younger, like growing up in a housing commission. I remember walking around and just looking at being like, one day I want to own the street. I'm like, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna be like surely this life's more than this. Surely life's more than the street lights turn on at seven and you racing home to like a dog shit dinner. Like surely there's more than this. That's how I felt. And then it's just stuck with me. And then um I wonder like when I was the the little bit of time off I had of boxing, you know, kind of I struggled a lot mentally. Because it's what I love to do. And I feel like I haven't achieved what I wanted to achieve, and I hope one day it gets better as I get older and um I can deal with like retirement better. But I don't I don't know. I just feel like I want more. I want more, I want to be ambitious, and I feel like um happiness is a weird one because like how this is a question for you guys, but how how happy do you have to be for how long a day to generally be happy? You know what I mean? Like sometimes you have moments of happiness in a day, it can last 10 minutes and it can it can be real happiness, or you can be happy a whole day and one big thing happen and it fucking tortures your day, but like a 10 minutes of happiness can make you day. It's like how what's the I don't know what the spectrum is to being generally happy because obviously there's ups and downs, but how do you actually be happy? I don't know. Living life on your terms, living, yeah, living life on your terms, yeah, but then living life on your terms, a lot of people are like, that's me on a yacht, toe toes out on the beach, you know what I mean, which isn't realistic, or it maybe it is realistic, but then is that actually happiness? Yeah, how happy can you be if you're on a yacht every day? I don't think you can be very happy, and like you need to you need to feel like shit to feel good because if I tell my son all the time, like if we always felt good and we were always happy, we want to know what ups and downs are, and then you'd just be flat, you'd be a flat person. Yeah, yeah, weird one. How how happy do you think you need to be to be genuinely?

SPEAKER_03 1:32:26

Well, it's a balance, isn't it? You've got a balance, it's a balanced lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:30

How much is the balance, do we think? Well, I'm actually curious what you guys think.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:34

Well, you know, that you got uh there's your balance line there, and then you've got the extreme from up here to down here, and then so for an extreme up here is being totally happy, or even above the who knows? It's it's probably I can't even explain that one.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:52

The one below is even I think I think extremes are the worst thing for generally being happy. I actually think generally being happy, extremes are the worst. Like winning a fight, you're never happy because you're you're just here for the next month, you're gonna be here. Going out with your mates and drinking, happiness is here. Next day it's here. Like I feel like big spikes in happiness, probably the worst way to genuinely be happy, probably the worst. You need some maintainable, fulfilling things like kids, sustainable, yeah, kids and that. But yeah, what do you think? How happy do you need to be to be happy?

SPEAKER_02 1:33:24

I'm happy a lot of the time, yeah. But I'm very content, and I think for me, I'm happy because I'm comfortable in my choices and I can back up what I choose and what I say. I think for me, is it happiness? Yeah, I feel I feel fucking good. Yeah, well, it must be happy where I'm at, you know what I mean? Like for sure, content must be. My decisions that I make is spaces where I want to be, not on anybody else's terms.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:59

Yeah, so that's something I worry about, being content. Like I actually speak to my coach about this bit because he's like, you're a headcase. He's like, like I'm just like I'm my spas are out. Like I just like sometimes I just go in and try and kill people and being like, let's work with them. And like I'm just very up and down in terms of who I am and um content. I always ask Benny, am I like let's say I win a world title? Would I actually be happy? Would I just want another world title? Like I don't think I'll generally reach a thing of pure happiness until probably more kids. I don't think I'd I think another kid or two, or like we have a kid, we might adopt a kid. I feel like that's when I'd generally be happy with just doing doing kid sports, doing kid things, going to like yeah, to to go on to their shows or whatever they're doing. I feel like because I feel like at the moment, just wait, I just want more, more, more. Like I don't think I'll ever actually be happy on a level of achievements ever. I just don't think I'll reach it.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:00

I think that's an age thing though, too, when you get twisted and they get older. And then when you're when your kids have kids and you're a granddad or a pop, that's when you'll be like, yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:09

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm hoping because that's what like I said, I call Benny and go, fuck. Because sometimes I'm down. I'm like, shit, am I ever just gonna be okay? Like with just where I'm at, or am I just gonna want more forever? Like, does this end? And he's like, I don't know, like I still want more. I'm like, fuck, does it end?

SPEAKER_03 1:35:24

Yeah, but for me too, like I want more.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:27

Yeah, yeah. But I don't mean more like like a 15-year-old sitting on social media, because that that's what people do. That's people's more. They're like, they're like watching stories and they're and like for example, like a girl might be laying in bed, and then they say go on a night out. Like, I want to be on a night out. That's not more because like they're not on a night out every night. Yeah, and if they are, like, they're gonna be in bed sometimes too, watching other people's stories. Like, that's not what I mean by like people want more. That's a lot of people's more. It's just like be doing cool stuff. Yeah, but that's not what I mean. I just mean like achievement-wise. Like, I don't yeah, I don't know where the where the ceiling is.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:08

I mean, is there it can you ever is there ever too much though that you want for yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:36:13

No, I just think I want more.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:15

Yeah, and that's not I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's a good trade. I think it's a good trade.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:21

I tell my son ruthlessly ambitious is the best trade in the world. Yeah, for especially for like a young man, or just like in general, just for young men, like I mean kids, like with my son being driven, is like it drives everything. It's gonna drive the way he eats, the way he learns at school, the way he trains on the weekend. Like, I think it's important, especially to be like a strong person outside of again just being a social media person, which everyone is at this point.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:49

I think if you simplify everything's a process, and then the effort and focus you put into whatever you want to do is is the rewards and achievements you get from it.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:00

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:01

What do they say? It's about the journey, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:37:03

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:05

Actually, you're saying that it's you know, the like you said too, when you get a white world title and you you won't have that total happiness. Well, that doesn't exist, but it's a journey that got you there.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:18

And and one thing I am happy with, I love the life of camp. Like I love being in training camp. Like I do, like I'm sore and I'm beat up, but I just love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:26

Like I love you have that.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:27

Yeah, like I like the struggle. So a hundred percent. Like, and like when I look back at like even like when I was younger playing league and like driving to the games, like that's part of the journey. It's just trying to have as much time on the journey, having fun on it, and like it's gonna be ups and downs, both zones and downs again, there won't be ups. But I just don't know where that the the when are you happy? Well, because I feel like I'm I'm happy right now. This this training camp, I've been happy. Last gone good at home, last gone's good, I'm sparring well, everything's good. Like, but I feel like everything's good when I'm in the gym, and when I'm not in the gym, things don't go bad, but in my head they go bad. So that's why I need to be in the gym. And that's something boxing's good for people.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:08

Yeah, and I get that it's where your space is, it's where your place is. Nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:13

Like if you guys turn this into a full-time gig, for example, and like you get you're making good money off it, and then like let's say something happens, you can't do it for a month, and so you'd be itching, uh and then you get after it. Same sort of thing, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:29

So I I heard something the other day where they were talking about there's a um a Navy SEAL, and he's asking them why do you think Navy SEALs and your achievements are so great? And he said, Oh, it's because it was so hard to get through it. Yeah, absolutely. And so the hardest things in life are the most rewarding and they make you feel the best. Because it's it's the hardest thing you've ever done in your life.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:55

Everything, everything that's hard feels good at the end. Everything. There's nothing, there's nothing I've done in boxing that's been hard and it hasn't felt good. Even like a training session, like sometimes on red zone running, I'm like, I could just stop right now, but when I'm driving home and I'm sore, I'm like, shit, I did that. But no, looking looking back at hard things, they're definitely good. Even like, for example, the the XBT ride that I was talking about earlier, coming down here when I got kicked out of because I live with mates in Sydney. I moved down home when I was 12 and I lived with a group of mates, and um, they were actually on Struggle Street, that TV show that came out about Madrid. I lived in that house, and anyway, I'm on this XBT, they've kicked me out because I'm so bad I can't live in this house. I'm getting into trouble, I'm running amuck, and I'm sitting on a set of train 12 hours, and 12 hours I'm distraught, like I don't know what my life is, I don't have any friends, I'm lost, I'm secluded, I don't have anyone. And then once I go to Queensland, I started boxing, and then like a year later, looking back on that, I was like, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've never been in more hurt in my life. That 12 hours hurt so bad. I was like my whole life, everything I built score on, and it was the best thing that ever happened by a fucking landslide, and it was one of the most painful things in my life. I just losing everyone and everything and feeling like you're never gonna see your friends again, like because you're a kid. Yeah, I feel like, yeah, hard things definitely feel good at the end of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:18

And then when people go, would you is there anything there you would change? And then you kind of go, Nah, obviously you don't want to be living through that pain, but it's what made you Nah, I don't, I wouldn't change one thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:28

Uh like some bad things happen, I won't change any of it, or happen for a reason. Or like because it I'm I'm a weirdo where I'm like, if one thing changed, would I even have my same son or my same daughter? Like if one thing changed, would I have a different kid? Or like would I I'd be with a different partner or I want to be in this room just like one little ripple? I feel like every ripple happens for a reason, and and not again, not in a way that's like those those ripples are gonna make me a world champion just because it's fate. It's just like you'll put yourself in the position.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:59

And I've got my final question.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:02

If your younger self was listening to this, what would you tell him?

SPEAKER_00 1:41:05

Yeah, just start, just have a crack. Um it would be walking into the gym. But what would I tell my younger self? Probably nothing though, because like I said, stumbled all into it all nicely. I try and think of actually what I tell my younger self. Yeah, nothing. I wanna tell me anything. I just let me go for it blind again and see what happens. Yeah. Yeah, like I said, you tell yourself one thing and life changes. Yep. Yeah, so ripple.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:41

Alright, thanks for that.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:42

No, all good.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:44

Thanks for your time and we appreciate you coming here even straight after doing 12 rounds of sparring.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:50

I aged until I was tired at the start, and I just started wrecked, but I feel good now. Bigger for it. I'm gonna go home on my first meal of the day and watch some footage.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:58

Alright, yeah, so upcoming fight. Good win coming your way.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:03

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Who are you asked for? Listen, I wouldn't I wouldn't even move that.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:18

Maybe you want us to go.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:32

I like it.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:33

Okay, we'll give you some smack talk after that. Alright, thanks, Bri.

SPEAKER_03 1:42:40

We're gonna go with the ladies.