Podcast: The High Performance
Published Date:
Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:00:02 GMT
Duration:
46:40
Explicit:
False
Guests:
MP3 Audio:
Please note that the summary is generated based on the transcript and may not capture all the nuances or details discussed in the podcast episode.
George Groves is a former professional boxer, he competed for 10 years and held a WBA Super-Middleweight title. In March 2018, he was ranked as the Worlds Best Active Super-Middleweight Boxer. George shares his desire to lead to the front, going at things alone, and the negative impact that can have. He won the world title on his fourth attempt, he offers advice on never giving up and why he would always choose to go back to his most challenging defeats.
He spoke to us about the struggles in his career, the great moments, the hard moments and why he had to do things differently than other people.
Former world champion and now host of the George Groves boxing club podcast: https://bit.ly/44cgiub
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
## Podcast Episode Summary: George Groves on High Performance
### Key Points:
- George Groves, a former professional boxer, shares his insights on high performance, resilience, and self-belief.
- For Groves, high performance is about delivering a performance that is both technically skilled and emotionally engaging, ultimately culminating in a world title win.
- Groves emphasizes the importance of unwavering self-belief and resilience in achieving success, especially in the face of setbacks and challenges.
- He recalls a pivotal moment in his career where he suffered a broken jaw during a fight but continued to fight, demonstrating his determination and mental toughness.
- Groves discusses the impact of a tragic incident involving his opponent, Eddie Guttnacht, who collapsed after a fight and suffered serious injuries. This event led Groves to question his own motivations and softened his killer instinct, which he believes affected his performance in subsequent fights.
- Groves acknowledges the importance of self-doubt and the need to address it constructively, rather than denying or ignoring it.
- He emphasizes the significance of visualization and positive self-talk in building confidence and achieving success.
- Groves highlights the mental challenge of stepping into the ring and facing an opponent, emphasizing the need to manage emotions and execute a well-prepared plan.
- He reflects on his decision to change trainers after a series of losses, recognizing that certain aspects of his training and approach were not working effectively.
- Groves stresses the importance of being willing to start over and make changes when necessary, even if it means going back to the drawing board.
### Main Arguments:
- Unwavering self-belief and resilience are crucial for achieving success, especially in the face of adversity.
- It is important to acknowledge and address self-doubt rather than denying or ignoring it.
- Visualization and positive self-talk can help build confidence and contribute to success.
- The ability to manage emotions and execute a well-prepared plan is essential for success in high-pressure situations.
- Being willing to start over and make changes is sometimes necessary to achieve improvement and success.
### Conclusion:
George Groves' journey as a professional boxer offers valuable lessons on the importance of self-belief, resilience, and the ability to adapt and overcome challenges. His insights on high performance provide a framework for athletes and individuals in various fields to pursue excellence and achieve their goals.
# Podcast Episode Summary:
### Guest: ### George Groves, Former Professional Boxer and Host of the George Groves Boxing Club Podcast
### Key Points: ###
- George Groves shares his insights on leadership, determination, and the importance of surrounding oneself with the right team.
- He emphasizes the need to take responsibility for one's actions and to be willing to start over when necessary.
- Groves also stresses the value of staying focused, making sacrifices, and having clear intentions.
### Notable Quotes: ###
- "It's like, sure, you want loyalty in boxing, but at the same time, it can't be at the expense of the end goal."
- "Why not surround yourself with more people who can do all the things that you don't actually need to be doing?"
- "The fight starts the first press conference."
- "It's the easiest one to start with. And sometimes even if it's just an idea in your brain, like stick with it, keep going."
- "You've got to make sacrifices for, to not waste time, which is hard."
- "Take responsibility, which was hard. Talk about myself going, climbing 10 feet from Everest and walking around telling everyone I'm a world champion. You're not, take responsibility."
- "Be willing to start over, be willing to go again."
- "My gut never really failed, never really fail you. So that would probably be my advice."
- "I think if you want to perform to the best of your ability, like I said in the opening show, be in the arena, slipping and sliding, making the punches, missing, firing back, living the moment, be happy and be present with the belief that you're there to conquer the world."
### Summary: ###
George Groves, a former professional boxer and current host of the George Groves Boxing Club podcast, joins the show to share his experiences and insights on leadership, determination, and the importance of having the right team around you. He emphasizes the need to take responsibility for one's actions and to be willing to start over when necessary. Groves also stresses the value of staying focused, making sacrifices, and having clear intentions.
Groves discusses the challenges he faced in his boxing career, including three unsuccessful world title fights. He explains how he overcame these setbacks by changing his mindset and surrounding himself with a team of people who believed in him. He also shares his thoughts on the importance of mental toughness and resilience in achieving success.
The conversation concludes with Groves offering his advice to listeners on how to live a high-performance life. He emphasizes the importance of having a clear purpose, being willing to take risks, and surrounding oneself with positive and supportive people. Groves also stresses the importance of never giving up on your dreams, no matter how difficult things may seem.
Overall, this episode is a valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their leadership skills, overcome challenges, and achieve success in their personal and professional lives. Groves' insights and experiences provide a roadmap for anyone looking to live a high-performance life.
[00:00.000 -> 00:06.200] Hi there, you're listening to High Performance, the award-winning podcast that unlocks the
[00:06.200 -> 00:11.500] minds of some of the most fascinating people on the planet. I'm Jay Comfrey, and alongside
[00:11.500 -> 00:16.720] Professor Damien Hughes, we learn from the stories, successes and struggles of our guests,
[00:16.720 -> 00:23.560] allowing us all to explore, to be challenged and to grow. After hundreds of conversations,
[00:23.560 -> 00:25.400] we've discovered that every guest has managed
[00:25.400 -> 00:32.960] to unlock their potential within. This podcast seeks to find out how they did it. Here's
[00:32.960 -> 00:33.960] what's coming up.
[00:33.960 -> 00:39.400] My story essentially is winning a world title at the fourth attempt, which I didn't think
[00:39.400 -> 00:42.760] that was going to be my story when I sat out at seven years of age dreaming of becoming
[00:42.760 -> 00:45.200] a world champion. But now I can own it,
[00:45.200 -> 00:53.200] be proud of it, that it took unwavering self-belief and a lot of resilience. Big right hand comes
[00:53.200 -> 00:59.520] swimming over in the third round, I hear the crack, I know this sound because I broke my jaw 10 years
[00:59.520 -> 01:06.400] prior as an amateur boxer in Poland, so I was like, oh this is my physio comes over and he
[01:06.400 -> 01:10.040] just puts his hand on my shoulder and he says Eddie's collapsed in the changing
[01:10.040 -> 01:15.800] room so I know instantly what that means like he's in a bad way and yeah my
[01:15.800 -> 01:35.020] world kind of changed instantly there and then. So it's a very warm welcome to George Groves on the High Performance podcast.
[01:35.020 -> 01:40.800] George is a former professional boxer, competed for 10 years, he held a WBA super middleweight
[01:40.800 -> 01:46.080] title, he had a brilliant career in March 2018. He was ranked as the
[01:46.080 -> 01:52.880] world's best active super middleweight boxer by Ring magazine. And he spoke to us about
[01:52.880 -> 01:57.440] struggles in his career. He spoke to us about the great moments, the hard moments, the big
[01:57.440 -> 02:01.760] lessons that he learned and why he at times had to do things differently to other people.
[02:02.320 -> 02:08.980] I'd love to know what you think of this episode. Don't forget you can reach out to us on Instagram, on Twitter. You can also watch these conversations
[02:08.980 -> 02:13.060] on YouTube as well as listen to them right here wherever you get your podcasts from.
[02:13.060 -> 02:18.840] So listen, sit back, enjoy. Time to get you closer to your own version of high performance
[02:18.840 -> 02:26.360] as we speak to former boxer, George Groves.
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[05:10.240 -> 05:14.680] Well George, welcome to High Performance. Thanks for having me on, I'm really excited.
[05:14.680 -> 05:20.040] Yeah, I'm a fan of the show so thanks for having me on. Let's start then, where you know we
[05:20.040 -> 05:24.440] always do. What is your version of High Performance? Yeah, I knew that question
[05:24.440 -> 05:25.000] was coming so I was trying to think of the high performance? Yeah, I knew that question was coming, so
[05:25.000 -> 05:29.480] I was trying to think of the best answer. Performance, I like the word performance because
[05:29.480 -> 05:35.520] for me boxing was a performance, you know, in that regard. So slightly different take
[05:35.520 -> 05:41.760] on just, you know, performing a task, but putting on a performance and then a high performance
[05:41.760 -> 05:46.340] would be in the fight, in the moment, at the highest level,
[05:46.340 -> 05:48.200] thinking and feeling and slipping and sliding
[05:48.200 -> 05:51.160] and reacting to the punches that are coming at you.
[05:51.160 -> 05:54.100] And then obviously throwing your punches back
[05:54.100 -> 05:56.660] and then you dissect it back to,
[05:56.660 -> 05:57.680] how have you got to that point?
[05:57.680 -> 05:58.920] What have you been doing in the buildup?
[05:58.920 -> 06:00.620] What's your training been like?
[06:00.620 -> 06:03.560] Always trying to operate with a high performance.
[06:03.560 -> 06:06.640] So I think maybe that's the best way.
[06:06.640 -> 06:08.600] Maybe that's one way to say it for me.
[06:08.600 -> 06:10.600] And then when you finish boxing, like I have now,
[06:10.600 -> 06:12.640] to go back and reevaluate and you try and,
[06:12.640 -> 06:14.320] what was success?
[06:14.320 -> 06:16.840] And I've heard many of your other guests talk about it.
[06:16.840 -> 06:19.280] Like, is it happiness?
[06:19.280 -> 06:20.920] Is it being happy?
[06:20.920 -> 06:22.800] Is it being present in the moment?
[06:22.800 -> 06:24.960] And yeah, there's been times in my career
[06:24.960 -> 06:30.360] where I felt like I was happy, I wasn't happy, I was present and I wasn't present.
[06:30.360 -> 06:33.560] So now just, yeah, I suppose a little bit more, maybe a little bit more wisdom, a little
[06:33.560 -> 06:39.360] bit more experience and, and definitely, well, definitely happiness, which is, which is good.
[06:39.360 -> 06:44.440] Are you happy? I think so. Yeah, I think so. You know, I think this is like a yin yang
[06:44.440 -> 06:45.920] in this world. So you can't be happy without being sad. You know, I think this is like a yin yang in this world. So you
[06:45.920 -> 06:50.000] can't be happy without being sad. You know, you can't really enjoy something if you haven't had
[06:50.000 -> 06:55.200] to work hard for it. I appreciate all the suffering that I've had. Obviously, there's the physical
[06:55.200 -> 07:00.480] grueling, you know, training that everyone, every fighter will talk about and has done.
[07:00.480 -> 07:05.800] And then obviously I've had huge, you know, disappointments, failures, it's felt
[07:05.800 -> 07:11.640] like at times. My story essentially is winning a world title at the fourth attempt, which
[07:11.640 -> 07:14.000] wasn't something that I thought was going to, I didn't think that was going to be my
[07:14.000 -> 07:18.120] story when I sat out at seven years of age, dreaming of becoming a world champion. But
[07:18.120 -> 07:29.880] now I can, I can definitely own it, be proud of it, that it took unwavering self-belief and a lot of resilience to finally get across that line
[07:29.880 -> 07:32.000] in the end and get my hand raised
[07:32.000 -> 07:33.960] and become a world champion, which was,
[07:33.960 -> 07:36.360] as I say, was always the dream.
[07:36.360 -> 07:38.120] So if we can go to that moment
[07:38.120 -> 07:39.480] and then work backwards from it,
[07:39.480 -> 07:42.360] the moment you did get your hand raised as world champion,
[07:42.360 -> 07:46.600] how did that feel, that achievement of a lifetime's ambition?
[07:46.600 -> 07:50.760] Yeah, a lifetime's ambition dream fulfilled.
[07:50.760 -> 07:54.360] It was relief really, to be honest.
[07:54.360 -> 07:57.460] I think at that point it was relief.
[07:58.340 -> 08:00.720] I'd love for it to have, well, I don't know.
[08:00.720 -> 08:02.720] I'm happy, I'm obviously happy with what it was
[08:02.720 -> 08:05.800] and it's authentic because that's what it was.
[08:05.800 -> 08:09.360] But yeah, the idea of like jumping up and down celebrating.
[08:09.360 -> 08:14.280] I watched the ladies win the trophy in the football this summer and I was like,
[08:14.280 -> 08:16.880] they don't stop running up and down. They're popping champagne corks.
[08:16.880 -> 08:24.880] I was like, when I won my belt, all I wanted to do was just go and curl up in the corner and rest
[08:24.880 -> 08:26.160] because it just felt like the weight in the corner and rest because it
[08:26.160 -> 08:29.360] felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I could finally
[08:30.080 -> 08:36.000] breathe. It really was like a last chance saloon situation. It felt like,
[08:37.440 -> 08:45.760] you know, I'd always had the drive and dedication, fully committed to, you know, to boxing, the task at hand.
[08:45.760 -> 08:48.000] And at this point it was to become a world champion.
[08:48.400 -> 08:54.680] And yeah, I mean, I don't know what would have happened if it had gone wrong for me that night, if it had gone one pair shape.
[08:54.680 -> 08:58.600] So I feel like relief was probably the overwhelming feeling.
[08:59.080 -> 08:59.320] And then...
[08:59.320 -> 09:05.840] Is that not disappointing now when you look back on that, as that seven year old lad that set out on that journey,
[09:05.840 -> 09:07.320] does it not feel a bit disappointing
[09:07.320 -> 09:09.360] that you got to the top of that mountain
[09:09.360 -> 09:11.880] and that was the overriding emotion?
[09:11.880 -> 09:13.200] I don't think so.
[09:13.200 -> 09:16.480] As I say, I think, you know, don't get me wrong.
[09:16.480 -> 09:19.080] Like there's still an awful lot of happiness, you know,
[09:19.080 -> 09:19.900] awful lot of happiness,
[09:19.900 -> 09:23.200] I smiled ear to ear with a broken jaw, you know,
[09:23.200 -> 09:25.800] for weeks and I'm still broken jaw, you know, for weeks and I'm still smiling
[09:25.800 -> 09:33.160] now, you know, it still will be the best moment in boxing for me. So I had to suffer for it.
[09:33.160 -> 09:39.680] I felt like I had to suffer for it. And even in the actual physical fight, as I say, Chudinov,
[09:39.680 -> 09:44.520] former world champion, Russian, he's come over. People have heard of him, but I'm still
[09:44.520 -> 09:45.100] the favourite, you know, I've got home advantage. It have heard of him, but I'm still the favorite,
[09:45.100 -> 09:46.300] you know, I've got home advantage.
[09:46.300 -> 09:48.000] It's sort of last chance saloon,
[09:48.500 -> 09:50.100] big right hand comes swimming
[09:50.100 -> 09:51.300] over in the third round.
[09:51.300 -> 09:53.300] I hear it land.
[09:53.300 -> 09:54.700] I hear the crack.
[09:55.000 -> 09:56.600] I know this sound because I
[09:56.900 -> 09:58.600] I broke my jaw 10 years prior
[09:58.600 -> 10:00.100] as an amateur boxer in Poland.
[10:00.400 -> 10:01.200] So I was like,
[10:01.700 -> 10:02.200] Oh,
[10:03.100 -> 10:04.700] this is a bit funky.
[10:04.900 -> 10:07.800] I can't shut my mouth because you know, my teeth are in the way.
[10:08.280 -> 10:10.400] Um, my mouth starts filling up with blood.
[10:10.760 -> 10:16.480] It's like, well, not so much case or us or all, but it was like, who cares?
[10:16.520 -> 10:17.720] Like it doesn't matter.
[10:17.800 -> 10:19.120] Just get out and do your job, man.
[10:19.120 -> 10:19.640] It's you.
[10:20.040 -> 10:22.800] Surely every punch after that was searingly painful.
[10:22.800 -> 10:23.000] No.
[10:23.360 -> 10:23.880] Yeah.
[10:24.000 -> 10:27.360] But you, I mean, you do, you do necessarily get a bit, a bit numb to it,
[10:27.360 -> 10:30.960] but you don't have to want to be giving away any, any free shots because yeah,
[10:30.960 -> 10:33.520] are you done with what the, I'm not sure what the effects would be like,
[10:33.520 -> 10:38.800] is your punch resistance the same if your jaw's broken or is it just probably not?
[10:38.800 -> 10:42.400] Probably not. I mean, it was broken on one side, so it wasn't like hanging and flapping. I mean,
[10:42.400 -> 10:48.880] that would have been a real nightmare, but I sat down in the corner and obviously my training time was Shane McGuigan
[10:48.880 -> 10:53.360] and he reached in to take the gum shield out. And I just sort of shake my head as if Satan
[10:53.360 -> 10:58.680] just leave it in. So he was unaware. And obviously I didn't want to stress him out at that point.
[10:58.680 -> 11:02.480] I didn't want to go, no, I leave it. I think he's broke my jaw. So I thought I'll tell
[11:02.480 -> 11:03.480] him after.
[11:03.480 -> 11:06.560] That was a conscious decision. You went back to that corner and thought,
[11:06.560 -> 11:08.920] I'm not gonna stress my corner out.
[11:08.920 -> 11:11.240] I'm just gonna back down and get on with it.
[11:11.240 -> 11:15.440] Yeah, I mean, that's kind of definitely me at that point.
[11:15.440 -> 11:18.120] And maybe that will always be me now,
[11:18.120 -> 11:22.440] but I always like to shoulder the responsibility
[11:22.440 -> 11:26.680] of most things and definitely my career. So, um,
[11:26.700 -> 11:31.760] large spells in my career. I was literally self managed and had to, you
[11:31.760 -> 11:35.160] know, think on my feet in the moment, live in the moment. And yeah, at that
[11:35.160 -> 11:39.880] point I just decided there's absolutely zero benefit from me giving him this
[11:39.880 -> 11:44.120] instruction Shane, because then will Shane act differently? So I've had a
[11:44.120 -> 11:49.280] broken jaw before. I don't know if he's ever had a fight or in the corner of a broken jaw. So I was
[11:49.280 -> 11:53.040] like, well, here we go. You know, just keep going. Next round, they cut, I get a cut over
[11:53.040 -> 11:58.200] the eye, blood streaming into the eye. You know, you're told as an early pro, like never
[11:58.200 -> 12:02.440] wipe away the blood. You're giving the referee an excuse that your, your vision is obscured
[12:02.440 -> 12:09.360] and there's a reason to stop the fight. But at this point, it's like, it is like now whenever, you know, I've got a broken jaw, I can't see it. It's in
[12:09.360 -> 12:13.520] my interest to actually just dab at the eye a little bit. And yeah, I mean, Chudinov is as
[12:13.520 -> 12:18.160] tough as they come. The only comfort for me at this point is I was landing on him, like I was
[12:18.160 -> 12:22.720] landing the shots so I could hit him. I just couldn't really put a dent in him at this point.
[12:22.720 -> 12:28.880] But I'm thinking, as I say, it's now or never, like you've worked your entire life to get to this point. They'll have to carry
[12:28.880 -> 12:35.680] me out, you know, I will, I will succeed. I will get there. And then yeah, six rounds, a couple of
[12:35.680 -> 12:42.800] rounds later, right hand, sharp right hand comes in momentarily stunned Chudinov and just like
[12:42.800 -> 12:47.040] capitalise on this now. So yeah, just like raining in punches on him.
[12:47.040 -> 12:51.560] I think it's 35 unanswered punches later,
[12:51.560 -> 12:54.080] referee finally calls halt to the bout.
[12:56.440 -> 12:57.260] That's it, man.
[12:57.260 -> 13:00.560] I'm there 20, it feels, well, yeah, at that point,
[13:00.560 -> 13:02.040] over 20 years in the making,
[13:02.040 -> 13:06.660] dreaming since watching Rocky on TV at seven years of age,
[13:06.660 -> 13:10.760] thinking about becoming a world champion, done, dusted.
[13:10.760 -> 13:14.240] See, it's fascinating to get an insight into such like
[13:14.240 -> 13:16.900] a cerebral boxer to be able to talk to us around
[13:16.900 -> 13:19.040] that self-talk that's going on in that moment.
[13:19.040 -> 13:22.640] But you just used the phrase there that sort of made me
[13:22.640 -> 13:24.960] just sit up and pay attention when you said,
[13:24.960 -> 13:26.000] they're gonna have to carry me out of here. It's all or nothing now that you're going in. Roedd e'n dweud, oedd e'n dweud, oedd e'n dweud,
[13:26.000 -> 13:28.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:28.000 -> 13:30.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:30.000 -> 13:32.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:32.000 -> 13:34.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:34.000 -> 13:36.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:36.000 -> 13:38.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:38.000 -> 13:40.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:40.000 -> 13:42.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:42.000 -> 13:44.000] oedd e'n dweud,
[13:44.000 -> 13:47.280] oedd e'n dweud, oedd e'n dweud, you are at this moment of, I'm not gonna tell him a corner that I broke my jaw of this guy's only been down once before and you remembering all of that.
[13:47.280 -> 13:49.880] Where did that memory come into?
[13:49.880 -> 13:50.920] It was there, it was in the moment.
[13:50.920 -> 13:54.240] I mean, the fight you're referring to is when I box
[13:54.240 -> 13:56.080] Eddie Guttnacht from Germany,
[13:56.080 -> 13:58.180] and it was the fight before this fight.
[13:58.180 -> 14:01.680] I was already, I beat Martin Murray in a chief support
[14:01.680 -> 14:04.260] for an anti Joshua fight, the order's a 50-50.
[14:04.260 -> 14:06.520] And that made me a mandatory challenger
[14:06.520 -> 14:07.960] for the WBA world title.
[14:07.960 -> 14:11.560] So my next fight technically could be a world title.
[14:11.560 -> 14:13.080] Took a little while for the WBA
[14:13.080 -> 14:16.240] to sort of get that fight over the line.
[14:16.240 -> 14:19.320] So we had a warmup bout, a keep busy fight,
[14:19.320 -> 14:23.600] and Eddie comes over and we have the fight,
[14:23.600 -> 14:27.760] and yeah, it goes a full 12 rounds. So it was like
[14:28.400 -> 14:33.200] Yeah, I landed a lot of shots on him and the referee probably could have pulled it a bit earlier
[14:33.240 -> 14:36.960] But still he was never quite in enough trouble for the referee to definitely step in
[14:37.200 -> 14:41.920] The corner could have easily pulled him out at many stages of the fight because he was never in the fight
[14:41.920 -> 14:48.000] Never gonna win the fight. No one would have been complaining if the fight got pulled early. He didn't. And then,
[14:49.280 -> 14:52.720] I get the win. Great. Let's go back to the changing room. Let's talk about when we're
[14:52.720 -> 14:57.840] going to get a well titled shot, preparing for the post-fight press conference. And my physio,
[14:57.840 -> 15:03.200] who's Kevin Dillow, takes care of all my medical sort of stuff. He comes over and he just
[15:04.240 -> 15:05.720] puts his hand on my shoulder
[15:05.720 -> 15:08.720] and he says, Eddie's collapsed in the changing room.
[15:08.720 -> 15:11.600] So I know instantly what that means.
[15:11.600 -> 15:14.160] Like he's in a bad way.
[15:14.160 -> 15:16.240] When fighters collapse after a fight,
[15:16.240 -> 15:19.760] they've usually had some sort of bleed on the brain,
[15:19.760 -> 15:23.160] swelling on the brain, something usually pretty serious,
[15:23.160 -> 15:24.960] which is what had happened to Eddie.
[15:26.000 -> 15:28.200] They rushed him off the hospital and yeah,
[15:28.200 -> 15:32.760] my world kind of changed instantly there and then
[15:32.760 -> 15:37.240] because I'd recently become a father,
[15:37.240 -> 15:41.400] like I'd become a dad four or five months before then.
[15:41.400 -> 15:47.840] And I knew Eddie had three kids and it was like, oh, it's not why I got into boxing.
[15:47.840 -> 15:53.120] It's not, I didn't get into boxing to hurt people. And I'm sure as a kid, you're very much like,
[15:53.120 -> 15:58.800] well, I'll go out on my shield as such. But when you grow up in the real world and you've got
[15:58.800 -> 16:07.160] family, you've got responsibilities, boxing ain't really worth that anymore. So yeah, I mean, that did, that did, that did,
[16:07.160 -> 16:09.240] that plagued me, that I knew then,
[16:09.240 -> 16:13.360] like my time in boxing is numbered, you know.
[16:13.360 -> 16:15.720] Which reminds me of that brilliant book,
[16:15.720 -> 16:17.640] Dog Rounds by Elliot Wursel,
[16:17.640 -> 16:20.800] I think it is that spoke about fighters
[16:20.800 -> 16:22.640] that have been in a ring with somebody
[16:22.640 -> 16:25.600] that's ended up being either impaired or killed. So he interviews people like Barry McGuigan, Mae'r rhai ffyrdd sydd wedi bod yn y rhan gyda pherson sydd wedi digwydd yn y rhan oedran neu'n cael ei fwyno.
[16:25.600 -> 16:28.080] Felly mae'n ymweld â phobl fel Barry McGuigan,
[16:28.080 -> 16:31.440] ond mae'n ddifrifol bod un o'i hymgyrchion wedi marw,
[16:31.440 -> 16:35.280] a'r ffamous middleweight boxer Emile Griffiths,
[16:35.280 -> 16:39.120] sydd mewn sefyllfa gwahanol.
[16:39.120 -> 16:48.000] Ac rwy'n credu y byddent bob amser yn dweud y bydd y person sydd yn ymwneud â'r pwysleisio, I think what they always say is the person that's responsible, if you like, that administers the punishment,
[16:48.000 -> 16:53.000] it takes more from them as well than what it might appear to as much as the victim.
[16:53.000 -> 17:01.000] It robs something of the perpetrator. What would you say it did take from you, that incident?
[17:01.000 -> 17:05.960] It takes that killer instinct, it takes that spite, that venom, that ruthlessness,
[17:05.960 -> 17:07.680] really. Don't get me wrong,
[17:07.680 -> 17:09.240] in flash moments, you'll have
[17:09.240 -> 17:12.000] it. But before then, me at 22,
[17:12.000 -> 17:14.240] I had it all the time, all the
[17:14.240 -> 17:15.840] time. But then in becoming a
[17:15.840 -> 17:18.680] dad, knocked me for six, you
[17:18.680 -> 17:19.960] know, it softened me. I wasn't
[17:19.960 -> 17:22.840] expecting that. Soon after
[17:22.840 -> 17:24.560] that, Eddie, and then soon
[17:24.560 -> 17:25.200] after that, winning a and then soon after that,
[17:25.200 -> 17:26.160] winning a world title.
[17:26.160 -> 17:30.520] So achieving the dream, but yeah, I mean, like anything,
[17:30.520 -> 17:34.200] I think if you hurt someone and yeah,
[17:34.200 -> 17:37.920] more so than anything, it robbed me of a bit of killer
[17:37.920 -> 17:39.320] instinct, which is hard.
[17:39.320 -> 17:42.600] It was just really hard for me to say and come to terms
[17:42.600 -> 17:45.840] with because it's almost what I used to pride myself on.
[17:46.720 -> 17:50.480] But boxing's often a sport of delusion, isn't it? You say I'm in the best shape I've ever been,
[17:50.480 -> 17:55.680] or I'm hitting harder than anyone, or I'm tough. Were you admitting this, that I've lost that
[17:55.680 -> 18:01.120] killer instinct, or were you denying it to yourself as well as to others when you sign up for these
[18:01.120 -> 18:06.600] final three fights? I think I was processing it, to be honest. I mean, I think I was processing it.
[18:06.600 -> 18:10.000] It wasn't as sort of black and white as, you know,
[18:10.000 -> 18:12.200] a switch had been switched off,
[18:12.200 -> 18:16.000] but because there could be loads of reasons why
[18:16.000 -> 18:17.200] you feel different.
[18:17.200 -> 18:19.800] And obviously, the desire to be a champion,
[18:19.800 -> 18:23.200] desire to be the best, desire to beat someone else,
[18:23.200 -> 18:24.000] is there.
[18:24.000 -> 18:27.740] So if there's something that's slightly off key,
[18:27.740 -> 18:30.800] it was really hard to put my finger on what it was.
[18:30.800 -> 18:33.600] Yeah, maybe even so it was something
[18:33.600 -> 18:36.440] that I didn't really want to own up to, I think.
[18:36.440 -> 18:39.480] I think even now I'll probably leave here tonight
[18:39.480 -> 18:40.320] and regret saying it.
[18:40.320 -> 18:42.960] Well, thank you for sharing it.
[18:42.960 -> 18:44.120] Only joking.
[18:44.120 -> 18:46.000] It's interesting though, isn't it? Because you,
[18:46.000 -> 18:48.000] as hard as it is for your boxing,
[18:48.000 -> 18:50.000] the killer instinct,
[18:50.000 -> 18:52.000] you also have to get in a ring
[18:52.000 -> 18:54.000] and be punched by somebody else.
[18:54.000 -> 18:56.000] So where did it leave you regarding self-doubt
[18:56.000 -> 18:58.000] and your future?
[18:58.000 -> 19:00.000] And how hard, because we have a lot of people that listen to this podcast
[19:00.000 -> 19:02.000] that talk to us about the fact that
[19:02.000 -> 19:04.000] the biggest issue in their lives
[19:04.000 -> 19:05.000] is self-doubt,
[19:05.000 -> 19:08.200] that voice telling them they're not, they're not able to do it anymore. They shouldn't
[19:08.200 -> 19:12.040] be doing it. They should move on and do other things. How did you fight that voice? The
[19:12.040 -> 19:16.040] sort of, I guess, guidance that our listeners could benefit from?
[19:16.040 -> 19:21.040] Jason Vale I never, like, I always had unwavering, like,
[19:21.040 -> 19:26.260] self-confidence, self-belief, always. And it never left me.
[19:26.260 -> 19:27.760] So where does that come from then?
[19:27.760 -> 19:30.600] And how can we build that into our own lives
[19:30.600 -> 19:32.280] if it's something that we struggle with?
[19:32.280 -> 19:33.580] Yeah, I think to believe
[19:33.580 -> 19:35.040] that you're going to be the very best
[19:35.040 -> 19:37.520] and you obviously got to prepare for that as best you can.
[19:37.520 -> 19:40.800] And then when I go back through what the experiences
[19:40.800 -> 19:44.000] that I did, how I used to think and approach stuff,
[19:44.000 -> 19:45.440] it's no different from what,
[19:50.640 -> 19:55.040] you know, experts will tell you is I'd get myself in boxing wise, I get myself in the best possible shape I could be in, believing that I'm working harder than anyone else.
[19:55.040 -> 19:56.240] Why was that important?
[19:56.240 -> 20:00.000] That was what I thought was the right thing to do for success. So I started, I mean,
[20:00.000 -> 20:07.960] I started kickboxing when I was seven and I started boxing when I was 10. There was no ceiling put on my ambition.
[20:07.960 -> 20:10.320] I thought I was gonna be the greatest all the time.
[20:10.320 -> 20:12.000] I was like already mapping, as a kid,
[20:12.000 -> 20:13.920] mapping out my future, be like, right,
[20:13.920 -> 20:16.920] I'm gonna win the ABAs at least once.
[20:16.920 -> 20:18.640] Mike Tyson was world champion at 20.
[20:18.640 -> 20:19.800] I think I could probably get there.
[20:19.800 -> 20:20.640] You know what I'm saying?
[20:20.640 -> 20:24.840] I mean, you grow up, obviously,
[20:24.840 -> 20:28.280] and then your expectations get adjusted a little bit
[20:28.280 -> 20:29.240] and you forgive yourself
[20:29.240 -> 20:31.240] for not becoming a world champion at 20
[20:31.240 -> 20:32.080] and stuff like that.
[20:32.080 -> 20:34.760] But it was always there.
[20:34.760 -> 20:36.560] I mean, always there.
[20:36.560 -> 20:37.640] So tell us about that,
[20:37.640 -> 20:39.960] because some people might look at that
[20:39.960 -> 20:42.600] if you're cynical eyes and go delusional,
[20:42.600 -> 20:49.680] but actually there's something real beneficial in having that dream and the aspiration. So what would you, would you
[20:49.680 -> 20:53.440] tell us about the benefits of encouraging others to dream and have
[20:53.440 -> 20:59.280] those kind of high aspirations? Well you can't really get there without, without
[20:59.280 -> 21:03.200] the, you know, people talk about, oh, visualization. I'm like, what does that mean? But
[21:03.200 -> 21:06.560] actually when I think about it, that was all I did forever as a kid.
[21:06.560 -> 21:08.760] You'd be visualizing, you go for a run,
[21:08.760 -> 21:10.200] you're visualizing.
[21:10.200 -> 21:12.360] And for me, where I would stumble across it,
[21:12.360 -> 21:15.440] because I would never really visualize the bout
[21:15.440 -> 21:16.720] or anything like that,
[21:16.720 -> 21:19.600] I'd visualize the ring walk, the fun bit.
[21:19.600 -> 21:22.320] I'd visualize the win, lifting the belt.
[21:22.320 -> 21:25.640] So without that, it's going to be very difficult
[21:25.640 -> 21:29.560] to sort of get wherever you really want to be.
[21:29.560 -> 21:31.200] I want to ask you another question then,
[21:31.200 -> 21:34.440] because I grew up in boxing and I know there's that old
[21:34.440 -> 21:35.840] saying, isn't there, when you walk forward,
[21:35.840 -> 21:38.000] everyone else walks backwards.
[21:38.000 -> 21:40.000] And that's the most terrifying moment.
[21:40.000 -> 21:42.520] You know, at some stage you've got to walk forward
[21:42.520 -> 21:45.800] into that ring with just you and the other guy there.
[21:45.800 -> 21:49.240] And that to me is often a competition
[21:49.240 -> 21:52.560] of who can manage their own nervous system enough
[21:52.560 -> 21:54.600] to stay calm and implement the plan
[21:54.600 -> 21:56.460] that you've done in training.
[21:56.460 -> 22:00.760] What did you learn about being able to manage your emotions
[22:00.760 -> 22:03.040] to be able to go out there and execute the dreams
[22:03.040 -> 22:04.840] that you've been nurturing?
[22:04.840 -> 22:09.240] I used to love it. Like I loved it. So where did the nerve show up then?
[22:09.240 -> 22:16.960] There's never really, never really, I mean never on fight night. I was always
[22:16.960 -> 22:20.760] willing to put the work in wherever the work was required. So I always felt
[22:20.760 -> 22:26.480] over qualified, over prepared that it's up to me to just go and perform.
[22:26.480 -> 22:27.200] I lost a few.
[22:28.000 -> 22:29.120] I lost as an amateur.
[22:30.560 -> 22:32.560] Never boxed anyone who's better than me.
[22:32.560 -> 22:35.440] Never boxed anyone who could beat me on my day.
[22:36.080 -> 22:37.680] So it was either I didn't show up
[22:37.680 -> 22:39.600] or there was something else involved.
[22:39.600 -> 22:43.360] But I don't carry that approach to everything in life, guys.
[22:43.360 -> 22:43.520] I promise you that.
[22:43.520 -> 22:44.640] It's interesting that, isn't it?
[22:44.640 -> 22:45.360] Because that's where the interesting that, isn't it?
[22:45.360 -> 22:46.760] Because that's where the learning comes, right?
[22:46.760 -> 22:51.160] You now know in your early thirties, failure is the growth.
[22:51.160 -> 22:52.160] That's where I learned.
[22:52.160 -> 22:57.000] It's interesting that at the time you, you were like, well, something else must have
[22:57.000 -> 22:58.000] happened.
[22:58.000 -> 22:59.000] That's why I lost that fight.
[22:59.000 -> 23:02.880] I think that's a really interesting and intriguing approach at that time.
[23:02.880 -> 23:05.720] And whether actually it would have been better for you
[23:05.720 -> 23:07.520] to have been able to go, right, I messed up here.
[23:07.520 -> 23:08.800] This is how I can improve.
[23:08.800 -> 23:13.720] Yeah, so I mean, the third time I lose a world title shot
[23:13.720 -> 23:15.360] is I'm out in Vegas.
[23:15.360 -> 23:16.960] I've had the two big fights with Frutsch.
[23:16.960 -> 23:18.520] I've done Wembley Stadium.
[23:18.520 -> 23:21.520] So the first fight I lose controversially.
[23:21.520 -> 23:22.520] I still won't let it go.
[23:22.520 -> 23:26.640] So controversially, they demand a rematch.
[23:26.640 -> 23:30.400] You know, I'm leaving no stone unturned. I'm not taking anything for granted. I'm in there with
[23:30.400 -> 23:35.280] Carl Frost, seasoned fighter, former world champion, the current world champion, four times
[23:35.280 -> 23:40.800] world champion. I've got to go out there and do the job. Switch off for a split second, boom,
[23:40.800 -> 23:47.400] that's boxing. You pay the ultimate price, new low, knocked out in front of 80,000 people.
[23:47.400 -> 23:49.400] And that was the first time where I'm thinking,
[23:49.400 -> 23:53.200] right, what is my life instead of boxing,
[23:53.200 -> 23:55.400] rather than what's my life after boxing?
[23:55.400 -> 23:56.400] This is so hard though,
[23:56.400 -> 24:00.000] because when you're an elite performer like you were,
[24:00.000 -> 24:01.200] believing you're good enough
[24:01.200 -> 24:02.600] is the most important thing, right?
[24:02.600 -> 24:04.600] It's the belief that gets you there in the end.
[24:04.600 -> 24:08.600] So as soon as you don't have that belief that, you know,
[24:08.600 -> 24:10.400] you're George Groves, of course you're going to be world champion,
[24:10.400 -> 24:13.600] even if you're not. You can't lose that, can you?
[24:13.600 -> 24:16.800] No, it's desire, really. It's desire.
[24:16.800 -> 24:18.200] Again, not self-belief.
[24:18.200 -> 24:21.200] I lost to Badu Jack and I watched the fight back and I'm like,
[24:21.200 -> 24:24.600] I made a mistake there. Like, I should have put it on a bit,
[24:24.600 -> 24:25.920] put a bit more into it.
[24:27.240 -> 24:29.640] I should have made some changes beforehand, you know,
[24:29.640 -> 24:32.840] but whatever, at that point you're making excuses.
[24:32.840 -> 24:34.880] So you just question your desire.
[24:34.880 -> 24:37.240] For me, desire was, can I leave the sport
[24:37.240 -> 24:38.520] without becoming a world champion?
[24:38.520 -> 24:39.500] Absolutely not.
[24:39.500 -> 24:43.800] So you go again, but identifying the, for me,
[24:43.800 -> 24:45.300] there were things that weren't right at that point.
[24:45.300 -> 24:46.940] So I need to make some changes.
[24:46.940 -> 24:47.780] What were they?
[24:48.980 -> 24:51.040] So I changed trainer.
[24:52.100 -> 24:54.660] I was working with a guy called Paddy Fitzpatrick,
[24:54.660 -> 24:58.940] who was an amateur coach from Swindon.
[24:58.940 -> 25:01.700] And me and Paddy go on a run together.
[25:01.700 -> 25:04.940] We had the first frotch fight where I come really close.
[25:04.940 -> 25:07.840] Second frotch fight where I don't.
[25:07.840 -> 25:11.280] The fight's even, but I get knocked out.
[25:11.280 -> 25:14.400] And then three more fights later, I fight Badu Jack
[25:14.400 -> 25:16.000] and yeah, I drop a split decision.
[25:16.000 -> 25:19.280] I was like, well, Paddy's not quite right for me.
[25:19.280 -> 25:20.680] See, can I jump in there?
[25:20.680 -> 25:23.840] Cause I want to give a trainer's perspective on this.
[25:23.840 -> 25:27.640] Cause I saw lots of fighters sort of abandon the coach
[25:27.640 -> 25:30.400] after a loss and it used to frustrate me
[25:30.400 -> 25:34.040] because to me, and I'm interested in your answer to this
[25:34.040 -> 25:37.040] rather than trying to presuppose it,
[25:37.040 -> 25:39.320] it was always an excuse.
[25:39.320 -> 25:40.140] You know what I mean?
[25:40.140 -> 25:42.040] I always saw fighters and it would often be
[25:42.040 -> 25:48.280] rather than do that self-reflection of what did I not do, it was oh you let me down, you gave me the wrong tactics, you
[25:48.280 -> 25:53.520] didn't train me properly and it used to frustrate me because I'd see the job of
[25:53.520 -> 25:57.780] your entourage is to tell you you're great and if you haven't been great it's
[25:57.780 -> 26:02.000] easy to blame somebody else than it is to hold the mirror up and say maybe you
[26:02.000 -> 26:07.720] need to look at yourself George. So I'm just interested in how you would, how you'd respond to that.
[26:07.720 -> 26:11.160] So I didn't, I didn't have a huge entourage at the time.
[26:11.160 -> 26:14.040] So Paddy, I had a new team.
[26:14.040 -> 26:18.040] I brought Paddy in, I brought Barry O'Connell in, who's an ex-Royal Marine,
[26:18.040 -> 26:21.560] and I was already working with Dan Lawrence, who's a S&C coach,
[26:21.560 -> 26:23.760] and that was pretty much the team, really.
[26:23.760 -> 26:27.280] So I'd gone from being under
[26:27.280 -> 26:33.760] the haymaker umbrella, pretty much kept away from the business side of stuff by Adam. Frustratedly,
[26:33.760 -> 26:38.560] I wanted to be more involved. I wanted to be more aware. Adam had left. I'm now self-managed
[26:38.560 -> 26:43.840] and I'm managed in a well-titled pay-per-view fight. So everything comes at me. From there,
[26:43.840 -> 26:45.280] I go into Wembley Stadium,
[26:45.280 -> 26:50.640] post-war attendance record for boxing in the UK. It's mega. Now I'm trying to juggle
[26:51.840 -> 26:58.000] sponsorship deals, this deal, that deal, the fight, liaise, sort out, sanctioning bodies,
[26:58.000 -> 27:02.800] working with just every problem you could ever imagine. It landed on my lap.
[27:04.560 -> 27:06.600] But you don't want wanna blame the coach,
[27:06.600 -> 27:10.880] but you have to be aware when stuff isn't going right.
[27:10.880 -> 27:14.440] And sometimes, I've got seven key traits of a champion.
[27:14.440 -> 27:17.160] And the last one, number seven,
[27:17.160 -> 27:19.160] is be willing to start over.
[27:19.160 -> 27:21.840] Is be willing to go back to the drawing board
[27:21.840 -> 27:23.520] and start again.
[27:23.520 -> 27:26.880] And that can be the hardest one of all
[27:26.880 -> 27:30.680] because you feel like you're giving up on the dream
[27:30.680 -> 27:34.000] or you're giving up on the work that you've already put in.
[27:34.000 -> 27:36.520] But for me, right there and then I needed the change
[27:36.520 -> 27:38.640] and the ruthlessness is still there.
[27:38.640 -> 27:41.920] It's like, sure, you want loyalty in boxing,
[27:41.920 -> 27:43.920] but at the same time,
[27:43.920 -> 27:46.960] it can't be at the expense of the end goal.
[27:54.160 -> 27:59.600] So why not surround yourself with more people who can do all the things that you don't actually
[27:59.600 -> 28:04.240] need to be doing, like fighting fires, dealing with ticket sales, solving problems here,
[28:04.240 -> 28:09.480] there and everywhere, so you can just focus on fighting because you've lost three world
[28:09.480 -> 28:13.400] title fights on the bounce. One of the things that could have been changed instead of the
[28:13.400 -> 28:15.600] personnel around you was just get more people.
[28:15.600 -> 28:20.920] Yeah. So, so up until this point I had, I didn't really have any trust in anyone. So
[28:20.920 -> 28:22.400] I didn't, I didn't trust anyone.
[28:22.400 -> 28:26.620] Where did that come from? From, from boxing in general.
[28:26.620 -> 28:28.320] Boxing in general.
[28:28.320 -> 28:29.160] I don't blame you.
[28:29.160 -> 28:32.000] Boxing, you know, there is, it's hard to,
[28:32.000 -> 28:34.960] it's hard to trust a lot of people in boxing
[28:34.960 -> 28:37.160] who have your best interests at heart.
[28:37.160 -> 28:39.280] And fortunately for me, by the end of my career,
[28:39.280 -> 28:42.440] I did, I did accumulate a lot of people there who
[28:42.440 -> 28:47.640] put me first, which is, it's the ultimate dream for a fighter.
[28:47.640 -> 28:50.000] And I think anyone else who wants to work in boxing
[28:50.000 -> 28:52.520] and isn't a fighter should have that mentality.
[28:52.520 -> 28:56.800] But I did, after that, I put myself on the market.
[28:56.800 -> 28:58.560] I reached out to Shane McGuigan,
[28:58.560 -> 29:01.000] who was doing great things.
[29:01.000 -> 29:02.240] He had Karl Frampton in the gym,
[29:02.240 -> 29:04.240] who was a world champion at the time.
[29:04.240 -> 29:07.760] I remember walking in the gym, talking to Shane and just being like, right, here we go.
[29:07.760 -> 29:12.400] Is it talking about people who might be there to help me? Barry McGuigan's in the corner,
[29:12.400 -> 29:15.520] Barry McGuigan, every story I had to tell about.
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[32:26.080 -> 32:29.800] Adversity, he's already faced it, you know, he's already had it. He's already, he's been
[32:29.800 -> 32:35.560] involved in mega fights and big fights. He's come away with big losses, had a heartache
[32:35.560 -> 32:40.440] and sadness throughout his boxing career. So he was there and he's only there to help.
[32:40.440 -> 32:45.160] So then being back in the gym, a bit more camaraderie, and we didn't rush back, you know,
[32:45.160 -> 32:46.700] it wasn't like, right, next fight's gotta be
[32:46.700 -> 32:48.080] for a world title or world title eliminator.
[32:48.080 -> 32:53.080] I had a fight January at the Copper Box, not a huge arena.
[32:53.980 -> 32:57.200] No one wants to fight in January, but sure, man,
[32:57.200 -> 33:01.480] I'll go for it, I'll headline, I'll get back in the picture.
[33:01.480 -> 33:04.060] Sped it in a good win with Shane,
[33:04.060 -> 33:06.620] chief support for the next two anti-Joshua fights,
[33:06.620 -> 33:09.780] stepped up in opposition against David Brophy,
[33:09.780 -> 33:12.520] stepped up again in opposition again against Martin Murray,
[33:12.520 -> 33:13.960] now I'm mandatory for world title again.
[33:13.960 -> 33:16.840] But this time I've got a team who take a lot
[33:16.840 -> 33:20.580] of the responsibility for me, which is vital.
[33:20.580 -> 33:23.800] Cause talking about the ticket sales and all of that,
[33:23.800 -> 33:27.480] that period, that you're one of the first fighters
[33:27.480 -> 33:31.320] that I can think of that almost seem to understand
[33:31.320 -> 33:32.680] that you're doing pay-per-view,
[33:32.680 -> 33:36.120] so you're gonna have to drive viewers to the fight.
[33:36.120 -> 33:39.320] So you've got to manufacture a beef with your opponent,
[33:39.320 -> 33:41.880] or you've got to engage in mind games
[33:41.880 -> 33:44.040] that are gonna get the public interested
[33:44.040 -> 33:47.160] in a fight they might not have heard of without it.
[33:47.160 -> 33:50.800] I'm interested in how much thought and preparation
[33:50.800 -> 33:54.080] you put into these kind of narratives,
[33:54.080 -> 33:55.920] if you want to call it that,
[33:55.920 -> 33:58.080] that would build a fight and get people interested.
[33:58.080 -> 33:59.320] And what did that give you?
[33:59.320 -> 34:01.440] But equally, what did it take away from you?
[34:01.440 -> 34:03.960] Yeah, no, I mean, for a real fight.
[34:03.960 -> 34:06.640] So the first time this kind of really came around for me,
[34:06.640 -> 34:10.920] I've boxed James Zagal, who's was the Olympic champion.
[34:10.920 -> 34:13.160] He won the Olympics in Beijing, 2008.
[34:13.160 -> 34:15.640] We're club mates, we're both from the same amateur club.
[34:15.640 -> 34:19.300] Boxers, amateurs, became fierce rivals since then.
[34:19.300 -> 34:21.220] Both turned professional around the same time,
[34:21.220 -> 34:22.400] but obviously he's turning professional
[34:22.400 -> 34:23.480] with an Olympic gold medal.
[34:23.480 -> 34:25.960] He's the golden boy of this generation. Skip forward a couple of years, I've got the same time, but obviously he's turning professional with an Olympic gold medal. He's the golden boy of this generation.
[34:25.960 -> 34:27.880] Skip forward a couple of years,
[34:27.880 -> 34:28.880] I've got the Commonwealth title,
[34:28.880 -> 34:32.520] he's got the British title, and we're gonna collide.
[34:32.520 -> 34:34.720] We are, our paths are gonna cross
[34:34.720 -> 34:37.480] because neither of us are gonna show weakness
[34:37.480 -> 34:39.600] in going a different route.
[34:39.600 -> 34:41.840] I get made mandatory for the British championship,
[34:41.840 -> 34:44.200] so a fight date is set,
[34:44.200 -> 34:46.560] and me and James's
[34:46.560 -> 34:52.080] build up just took off. We end up headlining the show. But I would always be prepared,
[34:52.080 -> 34:58.280] Damien, before any encounter with James Agao. And I knew James, obviously we'd been from
[34:58.280 -> 35:08.040] the same club, hadn't spoken a few years, but I knew his nature. I knew what he was like. And I would make, I would usually
[35:08.040 -> 35:17.280] make a sweeping statement type sort of assumption of someone's character and then decide, is
[35:17.280 -> 35:21.560] there any insecurities in that character? And then just have a little dig and a poke
[35:21.560 -> 35:26.400] and see where we go with it. Now that stuff always plays through to being good watching,
[35:26.400 -> 35:29.840] good listening, drives, the pay-per-view machine,
[35:29.840 -> 35:32.280] or the, you know, the boxing machine.
[35:32.280 -> 35:33.320] So they want to get you together
[35:33.320 -> 35:35.080] as many times as they possibly can.
[35:35.080 -> 35:37.600] And I would always try and differentiate myself
[35:37.600 -> 35:39.260] when I could to stand out.
[35:39.260 -> 35:41.480] But there and then it's about getting a reaction
[35:41.480 -> 35:42.320] from your opponent.
[35:42.320 -> 35:44.480] So this is when the fight starts then.
[35:44.480 -> 35:46.960] For me, the fight starts the first press conference,
[35:46.960 -> 35:47.840] the fight started.
[35:48.080 -> 35:49.280] So I'd be like, what's he going to wear?
[35:49.760 -> 35:50.040] Right.
[35:50.040 -> 35:53.720] He's going to show up in a, in a, he's going to show up in his gym kit.
[35:53.720 -> 35:54.680] Cause that's what he likes to wear.
[35:54.680 -> 35:55.920] I was like, right, what am I going to wear?
[35:56.320 -> 35:59.560] I'm going to wear a suit with a Larry tie.
[35:59.800 -> 36:00.640] That's why he can do that.
[36:00.640 -> 36:03.320] I'm going to look stark contrast to him.
[36:03.840 -> 36:07.000] Um, the tie, the tie is a bit of a peacock effect. I'm going to look stark contrast to him. The tie is a bit of a peacock effect,
[36:07.000 -> 36:10.520] I'm going to stand out. I've got to have to do something to make sure that people are
[36:10.520 -> 36:14.600] not just listening to what he says. And I've got to be ready with what I want to say. I
[36:14.600 -> 36:18.440] want it to be clear, concise. You're going to get asked a bunch of the same questions
[36:18.440 -> 36:22.320] from journalists, but I'm going to have to answer these questions a different way each
[36:22.320 -> 36:27.240] and every time. Otherwise, it's boring for me and they're going to have to answer these questions a different way each and every time. Otherwise, it's boring for me and they're going to have to, they're going to write the same, same
[36:27.240 -> 36:32.920] stuff. Any question he's got, I'm going to, uh, I'm going to have an answer for. I'm going
[36:32.920 -> 36:38.320] to be, I might even be obnoxious. I might intercut him and, and, and break into him.
[36:38.320 -> 36:41.600] If he stutters on something, I'll answer it for him. So now they're under pressure to
[36:41.600 -> 36:51.280] say something decent because if they don't, then I'm ready to snipe in at them. Um, so that, and yeah, I mean, I carried that sort of through,
[36:51.280 -> 36:52.280] through my career.
[36:52.280 -> 36:54.280] At the time you did the Rubik's cube.
[36:54.280 -> 36:58.800] So yeah, Cole Frutch, um, we'd already had the first fight. Um, I'd already, I mean,
[36:58.800 -> 36:59.800] I'd,
[36:59.800 -> 37:02.360] No, he's admitted you've got into his head, haven't he? Cause by the second fight he's
[37:02.360 -> 37:06.800] say, he's admitting that you'd needled him enough that he had to go and seek support.
[37:06.820 -> 37:11.340] Yeah. So this is, I think this is before he's admitted that. So the first press conference to
[37:11.340 -> 37:18.880] announce the rematch were at Wembley Stadium. And yeah, Carl can, I think sometimes he's
[37:18.880 -> 37:24.080] nervous, but he can ramble. So, and he's had a long, illustrious career. So at times he will go
[37:24.080 -> 37:25.200] back to the very start. And I thought, times he will go back to the very start.
[37:25.200 -> 37:30.320] And I thought if you guys write back to the very start, I'm going to solve a Rubik's cube
[37:30.320 -> 37:37.520] sitting next to him at a press conference. Um, so I sat there and, uh, I pretended that I just
[37:37.520 -> 37:41.760] got it out of the packet and learn it, but I didn't, uh, and solved it. I learned the algorithms
[37:41.760 -> 37:45.640] a week before I was out. I got it down to about two and a half minutes. I learnt the algorithms a week before. I was like... I got it down to about
[37:45.640 -> 37:48.800] two and a half minutes. I thought, I've got two and a half minutes here. The pressure's
[37:48.800 -> 37:49.800] on. I can't not finish it.
[37:49.800 -> 37:51.520] Jason Valey Yeah, this is serious practice going on for
[37:51.520 -> 37:52.520] this moment.
[37:52.520 -> 37:53.520] Jason Valey Yeah, this is great.
[37:53.520 -> 37:57.360] I always wanted to be a bit different. I always wanted to... So that's... Maybe it's part
[37:57.360 -> 38:07.840] of being a high performer, high performance. I had to be like, right, I need to differentiate myself from everyone else. So it's boxing, it's an individual sport.
[38:07.840 -> 38:11.400] You don't carry fans like you do in football.
[38:11.400 -> 38:15.360] You know, it's not, it's you, they'll back an individual.
[38:15.360 -> 38:17.560] So yeah, you know, as I say,
[38:17.560 -> 38:20.200] I'd make myself as available as possible.
[38:20.200 -> 38:22.120] I'd do as much media as I could.
[38:22.120 -> 38:24.480] And if there was anything alternative or funny
[38:24.480 -> 38:25.680] or something, I'd have a go.
[38:25.680 -> 38:31.680] See, but what I love about your approach is having sort of been along to these weigh-ins
[38:31.680 -> 38:38.720] or the press conferences with boxers, a lot of them, it's about ramping up the testosterone,
[38:38.720 -> 38:39.220] do you know what I mean?
[38:39.220 -> 38:42.160] Like pretending to put the head in and or being threatening.
[38:42.880 -> 39:09.600] And yours reminded me of that famous one when Nassim Hamed first boxed Steve Robinson down yn ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud â'r rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy'n ymwneud ag y rhai sy purse if you beat me, will you give me all your purse if I beat you?" and Stevie Robinson hesitated and hammered to him, I've got you. The fact that you couldn't
[39:09.600 -> 39:14.480] answer me instantly was clever that he got in his head by being cerebral
[39:14.480 -> 39:18.800] and a bit smart rather than just being abusive or you know like there's
[39:18.800 -> 39:21.760] nothing particularly clever about that whereas what you were doing was well
[39:21.760 -> 39:27.120] thought out and precise. Yeah I always wanted to keep it professional.
[39:27.480 -> 39:30.560] Uh, nothing personal really.
[39:30.560 -> 39:36.040] Um, you know, nothing that's actually really personal, you know?
[39:36.400 -> 39:39.160] Um, why was that important?
[39:40.360 -> 39:43.840] Cause, cause it's, cause it's, it is, we are professionals.
[39:44.120 -> 39:46.880] Would you mind sharing with us your seven traits of a champion?
[39:47.400 -> 39:47.720] Yeah.
[39:47.720 -> 39:49.080] If I could get them off now.
[39:49.080 -> 39:49.600] Come on son.
[39:50.040 -> 39:52.720] So, uh, number one is to keep going.
[39:53.040 -> 39:53.880] Why was that important?
[39:55.280 -> 39:56.840] It's the easiest one to start with.
[39:56.920 -> 40:02.760] And sometimes even if it's just a, an idea in your brain, like stick with it, keep going.
[40:02.920 -> 40:03.240] Right.
[40:03.240 -> 40:04.480] Just keep going to start with.
[40:04.520 -> 40:06.080] Um, usually right at the start is the easiest way to just sort of quit and give up. an idea in your brain, like stick with it, keep going, right? Just keep going to start with,
[40:09.680 -> 40:16.320] usually right at the start is the easiest way to just sort of quit and give up, but you don't. Number two would be to stay focused. How did you do it? It's, I suppose,
[40:16.320 -> 40:21.280] whatever your goal is or your dream or your ambition is to sort of figure it out and just
[40:21.280 -> 40:26.000] make sure that you don't let other niggling doubts creep in.
[40:26.000 -> 40:29.040] So staying focused, focused on that goal,
[40:29.040 -> 40:30.640] you make sure that you get the work done.
[40:30.640 -> 40:32.720] You know, I relate a lot of stuff to boxing.
[40:32.720 -> 40:35.760] So make sure that, you know, keep the diet in check
[40:35.760 -> 40:37.160] so the weight don't balloon right up
[40:37.160 -> 40:39.240] in case I get a call when there's a fight on the horizon.
[40:39.240 -> 40:40.740] You stay in the gym, you stay active.
[40:40.740 -> 40:44.480] So the body's always ticking over.
[40:44.480 -> 40:45.520] It might be to take care of
[40:45.520 -> 40:49.920] the brand because you do some, some media or some alternative media while you're not
[40:49.920 -> 40:54.240] in the gym or you're recovering from an injury or, or rehab or something like that. So staying
[40:54.240 -> 41:01.920] focused on the task at hand is important. Number three, to be willing to make sacrifices.
[41:01.920 -> 41:05.720] So you got to make sacrifices for, to not waste time,
[41:07.040 -> 41:08.080] which is hard.
[41:10.280 -> 41:12.360] So when you say to not waste time, do you mean to just be permanently focused on the boxing?
[41:12.360 -> 41:14.320] Everything is boxing?
[41:14.320 -> 41:15.240] For me, yeah.
[41:15.240 -> 41:18.520] I mean, I had a career, you know,
[41:18.520 -> 41:20.440] box is a short career.
[41:20.440 -> 41:23.800] It could be over at any point, so just don't waste any time.
[41:23.800 -> 41:25.640] Seize the day, take the opportunities.
[41:25.640 -> 41:28.920] If the opportunity is there, take it, don't waste time.
[41:28.920 -> 41:32.640] Next one will be live with clear intentions.
[41:32.640 -> 41:36.680] Number six is to take responsibility, which was hard.
[41:36.680 -> 41:40.880] Talk about myself going, climbing 10 feet from Everest
[41:40.880 -> 41:44.000] and walking around telling everyone I'm a world champion.
[41:44.000 -> 41:45.940] You're not, take responsibility.
[41:47.440 -> 41:50.000] Losing a split decision out there with Badu Jack,
[41:50.000 -> 41:51.600] am I blaming the trainer?
[41:51.600 -> 41:53.840] No, but I'm taking responsibility
[41:53.840 -> 41:55.920] that I might need something else.
[41:55.920 -> 41:58.040] I might need a new setup, a new gym,
[41:58.040 -> 42:00.040] a new coach or something else.
[42:00.040 -> 42:03.520] So to own up to your shortcomings when they come,
[42:03.520 -> 42:04.340] take responsibility.
[42:04.340 -> 42:07.800] And the last one, number seven is be willing to start over,
[42:07.800 -> 42:09.160] be willing to go again.
[42:09.160 -> 42:12.760] So describe to us then the moment at Wembley
[42:12.760 -> 42:14.800] with 80,000 people watching,
[42:14.800 -> 42:16.440] where you've done everything you can
[42:16.440 -> 42:19.520] to generate this post-war crowd.
[42:19.520 -> 42:23.200] You've left no stone unturned.
[42:23.200 -> 42:25.820] And then you are faced with having to pick yourself up
[42:25.820 -> 42:30.020] off the canvas and process what must have felt
[42:30.020 -> 42:32.400] like a crushing defeat at the moment,
[42:32.400 -> 42:36.120] because we've all had it, we've all faced moments like that,
[42:36.120 -> 42:40.100] but yours was done under such a public spotlight.
[42:40.100 -> 42:43.960] Tell us how you learn to process that and come back.
[42:43.880 -> 42:44.960] Tell us how you learned to process that and come back.
[42:46.760 -> 42:48.360] Yeah, no, that, I mean, that was horrific. It was absolutely horrific.
[42:50.040 -> 42:51.200] And I didn't, I don't even know,
[42:51.200 -> 42:53.440] I don't think I processed it properly at the time.
[42:53.440 -> 42:56.120] I mean, I think I was numb from it,
[42:56.120 -> 43:00.480] like not just the punch, but we come out of Wembley.
[43:00.480 -> 43:02.400] I had a little flat in West London
[43:02.400 -> 43:05.200] that was bought a couple of years before,
[43:05.200 -> 43:06.640] but we planned to come home that night
[43:06.640 -> 43:11.240] and it was just a really weird sobering sort of place to be.
[43:11.240 -> 43:13.680] I wasn't in a good place, obviously.
[43:13.680 -> 43:17.000] Knew I had to take the loss with humility,
[43:17.000 -> 43:20.640] but I was seething, like rock bottom,
[43:20.640 -> 43:22.280] like absolute rock bottom.
[43:22.280 -> 43:25.760] But we go on holiday, me and the Miss which book,
[43:25.760 -> 43:31.200] we just go the next day, pack a bag and go. And then once we went, it was in Dubai, literally
[43:31.200 -> 43:37.360] that day, land and I'm on the phone to Calis Island like, I'm ready to go, like what can we do?
[43:37.360 -> 43:47.280] So I'm already scheming to get back. I'm chasing it, like I'm absolutely chasing it. But in my brain, I'm like, again,
[43:47.280 -> 43:49.440] whether I think I still was thinking
[43:49.440 -> 43:51.400] world champion by the belt, like who next?
[43:51.400 -> 43:53.160] What I need, I'm making up for lost ground,
[43:53.160 -> 43:55.280] gotta chase it, so just chasing it.
[43:55.280 -> 43:58.000] But it was awful, it was awful.
[43:58.000 -> 43:59.960] Couldn't enjoy any of it.
[43:59.960 -> 44:01.360] So what advice, George, would you give
[44:01.360 -> 44:02.560] to anyone listening to this
[44:02.560 -> 44:05.320] that maybe is facing their own
[44:07.960 -> 44:09.920] canvas moment where they're having to learn how to pick themselves up from a setback
[44:09.920 -> 44:12.080] or failure or a disappointment?
[44:12.080 -> 44:17.080] What lessons did you learn from it that are applicable?
[44:17.100 -> 44:20.160] What didn't leave me at that point was desire,
[44:20.160 -> 44:24.480] like desire and drive, which is vital.
[44:24.480 -> 44:25.560] What I would have done differently
[44:25.560 -> 44:28.640] is just took a little bit more time to breathe,
[44:28.640 -> 44:32.320] to assess and absorb the situation.
[44:32.320 -> 44:34.480] Speak, speak to the people around you.
[44:34.480 -> 44:35.760] I've never had a therapist or anything,
[44:35.760 -> 44:40.200] but I've always bounced ideas off the people closest to me.
[44:40.200 -> 44:43.320] And that serves me really well.
[44:43.320 -> 44:47.280] My wife in particular, we'll chew the fat on stuff
[44:47.280 -> 44:50.840] and usually you'll come to a logical conclusion
[44:50.840 -> 44:52.200] and then you trust your gut.
[44:53.080 -> 44:56.840] My gut never really failed, never really fail you.
[44:56.840 -> 45:01.120] So that would probably be my advice.
[45:01.120 -> 45:03.480] If you have felt some shortcomings,
[45:03.480 -> 45:07.000] I mean, there's always someone out there worse
[45:07.000 -> 45:10.680] off than you. There's always something to it. And there's always something to be thankful
[45:10.680 -> 45:15.800] for and there's always a lesson to be learned. So just don't lose that desire at that point.
[45:15.800 -> 45:22.960] Stay switched on, stay focused. And, but for me right now, I could have done with probably
[45:22.960 -> 45:33.000] just letting the dust settle a little bit and see if there's any other changes I needed to make before, you know, going back to it, back to work.
[45:33.000 -> 45:38.000] But I think that's probably the best I could say for the listeners.
[45:38.000 -> 45:45.700] Oh, thank you. Thanks for being so candid about what's a difficult moment, appreciate it. So we always end with our quick fire questions.
[45:45.700 -> 45:49.080] The first one is what three non-negotiable behaviors
[45:49.080 -> 45:51.720] do you and the people around you need to buy into?
[45:53.040 -> 45:55.800] Well, yeah, I'll go back to what I've,
[45:55.800 -> 45:58.880] first two will be belief, like self-belief,
[45:58.880 -> 46:01.440] confidence, unwavering self-belief.
[46:01.440 -> 46:04.960] And there will come a time when maybe you'll have to let go
[46:04.960 -> 46:09.120] of the dream, but until then, give it everything you've finally got and then I
[46:09.120 -> 46:14.160] think trust your gut if you can surround yourself with the right people good
[46:14.160 -> 46:17.920] people when you can and they trust you got on that. If you could go back to one
[46:17.920 -> 46:23.160] moment of your life what would that be and why? I don't I mean people ask me
[46:23.160 -> 46:28.500] was I change anything and I don't think I would because I wouldn't roll the dice on a different outcome,
[46:28.500 -> 46:30.100] not being where I am now.
[46:30.100 -> 46:34.900] And I think I am happy, you know, I'm as happy as I want to be.
[46:34.900 -> 46:39.700] And I'm happy now because of lots of the suffering that I've, you know,
[46:39.700 -> 46:41.700] that I faced or what felt like suffering.
[46:41.700 -> 46:45.320] I would love to go back to Wembley stadium with Rog, not necessarily
[46:45.320 -> 46:47.800] for a different outcome, but I was
[46:47.800 -> 46:50.280] so consumed with the performance
[46:51.080 -> 46:52.840] that I never really took in the
[46:52.840 -> 46:53.480] atmosphere.
[46:54.120 -> 46:56.280] So that's a real shame.
[46:56.760 -> 46:59.520] And I was obviously grieving
[46:59.520 -> 47:00.360] after the loss.
[47:00.360 -> 47:01.960] So I didn't take in any atmosphere
[47:02.400 -> 47:04.200] after the fight.
[47:04.600 -> 47:07.360] So that would be where I'd like to
[47:07.920 -> 47:12.640] venture back to. What book would you offer up to the members of the high performance book club?
[47:13.600 -> 47:17.760] I'm not a big reader to be honest. It's not how I like to consume me. I don't,
[47:18.480 -> 47:23.760] it doesn't stick stick with me. But, um, I thought about that question on the way in
[47:23.760 -> 47:26.760] and it's not even really the same sort
[47:26.760 -> 47:31.080] of media. But what I used to like to do and I still like to do is I like to go running
[47:31.080 -> 47:37.320] in the dark with music and it's actually pretty good for solving a lot of your problems that
[47:37.320 -> 47:42.080] might be way back. I wonder why that works for you? I just end up in a bit of a trance,
[47:42.080 -> 47:47.760] like a flow, a flow, yeah, when you're driving or whatnot, but this is even better.
[47:47.760 -> 47:52.680] So I used to go running around Old Deer Park in Richmond,
[47:52.680 -> 47:55.520] and you'd end up doing your sweat runs quite late at night.
[47:55.520 -> 47:58.120] And obviously when you're sweating and you're dehydrated,
[47:58.120 -> 48:00.400] you're a little bit more emotional anyway,
[48:00.400 -> 48:01.600] and it would be pitch black,
[48:01.600 -> 48:04.000] and I'd have music in my ears.
[48:04.000 -> 48:05.640] Safe in the knowledge that if someone attacked me,
[48:05.640 -> 48:07.880] I could probably outrun them.
[48:07.880 -> 48:08.720] Or defend yourself.
[48:08.720 -> 48:09.540] Yeah, true.
[48:10.520 -> 48:12.720] But that was pretty cool.
[48:12.720 -> 48:15.200] That was the closest I would get.
[48:15.200 -> 48:19.880] I mean, yeah, I'd work out a lot of problems that way.
[48:19.880 -> 48:21.880] And the final question is really your last message
[48:21.880 -> 48:23.840] to the listeners of this podcast.
[48:23.840 -> 48:27.960] What is your one golden rule for living a high performance life?
[48:27.960 -> 48:34.760] Yeah, I think if you want to perform to the best of your ability, like I said in the opening
[48:34.760 -> 48:40.080] show, be in the arena, slipping and sliding, making the punches, missing, firing back,
[48:40.080 -> 48:46.640] living the moment, be happy and be present with the belief that you're there to conquer the world.
[48:46.640 -> 48:48.080] Top man, thank you for joining us.
[48:48.080 -> 48:48.920] Thank you.
[48:52.800 -> 48:53.640] Damien.
[48:53.640 -> 48:54.680] Jake.
[48:54.680 -> 48:56.160] What I thought was really interesting there
[48:56.160 -> 48:58.600] was the desire to lead from the front.
[48:58.600 -> 48:59.720] I mean, he said a lot of times,
[48:59.720 -> 49:01.240] you know, I led from the front, it was me,
[49:01.240 -> 49:02.960] I was front and center.
[49:02.960 -> 49:04.820] The need to take that on himself,
[49:04.820 -> 49:10.240] I just wonder whether in hindsight, if he'd have got the perfect people around him earlier
[49:10.240 -> 49:16.160] on and taken on less himself, delegated more to others, maybe that world title would have
[49:16.160 -> 49:17.160] come earlier.
[49:17.160 -> 49:21.760] Yeah, absolutely. I think sometimes we talk about entourages, especially when we think
[49:21.760 -> 49:26.000] about it in terms of boxing or young athletes, as a negative influence. The idea of being Mae'r fath o anterage, yn enwedig pan ydych chi'n meddwl amdano o ran ymgyrchu neu ymgyrchion ifanc, yn ymdrechus negatif.
[49:26.000 -> 49:30.000] Yr sylwad o fod yn ymgyrchu gan bobl sy'n dweud yr hyn y byddwch chi eisiau clywed
[49:30.000 -> 49:32.000] a'i ffwrddio'n ffwrdd ar eich ôl.
[49:32.000 -> 49:34.000] Ond mewn gwirionedd mae'n bwysig bod anterage dda.
[49:34.000 -> 49:36.000] Y bobl sy'n cymryd y pwysau arnoch chi,
[49:36.000 -> 49:38.000] yn gwneud sgiliau nad ydych chi'n gallu eu gwneud
[49:38.000 -> 49:40.000] ac yn eich allu chyfathrebu.
[49:40.000 -> 49:42.000] Ac mae'n bwysig i'r ffighter
[49:42.000 -> 49:44.000] yn unig fel y sgiliau rydych chi'n eu cymryd
[49:44.000 -> 49:45.660] yn y rhan. Felly rwy'n credu bod yn bwysig i bawb sy'n clywed hynny and it's just as important for a fighter as much as the skills that you're acquiring in the ring.
[49:45.660 -> 49:49.180] So I think it's important for anyone listening to this
[49:49.180 -> 49:52.060] to ask themselves, have I got the right entourage around me
[49:52.060 -> 49:54.540] to allow me to go and focus and perform?
[49:54.540 -> 49:56.300] And also, you know, don't feel that
[49:56.300 -> 49:57.760] you have to do it yourself.
[49:57.760 -> 49:59.420] You know, life's a team sport.
[49:59.420 -> 50:01.620] I think there are very few things in life
[50:01.620 -> 50:08.560] that we do better on our own than with a group of people. Yeah and that's almost like the irony of something like boxing,
[50:08.560 -> 50:12.360] there's so many paradoxes, it's known as chess with gloves on, so you've got to be
[50:12.360 -> 50:16.840] cerebral but equally it's a physical game and it's almost like the ultimate
[50:16.840 -> 50:21.480] individual sport and yet it is a team game with the people that are in your
[50:21.480 -> 50:29.860] dressing room and that's a powerful lesson for anybody in any pursuit yeah it life is a team sport. And also remember this is a
[50:29.860 -> 50:35.440] guy who had the trauma of really badly damaging an opponent then had the three
[50:35.440 -> 50:40.080] world title fights finally conquered the world and only felt relief you know I
[50:40.080 -> 50:46.840] can't remind people often enough how important it is to not think that there is this amazing
[50:46.840 -> 50:49.560] moment of hallelujah at the end of life.
[50:49.560 -> 50:51.960] It is only the doing that gives you the joy.
[50:51.960 -> 50:58.100] Yeah, I think we hear it so often and I don't think it can be repeated frequently enough
[50:58.100 -> 51:00.920] this idea of you've got to enjoy the journey.
[51:00.920 -> 51:08.960] Like Joy said, even if he had that chance to go back, he'd go back to that night of his most crushing loss just so he could at least enjoy the
[51:08.960 -> 51:13.920] experience. And I think all too often we're focused on where we want to get to
[51:13.920 -> 51:18.640] rather than how we're going to get there. Thanks mate. Loved it, thank you mate.
[51:18.640 -> 51:22.680] Well look, thank you so much to George for coming on the podcast and sharing his
[51:22.680 -> 51:28.840] thoughts with us. And as always, big thanks goes to you for growing and sharing this podcast among your community. Please
[51:28.840 -> 51:33.320] continue to spread the learnings you've taken from these conversations, send them to a friend,
[51:33.320 -> 51:37.700] pop them in a WhatsApp group, stick them on LinkedIn, share them in a work conversation
[51:37.700 -> 51:42.960] or a work setting. But please just remember there is no secret. It is all there for you.
[51:42.960 -> 51:46.620] So chase world-class basics. Don't get high on your own supply.
[51:46.620 -> 51:50.220] Remain humble, curious, and empathetic.
[51:50.220 -> 51:51.960] By the way, I just want to say,
[51:51.960 -> 51:53.860] George has his own podcast as well
[51:53.860 -> 51:55.940] called the George Groves Boxing Club.
[51:55.940 -> 51:58.100] And like all of the best podcasts,
[51:58.100 -> 51:59.700] so much of the conversation he has
[51:59.700 -> 52:00.900] isn't actually about boxing,
[52:00.900 -> 52:02.700] it's about life and mindset and resilience
[52:02.700 -> 52:03.780] and understanding and empathy.
[52:03.780 -> 52:07.780] So feel free to check out George's podcast,
[52:07.780 -> 52:09.840] George Grove's Boxing Club.
[52:09.840 -> None] You won't regret it. you