‘I’VE GOT THE LOVE BACK AGAIN’
BOXING first became a part of my life back when I was a baby listening to my father speak about our relations, and it would become something I would go on to do alongside my two brothers, Hughie and John. My other brother, Jimmy, wasn’t really into boxing but the three of us were.
I remember putting the gloves on with my brothers and doing plenty of sparring as children. We would go all over the country sparring, visiting loads of gyms, and even spent time in Brendan Ingle’s gym. I was there when I was probably nine years of age. We’ve been involved in the sport all our life, but, when we got older, John was the one doing the sport professionally. By then I was a bit more successful in my work, so boxing took a backseat for me. I was still involved in it but only because my brother John was involved. I was helping him with his fights. I would train him and get him ready for them. He couldn’t get fit, he wasn’t doing the right things, and he wasn’t getting the right sparring, so I ended up sparring him myself at one point, as well as training him and getting him fit. He then started to win and do well. But I never touched on it then that I might have a gift for training or anything. I was just helping family out.
John really
