Historically, Belfast is proper fighting terrain. Tell us about growing up as a rare face of colour on the streets around Turf Lodge. Did you endure much racism?
My family was one of the first mixed-race families in West Belfast, but we weren’t made to feel different. You faced a small bit of racism now and then, growing up, in school and by certain people. But it wasn’t every day.
We were made to feel welcome. My family were well-known in Turf Lodge; my grandad helped build the amateur boxing club I boxed for [Holy Trinity ABC].
Were you a feisty kid, a natural scrapper, before becoming actively involved in boxing?
I was naturally feisty – a few anger issues when I was younger and was always frustrated; a cheeky little kid. Boxing was a way of letting that anger out. You see it in my style of boxing.
But I don’t think I properly lost my temper until I was about 18. Boxing taught me to control it [the anger], learn not to be a naughty kid in school, and let it all out in the gym. But as you grow up, you mature. You
