I've seen the consequences of what can happen when you're unprepared for a fight, or not as prepared as your opponent.
If a fighter suffers defeat, especially in a fight he feels he won, it will never leave his mind. He is always going to want to avenge that loss.
I've seen the consequences of what can happen when you're unprepared for a fight, or not as prepared as your opponent.I can't let anything like that happen to me, I've got too many goals, too much ambition in the sport. We're looking to fight for a world title this year.
Boxing is a business. I have been in the professional game for five years now - I'm not doing it for nothing. I am doing it so I can provide for my future family, so I can have a future. I am here to make money. And at the same time I'm the most exciting fighter in Britain, if not the world, in my opinion. I don't know anybody else in the game that does the things I do in the ring.
Becoming world champion is something I have worked at for my entire career. It doesn't matter to me that my first title shot is at a different weight. The opportunity is at super-middleweight and I am going to take it. But that doesn't mean I am forever going to be restricted to the super-middleweight division. I've still got a lot of work to do, a lot of unfinished business at middleweight.
I have the final say in the business side of my boxer's career. But as far as me being in the meetings every day, the back and forth of the paperwork and stuff like that, I have got a job to do. I am in the gym every day. The fighting lifestyle is an unforgiving one. You want to keep yourself as focussed and stress - free as possible. I have a team who focus on the more complicated aspects, on the business side of boxing, which I don't need to get myself involved in. I think I am involved in the business as much as I need to be.
I am not going to sell my soul for a fight. Some promoters don't believe in the philosophy that the fighters get the lion's share of a fight. They think they should be getting the lion's share for making the calls, for sitting on the chairs and discussing what is going to happen on the night. My father and I are the fighters - we don't believe in that.
Once you are in that ring things happen that you don't expect. There is nothing you can plan for. At the end of the day, you've just got to go in there and feel the guy's spirit. You've got to listen to him breathe, look into his eyes, feel his power and feel his speed. You can't think too much. It is instinctive. It is on-the-fly. But at the same time I go in there and I think it doesn't matter what this guy does, I'm going to have my way. In whatever situation we end up, I am always going to come out on top. That is the one thing that is the same for every single fight.
It's the referee's job. It's not for me to have to say I should ease up.
Boxing is a business. I'm not going to say I would never work with people again because we have had disagreements in the past. So if it makes money it makes sense. That doesn't mean we won't agree again in the future.
Boxing is what you make it. If you want to make it exciting, if you want to make it something where people are going to look and say, "Wow! Look at the guy. Who does he think he is?" You can do that. If you just want to go in there, punch each other, and then shake hands at the end of the night. You can do that, too. I know what I would rather pay money to see. Some people enjoy it, some despise it. Whether people like it or hate it, they still buy a ticket. We want boxing to be centre stage and you can't have that with guys who don't excite.
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