Owen went from feeling lost to finding his purpose in life again, thanks to boxing and a remarkable coach.
Owen Bryant is an amateur boxer from Burgess Hill. From fighting all his life, he has always dreamed of becoming a pro fighter.
However, mental health setbacks and the loss of his son in 2018 put him into a deep depression. This is the story of how boxing and friendship has saved his life.
00:002018, my son passed away. He sent me crazy. Drinking a lot, a lot of drugs. Training alongside Jumbo, he saved my life. He really has. Boxing saved my life.
00:09There was just something about Owen that really grabbed me here and said, do you know what, you can help this kid.
00:17My name's Owen Bright. I'm an amateur boxer here at Ringcraft ABC. Started here about six weeks ago and just, yeah, fell out of love with life and boxing, you know.
00:27Battling certain addictions and just wasn't the man who I once was.
00:32My name's Ian Johnson. I've always known as Jumbo. I'm a cut man for fugilists. So I don't work with one fighter. I work with many fighters and I've done for 28 to 30 years.
00:43I've been in the game 32, working with amateurs first, a few of them, and then training people to get fit. I really enjoyed.
00:51And then I got my license and then I got my cut license. And from then on, away we go.
00:56Owen come to me about eight weeks ago and he said to me, I want to come and maybe go pro eventually. And I said, I don't really train pros anymore, but let me have a listen to what you've got to say.
01:07Let me have a training session with you. And when he told me his story, he's been through quite a bit, obviously some devastating stuff.
01:14And then he went off the rails a little bit.
01:15I'd stick to my boxing for a week, two weeks, have a fight, not care again. And then I'd put on a load of weight, up to 120 kilos, back down to the 80 kilos.
01:25And 90 kilos, it was just an ongoing thing. If I was having a bad day, it would be, just go down the pub.
01:31I was a roofer, you know, it was a case of finishing on a Friday, that's where you was.
01:35But everyone else would go home and I would be still out till a Monday. Coming in here, it's made me realise there's more to life. There's, you know, there's people out there that care.
01:45I love the way he trains. I love the energy he's got. And I love the dedication he's given me by looking me in the eyes and listening to me, rather than just going, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:54We're going to get him a few amateur belts and then hopefully, maybe early next year, we look to get him turned over.
02:00Mintlel's always been a big struggle of mine. I've got a bit of a funny past and then 2018, my son passed away. He sent me crazy.
02:07He saved my life. He really has. Boxing saved my life. Step through into the stables, mate, and it's like a weight that's been lifted, you know.
02:16Yeah, I don't really know how much to describe it other than just saved my life.
02:20It's like Mike Tyson and Castiomato. It really is. He sees something in me that no one has ever seen. I never thought I was worth it.
02:29You know, after the first session, Jumbo looked at me and went to Special Kid, and that stuck with me. Jumbo's tunnel vision and Jumbo's eye.
02:37He rings me every day, texts me every day, rings me just to let me know he's going to get Sarni from the shop.
02:42It's a magical bond I've got with him now, and I almost owe it to him, and he says I don't, but I almost owe it to him every day for turning up.
02:50That's what's kept me going, having him on the other end of the phone when I need it.
02:53People have got to understand that there's always someone out there for you to talk to.
02:58Please don't ever think you're going to boil it up, because that's what I believe friends are for, like him.
03:05If he's got any problems, he gets on the phone to me. He's loving life again.
03:09Men are more vulnerable, in my opinion, because they don't want to talk.
03:13It's not macho to cry. You want to cry? You bloody well cry.
03:17Let it out. Come to somewhere like this. Punch the bags.
03:20Be in mixture with people. Feel people. Get that respect, love and affection. Everyone deserves it.
03:28My eight-year-old grandson, Oliver, passed away through an unfortunate accident, and that devastated me.
03:33That was during lockdown, and I had to make the call to people who I could speak to.
03:39And still today, I don't know how my son and my daughter-in-law, bless them, love them to bits, have coped with the loss of their son.
03:48So I had to take that jump into, I need to speak to someone. And it helped me tremendously.
03:54Just want to say thank you to Ringcroft. Thank you for Jumbo. Thank you to Simon and the team here.
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