00:00Do you know what? I think the training side of it, obviously I got myself in a sort of better
00:07nick than I was in and felt like I'd lost a little bit of weight before I started the boxing
00:11training. So I felt I was as well prepared as possible to then start a different journey,
00:16a different type of training. But it still absolutely shocked me to the core of how
00:23difficult it was and I felt I was fit. Now, I actually know some of the people that were in
00:29the sort of boxing session and like they were dealing with it better than me, but I know
00:34for well that for general fitness, I'm much fitter than them, but they was dealing with
00:38the boxing training better than me. I know that if we walked outside the boxing club and
00:42went for a run, they wouldn't be able to live with me if we went for a run. But that's what
00:46I mean. It's a different type of, it's a different sport and getting your body used to it and
00:50using muscles that you're not used to using, especially you've been laying dormant with
00:54what I've been doing the last few years, which is virtually nothing. So I think it was one of
01:01those where your body gets a little bit of a slight reaction to going, hold on a minute,
01:05what is this you've taken me into, especially at my age? But now I feel like I'm getting a little
01:10bit more used to it and I feel you do have a little sense of accomplishment when you know that
01:15you're kind of doing the same session that you've done last week, but you kind of feel like you dealt
01:19with it a little bit better. You come out the other side and you find yourself in a bit of a
01:23better mood than you was. Even the day that I picked this eye up and I felt like I had a bit
01:27of a scrawling. I came away thinking, well, I've taken some big shots there. I was actually
01:33pleased with myself, even though I had a bit of an headache and a black eye. I was like,
01:38I was taking the positive from it. So there's definitely been a mindset shift where at the
01:43beginning where you're kind of not used to even hitting the bag properly and you're not,
01:47as I said, you're so tired and you feel like you lose your technique. Where I'm getting
01:51a little bit more used to it and learning a little bit more, I'm seeing improvements in
01:56my boxing and go, well, do you know what? That's all you can ask for. At least I'm not
01:59going backwards. I'm getting better. And it's still a long way to go before fight night
02:04and I'm sure I'm going to have some difficult days. But I think when you come out the other
02:06side, I've likened it to pre-season earlier where you know that you have to go through
02:11those tough moments in pre-season as a footballer to prepare you for what's about to come for a
02:17long, hard season. And I think it's similar to fighting. I think if you ain't going through
02:22some tough moments in training to prepare yourself for fight night or as Darren Barker,
02:27my trainer, says he's train hard, fight easy. I don't think the fight is going to be easy
02:32by any stretch of the imagination. But that was his trainer's motto that he used to say to
02:38him. And like I said, I think the harder you train, the better prepared you'll be.
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