AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 52
Mike and Cedric are joined by Jackson England, one of Australia’s brightest young boxing prospects, championing his home town of Mandurah as he wins fight after fight around Australia and the world.
Watch Knuckle Up’s Mike Orr and Cedric Benn, who always discusses up-and-coming young, hungry, and (usually) undefeated boxers during his live daily show at 4pm EST (9pm UK) on TalkinFight.com or YouTube.com/c/TalkinFight
https://talkinfight.com/jackson-england-interview-on-knuckle-up-with-mike-and-cedric-talkin-fight/
#TalkinFight #KnuckleUp #JacksonEngland #Australia #Boxing
Transcribed:
[, Music ]: what up talking fight fans thanks for tuning in to this special episode of knuckle up featuring myself, mike orr from my core in the studio today we have special guest action, jackson, england, coming all the way from australia to come and join us today.
On this uh on this epic interview that we’re gon na have then uh jackson welcome welcome.
Thank you, yeah, i’m very happy to be here.
Awesome uh yeah, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to come, join us and answer a few questions from the fans um.
So how did you get on very grateful, yeah, excellent, excellent uh? What what age did you start boxing at um? I started fighting when i was about 14 15.
um, my family um, all five professionally um the would they have four professionally.
So i decided to um jump on that bandwagon as well excellent, excellent.
So your whole family is a bunch of fighters.
That’S that’s great! You got a brother yeah, so how was it growing up sister? You have a sister yeah, she fights as well.
No, i think she wanted to, but i don’t.
I don’t think she took that route uh.
So what so? What made you get into? Actually uh? Starting to compete in the amateur level, what was some of your influences? Um uh, well big.
My my biggest influence is sugar.
I’M a absolute die-hard fan of sugar, leonard and i remember being young, and just i was always um tying up between um.
It was either dancing or fighting and um.
I absolutely loved both, but i always got drawn to fighting.
I think it was just from the family and everything like that, and i wasn’t really um it wasn’t them who put me into.
It was actually just myself and it was actually my stepdad who um took me to my first boxing class and actually asked me what i wanted to do, and i said i want to fight so that’s when i ended up going there and and just grown from There excellent um, so how long did you fight in the like? How long was your amateur career uh wasn’t overly long? I probably fought from when i was 15 till about 17 and to be fair, i i didn’t have a lot of amateur fights.
I only had 22.
[ Laughter ] i want to get in there, get it done right away.
Uh you you were, you, are national golden gloves champion correct? Yes, so what was? What was that tournament? Like? Can you run us through some of your experiences uh fighting in the golden gloves? Yeah it was um, it was.
It was very um not not so much rushed or anything like that, like i felt i felt like it was putting there the right way, but because of the level i was um, i was fighting against and competing against um.
They were chucking me in with people who, i think my i think, my fifth fight.
I ended up fighting someone who had up to about 50 60 fights wow um yeah, so it’s a big jump, and especially over here in western australia, like there’s a lot of guys at that higher level in the amateurs where i think even my tenth fight, i Thought someone who had 85 as well like so i’ve, been able to jump in there and move around with people like that.
You know you see the experience.
You see the levels of boxing and everyone always says that you know the levels of boxing it’s endless.
So being able to jump in there and move around people like that, it was um such a great experience and then, when i got into the um golden gloves, i went straight in there and i remember lining up for um the weigh-in on the on the day And the guy i was fighting was actually lined up behind me and i’ve never met him.
I never knew him and um all of her.
All i heard was good things about him and um how well he fought and um everything like that, and i i could hear him talking to someone else saying um who they’ll find me and they’re talking about me a little bit and then, as i’ve heard, my Book in i’ve waited and i’ve done whatever i’ve turned around.
I said.
Oh, you know good luck for tonight and then and i’ll see you out there just out of respect and i think you kind of got a bit of a shock he’s like.
Oh, that’s! That’S who i’m actually fighting so you know i’m on it’s quite funny.
I i always end up having a bit of a laugh about all that stuff, because you’re gon na love it you got ta love every bit of of boxing itself right right, um.
What are some of the like? What are some of the uh? I guess hardships that you’ve had through the way like in your amateur career.
Moving into into the pro like some of the like politics is a big thing in boxing everybody knows: yeah did you face kind of crap in in your amateurs? Moving into the pro anything like that, yeah there was um.
I felt i found that uh, especially when those guys who i did compete against, who have been favored or have had obviously a lot more fights than i did um.
They would get there’s a few of the fights where i i can say to myself.
I believe i got the decision, but um they they got the f.
They they got the win.
So you know like and there’s been, there’s been some fights out there that i can name probably two where i damn well.
One like i like you can always like put it on the scale of okay.
I could have done this better.
I could have done that that better and that’s where you go on the gym and you you make up for your mistakes and then you don’t do it again and there’s just there was there was these two that out there that i i definitely damn well hands Down no, i won, but they gave it to them and all you’re going to do is just take that in your stride.
You can’t get upset, you can’t um, you know.
Obviously, it’s going to bug you, but yes, there’s times where the politics got into it and no matter who else was in the room who know who knew to themselves.
I won and from their opinion that i won um.
They still gave the decision to the other man, and that’s that’s all you can do you can just brush that off and just come back again, stronger and and just wear it where, where with yourself – and you know to yourself, if you did 110 of yourself, then There’S no there’s no complaints right so um the uh move into pro uh, whose decision uh was it your decision to move to pro or was it? Do you have influence yeah? Well, um? It wasn’t really um an influence.
I’Ve always wanted to fight professionally.
I i feel um, even in the amateurs i always had a very professional style, so um there’s a lot of the amateur coaches who obviously with that olympic boxing style, that they didn’t necessarily view what i did was uh adequate to what they wanted to teach.
And i i took i take everybody’s thing in and i love all forms of boxing all styles of boxing but um.
Just i found with myself i was, i was very professional in the way i fought the way i moved the way i did things so um going into the pros.
I felt it was a very, very good transition, because i was already sparring professionals anyways, i’m getting ready for my phone fights and then um when i um was getting ready for my first fight.
I was training in um in sydney with my my biological, father and um and getting ready to possibly turn pro there, but the timing didn’t really match up.
So when i came back to perth, i ended up fighting in uh.
I think it was 2017.
I think i would have been 19.
I turned i turned pro at 19.
right right, oh yeah! First, first pro fight, you had jitters.
Obviously how? How did you shake that? How did you shake the nerves to myself, i’m a bit of a um, my partner likes to call me a bit of a bit of a show pony, um, okay um.
I yeah not not in a cocky way whatsoever.
I just love the atmosphere.
I um the set like having those normal uh nervous jitters, that’s completely normal, but to me i’ve um i’ve been around big crowds.
I’Ve danced i’ve done different things and like to me.
Fighting is another way to showcase myself, my ability and my my skills and um people.
People pay money to come and come and watch something they’ve never seen before, so to be able to catch people’s eyes and show people uh that i can do things that maybe other fighters can’t do or, like you know, be um give him a bit of that Star striking uh uh bit of uh influence, you know like show them that wow.
I can remember him out of all the fights on the night.
That’S who i remember and then that’s where you build and build and build and with my first fight that nervous jitter was there, but it was always that self-confidence in myself, like i’ve.
Very, i believe highly in myself and what i’m capable of doing.
I believe in my ability – and all i did was take that in my stride and like walk even walking out, like obviously completely different amateurs, you walk out and there’s just hundreds and hundreds of people um but hearing the music.
I love my music um walking out to having people like sport, support and friends and family plus people spectators, and everything like that.
I just i thrive.
I thrive in that environment, especially but um other than that yeah going out there and doing that.
It was very, very different feeling, but i definitely felt at home like when i’m there.
I feel at my most comfortable, okay um.
You said you said you danced um.
Did you find uh dancing, helped with your footwork a lot, because i know you, you have great footwork, 100.
100 percent.
What did you do? Um, i’m very i’m very old school.
You know for an australian boy to you, know, love his i’m.
A big fan of my 80s music, my 80s um funk uh uh pop and lock uh bloody um.
I love the old stuff.
You know biggest biggest inspirations would be you know, michael jackson, prince bobby brown um, you know even go on like older back.
You know you go back to uh uh.
What is it you go back to 112 and, like all those sort of all those sort of things there, i absolutely love it.
So i even when i train – i i i blast all my old stuff, all my old music, so i can just have that bit of rhythm.
You know because it is it’s rhythm, it’s personality, you know, and people want to see that when they fight you know, you’ve got to bring personality, you’ve got to bring yourself to the table and that’s what draws people in more.
You know, like you had to be able to um show that to them and they see for who you are and that’s that’s what i bring right um.
So when you, when you first started boxing, you were in the amateurs, um uh.
How did you, how did you manage to balance your academic career along as your amateur boxing career? Did you find it difficult to do that um very, very, very difficult, like i’m? Definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Let’S say that um i i i found it quite hard because like to keep up with studies or to keep up with um like school, and everything like that.
I found it um quite hard because i’m a bit dyslexic as well so um but uh when it comes to the boxing aspect or anything physical um, i thrived massively so anything to do with sport.
Anything to do with that at school.
I studied um sports science and uh personal training when i was there as well – and i thrived in that.
But when it came to some of the academic things, i did struggle a little bit just with timing and also um just having a bit of struggle as well.
But when it came to physical stuff, because i’ve been a personal trainer for a few years as well.
Um, i can do that.
I can do that hands down and when it’s physical i know i can.
I can tell you to see how how it is how how the form should look, how um how the rep should be everything like that, but um when it comes to writing it down.
It was a little bit hard.
Okay, you’re more of a doer than a writer.
That’S it man! That’S awesome! That’S exactly what i am! That’S it um you’re, currently holding a couple of belts at the moment.
Um.
I believe right, yeah uh, you are the yes, so yeah! You know what name them name them.
Let’S, let’s hear the belts i’ll i’ll rip them out so um.
The first build i won was the um australian, featherweight title um, the ambf australian featherweight title then um the um belt.
I went after that was the wbc um asia, silver title, super featherweight, title yeah, um and then the two belts i won recently were the wbc asia, gold, super featherweight title and the ibo um orient oceana super featherweight title uh that was against uh uh.
Was it shiva mishra? I believe it is yeah shiva mystery yeah.
You come over from new zealand uh yeah, though you know that was a great fight to watch.
Actually your performance was, you know outstanding in that fight um.
I knew i knew you were.
You were out of you were out of the ring for a long time before you jumped in for that fight right.
It was about 15 months, 15 months out of the ring and um a lot of people, not a lot of people like certain people.
Um were saying about the ring rust and how you would feel, and everything like that and to be completely honest getting in there.
I didn’t feel a inch of ring rust, that’s where it comes into that comfortability being in there.
You know like in the round the rounds and rounds we spa and the absolute torture.
My coach puts me through every single day and um and um.
My and my my bit is my biggest critic.
Is myself so and the main goal out of how to fight and and this sport itself is to be a world champion and represent your country represent yourself and leave a legacy behind, and i’m my biggest critic on that? If i feel i’m a bit off in the gym, i still go and i still smash it out.
If i feel i’m tired, i’m sore there’s there’s no days where you can take that by chance and just be like, oh i’ll rest today and i’ll come back tomorrow.
No there’s there’s someone else out there working for the exact same dream, the exact same time so and the main goal is to be a world champion.
That’S all i could ever dream of, and not just myself but from for my family for my son for all the things i’ve got behind me and then even that the fight like i was dying and dying to get back into the ring.
But just because of covert the pandemic, everything made it quite hard and then out of 15 months, because i was trying to get fights in australia as well um, and nobody really wanted to take me up on that or nobody really wanted to get around with that.
They there was fights going on, but they were sydney, queensland brisbane all different places and wa was really really hard because we were very isolated um.
But then, when we got the word for shiva mishra to and he took the fight and we got the opportunity to fight for two vacant belts, we were like jumping at it were like yep, sweet and lucky throughout all are covered throughout all the paired naming everything Like that i’ve always i’ve always been in the gym, even if it’s at home, if it’s anywhere else, i’m always on.
On top of myself pushing myself no matter what that’s awesome, man uh, so let’s uh you got a fight coming up uh.
I believe march 23rd against paul fleming and uh you’re.
Putting out put putting up the wbc asian boxing council super feather title.
Yes um! I i don’t know about your opponent, i’m going to be i’m looking forward to seeing this fight happen, uh and go down yeah and any other short-term goals uh.
You know six months to a year.
What do you plan on doing finishing out the year uh? Well, you know, especially i’m mainly i’m just looking forward to this fight.
You know like to be able to fight and all respect to poor fleming and what he’s done for australian boxing and for his career in himself.
Um we’ve been looking at that fight for about a year and a half now so when the last fight happened, it’s been about eight and a half nine months that we’ve been chasing a fight and even before we had the fight with shiva mishra.
That fight popped up as well um and we said yeah sure, like whatever the opportunity is and everything like that, because we we want to you, know we’re not hiding from anybody we’re not looking for easy fights, we’re not cherry-picking.
We want to test.
I want to test myself and the only way to do that is to fight people better and better and better to climb that ladder and then be able to go for a world title we’ll be able to be able to be on the world stage.
You know fight america, fight the uk be able to showcase yourself worldwide and that’s all i want and to be able to get this opportunity now, with paul fleming and and he’s hasn’t, hasn’t lost a fight he’s 27-0.
He had like four or five years um, where he didn’t fight, he retired and then now he’s just come back in the last couple of years: um and nothing but respect for him, but i feel to myself, you know, having this opportunity and having a rise.
This is this is my time you know, and i all i all i want is to be able to go out there and take this fight on and you know, don’t make any predictions or anything like that.
I just go out there and do what i do best and um, and i know that he’s gon na come ready.
I know that he’s gon na come to fight and i didn’t expect any different and i think it’s just going to be an awesome, show and awesome performance for everybody there and everybody watching as well.
Right so do you feel? Do you feel that fighting paul is going to be your biggest test to date, uh excellent yeah? I feel my i feel i feel a bit my biggest test because of the um, not so much the politics as well, but also because the hype and the uh the exposure he has had in his career um.
I feel because he’s fought elsewhere and he’s gone out of his way and he’s done these things with his career, which is amazing and then all i can do is give him props um.
But i think because the last two fights he’s had the one before he had.
He had a draw with someone else who signed on the same manager as i am bruno turimo um, and then he fought um.
Another man um named tyson landry, who we were actually trying to fight as well um, but we didn’t get the opportunity and then he ended up fighting fleming as well.
Um and fleming ended up um stopping him um in the mid rounds and stuff, and that was an awesome fight to watch and just seeing fleming fight and being able to be there and like just just seeing all that stuff.
It gives you that that urge it’s like no okay.
This is my time.
This is my turn i wan na.
I want an opportunity like this as well and then now we’ve got it, and all i can do is just thank.
You know my team, my management, everybody, and then i thank myself because i’m always on top of myself training – and i know that i’m going to thrive in that atmosphere and i’m going to put on a show for everybody.
Oh definitely man every time you’re in the ring you put on the show brother wow.
Like honestly, you you got, you got great hands man, you got head yo.
Honestly, you got really heavy hands.
Uh.
Honestly, i’m i’m a big fan of your uh, your uppercut hook.
Man you that you you throw that you throw that so brilliantly uh and and with force and and domination.
Then um.
Can you run us through some of the strength and conditioning uh uh training that you do that kind of power? I think i’m gon na put my full list out of all kinds of things for that um.
I’M going to thank my coach for that, because um i’ve always felt when i was younger, even in the amateurs as well.
I was always a very naturally heavy-handed strong person, but that was also years ago when i was younger about 14 15.
I always thought everything had to be hard and that’s obviously when you learn and you go through your paces and everything like that, where not every punch has to be like a knockout punch and um.
Now now getting older and like when i reached for about 16 17, i started to realize that it’s all about variation and especially with those shots there.
The strength conditioning that my coach implements behind us is massive and he’s got years and years and years.
I think about like 20 years of experience, not just being a fight coach, but also being a strength, conditioning coach, um and the stuff he gets us doing is absolutely mental.
You know it’s stuff that you’d see you know crazy.
Um rock climbers do compared to you know like the people who are just in the gym lifting weights and doing those sort of um stuff.
It’S very outside the box, uh his strength, conditioning methods, and i can definitely say from me having the natural strength in myself and knowing that i’m very explosive.
Like that’s how i would really describe my sense of power like the way i execute my shots.
The way i use my body, i use my whole body behind my shot, so it’s very explosive and a lot of the training we do and the methods we do.
Um are all in touch with that science behind it.
So, like we’re all very explosive training, um and um, all we do is execute it day in day out.
I think it’s like.
I think that our strength condition resume would be three four times a week as well as on top of that it would be technical, um boxing training as well.
As you know, your footwork, your movement, um and then cardio is obviously mixed in with the strength conditioning.
So when you’re strength, conditioning you’re, not just thinking, okay, we’re just doing the physical aspect, we’re also doing the cardiovascular aspect as well.
So not only are we, you know picking up 80 kilo, uh balls and throwing them over our head.
We’Re also going for a 100 meter.
Uh incline sprint up a hill in the middle of the bush.
You know and then, like other uh other ethics of training, that we do, we go for like 17 to 20k trail runs so all through the bush um.
In the trees and everything like that, yeah and uh, the attitude is, is crazy up there as well like where my coach lives um, so we like run a pass and then sometimes we run past kangaroo.
Sometimes that’s awesome, it is it’s.
It’S awesome.
It is.
It’S really really good, but yeah with with the training ethic behind aware day in day out two three times a day: training as well so um and it will variate on different days so with strength conditioning in the morning and in the middle of the day, do Um real technical boxing work and then that night it could be sparring, so recovery is a big factor as well.
You’Ve got to make sure i always make sure that i’m on top of myself when it comes to recovery as well right.
I had a quick question here from one of the viewers that are watching they want to know how active will you be this year very as much as i can be as much as i can be? Thank you for the question as well.
Pretty awesome um, but uh um.
No, i i i plan to be as active as possible because i look back in a couple of years before the pandemic and stuff, like maybe the year before the pandemic.
I had six fights in one year and that was oh.
That was awesome because i love to be out there.
I love to be amongst it.
I’D love to be in the ring.
That’S that’s home to me.
So then, when pandemic um happened – and i was stuck for 15 months – i was honestly i could have, but he dug a hole for myself.
I was just so.
I was training day in day out just waiting that constant waiting of fighting and it’s hard because you’re there waiting and you’re just waiting for an opportunity waiting for a fight to happen.
But um.
Then, when that fight came up, i was over the moon and then now it’s been about almost nine months now, like i was saying and uh, we got this opportunity and i’m just absolutely pumped i couldn’t i couldn’t be happier, but then i want to keep the Ball rolling as well.
I don’t want to go from this fight and then go stale.
I want to be able to say in the month or the next, maybe the next time be able to fight again, because not even long after that, because this is the fight in march even april, because uh george camposes is fighting lomachenko.
So to be able to be able to go back to back onto that, like imagine, fighting on this show on the 23rd of march and then go to five in april that’d be that’d, be a dream.
Come true, that’d be amazing right! Well, hopefully, hopefully, your management has some uh people lined up for you to bang out man, fingers crossed they’re for sure uh.
Any long-term plans have come in, like maybe stateside or uh traveling to the uk, to eventually pick up some fights yeah.
No i’d absolutely love that if i find an opportunity to be able to come to um america or the uk to train or even to fight uh, like that’s a big thing i want to do, i want to be able to fight in that world on that World stage you know and be up there with with the top guys, you know, look at all the top guys that feather the super feather and they’re absolutely smashing it that division’s red hot at the minute and to be able to share the ring or even be Amongst those people, training as well as fighting anything like that is absolutely, it would be a dream come true, and that’s all i want for myself and for my family and for everything.
So i look at that and even my partner, my partner’s from the uk, so we’ve already had discussions of you know if we had an opportunity to go to the uk and fight or anything like that, we could just jump on a plane and go there and At least i know that she’s at home, that’s it for myself, so excellent, very supportive family man they’re.
Definitely behind you for sure i love it.
It’S great yeah very, very, very, very grateful very grateful.
Uh any any part, any part of your uh training camps that you, you just dread, hate doing no um, it’s funny, i’m i’m not a complainer, which is which is good.
My coach likes that i don’t complain about one thing, because i i’m very big on work.
Ethic, you know, like you, and you know everybody you think you think about every day.
You know people get up every day to go to work because they they have to do it and to me that’s what boxing that’s what boxing is to me my life without boxing? It feels very uneasy very unsettled.
So i know to myself i feel i was.
I was putting it to fight and you know and feeling feeling myself being able to have that work ethic, and i know i’m going to push myself because be my my worst critic i could be having.
I could have an amazing training session and then i could go home and in my head i’m just pondering just pondering i’m like no.
I need to do this.
I need to do that.
I need to make sure i’m doing this and i need to make sure i’m doing that, and i know that that’s just lifting me higher and higher and and and doing having that drive and having that passion with this sport so much you need to have it.
You know like because there’s there is these levels to this, and, and you see all these great champions out there and they’ve got great work ethic.
You know and that’s why they are where they are right.
Uh.
What do you think separates you from uh from every other fighter, in your weight class? That uh makes you the great boxer um i’ve always felt to myself.
I’Ve got great natural ability um to be able to have that that great natural ability and i’ve got to think you know i’m going to thank my my uh, my dad for that and the family through that you know genetically.
I feel i’ve.
I’Ve carried that on, but um with with that as well.
I’Ve always felt i’ve had great natural ability, but when it came to the hard work and and that heart and pushing i i’m not a give upper, i don’t i i don’t have any give in me.
Um, which is good because you know i spa guys that are 80 to you, know 90 kilos, sometimes, and and they they push you around like that, they push you around like it’s nothing.
You know, like i said, like even sparring, um the other week and i was finding someone who’s.
He fights at 75, but he walks around at 80 and i sparring him and you know if i’m pushing him around and i’m on top of him.
It says something you know and um even there’s been days where you know these heavier guys they might be on top of me and i’m digging at myself saying no, i’ve got a push, i’m going to push, but it’s all about it’s all up here and you’ve Got to maneuver you’re going to find ways around it, and i feel i’ve got a good boxing brain as well so and it all comes with experience and being in the gym and and i’ve got a great opportunity now sparring um t gender honey.
The former um super bantamweight world champion right um, and you know just being being able to move around with him and train with him.
It shows you that world-class level, and it shows you um the the training and the stuff behind him that made him a world champion.
Then now having the opportunity to start here mike i’m so grateful.
You know to be able to spa here, move around with him.
Learn not him take things from him um and it’s awesome because he’s fighting on the is it the 18th or 19th of march as well in dubai, so we’re both we’re both sparring each other at the minute and we’re both pretty much getting each other ready.
All right: do you find it hard to find sparring partners um now that you’re you’re, you know a champion and wearing a belt um yeah here and there we go to travel, sometimes like we’ll travel like about maybe an hour away to a gym where everyone kind Of meets up and spas, but naturally um when we spa we’ll move around with like not the same people over and over, but like we’ll move we’ll move around with the people who we feel are set for the fight or like people that we feel are going To be the best uh sparring partners for the fight um, but it is, it can be quite hard, like there’s a few friends of mine who are in the amateur scene and they struggle with sparring as well um.
But when they have the big intercom sparring, they always end up meeting and stuff anyways which works out, but to travel all the time just to spa.
It does get pretty taxing right on right on.
Do you want to be loved or do you want to be feared? Oh well, i’m i i don’t know um, that’s awesome.
I don’t know, i don’t know, i’m a pretty.
You know i i’m a very loving and funny person, but when you’re it’s it’s a great thing where you show people, respect and yeah you’re, humble in your in where you come from and where you are and who you are but um.
I believe you’ve got to be a gentleman to everybody and that i believe that with every walk of life but um when it comes into those ropes, unfortunately, you can’t be friends and that’s the biggest thing on it.
You know you can be friends, you can shake hands, you can have a hug have a cuddle if you want who cares um but um, but um that’s before and after you know like all respect before and after, but once you get in there.
It’S business and um: it’s another man trying to dismantle you, so the aim of that is to dismantle them before they dismantle you.
So i can say i’m a bit of both.
You know um to people i’m fighting big fear, but to the people outside of the ring and to fans and spectators, and everything like that.
You know i i that they can love me if they want it’s entirely up to them.
I’M not, i don’t know but um, but um, i’m going to show up as myself and regardless whether people, love or fear or anything like that.
I’M just going to show up as me and i’m just going to be grateful every day and i’m going to be grateful every time an opportunity arises any time to fight.
You know to be able to showcase myself and to be able to showcase my ability and my skill set and um be just be me.
You know and thrive in the place where i, where i feel at home, right um when when when somebody loses, we call it a lesson: it’s not really a loss.
What was the biggest lesson? What was the biggest lesson you learned of your loss to uh? I believe it’s uh richard lockett lockett, yes see so that is a perfect example of something i take as a as a lesson because to myself i feel the punches i landed like i can go into speculation of like with the fight and everything like that, but, Like uh people like other spectators and people like that, they they thought i won the fight as well, but i do about 100, give it to locket because of the game plan he brought in.
He bring a very dirty boxing tactic into the into the ring, and he said he said that he’s even said on the night um there was no way i was gon na stand there and and fight jackson.
There was no way i was gon na.
Do that? Because i didn’t want to get my head punched in and fair enough, you know like he comes and he he comes on the fight with a very, very dirty boxing tactic and it’s all very similar to how um lomachenko ended up having his first loss.
Um and it’s it’s hard to say because in there you just you’re trying to box along and there’s things you can and can’t get away with, but the best the biggest lesson i learned from that is that you could have someone head button.
You deliberately, you can have someone elbow and you deliberately, you can have someone making it an absolute mess and you’re landing shots and backing them off and then all of a sudden they grab you and they they they wrestle.
And then they want to headbutt.
And then they want to put their arm on your face and just all these dirty box attack licks the the judges and the refs they’re, not going to say anything, the ref, let it off maybe 10 times before.
He even gave him a warning so um.
You know, i know i don’t blame the ref, i don’t blame him.
I just feel um from those sort of things.
There should have been a lot more bite down on hey watch what you’re doing and stuff.
But i look at that as a lesson that hey there’s got to be guys out there who are going to be able to get away with this sort of stuff, and i’ve actually implemented a lot of that.
A lot of those lessons into my own game, because someone like tj dahoney, he’s got a great um, he’s, got great little little sneaky tricks and he’s been he’s at that world level.
So he knows those little tricks where people are going to be dirty, but you’re going to get away of it where um, obviously locket.
He did it in a very dramatic way.
He did it very very over the top and he was rushing forward with his head and actually digging his head into me on purpose, because he knew that that was going to get me off balance to try and keep me upright and then just smothered.
So the plan that he worked was was definitely was a good plan on him, but i look at the fight and i can be biased and say you know from me re-watching, the fight and being on top of it myself not being biased.
I believe this shots landed um from myself.
I i believe it was a split decision.
I believe i want the fight, but in everybody else’s eyes of the judge’s eyes, they gave it to him and that’s that’s fair enough, and i can’t take anything away from that.
But i take that as that lesson of knowing that hey there’s going to be guys out there who are going to be dirty and do what they do, what they need to do to nullify and stop someone from doing something and that’s what that’s exactly what he.
What he tried to do, he just tried to nullify me to make sure i didn’t hit him with some big shots and put him out and and and it worked and and and even the shots.
I got in those points where i wobbled him and i tried to jump on and he just made it ugly.
He just made it ugly.
He got the clean, she helped me and even when the ref said break, he wouldn’t break, and it’s just, and he just made it really really rough and it’s good because i’ve implemented stuff, like that in my in my repertoire now in my arsenal of things like Knowing that you can get away with some things, but you’re still gon na be tidy you’re still gon na be clean.
You can’t be you can’t be dodgy, which is which is biggest thing for me, because boxing’s, a classy sport and you’re gon na be able to do certain things.
I look at someone like roberta durant.
Roberta duran was an absolute master of those little tree.
Little cheeky tricks and knowing when to use your arms and to hold someone and to do those things, and i look at him as a great influence as well and and um, seeing what he can he could and couldn’t get away with.
He was perfect at that.
Like just on that fine line of what he can get away with, and it’s not too far where it’s illegal, which is perfect, you know – and i i take that into myself as well, right uh, who who’s your coach, currently uh, jay gray.
How did how did you meet up with him um, so i was training uh close to where my uh, my parents live and um.
Then i um, i ended up making a move from there when i decided to make that transition from amateur to pro and um.
I ended up going, i ended up going to him and i was traveling about an hour every day there and back just uh, just to train um and he’s he’s an absolute weapon he’s an absolute weapon.
He’S 40 he’s 45.
46.
Now, i’m pretty sure he’s 45 yeah, 45, 46 and he’s still to this day.
You’Ll get guys who i train with and myself and he’ll outrun us he’ll sprint us he’ll out, strengthen us he’ll.
Do all these things he’s very, very hands-on, but man he’s he’s another level.
He’S crazy, he’s absolutely crazy.
I remember the first session i did with him.
He made me like.
I thought i was already fit.
I was already peeking and stuff and i was younger.
I was you know, i was probably 16 17, then and um.
He absolutely bashed me for for the whole time.
I was there and he didn’t let back.
He was like no i’ve got this he’s like no he’s here now.
I got this kid.
He was rare and he was so excited he’s a very full-on individual and he absolutely wrecked me absolutely wrecked me.
He told us all right.
We did six rounds of six rounds of pads and it wasn’t just normal pads.
It was like pads that year had to be on like straight on, and every punch was he’s he’s forcing himself in there and he’s like he’s rough with you and he’s on, and then straight after that it was a 3k time trial and it was like.
Oh wow, okay and then i’ve gone come back and not even everyone else has gone inside because they’ve all been there.
They know what it’s like there it’s hard and then i’ve gone around the side of the bins and i’ve already thrown up yeah and he’s and as i’ve walked into the door of the gym.
He just looked at me with this big cheesy smile he’s this big big, cheesy smile and laughs, he’s just laughing.
He goes how you feeling – and i was like mate you’re you’re.
Something else.
Aren’T you and um and and he’s just laughing away, because he does anybody who’s in pain.
He just laughs, he’s just laughing he’s just there because he knows he’s very um when it comes to training and any sort of um training ethic or anything like that.
He he knows what it’s like to be in the hurt locker.
He knows what it’s like to be right in those trenches and be pushing himself, because he does it every day, even now he’s 45, 46 and he’s, and he still trains two three times a day himself, um, whether it be punching the bag doing different things.
Combat analysts, uh strength, conditioning or just even strength itself and he’s he’s thrashing himself just as much as he’s rushing us.
So if we say, if any of us say, oh, we can’t do it he’ll jump down he’ll.
Do it with ease and stand up and say, look, don’t don’t complain, you can do it all right.
That’S that’s! That’S! That’S! That’S! That’S why i don’t complain, there’s nothing to complain about because you’ll just get down and do it right you just yes exactly right.
That’S awesome, that’s awesome.
I got ta, i got ta.
Ask you man, you do have a wicked uh, a wicked alias here, man, action, jackson, england: where did the action come from? Well, it was funny uh.
The action actually will, because it was my it was.
Actually, my coach um uh jay, who we were trying to find like a name or trying to find something when i was fighting and like what what suited with my style, was action and there’s that old.
That’S that old movie there are action, jacks, actually action, jackson as well yeah that um, my that my parents used to laugh about all the time and um.
You know my parents were throwing different names and different things like that, and then it got to got to a point where at the gym everyone was just calling me action so um they decided.
Okay, we’ll go off that and then i thought to myself.
I really took the name on because the way i see how i fight and the way out what i bring to the table is exactly that and it’s funny, though, because you think of action.
Jackson, you think, oh, it’s like it’s like a cheesy movie or something like that, but it’s um, but but but it’s it suits it’s good.
You know because, like i bring that up yeah i bring that entertainment.
I bring that um that flair to to the ring, as well as um, as well as a good fighting fighting style and what i bring to the table as well, so i think it suits.
I think i think it worked out really really well.
Oh, it works great man.
I love it the way it rolls off the tongue too.
It’S perfect, you can actually it does.
You couldn’t ask for a better one man to be honest, um when you’re ready when you’re ready to hang up.
You know, hang it up and retire um, and you know, after a long career, because you’re just you’re just embarking on the journey of your pro career um.
What are the plans and what do you want to be remembered for um? What i want to remember for is knowing that i i show up 100 of the time and that’s whether, whether it’s in the gym, whether it’s in life or whether it’s in the ring and no matter what i’m always going to push myself to be better.
Every single time like if someone sees me perform well like the last fight on when i fought even misra people were like wow.
Are you going to feel ring rust, you’re, going to feel this you’re going to feel that and i went in there and i didn’t have any inch ring rust at all, so it was good to be able to prove some people that no matter how long? I might be out of the ring, i’m always working, i’m always in the gym, always in my own mind, always in myself pushing – and i think the biggest thing i want to be remembered for is knowing that i’ve represented myself and that you know i will.
I want to, i want to be a world champion.
It’S not like about a thing where you know, like oh it’d, be great as an opportunity, but i i damn well known to myself that i will be a world champion one day and i’m going to do everything i can to make sure i get that done And showing up each time better and better and better is what’s going to get me there and when i retire, you know, obviously i’m not thinking about too much of that into them.
Yeah no too early, no, not at all, but the biggest thing with that is.
I want to be able to you know once i retire, you know fulfill my dream of being a world champion, be on the world stage.
You know even a big thing.
I’Ve actually wanted to do watching.
George cambosis unify the lightweight world title.
You know like looking back, i think the last person to unify, because if i wanted to fight like either be a super feather or a feather um i’d love to be able i’d, love to be able to unify myself.
Because you look at all the current champions that super feather and look at all the current champions and feather as well.
You know like oh i’m, comfortable, fighting both ways if i could, if i could unify at either one of those weight divisions in my in my career, that’d be a dream, come true as well.
You know be able to unify both of them because it’s been years since someone’s unified either one of those divisions and um to have an opportunity to do that.
That’D be amazing and to be able to show show everybody that i’m the person to be able to do that and um.
Then, when i retire, you know i’d love to open a boxing gym myself.
You know – and you know, with the work everything i’ve got behind me.
I know that i’m going to be in there i’m going to be demonstrating, i’m going to be teaching i’m going to be showing i’m doing those sort of things and, like you know, bring other fighters up as well, because even i go to gyms now and i’ll Go to gyms and um i’ll, spa or i’ll train, mainly when i spawn and then i’ll get other i’ll get some of the other younger guys or even guys that are older than me.
Um that will come and ask me a few questions and they’ll.
Ask me about different uh.
You know things to do in the bag or different things to spa with or different drills, and everything like that and i feel very grateful enough as well, because you know i’m only i’m in 24, you know i’m no uh, i’m that i’m no expert and there’s No such thing as mastering the art of boxing, because it’s constantly evolving and it’s constantly getting better and better and better.
So all i can do is put my input and say my opinion and and say my piece and if that helps them, then that’s good.
But i’m still the one i mean 24 and i’m still the one learning, no matter what i’ll be in my 60s and i’ll still be learning.
That’S right! That’S right! You can never.
You can never know it all! That’S true man and when you think you know it all you’ll learn something very easily and it’ll humble you quickly, right, yeah, 100 um! I’M not going to keep you too much longer because i know you’re a very busy man um just uh.
Do you remember the first time you put somebody to sleep from a punch and what you felt? Yes, i do.
I do actually the first time.
The first time i actually hit someone was um, it was inspiring and um.
Obviously inspiring.
You got the head gear.
You got the 16 ounce gloves, so you got the stuff on and i’ve always known, like, i said, being heavy-handed and being very explosive, and i remember i was sparring someone um here years ago i would have been like 15 16.
um and it was, it wasn’t.
Um accumulation of shots – i was just we’re moving around we’re getting some shots in and um.
I remember throwing a um a hit with a right hand right over the top of his jab, and i felt my hand almost go through his head and i thought.
Oh no, i made – maybe i i thought i was like.
Oh, maybe i missed um in the shot and as i’ve repositioned myself back up, i’ve seen him kind of kind of go to his go to his knees, and i was like oh, he must have slipped but um.
It was just a really really accurate shot that hit him um and i was like oh wow, okay and then he stood up after maybe he had like a round off.
I sparred someone else and then he jumped back in and he i hit him with another shot and um and same thing happened again and i was like: oh okay, maybe i’m maybe i’m going to be too hard um, but i wasn’t overly loading.
It was mainly just the positioning of my shot and the placement where i was at where i hit him, and he was just right there to be hit um and he’s a nice guy as well.
I’Ve known him for years um, i don’t think he’s fighting anymore but um at that time he was.
He was pretty up there with uh fights under here.
He definitely had a lot more amateur fights than me.
He had like, i think, to date.
He had like 58 or 60 amateur fights, and i was i would have had maybe like 10, 10 or 11 by that time.
Oh wow and um and he’s but he’s a wicked guy.
He’S he’s such a good guy – and i remember after the sparring as well we’re all sitting there having a bit of water and like saying thanks a lot stuff and he goes he’s like i’m.
I’M not happy.
I’M like why.
What are you happy about he’s? A really funny dude he’s like i’m, not happy, you know you’ve only had 10 fights i’ve had how many man i should hang it up.
I shouldn’t even have to be here he’s getting real angry and i said why i was like why you guys know well bloody, look at you, your bloody putting me down and hurt me and i’m gon na fight next week.
I can’t fight now and i’m like.
Oh all, right sorry, i was a little bit like i felt.
Like i heard i felt like i heard his feelings.
I was like okay.
I didn’t really know what to do, but that’s also in that, if you struggle in the in the gym and that if you make mistakes in the gym, that’s where you make them right, because then you won’t make him in the fight and he actually went on That he actually went on that week and he won the fight and he ended up stopping the guy in the second round.
So it’s so i was having a lot he come out.
He was all excited, he’s all happy and stuff and um.
I said to him, i said: what are you gon na worry about? You know like you’re in there and you’re smart and you’re doing stuff.
He goes yeah, but i was a bit i was.
I think it was a bit of an ego thing to himself because having having 50 odd fights and i’ve only had 10, and because i hit him with some clean shots and ended up putting him down, i was happy with myself, because i was like oh wow.
You know he’s got a lot more experience than me and i’ve put him down twice now: that’s awesome but um to him.
I think it was a bit of an ego egotisto, like i really put it in perspective with him.
Knowing that hey, you can have a hundred fights, and all it takes is someone with maybe two or three to come in and absolutely wipe the floor of you.
That’S why that’s where you’re gon na be humble to everybody every all walks of life.
You know you can’t can’t can’t can’t overlook anybody ever yeah.
True, very true man, very true, it’s it’s when you start underestimating your opponents is when things start to go wrong.
Man, so yeah definitely yeah, definitely um to anybody out there.
Um that doesn’t know you uh uh.
What fight do you think would show uh best showcase your ability? What should they go and search? Would you which one would you um? I think there’s a couple of fights on youtube at the minute um.
I think my not my last fight, but one of the fights i had in sydney i actually um.
I got the opportunity to fight in my hometown, um in sydney, australia, a couple of years back um and i thought oh, i can’t remember his name yet but um it was um on foxtel um, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
That’S it yeah! That’S mature, yeah yeah! That’S vicious, that’s definitely that’s great fight, you know, and he was he was a really good point opponent in the job because he just come off a win from his last fight and i think he was four and four or something like that uh.
So four wins.
Four losses, or maybe four wins three.
I can’t really remember his record but um.
I remember i didn’t even remember at the weigh-in at the way – and he was um very, very staunch, very, very ready to go, and i was like okay, this guy’s come to fight like he’s, he’s, definitely come to fight um and then being in there being able To move around with him and be able to um, i felt in that fight.
I got to showcase myself in a different crowd: different scenery as well, because i fought twice out of perth out of western australia um and that was perfect to be able to put on a show for family that i have over there.
But um to be able to showcase myself like that against someone like that as well, who came to fight and he was there to fight um, but i just i i was just.
I think i was too skillful and just too strong.
Definitely definitely honestly.
I did.
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