AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 5
David talks with Shannon Strydom a professional boxer from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Watch live on TalkinFight.com and more episodes on YouTube.com/c/TalkinFight
#TalkinFight #RingsideTalk #SouthAfrica
Transcribed:
I’M the former wbf international superfeatherweight champion and former wpf all african lightweight, champion [ Music ] good afternoon.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to ringside talk with me, your host david rajuli, we’re talking with the punchers this afternoon.
This afternoon i got a special guest with me.
We’Re moving over from the boxing side of things, we’re going to speak to a few coaches here and then we’ve got a young young coach, all the way from south africa.
He used to be a former fighter.
He only went on to have about four or five fights, one of the most exciting coaches right now to hit the shores of south africa the best pad pad holder in the continent uh my young friend, shannon stratum yo yo, what’s happening.
Thank you for having me on the show.
I really appreciate your time.
No problem, brother, no problem, what’s happening, shannon uh a long time brother i haven’t seen yeah, it’s been like i’ve, been all good, been busy good, but yeah, bobbing and weaving our way through through life.
I guess pretty good bro, that’s good brother uh bobbing your way through life, i’m uh rolling with the punches here on my talk, show brother so shannon i was just explaining to the people earlier before you came on uh used to be a former boxer.
Now you uh exciting young coach uh from south africa.
What’S more about your name, shannon um, i mean tell us yeah and how you got into the love of boxing before we go into the coaching and everything.
So i got involved into boxing at a very young age at the age of seven years old, obviously growing up my dad was a professional boxing trainer.
He partnered up with a trainer from south africa called manny fernandez back, like i said when i was seven years old, early 2000s and they had a lot of national champions in the gym and a lot of world contenders in the gym at the time.
And you know so for me, with my dad, obviously being at the gym every day.
You know like used to take me with sometimes – and i just fell in love with the game since, like from a very young age and yeah by the time i was seven.
I got in uh, i actually started fighting amateurs.
I wasn’t really fully invested at the time i mean i was just doing it because it was.
You know it was the thing that my family does.
My fam.
My uncle was a former professional fighter as well.
My grandfather used to fight you know, so i started boxing when i was seven years old.
Uh fought amateurs for a couple years and then i stopped for a very long time.
Well, as i stopped, i fought until i was 10 years old and then i started from i think for six years, when i was 16, i started fighting uh.
I continued my career as an amateur fighter.
I went on to win the gerber championships championships and i went to the essays in 2010 and i had over 30 amateur fights.
I actually can’t remember what my record was, but i wasn’t the greatest amateur at the time.
Like i mean, i never took my training series, i remember, i think i met you in amateurs and we all used to the different clubs used to compete with each other uh.
I know in south africa amateur boxing at the time and i’m hoping still now was quite a big thing.
You know uh the different germs.
If i’m not mistaken, your amateur gym was in malvern or something so it wasn’t melbourne um.
It was actually nouveau a new boxing club, which is like the west west part of uh of uh of janusburg jannisburg, west and yeah uh.
I thought out of uh my dad was obviously my china disease german as well so – and i remember yeah, i think uh.
I think if i was taken as amateurs, we fought on the southern giant people that was uh like the big tournament once a year.
You know before they found the southern giants.
You know it’s big oaks are coming for you, so it was nice.
I had a good uh.
I had a good amateur career.
I mean i stopped fighting uh.
I stopped when i was 17 17 years old, just because you know how it is, and i don’t know if it’s like that, all around the world, but an essay like once you get to a certain grading.
It becomes harder for you to get fights as your career progresses and i went through a sentence where i was just not getting part and then i actually took up uh.
I was like okay, let me take a break with the with the amateur fighting so because my plan was to turn professional the following year, yeah.
So i took a break here and i thought let me actually have two amateur mma fights, so i had two mhma fights um and then obviously i turned professional the year the year straight after which is in 2013.
and then yeah went on to have five professional Fights it was all in one year 2013 and you have four wins: one loss and yeah, i retired, by the end of uh by the end of 2013.
, then we got shannon back yo brother, sorry about that.
You know: uh, it’s old country, third country.
No i’m joking.
So where was that? Where was i at um yeah bro? So then i went on to term professional in 2013.
i only had five professional fights and i retired.
In the same year, i had four fights or four wins and one loss, and then i went straight into coaching from yeah 2014.
on with it, or was it a thing or just doing it for the sake of your parents, or do you like to fight? Did you little fights, then you went over to coaching or was coaching one thing that you truly believe this is what you’re gon na fall onto, and this is what you want out of box.
I think to have like your dad, your own little left boxing into country so, like i said like, i started at a very young age at seven years old and i started competing.
You know so by the time when i, when it was 2013, i was already competing for like 13 years uh on and off and also getting out of school.
It was like.
Do i find professional or do i go study like i didn’t, really know what to do, and i was very young you know like it was very people don’t always understand.
You know.
Boxing is a very emotional game.
You know so when i was 18 years old.
Obviously, my dad being my training, you know he went like wanted to push me like you know, and i did well.
I just what i think is like if i wasn’t mature enough, you know, like i didn’t know how to deal with the emotions at the time you know.
So when i was 20, you know so like that that year after my last farts i was just like i was burnt out man, you know also, like you know it is.
When you start out fighting you, don’t really make a lot of money out of boxing.
You know it’s like.
No one really cares about you.
You got this career all this dream and you know you got to make it work.
You know at the time it was wasn’t really rewarding monetary-wise at the at the time, so started looking for a job, but my heart was always, i always loved the sport and yeah yeah, okay, nice and now how did transaction transaction go into from boxing into coaching? I’M sure, also being around your dad most of the time watching him train the pro boxes and stuff like this.
He would pick up a few pointers.
He would ask you to help her come and uh when you say to yourself, okay, you know my goals.
To is never mind the box myself straight into the coaching.
Yes, how did that come about? Were you just like yo, so obviously, some of the guys so obviously yeah so so, obviously, from a very young age like i was always around in the gym, you know um.
I grew up around the likes of azusa, which was the former ibo world champ uh simon ramone was a former ibo world champ shm, and then you know multiple and multiple champions.
You know so.
Obviously i always um always try to steal as much as i could.
You know always try to learn as much as i could from a young age and then, when i actually uh and then later on in my career as i got older, my dad changed the likes of cassius beloit for for one fight and zacalani and lauren.
Actually, i was philip and oh and i had the privilege to to do some work with them all at the time.
You know uh sparring, you know, so i learned a lot from from all of those guys with the system being like around my dad in the gym and when i obviously hung up my gloves in 2013, i started working at another boxing gym, which is called uh Smith, i’m sure you guys are familiar with that as well and then yeah they were.
They had their own uh professionals that they were training, tabisson, [, Music, ] and then other great fighters as well.
You know so i was always part of the coaching part of the coaching staff there and i left.
I was there for six years and then i left the start.
I started doing my own thing and you know boxing: training fighters was never really.
One of my um was never really one of my things.
Like i’m gon na i’m gon na start training my own professionals.
It was it actually just so when i left uh when i left that gym a fighter named uh the guy who fought david haney just before haney forwards, i think for the world title.
He actually left his previous gym and he hit me up in it because we used to work together back in the day.
I was actually his main sporting partner when he fought david amy at the time in 2019 and he hit me up and he was like hey bro.
I never coached at the moment um.
I know we used to work together back in the day.
So you would you mind, training me and i was like she’s like i was.
Actually it was quite quite an honor, you know uh a fighter when two months was very good.
It was quite a nice uh, it was quite a mouth feeling and we got.
We got to work, you know and we had a um started with him.
We had three fights last year together and knocking out all three of his opponents inside the distance then later on, chris lefty’s uh previous gym, and you know he also hit me up and he was like hey bro.
I want you to be my full-time coach and i was, i didn’t hesitate at all he’s a great athlete so yeah and it’s been two years since i’ve got a couple of youngsters that i’m bringing through the ranks as well, so yeah, exciting times telling us how Your stable has grown uh, we’ll touch our question.
What is the difference? Oh, did you see a difference or feelings? You know, as a guy, giving the instructions transactions from a trainer uh listening to the trainer saying there has to be a difference with those two shoes.
Um, where do you yeah? What are the differences? Because i would say what they would have the discipline you have to listen to the coach you have to want to learn stuff like you have to know how to speak to your fighters or how to push a fighter.
You have to you know these different things that you do and you’ve been in both those worlds explain to us uh the different types.
What you’ve seen is your former career as a fighter.
Now that you look at both worlds.
So if i look at uh, you know, obviously, can you actually just repeat that question sorry, i think the network wasn’t prepared.
I lost you for like a split sec.
Just repeat that sorry, okay, um you’ve been in two shoes.
You’Ve been in the shoes of a fighter of a boxer: okay, you’ve been now you’re in the shoes of a coach.
Those are two different worlds: okay, with the fighter there’s a world when you come into the gym, you have to listen to the coach.
Take the do what the coach tells you to do as the coach you’re, giving the instructions you’re telling the fighter what to do.
You are leading the the fighter to to victory.
You know, i would understand it.
It’S two different minds: could you break that down? For us uh, what in your experience so far, you’ve seen the difference.
You know, like i’m a fighter, this one used to happen.
I hear the coach i’m a coach now.
This is how i speak to my fighters.
This is the difference.
Do you understand what i’m saying i get you, so i think as a fighter.
Obviously you got to be humble.
You got to be able to take instructions.
You know you got to be able to literally, if your coaches jump in the fire, you got to jump in the fire, you know so as a fighter.
Obviously you know taking instructions from a coach like you have to you have to go through.
You know you got to be able to face adversity.
I think you know if you, if you’re not doing something right in training, you’ve got to be able to take it versus from your coach.
If you see it, you know you should change it up or i don’t think this is working for you, knowing as hard as it might be.
You know, because you’re going to have your good days and your bad days in the gym, you know and then as a fighter as a coach.
Obviously you got to become a little bit more of a hot ass.
You know you got ta, be you got ta become more of a leader, you got ta, you know you got ta eat, you got ta like you said you got, ta lead the way you know, but at the end of the day everything um.
I believe both roles are more or less the same because it comes down to discipline at the end of the day you know, and if you have discipline with whatever you do in life, you know you can do well with it sort of if you’re a fighter And you’ve got a lot of discipline.
You don’t have to be the most talented but you’re a lot and the same thing same thing.
I believe as a coach, okay, nice and now uh.
Would you say uh you as a coach, you would would like a fighter like you to walk into the gym.
Would you say you were disciplined humble you didn’t give your coach grey hairs or anything like this? Well, i think if you ask my dad that question he’s going to tell you no it’s funny, but no bro, um yeah, to be honest with you um the version of myself.
Now i would want to walk into my gym um the version of myself.
You know eight nine years ago i wouldn’t even align much so i’ve grown.
I’Ve grown a lot as a person and obviously as a as a fighter as well.
I just got sparring the last 10 years.
You know, since i’ve retired i’ve always been.
I suppose i still spot twice, you know um, so i’ve matured a lot as a fighter but yeah.
You know it’s so nice to hear this uh, even coming from like you from from a coach’s side of things, tell me as a young coach, bro um.
I think, if i’m not mistaken, like 20 in your 20 late 20s early 30s uh coaching in south africa uh at the moment we see the african continent is booming.
With the boxing south africa’s got espn africa.
A lot more shows now been televised and stuff like this as a young coach in a country like south africa, where it’s you know, um, it’s growing, it’s growing it’s getting it’s better than it was.
You could say five to ten years ago.
What do you see? Um happening in in south africa as a country as in boxing as a coach and uh.
What’S your expectations, a from the governing bodies to help you, coaches, are you managers out there, so i must be completely honest with you like this year, boxing has been on fire in our country.
You know, i think.
Every weekend there’s been a tournament where the last two not even the last two years, i’m not even going to blame coverage.
You know like the lost five six seven blow by blown left to television um back in the day.
You know boxing was like a bit of a down the last couple years: um but yeah since kerber’s been done like boxing is back man um, it’s been great uh, like i said, there’s been tournaments every there’s been tournaments every weekend and i’m fortunate enough to try To i have a good relationship with most promoters out there in the country to get work for, for my guys – and you know so, i think the only um also boxing has been back on scpc.
You know sapc is the biggest television platform in our country.
You know and that’s what draws the most eyes out of all the networks you know so boxing has been back on sebc, so you know, we’ve only got good things to look forward to and yeah.
I know it’s going to be.
I know it’s going to be a great year for boxing in south africa, and i expect my expectations are because you know we have a lot of great talent in our country.
We have a lot of great talent from foreign fighters that live in south africa, that um that’s been blown up as names in our country they’re, not even that [ Music, ] nice bro and i wanted to ask you, tell me something you’re: what do you as A coach sorry, i’m going to ask you to just say that again coach in the next five years.
Hopefully yes, man, like i actually spoke to someone about this the other day.
You know, like my biggest thing, is you know, taking these young guys and giving them purpose? You know like giving them.
You know something giving him a career.
You know taking from nothing and giving them a career, so i’m not necessarily seeing myself somewhere in the next five years.
You know in five years time i want to look back and i want.
I want to look back and i want to see.
Okay, you know, like you’ve, helped you’ve helped so many fighters, you know, and you took them from something and they actually became something.
You know so, hopefully, five years like down the line, i’ve already made my first national champion in the country and hopefully in five years time.
I can just be happy.
You [ __ ].
You know double that, but definitely be involved in the game.
Still and 100 percent of the time my base yeah, yes and uh, i’m sure with you with your how you you’ll definitely have like a world champ uh our day today um your fridays.
We take on just to understand um what it takes to be a coach.
You know just to understand what we know.
I know the coach.
Hey i get to the gym, there’s the coach.
He tells me what to do.
I train i go home, i don’t know, maybe you guys you wake up.
You’Ve got a plan.
You say: okay, this fighter.
This is how we’re going to push him look the mentally this and that you can see when the fight is breaking down.
You know there’s a world of a coach, you know uh, could you just run us down just so? Obviously your life is a coach, like you know your every day, yeah so obviously um.
I work with my own fighters where i’ve got like four of my own uh fighters.
Obviously, like chris, i’ve got uh um and a couple of youngsters that i work with as well and recently i just teamed up with the leading coach in south africa and probably with all of these guys as well.
You know so my pool of fighters basically jumped from three to four guys to now working with 30 guys, you know so it’s expanded lots and obviously the workload is way more.
The brain power, the focus everything is way more.
You know so i like to work with my with my fighters individually.
You know i like to spend one-on-one time with my fathers and i believe that that’s that’s how you get to know them.
You know, but so we run an ass around a nice system, especially with so with chris and chris all the work we do.
We do alone so, except for aspiring days, which is obviously twice a week, or sometimes it varies, but so with chris i like to train.
You know, and i believe that how we made our last challenge for the asset title: that’s how we made the fight so easy.
You know because we literally we had a plan we stuck to it for ten weeks, and literally everything we worked on in the gym is how he executed them on the night.
You know, so that was also for me.
The first time i was like okay, if you really put in the work and if you do things right, you know you’ll reap the you’ll reap the rewards.
You know so then obviously uh, some of my other guys, you know they’re all trained trained together.
You know so actually when was it like, like two weeks ago, i got to the gym and it was just such a nice vibe and there was like 10 guys there and we actually just started uh.
I started i just just got there and i worked out this program for for 10 guys and we just worked together.
So we worked together so well.
It was a lot of fun.
You know the fighters enjoy it um, so yeah and working with the fighters has been it’s been.
It’S been great.
You know i’ve been enjoying every second of it um.
Obviously everyone is different.
You know you deal with different characters.
You deal with different moods.
You deal with well, moods is one thing you know like you deal with a lot of you deal with a lot of moves.
You know, so obviously you got ta.
You got ta dissect.
If i can say you got ta dissect every athlete’s a little bit different.
You know not, everyone is the same.
You know not necessarily what i tell this guy.
I can tell that guy.
You know because he might be a little bit more emotional or he might be so it’s hard.
You know but like yeah back in back at home, we live, eat, sleep boxing, you know so this.
This is what i enjoy.
It’S my passion.
You know so i’m willing to go above and beyond for all my athletes.
You know whatever it takes um to make them better themselves.
They can take a better version of themselves today than what they were yesterday.
You know like that: little one percent or 10 grand or 10 pounds, that’s money in the bank.
You know, and you count your you count your you count your money at the end of the year or at the end of your interview, yeah or at the end of your camp, to see how are you growing, you know so? Yeah i’ve been i’ve been loving.
Every second, so that’s amazing brother and it’s nice to hear how you speak about your fighters and how you speak about what you’re doing and yeah and uh like as a young coach, you think uh.
You obviously have been inspired by other coaches uh.
While you were growing up or now, while you’re in the in the game in the field, any big names that uh inspire you locally and internationally, where you look at yourself and you like so should you know, i would like to be like that coach yeah.
So obviously growing up in the sport, obviously my dad, you know my dad introduced me to the game.
Uh.
He joined a lot of world champions, made a lot of national champions.
You know so, like everything i know, and i learned from him and i learned from him first you know and then obviously, at the moment like i said i work with um, i work with colin nathan as well, which is like i’ve been learning a lot from Him as well, you know from training to the management side.
You know he’s just made my he’s just made my you know boxing knowledge like just broaden it up.
You know if i can say it like that, so you know they’re, obviously two guys that i look up to uh in this country, my dad, obviously, which will always be, and then you know, like we’ve got him back.
I’M excited to having a working relationship with you for for a long time you know, like i said i learned a lot from them in these days, they’re the two people that i look up to in this country and i respect all the other coaches as well, And then internationally, probably my favorite coach, if i had to say a big one, probably dave james um, i love his style of training.
He’S done some great work with errol spence um with his charlotte brother.
You know so here’s one guy that i that i, like uh i’d, actually really speaks about it.
Last week i spoke to dj krill about it and i said to him bro.
It would be so cool to go.
Do like a camp at derrick james.
I know that’d probably be highly impossible.
They are very high-end, you know, but it would be a dream.
Come true for me to go shadow him before i’d say like a month or you know so, yeah.
Okay, nice, all right! Sorry, it’s a training camp.
So we can go train, we can go south africa.
I can come south africa for a while.
You could be with colin learn from him and stuff like this, but obviously you’re working together, but do coaches in box have such things where you guys can go to do what you call this so locally, no, obviously not um yeah.
So actually, when was it last year, um myself and chris we were meant to go to bulgaria um we.
Actually, there was a big training camp that took place bulgaria, so that, unfortunately, fell through with, like the whole covert thing and everything, but that was going to be a nice training camp in plovative with a lot of uh european fighters, and i was actually gon na.
Be the lead chain of the training camp um, oh wow, but that was that was cool because it was a cool opportunity, but i mean it wasn’t something i wanted to do like.
I need to go there one.
You know, obviously what i would obviously i mean colin.
If you look at him, he went to the three-year-old gym um in l.
a.
He shattered him, for i don’t know how long the time was, but he went there so, okay and then accurate.
You write these things to help you, as these things, help you guys as a coach, see what he does uh take a pointer, yeah, yeah yeah.
Obviously you won’t code the same or the same as this okay fights, but taking a porter a b or c can help you a little bit.
Does that [ __ ] work, bro 100.
Of course it works.
I mean, like you know, if you, if uh you know like, i can’t tell you right.
If i go to eric james’s gym, there’s nothing he’s gon na be able to teach me.
You know like, even if it’s just you know, even if it’s just one percent that i take from it, you know if it’s something small like i don’t know petty the jab and shoot through the right hand, instead of petty the jab and shoot you back with A jab you know like if i don’t know that, and i take that back home – you know it’s it’s extra tools in my toolbox.
You know so i’m humble enough to learn um, even if the local coaches, international coaches, even if it’s something even if it’s something small you know like actually so one of our one of my things is that i want to improve as a coach is my the Way that i wrap hands you know like i can wrap hands decent, but when i watched colin wrapped hands the other day i was like i need to learn.
I need to learn how to do this.
You know so that’s my next mission.
You know like i wanted.
I want to get involved and i want to learn.
You know i just want to learn.
You know like you can never learn enough today that i tell people.
I know everything in this game is the day that i’m it’s also so interesting to hear you’re a trainer you’re.
The teacher and all i’ve been hearing for the past 20 minutes.
25 minutes.
Is you saying learning learning i’m learning you’re learning, i’m letting you say.
I’M learning more than i’m teaching i’m teaching the guys business.
All i’m hearing you say i’m learning from this and it’s very nice.
You know you know, i know a few coaches, that you know they don’t care.
How time has this you train the way they want? You to train, they don’t care if that coach.
Does it like this that doesn’t work in this gym? You know, and it’s very nice to hear from young here how open expand your your knowledge in the sports brother, and that just makes you yeah.
That just makes you uh uh an amazing coach, i must say uh because then we’re also expanding as a fighter.
You’Re learning from a coach but you’re also learning other things, the code, which is learning that means you’re getting all sorts of information and that’s actually quite exciting brother and uh, quite cool um james.
You know me homie, i love to talk dog can talk to you to ask you um what other big fights have you got going there, brother, okay, so um.
I hope i didn’t miss anything there, because i lost you a little bit for a second okay.
So i’m just going to go back to um yeah.
So sorry, you said um yeah the fight coming up with chris uh.
That’S obviously a big one, be five after that.
That’S on the 16th of september, big challenge, um, you know against ken linguist he’s from denmark.
We’Re fighting him in his home country uh.
It will probably be my biggest uh test to date as a professional, coach and chris, as well as a professional fighter yeah.
I want to ask you if this is fine.
If you don’t want to answer because of um, you don’t want understand sustainable brother uh, you obviously a coach.
This is why i’m asking because you do coach chris.
I’Ve never had a coach i’d like to know what you as a coach, going into a fight like this.
How do you prepare and what does your prepare preparation? Look like so far five weeks out, i’m not gon na answer that in full, but i’ll give you i’ll give you as much as i can okay.
So so obviously so obviously we got the call probably about three weeks back so i’d, say nine.
Eight, nine weeks out, we got the call you know.
One thing i am very blessed with is working with an athlete like chris thompson because he’s that uh coach that he’s that um he’s that farty.
You know that, like obviously going into the gym and that’s what i actually wanted to say earlier, with working with fighters, you know like coming back to learning.
You know learning you know when i walk into that gym my the fighters and my all my fighters and the fighters that i work with they hold me accountable.
You know so it’ll be foolish for me not to upskill, myself, um every day you know like you can never like.
I said you can never learn enough, but then coming back to the christmas, in fact, so obviously we got the call three weeks out um.
You know it is a division below he’s uh actual division, which is where he won the headquarters.
So it just came.
We were actually, he was back in the uk, doing some work, uh fight camp there um like a training camp there – and you know i phoned him up and i was like well.
We got ta offer um wbc, bridgewater international silver belt against cameron, griez denmark, 16th of september.
You know we looked at it um.
I think that same day you said, yeah.
Well, i’m ready.
Let’S take it we’re going to take this fast and we’re going to go there.
So, obviously, for me it was like.
Okay, let’s get down to the business, you know like he is a tough opponent.
He’S 13-0 with eight knockouts he’s, never lost.
He was a decorated.
Amateur um he’s never won like european championships or anything, but he was a decent energy.
He’S got good experience, you know so.
Chris jumped on the plane came back to usa and we started with our camp straight away and luckily our trainer athlete he’s that guy.
That holds the account he’s when and preparation has been going great um.
So far, we’ve had some good sparring uh.
The last two weeks we started like two weeks ago.
Um, it’s been quite a bit of a struggle to find aspiring partners because our opponent is also a sophomore and he’s six foot six and a half.
So actually it’s all.
You know – and i think so it’s a bit of a challenge with that.
But we’ve been getting him some good work, um, so training camp has been going well.
We are five weeks out um.
I’M not gon na give away too much on the game plan, but you know we’re going there to win now we’re going today we’re going to put it uh we’re going to put all our um we’re going to throw down for all the mobbies.
You know um.
It’S a big opportunity.
Chris wins this fight, he puts in top 10 in wbc, you know, and if you can win this fight, you can get into an eliminated position to fight.
So it was a.
It was a story like for us.
You know like we don’t have anything to lose, but we’ve got everything to gain.
You know so, like i said we’re going to denmark and we’re going to we’re gon na demonstrate.
You know we’re gon na try and go there and put up our baseball performance and put up his foot forward, and i know chris can beat this guy, like i said, he’s not he’s not uh he’s fought, he’s unbeaten, but he’s fought guys with 20 losses.
Five winners, 30 losses.
You know so not taking anything away from him.
He has never lost, but his level of opposition hasn’t been the greatest.
You know.
So i’m not going to give anything away with the game plan, but we do have a plan and i do believe our plan will work against this guy nice bro, nice bro, i’m even excited my brother.
It sounds very good.
Like i said to chris, i will be rooting for him this side.
We also rooting for you on this side, brother uh, for you and your boys uh, but damn it sounds like you you’re having quite a good run.
Brew.
You’Ve got the essay title.
You’Ve got an africa title behind you, you’re going after the wpc titles.
Now uh do you have any other titles, uh, japanese? How many champions do you have under your name? So it’s currently only so it’s currently, obviously only chris thompson won the saa and abu title.
Like a lot like, i said earlier on last year, i helped to win the wwe african junior welterweight belt uh.
He stopped his abundance in two rounds and then at the end of december last year i chained him four fights against another um, i’m not sure which country about those african-americans as well fought for the adu junior waterway belt ended up stopping him in the first round.
So you know, we’ve won two avu belts, one wa pan african belt and obviously the sa uh, the sk heavyweight title, which is the biggest you know the seo.
The sa title in south africa is big.
You know so winning that belt was like i’d say.
That was probably my biggest achievement yet as a as a coach and then obviously helping colin with all these fighters as well.
You know like there’s a lot of fights big fighters coming up.
You know moritz, though, he’s homecoming and his uh um.
I think it’s.
The second week of october, it’s gon na be his last fight.
You know, so i’m looking forward to that.
It’S a guy that i watched growing up.
You know and now i’m honored to be involved in one of his training camps.
You know so that’s uh.
That’S very special to me and a lot of youngsters coming through as well.
I’Ve just had a boy fight over the weekend, frank uh from kelo celta bella from the eastern characters of flyweights.
He joined me like a year ago and he only had he had two fights, but he was an actor for five years.
You know he hasn’t fought since 2017.
, so he came to me.
He was like coach.
I want to get my career back on track.
He’S only 27 years old, you know i had a look at him in the gym.
He was a former shm and we got him back this year.
We’Ve had two backs backwards now, so my next plan with him is to get him into the ratings and he’s a special key to me.
Um.
I think a lot of him – and i believe i mentioned that this couple a couple months back, you know, i believe, he’s going to be a flowering champion before the end of by the end of next year.
So and then obviously i’ve got a lot of.
I mean limpopo in two weeks time with lyanda and corsi, a guy from the philippines uh ishmael country, young up-and-coming prospect.
You know so we’ve got our hands full beside um all all day, every day we’re just putting in that work.
Nice work.
I need a coach there in south africa bro i’m getting ready to come back more away from you bro, but nice, very nice bro, but [ __, ] awesome, my brother, you know shanks.
It was very nice to to speak to you a very exciting uh career.
It sounds like sounds like the coaching is uh.
Was the right part for you and sounds like everything is just going great bro uh, it sounds, like god has a great plan for you with the kochie and uh, with uh, with your boxes and everything.
So i’m very excited brother um.
What i usually do here ask the fighters to to give me some answers i used to.
I usually take off the top of my head now.
What i want to ask you is for any young inspiring guys watching here who are thinking of being coaches or who would love to coach uh, [, Music ].
You know any words of uh inspiration or wisdom for them and uh and just yeah some good words for the guys watching just to keep them going through hard times or anything better.
Please see that’s absolutely so one thing if i have to look at my career thus far.
You know i mean it’s not the biggest career you know, but for the the time that i’ve been involved in boxing, you know whether it’s fighting it’s coaching.
I look at it the same way.
You know you don’t have to be the most talented fighter or coach out there.
You know it comes down to to grind at the end of the day.
You know you just got to be willing to put in the hours and the work you know and if you keep putting the hours in the work you know and regardless of what it is, you know you’ll reap the benefits and you’ll you’ll succeed.
You know so my message out there is: you know whether you’re a fighter or whether you’re a coach keep working hard.
No you’re gon na have your good days.
You can have your bad days.
You know every day where you drag your feet and feel like it’s not working out for me.
You know, keep your eye on the on the end goal and keep pushing forward.
You know yeah, nice, bro, nice, bro and uh yeah man.
Thank you for that brother and for those watching around the world uh.
How do people get hold of you uh wait? Can we check you out if we want to follow you or anything like that brother? Which way can we find you dog? So you guys can find me on instagram, it’s a shannon, the heatman and on facebook, shannon stratum and on twitter, shannon uh, shannon the hitman as well.
You know so hit me up um i’ll, give you guys a follow back and yeah.
You guys can get all of me like that nice, nice, but uh shot.
My brother i’ll definitely be watching all the time.
Keeping in touch with you we haven’t spoken.
We must keep in touch bro and, as i say, uh we’re looking to come back to sa to hit a a nice fight with michael mcqueen.
So i’m going to be finding one of you eggs.
I need a coach.
Are you coming where’s that bro hey it’s either we’ll have one at the end of the show.
Early next year, bro sick brother, again michael mcqueen, sick, bro, nice, a homecoming, bro uh.
I think it’s a southern chinese reunion or something like this or a fight early in the next year with anton gilmore, sick, bro.
Okay, let’s go yeah, who is mark training with uh, i think with gilmore, i’m not sure hundred percent right, okay, sick! Well, yeah! You know [ Music ], i remember he thought we trained thompson.
The most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to me in a corner ever was that it was that night run they got stuck into each other and they both put each other down the same time.
Bro.
I was just like what happened first time, experience that was pretty fun pretty funny what they both knocked each other out.
They were voting like that both knocked each other down bro.
They both came up like staggering, like looking at each other.
I was just like inside of no way you should see this look at the the, so they both got a standing account and then the fight.
Well, they both got it yeah.
It was accounting and the fight carried on biggest laughs, nice bro.
Well, we we wish you many more crazy times as a coach brother.
We wish you nothing but success as a coach brother.
We wish you many championships and world titles and uh yeah i’ll definitely be watching you and always supporting you, bro and uh.
Once again.
Thank you for your time as a coach to come sit down down with us on ringside talk uh here we we roll, we talk with the punches bro and uh thanks for your time chance and uh yeah brother, like i said, we’ll, be in touch and uh Yeah brother: let’s, let’s link, let’s, let’s talk: let’s do something and take care of yourself, brother and god bless you.
Thank you once again appreciate the time.
Thank you for your time.
Bro! It’S you in the essay we’re going to start cooking that meal soon michael mcqueen is on baby
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