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On this episode of the Modern Warrior Podcast, I’m joined by Paddy Barnes—three-time Olympian, double bronze medallist, and one of the most iconic Irish boxers of his generation. But this conversation goes far beyond medals and matches.
Paddy opens up about the intense pressure of elite competition, the mental toll it took behind the scenes, and the emotional rollercoaster that followed retirement. We talk about identity, failure, letting go, and finding peace on the other side of success. This is a raw, honest insight into the mindset of a champion—and the human being behind the gloves.
Episode Summary – Key Points
Episode Summary – Key Points
- Paddy came into this conversation with the kind of honesty you rarely hear from someone who's achieved what he has. From the beginning, he was real about the pressure, expectation, and isolation that came with being at the top of his sport.
- He shared how boxing became his life early on—not out of passion at first, but because it gave him structure, identity, and an outlet in Belfast during a difficult time.
- Paddy reflected on his Olympic journey—from the nerves and excitement of Beijing and London, to the crushing disappointment of Rio 2016, where he was expected to medal but lost in the first round.
- That loss haunted him for years. He opened up about the emotional weight of letting people down, the fear of facing public perception, and how it chipped away at his confidence and enjoyment of the sport.
- We discussed the disconnect between public success and personal happiness—how people assume Olympic medals equal contentment, but the truth is often much more complicated.
- Paddy talked about the difficulty of retirement, not knowing who he was without boxing, and how he struggled to find a new sense of purpose. It took him years to fully step away and accept that the chapter had closed.
- A key theme in our chat was ego vs. acceptance. He spoke about letting go of the need to prove himself, learning to laugh at things he once took seriously, and embracing a simpler, more grounded way of living.
- We also touched on fatherhood, and how becoming a dad shifted his priorities, softened his mindset, and helped him see his past struggles through a different lens.
- Paddy is now working in community engagement and helping younger generations find their path—not just in sport, but in life. He’s using his story to guide others, without glamorising the grind.
- One of the most powerful takeaways was this: “When you’re in it, you don’t realise how much it’s taking from you. When you step away, you start to see what really matters.”
- This conversation reminded me—and I think it’ll remind a lot of men—that it’s okay to let go. That you’re still worthy, even when the spotlight fades.
Creators and Guests
What is The Modern Warrior Podcast?
Welcome to the Gavin Meenan Podcast; where I'll share the strategies and principles to help you become a more confident and resilient man in the 21st Century!
Patty Barnes. Welcome to
the Modern Warrior Podcast.
Nice to have me on your show.
Very welcome, I'm honored to have you
here. And it is called
the Modern Warrior Podcast,
and we have a warrior here in front of us
today. A man who's been
through many fucking battles
in your life.
Too many.
I'm still going through them.
Still gorgeous, I don't mean to.
Yeah, you and me both.
Oh.
And obviously, most of us know you,
Patty, through your successes in boxing.
And we know this side of you very well.
And I'm also
interested in the man behind the
boxing. I'm always interested in the
story behind the successes
and the wins, the losses,
you know, and the lessons you've
cultivated over the years.
And also, your past in terms of,
if you look back and identify some of the
influences in your,
in your childhood that
perhaps cultivated and created you as the
man you are today and
obviously had a huge impact in
in the successes that you achieved
through your Olympics and
through the, through the
boxing, through the European
titles, the Commonwealth Games.
And still the only Irish person to win
two consecutive medals in.
No, I was, well, Pat O'Callaghan,
apparently, well, not
apparently, but I don't know if I
right, but he still won two. That's the
first ever boxer to win the four second.
But then now we have Kelly
Hardin, who won two goals.
Yes.
Which is amazing.
Yeah. Took that, took
that crown from you.
Still the only male boxer.
There you go. All right. Hold on.
So yeah, going back to, if you were to
kind of sit here and
reflect back on, on your past,
what would have been some of those early
life influences that you
believe inspired you to
take this path of boxing, of, of taking
on the fight ultimately
in your, in your life?
To be honest, like everyone always asks
me why I get into boxing.
And like, I sort of felt
ended accidentally. I remember playing
football on the street
one day, and it was raining.
And a friend of mine called Ed Graham.
He's the box, the box
club, um, with his brother.
He said, come on, do you ensure it's
licensed? I said, what? I'll go down.
That was on a Wednesday.
Uh, a trend for a bit on our, I get up
for the fight. That's something.
A ticket. And I lost, I'd actually lost
it if I was a friend
to this day, actually.
Uh, we'll call it anything again. But at
that time, every weekend I from Belfast,
but every weekend I would have went down
to a facing collegiate
county town called Arglash
to stay with my cousins. And my old Jim
had a posse club and
my cousins box for him.
I thought he's not here every weekend. I
way. So I was all trained. And
then I joined the club. Yeah. So I joined
a club called East Coast. We play called
Ballyhorn. And really, I only boxed to
fit in. I didn't have no
pipes in the boxing. No heroes
in boxing, earnings port. I just boxed to
fit in with my cousins
and be down there. And
I was training every week. I hated it. It
was so tough. And like, looking back, it's probably
the easiest you've ever done. But for me,
a little kid, small,
skinny, so small, not skinny, but
ever so tough. And like I used to spoil
my cousins, Francis and he
didn't go hurt me. But I was
crying tears in my eyes every weekend.
But I wasn't like
garnering. There's water in my eyes.
I used to know, you okay? It was a
failure. I hated it. Anyway,
I think that's where my kind of tough
this came from. Because
taking beans, I don't like beans, but
like, I thought they're hard bars.
Like that kind of like toughen me up.
And, you know, I still
fall on. I have a good fight.
It was the first 12 fights I had. I
didn't win. Now, I wasn't
bothered. There were two fights.
I could have went either way and I fought
a few. I should have won. But
I just kept going because at that stage,
I just didn't know how to
win. Like, how do you want
to fight? I just want to know how it can
be done. And I remember
like three women around,
or three two in a round. And like, it
seemed like an eternity.
Like, I need to fight for about a
half an hour to get a win. How am I going
to do this here? But
anyway, I remember fighting in the
Armadown Championships. I was just a
final. I got out of Tyrone
and I won. And I'm not jokingly.
Everybody's like, I won the lottery. The
feeling was just unbelievable.
And this is fight number
13. This is fight number 13.
After 12 straight
losses. And you know what?
I must have been with a Ladner. No, I
must have been with 12 or 13 years old.
And that feeling, like I can't describe
it. I just like, if you ask anyone,
you have to know about our sports. But
anyone on boxing, if they want to find
what that feels like,
they may be able to describe it to you.
Because obviously, you're so much
adrenaline with your
body or nerves beforehand. And it's also
releasing like, to what
you're feeling. But anyway,
after that, I was like, you know what? I
was amazing. So I
trained even harder. I had to
train harder, but I had to tell myself a
bit more. So obviously, I was only
training at the weekends.
I was in love. So I had to move about
clubs in Belfast.
They allowed me to train.
I took a close in Belfast and then I'd be
a fifth in the couple.
So I trained a bit harder,
a bit more. I thought I could tell a bit
more. So you're still with the same club.
Still same club, but the clubs are, let
me, blame the crack.
I trained a lot of clubs
here. Do you believe that
that victory instilled a new sense of
belief in you? Where you
thought, okay, actually,
I can fucking do this now. And that
inspired you to push even harder.
You could argue that there. But the way I
describe it is like,
so by the top of your arm, is like, I
have this
personality. If I have a feeling,
I want more of it. So I've kind of, I've
got to take the
personality. So I feel it, wouldn't it?
It's like, I have a feeling again. So I
trained harder and I tell
you more because I need that
feeling again. And I got one and one and
one and I just became like so
used to it. And that feeling
was unbelievable. So for me, it wasn't
about what is that feeling of
like, just being a victorian
or something. How did it go then from
that first victory at
fight number 13 to, you know,
that the next few fights coming up. But
did you, did you, when, when, maybe,
I have my feeling I put the amateur
fights. That feeling
says the same though.
They didn't change. It doesn't get any
less. It was just, it's too
hard to describe. It's just
unbelievable. And like, I just, I was
like an older, who was
bigger fight to stake. You know,
we had the Irish championship in the door
and, you know, even
competing in Dublin. My dream,
like before the Olympics and whatever,
was just to compete in
Dublin and in the Lysal Stadium.
I, for me, to the other, I needed to win
the current random championships.
And there's a boss called Carl Frant, who
would always beat me. And
I couldn't get down and one
year he'd meet up with. And I beat
whoever was there anyway.
And I get down a lot, but first
I learned semi-final. But just being a
part of that door and
fighting and that ring for me,
it was just burning. And after I see that
door, I think, oh, I think it went
better. I needed one
of the learns. The year after I won. And
from that victory, I think
it was, it was 16, no first
learn. After that door, one of the
funniest jumpships was
Ireland, England, Scotland,
Wales, when that door, and just, that was
me pushed on and won everything after.
What did you win the, 16? 16. So,
obviously that stays a box for
five years and it took me four
years to actually get the good one. To
really qualify. I can
beat my local championships.
So, it's a good show. Like, you know, if
kids are getting beat there and
at 11 years old, they're like, oh, I'll
make a one for that. It took me
four or five years to even qualify. No
one ever made it in Ireland.
So. Was it was Carl or was the one that
was getting in the way?
Carl was, yeah, it was twice he got in
the way. Wasn't really a matter.
And they were close fights. I did beat
him, but in the
Northern Ireland championships.
Was that the year you
then went to the semis?
No. No, it was different.
Yeah, different. Yeah. Because he beat me
off that again. He
beat me off that again.
I haven't done, but he wasn't when they
learned he's going to be by one of the
choices who were unbelievable. Even at
that age, like these choices were
unbelievable. And like,
this guy, he beat all of the choices.
Same with me. Same with
me. He is my favourite boxer.
Yeah. He was so good. And thankfully,
I've had a photo back then.
I probably would have put a
box on me to kill me. Too strong, too
much for me. Okay. But Carl from, you
give me a good fight,
though. Yeah. And Carl from actually
being number four as well. Yeah. But it's
like, you know, just
if, I think even if they give him a
message and someone, I can
come back to it, they can all
if they're losing something, it could
take me five years,
four or five years, even to
break on to a mental setup.
It's tough. Yeah. But I'm, I'm
Persevering, got there. 12 defeats. I
mean, what keeps you
going after defeat number 10,
where you go, fuck's sake. Is this ever
gonna. But close, I was
getting bothered. Close fates.
I followed through on a few. You feel
like you're always
getting closer and closer.
Closer and closer. I know what the S.C.R.
I can only get this
year. I just, I got there.
Which is often the analogy, isn't it?
Like every, every failure
is a step closer to success.
If you're really, really
adamant, a bit something.
19 to 10, I feel you'll get it. Yeah. If
you really want it.
Sorry. If you really want it,
you make it. Cause there's difference
between wanting to need
something. So if you want it,
you make it. But if you need it, you'll
go to your way to get that darn war what.
Take your first Thursday. I don't want to
drink. You're something that dehydrated,
you need a drink, you'll
get it. There's your dime.
Massive difference between wanting to
need something. Yeah. Yeah.
Chasing that winning feeling.
Absolutely. That you need it.
Need it. Even like going to the Olympics,
going fast to the Olympics.
You got this stage where like equal
quality time for the Olympics. You know,
it's a one or two. One of the goal, one
of the medal. But I
need it to do those things.
Not just for myself. Well, I see solely
for myself. I want, I want
it to be from the country,
but I needed to, I needed to do it myself
because if I think in
a matter or in qualify,
my fund was cut and no qualifications
because I delicate my life to sport.
So I needed to win to keep me on money.
You went all in on box. Nothing else.
Nothing else. I was solely focused. You
know, people say, oh, but
sure. So just has a degree
and he's doing well as a case and he's
doing well in sport.
Words are nothing matters.
So it's one another. Okay. Yeah. That's a
sacrifice you had to make.
And then when you got to the Olympics
there, like just being in the Olympics,
that seemed like a victory to you or you
get there and you go, you know what?
There's more here. There's that I need
to, again, I need to, I need to win.
So see for me, obviously everyone's happy
that begins, right?
It's all my dream. But
most of the, my name is a kid. My dream
was like to go to a world championships.
To see how good I am against the rest of
the world. And I didn't really,
I didn't really watch them export them,
but I export really. But
I am a qualifying for the
Beijing Olympics. I was just going to the
World Championships. I
came fifth actually in the
right hands and everyone else failed.
Everyone else failed. I was
like, I want to Beijing by
myself and I mix and I go, I hit the
coaches because it didn't
take me to start. So I wasn't
enough and I'm like qualified for it all
around me and I go. So
what happened to the others?
So the other ones, all the favorites,
everyone compete. I was
the only one who qualified.
First hurdle. I go on myself. Not a
chance. A few months
later, the likes of like,
John's 11 qualified. I was a member of
the team. Then a few
months after our last qualifier,
I had Don't
Never Run, Kenny Egan, John Joyce. We had
a full team. So we
had a team meet for the
hour. I felt happier. Relax. I'll go in a
big game. You knew all these men already?
Yeah, because we were an Irish team. We
knew all the guys were between together.
Nick was in the mix there as well, was
he? No, he's a naked.
It's a stupid indian.
Probably.
There's the age difference now.
Yeah. But then what's the village?
I ever get on my bus. The media. What's
going on here? This is
metal. I didn't really like,
well, obviously through the village, like
10,000, the best office in the world.
Free food here. Free food. Free food for
them. For the time, you need to be most
fucking disciplined.
Free McDonald's?
Free McDonald's 24-7.
What the fuck?
Unbelievable.
You trying to make
weight for a fucking fight?
Jesus, terrible. Beijing. Beijing was so
warm. But I'd expect you're on
train, spread it around me. But what an
experience. But Beijing was great.
I think you're fighting. Like you're
fighting live TV. The
sports actor is the biggest actor
in the world. You're fighting in front of
a massive audience.
And experience from that,
it's just unbelievable. It just makes you
like, it kind of gives you a
profile. And people who you
are, people will start sporting you more.
Yeah. So you're actually in that team
with Egan, Sullivan, Lee,
Andy Lee there, is he that time?
No, Andy Lee. He's a builder of me space.
Yeah. Okay. And John John
Evan was there with you?
John Evan was there with me. Kenny, I'm a
Missouri. Don Sullivan, Missouri.
Who else would have been that team? John
Evan was there. John
Joyce.
Were you one of the
younger ones in the team?
Yeah. Yeah. So you were 19.
You were looking up to these old ones?
I would have been looking up to Kenny
Egan. Kenny was the king
captain. And even then,
a youth boxer on the team. Kenny was the
senior team. And I would
probably look up to him.
Yeah. Okay.
Because he was out in front of us. Not
only was he a good boxer, but he was good
person. He was leader. He was leader. So
he was good. Good guy.
He got a man like that. He had a silver.
Silver. Yeah. That's right.
He lost to Kenny's guy.
Yeah. And Sullivan was
there with that year as well.
Sullivan was the right
guy. He actually lost to
team to Guelph and Meghan too. He beat
easily. Three times previous.
People think, well, I think he was happy
with his bronze. He didn't try as much.
Yeah. Okay.
But the answer like, you
know, I felt it was enough.
Yeah. Yeah.
So then your influences in that team
would have been the likes of Egan.
I think so again. Yeah. Definitely. But
then I didn't look to
anyone for like motivation or
anything. You know, intrinsically, I was
always motivated because
going back to two and seven,
I was told it was enough. Like I want the
pre-release and draw.
Who's saying this to you?
Like, this coaches like Billy Welch and
other says like, wasn't enough,
wasn't experienced enough, which they
were right. I wasn't
experienced enough, but
I thought it was enough. So on paper, on
paper, they, on paper, they had a point.
But I say, you know what, I have one of
the nice naps. I think
every national champion
should be afforded to compete for their
country. That was my
argument. And this is like a cent.
Anyway. So, so, so, so, so for my take
and I used to, even
though we were actually friends
now, but you know, we're working on
friends, but yeah. I just felt I needed
to prove everyone wrong.
Even though I'm doing it, I mean, it's
still in my head. I need a witness here.
I used to prove a right one in the best.
But maybe Billy told you that because
he knew what you would do with it. He
was. No, no, no, definitely not.
That wasn't it. No, that was the. Yeah,
actually. He meant what he said.
Yeah. And he knocked that door after
Canada to the 10th level, the European
times, it was called games. I think it
was half expected of me to be a kind of
be leader of a team. So being in the big
was like a big fuck you to all these.
Basically told you could make it. Yeah.
Yeah. And then, so
you're at the Olympics,
but then of course there's
the upcoming battles and fights.
Do you can you get lost in the hysteria
over there and then
sort of get lost in the
feeling of, you know, what a fucking made
it now and people, huh?
I feel I'll be honest.
Not boxing, but all sports, I think
during this bubble, including the games,
I'm an Olympian. I know they've made it
tick the box. I'm like,
I don't know what, what a faze is, but I
think there are scourge of the well.
I haven't got a drive. No, like I always
say the fucking altitude. Yeah. Like
it's safe for the lyrics. Like obviously
there's certain countries
or who are probably the best
it's making to sprint and whatever and
kinds of running. But like I
just felt the eyes of me to
not have a fucking altitude. Fuck. I'm
not going to hang on. Who
the fuck was that? Okay.
You know, like we respect it. Absolutely.
No one. Yeah. Okay.
Um, but I must say now,
Ari's sport, cross the board are
excelling massively. And then because,
and I still argue it's because of Boston,
you know, we kind of open the doors,
the rest of the sports fall three when
I'm balanced and I look
at the roars, the sailors,
you know, um, you said the standard.
So I sport, I think in the
very, very healthy place.
Mm hmm. So on that one, those first
Olympics, um, as I said,
being there and achievement in
itself, but then of course the battles
and the, and the ring had
to, had to commence afterwards
and then having the fuck you attitude and
there's more to be
achieved. And do you leave those
Olympics feeling a sense of satisfaction
or a sense of disappointment?
Um, I was extremely disappointed. Um,
because at the time, I
like every of it, every, every
opportunity gets to you and the curve,
you get a bronzer or silver, you
shouldn't feel happy.
Um, I wasn't happy because yes, I wasn't
good enough. The guy beat
me, beat me for an score,
but was the way the judge scored a fight.
He was 15-0. Like I
was really annoyed. Um,
if he had scored a 30 and beat me by a
few points, no problem. I say whatever,
I wasn't happy, but I would take it a bit
well because again, you
fast forward a little Olympics,
the same guy, same stage, APM came back
15, so it was a draw,
but then I came back.
But a lot of people thought that I won
the fight. I thought it was close.
Wasn't arguing. Um, at last I wasn't
happy here, but I was content, you know,
hey, maybe the, the, the, the Panama won
the day, nothing to do with it. So yes,
I'm annoyed. I lost,
but at least I lost fairly. I lost a
better person. Yeah. So
otherwise you would lose,
but you have the, you also have the
opportunity of rewatching
that fight, isn't it? And, and,
and you can see where the points are. But
so it's when you're, when
you're like, when you're like,
I want to go hard. So what I lost big
deal. Yeah. Okay. So, but,
but you leave with a sense of
disappointment as you return back down.
Yeah, because I'm so
close. Like if I won that fight,
I know for a fact, I would have won gold
because the organic final
should have my style. Yeah. So
like I was like a point away from the
vehicle. Basically, I don't
do it. I don't do it. Like,
I don't mean you think about really, but,
but you did for a period
of time. Absolutely. But
to, to, to, to what extent then they
just, they just, did you
flip it to say, you know what,
um, I'm letting us go. And it was an
achievement. I just, I just
moved on. It is what it is.
Move on. And yeah. Now go on in the real
weeks. I bet he favorite one. Go metal.
Four years later. Four years later. Cause
I won the world's highest box.
So I was, I fought for a team
in Italy and, um, thing all over in the
world. And I qualified there
by finishing first place and
going under. I was favored, big silver
for it. And was that a heavy
weight to carry? Was that a,
was that a burden? No, I had a bliqueur.
Um, I just voted myself.
But my first fight I lost.
Um, and it was, again, it was a
firefight. I was fighting
against a guy who I was beat up
and spar all the time. But it was because
of my weight making. Like
I had made the weight and
I made it. But what people say, you did
all the time, but I've never went in at
eight in the morning
and fought 11 in the morning. That's
short species of thing. I've
never had that in my career.
I didn't know that was going to happen
until a week of the
fight. I didn't know the times.
I'm sorry, two full of fight, but that
killed me. As the first
30 seconds, I was drained.
The guy beat me. I remember thinking
like, I lost because if I
had a fall on, because I could
I could have done this for the next five
was a Colombian. He
wasn't great, but he would have
harmed me because of his state. And I was
just so drained. Okay. So
probably the blessing in this
case. Yeah. I lost close to it and get
bothered. The things that
happened, Ben, Ben, the scenes
we don't see. Yeah. In real. Okay. I
think I'm out of what I wanted and I
needed, but I had to
carry the flag for him. I had to do the
flag was for me. Yeah. So
again, you leave there with a
sense of disappointment again, or you'd
leave with a sense of take
the puzzles from out there
because the cat, the flag led the team
out. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Yes. You have a bit more
resilience to defeat or a bit more as I
need to be setbacks
after the previous Olympics.
Plus again, the fight, the lost close
fight. But yeah, I
thought it was far enough. Yeah.
I had no arguments. So I thought of how
much a man or thought of being a man,
maybe at a different
way, but I was beat. Yeah. Fair square.
Yeah. The way she's early.
Was that across the board?
So he had to do the same thing, like a
two hour window between way
and everyone. I was bigger
than the rest of the weight. You'd lose
more. I had a different
weight. Being a swivel,
I was like, I was probably, I was tired
of being a weight. Yeah. Okay. So
probably down to my own
fault. Like really discipline. Yeah.
Basically. Yeah. I can obviously, we had
nutritionism board and all and I did have
the help of a guard
called Laura Manley from
she's just listening to me. Maybe it's
not a tip. But anyway,
Seaburt and Santa and
Belfast and she helped me greatly. Many
choices for the World
Series. Yeah. But going into
Rio, I had no help with the reason. Tired
of it. And like I was
ordered back to old school, like
sweating, starving. You know what I mean?
That's not really good for high
performance athletes.
I don't know. So I was
ordered that there and it
fucked me up. So then you're back to the
drawing board again. Both that there.
Turn pro because with fun was caught. I
don't know where I have
new good. I did the model
professional. No, you didn't. No, I just
never builded me for me.
But I always live in games
and I'm a box. And I thought was better
than pro box. People think
people have this idea that
pro box is the next step. It's not what's
a very good set. Totally
different sport. So like
horse risen, big flats, jumps are two
different concepts. Pro box
is the sport. It's a business.
And for me, I didn't just tend to peel
away. I was offered. I
was sat down with people and
I said, I'll go provides. Only if he can
be world-wide shot straight away.
It says probably some post-hard best but
become prominent. You know,
we need to have maybe a few
fits. Maybe okay. I want often 10 fits
post. In Ireland, there's
a lot of world champions.
I wanted to be a crit history as an
amateur. So I wanted to create history as
a pro. I didn't want
to be just some. I just want to be
another world champion. Yeah.
I want to set my eyes on the
tire and stand with the rest. I want to
be the fastest world
champion. My manager at 10.
You're the fastest world champion.
Exactly. Okay. I got the
world title shot in my sixth
fight. WBC, Hunter Park and Belfast
football stadium. I lost,
but I could do a lot more with
your face, a lot more money. But for me,
history meant more than
money because seeing your Samdie
sitting in the bar or Sammy talking to
your kids, money means nothing. You know,
history is for me, needs more than money
because money comes from the ghost.
What is the historic element that you
hold towards that fight, that title shot?
That title shot in particular, I found
out that there are probably
the fastest persons from the
UK Ireland or Europe maybe, I don't
really know, doing a world title,
especially the WBC title,
that was just the best battle queen belt.
That's what I fought for.
And I was on the cusp of
queen history. I failed, but you know
what? I've never wrenched
because I train hard, I ring
popular for my fight. It just felt short.
It just felt short. I like fucking do
this life. So I don't
dwell on it. Don't look back and think
what if because they're the
what ifs. You knew you'd give
it a fucking fair shot. I get it right.
Follow up your job, the body shot.
Like boxing sport. Does
it crush you in the moment?
At the moment, I was devastated. Not
because I lost the
chance of queen history,
but because I lost. I lost
like 15,000 wins at the time.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then of course,
there's the whole hype
behind these fights before
Antus and expectations. Like I was in
favor. He just knocked
out a guy who had 19 feet,
19 of it. And he knocked it out. So he
knocked them out. And he
knocked them out. So I wasn't
fearing whatsoever. It was like a fake.
But the first team round is
winning. Which means nothing
really. Yeah. And I still didn't know how
I was going to fade him.
No, it was felt really,
really, really comfortable. But he caught
me a great shot at the
body. Okay. I'm a raffy.
I knew the referee. I didn't know what I
was fucking fighting for. I can't get up.
I might see a bit of
bail. I still can't feel.
Not bad. Do you do damage?
Oh, big time. Like Abby went with it
before. This was different. I
just don't want the same time
at the full impact. Okay.
Okay. Okay. You're wide open.
Like I've never was in front of him for
the other. And like, I
looked at this fellow,
how Rocky feeling? I said, I don't feel
my heels. What? No, I feel the clubs.
And he thought, are we okay? I feel dizzy
and all. I'm like, yeah, me.
I'm a hyper-hondrag. Everybody was there.
I'm like, okay. Got a fucking stretcher.
I have another stretcher flying down
through the football pitch.
And my wife and I met with my
little toilet. And people see me. I
remember people saying, are someone on
the stretcher for a move?
It's like, what's he doing? He's looking
at the bed. It was me.
He's going to shit herself.
I remember saying there's a bunch of
Billy Lou's hunters. And I remember him
stirring me. He stopped stirring me and
his face on weight. Like,
fuck me. I'm a big bar here.
I think he's shit himself. But then what
does the blood test on me to say like,
my blood was like deficient or really,
really low on my verdict.
So this was, this was,
now or after the fight?
Yeah. Like,
far, you get the energy to walk from my
faith. I couldn't believe
for what it has to be for.
But to be honest, I felt great.
Was this, was this because of the shot
that you took or is
this completely separate?
No, because obviously I think all boxers
have it. So basically, if you're making
obeots to have yourself or like, yeah,
eat healthy and just
obeots, your body is not
pulled up properly. You're still maybe
asleep at the age of a little bit over.
You haven't beers enough to the fight?
No, I wasn't. No. But
like that, that don't affect me. Because
it felt great. But obviously,
I'm sure every boxer
feels the same. Yeah. Okay.
If it has tested the same outcome, but
the hospital's like, like, Jesus.
You're in bad old shape, were you?
With your ears home.
It's different.
Back training again.
Of course.
And then, but you did, you did won the
European championship.
Oh, so I'm a third faith. I won the total
of European belt
against, okay, I see four for
world title. You should have won. Tough
faith, five by tough time around faith.
And I'm a fifth faith, a fourth for the
intercontinental title.
Yeah. Okay.
And the guy who beat, actually beat the
world champion, he beat me.
All right.
So it's my hard work. So I beat the
fella, actually stopped him.
And the fella who he beat beat me.
That's my hard box.
What's your answer to that?
How did, like, where, where's your head
at when you're before
you go into that world
championship fight, knowing what you know
in terms of, okay, a fella that I beat.
Oh, I didn't care.
Cause different states.
Well, different states.
Yeah.
Like, even knowing that this fella that
you were going to fight
has knocked out a fella
that's had 19 knockouts and that you're
not going in there as a favorite.
Does this play?
Not really. I always say, you know,
I bought a lot of poor boxing.
I think some of our bikes don't fire by
pure, but the part, like,
I know I'm better brainwise than Amazon,
better skilled by his
name, better getting in the
trouble. So I don't like Carmine.
That doesn't bother me.
Like, I know if I box the best my
ability, I get my own trouble.
So I didn't really carly.
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. Okay.
And then outside of
all of this is happening.
Like we're talking about a bit of boxing.
Because it's you power
your life for many years.
What's life like outside of boxing?
When you've just come back from the
Olympic games, you won a medal, you've
had a claim to fame.
Yeah.
And you're being, you're well known in
the country and
receiving a lot of attention.
And I mentioned coppers one night, a lot of Mick,
I'll tell Mick this
as well on the podcast.
And I think Mick was actually after a
fight in Dublin and you're allowing them.
I think you're just along
with the crack or whatever.
So after you've put in so much training
and committed so hard to
succeed and you've been
the Olympics, is it an incredible sense of relief then to come back home and just fuck
an incredible sense of relief then to
come back home and just
fucking relax for a while and just
have a few beers and chill out.
And how do you manage that?
And then where you go, okay, need to park
this now to get back to
training, get back to the work.
It's great to know why.
Because see after like, that's just the
Olympics, but any times it's if you will,
like when you're paying
through the work hall games,
like it's that relief of
all the hard work is paid off.
And like for the games itself, you come
home and like, you're not
only doing it for yourself,
you're doing it for your country.
And you want your
country to be proud of you.
You want to put your country on the map.
And after Beijing and we're coming home,
because again, I didn't
know how big the Olympics were.
Like, completely Dublin,
busloads of people, like,
did you ever turn around Dublin?
Like the crowd, like the whole, the whole
of the marathon, the crowd's right.
There's crazy.
I think it was a while, I guess, you made
all these people proud
and, and Belfast people
are recognizing more and all and like,
you can become like a celebrity.
Everyone knows you.
It's, it's real.
Did you find that hard to manage?
Did it sort of?
No, it's still this day.
People don't, I don't cry.
It's, I'm not a
person from North Belfast.
Yeah.
Of the people wish you well and
recognize, recognize
you for what you've done.
Which is good, but I don't walk around
thinking I am someone or,
I don't feel in pain or whatnot, because
some people can't, like I've noticed.
Yeah.
Obviously you see this and you see the
other athletes that you,
you make their boots, like, why?
You know what I mean?
But it is a great feeling
that for yourself, winning.
And winning for yourself, but equally
what I felt was important was
winning for your country
and make your country proud.
Yeah, for me it was massive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Definitely.
I know you've had an impact on that.
Definitely.
Yeah.
But obviously we're not here like Olympic
games and boxing, right?
So I think most sports at the highest
level, it's very, very competitive.
It's like an adrenaline rush.
No, it's a fast paced sport.
Like all sports is.
So I had loads of downtime and like, I
need something to fill a gap.
No, I need something to kind of fill a
gap and then I start gambling.
And like, I have some
good money for grants.
I have one of the biggies, a
few people on the team, like,
trying to train the sport.
Like, I don't care about it.
I just love the thrill of
like, what he taught her.
When like, the
Hanukkits.
And then came along
with all the gambling.
Like, I always been like, you could like
a few things sometimes.
For me, I'm just numbers my phone, my pen
and cards, numbers, gambling.
All the way.
But like, you look at me
like, fuck me, what an agent.
Like, online gambling.
It shouldn't be illegal obviously,
because people know,
it's like trying, people
can't control themselves.
Some people can't.
Shit, one of the sweat is.
It should be more as a case
of spiking around school kids.
But, you know, for me, online
gambling is the fucking devil.
Because it's so accessible.
Again, it's just numbers on your phone.
Now, if I was in the bookies, I'm on a
thousand pound cash.
I would like, fuck, I'm
like, I'm gonna park my ad there.
Fuck on your phone, it's like numbers.
You can't physically talk
to the seed and feel it.
Yeah.
And like, I was thinking, I lost one.
And I'm like, fuck me.
I was feeling so down.
And like, that down, that ain't down.
I was never depressed about it.
But I was fucking angry.
They were stupid.
I was like, fuck's sake.
I'm on training, a hundred percent again.
Because training for me
clears everything in my mind.
But, oh, they're like, fuck's sake.
They're like, what am I gonna do here?
Like, how bad?
As I see one time, I was
gonna reach into the Canadian
because he had the
gamblers and all those things.
Or the gamblers was drinking.
I think something stopped by or whatever.
I can't remember what it was anyway.
All comes under the same umbrella.
Exactly, yeah.
Yeah. Fuck.
I reckon I still would
have been yelling right
if my wife didn't find out about
like, obscene it and all.
And she kept wanting me.
And like, fuck.
Her, it could affect my
family for like, fuck's sake.
I felt bad.
So, I stopped for a bit
and then I thought again.
And she kept making me fuck,
daddy can't do it at all.
Ultimately, I'm here.
And then, her, I really,
after you stopped her, dead, right?
But her release half-gammon was,
I get her called Aunt Nappa Cone,
who is still a CEO, was born I.
I'm a very good friend of mine.
She brought me to the event.
I can't even remember a grain of this.
She said, I'll probably do
a few words talking like,
what, what am I gonna talk about?
I had to talk about gammon about me being
to go to the animal laughter and then,
next time is it all the papers?
No, it's me.
Fuck.
This is a big impact. This is a big impact.
I don't know what to expect this year.
Like, everyone was on me.
A few news outlets, news outlets, sorry.
Radio stations were on me
about speaking about this problem.
That you were still in the mess stuff.
Like, you hadn't, you hadn't, um,
I, I was nearly all, all felt like I was.
And, uh, safe nothing on.
I wouldn't even go into bookies
because I was well known, right?
And in my head, in this day, I feel like,
say, if I had any bookies,
I had in my head some files of slumber
probably looking at them.
I got along, he's getting on the problem.
Pitying me.
I got to that file this problem over.
I couldn't even walk
into bookies thinking
that someone was thinking about me.
Or the people behind the counter.
But then again, you
don't have to go to bookies
when it's on mine though.
So I'll do that.
I would, I would,
the store, a lot of reason why.
I would pay someone at the bank.
Look, the bank statements are,
it's faster than gammon.
You can't bother
counting by using that gammon.
Is that like your bank statements?
Yeah.
I couldn't do it.
Yeah. Okay.
So that's, that's, yeah.
I see where I forget we have gammon.
People's, it usually
doesn't occur when I mean things,
but that's there for me.
It's a sense of humiliation, is it?
Yeah, for me, yeah.
It's a humillion.
Yeah.
Some of them bars.
It's also, it's also something that's not
being widely spoken about.
And I believe it's a massive problem.
I reckon online gammon for me is,
this is bad as phaben in a minute.
Take away jokes.
Phaben, online gammon
are two serious epidemics.
Epidemics.
You can argue it's a pandemic, but
in Ireland at the minute, I
can only speak for Ireland,
but it's a serious problem in
excluding a little bit more.
Yeah.
Definitely.
Have you had people reach out to you
since you've opened up about this?
Not really.
There has been a few
people, like maybe two
years ago.
So that's why I can't
remember, but like the gamblings.
People feel a lot of shame
around it too, obviously.
So they don't...
It's not because if
you're, it's like any addiction,
like people are ashamed
and apart to talk about it.
I was too, doesn't I?
I was too.
But...
Which is why you kept a secret.
Exactly.
And you can keep it on
your phone, which is...
See what's out there?
Yeah.
See the sense of leave you have?
Honestly, it's just, it was a way.
I know all too well, man.
Yeah, I had a porn addiction
and that was exposed as well.
To the general public and in
hindsight, there's incredible.
There's an incredible
sense of relief to say, look,
oh fuck, I'm not going to hide anymore.
The truth is out there and you know what?
I'm going to fucking embrace it now.
I'm going to take this and help others
who are going through summer situations,
which is a situation you find yourself in
when you're speaking about it.
And even on this podcast today, like
you're owning it and you're...
Yeah.
You are...
This is landing with somebody who's
listening, who has a
similar issue like this.
Yeah.
Definitely.
Because as I said, it's not spoken about
because there's so much shame.
Exactly.
And like, why me?
I can't sit here and say, oh,
what is it to be ashamed of?
Yeah, because...
Everyone has different feelings.
And I can sit here and say, you should
feel this way, you should feel that way.
It's what I will say, what I know for a
fact is, once you show a problem.
Yeah.
That's not a way, but it's half and
there's ways you can deliver it.
The shame dissolves as well.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Which is a huge barrier
to the healing process.
It can be a bit crazy.
If you're talking about your
partners, you're probably...
I think people are looking
at me like, I'm fucking...
But then, what's it say?
There are people, really, it's not
actually, it's a problem.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
People will help you.
Well, if you want it, nobody can take it
from me and use it against you.
You know, you say, yeah,
this is an issue that I have.
Exactly.
And I own it.
Exactly.
So, they can't take that then.
I have a point.
I know.
So what?
Yeah, exactly.
I was going to say it.
Exactly.
Like, oh, okay.
Because if you become defensive about it,
you're trying to protect
yourself from the shame.
Same thing being said by me,
it's never ever be defensive.
Because same thing you are, that's when
the case is going to go on.
Just not like, equivocal.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it shuts off.
Yeah.
If you get pissed off,
but you're on to something.
Exactly.
And you're off of the damage.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Her first theology.
Yeah, you know, man.
Good old time.
Stepping into something here now.
Yeah.
But then how do you replace that
adrenaline rush then?
How do you replace that, both?
It almost seems as though it's been
transferred from the boxing
or to the victories in the
boxing to the victories in
the bookies or the gambling.
And then, okay, I've stopped that now.
Now, where's it going?
Or where do I channel it?
Or how do I channel it?
I see you.
I feel I haven't told
you something like that.
But I stopped it.
And I don't know what else
I've done to replace that there.
But now, my way of being a bit of this,
it's called me a cult.
I went to CrossFit, right?
And like, for me, it's just,
there could be some of that.
Or who's like overweight, 60 years old.
It's fine.
Be damen.
I am a historic attacker
at the Ronald Wheel Tour.
And I beat them.
I just beat them.
Yes, I beat them.
I am so competitive.
And that gets my blood flowing.
And like, I don't cross for combinations.
I was on high rush combinations.
And like, see if you're mad
at the half on well being.
Like, I have no problem
with my well being at the half.
I'm not a lot of stuff.
I just don't.
But I feel if people did, they should do
some form of training,
especially hand-tastily,
because it does, it takes
your mind off everything.
Yeah.
They sound like that
happy annoyed sort of stuff.
CIO training, I think a new person.
Don't think about
nothing but that training.
And not only does it clear my head, but
it's made me a
healthier person too instead of.
I couldn't recommend some
form of training, walking.
Yeah.
I don't know if you
start from there, yeah.
But it's when you're doing that high
intensity training, I've
done CrossFit as well for a few
years.
And like, as you said, you're not
thinking about anything.
You're thinking of fucking staying alive.
If they can feel.
Can I fucking finish
this fucking workout?
You need all this hay me here?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
So you're getting out of your head, which
is where most of us are
fucking stuck most of the
time.
And our heads is the thoughts and the
shame and the problems and the pain.
But then, as I said, it's challenging
towards something then that
gets you out of your head,
where you're not thinking about yourself
in that situation, you're
thinking about getting across
the line on that CrossFit competition, or
again, beating the man next
to you, or even, as I said,
completing that run from point
A to point B. It's a mission.
It's a purpose, which is
what a lot of men need.
See, I don't have the right life,
especially at CrossFit.
I mean, even in the bus, too, right?
So you're joining these gyms.
So if you go to a public gym, you're
shown by yourself, right?
And you're like, I need a soft hat first.
But yes, these small group production
classes are more expensive,
CrossFit's more expensive.
But listen, you're paying
for one-to-one stuff, right?
Which, for me, is far better.
It's money well spent.
And you're trained alongside people who
maybe have seen gold as you,
showing the same path as
you, and you're able to talk.
Yeah, that sounds community.
The same stuff that sounds community.
It's far better.
Which is being lost.
Especially if you find
difficult big friends.
Yeah.
Gold train.
And that small group production training
is kind of a frame and
like, a routine life.
You've answered that question in terms of
how you've channeled that adrenaline,
or that buzz.
Because when you go into CrossFit, you're
competing every single day.
It's not a matter of
just cross for competitions.
You're competing with every workout that
you do every single day.
I believe you're wearing
my phone, like for my gym.
Okay, I do cheat
sometimes, but it doesn't matter.
(laughter) Oh, no, it's out.
I know you will.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm wearing a lot of costs.
(laughter)
The guys in CrossFit,
you're missing them now, man.
Oh, they're here, they know anyway.
(laughter)
I've got an award for cheating as well.
All right, there you go.
You fucking own that too, man.
I want a ring.
(laughter) And then, again, this is all like sports
related in terms of box
and high rocks CrossFit.
What's life now outside of that in terms
of family relationship?
How do you find a
balance between all of this?
How do you find a balance between perhaps
the seeking of adrenaline and the buzz,
and then the balance of just being with
family and friends and
being in that peaceful scenario?
Do you want to ask just, I
never really overthink stuff.
I have two kids on the way obviously, but
family time, I work a
lot, like what I be.
I actually don't, so I work for Alter
Boxins, I'm a club development officer,
which I deal with the kind of governance
and help clubs all over in Alter,
among different stuff, from programs for
women's programs, school programs.
And in my spare time, I do Uber, because
for me, Uber is unbelievable.
People follow the word of it, and it
keeps you up for drinking the weekends.
It doesn't work all the time, but if
you're bored the weekends, you might
think I don't have a pint.
I'll do Uber instead, keep me out there,
keep me up for drinks,
see myself in fortune while making money.
On the set up there, I have a thing
called PaddyBox, so I
train a number of businesses,
private gyms, and a
few of your one-to-ones.
PaddyBox is training one-to-one with you
for a box in the Pacific.
So there are people who are like,
I tell a boxer, so I train them like,
skill-specific, and the rest of them...
Amateur?
Yeah, amateur. The rest
would be just fitness, basically.
Yeah, cool.
But I actually enjoy that.
It's time to give back now.
I've been training people here like, on
the cusp of going to jail,
and I had a guy out of training for ages,
and he was, "Oh, I have so much trouble."
And I took him for his ice before, and
he'd have us for 30 seconds,
and he was sick everywhere.
So, you know, you train 10
rounds, none of the rest.
It's fitness, small and painful, have
your person's people more awake.
He has been in trouble since.
Has he had any fights yet?
No, he doesn't want to fight.
Just train?
Just train.
Yeah, close.
Yeah, he hasn't, he's in a routine now.
Yeah, yeah.
He's fighting off his demons.
Basically, honestly.
Yeah, yeah. There's a few people out
there, but I'm hopeful now.
I'm trying to drop something with the
Department of Justice,
see if I can actually bring in more
people here on the cusps of like,
maybe getting their prison sentence, but
sometimes prison
sentence aren't for everyone.
It's nice to do deserved sentences, but
like, as a society, what
do they get out of that?
They're training.
Maybe that's all they need, that
opportunity to train or do something.
Yeah.
Hopefully, that...
Instead of throwing them in a cell.
Exactly.
Hopefully, I'm allowed to kind of help
them out by, you know,
if it doesn't work,
they have to open the deal.
Yeah, yeah.
What's working to help?
Yeah, yeah.
All right.
How do you see you're in the development?
Yeah.
With boxing at the moment?
How do you see it at this period of time?
My own perspective.
Your own perspective in terms of sport,
boxing, young people, you
know, we talked earlier, but
you going through 12
defeats to finally want to fight.
I mean, I believe in the day and age
we're living in today,
like one or two defeats,
and they're throwing down the fucking
challenge and giving up.
So how do you see the moment in terms of
young people,
development, sport in general?
Do you feel that they're being pulled
away from it into other
distractions like screens or
other areas that are perhaps unhealthy?
Or yeah, how do you see the moment?
You can't really get away
with the big development.
I mean, for atomic screens, they're like,
you know, social media,
iPods, iPhones, like, on and on and over.
Like, people are
constantly on their phones.
Now, that is, I'm a saint myself, I'm
guilty of myself, but I think now,
whenever there's more opportunities than
a rosbing for sports.
That's why myself putting boxing in the
school, it's only the box.
I don't care if there's no box every
game, but see, being given the
opportunity to try a boxing
out. Anybody thinking, why like boxing?
Am I joining a club?
Don't need a fight,
just join a club and train.
And even people in that school, like,
give them the opportunity to train.
I think, you know, I sit on
their phones, they're training.
Yeah.
But in terms of myself, you know, this
time in development after the moment,
I love the job, but I actually applied to
be the high performance
director of ice boxing.
I got an interview, I think, in the job.
But for me, that's the job I aspire to.
That's the job I will...
That's your next mission?
That's my next mission.
What's that involved exactly?
So basically, you're...
What's pulling you that direction?
Because I've lived a life for the last 25
years of high performance sport.
Here's your job interview now, got it?
Yeah.
(laughter) Or card doesn't send, or whatever.
I know what it feels like,
and I know where it's lacking.
I know what can be done better to get the
better, to get more out of the profits.
Okay.
Boxing specific?
Boxing specific, yeah, and I feel...
What is lacking?
For me, and I don't know how hard it is
now at the minute, because
I'm not in the high performance
environment, but my personal experience,
even watching people
now, it's the proper use of
service providers.
I think they should be all more entwined.
I'm working more collaboratively.
I don't feel that's happening.
We're in the training industry, working
with the S&E coaches,
profiting certain
boxers and the technology.
I feel they're all working in the
complete spaces, and
the complete new one.
I don't think boxing coaches should be
any more in the S&C,
because it's not their forte.
Yeah, yeah.
You know what I mean?
Of course.
Like, what's a box
coach know really with S&C?
Yes, general stuff, old school stuff, but
leave with the professionals.
Yeah, some more more dedication towards,
like, this is nutrition as your area.
To focus on that.
And then S&C is over here, and then the
boxing is whatever skill specific.
Exactly, and as coaches there are the
thing, I need this
boxer to be more powerful,
faster, and then S&E
coach said it, leave with me.
And then who's it?
The coach could say,
"Okay, leave it with me too."
Let's put it together,
because I'll tell you to appreciate,
and put your own, what kind of training I
want to do, and how I want to train,
so I'm able to film properly.
Yeah, okay.
That's not, but that's arguably not
happening, I don't know, in all sports.
Yeah, most likely funding related, is it?
I don't think so.
Okay.
I don't think so.
Something more to play?
Yeah, just...
You're gonna fucking
start it out, aren't you?
Just confidence.
I don't feel like it's...
There's been a
balance, they're doing well.
Yeah, okay.
Doing well is not good enough.
We want to be the best,
and probably the best.
Any accuracy is shit.
Yeah, again, just getting to
the Olympics is not enough.
See, now, because we're
qualified, we're doing so well.
Yes, getting to the Olympics is a made-up
achievement, still isn't always will be,
but now it's not that big thing that
everyone used to be.
Yeah. With the Madden, I grew up in it so much.
With the Madden, I just suffered a show
of pain, not pain, not pain.
Especially with boxing.
Exactly.
Yeah, because you've set the standard.
But that isn't...
And I think the way for qualifying the
weekend, it's extremely hard,
and it's a made-up achievement, but if
you want me to call it
great, you need to win a win.
So then, if there's somebody listening to
this who has suffered several defeats,
and I do have a couple of people in mind,
I do know a couple of
boxers, actually, as well.
What would you say to them?
From a man like yourself who's been
through many defeats, but
continued to get up, show up, put the
work in again, go again.
So, not even boxing specific, but
somebody maybe feels like
they're being defeated by life,
or that they're failing all the time.
Could be in any area.
What would your message be to someone
like this, based on your own experience?
To us, I would say, especially in sport,
I thought it was sport.
I would just say, be honest with
yourself, because you know,
you lost the faith, you lost
the match, you lost the race.
Why? Hard?
Have you been getting
better at having a track?
Have you been doing well in sport?
You know, if the person who beats you is
faster than the track,
then be real.
You're probably never
going to be just the way it is.
It's life and sport.
You can't be the
fastest, the best, everything.
So just be honest with yourself.
Like, take small wins and small like,
goals away from like...
Don't think about
competing against other people.
Compete against yourself.
Especially on the track.
Compete against the clock.
To be competing against
your father on the next lane.
And boxing.
Sometimes people are just bearing you.
And like, A.C. they'd be
opening a mask for you.
Like, you know what?
Not shit, but I just not as good as him.
And I just sport, just the way it is.
But then to identify
something that he has,
that you can potentially
work on in your own game.
Exactly.
You can always improve.
Like, see, all sports, you know, there's
always rain for improvement.
Right? Always.
So just dedicate yourself more.
Like, believe.
Believe in yourself.
If you don't believe in
yourself, don't believe me.
It's going to show.
You know, most boxers
are nervous because...
One, they're the square leads.
But a lot of my feeler,
"Oh, shit. I'm freaking tired."
You just don't have to be a camper.
How are you going to be tired?
If you are tired, then
you have no self-belief.
Or you have to be a hard-
As in you're going to
get tired in the ring?
In a fight?
Yeah.
I'm tired of you.
That you're going to burn out.
Somehow you're going to get beat.
Exactly.
However, I put different tires on.
I train so hard.
Like, I put different my main.
It should never be an average main.
It's eliminate.
And training.
Eliminate all the things that you can.
Try to train.
Nutrition.
S&C.
Because they're eliminated.
What else is there to worry about?
Yeah.
So that those barriers
don't appear in the ring.
See a massive problem.
Like, I've heard of it for some time.
I am more nervous.
A big problem, right?
Is only about 10 small problems.
Pick them off.
Pick them off.
That's all gone.
Same as sport.
Pop them through your S&C, your training.
Your training.
Your psychology.
Do you do better at
all these small balls?
You can be the best
athlete that you can be.
You may not be the best ever.
Or the greatest.
But at least you'll
be the best you can be.
That's all you can ask for.
You have no control
over the rest of the enemy.
Exactly.
Because then you're
being real and ask yourself.
Yeah.
You're not going to be in a big champion.
But yes, you may still be in a champion.
But if that's your aim, that's your goal.
And that's who you believe you can be,
then who's that one of yourself?
Is there anything you
would have done differently?
No.
No.
The guy gets argued all day
that I should have listened more,
and he traced an arc, got a pattern, and
traced an ast or done
more S&C, got stronger.
But listen, I didn't.
And so what?
I thought what I'd done.
I know where we're at too whatsoever.
Even the gamblers,
it's the live experience.
Will I go back in time
and like, not gamble?
No.
I won't be the aim person on the day.
You had to learn something from that.
Exactly.
It's hard to become better.
All the stuff I've done wrong
my life for all the fuckups.
So, not in the past.
It's not really a crime right now.
Nothing lingers.
Nothing lingers because there's not
everyone fucks up in life.
Everyone knows what our good you are.
What our successful you
are, our good you are.
That's life.
A nice and massive journey.
It's a great journey.
Something that is very, very hard.
But there's people that
are helping you if you want.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
There's the mic drop.
Patty fucking loves
this conversation, man.
Exactly.
Hopefully people understand
me because I do speak fast.
I aim to speak slowly.
But something that I get
excited about is speed.
You can slow down the speed on Spotify.
I know.
Oh, fine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Fucking up with that.
Put it in slow-mo and
you're still talking fast.
All good.
No, I understood you.
So, if I understood
you, I'm sure they did.
Some great messages here, man.
And great conversations.
Thank you so much.
No problem.
And for anyone who wants to reach out to
you or follow your journey or potentially
work with you in any capacity, where is
the best way to get you?
Instagram.
I'm Instagram.
All the time, School of Food Crop.
So, saying that, I'll probably see you.
You'll always find them there.
Yeah, exactly.
Looking for the next
cross of competition.
Or HiRox.
HiRox.
I'm a HiRoxer now.
HiRoxer.
HiRoxer.
All right.
That's the thing now, is it?
HiRoxer.
HiRoxer.
Well, it's me.
Perfectly, buddy.
Cheers next victory.
Talk soon, man.
Thank you.