BOXING MEANS A LOT TO ME NOW. IT HELPS ME IN MY DAILY ROUTINE.
I want to make the most of my potential as I’m still young. But at 17 I thought I was too old to get into professional boxing and I left the sport. I had a job back then – other priorities too. But yeah, I just thought I was too old to get into the sport properly.
I had a lot of other friends at the time who were already doing well in the sport and had been fighting since they were 10 years old. It’s not that I thought I couldn’t make it as a pro boxer, I just felt as though the road was going to be very long.
I left school very young and started working. So, a 9-5 job in sales and earning money seemed more important back then. I still trained hard after work for fun and to stay fit. I was making around 50 calls per day at work and it was pretty exhausting. But the job was how I ended up in Dubai and starting my professional boxing career.
My employer had an office there and they allowed me to go there and work. I think the job actually helped me in the boxing world too. When pitching to people every day, you have to believe in yourself, which is a small percentage of what it’s like in boxing.
MY PRO CAREER FINALLY GOT OFF THE GROUND AT ROUND 10 – A GYM BASED IN DUBAI.
I worked out there with a guy called Jose Mohan and one day he called and said that they were putting on a pro boxing show in Ghana. I’d just fought in Holland and came up short in the national amateurs’ competition.
When Jose asked if I wanted to make my professional debut on the card I was like “hell yeah!” It turned out to be a great experience as I won with a second-round knockout.
From there it was another card in Dubai. Then one in India. And I won both bouts. But then I decided to go my own way. I was due to fly to California and before I left I asked Jose if he had any contacts out here so I could link up with a promoter or a gym and keep fighting.
I’d heard there were daily fights in Tijuana, Mexico and Jose managed to put me in touch with a gym. It just happened to be one of the most well-known boxing gyms in Tijuana and Erik Morales used to train at it. And from there I’ve done my own thing.
