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The Public Nuisance Podcast
Host Sean McComb interviews various guests
The Public Nuisance Podcast
The Public Nuisance Podcast #030 “It All Makes For A Good Story” with Sam Ewing
Welcome to a new episode of The Public Nuisance Podcast with me, Sean McComb.
This week we welcome Jockey, Sam Ewing to the podcast.
We cover Horse riding, Corrupt Boxing, Gambling, Sam’s Charity Boxing Match, The Farm, Jockys, Injuries and much more.
New episodes every Tuesday.
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Sean McComb
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The Public Nuisance. Sean McCann, Welcome to this episode of the Public Nuisance Podcast brought to you from Killin' Studios, Right here where you can get all your content done, from photo shoots to podcasts tailored for you. We've got it With us today. We have Jackie Sam Wing Drove two hours from Kildare to be here today Unbelievable, that's impressive. So thank you very much, lad. I appreciate you coming in. Yeah, no, bother, how did you find the spin?
Speaker 2:Easy enough.
Speaker 1:yeah, Straight motorway, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it would be, and you're back to your old stomping ground as well, I believe. Yeah, haven't been here in, say, six or seven years anyway. School yeah, I went to Ballaclar High and, yeah, first time back here now. How much has changed? A few of the locals might recognise you Maybe. Yeah, there's a bit of a fair going on out there, all the horses and stuff how fucking mad is that?
Speaker 1:four just get you on, jump on the horse after us and take me down the road. Yeah, yeah, leave the car here. Straight down the hard shoulder, we get the high vessel on the way you go.
Speaker 2:Do, wouldn't it? Well, it'd be a good crack. Might be a bit slower now getting home, but you'll save a diesel money so tell us how you getting on with the.
Speaker 1:You're busy.
Speaker 2:I suppose this will be a busy season for you would be yeah, our season ended two weeks ago in Punchestown and then we have a few days off and say it starts. It started again, but it's kind of our quiet time now. There wouldn't be much racing and we have a month off in June and then it kind of builds back into it from Galway and again because we had a couple of attempts to try and get you on.
Speaker 1:It was like we were busy, you were busy, it was like trying to cancel you, but we finally got here.
Speaker 2:We got you here in the end yeah, as I say, it's starting to whiting down for us now, but had a great season last season, by far my best ever season, so yeah, be hard to top it this year, but we'll give it a go why is that why? Is it to do with the?
Speaker 1:horses aging, or is it to do with? What is that?
Speaker 2:well, I suppose I was very lucky to have the season I had. Jack Kennedy is a garden stable jockey and unfortunately for him he broke his leg in November and that kind of left the door open for me and the other lads a bit and I was able to get on more opportunities while he was off.
Speaker 1:If you were so successful while he was off, if it was your best year, would that give you more of an opportunity then? Like, won't that push you further up? Like?
Speaker 2:yeah, look, it was great to probably be a big help in the sense that I was able to ride good horses and win good races em. But look em, I'm fairly young still and a long way to go, so we'll just set him up.
Speaker 1:We can't break his leg.
Speaker 2:I'm sure he'll be listening to us. He's probably watching us going, you gonna set me up here yeah, no, I told him I was coming up to this now, so I'll keep him in hand yeah, no, but sure listen, it's like he's just still obviously still support one another anyway yeah, like there's a like we all kind of. There's a group of us, the jockeys, the working gardens.
Speaker 2:They're together myself, jack Jordan Gainford, danny Gilligan, jake Cohen, and, like during the day and when you're at the races, where you know, you don't give each other an inch, but we'd be knocking around together every day anyways yeah, exactly yeah, spend a lot of time together yeah, did you ever get like?
Speaker 1:did they ever? I know like you would probably race against each other and stuff, but did they ever give you any like advice? Like the older guys, the ones with more experience, would they like try and?
Speaker 2:like if you asked a couple of the older lads in the weigh room. You know there's a great bunch of lads there at the minute and, as I say, everyone's great friends in there until you're riding against each other and you don't give each other an inch then. But, like I say, there's a good sense of camaraderie the whole time and if you ask one of the older lads, something like Mark Walsh, or even Jack Kendi's kindy's not that old, but yeah, they'd always be happy to help that's good, isn't?
Speaker 1:it's good to have that around you, like it's really comfortable. It's like it means there's no one on my city within the stable.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah because you know, like, even with me, like being on like the Irish team boxing, there was a lot of times where I was sparring people the same way, like there was like a number one, a number two, a number three, sometimes a certain weight, sometimes number four was four at my weight, all on the Irish team at the same time and we're all trying to be like the best. But we're friendly when we're sparring each other.
Speaker 1:We're not going to fuck with each other it's like you're always trying to prove that you're better than the same people. You're the same weight, but at the time your friends know what I mean yeah, I can near enough understand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just just nearly like you just have to cut everything off when you're doing it as soon as it's over, then your hair hands can't yeah, yeah 100. It's probably not as extreme as you, but uh, same sort of ideas.
Speaker 1:Who was the guy you boxed?
Speaker 2:I boxed, uh, don o'connor was he. He's obviously not stable mid-years, no no, he, he rides in the flat, um, he's a bit lighter than me. I'm probably a little bit fatter now. He's obviously not stable mid-ears. No, no, he, he rides in the flat, em. He's a bit lighter than me. I'm probably a little bit fatter now. He's about a foot taller than me, but he's a bit lighter em, and I'd say he was a bit fitter at the time as well.
Speaker 1:He yeah, took it out on me. How did you enjoy it? You say is it?
Speaker 2:you were saying you were absolutely fucked yeah, no, I enjoyed it and I told myself I'd go to the training, not after it, because obviously I realized it'd be good for my fitness, but it was.
Speaker 1:It was a good buzz doing this, you know yeah, you'd be nervous, like I was nervous, and I enjoyed it, but I was never was it the same type of nerves was going for a race? Like would it be? Would you get nervous going like getting on on a horse before the race kicks off?
Speaker 2:You'd be more kind of focused maybe.
Speaker 1:Focused yeah. It's a bit nerve-wracking when you go in front of a big crowd of people watching and it's so close to the ring and you can hear people squealing.
Speaker 2:The fitness, though, is what amazed me. I couldn't believe how tired I was after I wasn't fit to do anything.
Speaker 1:One minute rounds, yeah, one minute rounds. One minute of just at the tank, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, the first round I was fine. Second round, I was starting to come under pressure and the third round.
Speaker 1:I'd say I was just trying to stay away from the camera. Nothing to hit. Yeah, you were saying you were in the shower after for half an hour.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just sat down Wasn't for moving, and it was a night for charity and everyone was out, say in the bar or whatever.
Speaker 1:But you couldn't even A couple of the lads that did it Were the same as me.
Speaker 2:Now they were.
Speaker 1:So I think to end up this episode, but I gotta tell you Is about my sponsor, that Praise Guy Doing Millions of pounds and prizes every month, big money to be won. Get yourself on their page, check out the link, get yourself into the draw, not in. You can't win. Yeah, just does it. The central nervous system always takes a shot in situations like that. Yeah, like one of the lads, we've done like a testing day before and we were doing like a strengthening days and of course, one of my mates was doing it and he literally like ran himself and like fucked himself completely and we were up in Jordanstown doing it and he had to go into the bathroom and he stripped naked. He says he was down for shit. He says he just stripped naked and just sat in the toilet for like an hour. Yeah, he says he couldn't move because he was just shaking. Yeah, he was like getting cold sweats, he was shaking, he was sheet weight. He was like fuck this.
Speaker 2:Never again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't disagree with him he says people were banging the door to use the toilet and he was in there bowing naked to use the toilet and he was in there bowing naked. So we can only imagine, fucking what you felt like, yeah, sitting in the shower, going like just contemplating life it's been. I've been in like, I've felt like that myself a few times, but uh, it's fucking. It's a horrible feeling, like when you're just like ugh, get me off this.
Speaker 2:Yeah it's just mad. The difference, though like everyone always would say, he'd be so fit to be a boxer yeah and, like I was thinking, I'm fairly fit.
Speaker 1:But would you like, have you? Have you continued on with boxing training from that or?
Speaker 2:no, they raised a lot of money for for Aaron Fahey, I think it was. It was over 15,000 anyway, brilliant class, so it was great for him, and I'm sure there's a couple of lads that would like to have a go with each other again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but, like for the training, do you really think it would benefit you with the racing, with the horse racing?
Speaker 2:probably would. You know, it's just kind of getting the time to go we're lucky enough that we've there's like a race academy, there's a gym and a physio and things there for us and that's progressed in the whole time.
Speaker 1:So kind of that's our thing at the minute yeah, because I was just thinking, like I would say you would still need to be fairly fit to ride a horse. Like I'm sure, like, like what makes you better, like what would make you a better jockey? Do you know what I mean? Like yeah, is fitness one of them?
Speaker 2:definitely yeah, but as we were saying before the cameras came on, it's just, it's just totally different kind of fitness yeah, you know like just I suppose boxing, you're using everything, and I suppose riding a horse in a race too, you're probably using everything, but it's it's just when you're used to it, yeah.
Speaker 1:I suppose You'll be fit at one thing and not at the other. You know, no, 100%. It's even like if I go and I do believe boxing's probably the hardest, one of the hardest sports because you're on your own, yeah, and it's just you versus another guy who's looking to fucking beat you up. But if I go and play a football match, I think it's. But if I, if you don't know how to pace it, you'd be fucked and your legs be mangled and the next day I'd be in bits like my fucking my feet.
Speaker 1:I played a 5-a-side the other day. We were playing like a charity event here on Saturday against like Premier League Legends and we all got together and played like a 5-8 the other day, on Sunday. My feet are fucked, my legs are fucked, my hips are sore. I'm like what the fuck you think I've ever trained, ever in my life, you know what I mean, so must just be using things differently.
Speaker 1:That's exactly it, 100%. What have you got? What's so what's next on the agenda for you? And you'll say Galway or Galway of go areas em, yeah, I'm riding.
Speaker 2:I have two rides in Limerick on Thursday, then we're in Downpatrick Friday, off for the weekend, then there's racing all next week and then em our break comes then in June.
Speaker 1:So alright, hopefully we get a holiday or two a holiday. Did you not plan that? Until you know, like what your schedule is?
Speaker 2:no, em, we. You're not planning that until you know, like, what your schedule is. No, we always have the month of June off, but it wouldn't be very well organised. Yeah, fuck, tell me about it, I know.
Speaker 1:Last minute, just go, I just pick it and go and anywhere in mind, anywhere like the lads used to talk about, like a bet or something though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we had a bet with one of the lads. There were six of us in it. We had a bet that he couldn't, or that he told us he was staying off the drink for a year. Yeah, and we all said no way. So we had a bet with him. Anyway, he did it, and now all the money we gave him for the bet- he's going paying for a holiday somewhere. So a bit of a crack in it Bit of a crack.
Speaker 1:he's going paying for a holiday somewhere, so a bit of crack in his bit of crack. Get somewhere, fucking get somewhere going anyway yeah stay away from Benidorm.
Speaker 2:It's a fucking shit hole no, I don't think I'd go there. Nah, it's a dirt hole.
Speaker 1:Stay away from it. I went a few years ago and it's just the fucking worst place I've ever been in my life. Yeah, Bad, fucking bad memories. Just chaos. Lost my phone, lost my bank card, spent all my money, missed two flights Total disaster, fucking, disaster from start to finish.
Speaker 1:And just I was the same mate who was spallic naked in the bathroom up in Jordanstown. He was with me, it was just the two of us and we were at the stage where, like we had to jump onto a fucking train, like jump the barrier and get on a train from Alicante or from Bannadorm to Alicante, because our flight was down to Alicante. Then we got out of the train station and we were trying to get to the airport, but with no money. And he had no money because he threw his phone away when I lost mine.
Speaker 1:So he was like we don't need your phone, all we need is each other. And he fucked his phone away and I was like what are you doing? We need that. We missed two flights and then we had to hitchhike for a fucking car to give us a lift to the airport and no one stopped us. So we end up. We pulled the bus in and I just said their bus man may have no money like, and he just went go ahead and let us on. So we were lucky enough that we finally got home. I remember just sitting on the plane on the way home and it was like riddled rags at it and I was like fucking, I'm never, ever stepping foot in Benidorm ever again in my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fucking, no chance disaster yeah get yourself to a beach or something, somewhere good like that, somewhere a bit nicer. Yeah, there's loads of nice places in a beach anyway, like you know what yeah, I've never been it's class.
Speaker 2:There's kind of two parts of it, isn't there?
Speaker 1:ah, yeah, yeah, like, obviously you've got the party part. And then there's lovely islands and stuff as well it's a really nice place but it's good if you're going with a group of lads, but it depends what you're into, I suppose, like if you're into music and stuff, like maybe, but if you're not, then it wasn't really fucking interesting, I suppose yeah, but, as you say, there's probably loads of places in Ireland you could go to.
Speaker 1:It's just as good if you just enjoy a load of paints and a bit of crack. Yeah, yeah, we went to Thingol. Thingol's lovely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thingol's a great spot. Killarney Killarney's a great spot. Good spot as well. Yeah, Galway's a great spot.
Speaker 1:Plenty of places to go. Don't make it on, get Galway sorted, because I'll, and then my fate's obviously in Galway as well. So I have a load of loads coming down from Belfast which will be a bit of crack, bit of a fucking mad place.
Speaker 2:No, make a bit of a deal. Sure, I'll go to the fight, you go to your fate, and I'll go to your races. That's it, I'll be fucking.
Speaker 1:I was just telling you before I don, I'm going to match a race and I'll fucking. I'll come back skint, turn into a camera and I'll be like oh, spat in the ring.
Speaker 2:Or maybe you win it, and then you win it, and then you end up back in Ballard, back in Ballard.
Speaker 1:Fuck how bad, just so I can fucking Throw a nuclear bomb into it. It's a fucking show.
Speaker 1:Got arrested in the ring over. It's a fucking car and he was like waving it about and the car drove by and he hit the wing mirror. So this woman followed us for like an hour, just followed us around. She was walking in the nightclubs and stuff and just standing beside us and I was like, excuse me, you okay. And she was like, can you book my wing mirror on my car? You better pay for and my mate, fuck's sake, she's definitely no luck there anyway. No luck or I'll not be back. Just a bad place like. Just from start to finish it was disastrous, yeah, but it's probably a lot of. It's probably to do with me and him as well, being the guy. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah sure happens, sure happens. At best, it all makes for a good story, doesn't it, I suppose? Yeah, what about see like, if you're so, do you see, like with us boxing stuff, we would be banned from gambling, from like gambling on a sport that we're involved in near enough a lot of times. So like, for example, paddy Barnes at the Olympics. He'd done a bet on the Olympics boxing now, not on himself, on other fighters, and Paddy Power found out and bailed him. Would you be the same for horse racing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely for jockeys anyway, like owners and trainers, and obviously they would back horses, yeah, but jockeys can't. It's not something I'd be the same as you, I have no interest in it yeah at all, so wouldn't cross my mind.
Speaker 1:But how did you get involved in horse racing? It's such a like it's not obviously me being from a city. I fuck. I wouldn't know other than yourself. I probably wouldn't know anyone else or even heard of anyone else who's been involved in horse racing. But how did you get involved in that? With the family, obviously em.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my, my dad trained a couple of point to pointers so they'd be like, do you know? Say they'd start off in like it's point to point. It's like kind of like amateur racing, yeah, but he would have like four-year-old and five-year-old horses that he'd try to win a point-to-point with them and then sell them on to one of the bigger lads, hopefully, and they progressed with them. So he had them and he rode in point-to-points as well.
Speaker 1:Oh right.
Speaker 2:And just there was always a couple at home and then, as I was, I'd say I got a pony when I was very young and I just liked it and went pony racing, then got really into that. He'd be driving me all over the country, yeah, every weekend for the summer and it was always just what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:So did you get the whole way through school? Yeah, Did anyone really in school? Did anyone really take even any notes to do that? Because it's not like a very popular thing as people would do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely not in Ballyclare anyway, like no one would take any interest or like you know, you never really talk about it, like because, just as you say, it's just not known of really, of, really. But funny now, like there'd be a couple of lads I did go to school with that they'd text me if they were going to Down Royal or Down Patrick race and are you going to ride a winner today and you wouldn't hear off them, or you? Might hear off them at Cheltenham or something.
Speaker 1:They might get a text like best luck or something yeah, it's key like that because obviously on their age, like horse racing is such a gambler sport, isn't it like it's? People don't go and watch racing like just, for example, people will go and watch boxing because they've interest in boxing yeah, they wouldn't go because they've backed on a feather.
Speaker 2:Yeah do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:very true, yeah so, like people go and watch Manchester United or Liverpool, they go and watch because they want to watch football yeah but no one just goes to watch horse racing. Yeah, because they like horse racing, it's a because they're gambling on it. It's a hope of winning. It's a hope of winning a couple of quid and it's a day out now. I know one thing I've never done is been to a racing ever any racing and like even my wife's been, like she met the ladies or something over in Cheltenham or something and.
Speaker 1:I've never been as a lad, but every one of my mates have been and I don't understand why I've never been it's just, I don't know, it's probably just the gambling element, but if I did go I would gamble, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't go.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of them, a lot of the racing, say that there's festivals at like Cheltenham or Aint punches on yeah like it's, I'd say it's a great day. Like a couple of times I'd say I've ever been off hurt and went racing, do you know? Like there's, there's usually music and big crowds and if you're with a group of friends, like it's, it's a great day out and, as you say, though, but a lot.
Speaker 1:Most people, but mostly younger group, anyway, probably interest in watching racing, probably because they're not allowed to gamble. Like when you're younger I mean like, say, like your friends from school didn't take any interest in it then because they weren't allowed to gamble, it's illegal to gamble and when they turned 18 and then maybe just thought fuck and then they had. Sam done that, but won't give him a shit, or yeah? No, there was a couple of them.
Speaker 2:I rode a winner in Chelten years ago and he was 33 to 1 or something serious, that's unbelievable so I think a few people from school just maybe put like yeah, just because of you.
Speaker 1:Like, yeah, so it's a couple of quid for them. Like, happy days, you're a great lad that way. You said when we send you death threats. I've told this before, like.
Speaker 1:But when I fought in new y York last year I was seven to one and I told my mate I I've never asked anyone to ever back me, ever. But I was just so confident and I knew it was like never going to be a pricey game like ever. I've never been. I've never been the underdog on a fight. And because it was fight in the world number one, it was like obviously I knew I was gonna be the underdog, but seven to one, I have so attached when I like he would, he would punt, he would have, he doesn't gamble, no more.
Speaker 1:But at the time he would have said goof, you could have owned anything, horses, the lad, he's big gambler, like. That's why I said to him lad, I'm gonna win this fight like 7-1. He's like I mean I'm telling you I'm fucking gonna win this fight. I mean, don't be going mad on it, I'm just letting you know that I'm Like you're never going to get me this place again. Yeah, and he backed me and Ryan Garcia and a double. Ryan Garcia, it was 55 to 1 double Because he was like I think he was like A lad in the two as well and I was 71 He'd done a double.
Speaker 1:He stuck a fucking couple hundred quid on it and I could beat yeah, well, I was like oh well, hello and I was like fuck me, this goes to show you like the corruption, but at least if your horse runs over the lane first, it wins, no matter what. Yeah, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:see the way you were saying, like how confident you are, though I don't think any jockey would ever go out with that mindset like I can't be beat here. Yeah Well, I definitely wouldn't. Anyway.
Speaker 1:It's the horse too, I suppose, isn't? It yeah, yeah, because it's not all on you, it's not on the jockey, it's on the horse. Yeah, exactly, it's on me. I'm relying on me and what I've done, and I know how to beat this guy. Yeah, yeah, so what actually happened.
Speaker 2:In the end, we put in an appeal.
Speaker 1:Obviously, we put in an appeal and the WBO read over the appeal and just said no, we're not opening this case because if we do, even looking at this, then every single person who ever thought that they won but lost is going to come forward with an appeal, yeah, and say what happened to me? Why am I not getting?
Speaker 1:overturned because we wanted the decision overturned or an immediate rematch. In the contract there was only an immediate rematch for him if he lost, but not for me. So if I had won that fight he was given an automatic rematch, where if I had have lost I wasn't given an automatic rematch because he was the world number one and I wasn't. So it was like it's all politics of parkinson, it's a load of shit. But we put the appeal in and the wbo just said nope, we're not even looking at that. You have to pay like a couple of hundred quid or something for the appeal.
Speaker 1:It's just a money making thing for them like yeah, like I knew when we done it, it wasn't even gonna get looked at. And then there's just so many different theories. People are saying why, what happened, like wearing a Palestine flag, and all this different shit yeah and I've. It's like it's nothing to do with sport, like it's nothing to do with the actual boxing, it's just yeah, if you looked at the actual boxing. Yeah, if you looked at the boxing, I wouldn't have fucking fight easy and and would he not fight you again then?
Speaker 1:nah, I don't think so he fought. He's fought two or three times now since then. So he's actually fought three big fights he's had since then. So he's probably just moved on. And one of the last, he's done an interview with him, like the zone box and done an interview and they're like asking five questions and they're like who's your hardest fight? And he said Sean McComb. That's enough for me to know why would he want to fight me again?
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, yeah exactly it's just he's already and the first fight, or the first fight, the only fight, I thought that was easy. I genuinely thought it was easy. I can remember going back like maybe the 8th or 9th round and Pete Taylor was like me how do you feel I was like I'm sweet he's never beat me here.
Speaker 1:He's hit me, he's not, I can't lose. And Pete was like just stay switched on, don't even care about winning the next two rounds, I just want you to survive the next two rounds. He's never going to hit me like I'm sweet. And I just remember being that confident and it was like my life changed there and the eighth round there were still two rounds left. It was like this is my life changed forever. Now this is me. I'll fucking end up a millionaire here like in a snoot. And then it went the other way two went for him and one went for me. I was like what? I just went fuck it's boxing's a load of shit yeah yeah, so it's.
Speaker 1:It's a corrupt sport, but it always has been corrupt. You know what I mean? And yeah, like, if you look at michael conlon and the olympics saying about, about, it's corrupt from the core right through. He's right on the rage, boxing right up. It is Even in our own country there's people who cheat you and that's just the way it's always going to be, because it's only a vote. Do you know what I mean? See, when you think about it? See, judging it used to be computer scoring. We had to press a button every time someone punts, but the three judges had to press the button at the exact same time, within a second, or the score didn't register.
Speaker 1:So see if I landed a blow on you yeah and me and this judge say judge a, judge b, judge c. Let's say judge a and judge b, press the button the same time, and then c reacted late the score doesn't register yeah because he was late and they have to see the punch at the same time, so you have to be is it a computer game?
Speaker 1:Not anymore of taking the computer scoring away because they were saying that was corrupt. And then they've put in that a vote where it's basically just a judge just says, yeah, he won that round 10-9. But then they caught them cheating and then the pitch were like, let's say there was five judges sitting around the ring they were putting their hands on, they were putting at the end of each round. They were sitting on the table, they were putting their hands, I guess, and this meant red corner. So I'm voting for red corner. So what judge? So they're all going for the same fader yeah.
Speaker 1:And then this Matt Blue Corner it's all wee stupid things about boxing. Like this is going on. This is like fucking people's livelihoods getting taken away from them. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, and a lot of them. Competitions are like the world championships, european championships. If we get a medal, we're on funding Like 40 grand a year tax free and that keeps us boxing as an amateur, yeah, and it supports us.
Speaker 1:but if, if a judge decides to go against you because, just because, like that's it, it's your livelihood gone, yeah, and no one gets to see that. Because the world championships and the European championships are only YouTube streamed, they're not, they're not on live TV for fucking hundreds, like thousands of people to see the difference between my fight and Emma's. There's no one to see him. My fight, there were 17,000 people in the arena and it was worldwide. It was a pay-per-view event worldwide, so everyone was able to see it. So the backlash was big for my fight.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But that's happened to me numerous times when no one seen it as an amateur as well, even as an amateur boxer, you know what I mean. Like to go to olympic games. I fought albert salmoff and he won two, one split. It was worth shopping, but I won easy. Yeah, I'm one easy, and no one even knows about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like you were probably beat before you went into it, yeah, you're big because he's a favorite, he's number one, he's ranked one feather.
Speaker 1:He's like the poster boy of boxing and that's what you're up against going in there and the judges know who he is and it's just aw, it's corrupt, the fuck like it's corrupt. Try your head. So I mean, if you've any ponies going, I'll get the child one for Christmas.
Speaker 2:The spare helmet. Let the child fly about the fucking horse.
Speaker 1:Get him one out there today, I'm telling you get him out there in the fur, tell you what he's mad enough he would jump on one of them horses he fucking loves it. He's mad, he is. Yeah, he loves, he loves animals. The school asked me to go to Streamvale Farm with him last week. So the school was going to Streamvale Farm and they says look. And he says look, can you or your wife come with us, because he's fucking. He needs to act in the back of the house for him.
Speaker 1:And I was like no, I can't, I'm working and my wife's working full time, I can't just fucking drop and go. He says just, can you get someone to come? Because we were afraid like he went all free, he's hard to control and there's so many other kids there. So I was like like I can't, I can't take this off work. They were like you can't take it off work. So I just says what are they going to do? They can't leave me at home. So they had to take him.
Speaker 1:But he loves animals and I was telling his teacher and she was still going like I know, but like he's just he doesn't listen, he just goes and does his own thing and he never listens. And she was like he was brilliant, he never like, he just knew every single animal, he knew what it was called. He like, he know he loves animals, he loves him. So if I told him I was getting more he'd be jumping. But I can only imagine bringing him because we live like in a like. We live obviously in like a wee area. There's all like, it's just all houses everywhere, there's no field or nothing. For me I just imagine rocking up for a horse, all my neighbours would be like what the fuck is this we're?
Speaker 2:only in the middle of Belfast, I'm flying about Belfast.
Speaker 1:But see, in Dublin there's a lot of them like obviously you're in Kildare but I train train on Bali, firmat and like they're just flying about the travellers and stuff. Just fly about in a wee cart with a horse, they just fly out on the road. You very rarely see that in Belfast no, I've never seen it, but it happens a lot in Dublin. A lot. It's very common in Bali, firmat, they're flying around in wee horses. Yeah, it's mad.
Speaker 2:I've never done that by myself have you now.
Speaker 1:Don't think it'd be for me. You know, I'd say it'd be good crack, like I'd enjoy it maybe yeah but we used to have like horses on the fields and stuff. Like where I come from, third Flood there's none about it no more because there is. There's like a traveller camp up beside us on the Glen Road and there's one up at the top pass and they always had horses and stuff. But they don't have any no more. Like they actually have caravans and all. Now they've got bungalows. Maybe that's part of the reason.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I don't know yeah, I'd say you should get him a little pony anyway say, if I was just a normal person would I have to go and like keep, that would I have to yeah, maybe like a riding school or something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but if you actually did like it, you could actually just go to a riding school and you wouldn't have to buy one, the load of horses and ponies.
Speaker 1:Is there any riding schools in Belfast?
Speaker 2:There's one actually not far from here Laurelview.
Speaker 1:Is there? Because I don't know, Like you don't know any Japanese in Belfast at all. Do you know any?
Speaker 2:Not from Belfast. There's a couple of couple of lads from up here.
Speaker 1:Alright, there's Darren McGill and Oren McGill em just from like, because it's because Belfast is a city you'll never hear of, like a city like a city boy, or city like girl doing or if it isn't. But it'd be be good to maybe throw my wee lad on, throw him in the mix and do something different, something unique.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not as corrupt as boxing is.
Speaker 1:Boxing is the worst sport in the world and you don't go punts in the face, but you do get bad injuries, don't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, unfortunately this year we lost Michael O'Sullivan. He was early 20s and early 20s and I feel very sad, like and that's the worst, you know as well, since I've been racing anyway like it's never happened before. But that was, it was awful and it's still very sad. Em so like it puts into perspective, you know, if you're lying on the ground with a broken leg or something it's you know yeah, you're fucking, you're fucking.
Speaker 1:You're like what's the worst injury you've had?
Speaker 2:em, probably my, probably my right leg or my hip, yeah em er er. My arm I broke. I broke this arm both sides, that was it was. It was looking at me. It was faced the wrong way when I got up. But like you say, you know, if you have a bad day, say you got beaten a couple of horses, you thought you'd win. Yeah, and you're walking out of there like you'd be just like you'd be alright, it could be worse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you always get got it that way, like it's cute, it's something so tragic's happened to you.
Speaker 2:It's like yeah, I'm fucking fortunate enough.
Speaker 1:Here's people out there who fucking didn't come through the other end of it, like you never think. Do you ever think, yeah, like when you're going to the race, like this could happen.
Speaker 2:So no, I think, I think, if you think that probably shouldn't be the only yeah I do like I often think like people fucking die of boxing here.
Speaker 1:Like I'm like when I go into the ring, yeah, I often think like I need to be switched on here. Yeah, like I make it keeps me switched on because of how severe it could be. Like people have had bad brain injuries, people have died in the ring and I'm like people like I need to fucking stay switched on here and don't let someone hit me. Like sometimes you, you can feel comfortable and like just stare and give your legs a break and stuff and let people throw punches and just catch them and catch them. But when I tell myself that I'm like this is a fuck, this is how severe this is, it's like a warning to myself. Like that we fucking about.
Speaker 1:But sometimes I do fuck about, especially if they're not big punters. You know like they could be a skilled fader but not a big punter and I would just take more risks and just let them hit me and then hit them back and you know what I mean. And then you have to catch yourself on, sometimes go like I'm still getting hit here regardless you know what I?
Speaker 1:mean you need to fucking knock that in the head. But if I'm fighting a big puncher but less skilled, I'll not get hit at all because I just know it's like fuck, he'll hurt me, I'm not going to hurt him yeah and like they'll very rarely hit me and they're probably my best performances, do you know what I mean? So the bigger puncher you are, the better I'll perform yeah and then I'll take less chances.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fuck that well the day I was training with you. Anyway, I could barely hit the pads and you were moving them.
Speaker 1:Never mind, you were good, but you had a good, like you picked it up quick enough, but you were doing a wee bit of training Before you came with me, weren't?
Speaker 2:you? Yeah, where were you training Em? What's the name of it? It was, it was. It was maybe St Mary's or something In Kildare, kildare Town, just a good bunch of people there and a couple of good lads that boxed head off me in the sparring area.
Speaker 1:It's like when you go into a new environment, like in the boxing gym.
Speaker 2:It's a wee bit intimidating, but you're always welcoming there was this lad that had me sparring one night. He boxes in there and I'd say he was maybe 12 or but he was twice the size of me and I couldn't get. He just put me in the corner and just hammered me. It was tough work so he didn't look 12 or 13, but he I thought I was stashing the beer. Oh, I'm embarrassed enough now, but he was knocking everyone's pan in.
Speaker 1:See your weight. See with your horses. Do you have to ride a certain weight?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd probably walk around like ten stone, four, five or six.
Speaker 1:You're having me? I box a ten stone. Yeah, there's nothing obvious. Do you race a ten stone?
Speaker 2:Ten stone would be my lightest weight.
Speaker 1:I do, yeah, that's mad, because that's what I, that's what I would prefer. That yeah I do 6 foot.
Speaker 1:You'd have to do a lot of sweating for that, though yeah, well, I'm a stone overweight now, like yeah, so I'm about I'm probably close to 11 stone now, like just in around 11 stone. Yeah, it's a lot of sweating, it's a lot of sweating. But there's jackies out there that do the same like extreme weight cuts, do they? Because I was in a sauna before in the Camden Court Hotel and there was a jackie in there fucking sweating it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:In and out, in and out, sweating it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, probably wouldn't wait, like unless you were after eating and drinking a lot and then came on to a lightweight. Yeah, there you were, after eating and drinking a lot and then came on to a lightweight. There probably wouldn't be many lads that would have to lose as much as a stone now. But Keith Donoghue he's probably one of the best jockeys in Ireland and he's a big lad but so good to sweat and he's very healthy, so dedicated to it. He'd have to do a lot, but for me, I'm lucky is very healthy, very so dedicated to it. Like he'd have to do a lot, em, but for me I'm lucky, like I'm only that weight and, worst case scenario, I'd have to lose six or maybe miss dinner, yeah, and do a couple of hours sweating, that's all.
Speaker 1:It's not too bad, see. See, like, do you race multiple times per day so you can race? You can race like one or two horses, three horses maybe a day, is that right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you went racing with a full carriage, you could have seven rides.
Speaker 1:So what happens when you weigh in? So do you weigh in that morning?
Speaker 2:No, so every horse will have a different weight. So say, we have a load of different saddles for different weights. So I have a stone saddle, half a stone, and then a smaller one again and then one like that size for when I'm doing 10 stones. So so say, about 40 minutes before the race, you go to the scales, weigh out with your stuff, give your saddle to whoever's taking it, and then, if you finish in the first six or pull up, you have to weigh back in after.
Speaker 1:So you can't hydrate it or nothing? No, you can't drink a little water, you just stay at weight. You have to wait until it's over On the horse until it's over, Until you're back in. Yeah, no way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then you just weigh in now for each race.
Speaker 1:So that's harder again because it's hard. I don't know about you, but like, or how extreme it is. But see when I'm dehydrated, severely dehydrated, before weigh in. See, like the day before I weigh in, that's when I do my big weight, cut with sweatsuit on and stuff.
Speaker 2:I'm just zapped for energy because of no water in me no hydration, so I can only imagine racing dehydrated it's not nice, but, as I say, I rarely do be too bad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, too bad.
Speaker 2:Compared to some lads, yeah.
Speaker 1:So whenever you're a ten, whenever you race a ten stone, like you have to be ten stone, is that due to your worth? Probably.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, would you be fucked? I wouldn't be, I'd be, I wouldn't be in good form, like I just say I'd be thirsty, I'd be tired. Yeah, be thirsty, you'd be tired. Yeah. But I usually find like, say, if you're sitting there for an hour before it, you'd be like you have depressed, and then once it's done then, or once you're on the horse, like it, yeah, you're grand then would you ever consider bringing a nutritionist running?
Speaker 2:we, we have, um, we have one at the race center. Um, I used to, I used to ride in the flat, you see. So, like three or four years ago, I was doing eight stone, eight and a half stone, fuck, and just started growing then.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's more than that Balkans here, yeah, and it got away at me but I had em.
Speaker 2:I was trying to eat a lot better then with like work with nutritionists and stuff and there and there is people that use them, but I'm kind of okay, yeah, you know I drink plenty of water, probably plenty of coffee, and I'd have a good breakfast and a good dinner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know just most. Yeah, like I'm kind of Do you not snack on like sweets or shuttering?
Speaker 2:Not really no.
Speaker 1:shuttering not really no, nah, maybe see because the reason being my friend, my good mate. He's an nutritionist, he has a master's in sports nutrition but obviously, like he works with like a lot of like boxing and MMA and stuff. But there's a method, you know, like you can cut out like fibre and stuff and it's easier. Fibre and carbs just be simple.
Speaker 2:Things like that just makes you drop water so much easier yeah, I think if you cut out fibre, it's meant to be a big difference, isn't it?
Speaker 1:yeah, a big difference. You can drop up to like four pound of fibre on like like for me fit week I don't, I cut out fibre completely week and carbs down to like 50 grams of carbs a day, just until the day before, yeah, and it just flies out of you with no like. And then obviously salts and sugar and stuff as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all make a big difference just wouldn't feel great, though, would you?
Speaker 1:you never do feel great, but you feel that better yeah because, because before like I met him, I would have on fight week. I would have had like nothing, barely anything, for like almost a week getting nibbled on the smallest wee things, like I'm at him. I would have on fight week. I would have had like nothing, barely anything, for like almost a week you had to nibble on the smallest wee things like Fruit pastas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I would have had like a couple of jellies just to get me through for a few hours, and then a bit of fruit, and then maybe a wee bit of chocolate, and eight times I would have been better, but it was all the. They weighed nothing yeah but I was waking up drags there's so much sugar and everything I was eating yeah, it's not the right hold on the water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was like, and I was still eating stuff and and I always used to think freight week, I'm not going to get any father, so I'm going to eat whatever I want, as long as it doesn't weigh heavy on that way, yeah, yeah it was the wrong way to look at it and then over time I've put my trust into him.
Speaker 1:I started like he was like. I remember the first time he was like right for breakfast. This was on the monday, so she was fighting on the saturday the way on the friday. So on the monday he was like great, have for breakfast, have like a four egg omelet with cheese. I was like, what for breakfast, and then for lunch have a salmon fillet with some veg? And I was like I'm not eating twice a Monday.
Speaker 2:And I was like no.
Speaker 1:And then it turned out I was eating three times a day Right up until it ended up just stripping off me and I cut out the sugar, cut out the salt, cut out, and then, after the Monday, started cutting out the favour completely, no veg and just using high fats and high protein for the rest of the week, but being full up for long enough to get me till the next meal. Do you know what I mean? I?
Speaker 2:was satisfied. It keeps you. It keeps you going gradually and I wasn't miserable. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:so it was like and the weight come off, even though I was still eating. It was like something whole in your stomach, like you've got something where I would have just nibbled on, like I said, like jellies, and chuckled for a week and been miserable and just been like depressed like where. Now I've got the hang of it, I know exactly what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:I've got the trust in it yeah it's so much easier like and obviously still know the last day or two you'd have to oh, the last day is like.
Speaker 1:You know what I actually look forward to? The last day because that's the end of it. You know I mean it's your last day. We were like it's, it's almost exciting once you've. At that last training session he loved getting over me and you're sweating and you just lose it and you start the scales and you're close to the way and I was like and then I can actually go and treat myself before weigh in the next morning.
Speaker 1:I would I would always go and have like a cup of tea and twix the day before weigh in always and then I'll wake up the next morning like starving and dry, but like your weigh-ins, like only a matter of hours away. So you're like this, is it?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's done. What would you have that, would you? Would you go eating big meals in after the weigh-in? Just?
Speaker 1:high carbs Like just flat out, like for hydrate right away. So as soon as I weigh in, I'll take like an electrolyte with water, 500 milliliters of water, and then straight away after that I'll just like sip on water and just fluids, like we used to eat sport and stuff, get carbs back into me and then I'll just go and eat a big carb meal like this is another thing. I just took this upon myself like, but it was just a trial and error for me. I stopped eating protein after the weigh in because it was. It was allowing me to eat more carbs, because protein was making me butter you know what I mean because my stomach was shrinking. They're so small, because you're cutting everything out so it was.
Speaker 1:It used to be fill up so easy. I was like, oh, like you had all these plans to go and eat this and go and eat that, and then you go and eat one small meal and you're even.
Speaker 2:You'd be thinking of all the drinks yeah drink like that's exactly it.
Speaker 1:I took uh, I started just eat like a pasta, like a load of pasta with no meat in it, and then I would get a couple of slices of pizza and I would go and eat something else in the afternoon and I would eat something else in the evening, and then it becomes personal preference, whatever you want to eat.
Speaker 1:And then the next day when I get up, I'm usually fully hydrated and still busted. The next morning when I wake up, I'm usually still like oh yeah, and I always wake up. My eyes are puffing on. You're like fuck me, what's going on here?
Speaker 1:it's like a food coma yeah and then that day I just nibble like I wouldn't even eat much on the day of a fight. I would just eat like a sandwich, um cup of coffee but a chocolate, and then just nibble on wee bits of shit. Today it day because all the carb loading's done from the day before you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And then you go in the ring and you're brand new. You're fucking like Sugar Ray Leonard, waving around full of energy. How did it go? It's great, obviously because I haven't boxed in over a year now. That's 12 months ago or 15 months ago for my last fight and I'm fighting in 6 weeks. So I'm like I miss all that. Do you know what's mad like when you're in that state of mind where you're like starving, dehydrated. You're like, fuck, I can't wait to retire, I can't wait. This is over. But seeing for a year they're in there, I miss it. You can't win. It's a mad way to live. It's all we know. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:It's like all you know, and it's all you want to know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then now I'm six weeks out again. I'm like I can't wait to get back and free that fitness match Like. Be as fresh as that and just enjoy that wee bit of something to focus on.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And everything is just a small win in boxing. Because you wanna, you can't wait to weigh in first of all, right, and then you can't wait to fit, and then you can't wait, no, you can't wait to weigh in, then you can't wait to eat, then you can't wait to fit, then you can't wait for a pint, and it's like, oh, it's just it's like, it's like a child Christmas for every wee small for it, just for a few days yeah do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1:it's like I can't wait for a pint. You don't even give a fuck about the pint. You're like, I just can't wait for a pint. It's mad like. But uh, yeah, because you like, obviously would you, would you, would you, would you?
Speaker 2:would. You would hear in there, but it's nearly too hard most of the time like yeah there's racing every weekend, so that just rolls out. You wouldn't be thinking about it then? Yeah you get the album like, but I don't want here, but nothing too fucking bad.
Speaker 1:Really like the odd time maybe after and I like a good one or something you would maybe have another paint or something yeah next morning you're probably up in training again or recovery. Yeah, just kind of forget about it. Yeah sometimes like when you let it break. You won the Ladbrokes championship. Is that right, the Ladbrokes championship?
Speaker 2:was it the Ladbrokes?
Speaker 1:was it the Stairs Hardle there the Stairs yeah yeah, a couple of weeks ago would that be one of your best wins like.
Speaker 2:I think it's my biggest winner. So Magic.
Speaker 1:That's what it is.
Speaker 2:Some touch just to hop the season off like that anyways no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Like when you get a good win, like, let's say, for boxing, for example, if I get a good win, it's like right, we can get you this big fight now.
Speaker 2:Yeah. If you get a good win like that, they go, who you work for and who you're lucky enough em. It's not really the same, no, but I suppose the more, the more you're seen to be. It's like when you're going well, everyone wants you yeah and when you're not going well no one wants you.
Speaker 2:Everything's very quiet like yeah em, and that's just kind of the way it is. Unless you're, like, probably have one of the better jobs you know, you're really consistently always riding winners, yeah, and doing well em how did he get that stage buck without like getting 100 good horses, like, let's say, ap McCoy em like?
Speaker 1:how did he get that stage to be so fucking good?
Speaker 2:like he got. I don't really know a story, but say like I think he started off in the flat and that wasn't working, it was too heavy and things. And then he went to England, got a good job, rode loads of winners, was really hungry and then he got the Martin Pipe job, which was the best job at the time yeah and then sure, when you're riding all them horses and ride winners, it just progresses like and you need a lot of luck too, like with injury.
Speaker 1:I met him. He was at the rta awards. When I was there. We were for the irish team, we were for team of the year and he was up for sport personally.
Speaker 1:He actually got it that year yeah, he's a nice fella like very yeah it's very nice fella like, very, yeah, and he a very nice fella like and he's small as well. He's like for an old man. It's like, you know, like when you see I know Jack Leeds are small, but because he was older and he was on TV and he like it was almost like fucking. I was like I'm like Benjamin Button or something and I was like he's going backwards or something. He's like his head didn't suit his body and all, and I was like I was almost starstruck seeing him, but I was like I just couldn't believe it, like how small he was and like and funny.
Speaker 2:He'd probably be tall enough for a jockey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he'd still be tall enough, you know just because of the TV and it's just I don't know. I just thought his head was going to be, but he was a really really nice fella. Like yeah, he talked to him. He started talking as well he was, and he's a lad in the sport, isn't he? I suppose, like classic. But he went to like so let's say he retired from like horse racing. What's he doing? Will he go into like pundit? Is there anything?
Speaker 2:he'll do commentary or will he train? He works for ITV. He'd be like he'd be on the ITV things and em. I'm not really sure what else. But yeah like a lot of the good jockeys that retired recently, like or say in the last five or six years, like Ruby Walsh works for. Racing TV, and then I suppose there's some lads that go off and do their own thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just because it's something like like, would you go into like training or maybe band horses or something you know, like being on there, maybe I don't know, just to stay within this, but like to stay involved.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd imagine I'd like to anyway.
Speaker 1:Is that something you'd like to do in the end? Not TV I?
Speaker 2:don't think I'd be good at it.
Speaker 1:No, I don't think it'd be for me wouldn't know what I'm talking about yeah, I'd be alright, fuck's sake. So what's the plans now the rest of the day? Are you back there, em? I'm say hello to the family up here while you're up here, yeah are they expecting you, or did you let them know that you're?
Speaker 2:coming up. Yeah, yeah, popped ahead in for a while and probably head back down the road then yeah, no more.
Speaker 1:So you've trained this morning. Is that you finished now for the day?
Speaker 2:yeah, happy days brilliant so like we finished at probably 12 or 1 most days, unless we're going racing, yeah, so like be finished at probably 12 or 1 most days, unless we're going racing. Yeah, so it's. It's an easy day when you're not racing. Really, yeah, afternoon to yourself. Really, it's great man happy days.
Speaker 1:Well, look, it's no ledger back to see the family and I appreciate you coming on. Oh thanks, we'll keep right. We'll keep our eyes peeled um for you and maybe get a wee fucking pounder to you on you for the next one sure we'll see each other appreciate you coming on thanks very much.