#032 - Interview with Micah Rivetti - challenging for the Australasian light heavyweight title this weekend.

Fantastic to have had the pleasure to interview Gold Coast professional boxer, Micah Rivetti. He shared with me the highs and lows of his career as well as discussing what it is like to be a professional boxer, the type of skills involved plus the sacrifices he has had to make. Micah also covered his up coming fight for the Australian light heavy weight title.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

And welcome to Sports Beers. We're up to episode number 32. 32, Micah, with more fun frivolity and pheromones. With myself, John Briggs, or Briggsy, as some of you prefer to call me. There is no Martin today, but with me, I'm very privileged to say, is a man I've known for 20 years. Yeah, at least I'd say 20 years. Professional boxer and all round nice guy, Mr. Micah Rivetti. Micah, good to have you on our podcast, mate.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

And how are you? John, I'm good. Thanks, mate. It's good to be here. Good to catch up with you. Um, yeah, it's um exciting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

See what this has in store for us. It'll have a lot in store, Micah, because as you know, I'm a huge boxing fan, always shown an interest in your career as well, even enlisted your services in a few different areas in the sweet science for myself, once upon a time, for my personal training students as well. And for myself, on the odd occasions, I've tried to double a little bit here and there. So, but anyway, enough of that. We're not here for that. So we're here to talk about yourself in the hardest sport. Micah, what got you into boxing? What age, etc.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

Look, I probably think I was 16 when I got into it. I'd say having three brothers. We mucked around a lot with gloves growing up. Yeah. Watched all the Rocky movies, Bruce Lee movies, and um I think at one point I really wanted to do some fighting, and dad said yes to boxing. So never looked back, always enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Yep, cool. Bruce Lee, come on. He was only a movie actor.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Ah no, come on, he's still an athlete. Can't deny that.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Fair enough. Alright. So, look, as we discussed and have been discussing previous to this recording only half an hour in my living room a little while ago, um, the physical aspects of boxing are massive, aren't they? Can you just explain for the listeners when you go on a boxing camp, what is actually involved?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Look, you need to train according to your fight. So back in the day, people would do lots of road work, lots of runs. These days I think it's a little bit more scientific. So if you're doing an eight-round fight, you train for eight rounds. But your fitness needs to include not just your physical fitness, you need to be training your focus and your concentration, your reflexes, a whole bunch of stuff. But in terms of actually what's involved, like you want to be doing your bag work, you want to be doing your sparring, you want to be doing your sprint work, whether it's on a bike or on a on the road. Yeah, there's uh there's heaps involved that could go on. There's heaps.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

So just on the sprint work, I mean, I I I think that many people might not realize the footwork. We'll talk about skills in footwork in a second, but sprint work, why for the listeners would you need to do sprint work?

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Well, you need to be able to explode at any time. You're you're burning and work, and you've got an opponent in your face, so you're gonna need to be able to, when that opportunity comes up, explode, you need full full ATP capacity. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

So so in other words, you're training your body for the explosive work that you need, and sprinting is really part of that. In other words, it's sort of anaerobic for wanting you're not not getting into too much detail on the science of the words, but that's what it is. It's anaerobic explosive fitness.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Yeah, 100%. You you need to be able to capitalise, not just physically, but be able to send that signal from the brain to the muscle at the key time and let it go.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Unbelievable. So, look, I mean, obviously, as well, depending on how long the fight is, there's endurance involved as well. So, not only do you have to train anaerobically, but you have to train aerobically as well. So, what sort of endurance would you have to do?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Well, you need to be able to say, let's say I'm fighting for half an hour in the ring, not breaks, I need to be able to more than easily hit that at a good hard aerobic level. Yeah, okay. So whether I'm gonna go, okay, I'm gonna train eight rounds on the bag, but I might mix up my bag work from doing constant work where I'm just constantly burning to doing explosive work. But yeah, look, in terms of what I'd do at the moment, I'd do a run for that time at a hard pace.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Like um And what's your hard pace? What sort of how far would the run be and how fast would you be going?

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Look I try and keep it under a five minute K. I'm a bit older these days and a bit slack on the running, but yeah, uh for about a half hour run for something like that. Um more than that doesn't really uh work as efficiently as you need to. It doesn't benefit you, is that what you're saying? I wouldn't say it doesn't benefit you, it always benefits you, like because a lot of it's psychological too in fighting. So if it's strengthening your mind and callousing that up, it's gonna benefit you.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

We'll talk about the mind aspect in a while because obviously that's enormous in such it is the hardest sport, there's no doubt about it. And I don't mean hard as in skills, hardest in every single way. I mean, yes, maybe MMA could be a comparison, but again, that's a bit different again. But I mean, look, there's a lot of sacrifices a professional boxer has to make as well. I mean, the hours that you spend away from home, in your like a cave in a way. I mean, you hear about people like Marvin Hagler, for example, used to go away in his cave and like a train like a like a monk, you know, and nothing distracted him.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Yeah, 100%. So if if you want to do well in this sport, you've got to want it, and you've got to want it from the outset of your training camp, and that does mean sacrifice. So if you're trying to keep up with the socials, go to all the birthdays, all the parties, if you don't miss things, you're not gonna make it. Because a guy that's sacrificing that, yeah, he's bringing that with him into the ring, and uh you'll feel it.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Well, only recently, um a heavyweight called Daniel Dubois, who actually just won last week, but he fought uh Olixander Uzik a few months ago, yeah, and he held a belt of the world championship. He held he was one of the world champions. It's a bit silly that there's you know a few, but he fought Uzik and the night before he had a house party. I was how ridiculous is that?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Look, everyone does do their own thing, whether it was a nerves th nerves thing, who knows? You maybe just wanted to take that pressure off, but yeah, probably not a good idea. Yeah, so I mean again against a guy like Uzik as well. I mean maybe he knew what was coming.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Well, well, quite possibly so, and he just sort of went through the motions. But uh okay, so skills-wise, then so I mean again uh for the listeners who don't know, and I'm sure the people listening who are boxing fans who do know, but it's a very, very, very skillful sport, and it starts well, I don't know if it look the from the little play I've had here and there, it starts with your feet. Would you agree with that or not necessarily?

SPEAKER_00 7:25

No, I think if your feet aren't in the right spot and you're off balance, you don't have power, and also if you're out of position, you're not gonna be able to land your hit. Yeah, so I mean it does start in the feet, starts in the setup. Um, from there, you lot of your power comes from your feet. So I think you're right in saying that for sure.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Okay, so with the feet thing, and you mentioned balance, and balance is a big thing that I'm always talking about in in my fitness training with people and all sports, it's probably the most important thing in life. Without balance, you've got nothing. It's probably the most understated thing in everything that we do, especially sport. How is it so important for boxers to be really well balanced and and why?

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Well, it's your best defense. If you're out of range, you can't get hit. So if your feet are coming in and out and you're tagging, moving out, tagging, moving out, you can't get hit to a degree. Uh, then also it it sets up your angles. So if you're trying to go straight in at an opponent, you're both just going to punch each other in the face. You need to be able to cut an angle with your feet as you come in and be agile enough to do it so it's not obvious, yeah, and then land your shot. Uh it it it's just positioning, it's timing, and you've got to be able to do that obviously with your hands. But if your feet aren't good and your feet fatigue, you see it, guys will stand there, they'll plant, and next thing you know, the other guy's belting them.

unknown 8:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

So balance is everything. And I mean, look, I suppose also if you if you're overreaching on a punch as well, and they and they might hit you when you're well, you're off balance then, aren't you?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, look, if you're leaning too much, your your head's down, heads forward. You I've had coaches that would smack you in the head with something if you're living too far forward. Because like you basically, if you're there, you're vulnerable, you're a target, yeah, you can't move quick enough.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Um and it isn't always this necessarily the power from the opponent's sponge, it's because you're off balance as well that could you know make you pay.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Oh, 100%. If you're off balance, you're you're more likely to take a worse hit. You know what I mean? So and if you're leaning into a shot, it's gonna be worse too.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

So tell me, Mike, tell me about uh things like blocking, slipping, ducking, fainting as well. So fainting for the listeners doesn't mean falling over when it gets hot. So can you explain what a feint actually is?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

So it's basically psyching your opponent, so it's making them think you're throwing a shot, looking like you're committed to that shot and throwing something else, or even just looking like you're throwing that shot to see what they do to set them up. Because you it is a chess game, it's the old saying, you want to be able to go, okay, you want to you're trying to pick patterns, you're trying to see what does my opponent do when I go to throw my jab. Or if I flick the jab to the body, does his hands come down? So you you you're you're mapping things, you're looking at what your next combo is going to be.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

So you might be saving that for two rounds time, perhaps, or do you react immediately to what you read in that opponent?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Look, I think if the if the opportunity's there, you should take it. Okay. I think sometimes, though, if you really want to plant a good one, you need to set it up properly so it's not always rushed. Um it can depend on how many rounds you've got too.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Of course, yes, because obviously the shorter the fight, then you haven't got as much time to work that out. Interesting what you're saying about reading what they're gonna what they do or watching what they do to a faint, let's say, for example, you throw a left jab and watching their their their movements, whether the hands go up or down or whatever it is, then then you are able then to set something else up from that as well.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Yeah, 100%. So if I'm like I've I've got a fight coming up against quite a tall opponent. Um what am I about 5'6 on a good day? He's you're tiny and you're fighting it light heavyweight. Yeah, it's a bit silly, but I don't like to cut so hard these days. Uh and he's six three and he's a good, hungry young uh fighter, but closing that range is a big deal. So I've got to balk, I've got to faint, I've got to try and make him commit before I go in with my shot, otherwise I'm swinging it air.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

So And there's nothing more tiring than swinging it air. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

And it it it's not good for the confidence either. Right. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

No, I'm glad you brought in this uh the conversation about your next fight because you've literally just fought him, haven't you? And it was for a title, I believe. What what was it for?

SPEAKER_00 11:53

That was for the uh WA State light heavyweight title. Um look, it was a close fight. I lost on split point decision. I thought it could have gone either way, but that's fighting. Um yeah, what was that like about two months ago? So we're having a rematch at the end of the month for the uh Australasian light heavyweight title, so they've upgraded it.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

That's brilliant. I've got a s a saying in sport, Mike, and this is not just boxing, every sport, that a lose isn't a lose, it's a learn. So from this last fight, what did you learn to take into the next fight so you can execute your plans better for this one?

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Look, I went in knowing I had to win convincingly, and to be completely fair, I probably wasn't fit enough to do that. Okay. Um I've I liked Hara Ford, I slipped, I closed well, I avoided shots. Um but what I've learnt basically, I I've I've learnt some of his strengths and weaknesses. I know he's doing his homework, he's sparring my old opponents, he's training full time, but I guess I've sort of come up with my own strategy, what I'm going to do. I don't want to give it all away, but uh work to my strengths and also be fit enough to put the herd on when it matters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Would you say you weren't quite fit enough in the last one to do exactly what you wanted to do? Because I mean it's still you're very fit, you have to be.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah, look, we did five rounds of three-minute rounds, so I wasn't unfit, but that explosive stuff we talked about earlier, I didn't get as much as that in as I wanted, didn't get as much sparring in. Yeah. Um and to be honest, at my age I'm 41 and sort of fighting at a pretty high level. The injuries do set you back. So I had had a calf blow up and couldn't do my sprints, and I've adjusted this time around so I can do, but um, yeah, look, I wasn't, I wasn't fully prepared, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

So with your with your fitness training as well, do you cover all bases that for example with things like tight calf muscles, which are a horrible thing to have? Do you do you uh do you get massage and things like that? Or take magnesium and all that ice bars?

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Yep, do the ice bars, do the saunas, do the magnesium. Um got a massage books next book next week. I just had one the other day. There you go. Yeah, you've got to, otherwise, yeah. I I mean when you're younger, you get away with it. You still shouldn't, you should still do that um recovery, that act of recovery. But yeah, definitely at my age, I'm like, you it's you need more of that recovery time for sure.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

You do, don't you? Unfortunately. But age is but a number, Michael, and I I reckon you're gonna knock this guy flying in this next fight. Have you got a I mean I don't again you don't want to give everything away, but being look, I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you most right, you never know. But you you started off as a welter weight, yeah, and that weight is what sixty uh welter's sixty five.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

I think's the official, but I did start at light welter, which is sixty three and a half. Wow. That's been a long time. I've I've fought at welter uh probably three years ago, so I can still get there, but ah man, it's it's that's madness, and and it isn't just reaching the weight or getting down to the weight, is it?

SPEAKER_02 15:18

It's being effective at the weight, because when you obviously when you cut weight, you could possibly lose strength, you could possibly lose um some kind of energy, uh, and also, you know, I mean, can you take the punches differently at different weights?

SPEAKER_00 15:35

A hundred percent. So if you're if you're cutting, especially if you're dehydrating badly, not doing a good weight cut, you feel every shot twice as much, and you actually get hurt more. You you've dropped your power, which is why for me, my body doesn't like doing it anymore. I've done it for a long time. I'd rather fight heavier, even though they're bigger punches coming, I'm I'm hydrated, I'm I'm strong, and I can be half as fit as what it would look like and not get tired on the night.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

That's fascinating. I've always wondered, right? Being just a fanatic of boxing, and how when you take the punch at a heavier weight, I mean you you're your skull isn't thicker, your jaw isn't necessarily any tougher. Um how does that work? I mean you feel you just said you feel the punches more, because obviously a heavier punch is being you you're taking a heavier punch. So how does that affect you though? I mean, during a fight as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Well we're talking about the hydration so much, yeah. Yeah, like well, I guess if you're dehydrated, that padding around your brain's not there. So if you're like a greyhound coming in and you're not hydrated, it's it's dangerous. There's a reason they I guess the MMA has that rehydration clause and stuff, it's probably not a bad idea. Don't you have that though the night before? Nothing that's tested, it's just you should. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

They they do. They used to weigh in on the day, but now it's the day before.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Oh, we weigh in the day before, yeah, yeah. So there is time to hydrate, but if you've stripped yourself too hard, it just it I don't know, I've found it doesn't you don't hydrate properly.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

You can't get it all back.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Your your body's gone into coma mode. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

So I mean we are what 85% water, aren't we?

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Yeah, exactly. But look, in terms of feeling the shots more, you when you've got more mass, yeah, you I think you handle it better. Yes, they hit harder, but I hit harder as well. And it's a sweet art, you hit and not get hit, ideally.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

That's the idea, isn't it? And that's what separates the the the very best from the very best, isn't it? And uh I mean when you think about I mean I again armchair fanatic to a large degree, when you think about watching Floyd Mayweather against someone like Manny Pacquio, I mean the two of them are just absolutely incredible, but really Floyd won that easily against Manny.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Look, I think I've got mixed feelings about that fight. I think Floyd is probably one of the most brilliant athletes there are defensively. You can't fault him, and defensively, actually. He's just he's kind of broke the sport of boxing. And Pacquiao, what an absolute athlete as well. So I I don't think he did it easy. I think he just makes it look easy. I think um that's part of his uh ability to win a fight, is his composure and calm, his reflexes, um, but just his ability to time and read an opponent, really. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Yeah. And the thing is, we again we discussed this before we started this um interview that uh in boxing you're only a matter of inches away from each other, so your reflexes it's not like it's sort of we talked about tennis as an example, yeah. It sort of is, but it's nothing really like it. That uh you're you're only a matter of inches away, that's the first thing. So you have to be so quick and so uh uh adaptable to reading your opponent and countering what they do and everything else, and apart from that, they're gonna they're trying to knock your head off, they're trying to hurt you, and you're trying to hurt them. So, how does that play mentally with you?

SPEAKER_00 19:24

So you need to have it drilled into you to a point that yeah, you're conscious, yeah, you're thinking, but it can't be a cognitive thought, it has to be reflexive, it has to be you've drilled it. So you're you're focused, you're watching, you're reading, but it's almost I'll call it your sleeping mind, your subconscious is the thing doing it. Yeah, so while I'm in there looking at them, I'm not sitting there going, Oh, he's gonna throw this and that, I've got to have my hands here and there. Okay. I'm more it's just a pattern, it's just a response. I've I can see it, I've drilled movement. So when I see a jab coming, I know my options. I can slip in, I can slip out, I can step out of range, I can catch it. It can't be a cognitive thought, otherwise you're too slow and you're getting hit.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

And look, I mean, I heard uh it was actually Mohammed Ali's old manager saying the one that you don't see is the one that gets you out of there. Maybe not get you out of there totally, but when that happens, when a boxer produces a punch that you didn't expect, do you sort of go, gee, well done, you bugger? Or do you go, you bust and I'm gonna get you down?

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Yeah, I had I took a 12-year break from fighting just because of uh back surgery, knee surgery, a few injuries, and I got back in and had a fight um against a fella, Elliot Bork was his name, good guy. But uh yeah, that was exactly it. I I was I had thought I'd lined him up with a nice right hook, and I closed in on him. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I did not see the shot, I didn't even really feel it. I just hit the canvas and I was like, hang on a second, how'd I get here? Yeah, I end up getting up and winning that fight because I was quite fit and conditioned and you recover better. But yeah, I'd I'd say it's true. If you don't see that shot, you've generally walked into it and they've set you up. Right. Like yeah. Was it a left hook just out of interest? Just a straight ride on top of the straight ride on top of the your right. Yeah, he's a bit quicker and a bit straighter.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Wow, there you go. And obviously, straight the the the nice throwing a hook. Yeah. I see. Okay. And that makes a lot of difference too, doesn't it? Flipping subjects here a little bit backwards and forwards, but there's a chess match involved here. And for example, if if an opponent throws a right uppercut, he's leaving all that side exposed because the punch is coming from underneath and there's nothing to protect it. So could you coax them into throwing that uppercut and then you throw a left hook? Oh, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

So it it's there's a counter for every counter. So yeah, I might stick my head forward thinking I'm being like I'm vulnerable. I know the punch I'm trying to get out of them. So as soon as I see them move, I'm going to come with my counter. But there's levels to things, and they're playing the same game. So you need to be sometimes more than one move. Yeah. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Do you I mean, do you ever forget the moves and just go sod it? I I watched Anthony Joshua fight lately. Uh it was last year, and he lost to Daniel Dubois actually, and his cornerman was trying to make him be calm and he goes, No, I'm gonna roll the dice. I'm gonna roll the dice. And he did, and he got knocked out.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Uh 100 yeah, look, definitely. That's there's always an animal level to things, and especially if you get hurt, sometimes you you want to be able to fall back on like your your training, but quite often, especially in early days of fighting, you just see it the the arms start swinging, they plant, and it it'll someone's gonna get knocked out at that point.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

And when that happens, I mean, all technique doesn't go out the window necessarily, but I mean it because boxing the power comes from your feet, doesn't it? The legs, the transference of weight, it isn't just an arm punch, because an arm punch is useless.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Yeah, look, a real snappy knockout hits coming through the whole body from the feet.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Um, an arm punch is gonna slog someone and batter them away, and if you're really fatigued, it might be enough, but it's not truly gonna knock someone out.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the worst you've ever been hit and or hurt, I should say? And there's two different they're two different things, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Look, the worst I ever got hit, um yeah, short notice fight, young up and coming bit of a star athlete. Uh caught me with a shot. It's my fault. Well, it's box, it's a fight, everything's not clean, but I threw a shot and turned my head a little bit, and he caught me with a hook kind of on the back of the head, sort of behind the ear, and it I probably had double vision for about the next round and a half. Oh wow, yeah. That's the worst I've sort of felt a shot without being dropped. Yeah. Um, but yeah, that fight didn't finish well.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Right. And when you've been dropped, do you necessarily feel the punch? I mean, the body shot's different, I know that, but a jaw shot, do you actually really feel it or do you just find yourself on the ground?

SPEAKER_00 24:21

I've only been hit and dropped by a body shot in an actual fight once from that time I told you. But um I early on, I remember I was fighting for a golden gloves title uh years ago, what would have been like 17, and it's the first time I got tagged a nice clean shot on the chin. And I remember it just it's there's different sort of feeling. So that one buckled my knees and sort of turned the lights out, but it didn't drop me. Right, okay. So you carried on fighting? Yeah, so I end up winning the fight, but there's other times where I've been hit and yeah, like the like I said, yeah, on the canvas, and you're like, How'd that happen?

SPEAKER_02 24:59

Uh are you seeing stars? I mean, like the cartoons.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Uh I think you know, it's probably closer to the movie Snatch, where he gets the uppercut and he he falls into a body of water. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

So it sort of dizzies your head, and and and then it's a matter of so your fitness then, obviously, like you touched on earlier, comes into play because that's your recovery as well.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Yeah, 100%. So if you get a big hit and you're fit, it's actually harder to knock a fit. You'll you'll see a lot of opponents when they're fighting each other, they're not gonna it happens people drop each other early, but it's harder to drop a guy who's fresh, who's fit and um he'll recover better. But if you're not fit, when getting knocked down sucks the life out of you, it makes your stomach feel sick, yeah. You it does rattle you, you feel wobbly, and that's why usually if someone's been dropped and the opponent closes, it's gonna be game over. Yeah. Um, but if you're super fit, you can sort of rally and defend and come back from it. But yeah, yeah, it's a big adrenaline spike and it really saps you. Yeah, well, it would, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_02 26:04

And I mean, then of course there's confidence involved as well and all that kind of thing. I'm gonna fire some quick fire questions at you, Michael, here. So, because we're coming to a close of this fantastic interview. So, what was your most difficult opponent?

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Look, in terms of I fought a guy years ago, I think it was my fifth or sixth pro fight, uh, Mick Shaw, Pony Shaw, he was just levels above me, and I didn't know. I went in there thinking, oh yeah. It wasn't that it was super difficult. I just remember getting in there and getting hit with a jab that I didn't even know was coming, you know? Right, yeah. I was like, uh-oh. Yeah, I I'm a bit outclassed here. And and I adapted, and I think we did six rounds together, but I just remember feeling outclassed the whole fight. Was he a very skillful fighter or not so hard a puncher or just skill? Very skilled, very fast, and just I felt like an open book. And I realised at that point there's levels.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Right, but you've learned a lot since then in a in a long career. So, gun shy. It's a word or two words there I've come across in boxing from lots of reading about it, and when you get knocked out once, you know, there's an old phrase that says you might be gun shy, which means you obviously means you you're afraid to let your punches go.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Does that really make a difference? Look, I think it does. I think you see it in different opponents, um, sorry, in different athletes, like who am I thinking of? Anthony Joshua. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I he's an excellent athlete, but he's said himself, like, you know, if I go get batted like this, I'm I'm gonna give it away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. People do get gunshot, some guys uh have gone their whole career dominating, and the time they get knocked out, they realise this isn't for me anymore. So it does affect people.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

You you beat me to it with that last comment, and with the fact when somebody knows they can be knocked out, that makes a big difference as well. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Um yeah, I I don't know what to say.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

You can go through your career, for example. I mean, Rocky Marciano was never beaten, but other fighters like that, they they can get knocked out and then suddenly is it the confidence that goes or and how does then how does then that affect you physiologically?

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Look, I do think once you've been knocked out, you tend to get knocked out easier. I I'd say that. Like I never used to feel shots when I was younger, and I've been dropped and put down these days, and maybe that's age, but yeah, I'm more aware of the fact that I need to keep my hands up. I need to it's fascinating, isn't it? Because the shots are shot. Yeah. So why would it affect is it because you're prepared or not prepared or or what? Look, it'd be a combination of things. I think um I think a lot of it is psychological, though. I think a lot of it is there's a part of your brain that uh maybe there's a limiter that's turning on saying, you know what, this is a bit of self-preservation, you're going down.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

A bit like a slow sort of when you're having a car crash, you know, it's in slow motion, perhaps. Yeah. What do you love about boxing, Micah?

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Look, I love the challenge, I love the the fact there's nowhere to hide. You're in front of a group of a crowd, yeah, and you it's a test, it's a challenge. I like the chess match. But I guess over the years for me, I've had a lot of ups and downs in the sports and things that I could be upset about, but I really like the community, I like um what the clubs do for young people, um, just giving them an alternative to being thugs. It turns them into athletes and it turns them into people that realise that a punch is a dangerous thing and and you should respect people. Like I think there's a lot of respect in the sport. I know people put on personas, but I've I'm yet to actually meet uh someone in the boxing community that isn't actually a decent enough person.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

And that's very, very, very true. And a lot of people have a uh a misinformed opinion of boxers, and they are some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life, and uh and it's because they've learnt that respect and they've learned the control and they've learned that you don't do it outside the ring. And and yes, I mean it can change lives, can't it? I mean, there's kids who might have been in a gang and suddenly they're they're involved with this, and it's literally transformed their life.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Look, it you hear these stories all the time. I I've got similar stuff in my life where I was a pretty angry young teenager, and that was my outlet. I could have been a lot different in my outlet. But um, and look, the it's it's one of those places where you'll get a police officer in their training against an ex-con. Right. And and you'll get uh a kid who's like might be a private school, what someone might call a softy in there sparring against this kid who's a hard little street kid. And the thing is it's a it's a great equalizer. Of course it is. And it's yeah, I've just seen these all that stuff get left at the door, yeah. And these people pat each other on the back and support each other.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

And it's it's uh well it's an even playing field from that moment, isn't it? And then there's the mutual respect because there's no you can't really cheat. Well you can, but but they it's very difficult to cheat and it's very difficult to do the wrong thing. You can't do a king hit in a boxing match, can you really?

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Well, I mean if you can, you can try for it, but yeah, you'll get disqualified and it'll ruin your career.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

So what don't you like about it?

SPEAKER_00 31:34

Look, I what don't I like about boxing? Oh, all the dieting, all the running and the training, all the stuff that I love, I don't like it as well. Yeah. Um look, sometimes I think that you do get moments where people's egos run away with them um in the sport, but you get that in anything. Yeah, there's not so much I don't like, but um and it's it it's one of those sports that you you see all the time people aren't in the same headspace on who should have won a fight. Right. And you see decisions that don't go the right way. Yeah. Look, I've I've refereed and sorry, uh judged fights and I didn't know that. There you go. Yeah, a couple of times, and it's tough. It's tough to score them sometimes, and you're gonna have biases. Yeah. So I get it, but that's probably the side of the sport I wish they'd maybe bring in a bit of computer tech or something to actually.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

I was only thinking the same thing a few days ago, actually. Yeah, you're probably right, because it takes away the the the personal preferences of what style a judge may like or what they don't see. I mean, you even at the very highest level, it's I mean some stinking decisions. But okay, what's your Sunday punch? What's your favourite? What do you like to knock someone flat with? Probably the overhand right, to be honest. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Is that because you might be shorter than your opponent?

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Uh I think it's just because when it when it when you hit it and it bangs, it it does it, it does the job. Fair enough too, yeah. Okay. Do you get nervous before a big fight? I do. I think I think if you're not getting nervous anymore, uh there's something wrong. Yeah. I definitely don't get the same level of nerves. I manage them differently. But um, yeah, you always get nervous.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

You have to, don't you? But it's channeling the nerves. Is it a lot of difference between nerves and being scared? Yeah. For example, have you ever had fear in the ring?

SPEAKER_00 33:27

No, I wouldn't call it fear. It's it's I mean, you're aware, like every now and then you get a you you jump in and that first little engagement, you're like, oh okay, yeah, I need to be wary. These these ones are gonna sting. So it's not so much fear, you're in there, you know what you're doing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two more questions before we go.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

So, who is your idol? Who is your boxing idol?

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Look, I love Rocky Marciano. Like, yeah, I thought I'm Italian background, I was like, Of course, yes. Yeah, uh, I grew up. Uh look, have move in mind blank. I really love Manny Pacquiao, he was one of my favourites, but growing up, probably Costa Zoo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you see the Hassan Zoo fight just out of interest? Yeah, that broke my heart a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 34:12

Talk about actually, I thought I saw it, obviously saw it, and then the day before I thought, talked about dehydration. I thought Costa was dehydrated, his eyes looked very dark and sunken, and that and that and apparently that was the case.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Yeah, I I think so too. I think he and that's the thing, you can never be the top of the game the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 34:31

There's always going to be somebody, especially right in there. Now, one more question, and then there are thousands of boxes in the world, right? We talked about this on the couch earlier. What separates the good from the amazing just in a very quick sentence? If you can do it in a sentence.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

How bad you want it, um and and what you're willing to sacrifice.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

See, you've got someone like Marciano who didn't have a lot of slick skills, he was like a bull, just a bull. But obviously he did have more skills because he actually didn't get hit that often. Yeah. Um when you really look at it. But then you've got someone like an Ali younger version, of course, and then Floyd Mayweather, Sugar A. Leonard, they're slicksters, aren't they, who don't get hit very often. So what makes their skills, I mean, is it preter natural bloody reflexes that or do they practice those things?

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Look, there's a certain level of natural ability, but practice, drills, putting in the hours is going to beat that. But if you put those two together, that's when you get your grades.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

And that's the same in nearly every sport, isn't it? I suppose, you know. But I tell you what, though, you've got your fight coming up in how long?

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Uh what are we? 29th. So how are we? Ten days now?

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Is that all it is?

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Ten days time, and you're fighting for an Australian title? It's the Australasian light heavyweight title.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

And what weight are you right now? I'm pretty well bang on weight. I'm 79 and a half kilo.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

That's awesome. So you don't have to worry about that. So now it is it just sort of is it the taper?

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Not for me, because I'm not cutting. I'm keeping pretty hard training up to about five days out, then I'll taper down. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

Yeah. And then you just trust the skills uh for the night. Do you have a you're not gonna give it away, but you obviously have a bit of a a plan?

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Yeah, I have a plan. Um I basically don't think either of us plan on doing the eight rounds. So that the plan is basically to be patient, but I'm I'm looking to put him away. Press the attack, yeah, put him on the back foot and go for the kill.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

Pretty pretty well, mate. Micah, it's been an absolute pleasure uh again. Uh, and thank you really so much for coming along to do this. And uh look, I'll be rooting for you on the night. Cheers, John. Thank you very much, mate. You're welcome, buddy. Cheers, Micah.