Competition is one of the best ways to learn. However, the lessons you take from a competition are not necessarily as you’d expect. That is what happened to Masters Academy instructor Louis during his preparation for his pro boxing debut.
In this short interview, Louis shares his experience training for his first professional boxing match and the most important lessons he learned from the experience.
Transcription of the Interview
Tom: Hey guys, welcome to this live stream. I’m here with coach Louis, we’re gonna be talking about his experience post his boxing debut, this weekend.
This is Louis’ first pro boxing fight. He’s been training nearly two years for that. It’s been a long road getting him to this point, so it’s pretty exciting for him to be able to do that.
Obviously, he did really well, but let’s do a little bit of back story first. How long have you been training Louis?
Louis: I think I started when I was about four.
Tom: I remember seeing you at a kick-a-thon when you were like four, and you did about a millions of kicks for a charity. I think it was around then when you started.
Louis: I’m 21, I can’t do maths now.
Tom: 17 years?
Louis: Yeah, 17 years, yeah.
Tom: You trained Kickboxing, Thai boxing, K 1, Boxing, all kinds of different stuff. And, you’ve fought a little bit before in Muay Thai, Points fighting, all kinds of styles, right?
Louis: Yeah, quite a few different styles of martial arts, and quite a lot of fights altogether.
Tom: How was the experience of this first pro boxing fight for you?
Louis: It was probably the best I’ve ever felt during competition. Every time I’ve fought before there’s always been a lot of nerves or pressure or having people to perform in front of.
For this event, I sold a lot of tickets, about 120 tickets. I was expecting to feel a lot of pressure going in, but actually it was so nice having everyone cheer for me and not the other guy.
Tom: What do you put the lack of nerves down to, was it preparation or something else?
Louis: I think just change in mindset. I took the pressure right off myself and everything felt good. I felt like I had nothing really to prove. I think I’ve missed the competition. I’ve missed the push. It kind of felt like stepping out on stage, a bunch of support.
Tom: Perfect, and so how did this compare to your previous fights? You said you were less nervous but in terms of getting in the ring and things like that and obviously not having to deal with being kicked as well as punched?
Louis: Kicking is a lot more painful.
Tom: Right, as expected.
Louis: A lot more painful. I want to say you get punched in the head a lot more in boxing, I’ll say that much, which kind of sucks a little bit. But from the kicking aspect, even when you’re doing really well in the fight, and you’re controlling the pace of the fight, I think the next day tends to be a little bit sorer.
Tom: Yeah, I remember you came in and you said you felt fine.
Louis: Yeah.
Tom: Which is nice.
Louis: I had a little bit of a sore nose, and that was my own fault.
Tom: That’s good. What about in terms of your opponent? Did he come out as you expected?
Louis: Yeah, we watched a bunch of videos before the fight. Knew what he likes to do, knew he likes to switch stance. We were prepared for that style, but I didn’t actually expect the fight to be, it sounds really strange, but that fun.
Usually, it’s really competitive in there, and you’re both really serious, but I think there were parts in there we were exchanging smiles and a few words here and there, which is quite fun actually.
Tom: Brilliant. What’s the biggest thing that you’d sat that you learned from the whole experience of your boxing debut.
Louis: This is gonna sound so cheesy and cliché.
Tom: Okay, brilliant, I love a bit of cheese.
Louis: Perseverance.
Tom: It has been a long road to get you to this point, what two years?
Louis: It should have taken about six months. I think on the way I had an operation on my eyes when I was 17, which pretty much held my back and a bunch of other complications along the way.
It’s cost a lot of money, and it’s taken a lot to get to where we are now. I can definitely say throughout the two-year period, there was a lot of question marks.
Everyone said to me on the outside, “How do you stay so composed?” The truth is that I almost quit probably a hundred times over I think to be fair. Everything you run into is hopeless.
Tom: Perseverance is the main …
Louis: Is the main one, yeah.
Tom: The main thing, okay. Brilliant, that’s really good. What are your goals for boxing? You want to go as far as possible obviously.
Louis: That’s pretty much it really. I think the best thing about the two-year period is the pro-boxing world is definitely something you have to … It’s very different to kickboxing and other competitions. It’s a little bit political as well. There’s a lot that goes into it, which isn’t just getting in there and fight.
I think that one of the best things was that I was able to learn an awful lot because I haven’t really been on the outside altogether. What was the question again?
Tom: What your goal for boxing are?
Louis: Yeah, I suppose the goals are yeah, go as far as possible. We’ll have the first few fights, and that will be building up a bit of experience and hopefully generate a little bit of a base …
Tom: So the world one day basically.
Louis: Yes, that’s the goal.
Tom: Okay, brilliant, nice. One final question, what’s the one thing I should have asked you but didn’t?
Louis: I would say when’s the next one.
Tom: When is the next one?
Louis: I think we’re looking at, hopefully, we’ve got one in Plymouth on the 29th of July, which is showing some potential at the moment. Maybe a bit of a holiday, which we’ve been after.
Tom: Okay, an all-inclusive holiday.
Louis: Yeah.
Tom: Don’t want to go straight back on the diet.
Louis: No, it’s all inclusive as well.
Tom: Oh okay, brilliant.
Louis: That’s the only problem I was thinking, oh I’ve had enough of this dieting. We’ll do an all inclusive holiday, and now I’m thinking ahh.
Tom: Okay, brilliant. Any final thoughts? Anything you’d like to say?
Louis: No, not really.
Tom: Okay, brilliant.
Louis: Get tickets for the next one.
Tom: There you go, get tickets for the next one. Support Louis on his next fight. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
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