City Boy Fight Club

This programme contains some strong language.

In the ring, I subconsciously go to a different place. My mind goes elsewhere.

I've had a couple of people come up to me afterwards and say, "You're absolutely terrifying."

White collar boxing is sort of something that people organise

in a private way so they can have a scrap.

A bit like a drug.

Once you've done it once, you want to do it again and again and again.

His opponent facing him across the ring here tonight.

-Please welcome into the ring...

-BELL RINGS

Every night of the week,

including Sundays, there's white-collar shows going around.

It's just exploded. Everybody's getting on the scene.

Doctors, lawyers, city bods, dealers.

I'm an estate agent.

I'm a financial analyst.

Men's ego, young men's ego.

It's like they go out and have a drink and they want to fight.

This is it, that is the house.

He's a typical estate agent who likes to be a bit big about stuff

when he doesn't need to be and looks a bit silly.

To be fair, though, I am competitive

about pretty much everything as well.

There is no pride and glory without the pain to go with it.

I'm going for a knockout.

I work in central London, in prime central London.

My title is head of lettings.

You come to town and you say, "I'm looking for, I don't know,

"a five-bedroom house, it's got to be within this perimeter,

"it's got to have a Jacuzzi and a helipad. Here's our budget."

We'll go and we'll help you find whatever it is you're looking for.

I work for an estate agency currently, in property management.

First month, I was the best negotiator in my office.

Second month, I was the top negotiator in the entire company.

In my second month. And I'd never done negotiating in my life.

There is always going to be an element of stress.

There's always going to be an element of pressure.

It's a tough job, it really is,

and you've got to find a way of letting your hair down.

You'll burn out otherwise.

SHOUTING

Josh is probably...

I see him as a person who has been given quite a lot.

Obviously his parents and family are well-to-do.

How do I feel when I think of Challon?

It's a mixed bag of emotions.

We started off with a quite warm friendship.

We trained together, we worked together in the gym.

Arrogant...

selfish...

boring, really.

He claims that his shoulder popped out of its socket

but watching those videos back,

and I've watched them from three or four different angles,

I've watched them hundreds of times, you can see that it didn't come out.

I think the reason why he cares so much is because he knows he

didn't win. If he is going round bad-mouthing me, saying,

"He didn't dislocate his shoulder, he knew he was losing,"

that's complete and utter trash.

It could be any number of things. It could be that he got into

the ring and there was a huge amount of pressure on him,

huge amount of stress, which could happen to anybody.

What do you do in that situation?

Do you turn round to the ref and say, "I'm done"?

Do you get your corner lad to throw in the towel?

Or do you injure yourself, or fake an injury? What would you do?

It's a difficult one to call.

I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

I put out the challenge to him and I said to him, you know,

"Come down, let's have a rematch." He's accepted.

You know, you've got to give him credit for that.

You know, this isn't what we do day-to-day.

I said to myself if I ever turned up on session and I saw him there,

I'd turn around and walk out because, to be honest, we probably

wouldn't even make it to the fight on 17 November.

-Oh, you're here. How are you doing?

-Yeah, yeah. Good. Good. Good.

Your friend's over there, by the way.

-Sure.

-Yeah?

-Go for it.

-Thank you.

So he's stood there, I'm stood on the other side.

I keep thinking in the back of my mind, I keep thinking,

"Has he see me? Should I say something?

"Shouldn't I say something?" It's a weird situation to be in.

You can hold a grudge against someone.

Maybe they pissed you off or said something behind your back

or whatever. But it's a completely different thing.

You've physically fought this person and you've got

a grudge against them to a degree which is insurmountable.

You can't really compare it to anything because it was

a fight which never finished.

He just walked in. You guys were filming.

He annoyed me a little bit. He acted very arrogant.

He didn't even look at me when speaking to me.

And he said, "I hope you're ready this time,"

and just carried himself

in a completely different way to how he used to.

Just thinking he's a princess fighter now, which...

Princess is right.

That's about it.

If anything, I want it more.

I want it more now. Definitely. Yeah.

Yeah, there was anger. There was anger.

The first white-collar show,

it was all between the American man in the money market

and a dealer here.

So much blood, it's disgusting.

Their job is nothing to do with physicality and then they're

suddenly trying to prove themselves in physicality

in front of all their friends.

White-collar fighting is a different breed of fighters.

If he's bigger than you, bring him in close.

It is stronger than you

then you keep your distance and you fucking hit him hard.

It's that element of danger.

-INTERVIEWER: Would you do it again?

-Fuck no.

Yeah, they want to be mini celebrities, don't they?

They go there and they all pat them on the back,

"Oh, great night the other night."

He's got all the girls in the office, you know.

Like a little bit of... star status, isn't it, you know?

'..EE voice mail.

'I'm sorry but the person you've called isn't available.

'Please leave your message after the tone.'

Hi, Challon. Good morning. I'm not impressed.

It's 10:30 and you're not at training.

Can you please give me a call back as soon as you get this message

and let me know what's going on? Thanks.

Challon's meant to be here today and we've only got X amount of

weeks to do it so we've got to try and cram in as much as we can.

Well, it's taking the piss, basically.

I left the actual house party at about, I think, 12.

I left everyone there and went to bed with the intention of

going to training. I woke up at, like, nine, I was like...

Ergh... Nah. Nah.

So that's where the commitment and motivation is failing

a little bit on Sundays.

It's been a really, really tough week.

Got a couple of deals in, which was good.

Come on, Josh. Come on, Lloyd. Come on.

Change here, go home, have something to eat,

get an early night, wake up,

probably go for a run first thing if I can,

and then, yeah, straight to work.

Again, gym bag with me, come straight from work to here.

Do the same thing again.

That was my progression photo, so that was a year's difference.

So, I had a couple of extra pounds on me.

Um...

I mean, it was a hell of a journey, going through all that, but, um,

I think I dropped most of the weight in my hair, by the looks of it.

I've invited 146 people.

It'll be the main fight.

Couldn't get more white-collar than that.

KNOCK AT DOOR

-Hello!

-Hi, you all right?

-Do you want tea?

-Coffee, please.

Did it look like he'd dislocated his shoulder, from outside the room?

-Well... If somebody sort of goes like that...

-Mm.

..it kind of looks like it.

You don't know. You can't tell.

It's impossible to tell - especially if someone's been hitting you.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It would appear that way, yes.

It looked like that.

You can tell me if he dislocated his shoulder.

FIGHT PLAYS ON PHONE

The thing is, with Josh, everything in life has to be fair -

from a little boy, everything had to be fair,

and I think that he felt,

because he hadn't, perhaps, beaten this chap to a pulp,

perhaps he felt like he hadn't really won properly.

'Come on, Josh!'

-Who was that?!

-Louis.

He came home one day home one day,

he was black and blue all over his face.

I mean, somebody had hit him in the eye, and the mouth,

and - I mean, how do you explain that when you go to work?

-I think it was one hit in the nose.

-No, no, no, it was more than that.

I don't like seeing him do things like that.

It's worrying.

-It's like a... It's a rooftop bar, it's really nice.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

There's always that notion in the back of your mind,

you know, something could go wrong.

All it takes is one wrong slip, you know.

You walk into a punch too quickly.

Or he clocks you with a right too high -

all it takes is that one punch.

There is obvious concern that, you know, at the same time,

it's that motto, and that way of life, you know,

there is no pride and glory without the pain to go with it.

One of the issues thrown up

is this idea of the sort of darker side of the sport, if you like.

The area which is unregulated.

I wrote a blog in 2013 on white-collar boxing -

what you should know before you sign up to box, because I saw these guys

getting involved in these events, and being mis-sold these packages,

and getting themselves into something

they didn't really understand.

Oh, lovely! Yeah!

Yeah!

You'd like to think that in the UK,

you'd assume that if you signed up for a boxing show,

and the boxing event was being run, particularly, at a licensed bar,

that it would be reputable, it would be controlled

and it'd be under provisions -

and the reality is, a lot of these shows, it's not.

There is no overall body regulating them,

and this is a problem we've got.

It's got the potential to spiral out of control,

and the risk is someone will get hurt or killed.

The reality is, boxing, on any level, boxing is a sport,

and it is an art form - but it's also primal, and it's a fight,

and if you think, in front of a thousand people,

someone's not going to try and jump all over you when they hurt you,

you're very, very mistaken.

Pure intention of taking Joshua's head off.

It will come to fruition.

No issue whatsoever. Commitment on point.

That's better.

Good session. Seeing it was just me,

it's a lot more attention just on me.

We will get somebody in and work on his shoulders,

and make sure that the shoulder is right before the night.

So, that shouldn't be a problem.

Do you think he's further ahead than Josh?

-Yeah.

-Mm. So do I.

-In fitness, I do think he's further than Josh.

-So do I.

Going to get his head. Play some games.

Seeing that he wanted to walk in nice and arrogant

to our little weigh-in the other week, see how he handles it.

See if he's man enough to take a bit of shit

from The Northern Assassin.

We shall fuckin' see!

Come on, come on - show me you want to beat him.

Show me you want to beat him. Hit that bag.

Come on, come on - snap it, snap it.

Harder! Boom!

It's coming up real quick.

I think this is properly going to be the last session I've got.

After that, no more.

We know, from the first fight, what we did wrong.

This time, definitely throw some punches.

The first fight, he never threw enough punches.

He was trying to defend too much.

-Why are you putting yourself through it?

-I'm in it to win.

-Exactly.

-What do you want it for?

-For me.

-Exactly.

This is not fucking about. This is reality now. Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK?

Yeah? Yeah?

OK, jump out.

-Have you been thinking about this weigh-in at all today?

-Yeah.

Yeah, a little bit - cos as I say, you know,

it's the first time I'm going to see Challon.

It is now 10 past... 5 past 7.

We've got the weigh-ins today.

All of the boxers, bar a few, are going to be coming down.

Strip!

I knew this bit was coming.

He was supposed to be here at 7:00, it's now 8:05,

and he still hasn't arrived.

Jim, I think, usually closes about nine o'clock, so... He's not here.

So, can only hope that he does turn up at some point.

Challon, hi, it's Tony.

Look, I discovered your text - I need to speak to you.

I don't want to text you and all that sort of stuff.

Give me a call and we can just find out what we're going to do

and how we're going to do it.

So, I just got a text from Challon,

basically saying that he's going to be pulling out.

To be fair, right now, I think is a first prize dickhead,

if I'm honest.

Right now, if he came here, and he came here,

I probably taken in the ring myself.

It's the night before the fight, and it's...

four in the morning...

and I can't sleep.

So, not exactly going to be very well rested for this, unfortunately.

-Challon here yet?

-No, he's not here yet.

Challon. Have you seen him?

-Challon not turned up yet, no?

-Not yet.

-Are you expecting him to?

-Yeah.

Yeah?

Challon's not turning up. He's not coming.

Um... So, I've got another fight, but...

It's, um...

It's not what I trained for.

This is what I've been saying since day one -

the whole point is to fight Challon.

All of this is based around fighting Challon.

I just didn't want to fight.

I just wasn't in it. My heart wasn't in it at all. My head wasn't in it.

I couldn't give two damns about Josh.

I could not care less if he trained for two years and I dropped out.

I was afraid to get in the ring, I wasn't afraid of losing.

I just did not want to do it.

It's not over until it's over.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah?

Well, he may turn up. You don't know.

He may turn up. And if he does, what's your view?

-If he does turn up any time, you want to?

-I still want to, yes.

He's here?

I kept flitting from between that aspect, and then...

"Oh, but I could fight him. I want to fight him."

I'm a complicated one when it comes to that sort of crap.

Is this fight happening?

-I'll leave that to you.

-He's doing a medical at the moment.

At least now we know we've got a fight.

'Cracking fight, ladies and gentlemen.

'Get behind your fighters.'

Left one.

That's better.

'This is the fight of the night, ladies and gentlemen.'

The entire time we were stood in that holding area,

he did not look at me once.

He didn't look at me until he was stood in front of me in the ring,

when, obviously, the cameras were on, and he had to look hard.

He's dropped his bollock already, today, yeah?

-So, he's obviously, he's quite fragile and this man, yeah?

-Yeah.

So, first round, keep your garden nice and tight, yet?

Don't let him come onto you. Just throw fucking punches, Josh.

I could hear the other coach, of his, say, "Oh, he's bottled it.

He's bottled it. He's already bottled it."

It was clear that Josh then thought I HAD bottled it,

that I didn't want to be there.

At that point, I was ready to be there.

'Make some noise for Challon The Assassin.

'Fighting in the red corner, Josh The Bull.'

Everything which you been training for for three months

all boiled down to this one moment, you know, and it's indescribable.

-'Round one!'

-BELL DINGS

Oh, fuckin' hell! Get hm!

Now, stand up, stand up, stand. Stand up, stand up - relax.

Relax, give me your hand. Pull it up. How is it?

When his shoulder went at the beginning of the first,

I was very worried it is going to get called.

I could see the disappointment in his eyes, as well.

Pull it. Fucking pull it.

Ow! Not that fuckin' hard, man!

Bullshit!

No, no, no, wait - calm down.

All that toing and froing, all the training, for me and for Josh,

and it went in less than, what?

Five seconds. Maybe ten if you're lucky.

That's just ridiculous.

No-one's shoulder should do that -

especially not mine, when I've been training, as well.

The referee was saying to me, "Are you going to continue?"

And what went through your mind?

"Yeah, he's going to continue."

Josh, Josh!

Move in, Josh! Move in.

Come on, Josh! Jab, one, two.

Jab and right hand, Josh. Jab and right hand.

Circle the other way, Josh. Too wide!

I wouldn't say he's a shit fighter...

but he's not a fighter.

He lacks the mobility and the athletic ability

to be able to do that sort of stuff.

I'd beat him at any sport.

Apart from netball. I can't play netball.

I hate netball.

You've got to throw some more punches, yeah?

Because he's fighting with one arm, Josh. Yeah?

And the thing is, the referees going to be looking at this, yeah?

He's throwing two and three punches with the one hand, yeah?

Come on, Josh!

Throw, Josh! Throw, Josh! Come on!

BELL DINGS

'Great battle, lads. Well done, both of you.

'We have a winner - and the winner is...

'the blue corner!

'Well done, lads, both of you. Cracking fight to end the night...'

I knew I'd won.

At one point, before the referee put my arm up,

as did raise my right on my left arm, going, "Yeah, mine."

This intense ten weeks - or two months, three months,

however long it lasted for -

of training, very, very intense training,

was, like, that was just over.

Do you have any injuries?

No, none.

Um...

Pride, maybe. Nothing else!

No physical injuries, anyway.

I'm not 100% convinced I did give it everything that I have.

Again, I'd like to think that I did,

but there's always that little bit in the back of my mind,

because I lost, thinking, "Did I really give everything that I had?"

Do you feel that you took it too seriously?

I don't think so, you know,

everybody approaches things differently, don't they?

So, I mean, for me, it's 100% or 0%, you know?

There's no point doing something half-arsed. Um...

Otherwise, why bother?

I lost to a nine-year-old girl in the British Championships.

She was nine.

She beat me.

I did not like that.

So, yes. Everyone loses.

Back to work, you know? Back to the everyday.