Episode 2 Fight Game: The McGuigans

And the new WBA featherweight champion of the world!

It's hard to believe that it's over and done with

and we're now moving on to the next stage.

Carl was the first Northern Ireland boxer

to win two weight division titles.

We beat an unbeaten hall of fame fighter, and he beat him in

one of the fights of the year.

Carl's going to take a deserved holiday but, you know,

when he can stop and relax, we've got to work the other kids.

We've got young Conrad Cummings fighting a guy called Ronny Mittag.

This is a really important time for Conrad.

This is last chance saloon.

Switch yourself on now, OK?

This is the biggest year of Shane's life because he's getting married

to his childhood sweetheart, Sophie Leniston.

I obviously need to thank my mother and father.

All I ever wanted to do from a young age was to impress you

and make you both proud.

He's an awful lot on his shoulders.

It's day after day after day with the fighters and then

he's finished one fight and he's gathering pace for the next one.

Unless you are ready, 100% prepared,

it is a brutal business.

This is the most important year of my life.

This programme contains some strong language

Did you see that article on the worst boxing nicknames?

Is he in it?

Seriously, did you not see it?

-Are you in it?

-He's in it.

He's number three.

LAUGHTER

Followed by Conrad!

Are these boys coming to your wedding?

Yeah. They've not been invited, but they're coming.

My son Shane is effectively the driving force behind Cyclone,

behind our stable.

Right-hand, Conrad. Come on. Where is it, mate?

I listen to him in the training and I listen to the way

he's able to prise the best out of them.

He doesn't take any bullshit,

he just doesn't do it.

It's about being the best.

He's just born and bred to win.

Come on. Pick it up. Go.

Dad, take it down, mate.

Take it down, please.

Good. Where's your body shot at?

One-two, come on.

I know what my dad's achieved and I know it's more than I've achieved or

I could ever achieve as a boxer, so I'm incredibly proud

of my dad and I'm incredibly inspired by him.

Now that we can work together side by side,

I'm not afraid to voice my opinion

and he doesn't overpower my opinion.

He respects it and if he doesn't agree with me, he'll tell me.

Punch, punch, punch. Nonstop.

I often clip his heels

and we do have fall-outs and I'll go home effing and blinding in the car

and thinking that he's an abrupt, rude little bastard,

and he probably thinks I'm a stupid old codger,

but we really respect each other.

The more you fucking wind him up, the easier it is to read.

If you keep giving him fucking instructions -

not saying YOU - but if he keeps getting wound up,

he becomes easier to read.

I love him being in the stable, having him being in camp.

He frustrates me at times,

but he's definitely that person I will look to for inspiration

and also help in a sticky situation.

He's always been there.

What I feel like now, going on in this stage in our career,

I can repay him in the sense

that I can train professional fighters to get to a certain level

and I want my dad involved the whole time.

When his hands are up like this...

Put your hands up. When your hands were up,

you were feeding him shots.

That's normally a feed to go there or a feed to go there.

Instead of going like that,

to create space there and go hook and then go hook that way.

You were allowing him to close it down too much.

You were kind of doing this a little bit to push him off.

-Yeah.

-Just get underneath and push him off...

Where we've actually come from and what we've done,

it's pretty enormous.

More photographs, Mummy?

-Any more photographs?

-What other pictures do you have there?

Is that your marriage?

That's where we got married, Barry.

-This is outside the chapel in Clones, right?

-Yeah.

Did he rent the suit, Mum?

-Did he?

-No, he did not.

Cos it looked like a rented tie.

No, it was a new tie.

The tie looks like... Seriously.

'My mum was really the foundation of my life

'and one of the most important people in my life because she'

had eight children

and she ran the grocery business

that sustained us, and my father was a musician

and he supplemented that with the money he earned as a singer.

And she was very much the bedrock of the family,

and so it was a big family thing and we'd all help out in the shop

and bring all the vegetables from the back of the yard round to

the front of the shop and present them. And then I'd go in

and I'd brush the shop out and mop the floor,

and we probably had the busiest grocery shop in Clones.

And then when I started my boxing,

I had a lot of fans, people who came to see and me and support me

because of shopping in our shop, as it were, so it was great.

That's how it all started.

Wow. WOLF WHISTLE

-I know that.

-Sex appeal.

Without the facial hair.

'That's how family became such an important part of it.

'We've gone...just like that, but you don't get anywhere

'without working hard or without putting everything into it.'

That's Dermot.

'And, you know, I had a decade of success and then I had,

'like, a decade of disaster.'

'The first thing was my dad died,

'and the year after, I lost my world title.

'Then I had a huge court case with my ex-manager

'that went on for almost two years...

'..and my brother took his own life.'

My brother is on my shoulder...

..because...

Yeah.

He's... My brother died, er, 1994.

He committed suicide,

and he was a fabulous coach...

..and he was very close to me

and...

I see so much of him in...

in my three lads.

Particularly Shane.

And he's very much like him

and I know he would be very proud of him.

I can't change what's happened, but he was a great guy

and I know he's with me in spirit.

I know that.

Father Brian. How are you doing? Are you good?

Great to see you.

For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health for all the days of my life.

So clear.

OK. Brilliant.

2016 has been a phenomenal year for us. We went to America,

we beat an unbeaten fighter in a fight of the year

and then to have my son getting married in Majorca

to the love of his life,

and have all my family travel out there, it's been fantastic.

It's always a bit longer. It's fine.

Guys, if you stand in a row, we'll get your flowers done for you.

Blain's got the right idea over there.

It's exactly what I need to do.

-He just has to take a deep breath.

-Exactly. Take a deep breath.

All good.

I don't look sweaty.

Do you think it's probably easier to walk, Shane?

-I haven't even met you yet.

-Sorry, I was so sweaty.

It's OK.

So Shane and Sophie are now husband and wife.

CHEERING

I obviously need to thank my mother and father.

-Mum...

-HIS VOICE BREAKS

-I'm going early!

All I ever wanted to do from a young age was to impress you

and make you both proud.

So without you, I wouldn't be the man I am today. So...

'I kept looking up at people'

and my whole plan was to look up and speak to the individual

that I was thanking, but then it just got a bit too much

and Frampton was the one that cracked me, actually.

Frampton, we've been... on a journey, mate. Fucking hell.

Yeah.

And those videos, they won't reach Twitter, don't worry about it.

He got emotional when he spoke about me more than anyone else,

which was strange.

I remember sitting, I was sitting pretty close to the top table and

he had this little frog in his throat when he mentioned me.

It was... It was good.

Obviously, it was good. It shows you that he cares a lot about me.

All his athletes, like all of us,

talk about Shane with such enthusiasm and belief.

This is a testament to not just his hard work,

but his drive to be better himself and those around him.

You can see...

You can see why I'm so proud of him.

APPLAUSE

And Jake, he's the man that doesn't show any emotions,

and he definitely showed a few on the wedding speech

and it was really nice. It was a real touching moment.

We obviously know we're all best mates,

but there's a lot of piss-taking that goes on and people would rather

joke about each other than actually say something complimentary,

so when you're in that position and you have to be nice,

it's kind of alien.

So many of us never get the opportunity

to find our perfect soul mate.

Myself and Sophie will agree we were extremely lucky

to find each other so young.

I love you unconditionally.

You have made me the man I am today

and I will be there for you whenever, wherever.

I saw him, I met him in school when I was 15.

It sounds really cheesy and I hate saying it,

but I knew that I'd either be with him for a really long time

or I'd marry him, it was that certain.

-Mrs Sophie Ann...

-McGuigan.

CHEERING

It's so weird.

Things like, for the first time ever, we got a new mattress

and I call up the bed company

and they were like, "What's your last name?"

I said, "Sophie McGuigan,"

and he was like, "Ah, it's no relation to the boxer, is it?"

I was like, "Actually it IS related to the boxer."

He was like, literally was just like, "Oh, my God."

He got really awkward and really nervous

and I was really nervous on the phone

and the whole conversation was really weird.

THEY CHANT

It's going to be out in the next 24 hours presumably, yeah?

Yeah. Well, it's supposed to be out in a couple of hours.

8 o'clock US time or Los Angeles time or New York time?

'I find it hard to work with anybody that I can't embrace.

'It's a tough business, boxing.

'Financials and all of that sort of stuff,

'Jake and Blain do that side of things.'

Well, what's inevitably going to happen is they're going to announce

the date tonight and we're not looking like we're going to do

a press conference for two weeks,

then tickets won't go on sale until we've had that, so

everyone's going to go, "How do I buy a ticket?"

'We're looking for the right time to announce it.

'Hearn's looking to finalise'

Anthony Joshua's next move, which is a real problem cos

we don't want to go up against Joshua with an announcement.

There's so many whispers in boxing,

but you're looking to make the biggest impact

but, at the same time, you're not looking to give too much away.

It's TV driven.

Yeah, it's TV driven. Exactly. Showtime need to get it out.

Showtime know that they have got to compete with HBO obviously,

so they want to crush them by going with Frampton and Cruz.

I'm not good at the business side.

It gets personal when people say, "It's only worth that,"

and I feel like knocking the guy that's telling me,

I feel like knocking him out and throttling him

cos to me, that's personally insulting,

but, as a father, working with your kids

under pressurised circumstances,

it's very tough and you have to have an amazing relationship

to be able to withstand it.

That's what I've discovered.

-'Hello.'

-Hey, listen...

-Is that Tadhg...?

-Is that Tadhg?

-Hi!

-'Is that Jake?'

-What's happening?

Hello.

Hello, Tadhg! Hello, Tadhg!

Hi!

Hello, baby.

Hello, Tadhg. Hello, Tadhg.

He's freaked out by Baz, for sure.

CONVERSATION CONTINUES

That's it. Keep that work rate up.

Keep moving around the bag and stopping that jab.

That's good. Keep it going.

Well, we got Conrad Cummings fighting a guy

called Ronny Mittag, a German guy with a record of 26 fights

and only two defeats.

This is your year, son.

This is for you now. Remember, you've got to perform.

'We've reached the stage now where he needs to be tested

'and he needs to be let off the leash and stand up and be counted.'

It is a big step up. It's for a top-15 ranking in the world.

It's definitely a make-or-break fight for him.

I just can't wait to get in there.

I'm taking that belt back to Coalisland, 100%.

I was young. I was boxing in the Irish team,

I was in line to go to the Commonwealth Games,

but Barry just phoned me one day

and it was a phone call that changed my life.

When he won the gold medal in the 19 Nations,

Barry was phoning him coming off the plane and I wasn't a bit pleased.

I wanted Conrad to stay,

to go for the Commonwealth Games, which I knew he would win the gold.

I think he should have thought of an easier way of making his living.

I thought he should have stayed at school

and followed up on his degree, but that wasn't to be.

But anyway, he didn't listen to me, he listened to his father.

So let's hope it all works out for him in the end.

Absolutely it'll work out. Shane's doing a great job with him and

I think he's going to be a world champion. No doubt in my mind.

This is really a very important period of time for you

because you've had your... you've done your apprenticeship.

We are doing our best, we've been as patient as we can with him

and the amount of time and patience

and investment that we're putting into him,

we have to really get results from that,

and this is a tough business and there are no short cuts

and there's no point in beating about the bush.

I'm just staying in Battersea at the minute.

I'm just renting a room in basically an Airbnb.

When Conrad first came on board, he got alopecia

and he got alopecia because he was processing information

and not speaking to anyone about it.

And he may be a joker and may be having a laugh and taking the mickey

out of Frampton and vice versa, but he definitely is a big over-thinker.

I'm maybe a bit of a deep person.

I don't seem it to the lads,

but sometimes I can be my own worst enemy

and I can be my own worst critic,

but I believe that's a good thing

and I believe that's got me to where I am.

It has to be the loneliest sport out there.

There are dark days. There have been very dark days,

and sometimes it gets worrying for me as a mother because I know him,

because he's my son and I know him better than anybody. I worry

that some of the days are going to get too dark sometimes

and that's what worries me.

Moving up another gear.

We've got very exciting George Groves who, in boxing terms,

is a household name. Are we representing George?

The answer to that, I suppose, is no.

We're working with his promoters and obviously Shane,

the fact that Shane is training George, I think he likes the family,

he likes us as a group.

There's a limited pool of decent trainers out there,

but Shane was very high up on the list. I did wonder about

the dynamic being, you know, pretty much the same age,

but he carries himself really well.

He has an authority about him.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the scales,

the champion from Hammersmith, London, St George Groves.

I had a fantastic year last year with McGuigan Gym.

I'm in a good place.

I'm happy. I know I can go out and box my very best.

We have two of our main undercard boxers with us,

Northern Ireland's Conrad Cummings.

Chill, mate. Chill.

We obviously have Conrad Cummings fighting

on George Groves' undercard.

It's a big jump up for Conrad.

The next one to go on the scales, ladies and gentlemen, will be for

the vacant IBF inter-Continental middleweight crown.

Live on Spike TV, Ronny Mittag and Conrad "Mr Dynamite" Cummings.

Thank you, gentlemen.

I'm really hoping for a convincing points-win or a late stoppage,

to be honest.

So, this is a big, big fight for him in many ways.

Been staying calm. I've worked very hard so

we're going out now and enjoying it.

This is all the blisters on my feet from training.

We'll keep him relaxed.

Leave him alone.

Too much high energy.

Keep touching him, touching him.

Relax.

Right, Conrad, let's go. Have you got spare tape?

Your time now. Nice and sharp.

From Northern Ireland, Conrad Cummings!

CHEERING

Switch yourself on now, OK?

Get them legs underneath you at all times.

Seconds out. Round one!

BELL RINGS

One-two to the body. Come on! Get in closer!

There you go. Get that pace on him. Slip slide. Right hand!

Get round him. Get round him.

BELL RINGS

You're picking some rounds up.

You're doing some good work

and you're letting him catch you with eye-catching shots.

Take offence every time he hits you.

Good shot! Jab to the body, Conrad!

SHOUTING

Last round, mate. Come on. Three minutes of pressure.

This guy's blowing out his arse.

BELL RINGS

You gave quite a few rounds away. It's all right.

Look at the state of his face, do you know what I mean?

The winner by split decision,

the IBF inter-Continental middleweight champion,

from Germany, Ronny Mittag!

That's stinking. That's absolutely stinking.

I had him up two rounds, in fairness.

Yeah, listen, mate. Come here.

That's a joke.

Look at the state of him. He got caught first,

but he never looked hurt. He never looked hurt.

The guy looked hurt a few times, do you know what I mean?

Is he in that shower? Get him out, the fuck. Come on.

Are you all right? You forced the pace,

you hit him with the cleaner shots,

you never looked hurt, you never looked out of control,

you always looked in control.

Everyone had it.

-I didn't have it fucking close, like.

-I had him by two or three.

I had him by two rounds.

I had him by four.

You won that fight. You won that fight.

I didn't think it was close.

Shall we get him out of the changing rooms?

Jump out, Beth, come on.

Come on, don't be getting emotional in the changing rooms

cos we've got another job to do, a big one as well. All right?

Come here.

Don't worry about it.

Get some food into you and we'll address it another time.

That's all you've got to do.

-You can't change anything now, all right?

-Sorry.

Listen, never apologise to me, mate.

That's just the way it is.

Listen, you fucking boxed great.

You boxed great, and take the lessons that you've learnt from it,

all right?

I'll give you a shout later on.

Conrad was very disappointed.

I couldn't see him. He didn't want to talk to anybody.

I phoned him three or four times since, and we're one week out

from the fight and I haven't spoken to him cos he didn't want to talk.

He has been very down,

and his mum and dad say he's been very depressed.

That's nice.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, time to welcome

the champion from Hammersmith, London,

St George Groves!

CHEERING

In the main event, George was magnificent and Eddie Gutknecht

was ridiculously brave,

too brave,

and his corner were even braver than he was.

Gutknecht went back to the changing room.

15, 20 minutes after that, he collapsed...

..so they had to get the ambulance in

and then rush him off to hospital.

Shane rang me up and said, "Dad, this poor fella is badly hurt,"

and I said, "What?!"

We're all pretty badly shaken,

but we'll feel so much better if this kid comes round and recovers

and is able to communicate and have a conversation,

that he can live, as I say, a decent life, you know.

Just hoping to God that that will happen.

I've got a family, you know.

You just put yourself in their shoes.

You think, "How must his family be feeling?" And it's sad.

I went and visited them at the hospital

and they're just lovely people.

They're upset. They're devastated, but they're understanding.

You try and do a good thing for them,

but money ain't going to necessarily help.

If it was me, I'm sure all the money in the world wouldn't make my wife

happy in that instance.

In this business, you know, it can happen.

It's happened to me in my career

where one of my opponents passed away.

You're talking about Young Ali, and it was the summer of 1982.

My wife was about to give birth to Blain, my eldest boy, my first son,

and I knocked him out in the sixth round

and he lapsed into unconsciousness.

They didn't have an Ambulance Service,

they didn't have a paramedic.

I think it was three or four hours

before they got to him, by which stage the damage was too bad.

He remained in a coma for five months.

They took him home

and then they switched off the machine and he died.

So, I didn't want to fight again,

I didn't want to carry on my career.

I've got no education, no qualifications, I left school at 16

to give my life to boxing, and then suddenly this happened.

So it wasn't an easy decision,

but I decided I would have to get back to boxing

and I was fairly resolute

in thinking that if I ever did anything good,

if I got to a world title,

that he would be the first kid I would remember

and I would dedicate the fight to him.

So I have worked tirelessly my whole life to try and make the game safe,

but bottom line is

we can never, ever take out the danger.

You're not going to do it.

That's part of why people do it

and it's certainly part of why people watch.

Many promotional companies

would let a fighter go,

but we're not like that.

I never have heard of that.

I never thought about losing, ever.

Carl is boxing at the end of January

and we expect to have 5,000 people flying to Las Vegas.

Doing it for your family, mate.

That's what you're doing it for. You're not there yet.