WEBVTT - The power of being present with Michael Zerafa 🥊 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.280 Get everyone Sam here. Hope you having a beautiful week 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:08.880 I from a personal note, am just coming down on 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.960 a still coming down from a beautiful high from the 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.200 weekend which it was Father's Day, which not really big 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:16.680 believer in Father's Day, but don't think it's a bit 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.200 of a marketing thing. But it was just so beautiful 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.240 to be spoilt rotten by my five amazing girls this weekend. 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.840 It's always those little homemade gifts that do it for 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.600 me rather than the rather than the bought stuff. And 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.559 some interesting necklaces and bracelets that I'll be rocking in 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:34.200 the next few weeks if you keep an eye out. 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.919 But truly truly spoilt, And yeah, what a beautiful day 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.320 I had with my girls. And I'm pretty excited actually 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.920 because we have someone in today that I don't know 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.280 very well, but I love the sport that this person 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:52.360 is from, and I've always been so intrigued and had 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:56.840 such admiration for the mental state in which these men 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.760 and women can put themselves through before they go into battle. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:04.640 It is Australia's number one middleweight boxer who's about to 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:09.800 fight for the middleweight championship of the world. It is 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.600 none other than Michael's rough I can't wait to just 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:17.000 dig into that mind and see what makes a boxer tick. 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.800 How can they be so focused? How can they have 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.240 such that I will win mindset? You know, I think 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.600 there's a lot for us every day people be included 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.960 to learn from an elite athlete at the peak of 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:35.520 their game who puts themselves through such a tough sport. 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.560 I'm really really looking forward to digging into that. And 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.360 then later on we're going to talk spring. We're going 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.399 to talk spring, spring has sprung? How do we get 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.720 into shape in this beautiful month as the weather's getting 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:48.320 a bit warmer. I'm going to dig into all of 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.840 that and so much more. Here's the Woodlife. I'm Sam Wood. 0:01:52.160 --> 0:02:21.720 Let's get into it. We're joining the studio today by 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.040 an incredibly fit looking specimen. He is none other than 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:30.000 Australia's number one middleweight boxer who is about to head 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.880 overseas and fight for the middleweight championship of the world. 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:35.760 How good to say that. I feel like I need 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.200 to be Bruce Buffer and really really ramped this up. 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.120 Mike was a rafa. Welcome to the Woodline. Thanks for 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:43.560 other things, haven't we so mate, I love boxing. I'd 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.079 box for my own fitness, but I wouldn't say I'm 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.959 jumping in the ring anytime soon. But I just admire 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:53.359 it so much from a fitness perspective, and probably more 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:57.359 so from a mental toughness perspective. How do you going 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:01.840 into a fight where it's such a physical war, have 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.600 have no doubt in your mind that you are going 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:04.880 to win. 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.280 I just truly believe in my ability. You know, in 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:09.200 the gym, that's where you work. You know, twelve weeks 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:10.959 will working day and day out, you know, two three 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.919 sessions a day working for that for that thirty six 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.000 minutes when it comes fight time. So I just make 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:17.880 sure I tick all the boxes. And once all the 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:19.640 boxes a tick, there's not much more you can do, 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:21.600 you know. I leave it in God's hands. I just 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:23.880 tell myself it is what it is. You know, may 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:25.600 the best man win, If it's meant to be, it'll 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.639 be the guy going in there the Wednesday night or 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:29.919 the Thursday. I was going to be the same guy 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:31.840 waking up the next morning, you know, So I take 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.480 that pressure. I take that pressure right off me and 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:35.720 and just say it is what it is. You know, 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:37.000 as long as I can leave that ring no one. 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.200 I've given a one hundred and ten percent. The rest 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:40.920 is in God's hands. And I don't put this extra 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.280 pressure where you know, I have to win and I've 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:44.360 got to do this and I've got to do that, 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:46.680 because then you start putting holes in your ship, and 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:48.040 too many holes the ship sinks, you know. 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.200 So for me, I just say, you know, all the 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:51.040 hard work's done. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.240 You know, I'm going in this fight empty minded and 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:56.240 giving them my apps a little and then may the 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:56.840 best man win. 0:03:57.080 --> 0:03:59.440 Yeah. So there's no there's no room for that stuff 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.200 in your head. There's a real calmness about you where 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:08.520 overthinking it will just add an unnecessary pressure. Have you 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:10.640 always been that calm or is that something that has 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:11.520 come through experience? 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:12.200 Definitely experience. 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:13.840 Like I just tell myself like if you think of 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.279 the if you think of the future, you give yourself anxiety. 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:18.200 If you think of the past, you give you start 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:20.040 being depressed and think of the what if you know, 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.200 I just be present in this moment, like given in 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.120 the back rooms, people say like, how are you so relaxed? 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:26.799 Like aren't you nervous? I just say I got two options. 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.000 I'm going out of the regardless, you know. So I'd 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:30.880 rather be happy and go out there than be nervous 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:32.480 and scared and go out there. The end result is 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.400 I've got to go out there. So I just try 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.159 to convince myself that it is what it is, like, 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.000 I just go out there and have fun, you know. 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:40.440 And I know it's hard to say how fun you're 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:42.719 about to go punch on for thirty six minutes, but 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:44.560 you know, I feel like I was just born for this. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.080 And the mindset when you see the other guy across 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:48.719 the ring and you see he wants to get his 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:50.159 hand come wait to get his hands on your and 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.360 you say myself, you know what, like, who's this man? 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.039 You know he's got two arms in her head bleeds red. 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:55.840 And it just comes down to who wants it more? 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.400 And I guarantee every time I step in between those ropes, 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.440 man like, I want it more than any anybody. 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.080 But you've you've wanted this, or you know, you've wanted 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.720 to be world champion since you were seven years old. 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.520 So what did you used to say to yourself as 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.880 a seven year old that you still say to yourself now. 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:14.800 I'm going to be a world champion, literally I said to. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:16.640 My parents, So you were you were that clear, you 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.080 were that direct, there was no ambiguity around it. 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:20.600 I remember watching boxing, I forget it. 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.719 I it might have been Roy James Junior or someone's fighting, 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:24.520 and I just said I can beat these guys, like 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:24.960 it was crazy. 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:26.240 At seven years old, I thought I could be Roy 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:27.200 James Jr. You know. 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.320 And I just remember watching it saying like all it 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.359 is is a bit of dedication, bit of discipline. I 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:34.960 can do that, you know, And I can make millions 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.000 and be a world champion, you know, like that's what 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:38.240 I'll do. And I said to my parents, I want 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:39.840 to I want to want a box that's I want 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.000 to be a world champion. And you know, like yeah, cool, 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.000 you know, And then I just kept I literally was 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.320 wagging primary school to go training my my boxing trainer 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:49.960 back then, and I never looked back. My first pair 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:51.280 of gloves I put it on. I said, this is it, 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:52.800 you know, this is this is where I want to be. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:53.599 It was home for me. 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.920 And it's so weird every time I walk into a 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:57.880 boxing gym, like the worst things could have happened to me, 0:05:57.960 --> 0:05:59.680 and you know, I could have the worst news, but 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:01.359 as soon as I walk into a boxing gym, It's like, 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:02.719 there's no problems. 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.760 My life's are the best part of it can possibly be. 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.400 And I never looked back. It was inevitable. I said, 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:09.400 I'm going to be a world champion. 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.440 So just for our listeners, I mean, this guy is 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:16.159 the real deal. You don't get a world title shot, 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:17.520 in fact, most people don't get one. 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:17.720 Ever. 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.840 You have to beat the best of the best even 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.159 to get to this position. So you've beaten Jeff Horn, 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.000 and you've beaten Anthony Mundine, You've beaten every Aussie that's 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:29.040 come your way, and now it's who are you fighting 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:29.960 when you're head overseas? 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.520 So I'm fighting the number one Brazilian foul color who's 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.520 very tough. He's a south poor thirty fights, thirty wins, 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:36.640 with twenty four knockouts. 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:37.880 Thirty fights, thirty wins. 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.479 Yeah, he's never never tasted defeat, and I feel like 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.000 I always say, if you've never lost, you haven't fought anybody. 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:44.440 So he doesn't know what it feels like to be 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:47.280 on that end of losing. So I already know going 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:48.960 to that fight, I want it more than him. You know, 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:49.679 he's never lost. 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:50.240 Where I have. 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.600 I just know that when it comes to five time, 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.119 I always arise, you know, and even if I have lost, 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.719 which I have in the past, it's not because of anything. 0:06:58.720 --> 0:06:59.920 It's just, you know, he was just better on the 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:02.520 You know, sometimes you can give two hundred percent and lose. 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:04.599 You know, he just gave two hundred and one. So 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.279 for me looking at this guy, I'm confident. I'm mentally, physically, 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.680 emotionally switched on. I can't wait to get out there 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:12.760 and win it and wrap that toler on my waist. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.160 A lot of our Woodlife listeners are not necessarily going 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.200 to be boxing tragics, but that doesn't matter because it's 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:25.200 very rare that you speak to someone who has such belief. 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.800 My point here is, whether it's Mary out there who 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.800 wants to lose ten kirlos or Bob who wants to 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.200 train and be able to run five k for the 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.360 first time in his life, Whether you think you can 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.200 or you think you can't, you're right correct. If you 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:46.800 had even half Michael's level of self belief and confidence 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:51.680 and conviction and dedication, I think you would blow your 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:54.600 mind to what you could achieve. And we're talking today 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.840 about someone at the absolute peak of their powers, at 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.679 the top of their game in the most physically demanding 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:01.560 sport in the world. And it's this is the very 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.040 very point to end. But the principles don't change. 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.200 What people do wrong is they focus on everybody else 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:09.640 and what they're doing. And what I do well is 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:11.920 I don't really care what everyone else is doing and 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.440 just focus on myself, whether it's a big goal or 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.920 a small goal. And I just tell everybody when I say, hell, 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:17.000 do you get all that, I to say, well, it's 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.400 just like driving. If you have to worry about everybody 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.280 else on the road, you'd go insane. When you're in 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:23.520 the car, you don't even think about it. You just 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.000 do you you're playing with your radio, listening to music, 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:27.960 and you just know where you're driving. You don't even 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.280 think about it. You just subconsciously do it. And that's 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:31.600 what I do when I'm in the ring. I'm driving 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.720 my own vehicle. You know, these other people that want 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:35.800 to do a business or want to be a successful athlete, 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.120 they're trying to compare with everybody else and trying to 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:40.840 trying to get somewhere in one year instead of taking 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.840 the right time and doing it over five years, and 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.600 you know, people want to be successful overnight and that's 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:46.120 just not the case. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:47.360 You know, it took me. 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:50.040 Thirty years to be thirty. It's taken me fifteen years 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:51.679 to get where I'm at now. I didn't wake up 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:53.839 and you know I'm this number two in the world 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:55.880 and I won in Australia, you know, and great things 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:58.240 take time. And you know the keys are just focused 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.400 on yourself, No, just drive your own cool. 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:05.280 I love that. So you said before you know this 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.480 this mindset towards the training and the believing, which to 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:11.960 a point, I absolutely agree with that. I think, you know, 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:14.199 we are born with a certain mindset, but I also 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:18.200 have seen a lot of people shift their mindset or 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.120 their attitude. And I know you've probably got it very 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:26.120 naturally instilled in you by the sounds of things. But 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:28.440 how much do you do from a mental perspective? 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.200 It's all mental. The one tells the body what to do. 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.400 As soon as the mind goes the body, everything else follows. 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.079 And for me, early in my career, I was like, nah, nah, nah. 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:37.800 I thought it was weaker and to see a sports 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:40.200 psychologist and I didn't believe in it. I was like, 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.320 how can this guy tell me to do this and that, 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.319 and all of a sudden it works. But then I 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.679 hung up the phone call and ended the zoom, and 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.679 then I started actually trying it. He goes, when you're 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.120 in the shower, you know, like feel the water. What 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.160 does it feel like when I'm driving? He's like, you know, 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.240 feel the steering wheel. When you're at a plaza, Like 0:09:57.520 --> 0:09:59.280 you know, when you're at a plazi sitting down and 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.200 you can hear every I'm talking, He goes, try to 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:02.720 just focus on one conversation. 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:04.160 See if you can hear one conversation. 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:06.400 So when I'm out in the plaza or when I'm 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.000 sitting down eating stuff, like for that five minutes, I'll 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.960 do it, and you start mentally getting stronger. And then 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.199 when you can hear things, you can also block things out. 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:19.400 And that's what like fear, self doubt and all this 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.880 stuff that plays in your head before moments before you 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.959 have a big tournament or a big open day or something. 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:26.840 You know, I just flick that Switech and just say, 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:27.880 all right, this is where I'm at. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:28.040 Now. 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.320 I'm putting on my gloves. I feel the inside of 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.400 the silk and side the gloves, and you know, I 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.560 can feel the water in the back of my throat. 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:36.520 And when you're. 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.319 Doing this, you're not thinking about fear, You're not thinking 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.200 about self doubt, You're not thinking about how I'm going 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:43.000 to lose. You know, you're just going through the motions 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.520 and just being present. Because you start thinking, you know, 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.079 half an hour before you go that you start thinking 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.120 about round six. You might get knocked down in the 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.800 first Roundhile you think about round six, you know, you're 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.080 giving yourself anxiety. And I tell that to everybody. If 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.840 you think about a meeting next week, you start planning 0:10:57.880 --> 0:10:59.280 in your head, whatever do our stuff up? Whatever did 0:10:59.280 --> 0:10:59.560 this that? 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.480 You know? Donart giving yourself anxiety. The key is being present. 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:06.120 And it was so hard to to get into that 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.240 mindset of just being where we are right now, which 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.120 is so hard for me and the things that I 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:12.960 have to do. I have to literally train myself to 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:15.320 get in that rhythm. And now when I fight, I 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:16.760 do I take that in the ring, you know, like 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.440 I feel the inside of my gloves while they're announcing me, 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:21.679 and I'm not even caring about what's going on. 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:23.160 I'm feeling inside of my gloves and telling them. 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.040 I was like Oh yeah, that feels nice, And that's 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.320 how I become present and it's huge. 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:29.960 It's it's the it's the key to being great. That's 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:31.400 the difference between good and great is the. 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.959 Mindset, and people that want to do something great, it's 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:39.079 start doing it as of they hear this podcast moving 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.840 forward because it is a huge game changer. 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:47.120 It sounds so simple, but what a underrated skill in 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:52.640 today's world of bombarded with information. And you know, even 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.640 you often see people lose the fight before the fight 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.360 has even started. They're nowhere, it's. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:11:59.760 Tell on their face and they're warm up. 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:02.480 They're like, I'll be in the ring and if I 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.560 lose focus, I'll look at the sweat dripping off his 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:06.600 chest and I'm just watching that drip, or you know, 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.040 I'll see something on his face and I'll just stare 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.720 at that and just really focus on that, and then 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:11.600 you become present again. 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.240 Yeah, so you've got a way to recalibrate it because. 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.000 You can't always stay switch off for thirty six minutes. 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:16.320 It's hard. 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.400 So what about what about pushing through the pain from 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:23.920 a physical perspective. So this is kind of this undeniable 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.520 connection between the mental and the physical because you know, 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.320 you and I could be training together and we're hurting 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:34.040 just as much, but you can keep going round after round, 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:35.520 And I'm like, I can't. It hurts too much. I 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.440 got to stop, but I can't push through and you 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.920 just keep going. Like how how much of that is 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:44.520 you were born with? You think? And how much of 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:46.000 that has been trained into you? 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:46.520 Yeah? 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.199 Look, I think you gotta have it in you as well, 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:49.800 like I've always had it in emitted, Like let's just 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:52.840 keep pushing. I just tell myself pain is temporary, Like 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:54.880 why quit when you're mid mid rounds? 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:55.640 You're already in pain? 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:57.240 Like get a reward out of it, you know, I mean, 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.480 don't just stop now, you tell you. So, if I've 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:01.319 got two options, the easy way will always be there. 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:04.760 It sounds cringy and stuff, but literally, in anything in life, 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.840 you'll always have two options, you know, the easy way 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.480 or the option the hard way. For me, if you're 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.240 twenty minutes into a workout, you can quit. You could 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.800 have quitted ten minutes ago, but you've pushed to twenty minutes, 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.199 so why not push the thirty minutes? 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:17.960 You know what I mean? 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:19.839 And I just always tell myself one more one more, 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:21.720 one more, and I'll always want to be the first in, 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.080 last out. But that's just my mindset. Your biggest critic 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.040 needs to be yourself. You know, My biggest opponent is 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:28.800 myself when I look in the mirror, and that's what 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.720 you should be. You should always be competing with yourself 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.800 and nobody else. You know, people, Oh he's faster and 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.760 I'm training with this guy, how come he can last longer? 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.120 And I say, just focus on you. Just do what 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:38.720 you got to do. 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.880 Don'try about how big his muscles are, and don't worry 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.520 about how fit his tank is. You keep working on you, 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:45.880 just move forward and eventually you'll get to where you 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:46.280 want to get. 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:48.480 So, do you like training with other people in a 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:50.680 gym camp? Or you're actually like, I mean, you've obviously 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:52.840 got to have someone holding the pads to spar with 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:54.520 and all that kind of stuff, But do you just 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:55.800 prefer it to be about you? 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:57.400 It's weird, man, because I can walk into a gym 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:00.280 with fifty people and there's no one in there. Right, 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:04.160 My mind said, is I just it's just me man? 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:06.960 I only exist to me in the boxing ring, you know, 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:07.520 Like so. 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:09.840 But you can be sparring with someone and they're they're 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:11.360 almost faceless to you. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.319 Correct, Yeah, it's literally, yeah, just there's no one in there, 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:15.720 and I control my breathing. 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:16.040 And yeah. 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:17.920 You have your days where you feel pretty crappy and 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.040 you didn't enough sleep, or you know, the night before 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:21.280 you had a bit of junk food or whatever it 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.920 may be. So the body is not feelings as up 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.080 for it as your mind might. But for me, I 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:27.800 just block everything out and I just yeah, Like I 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.160 walk into the gym and there's fifty people, but it's 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:30.840 only me in there. 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:35.960 So you've obviously been training and thinking about this moment. 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:36.800 What dates you fight? 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.520 So it's late November, early December, waiting for fight can 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.640 fight to happen on the seventeenth of September, which basically 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.160 they vacate that title and then me and Folcal have 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:47.880 been ordered to fight for the ibfl's idol. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.600 Obviously, this has been the moment that you've been waiting for. 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.280 If you win this well or when you win this 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.280 world title, is that success to you? Is that? Because 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.360 that's what you've been saying since you were seven years old? 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:00.600 Will you be? 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:02.000 Do you? 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:02.160 Do? 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.680 You take time to stop and smell the roses or 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.080 I mean you said always pushing forward, always pushing forward? 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:07.880 Does that never end? 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:08.160 Never? 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:08.440 Man? 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:10.400 And look, it's been hard mentally, and you know I 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:12.680 was in I've been in some dark places before because 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:14.760 my whole life has just been boxing. 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.640 I've never had a holiday. I've never had a day 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.600 whoa whoa whoa never never never, You've never. 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:22.520 Had a holiday never? Oh my god. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.160 You know when we when I go away to like 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:27.880 day trips, you know, like that recently we went up 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.720 just to locally Lawn just to get away, and I 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.880 was in the gym just you know, twenty four hours. 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.480 I ran twenty five kilometers. You know, I just I 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.120 can't stop right, you know, And I just had. 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:40.440 A day off. 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:42.440 What are your attitude? Is what? That's what retirement's for. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.000 I just I don't believe in days off and I 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.040 don't believe in holidays. I feel like I'm not where 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:47.920 I want to be yet. These people are like, oh, 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:49.360 it's I'm tired. I need a holiday. 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.480 It's like, are you where you want to be in life? 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:51.920 Sure? 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:53.720 And it's nothing bad, you know, people just aren't there 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:54.680 yet and they're like, oh I'm not. 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:56.360 I'm like so why are you rewarding yourself with the holiday? 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.160 What about burnout and recovery? And like, do people say 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:00.280 to your bab sho over doing it? 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.440 Yeah, they say, look, you overtrained sometimes, and I just 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.080 I believe a lot in lighter sessions, but I don't 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:07.840 believe in days off. 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:09.800 I won't go, you know, full. 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.200