Speaker 1: Get everyone Sam here. Hope you having a beautiful week
Speaker 1: I from a personal note, am just coming down on
Speaker 1: a still coming down from a beautiful high from the
Speaker 1: weekend which it was Father's Day, which not really big
Speaker 1: believer in Father's Day, but don't think it's a bit
Speaker 1: of a marketing thing. But it was just so beautiful
Speaker 1: to be spoilt rotten by my five amazing girls this weekend.
Speaker 1: It's always those little homemade gifts that do it for
Speaker 1: me rather than the rather than the bought stuff. And
Speaker 1: some interesting necklaces and bracelets that I'll be rocking in
Speaker 1: the next few weeks if you keep an eye out.
Speaker 1: But truly truly spoilt, And yeah, what a beautiful day
Speaker 1: I had with my girls. And I'm pretty excited actually
Speaker 1: because we have someone in today that I don't know
Speaker 1: very well, but I love the sport that this person
Speaker 1: is from, and I've always been so intrigued and had
Speaker 1: such admiration for the mental state in which these men
Speaker 1: and women can put themselves through before they go into battle.
Speaker 1: It is Australia's number one middleweight boxer who's about to
Speaker 1: fight for the middleweight championship of the world. It is
Speaker 1: none other than Michael's rough I can't wait to just
Speaker 1: dig into that mind and see what makes a boxer tick.
Speaker 1: How can they be so focused? How can they have
Speaker 1: such that I will win mindset? You know, I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot for us every day people be included
Speaker 1: to learn from an elite athlete at the peak of
Speaker 1: their game who puts themselves through such a tough sport.
Speaker 1: I'm really really looking forward to digging into that. And
Speaker 1: then later on we're going to talk spring. We're going
Speaker 1: to talk spring, spring has sprung? How do we get
Speaker 1: into shape in this beautiful month as the weather's getting
Speaker 1: a bit warmer. I'm going to dig into all of
Speaker 1: that and so much more. Here's the Woodlife. I'm Sam Wood.
Speaker 1: Let's get into it. We're joining the studio today by
Speaker 1: an incredibly fit looking specimen. He is none other than
Speaker 1: Australia's number one middleweight boxer who is about to head
Speaker 1: overseas and fight for the middleweight championship of the world.
Speaker 1: How good to say that. I feel like I need
Speaker 1: to be Bruce Buffer and really really ramped this up.
Speaker 1: Mike was a rafa. Welcome to the Woodline. Thanks for
Speaker 1: other things, haven't we so mate, I love boxing. I'd
Speaker 1: box for my own fitness, but I wouldn't say I'm
Speaker 1: jumping in the ring anytime soon. But I just admire
Speaker 1: it so much from a fitness perspective, and probably more
Speaker 1: so from a mental toughness perspective. How do you going
Speaker 1: into a fight where it's such a physical war, have
Speaker 1: have no doubt in your mind that you are going
Speaker 1: to win.
Speaker 2: I just truly believe in my ability. You know, in
Speaker 2: the gym, that's where you work. You know, twelve weeks
Speaker 2: will working day and day out, you know, two three
Speaker 2: sessions a day working for that for that thirty six
Speaker 2: minutes when it comes fight time. So I just make
Speaker 2: sure I tick all the boxes. And once all the
Speaker 2: boxes a tick, there's not much more you can do,
Speaker 2: you know. I leave it in God's hands. I just
Speaker 2: tell myself it is what it is. You know, may
Speaker 2: the best man win, If it's meant to be, it'll
Speaker 2: be the guy going in there the Wednesday night or
Speaker 2: the Thursday. I was going to be the same guy
Speaker 2: waking up the next morning, you know, So I take
Speaker 2: that pressure. I take that pressure right off me and
Speaker 2: and just say it is what it is. You know,
Speaker 2: as long as I can leave that ring no one.
Speaker 2: I've given a one hundred and ten percent. The rest
Speaker 2: is in God's hands. And I don't put this extra
Speaker 2: pressure where you know, I have to win and I've
Speaker 2: got to do this and I've got to do that,
Speaker 2: because then you start putting holes in your ship, and
Speaker 2: too many holes the ship sinks, you know.
Speaker 3: So for me, I just say, you know, all the
Speaker 3: hard work's done.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm going in this fight empty minded and
Speaker 2: giving them my apps a little and then may the
Speaker 2: best man win.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So there's no there's no room for that stuff
Speaker 1: in your head. There's a real calmness about you where
Speaker 1: overthinking it will just add an unnecessary pressure. Have you
Speaker 1: always been that calm or is that something that has
Speaker 1: come through experience?
Speaker 3: Definitely experience.
Speaker 2: Like I just tell myself like if you think of
Speaker 2: the if you think of the future, you give yourself anxiety.
Speaker 2: If you think of the past, you give you start
Speaker 2: being depressed and think of the what if you know,
Speaker 2: I just be present in this moment, like given in
Speaker 2: the back rooms, people say like, how are you so relaxed?
Speaker 2: Like aren't you nervous? I just say I got two options.
Speaker 2: I'm going out of the regardless, you know. So I'd
Speaker 2: rather be happy and go out there than be nervous
Speaker 2: and scared and go out there. The end result is
Speaker 2: I've got to go out there. So I just try
Speaker 2: to convince myself that it is what it is, like,
Speaker 2: I just go out there and have fun, you know.
Speaker 2: And I know it's hard to say how fun you're
Speaker 2: about to go punch on for thirty six minutes, but
Speaker 2: you know, I feel like I was just born for this.
Speaker 2: And the mindset when you see the other guy across
Speaker 2: the ring and you see he wants to get his
Speaker 2: hand come wait to get his hands on your and
Speaker 2: you say myself, you know what, like, who's this man?
Speaker 2: You know he's got two arms in her head bleeds red.
Speaker 2: And it just comes down to who wants it more?
Speaker 2: And I guarantee every time I step in between those ropes,
Speaker 2: man like, I want it more than any anybody.
Speaker 1: But you've you've wanted this, or you know, you've wanted
Speaker 1: to be world champion since you were seven years old.
Speaker 1: So what did you used to say to yourself as
Speaker 1: a seven year old that you still say to yourself now.
Speaker 3: I'm going to be a world champion, literally I said to.
Speaker 1: My parents, So you were you were that clear, you
Speaker 1: were that direct, there was no ambiguity around it.
Speaker 3: I remember watching boxing, I forget it.
Speaker 2: I it might have been Roy James Junior or someone's fighting,
Speaker 2: and I just said I can beat these guys, like
Speaker 2: it was crazy.
Speaker 3: At seven years old, I thought I could be Roy
Speaker 3: James Jr. You know.
Speaker 2: And I just remember watching it saying like all it
Speaker 2: is is a bit of dedication, bit of discipline. I
Speaker 2: can do that, you know, And I can make millions
Speaker 2: and be a world champion, you know, like that's what
Speaker 2: I'll do. And I said to my parents, I want
Speaker 2: to I want to want a box that's I want
Speaker 2: to be a world champion. And you know, like yeah, cool,
Speaker 2: you know, And then I just kept I literally was
Speaker 2: wagging primary school to go training my my boxing trainer
Speaker 2: back then, and I never looked back. My first pair
Speaker 2: of gloves I put it on. I said, this is it,
Speaker 2: you know, this is this is where I want to be.
Speaker 3: It was home for me.
Speaker 2: And it's so weird every time I walk into a
Speaker 2: boxing gym, like the worst things could have happened to me,
Speaker 2: and you know, I could have the worst news, but
Speaker 2: as soon as I walk into a boxing gym, It's like,
Speaker 2: there's no problems.
Speaker 3: My life's are the best part of it can possibly be.
Speaker 2: And I never looked back. It was inevitable. I said,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be a world champion.
Speaker 1: So just for our listeners, I mean, this guy is
Speaker 1: the real deal. You don't get a world title shot,
Speaker 1: in fact, most people don't get one.
Speaker 2: Ever.
Speaker 1: You have to beat the best of the best even
Speaker 1: to get to this position. So you've beaten Jeff Horn,
Speaker 1: and you've beaten Anthony Mundine, You've beaten every Aussie that's
Speaker 1: come your way, and now it's who are you fighting
Speaker 1: when you're head overseas?
Speaker 2: So I'm fighting the number one Brazilian foul color who's
Speaker 2: very tough. He's a south poor thirty fights, thirty wins,
Speaker 2: with twenty four knockouts.
Speaker 1: Thirty fights, thirty wins.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's never never tasted defeat, and I feel like
Speaker 2: I always say, if you've never lost, you haven't fought anybody.
Speaker 2: So he doesn't know what it feels like to be
Speaker 2: on that end of losing. So I already know going
Speaker 2: to that fight, I want it more than him. You know,
Speaker 2: he's never lost.
Speaker 1: Where I have.
Speaker 2: I just know that when it comes to five time,
Speaker 2: I always arise, you know, and even if I have lost,
Speaker 2: which I have in the past, it's not because of anything.
Speaker 2: It's just, you know, he was just better on the
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes you can give two hundred percent and lose.
Speaker 2: You know, he just gave two hundred and one. So
Speaker 2: for me looking at this guy, I'm confident. I'm mentally, physically,
Speaker 2: emotionally switched on. I can't wait to get out there
Speaker 2: and win it and wrap that toler on my waist.
Speaker 1: A lot of our Woodlife listeners are not necessarily going
Speaker 1: to be boxing tragics, but that doesn't matter because it's
Speaker 1: very rare that you speak to someone who has such belief.
Speaker 1: My point here is, whether it's Mary out there who
Speaker 1: wants to lose ten kirlos or Bob who wants to
Speaker 1: train and be able to run five k for the
Speaker 1: first time in his life, Whether you think you can
Speaker 1: or you think you can't, you're right correct. If you
Speaker 1: had even half Michael's level of self belief and confidence
Speaker 1: and conviction and dedication, I think you would blow your
Speaker 1: mind to what you could achieve. And we're talking today
Speaker 1: about someone at the absolute peak of their powers, at
Speaker 1: the top of their game in the most physically demanding
Speaker 1: sport in the world. And it's this is the very
Speaker 1: very point to end. But the principles don't change.
Speaker 2: What people do wrong is they focus on everybody else
Speaker 2: and what they're doing. And what I do well is
Speaker 2: I don't really care what everyone else is doing and
Speaker 2: just focus on myself, whether it's a big goal or
Speaker 2: a small goal. And I just tell everybody when I say, hell,
Speaker 2: do you get all that, I to say, well, it's
Speaker 2: just like driving. If you have to worry about everybody
Speaker 2: else on the road, you'd go insane. When you're in
Speaker 2: the car, you don't even think about it. You just
Speaker 2: do you you're playing with your radio, listening to music,
Speaker 2: and you just know where you're driving. You don't even
Speaker 2: think about it. You just subconsciously do it. And that's
Speaker 2: what I do when I'm in the ring. I'm driving
Speaker 2: my own vehicle. You know, these other people that want
Speaker 2: to do a business or want to be a successful athlete,
Speaker 2: they're trying to compare with everybody else and trying to
Speaker 2: trying to get somewhere in one year instead of taking
Speaker 2: the right time and doing it over five years, and
Speaker 2: you know, people want to be successful overnight and that's
Speaker 2: just not the case.
Speaker 3: You know, it took me.
Speaker 2: Thirty years to be thirty. It's taken me fifteen years
Speaker 2: to get where I'm at now. I didn't wake up
Speaker 2: and you know I'm this number two in the world
Speaker 2: and I won in Australia, you know, and great things
Speaker 2: take time. And you know the keys are just focused
Speaker 2: on yourself, No, just drive your own cool.
Speaker 1: I love that. So you said before you know this
Speaker 1: this mindset towards the training and the believing, which to
Speaker 1: a point, I absolutely agree with that. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: we are born with a certain mindset, but I also
Speaker 1: have seen a lot of people shift their mindset or
Speaker 1: their attitude. And I know you've probably got it very
Speaker 1: naturally instilled in you by the sounds of things. But
Speaker 1: how much do you do from a mental perspective?
Speaker 2: It's all mental. The one tells the body what to do.
Speaker 2: As soon as the mind goes the body, everything else follows.
Speaker 2: And for me, early in my career, I was like, nah, nah, nah.
Speaker 2: I thought it was weaker and to see a sports
Speaker 2: psychologist and I didn't believe in it. I was like,
Speaker 2: how can this guy tell me to do this and that,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden it works. But then I
Speaker 2: hung up the phone call and ended the zoom, and
Speaker 2: then I started actually trying it. He goes, when you're
Speaker 2: in the shower, you know, like feel the water. What
Speaker 2: does it feel like when I'm driving? He's like, you know,
Speaker 2: feel the steering wheel. When you're at a plaza, Like
Speaker 2: you know, when you're at a plazi sitting down and
Speaker 2: you can hear every I'm talking, He goes, try to
Speaker 2: just focus on one conversation.
Speaker 3: See if you can hear one conversation.
Speaker 2: So when I'm out in the plaza or when I'm
Speaker 2: sitting down eating stuff, like for that five minutes, I'll
Speaker 2: do it, and you start mentally getting stronger. And then
Speaker 2: when you can hear things, you can also block things out.
Speaker 2: And that's what like fear, self doubt and all this
Speaker 2: stuff that plays in your head before moments before you
Speaker 2: have a big tournament or a big open day or something.
Speaker 2: You know, I just flick that Switech and just say,
Speaker 2: all right, this is where I'm at.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I'm putting on my gloves. I feel the inside of
Speaker 2: the silk and side the gloves, and you know, I
Speaker 2: can feel the water in the back of my throat.
Speaker 3: And when you're.
Speaker 2: Doing this, you're not thinking about fear, You're not thinking
Speaker 2: about self doubt, You're not thinking about how I'm going
Speaker 2: to lose. You know, you're just going through the motions
Speaker 2: and just being present. Because you start thinking, you know,
Speaker 2: half an hour before you go that you start thinking
Speaker 2: about round six. You might get knocked down in the
Speaker 2: first Roundhile you think about round six, you know, you're
Speaker 2: giving yourself anxiety. And I tell that to everybody. If
Speaker 2: you think about a meeting next week, you start planning
Speaker 2: in your head, whatever do our stuff up? Whatever did
Speaker 2: this that?
Speaker 3: You know? Donart giving yourself anxiety. The key is being present.
Speaker 2: And it was so hard to to get into that
Speaker 2: mindset of just being where we are right now, which
Speaker 2: is so hard for me and the things that I
Speaker 2: have to do. I have to literally train myself to
Speaker 2: get in that rhythm. And now when I fight, I
Speaker 2: do I take that in the ring, you know, like
Speaker 2: I feel the inside of my gloves while they're announcing me,
Speaker 2: and I'm not even caring about what's going on.
Speaker 3: I'm feeling inside of my gloves and telling them.
Speaker 2: I was like Oh yeah, that feels nice, And that's
Speaker 2: how I become present and it's huge.
Speaker 3: It's it's the it's the key to being great. That's
Speaker 3: the difference between good and great is the.
Speaker 2: Mindset, and people that want to do something great, it's
Speaker 2: start doing it as of they hear this podcast moving
Speaker 2: forward because it is a huge game changer.
Speaker 1: It sounds so simple, but what a underrated skill in
Speaker 1: today's world of bombarded with information. And you know, even
Speaker 1: you often see people lose the fight before the fight
Speaker 1: has even started. They're nowhere, it's.
Speaker 3: Tell on their face and they're warm up.
Speaker 2: They're like, I'll be in the ring and if I
Speaker 2: lose focus, I'll look at the sweat dripping off his
Speaker 2: chest and I'm just watching that drip, or you know,
Speaker 2: I'll see something on his face and I'll just stare
Speaker 2: at that and just really focus on that, and then
Speaker 2: you become present again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you've got a way to recalibrate it because.
Speaker 3: You can't always stay switch off for thirty six minutes.
Speaker 3: It's hard.
Speaker 1: So what about what about pushing through the pain from
Speaker 1: a physical perspective. So this is kind of this undeniable
Speaker 1: connection between the mental and the physical because you know,
Speaker 1: you and I could be training together and we're hurting
Speaker 1: just as much, but you can keep going round after round,
Speaker 1: And I'm like, I can't. It hurts too much. I
Speaker 1: got to stop, but I can't push through and you
Speaker 1: just keep going. Like how how much of that is
Speaker 1: you were born with? You think? And how much of
Speaker 1: that has been trained into you?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Look, I think you gotta have it in you as well,
Speaker 2: like I've always had it in emitted, Like let's just
Speaker 2: keep pushing. I just tell myself pain is temporary, Like
Speaker 2: why quit when you're mid mid rounds?
Speaker 3: You're already in pain?
Speaker 2: Like get a reward out of it, you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: don't just stop now, you tell you. So, if I've
Speaker 2: got two options, the easy way will always be there.
Speaker 2: It sounds cringy and stuff, but literally, in anything in life,
Speaker 2: you'll always have two options, you know, the easy way
Speaker 2: or the option the hard way. For me, if you're
Speaker 2: twenty minutes into a workout, you can quit. You could
Speaker 2: have quitted ten minutes ago, but you've pushed to twenty minutes,
Speaker 2: so why not push the thirty minutes?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: And I just always tell myself one more one more,
Speaker 2: one more, and I'll always want to be the first in,
Speaker 2: last out. But that's just my mindset. Your biggest critic
Speaker 2: needs to be yourself. You know, My biggest opponent is
Speaker 2: myself when I look in the mirror, and that's what
Speaker 2: you should be. You should always be competing with yourself
Speaker 2: and nobody else. You know, people, Oh he's faster and
Speaker 2: I'm training with this guy, how come he can last longer?
Speaker 3: And I say, just focus on you. Just do what
Speaker 3: you got to do.
Speaker 2: Don'try about how big his muscles are, and don't worry
Speaker 2: about how fit his tank is. You keep working on you,
Speaker 2: just move forward and eventually you'll get to where you
Speaker 2: want to get.
Speaker 1: So, do you like training with other people in a
Speaker 1: gym camp? Or you're actually like, I mean, you've obviously
Speaker 1: got to have someone holding the pads to spar with
Speaker 1: and all that kind of stuff, But do you just
Speaker 1: prefer it to be about you?
Speaker 2: It's weird, man, because I can walk into a gym
Speaker 2: with fifty people and there's no one in there. Right,
Speaker 2: My mind said, is I just it's just me man?
Speaker 2: I only exist to me in the boxing ring, you know,
Speaker 2: Like so.
Speaker 1: But you can be sparring with someone and they're they're
Speaker 1: almost faceless to you.
Speaker 2: Correct, Yeah, it's literally, yeah, just there's no one in there,
Speaker 2: and I control my breathing.
Speaker 3: And yeah.
Speaker 2: You have your days where you feel pretty crappy and
Speaker 2: you didn't enough sleep, or you know, the night before
Speaker 2: you had a bit of junk food or whatever it
Speaker 2: may be. So the body is not feelings as up
Speaker 2: for it as your mind might. But for me, I
Speaker 2: just block everything out and I just yeah, Like I
Speaker 2: walk into the gym and there's fifty people, but it's
Speaker 2: only me in there.
Speaker 1: So you've obviously been training and thinking about this moment.
Speaker 1: What dates you fight?
Speaker 2: So it's late November, early December, waiting for fight can
Speaker 2: fight to happen on the seventeenth of September, which basically
Speaker 2: they vacate that title and then me and Folcal have
Speaker 2: been ordered to fight for the ibfl's idol.
Speaker 1: Obviously, this has been the moment that you've been waiting for.
Speaker 1: If you win this well or when you win this
Speaker 1: world title, is that success to you? Is that? Because
Speaker 1: that's what you've been saying since you were seven years old?
Speaker 1: Will you be?
Speaker 3: Do you?
Speaker 2: Do?
Speaker 1: You take time to stop and smell the roses or
Speaker 1: I mean you said always pushing forward, always pushing forward?
Speaker 1: Does that never end?
Speaker 3: Never?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 2: And look, it's been hard mentally, and you know I
Speaker 2: was in I've been in some dark places before because
Speaker 2: my whole life has just been boxing.
Speaker 3: I've never had a holiday. I've never had a day
Speaker 3: whoa whoa whoa never never never, You've never.
Speaker 1: Had a holiday never? Oh my god.
Speaker 2: You know when we when I go away to like
Speaker 2: day trips, you know, like that recently we went up
Speaker 2: just to locally Lawn just to get away, and I
Speaker 2: was in the gym just you know, twenty four hours.
Speaker 2: I ran twenty five kilometers. You know, I just I
Speaker 2: can't stop right, you know, And I just had.
Speaker 3: A day off.
Speaker 1: What are your attitude? Is what? That's what retirement's for.
Speaker 2: I just I don't believe in days off and I
Speaker 2: don't believe in holidays. I feel like I'm not where
Speaker 2: I want to be yet. These people are like, oh,
Speaker 2: it's I'm tired. I need a holiday.
Speaker 3: It's like, are you where you want to be in life?
Speaker 1: Sure?
Speaker 2: And it's nothing bad, you know, people just aren't there
Speaker 2: yet and they're like, oh I'm not.
Speaker 3: I'm like so why are you rewarding yourself with the holiday?
Speaker 1: What about burnout and recovery? And like, do people say
Speaker 1: to your bab sho over doing it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, they say, look, you overtrained sometimes, and I just
Speaker 2: I believe a lot in lighter sessions, but I don't
Speaker 2: believe in days off.
Speaker 3: I won't go, you know, full.
Speaker 2: Throttle every single day, sure, but I will never take
Speaker 2: a day off. And you know, going back to the
Speaker 2: question where you were saying, you know, like have I
Speaker 2: reached my goal? And am I successful? For me, it
Speaker 2: was never about the money. It was always about that
Speaker 2: world title. Once I win that world title wor world champion,
Speaker 2: my book is complete. Now that chapter, I could close
Speaker 2: that chapter and open a new one onto something else. Saul,
Speaker 2: I've reached that goal, but I don't think I can
Speaker 2: walk away from the spot without a few total defenses.
Speaker 1: And so again relating this back to our listeners, this
Speaker 1: is a man who believed it at seven and has
Speaker 1: actually been working towards And the reason I bring it
Speaker 1: up is a lot of people going, oh, an eight
Speaker 1: week challenge, it's so long.
Speaker 2: That's what they do wrong. See, Like a lot of people,
Speaker 2: even people that listen to this. You know, you run
Speaker 2: a camp, the first thing they say is an eight
Speaker 2: week camp.
Speaker 3: Think about week one.
Speaker 2: That's you know, if someone's it's out or mentally and strong.
Speaker 2: If I say, hey, Sam, today we're doing a twenty
Speaker 2: k round, You're like, what a twenty k run?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Game over?
Speaker 3: That's its lost.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: If you said we're doing twenty cal, them like, yeah, sweet.
Speaker 1: That's cool. One to get it done. Yeah, let's do.
Speaker 2: Forty you know what I mean. That's when people say
Speaker 2: were only doing six rounds today, and people are like, yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: right for me, I'm like only six rounds? Yeah, I
Speaker 2: want your ten rounds today.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: That that's the difference.
Speaker 2: And people always again worry about week eight, What about
Speaker 2: the seven before it?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Like set yourself a weekly challenge, set yourself a day challenge.
Speaker 2: You get through day one, then day two, I love it,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: Day by day.
Speaker 1: So you were scheduled to fight Tim Zu earlier this year,
Speaker 1: yeah yeah, and then COVID and a bunch of things
Speaker 1: happened and the fight didn't go. Yeah, so you got
Speaker 1: a bit of backlash.
Speaker 2: About a huge backlash over that. I went through a
Speaker 2: really dark place.
Speaker 1: Say, did it get to you or is it water products?
Speaker 1: Back right?
Speaker 3: No, Look, you know I was getting death threats.
Speaker 2: I was getting so much hate and for being the
Speaker 2: king for not to go ahead with the It wasn't
Speaker 2: even me and that was the thing, and people read
Speaker 2: the media.
Speaker 3: It wasn't even from COVID.
Speaker 2: It was just you know, the contracts will promised, A,
Speaker 2: B and C and certain things weren't delivered.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of politics for there's a whole
Speaker 1: lot of games and politics.
Speaker 2: And huge and that was because it's the biggest fight
Speaker 2: in Australian boxing Zarafavizu still to this day, and it
Speaker 2: will happen. It was out of my control and I
Speaker 2: copped all the all the heat. But now it's made
Speaker 2: for a bigger fight. Everything's happened for a reason. And
Speaker 2: you know, I truly believe with his last name, that's
Speaker 2: the only reason why he's where he is.
Speaker 3: You know, imagine my dad was Mike Tyson.
Speaker 2: You know, like credit to him and he's seen they're
Speaker 2: doing great things and the fight needs to happen. But
Speaker 2: you know, there was days here I didn't even want
Speaker 2: to get up. I didn't know what to do, but
Speaker 2: I kept training.
Speaker 1: You never let that beat you. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean as a weakness. I just mean you never
Speaker 1: let it interfere with your training or not not really
Speaker 1: training at your OPTIMUMY.
Speaker 2: I just walked in the gym and just put a
Speaker 2: smile on my face and just pretend like everything was
Speaker 2: all good.
Speaker 1: But you did say it's your happy places. It's you
Speaker 1: say it is.
Speaker 3: You know I felt good walking in there.
Speaker 2: You know, I was like, even to this day, you
Speaker 2: know I will get a bad phone call, I'll get something,
Speaker 2: I gotta go a train man, like this is what
Speaker 2: I need to do. You know, it's my place to
Speaker 2: just it's all I know. It's all I've done my
Speaker 2: whole life. You know I've I didn't really do anything else.
Speaker 2: I haven't done anything else. I haven't experienced life. You know,
Speaker 2: all I've done is box. But you know, like after
Speaker 2: beating Jeff Horn and being the king of Australian boxing
Speaker 2: and you know, walking out of my front door and
Speaker 2: everyone being on the news and Herald's son and being
Speaker 2: all over the media and getting nothing but you know,
Speaker 2: good reviews, to then waking up one morning getting death
Speaker 2: threats and something that was out of my control. You
Speaker 2: know I had I had no say it was out
Speaker 2: of my control. But you're just gonna tell yourself, you know,
Speaker 2: you get the last laugh no matter what. You know,
Speaker 2: a tough time doesn't last. A bad day can only
Speaker 2: last for twenty four hours. And I tell myself that
Speaker 2: I wake up, it's a ship day.
Speaker 3: Twenty four hours.
Speaker 2: Mix's organ last. Tomorrow is another day. You wake up,
Speaker 2: it's another shit day. No, it's not twenty four hours.
Speaker 1: I just I just loved the determination in your voice.
Speaker 1: You know, I just sort of finished for saying you
Speaker 1: can tell you know it's a game of basketball, it's
Speaker 1: a match of tennis, and it's a boxing fight for
Speaker 1: a reason, it's a fight, and you you have fight
Speaker 1: in the ring. You also can tell by listening to
Speaker 1: you have fight outside of the ring. And I think
Speaker 1: I think that's the power that our listeners will get
Speaker 1: out today. They may know who you are. They may
Speaker 1: not know who you are because they may not be
Speaker 1: boxing fans. And if they don't know who you are now,
Speaker 1: I'm sure they know who you are in a few
Speaker 1: months time. But just what you can take out of
Speaker 1: an elite athlete in such a physically demanding and mentally
Speaker 1: demanding sport. I just think is really inspiring and really
Speaker 1: motivating for our listeners. And thanks so much for coming
Speaker 1: on a good lights and you'd luck in late November,
Speaker 1: early December, we'll be watching.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, can't wait. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: So I really didn't know what to expect before interviewing Michael,
Speaker 1: but what a what a great guy. I think the
Speaker 1: thing that dawned on me while I was chatting to
Speaker 1: him is how often do we tell ourselves we can't
Speaker 1: and when it's put in perspective When you hear about
Speaker 1: what he's doing on a daily basis, whether it's through
Speaker 1: the physical or a mental perspective, getting in the ring,
Speaker 1: someone wants to smash your head off, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: it just puts things in perspective. And I think we
Speaker 1: always make our own situation bigger and harder and worse
Speaker 1: than perhaps it really is. And I just know when
Speaker 1: I do my next workout, which will be tomorrow morning,
Speaker 1: I'll be thinking to myself, don't be such a silk,
Speaker 1: get it done, And it's really not as tough as
Speaker 1: you're telling yourself it is. Next up, we're going to
Speaker 1: change things up a little bit Spring has sprung and
Speaker 1: it's time to get ourselves moving. So normally, after our
Speaker 1: incredible guests, we answer some questions from our wonderful wood
Speaker 1: Life listeners, but I'm going to keep you on on
Speaker 1: hold for a week as we've just hit spring. I
Speaker 1: think it's a really really well not I think. I know,
Speaker 1: it's a really really powerful time of year. And my
Speaker 1: gym is busiest in September October than it would be
Speaker 1: in any other month with new people coming through the doors.
Speaker 1: My twenty eight program gets flooded with people going, oh
Speaker 1: my god, I've got to get myself into shape. And
Speaker 1: there's a number of reasons for it. There's the first
Speaker 1: of all, I think we all tend to go backwards
Speaker 1: a bit in winter. We tend to hibernate a little bit,
Speaker 1: either literally or metaphorically, have we and to put it,
Speaker 1: we stay inside, We don't exercise out doors as much.
Speaker 1: We tend to eat heavier foods. In a nutshell, we
Speaker 1: definitely tend to move less, eat more. Now, it's not everybody,
Speaker 1: but I think across across the masses, that would be
Speaker 1: the trend that most of us would be either experiencing
Speaker 1: for ourselves or seeing in others. So spring comes along,
Speaker 1: and there's something really powerful about it. The sun comes out,
Speaker 1: the weather gets warmer, the days get longer. We start
Speaker 1: to eat different foods, you know, lighter salads and lots
Speaker 1: of fresh fruit and all of this kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: and it's a really really powerful thing. I was thinking
Speaker 1: to say, what are my best three tips about getting
Speaker 1: yourself into shape in spring? And the first is harness
Speaker 1: that motivation. Actually use it to your advantage. Don't let
Speaker 1: the window shut, don't let the moment pass, don't fob
Speaker 1: it off that it's just another month, because it's actually not.
Speaker 1: There's something really powerful about September and really powerful about
Speaker 1: the first month of spring. So actually harness that, leverage it,
Speaker 1: use it as a catapult to kick start your health routine.
Speaker 1: So the second tip is make the most of the
Speaker 1: longer days. It sounds so simple, but it's almost like
Speaker 1: you get extra hours in your day when spring comes
Speaker 1: along all of a sudden. If you're not a morning person,
Speaker 1: the sun streams through the bedroom window half an hour earlier,
Speaker 1: up to an hour earlier. Use that time to your advantage,
Speaker 1: whether it's waking up earlier through that sunlight and doing
Speaker 1: a workout inside or getting up, going to the gym,
Speaker 1: or getting out for a walk. I absolutely encourage you
Speaker 1: to get extra incidental exercise in at this time of year.
Speaker 1: Get out in the sun, get the fresh air, get
Speaker 1: the vitamin D, and whether it's at the start of
Speaker 1: the day or the end of the day, use those
Speaker 1: extra hours. And the third tip is eat seasonal produce.
Speaker 1: The food at this time of year, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: just gets better. It's easier to cook on the barbecue,
Speaker 1: put a salad with it, eat fresh fruit, eat fresh produce,
Speaker 1: get to the markets. It's a really really motivating time
Speaker 1: of year when it comes to food inspiration. So again,
Speaker 1: harness that, embrace that and make September the kickstart to
Speaker 1: you getting in better shape. So just to wrap up,
Speaker 1: get yourself back in shape in spring by harnessing this
Speaker 1: magic seasonal motivational window that we're all gifted with. Secondly,
Speaker 1: exercising more by taking advantage of the longer days, more sunlight,
Speaker 1: whether it's with incidental activity or just getting your workouts
Speaker 1: in earlier or getting your workouts in later, but getting
Speaker 1: your workouts in more often. And thirdly, embrace that delicious
Speaker 1: seasonal produce. Now. I know I answer my own question, David.
Speaker 1: As always, please please please send me in your questions,
Speaker 1: send them into the woodlife inbox. I love hearing them,
Speaker 1: I love answering them, and there's a link in the
Speaker 1: bio where you can do that. I'll be back Monday,
Speaker 1: of course for another motivational moment, and have a great
Speaker 1: week and get yourself moving