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October Red: What is it? Fail to prepare, prepare to fail? I've to make sure I have everything right but I've got something right because I've got Andy Lee back on the channel. It's so good to see you. Thank you. One of my favourite trainers and also a gentleman as well. So vicious in the ring but Why don't I speak to you more often? I I don't think you want to. I think you'd probably like to speak to the bigger channels. No, to be honest, I don't speak to anybody. I try to avoid interviews to be honest. I'm going to talk about today who you're representing today because there's so much to cover. I'll be as quick as I can. But let's start with Ben. He's come over to yourself. Happy, settled, probably the most content I've seen him in the ring with you. But your words, how is it going with that relationship with your fighter? It's gone as good as could be hoped for, really. He's great student, eager to learn. picks things up very fast and follows instructions and is a phenomenal talent on top of that. an unbelievable amateur, one of the best I've ever seen really. Lid up the world when he turned pro and has come to me to Just help him a little bit not like he's he was already a great fighter before he came to me and I'm just continuing what was already been done for years from all of these amateur coaches to these earlier professional coaches. What is it like dealing with a fighter that knows they're talented but they still appreciate that they've got to learn? What is it like? Because you can have fighters on your team, Andy, and they're good fighters, but there's a difference between good and talented. Yeah, well, listen, if they're not willing to... If they're not willing to learn, then they wouldn't be with me. You know what mean? If they're not willing to listen, they're coming all the way to Ireland, setting up camp. And if they don't follow what I say, why, like, you're wasting your time. You know what mean? You have to be humble as well. And even myself, I try to learn as much as I can. I don't know everything. I learn a lot from the fighters as well. That's an interesting perspective considering your caliber. Yeah. What do the fighters teach you? They teach me... They teach you, like they all have, like say for instance Hamza had a lot of experience in America, sparring with different guys, and you learn to trust them. Yeah, you learn to trust them and learn to... You learn to let them learn themselves. I would say... Like when a fighter wants to do a certain thing and maybe you don't agree with it, earlier, when I was coaching earlier, I would have overruled them and they probably would have carried a bit of resentment because I didn't allow them to do what they wanted a certain way. And I've probably picked it up from Sugar Hill, I would say. You allow them to do, I'll say, you have no resistance to what they want to do. You say, go ahead. And when they see that it might not work as well as they had hoped, then they come back to you and
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say, now I realize what you're trying to teach me. And that's what I would say. It's interesting to hear a professional coach, a former fighter, a former champion also admit that they're still learning. You always have to learn, you have to keep improving. I never want to stop learning. But one of the key things that you've mentioned there, and God almighty, it's like a word that we use in boxing, is trust. Seriously, Andy, with how boxing is, know the sport inside out, on both inside and outside of the ring. How on earth do you trust anyone? the boxers. That's it. Why the boxers? Because they can often leave, they can think that something's better. Yeah, but if they do I'd be the first to say go ahead. know, if they think there's someone better out there who can do better and if we ever get to a level where I can't, I don't think they're improving or that we've maxed out our journey or whatever. I'd be the first to say good luck and wish them well. I'm not. I don't own anybody, there's no ownership. We're living here together as a team. I'm putting in as much, they're putting in a lot more physically, but I'm putting in as much as they are putting in. And that's why we trust each other. And people who suffer together have bonds who are stronger, you know, so that's why, yeah. The more generic question I'm going to ask you now about the camp, how Ben settled in, is preparing to go against Conor Wiley. an experienced fighter, somebody that either one of the words that he's using or one of the sentences he's putting together is, rip the script off. He's quite confident in himself. I don't know if it's a pre-rehearse word, but what do you read from Ben's opponent and how has Ben's camp gone? Conor is a very good young hungry fighter. Very good fundamentals and basics himself. He's a fighter, he's tough. From what I've seen of him, he can take a punch and he always answers back and looks to get it back. This is a huge opportunity for anyone who fights Ben. He's been in that position for a long time that the opponents always bring that little bit extra because they know if they can win this one, their life changes. And in regards to his camp, he's well settled in Ireland. This is our fifth fight together. He sets up camp and he stays in Bray, County Weaklow, which is not too far from the gym. And he's very settled there. I could see him moving there eventually. I remember when you was with Paddy Donovan and you told me about home. You told me how beautiful it was. So it's nice to see that you've got somebody from the Birmingham, from the West Mid's that's actually loving it over there. Feels really comfortable. I've seen a documentary with him and he couldn't have spoke highly enough about the place. But one of the key things that he said is it's isolated so we can just lock in and focus on what he's supposed to be doing. There's no outside noise. That's huge as well. That's huge. You need to be, you know, don't need to outside distractions. All you need to be focused on the fight and peace of mind. Peace of mind is the main thing. Hamza Shiraz, another fighter that came to you. I was quite happy about that. Like I said, you know, when you see fighters move, sometimes you think, why have they done that? But when I saw Hamza come to yourself, long rangey, powerful in his punches, a good move for Hamza. It seems to be so far. We've won all our fights together and he's won a world championship. So yeah, it's been a great move. Obviously he's vacated his belt. Obviously that's created a little bit of noise. Regarding Jannabeck, he seemed to protest overtly that it was because look, he's failed a drugs test. Why is he even allowed to be in this competition when other people have said, look, it's gone to purse bids. He probably didn't feel he was getting the value of what he believes he's worth. So is that the real reason behind it? Because he's been getting these big paydays and he's using Jannabeck's shady pass. as I can excuse to vacate. Both can be true. Both can be true. I love that honesty. Yeah, might like... Hamza's done very well for himself with the fights he's had. And also, what messages does send out to other boxers? What deterrent is it to do PEDs if you can do them, get found out, and then come straight back into a world title fight in the division you'd never even competed in? So I support Hamza in his stance on both fronts. So he knows he's worth. If you're willing to fight for scraps, go ahead and fight for it. But he's not. He knows he's worth. So refreshing to hear that answer. I've got to ask Joseph Parker, one of my heavyweight favourites, a fighter that always has a lot of time for myself as you do. How is he? Obviously he had the issue with the drugs. That seems to have sorted. What is happening with Joseph Parker? Joseph will fight before the end the year. looks very certain that he'll fight before the end of the year. We'll find out in the next week or two when and where. He's had a tough year, it's been a tough time for him. The ruling was contamination. They agreed that it was contamination, UCAD accepted that. In their own investigation, that was their finding. It's been tough, but I wouldn't say... When you look back... at the year and how the heavyweight division has unfolded. Hasn't done Joseph any damage really. anything, his value has, if not gone up because he's a true heavyweight contender and a household name and people want to see Joe fight. You know, after December, who knows what will happen with Fury and AJ and will their careers continue? Usyk's retired or not retired, I don't know. Ward in the wall gonna battle that again. Cabell still doing great, great fighter. But who are the Herkovich and Moses had that upset. So who are the other heavyweight contenders for these guys to box against and compete against and challenge and have a real challenge for the world heavyweight title. There's only one other name and it's Joseph Parker. So when he comes back, we're looking just to have a warm up tuna fight after a year out have a camp together and then next year. title charge. Because it was really frustrating because Joseph Parker left his trainer, took a little bit to jail with yourself but when he did, great. He became from that back foot defensive fighter that would only fight when he was backed into a corner to really someone that was coming forward and really aggressive and then all of a sudden something always happens it gets in the way and it seems to push him back. Yeah everything happens for a reason and It's hard to find a good one for what happened to in life you have to go through some ups and downs. In this boxing game you have to earn the right to be champion. And anyone who gets there has. And anyone who gets there on the easy road will have it eventually. that's what I say to Moses as well. My message to him would be this. Keep your head up. Everyone can see your talent. Now it's time to show them what's in here. And it's a perfect opportunity for him. And it'll add to his story of making him an even better fighter. And this is the same for Joseph. He'll be back stronger and more determined. I do look forward to that. Finally, I just want your... Not prediction, but how do you sum up the fight that's going to happen between Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Joshua's gone back to Ben Davison, obviously he's been gathering a couple of tips off Peter Fury, Tyson Fury's uncle. Just like your summary on that. If I speak I get in trouble. Listen. That's enough. we'll leave it there. Listen, thank you so much for your time, Andy Lee. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen. you