Tony Borg: The Welsh Factor

In recent years, Welsh boxing has flourished and the city of Newport has seen many quality fights, with regular shows featuring a host of exciting prospects. Tony Borg runs St. Joseph’s gym in the heart of the city, and the success the sport is having is mirrored by his gym. This has not come overnight: it has taken commitment and a determination to succeed. You sense that the man behind the gym is hungry for more.

Tony had a successful amateur career, which didn't translate when he turned professional in 1983. His record was 13-11, 4 KOs and he challenged for the Welsh featherweight title in 1986. He has gained most success as a coach and won the 2011 Welsh Coach of the Year award. I interviewed Tony a few days before the gym's latest success; Lee Selby winning the British featherweight title outright.

When were you first aware of boxing?

I was scrapping all the time in school and in the street as a little kid – six or seven years old. My mother had enough of it and complained about it to my aunties. So I went boxing with an older cousin called Michael. Benny Jacob's down Cardiff Bay. He was an old manager of Joe Erskine many years before. I walked into the gym and there was the current British featherweight champion - Tommy Glencross from Scotland – working the pads and bags and I was in awe, just hooked. I lived in tough area of Cardiff – Splott; I had no brothers, three sisters, my grandfather was very tough and I was brought up that way and I was scrapping too much outside. My mother had had a gutsful of it, so to get the aggression out of me she sent me to the boxing gym. I was never bullied – just loved to fight.

How did you do as an amateur boxer?

I was very successful: I had 115 fights and I thought I won 105 but my trainer is adamant that I won 107, so he says I lost eight. I won the Welsh title four or five times, won a British schoolboys' title two years running, British Boys Club title. I turned senior at 17 - won the Welsh senior title in my first year lost a controversial decision in the ABA semis to Herman Henry, who won the ABA title that year.

When did you turn professional?

At 18 (in 1983). I should never have turned professional, I was just stubborn. My mother died when I was 17, I never had a dad. I got controversially beaten in the ABA semi-final, I didn't get sent to the Commonwealth Games they said I was too young. It was in Australia (Brisbane, 1982) and there was no money around and they could only afford to send one boxer. They dropped three swimmers, four runners and only took one boxer, Jonathan Allsop. So I thought: “I’m not boxing for Wales again.” and turned pro.

How would you describe your fighting style as a professional?

As a pro, I was basically a counter-puncher. I was never really coached well as a pro; I felt a lot of the trainers then trained fighters the same way. It's a team sport in some ways, but once that bell goes it’s an individual sport. I don't think I was trained anywhere near my full potential - I turned pro very young and didn't understand the difference between home and away fighting, selling tickets.

As a young Welsh kid, you're not expected to win but I won a couple on the road and then work just dried up. When you're travelling away and winning, nobody wants you. I had a hopeless manager, Billy May: he managed Steve Sims (British featherweight champion) before me and had a lot of success with Steve, and thought he could manage and train me in the same way, but I'm different person to Sims.

Were you dedicated to your training as a professional?

No, I worked full-time; my Cardiff trainer would ask if I had been sparring in Newport and I’d just say “Yes.”, ask me if I ran in the morning and I'd say “Yes”; nobody knew. I got away with too much; I had ability and was a tough kid, and also, people would say: “you’ve got to be a featherweight.” You've got to think of a boxer stripped, without the fat and muscle, a skeleton. These machines today, they put all your figures in and say due to your height and age, that you should be a certain weight...it's nonsense. It used to kill me making featherweight; I've driven to London, having not eaten for two days, not even a sip passing my lips, got on the scales and two hours before the fight, I couldn't eat because I couldn't stomach anything and then gone in the ring and fought.

Today’s fighters have the luxury of weighing in the day before; would that have suited you?

For me it would be, but everyone’s an individual. Everyone’s going down to the lower weight because they know they have 36 hours to re-hydrate. You can walk onto those scales absolutely hanging but four or five hours later you're fine.

What are your thoughts on the Welsh title fight with Steve Sims?

I thought I won. Steve sits on the fence, 95% of people I've spoken to thought I won it. There was nothing in it on the official scorecard (the referee scored the fight) - maybe half a point. I won the first six at a canter, dropped him in the second. Then I went to my corner in the sixth or seventh round and Billy May said “How you feeling?” I said “OK.” and he said “You've won every round.” Billy said “Is he heavy handed?” I said “No.'” so he sent me out to enjoy myself and told me I'd won it. But against a champion, you've got to take the title off them. I was sent out to go through the motions but as soon as the final bell went; I knew I'd won. The referee did everything in those days and I couldn't believe it [when the decision went against him]

How did you feel before a fight?

There is a build-up of all the emotions, the adrenaline pumping, often when you have been cutting weight for weeks and weeks, building up to the fight. Then that day you weigh-in, had a load to eat, overloaded, so everything is feeling wrong. You're feeling bloated, nerves all over the place.

What was the ring walk like?

Once I was out of the dressing room and going towards the ring and seen my opponent, I wouldn't care if it was King Kong in the other corner. Prior to that, in the dressing room, doing-up my boots, shadowboxing. I rarely did pads, as no energy and felt so weak. When I got in the ring, I did the best I could but sometimes I got in the ring and shouldn't have been in there.

Why did you stop boxing?

A car hit me, snapped my leg and I was out for about two years. I was out jogging and the car hit me. I was laid-up for about nine months. I was out for about two years but got banned by the boxing board, so was out for about four years. It was four years later when they licensed me again.

How did you get involved in training fighters?

A close friend of mine, Marcel Herbert (7-9), he was training with me and I suggested he turn pro and I'd train him. He had a decent career but lost a couple on the trot and I felt he wasn't training hard enough so I decided to give fighting another go myself.

Then when I packed it in, I had a successful run training amateur boxers –Matthew Edmonds and Mo Nasir. Matthew Edmonds won Four-Nations gold, Mo Nasir won Commonwealth gold. Fred Evans won the European U-19s and it's spiralled from there: Olympic silver (Fred Evans), Commonwealth gold (Sean McGoldrick), boxers at three Commonwealth Games.

Does the gym get government funding?

Nothing like we need - at the moment we are trying to get help to get a bigger premises. We've got a lot of talent that trains here: Fred Evans, Sean McGoldrick, Joe Cordina and Andrew Selby, all Team GB. We've got a 14-foot ring and they box (competitively) in a 24 foot ring – it's like training on five-a-side pitch and then playing at Wembley. We just can't put a bigger ring in here. We are open to offers from anywhere but there is always an obstacle in the way. The gym is open to the public, mainly boxing in the daytime. From 5pm it's open to the public as that brings in extra revenue.

What goes through your mind leading up to one of your fighters' bouts?

The forefront of everything I do: the fighter's weight, the sparring sessions, how many rounds they've done, if they win what the next step is. I always watch what I can (video) although I won't study too much into it. I always tell my boxers to let them worry about you. If you know the opponent has a big right hand and you go out worrying about it, you fall a few rounds behind – let them worry about your left hook.

Can you describe the feeling when your fighter enters the ring?

I’ve got high expectations for all of my boxers; I know when we get to that ring that they've put the work in, trained hard, done the sparring, diet was right and didn't cut any corners. Obviously, once the bell goes he's on his own and we give him the best support between each round and preparation going into the fight. I think mentally boxers can be affected by various things outside of our scope: work, wives, social life – a lot of things can affect a boxer. No matter how good the training, diet has gone, as the fight edges closer, one little thing can tip them the other way.

What about vocal trainers at press conferences do they affect you?

We are all prone to that. I'm pretty level headed and quite intelligent - I wouldn't like to watch myself back on a DVD acting like a dickhead. I'm more than capable of putting someone in their place.

How did you feel winning Welsh Coach of the Year 2011?

I had a letter from them saying that I'd been nominated. I thought it was just for boxing. Then I made the short-list. A phone call to say I would be there on the night, down to the last three or four. They did a video interview with me in the gym. I was happy to be there and they said the winner is...Tony Borg. It was like a nice smack in the face, I was very pleased with that.

Are there advantages to having amateurs training with professionals?

So many it's common sense. You get some of these old people stuck in the Dark Ages with boxing, they think pro boxers and trainers are a threat to amateur boxing. We aren't a threat, we are part of what they are doing - it's a natural progression. Nobody knows who the ABA Champion is any more, even boxing people.

The GB squad are boxing as pros anyway: you've got Sean McGoldrick, Andrew Selby, Fred Evans and Joe Cordina – their last couple fights were no vests, no head-guards, they got paid and it was a 10-point scoring system.

The threat to amateur boxing isn't professional boxing, it's unlicensed boxing, white collar boxing, cage fighting, mixed martial arts and where they've taken boxing out of the school system. When I boxed in the British championships, I boxed for my school and the school paid my fees, but now they've washed their hands of boxing. In Wales they say you can't have pros involved.

Robert McCracken is Director of Boxing, he's done an amazing job. There are pros training with amateurs every day in that gym (Sheffield). Fred Evans sparred with Carl Froch before the Olympics (London 2012) and won silver, the first Welshman to reach an Olympic Final. Here (at St. Joseph’s) Joe Cordina and Sean McGoldrick get sparring with Gary Buckland and Lee Selby, that’s the sparring they are getting and then they go away to tournaments they aren't thinking “Oh my God that’s so-and-so” 'cos they are training at that level all the time.

Years ago a Welsh boxer would go away and look at other fighters like gods; they are there ‘cos they are the best in their country and we are the best from our country. You don't look up to anyone, you've got to fight them - you can't look up to people as gods.

What are some of the problems with amateur boxing?

They need to get their own household in order, and realise where boxing is going. Numbers are dwindling, 'cos kids are staying in playing Xbox rather than going to a gym. Cage fighting is more lucrative and entertaining than amateur boxing. People are wondering how they [amateur judges] scored that, how a fighter lost, there is a bit of blood and they are wiping his nose. Two grown men fighting, a bit of blood and they are wiping their noses. People want to watch genuine fights, so they watch cage fighting, which is more attractive.

What is the hardest part of boxing?

A defeat. When Gary Buckland lost the other week (to Stephen Smith), it just killed me. I don't know how I got through that week. When I woke-up the following morning, I just wanted to go back to sleep and into a dream; it just destroyed me. I had to be back in the gym the next day. To get out of my bed, go down the stairs, through the door, driving down the road, getting out of my car and going into the gym - It was hurdle after hurdle, honestly, it was so hard. Each of my boxers, is like a son. That’s the hardest part, without a doubt.

How do you lift a fighter after a defeat?

I do it in my own way, I'm quite a hard person – I don't molly-coddle. I'm just not that sort of person. If they get abit down in the dumps, I tell them “do you think David Haye, Lennox Lewis, Nigel Benn had it easy?” - Everyone of them got beat. Enzo Maccarinelli got knocked out, in an early fight, and came back to win a World title. Hasim Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis, Lewis came back and knocked him out. They've all been there and done it. Dust yourself down, spend sometime with your kids and missus, have a holiday somewhere and I'll see you next week.

Toughest decision that you've made during a fight?

Alan Ley boxing Naseem Hamed. I made it clear that I didn't really want the fight for Alan. I rang Alan and said “Listen, this kid is special, mate”. He got caught in the first, went down, got up. Cameback to the corner and I said “If you go down again look across to me” and he did. The count was at five, six and I looked at Naseem Hamed and he had that look on his face. I told Alan to stay there (down); I've never done that before, in my life and I hope I never have to do it again. They were both undefeated and had fought similar opponents but I tried to explain to his people that it would be a bigger fight down the line, get a big pay day, but they took it too early. There was no way he'd beat him ever.

Along with Lee Selby, which other fighters do you train?

Craig Evans (10-0) and Rhys Evans (1-0), both unbeaten. Frankie Borg (8-1) is a real prospect - I know he's getting on in years but he's got a lot of experience, a good fighter and trainer. Gary Buckland (27-3), will be back with a vengeance and his brother Mitch Buckland (6-0), will go all the way, just beat Craig Woodruff. Gary will be back in November. Robbie Turley (11-4), is looking to get his licence back, there was a problem with his scan but a specialist has looked at it and they got it wrong.

Will we see Frankie Borg vs Liam Williams, for the Welsh middleweight title?

It's very likely. I just said to Steve Sims: “Don't put it on a little show in Newport – put it in Cardiff, on a Frank Warren show and earn some money for it”. It's a fight for TV.

Your thoughts on the rise, in the number, of gyms in Wales?

It's on the up, on a good curve. I think we finally started realising that we've got some great trainers here in Wales. Years ago, when I was boxing, if you wanted to be a pro boxer you had to goto London. That was where the trainers were. We got good trainers here (in Wales) and the good trainers learn from other trainers and the good trainers learn from good boxers. People always assume that; that coach taught that boxer- when actually that boxer has taught that coach. I get alot from my boxers, I watch little things they do and I tweak it, a little bit, and pass it on to another boxer.

Thoughts on semi-professional boxing?

I think the way it's going, if we don't get a grip, on it, we are going to end up with three or four different groups. The Boxing Board of Control won't be able to keep control, who are they to say 'we are the only ones who can sanction a fight'. People are looking into things more deeply now, there are alot of implications, for example if they said 'We aren't giving you a licence cos you've been in trouble with the Police - which they have been able to do for years, if they did that now for any reason the fighter can go elsewhere.

Your favourite fighter?

Without a doubt, Sugar Ray Leonard – I haven't seen anyone better than him. A Quality boxer, ambassador for the sport. Leonard is the best all-round.

Who wins between David Haye and Tyson Fury?

I think Haye would be abit too clever. Fury would be up for it, has a big heart but his heart will get the better of him and he'll make a mistake.

Who would win between Floyd Mayweather and Amir Khan?

Be a Great fight. People say 'Oh, he's chinny'. Forget that he's chinny. He's got fast hands, he's got the ability to catch Mayweather with a jab or double jab and follow-up with combinations and turn it into a real thrilling fight. I don't think he'll beat Mayweather. He'll be able to connect as he's got fast hands, good work-rate and a massive heart. Mayweather will take his shots and grind out a stoppage late on. Khan is exciting and wants to be exciting, instead of going ahead on points and thinking about it he still wants to go for it.

If you weren't involved in boxing, what would you do?

Without a doubt I would be in Criminal Law; a solicitor. If I didn't spend so much time in the gym, as a kid, I would have stuck it out at school and did better, I did well at school but would have gone into law.

How do you relax away from boxing?

Watching the soaps – EastEnders and Coronation Street. Any British TV, I don't like American gangster movies, I like British stuff.

Ambitions for the future?

Ambitions wise, my initial ambition was to win a medal at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. I got a Gold at the Commonwealth Games, two Golds at the European Championships and a Silver at the Olympics, with Fred Evans. So, I'm buzzing at the moment. Just to carry on with that would be great. With the pros, I want Lee Selby to get a European shot and win the title. Get Gary Buckland back in the mix and have myself, two European champions – that’s my target now.

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