Howard Daley - 'I'm not a quitter!'

The sport of boxing is not associated with quitters and Preston's Howard Daley is a prime example of true fighting spirit.

Howard’s boxing career was halted prematurely this year after the BBBoC took his licence away. This isn’t the end though, Howard has devised a plan and if all goes well he could be fighting again very soon.

Howard (left, boxing Danny Hughes, courtesy Jane Warburton) first found himself in a boxing gym working out to keep fit and then fell in love with the sport and he was hooked. When he first laced up the gloves he was getting support from fellow boxers and friends Alex Matvienko and Scott Mitchell. At stages of his career he also been lucky enough to work with Salford based trainer Oliver Harrison. He has been fighting at heavyweight since September 2007 when he fought and won his pro debut against David Ingleby. Since the early days of his career Howard’s form has taken a dip and his record now stands at 2-21-1.

Howard has always been matched against up and coming fighters with decent pedigree so it’s no surprise that his loss column reaches higher than the win column. This did not deter Howard from taking tough fights where he knew he would be up against it. Was he still enjoying plying his trade in boxing’s pinnacle division?

“Yeah, I love my boxing, I was always enjoying it, I just didn’t enjoy losing fights. I just love being in there and putting on a good show for the fans and supporters and just doing my best.

“I went into every fight feeling confident and believing I could win, I wasn’t delusional in the fact that I was 100% sure I would win but I always believed there was a way I could win the fight. I always tried to win.”

Shortly after his last fight in March 2010, a sixth round stoppage loss against John Anthony, Howard was summoned before the board to discuss his run of defeats. The conclusion of the meeting was that Howard’s boxing licence would be revoked. Obviously this was not welcome news.

“I was gutted, to be honest with you I was close to tears. The British Boxing Board of Control are the governing body and what they say goes, that’s it! I just accepted what they said and walked away.

“They called me in for a meeting because I lost my last contest by stoppage and they said that were worried about me because they thought I was taking too much damage in the ring. I think it’s mainly because of my style, I’m a walk forward fighter and was taking a lot of shots.”

There are plenty of active fighters who have lost more fights than they have won. For example boxers like Sid Razak and Karl Taylor fight week in week out against the UK’s young prospects and very rarely pick up a win. So why does Howard think these guys continue to lose on a regular basis, but he has had his licence taken from him?

“I think it's more of a style problem, those guys are clever journeymen. They have been doing it for years and know exactly what they are doing. They have got that style to survive and be more elusive.”

That is by no means the end of this story, Howard has decided he’s got more to offer the sport and is not ready to give up fighting. So the plan is for Howard to shed a few pounds (actually stones) as he looks to start a new campaign fighting at cruiserweight where he feels he will have more success. Howard is desperate to get his licence back!

“I’ve got to go back to the board and explain to them that I have lost weight, that I want to fight at cruiserweight now, show them I have been making changes to my style in the gym. I think what they might do is ask me to spar in front of a member of the board to show them what changes I have made to my technique. Then hopefully if I can impress them they will say OK you can have another chance.”

Howard has not fought since March but that doesn’t mean he has been avoiding the gym. He has been working hard at getting down to what he hopes will be his new fighting weight. He is also mixing his training up a bit these days to maximise his improvement. He was trained and managed by Oliver Harrison and still spars at Oliver’s Gym on Fridays. He says if he does get his licence back there is nobody he would like better in his corner than Oliver.

“At the moment I’m training in Preston with Johnney Roye and Sam Betts at Johnney’s gym. These guys have years of experience and they are both working with me to improve my defence and conditioning.

“I have been sparring with a lot of good lads in the gym, I’ve got people like my friend Paul Morris who is an up and coming cruiserweight and I have learned a lot from him.

“The last time I weighed myself I was 14st 9lb. I am going to go back to the board in September and I should be championship weight (14st4lb) by then. Mostly I was fighting around the 16 and a half stone mark at heavyweight and my last pro fight I was just over 17 stone!

“The main thing in losing this weight has been my change of diet, I have been really strict with my diet by eating smaller portions little and often. Everything I eat now is wholemeal stuff, brown pitta bread, brown rice and brown pasta.”

The mental strains and pressure placed on boxers can be immense so Howard is taking steps to improve him self in this area too.

“There is another person who is having a good influence on me recently; his name is Michael Derbyshire who works as a sports mind coach. He has been helping with the mental side of things. Now I can think on my feet better and he has helped with other techniques. They say boxing is mostly in the mind and that is where people can fail.

“I think another one of my problems could have been because I started boxing so late, when I went into it I was a fully grown confident man. I never really had that fear factor that young kids get and the adrenaline rush that can give a fighter an edge.”

Looking to the future it really would be a great achievement if Howard could drop down to cruiserweight and start picking up a few victories. He feels this is a real possibility.

“If all goes well I will be fighting at cruiser and I want to start winning some fights. Hopefully fight on some home shows; I was never a massive ticket seller which was a bit of a problem in the pros. At cruiserweight I’m hoping the small mistakes you make won’t be as costly as they are at heavyweight when you’re being hit by twenty stone blokes!

“So at cruiser my game plan now is to make sure I don’t get hit as much. That’s what we’ve been training on in the gym.”

Looking back at Howard’s CV the quality of opponent has been good. He has been matched tough and fought some of Britain’s up and coming prospects. It’s no disgrace losing to these guys.

“I’ve been in with people like Dave Ferguson, he was the only stoppage I consider a real stoppage, he knocked me down and I was knocked out for two or three seconds. All my other stoppages where when the referee has jumped in. I have fought Richard Towers, David Dolan and Mike Perez who was a world amateur champion. So really I think I had been over matched.”

Howard is very humble about his boxing past, he is honest and recognises that the decisions he made and the fights he took in the past have landed him in this situation.

“I want to go on record and say that I don’t blame anyone for any of my defeats, it was always my decision to face these fighters and I’m where I am today because of what decisions I made. Now i'm going to end up where I end up by making better decisions and with the help from my coaches.

“I have a belief that there is always a way, I’m not a quitter. That’s my motto in life, never give up. As long as i’m healthy and i’m making improvements to my boxing then I will keep trying.”

As the well used saying goes “A change is as good as a rest” Howard’s had both! So with all the hard work and sacrifices he has made over the last few months hopefully Howard will be back in the ring fighting before long.