Boxing Life Stories

Former world title challenger and European champion Pat Barrett is now becoming one of Britain's go-to trainers. The man behind the rise of Zelfa Barrett and Lyndon Arthur was trained and mentored by Brian Hughes and the veteran coach has clearly left his mark on Barrett.  Here, Pat recalls the highs and lows of his career – in and out of the ring – and recounts his road to redemption, surviving s...

Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini was an iconic WBA lightweight champion in the 1980s.  One of the most charismatic boxers in the history, he met presidents, was friends with Sinatra and he became a prominent star in the sport before moving in to acting. Here, he talks about growing up in Youngstown, mob influences, family, fights with Haugen, Chacon, Bramble, Arguello and winning the title against Art Fria...

Tony Jeffries is a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist whose career in the ring was cut short by hand injuries. He experienced a lot in his relatively brief pro career and after initially struggling to accept the end he embraced a new life after fighting, moving to Los Angeles, becoming a coach and social media influencer while training top fighters and celebrities including Robbie Williams, Deontay Wild...

Martin Murray has retired after a long career that saw him challenge for an incredible five world titles. Here, he talks about the nights against huge names such as Gennady Golovkin, George Groves, Sergio Martinez, Arthur Abraham and Billy Joe Saunders. He talks about his mentor, Oliver Harrison, working with his friend Jamie Moore and his future in the sport. However, Murray's story is incredible...

Promoter Barry Hearn is now an OBE. He's also in the International Boxing Hall of Fame and has been involved with the sport since the 1980s. The patriarch of Matchroom, he's been a dominant figure in darts, snooker and fishing, among other sports. In boxing, however, the father of promoter Eddie, has worked with the likes of Chris Eubank, Frank Bruno, Naseem Hamed and many, many others. Here he re...

Steve Robinson has one of the great stories in British boxing as a bonafide Cinderella Man.   The former WBO featherweight champion was seemingly going nowhere, losing close fights, losing on the road and condemned to the 'also-ran' pile before his life changed with a phone call. Having lost a bout in France, he was called at two day's notice to fight for a world title. He took the shot and won, a...

Top trainer Adam Booth says Canelo has now made it to all-time great status after his decisive win over Callum Smith. Both Booth and former world champion Alex Arthur are brimming with superlatives for the excellent Mexican after another impressive outing, and they ponder what is next as the 30-year-old hits his peak. They also look at the recent performance of his former rival, Gennady Golovkin a...

Ring announcer David Diamante talks about making it to the top of his profession as one of the very best in the business. David, a cigar-smoking (he also has owned a cigar lounge and has his own brand of cigars), fifth generation Brooklynite, talks about his upbringing in Baltimore and coming through the hard way following addictions to drink and drugs when his life threatened to spiral out of con...

Top trainer Adam Booth, former world champion Alex Arthur and boxing journalist Tris Dixon reflect on the return to heavyweight championship boxing as Anthony Joshua drops Kubrat Pulev and stops him in nine rounds. Dixon was ringside, the others were stuck at home!! Then, they look ahead to Callum Smith's title defence against the brilliant Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and discuss the career trajectory o...

Former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion shares his incredible stories, from being on the Tyson-Holyfield I bill in Vegas, to laying out Brad Pitt in Snatch, his on-off friendship with Herbie Hide, brutal sparring sessions and much more on an incredible heavyweight scene that saw him challenge for the WBO title. Here, he talks about the likes of Akinwande, the late James Oyebola and Ga...

This week, Tris Dixon, Alex Arthur and Adam Booth look back on Lyndon Arthur's victory over Anthony Yarde and Errol Spence's return against Danny Garcia.  They also look ahead to Anthony Joshua's heavyweight title defence against Kubrat Pulev in front of 1,000 fans at Wembley Arena this weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Groves has had one of the most iconic careers in British boxing in the last 25 years. A world champion at the fourth and final attempt, he shared an audience of 80,000 at Wembley with Carl Froch, had a bitter feud with James DeGale, worked with Adam Booth, Paddy Fitzpatrick and Shane McGuigan and was involved in a fight that left Eduard Gutknecht with life-changing injuries. He also fought...

Tris Dixon, Alex Arthur and Adam Booth look back on the highlights of a busy weekend as Joe Joyce, a former Adam Booth trained fighter, defeats Daniel Dubois and Mike Tyson and Roy Jones share an exhibition in Los Angeles. We assess the big heavyweight fight, break down what happened and look ahead at the potential paths for both men, as well as discussing the 'Q' label all fighters dread. Learn m...

Thomas Hauser is one of the leading boxing writers of the generation. He penned Muhammad Ali's biography with him, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times and has written both well-received books including The Black Lights and Waiting For Carver Boyd. He had an impressive career even before he started working in boxing but has subsequently become boxing's go-to investigative reporter, writing long-form p...

He's worked with Muhammad Ali's daughter Laila Ali, James Toney, former heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster and George Groves among many others, but Paddy Fitzpatrick has left professional boxing – for now at least. The Swindon trainer is a great storyteller and here he discusses working with Laila, his time with George Groves – including both Froch fights and beyond – and his time in the Wild Car...

The B.A.D team of Tris Dixon, Alex Arthur and Adam Booth looks back on Terence Crawford's fourth round victory over Sheffield's Kell Brook, assessing how the fight was won and lost and what Crawford might do next while all three have different predictions for Brook's future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Liverpool's Brian Schumacher was the captain of the 1984 Team GB Olympic boxing team. He rubbed shoulders with the likes of Seb Coe, Daley Thompson and Steve Redgrave. He was also a clearance diver for the Royal Navy and a former ABA champion. He lost to the brilliant Virgil Hill in Los Angeles and at the start of his pro career defeated future WBO world champion Johnny Nelson. But politics and li...

It's Devin Haney's turn to take centre stage in the lightweights as he prepares to face Cuban veteran Yuriorkis Gamboa.  Host Tris Dixon, top trainer Adam Booth and great Scot Alex Arthur look ahead to the fight, put the magnifying glass over a glittering lightweight group and look at the huge tasks facing Brits Luke Campbell and Kell Brook against Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford respectively in...

Tony Bellew is a former WBC world cruiserweight champion who retired in 2018. He fought the likes of Nathan Cleverly (his bitter rival), Adonis Stevenson, Ovill McKenzie, Isaac Chilemba, David Haye and Oleksandr Usyk but he's equally known for playing the role of 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan in the Creed movie, starring alongside Michael B. Jordan and working with Sylvester Stallone, and his popular appe...

Join host Tris Dixon, former  WBO super-featherweight champion Alex Arthur and top trainer Adam Booth as they break-down and analyse the weekend's big fights, including Oleksander Usyk's win over Dereck Chisora and Gervonta Davis's spectacular knockout of Leo Santa Cruz... There's casual references to Haye, Pryor and the great RJJ along the way and much more in 30 action-packed minutes Learn more...

SugarHill is best-known as the man in the corner of heavyweight Tyson Fury. However, the former cop from Detroit has his own story to tell. He's a link back to the days of the old school Kronk boxing team, nephew of the late, great Emanuel Steward and he's worked with the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Andy Lee, Adonis Stevenson, Ruslan Chagaev and many more. Here, he talks about the night Stevenson...

Liverpool's former world title challenger Paul Smith has had one of the most-interesting careers in modern British boxing. A former ABA champion and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Smith also featured in the US TV series show The Contender. He was in Liverpool derbies with Tony Quigley and Tony Dodson, boxed Arthur Abraham twice for the WBO world title and fought Andre Ward in the USA, as wel...

Dr Margaret Goodman is the co-founder of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) and one of the most-respected voices in boxing.  A neurologist, she spent years working for the Nevada State Athletic Commission and has penned two boxing books, Death in Vegas, a novel looking at the behind the scenes machinations of big-time boxing, and Ringside and Training Principles, a must-have handbook gui...

Tony Oakey is one of Britain's most-popular light-heavyweight champions. Adored by his Portsmouth fans, he took part in multiple thrilling battles but he also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when he was suspended after a positive cocaine test following the first loss of his career. A dark period followed but when he returned to the ring, the decorated three-time ABA finallist and two-time...

Ronnie Davies is best-known for his work as trainer to Chris Eubank. The popular Brighton coach travelled the world with the eccentric British great and forged a friendship that remains to this day. Davies was also involved in the career of Eubank Jr but he's worked with dozens of other fighters from Scott Welch to Henry Castle and Neil Linford to Tony Oakey.  He was also a former Southern Area ch...