Tony Conquest

Name: Tony Conquest

Weight: Cruiserweight

Born: Hampstead,north London. All the family originate from Camden and Kentish Town

Age: 28 Family background: I’ve only got one brother who’s five years older but Dad’s one of 14 kids so I’ve a huge extended family. I live in Romford with me missus. No kids yet, still working on it.

Trade: I’m a gas mains and service replacement engineer.

Nickname: ‘The Conqueror’

What age did you become interested in boxing and why? My first memories are of watching the likes of Benn and Bruno on ITV from the sofa when I was a nipper. My uncle, Johnny Conquest, boxed amateur for St Pancras and later for Hornchurch so I always had a bit of interest.

As a teenager I was quite a fat kid. At 15, I weighed 110kilos. I had a mate, Stevie Hunt who was doing well at the Repton club so I decided to give it a go. I started at Dagenham ABC just before my 16th birthday to lose a bit of weight, get fit and be able to get myself out of trouble.

What do you recall of your amateur career? I had my first contest at 17. To be honest, I was a bit of an ill disciplined street rat, smoking and drinking, but a coach called Mickey Kilmurray took an interest in me, spent time on the pads and made sure I had my first bout. I owe him a lot.

Around the age of 20, 21, I had a couple of seasons at the Hornchurch club, trained by the O’Sullivan brothers, then went back to Dagenham under the coaching team of Jimmy Bush and Alan Southwick.

All told, I had 27 amateur bouts and won 20. In 2009, I was London cruiserweight champion beating James Haye, David’s younger brother, at the York Hall. That’d be the highlight. Later that year, I got to the English ABA semis but lost 13-9 to Robert Evans from the Spit n Sawdust gym in Banbury.

I also won three North East London divisional titles, the first at heavyweight, the other two down at cruiser. I once boxed over in Guernsey but, for some reason, never got chosen for London or England. I guess those with influence must’ve decided I wasn’t good enough but that was a regret. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the amateurs.

Leon Williams, your good friend and challenger for your Southern Area belt on Saturday night, stopped you in just 54 seconds of the 2007 London ABA final. What went wrong and why will it be different this time? My trainer wanted to pull me out. Whereas Leon had a bye, I’d gone four hard rounds with a fella an hour before in the semi-final which left me with ‘floaters’. I was inexperienced, only had 13 bouts at the time.

But no excuses. Leon did his job, I didn’t do mine. My jabbing hand was by my waist. Leon rushed me and, twice, caught me flush with overhand rights over the top of it. I had two standing counts but stayed on my feet. My corner threw the towel in.

For Saturday, everything has gone perfect. I’m fit, I’ve had great sparring and I’m very confident. I’ll be looking for revenge but not necessarily a stoppage. If I do hurt him, it’s crucial I take my time and don’t rush. I’ll just be looking to implement our gameplan and win the fight.

Why did you decide to turn pro when you did? When faced with another go at the ABAs, I just didn’t have the same drive. I’d have been facing the same people I’d come up against before. You need amateur experience to develop but it had always been my goal to box professional and I was already 25. I knew it was time to make a move.

Tell us about your back up team: I managed by Richard Clark, promoted by George and Francis Warren at Queensberry and trained by (ex British and WBU light welter champion) Jason Rowland.

Jay’s got a terrific temperament, a real tough mentality. He accepts no excuses, just tells us: ‘Get on with it’. He’s also brilliant technically on the pads and, because he studies the tapes, very good at anticipating what your opponent will try, then working on the solutions over and over until it sticks.

I also do a lot of strength and conditioning work with a fella called Ian Smith at a gym in Romford, close to where I live. Also, my landlord runs a nutritional shop beneath our flat and is always giving me stuff to try. Right result!

What’s your training schedule? Which parts do you most and least enjoy? I train five days a week. If I’m working, I’ll run at 5a.m, work between seven and four, then hit the gym around five for a couple of hours. After that, it’s just dinner and bed.

However, I couldn’t ask for a better boss than Gary Hines and he’s given me a fortnight off for this fight. Consequently, I can go the gym in the afternoon then run at night and my body gets accustomed to peaking in the evening which is when I’ll be fighting; a small thing that really helps.

My runs vary. I split them between interval sprints on the rugby pitch or a hard seven mile slog. I always try to really push myself. At the gym, I’ll warm up with a ‘stretch out’ and about four rounds of shadow boxing, then it’s pads, bags and loads of sparring every day. I really try to get the rounds in. We also do circuits and flip these huge 12 and a half stone tyres. Jay likes to chuck in loads of explosive jumps and stuff. Whatever that sadist calls for, we get on and do!

I really enjoy sparring but also like being pushed out of my comfort zone in really hard pad sessions. I always give it the best I’ve got so that I know I’ve all bases covered, come fight night.

To be honest, I love every part of training. My idea of a day off is heading to the weights gym with my pals. The worst thing is waiting to fight when you’re really fit and full of energy yet have to hold back.

Describe your style? What are your best qualities? I’m a pure boxer. I can throw all sorts of punches from all sorts of angles but my jab’s the key weapon, sets everything up. I like to think I’m very fast and very elusive for a cruiser. I don’t take many and I’m quite tough mentally, can push myself through the pain barrier.

What specifically do you need to work on to fully optimise your potential as a fighter? Stay away from bloody injuries! Twice I’ve broken my right hand. I’ve also torn the cartilage in my knee which resulted in an operation and I’ve had shingles. It’s been a snowball of injuries and illnesses, one after the other.

What have you found to be the biggest difference between the pro and amateur codes? Everything about the pros is a lot, lot harder. There’s the pressure and grief of having to sell tickets. Young fighters always think the grass will be greener (in the pros) but you don’t just have to win, you have to find away to look good so your supporters will all come back again next time.

Professional boxing is a heart breaking game and, if you’re not really disciplined and tough mentally, you won’t survive.

Who is the best opponent that you’ve shared a ring with? Robert Evans who outpointed me in those 2009 ABA semis. He was easily the most stylish but also very quick and very clever. He was very ‘sideways on’ which made it very difficult to get to him. The scoring was quite close, something like 13-9 but Rob definitely won ‘fair and square’.

He was unbeaten at the time and went on to win the ABAs that year. Last I heard he’d retired and was earning big bucks as a Calvin Klein model in New York.

All time favourite fighter: Marvin Hagler. Such a natural switch hitter.

All time favourite fight: Hagler-Hearns. I love the way it started. So explosive. Hagler was badly cut yet just shook off Hearns’ bombs, walked through him, then knocked him out.

Which current match would you most like to see made? I’d like to see Marco Huck against Ola Afolabi again. They’re both terrific fighters and they’ve had two great fights already. After such a controversial loss and draw before, Afolabi deserves another world title shot as much as anybody.

What is your routine on fight day? I don’t really have a set routine. I’ll allow myself to wake up naturally, then fill myself full of carbs. I never understand those who have fry up or junk after making weight. You still have to fight. You still need your body to feel good.

After that I might go for a walk with the missus, see if we can find some sunshine. Then I’ll watch a bit of tele and pack my bag. The fight will have constantly been on my mind for the past couple of days and I’ll be playing scenarios through my mind of what I need to do to win. I get nervous for every single fight but it’s good for your body to feel that. I’m sure it makes you a little bit sharper.

I’ll turn up at the venue whatever time Jason tells me to, then try to remain calm and composed in the changing room. I’ll put my earphones on, stretch out, do some pads and stay nice and warm. Get a sweat on. That’s very important.

Entrance music: ‘Cochise’ by Audioslave

What are your ambitions as a boxer? To win a Lonsdale Belt, to keep outright. If I could get that, I might sling the missus into the spare room so I can sleep with it! Anything above the British would be a real bonus.

How do you relax? I like my DVDs and the modern warfare games on my X-Box. I might go to the gym and do weights. Boxing is all I like, really.

Football team: West Ham but I’m not a big fan. I find football boring.

Read: Boxing News, Boxing Monthly, The Ring. The missus is always moaning about me living ‘em on the bathroom floor. I’ve also got quite a few boxing autobiographies.....but no novels!

Music: Bit of anything and everything. At the minute, I really like Bruno Mars.

Films/TV: I usually have to sit through chick flicks! My favourite film is probably ‘Taken’ with Liam Neeson. On TV, I have to sit through EastEnders and Katie Price. We like a bit of Geordie Shore. When I can, I watch BoxNation all the time.

Aspiration in life: Hopefully to have healthy children and grandchildren who I can leave a Lonsdale Belt behind to. To get my name in the record books.

Motto: ‘Just Get On With It!’