Sean McComb: Have to stay ready and trust the process. I Could be 2/3 fights away from world title

Sean McComb: Have to stay ready and trust the process. I Could be 2/3 fights away from world title

Interview 1061: Sean McComb
In association with @Thatprizeguy

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Hey, [Applause] hey, [Applause] hey. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] This is Boxing Tickets NI in association with that prize guy. I’m delighted to be joined once again with Mr. Bang Bang Gravy Chip Shawn Mcome. How are you? All good. All good. Steve, mate, just as usual with me, same old carry on. Just [ __ ] living it up. training hard in the gym, being a father, doing the podcasts, just everything life throws at you. Just take it and keep moving forward. You know what I mean? We’re still having a bit of a laugh cuz when you first opened the Zoom, you had a Halloween mask on and and I was in hysterics for about a minute. It’s going to make an appearance here again. The weight mean that’s me making weight. What do you mean fit me? Is that you the night before weigh and that’s how you’re feeling? 100%. That’s exactly it. If there was a face to describe me, it would be that. But like you’re you’re nine days out now from from fight 22 as a pro. Like probably what I’m trying to think what day it is. So this day next week you’ll be sort of going through that last sort of weight cutting sort of thing. But do you everything’s a breeze at the minute like like fight week for you probably now at 140 is probably a lot easier now than it ever was at 135. Come on you know it is it’s like obviously I done 135 once against Gwen and I murdered myself. The camp wasn’t enjoyable. I just wasn’t in a good mental place. It was just like I think that one off was enough to to just put me off completely and just be like, you know what, I’m not performing at 135. I’m not happy at 135 and I’m not enjoying my box at 135. I just give it a go. And every good performance I’ve ever had was 140. Do you know what I mean? So, I just I went back up and and I think that’s I think that shows you exactly why like I’ve got a lot better. I’ve performed a whole lot better. I’ve reached a better level. And um camp now isn’t about making making weight. You know what I mean? I can actually enjoy camp and get better and work on things rather than focusing on weight loss a whole lot of the time. I was doing a full session and then finishing with like an a six or sevenk run after swimming like straight away put the sweaty on and doing that um just to get the weight down as much as I could and it was like just extra calories and extra sweat sessions and all it was just horrible just I wasn’t enjoying it where now I can actually focus on boxing enjoy boxing enjoy the sparring and and just enjoy boxing and and there’s no pressure with making weights when I I make it well and I do it well and it’s not that often now. I just I know exactly what I’m doing. You you’re able to probably fall in love more with your boxing because you’re not having the slog. Don’t get me wrong, you’re probably still going to slog through your training sessions, but you’re going, “Oh, I’ve just finished a boxing session now. I need to go for a run.” Like, you don’t have that that extra you have to do anymore. So, like it’s it’s probably easier to to keep in love with boxing more rather than going I have to go and do this or I have to go and do that. Yeah. People like people used to say, “Oh, you’re you’re you’re flying fit.” Because I was able to go and do a 6K run after doing a full SP like straight away. But it wasn’t fit. It was it was like deteriorating. It was uh overtrained. Like there’s so like now I do very little. I’ll do just what I need to do and I am couldn’t be fitter. Like I’m recovered. I take Saturday and Sundays off completely. I can’t get any fitter. My heart rate’s so like my heart rate probably my resting heart rate’s probably in around 30 odd like 35 maybe 35 resting heart rate in the mornings. It’s insane. You know what I mean? And I can’t get any fitter. So now I just get better. Now I go tactical. I go tactical. Now I learn the pace. Now I work on the fence now working on all the stuff that makes you a good fighter. And it’s great. It’s absolutely amazing. Um I guess probably the Ben Crocker fight probably came came out of the blue in some ways. Obviously you you were back obviously your first I think it was your first fight in 14 15 months. Um do they obviously I know you then said in an interview me that obviously the plan was then to get a fight again in September. So it’s all running to schedule but the sort of Ben Crocker thing for probably anybody in sort of boxing was going tier and probably Ben Crocker ran it back again after a draw. I guess in some ways for you, you are the bigger name. You’ve been in the bigger stages than Tieran. So in some ways to defend Ben Crocker, he was always going to look at the better option for himself to get himself to the top table quicker than than a rematch with Tieran. Yeah, of course. I mean obviously they’ll probably have me at a higher caliber than Ken Bradley um as a boxed at a higher level and they know they they’re very confident obviously to take that fight with me. They they have full belief that they’re going to beat me and they wouldn’t have to take the fear otherwise they would have just went down the route of maybe having another rematch with Kieran Bradley but you know let’s say for example he beats Kan Bradley doesn’t put his name on the map he beats me right in he’s right in the mix you know what I mean say it and I’m well aware of that and I’m well aware that they’re going they’re coming to win you know what I mean I’m well aware that they’re coming to win and coming to make it rough and tough for And that’s my job to just to stick to my box and stick to my tactics. Everything as simple as I can. Um, don’t get emotionally attached with a face. Just go and do what I do. Stay just stay switched on fully focused and and I mean they’re seeing this like a massive opportunity. I’m also seeing like a massive opportunity cuz no one else would pay me with a belt. um this push me potentially into the top 15, top 10 in the world again with IBF and you know get my hands in the top 10 who knows like Richard Hitchens he’s talking about potentially moving up the welterweight and stuff you know what do you know what I’ve learned over the last few months obviously after watching the weekend with L Crocker and Py and stuff maneuver in your favor and if you keep yourself busy and you keep yourself positive things will work out and and just get myself back in that top 10. Where do you think Ben Crocker may be taking confidence from? You know, do they maybe look to the Gavin Gwyn fight? You know, they obviously can’t look at any other fight to gain confidence from him being Welsh, I guess, as well. He’s probably going to look at a fellow Welsh man. Do you think that’s where he he might be getting confidence from? I would say that’s exactly where they got the confidence from. He trains with Kevin Gwin. So they’ll have a game plan to beat me before. Um and they think we’ll do it again. This is we just need to do against this fell. And obviously I’m rubbing my hand is because I know even though like that fight was still a very close fight with until the stage where I just took the gloves off. [ __ ] this. I don’t want to do it anymore cuz I wasn’t in a good mental state. First of all, I wasn’t in a good physical state because of the weight loss and because of the camping fall off three times and I just had a baby. It was just so I just opened the gym. There was so much going on on the mental side of things. It just wasn’t at the races and gambling beat me. He jumped on me and beat me. That’s not I people like bigger than G same and I handle no problem and it suits me and Ben Crocker is going to help take confidence that good because he’s just going to do the same thing and I want to do the complete opposite of what I done against so it’ll be it’ll be a good um it’ll be good be good for me and they’re obviously getting a lot from and you want him to be confident. You want him to bring the very best that he has so that he’s going to open up and leave the gaps when he’s obviously have that confidence and that’s when you can exploit your counterattacks. Yeah, 100%. Like I mean people know how I box. I haven’t really seen anything. It’s just about trying to figure me out. It’s just, you know, everyone wants to get close, but you have to remember you want to get hit on the way in as well, especially against ball. And when I’m on my game madly, it’s it’s very it’s very strong. You can get a lot of confidence surely as well from from Tieran’s performance like you know, call him a speed of speed. Tier is robbed on that night. Like I I think I haven’t watched that fight. I’ve never watched so I don’t know. But I’ve heard a lot of people say to me, Tenan, and you know what, Tenan’s a great fighter. Tenan’s skillful. He’s tricky. He’s good head movement. He’s good counters. He’s a great fighter. Um, so I mean, I have a completely different style to Tan and I do believe that ST fights and T can probably handle Tan’s tactics are probably suit Tan better against B my tactics. Well, you know, it’s it’s but it’s up to me to figure the tactics out on the night. Obviously, we have our own tactics as a team, me and Pete and that, but on the night we have to be able to adapt along the way as well, depending on what he brings, you know. So, I do believe I have a lot of Adam Ler and and um he’s going to come with a different game plan than what he did against T as well. So, see, at this level, it’s a game of tactics and he who can do who can deal with. It’s like I’ve seen Pete’s sort of cheat seats in the in the past for fights and obviously he’s a formula for every sort of thing. Like Pete’s the perfect guy for you coming into a fight where you’re where you maybe haven’t watched Ben Crocker, but you leave all that faith to Pete because Pete’s the expert. He knows exactly every situation that you can be in. Whether whether you have an arm tied up against the rope, you’ll still have a punch somewhere. Like Pete’s the master technician. Yeah. Pete Pete is a tactical genius. He knows If Pete tells me to throw something, I throw it immediately. You know, if he tells me what what distance, what range I need to box, I’ll do it. I just do it. I trusting what he sees, his vision outside the ring. He can see things that I can’t see. And we work well together as a team. So much trust in him. I just He tells me to do something, I do it immediately. Simple. That’s That’s what you That’s what you you need in a coach, don’t you? You need someone you can have 100% trust in to go whatever they do it’s for your benefit rather than what do you tell me to do that for. Yeah, 100%. Like I never question Pete and Pete never really questions me. We just work together and we have our trust in each other and if Pete tells me to put the hands up high, I walk him down. I’ll go and do it. I’ll do it cuz Pete obviously sees something that I and I’ll do it. So far in my career being with Pete, it’s anything he says. anything like I’ve only lost once Pete was against Barbosa and we all know what happened there. So yeah, all trusted there’s no reason there’s no reason for me not to trust you. Um IBF as I said their IBF European title on the line potentially getting world ranked like IBF’s obviously have been very good. The the Irish boxers obviously we’ve added another one at the weekend there and Lewis Crocker the last two um of the four belts world champions we’ve had have both been holy trinity men as well and Lewis Crocker. So you going down this path towards the IBF world title now potentially it’s only going to end up in in really good terms. Yeah. Well, it looks you know holy Chinese is a great great club and Mickey Mickey person I think boxing a lot of professional hands cracker you know myself every year K Smith his debut the weekend great fighters that club and he’s all always had a you know he’s always had a part in playing all of it And look, it’s if I can make it a hat trick and win an IVF world for a title, I’d be delighted, you know. I’d be absolutely delighted. And it’s something always want to do is become a world champion. And I think it would mean so much to Mickey as well because he’s coached me from 8 years of age, you know what I mean? And I I think like it would be it would be very nice to go back. How how far do you know? I guess sometimes I don’t know how far you could be away. like you could win this belt to get ranked to the top 15 then you could fight for a world title straight away. Like how far do you believe he could be potentially away from from fighting for world title? Two three fights you win this fight and get all the fight next week. You know as I say Richard H is potentially going to move up and get the belt. Delgado is number three. He’s the next I beat Delgado in the world championships in 2015 boxing for Ireland. So if you got a history who’s say I would be like a motor dream. Devin Henny was talking about getting behind me with he promote me whole promotional you know he might do something or load like you just have to stay ready and just stay positive and and trust the process and like like you just have to stay stay at it and things happen to you like I’ve seen like people never give a chance to be part of him when it was a you know it it was it was supposed to be like the final eliminator And then all of a sudden it becomes a world title and all of a sudden it goes to Windsor Park where those crackers from and you’re going this is written in the stars. I’m telling you now is written for him and it was the tactics were spot on. the whole occasion. Everything was made to be for him to win that night and no one gave him a chance and he done. you don’t and it’s like it’s it’s you know it gives you a shivers because you’re so close to that I’ve sh so much time with this and our back we’ve been on trips together when he was a kid but we went to ping together and he was not going to out then he was only 16 but like you just realize these people are all around been all around me my whole life could catch these people by train with every day for years and and and I can be within touching distance of and they Legos probably look up to me. Now I’m looking up to him as a world champion. It’s it’s it’s amazing. It’s amazing. It’s amazing for for boxing. It’s amazing that it’s all like it’s so close to me. It gives me I suppose anybody who’s sort of on the brink of jacking boxing are probably going possible. It’s it’s you know I guess with anything with success you know it it breeds in the others and they say well you you’ve been part of holy trinity you’ve been in teams with loose you you’ve been involved with them though when you’re seeing other people doing it you’re sort of going to yourself why not me but but it can still happen me I don’t say why not me I say seem like it’s all ahead of me jazz spar jazz we speak every day in a group chat and we We have a laugh every day. He wins a WBA world. He’s telling me like all it’s just like Jazza and like they’re telling me like you’re they know how good I am and they’re farming and I say the same. So it’s, you know, it’s class. It’s amazing. You’ve been around these people all day, all the time and you’re competing with them. You’re sparing with them. You’re you’re sharing with them. try and catch with them and and that’s it. Boxing sometimes can be, you know, probably the strong the the battle of the strongest mind and obviously the the guy can can dig down deep sometimes and and and keep going like obviously where you’ve had your your misfortunes obviously been robbed in the ring. Obviously the Gavin Gwyn fight like it’s a survival of the fittest sometimes. So like the longer you keep going, the closer you’re going to get to your dreams is not in your head. 100%. Like you’re always within touching distance when you’re at a certain level. I mean, you know what? Jazz Dickens get knocked out in Dubai two years ago or title in Dubai. I was in his corner and he get caught. He was 10 rounds up. 10 rounds like cruising walk on the right hand out cold. He lost for a world title to Kaha. He lost for a world title against you know he won the golden box at golden ticket was for the you know he beat Lee he beat and he got nothing from it. Lee goes home with the world. So much jazz. He was in Dublin training Ross living in a for weeks with no fate and he just kept going kept going because his his goal was no matter what was always the same. I want to become champion. I want to become world champion and he don’t an opportunity comes. He goes and beats um I think he gets like a warm up fight or somewhere and then he beats um Sal bar and the next thing with three fight he’s wor now he’s defending Saudi Arabia that’s 27 you know what I mean so like you’re never out you might be down but you’re never out and that’s what they say sometimes you know like he’s probably an underdog and you know the last two fights as well like you know particularly obviously fighting as a Olympic gold medal Basian he fought last time he was expected to go go there and get beat like the same with his previous fight. It’s like don’t you know when the odds are sometimes against you that’s when you deliver your very best. Exactly 100%. Um and I think that that’s what happens. I think that’s whenever you get to become a world champion. It’s very hard because you’ve done it because you’ve achieved it world honors. Can’t get any better than it. It’s very hard to drop back down level and not believe in yourself. So I think like when you know you you can become a world champion, you can you believe you can beat anybody. It’s like a catch and then the fight big underdog and he won and all of a sudden like what I destroy him I can beat anyone and then he fights everyone after he just beats beats me you know and that belief stays like I’m the man. That’s where you come to man and you know you’re you know your words happen. You know you’re you’re you’re capable and you know you’ll do it. Thank you. Can you get a lot of confidence as well? Obviously being a GBM fighter now obviously they’re keeping you busy as well. You can take a lot of confidence from the fact that that Izzy and and the team at GBM are you signed with them. They got you a fight. You’re now headlining in Sheffield. You know, obviously you won this belt next Saturday night and then potentially, you know, I know you’d said previously maybe potentially a fight back in Belfast again. Like GBM are doing everything that you need them to do to get you to this next level. Yeah, 100%. Like as I said before, before the last fight, they gave me a date for September. They didn’t give me exactly, but they say we want to do in September like without taking an eye off the ball told me like there’s another date in December. You just got to keep performance on and we we want to back you and it’s it’s refreshing to hear. You know what? Because I know like a lot of these big promoters are like they give you one fight deal and they promise you promise you like I fought on a boxer card. She says she says when it stays on course I beat Ben never heard back from Eddie never heard back no one wants to know they’re all bullshitters it’s refreshing to see a promoter step in an opportunity all you got to do is just keep back and we will put the dates in place we’re not going to talk about it’s just a date for December if we want we said about November if we feed there’s also a date in in the Nether Netherlands repeats if you want to fight there potentially look if you want to fight you fight so it’s entire up to me they’re just giving me the platform and they give me the back that’s exactly what boxing should be sometimes isn’t it yeah 100% that’s um I guess obviously the the boxing words obviously in morning obviously I guess for us in some ways Sean obviously were able to celebrate Louis’s success on Saturday night and obviously Then I guess in Sunday morning everybody’s obviously woke to the sad news obviously Ricky Hatton passing. I know obviously you’re a big Man City fan. You’re probably no doubt like everybody obviously in the boxing world probably idolized Ricky Hatton growing up as well. Like I guess obviously your thoughts on on Ricky’s passing. No, obviously it’s it’s heartbreaking like it’s devastating like I remember when I woke up on uh Sunday morning and a friend my friend he’s from Manchester he me and he’s like Sean you there don’t think really I was like what cuz I know he was close to I was like what I was like oh I couldn’t process it I was like what You never like you just never know. I couldn’t stop thinking about him all week. It was just like I like such an idol to people. I watched him from a child my has no clue about boxing right as my name cuz we only watched him growing up cuz he was the he was my favorite going up. I want to watch them every fight and like I remember used to bring disabled kid out with him and all for all his fights and do the ring walk with him in the blue moon was playing and and I was just like getting flashbacks of when I heard the news and just getting flashbacks of watching him as a kid and like he really inspired me to box and I was like no way that’s insane 46 or 40 whatever he was so much people out there who are in the same um and no one knows what like mental health just bottom and just I have a friend like Waters he’s a he’s a therapist and he I mean over me he’s on my podcast and stay in touch with he’s a he helps a lot of people with mental health and you know what there’s not enough there’s not enough people like at the brain help people and he always encouraged me to put people but people don’t want to tell me if they’re suffering. Um so maybe just a friendly word is witness maybe give Emtt Waters a reshare on Instagram if you’re feeling down. He’s very discreet and and he’ll keep on him and he’ll help you whatever way you want. Um, okay. One second. But he will uh, you know, that’s just that’s just an extra we have happen for people that need it because obviously people feeling in here sometimes your own people. Very much so. I was going to say we just got a bit of turbulence. I was going to say very much so. If anybody is you know feeling you know that they need a bit of help or a bit of support in some ways either reach out to them but obviously reach out to any of your friends and family don’t don’t suffer alone they can reach out to me and I’ll put them in touch if they want it’s just because I know him on a personal level and again work so much people but there’s so so much people would would you say you maybe Sean because obviously you always like a laugh and you always like a joke would you say you some similarities Ricky had the and keep do you remember when Ricky Hatton they always used to call him Ricky Fattton and he came out of those fights in the big fat man sit was actually reading some of it earlier you you some characteristics probably being a Man City fan you obviously love a laugh and a joke you know you got some probably some of your characteristics from watching Ricky H growing up yeah% million% because he he comes probably from the same background as I do you know what I mean he’s he’s workingass family and he he comes and and you know what I remember an interview he done and it never ever it’s never left me that he says when he was when he made it and he was world champ and all that he would be away for weeks and weeks on end after boxing he was retired and he was always away maybe doing punty or away doing other things and then made a problem see them because they don’t want them to think they’re too big in the boots and that comes from the working That’s with the way I think. I don’t want people to think I’m too big for the bridge. You know, I have some family members like me at night and it’s [ __ ] great because that’s the complete last thing I think of myself. You know what I mean? So I think um similarities that way where you’ll never no boxer ever wants to feel like they’re too big for a bridge. People never we never boxers don’t forget where they come from. It’s a working class sport and we are very aware of that and we always want to help people where we can. It doesn’t matter if we want to go off and just live our families elsewhere. We can and do all them things that we used to do. We’re not the same people. We grow up. We have our own families. People go in ages too. That’s a joke. People say that mean it. I go sometimes you’re better off just saying what I wasn’t drinking no more [ __ ] see you later you know what I mean cuz that’s the people hanging there small minded and then you’ll have good friends you grew up with the next one and thank God they forgotten saying that really hit home with me because then I started to go you know what that’s that’s exactly I am I was feel like I’m thinking about what they’re thinking and when he from he says that I’ I’ve just called on myself and myself you know what people want to think I’m too big for my group simple and if anyone ever says it to me they going for themselves and I mean it yeah very much so like you know people have lives and everything else they live but the end of the day whenever you meet people and it’s the right time and maybe they’re not saying you go for a beer or something like that you know life moves on some of people but it doesn’t mean you’re too big for your boots. You’re just pursu pursuing your dreams or your family time or things like that. And maybe just catch it the wrong moment, but when you do catch it the right moment, like you you’ll shout the arm and leg off and you you’ll sit and drink pints all day and you’ll go, I don’t care what time it is. Yeah, 100%. Like when there’s an event and there there’s a reason for you to be out having a drink, all well engage. You can bring game family events. You’ll be with friend people and they’ll have a drink around people and you’ll have a laugh around people and you’ll talk about the good times. But just because it doesn’t suit them or just because it doesn’t just because it’s too for you to go over and it doesn’t suit me and I say no doesn’t mean I’ got you know what I mean? I don’t just pop on Wednesday. I’m not that person on my be nice if night at life could just stay like that some days, wouldn’t it? There you go. Finally, obviously I guess then you know what can people obviously expect obviously you know back in title contention next week obviously live in the zone main event in Sheffield. What can people expect out of Shawn Mcome you know in the ring before you become IBF European champion next Saturday night? It’s just going to be the same classy Shawn Mcome. They’ve got like attributes of great feetwork good skill and I think people are starting to really admire skill level. I don’t have to go in that people. I think people more recently are always you know I always random message people saying they’re boxer and people are no longer want me to knock people out. They want me to box in their people are starting to see the potential that I have with my skill and my skill set. Um and they’re enjoying it which is refreshing because people always want that and people always talk to me saying you’re so talented easy the most talented fighter in your message and I say just tune in two weeks later because you’ll see a good performance. I can’t wait. So, you’re going to see a good performance, a good professional performance that tack. Definitely. Well, Sean, look, it’s always a pleasure to to catch up with you. Um, obviously, we hope that the next week of obviously preparing for fight week goes well with you and we can’t wait to tune in next Saturday night and watch you become the new IBF European Super Lightweight Champion. Good luck, man. I’m here. Cheers, Sean. Thanks for your time as always. I’ll speak to you soon. Take care. Thanks. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye.