The Good Men Project

‘Being a Mixed Race Person Here Is Not Easy’

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this is what I’ve come up the hill and
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down the hill too it’s too fucking
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golliwogs
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it’s not normal that is not me how’s
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that I don’t really want to slag off
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Devin income because I’ve spent most of
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my life here now Bobby and it’s rays
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puzzle here this isn’t easy I put my
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heart and soul and supportin I had to be
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strong to be here anyone fights anyone
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who fights anyone been in the country a
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trained boxer who trained to fight you
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you fish the weapons really he’s come up
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to me and he start on me so I’ve just
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pinged him he went down that was my
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offense now I’ve got another person to
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fight for ten more
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if boxing can give me a way to provide
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for a family then it’s massively
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important to me because that will be the
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future
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[Music]
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this is a place where I chill I’m a
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people might have a man cave where
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they’d show might be a little bit
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different this is how I chill these are
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just some of the trophies just have them
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for build motivation and most medals
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trophies for national championships yeah
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so this photos when I was obviously a
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baby was my Nan’s house in high with
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them my mum used to live across the road
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so it was pretty a crack then she’s dead
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now
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they were tonnes she was she was amazing
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and I loved it fits my early is revolved
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around violence and drugs you see my mom
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and him being up all time chef like
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massive black eyes and stuff like that
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some about five years old enough oh I’m
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in Devon at this point first day of
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school I walk past his kid called me
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enigma I was like the fungus in knew not
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my and then it clipped like you called
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me a nigga turn around he was a year
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above me and he said yeah I had to back
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myself because if I didn’t that’s what
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I’d have been called for the rest of my
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school towns hmm I broke his nose I had
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to call an ambulance
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so my teens boxing was literally
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everything I’m in the gym every day my
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world was very chaotic and it was
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somewhere to focus on something
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important to me so I was about 16 people
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would notice of me and I’ll set the Box
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on the Olympic development squad
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oh I didn’t realize was being a fire by
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nature would cause problems outside the
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room
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[Music]
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young man what if I want to be the top
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boy maybe they want to bear respect
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maybe they feel like they’ve got some in
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the proof when you’re young you think
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the words against you
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maybe it’s your way of caring to bear
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power to you income from over areas
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okay goodnight to the drink down here
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there’s any one folks anyone more fights
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and you wrap it in the country I’ve been
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to the say he’s no more dorm a lot more
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cameras a lot more police in down here
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it’s very cliquey everyone knows
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everyone one fight from last weekend
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goes through to next weekend because
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there’s so few people here yeah if you
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wanna fight you can go out Friday or
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Saturday and you’ll find someone else
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for watching
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[Music]
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this is where my life changed a little
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bit so I was on the night our new key to
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friends just turning in I was hanging
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around with a pretty boisterous group of
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friends
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I was just splitting up fights
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everywhere we was looking for car that
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was picking us up and we ended up on
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this street here and things yeah they
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took a turn for the worse
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[Music]
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down the road there was no location
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between my friends and two other guys
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one of the guys with a bike and he
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followed my friend and he followed him
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and he could just kept going in by
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runners foot with his bicycle around
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here
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my maze in the end he’s lost it and just
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head bottoms off his bike they’ve ended
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up over here and they just get into it
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like just right I just like like just
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going into it and his friend comes you
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can down here I just got in front of
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them he got aggressive towards me saying
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the fuck he did I knew was on so I just
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just give him just one shot and he went
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down I just walked off on sight well
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he’s done that was my offense everything
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just went downhill
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the car had a broken jaw say had to have
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surgery on his jaw the result was I got
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charged and then I got two years in
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prison
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ten more me and Joe should meet together
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coming up to five years I think he’s a
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different person now than he was when he
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first went into boxing sometimes just
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need one person don’t you just to be
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like no matter what or where you are
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that person’s always gonna be there
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I don’t think he ever had that in a
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couple of months I’m looking to get back
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in there in a spa for the first time in
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six years there’s a long Alliance for me
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as a boxer you have to have that killer
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instinct but I’m scared to see that side
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of me that got me in trouble in the past
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[Music]
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it’s very hard to come back to bullshit
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and there’s a thing called ring loss
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when you’re going that ring you’ve got
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the nerves more than ever before you’ve
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got the pressure that I was this top
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boxer
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come on how good you are before you’ve
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got a start again the only way you do it
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is to put yourself in that situation
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again to be a boxer
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anywhere is big but especially around
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ear stuff growing up very tough there’s
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a lot of bullying in schools as the
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youngster you are very limited to what
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you can do I don’t know I could play I
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was training going yeah so I get it
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every day again stronger
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I’ve got you registered of England
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boxing so you got medical guest
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championship September with it so yeah
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you’ve nice busy season was a lot come
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in and they got terrible situation
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faster you too faster wherever they’ve
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been on the drugs they drink some have
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nothing
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we don’t judge none of it Hey Dude
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believe in yourself
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to start with Aiden was a very nervy kid
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nice tight guard even being broke down
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with confidence and we gradually boot
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him up good Chad nice and long I think
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you had six fights and 106 going on to
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win a national title and really nice to
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see the transformation in him as a
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person
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that’s good just pace yourself don’t
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need to worry about no one else but the
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reality is the ones that actually
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achieve it and become champions of
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professional books then probably 1
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percent of all food at all
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stability is massive if they haven’t got
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the parents at home they haven’t got
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money they haven’t got work and things
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can go wrong you’re a powerful person
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and you can become a dangerous person
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Tyson doesn’t matter
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before I met Josh I heard a lot of stuff
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he starts on people that he’s a monster
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people told me like he went to prison
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for beating somebody up did bother me to
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be honest half my family’s been in
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prison doesn’t matter we basically just
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met in a problem light out be honest
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life and we’re still together and we
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engage your boy if I look back now from
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when I first met him till now
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completely different he’s like soft
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who’s gonna have a bath when you get the
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thing he’s loving he’s happy not he’s
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really happy now she’s filled a gap that
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I didn’t realize those missing when you
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meet someone that you love you don’t
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need to go throwing hands of people and
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risking yourself and every time that I
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get into some kind of predicament I see
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her face
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[Music]
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step back in that ring she’s gonna meet
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a welcome in to be honest over these
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years it’s nothing more I’ve been
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thinking about
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now I thought I never found him to fight
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for I’m just getting ready to do a
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triple shift just 15 hours I work in the
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Falcon hotel imbues I’m a waitress
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April’s working really hard right now so
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we can move into the new house in the
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long run the best way I can provide for
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April and our future family is being a
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pro boxer set this house on fire the
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other day well the bread don’t know how
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but me and Josh to support each other
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financially I’m making more than minute
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but once box and kicks off hopefully
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he’s gonna be bringing in more for our
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future within the next two years I think
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we’ll get married we want a nice little
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home have kids hopefully open a gym
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together
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just be happy tomorrow’s gonna be Josh’s
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first time back in the rain sparring and
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I think he’s a lot bit nervous is he
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gonna be as good as he used to be
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[Music]
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this day is pretty special
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[Music]
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all of the old things yes tonight
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Stephanie herbs means I can do again I
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can achieve something in the sport okay
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I’ve been doing it since I was a little
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kid so don’t waste it would just be
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stupid
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[Music]
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it’s Josh’s first sparring session so
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I’m gonna cook him a meal for either a
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celebration meal if it goes well or just
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saying to cheer him up if it doesn’t go
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too well I’m so proud of him going back
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now because he’s been pushed back so
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much the last few years and now he’s
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just gonna throw himself in there and is
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a bit it’s a big thing
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it’s the ring but anything can happen
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[Music]
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no standing soda so don’t come out
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swimming yep
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yeah exactly
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okay boys on the bow
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[Music]
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[Music]
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sit back boxing is the best and worst
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thing in Josh’s life
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we went to prison and perfected it
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massively
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[Music]
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the best thing is eating the ring makes
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him feel on top the world really the
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only place that maybe hasn’t let him
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down
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[Music]
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I thought mr. at the moment so I thought
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maybe I don’t induce for anymore but
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that’s definitely reinforced that with a
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lot of training and a lot of hard work I
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can get back to where I was if he’s
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really ungrateful when he walks through
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those doors of what I’ve done I’ll box
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him up
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[Music]
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that’s amazing so Han inspiring though
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it was a massive step for me huge step
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for me just to get into the zone that
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zone of okay I can do this now we got
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the ball roll in now just keep it wrong
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with the income that could come from Don
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Pro it could it could just completely
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ice stabilize us that’s the important
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thing and moving forward to having a
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child that’s the future plans this is
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what I’ve been waiting for wipe down the
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pictures I expect everything totally
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clear
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no the best boxes of role models outside
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of the gym you want to impress them you
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don’t want to land down I can help these
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kids
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we eternities life skills in here then
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benefit them massively in the future
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he’s looking good rocky looking ready
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for the debut he’s gonna box next season
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we’ll guide up I think you keep on the
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straight and narrow and now yeah they’ll
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turn out good kids wherever they have
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careers in boxing
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you

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