After starting his professional career less than two years ago, the 22-year-old has followed in the footsteps of boxing greats like Tyson Fury with fights at the iconic York Hall. Caswell currently boasts a perfect record of 8 wins including two KOs.
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00:00 In just a year and a half, 22-year-old Robert Caswell's journey towards a boxing title has
00:07 so far been unstoppable. The Chatham boxer turned professional in 2021 and has since
00:14 remained undefeated with eight wins including four at the prestigious York Hall, a venue
00:19 graced by legends like David Haye, Karl Frotch and Tyson Fury.
00:25 One of the defining moments in Caswell's journey towards the Southern Area Super Featherweight
00:29 title was knocking out 32-year-old Logan Paul earlier this summer. It was this left hook
00:35 body shot that sealed the deal for him and leaving just one win away from a chance to
00:40 go for the belt.
00:42 Then just two weeks ago, Caswell faced his toughest challenge yet in the form of Jairo
00:47 Duran. The Honduran opponent went into the bout with a 50-50 record including 14 knockouts.
00:54 It was a make or break moment for Caswell as defeating Duran was all he needed to secure
00:58 a title shot against the up and coming Michael Weber-Kane.
01:03 Facing Duran however was no easy task and the pressure was immense. A loss or even an
01:08 injury would have ended things for the Chatham hopeful, but despite facing a tough and dangerous
01:13 opponent, Caswell displayed his resilience and skill, ultimately winning the bout on
01:18 points.
01:19 But with this hard-fought victory behind him, Robert Caswell has set the stage for an epic
01:24 showdown. The 22-year-old will step into the ring in just a month's time on the 14th of
01:29 October to face Michael Weber-Kane for the Southern Area Super Featherweight title.
01:36 What an introduction from Bartholomew there. Robert joins me in the studio now. Thank you
01:39 so much for coming in. Now, you've got a big fight coming up, we heard a bit there, but
01:44 let's go back right to the beginning. What got you into boxing?
01:47 I tried all sports really, football, golf, any sport you could think of, but it was the
01:53 team sports I didn't really like so I needed something just for me.
01:56 You wanted to win on your own.
01:58 Yeah, exactly. So my grandad took me down to the boxing gym, Johnny Armoury was a good
02:03 boxer from Chatham himself, he took me down there and that's how I learnt, yeah, and then
02:08 the rest is history.
02:09 Yeah, he's quite a name, that's amazing. And you started it with St Mary's Boxing Club.
02:14 How much do you sort of, I suppose, owe it to them that that's where your career really
02:18 began?
02:19 Yeah, St Mary's is where I started, is where most of my life has been down at St Mary's,
02:24 I was there for ten years. So, yeah, they've taught me everything I know really, like if
02:30 it wasn't for them I wouldn't be boxing, so yeah, St Mary's is someone that I owe a lot
02:35 to, yeah.
02:36 How crucial is it to get into it at a young age and really start as early as you can?
02:41 Oh, definitely. The younger you start, the more success I think you'll have. Like people
02:46 that start late on, there is the odd exception like Anthony Joshua who started quite late,
02:51 but most of the big names that you know that you see on the TV, they all started out when
02:55 they were eight, nine, ten, at a really young age. So, yeah, it's so important.
03:00 What do you think it is that keeps you going, that keeps you doing it even now and taking
03:05 it even to professional levels at 22?
03:08 Since I started all I wanted to be was a professional boxer, so it's just been my dream really.
03:12 So, all the ups and downs, I've just stuck at it, sacrificed. Basically my childhood
03:17 growing up and now it's starting to pay off, so yeah.
03:21 And some of those downs, some of those sacrifices you have to make, tell us about them. What
03:25 did you sort of have to sacrifice as a young kid?
03:28 Dieting. At a young age I was on diets from when I was probably like 12, 13, like making
03:34 certain weights for the championships and my fights. Going out running when all my mates
03:39 were going out playing football. After school I'd go out, I'd go home because I had the
03:44 gym. Just stuff like that really, just going to the gym, dieting, stuff like that.
03:49 The dedication I suppose to getting to that professional level, you need to set yourself
03:53 apart from the rest. And now you're in a gym in Surrey, in Redhill. Now that's a bit of
03:58 a commute doing that. Why that gym in particular?
04:03 When I first turned pro I knew that I had to get out of my comfort zone really. I've
04:07 been at St Mary's obviously all my boxing career, that's all I know, so I needed to
04:11 get out of my comfort zone. That gym is quite a big gym, there's Olympians, there's world
04:16 champions. It's a really good gym to be at and I thought that's where I need to be to
04:22 like excel. If I want to go pro I've got to do it properly, so I made the choice to train
04:28 up there every day. I'm up there five days a week. I stay up there when I've got a fight
04:32 coming up, I stay up and do a morning session and an afternoon session up there and then
04:35 come home at night. It's a lot of sacrifice but for me it's brought me on so much as a
04:41 pro that I don't think I'd be where I'm at now if I wasn't at the gym that I'd be at
04:45 now.
04:46 Do you think that's where people sometimes slip through the cracks because they don't
04:50 surround themselves by incredible names, Olympians as you said, in your gym. Do you think that's
04:55 what spurs you on?
04:56 Yeah, definitely because when I was at St Mary's I got to the top of the tree if that
05:00 makes sense. I was at the top and then when I turned pro I started at the bottom again.
05:06 I had to work my way up. I was sparring people that were better than me and I thought right
05:11 okay I have to get where they get to.
05:15 So keep learning and keep applying your skills and learning from people that are at those
05:20 levels above you. We saw in that a victory over Logan Paling, a left hook body shot.
05:27 Was that a turning point for you?
05:29 In a way yeah. It obviously gives you a lot more confidence when you do something like
05:35 that but for the last year I've been feeling like I'm ready to push on. My last couple
05:42 have been two good performances so I feel like now's the time really to step up a new
05:48 level.
05:49 How crucial is it to mentally prepare for these fights? You faced J-Ro Duran who had
05:54 15 wins, 15 losses, 14 knockouts. How do you mentally prepare for an opponent like that?
06:02 It was a tough one because I knew I had the title fight coming up so that already got
06:05 announced and then I got that fight so I was a bit like this is a potential banana skin
06:10 because if I lost that fight then the title fight would be off. It was tough mentally
06:15 to concentrate when you've got one already, you're looking to that one so I just had to
06:21 stick to that one or focus on that one and get that one out of the way first and then
06:25 which I did I won every round which I was happy with and then now it's on to the big
06:29 one.
06:30 We have to talk about that title fight, what does it mean to you to be able to take that
06:35 on and how do you prepare for that next level?
06:42 The Summoner of Tartu is good, it's a big fight for me but I want to become British
06:46 Champion so I know I need to get through this level to get where I want to be at so this
06:50 is just the first step on the ladder to where I want to be so hopefully all goes well which
06:55 it will. October 14th I'll win the Summoner of Tartu and then on to bigger and better
07:00 things.
07:01 Amazing and then I suppose leaving behind a big legacy, showing all those people back
07:05 at St Mary's what you could do, all those younger aspiring people I suppose. What advice
07:09 would you give if young boxers are watching thinking I want to do that?
07:15 With me when I used to win or lose I'd be straight back in the gym Monday, I think that's
07:18 so important, don't get too high on your wins, don't get too low on your losses so just get
07:23 straight back in the gym and just stick at it. There's going to be highs, there's going
07:28 to be lows but the best thing you can do is just stick at it, stick in the gym and the
07:32 people that were better than me as a kid, they're not really around no more, they're
07:36 not boxing no more because they go out, they do stuff that they shouldn't be doing or going
07:43 out partying like all adults do when they're growing up but if you just stick at it then
07:48 yeah good things will come to you.
07:50 Make something of it. And I have to ask you, does it ever come into your mind, we haven't
07:54 got long left unfortunately, but does it ever come into your mind thinking about what could
07:58 happen to you? You sometimes hear these horror stories of what boxing can do to people, do
08:02 you worry about that ever?
08:04 Just the part and parcel of boxing, I say to my mum and dad I could go out and get hit
08:10 by a car tomorrow, it's just the way, there's dangers in every walk of life really so not
08:16 really no, I just think of winning really.
08:19 I do feel sorry for your mum having to watch, I imagine that's absolutely terrifying. And
08:22 just lastly before I let you go, who was your idol growing up, who do you want to be?
08:27 Ricky Atton was my idol growing up, I watched a lot of him growing up and I've watched all
08:32 his documentaries and all his past fights and I just liked how he brought the fans together
08:36 and brought them over to America and yeah so Ricky Atton definitely.
08:41 Amazing, thank you so much for coming in Robert, great to speak with you, I'm sure you'll be
08:44 inspiring lots of people from that and also great to hear from someone aspiring right
08:49 from on our doorstep here, we'll be speaking to you when you are that British champion,