Highland Boxing Academy head coach reflects on the 13-year history of the club after they passed a big milestone - 100 champions across regional, national, international and even professional boxing.
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00:00Liam, 100 champions for HBA, how does it feel?
00:03Absolutely brilliant. It's been hard work, blood, sweat and tears throughout all the
00:09years, but we're at 100 champions, so I'm absolutely delighted. It's a big milestone
00:13for the club and hopefully the start of many more.
00:16I heard you talking earlier to some of the other coaches in the gym about the perception
00:20of Highland Boxing when you were starting out. How has that changed through the work
00:24that HBA has done?
00:26When I started at Highland Boxing Academy, I felt that boxing in the north didn't have
00:32the same sort of respect in the central belt. We were quite alienated logistically and the
00:40clubs were bigger and the clubs were generally better in the central belt, so it was always
00:43my aim when I started the club to raise the standards of boxing in the north. I've not
00:51single-handedly done that. There's some amazing clubs in the north of Scotland that, over
00:56the last few years, have had great success like us. Some have had even better success
01:00than us and been a lot more successful than us. But I think the 100 champions that we've
01:05got here since we produced in 2011 and the levels that some of them have boxed in, I
01:11think has definitely helped raise the bar for clubs in the north of Scotland.
01:16The club's only been around for 13 years, as you say. Has getting to 100 this quickly
01:20surprised you at all?
01:21I was saying that to one of the coaches in the gym earlier on tonight. When we first
01:25started and we had our first champion, I put him on the wall and I never thought I'm going
01:32to get to 100 or I'm going to get to 200. I just thought to myself, I'm proud of this
01:39one champion that we have. Then there were seven or eight champions and they used to
01:45sit in a little cluster on the wall and I was like, I'm proud of these seven or eight
01:48champions. I'm just as proud of that seven or eight champions as I am of the 100 that
01:53we have on the wall behind us. Whether it was one, two, three or four, I was proud of
02:00their achievements. I was proud that our club had given them an opportunity to box for the
02:04titles and we'd been able to bring some success back to the north of Scotland.
02:09Are there any standout memories?
02:11There's so many standout memories. Donald McPhee, I'll never forget that one because
02:16that was our first ever champions. Donald's sadly no longer with us. I remember that it
02:23was when the Novice Championships were held in Meadowbank Stadium. I was really confident
02:31in the squad that we took down there that we would have success. We were edged out of
02:39a couple of finals and a couple of gold medals. Donald was the last one that was scheduled
02:43to box on the day. I can just remember thinking how I would give anything just to come back
02:49with our first major tournament and I would just want to get one and we can build on one.
02:56Donald had a good tough, hard fight but was declared the Scottish Novice Champion at Meadowbank
03:03in 2011. That gave us the belief and the confidence that as a club we can do it. We can produce
03:09champions and then it's just gone.
03:12There are so many. Without singling any of them out, I mean, Ewan Glaneski, he won the
03:19Odivis International Boxing Cup. He was the best schoolboy. Just recently we've had Isabella
03:24Fioretti winning the GB Tri-Nations. Lindsay Fulton, Golden Gloves. Isabella and Emma,
03:32Golden Gloves. Jake McDonald, Lewis Urquhart, Ben Bartlett. Obviously, he's in there with
03:39his first pro title to come back to the gym. He's part of the 100 in that as well.
03:47Gee whiz, there are so many. There were always little milestones. I want to get our first
03:54Northern District Champion. I want to get our first Open title. I want to get our first
03:59Senior Open title. I want to get our first Boxing Cup Champion. I've made these small
04:04achievable goals and I'm proud of them all up there. I could sit and tell you a story
04:10about every single boxer on this wall and the journey that they had. I'm just proud
04:14that the club has given them that opportunity to do that and standing here today in front
04:18of them all.
04:19What's next for HBA?
04:21Next is that we've set a very high standard in this season. Michael, myself and other
04:27coaches at the club, we always look at what we've done and then we always try and raise
04:30the bar. As you can see, we've put a lot of work into refurbing the gym. We've still got
04:36plans to do a few more bits and bobs. We always reflect on the season and we look at how can
04:42we get the next 2%, 3%, 4% improvement out of our boxers. If that means getting in some
04:47new equipment or different training methods or different restructuring of the timetable
04:54to benefit more of our boxers, we'll look at that. We'll address that when we come back
04:58in the summer. As I said, we're always looking, even if we can improve what we're doing by
05:022%, 3%, then we'll move forward. We get this wrapped up at the weekend in Stirling and
05:09then going forward, we'll look at how do we improve on what has been a really successful
05:15season.
05:16I know you've said it to me before, you said it again to the rest of the coaches tonight,
05:20you're not a one-man band. Do you want to say something about everybody's efforts?
05:24Gee whiz. You've spoken to some of the coaches on that tonight. Someone had commented on
05:30me because when Kian had won his 100th title, I was actually the person taking the photo
05:35of him with his medal and I wasn't in the photo with the coaches because the boxers
05:41come first, not me. The boxers need a coach but they also need coaching, a team around
05:49them. They need a team, a unit around them and that's what this gym has always been.
05:53We've always been a solid team, a solid unit. You've spoken to so many coaches from over
05:58the years. Some have come, some have gone, but we're all on great terms. I would not
06:07be standing here without the time, effort, work and support that the coaches have put
06:14in. The hours on the road away from families and friends and businesses, the hours in the
06:19gym, nights away, staying away from home, all that sort of stuff. I can't do that on
06:24my own. It's required a massive sacrifice and commitment from not just myself but from
06:31a solid team and I'm glad. We enjoy our weekends away on the road with our boxers. Just back
06:38from Manchester there, some of the coaches were saying it's the best weekend they've
06:42ever had away with the boxers. The boxers were all laughing and hysterical. These are
06:46memories. Every single one of them I've got great memories from. I thank all the coaches
06:53for all their time and effort. I know what it's like. I'm in the driving seat. I know
06:56what it's like to not be able to make every wedding, not make every birthday party, not
07:02whose boxing comes first. I ask that of our boxers and our coaches as well. It's a massive
07:10sacrifice and I would not be standing here just now if I hadn't had all these top men
07:15and women in behind me, supporting them. I'll tell you right now that some of these champions,
07:21whether I was here or not, they wouldn't have been produced without them. They were absolutely
07:26the driving factor to that specific boxer. They're not my champions. They're our champions.
07:34We're a team, we're a unit and we've produced these together. I'm just a guy at the front
07:40that tries to drive us in the right direction.