Latest / Off the Bench - London / Machine Gun Meg: From Charity Fighter to Amateur Boxer | The Mindset Behind the Gloves

Transcript

Machine Gun Meg: From Charity Fighter to Amateur Boxer | The Mindset Behind the Gloves · Off the Bench - London

0:00
Ladies and gentlemen, you are now tuned in to
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Off the Bench London. With your host, Malcolm
0:09
the Milkman. Noel has got the visionary home.
0:12
Only at the clubhouse where the game never stops.
0:16
450 pints, half -priced wings, massive screens,
0:19
and the best staff in the city. Don't forget
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to like and subscribe. YouTube. Switch it up
1:49
a little. So, some of you guys might notice that
1:54
we have an extra seat right here. Yeah, no, it's...
2:01
Usually we have a jersey sitting right there,
2:03
but... Yeah, usually it's a jersey. I'm wearing
2:05
a jersey that's imitating it. Yeah, but the one
2:09
we're giving away isn't a Kelly Green. Yeah,
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but you gotta love the Kelly Green. Kelly Green's
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sick. But we have a special guest today. I'd
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love to introduce her. She goes by Machine Gun
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Meg, a fighter that started in 2023 at Fight
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10 Homelessness. Great fighter. Honestly, you
2:28
should see her. She's, like, she's a beast. Like,
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when she gets in that ring, she's a total different
2:32
person. So, I'm, like, I'm really glad that we
2:35
got her onto the show today. But, like, I think
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one question we definitely need to ask her is
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she's more competitive or more chill when it
2:43
comes to sports. But I think she'll answer that
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for us. See, it's... It's interesting seeing
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people outside of their sport. Right. Because,
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like, I know myself, when I get in that competitive
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mode, you just flip that switch. Yeah, for sure.
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And you're just a totally different person. So
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I'm looking forward to getting into it and seeing.
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Well, we're talking about a boxer, so. Yeah,
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they're psycho. Since you are a boxer, I can
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say that. But not as good. And I've seen the
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switch flip. But not as good as my, as our. our
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guests today, and I'd like to introduce Meg today.
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Hello. What up, what up, what up? Hey, hey. Thanks
3:26
for coming in. This is what we do on Monday nights.
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Right, Monday night is what we do every Monday.
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Love, love it. Welcome to Off the Bench. Thank
3:35
you, pleasure to be here. So how are you doing?
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I am doing great. Excited to be here, excited
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to hang out with you guys, talk sports. Yes.
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Talk. Any and all sports. It's true. It's true.
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Well, it's kind of crazy because when you think
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about it, 2023 is when you first started getting
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into the mindset of boxing. So how did you first
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get involved by 10? So it's actually funny how
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that journey started. I work a corporate job
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and there were a few individuals at the job that
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I worked at who did it the year before. And they
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inspired me to want to do it. I found out a little
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bit too late at the year before. So I'm like,
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next year I'm going to do it. Mark my words.
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Stuck true to that. Signed up, registered, got
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the call or got the email saying that I was in.
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And I was like, you know, this, this, it has
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always kind of lit a fire in me to think about
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fighting and to think about fighting for a cause
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bigger than myself. So that was really inspiring.
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Yeah, I got the call, and that's kind of how
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it started. The rest is history. There's a long
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story that happened once I got into it, but it
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was a small fuse in the beginning that was lit,
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and then, yeah. Did you grow up wanting to get
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into fighting, or was this just a, guys are talking
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about it in the office, and you're just, like,
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getting jacked up, and you want to do it? That's
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a good question. I didn't grow up fighting, but
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I grew up fiercely competitive. Oh, okay. I played
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on a lot of sports teams, basketball, soccer
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were my main sports. But it was mostly team sports.
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Yeah. And when I found out that boxing could
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be an opportunity for me, I learned that it ran
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in my family afterwards. Oh, that's crazy. Through
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second cousins that I had never met. Oh. Yeah.
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Long line of boxers. Exactly, right? And I hadn't
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met that side of my family. So when I found out
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they were fighters, I'm like, okay, this is a
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great chance for me to also connect with family
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that I haven't connected with. So it was amazing.
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It was very kindred. So, yeah. Yeah. It's in
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my bones, apparently. When you got into it, did
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you realize it's way more of a team sport than
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you thought it was? Yeah. Yeah. In, like, such
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an interesting way, because when you're getting
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into the ring, it's you versus your opponent.
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well technically it's also you versus you right
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you have to battle that mindset um but in order
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to get into a ring you kind of have to have a
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tribe and a crew around you 100 right so not
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just your fellow athletes that you're working
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with but also your coaches your strength and
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conditioning coach your boxing coach your mindset
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coach like there's it is a team sport like To
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say the least, for sure. I mean, it's kind of
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the same way of every other sport, like football
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and stuff. They have everyone and all the coaches.
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They have coaches for every single position.
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You have a coach for every single little thing
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you've got to do. Yeah. They have their expertise.
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They have their specialties, for sure. Because
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I know I did wrestling and stuff growing up.
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So you think of that as more of an individual
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sport, but it's such a big team thing. For sure.
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You're only as good as the people you're training
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with. Yeah. Yep, that is a big thing that I'm
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learning and also people are training really
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intense next to you It brings you up to that
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level to energies exchange. Yeah, so Yeah, I
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couldn't agree more I saw my opponent was going
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to destroy my opponent. I'd be lying if I said
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that I wasn't thinking about how I might embarrass
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myself. At least you're honest. But, like, that's
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the thing with Fight to End, right? You start
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from zero boxing experience, and you're training
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for 18 weeks twice a week, and during those 18
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weeks, you're fundraising, and then you're stepping
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into the ring. So all of us were embarrassing
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ourselves at the same time. We're learning something
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new, right? Like, I remember throwing a punch
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for the first time, and I'm like, that doesn't
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feel right. How do I look throwing this punch?
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It's a really good skill to have now. For real,
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yeah. It's a skill that, shockingly, not a lot
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of people have. It unlocks. A level of confidence,
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for sure. When you know how to fight, it just...
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You walk into a room and you're like, I'm going
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to take that person. Any conflict you're in,
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you're like, I'm not too worried. Yeah, it's
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like, yeah, those are some fierce words you got
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there, but can you fight? But my mindset going
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into this was, this was a cause bigger than myself.
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We had an external... all of us had the same
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goal that we were fighting for. So that sense
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of camaraderie was amazing in that. And that's
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what kind of kept me in it at first. And the
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longer that I was training, the more I had to
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learn, okay, I have to also believe in myself.
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Like that's a major factor. You can believe in
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the people that you're training with and the
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people that are also fighting. But if you don't
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have that belief in yourself, then you're going
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to see that when you step into the ring. There's,
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you know, you can't hide anything in the ring.
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You learn a lot about yourself under stress.
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You leave a half second behind if you're worried.
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Yeah, for real. If you even stop and hesitate
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to think, that moment where you're hesitating,
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you're getting punched in the face. You're not
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at all. It's like that saying, everybody has
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a plan until they get punched in the face. Yep,
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that is the truest words ever spoken. For real.
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When you see that, it happens to people, and
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they either get turned on or turned off. Yeah.
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Yeah, it's like, oh, I don't want to get punched
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again. Or people get hyped up. They're like,
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oh, okay, we're throwing hands. We're opening
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a can of whoop -ass. It sounds like that's what
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you do. This is true. This is true. This isn't
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Christina and Kelly. No, but I am a fan of MGK
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as well. I am. But no, that's not where the name
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came from. It actually came from my second cousin.
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So he's Dave Machine Gun Morris. And when he
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was training, he's in his 60s. He's an old school
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boxer. It's a family name. Yeah. He's like, so
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we're going to train you up. You're going to
10:00
be the machine gun. You're going to be the machine
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gun in that ring. And that was an interesting
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key that he gave me because I wanted to. I wanted
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to bring forward that legacy. That's crazy. So,
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like, it's now literally, now you've got to pass
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it down. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. The machine gun. I'm
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thinking, like, oh, you're just at the gym, and
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they're just like, yeah, she just keeps going
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and going. So, like, that's what we're going
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to call her. That's crazy. Family name, and I'm
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growing into it. Yeah. Every training session,
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we get a little faster. You've got the T -shirt
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to match. That's right. That's right. I'd turn
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around and show the back, but. I'm comfortable
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right now. We'll show them back after. They're
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nice. Yeah, they are. All right, so looking back
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to your first fight, what did that mean to you
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in that whole process? When you look back on
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your whole career, what did that really mean
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to you at that point? It meant to show up and
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do the hard thing. You have to be fiercely courageous
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to step into the ring, and you have to really
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align with something. You have to really know
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your why. And if you don't know why you're doing
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something, then what are you actually doing it
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for? And with that, with my first fight, I knew
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exactly why I was fighting. I was fighting for
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actually more than just one thing. I was fighting
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for the cause. I was fighting for myself. I was
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fighting for my future self. And I was learning
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to trust the process. The process of training,
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the process of training mentally, physically,
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and also training your spirit. If you don't have
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a fighting spirit, what are you going to call
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on when your body's tired and when your brain's
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tired? Damn. You know? I got you. Yeah. It goes
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really deep. No kidding. Yeah. With that first
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fight, how crazy was the walkover? Oh, my God.
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That was the most fun I've had in a long time.
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I'm going to tell you right now, I don't remember
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what I was actually feeling in the moment. I
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just remember fully being present in the moment.
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I was tunnel vision. I remember they told us
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we had to go into the ring and bow to the judges
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around us. I was so locked in having so much
12:28
fun that I... totally forgot to do that and I
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just went in there started spinning in circles
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I think I did like I was so excited but it was
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great I had like um I had like a rock song playing
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it's not a well -known one um but it was a song
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that got me so hype and I also saw Sarah my opponent
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she was getting in her zone as well and I just
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knew we were gonna put on a great fight there
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was gonna be fireworks and and it meant so much
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to me to fight Sarah of all people because she
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is She's an absolute beast. She's a mom. She's
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a professor. She inspired me every day. It was
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incredible. I can't say enough. 10 out of 10
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for that walkout. It was so fun. I loved the
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crowd there. There was so many people there.
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There really was. Oh, my God. I learned a lot
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about myself under stress and high adrenaline.
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Yeah. It's crazy to go and train for eight weeks
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or 18 weeks. 18, yeah. And then you look out
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at the crowd and you're like, all right, there's
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a lot more people here than I was expecting.
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See, I didn't even look out into the crowd. I
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knew they were there, but I was like, me and
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my opponent were going to dance. And that's what
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it felt like. It just felt like me and her in
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there, and the rest around me was black. Like,
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you could hear the roar. That means your training
13:46
was effective, and you're, like, in the right
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mindset. Yeah. Yeah, it was tunnel vision, total
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lock -in. Like, it was the best. Yeah, if you
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pay attention too much to the crowd then yeah
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And if you're somebody that cares a lot what
14:02
people think the crowd can get into your head
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Yeah, it really can true. I was in front of all
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my co -workers as well family friends I get a
14:15
few jokes at the office, but they're good ones.
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Oh. Yeah. Okay. Usually people are like, so you
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got any more fights lined up? And usually I do.
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So I'll be like, yeah, I actually have a fight
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in two weeks. Or something like that. Wow. It's
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a fun thing to talk about other than, you know,
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office banter, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Totally.
14:44
Totally. I don't know what we're talking about
15:02
sports. But his team's doing good. Yeah. But
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his team's doing good. Oh, that's great. Yeah.
15:09
It kind of gets like tunnel vision, I guess.
15:11
It gets so invested. It's like when you watch
15:15
soap operas or trash TV. Oh, yeah. They get so
15:18
invested into the program that you forget about
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anything else. Yeah. Yo, did you see what happened
15:24
last week? Like, yo. Well, same with sports.
15:26
It's just ours is live and it's not scripted.
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That's right. No sports are ever scripted. Except
15:37
for wrestling. Except for wrestling. I mean,
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I'm a sucker for a good wrestling show. I really
15:42
am. You need some athleticism. Are you WWE or
15:46
AEW? WWE. Yeah. See, wrestling is less about
15:50
who wins and more about the story of the insane
15:53
athleticism. Yes, and the lore, for sure. an
15:57
athletic sofa yeah yeah some of these some of
16:01
these people are doing crazy calisthenics yeah
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i can appreciate it for sure okay so fast forward
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a little bit um So I'm 8 -2 right now. Oh, you're
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open. 6 -2. 6 -2. 7 -8. So I have three more
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fights. I think you have to be 11 -plus to be
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open. 10 or 11. But I'm very, very close. I'm
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on the cusp. I could probably fight open now
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if I wanted to. Okay. Yeah. You have to have
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over a certain amount of wins if you're under
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the 10 -fight threshold. And I do. So we're good.
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I don't think so. I don't think so. I think they
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just strictly look at stats, not timeline. He's
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only saying this because he won his two fights.
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I see. Yeah, he did win his two fights. Or did
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you finish the first round? I finished the first
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round. We finished the first round, and then
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we finished the second round, and that was it.
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So you haven't had a full fight yet. When the
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coaches keep saying, Make sure you run it. I
17:25
never did. And I still don't because it's like...
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Oh, my gosh. Yeah, you're a machine, though.
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Both fights that I've watched, you're a machine.
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I appreciate that. You are. You got a gas tank.
17:38
Holy. And you're fast. But I don't really know
17:41
because he has to get it out. I'm a dragster.
17:46
Dragster, yeah. I like it. I like it. How does,
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like, how does that training and then how does,
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like, that whole mindset and charity box, because,
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like, you were saying earlier, your why for,
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like, 10 was, like, I'm here for a cause, you
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know, how to show up, you know, you have that
18:04
now. Is it, like, I'm showing up for myself and
18:08
I'm willing to do anything for myself? Or is
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it, like... yeah this is a really good question
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because i think about this a lot um and the key
18:26
difference there being for charity boxing you
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know the cause and the goal that you're fighting
18:30
for you can align it's it's pretty easy to align
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with that but aligning with your internal goals
18:36
that you've set for yourself is very hard to
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do if you are not somebody who values uh discipline
18:43
so with me the reason why i love amateur boxing
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so much is because it's constantly me versus
18:50
me i'm working on myself i'm sharpening my skills
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and i'm a product of my environment true and
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because of because of those things in general
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like that's one of the reasons why i fight but
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also like it makes me a better person and I can
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practice better habits. Because when I'm training
19:11
for a fight, I'm getting more sleep, I'm thinking
19:14
about the food that I'm putting into my body,
19:15
I'm thinking about how much water I'm taking
19:17
in, and I'm thinking about my recovery. Recovery
19:20
is really, really important, especially if you're
19:22
fighting. If you have a bad foot, a bad knee,
19:25
a bad pinky finger, that will affect you. I sprained
19:30
a stupid tendon in my hand for so long, and I
19:33
was out for three weeks. You're kidding. Yeah,
19:36
and I'm like, same with my foot. Like, I got
19:38
to practice foot strength. Like, even just footwork
19:41
drills. My feet hurt at the end of it. That's
19:43
annoying. Anyway, I digress. That's the biggest
19:47
thing for me. Amateur boxing is for me and my
19:52
internal goals. It's internal energy that I'm
19:55
searching for and getting to. Versus charity
19:58
where, you know... You know the cause that you're
20:01
fighting for. You can align with that. And everyone
20:02
on the card has the same goal. So it's like more
20:06
teamwork than it is. It's like a showcase than
20:09
it is. I'm also a sucker for the process. Like,
20:13
if you're putting in work, yeah, you're putting
20:16
in work. You might not see it then and there,
20:18
but you will see it in the future if you continue
20:21
consistently. It's hard to believe that if you
20:24
give up. in the middle of your journey. Have
20:27
you looked at a picture of yourself before you
20:30
started training? Yeah, I do. We kind of say
20:37
this during women's class sometimes. If that
20:40
version of you stepped through the door, no fight
20:42
experience, and you looked at that version of
20:45
you, what would you think? And a lot of the time
20:48
is we would step up for that girl. We would be
20:52
able to kick anyone's butt in here for that girl.
20:54
Like, you're showing up for your younger self.
20:56
Yeah. Really. It's a very interesting paradox
21:00
to live in as a fighter. For sure. You've become
21:03
what, when you step into the gym, that's what
21:06
your dream was. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's crazy
21:11
that you say that. Boxing is a great place for
21:13
you to achieve your dreams. Like, we have a lot
21:15
of up -and -comers at the gym who are, like,
21:17
12, between 12 and 15 years old. And they...
21:22
have incredible, incredible talent, incredible
21:25
potential. Their mindset and their discipline
21:27
that they're working on at a young age like that
21:29
is just so beautiful to see. And all of us believe
21:33
in these kids that they will be world champs.
21:35
Like, could you imagine? You're 12 years old
21:37
and people are telling you, like, you're going
21:38
to be the next world champ. With the way the
21:40
world now is possible. Like, yeah. Yeah. Actually,
21:46
and I get to train with her. Great. Oh, my gosh.
21:49
Yeah, we have a... female pro boxer at the gym
21:52
right now who just won her second world title
21:54
Natasha Spence and the nightmare Natasha the
21:59
nightmare Spence and she is hands down the most
22:02
inspiring woman at our gym right now just she's
22:06
I mean I was intimidated at first but now I'm
22:13
just in awe when I watch her train like when
22:16
I get to step in there and spar with her every
22:17
once in a while like I count my blessings because
22:19
not everyone can do that. That elevates you.
22:21
That elevates you, yeah. It brings you up to
22:23
a potential that you didn't even know you had
22:25
sometimes. So you're going to go further? That's
22:28
something I like to dream about, but probably
22:32
not in the cards for me. A dream I like to think
22:35
about, though, for sure. What would that look
22:37
like? so there's there's a lot of different ways
22:53
i have some some grounding thoughts that i that
22:57
i go to so sarah um sarah mclean she has instilled
23:03
a mindset in me that I find very interesting
23:05
when I don't want to do my road work so when
23:07
I don't want to go for a run she tells us to
23:10
think about it like okay I get to run today I
23:13
get to run today I get to value my body my legs
23:17
can work I get to run versus if you're somebody
23:20
that maybe you don't have maybe your legs don't
23:23
work like what all they would want to do is run
23:25
yeah you know it's kind of reframing what you're
23:28
grateful for and how you care for your body,
23:32
how your body's going to move for you. Yeah.
23:34
Or like on those days where I don't want to go
23:36
into the gym, even if I just put on my workout
23:39
clothes and I look at myself in the mirror, like,
23:41
well, I made it this far. I made it this far.
23:45
May as well keep going. Yeah. Like some days,
23:47
like some days it's hard. Like the mental game
23:51
is very difficult. You have to. mentally prepared
23:54
to step into a ring with someone who wants to
23:57
end your dreams. So how do you frame that? You
24:01
have to seriously dig deep and believe in yourself
24:04
and believe in your abilities and the training
24:06
that you've put in up to that point. A lot of
24:09
the time before a fight, I visualize what that
24:11
fight's going to look like. I do some sensory
24:13
deprivation. Meditation is huge because you have
24:16
to breathe through difficult. difficult thoughts
24:20
sometimes when i'm doing yoga you have to breathe
24:22
through difficult positions like sometimes you're
24:24
standing and you're like oh my god if i breathe
24:26
i'm gonna break something like but breathing
24:29
i mean i sometimes you just stretch a little
24:34
and you feel that way yeah that's fair but yeah
24:37
that's that's just it breathing slowing down
24:40
and preparing yourself to enter a stressful situation
24:43
that is literally life life will punch you in
24:46
the face If you can do it in a safe place and
24:50
people hype you up there, that's what gets you
24:54
through. Community. I love that. When we were
24:57
doing those pole plunges. Oh, my gosh. What's
25:02
the story? Let's unpack it. No, I love it. Okay,
25:06
so we went to Mexico and got a few pole plunges.
25:09
When I was training for pole plunges, I got a
25:11
few pole plunges. I guess as I get older, I feel
25:15
like it's gotten colder. Oh, yeah. So now, like,
25:18
I try to go into a cold one, and it's like, I
25:21
can't get past, like, certain ones. I have to,
25:24
like, work up to my knees. Uh -huh. Work up to
25:27
my knees. Maybe in the bottom of my stomach,
25:31
and then maybe I'll get all the way through.
25:33
Yeah. But doesn't mean it's, like, right there.
25:36
Just all in? Well, because what I've heard is
25:39
the way that you handle those is the same way
25:42
you handle stress. Stress? Mm -hmm. And when
25:45
you're, like... I'm stressed out playing at times,
25:47
so I can just do something. The person I'm going
25:51
with, I will with Terry. I get it in, so we went
25:56
off in the sauna, we go into the pool, and I'm
26:01
just like, all right, mind over matter about
26:04
this. Just sit down, don't make a face, don't
26:08
do anything, and just breathe as calmly as possible.
26:12
Like a psycho. And then I get up, I'm like, all
26:16
right, that was good. He tries to go, can't even
26:19
get past his shoes. And he's like, how did you
26:22
do that? Like, you're crazy. And then when Mom
26:29
and I did one, the first time, we were kind of
26:35
competing. Oh, yeah? So you could stay in longer?
26:38
Yeah. We got to the point where... That's a long
26:46
time. I can do 30 seconds tops. Five minutes?
26:52
I can do, like, once I'm actually in there, I
26:55
can stay in it. Wow. I took my time to get out
27:01
of five, so I stayed in a couple seconds longer.
27:03
I see. yeah for real so but it's just like embracing
27:15
the suck mentality yeah and then when you're
27:18
done it you can be like yes I freaking did that.
27:21
I did the cold. I call that hard boiling myself.
27:27
In the sauna for a little bit, then you get to
27:29
the cold plunge. It's how I make my eggs. How
27:33
I hard boil my eggs. It's interesting because
27:35
that's the same thing. You wake up in the morning,
27:38
you go train, you don't want to, but you're like,
27:40
no, I've got to do it. It's going to make me
27:43
better as a person. It's going to make me better
27:46
for the future. It all adds up. Deposits in the
27:49
bank? Yeah. That's what we call it. Oh, for sure,
27:51
for sure. Deposits. So, you've done charity boxing.
27:56
You've done interboxing. Mm -hmm. How's the community
27:59
compared to each other? Hmm. Are they very similar?
28:05
Because a lot of people go to charity boxing.
28:07
I'm just the one that I'm going to do it. Yeah.
28:10
You make good connections with the ones you stick
28:12
around. Like Sarah Plain. Yep. You know, me,
28:17
once I take a year off, then I come back, and
28:19
then I take a year off, then I come back. Yeah.
28:22
I think the difference between the two is the
28:26
mindset behind it. Like, when you start with
28:30
charity boxing and you're not really, you're
28:33
not an amateur fighter, you don't really understand
28:35
the mindset that goes into being a fighter versus
28:39
amateur boxing. You know, you can ask any amateur
28:44
boxer that you know. The mental game is the hardest
28:47
part. Boxing is 90 % mental. And I'm learning
28:50
that the longer that I'm in my amateur career,
28:53
that if your mental game is not sharp, you're
28:56
going to see it in your performance when you
28:58
go to fight. You're going to feel it in your
29:00
training. Because there are times where, you
29:03
know, you're holding a plank and you want to
29:05
drop and you have to tell your brain to keep
29:08
going. And that is mental conditioning. You're
29:11
punching the... the heavy bag for 15 minutes
29:15
straight and your arms are just exhausted and
29:18
you know you have you know you want to stop but
29:20
you can keep going you can prove to yourself
29:22
that you can get through the the hard the hard
29:25
mental game your body says stop and your mind
29:28
has to keep going that's the biggest difference
29:30
yeah yeah sometimes sparring is actually A lot
29:38
of the time, sparring is a lot harder than my
29:40
fights. Really? Especially when I'm sparring
29:43
with Natasha. Natasha is a grounding thought
29:46
for me because if I'm sparring anyone else other
29:48
than her, I'm like, okay, I sparred Natasha.
29:51
If I can spar Natasha, I can spar anybody. Okay,
29:54
okay. Yeah, because she's tough. I can imagine.
29:57
For me, every time I did spar, I was just like,
30:01
this is my opportunity to make as many mistakes
30:04
as I can so I can learn. But you can fully let
30:24
go when you're in the boxing ring. You're not
30:27
holding back anything. Or are you just reacting?
30:37
It depends on the level of the person I'm sparring
30:40
with. It definitely does. Because if I can tell
30:44
that the person I'm sparring with is more skilled
30:46
than me and they're getting competitive and we're
30:49
having fun, the punches start to land harder,
30:51
the movement starts to get more intense, and
30:54
then it turns into a competitive spar, almost
30:58
borderline fight. So, but versus if I'm sparring
31:03
someone who's a lot lighter than me, I have to
31:05
hold back my punches. I have to focus more on
31:06
defense because there's a lot of trust required
31:10
when you spar. You're trusting someone to not
31:12
hurt you, but to also level you up and sharpen
31:15
you in different ways. And if you've ever had
31:23
like a bad sparring day, you know, when you go
31:25
home, you're like, damn, I could have done so
31:27
much. It's just like a bad practice, you know
31:35
like Yeah rule of thirds a third of the time
31:40
your practices or your training is gonna be great
31:43
a third of the time It's gonna be okay and a
31:45
third of the time it's gonna be absolute garbage
31:48
and if you fall within that percentage You know,
31:52
you're on the right track And it doesn't go the
32:00
way you want it to. And someone looks at you
32:03
and says, good job. You tried really hard. And
32:07
you're just like, it was not a good job. I didn't
32:11
do what I wanted to do. Yeah, if only you knew.
32:13
Yeah. Yeah. That's where the mental training
32:18
comes in for sure. Micro wins. I know Jeremy
32:21
does. Like, I'll take a shot. And I'll be like,
32:24
I know that bad shot. Did not go where I wanted
32:27
to. Nice shot, but it wasn't. Yeah, how do you
32:32
usually respond when you know maybe it wasn't
32:35
your best when somebody is complimenting you?
32:37
It's hard. I just want to say nothing because
32:41
I'm already frustrated. But I feel like because
32:45
I played soccer my whole life, I'm mostly playing
32:51
strikers, so you have to have... a very short
32:55
memory. Yes, because you mess things up all the
32:59
time. Yeah, I see. It's like, you get it in your
33:03
head that if the ball isn't in the net, I didn't
33:06
do that. I could have done it better. Interesting.
33:10
Have you watched Ted Lasso? I have. It's fantastic.
33:14
That sounds like a Ted Lasso wimpy goldfish.
33:17
Yeah, no, 100%. I love that. It's the same thing
33:21
with boxing. You're like... It's a lot of paying
33:42
attention and the reaction for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
33:46
No, I just mean, like, forgetting, like, the
33:48
things that you messed up, forgetting that. Yeah,
33:51
because then those might start to get to you
33:52
if you remember them for too long. It's only
33:55
one day. Like, at least you showed up. You had
33:57
a bad session. I think the benefit, though, to
34:00
what you were saying, though, is in a boxing
34:03
ring, We can't hear coaches and we can't hear
34:05
people saying, oh, you'll get them next time
34:08
when you get hit in the head. It's you and your
34:10
own thoughts. And you're not saying that to yourself.
34:12
It's like, shoot, I got hit in the head. It was
34:16
a job. I saw it coming and I didn't react. I
34:19
can move forward. But when it's team sports,
34:21
you kind of have to tune in. talking to yourself
34:27
in your head during your fight a lot? Or just
34:29
going into like an autopilot kind of thing? This
34:32
has been something that's developed over time.
34:35
Actually, my last fight that I had, my last fight
34:37
was last month, and I actually heard myself,
34:40
like I heard my own thoughts while I was fighting
34:43
my opponent. That's crazy. It was crazy because
34:45
the thoughts that I heard was just keep going.
34:48
It's a very simple thought, but I audibly heard
34:51
it in my head because I had my opponent in a
34:53
good spot for me to just unload. And I knew I
34:56
wouldn't get that opportunity again because it
34:59
was near the end of the third round. And because
35:02
I had enough awareness of where I was in the
35:04
ring, which comes over time. You need experience
35:07
to kind of have that awareness. I was able to
35:09
actually hear my thoughts. Beforehand, I do kind
35:12
of tune out everyone and can hear my coach very,
35:15
very faintly. But it was only my last fight where
35:18
I was actually able to hear. My thoughts. So
35:21
you're not, like, walking yourself through the
35:23
fight. You're not, like, okay, I need to do this.
35:26
If I move here, they're going to move here. You're
35:28
kind of talking yourself through it. Sometimes.
35:32
Like, I do go in with a game plan. But, you know,
35:37
you can only... Your game plan is only... You
35:40
can't always rely on it, because sometimes your
35:42
opponent will pull something. They have a game
35:45
plan, too. So... Yeah. These are interesting
35:53
questions to reflect on. I actually haven't thought
35:56
about that. Yeah. God, it doesn't count. But
36:09
that's okay. There you go. We love sanctioned
36:17
chaos. Yeah, yeah, I agree. I slip into a bit
36:28
of a alter ego when I fight. Yeah, I got machine
36:34
gun, but I also like my alter ego has, has a,
36:37
has a name. Oh, like an actual, and this is a
36:40
tool that I use to get me into the mindset when
36:43
I fight my alter ego inside. Her name is Darla
36:47
and she is, She is a very excited little teenager,
36:54
borderline child, excited teenager child, who
36:58
just wants to hang out and have some fun. But
37:03
when she was younger, she didn't get to feel
37:05
those things. So I get to give her those things
37:08
when I go into the ring. That's amazing. Yeah,
37:11
so she can be as crazy as she wants. She's not
37:13
going to get in trouble. Her goal is to unleash
37:18
that crazy energy that I can't release all the
37:21
time in my everyday world. Because of responsibilities.
37:25
Yeah, people can get hurt. So at least if there's
37:28
a safe place for Darla to hurt other people,
37:31
then we're good. I remember when we were training,
37:35
the one thing that you kept saying, and the reason
37:38
why you were continuing in boxing was, this is
37:42
your therapy. Big time. That is such a good question.
38:00
Okay. Yes. Boxing has been... So I have done
38:05
therapy before boxing. I was also like... I don't
38:09
know how deep we want to get with this podcast,
38:11
but I was also like on medication because I was
38:14
really struggling with anxiety and depression.
38:16
And it wasn't until I found boxing where I was
38:19
actually able to come off my medication because
38:21
I had an outlet for all of this energy that I
38:24
had stuck inside me that didn't have a place
38:26
to go. So with boxing, because I was also practicing
38:30
good habits and a healthy mindset, it had me
38:33
reframe the way that I think about confidence,
38:37
fear. courage and guilt and shame and those are
38:42
all very difficult emotions to navigate and with
38:46
boxing because I have to think about those things
38:48
to clear my head before a fight it puts me in
38:51
a different mindset where if I were to approach
38:53
therapy after boxing I would approach it very
38:56
differently than I did before I discovered boxing.
38:59
Does that make sense? It's kind of a long -winded
39:02
answer. I've thought a lot about that, though.
39:03
No, that's amazing. For real. It's very real.
39:49
Yeah, it was an alignment. For sure. Mind, body,
39:59
soul. And before boxing, those were really out
40:02
of alignment. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, if you could
40:08
speak to yourself before fighting, before you
40:11
decided that, what would you say, like, your
40:14
most, or what would you say the most challenging
40:18
thing you have accomplished since then? You can
40:25
say this podcast. I'm not going to say this podcast.
40:30
I was really excited to hang out with you guys.
40:33
I appreciate that. Oh, man. What would I say
40:36
to my younger self before Fight to End? Before
40:42
Fight to End. Before any fights. Before you even
40:45
sign up and say, like, if you're having a challenging
40:50
moment. Yeah. I would say to her, you're way
41:00
tougher than you think. And you are way stronger
41:03
than you think. Because my self -talk before
41:07
Fight to End, I was really mean to myself. I
41:10
didn't treat myself like the best friend I should
41:12
have treated myself as. And I think I lost out
41:18
on a lot of... opportunities to be courageous
41:22
and confident when i was younger that's fair
41:25
and because i found boxing when i was 27 years
41:28
old that's a late that's late to find boxing
41:30
um because usually people are finding it at like
41:33
17 16 17 um i will tell myself that i can keep
41:40
doing hard things and no matter what disadvantage
41:44
you might be at you can still pull through i
41:47
like that Yeah. What I love most about that is
41:53
that you went into a charity box event to help
41:57
other people, and then you ended up probably
42:00
helping yourself the most, right? Yeah. It was
42:03
a great consequence of helping others. That's
42:06
what it is. Like, you help other people, and
42:09
then in a roundabout way, it ends up helping
42:11
you. Yeah. I was helping the community, and the
42:15
community has actually helped me more than...
42:18
I would have ever known. The biggest message
42:21
from that is do things, involve yourself in the
42:25
community. Involve yourself in the community
42:27
through sport, through different events, through
42:30
anything, anything that's going on. And now you're
42:34
deep in that community so you can help the next
42:36
person. Yeah. So you have the opportunity to
42:39
work with someone that's doing a charity boxing
42:42
event. Oh, yeah. Yeah, sure. Her husband did
42:45
it. Yeah, it inspired me. oh my goodness and
42:49
he wants to fight again too because he sees yeah
42:52
he wants to fight in january i also want to fight
42:55
in january same card or no same card yeah that'd
42:58
be amazing yeah trying to get a rematch i lost
43:01
to one girl um here in ontario my other loss
43:05
was in bc and i'm trying to get a rematch with
43:07
her and this might happen this might happen so
43:10
we'll see fingers crossed fingers crossed You
43:25
need to be registered with Boxing Ontario? I
43:28
still am. Oh, you still are? Yeah, until December.
43:31
Oh. If you don't re -register before December,
43:36
you might not be able to get on the card. Think
43:38
about it. Think about it. I will. I will. It's
43:44
like riding a bike. It is. It almost is. You
43:48
have a lot of muscle memories. It comes back
43:51
with it. Instinct. You've got a killer instinct,
43:53
too. Yeah. You do. I appreciate that. I appreciate
43:56
that. You're welcome. This is true. This is true.
44:09
That's right. Showing up for you. Well, I think
44:14
this is amazing. I really appreciate you taking
44:16
some time out of your day. Of course. To join
44:19
us. Of course. This has been a great episode.
44:23
I learned a lot. I love that. Are you going to
44:27
give me the ring now? I knew you were going to
44:29
ask. I don't know. I feel like... I would like
44:37
to, but if I did, I would need to fully commit.
44:41
Because I'm a very competitive person, and I
44:45
don't like to lose. So if I'm going to do it,
44:49
I would have to full on do it. I'd be doing extra
44:52
training while I'm watching absolutely everything.
44:56
Becoming a psycho. You can geek out. I'd have
44:59
to. Yeah. I'm a low -key geek myself. Like right
45:02
now, I just don't have the time. Yeah. If I could
45:08
make the time, it is very challenging. It's very
45:11
demanding, for sure. I know, like, the best shape
45:14
I was ever in in my life obviously was wrestling.
45:16
But when I was doing wrestling, like, the best
45:18
shape in your life. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And you don't
45:22
want to lose. No, you don't want to lose. But
45:25
you learn a lot from your losses. That's true.
45:27
I don't know about boxing, but I know from wrestling,
45:32
losing is a lot more exhausting than winning.
45:36
It is. But you can remind if you did lose. Think
45:43
about it this way. If you lose... The person
45:47
that you lost to better walk away knowing they
45:49
had to fight for that win. Exactly. So I know
45:52
what you mean. That's why I'm like, I would have
45:54
to go full on. We'll see. Depends on what kind
46:01
of stress you want to tolerate. Yeah, exactly.
46:04
That's the key with your sport of choice, how
46:07
much stress you want to endure. Yeah, well. So
46:13
we'll put it in one day. Right on. I look forward
46:17
to it. Let me know. Because I think next year
46:21
is going to be my last year of fighting in general.
46:25
Oh? Yeah. It's fun. It's great. It's time -suming
46:32
in nature. And the months that you're training,
46:36
I'm a different person. I'm training mentally
46:40
from the start that I sign up. Yeah, to the beat
46:43
that I've done and I feel relieved after. Then
46:46
I'll go to the gym after and I'm not here because
46:51
I'm fighting someone. I'm here for myself. And
46:53
it's like, you need a purpose. I can find other
46:58
avenues to work on my physical other than the
47:01
ring or in the gym like that. Because that is
47:05
a full body workout. There is no better workout
47:07
than boxing. I can definitely say that. But then
47:11
to get hit in the head, inspired, and not having
47:15
a deal of when you're going to find someone that
47:17
you're going to not care, it's tough. Yeah, for
47:21
sure. I understand that. I feel like you're getting
47:23
punched in the head for no reason. Unless it's
47:26
a soccer field and someone wants to yell at me,
47:29
then I'm waiting for you to take three swings
47:31
because there's a register. These are registering.
47:36
Amazing. Well, we look forward to one more year
47:41
of boxing. Yeah, one more year. Hopefully I get
47:43
on the same card as you. Yeah. It'll be awesome.
47:47
Honestly, it'll be great. Yeah, sweet. So you're
47:50
going to keep fighting, though, for a long time
47:52
now? Yeah. Yeah, unless something happens where
47:55
I need to maybe not compete, but I'll still probably
47:57
be in the gym. That's good. I'll still probably
47:59
be in the gym. That's good. Honestly, that would
48:02
be amazing. My church. Is that my cue? I am not
48:17
a football watcher, but I appreciate a great
48:19
play and great techie. We'll start a little backwards
48:24
tonight because the game is going on behind us
48:27
right now. It is sectioned off a little bit so
48:31
we don't get sued by our big brothers up there.
48:35
We don't want to get taken out again. But I think
48:40
this is the game we need to play next. Yes, we
48:43
need to play next. Green Bay Packers and the
48:47
Philadelphia Eagles. We're giving away a Philadelphia
48:49
Eagles jersey tonight, so $1 per person. This
48:54
place actually goes up pretty nicely at Clubhouse
48:56
tonight, so it's like $4 .50, half -price place.
49:00
Thank you, Brad. We're going to do one of the
49:02
simulators just like this one. All right. I'm
49:05
going to pick this up, get a couple of picks
49:07
of beer, some nachos, and the simulator in the
49:11
ass of TV behind us. What's that like? 15 by
49:16
20, something like that. So that's bigger than
49:21
anything anyone's got at home. The coolest thing
49:25
about these, I realized the other day, if your
49:29
team is making you really angry, you can throw
49:32
something at the TV and it's fine. There's baseball
49:36
right over there. Hey, you might even get to
49:37
see your stats on how hard you threw it. True.
49:50
Oh, that's a tough one because I am an Eagles
49:59
fan, but that's only because my husband and his
50:02
friends are as well. Oh, your husband's an Eagles
50:05
fan? He is. He is. He's also in a fantasy league.
50:09
So I just... I approve of your husband. Yeah,
50:11
he knows his stuff. I'm just here to talk about
50:15
sports. Maybe not football in general. She had
50:20
to justify it. I can talk about basketball. What's
50:24
your favorite team in basketball? I'm a Raptors
50:25
fan, through and through. But I have my fan story,
50:30
okay? Listening. I have my fan story. Listening.
50:34
Oh, you are listening, okay. So they won the
50:37
championships in... 2019. I thought it was 2018.
50:41
2018? Yeah, where they were against 76ers. Yep.
50:47
Right? No, it wasn't 76ers. It was Golden State
50:50
Warriors. Oh, yes! But they had to beat 76ers
50:53
before the Warriors. Right. Yes! I remember because
50:58
they shut down Joel Embiid and that was, like,
51:01
the craziest thing. That held them to zero points
51:03
for one of those games. And I... I couldn't believe
51:07
it because he was scoring, what, 20 -plus points
51:09
on the games before that. They shut him down
51:11
to zero points. And then one of the biggest things
51:17
was Fred Van Fleet, and he scored, like, 25 points
51:21
one of the games. Which is shocking. Shocking!
51:23
Shocking, and I'm like, I am a huge fan. And
51:26
with Lowry as well, Lowry just, like, leading
51:28
the team through all that. Like, it was just...
51:31
amazing to witness at that at that time and yeah
51:34
i was i watched the live game when they won the
51:36
championships i was in school at the time okay
51:39
So I was in residence. So the whole place lit
51:42
up. Everyone hit pots and pans, opened up the
51:45
balcony, and you could just hear everyone going
51:47
nuts. And from that moment, I was like, I love
51:51
sports. I love what sports does for people. Definitely
51:53
2019. I know we've talked about this before,
51:56
but those fan stories, that's why we're like,
51:59
yeah, no. Yeah. Because people who are living
52:04
that at the same time, they get it. They just
52:06
get it. It's amazing. and literally bring your
52:39
team to a championship. That's exactly what happened
52:42
with the JVs this year. How many fans were brought
52:47
in just because of that? Me! Me! I did not realize
52:52
how much of a fan I would be for the backcatchers
52:54
alone and the technique that they have there.
52:57
I was telling them that before we started the
52:59
pod. Like, I love the backcatchers. You can frame
53:02
a strike. It's crazy. You can pull it into the
53:05
strike zone. I'm like, this is crazy. Yes. So
53:21
much more. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You take the
53:32
time. You know what you're looking for. I feel
53:34
like that's why everyone got into pickleball.
53:38
I like pickleball. Exactly. It gets so much more
53:40
intense when you actually get into it. Yeah.
54:01
Yep. Smallest movements. This is true. Sorry,
54:08
I know you guys are talking about football. It's
54:11
actually the end of the first quarter of the
54:12
game, which is kind of our cue. So this has been
54:17
a really good pod. It's changed. It's different
54:20
from what we usually do. It's actually perfect
54:22
because, like, come June, we're going to have
54:24
a pivot a little bit. There's no money in football.
54:27
So, like, this is a great segue, especially when,
54:29
like... You know, episode 10. And that's, like,
54:32
a lot of people don't make it this far in their
54:34
casting. Mm -hmm. This is true. Right? So it
54:37
shows, like, the first style that we have, like,
54:40
a great community around us that can, like, support
54:44
us and give us some insight from, like, the other
54:47
actors in the other sports. Literally, you're
54:50
getting off the bench to go into the ring. You
55:03
heard it here first. I feel like bringing you
55:07
on the podcast is getting people to get off the
55:13
bench and give the jam into the community, into
55:17
the... Go contribute, go make a difference, go
55:20
do something. Fully agree. Because you don't
55:22
necessarily have to go into the ring to give
55:24
back to the community. There's tons of missions
55:27
out there. There's tons of volunteer opportunities
55:30
with the boys and girls club and so forth. But
55:33
if you can also find yourself in those activities,
55:37
you're actually going to be doing yourself some
55:39
service. This is true. This is true. It's about
55:42
instilling change. You're not going to instill
55:44
it when you're just sitting on the bench. Off
55:47
the bench. I love it. I love it. It works out
55:51
perfectly. I could have been sitting on the bench
55:53
today, but I decided to come here. Yeah, you
55:55
decided to get off the bench and join us. There
55:56
we go. There we go. Community. On off the bench.
56:01
This is very confusing. I can see the shorts
56:06
now. It's going to work out perfectly. Love it.
56:10
Once again, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so
56:13
much. Thank you for having me, you guys. Cue
56:15
the intro.