British boxing trainer Adam Booth spoke to Joe Molloy and Andy Lee on OTB about his past experiences as a coach, trainer and promoter.
Currently training Ireland’s Michael Conlan, Booth has trained numerous big name stars such as David Haye, George Groves, and of course our very own Andy Lee. Here is what he had to say.
“When a fighter goes into a hard fight and they come out of that fight, they’re not the same fighter they were before. In today’s social media society where everyone’s got opinions, with no experience or will knowledge of, the disregard for what fighters go through is offensive to see. I don’t ever encourage a fighter to go into a situation that I don’t believe he can win.
“In terms of all the tricky little moves people do, to disadvantage you financially, and with opportunities so that they advantage themselves as much as possible. I was fortunate that through the career of David Haye, I wasn’t just a coach, I was a manager and a promoter and so I gotta see it from bottom to top”, he said.
“I dealt with Sky Sports, I dealt with international tv rights, I dealt with it all. I’m a coach that’s been fortunate enough to see every step in contracts with Don King, with the Klitschko's. And because I’ve seen it and understand the food chain and the pit bulls, the first time, I had many sleepless nights. We wanted to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes. The second and third time was easier.
“It’s the flow of money and understanding value and Don King says: 'your value is whatever you negotiate'. And I do believe sometimes I’ve over negotiated fighter's positions and been able to get away with it, but more for the other people. I also feel that it’s a never ending landscape”.
He then went on to discuss the latest big name promoter Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom Boxing and his thoughts of him.
“I do believe that boxing is different now. I appreciate Eddie Hearn, because we all have our opinions of what the typical boxing promoter is, but I have had agreements with Eddie Hearn for significant fights and agreed the money, never had anything in writing, and the Monday after the fight, the money that we’ve verbally agreed was in the account”, he said.
“It’s very difficult to put a value on that type of honesty in this business. The one thing he is, is honest. If he says he’s gonna give you something, he’ll give it to you”.
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