by Geoffrey Ciani – Six foot tall junior welterweight Chris Steel (1-0, 0 KOs) is looking to impress his hometown fans when he returns to the ring against Phil Boyle Friday night at the Sports Centre in Wishaw Scotland. Steel made his pro debut on November 19 when he scored six round unanimous decision victory against Daniel Thorpe. Steel is looking to build off that victory to help set the foundation for what he hopes will be a successful career in the professional ranks. I was recently afforded the opportunity to chat with the young boxer about his upcoming fight and here is what he had to say:
How is training and preparation going for your fight against Phil Boyle?
“Training has went well. I’m still adapting my training from when I was an amateur. Instead of going in the gym for one long session I split it up into two or three shorter workouts every day. Normally I get up in the morning and jog, then go to work, and then go straight from work to the boxing gym where I work on technique and spar. I train six times a week with my coach Ronnie Blackburn with one day off and spend two nights weight training instead of boxing training. It’s definitely stepped up a gear since I turned pro and the workouts are more intense. I make a point of training for every fight like I’m the underdog.”
What type of statement would you like to make in your second professional fight?
“It’s definitely important for me to put on a great performance, especially in front of my home crowd. I’m a young professional. I’m still only 20 years old so I think it’s important to improve on my last fight and learn from it because I feel as if I’ve still got a lot to learn and these early fights are a learning curve. I love to entertain the crowd so hopefully it will be a great entertaining fight and everyone will get their money’s worth.”
Tell us about your first professional victory from your pro debut against Daniel Thorpe?
“Well I had my last amateur fight roughly about three weeks before and didn’t stop training until my first fight, so I was in good shape. I was pretty nervous but as soon as the bell rang the nerves just disappeared and I feel as if it was one of the best performances I ever had. I just felt so relaxed in there and put my punches together well. I was the taller man so I stuck to the game plan me and my coach put together which was to just keep him at distance and pick him off with straight shots and outbox him. I won every round and barely conceded a punch.”
Were you satisfied with the performance, and do you think you could have done anything better?
“Yes I was very happy with the way it went. I think it was a relief to get the first one out the way and get my career off to a good start. I felt a lot of pressure and expectations before that fight because it was my debut, but my manager and coaches put me at ease and everything went great. I was happy with a wide points win. I didn’t want to go and look for a knockout because that’s when you get careless and make mistakes. I was boxing well and hurt him in the fourth round but I made the mistake of rushing in and trying to throw everything at him instead of taking my time and picking my shots so he recovered very well. That’s probably the most important thing I learned in that fight.”
How did you first become involved with boxing?
“Well it’s a sport I was always interested in. I used to stay up and watch the Mike Tyson, Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn fights when I was a kid and then watching the Barrera vs Hamed fight peaked my interest. When I got to high school my best friend Darren McGinn told me about this boxing club he went to three times a week. We were only about 12 or 13 years old at the time and I went along with him. The first time I walked in the gym I was hooked on the sport, the way the fighters skipped and hit the bags and sparred. I found it fascinating and I barely missed a training session since then.”
How did your experience as an amateur help you with your transition to the pros?
“Well to start with I was a very slow learner. I wasn’t naturally gifted at all. I had to work very hard at the sport to be on par with some of the other guys in the gym and work even harder to become better than them. When I was coming up as an amateur, when other guys my age were in the gym three times a week training, I was in the gym six times a week learning and getting better. So if I’ve kept anything in my transition it would be the work ethic. I didn’t like amateur boxing at all for me. It was very biased with poor judging and there was little opportunity in Scotland because it isn’t a very well funded sport. So I always knew I wanted to be a professional. When I was a junior I won all my fights in the Scottish Championships to get to the finals, and the two other guys in the semi finals got disqualified meaning I was the national junior champion. Then the next day my coach got a phone call saying they had decided to forget about them both getting disqualified and put one of them in the final because he was the reigning British champion and he was world ranked at the time with over 100 fights and I lost a decision. That was a hard pill to swallow for me to work so hard and be the champion then get it taken away unfairly like that.”
Who were some of your other favorite fighters to watch growing up?
“Well I have a massive collection of fights that I love studying and watching. I consider myself a student of the sport. My favorite fighter of all time is Thomas Hearns. He was just such an explosive, exciting fighter to watch. When I was younger I used to watch his fights and then try and imitate him because of our similarities in height and reach. I am a 6’ tall light welterweight with a long reach which is very unusual. So for that reason he was my favorite fighter. My other favorite fighters are Floyd Mayweather, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney, Sugar Ray Robinson and Bernard Hopkins. All are very inspirational. I love Hopkins’ work ethic and he’s got such a great life story I got an X on my boxing trunks to pay homage to him. The amount he’s achieved in the sport and to still be pound-for-pound ranked at 46 years old is absolutely incredible. I don’t think it will ever be repeated again.”
What do you consider your best weapon inside the ring?
“Well my jab is definitely my most used punch. I use it to keep fighters at distance and to set up my other shots, but if I was to pick my best weapon it would definitely be my ring smarts. Ask any coach whether they would rather have a fighter who’s fast or strong, or a guy who is intelligent in the ring and they will pick the smart fighter. The ability to out think your opponent is the best weapon you can have because more often than not it becomes a game of chess in there. Being able to think one step ahead is the best attribute for any boxer.”
Do you have an official prediction for your Feb 25 fight against Boyle?
“Well I don’t really like to make predictions. I know that Phil Boyle always comes to fight. I know he’s got a bit of power so I’m definitely not underestimating him. I don’t underestimate anyone but I’m just going to stick to the game plan, use my range and box smart and if the knockout comes, then it comes. I know it’s going to be a tough fight and I will have to be on top of my game or I could pick up a loss so I’m motivated to be the best I can possibly be on Friday night and hopefully it will be a great fight for the fans and I will move to 2-0.”
Is there anything you would like to say to all the fans at East Side Boxing?
“I’m been a member at ESB for about seven years. It’s the best boxing community on the internet to get news and talk about boxing. I was a fan on this site before I even had my first amateur fight. I would just like to say thanks to the support from the website and ask everyone to keep following my progress and thanks a lot for your time.”
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