‘I want to walk out with my hand raised’
Big opportunities came too rarely for nearly man Moylette
RAY Moylette is approaching his final week as a professional boxer, so it is perhaps no surprise that he was found to be in a reflective mood on a pleasant spring morning in the Blanchardstown hotel he calls home while in training camp.
‘This sport is hard, it is ruthless, and it will eat you up and spit you out if you let it,’ the 33-year-old former European amateur champion says quietly at one point. ‘You know what I always thought abut boxing was that everything was in your power and your control. It is only you yourself in the ring and you are not relying on anyone else.
‘But, in actual fact, nothing is in your power. You are relying on everybody else. Referees, judges, promoters, coaches, managers, everyone.’
Moylette will have his final dance in the TF Royal in Castlebar on Sunday night, his 17th bout in the seven years that he has been fighting professionally. There have been long periods of inactivity, caused at first by visa issues delaying a re-entry into the US and then when the world paused for Covid. He reckons he lost more than two years of his career when he should have been at his peak. Such have been the setbacks that this wasn’t the first time he toyed with the idea of retirement.
‘I’ve thought about packing it in every night for the last five years,’ he says with a soft chuckle. ‘Ah no! Of course, there are bad days in this game, a lot of t h e m , but then, you have the good days when the phone call comes with an opportunity. Bang, you are on a Matchroom show. Or bang, you are fighting in the TF.
‘And boxing has been very good to me. I have travelled the world, seen places people will never see, hung out with Mickey Ward and his brother Dickie in Boston, the journey has been crazy and I have enjoyed it. But there are days when you think ‘why the f*** am I doing this?’ It is too hard, there are easier ways to make a living. You are gambling really, no matter how good you are, because you need people to take a chance on you, to give you opportunities.’
Moylette’s in the game long enough now to know he exists in a strange limbo as a fighter. Not quite good enough for the big fights but too good for promoters and managers to take a chance with any up-and-coming boxer. So, for two or three years, the call barely came. Only when it was announced that next Sunday in Castlebar will be his final fight did people start ringing trainer Paschal Collins.
‘It’s typical. I have been sitting around for three years, waiting for the phone to ring and as soon as I put it out that this is my final fight, Packie starts to get calls. But these offers didn’t come when I needed them. It’s because people think I am on the slide now and on the way out, it might be an easy fight for their fighters.’
If offers had come, it has been at very short notice. A couple of months ago, the opportunity came to fight Adam Azim, one of the hottest prospects in British boxing, for the European light-welterweight title. It would have been the biggest pay-day of his career, but the catch was that he had less than four weeks to prepare.
‘I was offered big money to fight Azim, a lot more money that I got for fighting Dalton Smith. But it was less than four weeks’ notice. I didn’t have enough time to get myself in the best possible shape, didn’t have enough time to train to convince myself that I had a chance.
‘And look, even if I had 16 weeks in a training camp, maybe I wouldn’t have beaten him but at least I would have went into the ring believing that I had done everything I could and give the best version of myself. If I had taken the fight, it would just be for the money and what sort of message would that be to my children, taking a fight I knew I had no chance of winning, just for a big pay-day?’
Moylette is defined by his honesty. Even though he is a former European champion and multiple national champion and a valued member of the High Performance programme for years, he insists that he won’t be sitting on a bar stool in years to come, believing he would have been world champion if the breaks fell his way.
‘I know my limitations as a fighter, I am a good boxer, but maybe not top, top level, and that’s fine. The problem is I am too good for people to want to fight me on the way up, so the opportunities dried up.’
He had to deal with setbacks in his amateur career, twice falling at the final hurdle for Olympic qualification. After he failed to get to Rio, he thought about hanging up the gloves completely but decided to give the pro game a go.
‘And it has been good to me. It was a completely different feeling in the professional gym. The first time I walked into a pro gym, everyone was smiling and out to help you.’
That was especially true of his trainer, Paschal Collins, whom Moylette says would do anything for any of his boxers and opened the door to him fighting for Ken Casey in Boston. The Islandeady native had built up enough of a following to bring a show to Castlebar five years ago, where the WBC silver continental title was up for grabs. Unfortunately, he suffered his first defeat of his career.
‘But it was still the best night of my career, and people still talk about it, people are still stopping me in Castlebar and talking about that night, and how did I manage to get up in the fifth round? It was because the 2,000 people in the TF got me up. So I want to do that again, only this time to walk out with my hand raised.’
That show in Castlebar was an outlier as it was one of the few pro cards put on in the south over the past eight years. The Regency Hotel shooting – and the rise of MTK – basically destroyed professional boxing in this country. But there are signs of a revival. Platform Sports, who look after Thomas Carty, are putting on this show next week and have a number of small shows in the pipeline for the coming year. Dillian Whyte is sprinkling his stardust on the show next week and the locals will be keen to see one of the world’s most recognisable heavyweights in action.
But the night is about Ray Moylette. A chance to say goodbye in front of his own people. His wife, Sharon, is looking after the ticket sales but Moylette says that Mayo people are generally slow to purchase their tickets.
‘It’s the way we are in Mayo, if an event is on the Friday night, a Mayo person won’t get his ticket until that morning or afternoon, for fear that something might crop up. But look, we are expecting a great night, Mayo are playing in McHale Park that day too, so it should be a great day of sport in Castlebar.’
‘I AM A GOOD BOXER, BUT MAYBE NOT TOP LEVEL... AND THAT’S FINE’