I WAS IN A MESS, AND ON THE WAY TO HOSPITAL THEY HAD TO TIE ME UP BECAUSE MY MOUTH WAS SO BADLY INJURED I WAS TRYING TO RIP IT OFF”
➤ punch he would have knocked anybody out, you know? I was knocked out, and on the way to hospital they had to tie me up because my mouth was so badly injured I was trying to rip it off. I was in a bad way. But again, he beat me, but I know those guys wouldn’t have beat me on my day. When I was at my best fighters like Greg Haugen, Roger Mayweather came to spar me and they couldn’t cope, and they left the gym. Not because I punched them hard, but because I punched them too many times. They hated sparring me, and there were times when I had to have three people in the ring so I could do a minute with each. And Harding – I’d spar him for 18 rounds, I’d beat him, I’d bash his brains in every day. I know if I was fighting today, I’d win 25 world titles, I’d fight for the light-heavyweight title.
Despite the hand injuries and the problems at the end, do you miss those days?
No. It was a stage of my life. What hurts me the most is that, first of all, they kept me in Australia when I would have loved to have fought in America more. Then I think about all the people that I helped along the way, paid them, gave them money. Now what of those people? None of them were real. I always used to say they were my best friends, but my best friend in the world is my wife. I learnt lots of lessons in boxing, some that hurt, I was just too nice to people, gave them money, but that’s boxing. I try and warn people about it, but I let it happen to myself.
You came back in 2008 and had the third fight with Nelson, long after your peaks. Was that because it was niggling at you?
No, no. I don’t even count that as a fight, that was just two old guys. I was doing some training, and I was getting fitter. I was in Thailand so someone said I should fight [Samart] Payakaroon again, so I had it all organised but it all fell through, so we rang Azumah Nelson. That’s all it was. It was a victory [pts 10] but it doesn’t count really. But that first fight, I beat him, and for him to say it was even close, that’s what I don’t like about boxing. You know if you’ve been punched in the face more than you punched him. You know! But fighters just put their hands up straight away [at the final bell] whether or not they win or lose, hoping that some dumb mother-f ***** g judge is going to give them decision. I couldn’t do that! If I knew a guy beat me, I wouldn’t put my hands up, I’d give him my belt. I’m old school. You know if someone has hit you more than you have hit them.
It clearly upsets you. How hard is being on the wrong end of a bad decision?
I was the first guy to be a three-weight undefeated champion. That would have been my fourth weight – undefeated. It had never been done but because of, let’s call them plain f ***** g stupid dumb f ****** g judges because they are, it doesn’t happen. These f ***** s just keep getting employed again. They work a fight in January, they f**k up, they work again in January, then they’re working another fight in March where they’ll probably f**k up again because they’re so f ***** g stupid. If these people are not held accountable, boxing will always be second to everything else. That’s why we don’t get corporate sponsorship, that’s why we don’t get what we deserve. It should simply have been a case after the fight with Nelson, watch a video, sack those guys, and give me my belt. It wasn’t close. Judges ruined my career, ruined my career. I’ll punch them in the face and then they’ll know what it’s like. What else bothers you about the sport?
Did you see the fight with [Andy] Ruiz and [Joseph] Parker [in December]? F ***** g hell. That’s for the [WBO] heavyweight championship of the world? They’re shaking hands every round and hugging each other. This guy is trying to take your livelihood from you. Don’t do that. Wait until the end of the fight if you want to cuddle him or do what you want to him. But this is supposed to be the fight game, you’ve got to despise your opponent. Earn your money! Look, I love the sport. But you see things in the sport that aren’t right. If you’re a judge and a promoter pays for a hooker to go to your room, even though you’ve got a wife at home, it doesn’t mean you have to rob a fighter. They’re the ones that have trained their arses off.
When I was training Mike [Tyson], I walk out of my hotel room, and we’re in Vegas, Planet Hollywood, and a man walks up to me. I was overweight, I was fat. He said, ‘Jeff Fenech?’ I said, ‘Yes sir’. He told me he had never watched another boxing match since that Azumah Nelson fight. A lot of people feel that way when they see things like that, and