GUEST COLUMN
I made stuff happen, I made history and I made some money
‘Saint’ George on the past and future
AFTER beating Fedor Chudinov I knew my days were numbered as such. I was just going to box for as long as it was necessary. I’d achieved my childhood dream of becoming a world champion.
Straight after that was the World Boxing Super Series. I was in a tournament, there was the possibility of getting some more belt and being in big fights earning some good money. So that was fantastic for me.
I got to world champion, number one rated fighter in the division, managed to earn from the defences. It’s just stupid, by the way, the amount of money that’s the difference between a belt and no belt.
I’ve got a young family now, I’ve got two boys, I wanted to spend my better years with them.
My whole career has been exhausting. But the WBSS tournament in particular was exhausting. From February last year, dislocating my shoulder, trying to get back in an impossible time frame. The whole time arguing about when I’m going to fight. I needed a break and there was no way I was going to come back.
I’m lucky that I got some good paydays in the last couple of fights. So I’m not skint. For a little bit anyway.
I want to get great at something else, to be honest. I’m ready to be good at something else. I’m not sure what. I don’t think it’s going to be badminton or anything athletic. My athletic days are over. No more combat sports. The dislocated shoulder was enough for one career.
I’m going to be at Wasserman managing fighters. I could be very good at it. I was very good at managing my career. If you’ve got a fighter who can fight, then you have to work with them, that’s what I realised. I think I was good value for money for all the promoters.
That’s what will keep the sport going, that’s what will keep the sport interesting and exciting. You don’t want it all to be a rollover job. It’s an individual sport but once you formulate a team, you’ve got someone’s back and there’s so much passion involved that you will fight tooth and nail for someone who’s on your side.
I’ve had plenty of big fights, big wins, big losses. So how am I going to measure my success? My record’s not perfect, I’ve got losses. But boxing is about finance, for me. About coming out with money. I’ve made more money from boxing than I would have being an electrician. And I’ve made significant history which I’m proud of. The biggest bit of history was a loss. I feel like I shook things up. Made stuff happen. I got an outreach to a new demographic, to a new audience and I continued to do so.
Eddie Hearn booked Wembley stadium but I filled it. I wasn’t doing it for the benefit of boxing I was purely doing it for the benefit of me. But I think it definitely made boxing that more of a mainstream sport. Selling 80,000 tickets was an absurdity, when I turned pro you were lucky to sell 1,000 at York Hall. Boxing itself has progressed thanks to the fighters who have come through and everything else but I like to think I played a small yet significant part in taking it to the next level.
When I got paid for the Jamie Cox fight, that was a high point, a career high purse - ‘You’re going to pay me that much for fighting Jamie Cox?!’ Beating James Degale was absolutely phenomenal. Dropping Froch, there’s a picture of everyone in the front row, including my dad, cheering. I knew I was going to do that, no one else did. And obviously Chudinov. The Eubank stuff was fun but it was never the extremities Froch was or Degale would ever be.
You’re so self-absorbed that you don’t comprehend the feelings of everyone around you but it’s a great relief for them.
I’m not really sad, I’m relieved, it’s good to get it out in the open. It’s great that family, friends and close supporters are proud for me and happy for me. They’ll be sad the journey is over but not sad that I’m not boxing.