UNBREAKABLE
2012 has been a fantastic year overall.
I started the year as British champion, and ended it with the GBC championship belt around my waist.
I had an excellent two month training camp in America, which saw me training at Gleason’s Gym in New York City and Mayweather’s Gym in Las Vegas.
It was amazing to watch Floyd Mayweather in his preparation for his bout with Miguel Cotto. I was even offered a slot on the show in Las Vegas.
In the space of few weeks in May, I was offered an IBF world title eliminator against Josesito Lopez and a 100,000 dollar fight with current WBA and IBO world champion, Khabib Allakhverdiev in Russia. Unfortunately I had obligations as British champion so I couldn’t take the offers as I would have been stripped of the title.
I fought in North Carolina in America on August 24th, where President Obama had the Democratic convention a week later. It was great to be back fighting in the States, as the last time I had fought there was when I beat two time world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez.
Straight after the fight I flew from North Carolina to Glasgow, to assist two time world WBO (World Boxing Organisation) champion Ricky Burns, prepare for his world title fight with Kevin Mitchell. Ricky won by a knock out. His team are in talks for a 2013 fight with fellow lightweight world champion Adrien Broner. I hope it happens as I’ll be flying with Team Burns as they prepare to shock the world.
I finished off my year with a victory in Luxembourg. Recapturing the GBC (Global Boxing Council) welterweight title I won six years ago.
I finished 2012 with a record of 33 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses. My career target is 50 wins, and to add as many titles/championships as possible.
I am well into my journey and on target to achieve my endeavour.
I have been training at All Stars Boxing club since 1988 and it was a pleasure to see the founder Mr Isola Akay walk with the Olympic torch through Notting Hill Gate in London for the build-up to the Olympic Games. He was awarded an MBE ten years ago for his services to the community. He has inspired me on my own quest to be awarded an MBE from the Monarchy, one day be it for services to sport, charity and the community.
Throughout the summer I worked on BoxNation television as a pundit with the best in the business; Steve Bunce, Steve Lillis, Ronnie McIntosh and Jim Rosenthal. It was a great experience and I’m looking forward to doing more of that in 2013.
My role as ambassador for Ted Baker, HIGH5 and NRG Fuel blossomed this year, and the Wellman advertising campaign which I featured in was in well over 100 leading magazines and newspapers from June to December.
The media campaign in 2013 will be even more fantastic. I will also be featuring on Colorblind greeting cards for their 2013 collection, which can be bought in Hallmark and Clinton Cards.
I’m so looking forward to 2013 as it looks like being a fabulous year on all fronts.
I’m lucky to be part of a phenomenal team. I would like to thank René, Penny, Jackie, Jakub and Dominic for all their great work and also my coaching team Dave Brown, Harry Keitt and Jihad Abdul-Aziz. I cannot thank you all enough, but your work is always appreciated.
I wish all of you a successful and prosperous 2013. Our world is changing yet again and things can only get better.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
THE UNTOUCHABLES
The Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton show is back in town, and it is a real pleasure to be part of such a great show.
Ricky has fought two of the best ‘pound for pound’ fighters in our generation in Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing both train very hard at Mayweather’s Boxing Gym in Las Vegas, and the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles respectively.
19,000 fans bought tickets within three days of them going on sale, without the opponent yet being named – unprecedented. The event is ‘sold out’ and Hatton Promotions have put together a great show.
Ricky is still by far the greatest draw in British boxing.
The bill has fighters like world title challengers Martin Murray and Rendall Monroe, British champion Scott Quigg; Gary Buckland will be defending his British title against Steve Foster. Sergey Rabchenko will be defending his European title and ‘yours truly’ will be opening up the show for the headliners. This show is worth every penny of the PPV.
My last fight was in North Carolina on 24th August where I won on points over eight rounds. I also spent two weeks in Scotland with world champion, Ricky Burns as he prepared for his “Battle of Britain” bout with Kevin Mitchell. We completed 48 competitive rounds which was quality work for the both of us.
I’m focused on getting my 33rd win on Saturday. 2013 will see me fighting the likes of Pablo Cesar Cano, Johan Perez, Vyacheslav Senchenko, Rafal Jackiewicz, Jan Zaveck, Nate Campbell, Julio Diaz, Randall Bailey and Humberto Soto.
Training at the All Stars boxing gym has been hard and intense, just how I like it.
Dave Brown, who has guided two fighters over the last three years to ABA National titles, has overseen my preparations. He has played a significant part in my wins over Delvin Rodriguez, Lenny Daws and Jason Cook, and as is always the case, I’m in great shape.
My US trainer, Jihad Abdul-Aziz from Gleason’s Gym in New York City is flying to Manchester to oversee my corner, and make sure we get the stunning win which will end my year on a high.
The best cut man in the business, Mick Williamson, will also be in my corner on the night. He really pulled it out to stop the bleeding on one of the worse cuts I’d seen in a long time on Tony Bellew last weekend. I’m in the safest of hands!
Jihad commented this week “He (Chris Truman) doesn’t have a clue! I know you are in shape! We will dictate the pace and win every round. You have to show these people you are a world class fighter. We will make some noise that night.”
I did an interview with Sports Night Live on Primetime TV this week. Primetime TV will be televising my fight. Tim Witherspoon, who was a guest on the show, said he loves how I dissect my opponents and that he hasn’t seen many British fighters as calm and as relaxed as I am in the ring.
That is a great compliment from a former heavyweight champion of the world.
Come Saturday, I will get my 10th knockout win. Watch this space!
ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN & WOMEN
Barack Obama was re-elected in what was a nail-biting campaign for all involved.
Obama was seriously helped back in by his loyal support from women and people of colour; Hispanics, Asians and Blacks who kept him in the White House.
When examining the demographics, the Republicans as a party need to change some of their stark and unyielding policies to attract the pivotal minority voters.
It’s always about the economy in US elections, but it’s worth noting that the United Kingdom’s economy grew by 0.6 per cent during the Conservatives reign, and in that time the US economy has grown by 3%.
The Tories are currently giving tax breaks to the rich, but Obama wants to (rightly) tax the rich a little more.
The President inherited an America in serious decline, and he has to some extent ‘steadied the ship’.
Many people seem to forget that George Bush left him a ‘chronic mess’ from his time in office. In his initial term, he has had two wars to deal with, and an economy in recession.
He has also managed to lift the near abysmal reputation of America in the rest of the world.
Around the world, the majority of people and national leaders wanted Obama to win a second term. At times it looked like Mitt Romney was going to pip him to the post, and many outside the US shuddered at the prospect.
Obama sold “hope and change” to the American electorate in 2008, which was relatively easy to do after the ‘strong headed’ George W. Bush.
Like many, I felt an elected Mitt Romney might well have seen a return to the dark days of Bush, which not many inside and outside the US wanted to see.
Obama clearly had the youth vote, and Romney appeared to corner the ‘golden oldies’.
59% of white people voted for Romney, whilst only 39% voted for Obama. 93% of blacks, 71% of Hispanics and 73% of Asians wanted Obama to stay in the White House. This is an unhealthy racial divide, and the Republicans need to re-think their hard line policies on immigration, if they are to have any chance of attracting the minority vote in the future.
The Conservative party in Britain appear to share many policies with the Republicans, and they might just experience similar challenges in trying to win the next election in Britain. David Cameron often says “we are in this together”, but many people feel he is backing the wealthy upper class, rather than middle and working class families.
Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated President Obama on his victory, saying “I think he’s a very successful US president, and I look forward to working with him in the future”. You’d better hurry up and get on with it David, things are not looking great for you.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has had a testing relationship with Barack Obama, said he “would continue to work with the President to preserve the strategic interests of Israeli citizens”, probably through slightly gritted teeth.
Obama has always been an inspirational figure to many people, as his rise to become US President, demonstrates that perhaps anything is truly possible if you work hard and believe in yourself.
The upstanding First Lady, Michele Obama, has been the strong and increasingly popular woman constantly by his side, who Barack praises all the time. Family means everything to Obama, as he comes from a single parent family, and was raised by his white grandmother.
He has often said that (probably more in hope) “we are an American family, and we will rise and fall together”.
Obama got through his radical medical reforms despite many previous Presidents, including President Clinton, having tried and failed.
Obama has been prepared to stand up bravely for both women’s and homosexual rights in the US, which tellingly, the Republicans were dead against.
There were some jaw dropping statements delivered by Republican candidates throughout the race, which perhaps gave an insight into their true colours. None more so than Richard Mourdock’s intervention on rape; “I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
His deeply disturbing comments came two months after those of Missouri Republican, Todd Akin, who said “women’s bodies had ways of preventing pregnancy after rape”.
These are shocking comments that are just unacceptable in modern day America, and it’s high time that the Republicans understood and accepted that.
America’s thoughts used to positively lead us, not negatively hold us back.
Obama obviously has a huge amount of work to do at home, but his presence is also needed in the rest of the world.
The situation with Iran could easily come to a nasty head in the next four years. Obama has shown himself to be a President who would rather talk than go to war again; so more crippling sanctions could well fall upon Iran. Sanctions tent to hurt the usually innocent civilians, and tend not to trouble the people in power so much. Therefore I’m not sure how much of an effective deterrent that really is, but so far so good.
Syria is crazy and getting worse at the moment, with a leader, President Bashar al Assad, seemingly indifferent to killing his people, with little if any signs of remorse. It is sadly looking and feeling like Bosnia all over again.
Russia has its own problems at home, and to the concern of many, continuously blocks meaningful intervention against Syria.
China is just as bad a ‘blocker’ as Russia is, when it comes to action against Syria, but with a new leader being elected in China, we live in hope. China’s stalling but still growing economy is still attracting even more European countries that want to have the Chinese as a trading partner, and therefore are not as vocal as they could be.
The Chinese economy is worth 3 trillion pounds, that understandably gets everyone’s attention in a global downturn.
Brazil’s economy recently overtook the UK; to become the world’s sixth largest recently. The world, its demographics and power brokers are changing, and fast.
Obama is respected in most countries around the world, and consequently, I think his second term will probably be more successful. He has a good relationship with most world leaders, and I believe he knows what needs to be done.
The US economy is growing slowly, and doing more business with Brazil, China and India will only help it.
Mitt Romney says the Chinese are the enemy. That is not a helpful mind-set. They can and must be partners!
The Chinese are investing heavily in Africa and Asia, whilst the west is frozen in the geo-political ‘headlights’.
America and the Chinese working together could be an instructive way forward, but the US has to find a way of removing its inherent fear of strong powers with different approaches to their chosen model of democracy.
No man is perfect, and Barack Obama can only do so much. He desperately needs the Senate and Congress to work together to make that necessary magic happen. He will be tested most in this arena, and a bi-partisan approach, whilst being difficult, has become a necessity.
The next four years will be very interesting, directional and constantly newsworthy. I’m now very optimistic for the Americans, if they can turn things around at home, we will all benefit!
Viva Obama
“You must do the things you think you cannot do” – Eleanor Roosevelt
DO THE RIGHT THING – AGAIN
Mitt Romney showed more signs of being incompetent with yet another gaffe, when he brazenly criticized many Democrats who he needs to somehow win over.
His campaign has slowly turned into a calamitous affair, as Obama appears to be the man that the majority of Americans may well vote for.
Mitt Romney branded 47% of American voters ‘welfare spongers’ in a private dinner for some of his many wealthy donors.
The event was discreetly filmed and shown widely, there are no hiding places from ‘foot in mouth’ moments any more.
After being exposed, he faced a heavy backlash he said at his next conference appearance that he would “represent 100% of Americans if voted into power”.
Yeah right! I wonder why the change of heart?
“There are 47% of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
Forgive my cynicism, but my guess is that those are not the words of a man aiming to represent 100% of Americans any time soon.
He is an obviously ‘out of touch’ billionaire who lives a very different life to those of America’s everyday people. His gaffes are so reminiscent of George W. Bush; and we all know how much of a calamity he was in office.
I truly hope the Americans voters let Obama continue what he has started.
He came into power when America’s economy was the worst it has been since the Great Depression. He had a mammoth and unenviable task, and most sensible observers would admit that four years is nowhere near enough to totally arrest the steep decline he inherited, let alone overturn it.
The economy is now steady, and the next four years is where Obama can become a little more dynamic, and truly stamp his authority by passing the bills he really believes in.
Americans have to realise that George W. Bush took them into two wars, and America cannot simply and rapidly ‘bail out’ without huge and catastrophic consequences; they have to ease out over time.
They just cannot afford to potentially ‘win the war’ and then ‘lose the peace’ – yet again.
Trillions of dollars have been spent on the wars, and George W. Bush was the smiling and willing ‘cowboy’ in charge; who seemed to relish conflict and bloodshed.
My guess is Obama appears sensibly less ‘gung ho’, and more instinctively inclined to want to talk and do things a lot more peacefully prior to resorting to inherently risky and protracted military options.
Israel and the Middle East will always be the very ‘sticky’, if not unsolvable foreign policy issue for a US President’s first term.
In many people’s view, Mitt Romney has ‘dutifully and gutlessly’ followed Bush in deciding that whatever Israel does is ‘right’, and appears to back them unconditionally at every turn.
Sure Israel has a right to exist, and also to defend itself from attack, but America and Europe must be seen to be ‘even handed’, otherwise the conflict will only be further fuelled.
There is no room for bias.
I have Muslim and Jewish friends both here in London and New York; so I hear and respect each side’s points of view.
Most agree that the solution must be to “live side by side in peace, and respect their differences”
This must be the collective focus of the governments of the world, ideally through the United Nations.
Obama has just about handled the situation so far, but he really does need to be more demanding of both sides in order to reach an amicable solution.
He must learn that ‘you cannot make an omelette without breaking some eggs’. A second term will enable him to be a little more muscular.
The Presidential debates are where I expected Obama to increase his lead over Romney; as he is without doubt, one of the best speakers I have heard anywhere for a very long time.
After a subdued and lacklustre showing in the initial debate, Obama was back to his best and much more aggressive in the last two debates, and in my humble opinion, showed Mitt Romney that he has a way to go before he can compete with him on the world stage.
With only a couple of weeks to go, there is very little in the title race, and it all depends on which way the swing States actually swing.
It’s hard to believe that an Obama victory will not be great (and right) for the world and America, as he will then be able to finish what he has started.
Bush Jnr left the world in turmoil. However, voter’s memories always appear to be very short, and fixated on the economy.
The world has become a more stable place, and the US economy is at long last improving. Slowly, but still improving all the same.
Obama made a memorable statement to Romney during their last debate; “the 1980s are asking for their policies back. When it comes to our foreign policy you seem to want the policies of the 1980s, just like you want to import the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1950s.
I fear if the Republicans are returned to power, we might well experience some terrible policies that will no doubt slow down the American economy, and consequently the world economy.
We must also expect and fear even more conflict, and a return to America’s isolation, much like in the time of Bush Jnr.
On November 6th the world will hold its breath, as the most important US election in recent times will be in its vital last round and the verdict will be announced.
Viva Barack Obama.
IN THE COMPANY OF MEN
Homosexuality in the Black community is still a big taboo, and even more so, and probably worse in boxing.
The first contemporary gay fighter bravely came out last week.
World class Puerto Rican fighter, Orlando Cruz, came out of the closet and let the world know, that he is a proud gay man.
He is a former Olympic boxer, and one of the top-ranked fighters in the world, he has made history by becoming the first openly gay man in the most macho of sports.
Orlando said through a press release that, “I’ve been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my ascendant career, I want to be true to myself. I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport, and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.”
Miguel Cotto praised Orlando for coming out during a radio interview in Puerto Rico. Miguel, a three weight world champion whose last fight was against Floyd Mayweather and his next fight will be against Austin Trout at Madison Square Garden said, “Orlandlito and I spent many years on the PR team together. We went to the Central American games, Pan American games, World Championships and the Olympics together. I have great appreciation for Orlandlito. I congratulate him”.
On reading both press releases, I felt proud of both Orlando and Miguel, for making the stand and supporting his friend respectively. I for one do not care what ‘floats his boat’, but I have had many boxers in London comment that they would be uncomfortable fighting or training with a gay boxer.
There have been rumours for many years that one of the biggest names in British boxing is homosexual. I’ve known him since we were teenagers, and if he is homosexual or bisexual, and if he chooses to come out or not, it is up to him. Either way, I will always be his friend.
The late Justin Fashanu, eventually, and bravely ‘came out’ – his brother, fellow professional footballer, John Fashanu, openly condemned him.
He was found having hung himself. No British professional footballer has dared come out since!
Football is another ‘macho man’ sport, but I am sure homosexual men are playing top flight professional football in this country. Justin’s story has unfortunately become the worst of cautionary tales. No one wants to go through that level of vilification and rejection.
Football crowds can be merciless. It will take a very strong and principled man to come out in football again, but times are a changing, and fast. We live in different times now, I am pretty sure that sooner rather than later, some will break out from the understandable safety of the code of silence.
I know female amateur and professional boxers in London and New York who are lesbians, but maybe that is not seen as much of a threat, unlike in the all too aggressive and confrontational male world of boxing.
There are also many openly lesbian professional footballers in Britain.
This seems to be a particular male dilemma; in my experience females tend not to care what a person’s sexuality is, as having a homosexual friend seems to be just about normal for most women nowadays.
Whilst studying at college in London and again whilst training at the Gleason’s gym in New York City, I’ve had male admirers. I take it as a real compliment that both sexes find me attractive – it’s healthy to be liked, and even healthier to be positive about life.
The Black community in general have real worrying issues around homosexuality. There is a lack of awareness and understanding about just how damaging homophobia really is. The irony is that a set of people, who have suffered so much from bigotry by the ill-informed, can be so damning and dismissive of those who are just different.
Reggae artists like Buju Banton have had massive hits centred on homophobic lyrics and propaganda that do no favours to anyone, and have rightly not been aired on mainstream radio in this country. However, many still buy and download this unforgiving propaganda about homosexuals.
Far too many good and free thinkers have remained silent for far too long now.
Whilst many schools now mark and celebrate Black History month in October every year (which by the way, should be scrapped as it’s high time that black history should be part and parcel of the regular school curriculum), it might be timely to mark homosexuality in a similar fashion.
I strongly feel that schools should make an assertive attempt to increase awareness and education around tolerance and understanding of homosexuality.
The 2001 UK census informed us that 2% of the UK’s population is Black and that 1.5% of the population is homosexual, but my guess is more people are ‘honest’ about being Black than those are about being gay. OK, OK, it might be just that little more difficult to cover up – I hear you say. My guess is that the current number of homosexuals might be much more than double that admitted to in 2001. Gays form a significant and positive part of the rich tapestry that is UK and I for one hugely welcome that.
High school tends to open our eyes to differences and our rich and varied world, and we are increasingly taught to ‘value that difference’, not to fear or oppose it.
Many children now have ‘same sex’ parents and this is on the increase and no longer the taboo it used to be.
Even the Church of England’s search for a new leader is having homosexuality as a key debate in selecting the new Archbishop of Canterbury. One of the favourites is Black, but disappointingly has rather negative views on homosexuality.
In New York City there is a big and visible gay community, and the annual gay pride parade in Manhattan is an extravaganza that heterosexuals also participate in and enjoy.
Richard Lane, a spokesman for Stonewall commented on Orlando’s coming out that “it is vital that there are positive role models in sport for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This can only be a good step forward for fans of boxing and other sports.”
Aris Pina, a boxing historian, thinks that it is a positive thing for the Latino community; “it takes a lot of courage to announce you’re a proud openly gay Puerto Rican man, especially within the Latin community where men are very masculine, and within the homophobic world of boxing,” he told Fox News.
I know many Dominicans and Puerto Ricans from my time in training camp in New York City. Many of them have been supportive towards Orlando. Maybe times are actually changing for the better.
Welsh Rugby legend Gareth Thomas, who became the first openly gay professional rugby union player in 2009, is happy to see another sportsman announce that he is “a proud gay man”. He said “the bravery he has shown sets a great example to others. It’s great to see someone else doing it. I do believe we are coming to a point where professional sports people need not be afraid anymore.”
I tend to agree with Gareth. In this day and age we have businessmen, actors, comedians, politicians, reality and pop stars that are openly gay, and still loved and adored by the masses. Everyone needs to be inspired, and these stars coming out can help the kids who are petrified to say they are gay.
This is the 21st century, everyone should be proud of whom and what they are, and we as the human race should be supporting them and all who are different from us.
This is not new to boxing, the great Emile Griffith; the three weight world champion was the first openly recognised homosexual fighter.
I’ve met him a couple of times at Gleason’s gym in New York and the Wildcard gym in Los Angeles.
In 1992, Griffith was viciously beaten and almost killed on a New York City street, after leaving a gay bar near the Port Authority Bus Terminal. He was in hospital for four months after the assault. It was not proven whether the violence was motivated by hatred of gays, but still hugely worrying and perhaps instructive to those boxers who are gay.
Griffith was quoted in Sports Illustrated as saying “I like men and women both. But I don’t like that word: homosexual, gay or faggot. I don’t know what I am. I love men and women the same, but if you ask me which is better… I like women.”
Orlando Cruz we salute you and long may you continue to be a role model and inspiration to many.
“There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
