By Shaun Brown
THE late, great Marvin Hagler was a man of few words, yet whenever he spoke ears everywhere twitched and listened.
Regarded as one of, if not the, greatest middleweights of all-time, the Newark born southpaw would speak about the mindset he adopted when he was in camp. Trained by the Petronelli brothers, Hagler thrived off being alone with nothing to tempt him or lead him astray while preparing for the likes of Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, John Mugabi and Sugar Ray Leonard. Despite his sad and unexpected death in March 2021, Marvelous Marvin still does and will always influence fighters of any level.
On February 10 British middleweight hope Hamzah Sheeraz faces a fine test of his credentials against the vastly experienced Liam Williams. Sheeraz now trains in America with Ricky Funez and is often asked why he works stateside rather than at home in Britain. Typically, his answer and reasoning will refer to the quality of sparring he receives. Speaking to Boxing News this week, the unbeaten 24-year-old also mentioned Hagler to enhance his explanation.
“It’s just being away; being isolated,” he said. “I was watching an interview with Marvin Hagler. And when he used to put himself in camp, he used to put himself in a prison environment – obviously not as extreme but isolated, away from friends and family. That’s the kind of mentality I’ve adopted. To be away from all of that, all of the distractions, and it’s been working.”
Sheeraz is not the first and certainly won’t be the last to train overseas. A slew of British fighters have experimented by setting up camp in America, in fact, which has of course led to mixed results.
“The Ricky Hatton’s, the Amir Khan’s done exactly that,” Sheeraz said. “That’s one of the reasons why I done it. I would have been happy training in the UK but then (Amir Khan’s uncle) Taz kind of opened my eyes. He done it with Amir back in the day and he showed me [that] if you want to be serious about the sport go out there and sample it.
“The work-rate and everything else was different, but at the same time that’s not discrediting any coaches here in the UK,” he continued. “You’ve got amazing coaches here in the UK. It all comes down to personal preference. For me the USA works.”
Eventually Sheeraz did comment on the sparring he receives while training in America. Fighters and coaches, young and old, who travel from the UK to America will often visit Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym to sample its notorious sparring sessions. It’s often a shock to the system but something any fighter looking to survive that environment must adapt to quickly. And while Sheeraz does not train at the world-famous venue in Los Angeles, he is still facing men at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym in Van Nuys, California who have no care for reputations.
“It’s the South Americans,” Sheeraz said. “You wouldn’t know the names if I told you but they’re tough. They come to fight and if they had the platform, they’d be world champions. It’s that level of fighter. They turn up every day, they’re hungry and they give you good work. And when I say good work it’s like 50-50. You don’t dominate them, and they don’t dominate you. It’s 50-50 work. At the same time, you get some fighters where you learn a lot more about yourself than you would being in a ring with anyone else.”
On February 10 at the Copper Box Arena, we will find out if the air miles, the isolation and the tough sparring has all been worth it once again.