By Shaun Brown
“My body’s in agony but that’s to be expected.”
Caoimhin Agyarko was just trying to get his day going when answering a call from Boxing News. After a career-boosting victory on Saturday night (December 2), the Northern Irishman reviewed his performance against Troy Williamson in Belfast and told us all about battling nerves in the build-up and revealed the title he feels he can now go on and challenge for.
BN: Reflecting on your win against Troy Williamson, what did you think of your performance?
CA: I haven’t watched it back yet, but I think in the moment and at the time I felt like I was boxing very well. Personally, I thought the first six rounds were really easy to be honest. A lot of people said I lost maybe one of the early rounds; the third or fourth. It was easier than expected during the first six. The seventh and eighth were a bit tough and then I coasted the last two. That was probably my best performance to date. I showed a little bit of everything. I traded with him when I had to, I out-jabbed him, I used my feints, I used my footwork, I out-boxed him when I had to, so there was a bit of everything on Saturday night.
BN: The fight was hyped up and rightly so. Did you feel any pre-fight nerves?
CA: I don’t get nervous for fights which is very insane. I normally have to make myself nervous in the changing rooms.
BN: How do you go about making yourself nervous?
CA: I just go through scenarios that could happen in the fight. Sometimes negative scenarios like, if I get caught with a certain shot, what would I do? It makes me nervous. I envision getting caught or clipped or put down. That makes me nervous. Having nerves is a good thing because you’re a bit sharper and zoned in. In the build-up to this fight, for the last eight or nine weeks, I was going to bed nervous every single night. And I was like, “Fuck, this is new to me.” I thought on the night I would be very, very nervous. But the whole fight week, and then the fight night, I wasn’t nervous one bit. I thought walking out to that crowd, eight thousand Irish fans screaming my name, I’d be nervous, but I wasn’t nervous one bit. I relished the moment and took it in which I was glad about because I knew how to deal with my emotions then. It wasn’t like I was having to deal with my emotions while being nervous as well.
BN: What did you think of Troy Williamson as an opponent?
CA: I’ve always rated him as a good fighter…
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