He is softly spoken, his preparations have been low key, but the boxing world should take note: Anthony Fowler is gunning for Gold.
The 24-year-old is a man on a mission to follow in the footsteps of his famous footballing cousin Robbie and achieve sporting greatness.
There are no ifs, buts or maybes with Anthony. Beneath his polite, mild mannered exterior there is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and the Olympic Games will provide him with the platform he craves.
First Olympic Gold, then a four year journey to the be crowned Middleweight Champion of the World and surpass the achievements of Carl Froch.
Four Year Plan
He said: “I gave myself a four year plan to get to the Olympics. I have achieved a Commonwealth Gold, a World Bronze. I wanted a medal at the Europeans but because of injury that didn’t happen for me so now it is about getting a medal at the Olympics and then turning professional. Nothing has changed.
“It has been a big portion of my life but I know whatever happens I know for a fact I will have a good professional career, I have sparred with World Champions, professionals and I can hold my own with all of them so I know in my heart, no matter what happens, in the professional game I will be successful.
“Whenever happens next year I turn profession no two ways about it. Then it is in my own hands.
“I will have 12 rounds to knock them out, it won’t be a three round fight where they can run around and hold me for three rounds. It will be a 12 round war with little tiny gloves on so good luck to them then trying to hold me for 12 rounds.
“I will be World Champion, 100%. I have always believed I could since 14 years of age since I won the Schoolboy title, I always believed I could be a world champion and nothing has changed at all.
“Like I’ve done a four year plan here maybe in four years as a professional when I step up I will be British champion within a year-and a half two years, then European three years and World Champion four years. It will be a similar plan.”
Dominated
Fowler spoke exclusively to Onside PR for PharmaNutricals, official nutrition partner to GB Boxing and mapped out his Road to Rio and the journey into the pro ranks beyond.
He has dominated the amateur securing six English ABA titles and 5 GB championships following in the footsteps of Froch, a fighter many believe Fowler can surpass on the pro-ranks.
If his boxing career is anything like as successful as the football career enjoyed by cousin and former Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler he will do well but first he must put an injury plagued 2015 behind him and focus on Rio.
He added: “I have been plagued by injuries and then when I’ve boxed I haven’t boxed to my best ability. At the WSB I wasn’t sparring because of cuts, I thought I won the European Games but I got a bad decision against me, then with the European’s I couldn’t go as I injured my nose so it has been very frustrating but I am still optimistic about next year and hopefully I can qualify in April.
“Robbie supports me when he can but he is busy with his own life doing his thing and I’m busy doing mine but he supports me as much as he can from a distance but I’m doing all my work in Sheffield training and of course they are two different sports.
“I tried to go into football but I wasn’t good enough, I wish I could have played football as it is a lot easier than what we are doing here but it is not for everyone. My talent lied in boxing so that’s the way it was.
“My injury was weird. A freak really. I was doing sprint training on the track on the Tuesday morning and my hamstring went doing sprinting which was really unusual for me as I’ve never had a problem in my life with my hamstring.
“The next day we decided to spar but I was a bit restricted because of my leg, I couldn’t really move as much and so I got hit more than normal and I got a bloody clot in my nose. I went to the hospital and they operated on me but they didn’t do it right and then had to have another operation. The whole thing was a nightmare for me.
“In 2013 I won a World Bronze and no-one even knew who I was, I wasn’t even ranked in the top 50 in the world so it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, it is present form that counts. Next year I will go into it (the Olympics) as an underdog so we will see what happens.
“I think a lot of people this year who have boxed have been wary and they have been running away which has made it difficult for me to fight convincingly because they are not engaging, they are running away a lot. It gives the judges a chance to rob you. Hopefully next year they won’t respect me as much and they come to fight and I will have more success.”
Development
Whilst 2016 represents Anthony Fowler’s last year as an amateur Josh Buatsi is still in the early stages of his developments – though he is still focused on Gold in Rio.
The 22-year-old light heavyweight has only been with the GB Boxing squad for little over a year and is very much in the development – though his record and run of victories suggest he is learning at a rapid rate and great things await the South Croydon boxer.
He said: “I’ve had a busy year, I’ve been on it for about a year now, I started off with the WSB, then went straight into the National Championships which I won, then straight into the European Games then European Championships then World Championships.
“I was fortunate enough to stay injury free and go to the European Championships and get a Bronze which kind of moved me forward to go to the World Championships so it has been a good year, hopefully I can improve on it and remain injury free.
“For me I kind of need that experience, I’ve only been here for a year. It is different for me and say Fowler, who has been here for many years, what he does in 2016 is going to matter but for me I need the experience I have had this year to kind of help me for next year. Two different paths but I needed experience this year more than anything.
“I got a Bronze in the Europeans, I went to the World Championships and beat a Korean and then drew the Cuban who is a two time world champion and he went onto win again so a better draw might have given me a better result but to be fair he is the best in the world and that is where I want to get too so I want to fight people like that.
“It is encouraging to know I’m close but I’m not there yet, it will be next year when I get that opportunity to kind of go for it again to try and quality for Rio.
“It is the extras that make the difference, doing what we do here, then going back home and working on things and doing the extras here. For me that is the difference, doing the extras.
Support
“The support here is amazing, it is 100%. We wake at 7am every morning and check our weight, then go on the track and then strength and conditioning about 10am or 11am , then sparring in the afternoon so we train three times away, there is always a physio on hand so if anything happens they can see straight away, there is also a nutritionist who we can get in touch with any time so if you are struggling with the weight or want to eat better that can be addresses as well so the support staff here is great.”
Josh, who dreamed of being a pilot as a youngster, is focused on honing a talent he believes is God given and he insists his religious beliefs can inspire his boxing.
He added “I believe we have all been given x amount of talent and it is up to us to use it. We when use it that is pretty much how we can be thanking God for it.
“If I were to sit here and not box and be lazy and do something else I feel I would be wasting my time because I have the talent to box, we both have the talent to box, so we are doing the right thing by using it and physically pushing ourselves and that is a form of thank-you to God so it is a big part for me.
“I actively go to Church and I try to live the lifestyle as well as challenging as that is with boxing and the distractions all around me I still try to live the lifestyle.
“For me, without praying and the faith I have in God for me it would be hard for me to step into the ring because I am depending on God to bail me out. Even though I know I can fight, anything can happen in there. He is a good ring man! You work hard and the best man will win but for me that is something I need.
“As for being a pilot? You know I don’t think I was that good at maths or science and those were the two subjects you needed so it kinda changed but hopefully I will be a pilot when I’m older!”
For now, the only flights Buatsi and Fowler are focusing on is the journey to Rio and potential Olympic glory.
Watch Interview
Part 1
Part 2
View Gallery