By Ian Aldous: This Saturday night, Leon McKenzie (2-0-1) continues his journey inside the ropes as he takes on Nikola Varbanov (2-2) at the iconic York Hall in London. The thirty-five year old is attempting to reach the top of the domestic game in his second professional sport after playing in what many people claim to be ‘the best league in the world’ – The Premier League. Last weekend Leon took some time to talk with me over the phone as he was heading for another session at the gym.
In keeping with modern times, Leon has taken the opportunity of utilizing modern technology to help promote himself and his fledgling career with his iphone app – The BIGmcK app. Having fans who are technologically minded is always a good thing, as Leon explained. “A young genius kid who’s only seventeen years old, he contacted me and said he would love to create an app for me and it just went from there really. He built it and we’ll see how it goes. People have downloaded it from Japan and everywhere!”
Since debuting in June of last year, Leon has had three fights and crucially stayed unbeaten. His last fight was scored a draw and as many fighters will agree – it’s not always a bad thing to go through some sort of adversity early in your career to toughen you up and help develop yourself as a seasoned pugilist. “Yeah, it’s great. It’s always good to be unbeaten, in my last fight the guy was what you’d call a bit of a spoiler. It was probably good to have it early on in my career. It asked a few questions people like to ask, like – can he take a shot, can he do this and can he do that? That answered a few questions in regard of that. I only took that fight a week in advance, so it was always a bit of a risk. The main thing is I’m still unbeaten and still learning my trade. Still humble and hungry and got my eyes on my little goals.” He continued “It could have gone either way – but because it was over four rounds, if it had been over six rounds it might have been a different story because I was just starting to come on top again. Sometimes over four rounds you’ve got to think fast but I’ve got enough ability and enough about me to make that fight easy but I just didn’t.”
When you’re preparing to face a fighter from another country who has only fought four times, it’s not always easy to find some footage of those bouts and prepare yourself accordingly as McKenzie can testify to. “It’s difficult to find footage of this guy. I don’t know too much about him to be honest but we’re just concentrating on me. I’ve trained really hard and added a few things and done some good sparring again with James DeGale and a few other people and it’s gone really well. I’m more than ready, so the weight’s good and I’m ready to go.”
When you begin a new professional sporting venture at the age of thirty-four and having already played football from a young age, it’s obviously going to test the strength and stamina of your body. So far he believes his body has taken on the challenge exceedingly well. “Yeah, it’s coped well. I’ve not had any problems. It is a hard, hard sport and I’ve known this from being little. There is no comparison in regards to football. I’m training well, sparring well and I can’t complain really.” So far he’s fought at 168lbs and will continue to do so, “Yeah I’ll still be at super-middle even if I seem a bit small at the weight.”
Less than two weeks ago, in an emotionally charged fight, Curtis Woodhouse captured a British title, a man who has also walked the same path as Leon from professional footballer into pro boxer. It was an inspiring moment and something that McKenzie and his team can take many positives from. “(It was an) Emotional, unbelievable feeling. You can’t take nothing away from Curtis and all credit to him because it’s not easy to get to where he got.”
So, after seeing what Woodhouse accomplished, the conversation inevitably turned into what Leon would like to achieve from his time inside the ring. “I think, ideally, we would like to win an English title as a first option of what we’re going for in maybe another three fights down the line. After that, who knows? English title is one below British title level.” Another option is the popular one-night tournament in Britain, ‘Prizefighter’. His name value as an ex footballer would be enticing for the event’s promoters, Matchroom Sports. “Of course, I could never rule Prizefighter out.”
The BIGmcK app is free to download on the app store now.
Don’t forget to follow Leon on twitter: @leonmckenzie1
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