INTERVIEW – Connor Wright

By Boxing News - 05/19/2018 - Comments

By Oliver McManus: TOMORROW up in Bedfordshire, Meryvn Turner begins his promotional mega week that see’s three shows taking place over seven days and, arguably, the stand-out prospect on the bill is 2 and 0 middleweight Connor Wright, a seasoned amateur looking to make a big splash on the professional game.

I caught up with him yesterday to discuss his career so far and expectations for the future;

We’re like a day away from your third professional fight, how are you feeling?

“Yeah, I’m feeling good, feeling really good, feeling sharp, on point, weight’s off, just waiting now and I just want to get in there and have a row with someone.”

Even though it is your 3rd professional fight and you’ve had a lot of amateur experience, do you still get nervous the day before or is it just about doing your thing?

“You get a little bit of a buzz, you just don’t want to disappoint anyone. People have spent a lot of money on tickets and there’s a lot of people coming out on their Sunday and I think that’s where the pressure comes from.

With the bloke that’s in front of me I just know I’m going to deal with him so I think, yeah, that’s the only thing I get nervous about.”

I was going to say you’re a big ticket seller, about 200 on your first fight…

“Yeah, we’ve just gone over that for this fight.”

… does that add any extra pressure or is it all motivation?

“Do you know what, it makes me perform even better, you know you’ve got the crowd there, your friends and family and their friends, it just encourages you and think “oh, people are actually starting to take notice” and that’s what it is, it just gets me buzzed up to be honest, just makes me think “oh f***ing hell, I must be doing something right if people want to see me”. They either want to come and see me get knocked out or want to see me do well.”

You’ve only had two fights as a professional, does it mean a lot to know that you’re already building up a following?

“Massively, yeah, thing is at the moment I’m fighting on small hall shows and I know I’m going to be fighting on small hall shows but it makes me want to get on to the bigger venues and take on bigger fighters, I want to get out there and start being on TV but I’ve just got to be patient and ride the wave as it is.”

You’ve got a tough little Spaniard (Miguel Aguillar), I don’t know how to pronounce his name but are you looking for a KO or do you want to go the rounds?

“He’s very rarely been stopped, I don’t go out there to knock people out but if it happens, happy days, I just go out there to put on a showcase and if a knockout happens, I’ll be happy, but the moment you go looking for it you’re going to end up walking onto a shot and the guy is a dangerous fighter, he’s knocked a few of the guys out when he’s one so he can bang. I’ve got to be wary of that.”

The first two fights you had were you pleased with how you performed?

“My first performance, get my debut out the way, I was nervous it was coming into unknown territory but I think, personally, it was a bit of a sloppy performance but I got the win and did what I had to do to win but my second fight I was a different fighter, I’d improved immensely and I think my third fight you’re going to even more of an improvement.”

You had more than 50 fights, does that make it a lot easier when you’re adjusting to the pro ranks as opposed to if you had 6 or 7 fights?

“Yeah it does, it does to be fair, you’re a league above what they’re putting in front of you at the moment and at the moment it’s all about getting experience and getting rounds.

Amateur to pro, it’s a lot nastier in the pro’s, I was never suited for amateur boxing though, I’ll be honest with you, I was never suited to and I wish I took it as seriously as I do now.”

You turned pro at 20, was it always the plan to do it so early?

“I had always planned to turn pro at sort of 21, 22 years old to be honest but I wanted to earn some money and I saw an opportunity and there was an opportunity to become a professional boxer in Milton Keynes – the ONLY professional boxer in Milton Keynes – and I saw an opportunity to make some money and that’s what we’re all out here to do.”

And you’ve got the backing of Mervyn Turner and Shamrock Promotions, does it help to know you don’t have to bounce around cards?

“Yeah, absolutely, I mean Merv’s doing a fantastic job of trying to put on 4-5 shows a year and no other promoter or manager can promise that, Merv’s great at his job and it’s great to have him in the corner because he’s one of the best cutsman in the country and he’s a nice bloke as well, I’ve known him for a very long time since I was a little kid and I’ve got every trust in him.”

Can we expect to see you out those 4 or 5 times or do you want to get out a bit more?

“I want to get to 5 and 0 this year, I will get to 5 and 0 and then next year we’ll start looking at where we go from there but I’m just taking each fight as they come and whoever’s in front of me is going to get dealt with.”

Next year, then, would you say that’s the year where you start looking at titles?

“Yeah, at the moment I’m still growing into my man strength, I’m still a boy, I’ll make no bones about that, I’ve not got my man strength yet but I’m still as dangerous as any other man out there. I am spiteful when it comes to boxing so I still think I can beat a lot of people out there but next year I’ll have my man strength and I’ll be even more dangerous.

I’m a six foot four middleweight, Ollie, you don’t get many of them.”

That was going to be my next question, you’re a bloody tall middleweight. Does that always help or is it sometimes harder to unload against smaller men?

“No, not at all, I’m just improving with each fight, I’ve been sparring rounds with John Ryder and I’ve been doing well, I’ve been holding my own with John Ryder and Ted Cheeseman and these are established, seasoned pros and athletes and I’ve been holding my own and getting real good success off the both of them. Being six foot four southpaw, they’ve got a problem.”

Aside from boxing, I believe you sell houses for a living, is that true?

“Yeah, that’s what I’m doing now, I’m at work at the moment, just selling the bricks and mortar.”

It must be quite a different environment?

“Absolutely and you’ve got to learn to switch off between the two because you’ve got to work because I’m not at where I want to be in the boxing yet but it’s a good job, it’s a good, different job.”

Would you always want to have enough time to switch off or do you want to get to the point where you’re in the gym everyday?

“No, I want to be in the gym everyday and that’s my ultimate goal. We will get there. I don’t want to be working in an office for my whole life, I want to get to the point where I can retire early but at the moment I’ve got to make ends meet and selling houses is what I’m good at!”

I won’t keep you too much longer, seeing as you’re working, but in the next 18 months what do you see in store for you?

“I think in the next 18 months we’ll see a boy turn into a man and you’ll start seeing a massive wave being caused in the middleweight division and people WILL start talking about me and then we just have to take it from there but I’m excited, really excited about what’s in store for me.”

Follow Connor’s rise up the ranks @ConWrightBoxing