5 minute read
AND STILL THE CHAMPION...
There is something about the drama of testing yourself against an opponent whose goal is to knock you out. To some it’s a metaphor for life, but what often grips us is the why? David Fearnhead speaks to boxer Mickey Ellison to discover his motivation.
Photography: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
If you’d have seen Mickey Ellison after his fight in October you could have assumed he took a beating. His left eye was closed, his right seemingly on its way to a similar destiny. Yet he wore a broad grin. He had just retained his Central Area Light Heavyweight title on his first defence. There to witness it was his wife Jade and his two sons Rocco, six, and Rudy, four.
“I had to win it for them, I couldn’t let them see their dad lose.” In a sentence Mickey Ellison had just answered the question of why?
Ellison had claimed the title by knockout in July. However, two losses prior to that fight saw him cast as the underdog. Surprisingly, those losses are still raw. They still prick like a sharp needle to the skin. He is quick to address them, unprompted, even before talking about his victory.
“I got a first round stoppage. It was just one of those nights. He caught me cold. Then I fought for the English title against a boxer who I’d previously beat, and we tried to box him rather than beat him the way I could,” he says.
Those aren’t excuses, but context.
“They looked at me having had a couple of losses and were thinking it would be a winnable fight for them. A gatekeeper, before he moved on to fight for a British title himself. And they obviously got it wrong.”
Driving the 32-year-old fighter was the importance of setting a positive example to his sons.
“Sometimes life is tough, and you have to show that you can carry on and not quit. Everyone has setbacks in life and you have bigger setbacks in life than losing a boxing match. So, it’s not going to make me turn away from the sport.
“There’s no padding in my record. It’s always been about testing myself. The defeats gave me more spite to come back and win. I think I’m quite a nice guy really, but when I get my hands wrapped that’s when I know there is no going back. It’s showtime.”
What makes his success all the more remarkable is that whilst his opponents are mostly professionals, he is still holding down a full-time job as a joiner.
“I come home from work and warm up the food that my wife has made me. Get changed and set off to the gym. When I’m in the gym I give it everything because I don’t want to be taking time away from my wife and kids and be playing at it.”
For Mickey, there is the extra incentive to give his boys the start in life that he never had. One such decision was to send them to the private day school Oakhill in Whalley.
“People think I’m loaded because of the boxing, but that’s not true. It’s pretty tight. I’ve been boxing 10 years now and we sacrifice a lot. We don’t really go out for meals, don’t go out drinking. My wife is often on her own looking after the kids, whilst I’m at the gym. We want to give them the best future they can have and if boxing will help do that then I’ll keep fighting as long as I can.”
Mickey says he had one important father figure in his life, his grandfather, Walt, who was taken ill just before Mickey was about to defend his Light Heavyweight Central Area title belt: “Going into that fight I kind of knew. So, there was no way I was going to lose. That win was for him. I managed to go see him in hospital and tell him that I’d won even though I had a big black eye. He knew I was a champion before he died,” he adds poignantly.
Mic key credits his team of Head Coach Alex Matvienko along with Phil Robinson and Tom McNeil for their hard work in preparing him for success and of course, those sponsors who backed him in the early days, such as June Winfield of Winfield’s Outdoor, who are never forgotten.
Now with a title and a successful defence he’s hoping to attract more sponsors. They will be vital if he is to step up and challenge for a national belt.
If you want to support Mickey Ellison as a sponsor you can contact him here: mickeyellison@icloud.com
