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Boxing Life Stories

#23 Johnny Greaves

Boxing Life Stories

Tris Dixon

Sports

4.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2019

⏱️ 83 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Call him a journeyman, call him a serial loser, say he’s not very good, say what you will about Johnny Greaves but he commands and deserves your respect. He won 4 of his 100 fights (no draws), boxing 20 British champions and four world champions in his short but action-packed career. Here he talks about the short notice gigs, from his sofa with a can of Fosters at 3pm to in the ring at the Excel at 5pm, life on the road, the abuse he’s received and his ongoing battle with depression. It’s all here, uncut and in incredibly colourful detail in a must-listen interview. This is brought to you by HansonLee.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

It's a business and me going in turning over the ticket seller, you know it's not the way the game works.

0:07.0

So you probably get there, do the rounds, get beaten points, get paid and fight again next week with a bit luck.

0:12.8

I've been in here spong on a Saturday morning

0:16.6

got cracked open the tin of fosters, got a fungal at three o'clock,

0:20.0

and I'm in the ring at the XO at five.

0:21.6

That's a sort of a double-edged thing because it's only people in the boxing game

0:27.2

that sort of understand the fall, I mean of being adjourned, I mean you're going up up you're traveling boxing home boys on

0:34.9

their shows that have sold hundreds of tickets. You're not really going to get any

0:39.9

favors given to anything that is close more or less is going to go the

0:43.9

opponent's way and being adjournment just for me especially just meant I'm

0:51.8

happy pay me enough I'll fight Mike Tyson tomorrow I really

0:54.7

would. I box over 20 British champions four world champions I boxed and I was going

1:01.6

and I was going to do in the distance with these kids and I'll get given even to this day a

1:05.1

lot of respect from boxing people. The average person in the pub might say, how many fights

1:10.9

do you have mate and you go? A hundred? How many did you win? Four.

1:14.8

Hmm, heckin who I beat you and you go, you know, you have to sort of half like, exactly that.

1:20.9

So you say, all right, mate, no problem, you walk away.

1:24.4

I mean, the perfect way for me would have been to go out in a fight,

1:30.0

give it my off, and die in the ring or as a result of and sorry Triss I did warn you it was quite deep but

1:38.1

I was that would have been my perfect way out to be honest with you.

1:41.6

You know especially being the opponent see the

1:45.4

thing is I'm boxing these big ticket sellers on their homescholes in place like

...

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