Today, Channel Eye TV meets Nick Campbell, Jersey’s professional boxer.
How did you get started in boxing?
I actually started playing rugby when I was nine years old. Rugby was always my main focus, but I did some amateur boxing as well when I was a young kid in Glasgow, going around all the amateur clubs and stuff with my old man. So I probably picked up rugby and boxing around the same time.
Being a professional rugby player for eight years definitely benefited me when transitioning into another sport, mainly from the professionalism point of view. I played at a relatively high level in my rugby career and I got exposed to a lot of different environments and different levels of professionalism within the sport.
Having that background and how to deal with injuries, how to you know how to live the life, eat well, train well, sleep well, it all ads and transcends across any sport. I feel as if that prepared me for getting myself in shape and getting myself on the fast track to learning as much as possible, as quickly as possible.
What’s it like taking part in a big televised fight?
After the first bout was screened live on Sky Sports with Match Room, the biggest thing I took from it was just enjoying the experience. I actually boxed for four years as an amateur after I finished playing rugby, so I had a bit of experience on how to deal with the pressures of going into a fight and stuff like that.
But just the spectacle of what a professional boxing show is, with the lights-camera-action and all the other stuff that goes on around the week, such as interviews before you fight, the TV cameras everywhere, the press, the other guys that you’ve been watching on TV, you’re now in beside them getting ready to go out and compete.
Just getting used to the pressure of all that, along with the pressure of having to fight was probably the biggest thing I’ll take from it.
Who would you like to fight?
I’d love to fight Muhammad Ali. He was my hero growing up. Me and old man used to watch ‘When We Were Kings’ – all the old ‘Ali’ fights and documentaries. He was a very inspiring character I watched when growing up, so I would love to fight him, but at the same time I would hate to fight him because he’d kick my ****. So probably, the same answer for both I’d love to fight him, but at the same time I’d probably get beaten up so I’ll go with that!
What do you do when not boxing?
Outside of boxing I like to chill out. I play a bit of the guitar. I’m pretty laid back, I’m not a big drinker, I’m not a big party animal, which is probably good for the sport I’m In. So yeah, I just like to chill out, enjoy myself and have been known to have a couple of slices of cake, but don’t tell any of my coaches!
What superpower would you like to have?
Healing like Wolverine because I’ve had so many injuries in the past from my rugby, that if I could just heal like that it would be so handy. If I could pick any superpower it’d be regeneration. I’ll heal up and not have any injuries.
What’s your ideal lunch?
The ideal lunch – probably like a thousand/thousand five hundred (calories). I have about four and a half thousand/five thousand calories a day, so I’d probably be about that and it’d probably be steak and chips to be honest, with my nice garlic butter sauce, medium rare, rib eye, that would do me just lovely!
What would you want if stranded on a desert island?
If I was stuck on a desert island, the first thing would be a coffee machine, second would probably be a pair of sunglasses and the third one would be a bed because I love a good night’s kip. So coffee, set of shades and a bed!
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