OnThEGRiND BoXiNG

by Chris Akers courtesy of BoxingCapital.com

When I first started to write about boxing on the internet, the first interview I conducted was with a promoter named Ken Purchase. I remember asking him who from his stable had the potential to achieve real success in the sport. The name he came out with was a middleweight named Alex Strutt. That was a little under two years ago.

Since then, Strutt’s career has been desultory to say the least. But when I meet him for the interview at his gym in the Chelmsley Wood area of Birmingham, he is showing great alacrity in training for his next scheduled fight at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on 18th September. Well mannered and articulate, Strutt guides me through a typical day’s training:

“I do a good hill run which consists of four to five miles before work. I then go to work and have my meals during the day. After work, I go to the gym. At times I’ve left here at quarter past ten at night, but it really depends on the programme.”

While it sounds like a gruelling schedule for someone who has to have alternative employment when he is not earning a wage for the ability of his fists, this does not deter Strutt from the sport. When I ask him what he would be if he was not a boxer, he says that he would probably go into something connected with marketing. Yet the way the squared circle has been marketed has made him enthusiastic about it from a young age.

“I enjoyed watching it as a kid,” he explains, “First fighter I ever watched was Tyson. Me and my brothers just buzzed off it I suppose as he was exciting. Tyson was obviously a knockout puncher and you never knew what was going to happen. Everybody loves a knockout and I guess that’s what attached me really.”

A short but successful amateur career, with eleven wins out of fourteen fights and a West Midlands title for his efforts, was followed by turning his hand at the professional code by signing with Purchase’s stable Ringside Promotions stable as well as been trained by former world Super Middleweight champion Richie Woodhall. Yet while his marked his pro debut with a victory, his career started to unravel and threatened to go from its steady ascension to the top of boxing’s podium to precipitating towards the putridity of its morass.

“The first couple of years in my pro career had been stop, start, stop, start,” he admits without a hint of rancorous in his voice, “I had unfortunate happenings just after my debut. Change of promoters, had opponents pull out, other bits and pieces and I started to feel dejected. My last fight (against Pawel Trebinski) was classed as a draw, which Boxing News actually had as a win. It got to me a little bit, so I needed a bit of time out.”

So Alex decided on negotiating an osmotic shift from Purchase and Woodhall to a new promoter and new trainers in John Costello and Paul Webb.

“A change is what I needed and I’ve come here with John and Paul looking after my welfare now. Now I feel fantastic, really invigorated.”

Invigorated is certainty how he appears to be when talking to him. So what kind of fighter will people now see?

“I’ve a come forward style. I try and be explosive with my punching. Like to be a good boxer as well. People are going to see a more improved boxer now and I like to think that I’m quite exciting to watch.”

His fans will also like to see him manage success in the sport. It is however a long way and many years of physical exertion before any prospect reaches the level his talent will take him. So for the immediate future, what would he like to achieve in his career?

“Next twelve months, I’d like to fight for an Area title. That’s been on the cards and in my mind for ages. It would be nice to win that and go the traditional route – Area title, British title and so on and so forth. But to begin with, it would be nice to be known as the best fighter in my area”.

To do that, he will have to compete against some of the most talented fighters on the British scene in a division that is domestically cavernously full of talent. Yet for Strutt this early in his career, he is not looking at fighters as potential rivals for the time being.

“To be honest, I don’t look at it like that. As things progress, you never know what is going to happen. I’d love to say that it would be a certain fighter, but it could be a completely different landscape in a year or two years time if I get to where I want to be. It’s hard to answer that. It might be completely different as I say. Some people go on to world title level and other people can drop off the domestic scene altogether.”

Having said that, a lot of the best domestic rivals at Middleweight come from in and around Birmingham. People like Wayne Elcock, Matthew Macklin, Darren McDermott from Dudley and Steve Bendall from Coventry. Indeed boxing in this part of the world has increased with regards to the standard of fighters and trainers coupled with the rise in interest. As someone within that scene, why does Alex think that is the case?

“The Birmingham buzz at the minute is brilliant. If you look at what Birmingham brought out to the Olympics, it was immense. Even at this gym, we have a world number one in Joe Costello. We have numerous national champions from the city and Frankie Gavin was a world amateur champion. It’s just fantastic and it seems to be thriving. I don’t know why we are bringing out good boxers, but the standard certainly seems to be going up as each year goes by.”

The local scene is important to Strutt and it is one of the reasons why he signed to local promoter PJ Rowson.

“The shows they put on are local to me. The people who follow me will be able to follow me a lot easier due to the shows having cheaper tickets and there are regular fights at these venues. The fights will be local to the Midlands and I know that my supporters will be looking forward to following me again.”

So with his career back on track, what has been the hardest part since his return?

“Well I like my food!” he laughs, “I think that Paul’s called me Tubby more than Alex at the minute! So definitely the eating part. Apart from that, the training can be tough.”

“But I’m just looking forward to boxing in front of people who have followed me in the past. Showing them that I haven’t knocked it on the head completely. A lot of them thought I did, but I just want to put on a really good show.”

With that, he goes back to training for his next challenge.

Strutt certainly has the talent to make it far and judging by the intensity of his training routine, definitely has the voracious will and desire to succeed. There is an old proverb which states that ‘One’s best success comes after their greatest disappointments’. After the initial irregularity of the neophyte stage of his career, hopefully Strutt can reach the apogee of the sport and showcase his talent to a wider audience for many years to come.