Sam Eggington and the plan that went 'tits up' straight away

The curtain came down on the career of English crowd-pleaser Sam Eggington earlier this month. He lost a Fight of the Year thriller to Conah Walker, another brawl to add to his back catalogue of wars. Now 32, and with a record of 36-10 (20 KOs), he reflects on his violent career.

BoxingScene: How does it sound, Sam Eggington: retired fighter?

Sam Eggington: Yeah, honestly, it’s a bit of a relief, but also it is a bit weird. You don’t know where to put yourself, but it’s a bit of a relief to be fair. It just seems a bit hard.

BS: Was this something that was in your mind at all before the Walker fight? Obviously, I know you've been to the well many times, but was it something where you thought, look, this could be the last roll of the dice?

SE: Do you know what it was? It was a good night until it wasn’t a good night. In the build-up to the fight, I always train from Sunday to Friday, and Saturday has always been my day off. In the build-up, I was saying to John [Pegg, his trainer], ‘Listen, I might have Saturday and Sunday off.’

Then some nights in the week, I was like, ‘Listen, my weight’s okay, so I won’t run. I’ll be fine.’ I tried to tell myself that it was nothing in the build-up, but you know when you’re giving yourself that much time off? Normally, I’m having nights off in the week and even my other half was like, ‘You’re not doing nothing tonight?’

It was a bit weird. Normally, you’re asking me to slow down and I’m doing too much.

So the fact that I was trying to get the full weekend off, a night in a week off, it was just sort of telling me that it’s not even like my body’s not up for it, it’s more mentally. I’m just not willing to give it my all anymore. It is what it is.

BS: It sounds hard because obviously, you gave it your all on the night, right? You were going all guns blazing. 

SE: Yeah, and listen, I’m not trying to take anything away from Conah. I trained like an animal through camp.

I really did. I was fit as a fiddle. I’m not taking nothing away from the kid.

He’s done what he had to do and he’s done it well. I remember sitting in the corner for the Bradley Skeete fight, mid-fight, around four or five, six. And I remember thinking, ‘What am I going to do after this? I can’t wait for after this. We’re going to party. We’re going to celebrate.’ And I was sitting in the corner for the Walker fight, and I was looking at John and he was screaming shit at me. And I was just thinking, ‘I can't do this again.’

And it really was a good camp, if I’m honest. But mentally, I just weren’t up for giving it everything. And I also think, not to take anything away from Conah, but I also think 18 months ago, two years, the shot that stopped the fight would have bounced off me.

And when you think like that, it’s only a matter of time before something goes bad and I’m just not up for risking it, if I’m honest.

BS: Can we play the hits? Can you tell me what the biggest night or best night of your career was?

SE: It always sounds very bitter, but the [Frankie] Gavin fight was always going to be the best night. It was a local derby. There was a lot said in the build-up. Not by me either. I was quite quiet. From what I remember, Gavin said a lot and it weren’t about boxing. It was more about me personally. So that was always the sweetest. Not the biggest, I don’t think. I mean, it was a decent sort of show. We were headlining and we had a belt on the line, but it wasn’t the biggest, obviously. But it was definitely the sweetest. Without fail. He’s a cool guy. It was just at the time we had a bit of a back and forth. 

BS: Who was the best that you fought?
SE: I think Liam Smith’s definitely the best I fought. I always say this, Gavin, 100 per cent the best boxer I’ve ever boxed. But he couldn't punch really, he couldn’t punch that hard. And then there was some that really could punch, but they couldn’t box.

Liam Smith, he wasn't concussive, but he could hit hard. He could box. He knew his way around the ring… just all around the board. His defense was good. His offence was good. And he was fast enough to catch you on the slips and stuff like that.

BS: Do you have a top three Sam Eggington wars? 

SE: I think at the top, it's got to be that [Bilel] Jkitou. Because it was just non-stop. It started at the first bell. My retina went in the third. They always share the video of me blinking and my retina had snapped or something in the third or fourth round, I couldn’t see a thing. So that was always obviously at the top.

Do you know what? People always love the [Ted] Cheeseman fight. But honestly, in there, it didn’t seem as much of a war as people [said it was]. I’ve never watched it back either. But it didn’t seem as much of a war as people talk about it. There’s always hard fights. And it was a hard night's work, don't get me wrong but it didn't seem like a Jkitou fight or even the Dale Evans fight. That was a rough night. But there’s been that many, but I just can’t.

BS: When you turned over, was the plan to be a journeyman?

SE: I’d obviously had my son when I was 17, 16, I think I was just 17 when I had my son. So me and my other half was like, ‘We need to get a job.’ Believe it or not, I was on the dole [unemployment]. They put me on a course. I'd done the forklift driving, I had a job and I quite enjoyed it. But then I got made redundant and I was like, ‘What do I do now?’ Craig Cunningham went to my amateur gym and he was turning over properly. He was trying to do something and he did, don’t get me wrong, and I was like, ‘Listen, I’ve heard about this journeyman thing.’

And even John [peg] said quite early on, ‘Listen, not to be nasty, brother, but I don’t think this journeyman thing’s for you' because every time I got hit, I tried to kill him. Like, hit me once, I’m going to hit you two or three times back.

And I was like, ‘No, I won’t be like that in the night. I know my job, just trying to get fit.’ And we went away for the first one against a kid who was three and one or three and a draw or something like that and I beat him, so that went tits up straight away.

BS: How satisfied are you now when you look back and you look at your record? And also with your reputation, which counts for a lot, right?

SE: Yeah, I’m satisfied. Like I say, I didn’t mean to do [achieve] anything, do you know what I mean? Literally, like you say, I turned over to probably get a deposit for the house. Win, lose or draw every weekend, as long as I was boxing, I was getting paid.

And so even when I won the Midlands title, it was well out there for me. I didn’t even know there was Midlands titles for professional boxing. I don’t follow boxing. I was winning the British, Commonwealth, the European, and I didn’t realize in my head how big these things were at the time. I didn’t know the magnitude of these belts. I’d just done my job.

BS: Have you enjoyed it?

SE: I love my boxing but yeah, I’m not a huge boxing fan to watch it and, and study it, but my boxing, my training and fighting, I love it. Love the fight. Do you know what I used to hate? When you’ve fought and you’ve had a few weeks off and you get back and other people will be sparring in the gym and they’ll be having little wars, and it was fucking weeks before I can get back into it and it would irritate me.

BS: Are you concerned about the amount of punishment you've taken and the effect it could have on you down the line, or do you just not pay mind to it?

SE: What’s for you is for you. I always say, what’s for you is for you. If something was going to happen to me when I was 50, it was going to happen anyway. And I feel like with that mindset, what you’ve got to worry about? If I get run over when I leave the house, it’s going to happen. I just think you want to think like that. What’s for you is for you. If I lose my memory in three years, it was going to happen anyway. That’s the way I see it. 

BS: I’m conflicted to ask, but I feel like people are going over to bare knuckle now, aren’t they?

SE: Oh, brother, listen, I’ve been on the phone a few times. I’ll tell you the truth. Just no one’s offered me any money yet. No one wants to talk greens. Until they tell me a digit, it’s not worth even thinking about it. But I’d have to get paid really well. I could stay in boxing now with gloves, I could get paid well, so they'd have to really pay me well. Whether the bare knuckle is big enough to do that, I don’t know… But I would love to have a go, I'll tell you the truth.

BS: What are you going to miss the most?

SE: I think the best thing is when the first phone call... John will ring and he’ll be like, ‘Listen, I just had to phone you. They want you to fight, blah, blah,’ or ‘this is up for grabs,’ or ‘you’ve been made mandatory.’ That first realisation that there’s a fight, not even at the weigh-in or the press conference or even before the fight, getting your hands wrapped… That first phone call, and that first jitter you get, it’s a hard feeling to mimic. You know someone’s going through hell and back to do a job on you and you’re always having them thoughts, ‘Am I going to turn up fitter than him?’ ‘Is he better than me?’ Even if you know you’re better than him, it doesn't matter who you’re fighting. You could be doing a six rounder against, I don't know, a foreign bin man. It doesn’t matter. You’re still having them thoughts in your head thinking, ‘Do you reckon he could turn up [and perform]?’ ‘I know he’s a journeyman, but what if he’s coming to win this one?’ It’s them thoughts that you miss, because again, nothing can mimic it, nothing.

BS: So do you have to get a nine to five now? Are you going to join civilian life?

SE: Yeah, I’m going to have to work. I am. It’s only that top one or two per cent that make real money out of this. I’ve had some good dough, don’t get me wrong. I’ve spent some money on some shit as well. Cars, not super cars, but I had a lot of cars, took the kids on holiday, went to Disney World. So you do spend money on nonsense, but I’m comfortable and I could go without working for a while. I don’t see the point to do what? To sit in your house and eat until you feel sick and spend money on the internet or the shopping mall until you need a job.

I’m having a look about it. I’m in no rush. I’m okay, but yeah, I’ll find something soon because more than anything, I just need to do something with that.

I’m bored. I’m bouncing off the walls. It sends me nuts. I want to start running. I want to go back to the gym. I want to go to the gym and do a bit of sparring each week maybe.

Hit the bags, go running, stuff like that, but yeah, I just need something to do.