“Imagine wanting to do something as a kid and then achieving it in your thirties – it was just incredible.”
This week Unpacked takes a summertime diversion from the back and forth of local politics into a different kind of cut and thrust – the world of boxing, as Neil chats to former world champion Lee Haskins.
Lee held the IBF World Bantamweight title between 2015 and 2017, the crowning achievement of a professional career that spanned 41 fights, 36 of which he won.
Despite that fame, he still lives in the neighbourhood he’s called home all his life – Lockleaze – and runs a boxing gym, Round One, where you have to read the small print to find his name.
As Lee prepares to expand into a new site near Feeder Road, Neil takes a look back over his nearly two-decade career, his eventual journey to the top and his life since then.
How did he overcome the setbacks that saw his journey to a shot at world champ status become a long and arduous one, before his eventual victory over Ryosuke Iwasa on home turf in 2015?
Has his light-hearted approach to life and the sport – and his determination not to get out of bed too early – been a help or a hindrance?
How does the reality of boxing gyms differ from their sometimes intimidating reputation – and why do many people find the sport so transformational both physically and mentally?
Join Neil Maggs and Lee Haskins for a relaxed and reflective chat – and don’t miss the next round of Bristol Unpacked, where we’ll be sparring for the second time with the new West of England Combined Authority mayor, Labour’s Helen Godwin.
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