By Oliver Fennell
WHOEVER says youth is wasted on the young has by no means met Tony Curtis. The teenager from Southeast London has already lived overseas twice, gained two novice boxing titles, been taken on by a legend of the game, turned skilled and fought in three nations – all earlier than he was a authorized grownup.
Curtis, who not too long ago turned 18, has performed greater than many individuals twice his age, however upon reaching this milestone birthday, he believes he is solely simply getting began—as a result of now he can apply for a licence with the British Boxing Board of Control.
Few boxers achieve this on the minimal age of 18. Fewer nonetheless achieve this with 10 pro bouts already beneath their belt. Curtis believes this provides him fairly the top begin – and is already speaking titles. “I’ve got my eyes on the vacant WBA world title,” he says. “I’d like to go for that first, then go for all the others. But at the end of the day, I’m gonna win all the belts.”
The vacant WBA belt he talks of is in the strawweight division. Curtis final boxed at super-flyweight and didn’t look to have a scrap of fats on him, however he believes he can comfortably lose the mandatory 10lbs and has a exact motivation to take action.
“I want to do what [Manny] Pacquiao did; go through all the weights. I want to start at the lowest weight and move through them, one by one, winning titles,” he says. “I’m blessed in that I don’t put on weight. I don’t even diet. So, now I’ve got a nutritionist, I can get down [to strawweight]. One day, I won’t be able to make that weight, so I want to do it now. And I’m gonna be a beast at that weight; 10 times stronger, 10 times bigger.”
The proof of his final struggle exhibits that’s not a lot of an exaggeration. Even at super-fly, the 5ft 8ins teenager completely towered over his Indian opponent, Ismailulah Khan, as he swept to a shutout six-round win in the United Arab Emirates, the place he has primarily based himself since turning pro and the place eight of his 10 pro bouts (9-1, 3 KOs) have taken place.
He has additionally boxed in Thailand and Mexico, the place the journey started in September 2022, when he was simply 16 years and three months outdated, and weighed all of 99lbs. His diminutive body and fresh-faced seems to be led many to surprise if he was even youthful nonetheless, and query whether or not it was sensible to forged him into the skilled boxing ranks – particularly in Mexico, of all locations.
The naysayers appeared to have been confirmed proper when Curtis dropped a unanimous choice to Javier Perez Calderon. The Mexican was himself solely 18 years outdated and 105lbs, however two years and 6lbs could make all of the distinction at such a tender age and at such a low weight.
“It was a good experience, though, to be fair,” says Curtis. “It was crazy; I had the fans on my side. I was showboating and after the fight they all came up to me, wanting to take pictures and copying all my moves.”
The showboating is a recurring theme, and Curtis has predicted extremely lofty issues for himself, so falling on the first hurdle should have stung. But it additionally served as a motivator. “I started training 20 times harder,” he says, and the outcomes communicate for themselves. Curtis has barely misplaced a spherical since, a lot much less a struggle, and whereas his opposition has been typical journeyman fare, he’s proven the flashy skillset that set him on the pro path in the primary place, because of one of many flashiest of all of them – Roy Jones Jr.
Curtis tells the story of his large break: “We [Tony and family] went to Dubai for a holiday when I was 13 or 14. Dad took a liking to it and we ended up moving there. I was going to a gym called Round 10 in Dubai. One day, I heard Roy was in the gym, so I got all my stuff together, rushed over then and just went up to him and said, ‘can I have your number?’ He agreed to train me and I went pro because of Roy. He told me the pros would suit me better.”
A plan was hatched to show Curtis over sooner relatively than later, along with his debut happening on a card broadcast by ProBox TV, which was co-founded by Jones. To put together for that, Jones invited Curtis to stick with him at his Pensacola dwelling – a suggestion Curtis took up simply a week after he turned 16. A number of months spent dwelling and coaching with one of many best of all time, both aspect of his pro debut, was the stuff of desires for a young boxer, and whereas Curtis has boxed out of the UAE since, Jones is nonetheless on the crew. “Roy’s my mentor,” he says. “He’s such a wise guy; I always go to him straight away for advice.”
And what did his household make of all of it – Curtis going to dwell with Jones, then travelling all the way in which to Mexico and Thailand to struggle at 16, and electing to get punched for a dwelling at an age when most are nonetheless learning or making their first steps into extra typical traces of labor?
“We’re a fighting family – me, my dad and my [three] brothers,” he says. “It’s all we do; we’re in the gym all the time, and we would never turn down a fight. Dad was always really into it [boxing], but he never did it, so he took me down the gym when I was about seven. I was a hyperactive kid, running around everywhere, so that was his way of disciplining me. I didn’t really like it then, but when I got to about 10, I started liking it. I’m not sure why; maybe I started maturing, and I had nothing else to do,”
And he nonetheless doesn’t.
“I eat, sleep and breathe boxing,” he says. “That is my life. It’s my job. I don’t have a girlfriend. I never drink. I don’t have time – I’m in the gym eight hours a day, every day. Sometimes more. If I wake up at three in the morning and can’t get back to sleep, I’ll go to the gym.”
That fitness center, a quick stroll away, is a non-public one purpose-built by his dad, however Curtis formally fights out of Undisputed Boxing in Sittingbourne, beneath coach Billy Rumbol, who additionally flies out to nook Curtis abroad. Jones Jr is nonetheless on board, however Curtis wants a full-time coach nearer to dwelling now that he is again in the UK and aiming to compete right here.
He is managed by Dubai-based Ahmed Seddiqi, the thought being that Curtis will divide his time – and fights – between Britain and the UAE. The solely factor he’s lacking is a promoter – and, befitting a boxer with such grand plans for himself, he is courting the most important in the land.
“I’d like to go with Eddie [Hearn]; we’ve had a bit of banter,” he says. (*10*)
The British chapter started final Saturday with an exhibition match at Indigo in The O2 – essentially a non-competitive bout as a result of he was nonetheless three days shy of his 18th birthday, but it surely was a possibility to look earlier than an viewers comprised of outdated, new and easily curious followers. After all he is, for all his worldwide exploits, nonetheless a London boy and will probably be remembered by those that adopted his novice marketing campaign, which he says amounted to “12 or 15” fights and included nationwide titles at Schoolboy and Junior Cadet stage.
“I wasn’t really big in the amateurs,” he says. “It’s too political and I was inactive. And I always had people telling me I had a pro-style. I do box more pro [style] than I do amateur. I can take my time, and I like the razzmatazz of the game. In the amateurs, they didn’t like my showboating.”
That razzmatazz, that showboating and that confidence is maybe merely a byproduct of his youth, as a result of Curtis is not boastful or disrespectful with it. It simply comes throughout as somebody having fun with what he does. He has additionally demonstrated that he understands the significance of sacrifice and leaving the consolation zone in pursuit of boxing glory, and that there are not any shortcuts to reaching it.
Still, regardless of having extra time on his aspect than most, Curtis understands that the clock ticks rapidly on any boxing profession – even his.
“I just want to get as many belts as I can,” he says.
“Before I get too old.”
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