An Interview With James Branch

An Interview With James Branch

By Rachel Aylett

I caught up with James Branch, former English ABA champion and excellent cruiserweight prospect recently and asked him for an update on his career to date.

Hi James, how is your pro career progressing so far?

“I’m over the moon with how things are going so far. I’ve been a pro for just over a year now and have had five fights. I’m 5-0 and if you’d told me that a year ago I would have snatched your hand off.”

So everything’s smooth so far. How’s training with Martin Boxers?

“Yeah, all the training’s been good. I’ve loved it ever since I’ve been down there with Martin. I never knew him before I turned pro but my dad took me down there (Peacock Gym), because my dad used to train with Martin. It’s been fantastic, I love the training. It’s been hard though, a big transformation since I first turned professional. I’ve got a really good relationship with Martin.”

Does your dad play any part in your training now?

“Yeah, my dad’s still there. He still trains me some evenings. He’ll always be a big part of me, he taught me …. my style of boxing is very different to everyone else’s and my dad taught me that so he’ll always be a massive part of my team.”

Are you always at the Peacock, or do you go to different gyms to train?

“I’m always down the Peacock, training down there. If I train with my dad, that’s in the evenings, but the Peacock’s my gym. It’s like home from home now. It’s a great gym, one of the best gyms I’ve ever been in, with a great atmosphere. I’d say it’s the best actually. I trained all over when I was an amateur, but I’ve never ever been in a gym like the Peacock.”

Did you train in Sheffield as an amteur?

“Yeah, I trained in Sheffield, I was part of Team GB. My aim was to go to the 2016 Olympics. I was about to go to a tournament, I think it was in 2015, and I got badly injured and was out for about a year.”

What happened James?

“I got an injury in my back, but thank God everything’s alright now. I was out for ages and I missed all the qualifiers, so that was it then. I didn’t really enjoy Sheffield. I know being part of Team GB is an amazing achievement and it’s what every amateur should aspire to. But the system wasn’t really for me, I think they’ve got a bit of a “one type fits” style and I won’t change the way I box. I’ve got my idea of boxing, my philosophy and I won’t change for no-one. It’s always worked for me – I won everything growing up, every championship there was to win.”

What about sparring? Do you spar with Daniel Dubois?

“Yeah, I spar with the big man. I spar with anyone who comes down really.”

Do you spar with Anthony Yarde?

“No, I’ve not sparred with Yarde. I’m never there at the same time as him. There’s another big heavyweight down there, a few good light-heavyweights and some cruisers now in the Peacock. So I get sparring with them and there’s always loads of others who come down the gym, so I’m always in and out of the ring with different people.”

So you’re never in the gym when Anthony Yarde’s team is there?

“No. They’re at the gym in the afternoons.”

They seem a bit riotous so I wondered if that’s what you meant by a great atmosphere?

“(Laughing) Nah, nah, nah, I don’t need any of that. Don’t need no “Lions in the camp” and all that!! No, I don’t get to hear none of that.”

Do you have any fights scheduled?

“No, I boxed two weeks ago on the Billy Joe Saunders undercard at the Lamex. I stopped the opponent and thought I put on a good performance.”

Oh, good. Because I was going to ask you about that – you didn’t have many stoppages yet.

“Yeah. I think other people are more bothered about it than what I am. For me, boxing’s about hitting and not getting hit. That’s my style. I haven’t really been put in with journeymen. I’ve been boxing other prospects, and I’ve boxed an amateur national champion. I’ve been put in the ring with a Bellator champion (Kent Kauppinen). I haven’t just been in the ring with any old Tom, Dick or Harry. You look at some fighters and in their early fights their opponents can just about hold their hands up. Don’t get me wrong, stopping people is nice, looks good on your record, but it’s not the end of the world for me if I don’t. Not getting hit is an art that I thoroughly enjoy.”

How old are you now James?

“I’m 23.”

So you are probably getting stronger all the time anyway.

“Most of the other cruiserweights are 27, 28, so they’ve got a few years on me. I’m gaining in strength all the time, day by day. And I’ve got such a lot of experience, even for such a young age – more than a lot of these fighters who are already coming through. A lot of them I’ve already boxed in the amateurs and beaten them.”

What’s the plan now? How many times will you box before the end of the year?

“Well, I’ll be going into 6-rounders next. The last one was meant to be a 6, but I had a late change of opponent. I’m going into 6s and then 8s. I won’t be doing 6-rounds for long. Hopefully, I’ll be out another three times this year and next year we’ll start looking for titles.”

Would you like to go down the “traditional” route, with the British title, etc.?

“I’ll take whatever comes, but I know the traditional route might take me to the champions I’ve already boxed in the amateurs. I’ve already boxed Lawrence (Okolie), I’m 1-1 with him, they were very, very good fights as well. I’ve boxed the Southern Area champion (Daniel) Mendes, I’ve boxed Richard Riakporhe, I beat Richard in the ABAs – so I’ve got a lot of history.”