Macaulay McGowan: “I want to walk away when I’m content that my career is done, and then I can give everything to coaching.”

Macaulay McGowan: “I want to walk away when I’m content that my career is done, and then I can give everything to coaching.”

By Matt Elliott

Over twelve months have passed since Macaulay McGowan’s last fight, a defeat against Germany’s Abass Baraou in a clash for the European super-welterweight title. Despite the loss, it was a brave performance from the Manchester man, who earned the opportunity following a period of sustained activity in which he fought ten times in twenty-nine months, a run which started against Sergio Martinez in January 2022. That bout also marked the start of his relationship with trainer Joe Gallagher, a move which has seen McGowan become a key component of the legendary ‘Champs Camp’ gym, both as a fighter and more recently as a coach.

As I caught up with McGowan via Zoom recently, I was unsure, given his prolonged absence, whether I would find a man still hungry for in-ring action or someone now focused on the coaching side. The answer was fairly conclusive.

“Right now, I’m in training. I was due to be fighting in July, but while I’ve been ticking over and stuff, the increase in intensity was a bit of a shock to the system, and I thought you know what, you’ve been out for a year, an extra couple of months isn’t going to hinder me that much, so I am going to take my time and hopefully go again in September. From there, I want to fight as often as possible and try and get my name back into the mix for a title of some sort. There are certainly no plans for retirement or anything like that. The Baraou fight was a hard one. I took a lot of shots, and I just thought after two years of activity, I could do with a rest and a bit of a reset before going again for what will probably be the last part of my career. I’ve probably got two, three, maybe four years left, and I’m ready to give it a proper go.”

The clash with Baraou went the scheduled twelve-round distance, with the German securing a unanimous decision. With that, he moved into the number one position with the WBA at 154lbs, setting up a potential world title clash down the line. With time, how does McGowan reflect on that night and the quality of the opponent he shared the ring with?

“To be honest with you, I’m pretty proud of my performance. Any defeat hurts, and I tend to fester on it for a bit and let it eat away at me over time, but looking back, I’m proud and I stand by the fact that I couldn’t have done any more. I did my best, and he was just too good. He’s a top-level fighter. I’ve been in with Sergio Martinez, but he was forty-six at the time, so considering that Baraou is probably the best I’ve shared a ring with. I thought I boxed well early on, but I was working really hard, and he wasn’t using much energy, so I thought he was going to try and get me in the later rounds. With that, I thought let’s just have a war, but he kept his composure, never looked phased, picked his moments, and got the victory.”

While defeat is never easy to accept in any sport, is it made easier when you’ve gone toe-to-toe with an opponent of that quality and someone who could be a future world champion?

“Yes, I mean I’ll always back myself to win. If you told me that I’m fighting Golovkin tomorrow, I think I’d win. But, if you give it your best and someone is just better than you, then obviously you try and learn from that, and think what could I have done better and how would I change things if we fought again, but sometimes you have to just accept they were better and walk away with your head held high knowing you gave it everything. There was nothing more I could’ve done in that fight, I trained properly, was on weight, and at the end of it all, he was just the better fighter.”

Despite his absence from the ring, McGowan has remained an integral part of Joe Gallagher’s gym, providing support to the other professionals and continuing to grow and develop as a coach. When we last spoke, it was clear how much he enjoyed that side of the sport, and that enthusiasm appears to have only strengthened in the intervening period.

“I’m learning on the job at the moment, which is great. I’ve always enjoyed the coaching side, even since my amateur days. As a kid, I’d take people on the pads and want to be involved in it and give people pointers, so it was a route I was always going to go down. Luckily, I’ve had some good times in my career and hope to have better times ahead, but I get a real sense of fulfilment from coaching, and you can eat whatever you want as well. I’ve seen what Joe goes through though, and I don’t know if I could do it for the rest of my life because of the stress he puts himself under, he’s honestly on a different level, it’s something I’ve never seen before, so whether I could do it the way he does I’m not sure.”

The continued work ethic of Gallagher is made all the more impressive when you consider he was diagnosed with stage four bowel and liver cancer last November. Has the intensive treatment that accompanies that type of diagnosis meant that there has needed to be a change of dynamic within the gym?

“No. To be honest, I’d say Joe is even more motivated now. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the seriousness of his diagnosis, as he’s so stoic in his approach, and it’s very inspiring to see first-hand. He still does everything he can. I can’t believe he’s still doing what he does. There’s something about Joe that’s different from everybody else. I think it’s a distraction as well, and it shows he won’t let it beat him. If he’s not working a corner on a six-round non-televised contest, then that’s different to what he’d normally do, so he still does it. So, unless it’s a scheduled appointment, he is still very much heavily involved.”

At times such as these, it’s important to surround yourself with good people, and the trust Gallagher places in McGowan was made evident when he was handed the reins as the number one corner man for the first time back in February, overseeing Mikie Tallon’s seventh professional victory.

“I was probably more nervous at that moment than I’ve been in any of my recent fights. Mikie’s a great prospect and kid, and I’m fortunate it was with him because he doesn’t care. He’ll fight anywhere. I did find myself overthinking things, though, such as what if I give him the wrong advice and something bad happens, or he’s not hydrated properly, so that responsibility definitely increases, especially as you are the one giving out the information. It was quite funny, though, as he asked a question in between one of the rounds, and it was a bit of a curveball, so I had to think on my feet. Normally, you just shut up and listen to the advice, but he’s there having a full-on conversation, so I had to react quickly. It was nice, though, to be a number one and a great experience. I’ve been in Mikie’s corner since he debuted, so it’s nice that I could share that with him.”

In addition to his ongoing work at Gallagher’s, McGowan announced at the back end of last year that he was to start offering personalised 1:1 sessions. Previously, alongside boxing, he had continued to do some labouring work for Broadhead Developments, but as interest in his classes rocketed, he made the decision to move into coaching full-time and recently established his own gym.

“It all happened quickly. One minute, I was labouring, and the next minute, I had a few clients, so I decided to do it full-time. My boss at Broadhead gave me a safety net, telling me there was always a day’s work for me if I needed it. He has done a lot for me over the years and is still a sponsor, and he trains with me two days a week as well. When I first started, I didn’t expect it to go anywhere and certainly didn’t plan to do it full-time. I did it because it’s what I love doing, and then it just grew, and now I’ve got a nice little client base. The gym is McGowan Boxing, we are on Hollyhedge Road in Wythenshawe, at the back of Cutthroat Castle Barbers, it’s nothing big, but my wife and I worked really hard on it and it’s ours.”

The sessions are available to anyone, whether it’s someone looking to become an amateur boxer, compete on the unlicensed scene, or simply improve their overall fitness levels. Despite the gym being an indication of McGowan laying the foundations for years to come, he finishes our chat by reiterating his desire to return to the ring.

“Gallaghers is full of talent at the moment. There’s Lawrence Okolie, Zelfa Barrett, Mikie Tallon, Joe Cooper, Huey Malone, Clark Smith, Mohammed Alakel and then Tasha, who knows whether she’ll fight again or not, she’s keeping that to herself for now. And then there’s me. I’m like a middle ground between everyone, between the really good fighters and the younger kids coming through, so we are in a good place. When I see Zelfa coming in and loving it and then the youngsters giving it their all, I can’t wait to be part of that mix again. That tells me I’m not ready to fully commit to coaching just yet. I enjoy boxing, I can still perform the way I need to, and I love being around it. I want to walk away when I’m content that my career is done, and then I can give everything to coaching.”