Teacher training: The tough path Joe McNally took to become one of the UK’s brightest coaches

Becoming a trainer was never part of Joe McNally’s plans when he started his boxing competition as a schoolboy. An amateur star who can count James DeGale and Adonis Stevenson as his arch-rivals, McNally was part of the Merseyside boom that turned Liverpool’s waterfront arena into a boxing training ground for a time. period from 2008 onwards.

Fed up with false promises and wasted training camps, McNally quietly withdrew from the sport in 2011 after being told again he no longer needed a bill the unit had paid. His mind was previously confirmed. The departure was intended to be permanent, but boxing’s magnetic pull, especially for those directly involved in its daily rituals, was too strong for McNally to resist.

“My professional career has been a tragedy. It’s a sad story,” said McNally, now one of boxing’s most sought-after coaches alongside Josh Taylor and Liam Smith, his two highly regarded students. “I heard the wrong person. I listened to my heart instead of my head. I’ve had to deal with people who were basically just trying to make me uncomfortable. To be fair, I hate the sport.”

Going pro in 2007, 14 months after his final ABA loss to DeGale, McNally was off to a solid start as he consolidated his ledger across locations in the Northwest, synonymous with the scene. small British hall. Capturing the attention of Dave Coldwell and Adam Booth, key characters of the thriving Hayemaker Boxing, McNally is about to be exposed to a wider audience.

Through Hayemaker’s association with Setanta Sports, McNally’s profile will increase as he takes a spot in David Haye’s first heavyweight test against Monte Barrett. McNally would introduce the incredible Tony Quigley-Tony Dodson turn of events four months later before disaster struck when Setanta took the helm in June 2009 leaving Hayemaker without a TV store.

“The downfall of Setanta was when I made the biggest mistake of my career. I talked to Dave Coldwell and Adam Booth, they told me to be patient and they still wanted to have a big say in my career. Instead, I go around and listen to what other people have to say and I find it difficult to make the best decision for my career.

“Richard Poxon was with Ricky Hatton, so I had a few chats with him. I went to Frank Maloney and told him I wanted to be in the ring with the likes of Sam Webb and Brian Rose. These are guys I know from amateurs, I beat Rose, and I want to have those fights on the rise because I don’t want to wait around just fighting laners after constantly fight like an amateur. ”

Despite today’s insistence that he should have stayed with Coldwell and Booth as Hayemaker plans their next move, McNally will instead sign Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren for the match. the last match of his eight-match career. Facing Bertrand Aloa on the Paul Smith-Degale card in December 2010, McNally scored a narrow win as he set his sights on a prosperous 2011.

“All I wanted was a meeting with Warren because he was the man who hosted all the shows. He’s signed all the players since the 2008 Olympics, he’s got plenty of ABA champions and he knows how to build a boxer. I was at an Amir Khan show and I saw Bellew there and told him I wanted to talk to Frank, Bellew just got me out of my seat and took me all the way down to the stage and told Frank all also about me. That’s pretty much the way I get with Warren. ”

Excited by domestic and Commonwealth title opportunities, McNally was unable to achieve activity in the early days of her career. Scores on many cards were withdrawn, and with a growing resentment of the sport to which he was devoted from an early age, McNally reached his breaking point in the summer of 2011.

“I was working out hard in the gym with George and Danny Vaughan, and suddenly Dean Powell gave me bad news. I begged Dean to get into a fight with me and any of his top players just so I could put myself in the shop window. I was withdrawn from a program. I told Paul Edwards he could have all my stuff and I quit boxing. I never go back.

“My head is battered with it all. I’m used to the structure of an amateur match, where you know what days you’re training, when you’re fighting and you even get a couple of hundred spots off Sport England for it. Now I’m in the gym getting ready for a fight and know full well that I can get a call two weeks before it tells me I’m not needed. F**k that. That’s not for me.”

Absent from the only industry he’s ever wanted to be a part of, McNally has no plans for a replacement. A conversation with Mick McAllister, a vital cog in the illustrious Rotunda apparatus, convinced McNally to lend his expertise to Merseyside youngsters to carry out drills. The sacred battle has earned him, and many others, international acclaim for the amateur ring. Though pleased, McNally still couldn’t watch boxing without considering what might have been.

“It’s great that Mick gives me some purpose. That was what I probably needed at the time because helping the juniors in the gym was something I took very seriously. It was when I watched John Ryder and Nick Blackwell fight that I wanted to go back. I believe I have the ability to beat them both and a phone call with Joe Gallagher got me back in the gym.”

Returning to the active competition after nearly 5 years of absence, McNally knew right away that he was not a boxer like himself. The relentless compliments from Gallagher, perhaps a motivational tool to convince McNally to continue with his comeback plans, worked in small doses, but McNally knew his time was up though. though Gallagher had guaranteed him the opportunities he had always craved.

“I want to thank Joe Gallagher because he pushed me like no other. Not only did he get me into the gym, he got me a triple deal deal with Eddie Hearn with a British title at the end. No one in the pro game ever hit me like that but Joe and I will always be grateful because it means so much to me, and it shows me that there are a lot of good people in boxing. although a lot of them. are mice.

“Joe spent a lot of time with me as he had one of the best stables in the country, but not only was he in the gym he helped me out, he found a way to keep me busy and get belts for me. I. Although we played great, I’m not the same fighter. I can’t give my best for some reason. I was on my way to a brain scan and I was just halfway back on Dock Road. I didn’t get the scan and that’s it I finished wanting to fight. ”

Still filled with a passion for success and a desire to coach, McNally discovered the idea of ​​training professionals. Under the wise guidance of Georgie Vaughan at Derry Mathews’ City Center gym, McNally witnessed first-hand what goes into the guidance of exciting prospects like Sam Maxwell and James Metcalf. , but it was a chance meeting with David Price that convinced McNally to live independently.

“I was absent with Stephen Smith and Pricey’s men there. We’ve been on the same shows for years as amateurs, but we don’t really get to know each other very well. He’s talking about his career and what could have been done differently, and I’m giving my opinion on some of his games. I made it clear to him that I had big goals as a coach and the next thing was that he wanted to come work with me.”

Suffering initial setbacks with heavy losses to Alexander Povetkin and Sergey Kuzmin, Price’s time as a top-level boxer is definitely over. Still a huge draw in the UK due to his high form and fan-friendly style, there are still battles for Price to overcome as he scored a number of victories under McNally’s guidance, including winning Uncomfortably won over dominating Dave Allen. The loss to Derek Chisora ​​in 2019 signaled the end of the run-in together as Price walked away.

“If I had David a little bit earlier, I would excite me to think what he could have achieved because he could have been a world champion. I truly believe that no matter what people think. There have been good nights and bad nights with him, but I don’t believe I have ever had the best version of him because of the stage in his career that came to me. I’ve seen a lot of good with him in the gym, but it’s not enough against the likes of Povetkin. It’s been a pleasure being with David, but I just wish we could have spent more time together.

As well as Price, McNally also impressed Craig Glover and Thomas Whittaker-Hart, which led to other boxers hitting themselves at McNally’s gym in his old stomping ground, Rotunda. Smith, Taylor, and Caoimhin Agyarko are now all boxers who benefit from McNally’s methods, and along with assistant coaching, Declan O’Rourke, McNally, still just 38, have plenty of time to be around. add to his growing list of achievements.

“Honestly, I’m so lucky to have the arrangement I’m here. The gym is great, the boxers do my thing and Declan is the perfect trainer for me to work with because he can help me with my workload and I can count on him it about anything. I’m learning every day about this job, I’m learning from old teachers like Eddie Futch and Bouie Fisher. I want to be successful, but as long as my fighters get into the sport, make a few moves, reach their potential and then pass, I will always be a happy man. ”