A fighter can have all of the ability in the world but if they don’t have the temperament to go with it, their best moments can end up being restricted to the gym.
Rumors about Callum Simpson’s talent have done the rounds for years but on the biggest night of his life, the 27-year-old held himself together and comprehensively outpointed the best opponent he has ever faced.
By beating Zak Chelli to become the British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion at Barnsley’s Oakwell stadium, Simpson took his still fledgling career to an entirely new level.
Simpson’s team had no worries about his technical ability or stamina but nobody – not even Simpson himself – could be totally sure about how he would react once he left the tunnel and walked out to be greeted by 7,000 screaming friends and family members.
When that moment came, Simpson looked excited but remained focused.
“That was exactly as I’d imagined it. I’ve been visualizing that for months and weeks,” Simpson, 15-0 (10 KOs), said at the post fight press conference. “I’m here all the time and Boxxer have done loads of stadium shows so I tried to go to all of the shows and get a feel for it. I knew exactly how it was going to be and that’s exactly how I imagined it in my head.
“I looked out at the crowd and it was my old neighbors, my family, my schoolmates and people I see in town when I’m doing my food shopping. I feel like I knew every single one of them.”
Fighting Chelli is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one. The Londoner boxes in an unusual rhythm and has the very useful ability to make his opponents follow his lead and react to him. After a predictably strong start, Simpson looked to be in danger of falling into that trap during the middle rounds but was cool enough to listen to his corner and mature enough to take their advice. He re-established control and didn’t relinquish it until the final bell.
“I caught him with a good shot [in the first round]. The strategy worked for us. I trained very hard. I’ve got high intensity pressure and felt like I kept the pace right the way through. Chelli’s a very, very tough man and was a good champion and he stuck it out,” Simpson said.
“We’re way off the finished article. A lot of boxers would win this fight and think, ‘I’m the best in Britain now and that’s it, I’m done’ but I’ll be back in the gym on Monday. I’m not happy with a lot of things that I didn’t do right in that fight – I know Mark [Hurley, his trainer] won’t be as well. Let’s enjoy it. We’ve won it, that’s the main thing but we’ve got a lot to work on moving forward. There were things I didn’t do in the fight that I should have and things that I got better throughout the fight at doing. There’s a lot more to come and I’ve got a lot more to show.”
Simpson’s profile has risen quickly but after the fight he spoke sensibly about consolidating and proving himself the best of British before stepping up another level. The knowledge that he is capable of drawing large crowds will buy him plenty of time and Simpson will have twelve months to defend his titles, build experience and climb the world rankings before thoughts inevitably return to Oakwell and an even bigger night at the old stadium next summer.
“When I first got told it was coming to Barnsley, one part of me thought, ‘Yeah, we’ll sell out straight away’ but I thought, ‘What if it flops?’ It’s one thing everyday giving you support on social media but it’s another thing – especially these days when times are hard – putting their hand in their pocket and buying a ticket,” Simpson said.
“There’s only one arena in Barnsley but we’ve made an arena out of the football club. The way that Boxxer and Sky have been able to do it, we’ve got a venue we can use 12 months a year now. There’s no reason why we can’t keep doing this and get it packed out.
“In terms of my career, I want to win the British outright. I’ve won it – fair enough – but I want to prove that I’m the best in Britain. I want to win it outright and hopefully I get the chance to do that. Anything can happen and if another opportunity comes at the back end of the year, we’ll take that but I want it to be undeniable that I’m the best in Britain. Once we’ve proved that, we’ll push on.”
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