Boxing: Too close to call, but . . .

Ryan Henry with Floyd Mayweather's father, Floyd sen, in Las Vegas recently. Photos supplied.
Ryan Henry with Floyd Mayweather's father, Floyd sen, in Las Vegas recently. Photos supplied.
Henry with Gracie brothers Royler (left) and Rolker in San Diego.
Henry with Gracie brothers Royler (left) and Rolker in San Diego.

Ryan Henry is a director of the New Zealand Fight and Fitness Academy in Dunedin, coaches boxing, and has just got his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. But all Hayden Meikle really wants to talk to Henry about is the looming mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

 

Hayden Meikle: Hi Ryan. What have you been up to recently?

Ryan Henry: I go over to America every April. I have a friend in Las Vegas who trains out of UNLV, and he's tied up with the Floyd Mayweather team, so I always make sure I spend a few days training with him. I got to go to Floyd's gym, which was pretty special.

HM: What's it like being in that gym?

RH: Yeah, it's pretty exciting. The hype in Vegas at the moment is amazing. We heard Floyd was going to be training, and that was an opportunity I couldn't resist. We were only a metre away from him at times.

HM: Did he exude charisma?

RH: Yeah, definitely. He comes in with his big entourage. His training was interesting. He started with sparring, and he's brought in several southpaws to spar with, because Manny Pacquiao is a southpaw. I met that Zab Judah, who actually fought Mayweather and has won a world title.

HM: Did Floyd talk a lot or was he all business?

RH: He hasn't been like he has in other fights. Someone made a comment over there that this is a fight that doesn't need to be hyped up by trash talk. They're both being quite humble.

HM: Floyd's this amazing, patient, defensive fighter. Is that how he spars?

RH: It was interesting. In the sparring I watched, his partner probably had the better of Floyd in the first round. But by the end of sparring, Floyd was taking him to bits. A lot of Floyd's fights are won in the later rounds. He's got an incredible way of figuring a fighter out.

HM: They're both amazing boxers, aren't they?

RH: Well, Manny's a three-time fighter of the year, a 10-time world champion, and the fighter of the decade in the 2000s. Floyd is an 11-time world champion, he's undefeated in 47 fights, and he's the best pound-for-pound boxer. The difference is that one's a defensive fighter and one's an attacking fighter.

HM: So how will the fight unfold?

RH: Floyd will win if the defensive approach is paying off after the third or fourth round. He'll start to dissect Manny. He'll roll that shoulder and land that right. He lands 50% of his punches, which is quite high. His footwork is amazing. He can almost see things before they happen. It's like he looks at things in slow motion.

HM: And Manny?

RH: He has to make his role as an attacker the important thing. I've seen guys fight Floyd who attack for three rounds but then get figured out. Manny's got really good punching power. He's really aggressive, and he has to attack in every round. He just has to keep it up for 12 rounds. And he can win the fight if he does that.

HM: Maybe two or three years too late for Manny?

RH: Possibly. He's had 64 fights and seven or eight losses, and people point out that Floyd is undefeated. But Manny has put himself on the line a lot more. He'd have two or three big fights a year when Floyd would only have won.

HM: Come on, call a winner.

RH: I knew this question was coming. My gut feeling is that Floyd will win it if Manny can't figure him out. But I'd like to see Manny win. He's the people's person.

HM: Boxing's had some tough times. What does it mean for the sport to finally have this fight?

RH: It really is a gift for boxing fans. It's the biggest fight ever. And I don't think it will be a boring fight. Both fighters want to win this more than anything. They'll give it their all. We'll see the craft being performed at the highest level in the world.

HM: Where are you going to watch the fight?

RH: We're doing a fundraiser at the bottom bar at the Mornington Tavern. Doing some corporate tables and stuff.

HM: What about our boxer, Joseph Parker? You a fan?

RH: I met him a lot when he was an amateur. I think he can go all the way. You've got to back a Kiwi. He's just been sparring with Klitschko, and to train with the world heavyweight shows how much Joseph is respected.

HM: Outside boxing, you're right into Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as pioneered by the Gracie family. And you got your black belt in America on this trip?

RH: Yeah, I've been working on that since 2003. It was a huge honour and a privilege to get my belt directly off Royler Gracie. I was the first New Zealand-born person to get a black belt from the Gracie family on Helio's side. Helio's son Royce was the first UFC champion. Then there's Rickson and Rolker and Royler, who runs our programme and has been to Dunedin. We have an annual meeting with the guys in San Diego, where we review what we teach. Royler called me up and I ended up sitting my black belt in front of 60 different black belts, including 10 different world champions.

HM: Hah, no pressure.

RH: It was the most nervous I'd been in my life. But the good thing about Gracie jiu-jitsu is that you don't have to fight. You perform the techniques. It's not like an old school martial art. Royler's philosophy is that everyone must enjoy the sport.

HM: What's your fighting background?

RH: I started in judo as a kid. Dad took me to judo when I was 4 or 5. I started boxing later in life, under Eldon Clifton. Before that, I'd worked with a guy called Peter Williamson, who had those cage fights in the Town Hall. They called them vale tudo. It was like MMA is now but with a lot less rules. It was really primitive back then and hard to get fights. That's when I got talked into boxing.

HM: How many boxers do you coach now?

RH: I've got about 20 registered boxers this year. Then we run jiu-jitsu classes as well.

HM: You're a bit of a fighting family, aren't you?

RH: Yeah, my wife Cherine isn't fighting any more, but my son Awatea is coming through. He's just turned 13 and he's had 33 fights.

HM: How do things work at the NZFFA? What's your over-arching philosophy?

RH: It's a real lifestyle when you get into something like boxing or jiu-jitsu. You get people who might come into the gym with a bit of attitude. But it's not about being a tough guy. You don't get away with that in our gym. You can't come here and be a thug. We don't teach thugs to be better thugs, you know what I mean. Gone are the days when you go into a gym and there's an old man in the corner with a spit bucket who grunts at you, and mothers feel uncomfortable leaving their kids there. We're an academy, and it's a clean place, and we take real pride in it.

Add a Comment