From Warrior to Teacher: the career of Anthony Farnell, part two by Terry Dooley Apr 10th 2007

BBN was spending time with Manchester trainer, and former fighter, Anthony Farnell to find out about his fighting career as well as getting his insights as England's youngest professional boxing trainer. BBN: Anthony, is there a secret success formula to being a trainer? AF: “Training is a lot about luck as well as what you can do. Look at Ricky Hatton, no disrespect to Billy (Graham) but Ricky Hatton would have always made it, Ricky Hatton is Ricky Hatton you always got one in a while. I've watched Ricky train personally and he works hard, he is special and is a lovely boxer.” “I want my own Ricky Hatton, every trainer would but I'd like two or three of them and I'll use the things I learned from the guys who trained me.” BBN: What is your philosophy as a trainer? AF: “If a lad wants me to train him I will do as long as he gives me one hundred percent I will give him everything I've got. I'll take him running on the weekend, take him on the bags or work hard on the pads with him and give it my best. All he has to do is give me one hundred percent.” “Sometimes you get a lad like David Barnes (who was briefly trained by Farnell) who has the skill but the attitude isn't there and that can't be taught. If boxers don't want to train you cannot help them. Don't get me wrong David is a talent, you saw it when he boxed James Hare and showed every shot off.” “Dave is lethal. I know all about David. A trainer who has boxed knows a bit about what it is like to be a fighter.”  BBN: How is your lad Steven Bell coming along? AF: “He trains so hard, he works his day-job and then comes to the gym and works some more and I respect that. I can you that he has sparred some of the top names in Manchester and did really well against them, he just needs to show that in a fight and he hasn't fully shown it yet but he will do and it will open a lot of eyes.” “His last few fights he has got stoppages so it shows how he has come on under me. He is going to be a star. People here who see him sparring and training know what he can do, he is dead easy to train because he listens and has it in his heart.” “Some fighters have the skills to be a world champion. They could get all he way to a world-title but they might not have it in there (taps heart). I know my lads have got it in there to get to the top. I'm a young pro trainer and I've got some good lads as well in only my first year. I've seen some trainers get to the top and stop (learning) when they get there but I'll be always looking out for new things because you always have to be learning.” Anthony took this opportunity to warn BBN that Anthony Crolla is going to be the man to watch over the coming years. Crolla has great amateur backing as well as the expert guidance of Frank Warren behind him; surely it is only a matter of time before he is heading quickly to the highest level. Farnell told me that Crolla had to be seen in training to be believed. His young charge has the skills and, Farnell assured me, he has it in his heart to make it in boxing. BBN: So that is Anthony the trainer but how about giving us an insight into the fighter, what got you started? AF: “I was knocking guys out in the amateurs so turned pro, I'd say too early, but I did that and enjoyed my career, who knows if it could have worked out better or not? I did well as an amateur but wanted (to be in) the pro game.” BBN: My memories of you as a fighter are the intensity you brought into the ring, sometimes you seemed too intense and a tough piece of work. AF: “When I went into a fight I was up for it and those were my thoughts and the way I was but I changed outside the ring. People have come up to me since I retired and said “I hated you when you fought but you are nothing like what you were like then”. Sometimes I'll watch myself back then and think “I don't like him! (Laughs)” “People don't know what you are really like they just see you that way (as he came across on Sky interviews). I was just getting myself motivated. After the fight I would go over and shake my opponents hand and sometimes have a laugh with them. I was a bit like Gomez because he was similar; we would be up for it so much whoever we fought.” BBN: You and Gomez started a trend because the young Jamie Moore would push himself into the other guy's face to intimidate him pre-fight. AF: “Jamie is like me and Jamie can be really mean in the boxing ring. He can be an animal and you know he is not like that outside the ring. He is a good lad and we had some good spars and fought as amateurs but we can go out for a meal with our wives and have a good laugh.” BBN: Recently you seemed to forget you had retired when having an internet brawl with long-mooted foe Wayne Alexander. Is there an outside chance you two lads could be getting your fight at last, even if it is over the ‘net? AF: “Me and Wayne had our names on the ‘net and everything but we laughed our heads off about it after. Boxers can say a lot to each other before a fight but when you get to fight night it just stops and you fight. There was a lot of stuff with me and Ojay Abrahams because he hit me low, head-butted me and thumbed me. After the fight you forget it all and that is what makes boxing what it is, boxing is a great sport.” “I actually love watching Wayne (Alexander) fight. I was sad to see him lose against (Serge) Vigne but that is Wayne, he either knocks you out or can get knocked out himself.” BBN: I am glad you said that because in one of your biggest fights you came out against Takaloo with that mid-set and came unstuck. Were you too hyped-up for that fight? AF: “Takaloo caught me coming in and won fair and square. I'm mates with Takaloo now and just used to hype myself up loads before a fight. Takaloo kept his head during the ring walk and stayed calm for the fight. He caught me with some great shots so what can you say?” BBN: One of my vivid memories of watching you fight at the MEN was the first Groenewald bout for the WBU middleweight title. For long periods he out-jabbed you as you came in aggressively then, right at the fights end, you feinted, stepped-back and hit him with a classic one-two. Why did you leave it so late in the fight to show your quality? AF: “I remember that yeah. I was stupid and loading up with big shots, he wasn't hurting me but because of loading up on my shots he scored more points off his jab. I was looking for big shots all the time.” “In sparring I was always loose and relaxed and I sparred some top people. Every time I got in the ring I loaded-up and was tense and the worst time was against Takaloo and he hit me with a great shot then Ruben out-boxed me.” Groenewald also fractured three of Farnell's ribs in that first fight; during the course of the second fight, all the while unbeknownst to Arnie, Groenewald turned the long-term fractures into broken ribs making it difficult for the super-fit Farnell to breath. However Anthony overcame this problem to avenge his loss with a split-decision on the cards. BBN: Any of those memorable sparring sessions you would like to share with us? AF: “I sparred with everyone and knocked Robin Reid down for the first time when I sparred him. I was nice and relaxed and would get through to them in sparring. You have to be relaxed enough to take what you do in sparring into the ring and you have to be worked-up before the fight but stay relaxed at the same time.” “Some people try to get themselves worked-up in the dressing room before a fight but you need to be ready from the start. Five weeks before the fight – when you step into the gym for your training – you should be worked-up.” BBN: You say that you had problems in the gym and at home, due to the birth of his son six days prior to the bout, for the Elcock fight then bounced back from that loss to take your belt from Lawrence Murphy (who belted out Elcock in a single round) in three rounds up in Scotland. In your final fight you lost to Eugenio Monteiro, can you talk us through that loss? AF: “The Murphy fight was one of my best performances and I was on a high after that fight. In my last fight (with Monteiro) I had viral meningitis and I got beat, I might have lost without the meningitis but I should not have been in the ring to tell you the truth. Other stuff went on with his drug-test (Eugenio turned in a positive drugs test post-fight) and that but that is on his side, whether he cheated or not does not take away from how tired I was.” “Boxing is the hardest game in the world and if you get into the ring you should be ready to give one hundred and ten percent. You train so hard for the fight and for people to say I did not give it my all in that fight would be downright out of order. I gave it all I had. I was fit, I was always fit, but I wasn't fighting sharp.” “Ten days before the fight I stepped in for Joe Calzaghe (slated to fight Glen Johnson until Joe was again injured in training) and I had to drop a bit of weight, it was my decision to drop the weight and it weakened me, that is why I always keep my eye on my boxer's weight. Frank Warren had always done right by me and I wanted to take the fight and be on the show. It was a stupid, ridiculous amount of weight to drop and I dehydrated myself. I put my body through so much and it backfired.” “I thought I won the first round on adrenaline. I went to get up for the second round and my legs had just gone. I was drained and it felt like I was treading water and that is a horrible feeling to have all the way through a fight. I would have preferred just to be taken out of there with a good shot but I don't want to blame it all on the illness because I'm not into all that type of stuff. I was pissed off with myself really.” After the fight Anthony blood was seeping from Arnie's left eye so he was taken off in an ambulance with suspected brain injuries (later found to be concussion) yet one last act of drama was to follow. The private ambulance became lost in the town centre and Farnell's dad had to jump into the passenger seat to give directions, as usually happens what could have been tragic at the time is a funny story in retrospect as Arnie laughed off the incident. Anthony also had a lot of triumphs in his career, he spoke about the revenge win over Groenewald, he told BBN that in the second fight he had kept his head and that Ruben was also one of the toughest fighters he had faced off against. Their first fight was filled with fouls (Farnell lost points for low-blows) and the second time around a tight split-decision saw Farnell through, throw in a near-brawl between the rival camps factions and fans and it was quite a spicy brace of bouts. BBN: What do you remember about the Groenewald fights? AF: “(I had) two great wars with Groenewald and the first one was the best one. He had a great jab. It is a hard jab as well and he is a tough guy. We got on great after the fights. Everyone thought I was a nasty piece of work when I was boxing but that is what I fought like and that is how I acted because I was so determined. I love boxing because outside the ring you can all be mates and have a laugh about it.” “I had some good fights in my career, the one with Melnikov was one of them and I took Murphy out when people thought I was finished.” BBN: I remember the fight you had with Sergio Ernesto Acuna who openly tore chunks from the Old Trafford pitch for a memento after the weigh-in. AF: “He did yeah! They nearly chucked him out! People thought I was going to knock him out in one round but he was tough, he was the toughest fighter I had fought (to that point). He was hitting me with everything and was there to fight!” BBN: So do you have any regrets about the way it all ended for you? AF: “I have no regrets whatsoever. If there was anything I would wish it would be for the career I've had without catching meningitis on my last fight but other than that it happened the way it did. I don't regret my losses because my losses made my career the way it was and I tried to come back better after them. I thought I did alright.” BBN: From a fan's perspective it would have been great to see you versus Roberts, Alexander or Williams, why did those fights not take place? AF: “We never wanted to fight each other! No. It was just different promoters and companies and that happens.” “I would have liked to have boxed those lads but I am happy with my career and Frank Warren did great by me, I earned a great deal of money defending my titles. I'm disappointed a bit but my career has been and gone. I'm like a young old man now after everything and you can have regrets as a fighter but I think I did good.” Now the fighting chapter of Arnie's career is well and truly closed, give or take the odd internet war or two. Now a new chapter entitled ‘Arnie the Teacher' is opening and Farnell has shown BBN that he will approach this task with all the desire he brought to his in-ring career and we wish him and his stable well. We will also be popping in to watch him at work in the near future.

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