SAM NOAKES might be Britain’s hardest working boxer – but only after he walked out of his first two jobs after ONE shift.
The Maidstone lightweight – whose 10-0 record is built on a perfect 10/10 KO rate – has always been a fitness fanatic, conquering mountains and marathons on his days off from training.
But the 25-year-old could not match that commitment in his first two careers and jacked in a couple of earners without even getting paid.
The proud mummy’s boy – who still lives at home for the expert cooking and laundry on offer – told SunSport: “My first job after school was in a call centre, I went in with good intentions, gave it a go and never went back for the second day.
“I wasn’t fussy, the next job was McDonald’s, another full shift but couldn’t face going back and didn’t even get paid.
“In the end I got a job as a roofer, ten times harder than both of those jobs, outside and physically demanding but I loved it and I stuck to that right up until recently when my sponsorship deals allowed me to train full-time.
“But even in the summer now, if my old boss has a big job on, or if I am waiting around for a fight, I will go back and do a month or so on site with the boys, show them what I can still do.
“It’s the same with the running and mountains, if I wasn’t a boxer I would still be doing them with my mates, so I just squeeze them in around fights.”
Noakes reckons the only pre-boxing career he clicked with might be responsible for his freakish power and frightening nickname.
The Kent Golovkin – named after Kazakh KO king Gennady – believes the knockout power he has shown in both hands has come from lugging slates, tiles and cladding up and down ladders all day and trying to match the bigger blokes on the firm.
Most read in Boxing
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST ONLINE CASINOS FOR 2023
Ahead of his Saturday Commonwealth title defence against Karthik Kumar, he laughed: “I remember being on jobs and there was always a bit of competition about who could carry what.
“And I remember the bigger lads telling me to go easy and leave the big loads to them.
“I wouldn’t stand for that though and always managed to match them, even though it was a serious struggle early on.
“They would ask if I was okay and I would be straining so much that I could just about manage to whisper a ‘yep’.
“So I can’t pinpoint where the power has come from for sure, but those tough days must have helped.”
Behind most boxers there is a story of woe or hardship but it’s refreshing to get nothing but smiles and boy-next-door charm from Noakes, whose mum has been the driving force behind his early success.
“I’m not a complex fella,” he likes to say. “There ain’t too much going upstairs for anyone to worry about.
“What you see is what you get with me.
“My mum and dad split up when I was young but they have always remained friends and supported me in everything I have done.
Read More on The Sun
“My older siblings have moved out but I’ve got it too cushty indoors with my mum so until I find the love of a good woman, I am very happy at home with the one I already have.”
*Champion Sports Management star Sam Noakes spoke to SunSport over lunch at Crown Aspinalls Casino.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
