A dark patch of sweat spreads across the back of Billy Joe Saunders's grey T-shirt in a derelict warehouse in Canning Town. Tucked away in a corner of a bleak industrial estate, with the flatlands of east London stretched out around us, the new
boxing home for the teenage Romany Gypsy fighter is still a strange and draining place. Unlike the arcane world of amateur
boxing, which increasingly resembles fencing more than fighting, with bouts being decided by scoring as political as it is arbitrary, the professional gym deals in raw hurt.
Between the ropes, and stalked by a determined African journeyman, Saunders's breathing falls hard and fast as he prepares for his professional debut in Birmingham on Saturday night. Alongside his fellow amateur stars,
James DeGale and
Frankie Gavin, Saunders will fight on a Frank Warren bill which should mark the start of an intriguing era for British boxing.
DeGale will flash his Olympic gold medal and
Gavin can point to the amateur world title he won, but Saunders brings the most evocative story to the ring.
As the 19-year-old endures a punishing training regime his father, Tom, talks softly about their Romany Gypsy heritage. In his understated way, he describes the persecution of the Roma under the Nazis and explains how draconian legislation shackles their misunderstood tradition in Britain today. Beyond the harsh sounds of sparring, Tom's hope, that his youngest son may help change perceptions of their community, resounds.
"I'd like to do that," the fighter himself says an hour later as he strips off his sodden shirt and protective headgear. "When most people hear we're Travellers they think: 'Gypsy! Trouble!' It ain't nice. Don't get me wrong, there are bad people among Travellers, but you can't tar everyone with the same brush. Look at my dad, or my great-grandad. They're proud and decent and if I can help people understand that I'll be doing a good job."
Absolom Beeny, Saunders's great-grandfather, used to make a living through bare-knuckle fighting at fairgrounds the Romany Gypsies set up at sites around England more than 70 years ago. "He was a champion, my old great-grandad," Saunders says, grinning, "and you can still see that today. We never had birth certificates in them days so no one's sure of his exact age. He says he's 96 but he might be a year or two older. He still goes drinking in different pubs around Hertfordshire and they all know him."
Saunders winks as he draws a link with old Absolom's recipe for a long life. "I haven't had a fight since the Beijing Olympics – except for down the pub," he quips. "My last fight was on 14 August, when I lost to the Cuban [Carlos Banteaux Suarez]. That's why I'm still shaking off the ring rust."
Some
boxing experts believe that, starting his career at light-middleweight against Hungary's Attila Molnar , Saunders will eventually emerge as the most successful of the trio Warren has plucked from the British Olympic team. With his sharp punching and slick ringcraft, Saunders had already proved himself by the time he arrived in Beijing. He had won his first 49 bouts and also outpointed Suarez six months earlier.
"I had the beating of him in Beijing," Saunders insists. "But it's not good when you land 10 shots and you go back to your corner and see that none of them have counted and you're four points down. But best of luck to the Cuban. He won the silver." Saunders remains convinced that he would have won gold at the London 2012 Olympics – had his amateur career not been derailed by controversy soon after losing to Suarez. An unnamed source fed the Daily Mail a story that Saunders could be seen on a YouTube clip acting in an "obscene and lewd" manner towards a Frenchwoman.
"Believe it or not," Saunders snorts, "this meant the ABA [Amateur Boxing Association] pushed a future Olympic champion, me, out of 2012. Even if people say you can't be sure, I would have been a banker for gold. They really fucked themselves because I was thinking hard about staying for London, getting my glory, and only then turning pro. But they shafted me so they could get Terry Edwards."
As the plain-speaking coach of the British team, Edwards had many foes in the ABA. "They wanted Terry out," Saunders says. "They were jealous of him. So they blew up this YouTube thing to get at him. Terry went mad when he learnt the truth and saw there was no scandal. But at first he was mad with me. You could have sworn blind I'd murdered someone. I didn't know what he was talking about. It took me ages to work out he was talking about this joke we'd had in France months before."
The mysterious YouTube clip has been seen by very few people, and it has since been removed, which means that Saunders has to protest his innocence. "Nothing bad happened. This French lady was cleaning our hotel room and we were joking together. She was having a laugh with us, her and a few of her colleagues."
What were they laughing about? "I was just learning her English," Saunders says.It does not take much imagination to guess the kind of crude English words an excitable young boxer might claim to be teaching an older Frenchwoman, but Saunders suggests: "She was a lovely lady with a sense of humour. She would laugh this thing off if anyone asked her, I promise you. But someone twisted it and I got suspended for lewd behaviour. I couldn't believe it, but it was a blessing in disguise. It made me turn pro."
Saunders argues that he will bring a new responsibility to his professional work. "It's not about me no more. It's about my little boy's future."
Billy Joe Jr is 19 months old and his father reveals, bashfully, that another baby is due in May. "I call it my Beijing baby because it happened as soon as I got home from the Olympics. The little 'un is going to have a brother."
His former girlfriend, Ruby, is the mother of both, but Saunders, hinting at the chaos of a teenager's love-life, shifts awkwardly and mumbles, "Well, yeah, but I'm single now. It's a long old story but she's a lovely girl and very understanding. The important thing is I've got a little boy, and another on the way, and I don't want them on the streets in later life. I don't want them getting stabbed or any of that shit. I want them to lead a
good and decent life."
Saunders laughs grimly when asked what might have happened to him had he not been such a gifted boxer. "I would probably have ended up in prison. I've had mates stabbed and shot and ending up on a life-support machine. I've had two close friends in prison – one for eight years and one for five – and both tell me to keep my head down and not make the same mistakes as them."
His elder brother, Tom, has also passed down lessons forged through bitter experience and tragedy. "Tom is a very talented boxer and he was on the same British team as
Amir Khan. He was all set to go to the 2004 Olympics but he lost his way a little and got fed up with boxing. But something worse happened. Tom lost his baby boy when it was born [2007]. That knocked him badly. My own baby was due just a few weeks later. I was really worried but thankfully it was OK. And Tom now has a beautiful little daughter. So he's recovering and he's fighting again as a pro in April. But it made me understand nothing is certain."
There had been another poignant moment earlier that afternoon when Saunders' father had suggested that, for Romany Gypsies, "living in a home without wheels is the same as birds being kept in a cage". Yet, for Saunders, his new parental responsibilities mean he will "work hard, get some serious money and hopefully move into property".
He nods when reminded of his father's birdcage analogy. "I know. But we ain't allowed to travel these days. I've been at the same [Travellers'] site in Hatfield 13 years now. So he understands why I want to invest in property. All my advisers are telling me to do it, and they're smart blokes."
So could he become the first Romany Gypsy turned property developer – especially now that he has ordered himself a new Mercedes as a reward for turning professional? "I hope so," he laughs. "I remember Mike Tyson and the hundreds of millions he lost. Where did his money go? You have to be sensible and hold on to it. But that don't mean I'm giving up my Romany roots. They made me and my whole family. From the little 'un, my baby boy, to my dad and all the way back to my old great-grandad, I just want to make them proud of me."
Property of
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/feb/24/billy-joe-saunders-boxing
