Lighter Paul packs heavier punch

NATIONAL heavyweight boxer Nigel Paul looks a different man from the one who made his debut three years ago. He is much lighter, leaner and fitter, with definition in his bulging muscles. Standing over six feet tall, Paul is now a much more imposing and intimidating figure and anyone entering a ring against him will know one punch can send them sprawling.

It is not just a physical change that has the 29-year-old Enterprise boxer confident of another jab at Olympic glory in Tokyo 2020. In a conversation with Paul, he revealed his transformation is all thanks to a strict exercise and training regimen. And with consistent competitive bouts, he is aiming to stand on the Olympic podium in two years.

FIGHTING FIT

At the 2016 Olympic in Brazil, Paul was emphatically knocked out by Nigeria's Efe Ajagba in the first round with a savage right hook. He said he has come a long way since then.

“A lot has changed since then concerning me and the Olympic journey. Last Olympics, it was all about getting there, and we achieved our goal knowing at the point in time I hadn’t boxed in a long while. When I fought in the Olympics, I was 270 (pounds) but I was more chubby. I had a lot of body fat on me. There has been a tremendous change since then. Now, there is a lot more training,” said Paul during an interview at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

“I am no longer a novice, so we are approaching things differently. I already have a name and the other countries know me and I have a high ranking in the Caribbean, so our goal now is to make it to the podium.”

Weighing in at 252 pounds with a Body Mass Index of 30.1, Paul has shed more than 70 pounds since he first started training three years ago. He told Newsday cutting the weight was no easy feat, but had confidence in his coach Floyd Trumpet, and thanked him for his training thus far.

“All props go to my coach,” Paul said, “He really took the time to learn my body, and he did the research about how to get from where I was to where I am. I couldn’t run as much laps and I couldn’t do as much push-ups or sit-ups as the lighter and younger guys. Over time he would give me sets of 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, and right now I could do sets of 100 push-ups. I can run 7K in under 40 minutes.”

Paul said his trainer’s method consists of a steady build-up in order to train his body to “peak” at the right time. He said Trumpet trained him as an amateur boxer, which means that he was trained for tournament boxing. Paul explained that in tournament boxing, as compared to professional boxing, athletes would have to have a level of endurance that would allow them to fight at least three times for the week.

“The main goal that my coach tries to get into my head is this: amateur boxing is tournament boxing. We don’t train for a single fight, we train for a tournament – which means our body is supposed to take a certain amount of jamming. You fight today, and day after tomorrow you may have to fight again, and the day after that you may have to compete in the finals. And you are supposed to wake up in the morning and train again. Obviously you won’t be going 100 per cent every day, but I trust the plan.”

TRAINING DAYS

Paul’s new physique is a result of a consistent and specialised training regimen that was developed by Trumpet, but what does a day under that training regimen look like?

Paul told Newsday he would take about three training sessions on a regular day, starting from as early as 4 am.

“I would wake up at 4 am and take a 2.5K run to where I train. Usually we would start warming up with about 20 laps around the grounds. According to how close we are to competition, we do speed work or endurance work. Because the Caribbean Championships are right around the corner we’ve started doing speed work.

"We would do two 800m runs, two 400m, a couple 100m and some short sprints to get the speed work in. Then we would follow with regular shadow boxing, some boxing drills, footwork and hand speed drills, then all my training sessions we finish up with some 3x3s – 300 push-ups and 300 sit-ups. And that is just the morning training.”

Paul said he would follow that with a weight-training session at about midday, then on evenings he would go to the Hasely Crawford Stadium’s boxing gym where he would focus on technique and hit the bags.

The consistent training has resulted in something he and his trainer desire – progress.

Paul is now ranked third in the Americas, rivalled only by Cuban Jose Larduet, and Colombian Christian Salcedo, and 21st in the world.

“The last Olympics I was ranked 55 or somewhere around there. Since then there has been constant progress,” Paul said.

The consistent training has resulted not only in improving his physical appearance but his boxing as well.

“You could see the progress from game to game,” Paul noted. “I am always getting better. That is something that me and my coach are always talking about, doing better than the last. Fitness-wise and technique-wise we try to get better every time. I still have a lot to work on.

"This is only the third year that I have been boxing and I have already went to the Olympics, two World Games, and I have a Commonwealth medal, and a continental silver. I try my hardest to make it to the podium and keep myself in the medal conversation. I try to compete at a high level constantly.”

In his last tournament, the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, which took place in July, Paul made it to the semis. He fought against Larduet in a riveting three-round match that went to a split decision. The judges decided in Larduet’s favour with three judges out of five giving him the match. “I thought I won,” Paul said with a smile during the interview.

MAKING A MARK

Ultimately, Paul wants to make a substantial mark, not only on the boxing world, but in TT. Paul, who grew up in Enterprise, admitted he lost a lot of his school friends who fell victim to crime. He said people were dying at such a fast rate that no one is taking the time to remember them. He told Newsday he wants to be remembered.

“One of my friends that I went to school with got gunned down recently,” Paul lamented, “I met up with another friend from school and I told him about the schoolmate who got killed and he couldn’t remember him at all. So many people just dying one after the next, and he was just like who are you talking about?

"It triggered something in me and I told myself 'I don’t ever want people to forget me. When I die I want to say I made some kind of contribution to the country so people will remember me.' So many people are just dying that we can’t even take a second. We are hearing the news (of people dying) and not even batting an eyelash. I need to make some kind of difference in this country.

"And to make a difference you have to have money or influence; I am not a rich person, so I am trying to have that influence so I could talk to a few people to make some kind of change.”

He told Newsday that boxing was a natural choice for him, because he fought so frequently in school.

“I was always in some kind of fight. I was always bigger than the rest of kids, and I never liked to see advantage. I had a good relationship with the teachers, and I was school prefect and part other groups but I was always fighting because I never liked to see people being advantaged. So I was always parting fights then ending up getting involved or people began calling my name. It wasn’t always the best thing but I was always fighting and I was always good at it.”

Paul will continue his journey between December 5-10 where he will face other Caribbean boxers at the Caribbean Championships in Georgetown, Guyana.