Rising Hampshire Light-Heavyweight Chris Hobbs reflects on his life and career inside and outside of the ring …
I was born in Southampton on 22 July 1987. My mum is from Yorkshire and I do not know my real dad; all I know of him is that he was Jamaican. I was raised by my mum and a stepfather who, to be honest, was like a real dad to me. I grew up with my two sisters and a brother. We never had a lot growing up in terms of material possessions, but that is no different to a lot of people out there. My parents tried as hard as they possibly could to put food on the table and they always made sure we had happy and fun Christmases.
There was a lot of tough love from my dad. Yes, we were like best mates but he was also very big on discipline. As he saw it, I was a black kid in a white family so I would potentially endure a lot of problems growing up – therefore I needed to be tough. To be fair I was quite naughty as a youngster. If it wasn’t for the discipline of my family, I would have probably ended up in jail.
From a boxing point of view, I was inspired from about the age of seven. Typically, like many other youngsters, I watched the Rocky movies, and they fired my passion and imagination. Everyone in my family who had talent to do with sport was football related, but I had two left feet, as they say, and never really liked football until about the age of 15. I was finally allowed to box for the first time at the age of 11 when I turned up at the Eastpoint Centre where Southampton ABC trained. Terry Tew was the guy who was training the kids at the club. Strangely enough, he had actually seen me growing up; his mother-in-law lived behind my house so he had seen me around. The training was a real shock to me; it was so hard I couldn’t believe it, but I was determined. Very determined. I had no natural ability at all – bad footwork, poor timing – the lot! All I had been used to was scrapping in the playground and at that age I wasn’t even good at that!
In my second week at Eastpoint I sparred for the first time. Even though I didn’t do brilliantly I loved it. I managed to survive against kids with much more experience than me and realised I was naturally tough. However, during my first year at the club I wasn’t totally dedicated; I was there some weeks but then I wouldn’t be there again the next week. It took me two-and-a-half years before I knuckled down enough to actually be ready for a fight. The week before my first fight I was taken to Waterlooville boxing club for a sparring session to see if I was ready. Being in a new environment was daunting, but I did very well against a boy who later became a pro, who is now my gym-mate (Ryan Moore) although he doesn’t remember it! We were actually meant to fight each other as our first fight but I was too heavy when the fight came around!
My first amateur fight was in Leigh Park Leisure Centre. The nerves were unbelievably bad. In fact, the nerves before any fight for me are horrible. When the bell rings the nerves leave me, but the actual waiting is horrendous. My first fight was against a guy called Billy Calcot who sadly I heard died in a motorcycle accident a few years later. I don’t remember a lot about my first fight other than being so tired in round two that I couldn’t keep my hands up and my chest was on fire, due to the smoking that was allowed in venues back then! I remember I made him take a count in the third round but I was so tired I slumped into the corner. The ref stopped the count to make me get off the ropes! After that fight I knew I needed to train harder and be fitter; every fight is all about learning. Anyway, I lost that fight and also lost a rematch a week later (a fight most people thought I won). I got my first win in my third fight, that was followed by a few more wins and a few more losses. But I was always learning and all my opponents always said I was tough and they didn’t enjoy fighting me. I lost one fight to a guy in Swindon and I went to his changing room after only to see him being taken to hospital with concussion, in contrast I felt fine!
Even though I now had the structure of boxing, outside the ring I was getting in plenty of trouble. I was constantly fighting at school and had a very big chip on my shoulder. I felt the whole world was against me and my senior school suspended me 17 times, and that’s not even including the times they just sent me home! Despite all my suspensions and bad behaviour, the teachers seemed to like me though and I left school with a mixture of average and above average grades, despite the fact I never did any studying!
I left school and did a year in college studying plumbing whilst I waited for an apprenticeship I had arranged with Terry Tews’ company. I finally started the apprenticeship but midway through the company hit bad times and had to let everyone go. This is where things got really bad … I became even more aggressive, even more of an unpleasant person and started doing many criminal things. I was still training and boxing but I wasn’t putting the effort I should have done into it. I fought in the novices in the under ten stone category at the age of 17 – the rules having been changed to allow Amir Khan to qualify for the Olympics. I remember the first time I got hit by an adult and it was like a news flash! There is a massive jump from junior to senior boxing but it was a lesson I enjoyed.
At the same time though, my life outside boxing had got so bad and my reputation was not good. I started to realise I was going nowhere and I wasn’t the person I wanted to be, so I decided to join the Army to try and turn myself around. I joined in May 2006 and started my basic training. It was the first time in years I didn’t feel like I had to live up to a reputation and I realised I didn’t have to fight everyone. In the Army respect was just earned! I loved my time in the Army and I would highly recommend it to anyone, I genuinely believe it made me a better person.
Once I had passed basic training (which I found easy to be honest!), I then went to Blandford to learn my trade, fixing generators to set up temporary power, and also serving as an Army driver. Whilst in Blandford I joined the regimental team and continued to box. My Army boxing career went well but was never against the highest level of competition. In all, I won eight out of nine army fights, including seven by stoppage or KO and the only loss was a disqualification, a common thing for me as I was disqualified a few times at my amateur club, all around the time when I had a bad attitude! In my amateur days, I boxed at many different weights from light-welter to super-heavy and back down again! When I first started I was 62kg. Within a year I was fighting at 75kg, where I stayed for a few years before moving to 81kg. In the army after a few injuries to my knee and foot I did a lot of weights and ballooned in size up to the 117kg division. I weighed 112 for my ‘heaviest fight’. Although I had success at this weight, if I had met bigger and better competition I would have probably come unstuck. My time in the army saw me do many things. Around the time I joined I got together with my wife, we had known each other since we were seven. Later, I got married and we had our first child, Jayden. I travelled all over in the Army, including an Afghan tour. At the end of the tour we had some terrible news. We lost a guy called Wayne Bland in a vehicle patrol. I still think of him all the time. The same day he died, my wife also had a miscarriage. It was a very bad time but that is life.
I was based in Germany for the majority of my time in the Army and also gained my ABA coaching badges. Once my son was born I decided I wanted to leave the army, I was no longer committed as much to the cause. My family had become more important to me than the Army and I found that I didn’t want to miss any of my son’s childhood so I signed off and left in 2010.
On leaving I went straight back to my amateur club. I was 111kg now and I desperately wanted to box again, but they insisted I get down to a decent weight, so I spent months training hard. I now realised that the Army had changed my entire mindset. I was now determined and dedicated, I trained harder and always gave 100 per cent; there was no messing around this time. With the help of coaches Gary White and Kenny Smart I made my comeback at 91kg in June 2010 in the Haringey Boxing Cup. I got to the semifinals and lost a very close decision. But I had boxed very well and realised that if I had trained this hard before I would have been a much better boxer! So I carried on training hard, losing more weight and entered the novice championships Under-20s the following season at 86kg. I beat the heavy favourite in my fight, won another Southern Counties and got to the quarter-finals.
I carried on picking up more wins and became a lot better boxer with the help of the coaches and then on a home show I was tested again by having another better opponent and winning by third round KO. I was finally at a comfortable weight where I didn’t have height disadvantages and that was 81kg. Everything looked like it was coming together. But then, two weeks later, disaster struck. I was boxing for Hampshire in a match and in the first round, without being hit, I twisted my knee and went down. I got back up again and spent the next minute and a half hopping on one leg but still trying to fight. I actually landed a nice left hook and thought my leg felt OK but when I put my full weight on it I collapsed. I was on the canvas again.
Never before in a boxing match had I even had a standing count so I was very upset about being stretchered out the ring. I had torn my cruciate ligament and had to have surgery. By the time I got back in the gym after surgery more weight had come on and I was now around 98kg again. I had to work hard to get this weight off as well as strengthen my leg again. By June 2012 I was ready to make my comeback at 81kg when I pulled my groin. It was a very minor injury but it made me realise that my heart had gone from the amateur game. I pulled out of the tournament at that point and decided: I’m going to go for my dream. Ever since I was seven I had wanted to be a pro boxer but I had never thought I was good enough. However a few trainers in the area had suggested to me for a while that I should go pro, arguing that I had a style that would suit the pro game better. After examining my options I decided to train with Michael Ballingall from Portsmouth. We gelled straight away, he genuinely cares for his fighters and has plenty of knowledge of the fight game. With his help I trained hard and made my pro debut against an unbeaten Italian Matteo Ceccetio on 15 September 2012. I won every round; my dream had come true. I was now a professional boxer with a win under my belt.
My second pro fight was against a debutant, a lad named Didier Blanch. I won again but injured my right hand in this fight and was out for eight months. More surgery was required, before I finally returned to the ring in September 2013 and won a bout against Angelo Crowe. However, I felt I had boxed terribly in this contest, so badly in fact that I went straight back in to the gym and have been there since working on all my negatives.
As well as being a pro, I’m a massive boxing fan. I watch thousands of fights in order to try and find ways to improve. I have now got former WBU, British and Commonwealth champ Tony Oakey helping me. Tony believes in me and his help has made me so much stronger. I also have a good Army following who come and watch me at all my fights. It’s always good to see them. I have donated fight money to two charities since I’ve been pro, once to the British Legion and the other time to a young lad in my local area who is blind. I don’t fight for the money, but for the glory.
When people ask me what I want to achieve in boxing, I say I want to be remembered. I want to win titles and I want to make a difference. To date, I’ve fought no journeymen! I’m doing OK in the domestic rankings and I have sparred with some of the best in the country and held my own. When people talk about my attributes as a boxer, they always mention my toughness, my never-give-up attitude and the fact that I would fight to the death. They also mention that I’m durable and always mention how big my heart is. It’s true – I will never give up!
My boxing heroes are Sugar Ray Robinson, Ali, Hagler, Tyson and Leonard. I love all those guys and I’m also a big Hatton fan. I follow all levels of boxing obsessively and my journey has only just begun. Quite a few people say I have a bright future and I hope so. I always give 100 per cent and having the Army guys at my fights, always cheering for me and getting behind me, makes me feel that when I fight we’re doing it together – in honour of those who never made it back.