WHAT makes a champion? It's not about lifting a cup or wearing a medal. It's simply about having the right mindset. Belief is everything. Believing you can do whatever you put your mind to. Believing you can overcome any obstacle. With the right teachers, anyone can have the mindset of a champion. Without a winning mindset you will fail when things get tough, no matter what you set out to achieve in life.
Boxing was my school. It taught me more than any conventional schooling ever did. While school teachers were giving up on me, my coaches were teaching me to never give up. I grew up in a working- class family in Waltham Abbey in Essex. Money was tight. I was one of four boys, the second youngest in the family. My dad knew boxing would teach us respect and discipline as well as fitness. He and mum would drive us four times a week to the Repton Club in Bethnal Green, East London. Even as a seven-year-old, I knew that boxing was my thing. I'd found something I loved, something I could do with passion.
From the age of 13 I was winning championships, flying all over the world, dreaming big. I had the confidence to do that purely because of the encouragement and passion and love that I was shown at Repton. The coaches believed in me. Some of my school friends ended up taking drugs and going to prison. Boxing instilled a discipline in me that steered me away from these things. When I was 16 I was with my friends in the park one day and they were taking drugs, my mum rang me and said 'there's a letter here for you from Sport England'. She opened it and it said I had been selected to fight for England in Romania. It felt like a reward for sticking to my guns and not getting involved in taking drugs.
Boxing in Bucharest against the world's best junior boxers was tough. Pretty early on in proceedings I realised that I would have to be prepared to stand my ground in the face of some intense provocation. Queuing up ahead of my quarter final bout, I was shoved aside dismissively by the Russian team. It was a blatant attempt to unsettle me. I knew accepting that dismissal by them was a step towards being defeated so I re-affirmed my position in that queue to keep my confidence in check. It may not seem a big deal but I knew even then how important it was to stand like a champion even before you climb through those ropes. I would go on to have the last laugh, beating Cuba to secure a World Youth Championship silver medal.
Even as a young boy I knew I'd have to work hard and show commitment to succeed. There's no room in boxing for half measures. You give it everything you've got or you will get hurt. And I don't just mean physically, it's about putting your dignity on the line and being able to handle losing. Losing is learning and it teaches you more than winning ever will. No one ever looks back on a victory and says 'I wonder what I did right there?' A quote I love from legendary boxing coach Cus D'Amato is 'losers are winners who quit. Even if you lose you still win if you don't quit.'
I remember crying my eyes out when, aged 12, I lost my first national final. But it spurred me on to make doubly sure I'd be national champion the year after. 10 years later I was pencilled in to fight Canadian boxer Adam Trupish live on Sky Sports. Adam was short in stature with a geeky appearance and I expected to beat him easily. Sadly, my complacency cost me. He knocked me out in the first round with a sweet right-hander to the chin. I felt completely humiliated but the fight taught me a very important lesson: underestimate your opponent at your peril. Sometimes you've got to hit rock bottom to lose the fear of it.
Boxing drove me forward when I had no money in my pocket and no secure abode. I've met Prince Charles, I've met the Queen, I've mixed with models and celebrities all because of my career in boxing. But because it's a great leveller, boxing has taught me to treat everyone the same regardless of celebrity status. Boxing gave me the confidence to set up my own business. I was never as nervous going into the ring as when I had to pitch for funding. But I did it. Now I teach everyone be they bankers or bricklayers at my gym 12x3 in London how to transform themselves through boxing. There is no sport like it to build discipline, stamina and self-awareness.
But like anything you want to achieve success in, you can't go into the ring half-heartedly. You have to have trained properly, studied your opponent and be fully committed mentally to winning. Put simply, you have to leave no stone unturned.
Ryan Pickard is Head Coach at luxury London boxing club 12x3. His career saw him fight in 100 bouts and represent England all over the world. To train with Ryan visit 12x3gym.co.uk