Kash Farooq: My neighbours didn’t know I was a boxer unitl TV fight

Kash Farooq has flown under the radar. Picture: SNS

Should he succeed, the 23-year-old Glaswegian, who has won all 12 of his professional contests, could decide to step up to the European level. However, his preference would be to take on Edinburgh’s unbeaten Lightning Lee McGregor before the end of 2019.

It’s a meeting which would certainly capture the imagination of Scottish fight fans; McGregor has won six of his seven bouts by stoppage while five of Farooq’s last six bouts have failed to go the distance.

“I need to get this [Winters] fight out the way first; it’s my main focus,” said Farooq. “I’d then like to fight at the end of the year and I think Lee wants it.

“The British Boxing Board of Control have made him the mandatory challenger if I win this so it’s going to happen at some time, one way or another.

“If it was down to me I’d want to fight him but it’s also down to my management and the plans. After this, if I win it outright, then it becomes a business and it needs to make sense before we can take it.

“He did a job on Scott Allan but I’m a different kettle of fish to Scott.

“It’s on the night, two styles clashing.”

Farooq maintains a monastic lifestyle. Not only does he abstain from alcohol, he doesn’t even go out.

When he’s not out running or working in the gym, he’s at home watching DVDs of boxing’s biggest bouts, studying the styles of champions from the 1940s and 50s up to the present day.

He’s all business and not remotely interested in the fame which inevitably accompanies success in the ring; indeed, he’s so reluctant to promote himself that the first time the elderly couple who live next door realised what he did for a living was when they happened to catch BBC Scotland’s live coverage of his second title defence against Kyle Williams in April.

“My neighbours watched me that night,” he said. “They didn’t know I boxed before – but they stayed up to watch me!

“Since then, they’ve asked to see the belt. They’re older but they’re boxing fans. They got their family over, they brought their children and said I needed to show them the belt as well.

“I’ve boxed for the past ten years but they didn’t know about it until they saw me on TV. They’ve seen me go away early in the mornings to train but they probably just thought I was going off to work. I was, of course, but it was actually roadwork. They’re my fans now, though, so they’ll be watching the next fight.”

He will be expected to beat Winters and he is unimpressed by the 31-year-old Winters’ (11-1) claims on social media that he will prevent him from becoming the first Asian boxer – he was born in Lahore – to keep the coveted Lonsdale Belt.

“Winters has been shouting his mouth off about what he’s going to do but I’ve already been through that with Williams, Jamie Wilson and Iain Butcher,” said the champion.

“You can talk all you want but, at the end of the day, you’ve got to fight and I think Winters is forgetting that part.

“He’s also coming up to Scotland and that’s another thing – Winters will need to beat me in my own back yard and, as soon as he steps through those ropes, he’ll realise he’s going to be in for a hard night.

“I don’t need to get involved in all that nonsense. All I’ve got to do is win and I’ll let my hands do the talking. My work ethic, my mindset, it’s all about wanting to win; I’m not going to underestimate him by any means.

“I’m treating him like a world champion. I want to be step ahead of him so I’m waking up earlier, I’m training that extra bit harder. I’ve got motivation. It’s my defence. I’m not on big shows yet so I’m in the same position as him – my belt is the only difference.”

Winters was almost 27 before he entered the paid ranks and this could realistically be both his first and last opportunity to become British champion. Farooq will not be taking him lightly.

“It’s about how many punches you take, it’s not about your age,” he stressed.

“You could be a young man but take 20 punches; I could be done by 25 or 26 if I take too much punishment.

“Personally, I’m not looking at this as his last chance – it could be my last chance. I need to win, win, win. I don’t know how old Andy Ruiz is [he’s 29] but he’s just won a world title [by stopping Anthony Joshua] . Age is not a factor.”