By Chris Williamson
With the eyes of the boxing world focused on close friend and training partner Kell Brook, Kid Galahad talks in depth with Boxing Scene about Brook's training camp, growing up as a protégé of legendary Sheffield trainer Brendan Ingle, the origin of his famous boxing nickname, friendship with Tyson Fury, promotional status, future plans and more.
Galahad was born Abdul-Bari Awad to a Yemen family in the UAE, moving to England as a toddler. As a young Yemeni in Sheffield, featherweight champion Naseem Hamed was an obvious role model and a young Awad sought out the Wincobank gym where the boxer learned his craft. Galahad tells ‘Scene it wasn't long before he asked Brendan for a ring moniker, like ‘The Prince’, to call his own.
“Brendan Ingle always had the knack for picking catchy nicknames for fighters. Arguably ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed had to be the best. A lot of casual boxing fans and people I've spoken to in the past actually believed he was a [genuine] Prince," laughs Galahad, who remains friendly with the former featherweight champ.
“‘Slugger O’Toole’ and ‘Big Paddy Reilly’ really grabbed peoples’ attention too,” continues Galahad, "so one day he [Ingle] came to me and [suggested] ‘Barry the Arab’, a name I was widely known as [among friends] at the time."
Galahad amusingly explains how teacher and pupil quickly concluded potentially racist undertones to ‘Barry the Arab’ would raise eyebrows with the modern media. "We may have gotten away with this name 20 years ago, but in this PC society it's probably going to upset a lot of people," laughs Galahad.
With ‘Barry the Arab’ binned, the father figure continued to suggest ring nicknames.
“It started off as Barry ‘The Kid’ Awad, then Brendan began talking about boxing movies. ‘Kid Awad’ became ‘Kid Galahad’ mainly because both names sounded as they ended and because he was a fictional boxer who had to come through the hard way. I liked the green and white gown too," adds Galahad of the robe Elvis Presley wore in the 1962 movie his adopted name was taken from.
In 1998 Brendan was awarded the MBE for services to boxing and work with young people in Sheffield. It's clear that, as with many youngsters, Brendan had an influence on the young boxer in ways far beyond choosing nicknames and even introducing sports.
"Brendan would take me on long walks and he would educate me, get me thinking and to start asking questions and not just to accept everything I was told," says Galahad with deep fondness for his mentor.
The Ingle camp, now led by Brendan's son Dominic, is a tight knit outfit, as demonstrated this week with the whole of Wincobank backing Brook as he challenges the fearsome Gennady Golovkin for the middleweight world title, two divisions above his usual weight. Galahad, a close training partner, argues a camp without the stress of making weight has made for a much more fruitful, positive camp.
“He's [Brook has] had much more energy throughout camp,” says Galahad. “In the past he's had to grind through 16 weeks of hard training while dealing with calorie restriction, [but moving to middleweight] he's found a new lease of life and is so much happier.”
While the boxing media strongly favours the dominant middleweight champion, Galahad has famously bet £500 on his friend to win on Saturday. Boxing Scene asks how he actually expects a win for Kell to unfold.
“I think ‘GGG’ will try to assert himself very early on and try to get Kell under control,” says Galahad. “As the rounds pass and he isn't as successful as he thinks he should be, he will get frustrated and make mistakes Kell can capitalise on. Every round will be hard fought with Kell managing to take them. [I predict] a late stoppage or points win for Brook.”
With Brook benefitting from Matchroom's lucrative pay-per-view commercial model for this fight, his earnings are directly linked to profits from the show and as such Brook has a significant say in the undercard arrangements. Brook came through on a pledge made during the dark days of Galahad's doping ban to feature his friend on his huge shows as and when the opportunity arose. As promised, Galahad features on Saturday's bill and is excited about the opportunity.
"It's a massive card with plenty of good fights. I aim to put on a show and get rid of my opponent," says Galahad.
Emiliano Salvini, the Italian who will be in the opposite corner to 26-year-old Galahad (19-0, 10 KOs), has a losing record (17-23-2, 2 KOs) while mixing at a reasonable level and has been stopped twice.
Galahad is looking to impress, particularly on such a high profile bill. “He's tough, awkward and comes to win,” he says, “but realistically I need to do a job on him and look good doing it.”
The dominant world champion at 122 pounds is the great Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux, whose last defence was against British champ Jazza Dickens, a fighter Galahad himself stopped in 10 rounds three years ago. Galahad is philosophical about seeing a fighter he'd beaten enjoy this opportunity.
“I sparred Jazza for that fight. We did seven or eight spars. It was great for him to get the chance and I would never begrudge another fighter getting chances like that,” says Galahad. “Unfortunately it came to an abrupt end [with Dickens suffering a broken jaw in the second round] and was a massive anticlimax. He [Dickens] didn't get the chance to showcase what he'd trained a full camp for. He still has plenty to offer.”
Galahad has doubts about how attractive a bout with Rigondeaux would be from an entertainment and commercial perspective, should the opportunity arise.
“Winning fights these days isn't enough,” he says. “He [Rigondeaux] didn't entertain. It wasn't sit on the edge of your seat, nail-biting action.
“He's deadpan throughout and his personality doesn't come through in interviews. [There's] nothing for the fans to grab onto. America is the place to make it in boxing and his promoter couldn't sell him and HBO weren't getting the numbers.
“He is a high risk, little reward proposition. It would take a very technical performance to beat him and watching two technical fighters probably wouldn't be good to watch for the fans.”
Galahad is, however, open to moving up to featherweight and was mightily impressed by the Fight of the Year candidate in which Carl Frampton outpointed Leo Santa Cruz.
“Frampton has looked better at 126 [pounds] and pulled off a career-best performance against Santa Cruz,” he says. “I expect Quigg to move up too and I'm not sure he will adapt as well as Frampton. It'll be interesting to see how many tune-ups he will need and get before he's put in a meaningful fight. I wouldn't have a problem moving up to face either at some point.
“Kiko Martinez is another guy I'd like to pit myself against. He's been in with everyone, [and is] a seasoned fighter.”
Galahad makes it clear he aims to jump straight into world level having already won British and EBU titles.
"[I’ve] already been there and done that," says Galahad. "[There is] no point going over old ground. I need to move forward on the world scene."
Gavin McDonnell, who is also on the Golovkin-Brook bill over eight rounds, holds the WBC Silver title and as such is highly ranked. Is this a route for the team to take?
“He's between a rock and a hard place,” responds Galahad. “He needs to throw himself into a world title fight soon and test himself, otherwise the young guns like Gamal Yafai and Tommy Ward will be snapping at his heels.”
“He won't fight me,” claims Galahad.
“I'm targeting anyone above me [in the rankings] in my division. Gavin McDonnell for one, but anyone in the top 10 of any of the sanctioning organisations.”
When Boxing Scene last caught up with Galahad he talked very highly of some of the youngsters at the Ingle gym including Kyle Yousaf, who has been inactive of late.
“Kyle had a minor injury and then Ramadan came along," reveals Galahad. “But he's got plenty of time and will be out end of September and is definitely one to watch.”
Galahad talks candidly on the subject of a doping ban served after testing positive for banned substance Stanozolol in 2014. Galahad argued he had been the victim of spiked drink supplement, with UK Anti-Doping suspending the boxer for two years, later cut by six months on appeal.
With the resulting time spent out of the ring and the perception from fans, Galahad is again philosophical and focuses on the future.
“I wasn't the first and I won't be the last fighter to get a suspension for failing a dope test,” he says. “It's set me back immensely and it will always be there like a bad penny. But I have the dedication and belief I will still achieve. Time will tell in the end.”
Galahad has an easy and relaxed demeanour away from the cameras and it's not difficult to understand how he developed a friendship with world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who shares Galahad's deep passion for the sport.
“He came over to our gym many times to spar Richard Towers and it started from there,” reveals Galahad. “Also [there is] our connection with Mick Hennessy.
“He's a similar age to me, we talk boxing and have a laugh. I just get on with him, [Tyson's uncle and trainer] Peter and the team. They invited me over to Germany when he won the [world] title and it was a fantastic experience. Tyson tells the best stories.”
Galahad also revealed that he is a promotional free agent, which brings its own pros and cons in terms of securing fights.
“It's never easy either way,” says Galahad. “I'm sure I will attract some attention over the next few fights and I will keep calling out the big names while I do.”
