By John Evans
It was the fifth round of a routine six round learning fight for Heywood’s Kieran Farrell and, frustrated by his opponent’s lack of ambition, the lightweight seemingly did his best to channel the great Roy Jones Jr in his January 2000 clash with David Telesco.
Backing into a corner, leaning on the ropes and inviting his opponent to come and fight him. However, whereas Jones was adding a touch of showmanship to a one sided world title fight in glamorous New York City, Farrell wanted to mix it with a 9-38-2 journeyman in Oldham Sports Centre. It’s fair to say the 21-year-old enjoys his work.
“I know people say they’re doing it for the money but I’m not” said Farrell when speaking to Boxingscene. “I’m doing it because I love the sport. It’s not been in the family or anything, I got took to the gym when I was seven because I was always fighting and I just loved it. When I was growing up I used to watch a lot of Prince Naseem, Mike Tyson and obviously Ricky Hatton made me love the sport even more when he was doing his thing.”
Whilst it’s clear that Farrell loves his chosen profession it is also obvious that he is relishing the chance to follow in his heroes footsteps. Growing up close to Manchester during Hatton’s rise to the top there is no way that a boxing mad youngster could fail to be influenced by the ‘Hitman’.
“I remember I used to say ‘Awww, I don’t know if Ricky can win this one!’ when he was fighting Eamonn Magee and those on his way up but he always kept winning” recalls Farrell. “When he fought Floyd Mayweather though, I remember saying ‘He’s gonna win this one!’”. Although Hatton’s knockout loss caused disappointment throughout British boxing, the teenage Farrell took it harder than most.
“I was gutted. I stayed up all night to watch. It was pissing it down outside and I went out and did a five mile run with tears in my eyes because he got beat. I was only 15”.
Farrell fights under the Hatton Promotions banner and receives invaluable one to one tuition from his idol. Primarily based at Bobby Rimmer’s Boxing Academy in Duckinfield in Greater Manchester, the fighter - who calls himself ‘Vicious’ - ventures over to Hatton’s establishment in Hyde regularly.
“Bobby Rimmer trains me full time and gets me really fit and I go and do my technique work with Ricky” he enthuses. “Anything I wanna ask him, I can. I don’t imitate his style but I box in a similar way to him. I like to throw a lot of power shots but Ricky was telling me that it’s more about throwing a lot of fast shots to blind them and then sinking in a big body shot. He says that he doesn’t have to strap that body belt on with me because he knows I can punch. He wants to work on my defence, getting faster hands and my combinations.”
Farrell’s record makes interesting reading. He actually turned professional as a 112lbs flyweight in January 2009. Farrell then steadily rose in weight whilst recording four comfortable decision victories before disappearing from view. When he reappeared ten months later, he was a bristling lightweight.
“I’m not likening myself to Manny Pacquiao but he’s a good example, there’s also a guy called Mercito Gesta who turned pro at 7st 12lb and now boxes as high as light welterweight.
“I was 18 years old, 5ft 2in tall, really skinny and with balls too big for me. I shouldn’t have been fighting pro. It just felt like a natural progression though. I’d represented my country as an amateur but didn’t want to fuck about with the Olympics. I could have gone for 2012 but I thought ‘What would I rather do? Win an Olympic gold medal or be a British champion?’ I wanna be British champion. That’s probably the nicest belt ever. I wanna be a world champion too and that’s what I’m gonna do. I know I’m because there’s nobody as dedicated as me. I’ve got too much will to win to not get there”.
Having served his eleven fight apprenticeship at such a wide variety of weights, Farrell has faced a who’s who of British journeymen with everybody from Delroy Spencer to Sid Razak having dropped point’s decisions to the youngster. With a style based on Hatton’s and just two stoppages in his eleven bouts, you could be excused for thinking of Farrell as a hustle and bustle lightweight who gets the job done with volume. The numbers could be deceiving. For all the invaluable experience journeymen provide, they rarely get stopped. The first man to really open up and test Farrell could be in for a nasty surprise.
“I know I can punch. I’ve sparred people, I’m not gonna start saying names, and wobbled them and that’s with 14oz gloves and headgear on” claims Farrell. “I’m not even really bothered about it – well, I am because I always like to look for stoppages but I know that they’ll come when they open up more”.
Referring back to the recent fight with Youssef Al Hamidi in which frustration got the better of him, Farrell admits he still has lots to learn but is adamant that we won’t see the best of him until he faces somebody who shows some ambition.
“I had to make a point the other day. I had to show that he was running and say ‘How can I catch somebody who’s running?! How can I stop somebody who’s just gonna run and be a punchbag?’ it’s not gonna work unless the referees on your side. The referees are never on my side because of all that cut throat shit that I do. I don’t do that with bad intentions, I do it as part of the event. It’s entertainment for the people who pay money for tickets. It wasn’t too bad to be honest.”
“It was the fifth round where I went to the ropes and I got told off for it by Bobby. We had a plan going in that I’d cut the ring off and sink the body shots in but it was a bit different in the ring. He wasn’t just moving around, he was literally running! Ricky came in the changing rooms after the fight and told me that if I’d shown him a gap, he might have stepped in. That’s where I could have moved in and cut him off. He said he’ll teach me more of that when I do my sessions with him”.
Probably adding to the sense of annoyance on the night was the fact that Farrell was initially scheduled for his first step up in level. “I wanted to fight ‘Dezzi’ Higginson,” he says.
“He pulled out of the fight with me and fought Paul Truscott on the same show. That speaks for itself. He humiliated himself there a bit. He pulled out of a fight with me then gets beaten on the same show. Stupid. I don’t think he’d have lasted two rounds with me. His styles made for me. He does bring it but with the power I do carry, I would have exposed him straight away.”
That step up is likely to come next time out and if Farrell has his way he will be fighting for his first professional title. “I’m gonna speak to my manager Paul Speak and the name I’m want to put forward is John Baguley for the Central Area lightweight title. That’s the first belt I want so why not? If they can’t make that they’re talking about an eight rounder against better opposition like a Gary McArthur or somebody along those lines.”
The lightweight scene in Britain is currently buzzing and contains possibly our deepest pool of talent. Farrell is an honest fighter and will readily admit that he is a couple of years away from challenging at the top of the division. If his undoubted desire and passion can be matched by a continued improvement, there is no reason why he can’t make it.
