“I remember, when I was amateur, I’d never known anyone who won ABAs or got to the final,” Sam Noakes tells BoxingScene. “Then obviously I done it, and it was ‘Maybe I know what I’m doing’.”
The lightweight from Maidstone, England cuts a consistently unassuming figure at his trainer Alan Smith’s Ibox Gym in Bromley, south London, regardless of the fact that he is preparing for the revered Abdullah Mason and his defining fight.
Noakes and Mason are to contest the vacant WBO title on Saturday evening at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the undercard of David Benavidez-Anthony Yarde.
The 28 year old is particularly imposing and heavy-handed for a lightweight – Smith calls him “rugged” and Smith’s friend Adam Booth describes him as a “thug” – but nothing about Noakes demands that he’s ever the centre of attention in the way that in so many respects Mason’s considerable abilities demands that the American already is.
It is little secret that Mason, 21 years old and one of the American fight scene’s most natural talents, is “supposed” to win Saturday’s contest but Noakes is both sufficiently laidback and enjoying the prospect of his biggest test that he carries himself with the quiet confidence of someone who believes he knows something that most of those around him don’t.
That same confidence and sense of security contributed to his comfort when mixing with the Walsh brothers at the press conference to announce his fight in December 2024 with Ryan Walsh, him revealing with a laugh to BoxingScene that his few words at that press conference owed only to the fact he was trying to encourage it to finish so that he could use the toilet, his willingness to join boxing-led classes at his local exercise gym, and Smith considering him, psychologically, the strongest fighter he’s had.
“The funny thing is, yeah, I never really thought I was going to go pro, to be honest with you,” he explains. “I never – when I first started I was like, ‘I’m gonna stop’, ‘cause you do juniors and seniors. When I first started I said ‘I’m not gonna do senior boxing, I’ll just do junior and then I’ll stop’, and then obviously carried on, and then we got to the point where we kept winning these fights.
“I won ABAs, and then the next step’s going pro, but I’ve never known anyone who done it. I got the phone call about doing it, obviously done it, and as soon as I turned pro it was like, ‘Boom, right – I want that’.
“I got a phone call from Francis [Warren, my manager and the son of the promoter Frank], but I don’t know if Al’ later let on… I feel like someone told Al’, and then they told the office, ‘There’s a kid coming up from Kent who’s been knocking everyone out’, and then, literally, my trainer got the phone call and then rung me. ‘Fuck me, I’ve just had Francis Warren on the phone, he wants you to go up to Stevenage and watch the Billy Joe Saunders card [in 2019]’.
“That was the first time ever, and then [Warren] said, ‘Right, I’m not gonna beat around the bush, we want to sign you’, and then I come down, met Al’ and met the boys, joined straight in, and then here we are, six years down the line.”
Saturday’s contest is widely considered one between one fighter, in Noakes, at his physical peak, and another, in Mason, whose same peak could well yet be well into his future. They regardless have been matched partly because of the perception that Noakes lacks anything like Mason’s IQ and boxing abilities, and that Mason’s talents are such that Noakes’ considerable physicality will be overcome.
Smith is among those who recognises the calibre of fighter Mason is likely to mature into. Walsh, who also once shared the ring with the former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby, considers Noakes to have vastly under-appreciated timing and speed.
Noakes, ultimately, presents like he hasn’t compared he and his opponent with anything like the same conviction – in many respects like a particular nature of undefeated fighter wouldn’t when he has become accustomed to succeeding regardless of his opponent as long as he performs to close to his best.
“You say that – I just hide [emotion] well,” he says. “It’s more just like your poker face, innit? You know what I’m sayin’? Everyone goes they’re not nervous, ‘I’m not thinking about it’, but you’ve just gotta keep that level-headed and not let on too much.
“Yeah [I’m nervous]. I think, in a good way though. I don’t feel like I’m worried about what’s gonna happen. It’s just like – it’s a big thing, I’ve been working towards it for the last six years. If you weren’t nervous – all them nerves are making me do is train harder, put that little work in, so nerves are good. If you weren’t nervous you don’t care.
“I’m sitting at home and I’m thinking, ‘Mate, I’ve gotta spar later’, and then obviously I get in ‘ere and as soon as the bell goes you’re alright but the thought of it’s just long, innit? I don’t think about the fight so much when I’m in ‘ere, really. The only way I can really put it – you know when you feel like you got a long day ahead of you? You wake up in the morning and you’re like, ‘Babe, I got a long day today – work’s gonna be long’, and that’s how I feel about sparring, you know what I mean? I sit down on the settee and I’m thinking, ‘Ah, mate, I hope it goes well today’, do you know what I mean?
“It’s like, where we often dive straight in – I know everyone says they’re gonna be world champion and obviously I’ve always believed it – but certain things happened beforehand. We knew it was coming. We nearly had a world-title chance back end of last year, and then got made into the number one [contender], so I’m meant to be in this position, you know what I’m sayin’? It is still a little bit strange, ‘cause when I think about it everyone’s like, ‘You must be buzzin’, I really put it – not so much the training – but I put the fight to the back of my mind ‘cause we’re not there yet.
“I don’t wanna end up burning out before I get there, but it is – when I look back afterwards, it’s gonna be surreal. More when I get there – when you walk out, when I go over it in my head, it does make me smile. Starting to feel [exciting] now; it’s starting to hit ‘ome.
“He’s fast; he’s skilful, do you know what I mean? He is going to be dangerous early on – he’ll probably be dangerous for most the fight, to be honest, but you don’t get no easy world-title fights. I’m more than up for it, and quite a dangerous fighter myself, to be honest, so I think: good match-up.
“There ain’t many [weaknesses]. There ain’t many. We’ll sniff ‘em out. But I think, it’s more so, I’ve just got to get in there and do my best. I said it on a podcast I did yesterday – I’ll be giving it 110 per cent. I’ve got 36 minutes to change my life, and that’s what I’m just gonna do, mate, and what will be will be, innit?”
To what extent does Noakes agree with those who are wary that Saturday could prove too early for Mason, who in turn could suffer at the hands of Noakes’ size and strength?
“To be honest, we’ve both worked ourselves to this position, innit? He might have [physically] peaked earlier than me and maybe… do you know what I’m saying? At the end of the day – cor, they’re going at it there, ain’t they? [Noakes nods in the direction of a sparring session taking place meters away] – we’re both meeting at the right time, probably, we think for us. I couldn’t be more prepared for a fight than I am for this one.
“I think the beauty of it all is he’s 21. I weren’t even pro at his age. Even if he loses, or when he loses, it’s gonna be – if you lose at world level, no one’s gonna be ‘He’s rubbish – he’s lost a world-title fight’, do you know what I’m sayin’? I think that’s the beauty of it, and I think you just gotta get in there and do what you can at the end of the day.
“He already is [a great fighter]. He already is. It’s not even about trying to old-man him or whatever the saying is, he already is a great fighter, whichever way you look at it. I just think it’s my time.”
It was in early July that the date and location of Mason-Noakes was confirmed, and when Noakes, having so recently travelled to the Greek party island of Mykonos where he saw the celebrated DJ Black Coffee, started his fight preparations overweight – “we’re happier than where we started [with my body fat], I know that much”. Since then, and having returned to his fighting shape, some of his focus has been on minimising the risk of burning out.
Particularly beneficial was the unlikely opportunity of sparring, in Bromley, the great Shakur Stevenson – an even more talented southpaw than Mason represents – and as a consequence the knowledge that Stevenson has since declared himself among Noakes’ fans.
“It was good,” says Noakes, whose 30-year-old brother Sean is also a professional, at welterweight. “I remember I was sat down for a Chinese on a Sunday, and [Smith] rings me, ‘You’re sparring tomorrow’, and I was like I ain’t even in training, but I thought it was one of the boys, getting ready for a fight.
“He said ‘Shakur’s coming down’, and I said ‘Shakur who?’ He was like ‘Stevenson’ and I put me chicken ball down and started thinking ‘Oh my God’, but we got in there and it was good, and the timing – having a spar with a world-level lightweight and southpaw, couldn’t come at a better time, leading up to this fight.
“[It was] a massive benefit. Massive. ‘Cause the thing is you see them on TV, everyone’s a superstar and all that, and then you see them in the gym and then you spar him, and you see that the margins ain’t that far away, especially when I weren’t even in camp. He knew I was in there, definitely.
“We see the clip – he done an interview afterwards, and he said about how ‘He’s one of the strongest I’ve sparred’ and all that, but the thing is, when you’re in ‘ere you don’t talk too much [with him]. You spar, and had a little laugh, and then after that I was in a hurry to get home and he had things to do, so…
“It just shows that what I’m doing works. If I can close the gap and lands shots on arguably one of the greatest fighters of this generation, what am I gonna do, you know what I mean, come fight night?
“I don’t think you can even dispute saying something like [Stevenson’s better than Mason]. That ain’t trash talk. Realistically he is, in’t he? Look what he’s done. He’s a three-weight world champion, in’t he?
“I’m feeling good. I’m getting towards the business end now; we’ve been saying ‘We’ve got ages; we’ve got ages’, but it’s just starting to set in, really, and feel more real.
“It was hard at first, then it got easier, and now it’s a little bit harder where the sparring’s up, we’re doing more rounds and things like that, and then it’ll probably be shit now the calories are down and the works up. We’ll get through this and then we’re home, really.
“You know what? It’s funny. I moan about it the whole way through but I do enjoy being in the gym. It’s more like, when you’re in the gym that’s when you’re training; you’re buzzing, and everything’s planned around that, but you know when you’re sitting at home and doing nothin’ all day – I was saying there’s a fine line before doing too much and doing not enough. It’s quite hard to get that gauge because obviously if I’m training at 5pm, by the time I get to 3pm I think I can have a little nap, but it’s just little sort of things – I’d rather be doing that than going to work.
“You can burn out. I had a bit of a flat week last week, but you won’t just feel good, feel good, feel good; you get to a point, and then you have a dip; then you go up again. As long as we peak on the 22nd it don’t really matter; as long as you’re aware of that. We got to a stage where I haven’t always gotta go mad. I was gonna go for a run tonight but we’re all good now so I probably won’t. I’m unsure – I’ll see how I feel when I’m driving past the gym. I might swing in.
“I’m dressed for it anyway. It’s conditioning; a little bit of weight maintenance, but it’s more, I switch off. When I’ve got my headphones on I can go off on a little day dream; it’s quite therapeutic, you know what I’m sayin’? ‘Cause obviously this [in Smith’s gym] is all flat-out; you gotta be on it; you gotta be on it; you gotta be sharp. ‘Cause I’m on the treadmill I can zone out for half hour, 45 minutes, you know what I mean? It is good for you to do.
“We all get on well [here]. We all see each other outside the gym, and I think – I’m one of the old ones now. I’ve been here the longest. But we all get in and spar; we all get on well; it’s a good dynamic, and it’s good for everyone and we’re all competitive as well. We all give each other stick and on the track and that, but we also help each other out, so it’s brilliant for training situations.”
Noakes had told BoxingScene in July that he had no intention of studying footage of Mason until he, Smith and Eddie Lam sit down to do so towards the final weeks of his preparations.
If he was one part wary of the risk of overthinking his opponent and the potential contribution of doing so to the process of burning out, he was also one part confident in not only his abilities but in the long-term training methods that have delivered 15 knockouts and 17 victories from his 17 fights.
In the event of victory Mason – particularly at a time of such instability for his promoters Top Rank – will return to the US transformed into one of his sport’s leading lights. Noakes, a roofer until boxing became his full-time focus, will out of choice return to his low-key existence regardless, even in an era when British boxing is at such a low ebb.
“I’ve watched little bits [of Mason], but we’re getting to the point now where we are gonna start watching it,” he says. “I’ll probably sit down with the boys and have a little watch of it and things like that.
“Thing is, how long do you need to study? He’s probably gonna be doing the same. As long as you look for the fundamentals that I’ll be looking for, and then, just go from there. Boxing’s very instinctive, innit? Do you know what I mean? You can’t plan too much. If you had a plan and tried to follow it step by step, round one it’ll go out the window, you know what I mean?
“[Join] Al’ and Ed, then just have a little look through it. We’ve never really had a fight of this magnitude – we’ve been going through it a little bit, doing more drills and doing everything and then just working right. Making sure that we peak for this moment.
“I won’t be doing hours. I won’t be doing that. You don’t need to watch too much. As long as you get that base idea, ‘cause as I said before, everyone looks at each other, don’t they?
“He’s watching me; I’m watching him, and then you get in there and think, ‘He don’t normally do that’, do you know what I mean?”
