Eggington: Belts are nice, but money has to be the bottom line

Sam Eggington with Jon Pegg…a truly amazing career

THE fire that blazes within Sam Eggington, the storm that he brings to rings, suggest boxing’s very much a passion for the battle scarred Black Country warrior.

The amazing boxer – a man who has featured in some of the last decade’s most dramatic domestic dust-ups – lives to fight. He has earned his nickname The Savage the hard way.

It is, the Stourbridge boxer stressed, a misconception. He fights to live, and there is a difference.

The belts – and there have been plenty of them in an epic career that began without fanfare in 2012 – are nice. Eggington isn’t really interested in the accolades. He certainly doesn’t crave gushing PR.

But cash is everything. It is a bleeding business and Eggington, shining star of Birmingham’s Eastside gym, wants to ensure his is a successful bleeding business.

He will chase the money. Given the option of a lesser opponent and lesser world belt, or top world title and very formidable opposition he will want the contest with greater cash reward.

On March 1, at Telford International Centre, the 30-year-old writes another chapter in a career that has defied the odds at every turn.

Sam will face accomplished and dangerous German Abass Baraou, who has lost only one of 15. It is a tough ask in a career of tough asks.

Eggington is not a man who pores over videos of future opponents. “I only know what I’ve been told (about Baraou),” he said. “I’ve seen a couple of 30 second clips here and there, but I don’t get much out of watching videos. I let the training team do that.

“It’s going well. I started training before Christmas and the phone call came at the right time. The groundwork has been done, now it’s the hard work, then training for him.”

Eggington, guided by manager Jon Pegg from the start, was in reflective mood when I caught up with him. He doesn’t care, but believes his 42 fight career has not received the acclaim it merits. He is not losing sleep over it.

He has, he insists, had the last laugh on those who wrote him off, those who said the string of thrilling encounters had caught up with the beast from the Black Country. I’ll admit to being a part of the latter camp.

One day, perhaps, the critics will grasp the enormity of what Eggington has achieved. In the very beginning, he was expected to gain a Midlands title at best.

Twelve years on, he has ruled at British Commonwealth and European level, taken the “O” from a long line of unbeaten boxers, won back to back fight of the year gongs and captured the IBO portion of the world light-middleweight crown.

In his last contest, eight months ago, Sam dismantled and destroyed thunderous punching Joe Pigford, on a 20 bout winning streak before being mauled.

He said: “I don’t want credit, I just want to be kept active,” he insisted. “I know a lot of people want credit, want to be in the public eye, want to be on the sports pages and that’s good. But I don’t.

“The belts are important because money comes with the belts, but those scraps of metal will gather dust when I retire. They’re not going to pay for dinner.”

In all honesty no boxing writer expected Eggington to achieve what he has. A near pathological will to win, the kind of courage rewarded with medals and conditioning have driven him to the top.

“I love proving them wrong,” he said. “There were people who said I’d have a three year career. When I won a Midlands title they said, ‘that’s his ceiling’. When I won the British title they said, ‘that’s his ceiling’. People are saying it now.

“They say, ‘he can’t box like that forever’, ‘this is his last fight’. If they keep saying it, one day they are going to be right.

“I fought Joe Pigford, a dangerous puncher, away from home. I did a good job and got left in the dust. That’s what registered more – I didn’t want to be on the front page. That performance should’ve got me a good fight last year.”

Eggington is a fighter guaranteed to give fans their money’s worth – and then some. Yet he appeared subdued, even listless, when losing his IBO belt on points to Aussie veteran Dennis Hogan Down Under.

Sam looks back on the experience with few happy memories. It was way too far from home.

“I was a shell of myself,” he admitted. “Anywhere else, I would’ve beat him. I kept on thinking, if anything goes wrong (with the family), I’m 24 hours and three planes away. I couldn’t shake that off.

“It’s not for me. Ask (trainers) Soggy and Louie (Counihan), I was a miserable, nasty person over there.

“We did a few things, went to the Opera House and Bondi Beach. But if, after a few days, they’d said they’d pay me to hand over the belts and go home, I’d probably have taken it.

“Know what? When I got back, the kids didn’t even notice I’d gone. I thought they’d be having sleepless nights.”

Eggington seems to have been in pro boxing forever, he seems to have fought championship bouts forever.

Yet he refuses to ponder a life after boxing.

“I think as soon as you think about what’s after boxing, you know it’s time to get out,” he added.

In any case, there’s another mountain to climb, with the European title looming. And Eggington’s relishing the chance to wave from the very top to those who said he couldn’t reach it.