Dean Edwards - Trainer/Manager/Cutman/Hand Wrapping Specialist

Dean Edwards of Hard Hitters Pro Boxing Gym is known to be one of the very top cutsmen and hand wrapping specialists in the UK, but when recently talking to BoxingQnA, he also showed just why his knowledge and passion for the sport makes him an excellent teacher and manager also. Dean took the time to discuss some of the dynamics of boxing management, his own boxing background, as well as going into detail about the core principles of developing and preparing fighters.

How did you end up getting into training, managing, becoming renowned a hand wrapping specialist, and also a being cutsman as well?

My dad boxed and was an unbeaten light-heavyweight before eventually giving up boxing. He was trying to work two jobs and fighting as well in order to support a young family, so something had to give. Boxing wasn't making much money, so he gave up and got a third job instead. My mum's two brothers boxed also, so it was really just a natural thing that the eldest lad in our family would end up boxing. I followed in their footsteps, but unfortunately my boxing brain was always much better than my own boxing ability (laughs). Needless to say, I wasn't very good, but then I started helping with training at my old amateur gym, Small Heath ABC, and also at Pat Benson Boxing Academy. I then progressed into training professional fighters after having a conversation one day about the politics in amateur boxing and how I was fed up with it with my best friend, business partner and co-trainer, Paul Hudson, who was training Steve Bendall and Neil Simpson at the time, while he had also trained Mark Payne and some other local Midlands fighters. He asked me if I would be interested in joining him in training the pros as I had been in and around boxing my whole life and he needed help since he had more and more lads coming to join him.

With regards to managing, it was always our plan (Dean and Paul Hudson) from early on that we would start managing our own lads so that we would have more say in who and when they fought. Unfortunately, there are a lot of snakes in boxing who are only interested in the pound note and don't care about the fighters. All our lads past and present can tell you we've never been like that and that we have always looked out for them and cared about them first and foremost. We will hopefully one day look to move into promoting, too.

Last but not least, I've always been intrigued in how to wrap a fighters hands correctly to order to minimise damage to their hands and working on cuts also. I started looking into that and developing my own techniques early on with both hands and cuts, so naturally I ended up taking that role on, and in all honesty, I enjoy that more than training most of the time. Luckily none of my lads have ever suffered hand injuries or been stopped on cuts, so I must be doing something right (laughs).

Who are some of the fighters currently under your tutelage or being managed by you?

I currently manage big punching Chris Keane, a former ABA & Three Nations heavyweight Champion & current Midlands Area cruiserweight. champion as a professional. Current mandatory British & commonwealth super-featherweight contender Troy James. Unbeaten light-heavyweight prospect Joe Sherriff. Sussex based fighter Alex Dilmaghani, who is over in Mexico training and fighting for the last couple years with Nacho Bernstein at the famous Romanza Gym alongside Juan Manuel Marquez, Jhonny Gonzalez and Jorge Arce to name but a few. I also manage a new heavyweight kid signing called Dilly & a light-welterweight called Micheal Green who is making his debut on November 28th in Birmingham. I also work alongside John Costello and Lee Beard with the big punching WBO European super-middleweight champion, Jamie Cox, top lightweight prospect Joe Costello, super bantamweight former ABA Champion Raza Hamza and all the lads in that camp, including Adrian Gonzalez, Jack Catterall. I'm lucky to be surrounded by some serious talent, as first and foremost I'm a massive boxing fan and always have been, even has a kid. I study the sport relentlessly and I truly feel lucky to work with all these good people and top talents.

What kind of criteria must a fighter meet in order for you to considering entering into the arrangement of managing them?

If a lad comes to me and ask me to either train him or manage him, firstly, if he is not known to me, I like to find out about his amateur background if he has one. Also, talk a little about boxing with them just to get a sense if they know their boxing or not, if they study it, or if they just like the idea of being known as a boxer. I will then put them through a session, some bag work, pads, possibly a light spar or move around and watch them closely to see if they have any boxing ability, or assess if they really have boxed before since some will claim they have, but it soon becomes clear that they haven't. If there is something there that I can work with, only then would I agree for them to come back and train with us. I would then see what their commitment is like, then after a while I would start the procedure of putting them forward for a boxing license and sign management contracts with them once I am confident that they are equipped enough to look after themselves in a boxing ring.

As a manager, what kind of things have to be taken care of for a fighter?

As a manger, it's my job to look after all the business side of things, dealing with the stress that comes from that and keeping all the politics away from the lads as much as possible so that they can just concentrate on training and fighting. I try and get my lads the right fights at the right time and ultimately try and manoeuvre them into a position where they can get title shots.

How important is it that a prospect gets the right kind of learning fights when on their way up?

It's very important for the lads to get the right learning fights on their way up. To match them correctly and gradually get them in with slightly tougher and also more awkward opposition so they can learn and tick certain boxes in their development that will help them when they move up in levels. It's important not to overmatch them or knock their confidence with a tough fight or a loss early on as while some fighters are mentally strong enough to deal with that if it happens, a lot of them aren't, so it's our job as managers and matchmakers to try our best to make sure our lads are progressed responsibly until they are ready to be let off the leash so to speak

Would you say that some fans perhaps underestimate the necessary time and dedication that goes into a propect's "learning curve" before they are ready to step up?

I think a lot of fans are much more clued up these days and can appreciate the learning period a fighter needs to go through. Some still aren't and will moan when lads blow their opponents out of there quickly or about some of the imports brought over that might seem to roll over easily, but they aren't taking the punches, so it's easy for them to say. In general though, there's a lot more that are knowledgeable and who appreciate that the lads need these learning fights to help them progress in their careers.

Which is worse, a fighter stepping up too soon and suffering a setback, or a fighter stunting their development by padding their record with fights that they are no longer taking much away from?

In my opinion, it's worse for a fighter to just pad their records with easy fights and for those opponents to not just slowly increase in toughness, have different styles and slightly better abilities as that's the whole idea behind the process of building up a prospect. To equip them for the challenge and give them every opportunity to win by becoming familiar switch hitters, orthodox, southpaws, counter punchers, aggressive come forward fighters, boxers, brawlers, big punchers, good movers, good jabbers, negative fighters.

How awkward is it when training an orthodox fighter and then suddenly they are scheduled their first southpaw opponent in a while? Does it typically take a while to get them used to the inverted angles, moving a bit more to the left, and starting more attacks with the right hand instead of the left, etc.?

Every fighter is different. Some deal with it easily, while some find it very difficult but I believe that's more of a mental thing. For example, Chris Keane finds southpaws pretty easy to fight. In fact, out of all the southpaws he has faced both in the amateurs and as a pro, he has knocked all but two of them out. As long as you don't let a southpaw get into a good rhythm where they establish their jab, it's not too bad. It's just minor adjustments then, usually big straight right hands against southpaws, but they can be cute to them as they've grown up being taught to avoid that shot from the orthodox fighter, so I teach the lads to throw combinations when attacking and to finish those combinations with a left hook against the southpaw as they will turn out into it. As well as that, there's the adjusting of the footing and establishing your own good jab and double jab towards the shoulder and chest area, but every trainer is different and every fighter is different, so you prepare accordingly to strengths and weaknesses

How much time goes into devising a strategy or gameplan for an opponent?

The final few weeks of camp is when all the game plan works starts being put into practise. We do sessions in-between our other sessions just working on strategy and game plan. It's a very important part of the fight to have a plan A, B & C if needed. For example when we had Troy James up against the then unbeaten prospect Ronnie Clark in a British title eliminator, Ronnie had watched Troy knock out Chris Male in his first eliminator and other footage of Troy coming forward all aggressive. so he tried to get under Troy's skin with insults as he wanted to stand and trade and have a brawl in there. What he didn't was that we prepared for what he had in store. Ronnie was a southpaw who had about a 3-4" reach advantage over Troy, but Troy outboxed him and countered punched him all night instead of coming forward aggressively, while Ronnie was left hitting fresh air. He never had anything to fall back on and for me, that just goes to show the importance of a game plan. We couldn't have stood and traded for 10 rounds with a big strong brawler like Ronnie Clark, so we didn't.

How much harder is it to prepare a fighter when he is up against an obscure opponent that precious little is known about?

It's rare today with social media and the internet to not find any footage or some background on someone, but if a time arrives when one of my lads is in that situation, firstly I make sure through other managers, matchmakers and agents that we find out what stance the fighter and then, what style of boxer they are. Anything else doesn't really matter as if your correctly prepared and your fighter has good fundamentals and he has that base from learning fights along the way as we discussed earlier, then you can take a look at the opponent for a round or two and adjust accordingly. Usually after the first round I've spotted weaknesses or got correct instructions to give to my fighter when he comes back to the corner. That's my job, that's where I earn my worth.

How much of a boxer's style is determined by his own tendencies and to what extent can a style truly be moulded or adjusted?

Some boxers come with a blank canvas and you can mound them to whatever you want. In a lot of cases nowadays, they try and emulate their favourite fighter's style, which I'm not a big fan as this most of the time does not work. Like this Mayweather shoulder roll, it looks nice when he executes it, but if you haven't got that timing them you're in for a beating. The basics of boxing will always carry you a long way. Hands up and return from where they leave. Good footwork, lateral movement, head movement, a good busy jab, and angles - in the front door, but out the side door.

How important is mental preparation for a fight?

Boxing is very much a psychological game, and you must be mentally strong. It can be just as as much mentality and a confidence thing as it is physical

Very often a commentator or pundit might comment on how a fighter isn't using their jab enough, or that they would make thing so much easier for themselves, if only they would use the jab. Isn't this a bit of a lazy criticism at times considering how a fighter would gladly control a fight with the jab if he could, but is unable to due to whatever reasons, whether it be the opponent's movement, the opponent's defence or the threat of something coming coming back that might be putting off a boxer, or whatever else might be preventing a boxer from being able to establish jabbing rhythm?

It's always easier sitting from the comfort of a chair saying this will work or that would work, or I would do this that and the other, but the reality is you've got another professional athlete who has trained and prepared to not let you do just anything that you want to do. It's where the importance of the game plan comes into play as it's a physical chess match. Like I want to make this move because I know then that you're going to make this move, which will leave me to make my check mate move. That's what it's all about in essence, thinking ahead and manoeuvring your opponent to where you need them.

Sometimes commentators or pundits might be very biased towards the home fighter, or to someone they are familiar or friendly with away from cameras. A commentator might focus on one fighter, applauding everything they do, which then of course can then influence some fans watching on TV into thinking that a fighter has clearly won the fight when perhaps it's a lot closer. For me, former WBO super featherweight world champion Barry Jones is one of the best commentators and analysts we have in the UK right now.

Who is Dean Edwards outside of boxing?

Good question (laughs). I'm a husband, father to five beautiful little girls and a bit of a boxing nerd at heart. I'm a massive boxing fan & student of the sport. I've grown up watching some great fighters from before my time right through to present day, I enjoy watching old footage of Willie Pep, Jersey Joe Walcott, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson, Arturo Gatti, and Marvin Hagler. They are probably my favourite all time fighters for different reasons. My favourite fighters of present day arre Golovkin, Roman Gonzalez and Jorge Linares. I enjoy watching them three, again, for different reasons.

Any final words?

I'd like to thank you, Dan, for contacting me for this interview to think I'm interesting enough to take part. I've enjoyed it and hope I've managed to give a different insight for you and anyone reading it. I'm learning and growing and developing everyday as a trainer, manager and person. You never stop learning and the minute you think you have or you think you know it all, that is the time to knock it on the head. Hard Hitters Pro Boxing Gym will hopefully one day be a well known established gym where we can help lots of young lads fulfil their potential and their dreams of becoming a champion, as well as providing a better life for themselves and their families. That's all I want out of boxing, that to me is success.