BBN find out 12 facts about 'Smokin' Joe Mullender
All-action fighter ‘Smokin’ Joe Mullender (11-2) is well-known for his brace of fight of the year contenders with Lee Markham for the English middleweight championship, scored at one apiece.
The Essex puncher and father of two vacated his English strap to land the IBF European in his following fight and is now set for a showdown with British middleweight champ Liam Williams at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington on March 8, live on BT Sport.
BBN decided to find out a few facts about the 32-year-old from Brentwood ahead of his British championship clash:
1. Joe played in the Tottenham Hotspurs FC youth team between the ages of 11 to 13 as a goalkeeper.
2. Joe didn’t step foot inside a boxing gym until he was 21-years-old.
3. Despite the late start, Joe still enjoyed a successful amateur career, winning 13 of 15 fights, knocking out over half of his opponents in those victories, and leaving with an 86% win ratio and 46% KO ratio.
4. Joe worked as a Personal Trainer in a gym in Canary Wharf, when one day, training with Marko Mandic, he watched him hitting a punch bag and told him, “You’re pretty good, you can really dig!” Marco then convinced Joe to get in the ring to spar together, and that’s exactly how his boxing career first began.
5. Four years and 15 amateur fights later, he made his pro debut, aged 25, on the undercard of Audley Harrison’s 28th career win over Ali Adams on May 26, 2012 in his home town of Brentwood.
6. In his second professional fight Joe sold 150 tickets and got paid just £150.
7. Joe Mullender and Lee Markham are well known for their rivalry which spread across two epic fights for the English middleweight title, each one credible contenders for fight of the year, Markham winning the first clash, live on freeview channel Dave, and Mullender evened the score a year later on Box Nation TV. Outside of the ring, however, the pair are actually good friends that have sparred hundreds of rounds together.
8. The former Spurs keeper is a big Dagenham and Redbridge FC fan and is friends with many of the players and manager of the team.
9. He trains at the Legends Gym in Romford with trainer Jamie Williams, which backs onto Dagenham and Redbridge FC’s home ground.
10. His main influences in his career are Ricky Hatton and Joe Frazier, adopting the American heavyweight’s alias of ‘Smokin’ Joe’.
11. Joe has openly declared that his sole intention for boxing is to earn money to provide for his young family, consisting of his fiance and two sons, adding that titles are secondary.
12. His favourite dinner is spaghetti bolognese!