Andrew Cain opens up on why the Everton Red Triangle is thriving right now
Olympians; national amateur champs; WBC titlists; former British, Commonwealth, European champion… the ERT gym is a consistent conveyer belt of champions
Fearsome super-bantamweight Andrew Cain (9-0, 8KO) defends his WBC International Silver title against tough Mexican Luis Moreno (10-2, 6KO) on Friday, May 20, at the famous home of boxing, York Hall in Bethnal Green. The title contestants will clash over 10-rounds on a Queensberry Promotions show, live on BT Sport.
The Liverpool KO firebrand is back in action only five weeks after winning his first ever professional title last month in Telford, when he scored an incredible 19-second stoppage win, which included the referee’s count.
The heavy-handed 25-year-old destroyed South American champion Pablo Ariel Gomez (15-11-2, 1KO) within 10 seconds, but now he faces Moreno, a 29-year-old with 10 wins from 12, who recently lasted eight rounds with top prospect Dennis McCann (12-0, 6KOs).
Cain gave his prediction for fight No.10 in his career, “I’m just gonna go out there and be me, and that’s all I can do.
“And I imagine that if I go out and perform the way I know I can, and the way that I’m capable of performing, then I don’t imagine it going the 10, no.”
His last contest on April 10 was due to be against his old amateur rival, Liam Davies, who he has beaten three times already and been on a collision course with for some time now.
However, Davies pulled out, leaving Cain rather frustrated, “It’s boxing, it’s disappointing, but I’ve said this before, my life and my career doesn’t revolve around one man, I’m looking to progress and move forward regardless of what’s happening behind the scenes.”
Former English champ Liam Davies has now landed the British title shot at super-bantamweight titleholder, Marc Leach, so that potential fight is off the table for now.
Looking at what could be next, Cain shrugged, “It’s down to Warren and the Queensberry Promotions team, but I’m ready for whatever and I have been since I was a young man. All I have to do is focus on the fighting, the training, get myself right and fighting, and everything else comes along with it.”
When question on other names in the talent-packed 122lbs division, such as Brad Foster and Jason Cunningham, Cain confidently confirmed he’s ready for them now, “I’m most definitely at that level, yeah. And I fought the likes of these fellas before in the amateurs and I’m most definitely ready for them now. I could be fighting any of them names on Friday and doing a proper job against any of them.
“They’re on their path and I’m on my path. I don’t look at them and think they’re the enemy, I look at world champions and I think ‘I’ll have you’.”
On exactly which World Champions he’s eyeing, he answered, “All of them. There’s not one of them that I’ve watched and think ‘I wouldn’t want to fight him’. I’m in the wrong game if that’s the case. Most definitely, anyone I look at I think that I’ve got the beating of them, and I believe if you’re a fighter and you haven’t got that attitude and you don’t look at them that way, you need to go home and do something else because this is not the right game for ya!”
Cain has already mentioned multiple times before that he believes his future lies at bantamweight, where a fellow Liverpudlian, Paul Butler, just became WBO World bantamweight champion.
Cain commented on the chances of local derby with ‘Babyface’, “I’m looking to progress at bantamweight. Politics in careers, he’s a bit ahead of me; he’s not ahead of me in ability or in capability, so I’d look at someone like and think ‘Yeah, I’ve got the beating of them’, but is that fight going to get made next? The likelihood of it… probably not; but I’m ready for all of them now.”
The young father expanded on that confident statement, “I’m not bothered, me; I’m a prizefighter, I’m fighting for my family, I’m fighting to progress, I’m fighting to make a better life for myself, so I don’t care who it is, I don’t care who the opponent is, I don’t care what the occasion is, all it is to me is the ring and a fella in front of me that’s trying to take that away from me.”
The undefeated youngster is part of an exciting crop of champions from the Everton Red Triangle gym in Liverpool, all developing under the watchful eye of head coach Paul Stevenson.
Former British, Commonwealth and European flyweight champion Kevin Satchell was the last pro to fly the flag for the century-old club that has been producing boxing champions for over a hundred years.
Now, there’s Olympian Peter McGrail (4-0, 3KO) and his younger brother Joe (3-0, 2KO), along with unbeaten super-bantamweight Brad Strand (7-0, 3KOs) and Britain’s newest star Nick Ball (15-0, 8KOs), who thrilled fans at Wembley just last month when he smashed through Isaac Lowe in six rounds to capture the WBC Silver featherweight title.
“We’re all coming, every one of us, and you’re gonna see that,” Cain promised. “These next few years are exciting for us, we’re gonna be progressing and moving forward. If you look at our performances of late, we’re not messing around, we’re coming to destroy, and we’re coming to state who we are, and the place we’re fighting out of, the Red Triangle, it’s a special place and its special in our hearts as well so we’ve also got that were fighting for.”
Andrew then revealed the secret to the gym’s success, “To be honest with you, Paul Stevenson. He’s the main man down there and he’s teaching us properly and he’s showing us proper boxing, our minds are on the job. Without Paul, it wouldn’t be the same, so firstly I would have to say Paul.
“We’re also helping each other, we’re all bouncing off each other, we’re all watching and learning things off each other, as every gym does but we’re all special fighters down there and we’re all coming, but if I have to say one main thing as to why, the reason for the success, would be Paul Stevenson.
“He’s always been like a mentor for me, I’ve been at the gym since I was 10. I think if it weren’t for the gym, I wouldn’t like to think about what would be going on in my life at the minute. But Paul Stevenson means a lot to me, he’s like a father to me, and all the lads in the gym; yeah, I love Paul, he’s a great man.”
With such incredible capabilities in the camp, Cain was quizzed on who will become World Champion first, “It’s too hard to say! If I get the chance first then I’m gonna be the first one, but it’s down to who gets the chance first, and that’s out of our control, so it’s a hard question for me to answer that, cos we’re all able for it, all capable of it, so it’s who gets the chance first.
“It’s whoever gets the first lottery ticket.”
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