Harry Barber: The interview
It is fair to say that Harry Barber has been missed on a Wednesday. It is equally fair to say that Harry has missed his Wednesdays. He is a lad who loves both his football and his FC and so it is hard to imagine something that could, albeit temporarily, pull him away from all of this. After a 45 minute chat with the second-year Law student, it became apparent that a deeply-embedded inner drive, an undying determination and a genuine fervour for combat sports has placed Harry where he currently stands. At no point since his training began has Harry shown any sign of faltering under the pressure; when we meet with him on the 6th floor of the Saw Swee Hock, he speaks fluidly and with the temperament of someone in control. Even as we get into the details of the fight, attempting to probe some trash talk, Harry remains humble and understanding.
It is rare in a sport so suffused with showmanship and inflated egos that you meet with someone so down to earth. When he speaks of his opponent, for whom he has a sincere admiration, it is neither condescending nor boastful. Rather, it is with an understanding that anything could happen—but the odds are in his favour. Harry has mentally formed a coalition of unwavering confidence and level-headedness, paving the way for an assured performance in the ring. As we take photos at the end of the interview, he does open the door to some histrionics – “He won’t see my red right hand coming.”
(S) – Seth Rice
(L) – Luke Gregorio
(H) – Harry Barber
(S) So first of all, I wanted to know what made you commit in the first place – what made you go for this?
(H) I used to do martial arts when I was younger and was looking for a route back into fighting. This seemed like an excellent way to do it. It’s a good social thing as well. Meeting new people, getting to fight at York hall. It has just been a good experience so far, I’ve enjoyed it – it has helped my focus with uni stuff as well.
(L) A lot of people talk about boxing having such a positive mental effect.
(H) Yeah, well, I got concussed the other day which was less than ideal (laughs). But as an aggregate, it has had a good mental effect on me.
(S) It’s such a commitment and you do end up sacrificing a lot – have you found it easy to strike a balance between your work and your training?
(H) It’s been okay as a lot of it [the training] is centred on campus. There’s about six sessions a week, but it’s up to you. You could do more or less if you choose to. As the training is mostly on campus, I can just take two hours break from lectures or whatever then come back and be in the library. It works for me.
(S) What does a training session look like for you?
(H) It depends on the session. If it’s with LSE Boxing and other people who might not be doing Fight Night then there’s more fitness. If it’s not a Fight Night session, it will be combinations, working on your technique, then maybe a bit of body sparring with people. If it is a Fight Night session, we get going a bit harder, get the gloves on, get the pads on, get the headgear on, head sparring gets going, a few shots get thrown, people fall out for a little while, then everyone gets over it. It’s good fun. LSE boxing is great. The coach they’ve brought in this year is exceptional. Coach Lewis is great, he runs a tight ship – he’s a nice guy.
(L) So, could you talk a bit more about your sparring – I know you mentioned earlier about going around, meeting other people, how have you gone about getting that practice in?
(H) I’ve just tried to pick up as much stuff as I can. So, you can learn the basics from boxing sessions, but you’ve gotta be fighting people and getting punched a few times to pick things up. I’ve been doing that with some of the other Fight Night guys. My coach Erin has been fantastic in running extra sessions and I’ve been going to different trainers around London. I’ve been seeing what works and better understanding what my weaknesses are. I’ve been really trying to work on my movement and on my combinations. I’ve also tried to incorporate my martial arts background within my fighting style rather than attempting to learn an entirely new boxing stance.
(L) So how much training do you actually do?
(H) It’s pretty much every day – there’s few breaks. 6 times a week I’d say.
(S) Is there a danger that you’re overtraining?
(H) As long as you vary what you’re doing and don’t gas yourself out every session, it’s alright. Overtraining isn’t a thing until we get closer to the fight. If I’m very tired one week then I’ll take a rest but at the moment I’m just getting fitter which is what I need for the fight.
(S) What do you to unwind from all this?
(H) Sit back with a nice glass of scotch mate, you know how it is, play some jazz in the background.
(S) A bit of red wine, a bit of a Hugh Grant (laughing).
(H) Put some UB40 on, you know how it is. No, of course not, nothing. I haven’t touched a drop. I’ve not been drinking since New Years. Nothing, which I feel better for, but after the fight I’ll have a few pints down me, it’ll be nice.
But unwinding yeah, the boxing itself is useful as it takes you away from your work and the work takes you away from the pressure. The two kind of work symbiotically. But, of course, it’s nice to separate the two because if I walk into Tuns on a Friday night and see everyone and they’re saying “How’s boxing? How’s boxing? How’s boxing?” there’s only so much you can say and you don’t wanna come across as cocky or that guy, you know. In terms of relaxing, I just stick my headphones on and do some work or chat to some friends.
(S) So the boxing and the work compliment rather than disturb each other?
(H) Yeah, they do, they do.
(S) Back to your opponent, obviously you don’t wanna give anything away but I remember you telling me that he’s planning to fight southpaw – what are your plans to combat that?
(H) If he gets southpaw right then fair play to the lad. If he can pull it off then that’s fine by me – I have a couple of ideas on how I can deal with that and from what I anticipate he’s gonna do. I think it should be a good fight. If he goes back to orthodox then that’s just what I’m used to. Everyone else I’ve been sparring has been fighting orthodox so that won’t be a problem. We can go hell for leather with that as well. I’m gonna focus on my own game. I know what I wanna do. At the same time, my plans incorporate what I think he’s gonna do, but if he changes it up on the night then I’ll be ready.
(S) So you wanna get to a point where no matter what he throws at you, you’ll have something in your locker?
(H) Yeah, yeah. There’s still stuff to work on and things to refine; I’m working on my defensive game a lot so I can work some quick combinations and move around the ring. If I do that and I get it right, then I’m pretty confident it will work regardless of what Julian does.
(L) Are you gonna knock him out?
(H) *laughing* I could go all big here and be the Dillian Whyte type of character who throws his weight around the room, but I’m not sure that’s my vibe. So we’ll have to see on the night. He won’t be knocking me out, I’ll put it that way. I’ll either beat him on points or beat him with a knockout, one or the other.
(S) Right on. How important is the support from the FC? I mean, you’ll have over 50 FC lads, plus all your mates, chanting your name the second you step out.
(H) Yeah, it’ll be huge and I’ll be really grateful to all the boys for that support however they choose to show it. It’s a big advantage to me. I’m sure my opponent has his mates as well, but when you’re out in front of 1200 people it’s nice knowing you’ve got that support behind you. If it gets in his head, that’s a good thing. But the way [I see it] is that when I’ve got my walkout song on and I’m looking around seeing some friendly faces, it’ll help keep me grounded and confident.
(L) Do you know what your walkout song’s gonna be?
(H) This is the hardest thing. I’m thinking maybe Don’t Look Back in Anger – that will bang and everyone can have a little sing-song. I floated a couple ideas to my housemates but they weren’t keen. The number of times I’ve said to Sophie Tofalides ‘can I change my song last-minute?’ is ridiculous – it might go right down to the wire to be honest. It might be Arabella by Arctic Monkeys. Julian’s going for Feed Them to Lions which will work if he gets people motivated but if not he might end up looking like a bit of a dick – that will be funny as fuck, but I don’t know.
(L) The fight’s gonna be at York Hall, probably the most renowned boxing venue in the country – you’ve just got to go big haven’t you?
(H) I was chatting to someone on Wednesday night and he kept reminding me of how significant the venue is. I won’t name them because they were absolutely plastered. But yeah, it’s got a sick reputation and it’s gonna be big.
(L) Do you feel like more of a campus celebrity since this all happened? With people coming up to you all the time and that.
(H) I wouldn’t say so at all. I think there’s a lot of people interested in the event and if that means I meet new people that’s great. I’m not gonna go about like ‘ooo BNOC status, watch out.’ That’s not my vibe. I’ll just focus on training and then everything that comes afterwards will be a nice bonus. I’m in it for the boxing.
(L) Are you much of a boxing fan?
(H) In the last few years I’ve gotten into it a lot more. [Anthony] Joshua’s carrying the flag but a lot of good boxers have come in his wake; Terence Crawford’s looking very good as well. In terms of my favourites, it would be the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Álvarez – they’re both fabulous boxers. Floyd’s obviously 50-0 which isn’t a bad record either.
(S) You’d take it, you’d take it.
(L) You’re undefeated as well though mate.
(H) 0 bouts 0 losses (laughs).
(L) The 0’s gotta go for one of the boys.
(H) Julian’s had a few MMA fights – he’s a ‘grappler’ as he says. I don’t know if that’ll help him. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. If he wishes to give me a little cuddle in the ring then perhaps it’ll help him out. Based on his punching I don’t think he’s done any fighting.
(S) At this point, what do you see as his weakness?
(H) I’d say fighting southpaw – it’s such a big threshold to reach. If he does it well, fair enough, but he’s had 8-9 weeks to secure a strong southpaw style which isn’t very long at all. It will come down to who throws the best punches and whoever’s quickest. A lot of the events will be people just going to war with each other – I hope to make it a bit more technical than that, but if that fails we’ll just go hell for leather and southpaw just won’t work out for him.
(L) I was wondering if you’ve felt the pressure at all?
(H) Not much. If it’s gonna come, it’ll come in the next couple of weeks. As we get closer, the pressure will build I’m sure. But, with boxing and with anything else for me, as long as I feel prepared, it doesn’t matter to me that much what happens. If I know I’ve prepared as best I can, the pressure won’t get to me. If I feel confident walking in and I’ve got my game plan sorted then I’ll be okay.
I told Coach Lewis I’d give him a shout out as well just to talk about what’s going on with LSE Boxing, and to be fair it has been excellent. He’s regimented us well and we’ve had some huge, huge turnouts – something like 80 people downstairs just for a normal boxing training session. That just shows the love for boxing in general and the fact that LSE has got a good base for it.
(S) I remember last year noticing how he was really working well with everyone. Working with every individual well.
(H) Yeah, he’s a lovely lad. When there’s been moments where I’ve been punched around, he puts his arm around me and tells me what I need to do to improve and tells me not to get too down-hearted. He’s very poignant in what he says. He doesn’t ever overload you with information.
(S) Is he important in your development, do you think?
(H) Yeah he has been. He recognises that I’m a driven person; that I’m there to stay; that I’m not gonna flake over time and that I’m gonna give it my all. Having that foundation has been really nice ‘cause everytime we discuss something that kinda goes as an undercurrent – there’s an underlying assumption that he knows what I’m like and he knows what I’m trying to do. There’s a good relationship there.
(S) And he knows that there’s everything there for you to win as well.
(H) Yeah he knows that I care a lot about it and so he’s feeding into that and trying to facilitate it as best as possible.
(S) So, what are your plans for the night before? Obviously a lot of things are gonna be going through your head.
(H) The night before… plenty of carbs, plenty of sleep. Probably ring my mum and dad, see what’s going on with them.
(S) Are they gonna be there?
(H) My dad, my uncle and my friend’s dad will be there. A nice little trio of 50 year-old grey-haired men – the silver foxes will be there. To be fair, my friend’s dad is an absolute weapon.
(S) Coming to the end of this, what, for you, makes the sacrifice worth it?
(H) I really enjoy the boxing. As I said, the focus is a big thing, but it’s the adrenaline and getting in a ring with people, throwing some punches and trying to land some combinations. It’s just something I enjoy. It’s not for everyone but it is for me; I’ll keep my boxing going on afterwards as well and see where it takes me.
(S) I tell you what, that first pint after the fight has finished is gonna go straight to your head. I know you say you wanna have a few but honestly, I think one’s gonna be enough to get you a bit wonky.
(H) I’m trying to sort the logistics of finishing the fight and having a pint right there to down when the winner is announced. Even if I’m still in the ring, I want a human chain getting that drink to me.
(S) Any final thoughts?
(H) It’s gonna be a big night and there’s gonna be some excellent fighters. There’s Rui from the FC 1s, he’s looking good and shaping up well, as long as George Marlow doesn’t smack him on the nose, he’ll be ok. Rui broke his nose a few times, so that’s a risk. But still, he is a strong lad, he’s fighting well, his movement’s very very good, he’s moving around very very well, so George’ll have to catch him with some strong shots and will have to be very agile to beat him. Other than that, there will be some other excellent fights. I would try to sell the event more, but I don’t need to. It’s sold out. No need for the promo (laughing). Other people have said me and Julian is the ‘battle of the egos’, which I dont think is accurate, but that’s just someone’s opinion.
(L) Do you think your opponent has a big ego?
(H) Maybe we’ve both got a bit of an ego. I think he likes to chat a lot of yeah. He’s a nice guy but he can have a mouth on him sometimes. But still more a nice guy than an egotistical guy I’d say. All being said he’s a lovely guy, we’ve got some mutual friends and it’ll be nice to be in the ring with someone I know doesn’t intend any genuine harm. There’s no malice there, no hurtful intentions. It’s just two guys going at each other for six minutes.
(S) Any words for the opponent?
(H) Best of luck.
