Ben Murray, owner of Boxinbusiness, has started the Boxinbanter podcast in order to rekindle the relationships he built throughout his own boxing career and help show Jersey’s historic links to the sport.
And he has already attracted a star special guest to appear on the podcast, in the form of former world lightweight champion Anthony ‘Million Dolla’ Crolla. Mr Crolla has visited Jersey on a number of occasions and has previously been a guest of honour at the Boxinbusiness White Collar shows.
Mr Murray’s amateur boxing career includes multiple southern and western county titles as well as two ABA quarter-finals and a fight against former world WBA Lightweight Champion Mr Crolla. Mr Murray said the closure of gyms due to Covid-19 restrictions allowed him the time to explore an idea he had had for a while.
‘I always listen to podcasts in my spare time and I’ve made some great contacts from boxing over the years. So it seemed like a natural progression,’ he said.
New episodes come out each Sunday and Mr Murray said he was just getting started.
He added: ‘A lot of professional fighters used to train in Jersey and the Island has some good links to the sport. I thought I would use this as an opportunity to explore those links and try to reconnect the Island with the boxing world, as well as showing how good our Island is, and the fond memories many professional boxers have of Jersey.’
The podcasts have already had hundreds of downloads and have featured Nick Campbell, former Jersey Reds rugby player turned professional heavyweight boxer, as well as Mr Crolla.
‘Sport is such an amazing tool to build life-long friendships and, from a personal point of view, the podcasts have given me the chance to sit down and chat extensively with people I haven’t touched base with in years,’ said Mr Murray.
‘I live and breathe boxing. When I’m not teaching it, I’m watching or reading about it. And so to do these podcasts, with the Jersey angle too, has been really fun and I have learnt a lot of technical skills which I would not have had the chance to if I hadn’t started the podcast.’
Mr Murray’s next guest on the podcast is due to be Glenn Catley, a former super-middleweight champion who used Jersey as a base for many of his pre-fight training camps.
‘We have had some great feedback so far and many of our clients in the gym have been tuning in during their weekend walks. It has been a great way to engage with our members while the gyms are closed,’ Mr Murray said.
The BoxinBanter podcasts are available to listen to on Apple podcasts and Spotify.
