Skip to main content
‘You can’t avoid the waves, but you can learn how to surf’
JOHN WIGHT reviews a recently released account of the career of boxing trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick
Paddy Fitzpatrick (right) trains boxer George Groves during a public work-out in November 2013

LIKE the vast majority who follow boxing, I first became aware of Paddy Fitzpatrick in the lead-up to the first Carl Froch-George Groves fight.

[[{"fid":"25675","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]This was back in 2013, when, injecting even more drama into this hugely anticipated contest with just nine weeks to go came the stunning announcement that Groves and his long-time trainer, Adam Booth, had split.

In Groves’s corner for this the biggest fight of his career to date would now be Fitzpatrick, a hitherto relatively unknown trainer based in Swindon.

Donate to the Fighting Fund
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Dave
Men’s boxing / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
JOHN WIGHT takes us on a journey back to a decade defined by union power, pop stars, and gritty football icons - no boxer embodied the heart and soul of 1970s Britain quite like Dave Boy Green
George Foreman yells, Oct. 15, 1974, in N'Sele, Kinshasa, Za
Men’s Boxing / 28 March 2025
28 March 2025
JOHN WIGHT pays tribute to the late great George Foreman who defied the odds throughout his life and career to become a household name and legend of the sport
John H. Stracey, right, who is to defend his European welter
Men’s boxing / 14 March 2025
14 March 2025
JOHN WIGHT writes about the fascinating folklore surrounding the place which has been home to some of the most ferocious bareknuckle and unlicensed fighters throughout history
Gross: Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s face in li
Men’s Boxing / 27 February 2025
27 February 2025
JOHN WIGHT questions how legend of the sport Roberto Duran is lending credibility to the sportswashing circus that is Riyadh Season — and at what cost?
Similar stories
Sport / 16 February 2025
16 February 2025
colonial thefts
Book Review / 24 September 2024
24 September 2024
FRANCOISE VERGES introduces a powerful new book that explores the damage done by colonial theft
dewi
Books / 6 August 2024
6 August 2024
JOHN GREEN appreciates two photobooks that study the single room of a homeless hostel resident, and a council estate in Exeter
Degas
Exhibition review / 7 June 2024
7 June 2024
HENRY BELL steps warily through the collection of a Glaswegian war profiteer to experience his collection of Degas’ remarkable images of working people