There is clearly no limit to the depth of Bobby Faulkner’s talents. The unbeaten Manchester fighter excelled as a central midfielder for the youth teams at Oldham Athletic and Blackburn Rovers before concentrating on boxing. And he can build a swimming pool in your back garden if you so wish.
The 23-year-old super-lightweight combines his ambitions in the ring with working for a living – although training takes precedent.
“When I do work, it’s with my old man building swimming pools, so it’s always working away more or less,” Bobby said. “If I do go away, the training I can do isn’t going to get me ready for a six or eight-round fight. I could barely get ready for a four-round fight. I try to work for a couple of weeks after I’ve had a fight, when I’m out of camp.”
It is a niche line of work for Bobby and Rob, but the demand is obviously there despite the often-miserable British weather.
“Me Dad was subcontracting all over the country just tiling pools, and then he got into doing the whole thing – concreting pools, doing the refurbs. There are enough big-money places in the UK! My Dad’s worked on Wayne Rooney’s, Andy Cole’s, Shay Given’s. I haven’t worked on any of the celeb’s pools – I’m not good enough! Me Dad would rather me be in the gym than working.”
Balancing training with work is not easy for any fighter but Bobby has found the formula, and his dedication matches the undoubted talent. With an unblemished record to date – eight fights, eight wins – and trained by former world champion Anthony ‘Million Dollar’ Crolla, it is all starting to click into place.
“Definitely. This is the year I get seen,” he says. “Maybe nothing happens this year in terms of winning big fights or titles, but this is the year I get noticed and I can push on from there then. I’m keeping my head and feeling a lot more confident in the gym.”