BODYBUILDER Daniel Smith Junior floored his opponent with a fierce combination and devastating right hand in just 13 seconds of the first round on Saturday night.
It means Smith is now unbeaten in five fights, with this latest victory making him the Midlands heavyweight champion – all just weeks after finishing a gruelling bodybuilding season in which he competed in 18 shows, winning 16 and securing 12 overall titles.
But speaking to frontdouble.com, Smith Junior has revealed how a series of issues to his body almost made him withdraw from the fight.
He said: "It was a good outcome in the end, but leading into it there were all kinds of trials and tribulations. I had a pain in my shoulder, so I assessed it in the gym and any movement from ground to above parallel to the shoulder was painful.
"If I hit something above shoulder height with my left, which is my main hand, it was going to be a problem. So I had to factor that into the game plan.
"Then there was my asthma. My asthma kicked off about 10 days before. That was a problem. So we were training the fitness side four times as much as I would normally, just hoping that it would subside closer to the fight. Luckily it did – but I don't know how much, because I didn't have to push it [the fitness] past any kind of length of time.
"I was just pushing myself a lot more. When I was doing intervals, I was doing two-minute intervals. But I was starting to be experience shortness of breath at, say, 10 seconds initially, then it would get better, you know, 20 and 30 seconds. It just meant that the last remaining part was hell.
"As I got closer towards the fight, it became better, it would kind of feel like normal fatigue. So I went from, let's say for example, when the asthma was at its peak, I was doing the whole two-minute intervals under extreme pain and pressure. It was just shortness of breath, as if I was having an asthma episode.
"It first happened two years ago – it was triggered after a competition. When you're not on supplements and stuff, these things can happen. So it triggered, but it only lasted a week, so I was sure that it wasn't going to last too long this time. And if it did, it did.
"So I was pushing myself hard fitness-wise – harder than I usually would – anticipating that hopefully it would get better. But in order to get fit, we just had to train even harder."
The issues kept mounting for Smith Junior, however, and in the end it was only his sheer drive and determination that pulled him through; a clear case of mind over matter.
He said: "Then I had basically some compensation, because my left side was experiencing pain, I was doing more power on my right side – and then I got a trapped nerve on that side, just for the over-compensation in trying to be smart.
"So a lot of the work was with mobility and flexibility, I was doing tons of it. On the actual fight day. I spent about six hours stretching and mobilising, just because of everything overall to make sure I gave myself a fighting chance. But everything was starting to get a little bit better.
"I was taking medications like cold and flu things because I did get the flu as well. So everything was telling me not to do it, but in my min, I was like, 'no, this is just a bigger challenge'. I actually felt – and especially because it was for the belts and against someone who is experienced fighter – that there was probably about an 80 per cent chance that I was going to lose the fight.
"But I want to end the year knowing that I faced my fear. It was no longer about the victory, or getting the belt, it was about facing a fear, because you can imagine all those things factored in and you were against a powerful fighter - all heavyweights pretty much are – it became one of those things where it was more about facing my fears.
"It was the first time ever [that I felt like that]. I don't go into fights or confrontations fearful. But this one I was like, 'I don't know what's going to happen'. But thankfully it paid off.
"It enabled me to really learn about changing the plan around and the things you can do, rather than the things you can't do. And then trying to accommodate for the things you can't do, with things such as medications and just wrapping up warm and so forth.
"Thankfully I recovered in time, well, as much as I could, but I won't know how much because I didn't get past the first 13 seconds. But it's just a great way to finish the year.
"The guy was great guy. He was really friendly about it and we had a laugh afterwards, so he was a really cool guy.
"It's just given me a good feeling of self-confidence and motivation. But I'm just going to relax a little bit. training is going to be relaxed and I'll probably train once, twice, three times a week, however I feel, for the remaining of the month until the new year and just eat healthy alongside it.
"I'm happy I did it, happy I got the belt and onwards and upwards."
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