Gilfeather, whose TikTok handle is \u2018The Noble Art\u2019, says he\u2019s as surprised as anyone about his sudden late-life popularity.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurprise is an understatement – it\u2019s kind of overwhelming,\u201d he told Fox Sports Australia.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt started out with Paul, my son, we were in the gym, and he said to throw an uppercut. I did it. He videoed it and said he was going to put it on TikTok. <\/p>\n
Boxer and social media star Frank GilfeatherSource: FOX SPORTSBoxer Frank Gilfeather pictured competing in his younger daysSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cIt spread like wildfire. I couldn\u2019t believe it. It just zoomed into the stratosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilfeather\u2019s videos have now racked up many millions of views, as he teaches some of the lost techniques of \u2018the sweet science\u2019 that he was schooled in at an early age.<\/p>\n
At four years old, his father started a boxing club and would take the youngster along to train with everyone else.<\/p>\n
At age 10, Gilfeather had his first serious boxing match and went on to represent Scotland as an amateur and notch up more than 200 fights.<\/p>\n
He says boxing taught him some important life lessons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I learned from my dad is respect for other people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to recognise other people have another point of view. Boxing teaches you to have respect. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a lot for a person to step into the ring\u2026 you respect the guy in the other corner. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt also teaches you discipline\u2026 It teaches you that discipline, that routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also teaches you a bit of humility. I remember when I first became the Scottish lightweight champion. It was a Saturday night in Edinburgh. I was feeling good about myself. It was in all the papers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember we were going to mass on Sunday morning and we were getting on the bus and he [my father] said to me \u2018remember to keep your feet on the ground\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026My dad wouldn\u2019t allow you to be boastful, you\u2019ve got to remember humility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilfeather is not a fan of some aspects of modern boxing, including the way that fighters trash talk before a bout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think boxing has lost a bit of its dignity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Frank Gilfeather alongside Terrence CrawfordSource: FOX SPORTSFrank Gilfeather alongside Oleksandr UsykSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at old footage of weigh-ins and press conferences and you look at some of the great fighters like Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and \u2018Sugar\u2019 Ray Robinson\u2026 These guys were dignified. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey would never be in the face of their opponent at the weigh in. They would never be in the face of their opponent saying I\u2019m going to kill you tonight. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll that stuff. I absolutely abhor that. It\u2019s totally unnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilfeather\u2019s recent rise to fame has seen him invited around the world to give coaching seminars. He has also gone into the boxing glove business with his son Paul.<\/p>\n
Despite all this, the veteran boxer says touching people\u2019s lives has been the most impactful part of the journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started out with the boxing stuff… and people are very kind with their comments,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut since then, we\u2019ve started a little thing called \u2018Never Give Up on Yourself\u2019. It\u2019s a call out to people who are middle aged and older to say that just because you\u2019ve reached a certain age, you don\u2019t have to give up on physical exercise. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe upshot of that has been gut-wrenching. I get comments from people who say they are now exercising because of me, \u2018you\u2019ve inspired me\u2019.<\/p>\n
Scottish boxing champion Frank Gilfeather has become an unlikely social media starSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cI have people tell me a couple of times a week that they are a drug addict or an alcoholic, but they\u2019ve left that behind because I\u2019ve inspired them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s pretty overwhelming for me. That\u2019s kind of more important than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilfeather says he\u2019s not an expert, or a nutritionist, or a fitness guru. He just does what works for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy number one message is \u2018never give up on yourself\u2019.<\/p>\n
Zerafa ‘Surprised’ Tszyu took fight | 00:47<\/p>\n
\u201cI get these messages from people telling me I\u2019ve saved their lives, so the message is to keep moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone can do something physical, even older guys like me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former boxing champion Frank Gilfeather hung up his gloves more than 50 years ago – but now, at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-265631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}