took Abdullah Mason the distance in a titanic WBO title effort<\/a> last November.<\/p>\nSpeaking with Boxing News, Senior made no effort to downplay the quality and intensity of each round they share.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do a fair amount of rounds together. It\u2019s definitely shown me the tougher side of professional boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSam\u2019s very fit, he\u2019s strong, and, the more rounds I do with him, the more I pick up on things that he\u2019s technically very good at.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s also powerful in the sense that he might throw a nice, clean jab, but it feels like you\u2019ve been hit by a big right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The good news is that, while Noakes boasts superior professional experience, Senior is able to hold his own by utilising the crafty footwork he developed as an amateur.<\/p>\n
Even before Senior started boxing, the Bradford-born talent was no stranger to a two-step manoeuvre here and there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did a bit of dancing when I was a kid, as well as gymnastics, acrobatics and trampolining \u2013 all the fun stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I got to about 10 or 11 years old and felt that, as a young boy, dancing wasn\u2019t really that cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a boxing studio next to where I used to dance, so I walked over there and gave it a crack. My mum didn\u2019t want me to do it at first, because I was young and small, but I just persisted and ended up boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re dancing, and when you\u2019re in the ring, it all corresponds. You always know where your feet are; you always find your balance, even in unusual situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I never really come unstuck when it comes to my footwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
While born in Bradford, Senior spent the majority of his life in Australia \u2013 a place he considers home \u2013 before moving back to the UK.<\/p>\n
The transition has been far from straightforward but, at the same time, the Olympian understands the importance of making sacrifices in a sport like boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard. It\u2019s still a bit difficult, sitting here in my apartment \u2013 you\u2019ve got a lot of time to yourself, and a lot of time to think.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I always said that, once I go professional, I\u2019ll move back to the UK. It can be a bit tricky at times, but I know why I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing out of your comfort zone, in general, will improve your mentality, let alone when you\u2019re chasing your dream. I feel like I have to work even harder now, because I\u2019ve sacrificed everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could just go back to Australia, get a job and be comfortable, but [being away from home] has just given me an extra push to chase my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior\u2019s decision to move back to the UK was partly inspired by the fruitful opportunities for high-quality sparring and TV exposure.<\/p>\n
After shopping around at a few different gyms, though, he ultimately stayed with coaches Smith and Lam for one specific reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like, with Al and Eddie, they let me be me. They didn\u2019t try to change my footwork; they didn\u2019t try to slow me down; it wasn\u2019t \u201ctighten up and walk forward\u201d \u2013 they just let me box the way I box, while adding little things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to where I was [in the amateurs] by being me, so to not change what I was doing, and just add to it each time, was what sold me on [joining Smith and Lam].\u201d<\/p>\n
As a 4-0 (2 KOs) prospect signed to Frank Warren\u2019s Queensberry Promotions, Senior appreciates the value of taking incremental steps to refine his craft.<\/p>\n
He therefore anticipates no encounters with King Kong any time soon, but nonetheless expects to produce another stylish performance, this time on the undercard of Ryan Garner vs Michael Magnesi at St Mary\u2019s Stadium, Southampton, on Saturday.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No matter their pedigree, an accomplished amateur will always find that sparring a hardened professional is no walk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-649707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}