John Thain has started his professional career with bang after going 5-0 (1 KO) and the only way is up for the Edinburgh boxer who is a regular feature on the undercard of Ricky Burns.
The 24-year-old is enjoying the experience of fighting on world title shows and believes he can benefit from sharing the stage with former super-featherweight and reigning WBO interim lightweight champion Burns.
“If it wasn’t for Ricky I wouldn’t be fighting on big world title cards,” said Thain, who will appear on the bill on March 10 at Braehead. “That’s been really valuable just to see what a world champion has to do and seeing him winning the title.
“The funny thing is that I was boxing just after him when he won the title [at Kelvin Hall, September 2010] so everyone started to leave and I was saying, “No, stay, I’m fighting”. Ricky has done it the hard way. He’s proved a lot of people wrong, that’s what he’s done, and it’s brilliant.”
Thain, who represented Scotland as an amateur, has made a successful transition to the paid ranks and revealed he is still learning from some of the difficulties he faced as an amateur.
“As an amateur I finished better than I started because when I started I was getting beat in fights, I wasn’t very confident but I won the Scottish title and I boxed for Scotland as well. That was a proud moment,” he said.
“My record wasn’t great but I learned from my losses and took the experience from it. That was the best thing about it because I still use that experience today.”
The jump from amateur to professional can be difficult for some boxers who get to the top of the pile as an amateur - winning titles and fighting internationally - to starting once again from the bottom and working their way up. For Thain, making that move has meant a lot of changes, both mentally and physically, and he compared it to learning a whole new sport.
“I think if you’re in the Olympics you’re kind of fast-tracked, but I think you have a whole new trade to learn when you turn pro,” he explained. “It doesn’t matter how much amateur experience you’ve got; it’s a whole different trade. You’re not looking to score points, you’re looking to win rounds, you’re looking to cause damage with punches and avoid damaging punches.
“You do have to go through a transition; you have to change your thinking. I had to change my style a little bit, I couldn’t just jab and run around and look to score points. I had to put a bit of meet in the shots and prove my defence as well.
“I’ve enjoyed the experience. I’m definitely a different guy now for turning pro, but I definitely had to change. I noticed the change. They’re both different sports, they really are.”
Thain turned professional in 2010 and may have been better prepared than most fighters after having the opportunity to travel to Freddie Roach’s Wildcard gym in 2009 when still an amateur. The visit to Hollywood, facilitated by trainer Terry McCormack, not only provided an opportunity to train and spar with some of the biggest names in the sport, but also meet one of his heroes by the name of Pacquiao. Although, the initial reception the Scottish fighters received was a little frostier than expected.
“You know in Rocky III when he goes in the gym and everyone’s looking at him, that’s what it felt like. Everyone was looking at you and you’re being tested. You have to prove yourself because everyone is watching,” he said.
“We’re going back again so hopefully I’ll see how much I’ve came along since I was there three years ago. We’re going again August to September, so I’m looking forward to that. Terry is good pals with Freddie Roach, he’s been over seven times or something, so they’ve really struck up a bond.”
Thain, whose mother is Filipino, added: “We were allowed to watch Manny Pacquiao train there. It was frightening watching him. He is just so intense, even when he’s shadow-boxing every punch is aimed to cause damage.
“I sparred with a guy called Roberto Garcia, he went on to fight [Antonio] Margarito in his next fight. That was quite a good spar. I hadn’t had any professional experience; I was an amateur when I went there and sparring against pros was really good experience for me and hard too.”
Not one to get ahead of himself, Thain remains focussed on his short-term future and insists the hard work and effort in the gym will ensure progress in the ring.
“I want to take it one fight at a time, be sensible and just think about the next fight. If I could I would love to be British champion by the end of next year. If someone gave me the shot I would take and see how far I could go. One fight at a time, keep my head down and train hard. That’s the way it is. That’s the way it has to be.”
