All right. Well, what's up everybody? I'm here with the Savage himself Alen Babic
Alan is a professional boxer and one of the most exciting boxers to watch with his all-out style
He holds a professional undefeated record of 11 wins and zero losses with 10 knockouts
And he'll fight in April for the Bridgerweight title in this episode. We're gonna hear from the Savage himself Alen
Thanks for coming on the podcast
Thank you brother and this is a very good intro. Thank you very much. I appreciate my
Main guy, you know, you just go out of this Savage you want to call that
Like your channel a show I watch a lot of your channel channel and stuff it I like it that's why I'm saying okay
See you're smart, you know, I don't like to talk to stupid people I don't have to anymore
I appreciate that. Well, we'll see after the interview if you still think I'm smart or not, but hopefully
Well, Alan, can you tell us a little bit sort of about your childhood, you know
Sort of before your boxing career started you grew up in Rovinj, right?
Roving
Yes, Rovinj
Yeah, my childhood was very ordinary, you know, very boring very I
See it as a dark
You know, I wasn't really popular at school
Not even close as being a lot like you this athletic guy that I am right now
You know, so I was everything opposite of what you see right now. So
Really? I didn't really go anywhere. I could I could have been only a barman because that's all the thing
You can do it. You can't do much you can work for my history
and be barman, you know, be maybe some small small-time boss of
those
Barman stuff, so I wasn't interested in that
So I was really lost because I didn't have didn't have a way to go. I didn't find myself in Roving
Never I love it. It's the most beautiful city in the world, but I could never imagine myself myself living there
So one day I was working this stupid ass job. I was a security. I was I was
Looking after a hotel
Can you imagine how stupid the job must be? I was just there. I didn't even know
What is my job there? I was just walking around the woods of that hotel
You know waiting if some dog is gonna shit so I can tell them don't do that here
So it's really very depressing, you know, and I work 12-hour shifts
So I think you have much of life and then one day
One old woman not old one woman in her middle ages
Came to me and said why why don't you do something with your life?
And I was like, I don't know what what can I do? I don't want to be a bartender
He told me go be a security guy
You can meet some nice ladies there and I was like, okay
I was big, you know, I was big when I was I was always around
90 100 kilos the big guy big bald guy
So she saw a security guy in me and on on her word. I go to Rijeka
I moved to Rijeka with nothing. I said to my mother bye. Bye
She was like, oh somewhere. Where are you going? I said, I don't want to be here
I was 19 years old already. So I was late. I was late for everything
I was just about to turn 20 and then I went to Rijeka
And there I fell in love with boxing. I don't even know how it happened. I was in MMA before
I don't even know how it happened, but I believe in faith, you know
And boxing was always gonna be my faith and I now I see it
But I saw it even then even though I didn't have nothing
So I saw boxing as my way out, you know, and when I saw it, I stuck to it. I really stuck to it
It was bad for many years. It was nothing
I was winning everything by knockout everybody, but everybody was against me and it wasn't good first two or three years
For very shitty, you know, so I had to go through that
Just like I had to go through my whole life. I didn't want me there, you know in school
I wasn't popular because I didn't like school and the school didn't like me back. So
I didn't feel needed. I didn't felt wanted there
You know the same thing happened in boxing. They didn't want me there, but I said well, I'm here. What you gonna do?
You know, I was I was searching for a spartan way out
You know somebody to kill me in the ring if they must do it. I don't care. I'm not leaving
And I just said I'm not gonna leave
And I stuck to my word
Huh is that what led to I mean because the savage is your nickname
But it kind of feels like it's more than a nickname, you know that it's like a part of you
It's more than nickname for me. I always felt something
I always felt felt something in me or
Something different so and what dillian why gave me that nickname?
Very lately after 10 years of boxing. I just got the nickname savage, but I recognized it
I said, okay, that's it. No, the savage was with me all of these years and the last night
My resting heart was hard. It was 36
So I'm telling you something is wrong with me. I go into extremes
I go into extremes
Extreme high and extreme lows. So I love I love it. I love the old things
I just take it now, you know, I'm used to it. My life is never gonna be boring
Like I wanted to be
It's never gonna be dull. Maybe when I got kids and stuff when I leave all these behind, but
I don't even want to leave it now. I'm so used to it
That lady that you mentioned
Uh who told you you know at the hotel to get a different job. Did you ever find her again or find out who she was?
of course
I'm still i'm still in good relationship, but we don't we don't have
Numbers or stuff so we weren't even close. You know, she was just a lady who worked at the same
Hotel that I worked in so he imagined that me and her
I think the same doesn't have any sense. So
She was just uh, just a lady sent by by god's by audit
I don't know who but I believe somebody sent her because she told me that with such strength that I still remember
Go do something with your life. You know, you're a big guy. You're strong and I was like, oh god
Maybe I should do it and that's the only thing I needed now
Kids need promises money
Blah blah blah everything. I just need the word. I just need one word
That's one lady changed my life because I was ready to change my life. I just needed somebody to push me
My mother loved me too much and she still do so she didn't want to let me out
She just wanted me to be with her her whole life
You know, so that lady really
Made me question everything
Huh? Well, you're speaking of people, you know who push you and mentors. I know dillian white for you is a as a big mentor
Um, how did that relationship start with him with you and him?
Yeah, well after all of that
uh
I went into the boxing
depression of 10 years of amateur
career I had maybe eight eight or nine years of amateur career and it was
I was still broke after nine years. I was already
27 or eight
I don't even know the years anymore. So I was eight years. I started boxing 20
So yeah, i'm 28. So I was already 28
And still didn't have nothing. So I was starting to wonder
Now is this the right part? Did I choose the right way because
I can't help my mother which I always wanted. I can't help my sister
Which is growing up. So
You know, I don't feel like a man. No, I gotta be provider
I was raised that way that i'm the man in the house. I'm the provider
It's all up to me. You know, I don't fucking share expenses with my girl
No, I I do all the time things that I accepted. So
And then one time when I was at the lowest of my life
I get a call from my sister
I get a call from the akovic, you know him bro from ksw even the akovic
Sounds familiar
No, it's very familiar because he has roberto soldiches his fighter
A lot of kreysha fighters he is in germany
I was in germany sparring this ajit kabayel who is now a champion european champion
And I was sparring him and I was very good and he saw me sparring. He told me
Hey, do you need a job? You know, I know where you can get money for sparring and I was like, yeah, bro
You know because I work for maybe 40 euros a night
and that
Week of sparring was 500 euros
That was unknown to me that much money
So I said just call me and he did like after maybe
Three weeks of that camp. I I already forgot about him
He called me a delia white needs a sparring. It's 500 pounds a week
I said, okay, let's go
You know, I went in against delia white who was 120 something kilos
I had 88 kilos
Wow
That's that's how we met on the second day. I was there we had a sparring
It was one of the best sparrings I ever did in my life
And he liked that obviously and he said
I'm gonna manage you and I was like what you're talking about. What does that mean?
I didn't even know I was an amateur boxer not a professional
He thought I was professional like fully fledged professional. I was like no i'm a cruiser and oh he was like oh god
so
It all happened so fast and
literally
20 days of delia white camp. I already had two fights for metron
So my story started there, you know all all in all happened in 20 days three weeks
crazy
So within a month you already had two fights
Yeah, two fights for metro not just two fights. I can't fight at the o2 arena. So
That alone was enough for me if I never did a single fight. I'll be happy
Because I didn't know much I didn't know but now I want it all but I didn't know better than that
So if I didn't have a single fight after these two fights, I'll be happy. I did a fight in rome
In the coliseum for metro and in o2 arena of london
so and it was both
first round knockout, so
That was enough for me
You fought a couple times in the o2 arena right in in london
Yeah, many times I fight fighting five four or five fights
fighting five four or five fights o2 arena, what's it like what's it like the atmosphere there for you because I know you have a
big fan base too in england now because of that
my my my
My station is in the uk in the uk. I always say savage is born in uk
You know allen is born in croatia
and did all to become the savage but savage was born in uk because
They gave me the shot, you know, creation didn't give me a shot creation didn't want me in the amateur circles
went along professional so
You can really give me a shot. They put me out there and they just show me there like
like
Like a baby in a wildness, you know and and I I managed I managed pretty good
And it was easy for me, you know
I just see that persona of savages came out and I was so truthful to myself and to anybody and people recognized that and
Got behind, you know, my search army is growing by the day
Now we're here
Mm-hmm. Well you even you even was that in the uk you sparred with uh, tyson fury
You were training with him in his camp for a little bit. Yeah, of course. That was my
My second to last camp. I was dice of fury and lorso coli camps in like span of three months
So I was with ice of fury in more combat. It was near
manchester
So it was very good experience. I spartized fury many rounds. We did five rounds
four times a week
He wanted to do four times a week. So
Sometimes he did three sometimes four sometimes two. So we did many rounds
Wow, yeah, how does it feel sparring him? Can you tell I mean does he feel like that's why he's the heavyweight champion?
You know you is he he's really tall. I know a lot taller than maybe some of the other people you've fought
I mean, what's what's so special about him? I guess i'm asking
Exactly
That is exactly the question because if you ask now, I don't know but when i'm near him I can feel it
I know he's special. You know, I know he's special and I know he is in the
in the
In the heights of muhammad ali literally and I was the first guy who said
No, who is this that's a fury don't mention your name next to Liz. I'm a nostalgic boxing nostalgia
No
So but when I met him when I see how people
Uh
People act near him and stuff. I said, okay, I know now
He is a true champion true champion
You know, he's a he's really a champion
And I i'm happy now to hold him my friend because we we are good friends now
And he seems like he's a good guy outside of the ring also
He's a really good guy can imagine me coming me and my friend marco miller miller
Amateur boxer coming into more combat and you see ties of fury yelling at the
At the middle of the street. Hey savage
Hey savage
Who is this this time so you're
Yelling in the google the street. My name is crazy
And he told me he was my fan
I like what you're talking about
It's crazy to even talk about it. You know, he's my friend. No, i'm your friend
This is a really because he doesn't fight who is his who is whose friend a fan
Uh, that's pretty cool. Yeah to have ties and fury say he's a fan of you. That's awesome
Um, he told me he told me I will be world champion. He told me for sure. He was second
And I was like bro. Did you just say that he was like no no, I mean we were we were just going into the bath
So it was weird, but he told me we're with the world champion
I'll say okay
I didn't even have fight
Uh, no, I wasn't supposed to have a fight for champion exit. It's crazy how it all played out
Yeah, well you have now you have a title fight with um, what's it lucas?
rosanski
How have you been preparing for that because I I box a little bit at uh three slow jim in zagreb
I don't know if you know that one
Yeah, of course
And you know, I do sparring maybe once a week, but I know you do a lot of sparring, you know a lot of
All days of the week almost it seems like what's your training camp now look like? Yeah
Barring was yesterday and tomorrow. I had another I have another
Listen
Everybody says I spar a lot. Well boxing is my life
Boxing is my life and I have these you saw the heart race and stuff
And I showed to people that when I run
I get higher high heart rate than when I box because it's so easy for me comes natural for me
Fighting sparring is so natural to me. It's like walking
To somebody else so I really don't
Don't uh, leave it like you guys do know like when somebody see me from a side
I look like a freak. I can't spar 20 rounds, but for me it comes easy. I just do it
It's like brushing your teeth. I can't explain it. It's the easiest training
I ever done in my life is sparring. It's the easiest thing for me. So you
What you enjoy it it's it's not work
Yeah, it's a dance for me. I dance the only time I look good is in sparring
That that's where I look like I know how to dance
My girl said I don't you know how to dance. No, I never danced. I don't know. I'm not nimble. I'm not
Nice moves. I only look good in sparring. I look good in boxing
No, that's who I become boxing is part of me
Yeah, so if she takes you over to club diamond in luwoszki, you won't bust out any dance moves over there
Yeah, I'm afraid not I think I'm done with club bro. I mean
I've been bounced for 10 years
So it's over my head. I don't want to be in a nightclub in my life. I really don't
I don't I don't hate it. I I loved what I do and I did a professional most of the time
But I I would never do it again. I don't know how I managed. I do know that I went to the fights
I went to the fights, uh directly from the night ships. I was still smelly and I was all
You know, I smell on cigarettes and stuff. I was never smoker, but I was in that company. So you smell like them
And I I went to the to the fights drunk also
after
after the rations, so
I really through been through hell and back in that kind of so that's why I don't want to go to nightclub ever again
Yeah, yeah, so you've outgrown that phase and you know, you're moving on towards bigger and better things
than that
Something like that. Yeah. Yeah
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um
What what do you think of like mentally speaking? You know when you're late in the round like your last fight, you know when you went um
Um where you're in the late rounds the championship rounds and you're tired
You know, I you know, you don't want to give up, but you know, your body's tired and everything like that
What do you think of mentally that that keeps you going?
Well, you don't really know that's that's what I said my last fight. It was really heroic when I look at it now
but I didn't feel like it because
To to to quit it's much harder for me than to just keep going
You know, i'm used to it. I'm used to that. I just keep going
It's so much easier than quitting for me if I quit. I know I will kill myself. I will destroy
My mentality completely because that's all I have i'm not gonna quit you're gonna knock me out
Of course, you can knock me out rosaski can knock me out, but you gotta do it. You know, it's one thing to say it
is the other thing to be
uh capable to be uh
Uh a probability which it is but you gotta do it
Knock me out. Like I said for Molina fight you saw it. Knock me out. I want I want to be knocked out
I i'm
I'm telling everybody of course i'm gonna be knocked out. My style is crazy
My style is not safe
No, no, my style is absolutely crazy and i'm crazy when i'm in the ring
I'm afraid of myself. I am afraid of the savage
When i'm in the ring, especially in those later rounds. I don't want to be there. Of course I don't
I I think i'm smart enough to know what's good for me and stuff
So I would rather be on the new buski on the river. How's it called? The the thai sea river
The culture i love culture. Oh god, I was in that river every day
10 times it's like eight degrees
Yeah, i'd rather be there. I'd rather be there enjoying my life
Having babies. I put the whole of my life on hold
I put everything on hold. I can't hold it anymore. I can't my my my
Girlfriend has needs she wants to be a woman
You know, I gotta make her a woman so
No, my life will not wait for my boxing. No as long as I would like I would like it to wait
To live like this for another 10 years. I can't
You know, so that mentality is probably gonna change
I I don't say i'm gonna be like this when i'm 50 years old because i'm not i'm not stupid
Someone's gonna kill me
You know, I don't want to be killed. I want to live life is beautiful now
I wanted to die before
I want them to use me like i'm when i'm like this use me
Give me as much fight as possible. I'm still in that shape. My head is still in that place. Fucked
His fuck does want to stop it wants all the wars
Do you have an idea of when
Like in three years or two years or something five years that that's going to be
Time or are you just going to feel when it feels like it's time to believe?
I said it to myself. I was I gave eight years
Of life to boxing, you know eight years of hard life very very bad life and poor life
So I want to give myself another eight years of good life
And i've already lived three and a half of those years. So I think I have
A little less than five years left
I hold my full i'm talking about a full tank
After that, I can do fights
I I don't care. I don't care. Believe me, you know, these guys don't don't want to fight
I don't care. I need two weeks to get ready and i'm fighting
Fighting is my second nature
No, how can I say i'm not ready? Of course i'm ready. That's my nature
It's fighting
When you walk or do skiing or do shadow box I fight is the same for me
So, you know
I can't wait to be at that stage
Where I can't where I don't have to prove nothing
I already proved everything in my life that I wanted to prove but you know, there are still doubters. I gotta take this title
Then I gotta take the real title as I say
You know, there are always doubters. So
So doubters keep me going. I want to prove them wrong
But I will come I will come to that stage where I will say fuck it
I will not train. I will just party and I will fight. That's what I want. That's the ultimate goal
Because i'm never gonna i'm never gonna stop you when I have five kids. I want five kids
When I have all that but I have a house, of course, I want to have a boxing gym
In my house, of course, I want to have the ring. What do you think? I'm gonna do that
I'm not gonna pray in the ring for a fight. I'm gonna let them kick my
Stupid head every day
Because I can't really do it, you know
Will you teach them your same style or maybe a more uh, protective style?
All my kids. No, I don't think i'm gonna
Let them to be in boxing
But listen, you gotta be
You gotta be poor to be boxer boxing is a poor man's sport. Remember that first there are no
There are no rich champions not even today
Where ever everybody's rich
No back in the day the writers it wasn't like that. We are poor as fuck
I mean all my friends
so boxing is a poor man's sport
Just remember that the holy the only truth. So if my kids
Are growing up in a palace. I'm gonna do everything for them. They're gonna grow up. I'm gonna buy them a unicorn
You can't be a boxer
Like that, you know, it's it's tough if they want to of course I want to teach you but you know
Like tyson said you go to private school. You want to be a boxer? Yeah, okay
I have some questions about tyson, but before that I just want to ask
What do you think about you know, jake paul and sort of those internet boxers? Do you think that's good for boxing?
Is it interesting to you?
Yeah, I met jake paul this this camp. I was with him in kamani club in dubai
And I know tomahue fury, of course and uh
At least I was one of those guys who said, you know, fuck jake paul
Get out of boxing and stuff, but then I changed I changed because he does a lot of good things
He does a lot of good things for boxing and he brought in a whole new era of fans to my to my sport
So he only made boxing bigger. That's why boxing has
Have someone to blame now. They all blame jake paul. So boxing needs that
Boxing is a very controversial sport
And it needs to have the bad guys and he's a bad guy
And he said I think he's very smart
I think he knows what he's doing and at the end of the day the fight was good with him
Between him and tom fury the fight was very
Very good, you know, I don't even know who won
He's very dangerous some point. So, you know
You know just listen, I met the guy the jack paul guy
And he has a boxing nose already
And I was like, what is this these guys?
He's not joking. He's truly sparring his face is all messed up
You know, he's
boxing nose, you can see he's uh
Not strong like me, you know, my head is done
But he is like a soft he has soft head but you can see boxing features on it. You know, it's weird
I look at him and I said this guy is not joking. This guy is sparring for real
He's a real deal
Every every single session he has blood on him
It's weird for somebody of that kind of status and money to go into this sport. So
I respect that you know now I respect
Nice nice a good answer. Yeah
Um, I agree at for me also I used to be you know, who is this guy causing all this drama and stuff
But lately it seems like he really wants to to prove himself and to to train the right way and be the best so
I mean it props the end
There is always the market for it because he's like in top five
Fights in the whole world. Yeah, his brother and brother and stuff. So it's crazy
Crazy numbers. They do crazy numbers. Even him. Tommy fury. Tommy fury is just a novice in boxing. Nobody
Look at tommy fury and he fights jack paul. He get like 70
Uh 700 000 views or something subscribe. I don't know paper views. Yeah
Like almost a million paper views. It's crazy. It's crazy numbers
There's oscar delahoya number. Yeah
Well, you know speaking of other other boxers, you know back in the day
I wanted to ask you who's your your top five all-time boxers
Um, well let's let's feel like this well, are we just looking at boxing?
Or all all around boxers
Muhammad Ali is number one if you look at everything
But joe louis is number one if you look at only boxing for me
No, there's a difference
I mean listen listen
I I always say to people people ask me that question is
You have you gotta look at it at the if you want to look at all of the things
Then i'm gonna say we'll come with alien mike tyson because they made most for boxing and there are most known names in the world of boxing
No, but but if you're talking about boxing ability, i'm gonna say joe louis sugar and obisome. So it's a whole different
You know, uh, so what you want
Yeah, I guess it's a different way to look at it. Um,
I don't know. I now that's a tough question for me to to think to ask you
You spun it around onto me
Top tens, but it's two different guys
You know because these top tens can never be these top tens and these top tens can be this it's crazy
Okay, listen, you have you have great
You have grace or else i stop talking about
The greatest boxers so first first great boxer was joe louis
Let's say like that. He boxed very very way before
uh, he was
In the yeah, second world war kind of era
Joe louis before him you have rocky marcia joe johnson. I mean
We can we can go like this. It's too tough for
Question I I can now tell you 50 names that should be number one sugar. Robinson
Is the guy that everybody puts a number one?
You know the old the old mongoose
Of course
Uh different give me a different more specific question. Okay, okay my head
All right, how about this
Who's your favorite to watch highlights of?
Oh is that easier or harder
Yeah, but I love boxing so
Okay, let's do it like this
My favorite highlights of all time is joe frazier
He's my favorite guy. He's my go-to guy, but when I
Explained boxing to you or maybe something else
I will show you where to do run. I will show you the knockouts of tony the hawk jackson
Jack the hawk jackson, so I'll show you lots of things
And again, my my mind is spinning of so many possibilities
But yeah, let's say roberto duran mike tyson is there but for me, it's not in top 10 of mine
Joe louis, I like joe louis
It's called the
One video the punching perfection just watch it. It's going it's crazy
Reznik Reznik made it on youtube
Joe louis muhammad ali
Oscar bonovenak had crazy crazy knockout drills
Mark schmeling was tough. You know so many guys
So many I watched james jay braddock guys. You didn't even heard of
You know that was the first time I watched it
Guys, you didn't even heard of you know, that was the guy I knew and also
I watched uh archie morse the old mongoose like I said and I watched
Joe fraser, of course julian the hawk jackson
Yeah
Oh, I like to watch ike babuchi the president. Did you hear about him?
I don't think ike babuchi
No, it's crazy
crazy
Davitua, you know davitua
Yeah, yeah from like new zealand or ike babuchi
Yeah, ike babuchi beat davitua when he was in his prime
So yeah, so I have I hear a lot of stories like this. So
I got lost I get lost in all those stories. You know, I have many stories
Yeah, well, I asked you a lexis. I'm well, oh god
I asked you a question to answer i'll give you
A little bit easier one now as we're you know, come down to the end here of the the podcast
I want to thank you first of all alan for coming on the podcast
You know, it's been an honor to have you on really cool talking to you two easy questions
um favorite food
Oh favorite food, let's say you know what I just met my favorite food in dubai at side
I like acai how do you call it? Uh the do you know acai?
acai
Like the yeah
Acai balls
Like like bowl. Oh, I love it. Now. That's my favorite food. I like pizza
I like pizza. I like acai. I like ice cream
Um, that's my three favorite foods and then uh favorite movie
Uh
That'd be a movie. I watched a million times the gladiator
That was my walkout music
It was my dream to have a walkout music of the gladiator song and I did that also
That was one of my dreams checked. Yeah the gladiator
I love I love the all of the rocky movies. Of course. I watched them like a million times
Uh those kind of movies old school movies
Yeah, yeah, the rockies are classic. I love uh, the one with mr. T is my favorite
I think that's the second one. I forget. Oh, I watched that like a million times
Mr. T, uh, and I I really I I could mr. T is closer to me than the rocky actually
So first time I saw it. I was like this guy's good
I like this guy, you know, so I want to be like him. So I am more of a mr. T kind of guy than rocky
Sorry
Yeah, rocky is a golden child, you know he had
Like he's a white kid boxing. Mr. T was
Was was you know, everything underdog is a big underdog and made it for himself. So I love mr. T also
That's awesome. Yeah, he was a great character
Um alan I want to thank you again so much for coming on and then just real quick as we go
Do you have a prediction for your your title fight how it's gonna end?
Oh
Well, I think it's what your knockout
It can be no cut either way, but I predict a knockout in the round
the
Let's say five
I don't see it going to
I don't see it going to around six. I really don't because his style is crazy
My style is crazy here. He's strong. I'm stronger. He had
I don't know what like 85 percent knockouts. I have 90 percent knockout. So I really don't think it's gonna go to the end
I really think of your knockout
Well, it's gonna be an exciting fight i'm looking forward to it and wishing you all the best I speaking to you