Winning

Winning

Shane McGuigan [R] and Carl Frampton celebrate winning the IBF world super-bantamweight title. 

Photo by Tom Jenkins/Getty Images

Shane McGuigan trains three world class British fighters in Carl Frampton, David Haye and George Groves, as well as numerous other prospects. Shane McGuigan has never been beaten as a coach. Shane McGuigan is 27 years old. The most talented coach of his generation speaks on the comeback of Groves, the championship prospects of Haye, the legacy of his celebrated father, Barry, and the danger of boxing becoming a dying sport.

On Carl Frampton: "Give me a good boxer, I think I can bring the best out of him"

"Without a doubt the Leo Santa Cruz fight was the best win of both mine and Carl's career. To headline a massive fight like that in New York, and beat a three weight world champion, especially a guy who was the betting favourite. These are the fights you aspire to as a boxer and coach. We like a challenge.

"I watched the Santa Cruz fight back and the UK commentary was very negative. The Showtime commentary was a lot more in Carl's favour. I had Carl up two rounds going into the last round. He definitely rose to the occasion and brought out the extra 5-10% in his performance. Carl hurt Santa Cruz a good few times in the first six rounds, and got Santa Cruz's respect. That was the best thing for me – the fact Santa Cruz respected his power. He's talking about a rematch, and how next time he'd fight Carl a lot more but he'd just leave himself more open early on and I think Carl would do even better.

"Everyone's individual and everyone's different. I believe there's specific coaches for specific fighters, and I was lucky enough to have a fighter in Carl Frampton who worked with my coaching style. The other fighters who have come to me, the likes of David Haye and George Groves, they're similar fighters to Frampton: they're quick, they're hard punchers. they've got good distance control. Most of my fighters fight a similar way. Give me a guy who's a good boxer I think I can bring the best out of him."

On David Haye: "I believe I can train David to beat Anthony Joshua"

"David Haye vs Anthony Joshua is a fight I’d love. I believe I can train David to beat Anthony Joshua. I believe he's got the tools to do it. You want the challenge, something to get your teeth into. You want your fighters to be in a winning situation, but at the same time you do want a challenge and that's what they're in the game before. I'd like David to fight any of Fury, Joshua or Wilder, I really do.

"Tyson Fury and David Haye, I don't know if they'll ever come to terms and get a fight on again. Fury will do his best to avoid it. When he took the first fight he needed David Haye, and now he doesn't need David Haye. It's a dangerous fight for anybody against David because he's such a quick, explosive fighter. He's hard to prepare for. They'll all do their best to avoid him, but when the public demand the fight they'll have to take it.

"If David Haye was to knock out Anthony Joshua then everybody will be knocking down the door... Boxers aren't scared of anybody, they go where the money is. Currently the money is with Joshua so everybody's going to him. When he gets beaten it'll go to the next guy. That's why we're chasing Joshua because we know we can beat Joshua.

"I've seen David spar Deontay Wilder and I think David can knock Wilder out, too. It's just whether we can prove it under the lights."

On George Groves: "The pressure's off his shoulders"

"Two of George's world title defeats were against Carl Froch, a phenomenal fighter. Against Badou Jack [where Groves lost via split decision] I definitely think George wasn't himself. He didn't bring out the best in himself. I believe styles make fights. Look at the middleweight division now – he's beaten James DeGale. De Gale's improved but so has George Groves since their first fight. I think George can beat DeGale. The division right now is wide open. I'm really excited for George because people have written him off so much and it's a win-win situation for us. He can go out there and enjoy himself. The pressure's off his shoulders.

"When George started his career he wanted to be the best fighter ever, but he's had a couple of setbacks and now he's not putting the same pressure on himself. He's in a much better mind place, and I think he's learnt his lesson. He's punching harder than ever now, finding the right weight to enter the ring at – before he struggled with that, he was always either too heavy or too light. He kept second-guessing himself. I haven't looked at his previous fights, his previous training camps, I'm going to do it my way and treat him like he's a novice. It seems to be working so far."

On Barry McGuigan, his father: "I'd have loved to have trained my dad"

"There was a lot of pressure on me as a boxer. I started out boxing under my Mum's maiden name, but Dad was coming to the shows and people put two-and-two together. I was getting crowds of 700-1000 for small amateur shows. My dad was a big part of my amateur career. He's a very driven man and when you're a kid it takes the enjoyment out a little bit, having that sort of pressure on your shoulders. I got into boxing to lose a bit of weight and get myself fit, and take up the discipline of it, rather than the competitive side. I much preferred the training aspect. My amateur career helped me with what I do today. I love what I do today – there's not a day I wake up and I don't enjoy it. Whereas the last 6-8 months of my amateur career I constantly questioned whether I was doing the right thing. I think I made the right choice.

"I'd have loved to have trained my dad. Because he's family, but also because I believe I could have helped him achieve a lot more than he did. He didn't achieve what he could have, in all honesty. That was to do with managerial problems and stuff like that, but he didn't have a lot of science behind his training. I think I could have helped him bring a little more out of himself. In the Steve Cruz fight, with the lights inside the ring, it was 120 degrees. Dad lost his title to a guy called Cruz exactly 30 years to the same month that Frampton won the same belt against a guy called Santa Cruz. It's quite amazing how the world works."

On himself as a trainer: "I'm not in boxing to prove doubters wrong"

Training

Training

George Groves works the pads with Shane McGuigan

Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

"I think youth gives me an advantage. With youth you're much more prepared to do your homework. You haven't won world titles. Older, successful trainers might be going through the motions a little – they're not as excited by the whole process. There's nothing better for me than to see one of my fighters win, and when that buzz stops – when winning and training stops being enjoyable – I think I'll nip it in the bud as well. You've got to be as passionate as your fighter. And in that it definitely helps to be younger.

"There're so many dinosaurs in boxing, people constantly writing us off – Frampton off as a fighter, me off as a trainer. Results speak for themselves. I'm not in boxing to prove doubters wrong, I'm in it to enjoy myself – if you constantly read into articles and tweets you'd be constantly getting upset about things. I'm with my fighter whether they're winning or losing.

"I do pick and choose who I work with. If somebody comes to me and I don't think I can bring the best out of them, I'll be honest. I've done it to many fighters before who've asked me to train them – I've always turned them away because I don't think I can bring the best out of them. George and David fit my training style, and I know I can help them achieve their goals – which can only burnish my credentials and theirs."

On retirement: "Sometimes a boxer has to be told to pack it in"

Retirement

The struggle

McGuigan advises Carl Frampton during his victory over Kiko Martinez 

Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

"I haven't been in the game long enough to tell somebody to retire. David and George, I haven't been with them since the start. I can pretty much gauge how many fights they've got left in them but boxers can age overnight. They can look brilliant in the gym but suddenly stop performing in the ring. Take Shane Mosley. I've had Mosley in the gym and he looks great, even in sparring he looks great. But put the small gloves on and he's not the same fighter he used to be. Sometimes a boxer has to be told to pack it in. That's the coach's job.

"You have to be professional. Carl and I are best mates outside the gym, but in the gym I'm the boss and he's the athlete. We're in there to do a job. He knows I've got his best interests at heart. If I told Carl to pack it in, and he didn't want to, I do my utmost to convince him but I probably wouldn't work with him if he wouldn't give it up at the right time. It's the legacy, something you work so hard for but can be taking away from you so quickly. Look at the likes of Roy Jones. Who remembers him now as the P4P best fighter in the world?"

On boxing: "The casual boxing fan will now lean more towards UFC"

Boxing

The Fight Game

Shane McGuigan, Barry McGuigan, Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg, Eddie Hearn and Joe Gallagher pose before Frampton vs Quigg

Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

"The most frustrating aspect of boxing is the politics. If somebody has a monopoly on an industry in a specific country then it's very hard to get round it. Sometimes you have to suck it up, bite the bullet and work with them. It all depends on who's go the deal with the TV. Warren used to be the go-to guy, now it's Hearn, and it'll be somebody else sometime soon. That's the most frustrating part, the fact promoters can't work with each other. Pacquiao vs Mayweather should have happened five years before it did. Frampton vs Scott Quigg was three years in the making. Luckily both boxers were still in their prime, but if you look at Pacquiao vs Mayweather it was a battle of who's got the most left.

"Boxing is becoming a bit more of a dying sport. UFC is full of excitement. We have to have exciting fights in boxing. We can't have stinking matches like Mayweather v Pacquiao. The casual boxing fan will now lean more towards UFC than boxing because the fight that was so anticipated didn't live up to expectations. I want my boxers to be in exciting fights, I don't want them to be in boring fights."

Read our exclusive interview with David Haye here.