Latest news with #DonCharles
The Guardian
23-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Daniel Dubois' trainer denies ‘party' disrupted preparations before loss to Usyk
Daniel Dubois' trainer Don Charles has played down reports that a party at the fighter's home hours before his world heavyweight championship bout with Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley on Saturday night disrupted the boxer's preparation. Dubois was knocked out in the fifth round by Usyk and Charles does not dispute that his charge did not arrive until 8.20pm at the arena, 90 minutes before his scheduled ring walk time. Footage of what Charles describes as more of a 'cultural gathering' than a party emerged on Tuesday, but the trainer insisted that Dubois and his entourage arrived within their allocated time, and had ample time to undergo all pre-fight preparations necessary to face Usyk. 'It was more like a gathering, a cultural gathering,' said Charles. 'I don't think it was public, in fact it was the same [sort of] gathering that was done back in September last year when Daniel was going to fight Anthony Joshua on the fight day. The same thing occurred where a lot was made of the ring walk. He came in [at Wembley] like a gladiator, he was charged up.' Charles also brushed off suggestions of a disagreement between Dubois and his father Stanley. 'I wasn't there, but [talk of a disagreement] is all hearsay. I can assure you that wouldn't have happened.' Charles says the pre-fight 'ritual' organised by Dubois' father helped him. 'So call it a ritual, whatever, it worked and it helped Daniel to be in the mode, fight mode to be destructive,' explained the trainer. 'So the father replicated that again with the view that it should put Daniel in the right state of mind. So many boxers, if you speak to all boxers across the country, they'll all tell you they've all got their little things that they do on fight day to mentally be able to support them to go and do what they do. 'So it didn't work this time and that's why there's a lot of lies going on instead of focus on the actual fight, where the fight was fought, the way it panned out. And there's a lot of focus on this party, it was a gathering, a cultural gathering. 'The only way [the arrival time] would have an impact is if we didn't do all the preliminaries, the hand wraps, the stretches, the normal procedure. We were able to do everything with 10 minutes to spare for the TV, also for the ring walk,' he added. Despite being the underdog, some pundits had backed the British boxer to defeat Usyk, following his career being revitalised under the wing of Charles. Dubois secured three consecutive KO victories over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua on his way to winning the IBF world heavyweight championship. Usyk dominated Saturday's fight, with all three judges having the Ukrainian winning coming into the fifth round, where Usyk closed the show with a looping left hand that floored Dubois, to crown himself undisputed heavyweight world champion. Charles has admitted there were things that they could have done better, but claimed it was too early to completely digest the fight, with the entire team still 'licking their wounds'. 'I'm in regular contact with [Daniel]. The young man's doing well,' said Charles. 'He's healthy, he's not harmed. He's sustained a terrible knockout and is just resting up. He's going to go on holiday in the next week or so. All we've done in the last two years since I've been working with him is go from camp to camp. Camp to camp is exhausting. I'm exhausted. Imagine how the fighter feels.' Charles praised fellow heavyweight Tyson Fury for publicly defending Dubois. Fury took to Instagram to implore people to stop referring to Dubois as a 'coward', insisting that 'there are no cowards in boxing', and that Dubois did his best. 'I'm glad someone like that is able to [support Dubois], a big figure like him,' he said. 'People listen to what Tyson says. I'm glad for him and I applaud him for standing up for Daniel too. Because what disappoints is a lot of these people putting these negative narratives out. A lot of them are retired boxers, some of them are current active boxers. And they too should know better than to try to put down a young fighter like him. You've just got to ask what is their motive, what are they trying to achieve?'
The Guardian
23-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Daniel Dubois' trainer denies ‘party' disrupted preparations before loss to Usyk
Daniel Dubois' trainer Don Charles has played down reports that a party at the fighter's home hours before his world heavyweight championship bout with Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley on Saturday night disrupted the boxer's preparation. Dubois was knocked out in the fifth round by Usyk and Charles does not dispute that his charge did not arrive until 8.20pm at the arena, 90 minutes before his scheduled ring walk time. Footage of what Charles describes as more of a 'cultural gathering' than a party emerged on Tuesday, but the trainer insisted that Dubois and his entourage arrived within their allocated time, and had ample time to undergo all pre-fight preparations necessary to face Usyk. 'It was more like a gathering, a cultural gathering,' said Charles. 'I don't think it was public, in fact it was the same [sort of] gathering that was done back in September last year when Daniel was going to fight Anthony Joshua on the fight day. The same thing occurred where a lot was made of the ring walk. He came in [at Wembley] like a gladiator, he was charged up.' Charles also brushed off suggestions of a disagreement between Dubois and his father Stanley. 'I wasn't there, but [talk of a disagreement] is all hearsay. I can assure you that wouldn't have happened.' Charles says the pre-fight 'ritual' organised by Dubois' father helped him. 'So call it a ritual, whatever, it worked and it helped Daniel to be in the mode, fight mode to be destructive,' explained the trainer. 'So the father replicated that again with the view that it should put Daniel in the right state of mind. So many boxers, if you speak to all boxers across the country, they'll all tell you they've all got their little things that they do on fight day to mentally be able to support them to go and do what they do. 'So it didn't work this time and that's why there's a lot of lies going on instead of focus on the actual fight, where the fight was fought, the way it panned out. And there's a lot of focus on this party, it was a gathering, a cultural gathering. 'The only way [the arrival time] would have an impact is if we didn't do all the preliminaries, the hand wraps, the stretches, the normal procedure. We were able to do everything with 10 minutes to spare for the TV, also for the ring walk,' he added. Despite being the underdog, some pundits had backed the British boxer to defeat Usyk, following his career being revitalised under the wing of Charles. Dubois secured three consecutive KO victories over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua on his way to winning the IBF world heavyweight championship. Usyk dominated Saturday's fight, with all three judges having the Ukrainian winning coming into the fifth round, where Usyk closed the show with a looping left hand that floored Dubois, to crown himself undisputed heavyweight world champion. Charles has admitted there were things that they could have done better, but claimed it was too early to completely digest the fight, with the entire team still 'licking their wounds'. 'I'm in regular contact with [Daniel]. The young man's doing well,' said Charles. 'He's healthy, he's not harmed. He's sustained a terrible knockout and is just resting up. He's going to go on holiday in the next week or so. All we've done in the last two years since I've been working with him is go from camp to camp. Camp to camp is exhausting. I'm exhausted. Imagine how the fighter feels.' Charles praised fellow heavyweight Tyson Fury for publicly defending Dubois. Fury took to Instagram to implore people to stop referring to Dubois as a 'coward', insisting that 'there are no cowards in boxing', and that Dubois did his best. 'I'm glad someone like that is able to [support Dubois], a big figure like him,' he said. 'People listen to what Tyson says. I'm glad for him and I applaud him for standing up for Daniel too. Because what disappoints is a lot of these people putting these negative narratives out. A lot of them are retired boxers, some of them are current active boxers. And they too should know better than to try to put down a young fighter like him. You've just got to ask what is their motive, what are they trying to achieve?'
The Independent
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Daniel Dubois' coach responds to ‘party' claims after knockout by Oleksandr Usyk
Daniel Dubois 's coach has responded to claims that the heavyweight attended a pre-fight 'party' before being knocked out by Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley Stadium. On Saturday (19 July), Usyk dropped Dubois twice in the fifth round to secure a stoppage win, becoming a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion in the process. The result followed Usyk's 2023 TKO of Dubois, keeping the Ukrainian, 38, unbeaten and extending his sublime record against British fighters. Yet while much of the post-fight narrative has centred on Usyk's talents, the emergence of a video has led to talk of an alleged pre-fight 'party' at Dubois's family home – an event that might have distracted the 27-year-old, according to many fans, pundits and fighters. Dubois's coach, Don Charles, has sought to set the record straight after the event was first reported on by The Times, telling Talksport on Tuesday (22 July): 'Let's replace the word 'party' with 'gathering'. It was a gathering, okay? Right. 'The same gathering, we used for the prep on fight day for the AJ fight,' Charles added, referencing Dubois's stoppage of Anthony Joshua at Wembley in September. 'A lot was made of the ring walk when Daniel walked out in Wembley [to face Joshua], 96,000 people, and the energy... he was fired up. 'That gathering at the home, the same home, was taken to the dressing room. Some of Daniel's friends and his father's friends were in the dressing room for the AJ fight. That energy is what gave birth to the energy that everybody witnessed in the ring walk, and we were victorious on that occasion.' Although Charles was not present at the gathering on Saturday, he said: 'Correct, [we tried to replicate the last gathering]. I would, I think you would; if it works for you the first time, it's highly likely you're going to replicate that. There might have been more people, granted, for this second gathering – to get more energy. 'That would be the only thing; I'm a logical man, the only logical sense why there was more people is to increase the volume, because the AJ fight was big, [but] this even trumps it. That's what I do: try to understand. It may appear madness to a lot of people, but it's the same method that got us a victory [...] That's my take on it. 'I can't sit here and tell you that he knew every single person there. He comes from a very large family – cousins and brothers and... I know most of those people, they're his people. I was not there, I chose not to go. My duty on the training team is to make sure... This is Wembley we're talking about here; we had to go to the dressing room and make sure everything is intact for the fighter to arrive, so there's no confusion.' It was also noted by some in the sport that Dubois arrived 90 minutes before his ring walk on Saturday, giving him what has been deemed a relatively short window to get ready. Charles acknowledged the arrival time but played it down, saying: 'Ninety minutes before, which you can play a full game of football in.' He added that Dubois arrived at Wembley two hours before his fight with Joshua in September. 'It's something we need to look into internally, it's not something I'm sitting here and trying to justify,' Charles said of Saturday's pre-fight events in general. Dubois's loss to Usyk was his second to the Ukrainian, who stopped the Briton in Poland in 2023. On that occasion, Usyk also dropped Dubois twice, but only after climbing off the canvas following a low blow. Dubois's team appealed the result at the time, claiming that the strike had in fact been a legal body shot, but the appeal failed.
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Meet the unlikely double act who have found key to unlock real Daniel Dubois
'We understand human psychology because of what we went through rather than going to university to study it,' Don Charles says as he sits alongside his assistant Kieran Farrell on an old church pew in his gym in Hertfordshire. The contrasting trainers explain how their extraordinary back stories have helped them unlock the reclusive and complex character of Daniel Dubois as he aims to beat Oleksandr Usyk and become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night. 'It's true because I've found a second life after I had a bleed on the brain,' Farrell says as the 35-year-old from Manchester remembers the terrible injury he suffered in 2012 when he fought Anthony Crolla. 'I lost 30% of my brain but it's incredible to now be working with Don who knew me when I was boxer.' Charles, a 63-year-old who fought as a child soldier in Biafra during the Nigerian civil war in the late 1960s, nods. 'It's remarkable, Kieran,' he says gently. 'We've endured a lot. I've been through war and worked so many different manual jobs when I came to this country. I then became a florist before running a [security] company successfully for 16 years with 150 men and women on my books. I'd been on the doors [as a bouncer] in the West End and met every kind of human being. That's where I learnt about psychology.' Did he see death as a child in Biafra? 'Hello?' Charles says sadly. 'I used to walk over dead bodies. You'd be playing, and suddenly everyone starts screaming because death in my country is sacred. A child has dropped dead with kwashiorkor [severe malnutrition]. Then the bombs come, with the planes firing indiscriminately at least twice a day. Every household had a bunker, which we dug with our hands, so we could dive into it.' Charles was eight when he became a soldier but he was haunted most by starvation. 'Kwashiorkor is a horrible form of malnutrition where you have skeletal bodies and swollen bellies, big eyes and an alien-looking head. I was very fortunate because my father worked for a bank. So I can relate to children in Gaza today but I can't watch their suffering. It triggers me because I know there's no need for these atrocities. I still have trauma but I haven't had counselling. Every time I speak about it deeply I break down and cry.' Farrell suffered his own trauma. I interviewed him twice in 2013, when he was broken and struggling to cope with brain damage, but the fragile hope he carried then has flowered into a story of resilience and courage as he has helped Charles prepare Dubois to defend his IBF world title and try to take the WBA, WBA and WBO belts from Usyk. Farrell remembers how Spencer Oliver, another former boxer who had also been in a coma, encouraged him. 'Spencer rang me when I couldn't get out of bed. He goes: 'Kieran, you need to open a gym.' I'm thinking: 'It don't work like that. I'm not well enough.' He was like: 'When you feel better, get your slippers on, walk up that road and speak to people about opening a gym.' So I got up and walked to this empty unit at the top of my street. I looked around the unit and all of a sudden my world opened up again. I wanted to start a gym for kids. Since then I've done loads with the community and with homeless people and ADHD kids. I got a British Empire Medal off the queen and that was a massive achievement.' Farrell has also been a boxing promoter, a manager and a trainer and he smiles when I ask how he overcame the loss of nearly a third of his brain after the injury in the Crolla fight. 'I was reading books because I've always been like a driven individual. I've managed 30 fighters and held about 16 professional boxing shows, as a promoter, with just help from my missus, Amy, in Belfast, Manchester, Blackpool and Yorkshire. But there were so many headaches and I love training fighters more.' Charles also eventually became a trainer after years of gritty work. 'In the 1980s I cleaned toilets for Shell Oil for five years while I was paying for my computer studies course at college,' he says. 'I cycled from Streatham to the Shell depot in Wandsworth no matter the weather. I then worked on building sites doing demolition. Any wall you want taken away I'll knock it down with a sledgehammer. I've been a road sweeper and worked in a meat factory in Woolwich – just like Rocky. It's like I've lived 100 years.' As a bouncer Charles 'used diplomacy and psychology', and sometimes his imposing strength, to maintain order. Those first two skillsets have been evident in the way in which he and Farrell work alongside Stan Dubois, whose strong influence over his son had been resisted understandably by some of Daniel's previous trainers. Charles adopted a different approach: 'I heard that Stan could be a very dominant alpha-male but I'm not fazed. I'm the same colour as him, I'm of size. I don't have no insecurities. I have two old church pews in the gym. This one where Kieran and I are sitting, and one over there [he points to a second black pew close to the ring]. I said to Stan on the first day: 'You see that church pew? That's yours.' He always sits there.' Does Stan attend many training sessions? 'Nine times out of 10 he'll be here. Some days he doesn't say a word. Some days he's very vocal to Daniel. Very stern. Daniel's shadow boxing and the dad will give motivational talks. It's bizarre but special. I'm a very deep person and sometimes I feel charged listening to this man, the positive way he's talking. So we're working in a unique way and the good results tell you everything.' Since losing to Usyk in their first fight in August 2023, Dubois has reeled off impressive victories against Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. The battle against Miller was a real gut-check and the importance of the Dubois family dynamic became obvious. 'Daniel needs to hear his dad,' Charles says. 'The Miller fight triggered it. Me and Frank [Warren, the promoter] realised we need to get Stanley officially in as the fourth ornerman. Watch the Miller fight and you can hear the father's voice regurgitating what we're telling Daniel.' Charles remembers that 'when I first started training Daniel I said to Stan: 'Have you used a sports psychologist?' I know within the black community the word psychologist is frowned upon. But I told Stan all the top sportsmen use one and he agreed to try. It didn't last long but, while he was with us, the psychologist said to me: 'Have you observed that, when you're speaking to Daniel, he will look at his dad before he answers?' Of course I had and he said: 'We'll use this because his dad is a conduit.'' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion There are still bizarre moments and Farrell and Charles laugh as they describe how Stan and 15 of his friends turned his son's dressing room into a party an hour before he beat up Joshua last September. 'This is not normal,' Charles says, 'but we just went with it.' Farrell recalls: 'When Daniel walked to the ring the energy was incredible.' Charles confirms: 'It was very tribal. Stanley Dubois is perceived within the boxing fraternity as this crazy, hard taskmaster. He is – but there's a method to that madness. It turned out to be a genius move as it motivated Daniel.' Farrell believes Dubois 'has grown massively in confidence. From the first time I came in to now, he's two different people.' Charles agrees. 'I love music during training and after a couple of weeks I said: 'Daniel, what music do you like?' He said: 'Whatever my dad plays at home.' I asked: 'Daniel, what's your favourite food?' He said: 'Whatever my dad cooks.' It's a unique relationship. I know his dad likes reggae and soul. So when Daniel comes to training, I put on Al Green, Otis Redding, Bob Marley. Now, every so often, I'm wrapping his hands and he'll ask: 'Can you put on some Bob Marley, please?' He's actually making requests.' The two trainers nearly roll off their pew in amusement when I ask if Daniel and Stan ever ask them about their own amazing lives. 'No,' Charles cackles. 'Don't be silly. Occasionally Daniel will say: 'Everything good, Don?' That's as much as you'll get out of him.' Charles and Farrell first met in 2009 when the teenage boxer travelled from Manchester to London to spar with the trainer's much more experienced fighter Ashley Theophane. Charles recalls the moment: 'This baby-faced young man walked into my gym at Finchley with just a rucksack. I didn't know nothing about him because Ashley had arranged it. I said: 'Where's your coach?' He said: 'I didn't come with one.' I told him: 'No problem. We'll look after you.'' Charles soon discovered that Farrell was a tough pressure fighter. Farrell, in turn, learnt more in a few short sessions than he had done for years in Manchester. Ten years after the near tragedy Farrell suffered in the ring they were happily reunited in late 2023 when they met by chance in Riyadh. And then, with another delicious twist of fate, Farrell's padwork was recommended to Dubois Sr. 'Stan called me,' Charles explains, 'and told me someone had tipped him off about this kid on the pads. He said: 'I'll bring him to the gym tomorrow. Tell me what you think.' Come training hour Daniel and his father walk in – and guess who follows? Kieran – smiling ear to ear. I couldn't believe it. 'Kieran went in the ring with Daniel and, straightaway, he's a natural on the pads. He had everything – speed, aggression, knowledge. And he's not just a pads-man. He's a serious coach and Kieran's very giving too. Daniel's father called me later and I said: 'That's our man.' Stan is a deeply spiritual person, like myself, and he was amazed when I told him I've known Keiran since he was a kid. We have such a connection.' Farrell joined the Dubois camp 15 months ago and Charles says: 'When I watch Kieran with Daniel it's special. Kieran's idea of boxing is the same as mine. Calculated aggression, not gung-ho, using slips and rolls. We have the same ethos, so the fighter is not confused. Kieran does what I do – but faster. Obviously I've got the wiser head but Kieran brings the energy and Daniel responds. We also leave our egos behind and allow the dad's voice to be the one Daniel hears the clearest. It's very unusual but the whole thing works beautifully.'
The Sun
19-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
How Daniel Dubois trained and ate for Oleksandr Usyk fight – ‘earthquake' workouts, key meal times and oxygen chambers
BRITISH boxer Daniel Dubois has spent months preparing to step into the ring at Wembley to claim the title of undisputed heavyweight champion. I sat down with him to find out his training and nutrition plan - and exactly how he intends to beat current titleholder, Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, on July 19. 10 Daniel, 27, has a record of 22 wins and two losses, with his latest victory coming against Anthony Joshua in September 2024. The Brooks athlete has been in training camp since early April, preparing for what could be the biggest fight of his career. His coach Don Charles, who's previously trained the likes of Derek Chisora and Joshua, is confident that Daniel will win. He tells Sun Health: 'To become undisputed is equivalent to winning, let's say, a World Cup. 'Daniel is there. The mindset is there. The performance is there. 'He's built like a 100m sprinter with an explosive physique and speed.' And it shows. I'm visiting him at The Farm Gym, his training base on the outskirts of London, where 6ft 5in Daniel looks sharp, focused and strong. This is despite the fact that, according to Don, Daniel is training with only giving 45 per cent of his usual effort. With broad shoulders, strong legs and a solid, sculpted core, Daniel is proof that hard work and discipline pays off. He tells me: ' I'm confident and daring to go. I'm ready to get the greatest victory in boxing history.' Although Daniel and his team were careful not to reveal too much, a few standout training methods offered a glimpse into what's helped him get fight-ready… Isometric leg exercises Daniel needs strong legs for balance, control and power when he's boxing. Isometric exercises are great for building strength and endurance. These moves involve contracting the muscles without moving the joints. In other words, you hold a position instead of lifting or lowering. To help strengthen his legs, Samuel Otti, a performance enhancement specialist, gets Daniel doing a move he calls 'The Earthquake'. 'I get Daniel to do a wall sit (slide down a wall until your knees are at a 90-degree angle and hold) with two 20kg weighted plates on his thighs,' he says. 'We train to take his mind to another place. Everything we do is extreme.' Five-minute planks If you thought a 30-second plank hold at the gym was painful enough, try holding it for five minutes - that's how long Daniel can last, according to Samuel. The plank is a great move for strengthening all the muscles in the core while also helping improve core stability, so Daniel can stay balanced and explosive in the boxing ring. A research review in the journal Exercise Rehabilitation revealed that holding the plank has the potential to burn a significant number of calories and build muscle in a relatively short time. It's also been shown to help to reduce lower back pain. For Daniel, he's in no doubt that the core - which are all the muscles in the torso that help stabilise the body through all movement - is the most important to exercise. 'Sit ups are also very important; the core is the foundation of the body,' says Daniel. Daily boxing It's likely no surprise to you that Daniel boxes every day - if you want to get better at something, you have to do it again and again. Coach Don says: 'Our main area of focus is boxing. Obviously you need all the other parts to help it to work at its best, but all our training is centred around boxing.' To perfect his technique, Daniel does 20 three-minute rounds of pad work, Monday to Friday. Pad work involves a coach holding focus pads for Daniel to punch. It's designed to sharpen technique, speed, accuracy, timing, footwork and defensive moves. Don adds: 'We have a 45-second recovery between rounds. 'On fight-night, the recovery period is 60 seconds, but cutting the recovery shorter during training makes the night itself a little easier. 'You're programming the body and the mind.' 8km runs Running - outside or on a treadmill - is a key part of Daniel's training. Daniel, who runs in a pair of Brooks trainers, says: 'It's a slow, steady run. 'It helps to clear my mind and it helps to keep my cardio fitness up.' Don adds: 'The morning run is compulsory. But, if he's sore from the evening before, he will do a shorter run.' After his run, Daniel has breakfast, showers, recovers and then heads to The Farm Gym for a three-hour session of boxing, stretching, warming up, cooling down and going into the ice bath. Ice baths Those ice baths are imperative for Daniel's recovery. Cold water plunges allegedly reduce muscle soreness and inflammation, as well as boost circulation and mental resilience. Research in the journal Biology even found that a five-minute dip in cold water boosted feelings of alertness and attentiveness and decreased perceived anxiety. Immediately after boxing training, Daniel gets in the ice bath for around 10 minutes. 'It gets easier over time,' laughs Daniel. For those not keen on a freezing plunge, try turning your shower to cold for the last 30 seconds and increase this over time. To further boost his recovery, Daniel also spends 45 minutes in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber - a sealed cylinder pod which allows him to breathe pure oxygen at higher-than-normal atmospheric pressure. 'This helps with recovery after training and helps him to sleep better at night,' explains Don. 10 10 Hill sprints Every Saturday, Daniel heads to his local park in Greenwich for a savage session of hill sprints. Don says: 'The hill has a gradient of about 25 degrees and it's about 120 metres from bottom to top. He does it in 20 seconds. 'His recovery for every sprint takes him about a minute and 15 seconds as he walks back down to the bottom. He does that 20 times. 'Hill sprints help in the ring because they push your heart rate to the max, then force you to recover and go again.' I usually have porridge or cereal or eggs. In the gym, I burn a lot, so I'm eating double or triple portions. Daniel DuboisBritish heavyweight boxer As Daniel gets closer to fight night, his hill sprints will be done on a flat track. 'He'll do sprints of 40m, 60m, 80m, 100m and then back down' says Don. 'He does those in shuttles. Run, recover again, run, recover.' 10 10 Breakfast They say it's the most important meal of the day and for Daniel, it definitely is. 'Breakfast starts me off for the day so I'm firing from all cylinders. I will never skip it,' says Daniel. 'I usually have porridge or cereal or eggs. In the gym, I burn a lot, so I'm eating double or triple portions.' Although his dad and sister make his food, Daniel's meals are packed with protein and carbs. 'We've got a good schedule, but I don't want to tell you too much,' says Daniel. Sleep Never underestimating the power of sleep, Daniel says he aims for eight hours of sleep. He says: 'Before bed, I switch off properly. I chill out at home, I read books. 'But, after a long day of training I am shattered. I am constantly tired!' Daniel's weekly rest day is a Sunday. 'On Sundays I go for a casual swim and use the ice bath or hot tub,' says Daniel. Explosive weight sessions There's no denying that Daniel is one muscle machine. Strength and conditioning plays a big part in his training to help build muscle and improve power - essential for throwing a strong punch. Daniel has previously opened up about his weights routine, utilising basic moves to build strength. Think squats, bench press, deadlifts, pull ups and push ups. I don't make Daniel lift heavy. We might be going light on the bench press but it's about the explosive tempo when we press it back up. Samuel Otti performance enhancement specialist At the start of his training camp, Don says that weight sessions focus on strength to build muscle. After this, Daniel transitions into explosive movements using lighter weights but focusing on moving them faster. This helps to generate force more quickly - ideal for boxing. Samuel says: 'I don't make Daniel lift heavy. It's all about how you manoeuvre the weight. 'We might be going light on the bench press but it's about the explosive tempo when we press it back up.' Daniel's weight sessions are no longer than 45 minutes and he does three to four a week. Resistance-based exercise happens down the track too. Samuel will hold a resistance band around Daniel's waist, forcing him to sprint against the pull. This explosive move builds leg drive, speed and endurance. 10 Carb load The latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) found that the average daily carb intake is around 252g for men and 198g for women. But Daniel eats significantly more, especially around his training sessions. Daniel's nutritionist - who is not being named - says: 'Generally Daniel will get between 450 to 600g of carbs per day as he's training two to three times per day at really high intensity, so it's crucial he's got plenty of energy to fuel and recover from sessions.' As well as his high-carb breakfast, Daniel has a top up snack closer to training. 'Something simple like a banana gives him an extra 30g of carb before training,' the nutritionist says. Post-training, Daniel has a carb/protein shake from the Applied Nutrition range. 'Sometimes appetite is blunted after training but this is a crucial time to replenish nutrients and kick start recovery, so a fluid option is great way to refill energy stores, enhance muscle repair and replace fluids,' the expert adds.
