At age 17, Sam Eggington had his first child and got himself a job as a forklift driver to put food on the table for his family.
When the Birmingham native was made redundant, he had to find a new income avenue and he had to find it fast.
That’s when the 28-year-old returned to his roots in the ring with the plan to simply become a “journeyman” boxer.
Almost a decade later after his professional boxing debut, Eggington (32-7, 18KO) defends the IBO light middleweight world title for the very first time against Dennis Hogan (30-4, 7KO) as the headline bout of the Super Saturday boxing festival at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre.
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It’s been some journey for Eggington en route to the top of the throne, even if a world title was not exactly part of the plan.
“I’d done a bit of sparring and my coach, and I’ve still got the same coach now, said straight away, ‘There’s no chance of being a journeyman,’” Eggington said.
“‘The way you box, it’s not going to work.’
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“I always wanted to go forward, if I got hit I wanted to hit him twice. It just snowballed from there really.
“We just took opportunities as they came and I genuinely believe that’s why I am where I am, because you’ve got to be willing to take the opportunities.”
It is also a journey that has an end date in sight as Eggington’s manager, Jon Pegg, told the Birmingham Mail in June that the champ should hang the gloves up for good on his 30th birthday.
That’s why Eggington is firmly focused on one thing for the next two years.
And it’s not world title, regional or continental straps, although they go a long way to getting what he needs.
“Belts are great to pick up along the way,” Eggington said.
“But belts bring the money as well. I need the belt to secure my family.
“The bills have got bigger and the pay checks got bigger but there’s always one goal and that is to make as much money as possible.
“Defending the belt and keeping the belt will make that easier.”
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In his professional career, Eggington has also earned a reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in Britain and two consecutive Fight of the Year awards from the British Boxing Board of Control proves exactly that.
It’s great value for spectators and viewers tuning in to Eggington’s battles.
But what about for his corner?
“With Sam it’s like you’re steering a runaway train,” Pegg told Sky Sports.
“It’s no good trying to take over it. It’s no good sitting back and going, ‘Oh he’ll be fine.’
“You’ve got to just steer it as best you can and hopefully it ends up where you want it.”
And according to Eggington, that runaway train only has two gears.
“It’s either all or nothing,” Eggington said.
“I’m here to defend my title, so I think we know which one I’m in.”
Against Hogan, Eggington comes up against a man who knows full-well he is a cat on its ninth life.
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It is the Irish star’s fourth bid for a world title, but his first on Australian soil.
A potential super fight against Conor McGregor might await Hogan if he finally gets to hear, ‘and new’, for the first time.
But for Eggington, who admittedly doesn’t know a whole heap about Hogan going into the fight, he doesn’t have a major fight he’s been eyeing up for a long time.
In fact, his motivation is much more personal.
“More than anything, winning, I know it’s going to sound bad, but it won’t make it a waste of time,” Eggington said.
“I don’t want to be away from the kids for two weeks. It’s not something I’m happy about at all.
“So I’m going to make sure that when I’m having two weeks away from the kids that it’s all worthwhile and I come back with the belt.”
