Newly confident Carty boosted by lockdown transformation
Dublin amateur heavyweight Thomas Carty has been attracting the stars recently, as the Crumlin Boxing club member posted a picture of himself sparring with UFC knockout artist Jonny Walker on Wednesday in SBG Gym.
The Elites participant has reinvented himself during the lockdown and has made some unbelievable changes to his figure.
He recently turned down offers to turn professional after his defeat in the Elites in November, but it seems he can still attract big-name sparring. Carty shared the practice ring with the top 15 ranked UFC light-heavyweight and had high praise for the big-name star “He is very good, obviously he’s not a boxer he’s an MMA fighter and an elite level MMA fighter, as far as I know, I don’t really follow the sport that much but from what I’ve seen he is one of the top guys,” he told Irish-boxing.com.
“I don’t hear often that elite level MMA guys drafting in elite-level boxers for sparring, that’s admirable and its ballsy so fair play to him.”
Carty spoke to us about his current situation in terms of competitive fights and potentially when we could see him back in action, but it seems he’s hit a block in the road like most amateur fighters, waiting on the call of the IABA about a return to action: “I genuinely do not know, it seems everyone in England are getting dates for fights and everyone’s back sparring over there but we are waiting on the word of the IABA so God knows, I’m not too sure at all.”
The technically brilliant Carty also again teased the idea of turning pro when adding “I’m not sure whether or not my next fight will be pro or amateur but I’m really enjoying my training at the moment and I’m improving.
“I have a couple of things lined up including some good sparring, I can’t say anything yet, but I have a couple of camps lined up and it’s really going to get my name out there and get me great exposure.
“I’m really looking forward to the next couple of months and the freedom of not having to make a decision, There are no signs of an Elites coming up and then cant just drop an Elites on everybody’s head without being allowed to spar, and you’re not allowed to spar at the moment so how can they hold a competition without being able to practice correctly.”
The heavyweight also impressed over the lockdown period where he seemed to transform his body and re-energize himself as such.
Explaining his lockdown approach and the lockdown changes he added: “so basically I have a little brother and he’s 16 now, and he looks up to me a lot and before the lockdown. I had a lot going on and my time was stretched and I was always rushing from here to there, but the lockdown kind of gave me a new perspective on things, so I said the lockdown is going to be 6 weeks max so I signed up for an online nutrition course. I’m going to keep myself busy intellectually and then I said right to my brother we have 6 weeks probably give or take so we have that time to get into the best shape that we can otherwise we will just be sitting around the house.
“I bought a pull-up bar and bought a dip bar, got back on the roads running and said I was going to learn how to cook so I really just wanted to upskill myself across the board and that was it,” he continued.
“The transformation started a long time ago but lockdown really gave me the chance to implement correct strength training. I have been dying to implement [that training] because as a heavyweight your always fighting that battle that I need to get strong and big, but I also can’t be too sore for sparring otherwise I’m gonna get my ass kicked. In that regard lockdown was ideal.
Lockdown spent building on my strengths & working on my weaknesses ⚒🚧
— thomas carty (@thomas_carty) July 23, 2020
Exciting times ahead🥊 pic.twitter.com/LffWNmZwbx
“There was no boxing, you weren’t allowed be close, so me and my brother kept busy on the bag out the back. We kept our fundamentals up but put the emphasis on strength training and that’s what I needed as a big guy. I had skill to beat the band but I used to be kind of manhandled a bit and thrown around the ring, so I said I need to up my strenght. There was no secret it was where I was lacking big time, so I packed on some muscle and I’m a different animal now. I can feel it on the pads and moving around with people, so improvements across the board and I actually can’t wait to step back in the ring.”
Not one to usually trash talk, Carty did take the chance to self promote and sounds supremely confident now: “I just can’t see anyone beating me now, I really can’t. I have always lacked that bit of confidence but I knew how good I was and I just lacked that bit of conditioning and that was what let me down in the past.
“I could be world-class for 30 seconds and then fade, whereas now the head is right, the body is right now there is nothing that can go wrong and I’m really excited for the future whether or not it’s amateur or professional, and I’m really looking forward to the future. I’ve never seen so much progress in such a short space of time it was like a lightbulb moment for me and I know its terrible to say, but I suppose I came out on the good side of the global pandemic.”
Nearly at the end of July now its been a year of frustration but a progression for the Dub who continues to tease a move to the pro ranks, he discussed his goals for the remainder of 2020 “The main goals for the rest of 2020 are I’m looking to test myself, I’m looking to get back in the ring against absolutely anybody whether it will be professional or amateur and of course, I would love another crack at the Olympics, but with everything going on I dot know if I will get the shot but if I don’t get another shot I will not be waiting around, if I can’t qualify for Tokyo 2020, I will be turning over there are too many people who have an interest in me to turn over and its something that I’ve wanted to do for so long so I believe everybody’s journey is laid out for them, but I know 100% exciting times are ahead! Carty told Irish-Boxing.Com
