#336. Nigel Benn's Manager & Boxings Underworld - Peter Defrietas

0:19Peter DeFreitas: This podcast features Peter DeFreitas. If your eyes are the windows to your soul and your glasses are the windows to your eyes, then it's pretty important to find your perfect frames. That's why at Warby Parker, we've made shopping for eyewear as easy and fun as can be. Peruse endless styles in our stores or use our app to virtually try on frames and get personalized recommendations. To find your next favorite pair of glasses, sunglasses, or contact lenses, or to locate your nearest Warby Parker store, head over to WarbyParker.com. That's WarbyParker.com. AI promises speed, but for many teams it means more meetings, more tools, and still not much to show at launch.

1:06Peter DeFreitas: Vention works differently. AI is embedded in our process from the first architecture decision through deployment. Our engineers use AI to cut repetitive work and focus on what matters most, building the right product faster. That is our peace of mind promise. You get clear ownership, full visibility into progress, and delivery you can rely on. Ready for expert developers who actually deliver? visit VentionTeams.com I'm the first manager in this country since the war to get a million pounds for a fight when you look at boxing do you think it's a loyal sport? very unlawful I've been in this game a long time I've worked with Frank Warren Barry Earn Don King honestly I never trusted I don't even rate him Mike Tyson?

1:48yeah I don't rate him that much I think he's well overrated he had a good year 18 months and that's it Turkey getting involved in boxing I knew what was happening there I read it a long long time ago What you've got to hope is that Turkey don't get over Sky Sports. If he gets Sky Sports, he's cornered it all. What was it like being the manager of Nigel Benn? In boxing at the level I was at, you're either down there or up there. Do you see a change in him, his personality? What was it like being around East London, Essex, around the time when the Essex boys' whole thing kicked off? Well, most of them are, pal, said it was a good thing.

2:20If somebody beat me up or hurt me, I'd kill him. Colton, I've known since I was 17. I've known him a long, long time. I've worked the doors with him. All of a sudden I felt this fucking wet down the back of my head. Didn't feel nothing going in. Just felt this wet down in the back of my head. I've gone like that, it's fucking claret. But it was pouring out.

2:42Welcome to the Eventful Lives podcast. I'm your host Dodge and I'm the founder of Bournemouth 7s, the world's largest sport and music festival. On this podcast I speak to proper characters of all lived eventful lives. Do us a favour and hit that follow button and be sure to check us out on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at Dodge Woodin, where we've now had over 100 million views. When you look at boxing, do you think it's a loyal sport? Very unlawed. Yeah. Yeah, it's an horrible rat race. That's why I got out of it. People say me, I don't. But when you look now, Pete, and you see what's going on with boxing, someone flipping from that, someone flipping from that, when you look at like Eddie and AJ, I look at that and I think, what a wicked partnership, what loyalty.

3:24I don't think there needs to be contacts between those obviously you've got to for the paperwork with you but I think what a brilliant relationship they've got what are your thoughts on like people leaving people and jumping ship well I'm going to talk about that because I'm glad you answered that question because I'm a very honest man now I'm not a great lover I really earn but I'll tell you straight he's loyal and I'll tell you this now his philosophy was at first if you really believe in me you're sighing with me forever that was his philosophy and what happens at first it worked yeah so the AJ started signing with him forever at the beginning signed with him then he got him to sign forever and a couple of them done it and then quite a few wouldn't but he didn't give as much attention to them people who wouldn't sign like Usyk and all them he made a mistake of letting him go and you know a few other everyweights because they wouldn't sign with him forever that was his philosophy you had to sign with me forever for me to give you my full attention.

4:24Okay. And I don't see that as a bad thing because he has proved, I mean, for future boxers listening to me, that ain't a bad thing if he's as loyal to them. And as if you've got the pound note behind you as well to back out as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got the money behind him, yeah, to do that. Done very well. He will only ask you to sign with him forever if he really believes in you. Okay. And he feels that you can do something, you know? I think Eddie's a lot you know even Connor now was wrong in my opinion what are your thoughts on Connor Ben leaving Eddie Hurd and going across to Dana White and Turkey I'll shake if I was in the manager's position for Connor I would have been in a horrible scenario there because it's a very hard decision you got because the man looked after you for 10 stretch but not only that but also looked after you in the period where all this shit was going on I know he paid his mortgages and everything and gave him a lot of dollars I think he owed him nearly half a mil.

5:20Yeah. He gave him nearly half a mil and he never gave him no interest back or nothing. Yeah. Yeah? But there was no drink on top? No. No interest paid or nothing. No drink. Nothing. Okay. So that's a loyalty for you. Yeah. So I respect that more than the money. Yeah. But then I can see Connor's argument as well whereas he's got kids and he's got to get as much as he can. But I'll tell you this now. If he loses, everything's going to go like that. Okay. What I meant then, drink on top, I didn't mean drinking I thought when Connor would pay him back did he give him a drink on top because I think Eddie's fantastic no interest mate there's your dough I'm sticking with you we're going through thick and thin no he didn't give him not a tanner not a tanner so do you think it's a good move for Connor Ben to do what he's done or a bad move I've got to answer that in this way he's 29 years old he's a welterweight I don't ever see him fighting at 147 this is a fight to test his 147 if he can make the weight down to 150 and how he contends.

6:22He's got a lightweight going in with him at 140 fighter. So this is just a test before they chuck him in at 147 because he could be as weak a try. I personally think he can only fight at 154. That's my opinion. Okay. Yeah? From what I know of boxing. I said it months ago. Conor Ben will never fight at 147 again. I said it on my mate's podcast. Porky's cool enough to say it to him. I said, Porky, I can never see him fight at 147. So this fight for me is, if he can't fight at 147, he can't fight the 154 champions. They're row killers. So then you'll find he'll stay with his big money and they'll get him gimmick fights.

7:02And that is how I see Connor Ben's career ending now. I don't ever see him really challenging for a title. Okay, so you don't think he'll get a world title anywhere? I think he'll be Lofford. He's probably been offered two already. But you won't take them. Why would, I'm trying to think of the mindset, why would Connor leave Eddie if you've got a brilliant relationship? Is it just purely money? Yeah. Or is it more, I'm going to get you into America and we're going to do this because I've got Dana White and I've got a turkey L-shape with copious amounts of money to go and do that? Well, maybe the relationship's gone a bit stale.

7:29You know, if a relationship starts getting stale, it's like me. If I'm Connor's manager and Connor's coming to me and saying, Pete, I'm not really happy. I don't feel happy. You know, I've been here too long. This is, you know. But the big question for me is if he really has left what does Tony Sims do? Because Tony's been with he's loyal to Eddie he's close friends with Eddie his wife and that do businesses the girls so I want to see if Tony goes OK, interesting because Tony will have to give up a lot and you're saying Tony's a good mate of yours and he's loyal as so which loyalty will he lie in?

8:07Will he lie in Matt's room and Eddie or will he go across with Connor? That's a tough one for him to be fair, isn't it? Yeah, but he's only getting in a percentage of the money, I think Tony will stay ready. Oh, you reckon? Oh, yeah. Okay. With Tony, Lord. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's nice. Tony's loyal. So what will then Conor do? Have to find a new trainer? Yeah. And then what does that mean as a boxer when you've got to find a new trainer? I think this fight, he'll be okay. Okay. But if he can't make 1-4, 1-4-7, that means he's got to go in the 1-5-4 department, yeah, or 1-60. Yeah. He won't beat anyone at 1-5-4 because they're road killers in there at the moment.

8:39Yeah. So he'll have to jump up to 1-60 if he's going to stay in the boxing. I think what will happen is I think he'll either take the Ryan Garcia fight the belt won't be on the line. It'll be a 1-5-1-1-5-2 fight. Yeah. He'll get it up as much as he can and make him... Because he's a 140 fighter, Garcia. Yeah. So he's got to come up. He's got to come up, yeah. How much has Conor got to come down? Conor's coming down at the moment from about 1-6-8. 1-6-8, is it? Yeah, he's fighting, he's walking around at super middleweight. Okay. But he's got to come down to 150 for this fight. That's a lot to come on.

9:19168, 150, that's over a stone and three, four pounds. Okay. Yeah, but when you ain't got, it's not a lot for someone like me, or you, or not so much you, but me, stone and that, I could take off. But when you're that lean already. When you're ripped already. Yeah, okay. Get it off, and what happens? All the fluid comes off your kidneys, you know what I mean? And you feel weaker, don't you? Oh, yeah. You're shaky and you're weak. So on that, so is he looking at, is he looking at what weight to go at, to go and guarantee a walk type? Yeah, yeah, what he's looking at, if, no, I think he wants to see, if he can handle 147, because I think he feels that he's got a chance, especially a 147, yeah, he's got a chance, but I personally, if you ask me, what do you think Conor's doing in his career, I think Conor is only going to do the gimmick fights, because the money's there.

10:01Okay. He's not interested in the belts, fuck the belts, you know, what does he want to belt for? Yeah. When you're getting 10 mil. But do you not think, like boxers go in there to win the belts and the money is like the nice thing that comes with it or has it changed to go do you know what I just need to secure my grandchildren great-grandchildren for life look if Conor had won the southern area and the British and the European say or the Commonwealth his attitude would be totally different he might have gone for the belts because he's won nothing what does it matter he ain't never fucking won nothing has he he's won an international belt that ain't worth tums the only reason he's won the international belt you know the only reason he fought for the in your national belt, all these kids fight for it.

10:40Yeah. The one reason is they can fight a 10-round fight or a 12-round fight. If not, you can't. You see what I'm saying? You can only do eight rounds. Okay. Or 10 rounds. But when you've got a belt, you can fight for 12 rounds. Even though it costs you a couple of quid to go and... But what it does, it gets you ready if you're going up. Propelled to go. Yeah, if you're going up to fight for a title, you need to do 12 rounds. You need fighters to take you 12 rounds. It's good. Yeah? But if you can't, if you're like Connor, he's got to decide, does he want to stay in this professional boxing or stay where he is in gimmick fighting?

11:16This fight is only testing him to see. And he ain't getting 15 mil for this fight. No, they said it's 15 mil. No, he ain't getting 15 mil for this fight. Is he not? No, no, no, no, no, no. What do you reckon he's getting that? It's not 15 million pounds. It's in dollars, is it? Yeah, 15 million dollars. Which is 10 mil. No, it's 11 mil. Yeah, 11 mil. Okay. You reckon he's not getting that for that one fight? No. So why would he... I don't know what's going on in the details. He's not. He's contracts. But would you, if you were Connor, would you go, Eddie, mate, I've got this offer. I don't know why.

11:46It's just blowing me up. They have that, did they? They did that, but they give him three days to decide. After a phone call, or was it through lawyers? I don't know. I think it might have been through lawyers, but what they'd done was they'd give him three days, Eddie, three days to match the offer. Or they're off. But there was one stipulation in there. I don't know what the stipulation was. that Eddie wasn't happy with. I did see that from somebody. I'd like to know if anyone knows. I love seeing the comments what it is. There was a stipulation in there that Eddie wasn't happy with. I think he was prepared to match the money.

12:14Yeah. But it was a stipulation. What do you reckon went on before that, though? Because if you've got a good relationship with someone, would you not just go... It's hard. I've got a phone call, mate. Can you just have a chat to see, you know, where we stay? You know, I'm not playing you off against anyone, but I just want to see. The one question I'd like to ask is, did he sit down with Tony and have a good chat? because Tony is like his dad over here. Okay. Tony's like his dad. So do you think Tony might have advised him? No, I don't think Tony would advise him to leave Eddie. Not advised, but there's an offer there.

12:43You've got to look at it. Yeah, you've got to look at it. I mean, everybody's got to look at it. Yeah, of course. It's a lot of money. Yeah, it's a lot of money, 15 million. But where I was going to finish off there is$15 million. You know, when you ask what would he do, he's got to also look at his age. 29. He's 29. How old? When does he peak? Well, he's peaking now. Now, 20, okay. Yeah, but a well-to-weight. I mean 147 what you've got to remember is in these smaller weights the older you are the quicker you're finished so he ain't got long left in the game if he's good you might get away with 34 33 you know but are these young weights 32 31 you're on the way out mate I like Conor I like Conor a lot I like him I like his I like his fighting style what did you think on the first fight with Conor and Chris Eubank because that was a brilliant fight and then what did you notice in the second fight that what was up with Chris Eubank in the second fight and Conor was great, don't get me wrong, but what happened there?

13:39Well the first fight Chris Eubank made the way it hurt him, just it hurt him, but after receiving all that punishment and then the second fight he was just not just only fatigued and physically, mentally drained drained, yeah, I mean he took a good beating, you know, it's like Nigel and Eubank's first fight, yeah They're the dads. The first fight, they went at it. The second fight, they was weary. Yeah. Because they knew. They knew what was coming. Yeah, so it was a boxing match. If you look, it weren't really a fight. Yeah. People were expecting what happened in the first fight. Yeah. Did you know from your experience that the first fight was so brutal between Conor and, because Conor put it on him and Eubank put it on him.

14:20Did you sense that the second fight, from your experience, ain't going to be as good as that first fight? Yeah, I knew. I thought that, yeah. I thought it was going to be a totally different fight, which it turned out to be. Yeah. Nigel Connor was Connor was fighting Connor the first fight yeah Connor sort of knew it all you couldn't tell him nothing then he realised hold on a minute I've got to box him yeah I've got to listen to somebody else I don't know it all and I don't mean that in a big-headed way that he knew it all I mean like he just thought I'm going to go in there I'm going to go I'm fit I can do 12 hard rounds I'm going to put it on him and that's what Nigel used to be like I'm going to put it on him for 12 hard rounds but then sometimes you've got to go So, well, hold on.

15:01This fight, I've got to be a bit smarter. And if he wasn't smart, he'd have probably got beat. But the second one, he got in there, he was so weight-drained. Oh, he was so weight-drained. It was unbelievable. But... It seemed like Chris couldn't get going. Like, when you see him, he just couldn't get going. But Conor looked like full of beans. Well, I spoke to a few friends I know in boxing. And I'll tell you something that not a lot of people know. Only a few... Well, only I know. Chris Ubeck only took that second fight. Because he owed a lot of money in Vegas He's a gambler You know that Yeah And he owed For instance He owed The footballer Neymar Okay He owed him three quarters of a mil You're joking me For what?

15:44Gambling Yeah he owed a lot of money out That's why he took the second flight Oh god Okay And I'm not being funny By the time the third round comes The third one comes along Because it will happen at 1.68 Oh you reckon they'll come back And do the first quarter isn't it? If If If Conor can't get any other fights, they will come back around. Unless Eddie Yearn's got the underbat. He's going to lose out on that. He thinks he's going to lose out on that. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, okay. Or they might bring it over in America because he fights in Vegas now. He lives in Vegas now. He's got his place in Brighton, New Bank.

16:15Of course you, yeah. Yeah, but he lives in Vegas. That fight can't be in America. It's got to be in England. It's got to be a stadium filler again. Yeah, maybe. It's got to be. Yeah, maybe. For the fans. I know the money talks. What were your thoughts on Turkey getting involved in boxing? I knew what was happening there I read it a long, long time ago Eddie, Frank Get them involved And then bring in Tyson's bloke What's his name? He's new at a game He's clueless He's just a yes man for Turkey Get them together Suck all the information out of their brains Read the situations Ask them questions You know, you can imagine he's asking them all sorts, clocking it all down, or the room's probably bugged so he can go back over the conversations.

17:01And what did he do? He, both of them. Yeah, and now Frank's going to, how can Frank Warren take him to court in Ried? Yeah. What chance has he got? Yeah. He'd just be wasting his money. And what will happen is if worse comes to the worse, he'll just give him a couple of mil outside of court. Yeah. Not a problem to them, is it? Yeah. You know? What's Frank taking them to court for? Because Frank, originally Frank signed a contract with them to be involved in promotions. For how long? For so many promotions. I don't know the length of the time but what I do know is he's signed to be part of the promotion for maybe two react seasons, one react season, I don't know.

17:45So I'm not going to say what I know but what I do know is that's what the argument's about. I'm supposed to be on these, my men are supposed to be on these bills And you just cut me off. And you've cut me off. Now I'm left with all these heavyweights that I've took on. They're getting no money. They're getting no fights. Okay. What am I going to do now? He's lumbered with them. So what it means is, what their arguments are, I've now got to dip in my pocket and put shows on. Okay. In England. With my money. And I don't want to touch my money. I want you to spend yours. You know what I mean? In Riyadh.

18:14Yeah. I'm sitting there comfortable. Yeah. Walking in like I'm a king. Free food, free hotels, free flights. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I'm not touching my money and I'm getting 20 % of everything. That's what Frank wants. But now, he's got to put his hand in his pocket to put his fighters on in here. What a dream come true for Frank and Eddie. One, for them to get back to... No, but back in the... Because when I speak to Baz, he said, I'll never... I won't do a podcast with Frank and Baz at the same time. It's not true. Family stuff, whatever's gone on. But to see Eddie and Frank join up, I thought that was brilliant.

18:51Yeah. And they make a great duo. It's great to see. But do you think that will change now? Or they'll carry on being a duo and trying to compete against that? I know, that'll change. That'll change, okay. Yeah, that will change, definitely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Frank will do his own thing, which he's trying to do now. Yeah. What you've got to hope is that Turley don't get all the Sky Sports, which I've heard he's getting Sky Sports. If he gets Sky Sports, that means he's got a percentage in the zone, paramount, and then he's now at Sky Sports. Oh, mate. so he's cornered it all yeah then all they're going to do is basically have small little shows yeah back to small little shows really because they'll have no TV they'll have the zone and that yeah but only what Turkey says he'll get the main fights and they'll get a little bit on the undercard yeah wow because he's got I think it's 13 % in the zone yeah and then he's got Paramount and now he's got Netflix yeah got Netflix yeah and now he's going to I've heard he's taking over Sky why do you think he teamed up with Dana White from UFC well he's got to have somebody in America to promote it.

19:53Who's the best? Yeah, there's 350 million people there. You know what I mean? So you've got to have a promotion. It doesn't matter if he's UFC or not. He's got to have a light stain or whatever. He's got to have someone. And you can't do that with Bob Arum. Bob Arum. He won't be around long. He's 90-odd. Yeah. Still good, though, isn't he? I worked with Bob Arum 40 years ago. I worked with Bob Arum. Fair play to him still being on the scene, right? And he's got his marbles. He has, hasn't he? Yeah, but he was a crook. He was a tax inspector. Was he? Yeah. Was he? Did you know that? He worked for the HMRC.

20:21Did he? Yeah, he was a tax inspector. Oh, yeah, okay. Yeah, I know a lot about boxing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been in this game a long time. I've worked with Frank Warren, Barry Owen, Don King, Bob Arum. I've worked with loads of them. All of them. Felly Shinkle. Oh, yeah. I've worked with them all. Yeah. Why do you know you said a minute ago, like, you were, if we rolled back, I don't know, half hour ago, whatever, you were talking about when Barry had Chris Eubank and then Nigel as well and you always felt second place is that the same as like Eddie having AJ and then Usyk on the scene and Usyk was like I don't want that same vibe I think Usyk is unbelievable one is a human being oh yeah he's brilliant he switched on very humble calm quality wonderful fighter quality he ticks all the boxes doesn't he quality he could fight in any era yeah none of the others could yeah I mean I could name you in the 90s I could name you fighters now that would beat all these fighters and they're only in the top 10.

21:20Who in the 90s would beat the heavyweights of today? Riddick Bowe. Yeah. One, Riddick Bowe. Lennox, obviously. Riddick Bowe. Even Ollifield would have beat most of them. They'd want to go in the ring and then you've got the others in the 90s. Oh, Christ, my memory. Obviously Tyson. Yeah. Tyson, yeah, but I don't even rate him. What, Mike Tyson? Yeah, I don't rate him that much. I think he's well over 80 he had a good year 18 months and that's it what did he do all the good fighters I just think because he was so young yeah but all the good fighters he got him have he got beat yeah he thought Lennox got beat thought Holyfield got beat you know all the good fighters beat him yeah all the I went in that fight Mike Tyson Holyfield in Vegas I think that was like 96 or 97 I'll tell you another thing that goes on that a lot of people don't understand in this game is the fighters have been training for 8 weeks solid then they get a phone call someone gets a phone call with two weeks notice they've got to drain their way down but they don't see because of the money so they get in now with two three weeks notice you know I'll tell you who was an expert at that Canelo late opponents late night late addicted added to the opponent late him Canelo he done it all the time he done the Smithy from Liverpool Callum Liam Liam Callum Callum Smith got in the ring with two weeks three weeks notice but the last week is all publicity so you've got two weeks to train and he still went the distance but I reckon he would have beat him if he had had a good solid eight weeks who do you reckon is the best British boxer sitting there today British British heavyweight oh it's got to be Moses it's got to be Moses he looks really good he's a Southpaw and all yeah he looks good do you reckon he would ever fight AJ nah AJ's boat Sailed mate Do you reckon AJ Will ever fight Tyson Fury I'm going to be honest With you now I don't ever see AJ Fighting again I might be totally wrong But I just don't think Mentally he'll be right He's lost two Very close friends Who Not only You're his right hand men Yeah not only Are they just friends They was his right hand men They was his trainers Part of his camp Part of his team Nutrition the lot Yeah And men you I can remember once I had an argument With Nigel I said fuck this I'm going home This was in training camp I went fuck it I'm getting a flight I'm going home oh no no no no because he knew mentally Pete ain't here they would have done him up you know if it wasn't during the camp he might have said oh fuck off you know what I mean but I know that mentally he knew you know these fighters they know and I don't see him ever being ready he might say now oh yeah I'll fight the only fight he might get out for is if it's Tyson Fury but I'll tell you why that fight's never happened why because both sides have got commitments with sponsors.

24:18And he ain't going to come second to your sponsor and your sponsor ain't going to come second to him so they can't never get it on. The dates, the times. But do you not think this is the perfect time to get it on? You've got Frank and Eddie there. Well, what are they going to prove? They're both shot to bits. Yeah, but I think I would pay it with most fights. But I'm saying the nation would want to see that whether they are two years over the top or whatever, a year over the top, whatever. I think people, the whole nation would pay and it'd be a massive payday for both of them and it'd bring us give us an answer see a fit for me a fit Tyson Fury yeah would outbox AJ yeah but an unfit Tyson Fury would get yourself knocked out by AJ yeah so he's either he gives it 100 % for his old camp because he's a big puncher AJ you know and he's always fit but for me he's a little bit like Frank Bruno where he's only fit for 8 rounds yeah after eight rounds a shot yeah so I mean when when Bruno fought Lewis he was he was winning the fight up to eight rounds then he got stopped he was on the cards score cards winning yeah see these British fighters a lot of them and you know what causes it come on they're so ripped they've got no oxygen in their body their muscles need the oxygen that's in there to survive you've got to have a bit of failure especially at heavyweight Frank was in great nick wasn't he yeah but look at all these good yeah Frank was unbelievable he was in my camp when he fought Tyson.

25:41Was he? Yeah, he was in my camp. I was with him every day, the second fight. Yeah. I was with him every day. My trainer, Kevin Saunders, he went over to America to work the corner with him. Ah. Yeah, he was in my camp for that fight. How would you explain Frank Bruno at his peak as a bloke? Not as a boxer, as a bloke. Tight as fuck, man. What a tight geezer, man. I'll never forget the sparring partner that came up to me one day. He goes, American says, six foot nine, the sparring partners, and he's fighting a geezer five foot ten. and I couldn't make it out myself mentally like that so Frank Bruno he gave him£17 a day for food great big grown men admittedly that was 25 years ago or whatever you know but yeah he was in my camp for that fight get on the middle of him yeah yeah I don't know Frank's East London or any like me yeah so yeah he used to call me Mr.

26:30DeFratus is that what he called you is that right oh his name is Peter yeah Mr. DeFratus yeah quality yeah what was it like being the manager of Nigel Benn Well, it was an experience coming from just being like an ordinary guy, working the doors and the clubs and that, and then getting that opportunity. I grasped it with two hands and never looked back, really. It was amazing. How did it actually come about? Did you know Nigel before you become his manager? No, what happened was I was working in a restaurant in Stratford, East London, on the door. They had a big restaurant called the Phoenix Apollo, and next door they had a wine bar called Joanna's and I used to run both of them, like with my friend.

27:14We were on the doors there. And Nigel used to come in there and all the celebrities used to go there. It was like a big celebrity bar, really. It wasn't really much public. It was all celebrities. And he started coming there, we got talking. And then it was about, I think it was 89, around that time, 90. So I'm not really great on dates, but it was around about that time. and he was fighting Michael Watson in the tent in Finsbury Park and he was getting ready for the fight and sometimes he'd come in lunchtime, have a bit of lunch while he was training, after training and then I'd be there as well during the day because I was mates with him as well so I used to go in there all the time and then he'd come in and then one day my boss who I worked for all the time, Gilly, he pulled me aside he said, Pete, you know he's fighting at the Finsbury Park I said, yeah.

28:05He says, I've been offered to do the tent there for the celebrities. He says, could you get some security and do the security there for me, for the celebrities? He said he wants us to walk in the celebrities into their seat and everything. I said, yeah, okay. So I had nothing to do with the boxing in that fight, but I run the security for the celebrities. So that's how we basically met and got talking over that. And then I could go a little bit deep if I want. and then yeah he wanted me he we got talking and friendly and he went i've heard about you you know because he i'm from east london the same he's from yulford and i'm from like one state area yeah well i just knocked around uh he went yeah i've heard a lot about you he goes uh you're a bit of a lad ain't you i said well you know i'm as game as anybody else i said you know i'm i look i stand me corner like so he said uh yeah you know we got talking and after about a couple of weeks he'd come around to my house one day and he was telling me about the army when he was in the Royal Fusiliers and all that.

29:02And then I said, come here, I'll show you something. So I took him upstairs, I lifted up the bed, and I had a Savage pump there, and I had a.45 and a speed holster with hollow point bullets in it. So he's going to me, what's this? I said, this is a Savage pump. I said, do you know what that is? He said, no, what's that? I said, well, that's an American riot gun. I said, you can unscrew the barrel off of the shotgun and screw another barrel on which you can pump.45s out of it as well. He went, oh, look at that. Anyway, he's picked it up and he's pulled the gun out of the holster and everything.

29:36I said, are you mad? He's gone, what do you mean? I said, you're taking that gear out of the gun and that. I said, you're putting your hands all over it. I said, I suppose I'll go on a bit of work tonight. I said, your dabs are all over it. He went, oh yeah, I didn't think about that. I went, oh God. And that's how we basically first met. Yeah, yeah. And then he stayed away for a couple of months. I think he crapped his pants a bit because he knew then i had the gear like right he weren't just all talk you know and then uh a couple of months later after the fight he got beat he went to me pete can i have a word so i said yeah he said look i got beat by watson he says i'm gutted he said but i've got if i'm going to be a world champion he said i've got to pack my bags and go to america he said i've got a trainer sorted out there he said would you come out there with me and look after me it's not that he can't look after himself still needs a layer needs a layer around him yeah also his money so I said yeah I'll speak to the wife and let you know so I spoke to my wife she said if you want to go out there go out there as long as I'll get she can get her money to eat and that so I had a deal with him done a deal and then I went out to America with him and from that day on we never split from each other really yeah we stayed every day together friends and even away from boxing we stayed friends how long were you in America for that first one well we lived in an apartment in Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Florida.

30:57We stayed out there and we was on the second floor. We was there eight weeks at a time. Then we'd come home, have the fight, and then we'd go back out there. It was quite a trap, really, because we used to train in the Funt and Blur, the hotel doing the weights in the morning. Then we used to go down the Fifth Street in Miami where Muhammad Ali trained after lunch. And then in the evening, we'd do our runs on the beach, up and down, like miles down the beach and back again. so we was there about 8 weeks at a time and then come back home and what was the point when he said now you're looking after me in America and all that did he ever come to a point and said I want you to be my manager no that was my suggestion he never once mentioned manager did he not no what happened was that's a quite good story because I worked with him and then what happened was he said to me look go and get your licence and you can work the corner you know you can help out in the corner So I said, okay.

31:52So I'd studied, got me licensed as a trainer, trainer second. And then I'd done that. And then what happened was I started to do everything for him more and more and more. And he trusted me because he knew I wouldn't rip him off. I'm straight. I had nothing to lose really. So he knew I was straight and he was very good to me. So I'd done that. And then what happened was when he got asked about the Eubank fight, I started to get more involved with the promoters. Yeah. Like at the time was Barry Young. Yeah. So I'm talking to Barry now and I'm sorting out the problems. So what happened was going back one step before I jumped into the Chris Eubank.

32:35Yeah. Going back one step, what happened was where I really proved myself to Nigel was in two ways. The first one was he was knocked for a lot of money off of the guy. I don't know if you know the manager of Level 42. His name was Paul Croxford. Right. Right. Well, what happened was he knocked Nigel for about, I think it was about 40, 50 grand for the fight that he had with Robbie Sims. Yes. It's supposed to have been in the NEC Birmingham. Anyway, that didn't materialise, so they brought it down to York Hall. So he said to Nigel, well, I can't pay you NEC money. I'm going to have to pay you York Hall money.

33:11Nigel and I'm not getting any rings. So they'd done a deal, and afterwards, he didn't want to pay Nigel. Nah, so he knocked him. So Nigel said to me, that's Aaron. that you know I don't have anyone swear yeah that's your NT's he knocked me for money but can you get my dough I said yeah I'll get you dough so he's gonna alright he said if you get the dough he goes look I'm gonna fly to Miami now you stay here sort that out if you get the dough ring me and let me know so I said okay so I rang Paul Crocsford up so I said look I'm Nigel Ben's manager now I said my name's Pete DeFratas I'll give you 24 hours do your own work and then I'll ring you back tomorrow you can either tell me how you're gonna pay me or you can tell me to F off.

33:52I said, then I'll deal with it my way. So the next day I rang him back. He's gone, I'll pay you. So I said, okay, cheers. So he said, can we come up with a deal? So I said, yeah, of course. I said, I'll have a deal with you. So we went and met in a pub in North London and I sat there and I had a deal with him. I said to him, look, if you're going to pay me pound notes, the money I want to give to the tax people, you can give to me, we take that. so he's going yeah that's fair so anyway we've done a deal anyway I got a lamp off him I rang Nigel up in my mouth I said I've got you though minus the tax I said I've done a deal with him for cash he's going oh wicked wicked wicked he said go and put it in me account and fly out here I said do what he's going go and put it in me bank account in Tooley Street which is a Nat West in Tooley Street he said go and put it in me account he goes see the manager he's just sorted it out and he'll put it in I said no I figure you have to pay tax on that I said don't be stupid We just had this pie and mash.

34:46I said, a bit of cash here. So he's gone, oh, yeah, yeah, I didn't think about that. I was like, oh, right. So anyway, he said, get on the next plane and come out. Leave the money at home. He said, and come out. So I said, OK. So I went out there, stayed with him. And he said, no, I want you to stay with me all the time. Oh, nice. Yeah, so that happened. And then. Was that the main bit of big respect? That was the trust. Yeah, that was the trust bit. Because I could have stole the money and said, I've got nothing. Or you could have chipped it. You could have done anything. Yeah, I could have nicked, what, 35, 40 grand or whatever it was, and said nothing, and said I didn't get jacked.

35:17And if he said, oh, I'll give it to him, I'll consider you lying. No one would have been the wiser, and I would have walked around with 40 grand. But I got ten, hundred times that in the end, didn't I? You see what I mean by being honest? So I went out there, and then when we come back. What was he like when you arrived, when you went out there? Can you remember what... Was he buzzing? Yeah, yeah, he was buzzing. He liked me, because he knew I was... Straight. yeah I'm a straight guy I'm an honest guy I don't fuck my own people you know what I mean I won't do that you know so he knows that and I was with him in the end I think 8 years or something like that and I never stole a penny off him once never to this day I can look him in the eye you know and then we went back and he told Barry and deal with Peter from now on so that was that so that's how it basically started so then I started talking to Barry and what was that like for you then when you're going into this world like you got your head switched on you were a lot younger back then what was it like you chatting to Barry who was a face back then as a promoter and what have you at first it don't really sink in and then all of a sudden it hits you doesn't it you know it's like at first you're just doing oh I'm going to see Barry tomorrow but then when you sit back and take a step back and look you go oh shit I've been now done with a former like a future world champion in your hands so so I anyway Barry I said to Barry look we're looking getting back in the world title scene you know we want to get back on the title scene so we had a couple of fights with him and you know they're all your best mates when you're buzzing you know what I mean when you're up there and then he said to me I can get the Maro Galvano fight in Italy yeah okay what year was this roughly that was 92 yeah something around about 92 yeah yeah around about that time so he said to me I've got the Maro Galvano fight in England he was going to do it so I said yeah so okay we was all set me Nigel Jimmy Tibbs was ready to go away to start training camp in Tenerife because we moved our training camp from Miami over to Tenerife because it was near our home and we also had the mountains you could run up Mount Tedy and all that and it's warm and it's warm exactly so not so humid as Miami because that's humid so I've got this fight now lined up for Maro Galvano in Great Britain then I get a phone call in Tenerife from Barry and Pete, the fight's off.

37:41He'll go fucking apeshit. I said, what? He's gone, oh, the fight's off. I don't want the fight now. He spoke up with his manager and he don't want the fight. I said, you're joking. So I said, look, Barry. I said, oh, so I said, I've got to tell him. So I called Nigel and Jimmy into the room. I'll never forget. In the middle of the room was a great big, like round coffee table, like glass. And I called Nigel and Jimmy and I said, look, I've got some bad news, lads. I've gone what's the matter so Nigel looked at me because he knows if I say that because you don't tell fighter bad news during training you know what I mean so I've gone I've got bad news Nigel said the fight's off he said you're fucking joking I said no no he'd go and crash straight through the glass with his hand I thought oh fuck he broke all his hand up but luckily he didn't cut so I said he said Pete get on the plane go and sort it out I want that fight I don't care where it is I want that fight so I said okay so I jumped on the plane so I've made arrangements with Barry to go in so I've gone into Barry's office and I've looked at him straight in the eyes angry you know and I've gone this fight's got to happen Barry now he knows he knows who I am because he's obviously done his own work so he knows I'm a face so he's gone but Peter he don't want to fight I said Bell I've flown all the way back here I said I've told him to continue training because I said I've got full faith in you that you're going to get this fight for me and I looked him straight in the eyes I said I'm staying here till you get it I said so I said I want a title fight so I said we're training now and I was angry you know and he could see it in me but I was calm with it as well so after about two days he rang me he said can you come in Peter I said yes I went back there and he went I've got you to fight I've got you to fight but he said nearly I said I don't care I said we'll take it so he said well I said we know we've got to knock him out twice to get a drawer out there you know i mean i said but we will knock him out uh and that's eventually what happened now so niger knew that i had problems and then i sorted that you solve it yeah i solved it bothering him yes so he could train there was no i wasn't on the phone with him every five minutes going oh i've done it right yeah and he watched and sort of he didn't say much but he watched i knew he was watching to see if i could handle the situations so then flew back out we got the fight went out there and we'd done the business so that was that and at the time i was classed as his personal assistant well basically not managed but personal assistant yeah i didn't like that title anyway because it looks like a little lap yeah joey yeah you know and not no one's fucking joey you know i mean so yeah i don't like that so uh we we've done that for it and then obviously the talk was eubank but before we go to eubank yeah i want to delve a bit deeper into that fight though because you're going into italy what was it what was the vibe like that was it racist what was it tell me what the vibe going in chucking coins sharpens coins we stayed in a place called Castel del Randolfo it's where the Pope got his summer palace we stayed there lovely and quiet lovely little place we stayed there and then we had to go to Rome capital of Rome to have our medicals and all that so we went to Rome we saw Galvano there and he shit himself he did what in the hotel Yeah, no, in the medical centre.

41:03Okay. Nigel looked him straight in the eyes and he crapped his pants. Yeah, yeah, he bottle went. He didn't want it with Nigel. Not surprised, by the way. Nah, no. Nigel hurts you when he makes traffic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, win and lose a draw, you know you're in a fight. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, we went there and then we come back to the medical centre and they were doing everything they could to put us off. You know, noisy hotel, traffic right outside, banging, all that crap went on you know but Nigel was so focused he says I'm going to hurt him you know and he was up for it big time but they when we beat him we got the decision they was throwing coins in at us everything I had to have luckily I had about half a dozen my pals turned up from I flew out there so they all come and wrapped around me my brother was with me one of my brothers he's a doorman as well he was out there with me so we had a bit of our own security but we needed it for him yeah right yeah So it was like a smash and grab, get in, get out, get a belt.

42:03Yeah, exactly, smash and grab, mate, because that was a dangerous place. They hated us. And was there racism out there? No, I didn't notice racism, to be fair. But what I did notice was obviously they didn't like Nigel, whether it was because he was black, I don't know, whether they just didn't like him. I don't suppose they knew too much about him. They just knew he was a big puncher. Yeah. Because, you know, Galvano, he's not a bad fighter, but he was a big super middleweight as well I mean he fought at super middle like every before that and after and what belt did Nigel bring back WBC the C was it yeah WC the number one belt yeah that was it and then what did that what was that feeling like when you were out there knowing you'd done a smashing grab now you're back in England you're like right now Nigel's available for the bigger yeah I mean at first we didn't know we won it because he had to go to the supervisors there because they was trying to say oh no So we retired.

42:58TKO, wasn't it? Yeah, but no, what happened was, he sat on his stall at the end of the third round and wouldn't come out for the fourth. But where he made the mistake was, his corner didn't call the referee over during the break, the one-minute break. Right. You're supposed to call the referee over and say no more. But what he done was, he waited till the bell went for round four. Right. And then he went no more. So the fight really is deemed round four TKO. Right, okay. So he retired on his stall. Okay. so that's where he made a big fuck up so he went to the supervisors and he tried to say to the supervisors no we said in round 3 we don't want to fight no they went no no no the bell went for round 4 you were still active to come out for round 4 so you didn't so they give Nigel what did that do when you got back to England him went in the belts and he was in the back of the newspapers what did that do for you personally and Nigel and your relationship when you got back to the UK well I mean worldwide or UK wide immensely immensely you know but where I come from obviously everybody knows me anyway I mean I'm bigger than Nigel Ben where I come from you know but universally and obviously everybody started to know me then and as you say it just it's bigger and bigger doesn't it you know travelling around the country fighting all different places and going all around the world very fortunate you know do you know how much Nigel got for that fight in Italy yeah I do yeah How much?

44:27For the fight in Italy, he got about 400 ,000, I think. 400 ,000, was it? Yeah, around about that figure, yeah. And then when he came back for the Eubanks, that was 92, that Eubank then, was Eubank the next fight? We'll have to look it up. But I think it was Eubanks after Galvano. Galvano won the world title. No, I think we made one defence. I think we made one defence and then Eubanks. Yeah. Yeah, one defence and then Eubanks. and then what happened was I was in I was with Don King at the time because what happened was the deal the deal was I was with Barry Earn as my promoter yeah and then good bloke Barry yeah he's okay yeah I like him he's okay yeah Barry yeah yeah he's quite a straight dude you know but the only trouble with us was he was a Eubank man he wanted Eubank to beat Ben every time so he was Eubank's best man at his wedding yeah of course yeah yeah yeah so did he He promoted Eubank and Ben.

45:23From day one, yeah. And Steve Collins. At the same time, yeah. At the same time. At the same time? Yeah, at the same time. So we was always the second best. Right, okay. Second choice. Everything was to suit Chris Eubank first and then Ben second. How did that make you feel when you knew that? Well, I told Nigel that we've got to be very careful. Okay. So I was always on the ball. Because what happened was I got a phone call saying Barry Ewan can't do the fight on his own. Yeah. He hadn't got enough money to do the Ben-Eubank fight because it was a big fight. So what they'd done was They had to bring Frank Warren in With Don King Well sorry They had to bring Don King in With the money And he was associated over here With Frank Warren Okay So then it'd become a three way Okay Promoter's deal What Yeah What 33 % 33 % I don't know what it was No I don't know what their deal was But my deal But it was Frank and Don Looking after How it works is Don King can't promote over here Unless he's got an English promoter That's right So he needed Frank Warren Yes Who he worked with Yeah Over here Okay So Frank They'd have had a divvy up together, and then it was Barry on the other side.

46:24Then Barry Earn. So Barry Earn might have got 50%, and they split up whatever they did. I don't know, but that's how I would have adjusted. Okay. So I was only interested in what we got and what we was promised because I got pulled into Barry Earn's office, and he said to me, Oh, Pete, we'll pay you this much, and then what we'll do is we'll see how the gate goes, and then we'll give you some of the gate money. And I said, Look, what's on that paper is what I want. I don't care about the gate money. You're an accountant. I'm not. Yeah. I said, you all have them figures looking shit. You know what I mean?

46:55I said, so what I want is what's on the contract. That's all I want. No more. So what happened was, I said to Nigel, now, look, if we take this fight, Nigel, we've got to be really careful because they're going to try and shaft us. And with Nigel, a lot of the time he does believe in trust and shake your hand and he's whirled you upon because he's like me. He's a Cockney boy who that, back in the day, was a big way, as you know. Yeah. you know, handshake in our day was everything, you know, and it still is for me, you know, so, what happened was, I said to Nigel, we're going to have to be very careful here, so, when Don King's involved, you've got to be extra dicey, so I made it straight clear that I ain't signing nothing on Don King papers, it's got to be on British papers, British Boxing Border control papers, so that was very stipulated very clearly, and then what Don King done was he, he's typed out all the contracts, And in the contract, he forgot to put if there's a draw.

47:54Only what is we give him three options, and Chris Eubank gives him three options if whoever wins or whoever loses. So if he wants to lose, or he can still keep the loser, that's his choice. But if you win the fight, you actually have to give him three options, three fight options. Okay. So that was on the condition of the contract. So what happened was, he said to, I said to Nigel we've got to be careful here so I wanted a million pounds up front in my head in your head just at the end of the fight I didn't even tell Nigel this I was in my I'd been to Don's office and I flew from Miami over to Los Angeles where Nigel was staying and I flew over to Nigel and I said to Nigel I said this is where the management come in so I said to Nigel I'm doing a lot here you know what I mean so I went to him look Nigel how much do you want for the fight against Chris Eubank so he's gone well I can say it now because the fight's over so I said he said well if I can get 700 grand I'll be happy so I said okay I said I'll tell you what I do Nigel now I knew in my head what I could get because I'm already reading these people even though they think I'm from the street or whatever I'm a little bit smarter than they give me credit for you know even Don King said I'm smart at the end so I said to him I'll tell you what Nigel I'll have a deal with you he said what's that I said, if I get you a million pounds for the fight, I want my percentage.

49:23I said, and I want to be a manager, a legal licensed manager. I said, that's what I want, my agreement. So he's gone. So he thought about it for about a minute, two minutes, and he went, okay. He said, but, he said, the condition is, Pete, it's on a yearly basis. It's not three years. Because he doesn't want to get tied up if there's an argument or whatever, you know. I said, yeah, that's fine, Nigel, because we're mates anyway, so I haven't got a problem with that. Because as far as I was concerned, he would be the one that was rolling me over, not me rolling him over, because I don't do that.

49:57So I had no problem with that yearly contract. And at the time, as you can imagine, I wanted to be his licensed manager. So I had a manager's license. So he's gone, yeah, okay. So we shook on it, and that was it. That's how I became his manager. Then I went and got a million pounds for the fight. And I think I'm either the first, I'm not sure if the Frank Bruno Lennox Lewis fight was before or after mine with Eubank, but I think I'm the first manager in this country since the war to get a million pound for a fight. Yeah. So from somebody that's come off the street. Amazing. And he only wanted 700 grand.

50:35Yeah. And I got him 300 grand more. Yeah. That's not nicking, is it? You know. How much did you get at that, Mel? I got 10%, yeah. Nice. Because you could have said, I want 20%. you could say 25%. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, 20 % is a standard management fee, yeah. 20, 25 % is a standard, anyway. But when you're earning that kind of money, you've got to look sensibly. I'm not the one in the ring getting the punches. So you ain't going to pay me a quarter of a million pounds to stand on the corner, is he? Even though I've done the work, you know. But if you roll reverse though, you think, hold on a minute.

51:09Like for you, you're going, I've just come in with a ton. Yeah. I'm getting 100 days for cutting a great deal. You're happy, he's happy. everyone's winning. Look, I got more than that because I already done a deal with Don King. So Don King wanted a seven fight deal. Did he? Oh yeah, what happened was Don King wanted a seven fight deal. With Nigel and you? Yeah, so what he done was, oh this is after, this is, yeah before the fight. Is this Chris, you bang Nigel, bang one or two? Two. So this is after the second one which was a draw. Yeah, and then what happened was we kept our belt so we were still the world champion.

51:45So then Donking rang me, flew me back over. He flew me over. He gave me five grand, picked me up at the airport in a limo, one of his drivers, picked me up in a limo, took me to the Yilton in Miami Beach and then he gave me five grand and he said, have a nice weekend. I'll see you Monday in my office. So I said, okay. So he set me up for the weekend, you know, and then I went to his office on a Monday and then he started all the, ah, we're problem, but, you know, boys, you know, mates and all his friends and I love you and all that. You're a great manager and I've heard all of that. So, yeah, yeah.

52:19You know, bullshit baffles brains there, you know. So, anyway, in the end, he's got these seven contracts, lay them out in front of me. You know what I mean? And on them, it's got Nigel Benn, Nigel Benn, Nigel Benn, Nigel Benn versus opponent to be named. TPC, TPC, yeah. Yeah, yeah, to be confirmed. And I looked at him, I said, well, Don, I know, not being funny, I said, I'll do seven fight deal with you, but not in your contracts. I said, I'm British boxing board of control paper. So as it happens, I had my briefcase with me and I had that sort of wad of, can people see? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

52:58I had that sort of wad of contracts with me, because as a manager, you're always carrying contracts. So I had some, I said, look, I'll put them on here, but I'm not putting them on now. So he said, okay. So that day he re-typed them up on them. And then, because I knew what Nigel wanted, basically, you know, even though he didn't know what I was agreeing, but nothing was confirmed until Nigel's signature was on the contract. Yeah, okay. I must say that. What was Nigel's thought process with you going out to see Don King in America? He trusted me implicitly. No, I'm sure he trusted you, but he's clued up enough to know that Don King's not to be trusted.

53:34Or was he like, just go and do the deal, see how much we can get, and then come back and then we're going to follow it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, basically that's what I was getting to. Yeah, he was just basically saying, go out there, see what we can get. Sniff it out, come back. If you're happy with it, put it on paper. Yeah. And then all I've got to do is sign it because it's not like going from Ilford to Stratford. I've got to get on a plane from Miami to Los Angeles, you know, because Nigel was in Los Angeles. So I've done this seven-fight deal, but on the bottom of every contract I wrote, this fight does not include Roy Jones Jr., James Toney, or Michael Nunn.

54:07now his intentions Don King was Nigel to fight Michael Nunn next so when he saw the Michael Nunn he couldn't handle that he's going oh no no I want Nigel to fight Michael Nunn next I said no no no not for I've done a seven fight deal for 700 grand a fight so seven oh is that the deal we cuff yeah 4.9 yeah 4.9 million and then I took 100 grand for myself out of it so Don King Don King gave me 100 grand separate did he yeah for me so that made 5 mil okay yeah the deal was four don't get me wrong I agreed this with Nigel before so I'm saying this because I'm not stealing money I'm open with it so I've done a deal which Nigel I knew would be happy we have 7 fights because we had already discussed 7-7 is the 49 and whatever I could give and you'll get a ton on top yeah plus my 10 % and your 10 % management on top of that as well yeah of every fight so every fight so 700 grand for me mate you must have been buzzing yeah yeah yeah so I've done all these contracts yeah and then I flew her and he went to me at the end he went you're a cute motherfucker you know you're not as stupid as you look basically and I'm not I'm far from it you know even though I've grown up fighting all my life and all that on the streets I'm still very clued up and very smart you know so yeah that's how I started with Nigel tell me why those three fighters you didn't want on that paperwork well one for the finance but you're saying hold on me if I can get 4.9 here for no names at least why were you choosing those three to do separately because one I mean to fight Roy Jones Jr at the time, I wanted between five and six million.

55:38Okay. For Roy Jones Jr. I would have fought him for that sort of money. Michael Nunn, I didn't fancy fighting him because he's a big six foot one southpaw. And at the time, you know, we didn't need him at the time. No one wanted to see Michael Nunn, believe it or not, as though he was a very talented fighter. And he was talented. You know, I mean, he would have probably nicked it on points. If Nigel didn't catch him, he would have probably nicked it on points, to be fair. so why do I want to give up my belt for 700 grand you know I'm not giving that belt for 700 grand it's nice to hear why and the third one the third one was James Toney it's because we didn't need James Toney either you know these were fights that you don't really need because not many people had heard of James Toney over in Britain in America yeah but unless you were a right fight fan nobody knew him they'd heard of Roy James Jr and Michael Nunn they might have heard of because they were actually champions at the time whereas James Toney wasn't How would you explain your dealings with Don King how would you explain Don King Well with Don King what I did which I don't think any other manager done was I opened I was speaking to a friend of mine who's a barrister and we was discussing things and he said Pete this is going back 30 years ago now so things have changed a lot since then But what he said to me, he says, look, what you need to do, Pete, is set up in your bank what they call an irrevocable letter of credit.

57:08So I said, okay, what's that? So he explained it all to me. And I went, that makes sense. It costs a couple of grand to set up. So I said, I'm going to do that. So I went to Don King and I went, right, in these contracts, I knew this before I went out. But I thought when I get out there, I'm going to put all this in the contracts. So what I'd done was I put an irrevocable letter of credit in for 30 days. so what happened was the finance the money 700 grand had to go into this suspense account 30 days prior to the contest like an escrow account so yeah okay so what happened was once the bell rang that money was automatically released into Nigel's account whatever excess was there that goes back to Don King okay but the 700 grand gets transferred into Nigel's and I explained all this to Nigel and he went to me oh spawn lovely you know what I mean because his money's safe so I said as soon as that first bell goes the money's released how do you know that money's been released because back then there wouldn't have been apps on your phone there wouldn't have been anything you're ringside is this going on trust going I've got money or is someone billing you up the bank account it's in yeah it's in ok the bank would well no it's an ear fight on a Saturday nothing can be done until Monday morning so 9 o 'clock Monday morning and that bank opens that money's in his account what would have happened if that money weren't in his account well the bank's liable for it ok yeah the bank would be liable for it That's why I set up.

58:29Yeah. So that was one of the seven fights, was it? No, that was every fight I'd done that. But I'm saying you did that for every fight with Dom. So you did a seven fight deal. Yeah. And Nigel and yourself fought all of those seven fights. No, we'd done nothing. Five we'd done. Five, okay. Something like that. And was there any period in that five you were going, I'm not sure I like this Dom King fella. There's something about him that's not quite right. Yeah. Well, financially, no problems. That was all sorted. They couldn't do nothing. because I was dealing with Frank Warren in England and he was relaying everything over to Don King.

59:03And it was Frank and Don closer, obviously. Yeah. Okay, so you're going back to Frank and Frank was passing it back to Don. What people need to understand is when I'd done a deal with Don, really it was a deal with Frank because it was dealt with in England. Okay. Yeah, so if we fought in England, it was under Frank Warren promotion. Yeah. It wasn't a Don King promotion. So it was the both of them. So I got on well with Frank. I've gone really well with Frank. I like Frank. Yeah, he's all right. He's okay. You can have a deal with Frank. He's all right. He loves a deal. Yeah. Is he straight? Yeah.

59:34100 %? Yeah, yeah. 99 % straight, you know. He's never let me down. That's all you can do is on your... Yeah, yeah. I can't speak to other people. It's like Don King. People go, oh, he's this. He's knocked this fire. Knocked that fire. Well, he's never knocked me. Yeah. The only thing was, he never got that out of his head that we've got to fight Michael Nunn. So what happened was, I got a phone call one day from Frank Warren. He's gone, Pete, Don wants you to fight Michael Nunn next. I said, no, me and you have just come back from Germany. Me and Frank Warren flew over to Berlin, and we watched Roger Gianni, his name was Roger Gianni, versus Frederic Sellier from France.

1:00:12Frederic Sellier was the European champion, and he was our number one challenger. So me and Frank Warren flew over to there. That was the night Chris Eubank fought Emily Walton. so we've flown over to Berlin and it was in Berlin, we watched the fight it was a draw, so Frederick Sellier still stayed our challenger, so we've gone back to England, so now we're trained it's going to get ready for training camp to train for Frederick Sellier I get a phone call from Frank. He's gone. Don King's been on the phone. He said, if we don't fight Michael Nunn next, he's going to go to the WBC convention next week.

1:00:49And he's going to make, he's going to get Gerald McClellan to give up his middleweight title. Move up to the super middleweight. And he's going to make him your number one contender. Right. They're going to kick Frederick Seller out and make him the number one contender. Okay. Why? Why did Don want that? Because he wanted, his ambition was to beat Nigel Benn, take the title back to America, and get Michael Nunn to fight James Tony for, Michael Nunn, Roy Jones Jr. for the belt. Okay, okay. That was what he, that was his ambition. Okay. So that's what he had all set up and planned. It was like a plan he had from day dot.

1:01:27Yeah. So he had all this plan. Is that because you triggered him early door saying, I don't want that fight? Would he ever be in his bonnet about it? Or was that? It wasn't because I said, I don't want it. It was what he's planned. You know, when you do big businesses, like you do deals or business things, you've got to think forward. Five steps ahead. Yeah, exactly. You've got to think forward five steps ahead. Like it's me, I'm fighting this fight, but really I'm looking at that fight down the road. You see what I mean? And that's how Don King was. Very smart, very sharp. So he's really, he's bullying us now.

1:01:58He's trying to bully us, threatening us because we're under contract to him, that we've got to do this. So I've got this message that we've got to fight Michael Nunn next, or he's going to do this to us, bring Gerald McClendon over, knock us out and take the title back. Now, Gerald McClendon was knocking everybody out, as you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I've gone to Nigel. I'll never forget. I went to Nigel and I told him what happened. And he went, Pete, go back on that phone and tell him, I said, to fucking bring him. That was his exact word. What a quality. He went, fucking bring him. I ain't fighting to nobody.

1:02:28Quality. He said, no one's bullying me. Yeah. He said, I'll fight him. I don't care, Pete. He goes, I'll fight him. Go and get him. So I went back and gave the message, and you know the outcome. Yeah. You know? So that's what, and that's when we basically fell out with Don King. Okay. We fell out of love with Frank as well, because Frank should have had our corner. Why didn't Frank have your corner then? Well, he should have done, because I left, I sacked Barry Earn. After the Eubank fight, I sacked him. Because what happened was on the night, he didn't pay for the belt to be sanctioned, the WBO.

1:02:58So if we'd won against Chris Eubank, we wouldn't have got the belt. But a friend, a reporter friend, come on and warn me, he said, Pete, they ain't paid for the belt to be sanctioned. So I went... So they've got to pay for the belt to be sanctioned? Yeah, you've got to pay a sanction fee. Why was that not paid? 1%. Why was that not paid? Because what it meant was if Nigel would beat Chris Eubank, that belt would have then been vacant. Yeah. Nigel wouldn't have got the belt. He would have won the fight. Yeah, but who didn't sanction the belt? Barry Earn, the promoter. Yeah, no, I'm not sure. as well.

1:03:28But why? He wouldn't have done that on purpose. Yes, he did. Yeah. Is that right? So that if he lost, he could then become number one or two against the number one challenger. The number two or three against the number one challenger. Then he gets an easy fight again to get his title back. Right. Whereas he ain't got to start paying millions and millions out to fight Nigel Bennigan. Right. See you for a fair fight. Right, okay, okay. Because we would have insisted on millions. I can't see Baz doing that out of... Well, I can't sit here and say he did it deliberately because I don't know for sure.

1:03:57Yeah. But he looks that way. Okay. Yeah. Did that, did that. Knowing boxing as I do. Yeah, of course. Yeah, no, no, I get it. No, I get it. Knowing the contract. It looks that way. Yeah, okay. And how much was it to get that sanction, the belt? 1%. 1 % of what? Of a million. Of the mill. Okay. Of your mill. Yeah. Okay. 10 grand. Yeah. Okay. Did you not know it wasn't sanctioned? You personally not know it was sanctioned? I didn't know at the time. That was a mistake on my behalf. Okay. I should have known. Okay. So that was a fuck up from me, really. Yeah. So you didn't trigger it Baz didn't trigger it No And it sort of floated And the fight happened No what happened was A report A certain report I'm not going to mention him Because he's still active So it's not fair Yeah Because he could Matchroom could say Fuck off You know what I mean So But this report Comes to me And he said Pete They ain't sanctioning this fight I said do what So I went in And got John Morris Who was the head of the board And he went Oh no Pete The fight ain't been sanctioned I said listen This fight ain't going to head now Yeah I said if I go back And tell Nigel Benn this fight ain't sanctioned and he starts roaring I'll tell you what's going to happen he won't fight no matter what because he'll get the hump and then he won't be physically mentally to go in that ring he'll pull out so I didn't tell him so what I said was if it ain't sanctioned by the end of the day I said here's the 10 grand I said if it ain't sanctioned by the end I'll put the 10 grand in the bank in the British Boxing Board of Control they gave me sorry they gave me a letter to say that the fight's sanctioned so we did get it sanctioned in the end but he took right to the last minute bloody hell Yeah.

1:05:23Oh, the things they do in boxing. How mad is that? Yeah. This is what I'm saying. Because the thing is, now looking back at it, and you go, well, if he did actually beat Eubank, he wouldn't have actually got the belt, and there'd been massive controversy everywhere. Nor on his record would it have said, like, two times, or champion, or three times, whatever. Wow. Yeah, so, this is where you've got to be on the ball all the time. Yeah, yeah. All the time you've got to be on the ball when you're dealing with these people, because they're crooks, all of them. Yeah. Do you find that in boxing, the majority are crooks, or do you look around and go,

1:05:52them in categories like well you've got to look at it like this in boxing at the level i was at you're either down there or up there there's no middle right you know you're either earning nothing or you're earning a lot of money yeah you know the money in between ain't livable so you're either gonna rip try and rob yourself up to the top you know i mean yeah and this is what i say if you work you know these people have been in the game like don king 50 years and frank warren's been in the game 50 40 years or whatever you know every trick yeah you gotta be sharp and if you're not sharp you get had over yeah i made a couple of mistakes along the way i'm not ashamed to say it but you're learning on the go though you know i mean you're learning absolutely and if i had if i had messed up it would cost nigel a million or you know a million pound or half a million over three quarters of a million quid by the time you've got sponsorships and all that you're talking about million million and a half quid something a million and a quarter yeah you know with sponsorships and everything so it's a very serious business you've got to take it serious you can't be an idiot in it they'll have you over like but luckily i made a couple of mistakes along the way that i never made twice what were they one was in the contract i made a mess up in the contract whereas if he lost if he had lost i'd have been in trouble i'd have been linked to somebody for something i didn't want to be linked to that was one mistake which i never say that again if he was in the contract if niger lost against chris eubank no somebody else someone else, something else would have come out about you?

1:07:19No, not about me. No. It would have meant I would have been locked on to this person involved in the contract. Yeah. Okay. Who signed the other contract? Yeah. Okay. And it wouldn't have been a good deal. Right. Okay. Okay. For you personally or for you and Nigel? For me personally and Nigel. Okay. Yeah. What was that contract? I can't remember. That was a long ago. I don't want to sit here telling porkies. I've done something in it and I know that if I'd lost I'd have been bloody linked to this I'd have been linked I would have probably made him give him an option to fight somebody that I probably didn't want to fight something like that what made you sign that contract or did you not know it was only afterwards did you go oh the contract's been done and you've gone read through and gone oh shit I've made a mistake here was it like that a bit of trust probably too much trust there whereas you've got to read every contract through and through sharp you learn that that don't think you've got seven, that they're all the same.

1:08:14They'll be little tweaks of you. Yeah, of course. Yeah, they tweak them. Things they think you won't notice. You just get seven along and you think, oh, I'll just sign them. They'll do. I've read that one. They're all the same. They're not. Yeah. You know, so I did mess up on one contract. I've never even told Nigel that to this day. No. It's one for you, Nigel. Yeah, it's one for you, Nigel. Sorry. Yeah, and then that was one mistake. And the other mistake was not doing the belt checking. and it was sanctioned. Yeah, okay. I should have checked that was sanctioned. Yeah, but if you were so busy and da-da-da, you'd probably be the last one.

1:08:48Normally, you'd think it'd be sorted out. I'd imagine. Well, the problem we had was we was based in Tenerife. Okay. So we never come home until like two or three days before the fight. Right, okay. So by the time I got home, I hadn't got time to worry about nothing. I mean, I had two kids and I couldn't even worry about them. Yeah. I've got to worry about the fight. You're talking about there were 48 ,000 people at Old Trafford. Yeah. Tell me about that, Ben. Eubank second fight in the lead up to it like they hated each other tell me about that feeling that vibe when you were around yeah it was a genuine hate from Nigel I don't think it was a genuine hate from Chris Eubank I don't think he's a hateful person okay but what it is he's so contangious such a horrible bastard you know what I mean he said to me once what are you doing on the telly I said what are you talking about I said if it ain't for me you ain't fighting him you know what I mean I can tell him no yeah don't fight him or I can make you wait because I'm contracted.

1:09:41So, you know, I could make him wait another year before Nigel could get rid of me if he wanted. Do you see what I mean? He'd be really awkward. Yeah. So you knew you were actually in control at that point? Well, I was in control as in, for me, I was trusted. But was it fight to fight? I know you did the seven with Don and Frank, but this one, was it fight to fight of you earning your pan note? I'd done things outside the ring as well with him. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, we'd done a lot of things together. Commercially? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'd done a lot of things together and we went on TV a lot together.

1:10:11He trusted me, he liked me around him for some, you know, we really gelled. Yeah. You know, right up. Well, I can see why he'd want you around you. One, he'd look after you. Two, you've got his back. Yeah, I always have his back. Like every movement, you've got his back. Even today. Yeah. Look, I've had a disagreement with Nigel, right, over something, right? He wanted me to go to court for him and I said, I won't go to court for nobody. Yeah. I don't care who they are, right? Because I don't do that. And we fell out over it and he never spoke to me for 10, 12 years. right over it but I still wouldn't sit here and slate him because that man was good to me you understand and I'll never ever slate him never because that man put me on the mark you know what I mean through his his name what did he want you to go to court for what happened was he had a a disagreement with a girl yeah and she had his kid yeah the other boxer you know his youngest son who boxes uh not Connor the other one I forget his name now well I'm his godfather Are you a Connors Godfather?

1:11:09No, the other one. Oh, the other one? Yeah, I forget your name now. I was just trying to remember something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, Lisa was the girl's name, and she took him to court, and she wanted him to buy an house for her and a kid to live in. And then what happened was he rang me one day. I'm indoors, and the phone's gone. He's gone, Pete, it's Nigel. I'm gone, all right, mate, what's happening? He's gone, I need you to come to court for me. I said, as soon as I heard the word court, it buzzed in my head you know because you know I'm old school I've been in court to myself so I've gone what are you talking about I want me to come and call for you he's gone well Lisa's taken me to court for money underground she wanted to buy a house this is back in the back in the day yeah back in the day so I've gone no it's look I can't go and call for you mate I can't go and call for nobody so he's exact words were if you don't go and call for me then I ain't gonna be your mate I went well Nigel I'm ever so sorry but if that's how you feel that's how you feel mate I said I can't go to court for you he wanted me to go to court and say she was a one night two night stand okay and I said you've been with her seven years Nigel do you think the press hand got photographs and everything they mugged me right off yeah in a high court up the strand I get done for perjury or whatever I'm not worried about that but it's just my reputation I can't diminish it by going to court for anybody I mean I lost an eye and I wouldn't go to court on a geezer.

1:12:36You know, I saw it out myself. I'm the own judging jury. You know what I mean? But he fell out of me over it and he wouldn't talk to me. And even now, what he does is, he goes on, say he goes on a podcast. Before the podcast starts or before he goes on TV now, what he says is, don't mention my manager, Peter. I don't want him mentioned. And that's what he thinks he's getting back at me. But it don't bother me in the slightest because I'm still Peter wherever I go. I'm Peter DeFreitas wherever I go. People know me. I ain't got to prove nothing to nobody. They all know me. They know I'm a good person.

1:13:11I can do this. I can do that. I don't have to depend on Nigel Benn to give me reputation. I'm glad that no one wants to remember. But I've still got thousands and thousands of followers on my Instagram and my Facebook page. I've got thousands of followers, you know. And people always ask me about fights before the fights. so if he thinks he's hurting me he's not hurting me by not mentioning me people know what I've done I took him to the fights I got him in fights if it wasn't for me he would never have been a world champion again with Mario Galvano because Barry Irma did cancel the fight he didn't want the fight what year was this then?

1:13:50that was 92 wasn't it? no no 92 for the fight what year was this when you got caught? oh this was early 2000s after he retired so after he'd retired yeah this is after he retired but you were still mates then? yeah we were still mates every day I used to see him almost most days he lived in Beckenham he only moved to Beckenham because I lived around the corner in Hayes I had a house in Hayes that I bought so he only moved to Beckenham because he used to come over to see me all the time oh god he would travel all the way over here through the Blackwell Tunnel you know back to the east and I go this is why I got away from you because I wanted to get away because it was changing so much as you know so I moved away and then he's come and moved bought a house in Beckenham but he only bought a house in Beckenham because of me because I lived around the corner I was about a mile and a half away and then I moved from Beckenham so why did you move from Beckenham?

1:14:39it's a it's a long story and it's deep because it's to do with my family my wife and that you know I split up with the wife then I went and lived over there and then I went back home you know and then I stayed over Beckenham for a couple of years I think and that was it and then I went back home to the family you know to the wife and kids because what I was doing was wrong when you're in this life of fame believe you me it ain't a great life yeah you get loads of women you get loads of you've got money you've got cars I had a Bentley a Ferrari a Porsche I've had everything I've had it all yeah I've had it all the big house you know detached house you know four bedroom five bedroom detached house I've had all that and now I live in a one bedroom flat but I'm so happier now than I've ever been in my life that's nice to hear yeah I live in a nice quiet area you know in Essex I live out there quiet I don't get hardly any phone calls I don't get hardly any problems and I love it because I'm left alone yeah yeah yeah I ain't that camera shoved in my face every day you know I feel sorry for these celebrities that get cameras shoved in their face every day because I've had it it ain't nice I was telling you you've got it here that I've had them camping outside my house with Nigel splitting with his wife and it went on you know they found out about it sorry they was they was on me like outside my house camping just to get, oh, tell me what's going on, what's going on.

1:16:01Yeah, she's out here pregnant and he's splitting up, you know. So I had all that. Did it bring you joy or was it like a joy for a couple of days? No. I'm talking about the motors and the motors and the cash and all that. Was it like a I've made it in life thing or was it deep down were you happy? If I'm honest, I was on a 10-year eye. Okay. You know, it was like, because I don't drink and I don't smoke and I don't take drugs. I never ever took a drug in my life how many people you can say that to these days as I say I'm smart I like to think I'm smart anyway I'm not knocking anybody else but I study a lot I'm educated I've got a good brain on me even though I was a street fighter all my life and doorman I like to think I'm smart as well because I wouldn't have done what I'd done and achieved what I achieved if I wasn't smart so I live very quiet now was it nice at the time getting all the motors getting the women having the cash I'm on a massive you and Nigel going everywhere together as best mates when I sit down now and look back I'm ashamed of myself to a degree because of what I'd done to my wife you know because she was a good woman and I never she did deserve what I did and I don't mean what did you do?

1:17:13women women women women just hundreds you know like every three a week you know it's just unbelievable it's like I suppose it was a drug to me yeah Or an addiction. Yeah, it was an addiction because he was the same, Nigel. Me and him would go to Tenerife a week and a half, two weeks before the fight, before we was ready to train, sorry. And we'd go out and have like an holiday, 10-day holiday, and then we'd get ready for training on the Monday. And once we switched on for training, we trained. We didn't break out routine, regimental, you know, because he's ex-army, so he's... Got good discipline, isn't he?

1:17:50Yeah, he's got good discipline. And he won't break it for nobody. He won't even do a photo shoot, you know. he's very strict so we go out there we go out there 10 days or 2 weeks before Pete we have 10 days get ready for it and that's it that's what we did but yeah terrible man terrible and he's wasn't when I look back now obviously I've lost me family over it it's cost me and my family the job but I can't change anything I've just got to go forward I'm not proud of what I've done I'm ashamed if anything what I've done to my wife she didn't deserve none of it she was a bloody good wife you know and it's like is that a regret you've got right now?

1:18:25Oh, it's a very big regret. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't change it. I just wish her well and she's fine, you know. Yeah. She's a good woman, a very good woman and I was very lucky to get her in the beginning. Knowing what you know now and that 10-year period you had with Dyj, would you keep that 10-year period or keep your wife? Oh, no, I'd definitely keep the wife. I wish I could go back. I would never do it. I wish I would never have done it if I knew what I knew now. Yeah, okay. Never. It wasn't worth it. no no it's cost me a hell of a lot a hell of a lot cost me absolutely spiritually money health look I don't drink I don't smoke as I said and I don't take drugs so I don't need much money I'm okay financially I'm not rich and I'm not poor I buy nice clothes I've got nice I've got a car I've got a nice flat I've got I've got everything I want I've got but I haven't got what I had before okay whereas you could have £1 ,000 here, £2 ,000 here.

1:19:27That's all gone. But that's good because it's brought me back down to earth. I'm off that platform of the higher. Did you find that your ego got bigger knowing that you were in control and you and Nigel were the main faces running UK at the right time and there was a huge buzz everywhere. There wasn't social media back then, but it was on the back of every paper and news, TV, da-da-da-da, 15 million people watching on ITV. Like, you must have got a massive buzz from being that. Oh, yeah, yeah. being his white hand man essentially right I was yeah yeah we went everywhere we'd done everything together even away from boxing yeah but the only thing was I wouldn't go to his parties okay because I don't like the music and I don't like all the yeah the pill taking that's not my society I live around yeah so in all the years I was with him I never went to one party yeah okay my friends come like my accountant and my my friend Tony Sims I trained yeah I trained I trained Tony Sims up to get his license did you yeah I got him his license Terry Stewart who was with Unbelievable trainers I trained him yeah I trained them all that's who got their licenses me okay yeah so I trained all them and that's how they got these to come around my ass every night and I used to help him and I trained him up to get his licenses he's trainers then he's managers I want to go back to the if you work in

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1:22:20because it was so massive. We was in a hotel in London, just off the embankment, behind the embankment, and we was in a hotel there, a big, what's the name of the bloody hotel? I forget the name of it now. We was in this hotel, and all the press outside, there's about 200, 300 people, and then the room's full, the press room's full. I've got them all on tape, all the press conferences, I've kept them all on tape. Have you? Yeah, and with Don King and everything. and yeah and you know they're just unbelievable they the rivalry was that to have security there to keep them apart I'll never forget we we come out of the on the rematch we come out and Newbank had his bike he drove what he'd done is he got his bike brought down by a lorry parked it outside the hotel take the bike off the lorry right and then he'd park his bike out they were all flamed up and he'd sit on it and then we went and done the press conference and Nigel didn't say nothing to nobody.

1:23:19He slipped out. And when we walked outside, Nigel's sitting on his bike. Was that all that? And Eubanks stood there and went, Eubanks stood there and went like that. Quality. And he's laughing and Nigel's just sitting on his bike doing all that. There's pictures around. Really? You can get it, yeah. Oh, mate. Nigel's sitting outside on his bike. That is brilliant. Yeah, and another one we'd done. When we'd done a couple of weeks later, he'd done the same thing at Old Trafford. We were at Old Trafford. We're sitting there and in the stands and Eubanks walked straight out out there he's got his bike on the pitch and then they are balled in the picture now he's sitting there on his on his bike with his because he went out first and he's sitting there on his bike and he's got the like sitting there and then i sit the nigel go out there and just flash the belt in his face just walk around and just do that with the belt and go to the crowd like this you know i've got the bed he's got a fucking motorbike you know and that's it and we did it and the crowd They loved it.

1:24:15Yeah. Oh, that was an unbelievable fight. He was really, it was unreal. Oh, I'll tell you what, he trained like a sod. Did he? Oh yeah, yeah. He was up for that. He said, no man beats me twice. That's what his exact words were to me. He said, Pete, no one beats me twice. And I'll never forget the day, the day of the fight, we was in a hotel in Manchester. Because my son was only, oh, 11, I think, at the time. He's 43 now. he was 11 at the time and I let my son walk the belt out Old Trafford 48 ,000 my boy's only 11 he walked into the ring with a manu kit on and a little cap and he had the belt you know you made him wear a manu kit no they did oh they did did they yeah they said he's got to wear a manu kit hold on a minute get a West Ham kit on yeah exactly I'm a West Ham boy yeah yeah so he's only 11 he's on a stand yeah we we we got ready for that fight he was up for that and we went out for a walk that day.

1:25:13He said to me, Pete, I don't want Jimmy, I don't want your son or anybody around me today. This is the day of the fight. Okay. He said, I don't want nobody around me, Pete, just you. And we had walkie-talkies back in the day. He had one and I had one. So you go, Pete, come to me room, you know, whatever. So we had walkie-talkies. So he's called me up. I've gone up and he's gone, Pete, I don't want no one around me today, just you. I don't even want Jimmy around me. So I said, okay. He said, look, after lunch, he said, we're going to go for a walk. So I said, okay. So I went for a walk after lunch and I said to him, we were just walking in there.

1:25:42I said, look, Nigel, be careful in there. And I said, don't take any silly chances. I said, look, I said, I'm not going to tell you too much. You know what you've got to do. I said, it's fight day. I said, just make him work for three minutes every round. He hates it. Because with Chris Eubank, he fights for one and a half minutes and rests for one and a half minutes if he can get away with it. And that's how he wins. And he's a good counterpuncher. you see so I said to Nigel just keep making him work for three minutes every round and that's what we did and we got robbed we got a draw but we won the fight you know we was robbed and Nigel was so angry and I'll never forget the TV come over to me ITV what was his name the glasses the head of ITV he said Pete we've got to do an interview we've got to do an interview get him quick he's leaving the ring I said you tell him to come back I said he told you straight to fuck off well yeah he doesn't play around Nigel He was a very straight guy.

1:26:39He won't hide nothing back. And that was a brutal fight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The second one. Yeah, the second one. Brutal. What was Nigel like post-fight with the draw? Was he angry? Angry as hell. Angry. He sort of basically said, I trained all this time for this. And really, you come away with nothing. Yeah. Because, yeah, okay, you've got a million quid in the bank, admittedly, but it ain't the same as having your time, what you've actually tried. You got into boxing for belts. Yes. Originally, you ain't got into it for money because money don't enter it when you start boxing. You know, you're boxing for that.

1:27:16So he was very, very angry about it. And I said, look, Nigel, you know why they've got a draw, don't you? I said, they want number three. It's money. He said, I'm not doing it, Pete. I won't fight him now. Did he say that? Yeah, he said, I'm done. Yeah, I'm not making them rich over me. Okay. He said, I'm not making them rich over me. That's when I sacked Barry Earn that night. I said to him, you're finished with us. Why? Because of the belt. Okay. I didn't agree with what he'd done. So what happened was, he come to the dressing room. Before that, in the evening, he come to the dressing room. He said, I'm just going to walk Chris out, Pete, and then I'll come back and walk Nigel out.

1:27:51I said, no, no, no, no. Don't bother. Because I knew what had gone on. So I said, no, no, no, no. I said, Frank's walking us out. So he went red. So I went, well, sorry, mate. I said, I don't want to work with you no more. So we went out there. We'd done the fight. got the draw come out and then the next day it was a Sunday and on the Monday morning that's it I said to Nigel we got an appointment mate I said come on so I took him up to London and that's when we had to deal with Frank Warren to work with Frank and Donking right okay yeah and we I switched and said yeah we're coming with you now we're leaving him okay I said but don't try and fuck me over like he just did I said I won't have it Frank I said you can do your own work with me yeah he goes I know you are so I said sweet I said look I'm a law honest person and I'm I'm easy going yeah but if you cross me I'm a bad motherfucker you know what I mean I can be a bad motherfucker I said I'm not trying to blow me up you know I don't want to get to that stage I said but let's be honest with each other and we'll do some good deals he said fine and that's how we worked okay what was Nigel's attitude straight away obviously he's angry and pissed off when did it start to ease off to go right what's my next move how long did he hold on to that anger for only about a week okay yeah he's a strong mind man you know he's on the direction he's on the course obviously we're still champion of the world we ain't lost that belt it's not as if we've been robbed we was robbed for that belt but we still got our belt thank god so we still got ammunition you understand to go and work so that's when I'd done the deal with Don King after that and we worked with Don King and Frank and what was that move like for you to go to Frank and go to Don straight after and was there any problems with Baz afterwards?

1:29:35Barry Hearn afterwards? No, no, no. Barry Hearn took it quite well. He's like, I get it. Yeah, yeah, fine. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, yeah, no problem. There were no issues with Barry Hearn. Yeah, okay. We wasn't disrespectful to him. It's just that we don't want to work with you now. Yeah. I don't like what you did. Yeah. Or what was supposedly did, you know. But when we went over to Frank, look, when you, it's like anything, when you're top of the tree, every phone call gets answered or every door's open. Yeah. The minute he stops, everything shuts. The phone don't get answered. engaged or he's busy I'll call you back call you back you know you know the Scarlet Pimpin' you know you can't find him you know and that's what happened to a degree but to be fair I had some other fighters afterwards I took Nigel's cousin on and I took some other fighters say that again you took on who?

1:30:22Nigel's cousin Paul Bowen and I took his other cousin on what was it oh bloody hell Paul and Michael I took them both on and I managing them yeah and I started managing other fights because I had an office and a secretary already yeah I was working for me Faye was working for me so you might as well leverage up and get more yeah but he wouldn't Nigel wouldn't let me I wanted to do it a long time ago but he said no you ain't working with nobody else while you're with me he said I want you just with me so I couldn't go out there and get myself bigger whilst I was with him yeah I had to wait till his career ended before I could go and do it so everything I'd done afterwards was all me whereas we could have probably been manager a couple of managers now working together but he didn't see that all he could see was no next fight next fight I don't want Peter working with other fighters it means I can't get hold of him or he can't come round when it suits him do you understand why he might have thought that yeah I do now obviously I understand it's me looking in now we're on a mission there you're running 10 % I'm getting a mil let's get together as him as a fighter he probably looked at him and went hold on am I going to lose his attention yeah is he going to be going no, I'll call you back in three hours rather than call you back in three minutes.

1:31:34Or I can't do that. I'm on another meet. I'm on another meet. So I kind of get it from Nigel's point. Yeah, I get it. But for you, were you thinking, hold on, I'm on a high here. I've got to take this and create a proper business. At first I thought he was holding me back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did that call, when you're being held back in anything in life, someone feels like you're holding back, did that create a bit of tension between you two at that time? No. Never had an argument. No, okay. We very rarely had an argument. Very rarely. Once he flicked a towel in me and caught me in the face and I went, fucking apeshit in the gym.

1:32:00I said, you ever do that with me again, I'll kill you. But he saw it in my face. He backed down. He went, I'm so sorry. And he was all right. What, he was just mucking around with a spin and then fleek? Yeah. Okay. I've got to tell you a funny story, though. We was in the gym one day and I said to him, I put the gloves on. I put the gloves on. Now, I'm not a boxer. I'm a street fighter. But I've always followed boxing since a kid with my dad. So I said to him, come with me and you're going to spar a day. And that's right. He was getting ready for the Italian kid, not Galvano, the other one who we fought, Nigel Beat.

1:32:36He's a Southpaw. Now, I fight Southpaw. But we couldn't get any. We was having trouble getting sparring partners. So I said, come on, I'll move around with you, sparring. I'm a Southpaw. And he laughed. He went, ah, fuck off, Pete. Anyway, I got in there and I started moving around with him and jabbing him. And he fell on the floor laughing. So I said, what are you laughing at? he goes I can't believe how good you are now she's got a really good jab bloody hell he went I can't believe it and I was moving around but I didn't have the fitness to go rounds I could only done one or two rounds and I struggled doing that you know and then I was out jabbing him whether he was messing around or not I don't know but he probably was but I was out jabbing him and then he sort of went okay I'll have to put this kid in his place and he just slipped and went bop and caught me around the side I went oh fuck you know put me in place he'd done the same to Tony Sims he'd done the same to Tony he'd just slip running and bump if he feels you're getting above where you should be he'd put you back in your place you know what I mean what was Nigel's lifestyle like out of the boxing ring I hate it he was like me really we was two very much alike maybe that's why we got on he loved women he loved cars I like women I like cars we was like two peas in a pod you know we speak the same Cockney He had a strong Cockney accent.

1:33:56You know, we were both very, very similar. And I think that's one of the reasons why we got on. And if it wasn't for the court case, I'd have probably been still his best mate today. You know, I spoke to him. The last time I spoke to him was 2017. He phoned me from Australia. Yeah. Out of the blue? Yeah, he phoned me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He phoned me out of the blue, yeah. What did he say? He just said, how are you and all that. And then he said, I'm coming over. I'm going to see you. So I said, OK. So we went out for the day. And then he had a conversation with me. and he just said, look, Pete, I've got to be totally honest with you.

1:34:27He said, look, I've got a big family now. He said, things ain't like they used to be. He said, I like you, I love you. He said, we was good together. He said, we had a great time. He said, but I've got a big family. I live over there. When I come here, my time is so taken out. So he said, I'll see you when I see you, but I can't guarantee you when I see you. I said, no problem, I understand that too. He's got a family now. Whereas before, he only had a few little kiddies. He never really was there. he was in training camp. So I understand where he's coming from. That's why I would never say anything bad about him ever.

1:34:59He was good to me. Very good. Very, very good. And you were good to him. Yeah, I was good. I gave him 100%. Yeah. And I never stole. I never cheated. Nothing off of him ever. I'd love to get Nigel on the podcast and hear his story. And I'd love to hear what he's got to say about you. Yeah. I mean, I would like to hear what he's got to say about me. As long as it's honest. Yeah. You know, I'm honest. I can't sit here and lie. Because I have to go out and face people who know me. Whereas Nigel, he does tell porkies. I've listened to his podcast, a few of them, you know. And he said silly things in his book, I think, about me.

1:35:33A couple of silly things. And he thinks he's hurting me by saying stupid things. You know, I heard one, I'm not sure if he put in one of his books, oh, Peter only answered the phone for me. Well, if I only answered the phone for him, I was the highest fucking paid phone answer in the country. You know what I mean? so but the things I mean the promoters know what I did and he knows what I did I mean I've got why would I be why is my name on contracts does Ben Eubank fight if I wasn't doing them I've signed the contracts yeah I've got the contracts yeah you know but if he come in today and walked in here now out of the blue what would you say to him hi how are you I've got nothing against the guy he was bloody good to me I still speak to his brother John yeah is there anything to clear up would you like to clear anything up are you bugged by any way I know you say it's fine he says what he says is there anything you'd like to clear up with him like to go do you know I just want to clear this I want to get this off my chest I don't know I don't understand for somebody that's supposed to come from where I come from and be like me from the streets area you don't understand my position that I can't go to court for anybody it's against where we come from you know that you come from my manner you know when you're from the East End I mean I'm 67 years old this year I'm old school where I grow up I was sitting in a cell on a murder charge and I sat there and I went, I was resided to do life.

1:36:57Because there's no way I'm going to, I know, you know, they ain't getting nothing out of me, mate. You know, I won't do it. Even if I had to do the life, I'd have done the life. I'd have just switched my brain over to, you're in there now, get on with it. That's how I am. I've done DC, Ball Store, YP, I've done it all. I've done all the psychiatric units. I've done them all. Everything I've done. you know as people will see when my book comes out you know I've got a good book coming out hopefully the summer next few months coming out well this is this is an exclusive so I really appreciate this I don't do it because I'm not glory hunting yeah this is an honest podcast yeah for a friend who I trust yeah I don't just do it for anybody you know and to give an honest of my journey not to sit here and say how hard I am yeah you know people who know me know how hard I am yeah they know I can have a fight there's a fight Millions of people out there can beat me.

1:37:51But the thing was, when I was young, I was game. I would fight anybody. Are you 67? Are you still game today? Yeah, big time.

1:38:03Look, if somebody was to come and pick on me or assault me, the only thing with me is, I'll say, I'm looking at people and I'm telling you, this is not for me to say how old I am or anything like that. this is just me being honest about myself. If somebody beat me up or hurt me, I'd kill them. Simple as that. Other than that, leave me alone. I won't go and pick on nobody. But if somebody beat me or hurt me, I will fucking kill them. I won't sleep till I've done it. Because I can go from 0 to 100 in 10 seconds. I don't need to think about it all night. I'm fucking, you know, I'm a dangerous man, but I don't.

1:38:46I mean I'm sort of getting myself wound up now I can get you know so easy when I talk about fighting and things like that or hurting people I've done it all my life that's how I earn my money but I'm an old man now I'm a pencheter you know I'm an old pencheter now but in my head yeah you're still 30 yeah I can't roll around the floor maybe as much but I've still got you know my finger still works yeah you know what I mean yeah if I had to yeah I don't want to don't get me wrong I'm not sitting here glorifying myself but I am game very dangerous if I want to be people don't understand just how dangerous I am unless you really know me you don't know because I'll tell you I'm a bad motherfucker when I switch on the people I know who know you know you're really dangerous yeah you don't need to go and glorify no I don't jump on podcasts to say how hard I am it's just my journey like my book it's an honest book everything in that book is absolutely honest because I've got to look at my friends who are some of them who are there who are every every people even today I've got friends that might be in their 60s but they're naughty people you wouldn't want them coming after you do you know what I'm saying and they've got to look at me and go did you really do Pete what are you talking about you know what I mean I can't do that I've got to look at them and say that's an honest assessment that's what happened this is genuinely what happened and it's just genuinely who I am so what did you get done you said you were on a murder charge what was that well I was a doorman in Moro's Bobby Moro's yeah in Stratford I was a doorman And then I was the pub manager.

1:40:16Okay. Then I was the club manager. Yeah. And what happened was, I can't go too deep because this new law out, you understand? Double dribbling, you can get rid of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I can't go too deep. Yeah. Look, all I can say is, this guy was coming in wanting money off everybody every week. He was a nasty piece of work. Him and his other mate, two of them, really naughty, you know. And they come in and they wanted money off of people. And I think a little firm just sat about him and he got stabbed up 13 times, I think. And he got cut twice in the leg, stabbed twice in the leg and they cut the femur artery.

1:40:58But where the police went wrong is they wanted to nick me. They nicked me for murder. I was coming out of court for a driving offence and the murder squad was there waiting for me and they arrested me, actually arrested me for murder. And they took me to West Ham Police Station and I was in there for three days. They got extension on me and they kept me in there for three days on murder and the superintendent there kept asking me, we know it was you, we know it was you and a certain other person, I won't mention his name, it's not fair. So me and this other person, they really wanted him, but he had it on his toes.

1:41:30I stayed right where I was. So he didn't do himself many favours. So he had it on his toes. So he ended up doing a lay down in the nick. Now, one of my friends who worked the door with me he's a Moroccan I think he's Moroccan or Iranian one of them two but he's a Muslim he's an ex-pro fire and he was shouting off in the police station now he looked like me a bit Mediterranean you know dark skin Mediterranean skin and olive skin so he was shouting off so they knew they wanted to charge me for the murder because they thought in their minds it was me and this other person so they nicked about six people and in the end they let me go and the others and they kept two because this certain ex-boxer he said send who you want down and I'll fucking do a meldice to the old bill he was threatening the superintendent whereas I was just cool sitting there I was the actual manager of the pub so I had an entitlement to be there you understand so I was at the ex-dormant but then I took over the pub.

1:42:43And they nicked him, and they nicked my mate for murder. But where they went wrong was when it went to the Old Bailey, the jury come out and said to the judge, can we find one guilty and one not guilty? Because the guy who was supposed to, me, was supposed to be charged with, not the boxer, the other one, they was 99.9 % sure it was him. But they didn't know about my mate who was the boxer. They couldn't find whether it was him or not. so they wanted to find my pal who I knocked around with guilty and the other one not guilty so the judge said no they can't do that because they've done it as a joint venture they've charged them as a joint venture so you either find one guilty two not guilty or two guilty yeah and that's how it worked so they got off they got off yeah they got off they walked yeah a pair of them all all because so the boxer was rearing up but he done a mate a favour in the end even though they had to do a little lay down what year was this 85 August 85 it was bank holiday and in the book that there's a big big story coming out I won't go deep in it because it's a big chunk of my book and it's that night when that murder happened me and my pal were supposed to go on Lenny McLean yeah because I was gonna Lenny McLean why was I had a big row in a club in this in this club where all the in Woodford Town Football Club where all the fights used to take back The unlicensed fights.

1:44:08Lenny used to fight there. And then I had a fight in there and I chopped the geezer up badly. I hurt him very bad. And this, because this went on for a few weeks and there was a family that owned it from Bo, a big family. And they got Lenny to go on the door there. Okay. And then Lenny sent a message out to me to tell me, Peter DeFratis, you were barred like that. I mean, who the fuck's he talking to? Because, you know, I can't roll around the floor with Lenny McLean. I'm not sitting here trying to say, I could have smashed the granny out of me. but he was going to get something that night he didn't want.

1:44:40But because of the murder, it stopped. Calmed it all down. Yeah, he would have got something he didn't want that night, trust me. It was all planned, everything. The two of us was going on him. Yeah. So he was lucky. I had a meet with him after, Lenny. I had a big meet with him. He shook my hands and everything, gave me a cuddle. Did he know you were game to do that when he gave you a cuddle after? No, no, he didn't. I was on him, no, no, no. He, somebody, what he was, he wanted to meet Peter De Freitas. Yeah. Who's this Peter De Freitas geezer? Because he's heard stories, obviously. Yeah. And he knows that I'm game.

1:45:19I'm not saying, you know, he knows I'm game. So he wanted to meet. So we had a meet in my mate's car showroom. And I met him and I didn't know him. I mean, I know Roy Shaw very well. Yeah. But I didn't know Lenny. You know, Roy Shaw is my manor, you know. Plus he fights where I work. so yeah so I knew I met him and I just said look it's pointless you and me having a fucking tear up because one of us is going to die it's easy as that there's no other no other outcome I said I can't roll around the floor with you then you're too big you know I told him and he went to me no I don't want no trouble with you he said we're pals and he shook me hand he had fucking fingers like sausage yeah he shook me hand he went alright boy he says you alright don't worry about that we're pals and we was alright after that.

1:46:08You know, I didn't trust him. Never trust anyone you're going to have a row with. Never. That's the biggest mistake. That's why I look like this and not fucking tuned up. You know what I mean? Because I'm not stupid. You know, I never trust anybody. You know, if I'm having an argument or a row with somebody and they're rowing back aggressively, I could never trust that person in a million years. Whether it's five years later, ten years later, I won't trust him. Do you hold on to grudges? I can do yeah it depends on what grudge it is yeah there's a certain person out there not male but female done something to me that I don't like and every night I go to bed I have to force myself literally force myself from stopping going to do something because I know it's going to cost me my liberty and it will cost me my liberty I come that close to doing that fucking close and my best mate who I've been mates with for like 50 odd years.

1:47:04He begged me, begged me not to do it. Begged me. He said, Peter, please, please don't. For me, don't. He knew I was going to go on it. Because when I, as I say, sometimes I just really, really force myself to stop, you know? Yeah. What do you do? Do you see red straight away and there's no stopping you? Well, I'll give you an example. I was in the co-op about four weeks ago. I'm in the queue, just waiting in the queue. And I even had a little white beard. so I look for him 10 years older so I'm standing in the queue this geezer Turkish geezer I think he's Turkish he's come up he's going can I jump in there like you know in his accent he said can I jump in there I said no there's a fucking queue here mate so he's going I want to jump in here I said well you can't and then he started he's rearing up on me he's threatening me and everything all sorts he's going to do this to me he's going to do that to me he's going to smash me around the fucking co-op and all that and I just looked at him and I said mate if only you knew if only you knew that's what I said to him if only you knew and I had a fucking thing on me did you?

1:48:06oh yeah mate I don't want I've got to cover my arse you know what I mean I'm an old man and I went if only you knew that's what I said to him because I would have taken his life straight off him if he put one hand on me he'd have died that day I don't go looking for him but it just goes to show you that you don't people don't know you don't know you're messing you just don't know you don't know what's going on other people's minds behind closed doors you don't know who's who but he's in the co-op nearly lost his life over jumping in a queue. Yeah, which you would have lost your life. Yeah, oh yeah.

1:48:33But it's idiotic. Yeah. Oh God. Unbelievable. Yeah. Do you know who killed the Essex boys? I've heard stories. Look, I know all the Essex boys. They were... The only one I don't know is the really big guy. What's his name? Tucker. No, Tucker worked for me. Yeah, okay. Did he work with you, didn't he? He worked with me. Yeah, okay. Yeah, with Nigel a couple of times, you know. Yeah. Once or twice he'd done the show. Then he'd done the Gerald McClellan show. So they come round my house before to meet me before we went and got Nigel. Because I had to, him, Colton, come round, and I had to tell them what I wanted them to do.

1:49:11Didn't they take the belt out? The belt? Did they take the belt out? Did they walk Nigel out? Yeah, they walked him out on the fight. Yeah, okay. On the Gerald McLean fight. Okay, okay. Yeah, but what it was, when I left from my house to go to Nigel's in Beckenham to pick him up, I had my driver driving, and they followed. and I said when we get there don't talk to Nigel let him talk to you because he switched on now he's got to go to work now yeah because I went in there they stayed outside I went in his house and I went up to him he was on the decks playing his decking he was a DJing DJing yeah with his headphones yeah and this was like two hours before he was fighting three hours before he was fighting so he's playing his music good DJ to be fair yeah I've never heard him yeah so he's doing his DJing and I walked in the room and he said he just went me alright mate and I went alright Nigel I said time to go to work mate he said okay Pete you put your stuff away we got in the car in my car in my G-Wagon I think I had or whatever and we got there and then when we got there I said to him don't talk to him leave him because he's now switched on but when we got there I made him stay outside the door I didn't want him in the dressing room so I told him to stay out Colton and Tucker but they did walk him out yeah but that's all they did do walk him out they'd done that about two or three times maybe max and were they good mate They're good mates with Nigel.

1:50:27Now, look, when Nigel, when we finished boxing and the boxing night was over, what he'd done after, I didn't give a fuck. He's a grown man. He's a grown man. He knows right from wrong. So I'm not his master. What he'd done is his business. Yeah. But they are into drugs. Yeah? I won't be associated with drugs under any circumstances. I don't knock anybody for selling them. I don't knock anybody for taking them. That's their choice. But my choice is not to get involved. I don't want no kicking through my front door when I'm sleeping by old Bill on drugs. You know, I don't want that. So I've never done it and I've never took them.

1:51:03So I'm not being two-faced, you know. People know me, no, I don't like drugs. I'm against them. So because they do what they do, I never got involved with Nigel afterwards once he started knocking around with them. Because that was only later on he started doing that. Early doors, he'd never done none of that. He was up for training, getting fit, getting, you know. As you say, when he got silk pyjamas on, Yeah, you ain't going to go over it, yeah. It's hard. Yeah. I don't care what fight it is, when you're ruining the money and your lifestyle changes and you've got a big fucking eight bedroom house and three cars out the front and you're looking like you're living in Beverly Hills, you know, because he's got to be, he had a big gaff in Beckham, because I was with him when he bought it, so I know what he paid for it, you know, and his life, what he does away from boxing, is not mine.

1:51:51We're friends away from boxing if we're doing things together, like we do it just me and him but when he knew that when he was doing things with them I wasn't involved he never asked me to go with him anywhere with them and that's a fact you know I'm not saying I've never ever ever seen Nigel take a drug but I know he has done so I'm not sitting here saying he hasn't I know he has done but I know he takes I've never seen him sniff coke which I don't believe he's ever done I know he takes them easy yeah he takes them for partying I know that and he's been mangled and all that out of his head Yeah, but that only happened later on in life.

1:52:26Okay. Once he got the money. Yeah. And he was basically secure to a degree. You know what I mean? You never have enough, but he's always... But to hang around with him, and I stayed away from him, because... Good move. Yeah, it's not my thing. Yeah, yeah. Did you know how naughty they were? They're not naughty. Yeah. I'm not being honest. I'll sit here and I'll tell them to their face, you ain't naughty, you're bullies. Yeah. They're fucking bullies. putting injections in people, you know, knocking them over with injections and tying them up and pulling them. And I know the people who were supposed to have done it.

1:53:00Or organised it, shall we say. What, the shooting? Yeah, yeah. I know the people who were supposed to have organised it, not shoot it. No one actually knows who'd done the shooting. Don't listen to anybody. No one knows who actually done the shooting unless they was there and done it. Yeah, or they organised it. And I know the people who was warning them about what they was doing. They was trying to... Because they could bully the little boys in Basildon, they could bully the boys at the top. This is what I'm saying. You get involved in this drug game, what happens is the higher you get, the more your life's on the line.

1:53:33Of course, yeah. Because there's always someone who wants your lieutenant's job or your sergeant's job or your colonel's job. Do you know what I mean? The higher you go, the more dangerous it is. And I don't want that. When you've got kids at home, you don't want your front door kicked in with your little kiddies in the house. You know what I mean? And look, the worst I could get knocked for, If there was any violence in the area ever, yeah, the police would knock on me door and go, you know, what was you doing? Where was you? You know, yeah, I've had that a few times. But they've never knocked on my door ever in my lifetime for drugs, ever, or even questioned me about it, because I don't do it.

1:54:05They know I don't. But if you do it... What were they like at the time? Look, Colton I've known since I was 17. Okay. 17, 18, so that's like 50 years. Yeah. I've known him a long, long time. I worked the doors with him. you know he ain't a bad fella away from all this limelight shit and the gangster pretends pretends he's quite a nice fella I don't know why he has to do what he does you know he should have done them films like he did earned a couple of quid out of it because he done it all wrong he didn't contract himself up properly he got mugged off Terry Stone had him over you know so he ain't a bad fella Tucker I don't really know that much.

1:54:48All I know is he was always okay with me. I mean, there's a podcast out called The Inquirer. I don't know if you know it. On one of the channels there, there was a, he's done a certain thing saying Peter DeFreitas and Roy Shaw beat up Tucker and... Who said that? The guy who does The Inquirer. Okay, okay. There's a podcast on it. Yeah. And one of the podcasts on The Inquirer is, it says, Peter, Roy Shaw and Peter DeFreitas in bold letters beats up Tucker and the other geezer. Tate. Tate, that's it. Tucker and Tate. Not Colton, Tucker and Tate. So they've got in touch with me and asked me for my I said, why are you asking me now you've printed it?

1:55:32Why didn't you ask me first? Apologised to me. I said, it's not true. I've never hit Tony Tucker. I was supposed to have chinned him and broke his jaw. I said, I've never had an argument with the geezer. I've only met him three times in my life. I said, so how do I, you know, And he's put me in other podcasts, my name. I'm a dangerous person. I said, he's got no right to just do that. You know what I mean? So, yeah, but I found Tucker okay, but he was with me, but I didn't really know him that well. I knew Colton very well. That's the only one I knew very well. I'd never ever met Tate, ever, in my life.

1:56:07I don't think me and him would have got on. I don't like people that bully like that. No. You know? No one likes to bully, does he? No, no. I mean, look, if you're going to have a fight, it's like I lost my eye fighting, right, geezers. I got stabbed twice in the back of the head with a knuckle duster with a blade on the end of it. Geezers dummy. There was a big old row in a pub. Where were you? In Canning Town. Yeah. Plastow. Yeah. And I was in a boozer there with me friend, watching, going in there. We was going in there to have an argument with his brother. Anyway, a fight's gone off with my mate and his chindy's brother, and it's all gone off.

1:56:40It was full of geezers, all geared up, all the ICF geared up. watching England v Finland on March or something in 2001 so I've got in there and all I could hear someone shout was get the big geezer now I was 20 stone I'm down to 16 now because I have cancer but I was 20 stone I was a big lump you know and all I'd done all of a sudden I felt this fucking wet down the back of my head didn't feel nothing going in just felt this wet going in the back of my head. So I've gone like that, it's fucking claret. But it was pouring out. Not just coming out, it was pouring out. Well, fuck me, at this rate, I'm going to fucking die here.

1:57:24You know, I turned around, it's gone fucking bang straight through the eye. It was the same. With a knuckle duster with a knife on it. And all the knuckle, the knuckle duster smashed all my eye socket, here. This is a false eye. Oh dear. See? And what happened was he stabbed me straight in the eye before I could know anything. Yeah. Now, Now, fear do's if you're getting chivved up. I can understand that. But to do it from behind is a fucking coward's way. You know, come and face me if you're going to do it. I can understand that. You know? But as I turned around, he went bosh straight through the eye.

1:57:56Are they still about these days? No, I sorted that. He's gone a long time. He went a long time, mate. He got fucking, he got put on a promise and he had to pay big bucks. Yeah.

1:58:11Peter DeFreitas.

1:58:38two older are they all game oh my two older ones oh fuck me yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah we're known the family's known you know but we lived in East London all our life you know so but we don't run round the streets like lunatics you know we're just everyday people do your thing yeah just an everyday person I try to be kind and nice to people but so you cross the line yeah but when I was young I was bad because I worked with somebody that we used to earn big bucks going to do what we did you know doing people for money collecting money if they didn't pay we'd go in and sort them out but them days are gone now you know what age group were you going around debt collecting well I started the door when I was 16 believe it or not but debt collecting I was doing debt collecting from the age of probably 30 okay I was around about 30 when I was earning good money 25-30 yeah between 25 and 30 was my good years yeah how old were you when you started working with Nigel er I was probably around 30 30 years old yeah so you were any good debt collecting and then you and Nigel got it on yeah yeah and then you stopped you stopped the collecting he said to me he told me straight he said look people I can't have all this I can't have you doing what you do he said your reputation's bad you've got a bad reputation we've got to clean it up he said I love you with me he said I love you being wearing me he said but we've got to clean it up he went out I'll never forget he took me straight up to Hugo Boss bought me a suit crumbie yeah everything he was really good to me Is he generous with you?

2:00:07Yes, very. Very. I'll tell you, he was the most generous man I've met in my life. That's nice to hear. He was, yeah. Did you see, what year did you stop working with him? Like properly? 1997. 1997. And then what happened when you stopped working together? Why was that? Is that because you wanted to manage other people? No, you retired. Or you just retired, bang, done. Yeah, retirement, bang, done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. And then we'd done other things. I stayed in boxing. I started getting the fighters I had Sean Cummings Who fought for the British title I think it's Neville Brown I had him I'd done a bit with Jimmy Tibbs He taught me a lot Jimmy Good fighter No trainer Trainer sorry Yeah yeah good trainer And his family as well Yeah I worked with Jimmy I worked with his son Mark When he fought In Nigel's Bill in Glasgow I worked his corner Yeah I worked his corner in Glasgow Do you enjoy being in the corner?

2:01:04I did I don't do it no more Or do you prefer Being a manager I prefer the managers Yeah okay But if it was Nigel I had to be in the corner Yeah Because I'm not just saying He was part of me Yeah Do you understand He was that close Did you feel like When you split up though Did you feel like You were in a marriage That you got divorced And it's like Where's my best mate gone Yeah yeah yeah Was it like that How long did it feel Like that for Do you reckon Oh quite a while I still miss him now Yeah And it's been years He was We had such a Fucking good relationship Yeah I can't understand How one silly Little thing like that change his views because I even today I won't change my standards I ain't going to slag him off even if he slags me off I would never slag him off because I can't tell lies on him because he's never done me no wrong really he was only good to me so how can you slag somebody after it was only good to you you can't I'm not going to make up stories and I won't discuss his sex life with anybody you know they keep asking me oh how many birds he have and what did he do and you know and all this and I say listen that's between him and the people he was with I'm not going to sit in there and discuss his personal life or they want me to talk about his family how did he get on with his wife and all this away they want to know the ins and outs that was one of the things when I was going to do a book ages ago I was thinking about doing a book and I spoke to someone and they went oh you've got to put Nigel in there and it's got to be this and it's got to be this and we've got to know about his own life and all that no I fucking won't discuss his own life that's his business I won't do it yeah yeah no I've never slated him ever not once so you split in 97 and 2002 he wanted you to go to court?

2:02:35Around about 2001. So what was that period like then? Was it 97 when you'd split? Did you feel like you'd split with your missing, like a divorce? Or were you still... It was like losing a brother. Yeah, okay. It was like losing a brother. So what was that period like between 97 and 2001 before he asked you to go do the court? Oh, we got on well. We still... We still see each other, yeah. But because he wasn't fighting, it wasn't as intense? No, it wasn't intense. No, no. And he had no holds on me and I had no holds on him. Yeah. Before he had a massive hold on me. Yeah. You see what I'm saying?

2:03:07He was the boss. Yeah. I worked for Nigel Benn. I mean, he didn't work for me. I worked for him. So he was the boss. But he was a good boss, if you know what I'm saying. He wasn't a liberty taker. But there and again, I would have put my foot down if he did. He knew that. Yeah. So we had an understanding from day dot because we both come from the same area. That's what I'm saying. I can't understand how he feels that we've fallen out. What do you... No, I've seen him since, so everything's okay now. But you saw him in 2017? Yeah. Yeah, okay. But he's very busy, obviously, with Conor. How long did you see him for?

2:03:37The day. I spent the day with him. Spent the whole day. Did you bring all this up with him? Or was it didn't feel right at the time? Just like, let's just see each other face value as we are. No, look. Look, you could look at this two ways. Did he come and see me to see if I wanted to say anything to him? Okay. It could be that. Yeah. Or did he just come to see me? As his old mate. As his old mate, exactly. and his manager because I've done a fucking good job for him. Don't get me wrong, I was well and highly well paid, don't get me wrong, but I've done a fucking good job for him. He would never be the Nigel Benn or have someone as loyal as me and be in the same position I feel.

2:04:15I don't know for sure, but I feel that people were taking a lot of liberties trying to rip him off. If it wasn't for me, I was strong, I stayed strong, I was good with him, I was loyal, he knew it. And he couldn't have done what I did and fight as well. Yeah, okay. Do you see where I'm coming from? You couldn't juggle both. Yeah, you couldn't juggle both. It's too much. Yeah. And this is why a good fighter needs a good manager. You need a good right hand man, yeah. Yeah, good right hand man. You don't have to go out there and jump and another thing is I never jumped in front of the cameras and Nicky's limelight.

2:04:46That's his stage. I stayed back. Properly loyal, Pete. Yeah, I was very loyal. Probably. Even you now, mate, this is like properly loyal mate on mate. Even now I won't slag him off. If he wants to slag me off then I don't think has he slagged you off though? no or just a couple of little things a couple of silly little things did that wind you up? nah like for instance I know for a fact that he's told people don't talk about me on podcast or on TV or whatever that's one of the things he's why? he ain't hurting me I had a bigger name than him before he was fucking boxing but why like Nigel I've got a lot of respect for fantastic fighter fantastic bloke get it London boy East London boy would he not ever just go do you know what there was a period in my time that this geezer called Peter De Freitas was unbelievable to me he had my back at every angle he cut deals that I wouldn't even thought of or I would have thought of but we needed someone strong to go and cut deals do you think he'd ever go I need to big him up I need to go back to that part or is it respect to Nigel as well because he's kind of maybe moved on and gone that period of my life is gone and I've got this beautiful family and beautiful Australia and everything's nice I've got my boys and my family around.

2:05:58I kind of get that as well. But do you reckon that bit's cleared up for him? Yeah, I think he's done with it. He's done with it. Yeah, okay. And I respect that too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's done with it. He's wiped that out. Yeah. I mean, like, for instance, Tony Sims wouldn't work with Connor if it wasn't for me. He wouldn't? No. Okay. Because Tony Sims only met Nigel Benford and me. Tony Sims was my pal. I worked the doors with his brother Peter. Yeah. So I introduced Tony to Nigel. And then Nigel said, yeah, I've worked with Connor. No, when he brought him over. Yeah. I'm talking about years ago.

2:06:28I introduced Tony to Nigel. Yeah. Because Tony was my pal. We used to knock around together. You know, when Nigel thought, Tony would come as my guest, as a VIP guest, before he was even in boxing. Okay. And he'll come afterwards and meet me for a meal with my accountant, who's Tony's mate. Okay. So Tony's mate was my accountant. Yeah. Tony was my pal as well. Peter was a friend. I worked the doors with Peter. So that's who Tony got involved with, met Nigel through me. He would never have been in boxing if it wasn't for me. I trained Tony to where he is. Not where he is today. He's one of the best of the world, right?

2:07:04Yeah, I've got him his licenses. I mean, yeah, he's done very well. And I'm pleased for him. He's a very, very nice man. He's loyal as well. Is he? Oh, yeah. Loyal as fuck. Yeah, Tony. He's got the same output as me. With Tony, he's very quiet. He don't speak a lot. He lets the proof he's in the pudding, isn't he? And he's proved that. He can do the job, you know. did you see did you see Nigel change over the years when more money got involved and then he knows that you're off the scene as soon as he's full he's like I'm going to go and party and have fun did you see a change in him his personality big time yeah of course yeah of course you see the changes because as I say when he first when I first started for him he was as hungry as fuck then as the time goes on the first thing you know is they don't want to train as much they cut their training down that's the first sign that they're on the not on the slide but but they've earned enough dough that they're salty okay yeah the heart's not in it as much you know what I'm saying you can see it but if you say anything they dump down your throat what are you getting involved for okay it's like I gave him I said to him once I never forget I gave him some advice on finance yeah well I thought I was anyway and he went to me why are you interested in my money I said no I'm not interested in your money mate I'm trying to help you I'm trying to think of the best things for you no no he said don't ever worry about me and my money I said okay I'll never mention money again to him never because he put me in my place he didn't want me to get involved and I respect that you know and if he lost his money whatever he's done with his money is his business isn't it you know whatever I've done with mine I've done you know obviously I never know what he did but I know as I say he was fair to me I can't knock him he was a fair man you know he was good to me and my family he was good too but I say the only thing I'm not upset, I'm just shocked, is how one silly little thing like that has bore over for so many years.

2:09:02What was that, 24 years ago? Yeah, 27 probably, yeah. 24? 24, yeah. Yeah, what, you're talking roughly 2002 and now 2026, 24? Yeah. Oh, man. All the 2000s is basically gone. Yeah. Whereas in the 90s, you couldn't pass. Yeah. Just look on the videos and the films, it's all there. Yeah. Every press conference, everywhere, I was there next, I was doing them, you know. I was there in a suit, tie, whatever. I was there. What was it like being around East London, Essex, around the time when the Essex boys' whole thing kicked off, when they got shot and murdered? Well, most of them are, pal, said it was a good thing.

2:09:37Okay. You know, because a lot of anyone that's half-decent don't really get involved in drugs. They don't like them, you know, especially when kids are involved, you know, and when that Leobetz died, that really rocked a lot of people. it's like this Iran thing if it wasn't for the girls getting killed in the school what's this one say again? in Iran they dropped a bomb in America on the first day on a girls school 6 years to 12 years old school girls 148 girls killed fucking wrong on it man how can you not know there's a girls school with today's missile technology you know it's the same sort of thing you know do you think the old Bill killed the Essex boys?

2:10:22No. No. Because there's loads of rumours. No, no, no. Everything you hear about is the old Bill, it's his mate, his mate. They got killed by their own people. Their own people killed them, trust me. Look, when you're trying to take over something that somebody's earning so much at, you ain't going to last for them. You're stopping on toes, okay. Yeah, you ain't going to last for them. You know, it's like, they was earning a nice little earner, he had a big house, Tucker had a big house, Merc, Sports, Money, shot a little, business going why do you want to go and take over the hand that feeds you it's like me stealing from Nigel every contract because I can get away with it for so long and then when Nigel finds out I've lost everything it's like that money when I took from Paul Croxford 1142 the manager if I'd kept that look how many hundreds of thousands I would have lost just by being greedy for 40 grand but you screw your loaf you go there's your money Nigel I'm loyal I'm honest he goes yeah Pete I know you are bang got it and then he stayed kept me on he said I want you to stay with me because he knew I was loyal whereas if I kept the 40G look at what I'd have lost has there been any promoters in your period of time in boxing that you didn't trust honestly I never trusted Barry Owen I couldn't trust him because I knew Chris Eubank was his number one and also Frank you've got to be on your toes with yeah I mean with Don King I sort of had him wrapped up anyway by the banks so he couldn't do nothing yeah so you had that locked in yeah yeah I had that locked in so no matter what anyone has said about him he couldn't do that with me this is England this ain't the USA I mean don't get me wrong in the USA he might have took a chance and tried to fuck me over and get away with it because he pays off people doesn't he but in this country he can't get away with it so you know if you work with Don King and you know how to I'm a good manager I'm sitting here and I'm blowing me on track I'm a good manager I know how to work boxing yeah a lot of these guys fighters haven't got a clue.

2:12:20They're getting ripped off every day. Have you come across Mr. Ambrose? Of course I did. I'd have a round of Ambrose, Mindy. I bashed him up, didn't I? I had a street fight with him. And his son whacked me around the face with a bottle. And it broke, the bottle, but he didn't cut me. And I said to him, if you, that was his dad. He was about 18, only a kid. 17 or 18 he was. He whacked me around while I was giving it to his old man. He smacked me around the face with a bottle. And I said, if you'd cut me, you'd be dead. if you'd cut me I'd say you'd be gone but he'd never cut me and I swallowed that from the kid but the old man I sorted out and then had a big to and fro with his brother they were sending out messages and all around and I just called it on said you know just tell me and I'll meet you and they didn't want it because Ambrose was heavily involved in boxing for a period wasn't he yeah it was Nigel stole off of Nigel he stole some money off of Nigel and then the banks were at fault for letting him do it so I made them put it back in his account and that was the end of Ambrose because I was with Ambrose and Nigel I was with Ambrose I was with his security at first that's how I started with him originally and then I flew to I flew to America he fought in he fought in when he won his first world title against Doug DeWitt I was there with him I walked him out but I wasn't involved in in anything and that was when he beat Doug to it I was there could you see then could you see an angle you're being security you've been flown out you're going I love nice little bits I'm bang on the ball I'm switched on I know what's going on I don't care if they've been in the game for a long time I can handle this where was it I never fought that then no okay I was just security and when he fought Eubank 1 at NEC Birmingham yeah you were there I was there I walked him out okay yeah yeah I was there all he fought yeah yeah yeah and then but you weren't his manager on the first fight no no no just security Who was managing?

2:14:15Who was managing in the first round? Ambrose was, he was the manager, Ambrose. He hasn't got a license. He never has a license. All he is, he's an agent. Yeah. So he was agent. That's all he had. He trusted Ambrose at the time. Because Ambrose done a very clever thing. I don't know if you know what he done. I'll quickly tell you what he done. Years ago, he got all the black guys in the sports. He got hold of them. And he says to each one of them, including Nigel. Yeah. If I get you work You give me 20 % Of what I get you Right So Linford Christie All them When he had the black pack Paul Ince Paul Ince West Ham And they called him The black pack Yeah Do you remember that Yeah I do yeah Right When they used to Walk around in the shell suit Yeah Right Well in that day That's what he done He got them all together And they all Well not all together But he got them in his office Yeah Over London Bridge Tower Bridge he had an office upstairs there all in there signing a contract yeah 20 % of whatever work he gets then what he'd done is he called their agent so everybody thinks oh he's got all these people and then all these other fighters and people were going to him because he was an agent but that's how he got away with it he never had no work for them he said if I get you any so they've all signed these contracts for 20 % but it was a clever move because it made him big he got on the telly he's clever he knew what he was doing yeah he was on the ball wasn't he yeah the next thing he went and done I think he was his legs or something he insured for so many million and all this crap and got on the telly or Nigel's legs or whatever it was and insured them on for millions his hands and all that with fighters and runners and he built himself up to but he got high on his own bullshit if you see what I mean he didn't come back down to reality that this is all a I ain't got nothing really I'm an empty vessel loads of names but an empty vessel you know he got the odd job here the odd job there but for his own promotion and self promotion he looked great I mean people say to me now sometimes at fights they go oh yeah who man Nigel he managed Nigel I said no he never managed him I said he was an agent I said Nigel made the mistake of letting him be his agent I said and so did many other people and they go oh I didn't know that yeah we thought he was his manager but that's how he built himself up see nobody realises he's never had a boxing licence in his life in any capacity really he should have been fined every time he went in the corner because he was an unlicensed fighter trainer I've had Ambrose on the podcast yeah I saw it yeah yeah he's okay I've got no problems with him me and him still speak well not if I saw him because he's from my manor I don't live that far from him he lives in Thayden Boyce I live in Chickal you know that way so we're only two minutes away from each other I've got that what happened all them years ago happened is there one moment in your life that really stands out as the pinnacle oh yeah it's got to be when I when they Gerald McClellan got put done it's got to be that there'll never be nothing apart from my children being born I can't see anything ever than that it weren't and it weren't even like he picked up a real title or something you know he was defending his title but it was the fact that he was bullied and forced to fight and And I told Frank Roran a month before that fight, I said, have your house on Nigel, man.

2:17:39I'll tell you, he's in shape that you won't believe. I said, he's up for it. And all these people, I just want to say this to everybody out there, all these people who say that Nigel was on gear, that's not Nigel Ben. Trust me, that ain't Nigel Ben. I can't speak for Conor. I don't know Conor. But I can only speak for Nigel. And whilst I was with me, I never ever, and I ain't a liar, I never saw him take any drugs. He took vitamins, yeah. and desiccated liver tablets and things like that for training because he done weights and all that. Now, I'm not really up on all that but I can honestly say this to people.

2:18:13If he did take drugs, I wouldn't have known because I don't take drugs myself so I wouldn't know. But as far as I'm aware, I've never seen that man take a drug. And I know he would have confided in me somewhere along the line in training camp. And he didn't look no different to what he normally done. He didn't do nothing like crushing it or anything like that. You know, like Conor goes, I'm crushing it in the gym. Nigel never ever come to me and said, or I never ever saw him doing anything extraordinary. I saw him train harder and focus on what he did and up his miles a couple, like another two miles, kilo, instead of eight, he might do 10 or whatever.

2:18:54You know, I can say he's done that, but I can honestly look at the public and say, I've never seen that man take any drugs. That ain't him. He ain't a cheat. That's one thing I will say. Because he was prepared to go out on his shield down. What was that feeling like going out and fighting Gerald McClendon at that time? And what was the feeling like with yourself and Nigel afterwards, knowing what had happened? Well, I was in an ambulance. We rushed to hospital on a blue light. I was in the ambulance. It was only me and Nigel in the ambulance. Because when you're a manager of a fighter, I don't know if people know this, but when you're a manager of a fighter, not even their parents are over all me.

2:19:28I'm in charge of that man. till he's ruled safe I'm in charge because he signs a contract that I'm in charge so when he got rushed to hospital afterwards it was only dehydration he was fatigued and dehydrated you know so we got him into the hospital got him some fluids in him he was fine come home that night whereas Gerald was on the next bed I saw him he was in a terrible state Nigel beat him up bad man from round 7 I think he was to 10 he took a good eye in him and then took some heavy shots in there and his head because nigel can bang you know yeah people don't realize he's as strong as a lion man i've never seen anyone stronger for his age size i mean he's a 12 stone man in the ring when he when he was you know weighs in he weighed in 12 stone but he punches like a lot like like cruiserweight trust me you know i've seen i've had the guys come up to me in uh sparring afterwards the cruiserweights that we get and they come back and they go jesus man he punches out of donkey kicks yeah that's what they say that was the exact words yeah yeah he punches like donkey kicks yeah yeah i said i know he punches old he does punch hard so what was that what went through your mind and uh nigel's mind post fight nigel was safe and then knowing what happened to gerald he he went gotta teach him fucking cinema beat me up yeah bash me up no he ain't bashing me up he goes i'm up for that he goes i was up for that like a motherfucker he wasn't all see he was like he was like he's being threatened and they're going to knock him out and take his belt off him you know that's that's his living that's his future you know without that belt you you're 50 of the man you know yeah he might look good in the ring and give exciting fights but that all they're going to do is put him in with guys who's going to fight him equally back you know is that the worst thing to do to nigel tell him people tell him what they're going to do to him yeah like rile him up even more it's like me yeah very much the same we are yeah we don't like being bullied like that that's bullying isn't it and just because they've got the ability to do it you know but then Nigel give him his credit he stood his ground you know a lot of fighters will go oh alright bring Michael Nunn in I'll fight him Nigel stood his ground no I don't want to fight a geezer what I don't want to fight him for you know have you ever in your life had the fear of anyone

2:21:49if I feared somebody that much, I'd have to disperse them. I'd have to liquidate them because they ain't liquidating me. You know, if I fear somebody that much, because I don't really get feared easy. I mean, I'm quite a, you know, big size, look after myself. So I don't really fear anyone and I try not to put myself in a position for that to come back. But if I really feared somebody, mate, they'd have to go. Sorry. You know, I would. I'd have to. Yeah, I couldn't have that. I couldn't live in fear. If I thought someone was coming on me, I'd have to take them out before they took me out. Yeah.

2:22:26If I heard somebody was coming on me, I'd make it as concrete first evidence. You know, it'd have to be proper, and then I'd have to go to work. I'd have to put my coat on. Yeah. You know. Have you ever clashed with Chris Eubank Senior? Yes, I have. Big clash. Yeah. As I said to you earlier, he went to me, oh, what are you doing on telly? And I went, oh, without me, you ain't getting a fight. See, it's thanks to me, you're getting a fight. because Nigel wasn't bothered whether he thought him or not to be fair was he not? no Nigel wasn't Chris Eubank didn't really excite Nigel Benning he wasn't worried about the loss even though they hated each other yeah and Nigel never cared about the loss either he went the best man won on the night he trained like a champion I didn't he beat me fair and square he said he trained like a champion I never so that's my fault I've got to live with that that was Nigel's attitude but then he said I'm not bothered about rematching him it doesn't bother me The money's got to be right If I'm going in the ring again But he said You know Because obviously They want him to fight for peanuts The more they The less they can pay him The more they make Yeah yeah So obviously They tried to put it on the balls But once I got involved There was none of that Yeah None of that Yeah Nigel Benn never had no problems With money From the day I worked for him To the day he left To the day we retired I made sure of it He had no problems Never had no worries When you were with him What sort of other deals Away from the fight game were you doing?

2:23:50Was there sponsors? What sort of sponsors were coming on board? Were the phones ringing? You were taking the calls going, yeah, you can do that. Nigel put his name to that. Nigel got a few sponsors himself. His main one was No Fear. Oh, I remember. Remember the clothes? Clothing brand, yeah. Yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah, we had all No Fear gear. All the time. He made all the... That suited him as well, didn't it? Yeah, No Fear, only shorts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He used to get a lump sum off him every month. And they was our main sponsors. Then we had sponsors in Tenerife that used to give us the apartments and the cars and all that.

2:24:25We got all that. Global Homes. It was, I'm trying to remember all the names. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a long time ago. Yeah. Global Homes, that was a big one. They was very good to us, Global Homes. They were excellent. Where would you stay in Tenerife? Not the actual club, what area would you be staying in? Torreviscus. Okay. Torreviscus down to San Andreas. Yeah, the nice apartment here. I owned one of them. Did you? Yeah, I bought one, yeah. How did you, like, when you talk about all the cars and then you had the big house in the cars, how would you say that, how quickly did that sort of fizzle out?

2:24:57Do you know, as you get older, like you were like 67 now, did you invest it well or was it not invested well? No, I was okay. But what happened was I got a phone call one day from the accountant. Now, I own my house, my big house. I had the deeds to the property under the city. The deeds were under the city, I'll never forget. And my accountant rang me one day. He went, Pete, the tax man's been on the phone. They want to look into you. They keep seeing you in the Sun newspaper every day. So I said, yeah, I'll make a, they asked me a few questions. And they go, yeah, but to them, you're earning fortunes.

2:25:29He said, you've got to get rid of your house. He said, you've got no mortgage on it or nothing. I said, no. So he said, oh, you've got to get rid of that. So I sold my house. I said, I swore I'd never sell. It's worth probably now one and a half million. yeah it'd have about 8 cars in the front and about 20 in the back you know that's how big it was so and I owned it so now I would have had like I could have gone broader than if do you know what I mean I wouldn't have to live in this shell you know but to be quite honest yeah you know I don't like this country no more I'm fed up with it but I don't want to go into detail on that anyway but I had that house and then what happened was I sold it And that was the biggest mistake.

2:26:14Because when you've just got pie mash in your hand. It can go easy. Yeah, it can go very easy. And when you're young, you're foolish. I mean, looking back now, I should be sitting in the sun now, lapping up, you know, but I'm not. But you're happy. But I'm very happy. Yeah, I can see that. And I'm happy. It's not that I'm happy. I'm comfortable with myself. Content, yeah. Yeah, content with myself. I don't want for nothing. My wardrobe is the main thing to me. I like lovely clothes. Yeah, I like nice clothes. so I always like nice clothes when I go out I like to look clean and tidy and nice and I like I've got a car that I'm content with cars don't bother me I only do a thousand miles a year I don't do much so it don't bother me cars don't want I've got a nice flat that's nice I'm really happy now so 23 years I've been there happy days mate yeah but as I say the money does go but I divorced when I got divorced my wife had to have an house a place over her head you know so she got that and I said to myself I'm never buying another house again like that the big house again no I don't need it what do I need a big house for it's only me so I'm comfortable as I am now happy days mate yeah I'm just comfortable Pete I've really really enjoyed this these are some quality I know mate this is quality I'm looking up now we've done two and a half hours you're joking no mate it's flown it's a little thing because I'm locked into you I don't have enough I freestyle everything I've just looked up now it's two and a half hours mate I've got more as you're talking I'm thinking what I'm going to do we'll have to do a part 2 yeah I'm saying if people want a part 2 if you like this and you want a part 2 just leave a comment why you liked it and get me a part 2 and if you fancy we'll do another one for those watching thank you very much appreciated yeah and my book's coming out and your book's coming out yeah book's coming out and we're not going to give the name out are we just yet no no so let people find out when it comes out maybe the part 2 maybe the part 2 is when we give the name of the book out I mean we carry on a load more stories I know there's a load more oh I've done plenty of times you've lived you've probably lived haven't you yeah yeah yeah lived an eventful life I've gone from the very bottom to the very top I've lived every stage of the way yeah I've done a journey mate this has been proper I've really enjoyed this thank you yeah I've really enjoyed it I appreciate you making the effort coming down the building yeah no problem yeah yeah you're a gentleman thank you good man Pete cheers thank you nice one mate cheers mate good mate if you'd like to see someone on the show leave a comment below and if you haven't already do us a favor, show us a bit of love, press the subscribe button, and it allows us to grow the show even bigger and bigger each week.

2:28:46Nice one.

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