An ageing Macaulay McGowan may be inclined to fight with his heart rather than his head when he takes on talented European super welterweight champion Abbas Barau on Friday night.
“When the fight was first booked I thought, 'Oh my God, this is my big moment. My career has been here my whole life. A European title fight, close to home. The stars have aligned,'” the newly-minted McGowan told Boxing Scene.
“Training continues and it's another fight and I have to work. I could get sentimental, but this is another chance I've got and it's a fight I'm confident I can win. I have to approach it like a normal fight.”
“God doesn't care who wins or loses. I just do my best in training and give it my all on fight day. That's what I'm aiming for. No one's going to help me in the eighth round. It's all up to me. I have to use what I've done, my training and my boxing ability and get the job done once and for all.”
As McGowan suggests, although he has failed his biggest test yet, he has never been in a better position to seize the opportunity.
McGowan, 20-4-2 (5 KOs), a Junior ABA champion and England representative as an amateur, has been steadily improving since teaming up with Joe Gallagher at Champs Camp in Manchester. On the surface, the results have been mixed, but the progress the pair have made belies that. The 29-year-old McGowan is a far more focused and well-rounded fighter than the happy-go-lucky challengers who thoughtlessly took on difficult bouts against Tursinbay Krahmet and Kieron Conway within a month of the COVID-19 pandemic, only to lose.
His and Gallagher's first fight together was a unanimous decision loss to modern-day great Sergio Martinez in Spain in 2022. Last year, McGowan appeared to dominate unbeaten Farahad Saad in Paris before losing a narrow decision to current European middleweight champion Tyler Dennehy. McGowan still believes he had the advantage in the bout but acknowledges he clearly should have won.
Since that loss, McGowan has been hitting the gym and hitting the small hall circuit, coming into this weekend's bout feeling in top condition, well prepared and knowing exactly what he has to offer as a fighter.
“Usually when an opportunity comes along it's either I've been away for a while, it's on short notice, it's a super middleweight, it's a southpaw. There's always something,” he said.
“I just won three matches. I'm always in the gym and I fight at my preferred weight. I'm not fighting southpaws. Three of my four losses have been to southpaws. I'm not going to lose because of size or strength. This win came at a good time for me.”
McGowan doesn't have an easy task ahead of him. Ballau has long been tipped as a star contender, with the 29-year-old German beating Sam Eggington to the title and then winning by points in March.
“I think he's a really good fighter, but he has weaknesses that I could exploit. I'm not going to deny his weaknesses. I think he's a really good fighter and it's not easy to win a 12-round decision against Sam Eggington, but I don't think he's the best fighter in the world. He's a good fighter. I won't give up the European title, but he's not a special fighter.”
“People will ignore me and look to Abbas, but I believe this is a genuine 50-50 fight and I am confident of winning.”
The fact that McGowan speaks with such confidence and focuses on why he will win, rather than the magnitude of the task he faces, is a testament to how much he has grown.
Many young fighters turn pro with good reasons and realistic expectations, but not many are able to shun the whispers and promises of riches and stick to their guns throughout their careers.
McGowan is one of those few.
It's been more than 10 years since the 18-year-old McGowan began training at the old Morton Mill in north Manchester.
One early sparring session was memorable, as McGowan dove headfirst into hard-hitting welterweight veteran Mark Thompson. It wasn't an easy day – McGowan's white T-shirt was stained red by the end – but he wasn't complaining. He wasn't discouraged by the experience at all, and seemed to embrace the fact that he was surrounded by pros and had a lot to learn.
Years later, McGowan, then 5-0, couldn't hide his joy and relief at his first professional stoppage victory. The fact that it was against a clearly inferior Hungarian fighter didn't matter at all. McGowan joked that he was just happy to have “given the hell out of my ass in front of my buddies.”
McGowan hasn't been the same since then – yes, boxing is his job and he does it to support his family, but there's still a sense he continues to box because he enjoys it and because he maintains the hope of seizing that moment of glory.
“I thought I could win the British title and I thought I could have a good career,” he says, recalling his goals when he turned professional. “To be honest, I never thought, 'I'm going to be world champion'. It never crossed my mind as a kid. I saw Ricky Hatton fill up the Manchester Arena and I imagined everyone going wild and Manchester going wild for me. I thought that would be amazing, but I never thought about a world title. For me it was always the British title, the European and world titles came later.
“Having the chance to play here at the European Championships makes my whole career worthwhile.
“I wanted an honest career, I wanted to be able to look at myself in the mirror at the end and say, 'Well done'. As an amateur I was a bit standoffish, a bit evasive, a bit boring. As a pro I wanted to be respected and I wanted to be known as a warrior.”
“That was my motivation more than money. It still is. I think I'm doing well.”
That determination remains strong, but these days desire is just another string to the strings rather than a Plan A, B or C.
“Yeah, I still have the strength, I just have to be a little cuter. I want to win in the end. Some people will say losing was a hard fight, but it still hurts. I just have to deal with it.”
