Moses Jolly is a roofer. He wore an Indian headdress to his press conference. And did cartwheels at his public workout.
As far as capitalising on the biggest stage of his career is concerned, he has not missed a beat. Just the matter of winning his fight to come.
The Swansea heavyweight has established himself as one of the stories of the week in Cardiff as he prepares to feature on the undercard of Lauren Price’s world title clash with Jessica McCaskill.
Nicknamed ‘The Native’, the 8-0 fighter has been an injection of energy throughout the build-up as he soaks up a long-awaited jump from the small hall scene. Come Saturday, he wants to put on a show.
“I’m bringing the culture, I’m bringing diversity, I’m bringing unity, I’m bringing character. I’m bringing mind, body and soul,” Jolly tells Sky Sports.
Jolly represents the kind of story so easily missed in boxing, the fighter contending with a rickety ladder to what they hope can be a life-changing break.
“It’s hard to see people on the roof, man,” he jokes.
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Roofer by day, but hopefully not forever.
Jolly has a way with words. From discussing the mechanics of a rocket to finding an unlikely comparison between his two day jobs.
“Roofing is an interesting craft,” he continues. “It’s kind of like boxing. You have to sometimes destroy it in order to recreate. You gotta break it down and build it up.
“You’d strip off the old roof, you put on a new roof and you hope those crafts wait and just hold well, and it’s kind of like boxing.
“You break yourself down, your muscles, your body, and you build it back up and you hope that work pays off.”
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Lauren Price says she is in great shape and is 100 percent confident she will beat Jessica McCaskill to become the new WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine World Welterweight champion.
He recalls the task of having to sell enough tickets in order to simply be able to fight earlier on in his career. There were no such problems this time.
In chasing the ultimate goal in the ring, Jolly will be chasing his goal outside of it.
“In boxing, I would like to be the first Welsh-born heavyweight world champion, but in life I want to make a difference that’s significant for a large amount of people,” he said.
“I want to see form of unity brought from my work, and to unite communities, bring awareness and more love.”
Jolly sets out to ‘lead by example’, suggesting he adopted the nickname ‘Native’ for the way in which it belongs to anyone and everyone.
“Everyone has the potential to be great,” he continued. “Stop looking for outside external entities. There’s beauty everywhere. You can love even in the fires.”
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Former teammates Kyran Jones and Lewis Howell go against each other on Saturday and tempers appeared to spill over at a heated head-to-head between the two unbeaten Welsh fighters.
His boxing journey began with a love for martial arts and, in particular, growing up watching videos of Bruce Lee. From there he was introduced to the cinematic value of the world’s heavyweight greats, from whom his own exuberance would stem.
“I tried a few martial arts, Japanese jujitsu, judo, Muay Thai, Karate, kickboxing,” he said.
“But I started going to the boxing gym with my brother because I was getting into trouble. I’d start watching more boxers and listening to their talks more than anything.
“Around that time I’d been listening to hip hop artists and their freestyling, I like to listen to these talks and see what they’re about.
“I came across Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Archie Moore, Evander Holyfield – I know Holyfield doesn’t talk as much but I liked his composed energy – Sugar Ray Robinson, all the greats. I liked the way they moved and the way they grew characters.”
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Price insists she is prepared for aggressive tactics from McCaskill
Jolly has dazzled with his own infectious character this week as he looks to ensure he remains a permanent fixture.
So what will it mean to step out at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena?
“You’re giving me mathematical equations now! That means X squared multiplied by Y divided by two,” he laughs.
“Well it means that Welsh boxing is thriving. I believe Lauren Price is going to win that world title and make history for British boxing.”
It’s one of the biggest sporting events in a generation. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk collide for the undisputed world heavyweight championship on Saturday May 18, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book the fight now.
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