“I don’t know, I’ve just kind of been through it.”
That’s not a secret. He laughs.
“Life experience is the secret. I’ve been through this, I’ve done it once with football, and I’ll find something else that’ll keep me out of trouble. I’m a little bit older now, it’s my second go-round, so the pill’s a little bit easier to swallow. Everybody’s got to walk their own path and I think, honestly, playing football and having that rug pulled out from underneath me helped prepare me for this. You understand that you can only be an athlete for so long before it’s time to give it up. With football, it’s not even you giving it up, it’s that you’ve reached the limit, like, okay, you’re not going to play professional ball; what are you going to do next to figure it out? With fighting, you are always a fight or two from getting cut anyway, so I just never wanted to put all my eggs in this basket. It’s been awesome, it’s been a great ride, I loved it and had a great time and enjoyed it every step of the way, don’t get me wrong, but I already know that at any second it could be over with anyway. So I just always had my mindset on what’s next and what can I do forever.”
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Well, the most important forever job is being a father, and after relocating his camp for this Saturday’s bout against Jamie Pickett from Arizona back home to Alabama, his two sons are loving having dad back in the house full-time.