On Monday 19th June, more than 500 young people from eight schools nearby Serpentine Jarrahdale Community Recreation Centre were treated to a motivational speech from champion boxer Danny Green.
Generously funded by the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale and organised by the YTime team at the centre, the event aimed to inspire young people to stand up for what they believe in and what they’re passionate about.
Following the Green Machine’s talk, members from the YTime Youth Advisory Committee asked insightful questions about his journey, his hard work and his commitment over the years. Hear what Danny had to say below:
Did you ever want to quit or give up? Danny’s response:
“Yeah plenty of times. I’ve had really bad injuries – mainly when I’ve wanted to quit it’s been because of the physical pain.
I was in Los Angeles training for a world title fight and I couldn’t move both of my arms- you need your arms in boxing!
It was really hard, I was icing them for hours and hours and hours. A lot of times I have wanted to quit just through injuries but in the middle of a fight I’ve never wanted to give up.
When I’m in the throes of fighting I’ve never wanted to – I’ve had my nose broken 12 times, I’ve fractured my jaw three times, both of my eye sockets have been shattered, my ribs have been broken like a bag of chips, I’ve got plates and screws holding my hands together, I’ve done most of those injuries during fights so the adrenaline kicks in and takes over.
You can feel it but you don’t really care about it, all you want to do is win that fight. The adrenaline is so jacked up and so high that you can walk through a brick wall if you need to, and that’s what a good fighter does; handle anything that comes their way.
It’s just in the preparation (the 6-8 weeks training for a fight) when the injuries come in and there’s been a fair few times I haven’t been able to move my arms and have had to train that night, and the next day, and again and again and again.
It was very difficult at times, but how I got through it?
I’m very stubborn.
There’s a very famous saying that’s always stuck in my mind; it takes a split second to quit but you have to live with that for the rest of your life.
I thought to myself, if I ever quit – especially in the middle of a fight – that saying has just hit my mind and that’s really how I did it.
I’ve never wanted to give up, I never wanted to quit and I never wanted to give up my dream. It isn’t who I am.
I’ve got plenty of things I’m useless at – being on time is one of them! But I found it easier to continue and persevere because I never wanted to give up my dream.”