NYF Prospect Watch: Wales Super Welterweight Kieran Gething

“Records are for DJs aren’t they mate,” Kieran Gething told me matter-of-factly when I asked him how he felt after his first two professional bouts were judged as a draw and a loss.

“It didn’t bother me much,” Gething continued. “I know I’m good enough to win titles, I have won titles and I have another couple to win on July 1.”

The 29-year-old Gething hails from Abergavenny, Wales, his current professional boxing record stands at 12-2-2. Gething will be gloving up in his hometown on July 1 as he faces undefeated compatriot Sion Yaxley for the BBBoC Celtic and IBO Continental super welterweight titles.

In speaking with Kieran Gething, I learned that his own career is only a small part of what motivates him within boxing. He has a genuine desire to help others within the sport – be that through training youngsters or becoming involved in the promotional and broadcasting side of things in order to secure regular fight dates for his fellow professionals based in Wales.

It was intriguing hearing what the boxer who wears many hats within the sport had to say.

The Wales man has grand plans for his career

Getting Started In Boxing

I knew going into our interview that Gething had captained the Welsh Amateur boxing team at certain age groups as he was growing up, but how did he get started in the sport?

“I started boxing because my brother wanted to and asked me to go to the boxing gym with him,” Gething told NY Fights.

“Boxing has always been in our family. My uncles and my father won titles. My father’s father won a title and his father was a professional. Our family’s been boxing for as long as it’s been around as far as I know,” Gething informed, laughing. “I didn’t really enjoy it when I was very young but I was good at it so I stuck with it.”

And now, as a 16-fight professional, how would Kieran Gething describe his boxing style?

“I like to think of myself as well rounded to be honest. I can do a lot of everything. I’m tough, I’m fit and I’ve got skills,” the super welterweight contender answered. “A good even balance of everything that’s needed. Hopefully I can show everyone that in the ring.”

It’s been to the benefit of his local area and Welsh boxing on the whole that Gething didn’t walk away from the sport during those early days.

Early Pro Experiences

As noted above, Gething’s professional campaign didn’t begin in great fashion.

For his professional debut, Kieran Gething took a four rounder against experienced Englishman Kevin McCauley. The November 2016 encounter just happened to be McCauley’s 150th outing as a pro.

In terms of know-how between the pro ropes, there was a bit of a gap between Kieran and his opponent.

“When I turned over, I wasn’t getting any opportunities from my manager at the time so I took that fight with Kevin McCauley,” explained Kieran Gething.

“I think I won it but on his 150th they looked after him and gifted him the draw I think.”

The boxer continued, “My second pro fight was a loss, which was another level of nonsense. I boxed Aaron Sutton, who has gone on to do well in the pros. I went over to Sutton’s home patch, sold about 120 tickets, I didn’t really know how the pro game worked back then.”

The fighter tells the writer how he reacted to starting out with a draw and a loss.

“I hit him from pillar to post, gave him 19 stitches and he didn’t box for six months but somehow I still lost by a point,” Kieran said in reference to the March 2017 bout. “But shit happens and I am where I am now and I’m doing great.”

Becoming Involved With Promoting Fights And The Boxing In Wales YouTube Channel

I knew the conversation would return to Kieran’s in-ring exploits before the call ended and my intrigue about his boxing promotional venture Shadow Box Promotions and some broadcasting details got the better of me.

“I’m sort of the event coordinator for Shadow Box Promotions. There’s a show promoter and another guy, Ritchie, who we are working with on things,” Kieran said.

He elaborated: “The three of us are doing good bits for Welsh boxing. Along with the July 1 show, we have got July 22 lined up and shows also in August, September and October. We’re flying at the moment. We want to make things happen!”

Kieran Gething is supplementing learning about the promotional side of boxing by also becoming involved in some broadcasting with the YouTube channel Boxing In Wales.

“We like to work with the media, and set up our own branch to add even more coverage of Welsh boxing,” Kieran Gething explained.

“Dewi Powell is the presenter for Boxing In Wales. He’s doing a great job. He’s a Welsh boxing historian and journalist. Ciaran Gibbons is also a regular, he’s a Welsh reporter. Both are great guys who are going to do good bits for Welsh boxing moving forward.”

Getting A Broadcasting Partnership With FITE TV Off The Ground

With the Boxing In Wales YouTube channel up and running, Gething and his colleagues at Shadow Box were keen to add an established global broadcasting name to their brand.

“Our July 1 card will be live on FITE TV,” Gething said to NY Fights. “They are on board as the main event is for a title. We’re trying to secure a title bout for the July 22 bill so that can hopefully go out on FITE also.”

For any fledgling plan, it is good to have a backup in place, and Kieran Gething has done this for the Shadow Box cards.

“If FITE don’t pick up July 22, or any of our other cards going forward, they will go out on the Boxing In Wales channel. If anyone doesn’t want to subscribe to FITE TV they can still follow the fight nights live on the YouTube channel via some commentary and results being updated,” Kieran advised.

Before we concluded this segment of our chat, Gething wanted to acknowledge the main sponsor of the upcoming shows.

“I want to thank the main support of the shows, who have helped fund the campaign to get title fights on our cards,” Gething said.

The boxer told NYF: “Our main support is the Mehdi Bousfiha Foundation. Mehdi is from New York and his Miami based charity supports countries hit by disaster and also vulnerable women and children all over the world. He’s very kindly come on board to help push this title fight through for myself.”

Training Young Boxers And Writing

As if his plate wasn’t full enough, Kieran Gething gives up his time to train local youngsters and is working on his second book, having had his first one published in 2020.

“Our boxing club, Abergavenny Boxing Club, is open every evening and part of me doing the training sessions is to get more people to come to that club in my hometown,” Kieran Gething told me.

“We’ve got 10 kids who regularly come along. We’re only a small gym at the moment. We’ve only been open for a year. We’re hopefully going to get a bigger premises and have more and more participants,” Kieran said when I asked about the numbers who attend.

“It’s a productive thing for the kids in the town to do and their parents get a break from them for an hour!”

Book number one.

As for writing: “I wrote a book when I was 25. It is called ‘Insight’ and is about how boxing has helped me through several situations life has thrown at me. I’m currently in the middle of writing my second book. That will be called ‘Hindsight’ and is going to be about the last few years.”

Kieran Gething Rebounding From Injury

While Kieran’s professional campaign got off to a slow start in terms of winning, he put together a six-fight winning run through 2017-18, including a win over original foe Kevin McCauley.

Gething’s 2019 got off to a good start with a win over Henry James, which won the Abergavenny boxer the BBBoC Welsh Area light welterweight title. Gething remained active that year before his momentum was halted for nearly two years.

Pandemic related as the calendar turned to 2020?

“To be honest it wasn’t Covid that kept me out of the ring, it just coincided with me having an elbow operation,” the fighter informed me. “I had fights lined up during that period but had to pull out with this niggling injury. Eventually it was decided I needed surgery to clear it up,” Kieran Gething stated.

“It took me about a year to get back properly from that. My first fight back was a four rounder against Josh Cook (points win), then I had a six rounder (points win over Angel Emilov) followed by an eight rounder (points win over Paul Cummings). My next one on July 1 is a ten rounder,” he continued.

“I don’t really like taking my time with things. I’ve gone a bit slowly over the years as I’ve had personal things I was focusing on, like a business I was trying to build, but that has sort of been put aside now for me to fully focus on boxing.”

July 1 Firmly In Focus

The task at hand, Yaxley

With Gething’s bout against Sion Yaxley (16-0) just a couple of weeks away, our chat concluded on that subject.

I asked about Gething’s preparation for the fight.

“It’s going great,” the fighter told me. “My sparring has been really good and I’m sticking to my training programme so that I can go in there and do my best on the 1st of July.”

Any insights on Yaxley?

“Yes, I know him well,” laughed Kieran Gething. “He won two amateur titles in my weight division after I turned over. I sparred with him when he was in the Welsh team with me. It was a good few years ago now so I won’t take much from it. I’ve seen him a lot, he’s seen me a lot. I’m looking forward to mixing it up in there with him. He’s a good boxer.”

No matter how July 1 plays out for him, Kieran Gething will continue to work for the betterment of the sport he loves in Wales. The time and energy he puts into all facets of boxing is admirable.

Before our call ended, I asked Kieran if he ever takes his eye off the ball boxing wise in order to gravitate full-time towards the outside the ring side of things and training others.

“Not yet,” Kieran Gething said. “I still have things I want to do as a boxer. There are one or two little targets I still have left for myself.”

Follow Kieran Gethin on Twitter @KiwiGething and on Instagram @kierangething

Follow Shadow Box Promotions on Twitter @shadowboxpromo