“It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me, and I still get goosebumps thinking about it. It’s an incredible mo-
ment, having a medal put around your neck and coming home to a great crowd. It’a amazing. That’s what you live for.”
These are the opening words of this Wednesday’s documentary on Mullin- gar boxer, John Joe Nevin. John Joe: Reality Bites, was produced by Frontline Films, and charts the roller-coaster past few years of the Mullingar athlete.
In the hour-long documentary, which was seen by Topic earlier this week, John Joe speaks about being a home-bird and wanting to be surrounded by family and friends.
“We always want to be identified as travellers, because of looking back on our generations, you can see all of the work which they put in. You never want to hide your identity. Family is everything.”
Filmed on location in Mullingar, Cavan, Dublin, Boston and Philadelphia, Nevin speaks of his ambitions for early retirement and living in Mullingar.
“My dream is to be retired in ten years time, have a nice house outside Mullingar, many world titles and a healthy and happy family. I’d love to coach my own son to go on and get that gold medal in the Olympics that I didn’t get.”
The documentary examines Nevin’s move from amateur to professional boxing, beginning with his signing to Philadelphia-based management company, Green Blood Boxing.
“The only thing I can contol in the ring is myself. I can’t control what’s outside of the ring. I can’t control the referee or the judges or my opponent,” Nevin says as he prepares to fight Alberto Candelaria in his first professional fight in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day 2014.
Fast-forward two week’s later, the documentary, focuses on Nevin’s most dramatic incident to date, when he had both of his legs broken during a family altercation.
Speaking from his hospital bed, he talks of his world “crashing down”.
“If you ask anyone what makes me what I am, they’ll say it’s my foot movement. It’s more important than my hands. Everyone can punch; not everyone can do the foot movement I can. It’s a gift and if I lost that, I might not have another chance at a world title.”
Wheelchair-bound, Nevin speaks of his determination to return to professional boxing.
“I was upset and angry but as time goes by, you start to think. Family is family. You’re not going to go against family in court and put them in jail. I want to put that issue to bed and move on. I’m not holding grudges, I’m must moving on.”
John Joe: Reality Bites, airs this Wednesday at 9pm on RTÉ2.
