Billy Deniz is learning his trade in some distinguished company.
A former kickboxer with no amateur boxing experience, Deniz has taken an unconventional route into the professional ranks. At 26, he knows he has ground to make up, but few could argue with the quality of his education.
He’s worked alongside Artur Beterbiev, sparred the fearsome Osleys Iglesias (pictured above) in Canada and continues to develop under Joe Gallagher in Manchester.
There are no shortcuts, and Deniz knows he still has plenty to learn. But he’s determined to make up for lost time in the best company available.
Even for this camp, over the last few weeks, Deniz has been all over, with stints in Canada, back in Manchester and in Dubai.
The Dubai part came because he and his partner, Chloe, had a pre-booked holiday with their 11-month-old baby and so he decided to go but to turn it into a camp, while enjoying some down time in between sessions.
Deniz often posts his gym work on his socials, and that was ironically how he met Chloe during lockdown.
“You could ride your bike, couldn’t you?” Deniz recalls. “And I was on a bike ride around Manchester and I saw her on a bike ride and she ended up messaging me and I didn’t even know who it was at the time. I just thought, ‘I’m sure I know her.’ And she’d messaged me before and saying, ‘Oh, can I join the workouts…’ and it’s just gone from there. I’m dead into my fitness. People say, ‘Oh, you’re a boxer, you can’t do that.’ ‘You’re a boxer, you can’t do this.’ So I just like to get involved in the classes and stuff and just show everyone that boxing is the hardest sport in the world and I can do what you can do, what you can’t do is come and do what I do.”
And what Deniz does is impressive. Eight weeks out from Saturday’s fight night in Manchester, he had been back in Canada sparring with some of the top boxers in the Eye of the Tiger stable.
In the gym with Marc Ramsey, he’s worked with some of the best in and around his weight in the world.
While he gives Beterbiev his respect as the best of the bunch given what the light-heavyweight star’s achieved, even he agrees Igelesias is “the boogeyman” out there.
“I know why no one’s talking about him,” Deniz said.
“Only people started talking about him now because they have to. When I was over there sparring with him, he got put to number one on BoxRec and he is a bad man. He literally is a bad man and sparring people like that can only make me better and improve me. And, you know, even just being there and watching how they train and trying to pick up little things here and there, it’s amazing.”
Deniz is given his respect over there and says Eye of the Tiger treats him well in order to get the most out of him. He’s been going there to help out several years, learning on the job because, as a former kickboxer, Deniz did not have a single amateur fight.
Back home, of course, he is a Joe Gallagher fighter, and Joe has been locked in a cancer battle over the last few years.
“You wouldn’t even know he’s got it, and sometimes we have to tell him to calm down a bit because he’s shouting and this and that and he shouldn’t be doing that,” Deniz added.
“But yeah, he’s there when he’s there and when he’s not, we understand, he’s going through a bit of a time at the minute. So, we’ve just got to crack on and keep the ball rolling and stay consistent for Joe. And when he’s there, take in what he’s saying and the knowledge and when he’s not, they’ll be grafting away and don’t just think, ‘Oh, Joe’s not here today so we can have a day off.’ That’s not how it works.”
Before Jack Massey left, Deniz used to bank plenty of rounds with the 200lbs contender, and how he spars with the likes of Taz Nadeem and Clark Smith.
Deniz still works as a kickboxing coach and, now 26, he knows his levels of experience are comparatively insignificant when compared to his UK rivals, from Callum Simpson to Mark Jeffers and Troy Williamson. That is why he is patient and learning as he goes.
“I’ve got a manager, I’ve got a trainer, there’s a plan. And then it’s just to follow it, not to rush it too soon and build my way into it because of the no amateur boxing,” he said.
“I trust in my management, Kevin Maree. He’s done a mega job so far and I trust him in my career. Joe’s a great trainer and he’s guided a lot of people to world titles, British titles, European titles, you name it, they’ve won it. So I trust in my team and I just do what they say. And as long as I’m ready when they want me to be ready, that’s all that matters.”