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Bugzy Malone Opens Up On The Importance Of Boxing To His Life

Bugzy Malone Opens Up On The Importance Of Boxing To His Life

SPORTbible sits down with grime star Bugzy Malone to talk boxing, nutrition, mental health and exercise

Tam Varcoe

Tam Varcoe

Bugzy Malone is big. Obviously, he's big in a metaphorical sense, because he's one of the most successful grime artists out there, but also just in general: anyone who follows his social media will know that Bugzy is a huge man who spends what seems like every waking moment in the gym.

From an early age, Bugzy has been a boxing fanatic and an evangelist for the sport and how it can improve the lives of young people. He trained hard as a kid, before opting against a career as a pro to become a musician. (Which, on balance, has been a pretty solid career choice). Boxing has always stayed close to his heart, however, and thanks to his partnership with PhD Nutrition, Bugzy is in the sort of shape that many pros would envy.

He doesn't think that a pro career is an option for him, however. "The thing is, in boxing, there are a few key components in a champion boxer and one of them is hunger," he told SPORTbible. "I've used my hunger up in my career in music. You can never underestimate the fighters. A lot of these guys are hungry, they're struggling for money, coming from bad family situations and that can win fights over talent. If I was gonna do it I would have done it when I was young."

Bugzy found boxing at a crucial stage in his life. "I think I needed discipline at the time because I was getting into a little bit of trouble," he told us. Going pro was an option, too. "It was at one stage in my life but mainly because my coach believed that I could do so. I'm not sure that it was necessarily an ambition. But when you when you're in a boxing gym around that atmosphere, around the other professional boxers, it's only natural. It kind of served its purpose for me in the end."

Bugzy training
Bugzy training

Musical success has afforded him the freedom to pursue his training properly, with a workout regime that is astounding. He explained his day to us. "I get up, it's a bowl of cereal and Intra BCAA's from PhD Nutrition and then I go over to the gym. I'm up at 7 and I've at the gym for 9, then I do a 6 to 8 round circuit and maybe 4 to 6 round sparring. Then some floor work for core, maybe some sprints. From there, I come out the gym and have a PhD Synergy iso-7 protein shake as soon as I get out and I'll eat again for about half-past 12 and that'll just be something fish and brown rice.

"Again, I'll have another Intra BCAA at some point during the day and will eat again at about 5, then get over to the gym for about 5/half 5 and do a circuit with weights and bodyweight. I touch on every muscle, I work until I'm tired and don't break myself in half. Maybe some cardio and sprints, rowing machine, whatever."

"I'll probably eat again at 8 o'clock. Some days I'll sleep, on undisciplined days, but I'm trying to have an hour or two before I sleep where I haven't eaten anything before I sleep."

PhD Nutrition was the perfect partnership for Bugzy. "It was something that I was using before they approached me and that because I feel like the branding was so clean and intelligent," he told us. "When you're working with a protein brand, you want to feel like it's something clean and not one of these sugary brands, and that's something that impressed me about them."

Their slogan, "Use Your Fear", rings true with him as well. "I try to keep myself intimidated. I try to approach fear head on, I feel like that keeps you alert and aware. It keeps you going. Things like fear are key components in becoming a success. If you take them out of the equation then you become unmotivated and quite content, comfortable. That's a dangerous place to be if you want to be a successful person."

Bugzy was also quick to point out that anyone can train and get into shape, with all the physical and mental health benefits that come with that. "If you compare it to a computer game, you start on level one and level one is reasonably easy," said the Drama star. "And then you go on to level 2, it's reasonably easy. Level 3's easy-ish, level 4 you might die a few times and you find that the intensity builds up and by the time you get to level 10, you're savvy within the game."

"That's just the same with training. Training is connected to diet and diet is connected to discipline. It's about going through the gears: don't try and jump from level one to level ten. Take your time, build your diet to a better place and find what works for you."

Bugzy is clearly a man of great ambition and drive, he's made a success of everything he's done and he's assured us that there's plenty more to come in 2019 - when we asked if he could tell us a little about what he has in store we were met with a firm "No". Well, that's us told then. We don't know what he has planned, but we know that he'll make a success of it.

SPORTbible would like to thank Bugzy for speaking to us and wish him all the best in 2019.

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Topics: Boxing, Gym