True Geordie, formally known as Brian Davis, is a content creator who initially built his online identity by ranting about his beloved football team, Newcastle FC. Brian has been involved in multiple sporting initiatives including commentating at the Wembley Cup, two amateur YouTube boxing matches and founding a podcast where he’s interviewed prominent sporting personalities, including Eddie Hearn, Tyson Fury and Alan Shearer!
Underneath his extensive physique, Geordie has shared his mental health struggles, weight issues and other social challenges with his YouTube audience. Recently, Brian’s created a two-part documentary associated with #GymShark66 entitled ‘The Rebuild’. #GymShark66 is a campaign that the sportswear lifestyle brand has established to encourage people to take on a new challenge for 66 days. The ReBuild focuses on Brian’s journey through transforming, educating and developing his overall wellbeing through boxing. This blog explores what The Rebuild taught me and many others about boxing’s impact on personal self-development.
Boxing produces authentic relationships like no other sport
In the rebuild, boxing guru, Derrick Riley (father of professional boxer, Viddal Riley) put True Geordie through an intense training camp at West Ham boxing club. Both built a solid rapport throughout the programme despite the knocking seven bells out of each other in sparring.
The rebuild 2 witnessed Derrick compliment Geordie’s improvement in boxing ability to make Derrick feel a sense of pride as if he was Brian’s father. Derricks comment caught Geordie by surprise considering the creator grew up without spending much time with his father. This also illustrates the powerful bond you can build by coaching someone day in day out when you obtain a shared vision.
The sport unleashes the harshest emotions
Part 2 of the rebuild found Geordie lying on the canvas after such an exhausting sparring session; he shed several tears. The raw emotion led Brian to open up about him missing his mum following her passing away a few years ago. Interestingly, it’s the first time he’s spoken about his mum’s effect on his life. What stood out for me was how pushing yourself to your physical limit can produce such raw reactions that weren’t related to the scenario.
Brain’s level of mental toughness was unquestionable at this point. But more importantly, it showcases what boxing is capable of beyond reaping the physical benefits. The sports provides an opportunity to discover a new level of individual psychological strength waiting to be unlocked.
It’s a proactive initiative to improve punditry knowledge
As well as a YouTuber and podcast host, Geordie is a sports pundit that owns two live streaming channel entitled, ‘The Kick Off’ and ‘The Knock Out’. The streams acquire a significant reach on YouTube, close to 1m per upload. However, Brian’s punditry quality has been criticised. His comment sections often find remarks relating to his allegedly biased opinions towards UFC star, Conor McGregor, and a lack of pure-technical knowledge on combat sport.
The ReBuild was significant at creating a healthy habit for Geordie, but it also enhanced his education around boxing technicalities. This knowledge is invaluable for him to transfer into future boxing punditry sessions, which could broaden his audience to more traditional combat sports fanatics. This could also influence other sports pundits to think more proactively at improving their technical sporting IQ.
Develops a healthy obsession
Being a boxer requires enormous mental toughness, discipline, consistency and an unbeatable work ethic. Geordie understandably struggled to find his feet in the early stages of the documentary; however, he created a possessive obsession to keep pushing himself one step further as time progressed. It’s evident he’s walked away from this experience feeling ready to take on further challenges that life may throw at him.
So, what does The ReBuild teach us about self-development in boxing? Essentially, participating in the sport unlocks new levels of potential you probably wouldn’t have thought existed. Plus, boxing is a proactive tool to gain a new perspective on real-life scenarios. Therefore, if you’re a boxing enthusiast and you’ve ever thought about giving it a go, go for it!
Sharing lessons sports professionals can learn through sports content 