Issue 8: A conversation with Serge Ambomo

This week I got to chat with Serge Ambomo who is boxing journeyman fighting out of Sheffield, Yorkshire. The first question you may be asking is, what is a journeyman?

Well the google definition is a fighter who has adequate skill, but is not of the caliber of a contender or gatekeeper. If you put a journeyman and a prospect next to each other you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them. However one major thing jumps out when looking at the journeyman’s record, that is the loses column. When a prospect is looking for an opponent in their first few fights they will fight journeymen. 

In boxing terms a journeyman is a boxer who will fight 2,3 or sometimes even 4 times a month. They will get paid anywhere between £1,000 and up to £4,000 a fight. Journeymen are brought in by a promoter to give the prospect some experience. Basically a journeyman gets paid to let the prospect win. Now this does not mean that the journeyman will not try to get the win, however with journeymen usually being in the away corner it is most likely they would lose on points anyway. Serge says that he tries to win every fight. 

He was born in Cameroon, and when he was young his parents separated. With Serge being a so called ‘streetboy’ he had to be able to defend himself. However Serge has one experience that many journeymen don’t. That is boxing in the Olympics. Serge’s dream came true when he boxed at the London Olympics in 2012 for Cameroon. He said that he really enjoyed the experience of boxing at the Olympics and it is something that he will never forget. Serge won his first 5 fights as a professional so the first thing I asked him was why did he decide to go down the journeyman route. As Serge wasn’t born in the UK he struggled to sell tickets, so the best way to keep himself in boxing was to become a journeyman. Serge is always humble in defeat and congratulates his opponent if they get the win over him.