LONDON — Shane McGuigan shifts his shoulders and glances his eyes to prompt Adam Azim towards his next move.
Pop. Pop.
A left jab followed by a right hook.
Their movements are swift and seamless, thanks to hundreds — if not thousands — of hours in the ring together; stepping, shuffling, dancing as Azim slaps the pads in their east London gym, which isn’t much bigger than a basketball court. After a few rounds, the 23-year-old struts over to the heavy bag across the hardwood floor, the true colour of which has long been buried under a thick layer of dirt and sweat.
“We’re just messing around today, really,” McGuigan says as Azim works out for the media ahead of his return to the ring on Saturday against Kurt Scoby on the Chris Eubank Jr.-Conor Benn II undercard [Nov. 15, DAZN PPV].
The real work is done away from the cameras.
Among those watching the session is Az Azim, Adam’s dad. He isn’t here for the cameras either. He has been turning up since Day 1; watching, getting water, unwrapping hands and offering words of encouragement.
A fighter’s relationship with their parents — good or bad — is often a defining one in their story. Be it a father training his son; the Lomachenko’s or the Benavidez’s; or a kid looking for his mother’s approval; Terence Crawford, for example. In the case of Az attending Adam’s work outs, it’s simply the way it has always been. Az isn’t overbearing or intrusive as many boxing fathers are, thinking they know better than the trainer.
“My hand was the first he held when he was born. I was the first person who brought him into boxing. It was more to challenge his aggressive child behaviours, [Adam] being very hyperactive,” Az tells ESPN.
Adam has ADHD, something he has been open about, calling it his “superpower” when it comes to boxing. While brother and fellow boxer Hassan attended school, the younger Azim struggled with behavioural issues. So, Az took matters into his own hands, choosing to home school his son with an at home tutor and, most importantly as far as this story is concerned, get him into boxing.
For his part, McGuigan has experience when it comes to fathers and their fighting sons.
History has shown it can be a complex and disruptive dynamic. Earlie in his career, McGuigan coached Daniel Dubois, whose father Stanley tried to call the shots. McGuigan suggested one day that Stanley take a step back. He has never felt the need to make same intervention with the Azim’s.
“With Adam it’s more, not reassurance, it’s just he likes his dad around, but his dad just keeps in the background. You’ve got to remember that we all went to school. Adam didn’t go to school,” McGuigan explains. “His dad has always had a different approach with him for life.”
In other words, they’ve spent a lot of time together. Az not being there would be odd.
As Adam gets ready for our interview, his hands are un-wrapped by his father who unveils red raw knuckles from recent days of sparring.
“That’s what you get for knocking people out,” Az says with a wry, proud smile. In camp, having family around can often be a distraction. But for Azim, it’s all he has ever known.
“He gets me up, he tells me when to go sleep. He puts my food out for me. He drives me everywhere,” Azim tells ESPN. “My father got me into boxing at four years old. We’ve had a long journey together and we’ve always stuck by each other’s side.”
Adam’s mum stays with him during camp, too, preparing meals and offering support in the way only a mother can. It also makes life easier for McGuigan, who has several elite boxers in his stable.
“He [Az] wants the best for [Adam] and he listens. He’s not overpowering and saying: ‘I think he should do this, this and this,” McGuigan says. “He said: ‘What should he do? I’ll make sure he’s got his waters. I’ll make sure I tell him he’s doing well, you’re looking good.”
While the bond between father and son is obvious, the relationship McGuigan and Azim has formed is also a deep one.
“Untouchable,” Azim says when asked how he views the connection.
“Our bond together is really amazing. He’ll tell me if I’ve done anything wrong in sparring or pads or if I need to work on this … One thing about Shane, he’s also a person I look up to. He’s such an amazing person. No one will have the relationship between me and Shane like that.”
The relationship began when Azim was 18; Az having got his son a professional boxing license for the milestone birthday. McGuigan got wind of a kid from Slough in west London with fast hands. It wasn’t long before they started working together and Azim had aspirations of being world champion.
The next chapter of his young career starts on Saturday. All going to plan, a junior welterweight world title shot awaits in 2026, as does fighting on the BBC, having extended his deal with Ben Shalom’s Boxxer.
It’s a huge platform Azim hopes will catapult him to national stardom.
“All the legends like Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn or Barry McGuigan, they all fought on BBC as well, so that’s where they’ve become a star,” Azim says.
“Yeah, of course I want to capture world titles and then being on the BBC and the platform itself, it would [help] me to become a star as well. Ben’s always been good to me, so I think that was the best decision I made.”
