JAMES Meaney describes winning as “addictive”.
The 31-year-old Darley resident who will this year give up the footy boots to commit fully to kickboxing is set for a return to the ring on Friday night at a place where he’ll always have fond memories: Melton’s Tabcorp Park.
It was there where Meaney claimed a state title in November in the cruiser-weight division, and when he realised that winning feeling is worth all the turbulence his gruelling training schedule throws at him.
“It’s pretty full on and there’s a lot of sacrifice you’ve got to make,” Meaney said.
“You can’t drink alcohol in the months leading up to the fight and you’ve got to be really careful with what you eat to make your correct weight and we train five times a week.
“Pretty much all your weeknights are taken up by your training, so it is a big commitment, that’s for sure.”
Meaney had been training under John Zeestraten at Ultimate Kickboxing Bacchus Marsh for five years and began fighting a few years later.
His confidence grew as decent results continued to come through, whetting his appetite for further improvement and success, despite coming at the cost of giving up footy.
“I’m handling it pretty well,” Meaney said of his current training regime.
“At times it does tend to wear you down a little bit but you just keep thinking about how good it is when you do win a fight.
“It’s like nothing else… It’s a really awesome thing to experience, so you keep thinking about that when you go to training and it helps you get through.”
However Meaney has learned the hard way that a lengthy Christmas break filled with the usual festivities of good eating will always rear its ugly head when the time comes to prepare for the next fight.
Despite that struggle to regain peak physical condition, Meaney says his preparation for Friday night has gone well.
“It’s been hard coming off the holiday season – putting on a bit of weight over the holidays and having to cut it all back down again to get to the correct weight,” he said.
“That’s always a hard thing with your first fight of the year.”
The event at Tabcorp Park, Rumble in the Jungle 25, kicks off at 7pm.
