Pat Brown is adapting well to life as being one of the UK’s brightest prospects.
Brown made headlines in his debut, quite literally. The 25-year-old cruiserweight topped the bill in his first professional outing and returns this Saturday in Birmingham, this time tucked beneath the Galal Yafai–Francisco Rodriguez Jnr main event. But while Matchroom continues to fast-track the unbeaten prospect, Brown insists that back home in Sale, little has changed.
“Yeah, I think in Sale, it's still exactly the same, and that's how I like it,” Brown told BoxingScene. “I love saying hello to everyone, I love speaking to everyone and these people, they see me for me. Obviously they care about the boxing, but we have chats outside of boxing, so it's good. When I went and watched Dave Allen-Johnny Fisher, that was probably the first time when I was walking through… I had kids and people leaning over the rails for pictures and that, I've never experienced that before, so that was nice because I remember when I was a kid, and I would look at people who used to watch on my phone.
“I'd be like, ‘I really want a photo’, so it's brilliant. It's good. It's overwhelming. But I'm just a normal lad who's chasing his dream. I don't kind of think, ‘Oh this is great, I'm getting loads of photos’. I don't really think like that. I just think as long as I can show the kids anything's possible, that's all I care about.”
Brown has already seen what can happen when the spotlight lands too early and shines too brightly. While the likes of former Olympic silver medallist and gowing British star Ben Whittaker have wrestled publicly with success in the ring, Brown is quietly building his foundation – with his feet on the ground and the voices of Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis in his ear.
“I think Ben Whittaker obviously, he got a medal at the Olympics, he went viral through obviously his style, which is quite unorthodox and stuff, people kind of got drawn to it,” Brown said. “So, he kind of… I've never seen an athlete rocket like he did, he just went from one extreme to the other, and even when he was on GB he was already well known around the circuit. So for me, when I do start going down that way, if I ever do, I'll definitely keep my feet grounded. I've got the right people around me, it's not in my make-up. I'm not saying it was in Ben's make-up either, but it's not in my make-up to kind of go off-track.
“Boxing is just like my lifestyle really, I'm not really that bothered about going out and partying. I'd rather walk my dog, go and see the lads, play a bit of golf, play a bit of padel, just enjoy myself that way to be fair. Don't get me wrong, I like having a Guinness after my fight with the boys and stuff like that, but I know when to rein it in a little bit.”