“I AM MADE FOR TV!” FROM BETERBIEV CAMP TO SKY SPORTS - BILLY DENIZ LANDS ON BOXXER CARD SATURDAY

Right, Aki Karim here for Boxing Now, formerly known as BBTV. We've got him right here, the Turkish Tyson. Have I interrupted your dinner? Erm, yeah, I've just finished it to be fair. You've interrupted House of Dragon, which is... Ooh! I watched it last night. Yeah, I'm catching up now, so you've interrupted my dinner. It's not got good yet, so I'll let you off. So for those of you who don't know, Turkish Tyson, a.k.a. Billy Dennis, is an unbeaten fighter who's got a chance on a big platform this weekend on The Sky Boxer Show, headlined by Simpson vs. Shelley. Billy, back in action, mate. I can always tell when you're back in action because the cheekbones come out, don't they? Yeah, the cheekbones are here. The cheekbones are well and truly out, you know. I took this fight on two-week notice, you know. There was a bit of talk about it a good five, six weeks ago, and then I heard nothing, and then Kevin rang my phone and said, I've got you on the show, and I was literally about to book ID for it, so I was like, it's a good job I didn't book it. But for that weekend, this weekend coming up, I was literally going to be there. So, yeah, we took it on two-week notice, but like I said, I stay in the gym, I stay ready, and so I can take opportunities like this. If you hadn't booked it, and you got the call the day after you'd booked it, what would you have said? Oh, someone's going to have to bite off me, aren't they? I would have bought it off you. Yeah, I'm fighting, that comes first no matter what, so, yeah, I would have just had to see if I could cancel it, if not sell it, if not then just take the loss and go and fight on Sky Sports. Well, exactly, mate, it's a big platform, it's like a stadium fight, basically, realistically, isn't it? And it's going to have a good atmosphere, and you're in there against Khalid Gredia, who's got the same amount of wins as you. He's not a mug, actually, I've been looking into him a little bit today, he's no mug, he's a good fighter, and he's fought a lot of the local scene, which we'll talk about. What do you make of him? Yeah, like you just said, he's no mug, he's a very tough guy, rarely been stopped, and well-seasoned, well-experienced, so it's a good opponent to display myself on a platform like Sky. Now, looking at his record, he's gone the distance with Karol Otama, Ezra Taylor, Dan Aziz, he's basically been in there with Zack Parker, Ben Whittaker, so this is a really good opponent, really good matchmaking, this, because it lets people know exactly where you're up to, because people are going to be comparing those performances, aren't they, Bill, at the end of the day? Yeah, definitely, you know, I literally got given this opponent this week, well, not this week, like a few days ago, we were supposed to have someone else, and it was all agreed with and all that, a guy with a winning record and stuff, and then it just fell through, so Kevin said, we've got you this guy, and I was like, yeah, sweet, let's go, looked at his record, he just named it off then, he's been in some really big names, Ben Whittaker, Zack Parker, Dan Aziz, and a few others, like you named yourself, so, yeah, it's a good little test, and it's, like you said, it's a good way to see where I'm at in the career. Obviously, people, Ben Whittaker's making a good name for himself on this platform, and he's the guy that's basically stopped him recently, whereas others couldn't, so I know, look, I know you're a competitive guy, are you looking at that and trying to, I know what you're like, so are you looking at that and thinking, I'm going to try and beat it, or are you just going in and sticking to Joe's plan and that type of thing? Yeah, of course, you know, I've been through them little stages now where it's like, oh, that person did this and that person did that to past opponents, it's like, that's got nothing to do with me and it's got nothing to do with my fight, you know, everything's different, and he could turn up different to what he did against this person, that person, and I've just got to trust him, I can't not, and if we can get the job done early, then we can get the job done early. So obviously you're managed by Kev Murray, you're trained by Joe Gallagher at Champs Camp, these type of opportunities, I've seen fighters who perhaps haven't been on Sky too often, they've come on and they've put up a really good performance and they've ended up becoming a permanent fixture, so, you know, it's happened on the Zone, Sky, Queensborough, et cetera, et cetera, so is that what you're hoping for with this fight? Yeah, definitely, you know, we've always said, even me and you have spoke about it, I feel like I'm made for this big stage and these platforms, so I think it's a way of just things falling into place, you know, trusting in the process, like Callum's obviously headlining, Callum's my very good mate, we're both managed by Kevin, so I think it's just like right place, right time, right, everything's just right about it, even in Barnes, I won my world title, I won a world title in kickboxing in Barnes at the Metrodome, and I've won a few other titles there, so it's kind of like got a bit of a spot for me in Barnes there, so yeah. Stop trying to steal to Callum Simpson's glory here, Billy. No, I'm just saying like, yeah, so yeah, it's a good thing, I'm just glad it's happened. Well, your style is extremely fan-friendly, you know, you're always on the front foot, you know, you're not like reckless, like Headless Chicken, but you're always on the front foot, it's very entertaining to watch, now, obviously, moving on, you've got a very experienced trainer and coach, and he might be saying to you, well, try and be a bit safety-first type of thing as well, so I suppose you've got to get the balance right, haven't you? Oh yeah, definitely, you know, when I first moved to Joel's, you know, I was stuck like trying to merge styles, because, you know, he wants me to box, and wants me to move, and wants me to be clever, and not just like, not being a Headless Chicken, but not being too reckless when I don't need to be, you know, winning is enough, so, so yeah, just getting caught in between styles, but now I'm starting to merge the styles together, and I think you'll see a very good clinical performance on Saturday. Well, one thing I just want to touch very quickly on going back, you obviously had that bit of time out after the first Perry Howe fight, and you had that time out, which I think people know about now anyway, but you've come back with quite a lot of maturity there, you fought Perry Howe again, it was a good, clean fight, points win, and then you've had the other fight as well, with Andre Bodeira, I think his name is, Bodeira, something like that, you've come back with a lot of maturity, did you learn off that six month time out, where you had to take a bit of time out, from that fight? Yeah, definitely, you know, you can't be a hothead all the time, and you can't let things get to you, you know, it's a sport at the end of the day, and things happen, you've just got to take them on the chin, and keep going, you know, you've got to, just, things will, what will happen will happen, so, no point in trying to, stress about it, or do things and that, you've just got to like, learn from it, mature from it, and, keep trying to, improve each time. I'm just looking to have a quick, quick look through your Instagram at the minute mate, not stalking you like, but just having a quick little look through, you've been around, you've been around for sparring haven't you, you've been travelling, Germany, and Canada, and all sorts of, interesting places, so, it's quite a good international, experience this isn't it, which, building up your portfolio nicely. Yeah, definitely, you know, me and Callum went, to spar a bit of BF together, for the yard fight, and that's when we come really close, like I knew him before that, we sparred and stuff, but, we've become really good friends over there, you know, we was there for seven weeks, getting the, sparring better BF, so, yeah, and then I went back to Canada, sparring Christine and Billy, that was class, and then I've just been over to Germany recently, sparring Osley, super middleweight, he's an absolute monster, he just literally texted me yesterday, asking me to go over again, for this week and next week, but as I said, I can't, I'm fighting on Sky, so, but yeah, it's good, it's world class sparring isn't it, you know, it's good to get about, and learn things, and see how, other operators operate, and if you can take one thing, from a world class fighter then, each fight, each world class fight, you can, you spar again, so you're going to become, a complete fighter, at the end of the day. It is world class, it's world class sparring, like, in terms of that, you know, when you get hit, by those fighters you talked about, and Billy, you've talked about, Better BF, you know, these are huge, massive, you know, punchers, obviously, obviously you're in there, with 69 scores, but it doesn't really matter, you know, you've got, you know, the huge punchers, so, how does that equip you, for, you know, active, like on fight night, how does that equip you mentally? Massively, you know, I think, I remember when I just, literally, come back from sparring, Better BF, and it was my first fight, from sparring, Better BF, and, I was just walking, towards the guy, with my hands down, and I just, because I just thought, there's no chance, you can hit me, like that man, who's been hitting me, for six weeks, there's not a chance, in this world, and if I can, still be stood there, round after round, on, out of Better BF's chest, with him, then there's no chance, that you're doing it to me. Yeah, it's interesting, because a lot of these, elite, they never take liberties, because they're class guys, but they do always, try and stamp their authority, on the young upstart, coming in, do you know what I mean, like, you know, and, these guys are not able, to drop you, so, it's, that's a massive, sort of feather in your cap, isn't it, that these guys, the top punchers, can't dent you. Oh yeah, definitely, like I just said, it's a big confidence thing, you know, I've always backed, that I've got a chin, like, I used to get kicked in the face, for a living, like, I used to kickbox at heavyweight, you know, like 90 plus kilos, so, you can imagine like, how heavy some of them guys legs are, and stuff, and when you're getting kicked in the face, and stuff, I think, it's just something that, you either have, or you don't, and sometimes, I realise, sometimes, I let it, slip a bit, like, oh I know I've got a chin, I can take a few digs, but, you know, I'm not there for that, I'm not here to be a punch bag, so, that's why it is another thing, like, maturing, like, it's just nice to know, that I've got it there, like, just in case, someone does land that one shot, or someone does, land a flurry, or just, anything happens, I just, it's just good to have that confidence, where it's like, okay, I've got that there, in my arsenal. Yeah, it's good to have as a backup there, as you say, isn't it? When did you get time to come to this, looking like Jane Bond in this picture here, on Instagram, when did you get time to do this, what was this all about? It's just a run club, that is, some very good friends of mine, they started a run club last year, it just absolutely exploded, like, it's massive, absolutely massive, there's like 200 people, like, every week that comes to the run, and, you know, it was their one year anniversary, like, since they started, so, it was a black tie event in the Hilton, at Cloud 23, and obviously, I thought, yeah, it'd be nice to go to it, get out the house and stuff, so, yeah, I got a little James Bond suit, well, everyone was calling me the Turkish Bruce Wayne, but, yeah, I really enjoyed it, it's, you know, it's nice to get out of, sweaty clothes, and, you know, go out and socialise, because it helps with selling tickets, and, growing a fan base, and stuff like that, there's things you've got to do as well, you know, this boxing game is not just all about training, and, eating right, and doing, there's so many things that come into accountability of it, and you've got to do it all. Well, that's an important point there, because I've been watching Callum Simpson, since he started, and I've seen his fan base, go absolutely bonkers, you know, to selling out that, you know, football ground, like instantly, for a guy who's not, you know, who's fighting for this big title, big titles now, so, when you look at that, and you think about some of the, aspects of that, to replicate that formula, which is needed, if you're going to make the big bucks, in the game, has that been an interesting process, for you to say, Yeah, definitely, listen, definitely like, listen, you've got to be a market machine, that's just, it's just how it is, to get on these shows, and to get these sort of opportunities, you've got to be marketable, do you know what I mean, like, I have a massive following, massive following, and they've all been dying for something like this, I've only got, allocated the amount of tickets, I've still, I'm getting, right now, as we're on this thing, I'm getting messages, look right now, any tickets, and it's like, no I haven't, do you know what I mean, like, because obviously, the show's sold out, so, I only got allocated a certain amount of tickets, and they all went within one day, all went in like, one, two days, and it's like, that's why I'm just buzzing, and I know myself now, like, once we start getting more on these big shows, and stuff like that, the army's seriously going to grow, and, you know, my Manchester lad is, Manchester's dying for a proper, like a box off, coming out of it, and, like honestly, I feel like I could be that next big, that big boxer to sell out the arenas, and stuff, and, like, if I got to fight at the co-op, like the new co-op, or the AO, it'd just be crazy, I'd sell so many tickets, like, the support I have is unbelievable, to be fair. How many tickets, then, Billy, have you sold for this one, if you don't mind me asking, and what do you reckon you could do on a big, you know, like a big night that you're talking about, because I'm just hoping that someone like Ben Sean's listening to this, and their ears are pricking up now, when we're talking about this. Yeah, well, I got allocated, I just said to Kevin, send me as many as you can, so I got 85, and he ordered more tickets, sold them, I ordered more tickets, sold them, and then I texted him the other day, saying, can I have more tickets, he's like, have you sold them all already? I said, yeah. He's like, there's no more left, so it's like, oh, well, I reckon if I was in a Manchester show, or something, I'd easily do, like, five, six hundred. Yeah. Like, if I was on an undercard, but if I was, like, say, maybe, like, big, in a few years' time, when I'm, like, fighting like Callum is now, for, like, a British title, or something, I'd probably fill it. I hope you listen to this, Ben, you've got another one coming through here, big ticket seller. That's just in Manchester, as well, like, everyone forgets, as well, like, you've got, I've got the Turkish side to me, so, say if we're doing a fight in North London, or something, where it's full of Turks, full of Turkish, you know, it's, honestly, you could go to Turkey, and probably sell a stadium, once I get big time, and that, like, maybe fight at Fenerbahce Stadium, or something, like, honestly, it's, it's just crazy, and this is just, like, this is why I'm willing to be on this card, and see the amount of support I've had, because, it's nice to have people going, mithering me for tickets, like, oh, I want tickets, and it's nice for me to be able to go, sorry, I can't, I've got none left, instead of me stressing out about, trying to sell tickets at Oldham, and stuff, and, all this and that, it's nice for me to turn around, and go, sorry, I don't have to stress, like, sorry mate, I don't have them, sorry, like, and if someone does cancel, I can just go, boom, they're still there, do you want them, and they'll go, yes, straight away, and it's like, right, so, yeah, it's really nice, and I'm lucky to have, a big support network, to be fair. It's interesting, mentioning about Oldham there, because obviously, I've seen you fight there a few times, it's been, it's been a very good feeder, for Kev's, you know, fighters, before they get onto the bigger shows, and everything, does this, and it's been, it's been very valuable for you, hasn't it, let's be honest, so, but does this signify the end, of the Oldham, experience, because obviously, you're moving onto the Sky platform now, you're hoping to impress, and if everything goes well, is this going to be the last, of the Oldham shows? Well, like we said, we don't know, me and Kevin, had this chat the other day, you know, if they impress, then hopefully, yeah, it will be, and even if they do impress, you never know, when you're going to get another date, you know, Sky could say, oh yeah, you can fight next year, in March, and it's like, Kevin said, well, I'm not going to leave you, to wait until March, to fight, we need to keep you active, so, maybe we will probably, go back to an Oldham show, you know, maybe I'll headline it, for a title or something, you don't know, like these things, you don't know, and it's, I'm just happy, to take whatever, whenever, to be honest with you, like, you know, we had that time out, and I'm glad it happened, but it set me back, like a year in my career, so, I feel like, it's time now, to just keep active, and keep pushing. Now, what's going on, in your gym as well, Billy, because he's busy, busy gym, as always, over there, you've got, Josh is coming off a good win, isn't he? What's going on, in fact, he's getting married soon, isn't he, in a couple of weeks? Yeah, yeah, I'm at the wedding, yeah, in a few weeks. Yeah, I'm at the wedding as well, I'll see you there. Oh, decent little picture. Well, you know what, I'm actually going to, I've volunteered myself, to make this wedding video, for him. Alright, okay. No pressure. Exactly, yeah. No pressure at all, mate. Yeah, exactly, so I'm going to try and work that one out, but, yeah, so what's going on, what's going on with the rest of the, the gym at the minute? Yeah, the gym's booming, you know, we just had, one of the young ones, Joe Cooper, feels mad, me saying one of the young ones, I've always been the young one in the gym. One of the young ones, Joe Cooper, he just made his debut, a few weeks ago, on the Queensbury show, you know, fantastic performance. I think, there's another prospect in the gym, Mo, from Southampton, I'm sure he's making his debut soon, or in the next few months, on something exciting. So, yeah, the gym's just booming, everyone's just awaiting fight dates, you know how it is, everyone's, trains hard, everyone's still goals, everyone's still, chipping away, still sparring, stuff like that, so, yeah, the gym's booming as always, you know, Joe, Marcus, Macaulay are always there, helping us out and stuff, and, you know, it's, it's a booming gym. I drove past you, the other day, when I was about to pick the kids up, from somewhere down there, at a party or something, and, the tunes coming out of the gym, some proper tunes coming out of there, man, could hear it from on the road. Listen, Joe makes, makes me laugh, he's so, he's like, he's dead young in his head as well, like, he's very, he's obviously, he's very mature, and he's older headed, but he's very young headed as well, like, you think, I'm so at it free, so, when a new, like, track comes out, and you're thinking Ibiza, and this and that, you're like, we, us younguns know it, and you go in the gym the next day, and Joe's got it blasting on the speaker, and I'm like, yes Joe, what, how do you know about this? When was it now, last week, we was all shadowboxing and that, and then it was like, some mad remix track, and it was like, it went, da-da-da-da, hot, spit on that thing, and it kicked into a track, and we all burst out laughing, and Joe was laughing, and I just thought, oh, it's good to have a coach like that, who can have a buzz of us, as well as like, be scared of him, when we're not working hard enough, but it was, I didn't expect you to say, I didn't expect that to be on the remix, to be honest, so, fair enough. No, honestly, I didn't, with all the faces out laughing, I just thought, wow, Joe here with a hot suit and all that, it's funny. Yeah man, so it's good, it's going well, and obviously, this is a big, you've got to do the business though, right, so, obviously, you know, it's great having the support, it's great having everything in place, but, again, you've got to do business, but you don't really get nervous about fighting, do you? No, Joe, it is, I've been fighting all my life, I think I might get a bit nervous for this one, because it is obviously, a big platform, but then again, like, I know at the time, it was a big thing, when you remember, like, when lockdown first happened, Fight Zone was booming, yeah, and I made my debut on a big Fight Zone card, outside in Sheffield, and I was, the co-main event, and I was just doing a four rounder, like, I got hyped up that much, and they put me under the co-main, and it was like, I was under pure pressure, that was, that's like the only time I've ever been to, like, the hotel, a few days before the fight, and done this, and done that, so, like, this will just be like a replay of that, so I'm kind of glad that I've had that experience already, but, not on this scale, and it's going to be exciting, and I'm just ready for it all, like, public workout, and, photo shoot with a fight kit, and then, weighing on, weighing and, and all this and that, it's just all exciting, and I've been waiting for it for a long time, so, I don't think nerves, are going to be there, it's, it's more of a, I can't wait, you know, come on, let's do it, let's go now. Absolutely love a photo shoot with you, don't you? Well, the photo shoot's with me, what are you on about? Hey, come on, I'll set you up for that in a minute. The photo shoot's with me, how can you not love this? You just said yourself, the cheekbones are out, the cheekbones are out. Oh, God, I set you up for that. So, I'm looking at the card, and, there's a lot of local stuff, now, do you know your position on the card? Because I'm looking at you, and thinking, it'd be great if you got a TV slot, I mean, it's no guarantee, obviously, but, do you know where you're going to be on the card? No, I don't, honestly, I don't have a clue, you know, I think, Kevin announced like, announced it last night, like, time to unleash, Billy Dennis, and this and that, live on Sky Sports, so, I'm hoping that's like, a little, meaning like, you're going to be like, the first on the teller, but, you know, there's big fights on that, on the card, so, I understand if I don't, it would obviously, it would be amazing if I am, but, you know, it's one of them, it can change, you know how it is, it can change, two days before, a day before, who's fighting when, and on what, so, yeah. Well, yeah, there's some good, up and coming talent on this, so, well, fingers crossed, mate, I hope you get a good start anyway, if you don't, there's still, it's still a great platform to be on, even the undercard. Oh yeah, definitely, I'm the best prospect on that undercard though, let's, let's. Okay, yeah, if you say so yourself. Yeah, let's put that there, but, like I said, it's a big platform, I'm buzzing to just be on Callum's undercard, you know, I remember being in Canada with him, and speaking about stuff like this, like, it's just good to be a part of, and good to see, and, yeah, it's going to be a big night in Barnsley. Yeah, and how's Callum going to get on in the main event? I think Callum's going to come out a winner. Yeah, I think Callum will, I think Callum will stop Shelley in under 12, in under, between, before 10, before 10 rounds, maybe 10th round, I'd say, I'd say 8 to 10. Okay, okay, interesting, yeah, I mean, it's going to be, it's a good fight, it's a good fight. Oh, the fight at Krakow, very big clash of styles, Shelley's confident, he's coming off a big win against, what's he called? Who's Shelley just won? He's just won. Jack Cullen. Oh, Jack, no, yeah, Jack Cullen, and also, he beat Anthony Sims of Old Junior, not too long ago, that was a big win, that was a big win for him. You know, Callum's just, on the momentum, you know, coming off lots of good wins against good guys, so, and obviously, it's in Callum's backyard, and, the fans, the support, Shelley can say that, it doesn't bother him and stuff, but, it'd bother me if I had, 7,000, well, probably, that's how many tickets Callum sold, so, say like, 10,000 in total, I don't know how many people are there that night, but, say it's 10,000 people, all there for Callum, your opponent, then you're going to, you're going to feel it, it's going to affect you in some sort of way, positive or negative, so, it's going to be a big night in Barnsley. Definitely, definitely, mate, and listen, when you, when you get to that, level where you're fighting for them titles, don't forget me, because you know that show you were talking about, the Fight Zone show, I was there mate, to interview you. Listen, you was the first person, you was the first person to ever, you interviewed Pat Miller, Yeah, I did, yeah. Listen, you interviewed me when the cheekbones were, you thought you'd never see them ever, ever. Yeah, it's true, yeah. But, but yeah, no, definitely like, this is what I mean, I can't, even like little things like, because I'm on Sky now, I've got a new fight, obviously I get a new fight kit anyway, every time, but, I've got a new fight kit off Melissa, from Susie Wong, and, we just went a bit above and beyond with this one, like put a little bit of extra, you know, style of it on, and all that, so yeah, even like, when I, if I box on a big card in Manchester, like, even like the, the fight kit, the ring walk, and all that, it'd just be crazy, it's, like I said, you've got to be, you've got to be a selling point, and you've got to sell yourself, and, I think I've got it in me, so, yeah. Well, fantastic mate, good to see you doing well, and, I'm looking forward to seeing you in action, definitely going to be tuning in to watch you, and I urge everybody else, to tune in to watch the Turkish Tyson, Billy Dennis, because, if you haven't seen him yet, you're missing out. Missing out, big time, big time. Do you know what's nice as well, like you know, like, my past few fights, you know, because of, due to matching and stuff, matchmaking and that, it's been, it's been hard to get me like a good, like a light heavyweight contest, so, this will be a light heavyweight contest, so, I'll, I'll actually get put in the light heavyweight rankings, like I'm top 15 in the cruiserweight rankings, might start calling Jack out. Well, you did, you did say, didn't you, you did say in one interview that, you know, you didn't punch that hard, and, I think, I didn't think you liked that one. Yeah, well, it had 16-ounce gloves on in it, maybe not intense, but, yeah, so, it'd be nice to just get myself in the light heavyweight rankings, finally, and, you know, start climbing that ladder, and start coming for some big domestic names. Definitely, mate, it's about time, isn't it? Like, this is, this could be the start of the, the big journey that you've, your sort of style is made for, so, all the best to you, mate, and enjoy, enjoy fight week and everything like that, and, we'll catch up, fingers crossed, everything goes so smoothly, I'm sure it will, we'll catch up after the fight. Definitely, okay, honestly, I can't wait, but, thank you again for the interview. No worries, mate, top man.