George went to college for sports management and managed his father’s business for many years. However, he always wondered what it would be like to fight in the ring. His father didn’t want him boxing or even having a girlfriend until he had a college degree in his hand. George finished his degree and decided to start boxing. His father decided that if his son were going to put himself in harms way, he would manage him personally. George explains his first experience with his father saying, “so he walks in there, doesn’t smile at me, doesn’t tell me anything, says ‘no pointers. He goes off in the corner, puts his headgear on by himself, didn’t give me any coaching for three days and he just pulverized me.” George received training from his father and went on to box professionally for 4 years with a record of 15 wins and zero losses.

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While George was building his professional boxing career he also began opening his own fitness center in Boston called “The Club.” However, doing both career ventures required too much out of George. He found himself with a failing business and within a year and a half lost everything. He went from sharing a nice apartment with a roommate to sleeping on a couch at a friend’s place. His father could tell things weren’t right with his business but George refused to receive help because he wanted to win this fight by himself. He eventually made the decision to step away from professional boxing for some time to focus on his business and things came back together. Fight lesson 5, “Great fighters listen to their corner,” was very helpful during this time because George received criticism from people all around him but he learned to listen to the voices that really matter, the people in his corner. He says that the crowd will tell you that you are old and slow but your corner will speak the words you need to hear.