WBA Oceania champion Francis Waitai is back in the ShedLife NZ Studio with his coach Sean George from Never Surrender, fresh off a first-round knockout of Cowin Ray.

We get straight into the fight. Francis and Sean break down how a game plan they had drilled for weeks ended the contest in about two minutes, what they saw in Cowin Ray, and how a new strength and conditioning program changed the way Francis prepared.

There is plenty from behind the scenes too. We talk about the trip to Australia, missing a flight after the motorway was closed overnight, pre-fight blood tests, and the reality of cutting 6 to 7 kg during fight week.

Then we get into the wider fight game. David Nyika vs Floyd Masson. Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua. Why some fighters seem easier to knock out once they have been properly switched off. And why New Zealand has such a strong history of producing strikers, going all the way back to Bob Fitzsimmons.

But this yarn is about a lot more than boxing. Francis talks about leaving school with nothing, what that decision can cost you over the next ten years, and the point where he decided to go back and change direction.

Sean also takes us through the work Never Surrender is doing with Hauraki Plains College, building a programme aimed at reconnecting disengaged young people with school, discipline and a better path forward. It is a good boxing yarn, but there are plenty of lessons in here about preparation, discipline, setbacks and backing young people before they get too far off track.