Cairo George, known as the Waikato Warrior, went undefeated as a professional welterweight, going 11-0 and picking up the IBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental titles along the way. He fought across the Australasian circuit and built a reputation on a technical style that was more about reading a fight than overwhelming an opponent. He talks about what that career looked like from the inside, what it cost to stay at that level, and the motorcycle crash that hit during that period and what it took to get back from it.

Now he runs Hit Fitness HQ in Hamilton and coaches full time. The fighters coming through the gym include Sheilla Yama, Cayden Hope, and Aminio Manu, and he talks about what he tries to pass on and what it actually looks like to bring someone from local level up to where they can compete for titles. A big part of what he coaches is the mental side — the composure in hard rounds, the preparation that happens before you ever get in the ring. He is direct about what the sport demands and does not sugarcoat it for the people he trains.

Cairo has also built a business outside the gym and gets into how the same discipline that kept him composed in tough rounds applies when he is running a company. He is one of the judges for Dan Hooker's 1 Minute Scraps events and pulls back the curtain on how those nights come together, what he is watching for as a judge, and what makes that format work as a spectacle.

Listen to the full episode on all major platforms

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wvd6y-1gZM

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72KnBcFkM1r3xm2YyVujJR

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shedlifenz-podcast/id1857464528

iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shedlife-nz-308999038/