Francis Waitai got the call two days before the fight. Two days. Most people would have found a reason to say no.

Francis said yes, walked into Dan Hooker's 1 Minute Scraps tournament, and walked out as King of the Knockouts with $50,000 in prize money and a $15,000 chain round his neck.

It was the perfect way to kick off ShedLife. Episode 1 and we are already sitting down with someone who had just pulled off one of the best stories in New Zealand boxing that year.

Francis grew up in Hauraki and came through the amateur boxing scene without a lot of resources or fanfare behind him. He talks about what that actually looked like, the years of showing up to training, putting in the work, and slowly working his way through to the professional ranks. It is the kind of background that does not make the highlight reel but it is exactly the stuff that builds a fighter.

The 1 Minute Scraps call-up is a great story on its own. Dan Hooker's tournament had been making waves across New Zealand and the King of the Knockouts edition brought together fighters who had knockout wins on their record. Francis was one of them, and with 48 hours notice he backed himself to go in there and get the job done. He talks through what was going through his head when the phone rang, how he prepared in that short time, and what it felt like to come out on top in front of that crowd.

We also get into what the win meant for his career. Off the back of 1 Minute Scraps, Francis was booked in for a WBA Oceania super middleweight title fight in Auckland. One yes to a two day call-up and suddenly the doors started opening.

Francis is not a bloke who talks a lot about himself. He is straight, honest, and just gets on with it. That made for a really good first conversation in the Shedquarters.