Most people who watched Francis Waitai become New Zealand's number one heavyweight know the name. Not as many know the coach who has been in his corner since the start. Shaun George is the founder of Never Surrender Boxing and the man behind Team George Promotions, and Episode 8 of ShedLife is his story.

Shaun has been in Francis's corner through the amateur years and into the professional career. He talks about what that journey looked like from a coaching perspective, what he saw in Francis early on, and what it actually takes to build a fighter from the ground up. If you listened to Episode 1 with Francis, this one fills in a lot of the blanks from the other side of the corner.

A big part of what Shaun talks about is gym culture. How you build one, what it takes to keep it, and why the environment inside a boxing gym shapes people well beyond the ring. Never Surrender is not just a gym name. He explains where that comes from and what it means to the people who train there.

There are also a good few funny stories in this episode. Shaun has been around the fight game for a long time and he has some yarns. He is the kind of person who can talk about discipline and hard work in one breath and have you laughing in the next, and the conversation with Jason moves between both.

He also gets honest about the harder parts. Life in boxing, especially on the coaching and promotional side, has its ups and downs. Running a gym, managing fighters, and building something sustainable is not straightforward. Shaun is direct about what that has looked like and what has kept him going through it.

Good episode. If boxing, coaching, or building something from scratch in sport interests you, this one is worth your time.

Listen to the full episode on all major platforms

[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlWDnP6-zdo)

[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/)