Interview with Nicky Booth
Posted: 18 Jul 2004, 17:51
Interview with nicky booth from this weeks news of the world. seems hes making all the right noises and at least trying to remain positive about his situation. mind you 30k on crack?? what a habit!
I've lost my life to crack cocaine
By Fred Burcombe
JAILED boxing champ Nicky Booth opened his heart from prison last night to reveal how drug addiction led him into a squalid life of crime.
Booth invited the News of the World to visit him at Ashwell Prison in Rutland to reveal why he plunged into the sordid world of crack cocaine and ended up jailed for burglary.
But the former British and Commonwealth bantamweight champion vowed: "I'm clean now and I want my titles back.
"I'll never, ever take drugs again. If anybody comes near me offering stuff when I'm free, I'll knock them out."
Booth wants his dramatic fall from grace to serve as a grim warning to fellow fighters.
The 24-year-old confessed how he:
Squandered £30,000 on crack;
Was sucked into an underworld of drug dealers and hardened criminals;
And turned to burglary to feed his addiction.
Scratch
Dressed in his regulation prison uniform of dark jeans and shirt, Booth sat in the visitors' area at Ashwell — where he is serving a two-year sentence for theft — and admitted: "Prison was the best thing that could have happened.
"Coming here has saved my career and made me realise I have to start a new life from scratch. I never want to come back inside.
"When I come out the only thing I will have is the bag that I'll be carrying my clothes in. All my savings and ring earnings have gone.
"But now all I think about is boxing again. Getting back in the ring is what drives me on."
Booth's world fell apart when he was sentenced to two years in May for theft and burglary.
And he admitted: "I can't even remember anything about the crime which led to my conviction. I just pleaded guilty.
"Under the drugs' influence, I didn't have any fear about what I did. Sometimes I was like a zombie. I got in with some bad company and I am certain it would have become even worse.
"I learned there were guns to be had and I could easily have got into that but that would have led to a five or 10-year stretch.
"There were crack houses and dealers everywhere. I just had to walk a couple of minutes from my house to find drugs.
"But I hate myself for all the trouble and stress I have caused my parents.
"I'm ashamed of what I did to my mum and dad — Michelle and Derek — yet they have stuck by me. I don't want to do anything else to let them down, especially mum as she has a heart problem.
"But I haven't got any friends anymore — I'm on my own now. I have decided I'm going to look after No1 and aim to secure a future for my four-year-old daughter Paris.
"I split from her mother last year after six years together. That made me really low. I suppose she could see what was coming.
Puff
"I'd become fed up with boxing and wasn't training with my same enthusiasm. A fight I desperately wanted with Johnny Armour kept falling through and that got me annoyed.
"I'm normally extrovert but instead I was feeling depressed and started going out.
"The first puff of the crack pipe that was handed to me was to cheer me up. It didn't do anything but I still tried another one — and that's how it started.
"It can take a week, a month or a year but once crack gets to you, you're hooked. There's no escape and you don't care about anything else.
"It was £5 or £10 for a hit and it soon adds up when you go from one buzz to wanting another. I got through thousands.
"I knew some working girls who were making £300-£400 a day.
"They would spend it on drugs and then give me some.
"Luckily, my trainer kept the Lonsdale Belt I won outright when I was British champion and wouldn't let me accept the £8,000 I was offered for it.
"I went from having massive highs to having my chin on the floor. I had spells of anxiety and used to take sleeping tablets to calm me down.
"Now I can tell a crackhead from 100 yards."
System
Booth also revealed he only stopped taking crack a WEEK before his last fight.
That was back in September, 2003 — a WBU bantamweight title clash against Nathan Sting in Booth's hometown of Nottingham.
Booth, who followed in brother Jason's footsteps in 2000 by winning a British title, admitted: "I didn't want to go through with it. I felt like it wasn't me in there.
"I had come off the crack a week before I fought. I had been told it clears from your system in two days but my heart wasn't in the fight."
Booth (pictured far left with Jason) lost in 12 rounds and only eight months later he lost his freedom as well.
But now he is determined to get back in the ring — even if it means fighting with an electronic tag on his ankle.
He said: "I am training 24/7 inside and the support I‘ve had here has been tremendous.
"I've even dreamed of being allowed to box while tagged. If I could fight at 8.30pm, I'd be finished by 9.30pm — enough time to beat my curfew."
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_p ... ort4.shtml
I've lost my life to crack cocaine
By Fred Burcombe
JAILED boxing champ Nicky Booth opened his heart from prison last night to reveal how drug addiction led him into a squalid life of crime.
Booth invited the News of the World to visit him at Ashwell Prison in Rutland to reveal why he plunged into the sordid world of crack cocaine and ended up jailed for burglary.
But the former British and Commonwealth bantamweight champion vowed: "I'm clean now and I want my titles back.
"I'll never, ever take drugs again. If anybody comes near me offering stuff when I'm free, I'll knock them out."
Booth wants his dramatic fall from grace to serve as a grim warning to fellow fighters.
The 24-year-old confessed how he:
Squandered £30,000 on crack;
Was sucked into an underworld of drug dealers and hardened criminals;
And turned to burglary to feed his addiction.
Scratch
Dressed in his regulation prison uniform of dark jeans and shirt, Booth sat in the visitors' area at Ashwell — where he is serving a two-year sentence for theft — and admitted: "Prison was the best thing that could have happened.
"Coming here has saved my career and made me realise I have to start a new life from scratch. I never want to come back inside.
"When I come out the only thing I will have is the bag that I'll be carrying my clothes in. All my savings and ring earnings have gone.
"But now all I think about is boxing again. Getting back in the ring is what drives me on."
Booth's world fell apart when he was sentenced to two years in May for theft and burglary.
And he admitted: "I can't even remember anything about the crime which led to my conviction. I just pleaded guilty.
"Under the drugs' influence, I didn't have any fear about what I did. Sometimes I was like a zombie. I got in with some bad company and I am certain it would have become even worse.
"I learned there were guns to be had and I could easily have got into that but that would have led to a five or 10-year stretch.
"There were crack houses and dealers everywhere. I just had to walk a couple of minutes from my house to find drugs.
"But I hate myself for all the trouble and stress I have caused my parents.
"I'm ashamed of what I did to my mum and dad — Michelle and Derek — yet they have stuck by me. I don't want to do anything else to let them down, especially mum as she has a heart problem.
"But I haven't got any friends anymore — I'm on my own now. I have decided I'm going to look after No1 and aim to secure a future for my four-year-old daughter Paris.
"I split from her mother last year after six years together. That made me really low. I suppose she could see what was coming.
Puff
"I'd become fed up with boxing and wasn't training with my same enthusiasm. A fight I desperately wanted with Johnny Armour kept falling through and that got me annoyed.
"I'm normally extrovert but instead I was feeling depressed and started going out.
"The first puff of the crack pipe that was handed to me was to cheer me up. It didn't do anything but I still tried another one — and that's how it started.
"It can take a week, a month or a year but once crack gets to you, you're hooked. There's no escape and you don't care about anything else.
"It was £5 or £10 for a hit and it soon adds up when you go from one buzz to wanting another. I got through thousands.
"I knew some working girls who were making £300-£400 a day.
"They would spend it on drugs and then give me some.
"Luckily, my trainer kept the Lonsdale Belt I won outright when I was British champion and wouldn't let me accept the £8,000 I was offered for it.
"I went from having massive highs to having my chin on the floor. I had spells of anxiety and used to take sleeping tablets to calm me down.
"Now I can tell a crackhead from 100 yards."
System
Booth also revealed he only stopped taking crack a WEEK before his last fight.
That was back in September, 2003 — a WBU bantamweight title clash against Nathan Sting in Booth's hometown of Nottingham.
Booth, who followed in brother Jason's footsteps in 2000 by winning a British title, admitted: "I didn't want to go through with it. I felt like it wasn't me in there.
"I had come off the crack a week before I fought. I had been told it clears from your system in two days but my heart wasn't in the fight."
Booth (pictured far left with Jason) lost in 12 rounds and only eight months later he lost his freedom as well.
But now he is determined to get back in the ring — even if it means fighting with an electronic tag on his ankle.
He said: "I am training 24/7 inside and the support I‘ve had here has been tremendous.
"I've even dreamed of being allowed to box while tagged. If I could fight at 8.30pm, I'd be finished by 9.30pm — enough time to beat my curfew."
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_p ... ort4.shtml