LLOYD’S A MAN WITH NO FEAR!

Oct 3 2006 Paisley Daily Express

THAI Boxing ace Lloyd Cochran’s dedication to his sport robs him of many of the things other 24-year-olds could not live without.

He barely has a minute to himself in between his 14 gruelling training sessions every week, early morning deliveries in his job as a postman, Saturday nights tackling crime as a Police Special Constable and the agonising days he spends in bed recovering from fights.

He doesn’t go out boozing with pals, has no time to laze around on the couch eating junk food and as for his girlfriend — well, that was just another sacrifice he had to make in his quest to be a World Champion.

On Sunday, October 15, Lloyd faces the fight of his life when Welterweight Thai Boxing World Champion Tim Thomas defends his title against the man who knows no fear.

Lloyd, from Johnstone, will have the chance to claim the World Title Belt if he can see off the talented Englishman on home ground.

He has been training harder then ever in a bid to claim the ultimate prize at the contest in the Normandy Hotel..

He said: “I get up at 5am every morning and go in to work to use the gym there for a while and then I go for a run before I start my deliveries.

“I work until the early afternoon, go home for my dinner and a sleep and then get up and go to training in the evening.

“My only day off is a Saturday and I work on Saturday nights as a Special Police Constable.

“It is a very tough schedule to keep but that’s the price you have to pay if you want to get to the stage where you are competing for world titles.”

Currently British Light Middleweight Champion, Scottish Light Middleweight Champion and Scottish Welterweight Champion, Lloyd is well equipped to face up to the challenge of Thomas.

And he has tremendous self-belief and a desire to be the very best.

“I feel very confident about this fight,” the Johnstone man said.

“Thomas is bigger and stronger than me and has twice the experience but I’m not scared of him and I’m really looking forward to it.

“I have been training very hard and I know I have been working harder than him for this fight.

“I will just go in full pelt like I always do and hopefully he can’t deal with that.

“I have been watching some DVDs of him knocking opponents out, which really fills me with confidence! Seriously though, he is very good but it is a World Title fight so you expect him to be good,” he added.

Lloyd’s unshakeable dedication comes at a price. After a fight, he is usually bed-bound for up to five days as his body recovers from the trauma brought on from taking so many fierce blows.

On top of that, his girlfriend finally got sick of taking a back seat to his sport.

He said: “I recently split up with my long-term girlfriend because of all the training I do. I couldn’t really complain about it too much because I spend so much time at training. We are still friends but it is hard to have a relationship when you are so dedicated to a sport like this.

“I have been training 14 times a week for this fight and have now reached the perfect weight. My training will change a little bit and I’ll be working on my stamina so that I can keep going all the way through the fight.”

He continued: “I have been doing Martial Arts for about 14 years. I started off doing Karate and I got a black belt in that before I took up Bruce Lee’s Martial Art, which is called Jeet Kune Do. It incorporates Thai Boxing and I found that I really enjoyed that side of it.

“I was thrown in at the deep end in my first competitive fight. The opponent I was meant to be facing never turned up so my coaches threw me in against a guy who had already had eight fights and was training for a title fight.

“I lost on points but my coach said I should have won. I was given an award for Most Spirited Fighter because I refused to give in.”

Lloyd’s frenetic, hell-for-leather style leaves many opponents at a loss as to how to deal with him but it was a defeat that spurred him on to change his fighting style and with it came a host of wins.

He explained: “My fighting style is very different to a lot of other fighters. After I had lost a fight on points a while back, I came out of the ring and realised that I wasn’t tired.

“I decided then that I should be going full pelt for the entire fight and I changed my style.

“If I lose then I lose but at least I know I have given 100 per cent. The change in style has suited me and I have been successful with it.

“Most Thai Boxers like to fight in a stand-offish way but my style is more about work-rate. I try to stop them getting in their powerful hits and at the same time score a lot of points myself. I don’t care if I win a fight on points or by having the fight stopped but it is nice to win with a stoppage because maybe then you can still walk the next day.

“After a full fight I’m in bed for five days. I just can’t move because it takes so much out of me.”

He added: “I really want to thank John Palmer, of Palmer Deliveries, in Stanely Road, Paisley. He has sponsored me for this fight and paid for all my vital supplements, proteins and vitamins which is always a big expense.

“If I win this fight I will be ranked as equal to one of my favourite fighters, Masto from Japan. If I needed any extra motivation or inspiration to train hard for this fight then that is it.”

While Lloyd dreams of World Titles and competing at next year’s World Thai Boxing Championships in Thailand, he also longs to fulfil another lifelong dream of swapping his work as a postie for a full-time job as a policeman.

But first comes Tim Thomas. After that, Lloyd can concentrate on taking on the world — if he finds time in between training of course.