“Not to take anything away from Shavkat, he did a great job and the guy is undefeated for a reason, but the reality of it is, I was doing way too many things at one time in order for me to do any of these things great. At the time going into the Shavkat fight, I was under the impression that I wouldn’t be as fighting as soon as I did, I just had a match before then, and the year prior I had about 18 months between fights so [I thought] I’d have a longer break in between. When the fight offer came through, I said, ‘Cool, I’ll do it,’ and when I accepted the fight, I had a lot of other things going on in my life, as well.
“I was in the process of renovating two different properties, my wife was pregnant with our second son, and while all of that was going on, I was like, ‘I can do it. I can do a training camp, train at my best. I can still be present, I can still do all these things,’ but the reality of it is, I wasn’t. I was being pulled in two different directions.”
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Magny’s first step was to limit some of those distractions. Putting his family and training first, Magny blocked out outside distractions. Known amongst his friend group as the problem solver, Magny had to put that on the back burner, and ask to be a last resort option for those who want help.
By limiting the number of projects going on in his life, more time could be devoted in the gym – time he felt was necessary after his fight with Rakhmonov. “The Haitian Sensation” didn’t feel like that performance was a testament to his talent, nor an accurate depiction of the skill gap between him and the Top 10 contender.
