04 The Two Peters: Boxing's Cozy Smith Legacy and the Lawless First Tour de France
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Peter Smith (Independent | Professional Boxing Trainer and Former Heavyweight Contender)
From Peter Smith in the boxing ring to Peter Cossins' grand race
This episode is for sports fans who love the raw, unvarnished stories behind the headlines: a South African heavyweight who sparred with the best in America, nearly fought Mike Tyson, and shook hands with Don King in a Beverly Hills hotel room - and a vivid retelling of the chaotic, lawless first Tour de France in 1903. If you grew up watching boxing or cycling and want the behind-the-scenes reality, this one is for you.
Peter Smith grew up in a boxing household shaped by his father Cozy Smith, a legendary South African fighter who went within a whisker of a world title. Peter traces his own journey from junior amateur champion to professional heavyweight contender: 22 fights, 20 wins, 9 KOs. He recounts his first pro knockout that left his opponent stretchered out of the ring, the Coxsackie virus that wrecked his weight camp before a WBU Super Cruiserweight title shot, and the broken nose he carried into a 10th-round war he still won on points. He describes what it actually feels like to be knocked down for the first time - the physical detachment, the lights, the delayed legs - in terms most fighters never articulate.
In America, Peter trained under Odell Hadley, the quietly legendary trainer who once worked with Tony Tubbs, and later absorbed the Cus D'Amato peekaboo style under Kevin Young, a trainer who grew up in the D'Amato household. He fought on the undercard of major cards at the Great Western Forum - home of the LA Lakers - beat David Veta on Fox Television, and was on the short list to fight Mike Tyson in China, brokered by Shelley Finkel, before the Don King signing that unravelled everything. The Don King story - the limousine to the Beverly Hills Hotel, the unsigned contract, the signing bonus that never arrived, the missed Tyson fight - is told here in full for the first time.
Now a trainer of champions, Peter coaches WBC Bridgerweight champion Kevin Arena, heading into a title defence in Belgium against Riot Murray, and heavyweight prospect Keaton Gomes, who reached the WBC Grand Prix semi-finals in Saudi Arabia. He closes with a trainer's philosophy that separates fighters who train with purpose from those who merely keep busy - and explains why skill and intentional development beat raw talent every time.
The second half of the episode reviews Peter Cossins' book Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep - a vivid account of the 1903 Tour de France, created by Henri Desgrange to boost readership for his magazine L'Auto. Sixty riders, six stages, 2,428 kilometres, fixed-gear bikes weighing up to 17 kilograms, roads designed for horses, riding through the night. The cast includes Maurice Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman whose parents allegedly traded him for a wheel of cheese, and an assortment of chimney sweeps, circus acrobats and handlebar-moustachioed villains. Robin also covers current rugby controversies: the Springbok bomb squad debate, the proposed Rugby 360 global franchise league, and the upcoming South Africa vs New Zealand quadrennial tour, with a preview of Cornish wrestling world champion Simon Marcus coming in a future episode.
From Peter Smith in the boxing ring to Peter Cossins' grand race
This episode is for sports fans who love the raw, unvarnished stories behind the headlines: a South African heavyweight who sparred with the best in America, nearly fought Mike Tyson, and shook hands with Don King in a Beverly Hills hotel room - and a vivid retelling of the chaotic, lawless first Tour de France in 1903. If you grew up watching boxing or cycling and want the behind-the-scenes reality, this one is for you.
Peter Smith grew up in a boxing household shaped by his father Cozy Smith, a legendary South African fighter who went within a whisker of a world title. Peter traces his own journey from junior amateur champion to professional heavyweight contender: 22 fights, 20 wins, 9 KOs. He recounts his first pro knockout that left his opponent stretchered out of the ring, the Coxsackie virus that wrecked his weight camp before a WBU Super Cruiserweight title shot, and the broken nose he carried into a 10th-round war he still won on points. He describes what it actually feels like to be knocked down for the first time - the physical detachment, the lights, the delayed legs - in terms most fighters never articulate.
In America, Peter trained under Odell Hadley, the quietly legendary trainer who once worked with Tony Tubbs, and later absorbed the Cus D'Amato peekaboo style under Kevin Young, a trainer who grew up in the D'Amato household. He fought on the undercard of major cards at the Great Western Forum - home of the LA Lakers - beat David Veta on Fox Television, and was on the short list to fight Mike Tyson in China, brokered by Shelley Finkel, before the Don King signing that unravelled everything. The Don King story - the limousine to the Beverly Hills Hotel, the unsigned contract, the signing bonus that never arrived, the missed Tyson fight - is told here in full for the first time.
Now a trainer of champions, Peter coaches WBC Bridgerweight champion Kevin Arena, heading into a title defence in Belgium against Riot Murray, and heavyweight prospect Keaton Gomes, who reached the WBC Grand Prix semi-finals in Saudi Arabia. He closes with a trainer's philosophy that separates fighters who train with purpose from those who merely keep busy - and explains why skill and intentional development beat raw talent every time.
The second half of the episode reviews Peter Cossins' book Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep - a vivid account of the 1903 Tour de France, created by Henri Desgrange to boost readership for his magazine L'Auto. Sixty riders, six stages, 2,428 kilometres, fixed-gear bikes weighing up to 17 kilograms, roads designed for horses, riding through the night. The cast includes Maurice Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman whose parents allegedly traded him for a wheel of cheese, and an assortment of chimney sweeps, circus acrobats and handlebar-moustachioed villains. Robin also covers current rugby controversies: the Springbok bomb squad debate, the proposed Rugby 360 global franchise league, and the upcoming South Africa vs New Zealand quadrennial tour, with a preview of Cornish wrestling world champion Simon Marcus coming in a future episode.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction: Peter Smith and the Boxing Family
- 02:00 Growing Up as Cozy Smith's Son
- 04:20 Brothers, Gloves and Amateur Boxing
- 05:34 Turning Professional: The First Fight
- 07:00 Going Unbeaten to 16-0 and Losing Trainer Allen
- 09:30 The Coxsackie Virus and the Texas Loss
- 13:00 What It Feels Like to See Stars
- 15:00 The WBU Title Shot: Broken Nose and Weight Crisis
- 24:00 World Title Fight: The Day Everything Went Wrong
- 27:00 America: Finding Odell Hadley in LA
- 31:30 Training Transformation: Jab, Feet and Strategy
- 34:30 The Great Western Forum Fights
- 38:00 Fox Television, David Veta and the Mike Tyson Offer
- 41:00 Don King: The Beverly Hills Hotel Meeting
- 45:30 Shelley Finkel, the Tyson Fight That Fell Through
- 48:00 Kevin Young and the Peekaboo Style
- 51:00 Fear in the Ring and the Final Fight
- 55:00 Peter as Trainer: Kevin Arena, Keaton Gomes and the Future
- 59:00 Talent vs Purpose: A Trainer's Philosophy
- 01:01:54 Book Review: Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep
- 01:05:30 Rugby Controversies: Bomb Squad, Rugby 360 and Nations Cup
- 01:07:30 Cornish Wrestling Preview and Sign-Off
