Issue 034

February 2008

30-year-old Paul Cahoon is known as one of England's toughest fighters. He stood toe-to-toe with the feared Melvin Manhoef (twice), fought in Japan and Holland and a true never-say-die attitude. He fights out of Liverpool in the North of England. 

Where are you now?

I’m outside my mate’s house waiting for him in my home town, Liverpool. We’re actually in the process of building our own gym now – a Golden Glory UK. It’s going to be a fully caged gym with everything in it, cardio equipment, weights equipment, everything. It’s in St Helens, in Merseyside, Liverpool. 

Will you have members of the original Dutch Golden Glory coming over? 

Yeah, Dutch people to come over and train, we’re getting two wrestlers from Georgia, a couple of champion Greco-Roman wrestlers from over there. We’re going to get a couple of Brazilians over.  

What do you remember from the first professional fight you ever had?

The first one – I think it was in Lee Hasdell’s show. It were a joke. I took the guy down and lay on him for three rounds. At them days there was no headshots, it was just slapping and things, you know? D’ya know that’s the problem with me, most of my fights have been this ‘Rings rules’ fuckin’ shite. For my type of style it was no good. 

What’s the toughest fight you’ve ever been in?

Magdemenov. I fought a big heavyweight Russian called Magdemenov, Ibrahim Magdemenov his name is. He was big – it wasn’t steroids, he was big naturally. I took that fight on short notice as well.

What happened in the fight?

He was a tough fight – that was the first time I’d fought in the cage, you know? He had me against the cage and was punching me, I didn’t know how to get my back off the cage, he was that heavy. He was my toughest fight. 

Would you say that was tougher than your two wars with Melvin Manhoef?

Melvin was a tough one… but no, Magdemenov, because he was bigger. The Melvin fight was a tough fight – but a big fella hits a lot harder than a little fella, doesn’t he?

Tell us how your last fight went. 

All my training was done and I was ready to finish. I’d trained very hard for this one without no injuries or sickness. So the last three days I was able to rest, brought myself down so I peaked on the day. Those three days I was bursting out of my skin, I’ve never actually felt the feeling before. 

Your fight with Elvis, is that the hardest you’ve ever hit anyone?

No, I’ve had so many fights, I normally put people away with punches like that, they do go down once they get hit. With Elvis, I’d worked with a lot of very tall people so my range was very good. And when I hit him, I hit him bang on the chin, when you hit someone bang on the chin, they go down don’t they? 

What’s the hardest you’ve ever been hit?

The thing is with me, I actually like getting hit. One of the main things about me is durability; I’m very tough and durable

that way. And if someone hits me and I can feel they’ve really as hard as what they can, I keep walking forward, it gives me that little bit of a buzz, but sometimes, when you’re in there with people like Melvin Manhoef, you can’t afford to take that risk can you, because if he hits you with one he can follow up with another five or six straight after it – by the time you get your senses together, the fight’s over. 

You mentioned to me once he hit you with a really hard

kick to the head – is that about as hard a blow as you’ve

ever received? 

I get hit a lot harder in sparring, so Manhoef hit me with a full

shin to the face, that was a funny one, it was a good one that,

you can actually see me legs wobbling! – and as I’m wobbling,

I’m saying ‘Come on’ to him, with my hands! You know, ‘Come on’, but you know, that was a good kick – a full shin to the face, not

the foot.