A student intern posing in the cloisters with his championship belt

Every day after work, 19-year-old Joe McCluskey heads to the gym to train. He can be there till 9pm each evening, and might even get up at 5am the next morning to go for a run before work. It sounds like a lot, and Joe admits it definitely is – but the gruelling schedule, the long hours and the hard work paid off when in March, Joe won the title of Scottish Heavyweight Champion, making him the best in the country. 

‘The guy I was in with had won that title five times before and he’d been to two British Championships, so he was definitely the A side of it. But at the same time: I've been boxing since I was two or three, I know myself, and I believe in myself.' During the fight, Joe stuck to his game plan, concentrating on every second of the fight. ‘If you switch off, even for a second, that’s when you get caught out.’ By the end of the first round, he knew he had it under control. After three rounds, Joe won by unanimous decision, a decisive victory, one which has set him on a path towards bigger goals: the British Championships, and the Commonwealth Games next year. 

‘This win puts me in good stead for that. I need to learn more, get better, and maybe get a few international competitions in to get some more experience under my belt.’ Joe is fully dedicated to making it happen. His training regimen is intense, and preparation is everything. Managing weight is one of the biggest challenges. ‘I box heavyweight, which is 92kg, about 14.5 – 15 stone. At weigh-ins you have to be bang on 92kg, if you’re even 0.1kg over, you can’t fight.' To make sure he’s in his best condition, he invests heavily in himself – a nutritionist, a strength and conditioning coach, a high-protein and low-calorie diet – all of it making the process easier and more achievable. ‘I think if you’re serious about it then it's the best thing you can do for yourself. If you didn’t know what you were doing, it would be brutal.' Mentally, in the lead up to the Scottish Championships, Joe felt stronger than ever. ‘That was the first time I really felt confident and ready. I feel like the only way you feel good before a fight is knowing you’ve put the work in and knowing you’re ready and you've done everything you can.' 

Joe isn’t the first in his family to step into the ring. His dad, Joseph McCluskey, was a celebrated boxer himself, having won the British Championships over 35 years ago and trained with Team GB for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. ‘My dad has always coached me, we even have a wee boxing ring in the garage!’ When he won the Scottish Championships, Joe found out that the last person to win that same title from his hometown of Kilsyth was his own dad. ‘We found the newspaper clipping from the time, it made it feel even better to have won it’. His mum, while supportive, finds it tough to watch her son in the ring, especially after breaking his arm in a fight last year. ‘She hates it! But she enjoys the fact that I’m doing something good and have a bit of ambition.' 

Despite his dad’s success, Joe was never pushed into it. ‘My dad never forced me into boxing, he was fine if I didn’t want to do it. But I naturally just found a liking to it.' Though his dad would coach him, there were limits. ’He'd train me in techniques and things but we wouldn’t be properly punching each other – I know I wouldn’t win there!' 

Boxing isn’t Joe’s only focus. He works full time, juggling his training with an apprenticeship in Building Services, which he started aged 16. ‘As soon as I got my National Insurance Number I just left school straight away and found a job. I knew what I wanted to do anyway, I wanted to go into a trade, and I didn’t see the point in staying on another two years in school when I could be working.' 

‘The University’s been a really good place for me. They've given me time off for fights and been really supportive.' Joe shares how a colleague in Estates helped him out, putting him in touch with a Professor in Sport Science at UofG, who has worked with top athletes including the Scottish rugby team. ‘He took me in for my fitness test, had me on the treadmill with the oxygen mask on and everything.’ The apprenticeship itself has seen Joe go from a 16-year-old needing supervision for every task, to where he is now, feeling confident to go see to a job by himself. ‘I’ve got to the stage where I can do the actual job, which helps the rest of the team too, takes a bit off them'. Joe is able to throw himself into whatever he does and is keen to learn; ‘I don’t mind being a pest. If I need to ask a lot of questions to learn, I will.' 

Boxing isn’t just a hobby or a dream career for Joe, it's a lifelong passion. ‘I don’t care if I win money for it or not. I do it because I love it.' Even decades from now, he sees himself staying involved. 'Boxing will always be part of my life. Even when I’m 50 or 60, I’ll probably be coaching, just like my dad, with my own club.’ 

His journey so far has been built on a lot of hard work, sacrifice, and discipline, training sometimes twice a day. It definitely hasn't been easy; ‘It’s sore! You’re up there getting punched all the time', he laughs. ‘A lot of people drop out, even ones who are really talented. It's just such a big commitment.’ But Joe is determined to keep pushing forward, firstly towards the British Championships in June, and, fingers crossed, a spot in the Commonwealth Games next year, in his home city of Glasgow.  

First published: 10 April 2025

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