Andy Aspinall isn’t just Tom Aspinall’s father, he’s also his head coach / manager. And while you often see many parental figures in sports pushing their children too hard or even breaking them mentally, it’s clear that Andy only has Tom’s best interests at heart.
A new video on Tom Aspinall’s YouTube channel follows Andy around for a day, capturing his feelings about his son’s accomplishments. They’re surprisingly down to earth.
“If I was doing a job, I’d want to be the best at doing the job,” Andy
said. “He’s inherited that trait and he trains really hard and he’s learned a lot. And he’s very good. He deserves it. I think if he was a roofer, I’d hope he’d be a good roofer. If he chose to dig roads, I’d hope he’d enjoy it. Doesn’t really matter. It’s just a job. It’s just just what he does. I don’t think of him any differently at all.”
“When do you when you’ve made it? How do you know?” he asked. “When he retires. He gets out of it healthy. That’s all I’m bothered about. He’s made some money now. He could get out of it now if he wanted to and do something else. He still wants to prove a bit more, and I’m still active enough to keep doing it with him. So when he wants to get out, he can get out.”
“Won’t bother me if he packs in tomorrow. It’s just what we do together, this. [We’ll] find something else to do together.”
After a year and a half with the interim belt, Aspinall is finally considered the undisputed heavyweight champion. He’ll fight Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 on October 25th, and then? Tom has said he wants to stay active to make up for lost time. At 32 years old, he still has a good amount of tread on the tires still. But it’s good to know he’s got the support of his father no matter what he plans to do with the rest of his fighting career.
