British heavyweight champion Sam Sexton is using the powers of hypnotherapy as he heads into his crunch showdown with Hughie Fury this Saturday at the Macron Stadium Premium Suite in Bolton, England. Sexton has been working with hypnotherapist Matthew Robinson from Boxnosis as he makes the first defense of the Lonsdale belt against a dangerous challenger in Fury, who’s having his first fight back since his loss to Joseph Parker last September.

Sexton believes that mind over matter will take him to victory over Fury and continue his winning run using the technique that has stretched his last nine fights.

“It’s nothing like you see in films with a swinging watch in front of your eyes and going into trance,” said Sexton. “A lot of it involves focusing on key words, like power, strength, accuracy and making me believe that I’m more powerful and stronger that anyone else.

“It involves lots of different mind techniques to improve whatever area of my game I want to work on, for example one day I want to be faster, the next day stronger, the next day more endurance.

“One day I might be tired coming into the gym from a hard session the day before and my mind is saying I’m too tired, but I can overcome that and put in a personal best session.

“It’s about mental control and picking the information that I need to win the fight and not wasting my time on negative stuff in everyday life.

“I’ve been through a lot in the last few years and sometimes my mind hasn’t been focused, but this has really helped me, It might not be for everyone but it works for me.

“This is a massive fight for me against Fury, I’ve got my plans where I want to go, but I have to get past Fury first.”