We wrap up the Unpacked summer season with a chat that’s punchy in more ways than one as Neil sits down with Kingswood’s rising boxing star Tiah-Mai Ayton, a year on from her turning pro with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.

The 19-year-old started out kickboxing aged six and has been beaten just three times in any of the disciplines she’s tried since. She’s enjoyed a meteoric ascent since entering the boxing ring at 13, and took a gold medal at the 2024 World Boxing Under-19 Championships.

Tiah turned pro in May 2025, winning six straight fights since then, and has her sights set on becoming undisputed world champion.

So what lies behind that success? In this episode – the last before we take a break for summer – we talk to Tiah about her journey to the big time.

We get into family life, the sacrifices young athletes have to make while their mates are out partying, the benefits martial arts can bring to girls, and to kids struggling at school – and of course the growth of women’s boxing and her ongoing part in that.

Whether you’re already a fan of the sport or not, we recommend you wrap your ears around this one. Enjoy and have a great summer, we’ll see you in September.

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In the hours before this episode hit the streaming platforms, England beat Mexico in a famous 3-2 victory at the Estadio Azteca, keeping their World Cup dreams alive and setting up a meeting with Norway – fresh from knocking out Brazil – in the last eight of the competition.

Yes, this week we’re all about the football, in conversation with Liam Smith, who coaches a group of players every bit as culturally diverse as today's England squad, at grassroots level here in Bristol.

He’s head of football development at Bristol Central youth football club, based at City Academy in Redfield – and is a man on a mission to empower young people to enjoy and express themselves through the sport.

How can community clubs hold tight to that ethos in an increasingly competitive youth football environment – where only 0.5% go on to make it through the academy system to become pros? What are the qualities that help those players succeed? What does the diversity of the kids he coaches – and of the elite national players – say about the country we live in now? And does he really believe England can win this thing?

The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.

Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.

Talk Club, set up in a Bristol pub seven years ago, offers a space for men to get together and discuss their mental health. That’s something too few of us still do, as shown by the horrible statistic that in the UK, a man dies by suicide roughly every 90 minutes – the length of a football match.

With this episode recorded during Men’s Health Week, and with the World Cup bringing many men together in a highly emotional state, it seemed an appropriate time to sit down with Gavin Thorpe, one of Talk Club’s two founders.

The clubs have rapidly expanded, to 150 branches across the country. But with suicide still the biggest killer of UK men under 50, the need to talk remains urgent. Why are we men so reluctant to open up about what’s getting us down? Are Talk Club’s activities moving the needle? And do young men – far more in touch with emotions than their grandads – offer hope?

Content warning – this episode, as you might have guessed, contains discussions of suicide and mental ill health. But it’s a great chat, and by no means all doom and gloom – hope you enjoy.

The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic media ownership. Because when journalism serves the community, not shareholders, real change becomes possible.

Support independent journalism and help us bring more vital conversations to Bristol: become a Bristol Cable member.