Shane McGuigan still has big ambitions but admits boxing has been put into perspective over the last year.
The trainer, son of former world champion Barry, believes he needed the sport to help get him through an emotional 12 months.
But he has also realised that boxing should not rule his life.
That message was driven home in July by the loss of his sister Danika to cancer at just 33. Now, the sport which his family is synonymous with, is no longer the overriding obsession it once was.
“With my sister passing, it was hard,” said McGuigan, preparing IBF light-welterweight champion Josh Taylor for his unification clash with WBA title holder Regis Prograis on Saturday.
“I was at the fights on July 20 with Lawrence Okolie and Chris Billam-Smith. That same day I went to hospital and that was the last time I talked to her.
“For me now there is so much more to life than boxing. It’s a good thing that I'm a little less attached to it.”
But McGuigan, 31, admits he could never totally sever his ties.
He has dealt with the breakdown of his marriage in the last 12 months, and said: “The one thing that has kept me on the straight and narrow is boxing. It’s kept me sane.”
The personal anguish came after a testing few years in the gym for the trainer, who has worked alongside his dad and brothers Jake and Blain.
Shane burst on to the scene in his early 20s as a coach when he was training Carl Frampton to world titles.
But Frampton subsequently split with the McGuigan family, who also promoted him, sparking bitter recriminations which are due to be settled in court.
Others have also come and gone, with McGuigan’s current stable including Taylor, Luke Campbell and cruiserweights Okolie and Billam-Smith.
“At the end of the day they can leave you in a second," added Shane, whose training base is now at University of Kent campus in Canterbury.
“I want to make it a friendly environment, but I’ve had to make it a little less personal."
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