‘Land the jab’: Boxer who beat opioid addiction now uses the sport to save troubled youths

Michael Cordner got into boxing to be the best – whether that meant Olympic gold or a world title.

But the toughest fight of his life was against mental health and opioid addiction.

Growing up in the Victorian beachside town of Torquay, Mr Cordner discovered his two vices in his early teens – boxing and benzodiazepines – the latter he was prescribed following a mental health referral at 14.

In the ring, the boxer dubbed “The Slenderman” for his extraordinarily long limbs, was going from strength to strength; claiming an amateur state title before transitioning to the professional ranks.

It was when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the thrill of the fight game was stripped away, his reliance on prescription medication led him down a troubling path.

“I was heavily taking benzodiazepines and I didn’t realise it was a problem for me,” he recalls.

“I was still fighting, I finished school and did all the things I needed to do.

“It was only when I stopped taking them that I realised I had a real problem.”

Mr Cordner’s prescription for benzodiazepines ceased when he was 18, and his crippling withdrawals led him to securing the medication illegally.

“When the pandemic hit, I lost my other vice,” he said.

“I no longer had boxing, I had nothing to keep me focused. That’s when I latched myself onto opioids to keep me ticking over.

“When I was on them I was very relaxed, if you have enough of them you’ll feel zero anxiety at all, which makes you do stupid things.”

It was during this period he became a known entity to police and delved deeper into drug abuse.

“Being full of xanax at the time I thought I could get away with anything,” he said.

In 2020, Mr Cordner’s home was raided by police following a bizarre plot in which he called a station while impersonating an officer to get him and his mates out of a hefty fine for trespassing on a closed track in the Great Otway National Park. Police seized drugs, an imitation handgun, and a cache of knives and swords during the raid.

“I was in bed and armed police officers kicked down the door, charged into my room and searched the place,” he said.

“I had drugs in the house and it ended up being a big ordeal.

“I was a coach, an upcoming boxer and someone younger people looked up to, I had gone from the guy in town who had it together. Now I’m this guy, wacked out of my head and in trouble with police – I realised something had to change.

“I was taking so much xanax that if I went cold turkey I would have died and I was doing really risky things mixing them with drugs that can kill you.

“I had overdosed at one point and there were ambulances that had to come to my house.”

It was during his two stints in a rehabilitation facility, Mr Cordner created the philosophy which he would use to turn his life around and help others battle similar demons.

“The only way I got through that was thinking of my whole life as a fight,” he said.

“I was thinking about what I would do if I was struggling in a fight? I would slow down, I’d start jabbing and I would listen to my corner again.”

The jab is the lead punch in boxing, which is used by fighters as a foundation for all other punches as well as to gauge distance and timing.

In 2022, after receiving help and relocating to Sydney he founded Land the Jab, a not-for-profit offering programs to teach people aged 15 to 25 how to talk about mental health through learning boxing.

Mr Cordner, now 25, says the program has now helped set more than 100 young people down a better path. He is also studying a certificate four in Alcohol and Other Drugs to aid with his support work.

The program is free and sessions are broken into teaching boxing and relating those techniques to tools young people can use to improve their mental health.

Programs split between the affluent suburbs and sandy beaches of Bondi and Airds High School near Campbelltown in western Sydney.

“If you do feel in danger in your life that’s when you need to go back to your jab, whether that’s eating better, sleeping more or just talking to people,” Mr Cordner said.

“Making those small steps toward fixing your problem and improving your mental health.

“It’s an interesting contrast, Bondi is surrounded by some of the richest suburbs in the country and southwestern Sydney has some of the most dangerous suburbs in the country but a lot of the problems with young kids are similar.”

Headspace and Prince of Wales Hospital have referred youths who have experienced or are at-risk of experiencing psychosis to Land the Jab to assist in their recovery.

Eastern Suburbs Mental Health Service Exercise Physiologist Chrysten Kodomichalos told The Australian the skills taught through boxing are invaluable for assisting people who have experienced a psychotic episode.

“The benefits of exercise for mental health are well researched and include stimulating key neurotransmitters essential for brain health,” Ms Kodomichalos said.

“Individuals at risk of psychosis may have decline in cognitive function including working memory, decision making, attention and situational awareness.

“Exercise, such as boxing, targets these skills and is valuable for individuals who have had an episode of psychosis.”

Mr Cordner said one of the participants of his Bondi program had managed to turn things around through boxing following a “life changing” psychotic episode.

“One of the kids in the Bondi program who had a psychotic episode a year ago, it completely changed his life,” Mr Cordner said.

“It helps to get people out of their head and more focused into their body which improves the symptoms a lot. The sense of community from the group sessions also helps people at risk of psychosis.

“He has been coming to Land the Jab and in the beginning he was very reserved and had a hard time understanding things, but he has built himself back up.

“The other day he told me he had got a job and it was a big deal for him and his family, it showed there was hope he could get a little bit better.

“I was very proud of him for that.”