Despite his attempts Gaining fame and fortune on television, it was in the kickboxing gym where the brothers truly thrived. They attended the Storm Gym in Luton, a well-equipped facility situated in a former warehouse in a shopping area, under the tutelage of Amir Subasic, an ex-military kickboxer, who became close to them and their family.
Gym staff declined to comment on Andrew or Tristan, and the gym’s website was recently updatedeliminating descriptions of Andrew as “one of the most devastating fighters” and of Tristan as “a war machine.”
Johal, the owner of the Leicestershire gym, thought Andrew was a skilled kickboxer and admired the way he fought with his hands down, a high-risk strategy that allows fighters to swing and move quickly but exposes them to the dangers of a knockout punch.
Johal suspected that Andrew learned his talent for self-promotion during his years as a wrestler. “Andrew has always been a bit controversial. Sometimes you have to be the bad cop,” Johal said, explaining that the big money and fights go to the loudest pugilists.
“Andrew learned that a long time ago. He’s always said things to get people’s support, to get attention. As a person, he’s nothing like that,” Johal said. He added that Andrew used to go to online kickboxing forums and write controversial things to draw attention to his fights.
Ibrahim El Boustati, a Dutch kickboxer who defeated Andrew for his championship belt in 2016, told the Mirror that the alpha male personality is all an act. “He’s lying to a lot of people, he’s not the person he says he is,” she told the tabloid. “I know him very well, Andrew and his brother Tristan. I spoke to them all week before the fight doing interviews and he is a very nice person.”
Andrew also took an over-the-top approach to promoting his fights to the fight press. narration An interviewer for Love 2 Fight, a combat sports magazine, in 2013 said he came from a mystical land called Wudan and was trained by a figure called Master Po. This story would later be incorporated into Tate’s misogynistic training materials, illustrated with elaborate manga-style cartoons, and adopted by his followers.
“His fights were selling themselves,” Johal said. “He literally called himself ‘the Cobra.’ Because, like a cobra, his right hand, straight from behind, would knock out most people.”
Both brothers were successful in the ring. Andrew won several world title fights and Tristan won two British titles. While it wasn’t a lucrative business, it did make some money. Andrew finally got a sports car, an Aston Martin DB9, when he won £10,000 in a fight.
“That was quite strange because it was a one-bedroom apartment with an Aston Martin DB outside,” O’Halloran recalled. That led to the origin of Andrew’s infamous nickname “Top G.” “When we were younger we used to say, ‘What a big G,’” O’Halloran recalled. “The guy is a big gangster here; he drives an Aston Martin.”
