1 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:10,080 The countdown is on to fight time. This is Big Fight Weekend. No. 2 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:15,199 Here is your host, t J. Leives. Well, we get 3 00:00:15,199 --> 00:00:19,920 ready for a weekend that's gonna have a championship fight right away on Friday night 4 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:25,239 as we're releasing this podcast for the IBA featherweight title in Corpus Christi, Texas. 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,480 Hello, we're looking forward to talking about that, previewing all the actions, 6 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,560 some fight news, some nostalgia and more. It is your Big Fight 7 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,840 Weekend Preview. I am the somewhat capable host, t J. Reeves. 8 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,479 He is our insider from his Fight Freaks Unite substack from Big Fight Weekend dot 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,159 com as well. Hello again, Dan Raphael. Good to be back with 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:50,719 you as we rock along here in September. Some interesting action we got William 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,359 Zapeta also headlining a Golden Boys show in California. We got fights this weekend 12 00:00:55,359 --> 00:00:59,439 of all kinds, including in Japan right off the weekend that we'll talk about. 13 00:00:59,479 --> 00:01:02,600 How you feel though as we head to the weekend, I'm good God 14 00:01:02,679 --> 00:01:04,319 fights this week. We didn't have any last week to really get into, 15 00:01:04,359 --> 00:01:07,280 so it's nice to be back. Did not have much, that's for sure. 16 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,640 We got we had to get creative. It's not necessarily just a show 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,840 about nothing. Although you and I are Seinfeld fans, we did well with 18 00:01:12,879 --> 00:01:15,599 the show about nothing, especially on a recap show when you didn't have a 19 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,359 lot of fights to recap. Yeah. Yeah, we had plenty of news, 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,879 that's for sure, all right, So we'll get into all of this 21 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,079 again. Thank you for finding us. However you've done so. Ray Fiel's 22 00:01:26,079 --> 00:01:30,159 getting agitated, Big Dan's getting agitated. Rate us and review us. Do 23 00:01:30,239 --> 00:01:33,319 that under Apple Podcast wherever you can give us a five star review. It 24 00:01:33,359 --> 00:01:36,840 does help us with the algorithm and people finding us. And again I say 25 00:01:36,879 --> 00:01:38,599 thank you to the audience. You do as well, because they have found 26 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,560 us by the thousands and thousands and thousands over the course of this summer. 27 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,200 Now headed into the fall, we got a Canelo fight week coming up. 28 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,120 Audience has grown and grown and grown. Keep it up. But rate us 29 00:01:49,159 --> 00:01:53,000 and review us. It does help us. People ask us all the time 30 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,200 about what they can do to help. Give us a quick five star rating 31 00:01:56,239 --> 00:01:59,159 in review and review. Tell us how brilliant Ray Feel is. You love 32 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,439 the inside of the humor, you love the f bomb count? Will it 33 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:06,200 be over under seven and a half on this episode of the pod. We 34 00:02:06,239 --> 00:02:09,840 will find out so again, take care of that Apple podcast, spreaker, 35 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,560 Google podcast, Spotify, wherever you're finding the show. Thank you for doing 36 00:02:15,599 --> 00:02:20,000 so again. We come in with the preview, usually out by Friday morning, 37 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,439 recap off the weekend Fight Freaks Unit recap usually available by Monday morning. 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:30,719 Again Savages TJ is traveling with NFL Buccaneer Football. There may be an occasion 39 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:35,199 where the recap pod, because of logistics of Dan and me trying to get 40 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,639 together and get the pod done, may not be there in the inbox right 41 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,000 away Monday morning. We're gonna do everything we can that it's there. Sometimes 42 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000 it may not be there till a little later Monday. We're here for you. 43 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,479 We're not gonna We're not gonna leave you stranded. We will have a 44 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,240 recap, it just may not always be there this fall and into the winner 45 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,960 right away on Monday morning. I realize you can't get enough a ray feel. 46 00:02:57,039 --> 00:02:59,759 I understand that we'll get it to you by the quickly as possible. 47 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,919 Yes, knowing what's on our rundown this week, ye this episode, I'm 48 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,680 pretty sure that the over under on the f bombs is going to be under 49 00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:09,280 seven and a half because it's not aggravated. Yeah, you're not aggravated. 50 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,680 Off, not too I'm not too been out of shade about too much this 51 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,840 week. But wait a minute, let's just segue right away. We were 52 00:03:15,879 --> 00:03:19,599 talking about a Shaker Stevenson Frank Martin fight, and there may be an F 53 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,879 bomb coming here because it's not happening. It's it's not happening, So tell 54 00:03:22,879 --> 00:03:25,599 me what the latest is. Because Shakur is not fighting the Ghost, he's 55 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,599 fighting someone else. So before we get into the fight previews, what happened, 56 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,280 Well, no reason for FF bombs because either way it's a good it's 57 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,599 you know, it's the perfectly fine matchup. So as people who follow know 58 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:43,520 that the WBC title was vacant because you know, Devin Heeney was undisputed as 59 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,120 moving up to the one hundred forty pound weight class or the WBC made him 60 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,560 the quote unquote in recess Champion. The title became vacant. Chakar was number 61 00:03:50,599 --> 00:03:53,680 one contender, had won the eliminator, so we's supposed to fight the next 62 00:03:53,759 --> 00:03:58,000 leading available contender. So the guys who were in line for that, one 63 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,800 of them was Vasili Loma Chenko. One was Isaac pit Bull Cruise for they 64 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,520 are different reasons. They did not want to participate. Loma Chenko's taking the 65 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,560 rest of the year off fair enough, coming off his class to Haney close 66 00:04:08,639 --> 00:04:12,639 loss pit Bull Cruise, nothing specific, but I think most people think he's 67 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,000 in line to be in a rematch against Tank Davis. So anyway, as 68 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,240 they went down the ratings, the next guy to get to was after was 69 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:23,800 Frank Martin, And as we've talked about, they made a deal with Top 70 00:04:23,879 --> 00:04:26,800 Rank they were going to do the fight, and then after they had canceled 71 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,600 the purse bid and Top Rank and TGB were on an agreement on the event, 72 00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:33,079 Frank Martin withdrew from the fight, and you know, by all accounts 73 00:04:33,079 --> 00:04:36,040 it was over money, not on a top ranked TGB situation, but because 74 00:04:36,079 --> 00:04:42,759 of whatever whatever Top Rank was gonna pay to the other side to provide the 75 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,120 services of Frank Martin, they have to then make a deal with Frank Martin, 76 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:47,680 and they did not come to an agreement on what his cut of that 77 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,360 money would be, and so he's out of the fight. So they went 78 00:04:50,399 --> 00:04:54,319 down the line to the next available guy, which happens to be Edwin de 79 00:04:54,439 --> 00:04:57,399 Los Santos, who's a good fighter, been on a pretty good streak, 80 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,680 and they made that deal quickly. I am told it is signed, sealed 81 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,240 and delivered. He's also he works with PBC as well, although his official 82 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:09,639 promoter is Samson Lukewitz who does most of his business with PBC. And so 83 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,079 out with Frank Martin and with Edwin de Losantos six to one, half a 84 00:05:13,079 --> 00:05:15,720 dozen of the other. Frank Martin or Edwin de Losantos, both good fighters, 85 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,279 both good contenders, but of course Stevenson is going to be the favorite 86 00:05:19,319 --> 00:05:24,639 against either man by a pretty good amount at an event. The fight between 87 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,839 Stevenson and de los Santos will take place for that Vegan title. It will 88 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:31,240 headline an ESPN Top rank card. It will take place on November sixteenth, 89 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,480 which is a Thursday night in Las Vegas. And the reason people say why 90 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,279 a Thursday night because that's a massive, massive week for the city of Las 91 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,439 Vegas. On the nineteenth they are hosting the Formula one Las Vegas Grand Prix 92 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,519 for the first time, so it's a huge deal and there's gonna be zillions 93 00:05:46,519 --> 00:05:48,160 of people in town. I've heard, you know. I was talking to 94 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,639 one of the top ranked people about this just the other day and talking about 95 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,079 how crazy the room rates are in Vegas for you know, to get a 96 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,480 room there. It's like, well, it's insanity, It's absolutely nuts. 97 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:00,759 I mean, you know, on a slow Tuesday, you know, in 98 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,959 certain places in Veiggas you might be able to get a decent room for like 99 00:06:02,959 --> 00:06:05,560 you know, fifty nine dollars or something like that. They have rooms that 100 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:10,160 are like, you know, hitting thousands for because of this this race week, 101 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:15,800 in any event, that fight between Shakur and del Santos surprisingly is going 102 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,160 to take place. They haven't announced the fight yet, but my sources told 103 00:06:19,199 --> 00:06:23,040 me one hundred percent this fight is taking place at the T Mobile Arena, 104 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,639 And you say, wow, Tmole Arena. That's a big arena for big 105 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,839 fights. And I nothing wrong with Edwin de los Santos taken on Shakor for 106 00:06:29,879 --> 00:06:32,560 this belt. It's a perfectly fine fight. But I don't think anybody with 107 00:06:32,639 --> 00:06:35,560 a cursor and knowledge of the business or the sport would say that some kind 108 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,160 of megafight. So to have it in that kind of building was kind of 109 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,560 a shock. Now, I'm told the reason is because all the other then 110 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,720 use are filled up with other events because of this week, whether it's De 111 00:06:45,759 --> 00:06:48,680 Mandalay Bay, the Park, MGM, the MGM Grand you know, those 112 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:53,480 types of locations. Because they are going to do something with the MGM, 113 00:06:53,759 --> 00:06:56,800 one of their properties would be involved. So everything else was pretty much filled 114 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,399 and the big big arena was not filled. So they'll put it there. 115 00:06:59,439 --> 00:07:02,600 They'll you know, section off the top part of the arena, they'll small 116 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:08,000 you know, they'll scal it down and put on this weeknight fight. I'm 117 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,399 not sure what they're gonna draw, but the motto of mind is sh course 118 00:07:10,399 --> 00:07:14,959 Stevens on the way to win in another world that without you having elaborated about 119 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:16,480 all of that, the first thing I thought when you were saying this in 120 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,759 around the F one weekend is they'll have some built in sports fans F one 121 00:07:20,879 --> 00:07:25,199 fans, and a title fight is a title fight, and Shakur's got enough 122 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:30,040 of a name where this will probably attract a few thousand. Will it attract 123 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,360 like you said, twenty thousand, They know that no than likely won't. 124 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:38,319 Will it attract ten thousand? It possibly could, just because of the magnitude 125 00:07:38,319 --> 00:07:41,680 of that wee could maybe maybe not. You're poo poohing it and shaking your 126 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:43,480 head. But it's still got two weeks. I mean, if they want 127 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,360 to give them the build and well, maybe give them for a dollar. 128 00:07:46,439 --> 00:07:47,920 I mean, I'll put at you like this again. I have nothing against 129 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,959 the fight at all, and I'm pretty sure that Top Ring is going to 130 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,839 add some other world title fight to the show, which will beat it up 131 00:07:55,839 --> 00:07:58,920 a little bit more. But again, it's not a mega event from that 132 00:07:58,959 --> 00:08:01,360 standpoint. So there are very few fights in boxing that can draw that kind 133 00:08:01,399 --> 00:08:05,720 of crowd in this country, and I'm disappointed from the standpoint that it will 134 00:08:05,759 --> 00:08:09,480 bring to an end my streak, which is I have covered every single fight 135 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,399 of boxing matt in terms of not UFC, but in terms of boxing, 136 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,199 I have covered every single fight that's taken place at the Team Obile Arena since 137 00:08:16,199 --> 00:08:20,079 the building opened. I'll be there for the next one, which is the 138 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,759 Canelo Alvarez Charlot fight at the end of this month, and this one between 139 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:28,120 Shakur and day Los Santos will be the first Team Obile Arena boxing event that 140 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,959 I will not be there in person for. I'll be like everybody else and 141 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,080 I'll be sitting back and watching it on ESPN. But I look Rayfield I 142 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,840 don't want no part of that F one traffic because, again, I've talked 143 00:08:37,879 --> 00:08:39,919 to some people in Vegas. I talked to somebody earlier today as we released 144 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,440 the podcast that's going out there that doesn't live in Vegas, and they are 145 00:08:43,519 --> 00:08:50,840 prepared for traffic armageddon just because of what they have to physically block off around 146 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,320 the Strip and around the area. In terms and because keep in mind, 147 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,320 as as somebody that's a Vegas person pointed out to me, you have tens 148 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:03,360 of thousand the people that work in those facilities, and how are they going 149 00:09:03,399 --> 00:09:07,360 to get into those facilities when they can't drive to get in there? And 150 00:09:07,399 --> 00:09:11,120 we're talking about for a couple of weeks in and around the race, you 151 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:16,720 can't drive to work to go to work. And by the way, it's 152 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,399 not like New York City where you can get on a on a subway and 153 00:09:20,919 --> 00:09:24,759 then walk a couple of blocks. Las Vegas, even without the F one 154 00:09:24,919 --> 00:09:28,399 event, right, the traffic around the Strip is insane. I mean I've 155 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,480 been out there. I've been in Vegas, you know, a thousand times. 156 00:09:30,519 --> 00:09:31,840 I mean, it's it's a little crazy out there in terms of just 157 00:09:31,919 --> 00:09:35,200 I mean, they gotta figure, they gotta figure out like remote parking for 158 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,799 employees and shuttles, and how do we get the shuttles even into where they 159 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,440 have to go transportation. It's going to be a bit of a mess. 160 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,919 But look at the end of the day, they're gonna put the boxing match 161 00:09:46,919 --> 00:09:52,200 on and shakur is Uh is going to be involved in this world title fight. 162 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,279 Not opportunity for the young man to win the title in a third weeight 163 00:09:54,279 --> 00:09:58,759 division. He's already been a champion at featherweight, unified titles at junior lightweight 164 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,600 and for Dano Santos, and this is like a you know, it's a 165 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:03,600 gift because he got all these other guys ahead of him that turned it down. 166 00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:07,039 But he's on a pretty good stretch. He's sixteen and one with fourteen 167 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,679 knockouts, but he's got uh. You know, he's won three in a 168 00:10:09,799 --> 00:10:13,440 row since the one loss, which was a decision to another unbeaten fighter, 169 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,679 William Foster. But the thing is in those wins he's had since that defeats 170 00:10:18,799 --> 00:10:22,240 he's beaten. Two of the three wins have been against undefeated guys. One 171 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:28,480 was a very good knockout against Jose Valenzuela who was undefeated and a pretty good 172 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,320 up and coming guy on the PBC roster. That was, I guess considered 173 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,519 by most people an upset. That was on the back when Andy Ruiz and 174 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,159 Luis Ortiz had their pay per view fight back in September of last year. 175 00:10:39,399 --> 00:10:41,799 So he's been on a nice stretch. So hey, look he's a puncher 176 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,720 and he's got confidence, so it's it's a good matchup for for Shakor from 177 00:10:46,759 --> 00:10:50,360 that standpoint. And you know, Frank Martin didn't want to smoke for the 178 00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:52,440 career high paiday, you know, that's on him and I wish him good 179 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,480 luck in the future. We'll see what he ends up doing, all right, 180 00:10:56,519 --> 00:10:58,759 So a good bit of news to start us off. Let's get into 181 00:10:58,759 --> 00:11:01,240 the fight previews and again as we released the podcast, it is a Friday 182 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:07,000 night IBF featherweight title fight Luis Alberto Lopez, who when when last we saw 183 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:16,159 him very impressively pummeling Michael Conlin in Belfast in Northern Ireland for the easy knockout 184 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,000 win in defense of his championship. He will now fight veteran Joett Gonzalez. 185 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:26,360 There was a tinge Rayphael Thursday of concern because Gonzalez initially missed the featherweight limit 186 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,639 of one hundred and twenty six pounds, but only about four tents came back 187 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:35,080 and weighed in later. You've confirmed right before we started taping on Thursday afternoon. 188 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,919 Okay, we're all good because this scenario would have been correct, that 189 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,759 Gonzalez would have been allowed to fight, but not for the title because he 190 00:11:41,799 --> 00:11:46,080 didn't make the weight. Luis Alberto Lopez would have still had a title defense. 191 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,399 But now it's all good. He made the weight. And this is 192 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:56,879 interesting because again intriguing. Just from this standpoint, Luis Alberto Lopez won two 193 00:11:56,919 --> 00:12:01,639 important fights with Josh Warrington and Michael Colin in the UK. Now he's back 194 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:05,679 in the North American continent fighting in Corpus Christi, Texas in this title defense. 195 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:07,960 Pick it up from there. Yeah, I mean, he was the 196 00:12:09,039 --> 00:12:11,360 ultimate road war. He went not only to the other country, but he 197 00:12:11,399 --> 00:12:16,320 went to Leeds, England, which is Josh Warrington's hometown, and he won 198 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,159 a majority decision, which means, you know, he really won the fight. 199 00:12:18,919 --> 00:12:22,240 I watched that fight on his own. That was a pretty good fight 200 00:12:22,279 --> 00:12:26,480 and he you know, to me anyway, he clearly won and he kino 201 00:12:26,519 --> 00:12:28,360 he overcame some adversity in that fight. He had a caught from the headbot 202 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,320 very early in the fight. So for his first events, you know, 203 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:35,159 a lot of guys would get the soft touch, get the fight at home, 204 00:12:35,519 --> 00:12:39,919 you know, get get that kind of situation. And in this particular 205 00:12:39,919 --> 00:12:43,679 situation, for his first events, he had no he had no easy route. 206 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:48,840 He went in a mandatory went over to Belfast and fought again in Michael 207 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,639 Collin's hometown, not just in the UK, but like in the guy's backyard 208 00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:54,919 where he's a superstar and a very popular figure. And as you mentioned he 209 00:12:56,039 --> 00:12:58,039 does, he bludgeoned him, he knocked him on the fifth round. It 210 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:03,519 was a spectacular performance for uh Louis Alberto Lopez. And so you know he 211 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,759 said after the fight that for his first for his next defense, which would 212 00:13:07,759 --> 00:13:11,879 be a second defense, he wanted to be you know, not necessarily in 213 00:13:11,919 --> 00:13:13,159 Mexico, but you know, in front of a friendly year of crowd. 214 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,440 Let's say, well, you're not going to get friendly for a Mexican fighter 215 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,399 in the United States, and by going to Corpus Christi, Texas, which 216 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,000 is obviously a heavily Mexican area, but he is fighting another Mexican American Mexican 217 00:13:24,039 --> 00:13:30,320 American fighter and Joet Gonzalez great chin, good experience, good durability, great 218 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,279 stamina and a and just just a rough, tough, rugged guy. And 219 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,840 so you know it's it's a test, But I think you'd be less than 220 00:13:37,879 --> 00:13:41,200 honest if you said on paper anyway. You know, you never know how 221 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:43,480 the fight's gonna play out. But on paper, is it a tougher test 222 00:13:43,519 --> 00:13:46,240 in Warrington or Conlin? I think most people would say probably not. But 223 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,240 Joet Gonzalez is one of these guys who is always sturdy, always in the 224 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:54,360 fight. He's got the three losses, but check out who he's lost to. 225 00:13:54,879 --> 00:13:58,519 His first World championship fight back in twenty nineteen, he fought for a 226 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,720 vacant title against of Corsti Vincent. He never had a chance to win that. 227 00:14:01,759 --> 00:14:05,960 They had this big rivalry from something that happened between Shakore and Joett's sister, 228 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,159 and you know, they made a big thing about that. That was 229 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,840 like kind of a real kind of a grudge match, but also for the 230 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,360 title. And he got spanked in that fight. But you know, losing 231 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,519 a Shawar Stevenson by decision, no shame in that he bounced back. He 232 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,519 beat Mariaga, you know, who's become a stepping stone opponent, but also 233 00:14:20,759 --> 00:14:24,639 a tough dude and had fought for titles several times. He got that win, 234 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,600 and then he had the misfortune in another world title fight coming up against 235 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,080 Emmanuel Nevarette, which is never easy, you know, and we know the 236 00:14:31,159 --> 00:14:35,840 kind of power he has. He fought for that same WBO featherweight title once 237 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,080 again against Neverrette, and he lost a decision, but it was competitive. 238 00:14:39,399 --> 00:14:41,879 He went to distance with a guy that was known as a very good puncher 239 00:14:41,879 --> 00:14:43,440 in that weight class, you know, took a tough loss there, bounced 240 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:48,360 back with another win, and then came up against Isaac dog Bay in July 241 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,720 of last year and again very close fight, good fight, lost a split 242 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,519 decision in a ten rounder. So he's had some hard luck. He hasn't 243 00:14:56,559 --> 00:14:58,879 anytime he's had a he's got a chance to fight for titles. You'd go 244 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,759 against guys like Shakur Stevens and Immanuel Navarette, which are the opposite kind of 245 00:15:03,799 --> 00:15:07,000 styles to each other, but a hard way to go, and then you 246 00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:09,240 get I won't say he got ripped off, but it was a fight that 247 00:15:09,279 --> 00:15:11,360 probably could have gotten either way. He lost the decision to dog Bay and 248 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,799 again bounce back with a win earlier this year. And so now he's lined 249 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,759 up to fight Luis Alberto Lopez, and I'll say this will, I don't 250 00:15:18,759 --> 00:15:22,759 think he necessarily beats Lopez. If you're looking at the guys he's fighting in 251 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,519 title fights. If you said Warrington, Colin or Lopez. Style wise, 252 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,320 you know Lopez because it's not on the other guys home turf. Is maybe 253 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,960 a more winnable fight, still a hard fight, but more winnable. But 254 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,960 I look, here's one thing I'll say about that fight on Friday Night. 255 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,960 Whoever you think is gonna win, haven't watched lots of Alberto Lopez fights. 256 00:15:43,279 --> 00:15:46,919 Luis Alberto Lopez fights and also obviously several of the fights of Joey guns outs. 257 00:15:48,519 --> 00:15:50,639 I don't see any other way that it can be other than a highly 258 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,000 entertaining fight. Looking forward to big punches again for Luis Alberto Lopez. In 259 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,879 and around the Warrington decision, he had three previous knockouts. He's got four 260 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:03,000 knockouts in his last five fights. Let's see what this looks like as the 261 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,320 main event of the Top Rank show again. Friday Night. We brought up 262 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,799 the Shaker Stevenson fight later in Novembers of Thursday night. They're having to be 263 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,879 creative with scheduling some of these in and around college football on Saturday and Saturday 264 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,759 night in particular for them to be on ESPN. So this will be an 265 00:16:18,799 --> 00:16:25,159 entertaining Friday Night fight card. Four top rank and this Luis Alberto Lopez time 266 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:26,120 of fans at one hundred and twenty six pounds. Yes, sir, I 267 00:16:26,399 --> 00:16:30,200 would say I'm looking forward to some of these undercard to see some of the 268 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,320 guys on the undercard. So Xander's eyas we all know, is one of 269 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,440 the better prospects out there, one hundred fifty four pounder, undefeated, taken 270 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,600 on the tough dude Roberto Valezuela. He's in the co feature. Always like 271 00:16:37,679 --> 00:16:44,039 watching Xander's eyas. He's excited about that because you know, Xanders is Puerto 272 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,200 Rican by his background, and you know, and embraces that can't you know, 273 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:49,639 loves fighting in New York. Can't wait to become a main event type 274 00:16:49,639 --> 00:16:53,039 of guy at Madison Square Garden. But he's very excited because he's taking on 275 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,080 an opponent who was Mexican. So he's like, I'm going to fight as 276 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,960 a Puerto Rican in a in a Mexican heavy area against the Mexican and so 277 00:17:02,039 --> 00:17:03,960 that's got him pumped up for like one of his first like I won't call 278 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,559 it high profile, but it is televised, so it's higher profile than before 279 00:17:08,039 --> 00:17:11,279 for his first one against the Mexican opponents. So he's kind of excited about 280 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:14,799 that. And you know, on the undercard, he got Emiliano Vargas, 281 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,759 the excellent prospect, the son of Fernando Vargas, Tiger Johnson, the Olympian 282 00:17:18,759 --> 00:17:22,720 who's been making his way up the rankings. Ay, look good, you 283 00:17:22,799 --> 00:17:26,640 got Reuben Villa, who you know, actually had a fight of you know, 284 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:33,400 he's a tremendous talented technician as a featherweight contender. Uh, he actually 285 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,480 has a win over Jose Over I'm sorry, against Louis Alberto Lopez back in 286 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,160 twenty nineteen that on that night. You look at that match and like he 287 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,920 can't imagine that Lopez was going to go on to become, you know, 288 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,519 arguably the number one featherweight in the sport right now. So Ruben Villa, 289 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:49,440 Uh, he's now with top ranking. You know he's he's gonna probably get 290 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,039 a title shot at some point too. I wouldn't count out the possiblity they 291 00:17:53,079 --> 00:17:56,839 rematch down the road. So that's a guy to keep an eye on on 292 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,559 this undercard, so you know them, and then so I should. I 293 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:07,119 also mentioned Jamaine Ortiz, who's another top lightweight contender, gave gave Lomachenko like 294 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,599 super tough fight and really what was his kind of coming out party. He's 295 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,559 now co promoted by top Ranks. So you know, we always talk about 296 00:18:12,559 --> 00:18:17,599 the main card the top fights, but you know, not to say that 297 00:18:17,599 --> 00:18:21,960 these are all like huge matchups, but there's a lot of talented guys who 298 00:18:22,039 --> 00:18:25,880 are going to be in other significant, more significant fights that are boxing on 299 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,240 this undercard that will eventually we'll see in these bigger fights, Like you will 300 00:18:29,279 --> 00:18:32,799 see Ruben Villa in a bigger fight in the not Toudism future. You will 301 00:18:32,839 --> 00:18:37,160 see Jermaine Ortiz in a bigger fight. You will see Zander's eyes at some 302 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,079 point headlining these types of shows. Good enough. By the way, I 303 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,960 was negligent earlier in the podcast because I did not mention We've got an interview 304 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,880 with Dan with Hazu's Ramos that is coming up here in a little bit. 305 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:53,519 Don't go anywhere. Ramos again against ericson Lubin on the undercard of Canelo and 306 00:18:53,599 --> 00:18:57,319 Chero. I got so excited about you talking about Canello and Charlo and F 307 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:02,559 one in Vegas and sur Stevenson out there F one weekend in Vegas. I 308 00:19:02,599 --> 00:19:04,599 forgot. We got Jesus Ramos coming up. Forgive me. You'll get with 309 00:19:04,799 --> 00:19:07,799 him in a few minutes. On all of these F one mentions do not 310 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,279 count as F bumps. They do not. That's correct, because you often 311 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,160 like to say a word that starts with F and ends with K and it's 312 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,799 not firetruck, and you haven't said one yet, and I'm proud of you 313 00:19:17,839 --> 00:19:21,880 for it to this. I'm pretty I can tell he's smiling. I can 314 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,599 tell on video. We're good. Let's see if I make him crotraty before 315 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,200 the end of the show. Let's move on, shall we. By the 316 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:33,119 way, we'll pick this fight the Lopez main event with Joet Gonzalez on the 317 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,440 bet Us Show. First mention of that Friday one Eastern time, when you 318 00:19:36,559 --> 00:19:38,400 not have the bet Us Show a week ago, the live Handicapping show, 319 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,519 because again Rayfield and I are good. But if you don't have prominent fights 320 00:19:41,519 --> 00:19:45,119 to handicap, we're not able to handicap. So well, we're gonna do 321 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,880 some of that. A Lopez is an eight and a half to one favorite. 322 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,680 By the way, my friend in the fight. Maybe that surprises you 323 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,480 that it's not more, but he's an eight and a half to one favorite 324 00:19:53,519 --> 00:19:59,279 over the veteran Joet Gonzalez will handicap and predict that fight coming on Friday. 325 00:19:59,519 --> 00:20:03,960 Moving we're just Saturday in the preview mode before we get to Jesus Ramo's coming 326 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,519 up in a few minutes. The Golden Boy to Zone show commerce California. 327 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,799 Unbeaten lightweight contender williams Zapeta, not to be confused with Jose Zapeta who's fighting 328 00:20:12,799 --> 00:20:19,319 next week, is williams Apeta, the lightweight headlining against Marcito Hesta. This 329 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:25,319 will be a non title lightweight fight, but Zapeta the lightweight on the rise 330 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,160 and he's got a lot of knockouts as well. Give me more in the 331 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:32,000 preview mode for this Saturday night to Zone show, Well, William Zapeta, 332 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:33,640 in my mind, is one of the more entertaining fighters to watch He's a 333 00:20:34,279 --> 00:20:37,240 Mexican fighter that comes forward, that throws a ton of punches. He's got 334 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,079 a lot of knockouts. Excuse me, like you mentioned twenty four knockouts out 335 00:20:41,079 --> 00:20:45,640 of his twenty eight wins. He's undefeated and Golden Boy's bringing him along. 336 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,799 And you know, we talk about the lightweight division a lot, and everybody 337 00:20:48,839 --> 00:20:51,599 brings up you know Tiney who now was on his way up in weight, 338 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,319 but you talk about Shakor who has just gone to the weight You talk about 339 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,599 whether it's a Frank Martin or Vessel Lomachenko. You know, there's there's a 340 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,680 lot of quality guys in the weight class and for a long time, you 341 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,960 know, Travata Davis is there. We talked about Ryan Garcia even though he's 342 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,960 really now one forty. But in and around that weight class there's been a 343 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:08,720 lot of big names. A lot of people don't really mention Williams, a 344 00:21:08,759 --> 00:21:11,359 Beata who's kind of like the dark horse around. He doesn't get a lot 345 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,440 of attention, but he's a very good fighter and he probably could hang with 346 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,279 a lot of those guys to certainly make exciting fights with those guys. So 347 00:21:18,319 --> 00:21:21,319 he's being featured in this main event on the The Zone card. Now in 348 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:26,599 the WBC rankings, he was also highly rated when they were making them making 349 00:21:26,599 --> 00:21:30,160 the vacant title fight with the Shakor Is involved. Then he already had this 350 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,119 fight scheduled and I guess technically speaking, was unavailable and they weren't going to 351 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,640 cancel this event to take on a fight with Shakor on you know, somewhat 352 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,519 short notice. So that's why he was not involved in the possibility of that 353 00:21:41,559 --> 00:21:45,200 fight. But he is, with a win against Mercito Hesta on Saturday, 354 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,440 is going to be right there near the top of those WBC lightweight rankings as 355 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,359 they continue to line him up for an eventual title fight. So I mean, 356 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,680 he's the big favorite against Hesta. Hesta is one of these like veteran 357 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,480 guys who when he has stepped up to fight the best guys, he's lost. 358 00:22:00,519 --> 00:22:03,559 He's got three losses, three draws. Filipino fighter. Back earlier in 359 00:22:03,599 --> 00:22:06,519 his career, a lot of people thought he was going to be the next 360 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,799 Filipino world champion. Didn't quite work out that way. I've never really been 361 00:22:10,799 --> 00:22:11,519 that high on the guy, but you know, he can fight a bit. 362 00:22:11,559 --> 00:22:15,480 I'm not like knocking him. But he's never really made like a huge 363 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,319 impression on me. You know. He did fight for a title against Miguel 364 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:22,200 Vasquez back like ten eleven years ago and loss of decision when Vasquez had one 365 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,480 of the lightweight titles. He fought Joy Lenares. That was another one of 366 00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:29,960 his of the bigger names. They fought, loss of decision to him. 367 00:22:30,559 --> 00:22:33,319 Gave him a solid fight, but was not really that close on the cards. 368 00:22:33,759 --> 00:22:37,920 He's just one of those guys that you know, he I guess his 369 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,160 biggest win was he has a victory, and probably what helped him get this 370 00:22:41,279 --> 00:22:44,599 fight was he did have an upset in his last fight, which is earlier 371 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,559 this year against Joe Joe Diaz, and they fought and again another fight where 372 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,519 Jojo Diaz once again did not make the weight. They you know, Hessa 373 00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:55,160 has never really had that issue. He he came in, you know, 374 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:56,680 they'd put a few pounds on him just to make sure that the fight would 375 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,880 go forward. And he beat Joe beat u Jojo Diz and he preat him 376 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,359 pretty handily, so that put him into the position for this fight. But 377 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,960 he's an old veteran, knows all the tricks, you know, to me, 378 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:11,039 the only question it's not it's not whether Zepeta will win necessarily. To 379 00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:12,680 me, what I'm looking for is can the pay to get a knockout against 380 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:18,720 a Mercido Hesta who's got the three losses but only been stopped one time and 381 00:23:18,759 --> 00:23:22,680 you gotta go, you know, through his record and even though it was 382 00:23:22,759 --> 00:23:26,160 you know, back in twenty nineteen, those other losses were decisions against quality 383 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,480 guys and he didn't get knocked out. He was on the rope standing up. 384 00:23:29,519 --> 00:23:32,160 So to me, the question is, can the big cuncher, Williams 385 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:37,200 Zepeda get a knockout, you know, against Hesta and h and not only 386 00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:41,400 keep himself in position to fight for a lightweight title, but to make fans 387 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,480 want to see him fight for a lightweight title. That's the key. Can 388 00:23:44,519 --> 00:23:48,039 you can you get some of that buzz going where you're like now people talk 389 00:23:48,079 --> 00:23:52,279 about you also when they mentioned the other top lightweights out there, Zapeta is 390 00:23:52,319 --> 00:23:53,960 a sixteen and a half to one favorite, by the way, on the 391 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,359 bet Us line. To your point, the over under his six and a 392 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,400 half rounds, which means the odds makers think there's a good chance of a 393 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,960 knockout. Obviously here and when might that knockout come? We'll see. So 394 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,119 that again is the Golden boy de Zone card serday. Is there anything else 395 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:11,720 of note that you want to go on that card or shall we move on? 396 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,119 Well, as far as that goes, I can't say that it's got 397 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,799 as much name talent, let's say, as what we talked about on the 398 00:24:18,839 --> 00:24:22,960 top right card. But they do have uh the women's uh the women's champion, 399 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,720 unified champion in the strawweight division, h Yo Costa Vayer. She is 400 00:24:26,759 --> 00:24:32,240 defending her title, so that that may be something to pay attention to if 401 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:37,480 if the you know, women's boxing matches are your thing, especially in those 402 00:24:37,519 --> 00:24:41,599 little small weight classes. So she again she's on that card. She is 403 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,240 one of the better women boxers out there, so that that's something to pay 404 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,720 attention to. The I'm the Also on the end of card, they have 405 00:24:47,759 --> 00:24:49,599 this young fighter that that Golden Boys signed not that long ago, has been 406 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,319 an exciting fighter. He's only ten to know. He's a middleway named Eric 407 00:24:52,319 --> 00:24:56,359 Priest. He's somebody to pay attention. He's got a fight on this show. 408 00:24:56,759 --> 00:25:00,279 Uh, you know, parismatic, good puncher, exciting, So a 409 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,160 guy that's another name, maybe to pay attention he's on the I think he's 410 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,240 the opening fight of the main card. But mainly what you're looking for us 411 00:25:07,279 --> 00:25:11,079 to see what can go on between Zebeta and Hesta. Fair enough, Okay, 412 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,119 we move on and again we're gonna be able to talk a little more 413 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:21,039 about this on Sunday as we release the podcast. We might as well touch 414 00:25:21,079 --> 00:25:22,000 on it a little bit here. We'll touch it on the vet US show 415 00:25:22,039 --> 00:25:26,039 because the fight is not until the fights, the dueling title fights are not 416 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:33,039 until Monday night in Japan Monday morning US time, a championship doubleheader. Kenshiro 417 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:41,279 Taraji is in a unified junior flyweight title fight, and then also Junto Nakatani 418 00:25:41,519 --> 00:25:45,759 is in a junior bandomweight title fight. Again, these are in Japan for 419 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,240 Monday night. We'll touch on them a little bit here. ESPN Plus will 420 00:25:49,279 --> 00:25:53,400 show it early Monday morning in the United States depending on your time zone. 421 00:25:53,599 --> 00:25:57,000 Just touch on it here. We can touch on it again on the recap 422 00:25:57,039 --> 00:26:00,680 because the fights will not have happened yet, but ch on a year as 423 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,640 well. Well. I'll start with the co feature, which is Na Katani. 424 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:08,599 He is the Japanese Both champions are Japanese fighters. Nakatani, if you 425 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,559 remember back in May fighting for the vacant heat. You know, he had 426 00:26:12,599 --> 00:26:17,880 been a champion in the flyweight division. He vacated that title. He moved 427 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:23,440 up to the junior banomweight division and he scored a titanic massive knockout against Andrew 428 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,839 Maloney. That was, in my mind, that's probably the leader in the 429 00:26:26,839 --> 00:26:30,559 clubhouse for knockout of there right now. That was back in May. That 430 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,720 was the Remember when ESPN did the Devin Hainey Lomachenko pay per view, they 431 00:26:34,799 --> 00:26:38,759 put that fight on ESPN the network prior to the pay per view to sort 432 00:26:38,759 --> 00:26:41,720 of give people a taste that easily could have been on the pay per view, 433 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:47,200 but they put it. They gave Nakatani the exposure on the main network, 434 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,680 and as I recall, he was dominating, He was dominating Maloney. 435 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,640 They let the fight go on. They let the fight go on, and 436 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,559 then it was a brutal one punch knockout. And we're fortunate, they're fortunate, 437 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,759 the commission, the doctors, everybody involved that Maloney wasn't more seriously hurt 438 00:27:00,759 --> 00:27:03,880 because you're right, we stared him. He started him coming in and it 439 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,720 was scaredy for a couple of seconds, no exaggeration. You know. He 440 00:27:06,839 --> 00:27:08,480 dropped Maloney in the round in round two, we dropped him again in round 441 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,960 eleven, which is probably when it should have been stopped. And then he 442 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,640 knocked him out badly in the twelfth round. And Maloney, by the way, 443 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,880 if you ever met that net ever met him or his brother Jason, 444 00:27:18,279 --> 00:27:22,640 just very nice, humble, very likable, just guys you want to root 445 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:23,720 for. And so to see him go down like that, that was rough. 446 00:27:23,759 --> 00:27:26,480 I mean, Nakatani is the truth, you know what I'm saying. 447 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,920 He may be right now, all due respect to Taraji, he might be 448 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,839 the best fighter in Japan. And as a as my good buddy Cliff rolled 449 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,720 from boxing scene said to me, we were at the Showtime card not that 450 00:27:37,799 --> 00:27:41,680 long ago, in at the National Harbor watching a band Amway title fight. 451 00:27:42,039 --> 00:27:45,880 He was making the point that the best band Away in the world might be 452 00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:48,279 Nakatani, even though he's fighting at junior Bandamwait, so he's a bad boy 453 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,319 and he's in this this fight. This is going to be his first title 454 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:56,079 defense. He's fighting a Mexican fighter, Argue Cortez. Now argue Cortez is 455 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,240 like, that's a pretty solid type of guy. For the first defense, 456 00:27:59,319 --> 00:28:03,559 Cortez, if you remember, it wasn't that long ago in September of last 457 00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:07,359 year, where in a fight where he had no expectations and even though he 458 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,599 lost a decision and got knocked down one time, he gave Juan Francisco Astrada 459 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,880 the fight of his life. I mean it was a really really tough fight 460 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:21,599 Astrada gave him. You know, he gave a Strata pretty much life and 461 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:23,319 death if he asked me so. And now you know, and the Strada 462 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,000 was the lineal champion in the way class at that time. Went on to 463 00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:30,000 have the third victory, the third fight against not the third victory, but 464 00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:33,039 the third fight against Chocolate Tieo Gonzalez, which he ended up winning on a 465 00:28:33,079 --> 00:28:37,039 close call. But so argue Cortez, you know, is a is a 466 00:28:37,039 --> 00:28:38,960 pretty solid contender with a good chin. And to me, we'll see if 467 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,279 Knockatani can score another big knockout. But he's he's a very very exciting fighter 468 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,519 for my money, probably the best in Japan other than Taraji. Perhaps you 469 00:28:48,519 --> 00:28:52,160 could even say he's editor Agi. Now the main event with Taraji, this 470 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,160 is the real legit one hundred and eight pound champion. Now in his fight 471 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,319 that took place November of last year, was for the number one status they've 472 00:28:59,359 --> 00:29:02,359 got the Ring Back Zazine Championship gout if you pay attention to that. It 473 00:29:02,519 --> 00:29:06,960 was a unification fight for the WB and the WBC. And what was interesting 474 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:08,799 is, you know, you don't see in the history of boxing a lot 475 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,319 of times when there are unification fights where it pits a Japanese fighter against another 476 00:29:12,359 --> 00:29:15,880 Japanese fighter, So this was sort of an unusual fight where he met up 477 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:21,359 with Hiroto Kayagucci, who was also a very exciting smaller weight fighter that had 478 00:29:21,359 --> 00:29:23,480 been on a good run. And I think most people, if you were 479 00:29:23,519 --> 00:29:26,319 diehards like I am, thought, wow, this is a really great matchup, 480 00:29:26,319 --> 00:29:29,759 going to be really competitive, should be a hell of a fight. 481 00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:33,400 Well it turned out that it was completely one sided and Taragi kicked his ass 482 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,319 and as then since defended the title in April of this year. Now he's 483 00:29:37,319 --> 00:29:41,359 taking on Hecky Butler, who's a very accomplished fighter from South Africa, been 484 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,440 a champion in the smaller weights, also very good reputation, and so it's 485 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,119 not they're not matching him up with a nobody. Heck, he's got four 486 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,039 losses, he's only got one knockout loss. Maybe a little bit older, 487 00:29:52,079 --> 00:29:56,279 but he's he's fought. He also lost the fight by the one stoppage was 488 00:29:56,279 --> 00:30:00,440 against Kayagucci. But he's won like three fights in a row. You know, 489 00:30:00,759 --> 00:30:03,359 I'm like a dork for thus some of these small weight fighters I'll fight. 490 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,920 So for me, this is like heaven because it's it's the smaller weights, 491 00:30:08,319 --> 00:30:11,119 and it's one of those cards in Japan which I love because they always 492 00:30:11,119 --> 00:30:15,759 have, you know, great theatrics and and good crowds and generally speaking, 493 00:30:15,799 --> 00:30:19,720 their action fights. Absolutely, their action fights and we see big punches and 494 00:30:19,799 --> 00:30:22,720 knockouts a lot of the time. So yeah, and Bubber's a real guy. 495 00:30:22,799 --> 00:30:26,799 I mean he's not This is not a this is not like a no 496 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:27,880 pount kind of fight. I mean, Butler has been in with a lot 497 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,960 of good guys. I mean, he's you know, he's been a unified 498 00:30:32,039 --> 00:30:34,720 champion in one hundred eight pound weight class not that long ago, and so 499 00:30:34,759 --> 00:30:38,039 this is a great opportunity for him. But Taragi, you know, I 500 00:30:38,079 --> 00:30:42,160 think if you were making a pound for poundless now, I personally don't know 501 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:47,079 if I have him in my top ten, maybe right outside the top ten, 502 00:30:47,119 --> 00:30:48,680 but if you told me you had him in your top ten, you 503 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,720 know, in the lower portion, I would like, you know, I 504 00:30:51,759 --> 00:30:55,400 can respect that. That is not a ridiculous thing. This guy's only got 505 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,680 one loss to a good fighter who we avenged, uh, you know, 506 00:30:57,839 --> 00:31:00,400 to get that win back, and he did it by a knockout. And 507 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,480 he's been just going along. He's like old man River and he's he's been 508 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,960 winning fights and he's been you know, defending the title regularly, staying active, 509 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,640 fighting, you know, for those weight classes, the better fighters around. 510 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,599 I mean, he's got you know, if you if you follow those 511 00:31:14,599 --> 00:31:17,960 weight divisions, you heard of his opponents. So this is a good test, 512 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:19,599 you know, and he's the real champ in that division. So I'm 513 00:31:19,599 --> 00:31:23,160 all geeked up for that card again. That will be Monday morning, US 514 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:27,240 time, Monday night in Japan for that championship doubleheader on ESPN Plus. And 515 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,920 we'll touch on that again when we come off the weekend with the Fight Freaks 516 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,000 Unit recap. Just before they will have that, you know a few hours 517 00:31:36,079 --> 00:31:37,640 later after we do our recap, they'll have that fight card all right, 518 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:45,039 without further delay. He's part of the Canello Jemel Charlo upcoming undisputed super middleweight 519 00:31:45,079 --> 00:31:51,039 title pay per view. He is a fascinating, young talented fighter. He 520 00:31:51,119 --> 00:31:55,880 is Jesu's Ramos and here he is now one on one with the mighty one. 521 00:31:56,519 --> 00:31:59,480 I'd like to welcome to the podcast. This week, it's the young 522 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,799 jew your middleweight contender prospect. We'll discuss what he thinks he is. It's 523 00:32:02,839 --> 00:32:07,400 Hazewis Ramos, Hazus Ramos, welcome to the show. Thank you very much 524 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,720 for doing this now, thank you guys. I appreciate you for having it. 525 00:32:10,039 --> 00:32:14,400 My pleasure. So we're here to talk about your big opportunity. You're 526 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,920 in a big spot Canelo Alvarez and Jamel Charlot. They'll fight for the undisputed 527 00:32:19,079 --> 00:32:22,720 super middleweight championship on September thirtieth at the Team Mobile Arena on Showtime pay per 528 00:32:22,799 --> 00:32:27,480 view. You are in the plumb spot of the co feature in what I 529 00:32:27,519 --> 00:32:30,480 think most boxing fans thinks, the tremendous matchup between yourself and Ericson Lubin. 530 00:32:31,119 --> 00:32:34,559 Ericson's been around a bitty spot for world title. You're are still on the 531 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,319 rise at age twenty two, twenty and zero with sixteen knockouts, And my 532 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,359 first question for you is what is it? How does it make you feel 533 00:32:40,839 --> 00:32:45,440 when you have the folks at PBC and everybody involved. Canello of course has 534 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:50,440 a say so over his events that they put you in this plumb spot of 535 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,799 the co feature of one of the biggest fights of the year. It's truly 536 00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:58,640 an under man, you know, I feel a two honored and as well 537 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:00,400 as it's a huge responsibility. You know, it's something that I had to 538 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:07,240 take really seriously, and that's why I've been no working, working really hard 539 00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:09,559 for this. You know, I've I've taken this but really seriously, you 540 00:33:09,599 --> 00:33:13,440 know, as I do with all my fights. Like I said, it's 541 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,799 a it's a big responsibility and I have to go in there one hundred percent 542 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:21,519 and perform I'm at very best, So I cannot, you know, keep 543 00:33:21,599 --> 00:33:27,400 keep earning these type of uh stages in these events. Well, you were 544 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,480 supposed to be in this exact same situation in the co feature back on July 545 00:33:30,559 --> 00:33:35,160 twenty ninth, when Errol Spence and Terrence Crawford had their big, huge fight. 546 00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:37,920 You were supposed to fight against Sergio Garcia, you suffered a hand injury 547 00:33:38,079 --> 00:33:42,000 about two weeks before the fighting, had to withdraw from the fight. Obviously 548 00:33:42,039 --> 00:33:45,079 you couldn't fight that at night. So the question is number one, how 549 00:33:45,119 --> 00:33:46,519 is your hand now? Everything is good and healthy going into this fight. 550 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:51,519 Yeah, yeah, everything is good. Training camp has been smooth, you 551 00:33:51,559 --> 00:33:53,480 know, no no problems with the hand anymore. And so then what does 552 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:58,680 it say because in addition to this spot, the one you were supposed to 553 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:01,279 be on in July Crawford Spence, if you go back to earlier this year 554 00:34:01,319 --> 00:34:06,680 in March once again on a big Showtime pay per view card when David Benavidi's 555 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,519 and Kayla Plant had their significant fight, you were also in the co feature 556 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:14,360 and gotta I gotta win on that card against Joey Spencer by knockout. So 557 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:20,320 what does it say to you that they keep putting you in these wonderful positions, 558 00:34:20,599 --> 00:34:23,119 you know, whereas a tremendous amount of exposure on these gigantic cards that 559 00:34:23,119 --> 00:34:27,920 they're doing. Yeah, you know, just it's just thanks to me, 560 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,960 how much, how much they believe in me. You know, I have 561 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:31,679 a great team behind me. They believe in me, and they're getting I 562 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:36,840 feel like They're getting me ready for the biggest stages. Hopefully one day I'm 563 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,239 headlining the main events in pay per view cards and I'll be more than ready. 564 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:45,719 You know, fighting fighting on these type of events is is. It's 565 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,440 not easy, you know, I had to learn. You know, my 566 00:34:49,559 --> 00:34:52,960 first couple of times, I was nervous. It was a lot going on. 567 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,639 But I'm getting the hang of it, and I'm getting better at everything, 568 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:59,239 you know. So, like I said, thank you, thank you 569 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,199 to everybody in the p is He family, you know, devolved, I 570 00:35:01,199 --> 00:35:06,239 feel like my career has been has been taken care of the right weight. 571 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,480 Well, one thing about it is, uh, you have already fought some 572 00:35:09,519 --> 00:35:13,559 good quality opponents and you keep kind of moving up the ladder. You're twenty 573 00:35:13,559 --> 00:35:15,920 two, I mentioned, I said, you're a young contender, a prospect. 574 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:19,840 Do you consider yourself at this moment a contender or do you still feel 575 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,400 like, you know, you haven't got that type of win just yet. 576 00:35:22,519 --> 00:35:24,480 Although I win against Luban, I think most people would then say, you 577 00:35:24,519 --> 00:35:28,360 know what, this kid's not just a prospect. He just beat a really 578 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,360 quality guy and he is a contender. But how do you view yourself going 579 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:34,559 into the fight yeah, I feel like I'm a contender. You know, 580 00:35:34,639 --> 00:35:38,719 I feel like I'm past the prospect stage. But you know, with the 581 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:42,760 win over Lubin, I think it would solidify that. So do you got 582 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,719 to keep winning and keep moving up up that ladder. Well, Luban has, 583 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:47,079 uh, you know, he's got a couple of losses. He lost 584 00:35:47,079 --> 00:35:51,000 to Charlot in one hundred fifty four pound world title fight. He was very 585 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,000 young and just got caught in round one. He had a tremendous fight of 586 00:35:53,039 --> 00:35:58,480 the Year candidate back and forth against Fandora. Uh, that was, you 587 00:35:58,519 --> 00:36:00,079 know, just a great battle. That was his only other loss. But 588 00:36:00,119 --> 00:36:04,400 he's also beating some good fighters. So for him, this is obviously he's 589 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,760 taken on a young, younger guy on the rise. You know, he's 590 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,039 trying to maintain his position. What does it Luban bring to the table for 591 00:36:10,039 --> 00:36:13,559 you, Like, what does a win against him mean? In your mind? 592 00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:17,360 It means, you know, I'm solidifying my spot in the top. 593 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:22,559 But no, the rest of the guys, there's there's not a lot of 594 00:36:22,639 --> 00:36:24,719 names after Lupin. You know, there's Tim Zoo, Bay, Mendoza, 595 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:30,360 Charlo, But like I said, after after Lubin, you know, there's 596 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:37,000 not a lot of guys, so what are your I'd be positioning myself at 597 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,840 the top of these guys, and uh, that's that's how that that one. 598 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:44,280 You know, keep keep keep burning my spot at the top until they 599 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,400 get that world title shot. So then what what are your thoughts about Luban? 600 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,800 You know, because I think people watch you, you make very entertaining 601 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:52,840 fights. Luban has done the same. How do you think the fight goes? 602 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,599 And just what are your thoughts about what Erickson brings to the to the 603 00:36:55,639 --> 00:36:59,559 table that will help you get better. He's just trying to fight it. 604 00:36:59,639 --> 00:37:00,840 He's, like you said, he's got a lot of experience. He's been 605 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:06,079 there, So I feel like all that's gonna you know, it's gonna bring 606 00:37:06,119 --> 00:37:07,719 something out of me. I'm gonna have two and he's got his strong worlds 607 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:10,519 as well. You know, he's not gonna la laid back and lay down, 608 00:37:10,519 --> 00:37:14,719 you know, with with one shot. He's gonna keep coming. So 609 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,079 I'm not to take you round by round trying to break his will round by 610 00:37:20,159 --> 00:37:22,280 round, try to get him out of there. And like I said, 611 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:27,480 that's all gonna give me experience. He's gonna help me you know, in 612 00:37:27,519 --> 00:37:30,119 the future and that and he's a different style than what I faced before. 613 00:37:30,199 --> 00:37:35,360 So all that helps, you know, all the helps become a complete fighter, 614 00:37:36,119 --> 00:37:38,079 more experienced fighter, and more mature fighter as well. So let me 615 00:37:38,119 --> 00:37:42,480 just ask you one more question than about that you mentioned before, about the 616 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:45,000 other fighters in the way class. You mentioned Brian Mendoza, who's got one 617 00:37:45,039 --> 00:37:49,760 of the interim titles. Now in twenty twenty one, you beat him, 618 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,880 and you know you did it pretty handily. He went on to beat Fondora. 619 00:37:52,199 --> 00:37:55,320 Now he's the one getting a title shot against Tim Zoo. They'll fight 620 00:37:55,639 --> 00:38:00,840 later, you know, in the next month or two. So you already 621 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:02,480 beat a guy like that. If you get a win against Lubin. You 622 00:38:02,599 --> 00:38:06,519 just knocked out Joey Spencer earlier of the year, who was an undefeated fighter 623 00:38:06,519 --> 00:38:09,280 that people, some people consider like a really good prospect. Do you feel 624 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:12,800 like a victory over Lubin should put you right there? I know you said 625 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,519 you feel like you're a contender, but you know, does that put you 626 00:38:15,639 --> 00:38:17,639 on the doorstep all fighting for a title, whether it's Charlotte coming back to 627 00:38:17,639 --> 00:38:22,679 the weight class, or it's Tim Zoo after that, or somebody else that 628 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,519 may pick up a title that Charlot may eventually vacate. Yeah, definitely. 629 00:38:27,079 --> 00:38:30,760 I feel like all that, all these fights have I've been earning my spot, 630 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,199 you know, Like I said, that's the main thing. I just 631 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,480 want to earn that that title show when time comes, you know, I 632 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:39,519 don't want anything given. I want to earn it by beating these guys, 633 00:38:39,559 --> 00:38:44,519 you know, having having the having a great resume with great names, and 634 00:38:45,519 --> 00:38:47,119 that's what That's the path that I'm on right now. I got just one 635 00:38:47,119 --> 00:38:51,079 more question for it and then we'll wrap it up. How big has it 636 00:38:51,119 --> 00:38:53,119 been for your development that you come from a boxing family. Your your uncle 637 00:38:53,159 --> 00:38:57,599 Abbo has been an excellent welterweight contender for several years, spot for a title 638 00:38:57,599 --> 00:39:00,599 against Ugas who's also on this card, and so you've been around it pretty 639 00:39:00,679 --> 00:39:04,119 much your whole life is it's just sort of like what the family does. 640 00:39:04,559 --> 00:39:07,119 Like, has that been a big part of your development coming from that type 641 00:39:07,119 --> 00:39:10,519 of background. Yeah, most definitely. Man coming from from background like that 642 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:15,639 able being you know in the gym with me all the time, having that 643 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:17,400 experience, you know, it just it just helps out so much more. 644 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:22,639 You know, my father in my corner and you know it just it helps 645 00:39:22,639 --> 00:39:24,800 a lot. Like you said, in in my family, I feel like 646 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:29,960 we're all very calm, we're all very humble, and that that helped me 647 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:34,159 stay humble. That helped me keep my feet on the ground and just keep 648 00:39:34,159 --> 00:39:37,119 working hard man, just by biting down and working hard every day. Well, 649 00:39:37,159 --> 00:39:40,360 I appreciate that, Jesus. And I'll tell you when people heard, 650 00:39:40,559 --> 00:39:45,440 they were excited about Charlo and Canello, and I got a lot of reactions 651 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,559 when they heard that the co feature was going to be Hayess Ramos taken on 652 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,880 Erson Luban. So I think a lot of people are excited for this fight. 653 00:39:51,119 --> 00:39:52,840 I wish you the best of luck in the fight, and I thank 654 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:54,519 you very much for doing this with me today. Thank you. I appreciate 655 00:39:54,519 --> 00:39:59,079 your time, so good luck. Looking forward to that young man. And 656 00:39:59,079 --> 00:40:01,639 I don't think I mentioned this yet, but you also talk with ericson Lubin 657 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:07,480 here just recently, and you will we will play that interview on the Fight 658 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,719 Freaks United recap. You're gonna get both sides of that fight of Ramos and 659 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:15,079 Luban here from ericson Lubin coming up on Sunday. And also you have spoken 660 00:40:15,199 --> 00:40:22,039 recently with Canelo Alvarez. Will have that for you next week on the on 661 00:40:22,079 --> 00:40:25,320 the Big Fight weekend preview in advance of that September thirtieth card. You're all 662 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:30,519 over that card with the interviews. And just one more time about Ramos. 663 00:40:30,599 --> 00:40:32,519 I know this is this is a big moment for him on a on a 664 00:40:34,039 --> 00:40:37,039 big stage. There is you interviewed, Oh no doubt. I mean, 665 00:40:37,079 --> 00:40:39,039 first of all, the matchup itself is fantastic. I mean it may not 666 00:40:39,079 --> 00:40:42,400 be for a big world title, but when you talk about giving a pay 667 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:46,639 per view depth, and anybody that has followed my opinions or read my stories 668 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:51,079 or columns for years knows that there are times, many times where I can 669 00:40:51,079 --> 00:40:55,960 be extremely critical of pay per view undercards not delivering any value for your money. 670 00:40:57,639 --> 00:41:00,039 And I will say this as people w are not watching, but I 671 00:41:00,039 --> 00:41:07,239 will give my hat tip to the folks PBC and TGB Promotions in this case 672 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:09,679 showtime. They've done a hell of a job on their recent pay per view 673 00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:15,719 fights of putting together undercards that are worth your time and give you value for 674 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:19,519 your money. And that was the case when we saw and this is just 675 00:41:19,559 --> 00:41:24,119 a recent example earlier this year with Benavides against Caleb Plant this past summer with 676 00:41:24,639 --> 00:41:28,920 the fight between Errol Spence and Terren Scruffer, where you're getting quality main events, 677 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:30,760 but you know the undercards are giving you value, which they should, 678 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:36,159 so they're doing their job in this particular card also because we obviously have the 679 00:41:36,159 --> 00:41:38,599 big time fight with Canello and Charlotte in the main event, but putting Jesus 680 00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:44,679 Ramos, a tremendous young fighter prospects slash contender. You know, if you 681 00:41:44,719 --> 00:41:46,719 listen to the podcast, him and I talked about how he classifies himself. 682 00:41:47,199 --> 00:41:50,960 But he's an undefeated fighter who has got some good wins on his record, 683 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:55,440 and he's in this plumb position. Been in other undercard co features PBC thinks 684 00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:59,480 a lot of them, but he's in with a real solid contender and Ericson 685 00:41:59,519 --> 00:42:02,320 Lubin, who's only you know when he's lost. They've either been a great 686 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:07,039 fighter to the best guys, also a contender in his own right anyway, 687 00:42:07,079 --> 00:42:09,280 so delivering a good value in my mind in a very interesting fight. Not 688 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,440 to mention, by the way, the other fights on the card between Ugas 689 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,320 and Barrios, which is a nice fight, and the young fighters Elijah Garcia 690 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,920 and Jose Armando Riscindez, which is another really good matchup. So this pay 691 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,079 per view of my mind, all four fights are worth it. But Ramos 692 00:42:22,079 --> 00:42:25,719 and Luban is very interesting. But Ramos is the guy on the undercards a 693 00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:30,440 lot of people have peg for stardom, where if he keeps doing what he's 694 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:31,719 been doing and Luban and Ain't, I'll walk over. It's a tough fight, 695 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,480 so this is a big moment for him. But if he keeps doing 696 00:42:35,519 --> 00:42:37,000 what he's supposed to do, when he wins this fight, you know it's 697 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,960 probably not going to be too long before he starts seeing hazers Ramos in main 698 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:44,760 event fights. And again you'll hear from the Hammer ericson Luban with Dan if 699 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:46,880 you're with a Sunday night as we plug again Sunday night into Monday, the 700 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:51,760 Fight Freaks Unit recap comes off the weekend, no matter what happens with all 701 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:53,559 the action, but you'll hear from ericson Luban on that pod. It's another 702 00:42:53,599 --> 00:42:57,480 reason why you need to be following and something I'll tell you the great convos. 703 00:42:57,599 --> 00:43:01,800 Yes, when it comes to guys like ram Lubin Canello, I mean 704 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:07,639 I've interviewed everybody there is the interview over my career. Okay, in dealing 705 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:12,119 with these three guys, each one of them is such a pleasure to deal 706 00:43:12,159 --> 00:43:14,719 with. I'm just I mean, I'm not trying to kiss anybody's ass because 707 00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:15,719 I'm just saying. And by the way, most of them are fine. 708 00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:19,159 I mean, there's really very thing that I would that I would say. 709 00:43:19,159 --> 00:43:22,920 Are you know guys I don't like. But Ramos is as nice and as 710 00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:28,079 respectful and humble. Lubin is a has got a great sense of humor and 711 00:43:28,199 --> 00:43:30,239 nice guy. I've been writing about Erickson Lubin since he was eighteen years old 712 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:34,760 when he first turned professional. Uh, you know, just good guys. 713 00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:38,599 Canello a true true professional guys who are on time for their interviews, Guys 714 00:43:38,599 --> 00:43:43,360 who understand what their response. Let's say this Canello when it comes to dealing 715 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:45,760 with media, sure, but let's say this with Canello. He is ascended 716 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:50,719 to megastar status and I know you say this, and I hear other people 717 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:54,039 talking about it. He still treats people tremendously. When a lot of others 718 00:43:54,079 --> 00:43:59,719 get that megastar status and suddenly they don't have use for anybody they stepped on 719 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,159 everybody coming on the way up, and they don't have any use for anybody 720 00:44:02,159 --> 00:44:06,480 anymore, don't want to be on time bag the interview, and you're saying 721 00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:12,360 not the case. I can't speak for how Canello deals with other media people 722 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:15,199 and others. I can only tell you from my own experience. I've been 723 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:19,199 covering Knello Alvarez since he first arrived on the scene. I have been a 724 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:22,599 ringside for twenty plus of his fights or something like that, including his first, 725 00:44:22,599 --> 00:44:24,920 you know, a pay per view undercard fight against Miguel Coldo's brother back 726 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:30,119 in the day. I've interviewed Canelo Alvarez like I mean, I didn't even 727 00:44:30,119 --> 00:44:36,960 know, dozens and dozens of times. He is just always been as nice 728 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:38,880 and respected to me. He gets you pass for it. I mean, 729 00:44:39,519 --> 00:44:43,000 I mean, I like the guy. What can I say, you know? 730 00:44:43,119 --> 00:44:45,760 I mean, I'm That doesn't mean I'm not afraid to call a guy 731 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:47,840 out if he does something, or I disagree with the decision or there's some 732 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,760 another issue. I mean. I wrote critically about Canello when he had his 733 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:55,239 drug testing problems, but I also wrote fairly when it was became to the 734 00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:59,519 light that it wasn't as serious as some people made it out to be for 735 00:44:59,559 --> 00:45:01,880 a variety reason. You can google that in two seconds. Anyway, Ramos, 736 00:45:02,079 --> 00:45:07,000 Lubin, Canello, all class acts, all professional. Enjoyed interview, 737 00:45:07,079 --> 00:45:08,480 all three of those guys, and they'll listen to Ramos, hopefully they've listened 738 00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:13,239 to it today here Lubin coming up on the next pot and next week we'll 739 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:15,719 play the interview I had with Canelo, and it's some of those love those 740 00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:20,599 conversations. My man, Ray Fiel's hustling, He's hustling. Okay, you 741 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,079 have been uncovering some stuff about Ryan Garcia getting back to the ring. This 742 00:45:24,159 --> 00:45:29,280 is interesting. Garcia, when last we saw him beaten by Jervonte Davis in 743 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,719 a huge pay per view back earlier this year in May. All right, 744 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:39,199 so April or in late April, yes, late April. So what is 745 00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:45,719 the latest here, because when last we saw news Oscar Dave la Joya was 746 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:49,199 suing Ryan Garcia and I read what you put on your substack, and you 747 00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:53,360 always gotta be subscribing to dan substack. That apparently they've worked their way through 748 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:55,800 this, at least to the point where they're gonna have a fight later. 749 00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:59,480 This year that day La Joya is going to be involved with unless well, 750 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:01,920 some thing else is going on. In lightness, I can't say that they've 751 00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:07,360 worked through it, but I think both sides understand that while the legal process 752 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:12,519 plays out, Golden Boy still has an obligation to promote Ryan Garcia. They 753 00:46:12,519 --> 00:46:15,039 still want to make money on his events. And Ryan Garcia, while he's 754 00:46:15,119 --> 00:46:20,199 got obviously some issues with things that are gone on with the promotion, and 755 00:46:20,239 --> 00:46:23,840 which is why they have filed a counter claim to have the suit dismissed, 756 00:46:25,719 --> 00:46:29,079 you know, they have no choice but to sort of hold their nose and 757 00:46:29,119 --> 00:46:31,079 work together. So Ryan doesn't want to sit on the sidelines. He wants 758 00:46:31,079 --> 00:46:35,280 to get back in the ring. He's got a new trainer and Derek James. 759 00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:37,760 You know, he wants to put that loss to Tank Davis behind him. 760 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:44,039 And there's really no legitimate way that he can do that without having Golden 761 00:46:44,039 --> 00:46:46,119 Boy promote the event, because whatever happens in terms of the court, it's 762 00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:50,639 not going to be done by the time he's gonna want to have to have 763 00:46:50,679 --> 00:46:52,559 the fight. So they're trying to get through it and hopefully they can work 764 00:46:52,559 --> 00:46:57,239 out their business. But for the time being, you know, it's business. 765 00:46:57,280 --> 00:47:00,280 You don't have to hold hands and sing songs. You know, he's 766 00:47:00,320 --> 00:47:04,000 got to be able to be professional. And let's just clarify because we're talking 767 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,840 as if everybody might know specifically what the crux is the best of my understanding, 768 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:10,639 correct me if it's wrong. Is a dale Joy is alleging in the 769 00:47:10,719 --> 00:47:15,719 lawsuit that it's Valencia, right, Lupe Valencia, that's the advisor. They're 770 00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:21,119 wanting him to cease and desist, essentially shopping Ryan Garcia around or trying to 771 00:47:21,159 --> 00:47:22,960 promote a fight, and dale Joy is going, no, no, no, 772 00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:25,159 no, we have a contract. We still get to promote him. 773 00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:30,920 And that's what I meant by working their way through whatever the legal process is. 774 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:34,039 At least they're trying to have a fight while that's going on, because 775 00:47:34,079 --> 00:47:36,840 other than that, Garcia sits on ice, and that's not good for him 776 00:47:37,679 --> 00:47:40,119 if he's trying to get back into contition. Essentially, yes, listen, 777 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:44,480 Ryan Garcia is sitting on ice. Is bad for Ryan, it's bad for 778 00:47:44,519 --> 00:47:46,960 Golden Boy, it's bad for boxing fans, it's bad for the business, 779 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:51,199 it's bad for the zone. You know, his broadcaster at this moment. 780 00:47:52,079 --> 00:47:54,960 So they have a lot of there's everybody sort of has even if they don't 781 00:47:55,039 --> 00:47:58,639 get along so great, they all have reasons to make sure it works. 782 00:47:58,639 --> 00:48:00,639 So Ryan had put a stop on his social media that he was going to 783 00:48:00,679 --> 00:48:02,480 be fighting at the end of the year, and they're working on the fight. 784 00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:06,400 So my reporting tells me that he's going to fight in the main event. 785 00:48:06,679 --> 00:48:09,480 It's going to be either November or December, and that they've got a 786 00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:13,639 few different possible opponents that they're talking to about. One of the leading of 787 00:48:13,719 --> 00:48:16,920 candidates to be as opponent for this upcoming fight back in the one hundred forty 788 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:21,719 pound weight class with Derek James as his new trainer for the first time after 789 00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:24,960 parting ways with Joe Goosen, that one of those names is Pedro Campa, 790 00:48:25,079 --> 00:48:30,400 who was a experienced fighter who when you consider all the factors, like I 791 00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:36,519 said, going back to one forty having a fight with his new trainer coming 792 00:48:36,559 --> 00:48:39,239 off of a knockout loss, Pedro Campa is not a joke of an opponent. 793 00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:44,760 He gave Tiafimo Lopez a very solid, tough fight, although he got 794 00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:47,559 stopped when Tiafimo had his first fight moving up to one hundred forty pounds, 795 00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:50,719 that was, like, you know, roughly a little bit over a year 796 00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:52,239 ago. In his next fight, it was on one of the pay per 797 00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:57,639 view undercards. He fought Brandon Lee, who was undefeated, and even though 798 00:48:57,639 --> 00:49:00,760 Brandon Lee got the decision victory, it's a lot of people that thought that, 799 00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:02,719 oh, baby, Brandon didn't do enough that night to get to win, 800 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:07,639 and camp I gave him a super tough fight and a very credible performance. 801 00:49:07,679 --> 00:49:12,239 And that's a good kind of test for for a guy in Garcia that 802 00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:15,679 might be suffering from a little bit of confidence problems after a knockout loss, 803 00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:19,760 like I mentioned, going to work with a new trainer. So again, 804 00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:22,519 you expect Ryan would win that fight if, in fact, camp it turns 805 00:49:22,559 --> 00:49:24,480 out to be the opponent. But it's, uh, you know, it's 806 00:49:24,519 --> 00:49:28,679 not. I've seen way worse. Let's put it like that. So I'm 807 00:49:28,719 --> 00:49:30,960 glad that Ryan is going to get back in the ring. I hope that 808 00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:36,280 he and his team and Golden Boy and his zone can get other issues at 809 00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:38,320 least for this event, you know, put them to the side and just 810 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:43,800 do a good, good event and we'll take it from there. But that's 811 00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:45,199 that's what's going on. So it's good that Ryan's going to be getting back 812 00:49:45,199 --> 00:49:49,559 in the ring, and it seems like probably back in the ring sooner than 813 00:49:49,559 --> 00:49:51,920 Tank Davis, who was the guy that won, although there are still a 814 00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:53,559 lot of rumblings that Tank will be back in December, also on a pay 815 00:49:53,599 --> 00:49:57,079 per view, whoever it may be against, whether it's Pitbull, Cruise or 816 00:49:57,119 --> 00:50:00,760 somebody else. Nostalgia time, and then we are done here for the preview 817 00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:05,880 weekend. It was twenty one years ago as we released the podcast. We're 818 00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:09,400 taping on Thursday, September fourteenth of O two, speaking of Oscar de la 819 00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:14,840 Joya Dal La Joya in the ring got a TKO win over Fernando Vargas that 820 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:20,719 unified the junior middleweight championships for the WBC and the WBA. You were there 821 00:50:21,199 --> 00:50:24,599 for that one, reminisce please, well, back in those days of the 822 00:50:24,599 --> 00:50:30,440 early two thousands, this was the grudge mesh. They called it bad blood. 823 00:50:30,559 --> 00:50:32,440 It was legit. These guys did not like each other at all. 824 00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:39,320 There was a lot of discussion about the supposed disrespect that that Oscar had perhaps 825 00:50:39,320 --> 00:50:43,519 shown to Fernando. They used to both train and Big Bear. There was 826 00:50:43,559 --> 00:50:45,880 a story about how they're out running the Mountain trail in the snow, and 827 00:50:46,039 --> 00:50:50,199 they were near each other, and Vargas fell down in the snow and Oscar 828 00:50:50,239 --> 00:50:52,079 wouldn't help them up, and you know, it made for a good story. 829 00:50:52,079 --> 00:50:54,000 And there was all that back and forth, and for a while, 830 00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:59,000 Oscar would take the opinion about, you know, fucked up. There you 831 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,519 go. Fuck there's that bomb. There's two of them. If that guy, 832 00:51:02,639 --> 00:51:05,559 I'm not going to fight him because I don't want to give him the 833 00:51:05,559 --> 00:51:07,960 pay day, which is always the most disrespectful thing a fighter can do. 834 00:51:07,960 --> 00:51:12,320 It's another fighter. I remember Mike Tyson telling me that one time years ago 835 00:51:12,519 --> 00:51:15,239 that if you really want to disrespect, you know, at a fellow boxer, 836 00:51:15,480 --> 00:51:17,639 you know, don't give him the payday when he needs it. But 837 00:51:17,679 --> 00:51:20,840 it got to a point where the payday was going to be so big for 838 00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:22,920 Oscar also, and that was the fight that the fans were calling for, 839 00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:27,960 That was the fight that HBO wanted to see. That was a unification fight. 840 00:51:27,960 --> 00:51:30,079 They were the two biggest names in the weight class. Oscar was the 841 00:51:30,159 --> 00:51:34,679 lineal champion, he was looking for another title, and they finally made the 842 00:51:34,679 --> 00:51:37,800 fight ended up getting postponed for a few months because Oscar had suffered a risk 843 00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:40,840 injury or a hand injury that put it off for a little while. But 844 00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:45,719 when they met at Mandalay Bay, that was as electric an atmosphere as you 845 00:51:45,719 --> 00:51:50,599 want to get. That was a big fight. That was a big freaking 846 00:51:50,679 --> 00:51:53,760 deal, and Oscar and Vargas put on a tremendous battle. And Oscar looked 847 00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:58,360 like he would be in trouble earl. And Fernando was a much stronger physically 848 00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:01,360 stronger and just a bigger guy than Oscar Dale Lajoya and I remember in the 849 00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:05,679 first second round, Fernando was pushing him around and had him in the ropes 850 00:52:06,199 --> 00:52:07,599 and you were like, wow, maybe Oscar did bite off more than again 851 00:52:07,679 --> 00:52:10,079 choo. You know, Fernando was a little younger than Oscar, even though 852 00:52:10,119 --> 00:52:15,199 he had you know, you know, a couple of rough losses. Well, 853 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,159 let me tell you something. Oscar came storming back in that fight with 854 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:22,159 between his speed, his skills, his desire, and that awesome left hook 855 00:52:22,199 --> 00:52:25,760 that he always had. He did a number on Fernando Vargas late in that 856 00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:29,440 fight. He hurt him real bad at the end of round ten. He 857 00:52:29,800 --> 00:52:31,280 put up beating on him in round eleven, and you know, if you 858 00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:36,559 go back and watch the broadcast on the of the HBO call Jim Lampley timing 859 00:52:36,599 --> 00:52:38,719 his words exactly for when the stoppage occurred. You know, if he could 860 00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:42,519 knock him out, and he does, I mean, spectActor, what I 861 00:52:42,559 --> 00:52:45,280 remember, They'll be in ringside and you can't really see it on the video. 862 00:52:45,320 --> 00:52:47,519 I've I've watched it, and I've never seen this angle replayed, but 863 00:52:47,599 --> 00:52:52,599 I remembered in my mind you can see the bottom of Oscar's feet when he 864 00:52:52,679 --> 00:52:55,719 lands the mass of shook the shot that knocks Vargas down. But what you 865 00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:59,519 didn't see was what I saw and the others that were there ringside that could 866 00:52:59,519 --> 00:53:02,880 see the full picture was Oscar broke out into the Ali shuffle like he knew 867 00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:07,239 he had won the fight basically, and it was a very memorable moment when 868 00:53:07,280 --> 00:53:10,000 he did that. You unfortunately couldn't catch it on the full effect of it 869 00:53:10,039 --> 00:53:15,639 on the replay, But that was I would say, And having talked, 870 00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:20,239 I think maybe I remember Oscar saying this on a multiple of occasions that for 871 00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:22,400 all of the big wins that Oscar had in his career, that that was 872 00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:25,239 the most satisfying. Because he did not like Vargas. It was a big 873 00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:29,039 fight. It was nearly, you know, closer to the end in the 874 00:53:29,039 --> 00:53:31,079 beginning for Oscar, he unified the titles. And I'll just say this, 875 00:53:31,159 --> 00:53:35,559 and we always talked about what happens in Vegas days in Vegas. As great 876 00:53:35,599 --> 00:53:38,880 as that fight was, I was at Oscar's Mandela Bay pool party after the 877 00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:45,599 fight. The pool party was better than the fight. I liked that. 878 00:53:45,719 --> 00:53:49,320 On the nostalgia good stuff from twenty one years ago. All right, let's 879 00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,519 move backwards ten years ago. You referenced Canello a couple of times earlier, 880 00:53:53,199 --> 00:53:59,679 and Canello's fight with Floyd Mayweather also the anniversary on Thursday ten years ago September 881 00:53:59,679 --> 00:54:05,280 fourteen, saw Floyd win by decision over a young Canello who really stepped up 882 00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:07,559 in terms of quality, opponent, a future Hall of Famer, etc. 883 00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:14,960 You were ringside for this one as well. Remembrances of Mayweather Canello please. 884 00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:20,719 That was at the MGM Grand and Canello had already established himself to a degree. 885 00:54:20,719 --> 00:54:23,159 He had won a title, he had beaten like an older, more 886 00:54:23,239 --> 00:54:28,199 fated Shane Moseley. He had had what was considered a big win at that 887 00:54:28,239 --> 00:54:34,039 time in a unification against Austin Trout was a very solid customer, undefeated at 888 00:54:34,079 --> 00:54:37,800 that time. I unfortunate. That's one of the few bigger Canelo fights I 889 00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:39,480 missed. And the reason I missed that fight in twenty thirteen was because it 890 00:54:39,519 --> 00:54:44,599 was the date that that fight was scheduled was supposed to be the date that 891 00:54:44,639 --> 00:54:46,719 my son was due to be born. So I obviously did not go. 892 00:54:47,519 --> 00:54:51,519 But his next fight after that, Canello was only twenty three years old. 893 00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:54,639 He fought Floyd Mayweather. This was early in Floyd's big contract with Showtime, 894 00:54:54,679 --> 00:55:00,880 after he had left HBO in a WBA WBC unification fight. Also, same 895 00:55:00,920 --> 00:55:04,320 delts that were at stake in the Oscar and Fernando Vargas fight, this was 896 00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:07,239 these were the belts that were on the line in this Mayweather Canello fight. 897 00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:12,039 That was a huge fight. I mean that was you know, maybe not 898 00:55:12,079 --> 00:55:15,079 Mayweather pack Yo big, but it was a big, big fight. I 899 00:55:15,079 --> 00:55:17,480 Mean that was the first time, to my recollection, where you would go 900 00:55:17,519 --> 00:55:22,440 to the way in for these major MGM grand fights. They would have fans 901 00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:23,519 in the arena, but they didn't open up the whole arena. They had 902 00:55:23,519 --> 00:55:27,840 it cordoned off because they were building the lighting and the ring and all the 903 00:55:27,840 --> 00:55:31,519 stuff behind the scenes. They opened up the entire arena for this way in 904 00:55:32,159 --> 00:55:36,119 and it was packed, like every seat that you could put somebody in, 905 00:55:36,199 --> 00:55:39,559 they had it. It was just absolutely nuts. I was working the Sports 906 00:55:39,599 --> 00:55:42,840 Center. We had a whole desk out there, that's how big this fight 907 00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:45,760 was. For the fight week, so I was working with my colleagues at 908 00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:47,599 ESPN doing all the you know, the stuff from the way in, from 909 00:55:47,639 --> 00:55:50,960 the pre fight stuff, from the press conference on the night of the fight. 910 00:55:51,800 --> 00:55:54,679 What I remember so vividly about that fight week because the fight itself did 911 00:55:54,679 --> 00:55:58,639 not turn out to be a great fight. It was a brilliant and masterful 912 00:55:58,760 --> 00:56:02,360 performance from Mayweather. Other than the asinine, ridiculous card from c. J. 913 00:56:02,519 --> 00:56:06,280 Ross, who scored that fight a draw and was run out of boxing 914 00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:08,880 because of it, and just terrible that she had some mother bad cards too. 915 00:56:09,239 --> 00:56:12,280 Uh, you know, the other ones were a little wider, but 916 00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:15,119 even kind of generous at one seventeen, one eleven, one sixteen, one 917 00:56:15,119 --> 00:56:16,800 twelve. You know, Canello got whitewashed that night. It made him a 918 00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:20,480 better fighter. He became a big star. He made like a ten million 919 00:56:20,519 --> 00:56:22,480 dollar pay day in that fight. It didn't hurt his marketability. I use 920 00:56:22,559 --> 00:56:25,199 that example all the time. I'll use it with Frank Martin. Why would 921 00:56:25,199 --> 00:56:29,079 you turn down shakor Stevens from a career pay day? If you lose to 922 00:56:29,079 --> 00:56:30,360 a guy like Shakoor, it doesn't hurt you in the long run. You 923 00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:32,320 get back on the horse and you do it. Canelo didn't go on and 924 00:56:32,320 --> 00:56:37,400 become, you know, a Hall of Famer in any event, When when 925 00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:39,960 they do these big fight weeks in Las Vegas and they have what they call 926 00:56:40,039 --> 00:56:45,199 the Grand Arrival, and they usually have it in the main open lobby area 927 00:56:45,199 --> 00:56:49,039 of the MGM Grand where they have the big ring in the Lion that's their 928 00:56:49,199 --> 00:56:53,360 symbol, uh, and fans are everywhere. That was one of the craziest 929 00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:55,880 things I ever saw in my life as far as the amount of people like 930 00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:59,400 that lobby is not I mean, it's big, you know, but it 931 00:56:59,559 --> 00:57:04,119 can't comminate thousands of people they had. They had a like like fire marshals 932 00:57:04,159 --> 00:57:07,639 stuff going on because it was just so jammed. That was as big a 933 00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:12,400 star power kind of fight as you'll see, just as big as it gets. 934 00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:14,679 And by the way, at the time, and remember this is in 935 00:57:14,719 --> 00:57:19,039 twenty thirteen, so ten years ago. That fight set the all time boxing 936 00:57:19,079 --> 00:57:22,719 record for gross It did the biggest gate in Las Vegas history at that time. 937 00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:25,440 I mean, those records have since been broken by other Floyd fights, 938 00:57:25,440 --> 00:57:30,039 but at the time this fight it broke. The only record it didn't break 939 00:57:30,079 --> 00:57:35,000 was the total number of pay per view sales oscars fight against Mayweather did bigger 940 00:57:35,039 --> 00:57:37,639 sales, but because the price was a little bit more for the Canelo Mayweather 941 00:57:37,639 --> 00:57:40,760 fight, it did break the all time revenue record. The other thing I 942 00:57:40,840 --> 00:57:44,840 remember is they had this thing set up in the lobby. Now, normally 943 00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:45,639 you go to these fights if you want to buy a T shirt, you 944 00:57:45,639 --> 00:57:47,880 want to buy a program, you want to buy a baseball hat, whatever, 945 00:57:49,119 --> 00:57:51,239 any of the chats keys and need the merchandise, you know, you 946 00:57:51,320 --> 00:57:52,480 just walk into the gift shop and you know, you buy what you want 947 00:57:52,480 --> 00:57:55,760 to buy. For this fight, there were so many people wanting to buy 948 00:57:55,800 --> 00:58:00,280 stuff. They had a set up like separate, like a Kiosk slash tent 949 00:58:00,360 --> 00:58:04,559 area where you would rope wind around like you're waiting online at Disney World to 950 00:58:04,599 --> 00:58:07,519 buy your stuff. That's how big this thing was. They were like they 951 00:58:07,519 --> 00:58:09,559 were selling programs and teachers, and we haven't mentioned it, but it was 952 00:58:09,639 --> 00:58:14,840 also part of Sinco de Mayo I'm sorry, Mexican Independence weekend, and that 953 00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:19,280 would become a common weekend where Canelo would fight later in his career over and 954 00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:21,760 over again. And you would start to see this because you covered the fights 955 00:58:22,079 --> 00:58:24,679 where the Mexican fans would pour into Las Vegas. This was really one of 956 00:58:24,719 --> 00:58:29,679 the first times. Obviously, that's no that was part of it, though 957 00:58:29,760 --> 00:58:32,920 it's part of it in his lore and the years after it that he would 958 00:58:32,960 --> 00:58:37,800 fight there was. It was that big of a deal in and around Mexican 959 00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:40,800 Independence Day weekend, so I get a Mexican. Mexican Independence Day weekend was 960 00:58:40,880 --> 00:58:45,639 an event weekend for a boxing match period. So the dal La Joya Vargas 961 00:58:45,639 --> 00:58:47,079 fight, they were Mexican Americans. That was a big deal. You know. 962 00:58:47,360 --> 00:58:51,000 Again, and we're not talking about it specifically on our nostalgist section, 963 00:58:51,079 --> 00:58:53,920 but you know when Julio Seesar Chavez Junior fought Sergio Martinez, that was the 964 00:58:53,960 --> 00:58:59,880 same weekend when Canello fought one of his first main event showtime fights as a 965 00:59:00,079 --> 00:59:02,599 younger fighter. He did it agains jos Cito Lopez on the same Day as 966 00:59:02,639 --> 00:59:07,760 the Surgeon Martinez fight. Uh, there's been plenty of fights on on a 967 00:59:07,880 --> 00:59:10,239 Mexican Independence Day weekend, Chavez Peran a Whittaker, going back years ago. 968 00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:15,480 It wasn't in Vegas, but also on that second, tons of fights on 969 00:59:15,480 --> 00:59:17,800 that on that weekend. Mayweather was not Mexican, but he fought Mexican opponents 970 00:59:17,840 --> 00:59:21,400 a lot of times, and he fought many times on that big weekend. 971 00:59:21,639 --> 00:59:25,519 But they were printing money selling T shirts and programs. I was just gonna 972 00:59:25,559 --> 00:59:28,599 say, one more time, what did you score? What did you score 973 00:59:28,639 --> 00:59:30,840 from that? Did you get the shirt, the program? What's in the 974 00:59:30,880 --> 00:59:34,400 right field collection in the You have to remember because my my, my buddy 975 00:59:34,480 --> 00:59:37,480 Jay produces most of the programs for these major fights. So I do I 976 00:59:37,559 --> 00:59:40,440 write for the programs. I've been doing it for twenty years. So part 977 00:59:40,440 --> 00:59:44,800 of my deal with Jay as I get my merch, So I get and 978 00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:47,280 i'd pretty much get what I need to get. So you're solid. I 979 00:59:47,320 --> 00:59:51,320 got plenty ten years ago. Absolutely, and he'll be showing it off on 980 00:59:51,320 --> 00:59:54,360 the subject. So but hold on, great, great event, incredible event, 981 00:59:55,239 --> 01:00:00,920 huge fight, and literally one of the single worst work cards rendered in 982 01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:05,639 the history of boxing. Because even Canelo Alvarez, in an honest moment, 983 01:00:05,639 --> 01:00:07,039 will tell you I didn't win that fight. I didn't get a draw in 984 01:00:07,039 --> 01:00:10,079 that fight. He knows he lost, and he went to school and tried 985 01:00:10,119 --> 01:00:13,880 to get better, and he did get better. But to think that that 986 01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:16,719 fight somehow was seven rounds to seven is an affront to anybody that's ever watched 987 01:00:16,760 --> 01:00:20,559 the boxing match. I'll help you six to six. You always help me 988 01:00:20,599 --> 01:00:23,320 help six to six, and then six to six. They did not have 989 01:00:23,360 --> 01:00:28,760 a fourteen round fight that night you mentioned it. We did not because of 990 01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:31,199 the Fight Freaks Unit recap being your interview with Keith Conley. We did not 991 01:00:31,719 --> 01:00:37,639 mention off the weekend the anniversary of thirty years ago Sweet Pee Riittaker, Whittaker 992 01:00:37,760 --> 01:00:42,320 being robbed using that word of a decision win over Julio Saysar Chavez that night 993 01:00:42,320 --> 01:00:46,599 in the Alamo Dome as part of in and around Mexican Independence Day, would 994 01:00:46,639 --> 01:00:52,199 have been Chavez his first loss. It was not. I still vividly remember 995 01:00:52,519 --> 01:00:57,639 doing five day a week sports radio in the Tampa Bay area, and we 996 01:00:57,679 --> 01:01:00,840 had we had done an event in and around the paper for fans to come 997 01:01:00,880 --> 01:01:04,280 watch the pay per view at a location because again back in the early nineties, 998 01:01:04,280 --> 01:01:07,039 pay per view in the home was not as prevalent. It was starting 999 01:01:07,039 --> 01:01:09,280 to get there, but this was a pay per view at a location. 1000 01:01:09,559 --> 01:01:14,800 There were so many angry people with the decision. So I still remember doing 1001 01:01:14,840 --> 01:01:19,840 Topic Sports Radio even during the NFL season on how bad was this decision thirty 1002 01:01:19,920 --> 01:01:23,440 years ago where sweet Peas should have gotten credit. Frankie Randall eventually got the 1003 01:01:23,480 --> 01:01:28,719 decision, beating Chavez for the first time officially, but sweet Pee Whittaker, 1004 01:01:28,719 --> 01:01:30,480 the late Hall of Famer, should have gotten that win that night. And 1005 01:01:30,559 --> 01:01:34,320 the only question is what's the worst draw in boxing US? Or is it 1006 01:01:34,440 --> 01:01:38,199 Chavez getting a draw against Purnell Or is it Evander getting to give draw against 1007 01:01:38,599 --> 01:01:43,039 Lenix Lewis for the Sugar Ray Leonard getting the draw on the rematch with Thomas 1008 01:01:43,119 --> 01:01:47,840 Hearns. That's not knocked down twice. I knocked down twice and Hearns doesn't 1009 01:01:47,840 --> 01:01:53,360 get the decision. But but again, terrible, but not as bad if 1010 01:01:53,360 --> 01:01:58,360 you have to make a decision about which is the worst between Chavez and in 1011 01:01:58,360 --> 01:02:00,800 the holytil fight. But Chavez, you know that was fought at a at 1012 01:02:00,800 --> 01:02:05,400 a catch weight because he was challenging for Whittaker's titles, so the saving grace 1013 01:02:05,960 --> 01:02:08,360 was at least Whittaker retained the title. In the case of what happened with 1014 01:02:08,400 --> 01:02:13,679 the Holy Field and Lennox, Lennox was robbed becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion. 1015 01:02:13,920 --> 01:02:17,840 The crazy thing about the Javas Whittaker fight two judges without knockdowns, by the 1016 01:02:17,840 --> 01:02:22,039 way, had the fight one fifteen to one fifteen. Like, I'm not 1017 01:02:22,079 --> 01:02:25,360 even sure how many How do you get to that because you're scoring around ten 1018 01:02:25,480 --> 01:02:29,719 ten. I guess it's like that doesn't that's not what professional I mean, 1019 01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:31,519 not to say that you can't score a ten ten. I just I remember, 1020 01:02:31,639 --> 01:02:35,880 and this was this was huge in and around that time frame. There 1021 01:02:35,960 --> 01:02:38,880 was always concerned about fights being fixed, Don King being involved, and there 1022 01:02:38,920 --> 01:02:44,320 was so much outcry that he had bought off the judges to make sure Chavez 1023 01:02:44,360 --> 01:02:49,079 didn't lose. There were allegations about that. So that's thirty years ago, 1024 01:02:49,360 --> 01:02:52,159 My gosh, thirty years ago, September of nineteen NY time. How big 1025 01:02:52,199 --> 01:02:58,719 that? How big that? That decision was Sports Illustrated, which is really 1026 01:02:58,760 --> 01:03:01,800 not unfortunately not a really irrelevant publication anymore. Right, but back then it 1027 01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:06,559 was. It was the biggest, It was the biggest deal in terms of 1028 01:03:06,599 --> 01:03:09,519 sports magazines. We can't convey that enough. Absolutely. So the front cover 1029 01:03:09,639 --> 01:03:14,559 and I actually have that issue somewhere in my collection of all my boxing stuff. 1030 01:03:15,360 --> 01:03:20,039 It was simply a picture of Perno Whittaker like jabbing Chavez and it was 1031 01:03:20,079 --> 01:03:23,960 in giant orange letters. Robbed. That was the front cover of the magazine. 1032 01:03:24,159 --> 01:03:28,639 Uh huh. And that says it all. That says it all without 1033 01:03:28,679 --> 01:03:31,119 like great nostalgia here on the program. Okay, so a bunch that we 1034 01:03:31,199 --> 01:03:35,760 have given you. Again, we remind you that we'll come off the weekend 1035 01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,519 with a Fight Freaks unit recap whatever happens with the Friday night again the podcast 1036 01:03:38,559 --> 01:03:44,159 being released on Friday. Title Fight ESPN top ranked show is Friday night. 1037 01:03:44,239 --> 01:03:47,400 Luis Alberto Lopez Joet Gonzalez, The Zone Golden Boys show is Saturday night. 1038 01:03:47,400 --> 01:03:52,360 We'll recap all of that. Bet Us Boxing Show will do some handicapping live 1039 01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:54,840 one Eastern time Friday, as we released this, find us at one Eastern 1040 01:03:54,920 --> 01:03:59,679 time Live find us later on on the bet Us platforms, the YouTube channel, 1041 01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:03,679 et cetera, and again ericson lubin will be the guest Sunday Night, 1042 01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:06,760 the other half of that matchup with Hazer's Ramos, who you heard on this 1043 01:04:06,800 --> 01:04:12,320 podcast. Here with that, my friend, have a have a great weekend. 1044 01:04:12,360 --> 01:04:14,760 We'll see what happens with the fights. We'll recap all of it offul 1045 01:04:14,800 --> 01:04:17,159 weekend on the Fight Freach Unit recap, Dan, Rayphael and I will see 1046 01:04:17,159 --> 01:04:20,119 you at our one o'clock on our bet Us show. We'll got that coming 1047 01:04:20,199 --> 01:04:25,199 up as well. Again. Follow subscribe wherever you get podcasts, Apple Podcasts, 1048 01:04:25,199 --> 01:04:29,119 Freaker, Spotify, Google podcast to the Big Fight Weekend podcast feed. 1049 01:04:29,320 --> 01:04:31,880 Fight Freaching Night recap comes off the weekend as well. For now, We're 1050 01:04:31,920 --> 01:04:34,360 good for Dan, Rayphiel, I'm TJ Reeves. Enjoy the fights.