Well, hey, there everybody coming off the weekend where let's be honest,
there wasn't a prominent fight card in the US, Europe, South America.
The faris really to talk about. Yes, there were some club shows,
some lesser shows that we're going on and out of the championship variety of the
big name variety. But nonetheless we are here on the Fight Freaks Unite recap
because we always love delivering for the audience whenever we can. We usually preview
going into the weekend with the Big Fight Weekend Preview, Dan Rayfield and me,
and we come off the weekend with the Fight Freaks Unite recap. So
we were not not going to go into this week and not give you some
kind of a show. So we've decided to get creative. On the last
pod, you got a lot of news. Go back and listen to the
Big Fight Weekend preview. Lots of news heading into the weekend, whether it
be Daniel Dawa's appeal to the WBA to try to get a rematch with Alexander
Usik not gonna happen, Tyson Furies press conference with the Francis and Ghanu fight
coming up. Dan has news on some other fights being made and dates,
nostalgia. All of that's on the previous podcast, so go check that out
immediately before us for the fight news coming up in a moment. He's got
a special guest, and we tease this that is a prominent boxing manager of
world champions and different fighters. Keith Connelly will be Dan's full guest here as
part of the recap podcast. Again, it's a good time to work this
interview in because we are light on results on the recap podcast, so that
interview, that conversation coming up in just a moment. Reminder again, however,
you found us through a social media link through Dan's Fight Freaks Unite substack
through Bigfight Weekend dot Com. Thank you for doing so. Thank you to
the audience that has stayed with us and continue to grow. Thousands, thousands,
thousands, thousands more of you have found us this summer and now heading
into the fall, So keep following, keep subscribing, like, and review
us. By the way on Apple Podcasts. That helps with the algorithm.
Any of your podcast reviews do that, it helps. Again, we come
off the weekend with the Fight Freaks United Recap, go into the week later
this weekend with the Big Fight we can preview, and of course we're pointing
to the big show down at the end of the month, Canelo Alvarez Jemel
Charlo Las Vegas undisputed one hundred and sixty eight pound titles on the line.
We look forward to talking lots about that. So you're gonna want to be
here as part of the content on this podcast feed. The Big Fight we
can podcast feed, and without further delay, let's get into it. You're
ready to hear from Big Dan and a prominent boxing manager on all the fighters
he manages and all the different storylines that gain a reminder. When Dan is
done with the interview, we're done with this edition of the recap. Big
Fight Weekend preview coming later in a week. If developments warrant, if something
massive is going on, we might come back on this podcast. We get
another big time interview during the week. This is why you gotta follow or
subscribe to be on the podcast feed. But for right now, Dan's conversation
that's coming up. We'll conclude this podcast and we'll talk to you again on
the Big Fight we Can preview. But now Dan has more All right,
everybody, I am glad to bring into the podcast. A man who's very
busy lately. Got a lot of guys in boxing who you definitely know of.
This is the manager Keith Connelly. Keith, welcome to the show.
Appreciate you doing this, and I'm gonna tell people all the guys and gals
you managed. Thanks for doing this. Great to be here, Dan,
thanks for having me. I appreciate it. So let's tell the people are
you Are you not personally because you're a manager that often tries to kind of
stay out of the news, but you your fighters. There's a lot of
them who are in the news a lot. So I'm just going to run
through the list. You are the manager of the IBF heavyweight mandatory challenger Philip
Arkovic, the super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga, the up and coming junior welterweight
emerging contender Richards and Hitchens, the undisputed women's junior lightweight champion Alicia Baumgardner,
the former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs. You are the manager also of the heavyweight
Adam Knacky, who's just been in the news yesterday as we tape this,
the former junior welterweight title holder Chris Algerie, and a whole bunch of good
looking prospects to lightweight Mark Castro, welterweight, Risk Shop Madi, light heavyweight
khalil Ko, and the Chechen wolf Arthur. I have a hard time with
his name, Mkeith Arthur Karnilov. So that's a lot of talent on your
roster. So I appreciate you taking time to talk about these guys with me.
I guess let's jump right into it though. The guy that was in
the news literally most recently was your heavyweight Adam Konaki, the longtime contender kind
of has fallen on some hard times. But his opponent from the fight that
he had just a you know, a few weeks ago testa positive for band
substance, Joe Kusumano, and that was announced by match Room Boxing, and
he failed a test put on by the New York State Athletic Commission. This
is the fight that took place at the end of June, and I just
wonder when you see that happen to one of your fighters, and you know,
I know how bad Adam felt about it because he feels like, you
know, he was beaten by a guy that was on performance enhancing drugs.
What is your take about what is your take on that. How do you
feel for Adam in terms of when that happens, Well, anytime you hear
anybody test positive, obviously it's shocking because you always you never want to think
going into a fight, or even after a fight, that that that occurred.
The details are sketchy at this point. I spoke to the Commission.
They haven't been able to release exactly what he tested positive for, but I
was told it was peeds and they're going to take an aggressive approach. I'm
dealing with it. So I sent an official email of the Commission asking them
to provide exactly what peeds he tested positive for, and I'm just waiting to
hear back at this point. But yeah, it was shocking to Adam.
He's the one that hadn't get in the ring, and you know, he
put on a great performance. It was an ethic war between the two guys,
and obviously, you know Adam's first reaction was, you know, that's
why I lost. There's no way that that guy could have fought the way
he did without being on something. But again, it's early, we don't
know all the details. I don't want to speculate on anything until I really
get all the details of the tests and what he tests aposit Yeah, fair
enough, I mean, and I can understand it from Adam's perspective, as
you said, he feels like, Wow, my opponent was on a PEED,
So I can say that was probably why I lost. But then Adam's
perspective, which is what he gave me in the comments and the story that
I wrote about when this occurred, is that his mindset is also, not
only did my opponent Joe Kusumano have a positive drug test, but the two
of my he's got four losses, one to Kusumano, one by a decision,
but he's got the two stoppage losses to Robert Helenius. Now, Robert
Helenius did not have any kind of positive drug tests related to his fights with
Adam, but it was just a few days before the Kusamano that it became
known that Helenius had failed his own PEED tests related to his loss to Anthony
Joshua. So if you're if you're Adam Konaki in your mind, you're like,
I got four losses and three of them are two fighters that are associated
with peeds. Can you understand where he's coming from and how how just absolutely
pissed off must be about that. Well, of course, I mean anytime
you're a fighter or any sort of high level athlete, if you lose and
then you find that type of stuff out later, you're going to be I
rated on it. So I totally understand. There's no proof that Hellenius did
anything during our fights, so I can't say that that happened when he fought
at him. But obviously I know the way Adam feels. He's a competitor.
If there's anybody in the sport that puts everything out there and on the
line and the fight, it's Adam, and he's literally risking his life every
time he fights with his fighting style. So I totally see where Adam's coming
from. He's devastated by the news, and I was on the phone with
him probably about three or four times yesterday, and as of right now,
we're just trying to find out the details of what he actually tested positive for
and what the levels are, and we just don't have all the information yet.
So again I don't want to speculate on it, but Adam's devastated,
to say the least, all right, So on the one hand, you're
the manager of a guy who was feeling aggrieved because his opponent had a positive
drug test, and now the shoe is also, you know, in some
fashion on the other foot, because you're also the manager for Alicia bamb Garner,
the undisputed women's junior lightweight champion. She had a positive drug test come
back in the wake of her victory in the July rematch against Christina Leonardatu.
That was a VODA test. She puss a positive for a banned substance.
Obviously, she says that she didn't take anything going into that fight. So
how is it on the other side of the coin, and can you give
any kind of update on where things stand in Alicia's case and what's happening with
that. Well, like I said before, it's always shocking and it's always
unfortunate anytime to somebody test positive. Obviously, when it's sure fight that happens
to you, you know, you talk to them. And I spent countless
hours on the phone of Alicia over the last couple of months since her fight,
and I truly believe that if it wasn't her system and she did test
positive, that she truly doesn't think that she took anything, you know,
a lot of these athletes take supplements. You know, they trust what they're
taking. They had people that give it to them, and you know they
don't test everything that they take. So I truly, I mean she's she
was. Actually it's funny because I was talking the matchroom and they said Keith,
she was the one that was pounding for the testing. She put her
her fist down on the table and said, I don't want to do this
fight unless there's testing. She could have easily gotten out of it. She
was the only one that demanded and put it, really put her foot down,
said I'm not going to do the fight. Uless's testing. So I
truly believe that if it wasn't her system, and and there's no issues with
change of custody and we're going through all of that now and all the different
scenarios. We just got all the documentation for the testing from the testing company,
if it truly was in her system, I truly believe that she doesn't
believe that she took it, and somehow it was in was something, you
know, a regular supplement that she took. That's just what I truly believe.
So, you know, you have a lot of people that are testing
positive nowadays, And I just know how boxers are and athletes are. They
do have people around them, They have people that they get supplements from,
buy supplements from, and they don't know where they come from, and they
are they trust in their team. And I don't know if any of these
people are testing positive know what they're taking. I'm not blaming anybody. I
just know that when I talked to Alicia, from the hours I've been on
the phone with her, I truly believe that if it wasn't her system,
somehow it got in there without her taking it intentionally. I don't believe for
a second that she took it intentionally. Just from the time being on the
phone with her, is this what is the next step? And then in
this whole, because I know these things do take time to play out with
you know, her team, there's also the hospect of a B sample be
tested. What's just what's I know you can't get into every detail of it.
What is the next step? Well, obviously now we're going through a
legal proceeding there. You know, I don't want to I don't want to
leap frog her attorney and go out there and start saying what the defense is
or where we're at. We just did get a couple of business days ago
the full documentation of everything, all the paperwork from the testing center in the
lab. The lawyer does have a direction that we're going to go in.
Obviously, we will reply to the commission, will reply to the sanctioning bodies.
We'll put in our findings. We do have a couple of issues that
we do want to raise and and we're going to put on our defense because
she truly believes that she didn't take it. And you know, we'll see
where it goes from there. But like you said before, it is going
to take a little bit of time. They aren't going through the process.
But she'd believes she's in this, and I believe that she believes that she's
innocent. I don't think she intentionally took anything. In fact, I probably
as far as heart taking anything intentionally, I bet any amount of money that
she doesn't believe that she took that. But again, you're getting supplements from
stores from people, Athletes are trusting, they take something, they might not
always know exactly what it is, and these sort of things happen. So
when these situations pop up, you really never know if one, the testings,
the testings on point two, if the athlete took it knowingly or took
it unknowingly. And I do believe there might be some instances in the sport
where people are just trusting certain people taking supplements, or maybe things get contaminated
and things happened. Because there's been so many positive tests lately, and there
there's a lot more testing than there used to be. I can't see a
lot of these people saying, yeah, let me take this, even though
I know I'm going to be test I'm getting I'm getting tired of writing about
it, to be honest with you, Keith, Yeah, I mean,
I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I just know from my fighter that I'm
dealing with. I truly don't believe she took anything knowingly. And again,
there was a chain of custody issues that we have some questions about. I'm
not saying the lab didn't anything wrong. I'm not saying the testing company did
anything wrong, because it's just way too soon in the process and we're gathering
information now and over the next couple of months. Well, we'll see where
the sets. All right, Well, let's jump about Alicia. I know
Alicia, she's a godfearing woman. She works hard, and I truly believe
in horror, and I truly believe that she didn't knowingly take anything understood.
All right, let's jump one hundred pounds or so north to the heavyweight division.
As I mentioned in the introduction, you are the manager for the IBF
mandatory heavyweight contender, the undefeated Philip Argovic. He had a knockout victory on
that Anthony Joshua Robert Alnia's card in the twelfth round against Demse McKean. That
was the let's call it the tune up fight. Although you know, you
go twelve rounds like that against a big, strong guy like Demsim King,
I don't know if I can call it a tune up, but he got
to win, you know, one pretty handily. And the idea here was
he's got to wait to see what happens between Alexander Usik and Daniel Duwa.
That was the WBA mandatory fight from earlier in August. Usick, of course
won the fight by a knockout, and the IBF had notified team Hrgovich and
Usik that, you know what, when the fight's over, we know that
that fight is due. That fight has happened. So where are you now
with an order from the IBF to make the mandatory fight for your guy and
for Usick to make the mandatory defense, because it hasn't happened. As we're
recording this and listen, there's a lot of rumors that you got the two
camps between Matt Room and K two trying to see if they can get a
fight between Usick and Tyson Fury done pending in October twenty eighth victory by Tyson
Fury against Francis Nagano. But your guy, you know, obviously is next
in line for the ib and I guess next in line period. Well yeah,
I mean, you know, from all the paperwork and all the letters
we've been sent, we are owed the mandatory It should be issued next.
I believe we were going to get that decision this week. Obviously, when
you have an eighty one hundred million dollar fight hanging out there in the win,
you always have to worry about, you know, your position being taken
away somehow. I don't think from a legal standpoint it can be if the
IVF goes by the rules and they do so, I have all the belief
in the IVF that they will follow their rules and we are owed the fight.
We got a letter weeks ago that if we won in USIG one,
we were the mandatory. You also just clarify beautifications trump a mandatory. But
right now, Tyson Fury has a fight schedule Doctober twenty eight and he's unavailable
right what I would saying, it's not just that you're the mandatory. You
are the mandatory next as opposed to sandatory. But there may be an intervening
bout my impression from going back a while ago after he had to win over
his zangs July and they ordered the mandatory, and then they realized that they
did it in the wrong order, so they acquiesced to the w BA.
It was made very clear that the IBF would be the next fight. Correct,
we're next in line. We are the mandatory. We were told ahead
of time at USK one and HERGA and Hergovich one they would mandate it.
So I don't think the IBF would go back on what they've said as far
as the rules go. I don't see how they can, and we'll see
how this plays out. I have my personal attorney, Greg Smith, who
also represents Hergovich. He's in constant contact with the IBF. I know Wasserman
as Chris Meyer, who deals the sanctioning organizations for Wasserman, He's had a
close contact with the IBF. And just so people know, that's Washerman.
Washerman is the promoter for Philipargovic. Correct, And we are under belief that
they're going to follow their rules. And I wouldn't be surprised if if that
decision is rendered by the end of this week. We have a couple of
days left in the week at the very latest early next week. But I
think there's going to be the decision this week. And the only decision from
a legal standpoint and a practical standpoint is we get promised what we were promised
by the IDF in a letter. And also, if you go by the
rules, we are mandatory. Music has to fight us or he has to
vacate the title. I don't see anywhere around that. And again you go
back people say unifications trump a mandatory. Tyson Fury has a fight schedule October
twenty eight, right, so he could break his hand, he could lose
the fight, he could retire afterwards. You don't you you can't you can't
say a mandatory Trumps. Sorry, a unification Trumps is mandatory. Tyson Fury
isn't even availab And by the way, just so people know, the IBF
does allow a mandatory unification the Trump and mandatory, but it has to be
done under a certain set of criteria, which is that there's availability, it's
got to be done by a certain date. The request has to be made
official, and I don't think that any kind of official requests have been made,
and particularly when you are already within the mandatory period. Your your fight
was already it hasn't been officially ordered, but they told you they were going
to order it after the victory. And I expect them to rule favor Daryl
Peoples. He's been around a while. He's a very fair guy. I've
had guys ranked in the IBF, I've gotten title shots through the IDF,
So I actually expect them to rule in our favor. And I believe in
the IBF, and I believe in Darryl People. All right, So the
one the one question that crops up though, is this, there's a lot
of money in the possibility of a Tyson Fury fight against Alexander Usk down the
road. You know, if he wins on October twenty eight, and this
always comes up with any kind of big time fight, is what mandatory challenger
agree to take some kind of step aside deal, whether it's a you know,
a lot of money, or take some money and fight on our undercard
or whatever, and you know, we'll agree to the winner fight you next.
Is there any way that Philip Perkovich would weigh an offer for a possible
deal to step aside and allow the undisputed fight that take place prior to his
getting his title shot, if in fact he was sicking. The theory fight
can make a deal, you know, if the teams can make a deal.
I've had fifty conversations with Argovitch over the past couple of months about this.
We talk about it constantly. His attitude is, I want the title
shot. I don't care about the money to step aside. I've worked seventeen
years to get myself to this pinning boxing since he started boxing, And he
said, I want to fight for the title because these situations only come around
so often. He wants to win it for himself, for his family,
and for his country and go down in the history books as a heavyweight champion.
So I don't see a scenario where he would step aside. The answer
is no right now, and I don't. I don't see anything changing as
mind, even when they start adding zeros. Listen, we're in the real
world right now. I can't say, you know, it's an impossible uh
scenario, but I would say it's almost impossible and very unlikely. Fair Enough,
he wants to fight for the heavyweight champions. He wants to become a
legend, he wants the big fights. He wants to be too sick,
and then he wants to, you know, fight the winner of Wilder Joshua
or or get a Fury fight. And if Us vacates it and you have
to fight somebody else down in the ranking, he wants to do that too.
So I don't think money is his motivating factor in this scenario. Everybody
loves to make money, and they all want to make a lot of it.
You all do, but want you want to get your guys grosserly overpaid.
Title shot. You want to get your guys grossly overpaid. As a
manager, that's the goal, that's the goals. At least get them market
value and change their life exactly. All right. Well, so now you
have another fighter that you're working with that you hope to change his life,
and you're getting him into a good position. It seems to me, is
not that long ago you signed up the junior welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins. He's
with match Room Boxing. He's supposed to headline the upcoming card September twenty three
in Orlando against Jose Zepeda, a very solid professional, former title challenger both
in the lightweight division and the junior welterweight division, a very well respected fighter.
Just tell me, I mean to me, when I look at Richardson's
record, I mean, I know he's got a tremendous amount of talent.
He was an Olympian, and he's looked good. He's slick, and he's
just a very good technical boxer. But on paper anyway, it does seem
like Zepeda, just given his his background and the types of opponents he has
faced, this is that this gotta be. It seems to be the toughest
fight that Richardson has had, at least on paper. Do you agree with
that? And what do you expect from him in that fight against Sepeda?
Oh? I mean he's definitely the hardest fighter he's ever had a face.
But I think it's actually a harder fight than luntanel Up. I don't know
what your opinion is on that, but I think it's definitely a harder fight.
He he hits harder. I think he's got more experience. I think
Cepta wants this fight. I don't think Montana Lave ever wanted the Hitchens fight.
So I think we're fighting a guy that's hungry, has a lot of
experience, and is dangerous and but you know what, that's the perfect situation
to put a guy like Hitchens in because I think he's the type of fighter
that loves the spotlight and it's going to do better against better opponents. He's
gonna shine. So I actually talked to him today. He can't wait,
but he's ready to fight today. And I think he's a pound for pound
type talent. I've started to say that over the last year. I don't
think there's anybody the one forty pound division that he can't beat. Maybe he
doesn't beat them, he's got to prove it, right, But I don't
think there's anybody that is in that division where somebody would say oh, he
has no chance in that time. This kid's got pound for pound type skills.
He's not a huge, one punch knockout type guy, but he's got
enough of power to keep guys awful, sort of like you know when Mayweather
had that great straight right hand that would pop people's heads back, and you
know, people said Mayweather didn't couldn't hit that hard, but he had enough
pop to keep people off. And when he was young, he actually knocked
a lot of people out that people won't remember. But Hitchens is special and
I think in the next year he's gonna he's gonna win a title in the
one forty pounds division, and I think he will be a superstar in the
next couple of years. I'm pretty sure that fighters like Ricky Hatton would agree
that Floyd does have some punching power. The thing about the fight with Zepeda
that you mentioned in relation that you brought up Montana Love just so people remember
that fight was supposed to happen. Montana Love bowed out, claimed they some
type of I believe it was a shoulder injury, and they ended up canceling
that fight. He's supposed to fight on the undercard when bomb Garner fought and
now they have their main event coming up in September. If Richardson is successful
agains Zapeta and you know, of course he's going to be the favorite in
the fight. Do you think he can get a title shot after that?
Or is going to take a little more time because Mattchraum also has redis program
and now his sched jewels not solidified. He looks like he's probably gonna fight
Devon Haney, but he's you know, he's still with that company. You're
with that company with Richardson? Is that sort of in the in the distant
future? I guess after this Hitchens fight against the PETA. I mean,
listen, you never know him boxing. You never know when things and and
opportunities are gonna sort of pop out of nowhere. It sounds like Regis is
going to be fighting Devin Haney. E. They're both tremendous elite fighters,
right, I'm not sure who's gonna win that. I have an idea of
who I think is gonna win that say, but but yeah, we would
love to fight the winner of that next Will that happen? I don't know,
But he's ready to fight anybody at any any point in time. So
if he gets the winner of Rainey sorry Regis Haney, he'll take that.
And there's another one hundred forty pounds champion that's open to fighting us, we'll
do that. There's not anybody in the world that Hitchens will shy away from.
None of these champions. He can be any of them on any given
night. But yes, if it doesn't happen after this fight we do one
or two more fights, we'll go with that too. But I do expect
him to get a title shot in the next twelve months. And I do
think he, like I said, I think he has the skills, the
confidence, the swag to be one of the stars of boxing. Yeah,
he's a great ship talker, right, but he can get back it up
with skills and he is honestly one of the most confident fighters I've ever met.
He actually tells me, get me Timo Lopez, that'll be easy.
Get me a regious program, that'll be easy. He's telling me some of
these elite fighters, and believe me, Regius and Tifimo, I'm big fans
of there. They're elite fighters. He thinks they're easy fights for him,
So he's super confident in his in his skills, and I think he has
the skills to back it up. So we'll see what happens over the next
twelve months. But I'm really high on hititions. I think he can be
an elite fighter. Now he's just got to go out there and do it
all right, So here's another fight that year's sort of in the middle of
that. It seems like is there's some movement to try to make whether it
gets done, I'm very skeptical, but I'll hear what you have to say
about the future for your super middleweights. Young contender Edgar Berlanga. He had
his first fight with match Room Boxing. He outpointed Jason Quigley in June.
He scored four knockdowns. He didn't get the knockout like I think a lot
of people expected, so the non knockout street has continued. But he you
know, he did win the fight and get a bunch of knockdowns. An
immediate aftermath of that fight, there was the interview in the ring where he
was then and there with Eddie Hearn talking about what could be in the future,
and the name Jimi Mongia came up. Now they're not with Mahimi is
not with match Room, but he's with Golden Boy, which is also on
the Zone. They've done plenty of fights together. That was the Mexico versus
Puerto Rico two big you know, exciting fighters, guys that can punch.
Seems like a dream kind of match. Maybe not for a world title,
but it's a fight that I'm told that the Zone is very interested in.
I know that you know, you have said to me that you guys are
interested obviously the business to be right, the Golden Boy people have said the
same thing. So the question is can we see Edgar Berlanga and Heimi Mongia
in a great Mexico Puerto Rico fight in the next matchup, you know,
end of this year. Well, anything's possible, But like you said,
there's a business side to the equation. I spoke to Sean Palmer, my
buddy over at match Room, the CEO of matt Room, and one of
the lawyers, and we've requested to have a meeting in person with Eddie Hearn
the week of September twenty three there richardson Hitchin's Garden, Florida. We're just
waiting to get confirmation if we can make that meeting. What day, it
would be what time we want to sit down with Eddie. We want to
go over things and and we'll see if the fight can happen. Is it
a fight? I mean, I know we've discussed that the business has to
be right, not just for Edgar but also for a Mangia, and I
don't think it's easy to make the business work on either side. But it's
still Is it a fight that Edgar wants? Is a fight that you want?
Is you're looking at something else or is that sort of like where your
focus is, like, let's try to make this fight and get it done
if we can. Well, obviously his main focus and his dream was to
get the Canello fight. That's what we signed with Eddie Hearned for. That
was the plan. He's now gone to PBC for a few fights. Obviously
Edgar could still fight Canello Albarez. Right, you just both sides have to
sit down, Eddie al Haim and PBC, myself, Eddie Renoso. So
he's fighting Charlo September thirtieth, that's a week after we meet with or we
hopefully leave with Eddie Hern in person. And there's a lot of names out
there, there's a lot of names out there that we could fight. Is
Heimie Mangia the guy that we want to fight. I don't think it was
Edgar's number one choice, but it's a fight that I know just Zone wants,
I know Eddie wants, And like I said, I can't giving you
an answer on that before I actually sit down in person with Edgar, with
Eddie Hearn with you know, some other guys for Mattroom that will be in
that meeting. We have to go over every day, so it's not impossible,
but I just can't give you an answer on that until we actually sit
down with them in person and go over everything. Well, you're certainly you're
certainly very familiar with with with what Heimiy Mungi. It brings the table because
and I was remissed to not mention his name when I introduced to you.
In the various boxers that you manage and work with, another one of the
ones that you've worked with for many years of Sergey Devrenchenko, who has been
a top contender you know, for a number of years in the middleweight division
and moved up to the way that Heimi Mungi did in the last fight,
and they fought each other in the super middleweight division in what is too many
people a leading candidate for Fight of the Year this year, So you're familiar
with Mungia from that kind of fight. If you can't make a Mungia fight
with Berlanga or this, the money's not there, that one side or the
other decides to go a different direction. How about And I think a lot
of boxing fans would love to see a rematch between him and Mungia and Serge
Defferentek was a super close fight and it was very dramatic and it was just
fantastic. Well yeah, I mean, obviously that's that should almost be an
automatic rematch, right like in the days of HBO, where you'd have like
a Fight of the Year with Berreo Berrero Morales before they moved on to anything
else. It was like an automatic rematch. Well they actually waited, they
did. They do it again a lot of times. I'm not saying those
particular guys, but I'm saying in general, it's a natural if something's a
fight of the year, why wouldn't you want to do the rematch? So
I guess the first priority for match Room the Zone is they want us to
work at this Lungia Berlanga deal, which isn't impossible about the right, right,
It's just I can't I get asked that ten times a day. And
like I said, I have a client, Negri Blanga. He wants to
sit down with Eddie in person to go over everything. And in two weeks
I might call you up and say, hey, is right, we have
to have that meeting first. That's what Edgar has requested. I expect that
to happen right around two weeks from now. I'll have a lot more clarity.
But yes, for whatever reason that this fight can't be made. Sergey
is chomping at the bid for the for the rematch, and I don't see
why fans wouldn't want that. It was probably the most exciting fight of the
year, and if you watch that first fight and you know their styles,
it's almost impossible for the rematch not to be exciting as well. Then maybe
up for a fight of the year as well. Right, So, there's
so many guys that m could fight, right, Edgar Berlanga, Surge,
Derevin Shanko, Daniel Jacobs. At some point, I'm sure Triple G and
then Mangia would be a big fight. There's so many fights in that division
and guys that that that have worked with the zone and that can be made.
Say, yeah, I'm sure all these guys will probably fight each other
at some point, and I think s a game and Mungia if they didn't
fight again after their first fight, I think it would be a shame.
If it's next or it's somewhere down the road, I think those two guys
fighting again, it should happen. I think at some point Danny Jacobs should
fight him, and at some point Triple G should fight him if he decides
to come out of retirement or a semi retirement. I don't know if he's
actually made a decision yet. He hasn't made any announcements just yet. Yeah,
there's so many exciting fights to make that one sixty eight. Even though
Canello has gone to PBC for a few fights, there's so many exciting fights
that can be made still on his own. You know, you can have
a round, Robert of those four guys. Yeah, like you said,
different Tanko and them. Even if they don't, I mean, look,
there's some that do it right away. As one example, Gaddian Ward fought
three consecutive times. You mentioned Morales where they actually had two years between each
of their three fights, so it played out over the course of a few
years. Uh. Sometimes there's a rematch and then there's another, you know,
a bit of time, and then perhaps there's a third fight. But
yeah, I think a lot of people would love to see Devin Schenko and
Mungia get it on again, even if it's not h you know, Enco
Trible G rematch, Daniel Jacobs Triple G rematch. I know a lot of
people are calling for Berlanga, Danny Jacobs obviously both my guys, you know.
But and then that's always a tough one. But there's so many fights
at one sixty eight. They can invaded to zone. Uh, but we'll
see if we can make I was gonna I was gonna ask you moving on
to the next topic of conversation, I was gonna ask you about Danny Jacobs,
who you brought up in that in that previous discussion about Berlanga. He
hasn't had a fight since February twenty twenty. It was a very disputed,
very close decision against John Ryder in England. He was on the road,
and it really hasn't really been much about that, and I sort of wondered,
like, Okay, Danny, He's had a heck of a career,
one titles, overcame cancer, which is remarkable that he was even forget about
fighting in just that he was able to live, but came on after that
and had a successful boxing curve beyond his cancer diagnosis, made a ton of
money in large part thanks to the you know, the big deals you were
able to get for him, particularly the one at his own And I just
wondered, what is his appetite to still fight again. I mean, is
he just feeling like, you know, let me enjoy my life, enjoy
my money, enjoy my Family's got his you know, his un all close,
he is with his son, and he's got a beautiful home now in
Atlanta. I mean, doesn't need to fight if he doesn't want to.
Well, listen, Danny Jacobs is living the life. The kid's handsome.
He had a great career. He beat cancer. He's the only person in
the history of boxing to be paralyzed for a period of time from the waist
down and to come back and win a world title. That's a fact.
He's made a buttload of money. He's been smart with his money. This
kid rolls out of bed making a lot of money without doing a damn thing,
so financially he's set, but he has said he does want to make
one more run. We were very close. See a lot of people know
this. We were very close to making Danny against Mungia in two in the
second half of twenty twenty two. It fell through at the end, but
we were close to making that. So Danny doesn't want to fight. I
think it's at the point where he's been out of the ring over a year
now. I think he wants to get one warm up fight and then he
would like to fight a guy like himing Mdia. So yeah, Danny definitely
wants to come back. We're just trying to work that out right now and
hopefully we'll have some clarity on that in the short term. The other one
I asked you if if you think that Danny was going to fight again.
I also I see him on TV as a commentator more than I've seen him
in the ring for the last couple of years. But you know, you
managed Chris Algeria for a long time. Chris had a good career, won
a world title. You know, made a lot of money. Also had
a big, huge fight with Paco, even though it didn't go his way.
Now, everywhere I go, he's on the international calls on some top
rank fights, he's doing some ring side stuff or some of the Zone events.
Does a hell of a job on his commentary. Do you think that
you know and I know and I know Chris uh, you know still involved
in the business from the standpoint of because he's around at ring side doing these
fights. But does he want to fight again at some point? Or is
he basically, like you know what, I'm good calling fights and being on
the outside of the ring. I don't think he's one hundred percent decide that
he wants to fight or not again. You know, Chris is the type
of guy that he's a he's a work act for you. He's a gym
ratt Even if he's not training for a fight, he's working out to stay
in shape. He's always eating well, working out every day. So I
don't think he's made a decision yet one way or the other. We'll see
what Pam's out here, But I know he's loving life commentating, He's getting
a lot of reps doing it, and he's got an other things on the
side. That he can do. So Chris is very happy in life,
and if the situation comes up that's beneficial to him. I'm sure you would
fight again, or you might just wake up one day and get the itch.
But I think right now he's comfortable what he's doing, and I think
he's content where he's at. So you have worked now with all these guys
that we've talked about, some of them on the very highest level of the
sport, Like we've been discussing champions and guys who are working their way into
huge fights and you know, possible big time events. But I know you
also have a certain affinity for, you know, signing younger fighters, nurturing
their careers, bringing them along. I mentioned some of them like Mark Castro
and Rashat Mahdi and some of the other guys. Uh, what is it
about it that tracks you to try to bring a guy from the amateur ranks,
you know where it's not easy. You've got to spend money, it
takes a lot of time. You've got to, you know, get them
with a promoter. There's the constant of trying to make sure you get the
right opponents, dealing with your matchmakers and the promoters, and you know,
it's it's it seems like it's maybe even more of a headache in some ways
than if you have a guy that's established, that's you know, is going
to fight you know, two or three times a year max and at a
certain price point. Uh what is it about going with the younger guys?
It also gets you kind of you know, excited about it when you go
to work on their careers. Well, that's what makes it so good.
The headaches and the heartaches of bringing a guy from zero and zero to a
world title, that's what makes it so gratifying. I think if it was
easy, there wouldn't be any gratification. So I love starting a guy out
from from from scratch and and going, you know, seeing him grow from
a young kid into an elite fighter on the world. There's nothing like it.
There's nothing like it. So yeah, the pain, the headaches,
the heart ache you're talking about, I think that's what makes it so gratifying
and so exhilarating at the same time. One thing about you, in terms
of your management style that I have found to be sort of interesting and a
little bit different maybe than some other of the more well known managers in the
business, You're one of the few guys that is really on a consistent basis,
spread your guys around, work with a variety of promoters. You've had
guys with Mattram, You've had guys with Top Rank, You've done tons of
business with PBC and Al Hayman. You have worked with Golden Boy on events.
You have done fights with everybody, it feels like, and not every
manager does that. What is it about your style that can keep you in
the You know, able to have a conflict with a promoter perhaps and when
it comes to making a deal for your fighter, but still be able to
work with them all around the sport, not just one or two. Where
you're bringing your guys. I think it's just more a matter of fact of
I want to bring the fighter to where he fits in the best. Sometimes
it's with Al Hayman. Do I love? Al taught me a lot in
the business. I consider him a mentor in the business. He's do so
many great things for me and my fighters, and certain guys fit well with
him. Right. Another guy, Eddie Hearn done a lot of great things
for me and my fighters. My guys have done very well with him as
well. Sometimes a fighter fits in with Eddie better than somebody else. It
all depends on how excited the promoter is on the fighter. Because of the
the promoter is excited about the fighter, they're going to push them and they're
gonna put them in better positions to succeed. And I've done a lot of
business with top rank you know. Like I said, certain guys fit in
better in certain places. And I'm not going to say, oh, I
don't want to deal with that promoter because you know, I pissed him off
or he pissed me off. I'm always going to do what's best for the
fighter, and I can get over things quickly, right. You kind of
have to have a short right, excuse me, you kind of have to
have a short memory. Of course you have to because if I'm gonna if
I'm going to hold something against a certain promoter, that's going to hurt one
of my fighters, and I don't believe in that. And at the end
of the day, it's all business, right. The promoter is trying to
do the best for his company. I'm trying to do the best for my
fighter. Maybe other people hold grudges. I don't do that. I'm you
know, if agar Blanga hits in over here, he's gonna go over here.
If Mark Castro fits into a certain place, or Dandy Jacobs or Sergey
Devin Schanko, I'm going to put them where they have the best opportunity to
succeed. And you know, like I said, top rank, they've done
great things for my fighters. Todd the buffin top rank do a lot of
great things for my fighters. Same thing with Eddie, same thing with Al
Okay. And I've done some business with Golden Boy. But all these guys,
I'm so thankful for everything they've done for my fighters, even if sometimes
we don't see eye to eye, but we see eye to eye more than
we don't, I think, And to me, it's all about the fight
or changing their lives, and hopefully they're better off dealing with me in the
promote right bringing them to than they would have been if I wasn't involved in
their careme here. Well, there you go. You have to make sure
now you come back and explain all the things we talked about when it all
comes down, fighter by fighter, when you get your deal done for whatever's
going to be next for Berlanga or the situation with the heavyweights with Philip Krkovic
and an Alicia's situation, and we'll see what happens with Richardson. Keith,
thank you very much for taking time to talk to us today about all your
guys and about the business. I appreciate it very much. I appreciate you
too, Dan, Thanks for everything. You bet there you go, everybody,
there's Keith Connelly manager. Extraordinary