Speaker 1: What. It's my pleasure to welcome back to our podcast
this week. It is the former w BO Junior Midaway
Champion of the World, Kim Zoo and Tim. You are
here in United States training for fighting you'll have back
home in Australia. I'll tell our listeners what you and
our viewers on YouTube what you've got coming up. You'll
be fighting a ten rounder, You'll be at one hundred
and fifty seven pounds, a little bit over your normal
weight in Wallongong, Australia. In your home country April fourth
in the United States where we can watch it Saturday
night on Prime Video Sunday Easter Sunday, April fifth in
Australia where the fight will take place. So welcome to
the show and I'm glad to talk to you. We
got a lot to get into, don't we.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: You bet so. Your opponent for this particular fight that
you've got come up is going to be Dennis Nursia,
twenty zero fighter. But the idea here, I think and
everybody that's been following your career sort of understands that
you got to take care of the business. That's always
the case when you have a guy in front of you.
But there's big plans potentially after that. But before we
get into all that, I want to I want to
I haven't talked to you since the fight you had
last summer against the Bashan Fundora, your rematch. I don't
want to bring up bad memories, but I got to
ask you about that particular situation. Had the rematch, you
challenge him for the WBC Junior Middleway title. You fought
really well against him in a very close loss in
the first time you met in twenty twenty four. I
think most folks frankly chalked that loss up to the
severe cut that you suffered on your on your on
your scalp in the early part of that fight, you
were covered with blood. Still a great fight, still a
really close fight. And then you have the rematch, you know,
a little bit later, and it was totally a different situation.
He won pretty handily, knocked you down in the first round,
and in the end it seemed like you just couldn't
handle it, and you know, you and your team you
stopped to fight on this tool after the seventh round.
How shocking was that ending given how how competitive the
first fight was.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think Thundora came to the relentless
game plan that I wasn't able to adapt. I sort
of stuck by it. You know, I was knocked down
in the first round, but yeah, it sort of shoot
me for a bit. The next couple of rounds, I
wasn't going to plan. And then I started sort of
touching him up that watching him back to fight. That
last round that we had, I sort of started hitting him,
started hitting him with big shots, and I could see
he was rocking. He was he I think his nose
was bleeding. But at the end of the round, man,
he got me. When I was in the when I
was in the corner, he got me, and I was concussed.
I was concasted and I was I sort of didn't
know where I was. It was the last five seconds
of the round. I sort of it was just like
bomb I got hit and I was like, what the
hell is going on? Like I didn't even sit down,
I was. I was just I was dazed. I was
dazed and I didn't know. I didn't understan what was happening,
so I sort of want to sat down. My coach
sort of started talking to me. I wasn't reacting. I
wasn't reacting. I was just just yeah, I was just there.
But yeah, I think Funder came with the right game plan.
I came in with the wrong one. I started moving
and I'm not Things didn't go according to plan, but
we we.
Speaker 2: Learned from our mistakes.
Speaker 3: I'm amendo takes on any challenge that's out there, and
we move on and we get better and we adapt.
Speaker 1: So you did come back after that fight. You went
back home to as show you where you hadn't fought
for a bit. You scored a shutout decision against Anthony
Velaska as an American fighter, he was taking a really
big step up in competition. You got in ten very
solid rounds and after that was over with, you know,
you got back on the winning track. In February of
this year, myself and a lot of others reported about
the prospect and the discussions and negotiations and talks, however
you want to describe it between your camp, PBC, TGB
Promotions and Aerol Spence about a possible fight that was
being sort of earmarked for June also in Australia. Uh
Spence of course, a very big name, former unified wealthyweight
world champion. When when when you took the fight with
Alaska's was that in your mind that maybe you would
get that big fight or was it just a matter
of I want to get back in the ring and
then we'll see what happens after that.
Speaker 3: No, I didn't. I didn't know. I wasn't aware of anything.
I'll be honest with them. It sort of took me
by surprise because I thought, all right, I changed a
lot of things up in my life and my career.
So I had to come here in Miami now completely
in a different environment than what it was previously, so
I had to For me, it was like the rebuilding stage.
I was like, all right, it's gonna take a bit
of time. That's all right. We're gonna stay patient. But
I know, I know, I know what I possessed. I
can't dog it out. I'm gonna dog out there sometimes,
but I don't need to show my bravery at times.
I can shad my my my i Q and my
intelligence in the ring. So I need to bring that out.
And then post fight, I heard about the news. The
news came to me and and talk. I was like,
sounds grown, sounds good.
Speaker 1: You like the idea of that fight.
Speaker 2: Of course, of course.
Speaker 3: I'll definitely welcome it. It's definitely very appealing. Uh startistically,
it's a very fun fight for for fans to watch
because you don't know which way could go.
Speaker 1: So then makes me think about it like that. So
you you got in the ten rounds against Alaskaz that
was in December. If you win the fight that you
have coming up, the fight against Bence supposedly would be
in the summer Jewish time frame. And so I have
to say, I I've seen so many things go wrong
when big fights get planned, and certainly a match being
Tim Zuo and Arrow Spence is a pretty big, pretty
big fight. It seems to me that why why take
the gamble with the with the sort of tune up
fight against Lergia. He's not a champion, it's not a
big name. You never know what can happen when the
bell rings, as you have found out in your own career.
And I wonder to myself, why risks such a big
fight with Errol Spence for no reason when you have
been acting. It's not like you've been off for years
and you need to shake off for us if anybody
would be doing that, you think it might be Erol
Spence who's been out of the ring for quite a bit,
So why why take this tune up fight?
Speaker 2: One of things?
Speaker 3: Really think it's a chune up? You know, the guy's
twenty and no he's not a he's not a bomb
out there. So he's a good boxer.
Speaker 1: Point that compared to the caliber name of a former
champion like Sence.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, look good question.
Speaker 3: It's it's what's in me, you know, I'm in I'm
here in Miami doing doing another training camp with a
with Pete Das and your coach. So we're just getting
started with things. We're learning off each other, so I'm
able to present something new and that's the main thing
I feel like with activity is where growth happens. You know,
another training camp, when people start resting, that's when you
start slacking off. You know, you always got to be ready.
Your body's going to be prepared, physically prepared at all times.
Speaker 2: And that's what it is for me.
Speaker 1: I wasn't thinking about resting necessarily. I was thinking about
you can still train with a trainer and and get
to know each other and and the way that he
does things and likewise him for you without actually taking
the actual fight now. I'll be honest. I I looked
at that and I'm like, he's taking a fight before
a Spens fight. I said to some people involved with
the negotiations that he's crazy. M hmm, what do you
think about it? I mean, many things go wrong, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I agree, but look, this is this is
what we risk. Man.
Speaker 3: I've always always present the toughest challenges out there. So
bring it on, man, It's all good for me.
Speaker 1: And I do understand your point though about wanting to
get another training camp under your belt with Pedro. You know,
as you guys can tinue to mesh together. You know,
I've heard different fighters through the year say sometimes it
takes you know, it takes a few fights to get
really on the same pageable with the trainer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course comfortable.
Speaker 1: It sounds like things are going well with you and Pedro.
My question about that, though, was how difficult was it
before you went on with Pedro to break up with
your uncle Igor, who had been your trainer pretty much
your entire career as far as I know, Yeah, it.
Speaker 2: Was super hot. It was super hot.
Speaker 3: Some some hot decisions in my family, right, Yeah, of course,
Bot Look he he.
Speaker 2: He understood I needed to get out of Australia. I needed.
Speaker 3: Look, I've always trimmed about fighting and training here in
the United States, and this is this is what boxing
is at, you know. So for me, I wanted to
to come here, train and bee surrounded by American boxing,
you know, and and and that's.
Speaker 2: What it was for me.
Speaker 1: And so now you go into the fight with Nrgia.
You mentioned his record. He's twenty zero uh, an Albanian fighter.
You got at the same age at thirty one.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, I have heard a lot of fighters him.
I've been doing this a long time, and I must say,
when I saw the announcement from your team that this
would be the opponent you were facing in this fight,
I had never heard of him. Went I looked him up,
and I looked at the record, and yeah, you mentioned
he's got a spotless record. It's it's looks real nice.
But then you take a look at the guys he's fought.
It's really you know, you don't recognize anybody on his uh,
on his record. So what is it about him that
you think he brings to the table or what do
you hope to gain from the fight. Other than like
you were saying in another training camp with Pedro.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the hardest, the best, the hardest thing
for me is that this is he's this is he's
make or break fought. This is the biggest opportunity. You know,
sometimes it's it's it's hot, and when people come to
this top of level, they sort of rise by fifty
percent just because of the occasion.
Speaker 2: So that's what it is for me.
Speaker 3: But for me, it's more about just getting in the groove,
working on things that have that have been working on it,
and putting it all into action.
Speaker 1: All right, So now what about Spence? I mean, if
you know you're supposed to win this fight. Obviously we
know anything can happen in boxing, but you're supposed to
win that would I know the deal has not done
yet as far as I know, as far as your
team and and the Spence side getting everything wrapped up,
but it feels like that's what's gonna happen at some
point in the near future. What are your thoughts about
Errol Spence. He's been a top pound for pound guy
for a long time. He'd unified three the titles at welterweight.
He would be moving up that weight to fight you
at junior middleweight. He also hasn't thoughts In July twenty
twenty three, as I mentioned, if anybody would need to
tune up, it might be Errol Spence. Last time he
was in the rank, Terrence Crawford demolished him when they
met for the undisputed title, but he's still got a
big name. Tell me your thoughts about that matchup if
it happens.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's I think it's intriguing the fact that what
he's achieved future whole of fame already right there. But
a lot of question marks, a little question marks, answer
answers the NATed. So it's an intriguing match between two
different stalls. You know, starts technically, how it's going to
play out, It's going to be a splash, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: I have to think with the caliber of his name
and his accomplishment, you combine that with the things you've done,
and you're popular already at home. And if this fight
takes place in Australia, as the people in negotiating and
say it would be, can it probably be one of
the bigger fights in recent Australian history. And there's been
a lot of fights in Australia over the last several years.
How big of a deal do you think it would
be for your for your people?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think for Australia it's it's it's going to
be history making top things.
Speaker 2: This top of caliber fight. You don't hear about it,
you know.
Speaker 3: I remember when Pakil and versus Horn that was massive,
fifty plus in a stadium, So I think we're talking
to the top those tope of numbers and to experience
something like that, No many fighters get to do that,
get to feel that type of feelings before. So that's
what it is for me.
Speaker 1: Now in your weight class, junior midway, there is a
fight coming up in March twenty eighth for your old rival,
Sebastian Vndora. He's going to defend the WBC belt against
Keith Thurman, who you were actually on course to fight
when you both took fights in Australia and you both
won them by knockout, and when that was all done,
you ended up taking the fundor rematching, didn't take the
Thurmon fight. Could you tell me a little bit like
why everybody was so hyped up for Thermon fight. Everybody
was talking that was what was gonna be next? You
commentated on his fight. You know, he went to your
country and talked a lot of shit and it didn't
end up happening. You took the Fundor fight.
Speaker 2: What was it?
Speaker 1: Why didn't the the Therman fight happen?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: House presented with the with the rematch that I couldn't refuse,
you know, because one of one of those things that
I that I really wanted to get back and relieve again.
Speaker 2: And yeah, that's that's the decision that I'm maing.
Speaker 1: Well, I know you're obviously very familiar. Haven't had two
fights with Fndora, And even though you didn't fight tith Thurman,
you commentated on his fight. I'm sure you studied them
a bit thinking you might be him. What do you
think of I mean, your your thoughts about their matchup?
That seems uh, you know, Fondora is in his prime.
Therm is coming off of a of a he he
did recently fight, but a longer layoff. But you know
there's always that size difference when a Fundora opponent has
to look up at the guy. How do you think
that fight works out?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Look, I think fun Door is hard. He's very
hard box on The reason for it is that when
he it's not like he's punching of the like powerful,
but they're just stingy and they're non stop. The fact
that he's that tall, he can throw a hundred punches
around and not waste energy, you know, So he just
goes bom bom bom. It's like a monotone boom boom
boom boom boom boom, and they're landing because there's so
long and the whole time when you're when you're with Fondora,
you don't have that time to to relax, to think,
to strategize or show to do this but them and
what he's good at it is he's moved and moves around.
Speaker 2: He's able to could get Fondora to come walk into
one of his shots, which, yeah, it's going to be
an interesting doubt in terms of that.
Speaker 1: Stylistically wise, Deren also has been known to have a
great chin throughout his career. And as I mentioned, you
are in this loaded division. Besides yourself and Fondora and
Thurman Erol Spence coming up potentially to fight you, you
also have a lot of other guys in the white class.
He got Xander's eyes he's a unified world champion. A
lot of people, at least in our country here in
America want to see virgial Artis and Boutana's get it
on that day have bigger names in the weight class.
Josh Kelly recently won a title, taking it from Baker Martazalev,
the other guy that hung a loss on you a
few years ago. Where do you fit in this dream
middleweight division as it is constructed now, because I think
a lot of people look at is literally the number
one division for talent in boxing currently. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Look, I think in terms of being in the division,
I think I've only really lost to the best out
in the division, and that's that's that's all the best.
Speaker 2: But I just need a big win.
Speaker 3: I need a big win against someone notable and and
that puts me back in the mix.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So Dennis Nergia is your next fight. I'm not sure
that people will look at that as a big win.
But if you can take care of your business, I
guess then we'll see the chance to you for you
to get a big wins. Is that how you sort
of look at things?
Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, look one fight at a time, of course,
But yeah, we're talking about the biggest names.
Speaker 2: Possible in the in the in the near future.
Speaker 3: So one step at a time, though, I'm fully focused
on what I'm going to do to Dennis.
Speaker 1: Why wilsh you good luck at that fighting against Nursia.
I'm happy to see them. We'll be able to watch
here in the United States on Prime Video. I wish
you the best of luck, and when that's all gone,
maybe we'll see you in the big one against fans
Hatter that Tim. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. My good luck. Ma