Speaker 1: The countdown is on to fight time. This is Big
Fight Weekend.
Speaker 2: Now Here is your host DJ Leaves All Ride special
conversation here on the podfeed and also elsewhere, YouTube page,
social media, etc. Let's talk about Jake Paul and Anthony
Joshua here in the preview mode. Let's do it with
Christina Poncher, who's part of the broadcast along with Mario Ronaldo,
David Hay and many others for Friday night in Miami.
Christina is there as the countdown is on to this
heavyweight main event women's world title fights below. It great
to have you let me publicly say what I've been
saying to you privately for three days.
Speaker 1: You're a pros pro to make this work.
Speaker 2: Because Christina is like, I am busy doing the arrivals,
I have to pre tape interviews, I have to do whatever,
and she's making time for me.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: You're a pro to do this and I know it's
an exciting time building up to Friday.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me TJ. I shout out to
Dan as well. Hey Dan, I watched your guys at show.
I'm like, I'm not I'm not one to bet very much,
but I still like the insight that we thus provide.
So thanks for having me, And yeah, I mean this
is an amazing fight week. Like if you would asked me,
you know, a year ago, two years ago, if I
would have thought I'd be here covering at Jake Paul
versus Anthony Joshua, I'd probably say you were crazy. But
you know, yesterday to kick things off, with the open
workouts and some of the preliminary fights we had, you
can feel. And I've been a part of some very
big fight weeks. This has that feel, you know, a
pay per view big fight feel, and I think it's
only going to get better and better as we get
closer to Friday night.
Speaker 2: Well said, Now, we're always curious about this. At what
point did you get contacted, how recently, how long ago
on Hey, we'd like you to be part of this
and the Netflix broadcast. Take me through that, and then
what's your reaction? As obviously Joshua was the former unified
heavyweight champion and Jake's got a massive following online social media.
Speaker 1: What about it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, as far as my part is concerned, you know,
it came about prior to what was going to be
Jake Paul Versus Javonte Taint Davis when Top Rank and
that the situation with their broadcast rights, you know, kind
of came to an end. My contract was also up
there simultaneously, and you know, as I was in discussions
to still try to make something work with them, I
think the best thing for them and myself was just
to kind of spread my wings and see what else
is out there in the meantime. And you know, I
have an amazing agent, and you know, shout out to
Ethan and United UTA. But I think with what MVP
is doing with women's boxing and the fact that they
reached out and we had a conversation, I think it
was a great fit. You know, there's a like you
mentioned women's championship fights on this card, uh, you know,
women in the co main event on Netflix. And as
much as I've obviously covered mailboxing like my entire fifteen
years in the sport, to see what they've done for
women's boxing, I feel like it was a great fit
for this event. So it's been some months in the
making because of the original fight obviously being postponed so now,
so I had to sit on this for quite some time,
and I've been very anxious and very anxious.
Speaker 2: And then when you could tell people, and then when
people like me are looking to interview you, it's like, yes, yes,
I can now talk to you. Yeah, and we're gonna
all right. So more on the women's fights in just
a couple of moments. What do you since, because there's
a lot of skepticism, let's say on this, what do
you since you said big fight feel Joshua has been
out of the ring for a year and a half.
Speaker 1: There's an injury question.
Speaker 2: You've done this for a long time, you have the chops,
You are somebody that's qualified to give us the insight.
What are you sense about this event? Does it feel
like big moment? Big moment for Jake Paul, big moment
for Joshua, whether he still has something?
Speaker 1: What do you say?
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know how big it honestly feels
for it, because he's been a part of some really
big moments, stadium fights, you know, at the highest level
as an olympian in his amateur days. So I'm not
quite sure yet how big this feels for him being
the caliber opponent that he's been used to being across
from Clitch Goo to Usik, et cetera. So I'm not
quite sure. I don't really have a pulse on that yet.
Maybe come way in day when it's packed with more
fans and friends and family are are all in town.
But I think he is taking it very seriously because
of the fact, as you mentioned TJ being out of
the ring, being knocked out the way, that he was
wanting to start the next chapter of his career in
twenty twenty six, and honestly, all the pressure is really
on him.
Speaker 4: I mean, what does Jake Paul have to lose. I mean,
some people think he could lose his.
Speaker 3: Life, like I mean, some people think if he gets
if he gets knocked out. I've heard people say he
could die in there and everything, and I wouldn't even
want to put that in the atmosphere in that regard.
But I don't know how big it feels for Anthony.
But I think for Jake Paul, this is the biggest opportunity.
Speaker 4: I think he knows it. I think he's taking it
very seriously.
Speaker 3: I think he's trained very hard, and I think he
knows he's gonna need a perfect twenty four minutes if
it gets to that point, to give himself a.
Speaker 2: Chance love the inside of Christina pontron As she made
reference to we're talking to her midweek in the preview
mode again.
Speaker 1: The fight is Friday night for.
Speaker 2: Jake and Joshua, Jake Paul Anthony Joshua headlining in Miami.
Christina is there as part of the Netflix broadcast. There's
a lot of belief that Anthony Joshua may take sixty seconds,
maybe not that long, and he's gonna come right at
Jake Paul. And then there's the crux of what do
we have in this fight? Would it surprise you if
there's a feeling out process for a round or two,
would that surprise you?
Speaker 1: What do you think?
Speaker 4: I don't think it would surprise me. I think that's
a great question.
Speaker 3: I'd be like, Oh, it's only gonna go thirty seconds,
it's only going to around. Like if AJ's trying to
get back in the ring and get some rounds in
after being out for fifteen months, then you want to get.
Speaker 4: Some rounds in.
Speaker 3: And by no means do you get paid overtime for
extra you don't want to play with your food. I
understand all of those things too, but if you just
want to get in there, get that feel with no headgear,
like sparring with the glove size, that you're gonna fight
with those kind of things. Like, I don't put it
past him that, you know, he does feel things out
for a little bit, moves around the outside.
Speaker 4: He does respect Jake. He's made that very clear.
Speaker 3: So I don't think he's going to go in there
with you know, reckless abandon and just be swinging wildly
to get him out of there.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I don't. I don't think that would surprise me.
Speaker 2: There is a there is a thought, a colleague of
mind that was on the preview pod earlier in the
week as well with an English point of view. David
Payne is his name brought up the initials PTSD, and
what he said is we won't know until we see him.
Is he fearful like he seemed to be at times
against Andy Ruiz in the rematch, at times with Usik,
and now that he's been knocked out by Dua.
Speaker 1: We won't know. Is he concerned? Tentative?
Speaker 2: For that reason, he'll answer it, Joshua well one way
or the other. In the first thirty seconds, minute, minute
and a half on is he tentative? But David's point was,
we just don't know, the last time he was in there,
he had a bad experience. He got hit right away,
he got knocked out. So that's a great unknown, is
it not? One more time?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Fair, I agree.
Speaker 3: You know you remember those things, and especially when you
know your losses predominantly have come to people that are
of smaller stature than yourself, you know, people.
Speaker 4: That are movers like I'm not by.
Speaker 3: Any means saying that Jake Paul is of the caliber
of Alexander Usik, you know, or even Andy Ruiz, but
decize those kind of things. When you mentioned a PTSD,
it's it's triggers on all of those things that have
become kryptonite for you, And you know that's kind of
those are some of the things that have become you know, troublesome,
the movers and the guys of smaller stature.
Speaker 4: For Anthony Yjoshua, can.
Speaker 1: He hit him with a big punch again.
Speaker 2: In Jake's world, he's been primarilier cruiser way he bulked
up some to fight Mike Tyson. We will find out,
all right, Let's talk about the ladies on the under card.
Alicia Baumgardner. For fight fans, we know this name. She's
in the co feature fight. Tell me what intrigues you
about watching her on Finday and being on the call.
Speaker 3: What intrigues me most to see how this goes for
the coming event? Three minute rounds, twelve three minute rounds,
fighting equal, you know men's championship rules, That first and
foremost is what intrigues me, because you know, I think
some of the intrigue of women's boxing is how quickly
they have to get to work with two minute rounds
and how fast they go, especially when you don't see
an abundance of knockouts in the women's game, right, So
that's the part that makes it exciting. So what is
a foal if it goes the distance you know championship
fight gonna look like? And is this something that we
may see more if they deliver, if it does make
a difference, if it can still be entertaining, is that.
Speaker 4: Something we're going to see more?
Speaker 3: And then with Alicia Bumbarner, you know what I mean,
Like she's a show woman through and through. It's everything
from what she wears to how she walks out into
the ring to how she performs. And she's getting a
back to back fight. Her last fight against Jennifer Miranda
on the undercart of Amanda Serano and Katie Taylor was
a tadbit underwhelming, and credit to Jennifer Miranda her style
coming in here, you know, unbeknownst to most of the
US audience and doing what she did. But Lisia Bumgarner
was also out of the ring for a bit before that.
I'm excited to see her again, back to back and
now obviously just DEFETI excuse me, defending that undisputed status.
Speaker 1: Yep. So she's back.
Speaker 2: Caroline Dubois car and that's the sister obviously of Daniel Dubois,
an olympian in the UK. She has some knockouts on
the resume as well, and we're intrigued to see her
follow up on that, if you would, yeah.
Speaker 3: Very much so. I think it was very clever the promo.
I don't know if you saw it that MVP did
when Jake goes like, well, let's call it Dubois Dubois
and then it was Caroline, and I was very that
was very clever too, you know, especially getting it's a
mental game right as much as it is physical with
those guys, so, you know, making her MVP debut, making
her debut. I'm excited to see what she's able to do.
Also on the card, You'll cost A via Is on
the card. We know the caliber fighter that she is.
Sugar Niqu's Shernika Johnson on the card. It's just yeah,
I mean, the future of women's boxing, the current world champions.
You kind of got a little bit of everything here,
and I like how they're weaved in alongside the men
and some of the prospects and things on this card
as well.
Speaker 2: On that follow up point, Jake Paul has made it
a mission really for about the last three years. I
was around him when Amanda Serrano hooked up with him
for the Fights in Tampa in December of twenty twenty one,
and he said, we are going to sign multiple female boxers.
We're going to pay them what they're worth. They will
want to be on our promotions and on our shows.
And that has come to fruition. I mean that has
been followed through one. I don't think there's any there's
any doubt, And Amanda Serrano has said over and over again,
I owe everything to Jake Paul taking interest in her career,
in her struggles financially and otherwise, and saying pay the
women what they're worth, right, A thousand.
Speaker 3: Percent on thousand percent TJ and like, but again that's twofold, right.
It goes to show one Jake is does what he
says that he's going to do and has manifested everything
that has happened in his life to this point. So
when he says, you know what he wants to do
on Friday Night, you know, believe it or not, he
believes it and he'll do everything this power to make
that happen. But also, you know, look at Amanda Saruna's
career and the way things have skyrocketed for her since
she linked up with Jake Paul, and then look at
what he's done in the amount There's been no other
promoter in the history of Boston that has signed this
many women, never mind top level women, and have put
them on.
Speaker 4: A platform like Netflix and are you kidding me? Three
hundred million subscribers.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying they're alterning into every fight, but given
the opportunity, this is by far the biggest platform that
he's given to the most amount of women that this
history of the sport has ever seen. And that's a
way to leave a legacy, regardless of what your fighting
career turns out to be. As a promoter, that's how
you make a mark.
Speaker 2: I kept saying for that night of the of the
second Serrano Taylor fight on the undercard, the co feature
fight before Jake and Mike Tyson. To the people I'm around,
this is the best fight on the card and this
may be one of the best fights of the year.
Forget about women's boxing, and it delivered, and it's only
helped in the interest of what's going on with women's boxing.
What those two have given, I've only got you for
another moment or two. Share this with the audience. You've
been in big arenas, big moments like this, What is
that like? What do you think it will be Friday Night?
When we get ring walks, they get in the ring,
they introduce the fighters.
Speaker 1: What is that like? Share it with the audience.
Speaker 2: You've done it numerous times in your career, and what
do you think it'll be like Friday night for Jake
Paul and Anthony Joshua.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's really indescribable. I get the chills, I
get the excitement. I want to stand up, you know,
you want to get your phone out and record, just
like everyone else is to kind of capture that moment
because you know, for me, one of the things I
love the most about boxing is the unpredictability. You don't
know if it's gonna last thirty seconds, you don't know
if it's gonna go you know, well in the main
event and this time eight rounds. But I think it's
for this fight in particular. I would tell everybody at
the start of it, like, don't get up, don't go
to the bathroom, don't get a beer, don't get popcorn.
Speaker 4: Just stay in your seat.
Speaker 3: Watch it be real is the last because things can
change in any moment, and if you're you know, tuned
in watching on Netflix, I would tell you exactly the same.
Stay in your seat and enjoy it for as long
as it lasts, because I don't know if we'll ever
see anything quite like it again.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a spectacle and we shall see. I mean,
it's one of two things. I mean, there can only
be one of two things. Either Anthony Joshua emphatically announces
he is back and relevant, or Jake Paul shocks a
whole lot of people that think he's gonna get mowed
down real quick in this fight.
Speaker 1: One of those two things is gonna happen. We'll see.
Speaker 2: That's why we love the intrigue of boxing. Listen, Christina,
have a great call with Morrow and David Hay and
the entire crew on Netflix. Thank you for the time
here on the Big Fight weekend preview, on the pod
and the video, et cetera.
Speaker 1: You're the best. Thank you, ma'am.
Speaker 4: You're welcome. TJ, thank you for having me.