Speaker 1: The countdown is on to fight time. This is Big
Fight Weekend. Now here is your host, DJ Leaves. We
are saying goodbye to August.
Speaker 2: Can you believe it's Labor Day weekend already and we
are ready to talk one of the rising stars once
again in the super middleweight division, Diego Pacheco's main event
for Matchroom Boxing. It is part of the Big Fight
Weekend preview podcast. I am the's somewhat competent host, TJ. Reeves.
He is our insider. Nobody does pizza like the Hut.
Dan Raphael, I'm just saying, welcome in here for another
fun filled edition of the program. A lot to go over,
including Edgar Berlanga. You'll hear from him on this podcast,
your recent conversation with him prior to the showdown with
Canelo Alvarez. Speaking of super middleweights, Dan Rayfhael, how are
you as we head into the long holiday weekend, Labor
Day weekend?
Speaker 3: I'm good.
Speaker 4: We got it, like you said, a long holiday weekend
with not that much boxing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but we got something to talk about. And again,
if you follow when you subscribe, you already know that
you heard from Diego Pacheco on the podcast. Feed immediately
before us here ready to headline in the Matchroom main
event in Carson, California. We're gonna break that fight down
a little more. Make sure you are following subscribing Apple's
preaker Spotify five star reviews. Help A couple of you
have been checking in with the five star reviews. Keep
them coming. It helps us out with the algorithms, et cetera.
We love all of that. And by the way, we
should make mention that we will have a fight for
Naoia in a way coming on Tuesday. But because we
do the recap podcast with whatever happens in the Pacheco
fight in the Mattroom card, we'll go ahead and preview
the Monsters Junior Featherweight title defense on Sunday show. So
we gotta tease them leave some breadcrumbs Big Dan for
Sunday show. So we'll do that Sunday for the Tuesday
morning US time Tuesday night to latest appearance for Naolia
in a way, the monster coming up. But Checko's the
big story headlining here against su Leski, the veteran contender. Again,
you've talked with him on the podcast feed. Let's get
right into it. We'll have some news and some nostalgia later.
Oh goodie, looks like we're gonna get Jaron Ennis and
uh and uh Chicazian right or yeah, yeah, that's what
it looks like we're gonna get. So just be ready
for Rayfield to launch again on that. Before we get
to the news though, let's get into this in the
preview mode for Pachecko and what kind of chance I
guess the way to phrase it, does Suleski have to
make this competitive and to hang in against a rising star?
Speaker 4: Well, there, to me is a difference TJ between making
it competitive and hanging in. Okay, hanging in is like
he's a tough guy, he's got a good chin, probably
get gonna go a lot of rounds, take him deep
into the fight. Being competitive is a different story. Does
he win any rounds, does he have a moment, does
he score a knockdown? Does he maybe score the upset?
Those are two separate things. I look at this fight
like this. I'm very high on Pacheco, That's no secret.
I think he's a tremendous talent. I picked him as
the prospect of the Year this past December, So to
my way of thinking at that moment in time, he
was the number one prospect in the sport. Obviously, there's
different people at different definitions of what constitutes a prospect,
but I feel like he fell into that category perfectly,
and with the rough sort of definitions being you know,
at that time, not yet really a main event fighter,
not fighting really twelve round fights, still in his early twenties,
had a good amateur career, you know, being featured against
a different, a caliber of opponent that's stepping up as
he goes along, you know. He had in his final
fight of that of calendar year twenty twenty three, yes
he did have a twelve rounder and it was a
main event, but that was really the first one and
he beat the best guy of his career at that point,
which was the former world title challenger Missus Marcelo Costaris.
So he was still in that prospect stage.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: He fast forward into twenty twenty four. He fought in April,
scored a victory against an undefeated fighter named Sean McCalman.
Didn't look great in that fight, but got the win,
no doubt in terms of the scoring, there was no
issue there. But he you know, he went the distance
with a fighter that he was a huge favorite against
but he looked okay even though it went twelve rounds.
And now here he is in his second fight of
this year and he's taken on a very tough, durable
veteran in Celeski. I mean, one of the reasons he
only had I think, you know, went the distance. My
memory serves he might have been like nursing a little
bit of a small injury, but nothing earth shattering, But
he seems everything's good now. Celeski, though known for having
a very durable chin. I mean, he's been knocked down
and that was in fights against the best opponents that
he has faced, but they were losses, and this is
the type of opponent that he's measuring himself against in
terms of what Pachago's trying to do. Back when Celeski
was a middleweight, he fought on HBO in a main event.
He fought against Daniel Jacobs, gave Jacobs a very credible fight.
Did get knocked down in the late rounds of that fight.
I think it might have been even in the final
round in the twelfth round loss of the decision, But
there was competition during the fight. And then if you
take a look at the most recent loss. This was
a much more one side fight. I was actually ringside
for this fight, the Danny Jacobs fight Di Dimension. That
was in twenty eighteen. Now you fast forward to twenty
nineteen and he challenges dimitris Andre for the WBO middleweight title.
He goes to demitris Andre's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island.
He gets dropped early in that fight and loses a
shutout decision, a completely one sided fight. Didn't get beat up,
but lost against a master boxer in dimitris Andre. Now,
since that fight, he has come back and he has
won four fights in a row. Now, he has not
fought top level opposition in those four fights, but at
least in three of the In the last two fights anyway,
he had moved up to the one hundred and sixty
eight pound division, was fighting as a superman away. So
when he goes in the ring with Pacheco, he goes
in at least having fought in the weight division least
a couple of times. And look, this is not there's
nothing secret about what's at stake here. This is an
opportunity for Pacheco, a superb young talent that a lot
of people think is going to be a champion in
the near future, you know, as soon as he can
get an opportunity in that way class. But how's he
going to go in with a guy who is clearly
the best opponent that he has faced so far, and
on top of that, an opponent known for durability when
he's fogwed good opponents, And how's he going to handle it?
He Can he look spectacular? Can he do what nobody
else has ever done, which is to get a knockout
against Celesti? You know that that's one of the questions there.
He gets to perform once again in his hometown of
Los Angeles. He's fighting in Carson, you know, right next
door to Los Angeles. So it's a hometown fight in
the great venue of the Dignity Health Park, which is
a famed boxing arena or it has had many great fights
through its history, having had different names, and so you know,
I can't say this is a showcase fight for the
go Pacheco. You know, he's fighting a real guy, but
a guy that I believe is probably going to be
eventually outclassed by him. But you know, it's we're on
the journey, is the point here? We're on the journey
of where Diego Pacheco is going in the longer term,
at age twenty three, he's going to be around, I think,
for quite a number of years. And this is the
next step, and it's a legitimate step. And by the way,
there's not a ton of guys out there who are
getting ready to ready, willing and able to sign it
up to fight Diego Pacheck before you know the funds
that are available. So you got to tip your hat
to Cileski, who is willing to take the fight, who's
going to his hometown, and we'll give a good effort.
Speaker 2: I believe seventeen KOs in twenty one bouts you and
I will handicap this one a little further. A first
mention on our bet US Live handicapping show on the
bet us platforms including YouTube one Eastern time on Friday.
I'm curious if Big Dan's thinking Ko here of the
veteran Celeski or not. You know, I'm like kid Ko.
I love picking knockouts and being famously wrong. So we'll
make some debate about that and looking forward to seeing
what check coo can do uh with that name. Canelo
Alvarez still lingering out there, for whomever at one sixty eight.
Speaker 4: That's that's that's that's one of the things about uh
when I spoke to Diego and other things he said
to you know, as you know, not only to me,
but others in the course of the lead up to
the fight. A couple of things. Number one, he did
go the nine that the ten round distance when he
won the fight in April against Sean McCalman, and that
ended his nine fight a streak of having scored knockouts.
So well, it's not the most important thing to him,
you know, I thought he was pretty open when he
spoke to me. He goes, you know, my main thing
is to get in there and win the fight, but
I want I want the knockout. I want to I
want to restart that streak, get a ko uh. And
he does know that that that the best fighters that
Celeski fought in Andre and Jacobs, who are you know,
very quality fighters in their day and we're world champions,
that that they that they went the distance with this guy.
So it would be a real big feather in his
cap if he can get in there uh and stop Celeski.
So that's something that's never happened.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: He is pretty pumped up about fighting at home. He
is pretty pumped about about fighting in the Dignity Health
Park because that's an arena where he and his family
had gone to see fights when he was you know,
when he was younger, when he before he was a professional,
just to go to the fights because they had so
many great shows and tons of activity in that building,
you know, through the years.
Speaker 3: So you know, he's excited about it.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's a he's a very i think a
poised and humble young guy who knows that a lot
of people have a lot of high hopes for him
and that he's got a ton of potential. But he
doesn't strike me as the type of guy that's putting
a ton of pressure on himself. Like he gets it.
You knows he's in the formative stage. He's still in
the learning process. One of the things I wrote about
and a piece I did that's on my sub stack
on my fight fiction, that newsletter in part is about uh,
the way that you know, in terms of him getting
ready for these fights. Now, he's got his trainer. He's
from LA but he trains in Seattle area in Washington State,
and his trainer is Jose Benavida Senior. Jose Benafida Senior
obviously is the father of Jose Junior, who's been a
long time professional, as well as the father of Da
benavidis who was, you know, one of the best fighters
in boxing, two times super middleweight title holder and now
the WBC's interim title holder in the light heavyweight division.
So the thing about that, besides having a good training
team with him in terms of pose A senior, one
of the added bonuses, if you will, is that he's
in the gym every day with David Benavides, and as
he said, they've sparred, as he said, thousands of browns.
I'm not quite sure it's thousands, but the point is
he has sparred a ton of times with David Benavide's
both when he's getting ready for his fights and also
when when David's getting ready for his fights. So he
made the point that when David was getting ready for
one of his signature wins against Caleb Plant, it was
it was Diego Pacheco that was one of his main,
if not his main sparring partner to get him ready
for that, and David, you know, is a little older,
more experienced but kind of is like an older brother
younger brother, like a mentor type to him. It's almost
like he's got a second trainer in the ring. So
he gets massive amount of experience when you can train
alongside and spar with a tremendous talent like David Benavide's.
So what he sees in the ring against the Celeski
or the other opponents he's face is not going to
be a surprise to the guy at all. So I
like that aspect of it. I mean, I did find
it interesting when I spoke to him that I asked him,
what would you ever fight David And he's like, yeah,
of course, you know, we're champions, and the money is there,
you know, we'll do it. But right now they're the
same they're on the same team, and he gets he
gets vast experience and great great sparring with a with
a top fighter like David den Vitez.
Speaker 2: All right, so that's the main event. Uh, Well, hear
from Edgar Berlanga, another one hundred and sixty eight pounder
who is challenging Canelo Alvarez, and just by the moments, but.
Speaker 4: The guy he'd also like to fight, of course, you know,
he wants, he wants all I mean, as he says,
what's what is it?
Speaker 3: TJ is the kids say he wants all the smoke.
Speaker 2: He wants all the smoke.
Speaker 4: He wants Canelo. But he says, I'd like to fight Mangia.
I'd want to fight Bazillian. You know, if he wins,
that's Mongia's upcoming opponent. He mentioned him a billy when
nobody calls out, he said, Berlanga, they're with the same promoter,
both with Mattrom Boxing. I mean, so they're they're like,
he's he's like the kind of fighter right now that's young,
and he's on a leash and he kind of got
to hold him back, but at some point you got
to let him off the leash and let him run wild.
Speaker 2: All right to this undercard, mattrom undercard for Sorry Night.
What else is there? Before we hear from Berlanga? What
do you got?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: The co feature is the fight. I mean, I'll be
honest with you. Is it the most anticipated undercard in boxing?
Speaker 3: No? Not really, I mean it's it's it's pretty average.
Speaker 2: If yes, is the most anticipated under court of this
weekend in boxing, I'm not even sure it's that go ahead.
Speaker 4: It very well might be because there's nothing else going
on there you go. But the main thing in terms
of the undercard, and this is a fight that's going
to be the co feature, is is a fighter, a
junior lightweight contender named Eduardo Sugar Nunias from Mexico can
be making his American debut. He's twenty seven and one
with twenty seven knockouts. He is currently the IBF's mandatory
challenger for the belt that is held now by Anthony
Casachu pulled off the big upset over Cordina a few
months ago, but he's putting that title at that title
opportunity that he's in line for at risk by taking
on Miguel mariagu who was a well travel journeyman but
has some punching power. He's had a bunch of world
title opportunities. He's fought the likes of Vessel Lomachenko and
was stopped in that fight. He's fought for the title
at other times. I mean, he's only two and four
in his last six fights, but he's a veteran. But
the main thing is Ramos is not a guy that
too many I mean not Ramos Nunyez Edward on Nunez
is not a guy that a ton of people have seen,
but he was very impressive in the fight that got
him the title shot. He went to Tajikistan, the wholeme
country of his opponent that was Shaved Rakamov, who was
a former titlder, and he knocked him out in an upset.
It was a very very good performance, and so he
can't get the shot right away. So he's staying busy
and he's taken on you know, the well traveled, durable
veteran in Mariaga. So that's the co feature that at
the very least that might be able to provide some fireworks,
you know, between two guys who can bang a little bit.
We'll see how that goes. And another fight that's kind
of of somewhat of consequence. He got chev Clark, who
was a British cruiserweight who's only nine and oh with
seven knockouts, but he's thirty three years old. He didn't
turn until he was, you know, a bunch older than
most of your average fighters turning pro. But he's moved
along pretty quickly and he's coming to have his first
fight in the United States. He's taken on a Nigerian
fighter named fit tobar Apachi who's been in some good fights,
he's lost a couple of times. But this this actually
on paper, while it's not big names, I think actually
has a chance to be a pretty entertaining fight. But
the main point of it for match Room is to
advance chev Clark, to put him in the ring with
a tough, terrible guy in a Poache and and move
him along to the next level. So while I say
the undercard is nothing spectacular, you know, the the actual
bouts should be at least halfway decent. It seems to
me like the Clark fight I just mentioned, and you know,
and you're getting a chance to see Nunez do his thing.
Those are like the two main There's other fights on
the on the broadcast, but nothing that's even worth talking about,
to be honest with you. But that's what you're looking
at for the weekend, A decent diversion, I guess if
you're not doing something on the Labor Day.
Speaker 2: Weekend, clearly and clearly we're most interested. And we covered
it thoroughly over the last couple of pots here in
the Pacheco fight and what happens with that as part
of the main event, So stay tuned on that one,
all right, and then eventually we will work our way
in a couple of weekends to Edgar Berlanga going for
the unified super middleweight belts of Canelo Alvarez on pay
perview in Las Vegas. But we thought this was a
good time here with this being a lighter weekend on
Labor Day weekend, to go to a conversation that Dan
had with the unbeaten Berlanga about this bout, his place
in it, the build up for it and more. Let's
do that right now.
Speaker 4: Well, it's my great pleasure to welcome into our podcast
this week it's the super middleweight undefeated contender, Edgar Berlanga,
and Edgar, we're here to talk about you have the
biggest fight of your career coming up September fourteenth. It's
the main event on the PBC on Prime pay perview
at the Team Mobile Arena. You'll be taking on the
superstar unified super middaweight world champion Canelo Alvarez. It's a
huge fight for you for your career. Welcome to the show.
Thank you very much for doing.
Speaker 5: This, Thank you, thank you. I appreciated that you.
Speaker 4: Bet Edgar, So listen, you know I was I was
thinking back when, way back when. Not way back, but
in twenty twenty three. You know, you had become a
free agent from top rank and you and your manager
at Keith Connelly, we're talking to different promoters about, you know,
your future career path. You wound up signing with Eddie
Hearn and Mattroom Boxing, and this was always the fight
wherever you signed, this was the fight that was on
your mind, was on Keith's mind, thinking that they could
make this happen. A Canelo at that moment was with
with Mattroom. He's not anymore, but they still do plenty
of business with all the different promoters. So my question is,
back then, this was like a dream to get this
kind of fight. Now that it's here and it's happening, like,
how surreal is it that you actually got it?
Speaker 5: It feels good, man.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm just living my dream of what we've
been doing for the past twenty years.
Speaker 5: You know, we got to the Punk, got to the
Pinna quarter boxing.
Speaker 6: You know, were at the mountain now and it's about
it's about defeeing the life now, you know, and taking
his spot and becoming the new superstar of you know,
of boxing, in the face of boxing. You know, I
know I got what it takes to become that, you know,
the skills, the will to start them, the charisma, the look,
ticket sales. I got the whole package, you know. So
I feel like now you know, he already did his time.
You know, for me, his time is done. You know,
I think he's already going out that doorway. You know,
he has his millions of dollars already, he don't got
none to prove the more on the squorter box, and
he's going to go down in history as one of
the greatest uh Mexican champions. You know.
Speaker 5: So with that being said, you know, I'm young. I'm
the young lion coming in now.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm the young blood coming in, and you know,
I gotta make my mark, you know, and mark my
territory in the squarter boxing.
Speaker 4: So I know I mentioned that this was the talk
when you became a free agent, that you guys were
looking for this fight. But I've heard you say that
even way back when you first heard professional, all the
way back in twenty sixteen, that at that time Canelo
was middleway champion. He was already an established star, but
you were just turning pro. But even all the way
back then, in your mind you thought, you know what,
maybe someday I can line up with Canelo Alvarez and
get that kind of fight, which you've got now. So
I'm actually interested when you found out that you finally
got the fight. Whenether either Eddie called you or Keith
called you and you found out, you know what you
got Canelo. We're good, that deal's done. September fourteenth, What
was your reaction? What was your thought after all those
years of thinking this might happen someday, hoping it would
happen someday.
Speaker 5: My first thing was that we did it.
Speaker 6: You know, I've been talking about this fight for years,
about five years now, you know, even when I first
turned pro and I see Conneldo and I was like, Dan,
that's gonna be a that could be a mega fight,
you know, if I keep going while keep doing what
I'm doing, you know, winning.
Speaker 5: And spectacular fash team. I was knocking people on in
the first round.
Speaker 6: I was like, that's gonna be a mega fight for
the sport of box in Mexico. Supporto Rico, and you know,
we got it, man, Like It's an amazing feeling of
being in this position, you know.
Speaker 5: Now it's just we got it. You know, the job
is not over here. You know. It's a difference when
you got it. A lot of fighters are just happy with.
Speaker 6: Just get in the fight, you know, because they getting
paid and they getting a little.
Speaker 5: Fame, you know.
Speaker 6: But I'm trying to I'll look at the long run
like I'm trying to do what he's doing. You know,
I want to do thirty more of these, you know,
these rodeos. You know where we're going to. I'm flying
my next fight up. We're doing the same thing. We
have a different press con cause I'm ready for it,
man like, you know, ready to sell a fight, ready
to fight, ready to.
Speaker 5: Get the fans what they want, ready to give entertainment.
You know.
Speaker 6: I'm a guy that that that that brings us a
tainment to the sport.
Speaker 5: So you know, I'm just I'm happy, man like.
Speaker 6: You know, just getting that call was just amazing, and
it was like, Yo, we really did it, man, you know,
and I just got to take the opportunity and make
the best of it and you know, become a legend
in the sport.
Speaker 4: Now I know that in the in the in the
time trying to get the deal done, which making these
types of fights is never easy. And I keep in
touch with Keith, your manager, Keith Connley, and we talked
about it, and you know, he was saying that they're
working hard to get it done. I know how how
hard he worked to make this deal happen. He does
that for all of us fighters. But I wonder what
is what is he meant to your career in terms
of being able to not just guide you from the
early days of your pro career, but to get you
to this point where you know you ended up getting
the biggest fight you could possibly get. Say it again,
the last question, just in terms of what Keith meant
to you to getting you to this point where you're
doing your job by winning your fights. But he had
to do all the a lot of the hard heavy
lifting in the in the deal making to make this happen.
I know how hard he worked for it to get
it for you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I mean yeah, man.
Speaker 6: You know, Keith is the goal bro Keith is Keith
is the best, not one of the best. For me,
He's the best manager in the boxing game right now.
Shout out to Keith Conley Man. You know, he toad
his groundwork obviously. You know, it takes a team to
be successful in the sport of boxing, you know, out
them outwork. But he did his work, you know, put
in his label, and I think that he did a
tremendous job. You know, he didn't stop fighting, you know,
as much as probably people gave up because you know,
probably that they thought he was going to kind of
was going to a different route of different directions. You know,
he kept he kept his foot on the guys. You know,
he kept his foot on the next you know in
the boxing world, and just kept pushing his fighting, pushing
the fuss.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: Obviously I did what I had to do my last fight,
you know, I knocked Patrick mc koree out in a
spectacular fashion, you know, and then.
Speaker 5: He went in and he did his little ground work
and you know, everything just you just put the puzzles together. Man,
and you know, now we're here.
Speaker 4: You know, you mentioned the McCrory fight. I want to
ask you about that because that had been a fight
where you hadn't had you had on that great knockout
streak in the first round at the beginning of your
professional career. That lasted for a while, knocking everybody out,
and then you went on a little bit of a
stretch there where for five fights in a row there
was no knockout. A lot of people sorted to question
you about where's the power and you know, where's the
spectacular knockouts that he was scoring. And so when you
got the McCrory fight, a lot of the conversation was,
if you're gonna land this fight with Canelo, we need
to see a knockout from Edgar Berlanga. I think Matt
Troom and Eddie they kind of put that pressure on
you a little bit. How did how was it going
into that fight. Did you feel the pressure like I
got this potential huge fight that I might get, but
I got to really shine against McCrory. Did you feel
that pressure and feel like you needed to impress with
a knockout in that fight.
Speaker 6: I didn't care about the knockout. I wasn't thinking about
I got to knock this guy out. I just was
thinking about I just got to go out there and
just look my best, you know, and do and do
my best and go out there and just shock the world,
you know, and just really go out there and really
show people I still got marvel.
Speaker 5: You know. I was away from my coach, Mark for Right.
Speaker 6: For four and a half years, So that's why I
went on that little, that little drought way. I wasn't
knocking nobody out, you know, because Mark is a guy
that knows me.
Speaker 5: He's the one that built me.
Speaker 6: He built the monsters, so obviously he's see what happened
once I got with him, even through the injuries. Fought quickly,
and I dropped quickly like four or five times, you know.
And then I came and I fought McCory and we
fucking blasted mccorbee out in five rounds.
Speaker 4: That uh, that quickly fight probably could have been stopped
if you ask me, but that's that's yeah.
Speaker 5: And we was facing a lot of injuries. That was
my first fight back with Mark for Right.
Speaker 6: Only had like three months to train with Mark, and
that was me four years without being with him.
Speaker 5: So Mark was trying to like take a lot.
Speaker 6: Of bad habits that I built over the years without
being with him, you know, And he.
Speaker 5: Was trying to get me back into sort of way
he wanted me to. And you've seen the results, you know.
I graphed freaking quickly. I busted him off nasty, you know.
Speaker 6: Plus I was facing a lot of injuries that camp,
you know, like I had like two big major injuries
that I could have pulled out.
Speaker 5: From the fight if I wanted to, you know.
Speaker 6: And I was like, now, fucking the fighters, sold the
ready to tickets and sold we.
Speaker 5: Got to fight, you know. So and you see what
happened with that.
Speaker 6: And then I came and he stood right back in
the gym at work and kept working.
Speaker 5: I grabbed McCory and I blasted.
Speaker 3: Him out right.
Speaker 4: So and so now you got the big one. You
got to fight with Canelo Alvarez. And I just was
curious because one of the big selling points in terms
of the way they're marketing to fight and the way
that you guys spoke about it during the press tour
that you had, uh is it's Mexico versus Puerto Rico.
And that's obviously one of the great rivalries in boxing.
There's been great fights between people from those places. And
I wonder, what is it like for you to be
part of now this great rivalry to fight. You're the
Puerto Rican, You're fighting the number one Mexican. How is
it for you to follow in the footsteps of so
many of the great fights that have taken place between
the top Puerto Rican fighters and the top Mexican fighters.
Speaker 5: It feels amazing.
Speaker 6: I mean for me, you know, this fight for shows
going down in the history books.
Speaker 5: You know. So I'm excited. Man. You know, we already
made history. And you know that dream that I have went.
Speaker 6: You know, we spoke about in the dream that me
and him was going to be history. Who's gonna make history?
You get what I'm saying this for the history books
of boxing. I feel like it's going to be up
there with with with when when when Trinidad for Oscar
de la Joya and Trinidad for Bargas.
Speaker 5: You know when Monto Camanto for Julio Java is you know,
that type of magnetude fight. This is what is bringing.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm excited, man. You know, we gotta win
September fourteenth, you know. So that's really what's on my mind,
you know, regardless of you know me, you know the
Mexican wisters Puerto Rico thing. You know, my main thing
right now is is getting out of w Now.
Speaker 4: A lot of folks say, you know what gar Berlanga
he's a he's a good young fighter, got a hell
of a record, but he really hasn't earned the title shot.
I'm not saying that, but a lot of people sort
of look at it like that, and they say that Canelo,
who's fought everybody through his you know, his career, has
maybe taken his foot off the gas a little bit
in terms of his opposition, and that he's picking Edgar
Berlanga because he sees you as maybe a chance for
you know, an easier win, and to do so against
a Puerto Rican and he hasn't fought to Puerto Rican
in quite a while. What is your response that sort
of that mentality that some people look at this fight like.
Speaker 6: He doesn't look at me like an easy opponent, because
if he looked at me as he's.
Speaker 5: An opponent, Cuett never took the fight. What he does
think is that I lack IQ. He knows I'm a
big punch up.
Speaker 6: He knows that I'm dangerous, he knows that that any
punch I'll throw him, that if he's not if he
if he's not alert, I could put him out.
Speaker 5: But his main thing that and.
Speaker 6: And I've seen him through the press with the press,
so and having you know, interviews with him in the
same room. He thinks, I lack i Q and experience,
you know, because of everything that he's been through. But
you know, I got the believe it or not, I
got one of the best coaches in boxing right now
that all he that all he teaches is IQ and
mental literally like it's not about physical.
Speaker 5: But and I talked him, I said, it's not physical
about this, Fike, bro. It's not about physical or who's
strong or who punches harder. It is about this, you
know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: Fighters go up and wait and collect titles and fight
bigger fighters and big heavier guys, and they went wide.
Speaker 5: Because it is because of the mind.
Speaker 6: So once your mind is connected, once your mind is
connected to your hands and to your feet and to
your heart and to your balls, good to go.
Speaker 5: Is that's say you could be anybody. You know what
I'm saying. So that's what I kept saying. It's all
about the mentality, It's all about the IQ. And I
know that's what you like.
Speaker 6: Well, he thinks I lack is that That's why he
really took top to Okay, he said, you know, let
me catch his young kid now, he.
Speaker 5: Knows I'm gonna be a star. He knows. He's not dumb.
Brnoso's not dumb. They know I'm gonna be a mega
star on or squatter box. And he's on his way out.
You get what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: I'm Puerto Rican, I got a country behind me, and
I sell a lot of fucking tickets and I bring knockouts,
so they know. So he's trying to do something. He's like,
let me catch this guy young. So he does blow up.
I got him on my on my on my resume,
like oha, we beat him.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: Before this, you guys spoke. You spoke respectfully to him.
Uh he did to you. And then you got in
front of each other at the press conference, and because
you know you guys are going to fight each other,
it starts to ratchet up the intensity. You know, you
had your say, he had his say. You know, he
said something like you know twenty of you wouldn't give
him a problem. What was it like to be face
to face with the guy at the press tour, looking
him in his eye, knowing you guys are gonna throw
down for real on September fourteenth, and.
Speaker 5: Man, I see right through him. Dan I see right
through him.
Speaker 6: Look at these guys, right through that man, bro, I
see right through him.
Speaker 5: Well, I don't care. I don't give a fuck about
all that, all that. You know, you know what crazy
he was in my city, he was like this. He
was quiet, didn't talk much. He ain't he ain't had
that same energy.
Speaker 6: Just like with fact Joe said, he a sucker because
then New York he was like this.
Speaker 5: And he ran out of there quick because I had
one hundred guys outside.
Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying, dead ran out of the quick.
Speaker 5: La. He's a hit town. I'm by myself, me and
I have five lines with me. I don't need one
hundred guys.
Speaker 6: I got five lines here and I still the tenth
tooes down to the floor and I shot at tailor
and I shot at the side of his food. I
was on the right side, and I shot right at him,
in front of his face, and I take my.
Speaker 5: Eyes over him.
Speaker 6: You get what I'm saying. Then, I'm not a sucker.
I could have violated him in New York, I had
no shirt on. I'll give a fuck.
Speaker 5: I could have violated him.
Speaker 6: Send him, yo, fuck out here, go back, go back
to Mexico, Bro, like the fuck you. In my city,
I could have violated him and I call him you
in my respect.
Speaker 5: But in La he fillings all.
Speaker 6: Off walking, oh yeah, thinking, yoh yeah, you know what
I'm saying, like.
Speaker 5: Nah, fuck out of here. Bro. You you bleed just
like I bleed.
Speaker 6: Bro, you be you believe me, and you bleed the
same way me and you breathe the same air.
Speaker 5: Ool. And it's about this about heart and about how
big your balls are. You know. He could talk about,
oh you different when you get in there.
Speaker 6: With me eighteen thousand people and people stand in front.
Speaker 5: It's different too, when you get in there with me.
And I told him that you're gonna see two. I
don't give a fuck about eight. There could be one
hundred million people watching this shit in in the arena.
Speaker 6: Give a fuck, you know why, because I'm gonna have
the blinders on that night, and it's gonna be just him, because.
Speaker 5: That's what it is. That's what it is. I'm not
fighting the fans.
Speaker 4: I'm fighting him, of course. So let me wrap up
with this. And that's all the stuff that was going
on outside the ring. So just in terms of the
fight itself, you know, he hasn't. You know, people got
on your case because you hadn't scored a knockout for
five fights in a row. He hasn't had a knockout
and a bunch of fights either, and he took a
loss to people in that group of fights. Also, he
hasn't had a knockout since twenty twenty one when he
stopped Kayler playing to become undisputed champion.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: He's getting older, like you mentioned. Uh, And so my
question for you is, how do you then approach him
in the ring? Do you have to make him respect
the power he goes? He's showing a great chin, whatever
you want to say about him in his career, great chick.
Can you outboxing if necessary? How do you approach that
when the bell rings?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I gotta first round. I gotta be you gotta
gotta some respect. I mean first round, I gotta. I
gotta put it on him, you know what I'm saying.
I gotta make him feel so he can see, you know.
Speaker 7: Because if if he doesn't, he's gonna try to walk.
Speaker 5: He's gonna try to walk me down like I hate
did Charlo, like I hate did more Gear.
Speaker 7: He's not gonna respect the power. You know, he's a
guy that if he sees any weaknesses, he's gonna he's
gonna take it to you. You get what I'm saying.
So with that being said, you gotta make him think,
you know, in the first round, I gotta make him
respect me, you know.
Speaker 6: And that's the first that's the first thing because right
now he's no's no respect.
Speaker 5: But to me him, he's no respect.
Speaker 7: Like the respect is that throwing that he invited me
to his ship down here.
Speaker 6: I invited him him to a hundred of this ship
down there.
Speaker 5: You get what I'm saying. So it's no.
Speaker 7: Respect now, like the respect out the doors.
Speaker 6: So now it's about this and when this land, he's
gonna know, oh ship, Yeah, I can't walk into that,
you get what I'm saying. Okay, he's gonna try to come,
but I was like the different I respect and I respect.
Speaker 5: His game, So I'm not gonna go in there like
how Bargains went in.
Speaker 6: There with Trinidad and Bargas took it to Trinidad.
Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying. Yeah, I was a great prede.
Bargains dropped them, got back up and got dropped. Cool,
But I know Vargus bargains had that you know, his
nuts was on to the floor. You know what I'm saying,
And we can't think like that. You get what I'm.
Speaker 3: Saying, ed I remember, I remember that one.
Speaker 6: Well, like my nuts could be like how Bargas was
when he brought Trinidad nuts to the floor.
Speaker 5: But then you know, you get hit with shots because
you know it's not about it's not a tough man sport.
You know it's about this.
Speaker 4: Well, I'll wrap up and say I was ringside for
Trinidad versus Vargas. That was one of my first really
big fights I covered in my career, and we all
have to.
Speaker 5: Bargus. I like that Barga when I do, had a
his balls to the floor and was fun like a lion.
Speaker 4: You're well, we thought it was over in the first round,
and he showed a lot of heart to go to
make it in one of the all time great fights.
So hopefully we'll see a great fight between you and
Canelo on September fourteenth. Edgar, I wish I wish you
the best of luck in the fight. Thank you very
much for your time.
Speaker 2: All Right, believe it or not, it is September coming
off of this weekend and that fight now two weekends away.
I always kind of couch it. This way, you were
able to see him, you were able to talk to
him a little bit. It is a couple of weeks out.
Thoughts on Berlanga here off the conversation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look very confident, very excited for the fight. You know,
I think he knows that not a lot of people
are giving him much of a chance. But his perspective is,
you know, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. I'm
the one that's going to go in there and a
so called shock the world. But he seems awfully pumped
up for it. He looked in great shape when I
saw him. Like you said, we run a video. You know,
he's been taking this serious. I mean he's been training
for this fight, you know, even since before it was
one hundred percent official. Because knowing that there was a
very good chance he was going to get it, he
really got cracking, you know, earlier than he normally would,
to make sure he's ready to go.
Speaker 2: And I'll see this again. It's obviously if you don't
mind any interjecting, if you're not going to get in
the best shape of your career for this, When are
you going to get in the best shape of your career? Obviously,
come on, yeah, I know what you're saying. Go ahead, And.
Speaker 4: Then to berlink his credit though he's he's a guy
that he is always in great shape. But he just
the the the excitement for him and just a seriousness
which he's taken. It meant like, I'm not going to
wait even two seconds, even if the contracts not sign
I'm going to make sure I'm one hundred percent physically
and mentally ready for this fight. So, you know, it
seems like he's ready. I mean, he'll put One thing
I'm very confident is when we hit fight week and
he starts doing even more talking, he'll certainly provide the
fans in the press and Canelo with some good sound
by TESI. I'm sure that's the type of machismo he asked,
you know, and he he he look, he he knows
it's a big fight in terms of the great rivalry
between Mexican fighters Puerto Rican fighters, and he's pumped up
to be part of that. You know, he idolizes fighters
like Tito trinidtt. He wants to be part of that
that that memorable sort of fight that those guys have
had among that Mexico Puerto Rico rivalry and the you know,
we'll see what happens. I mean, I think a lot
of people would say he may not necessarily deserve the chance,
but he's got it and it's up to him to
try to make the best of it, all right.
Speaker 2: So Berlanga Canelo looming good stuff with that. That's why
you've got to be following and subscribing on the podcast feed.
You get these names in addition to the insight the
analysis of the fights in the preview mode and the
recap mode, and you get news and the takes on
the news. So let's begin with an update on the
one hundred and fifty four pound division, and the WBO
has now weighed in about Sebastian Fundora and Terrence Quawford.
So tell me more about what has gone on since
last you and I talked.
Speaker 4: So this doesn't come as a surprise. I think it's
pretty much everybody that follows such things as expected this.
If you recall back on August third, when Terrence Crawford
defeated Israel Majamov, the headline of that fight was he
won the WBA Junior middleweight title, but maybe the subhead
for that fight was that he also won the vacant
WBO interim title, and when that occurred, that kind of
put him in Fandora on the clock because the WBO
they did a cloud the interim title, but they really
don't like interim titles. They try to get rid of
them as quickly as possible. And it was a part
of the stipulation when they agreed to sanction that fight
for the interim title that within a certain timeframe they
were going to make the order of that mandatory fight
now Fandora. The reason they were allowed they allowed the
interim title in the first place is because the Vendora
is suspended through November because of the injuries that he
had from the fight in March against him Zoo. But
that's coming to an end and they expect that when
he returns that his next fight will be against Terrence Crawford. Now,
whether Terrence Crawford is going to go through it that
that remains to be seen. If you ask me, it
seems highly unlikely on two fronts. One that he'll fight
Sebastian Vandora next and two that if he did it
would be by the end of this year. That's a
lot of stuff that would have to happen because Ferndora
won't even be unsuspended until November, so I'm kind of skeptical. Nonetheless,
they gave them thirty days to make a deal or
they'll call a perse bid. Minimum bid two hundred thousand dollars. Obviously,
if to fight where to actually take place and people
were seriously gonna bid, it would be you know, much
more money than two hundred thousand bucks plus, you know,
given that, uh that Crawford is, you know at the
hip with Turkey al Chik, you got to figure if
they want to do the fight, uh, you know, he'll
be putting up money. But it doesn't seem like that's
a fight that Turkey or Terrence Crawford have any real
motivation or interest to do. He's got the WBA title.
It's not like he needs or wants to have the
WBO interim title.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: On the other hand, if he decided to go through
and do a fund door fight, and if Crawford wants
to become an undisputed champion in another way class, he's
already done it at one seven and nobody in the
history of the four belt here has ever done it
in you know, more than two divisions. So he could
be well on his way with three divisions because if
he beat Fundor, he'd have the WBA title, he'd win
the WBO belt, and he also win the WBC belt
that Fundor holds, and then there's just one more to go.
But again, right now, I think at this stage of
Crawford's career, at his age thirty seven or so, you know,
he's more about the money right now than the than
the than the belts and hardware. And then that, I mean,
he's won so many titles and it has such a
great legacy in terms of the weight classes he's won
titles in that this is not going to make that
big of a difference. In my mind. He's about the
money at this stage of the game. Sure, it's great
that the WBO made the order, whether it actually happens,
I'm highly skeptical.
Speaker 2: Agreed, And by the way, don't hold your breath on
seeing Terrence Crawford before the end of this year, because
what did we establish It's been four, four years or
five years in a row that we've seen him once
once in a calendar year. And we saw him once
already earlier in the month of August. I even I hesitate.
I'm looking at the rundown and here we go. I know,
I know this, you and I.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be calm about this, teacher.
Speaker 2: I know this. You and I do this on Thursday nights.
You said earlier in the week that the deadline was
going to be this week on the thirtieth, or Jeron
boots In is to somehow get a unification fight and
avoid this mess with Chikazi and in the rematch. So
it is. It is the thirtieth at midnight later on tonight.
So I'm just playfully going on, do we have any
hope that are we on the collision course with a
fight that nobody wants to see NS and Chikazi and again,
or else they're going to strip boots In us of
his IBF title, like we've been talking about it, like
you've been going.
Speaker 4: Off about Listen, They're not going to let him get stripped.
And as I've said before, NS is a tremendous talent,
but he is at the level at the stage of
his career where he needs the belt. Terrence Crawford doesn't
need a belt at this stage of his career, right
Kenelo Albers doesn't need belts. There are certain fighters when
you get to a certain stage you don't need the belts,
but where Boots Ennis is currently, the belt is important
and he needs that, so take that for whatever it's worth.
So they're not going to allow him to get stripped.
So so the way that I look at this as
the following earlier in the day on Thursday, because I
know the deadline for the end of the IBF free
negotiation period is on the end of business Friday, which
means once that happens, then they would issue a letter
scheduling a person. Once the ib schedules the pur s bid,
the window of what is under their rules where you
cannot do a mandatory by getting unification fight closes. So
that's why the day the deadline is significant. So I
was checking around to see if there's any movement on
doing a Norman fight against Crawford, because that was the
one unification fight that seemed plausible. As we've discussed previously,
and they can go back and listen the chances of
them making an NIS unification against either the WBC champion
Mario Barrios or the WBA title er Amanta Stanionis were
very very slim to none, and you know, basically slim.
Speaker 3: Had already left town.
Speaker 4: So it was kind of like Brian Norman our boss,
if you want to get around the Chicazi and rimash,
that was literally the only opponent that they could make. Now,
there were conversations from what I am told, from both
sides that they discussed the fight about trying to make it.
It was something that was interesting to the Norman team
and Top Brank and it was something that obviously, as
we've outlined, would certainly be interesting to Ennis because anything Chakadzia. Now,
I have not gotten a definitive response about certain things
from the Brian Norman Slash Top Rank side. So what
I'm going to tell you comes from, uh, the john
Ns matroom side. So take that I'm telling you. Maybe
it's skewed one way or the other, but I'm being
transparent about where it comes from. I am told, and
this is from the match room and a side that
while they tried to make the fight, and they made
multiple offers for the fight, that the that the that
the money that the Norman Slash Top Rank side wanted
was not doable and out of the question and out
of their own and of paraphrasing that that just was
too much that they're asking.
Speaker 2: Here we go back to Eddie Hearn says, substantial you
were joking about this, We were joking about this, and
what does substantial really mean? Uh? And we don't know
for sure. Isn't it fair to say that Brian Norman
is obviously going to want seven figures to fight Ennis?
So much right and how much above that is the offer?
We don't know that right now.
Speaker 4: I don't even know, and I don't I don't know this,
so I'm not casting a spersions on match Room. I
don't I don't know if they even offered seven figures.
I don't know what the number was.
Speaker 2: And if they here's the wasting everybody's time. I'm saying.
Speaker 4: Here's the main point though, as it was expressed to
me by the NS Matchroom side, that the deal was
dead because they were asking for too much money and
they're going to move forward and try to finalize the
Chigazian rematch now. I also, I've don this a long time.
I took a step back, I took a deep breath.
I asked the person I was talking to you. I said, hey, listen,
I said, just let's call it what it is. Are
are you is this legit?
Speaker 3: Are you? Or are you just playing hardball?
Speaker 4: And there's still maybe a little wiggle room because there
is still twenty four hours is as we tape this
where they can maybe make a deal. And the answer
that I received was no, that's over. It's done now, stranger,
shit's happened. You never know, last minute, maybe somebody comes back,
so you know, by the time this is posted. Who
the hell knows, But it seems highly unlikely, at least
at this exact moment in time, that they're gonna be
able to close the deal. Because here's the thing. The
Norman team knows that they're sort of playing with house money.
They know they're the underdog. They know that they're gonna
probably have to go to Philadelphia, to the guy's hometown
for the fight. They know that their fighters twenty three
years old, just starting to not even reach his peak.
Yet he's still in a young fighter I mean not
the boots is old, but he's certainly five six years
older than Brian Norman. And top rank is not desperate.
Its not like they don't have anywhere else to put him.
They already have stated to me that if he doesn't
make this Norman fight, they're gonna probably put him on. Well,
they're definitely gonnaut him one of their shows before the
end of this year, most likely come November ninth. Rather,
I'm sorry, the eighth and ninth was the date that
Matchrom was looking to do that Saturday Top Ranks doing
a show on the eighth down in Norfolk, Virginia a few.
Speaker 2: Hours Norman Norman is likely to be what on the
card with Keshawn Davis is what you were saying before
what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: He doesn't do the unification, he's got another landing spot,
and yeah, he's not gonna make the kind of money
he's gonna make for NS, but ay, he's still gonna
make the highest money he's ever made. And b he's
gonna be in whoever they match with a hell of
a lot an opponent than Boutennis in his hometown.
Speaker 2: One other point on this, you addressed this before. What
is the possibility, not the probability, that we get to
a step aside and that resolves things with Chikanzi and
not having to be next and getting compensated somehow in
the next few days. The next couple of weeks take
us through that real quick.
Speaker 4: With the Nis situation, you never say never, but it
seems highly improbable.
Speaker 2: Why why improbable to you from what you hear.
Speaker 4: Just just just the tenor of my conversation with the
people that were involved in it, just seems like that's.
Speaker 2: Not likely to pay him to step aside. They say, hey,
we'll pay him and he'll beat him up, and that's it.
Speaker 4: If we got to fight the guy, let's get the
fuck out of the.
Speaker 2: Way and beat him up and beat him up.
Speaker 5: You don't.
Speaker 4: If you do that kind of situation, you're still stuck
with him jammed up your ass anyway.
Speaker 2: All right, So stay tuned more to come on Friday.
Stay locked in on Dan substack a plug here his
newsletter and as well as his social media, and see
if there's an update on Ennis and Norman and the
slight possibility or are we headed to the purse bid
by rule in the IBF for the ridiculousness that we've
been over.
Speaker 4: Right, and by the way, it wouldn't necessarily go to
a pers bid because that would mean that matriman.
Speaker 2: But they'll do some kind of deal the fight being okay,
so let's continue on the news. Speaking of November, now
this is an intriguing rematch. What do you have here
in a in a top rank situation for November? What
do you have?
Speaker 4: Well, as I stated to you just a few minutes ago,
we've just we went over this on last show. Also,
the Top Ranks doing a show on November eighth in Norfolk,
Virginia for Keyshawn Davis. Now, normally Top Rank does a
main Top Rank card once a month, uh, you know,
a couple times a year. They do more than one,
and they may bring in other shows from other promoters,
like from Canada or Mexico or Europe and do the shows.
But in November they're going to do two shows. They're
going to do the one on the eighth that's going
to be in uh in Norfolk, and they're also going
to do one on November two, UH that that will
take place at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York,
a very familiar place for boxing. They've done plenty of
shows there and so as they as they whittle down
what's left to do this year, their calendar looks like this.
The two they're not going to have any shows from
I'm told in October, but they're gonna have the two
come November, and then they'll have one more in December.
The December show is probably gonna be on December seventh,
and that will be the rematch between Emmanuel Navarette and
Oscar Valdez, and then the one on the second. Again,
this is still a fluid situation, is not all locked
in one hundred percent, but I until most likely that
that that November second card will include the rematch for
the highly controversial decision that Robson cotsis Now won against
Oshaki Foss back on July sixth to win the WBC's
one hundred and thirty pound title. Yeah, he won a
split decision. The WBC ordered a rematch top rank, and
I talked to Bob Aaron who had said to me,
you know, if they ordered the rematch, will do the rematch,
And so it looks like that probably will be a
fight on that show come November second. Again, not done yet,
but that's what it looks like, and that's a rematch
that should happen.
Speaker 2: It should happen because Foster was robbed, he was wrong,
and the WBC did the right thing, stepping in saying
I don't care who else says whatever else, this is
our championship and you need to fight him again, and
so we'll look forward to that. And one other factor
here we just share this. College football is a massive
thing and ESPN is up to their eyeballs in multi
billion dollar investment in college football, and that ties up
most of their Saturday, September, October, November. So that's why
you're talking about them having to navigate around that. And
it slows down obviously in December to an extent a
little bit, so they'll go Friday Night, they'll go ESPN
plus those kind of things because they're using up the network.
So there's just a little another little since.
Speaker 4: Ever since Top Rank has been with ESPN, going back
to the summer of twenty seventeen, when you hit this
time of year, it slowed down a little bit, like
you said, mostly because of college football. So they still
get in, you know, a top level number of events.
It's just that they aren't as you know, they come
in clusters earlier in the other parts of the air,
and then they're a little more spread out and fewer
when you hit the end of the year, So you
know December is going to be a little bit thin
and nothing in October, and you know two shows in November,
one of them of course, is going to be on
a Friday night. Incidentally, the December show I mentioned too,
that will be probably the Navarette Valdez rematch, again not
done yet but very well. Could also include on the
same show the rematch between Raphael Espinoza and Rogusi Ramirez
for the WBOS featherweight title. Hopefully that will be done,
and also want to take place on that card.
Speaker 2: Right, good stuff. I'm intrigued by those fights. On that
rematch as well. We've been waiting on that one after
the upset.
Speaker 4: It's funny though, TJ Top Top Ranks not a company
that loves doing tons of rematches, but they got three
that they sort of have no in the hopper for
the next few months. Compel yeah, between sh oh Shaki
Foster and Concesio Valdez, Navarette and also the one I
mentioned with the Ramirez against against Espinoza.
Speaker 2: All have one more note. You were mentioning the injury
to Sergei de Revanchenko, the the biceps tendon injury and
give us the update here because we saw some social
media postings including photos from him, and it's interesting that
apparently he wants to fight on Is that correct?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean he's a warrior, and you know, I
don't think he was gonna quit if as long as
he was healthy to do so. So anyway, as I
said to you last week that he was scheduled to
have surgery, it was gonna be Monday or Tuesday. As
it turned out, he underwent the surgery at a hospital
in New York City on Monday to repair the It
was a torn tendent in his left arm that really
hampered him big time in his decision loss against Christian
and Billy in the top rank fight that was just
you know, the week before that. And so he's now
in a sling, you know, and he's going to go
through the rehabilitation process, the only process. But the point
that was made to me when I had a conversation
with his manager was Keith Connelly, also the manager for
Edgar Berlanga. He said that, you know, and he was
at the hospital with him when he had the surgery
and also with Sergei's wife, is that he said that
when he's armis he and he's ready to go. You know,
he wants to give it another go and have another
go with things and see if he can, you know,
fulfill the dream, have another role of getting another world
title shot or perhaps winning a title. But point was
when he's held the plans to continue his career.
Speaker 2: Don't know, don't know how much more we need to
see it he took. He took some punishment obviously against
my billy, and unfortunately, as you said, he's made a
bunch of money, but he's best known for being not
good enough to win any of these prominent, important fights.
As much as I get it, he may have been
close to stopping Mongia, and that might be an intriguing
fight down the road to see a rematch, But I
don't know.
Speaker 4: You and I both know you know you and I
both know we saw him take a lot of punishment,
and not just in this fight. His perspective, which you
can agree with or not, which is fine. His perspective
is my arm was fucked up, and I would have
beat him if I had two arms in the fight
against my ability. That's his perspective, and so that's sort
of I think going to be the driving thing in
his mind why I'm going to make a comeback because
I was not physically I was impaired in that fight,
and if I was fully functional, I'd to beat the
guy who I even even with a torn arm, I
still had him hurt in the fourth round. I still
had him buzzed a little bit late in the fight.
And I can do a lot better if I get
another opportunity in that kind of match.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, that's not me saying that, perspect and I
just jokingly say, I've often heard the phrase you love
when we throw around these piches. Denial is not just
a river in Egypt. Okay, Nostalgia team here on the pod,
and let's go back fourteen years ago. Earlier this week,
on Wednesday, August twenty eighth, is the anniversary we're talking
about twenty ten. Raphael was saying to me. I said, wait, wait, wait,
you got to save this for when we actually talk
that you started breaking down Sagura Ivan Calderon before I
hit the record button. So tell me more about why
this junior flyweight battle here struck you so much and
it ended up being the fight of the year, correct
for that year. Tell me more. I'm not familiar with
this fight, so you're giving me a homework assignment. Tell yeah,
you got a hork fourteen years ago, Sagura Ivan Calderon.
Speaker 3: This is a terrific fight. It really is.
Speaker 4: And just because I couldn't remember, frankly, I went, I
checked the Ring magazine picked it as the fight of
the year. This is for twenty ten. It's a tremendous battle.
I went and I looked up my own fights of
the year. I actually did not pick it as the
fight of that year. I picked it as the number
three fight of the year that year. Regardless, it's a
great fucking fight. End of story. We talked a lot
about in the last little bit because of Canelo and
Berlanga coming up about the great rivalry fights between Mexico
and Puerto Rico. This falls into that category. Segura was
a very very big, strong power puncher from Mexico and
Calderon the slick former Olympian from Puerto Rico who just
recently was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Now,
this fight came when Calderon was near the end of
his career. We didn't know it at the time, but
this was sort of the beginning of the end because
he lost this fight by an eighth round knockout to Sigora,
and it started where he ended up losing three of
his last four fights and retired. But he had been
before that, literally a ten year undefeated streak, had made
a million title defenses of the Strawway title, had moved
up to one hundred eight pounds, you know, had become
a champion in that way class, and met up with
Sigura who was just a very very powerful puncher, and Caldron,
who was never known for being crowd pleasing, you know,
super exciting fights. He was like the metronome, just every
single round, just dominate and win all twelve rounds. I mean,
the guy barely lost rounds. But as he started to
lose a little bit of a step, and Sigura was
such a pressure fighter, you know, he just didn't give
a shit about defense. Was just just horw to knock
your head off.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: They turned this into a firefight because he forced Calderon
to really to really bite down and fight him, and
they put on a tremendous battle. And eventually the size difference,
I mean, even as a week Caldern was usually a
much smaller guy. Now he steps up to one hundred
eight pounds.
Speaker 3: You know, you can laugh, it's.
Speaker 4: Only three pounds, but at that stature it's a big deal,
particularly when Sigura was probably boiling himself down from like
junior bandaweight to make the division limit and you know,
we're still young enough where you could get away with
doing that. So he was a much physically bigger and
stronger man than I than calder On. And finally when
he dropped him in the eighth round, it wasn't even
like a devastating knockdown, but Calderon just like stayed on
the knee, just just could not deal with the power
of Segura and he got counted out. And ultimately, when
they had the rematch, you know, several months later, it
was Sigura that took him out in the third round.
But nonetheless, this fight was a tremendous battle and maybe
not as famous because it wasn't on HBO, TJ, it
wasn't on showtime, it wasn't on a main broadcaster that
everybody was familiar with. What it was was a small,
independent pay per view from Puerto Rico that was, you know,
not super expensive, but was not done by one of
the big promoters. So you know, you kind of you
kind of had to find it, I guess. But if
you found it, it was it was absolutely worth it
because they just put on a tremendous battle. Now in
addition to a big victory for Segura. Uh, you know
in this fight heied. You know, he was going into
this fight. He was a WBA title holder Caldron, as
I mentioned it, was a long time strawweight champion at
one hundred and five pounds. Now he's the WBO champion
at one hundred eight pounds. So Sigura wins the fight,
he unifies the title, and he wins the Ring magazine title,
the lineal title, and uh and they just put on
a fight for the ages, and it kind of gets
lost because it's not like a big, well known weight class.
It's not a big program like a World Champions of
Boxing on HBO or Showtime or now let's say a
big ESPN Top Frank card. It was a little independent
pay per view that the folks did, and it was
worth it. And you need to definitely hit up your YouTube.
As the kids say, tja YouTube it up, you.
Speaker 2: Tube it up. I'm gonna do that.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I'm just curious because you went back and looked what
did you rank ahead of this fight? Just real quick
out of curiosity, you remember what you had in twenty
ten that you.
Speaker 4: Look it up, because I guess you're gonna ask me.
Speaker 2: So Sigura and Caylderon was August twenty eight to twenty ten,
fourteen years old.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you. I'll tell you what I had ahead
of it?
Speaker 2: What did you have?
Speaker 4: I picked as the twenty ten fight of the year,
and this was another fantastic fight. This was a I
believe a lightweight or junior lightweight world title fight was
between Humberto Sodo and Urbano Antion and they put on
a war that was the main event of a top
rank independent paper card.
Speaker 2: And I gotta say, I'm not familiar with that. You're
giving me multiple homework assignments. I gotta say, I'm not
familiar with that fight either. And what else was in
the sandwich there in between that fight and this Sigura
fight that we're talking about.
Speaker 4: Okay, this was a much more This was a much
more well known fight the fight I picked. So anyway,
I picked Antion and and Soto as number one. Sigura
Caldron is number three. My number two was a fight
I actually was ringside for in Las Vegas, and this
was a fantastic battle. It was a decision victory for
Amir Khan over arcost Maydonna, who put on one hell
of a fight that night in con you know, who
was always known for having a terrible chin, really walked
through the fire and was really hurt battery and got
through it. But a tremendous fight. Uh and uh and
just a back and forth kind of battles.
Speaker 2: You're saying to the peaks if you don't know, Sigura
Ko of Calderon YouTube it up from fourteen years ago
August twenty twenty ten. In the nostalgia in the way back.
Speaker 3: We it just a great fight.
Speaker 4: And you know, I'll say this when I when you
think about the big Mexico Puerto Rico fights, the ones
I think of, you know, we always thought We've talked
plenty about, you know, Salvador Sanchez and Wlfredo Gomez.
Speaker 2: An anniversary of that, right right.
Speaker 4: You know, more recent than did your Coto Margarito. You know,
those types of fights that they had two great battles,
But this one is in that you know, it may
not be as famous as those fights I'm talking to you.
You know, Canelo versus Koto for example. Plenty of big
time fights like that De la Hoya Trinidad if you
count that, because Deloy is a American, but he's Mexican
by heritage, the Mexico versus Portico. But this this was
a great fight, and by the way, one half of
this fight is a Hall of famer. I think Calderon
may have lost, but he is one of the greatest
pure boxers to maybe ever put on the gloves. And
I've always said, Now, granted this fight was in the
junior flyweight division. If you're talking about strawweights, to me,
the conversation of greatest strawweight boxer ever is Ricardo Lopez,
Roman Gonzalez and I than calder There you go, There
you go, period.
Speaker 2: Love the nostalgia gave you a bunch. Here on a
light weekend again, Diego Pacheco will headline. Whatever happens with that,
will recap it. You heard from Edgar Berlanga here on
the pod fighting Canelo Alvarez coming up, some news, some nostalgia. Hey,
I know it's a holiday weekend, but you're not allowed
to leave town. I'm talking about you, Ray Phil, I'm
not talking about the audience. They're allowed to leave town.
They can listen to us while they're leaving town because
because we have a bet US boxing show live on
Friday at one Eastern time, so you and I will
convene and handicap not only the matchup with Pacheco in
the main event for Matchroom, will also handicap the Monsters
fight on Tuesday, because we only do the bet US
show obviously once a week, that fight coming Tuesday, but
we will save our powder, as they like to say
in the military, save our powder for the Monster and TJ.
Dohaney my namesake or the Sunday Night Show prior to
Tuesday on this pod feed. But we're handicapping on bet
us one Eastern time on Friday before the holiday weekend
to handicap both of those fights. Take your questions in
more live on the bet Us platforms including YouTube, Twitter,
et cetera. You're good, You're good with that.
Speaker 4: Well, I just want you to make sure that you've
got homework because not only do you have to watch
the great fight between Singer and Calder and I had mentioned,
but you got to watch the fight between Humberdo Soda
and her body on tune which, by the way, I
looked up while you were saying that it was a
lightweight world title fight, and actually it's a great listen
because the broadcasters on that fight were the great broadcasters,
Rich Morada, Nick Charles, that group that was doing the show. First,
we'll go together a good crew that night.
Speaker 2: Let's check into that great stuff here on the pod.
I will see you and talk to you on the
bet Us Boxing Show, and then we're back with a
fight Preach to night recap even off the holiday weekend,
off of Labor Day weekend, Sunday night and Monday, will
recap whatever happens here with Diego Pacheco and the Mattering Card.
Other than that, my friend, it's always good to be
with you, Dan.
Speaker 3: Rayphield you sir, thank you. There he is.
Speaker 2: I'm merely TJ. Reeves. Follow, Subscribe, Apple, Spreaker, Spotify, We
come your way. Previewing going into the weekend, recapping coming
off the weekend here on the Big Fight Weekend podcast
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