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Speaker 1: It is my great pleasure to welcome back as a

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guest Where podcast once again, top junior middleweight contender in

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the world, the Virgil Ortiz Junior. Virgil, thank you so

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much for being on with me today. I really appreciate it.

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We have a lot of discuss have you been, Yeah, we.

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Speaker 2: Do, man, Thanks for having me on. First of all,

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I've been. I've been really good man. You know, train

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has been going well. You know, this year has been

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great for me.

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Speaker 3: This is my third fight this year and everything's going good.

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Speaker 2: Everything's going as we expected.

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Speaker 1: We're going to get into all that, so we'll let

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the folks know. You have a I would guess actually

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from the stakes anyway standpoint, maybe even the competition standpoint,

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the biggest and best and toughest fight on paper anyway

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of your career, You're going to take on the WBC

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Interim Junim middleweight title holder Sari Boachik in a really

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interesting fight in my opinion anyway, You'll fight him on

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August the tenth. It'll be the Golden Boys main event

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on his own at one of my all time favorite

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venues in the in the in boxing in the world,

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Mandalay Bay. The michelob Ultra Arena. I know it's been

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a long time. I'm coming for you to get a

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fight like this, but I got to go back and

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discuss how it got to this point. It's a great

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matchup started off, go ahead, not glad, I was gonna say. Originally,

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your next fight was supposed to be what was a

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fantastic fight that everybody seemed to be awfully excited about

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against him Zoo for the WBA interim title at one

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hundred and fifty four pounds. They were going to put

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that on the big August third card in Los Angeles,

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the first ever riadd Seasons card in the United States.

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A huge card, you know, Terrence Crawford in the main

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event fighting for the WBA full title against Madromov in

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the main event, and just a loaded show. But to

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many people, Virgil, your fight with Zoo was the best

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fight on paper on that card. And then we know

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what happened. Zoo had the injury, the cut from the

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previous fight in March against Fandora. He was ruled out

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by his doctor and so that fight was off. And

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then there was a lot of sort of talk, you know,

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he'll stay on the card, they'll find a different opponent

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for you that didn't happen. So I want to just

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hear from you, like sort of like the emotional roller coaster.

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You're on this great matchup, your opponent's out, Maybe you're

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gonna stay. Now you're off the card, They're gonna try

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to get you a new opponent. Now you have a

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new date. Now you're fighting Boachek for for a different

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version of the interim title. Was it a little bit

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of up and down for you over the couple of

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weeks that was going on.

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Speaker 3: Uh, you know, it's uh, throughout my career, gone through

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my ups and downs, and at this point, I'm kind

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of I'm not really surprised.

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Speaker 2: About any of it anymore.

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Speaker 3: It's just just how the sport is and uh, things

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can happen. So I kind of, honestly, I kind of

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expected it, Like I didn't want to get my hopes

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too high, because you know, I tend to get.

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Speaker 2: Disappointed, you know, Like I was supposed to fight We

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were in.

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Speaker 3: Talk spot to fight Thurman one time. Man, I was

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super excited about that one, and you know, it didn't

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end up happening. I don't think I've ever said this before,

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but those even talks with Manny Pacia at one time.

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Speaker 2: When I stuff, I don't know when it was.

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Speaker 3: I was the wb A goal and he was the

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WBA Champions to and so that would talks, very low talks,

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but you.

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Speaker 2: Know that ignited like some kind of hope in me.

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I was like, oh, this could actually happen, you know.

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And of course it didn't.

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Speaker 3: Happen, obviously, but uh, you know, I think I'm gone

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through these uh these really highs and after the highest

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and low because you know it didn't happen, I'm just like, man,

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you know what, I'm just if it happens, it happens.

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Speaker 2: If it doesn't, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna keep

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on my thing.

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Speaker 3: So with this Tims you thing, uh, you know, I

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was really excited. I was happy that, you know, his excellency.

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You know, he was like, hey, will like you on

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the card, and uh what about.

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Speaker 2: The Tims you fight? Like shit, helly do the Tims

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Youth fight.

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Speaker 3: But back in in the back of my head, I

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was just like, something could happen. You know, he just

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had a horrible cut, and I thought about that exact

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same you know that you know, that thing that that

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could potentially prevent the fight from happening, and that's what

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it ended it up to be. As far as now,

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we've got a big fight WBC interim with Sergey.

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Speaker 2: You know, and uh, it's it's gonna be a good fight.

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You know, we should spare a lot, so, uh, I

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know that I know exactly what kind of fight it's

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gonna be.

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Speaker 1: Well, we'll get to that, but you can start by

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telling me what kind of fight is it gonna be?

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When you say that, I'm intrigued.

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Speaker 3: There's it's gonna be uh, close quarters the whole time range.

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There's there's gonna be no boxing.

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Speaker 1: Well, the way you described your situation, it seems to

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me that in the years of your career you've grown

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some wisdom, like you kind of it seems like you

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are able to more maintain and even keel because of

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there's so many emotional ups and downs with fights that

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are made not made, injuries, cancelations, postponements. Do you feel

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like that any of the stuff that comes your way

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you can deal with now with you know, whatever it

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may be when it comes to that type of situation, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I'm I think I don't want to say I've been

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through it all. You know, I can't say that, but

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I think I've been through my fair share. I think

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I'm mentally prepared for everything at this point.

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Speaker 1: What was it like when you thought that, you know,

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you're off the August third card. There were still conversations

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going on because I think Golden Boy and Bochek's promoter,

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Tom Loffler, I think a lot of the fans and

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media were like, yeah, I mean, okay, I'm not really

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sure why the Saudis didn't want to include that particular fight,

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even if maybe it wasn't the same name recognition as

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at Tim Zoo, where you were sort of in that

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limbo area where you weren't sure if they were going

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to make that fight for you or maybe some other fight.

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You know, you're gonna get your own date. Obviously, Design

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and Golden Boy work together, so they've been featuring you know,

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you and other fighters on Golden Boys, so that didn't

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really seem to be the issue. But were you concerned

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at all that you would have another longer layoff because

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of what happened with the postponment or cancelation of the

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Zoo fight.

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Speaker 3: I don't think so, because you know, we did have

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some options, you know, and you know we will with Seray,

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which I believe is the hardest option that we could

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have went with, you know, but I feel like it's

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the one with the most opportunity, and you.

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Speaker 2: Know that's that's one that we chose to to go.

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And you know, I'm not want to shy away from

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a heart fight. You know, this is exciting for me.

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This is why I'm in the sport. You know.

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Speaker 3: I want to give the heart I want to give

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the exciting fights. I want to be a part of them.

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That's what motivates me to chain, you know.

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Speaker 2: And I mean that's it.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I just want to I just want to

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show down the bets because.

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Speaker 2: I believe I am.

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Speaker 1: So when you go in this, in this fight, and

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even if you had gone in the fight with Zoo,

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You're gonna be fighting for an interim world title. It's

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not a full world title, but it's obviously a little

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more meaningful than no title. What is your position on

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sort of and what does it mean to you that

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it's for an interim title. Some guys are like they

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love it. Some guys realize it's a stepping stone to

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a big title. You know, certain guys we've seen in

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recent times. I just interviewed Boots and it's not that

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long ago. He he was elevated from interim to full

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and Walter wait because Crawford moved up and wasn't going

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to fight him. So what's your take on the interim

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aspect of these title fights?

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Speaker 3: So I am grateful for the opportunity for sure. You know,

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it's uh, it's it's a belt. It's just because it's

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the insterim doesn't mean nothing. But what I recognize myself

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as a world champion, No, because you know, that's just

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you're the vice president.

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Speaker 2: You know, just because you're the vice president, you're not

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the vice president.

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Speaker 1: I've been doing this a long time, man, I have

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written about interim title fights and interview guys a thousands.

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I have never heard anybody referred to it as the

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vice president. That is absolutely perfect. We perfectly said that's

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that's how it is.

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Speaker 3: You're the vice president. You know, like you know, when

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when people think of the president of the United States,

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you can.

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Speaker 2: You know, corredate that like the world champion. We don't

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think of.

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Speaker 3: Kamala Harris or Joe Biden when it was Obama. You know,

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that's just not to bring politics into it.

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Speaker 2: That's just how you know. So anyways, uh, you know,

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I don't I don't bring anyone down when.

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Speaker 3: I say that.

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Speaker 2: Just for me, I just I won't be satisfied. And

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so I have the actual title.

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Speaker 1: Now you mentioned that you and sorry bull check of

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sparring sessions together. Is it a lot of rounds or

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a little rounds or like, how how much do you

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know them from the ring experience with him? And then

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you know, not a real fight obviously, but just in

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a sparring session of a lot a lot of rounds with.

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Speaker 2: Him, we've we've gone a few rounds.

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Speaker 3: He actually not only you know, when I was with

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Manny Roebliz over there was I sparing him, but he

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actually got me ready for the mean machine fight.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 3: He came from South to Riverside when I was still

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at Roberts and we were sparring there too, So I'm

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very familiar with him.

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Speaker 1: And of course that means he's familiar with you. But

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you're twenty one and o with twenty one knockouts. He's

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twenty four and one with twenty three knockouts. Not a

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lot of distant fights when it comes to you guys.

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First of all, you know, I know that it's not

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a full actual fight, but you must feel some power.

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I guess, if he's got that many knockouts, what kind

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of punching power does he has? From your recollection, because

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he does have so many knockouts, you're both obviously punchers.

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Speaker 2: I would I wouldn't say that his knockouts come from power.

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He does have some. It's more consistent. You know, he

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has a really good conditioning. I would just say it's

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the pressure. Yeah, I feel like the main.

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Speaker 1: Reason now when when you go into the ring you

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do have it. As I mentioned the perfect knockout record.

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I wonder when you get to the point where you're

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twenty one to oher and got twenty one knockouts, is

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it all in the back of your mind or meaningful

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to you to continue the knockout shriek?

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, sometimes I do think about it before

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the fight, but when I'm in the fight, I'm just thinking,

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all right, how.

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Speaker 2: Am I going to avoid this?

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Speaker 3: How am I going to wear that? How am I

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going to get to him? You know, And then it

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just comes into play. And then next thing, you know,

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if I see an opportunity, I just.

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Speaker 1: I just I jump on it, all right. So when

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you guys were the fight got announced. And then on

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July eleventh, the day that Golden Boy had arranged for

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the press conference for you and Boltchak to kick things off.

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Right before the press conference, Golden Boy announced that you

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and the company had agreed to a contract extension to

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keep you with Golden Boy for the next period of time.

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How did how How did that? I mean it got

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done I guess kind of quick relative to when the

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fight was announced to is this something that was being

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worked on for a while, and just how do you

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feel about having that sort of stability and that your

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business situation is handled before this big fight for you?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, of course.

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Speaker 3: I mean we knew that the previous contract was was

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coming to a close, and we're just thinking, okay, so

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like how are we doing this?

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Speaker 2: You know, like just talking to Golden Boy, like you know,

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what's up? And it took some times.

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Speaker 3: I wouldn't say it took a whole lot of time,

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not like it took a whole lot of convincing, because

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you know, we work well with each other. You know,

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it's just ironing out, you know, the small things. And

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I mean I'm like I said before, I'm very happy

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to be here. Goldenway has always treated me in the

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best way. I'm very happy here, and why would I

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go anywhere else?

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Speaker 1: No, I just wanted to ask, because it's it's, uh,

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you know, in sports in general, whether it's box or otherwise. Uh,

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some people like yourself, they don't necessarily think the grounds greener,

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and they're comfortable with their circumstance. They got themselves a

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deal they're happy with financially, and whatever else goes along

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with that. Other guys, like other sports, want to test

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the market and see what else is out there for them.

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So I'd always sort of gauge the mentality of the

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athlete of what they're thinking.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, true. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Unfortunately, here for me, I was very fortunate to you know,

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found a great promoter and all that stuff, you know,

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and it's just it really is a blessing to be here.

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Speaker 1: I feel like Virgil, it's sort of like the opposite

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of what we had talked about in a couple previous

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times when we've done interviews where unfortunately we had to

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talk about, you know, no fights in twenty twenty three

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because you had the medical issues and the postponements and

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the ultimate cancelation of the amount to stanielons fight just

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a one fight in twenty twenty two. Now fast forward

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to where you are sitting here today. You're one of

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the busiest top names in the sport. You got two

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fights under your belt already in twenty twenty four. You

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got a third fight that we're talking about here against

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Bochek coming up on August tenth. How does it feel

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for you now to finally be like it feels like

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in a groove, regular fights, irregular activity, you know, fight,

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take a little time off, training camp, get a fight,

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get paid, you know, all the things that go along

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with it.

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Speaker 2: It feels really good, man. And I'll tell you what

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I think. The thing I like the most about it is, uh,

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the activity is keeping me sharp.

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Speaker 3: Like sometimes I would go back to the gym and

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I'm like, goddamn, Like I'm rusty as hell, Like I

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don't make these mistakes, you know, But when I go

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back to the gym, I'm just like, damn, like I

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feel like I haven't, like I didn't take any time off,

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and I'm just I'm sharp as ever. Like this, I

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could give me like two weeks of conditioning and I'll

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go another tour ground.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, like fair to say you don't need as

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long as a training camp. You don't need like ten

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weeks if you've already fought and you've been active. Am

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I wrong?

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Speaker 2: That's kind of a hard one.

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Speaker 1: I say that because partly part of training camp, you

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know you're making the weight if you if you fought recently,

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you know you don't have that much time to go

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crazy in terms of moving, you know, going up and

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and and the weight and you're and you're just like

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you said, you stay sharp, you stay conditioned.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, as far as as far as that you know,

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the physical aspect, No, I'm good. And you know even

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mentally the mental clarity is still there, and uh it is,

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it's getting better as I'm staying more active.

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Speaker 1: So we talked about the activity. So the two fights

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you had were Frederick Lawson and then you had to

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fight with Thomas Lormet. So on the good hand, it

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seems like you're as active as can be relative to

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the other names in this you know, the top names,

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and maybe it's bad, maybe it's good. You tell me,

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do you knocked them out in the first round? I mean,

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obviously as the old saying goes, you don't get paid

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for overtime, and it's always good to get a big

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win and get a knockout, but it is only less

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than two full rounds. Is that a positive or negative?

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As you go into this fight?

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Speaker 2: So you could you can see it both ways. I

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see it as a positive pause. The first one.

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Speaker 3: We came up a long way off. We needed to

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see how how if I was still the same or not.

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You know, I feel pretty rusty physically and mentally. But

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you know what, we we got a good training campaign,

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we got some good sparring h and we got that

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fight out of the way.

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Speaker 2: Thomas the Lord man.

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Speaker 3: You know this fight, I felt I was starting for myself,

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kind of getting into that group again. Not quite there,

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but like you know what, I'm I'm I'm feeling better.

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This is seeming kind of familiar again.

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Speaker 2: And uhh, when.

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Speaker 3: We find him, I was expecting to go in my opinion,

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I thought the fight was gonna end like in four

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five rounds.

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Speaker 2: But I was just.

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Speaker 3: When I got him out of there in that first

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round without trying to, and I saw everything in so motion,

341
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I just hitting with that body shot, I was like, okay, Yeah,

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that's where I'm back. Like that's it, and now that

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I've started this camp, definitely feel like I haven't left

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the gym at all. It's I'm I'm the best I've

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ever been.

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Speaker 1: Well on your fight with Thomas Lormey, who I've known

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for many years and have nothing but love for Thomas Lommy,

348
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a great guy. My prediction on that fight was Virgil

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Ortis in the first round, So I feel like I

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did a pretty good job on that one.

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Speaker 2: I did.

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Speaker 1: So now that you've had the two fights that we mentioned,

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you got this fight coming up with Bulichak. If everything

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goes how you hope it goes, and you win this fight, Uh,

355
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it's only gonna be August. There's still plenty of time

356
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left this year. Are we gonna see Virgil Ortiz in

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the ring a fourth time in twenty twenty four? Yeah,

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that was a quick answer. Yeah. So yeah, then the

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question becomes, I mean, I know you got to fight

360
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the fight, and it's uh, you know, uh, you know

361
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that's what's right in front of you. But you're weight class.

362
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You know, August third, the week before you fight, you're

363
00:15:22,799 --> 00:15:26,000
gonna have Crawford Mademov a good chance at Uh, you know,

364
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,759
Crawford is crowned the champion. If it's Magemov, he's pulled

365
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the humongous upset and he becomes a big name. He's

366
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still got Fondora out there, who's gonna come back from

367
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his issues probably at the end of the year. Uh,

368
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Tim Zuo is gonna be ready to fight at some point.

369
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He's you know, just because he can't go in August

370
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doesn't mean he can't fight at some point later in

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the year. There's the IBF champion, not the most well

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known guy in terms of Martazla, but like, what in

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your mind is like if you could pick your fight,

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what would you want to do after this.

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Speaker 4: Either Tim Zoo or the winner of Fondora and uh

376
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Spence if they if they fight, I'm just yeah, that's

377
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I've been here rumors, but.

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Speaker 3: I've always wanted to fight Spence in the Cowboy Stadium.

379
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And that's and I always say to that one fifty four.

380
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Late's not gonna have that one forty seven. I already

381
00:16:09,759 --> 00:16:12,159
know one four. I'm telling you, I'm I'm calling it.

382
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:13,159
It's it's gonna happen.

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Speaker 1: And both of you guys being you know, from the

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Dallas area that would probably do a big crowd in

385
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a in a in a you know a lot of

386
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fans that would turn out for that kind of fight.

387
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Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, exactly be a huge fight.

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Speaker 1: All right. So before I let you go, I got

389
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to ask you with Boichak, you know you are familiar

390
00:16:26,279 --> 00:16:26,759
with each other.

391
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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: You both guys have accomplishments and a great and great

393
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records and lots of knockouts. Uh, how do you think

394
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,039
this fight goes? Are we going to see another classic

395
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:35,240
Virgil Ortiz knockout? Or what?

396
00:16:36,679 --> 00:16:40,679
Speaker 3: You're gonna see a brutal fight. That's so I'm gonna say,

397
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I know how he fights, we know how I fight.

398
00:16:44,039 --> 00:16:46,240
It's it's uh, it's gonna be a brutal fight.

399
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Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you this when I just thought of this,

400
00:16:48,279 --> 00:16:49,679
when you said it's gonna be a brutal fight, you're

401
00:16:49,679 --> 00:16:51,879
fighting in the Mandalay Bay. Uh, the arena at the

402
00:16:51,919 --> 00:16:54,840
Mandalai Bay. That's the location of where I think the

403
00:16:54,919 --> 00:16:56,480
greatest fight of all time took place. You want to

404
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:58,440
talk about a brutal fight. The first fight between Diego

405
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,759
Caralis and who was in with Castilla was in that

406
00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,360
in that ring. Uh, I don't know if you want

407
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,480
to deliver that kind of group brutal fight. But when

408
00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,400
you when you hear, when you when you see and

409
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think about the types of great fights that have been there.

410
00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,119
You know, your promoter, Oscar Delaya had one of his

411
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,960
greatest fights, one of his biggest wins, against Fernando Vargas

412
00:17:15,039 --> 00:17:18,000
in that ring. Among other great fights, Marco, Antonio Barrera

413
00:17:18,279 --> 00:17:20,880
and Eric Morales fought in that ring. You Manny Paco

414
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,079
fought in that ring. What does that make you feel

415
00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:24,799
like when you hear the names and the greats that

416
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:25,480
fought there.

417
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Speaker 2: You know, history repeats us off. You know it's it's

418
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,119
gonna be a classic, for for sure. It's gonna be

419
00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:32,039
one of those fights. You watching one, He's like, damn yeah,

420
00:17:32,079 --> 00:17:33,160
this one doesn't be the old.

421
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,279
Speaker 1: I'm excited just hearing you talking about that, Virgil, thank

422
00:17:36,319 --> 00:17:37,960
you so much for your time. I wish he's such

423
00:17:38,039 --> 00:17:40,279
a good success in that fight, and I look forward

424
00:17:40,279 --> 00:17:41,119
to to watching it.

425
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:43,079
Speaker 2: Of course. Thank you about thanks. V