Speaker 1: Well, it's my great pleasure to welcome back to our podcast.
It is the former WBO Junior Middleweight world champ, Tim Zoo. Tim,
Welcome to the show. I'll tell our folks what you've
got coming up. You're gonna be taking on the American
Joey Spencer in Sydney, Australia. It'll be Saturday night, April fifth,
and the fight will be on prime video here in America.
It will be Sunday afternoon on pay per view in Australia.
Get that out of the way. I get all confused
with the time zone change between here and Australia, but anyway,
thank you for doing this. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2: Have you been yeah, going, everything's gone good.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear that. Well, we're gonna get into this.
It's a little bit of a different scenario than when
you had your last fight back in October. This will
be your first fight since you had the IBF world
title challenge against their junior middleweight title holder Baker Matazalev.
That was October. You came to the United States again,
fought that fight in Orlando, Florida, and look, we all
know it was a big shocker. You were a heavy favorite.
He knocked you out. He dropped you four times, three
times in around to another time in round four, got
the stoppage. Now that it's been a few months and
this will be your first fight since then, have you
what have you like spent time sort of if you
have even reflecting on what happened, what went wrong, how
that all became such a mess that night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think I went into early and
go caught with the first shot.
Speaker 2: It was the first one.
Speaker 3: To land it, and I felt like I never really
recovered from from there. I remember at that time with
the first bunch, my I could have filled my ladies,
and it was it was an uphill battle.
Speaker 2: It was more like in my head, I was like
I needed to just keep.
Speaker 3: Getting up, and I'm Meloria and I'm just gonna stay
up and try to get up no matter what. So
it wasn't more about like winning the fight anymore after
that first knockdown.
Speaker 2: It was more about just trying to survive.
Speaker 1: I guess, well, listen, one thing, it's one thing to
get stopped in a fight. But I think anybody that
saw that saw like you said a warrior, because you
you got up, you know three times and we're getting
up the fourth time, and uh, that showed a lot
of heart. But I wonder when that occurs and you
then go back and analyze what happened afterwards, was any
part of it in your mind that maybe I underestimated
him a little bit because you weren't the heavy favorite.
You were coming off of the loss of Fandora, But
there was some special circumstances with that one, given the
cut that you suffered and the close nature. Even with
the cut, still a split decision, Did you underestimate Bachram
at all?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd say a certain extent. Yet I'd say, uh,
I thought I was gonna take him out in in
under two rounds.
Speaker 3: In my head, I was I was feeling like on
top of the world, and I felt like, yeah, I
was just gonna cleave him out.
Speaker 1: I wonder why you would think that because his background
was strong, good power, good record, comes off a very
good performance in his title victory against a reputable opponent,
maybe not an a class fighter in cul K, but
still a pretty solid veteran. So I wonder what made
you think It's one thing to believe in yourself that
you're going to win, and maybe get a knock at
but two rounds, That's that's kind of bold.
Speaker 3: I thought, Yeah, how the way I felt before coming
in and how I had my prep and how everything
was going.
Speaker 2: I was in this crazy state of mind that.
Speaker 3: Everything that I was going to touch was just going
to explode, you know.
Speaker 1: So how did you process the loss? How did you
deal with it? Particularly because I mentioned it was your
second loss.
Speaker 2: In a row.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just took it with how it was. Boxing
is a game of interest, man, it really is, you.
Speaker 2: Know, and.
Speaker 3: That fight it was That fight was a cost of inches,
it wasn't.
Speaker 2: That's all it was.
Speaker 3: And for me, it's just about regrouping, analyzing, and uh,
just becoming better from it.
Speaker 1: Have you put it out of your mind? Are you
over it? Or is it help you get motivated for
what you have in the future. I always wonder when
a fighter comes off of a loss like that, do
they forget about it? Do they want to think about it?
And I asked you that because I go back a
long way with with Vladimir Klitschko. Vladimir Klitchkow became a
great heavyweight champion, set records, became a Hall of Famer,
but obviously had some very high profile knockout losses. And
the one thing he told me a long time ago
is when he got knocked up by Layman Brewster, he
never wanted to forget it. He had pictures of it
up in his office. He had thought about it, you know,
watched it back when he would prepare for fights. He
wasn't studying his opponenty, he was watching back, you know,
his loss to Layman Brewster, because he never wanted to
forget about how it made him feel. And I always
wonder the mentality of a fighter coming off of that
kind of loss and where you stand. Are you trying
to just put Bachram out of your mind or do
you want to have it kind of stinging hurt so
it motivates you.
Speaker 3: No, it's a motivation for me just because I still
say I still feel it and it's something that I
don't want to feel ever again. And uh, it was made.
Mistakes were made, just by inches, and those inches.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna shove it over again.
Speaker 1: A lot of fighters, they take a loss, they blame
the trainer or the promoter or the manager, you know,
a bad breakfast, whatever the case. Maybe other guys they
suck it up and they put it on themselves and
they take the responsibility. Where do you come down in that?
Are you making changes to your team? Are you just
taking like a man like you know, we're going to
get through this and you know, keep the status quo.
What was your perspective now as you prepare for Spencer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was all my fault, you know.
Speaker 3: I came in swinging like a meadow, you know, and
and I came in and I guarantee if the if
the fire, if the file was fought most strategically from
round four onwards, it would have been a different story.
Speaker 2: And that's the part that I regret. But there's no
point regarding things because it's not the fall. It's always
how you get up after you four.
Speaker 1: I agree with that. So okay, Now you're back home
in Australia after the two fights in a row in
the United States, it's you feel good to be home.
I mean, you got obviously a huge support there with
the fans. They love you. Does that more comforting to
be there than back here in the United States? For me?
It was.
Speaker 3: For me it didn't really matter. I'm glad to be home.
It's a good feeling. He especially to be fighting front
of the fans. Era makes it a big day, a
big occasion. So it's always it's always good because you're
doing part of the reason you're doing this is for the.
Speaker 2: Love of the fans and the love of the sports. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about Joey Spencer. He's
nineteen and one, he has eleven knockouts, a little bit
younger than he was only twenty five years old. He
has won three fights in a row since his loss
by a knockout the Hazers Ramos. This is back in
twenty twenty three. Some people viewed him as a prospect.
Some didn't really view him as a big prospect. Uh,
based on the type of guys you've been fighting, and understandably,
given the circumstances, it seems like a little bit of
a step back in terms of the level of your opposition.
Totally understandable, Like I said, but what is your assessment
of Spencer and your own, uh, your own career and
maybe taking as a little bit of a step back
from the caliber over the opposition that you have been fighting.
Speaker 3: I think he's a I think he's a real good player.
In all honesty, I think he's got good skills entirety
losses against Brummost that's like, that's a he's a he's
one of the top dogs in the division.
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's an interesting fought, it's an interesting style.
You know.
Speaker 3: They always that type of sty the ones that are
slick that a movie. They always present a tremendous task,
So it would be interesting.
Speaker 1: Now. I know you're coming off of as we talked
about the stoppage loss, and I think back. You know,
I'm old enough to remember going back to nineteen ninety
seven when your father, Kasazu, who at the time was
the IBF Junior wealth Weight World Champion, he took a
tenth round knockout laws and a massive upset against Vince Phillips.
And I wonder if you've ever thought about the fact
that after your father lost his fights as a huge
favor and lost a belt, that he went on after
that to have the biggest wins of his career. It
was really what he did after that lost to Vince
Phillips that made him a legend, that made him a
Hall of Famer. He became the undisputed champion, scored the
biggest wins of his career, and that maybe you look
at what he did and say, you know what, Okay,
I took a couple of losses. My best days are ahead.
I can do what my dad did, and I can,
you know, go on and fulfill my dreams of being undisputed,
of being a Hall of Famer, that type of thing.
Do you ever think about that?
Speaker 2: Yeah? For sure?
Speaker 1: For sure.
Speaker 3: And the road to success it's never just a straight road.
People always mistake that. You know, there's bumps and roads
on the on the way, especially in this sport. You know,
it happens. It happens. It's it's how you mentally deal
with it. And I say examples, this is my father,
someone who's supposed to me to say what he's done,
and see how he came back.
Speaker 2: You know that that's an inspiration for me.
Speaker 1: Has he given you any kind of pep talk and
reminded you of that himself, of what he went through.
Speaker 2: I haven't already spoke to him about it.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair point. Well, on March twelfth, you were back
ringside doing a good job, by the way on the commentary,
because I watched it when Keith Thurman was in Sydney
for his main event against your Australian countryman Brock Jarvis.
He came back after a three year layoff. Thurman. He
scored a knockout against Jarvis in the third round. And
anybody who follows boxing knows that the talking point has
been if Keith Thurman goes to Australia and takes care
of Brock Jarvis and Tim Zook comes back and does
the same thing in the upcoming fight against Joey Spencer,
that there's going to be a fight between you guys,
probably this summertime. And I wonder what your thoughts are
about how Thurman looked and just your perspective on you know,
if you take care of what you got in front
of you, that that would be still, you know, a
pretty big fight. I mean maybe not level of the
world title when it was originally scheduled before he got
injured and had to pull out and obviously ended up
fighting Fandora as the replacement. But give me your just
your assessment of what you thought of Keith and your
interest in having that big fight.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's there's definitely some unfinished business right there.
I think he looked slightly old, really, yeah, I think
he looked slightly old. I was there bringside, so I
was able to see how he was breathing and stuff
like that. He was a gitting shock after the first
round and then he sort of adapted. But he did
fight brock Jervis, who's again not a level final. So
but look, of course it's interests me. But I'm I'm
saying focused this one final at the time.
Speaker 1: You know, do you give him any slack for being
out of the ring three years with major injuries and
he had one back happened.
Speaker 2: It happens, man, it happens. He's changed as well. He
had kids in honeymoons and stuff.
Speaker 1: That's true, I mean, but he seemed to really get
to get the fans in Australia very excited because Keith
is a great promoter and talker, and it seems like
if he does match up with you, that just from
the promotional point of view and frankly from the action
that that you guys would put together in the ring.
To me anyway, it seems like a really exciting fight,
a fight that can propel the winner into something very big,
even bigger than the fight against each other. Is do
you do you think about it like that at all? Again?
I know you gotta fight for sure.
Speaker 2: For sure is a big name.
Speaker 3: He brings a big calup of farts, so you know
when you find him, and and a victoria of us
a guy such such as it, uh brings positivity into
the into the division.
Speaker 1: You guys fighting a really good division because besides yourself
and and Thurman, who both have great names. Uh. And
then there's lots of other fighters who are who are
quality Fandora. Uh you know who you've shared the ring with.
He just won a title defense and and uh, I
would think that at some point in your career, at
wherever it takes you, that you'd like to have a
rematch and get that back maybe someday, maybe a rematch
against bakerm at some point who still has his title.
Uh do you? And then there's also you mentioned before
about ha Haesus Ramos who's got the victory against Joey Spencer,
who fought on Fundors undercard, scored a good knockout victory.
Talented fighter as well, good contender. What do you think
about the makeup of the division. And you can certainly
fit yourself into any of those fights if you continue
to do what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. You know the division still right home.
Speaker 3: And even though I took a backward step in the
last one, I intend to get back to the back
to the drawing board and be bastill with the with
the big.
Speaker 2: Bulls then and revenge more losses.
Speaker 1: Is the measuring stick on how you perform with Spencer,
that that you need to do what Ramos did, which
is stop him, because there's only loss was the stoppage
against Ramos? Is that is that the intention to out
there and get rid of him the way that Ramos
did and maybe even do it even better.
Speaker 3: No, on this one, man, this one, I'll just want
to be getting there and and and feel myself. Man,
I just want to be the teams that I'm always
that I've always been and and and they take calculated,
calculated risks.
Speaker 1: So not not the reckless tim Zoo. Maybe that came
in the room against Buckram exactly lesson lesson learned, I guess.
Speaker 2: Of course, of course the hard way.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, that is the hard way. Well, you know,
you've got a good sense of humor about it, and
it feels like you have a good demeanor about it.
So I appreciate that A lot of guys don't like
to answer those questions and talk about what happened in
such a rough one, but I appreciate that. I wish
you the best of luck against Joey Spencer.
Speaker 2: Tam, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: You bet good luck. Do you