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[BxBD] The best of 2025! · Boxing B-Sides

0:00
This shit ain't nothing to me, man. This is Boxing
0:03
Before Dark. All right, let's fucking do this.
0:31
Holy shit, it's Boxing Before Dark. 2026 continues
0:36
to roll on. It is kicking my ass so far, man.
0:42
Work sucks. And the year just began, too. I mean,
0:48
it's got to get better later, right? When I'm
0:51
unemployed. You'll have some downtime. Yeah.
0:57
I have not seriously started work searching yet,
1:00
and I need to. If anybody knows labs hiring immunologists,
1:05
hook me up. That is our target demographic, so
1:12
I'm sure we'll get plenty of replies. Yeah, yeah.
1:16
Oh, man, it's light on news. One from just really
1:22
quickly. Well, maybe not. So as we expected.
1:26
Canelo rejected the offer to fight Iglesias for
1:29
the IBF title. Right, obviously. He claimed that
1:35
he was still recovering from surgery. Right.
1:40
And Munguia was supposed to be next, and he also
1:44
rejected the offer to fight the IBF. So... Yeah,
1:55
kind of limits the options here. Let me pull
2:00
up the rankings again. Super middleweight. So
2:07
Hamza Shiraz is next in line. As we know, he's
2:11
busy. Yep. Troy Williamson, he was above Callum
2:18
Simpson. He beat Callum Simpson, but the rankings
2:20
hadn't been updated. The last time we talked.
2:24
Which one is Troy Williamson again? Yeah, good
2:28
question. I think I've seen this man before,
2:33
but he is not famous. Not that that really matters,
2:40
but I don't remember this man. Seventh on the
2:48
ranking list is Pavel Silyagin, I think it is.
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I don't know who that is either. No idea. We
2:57
are getting down into like... We are in the trenches
3:01
here. Scrubs. Eighth is Diego Pacheco. He's busy.
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Simon Zackenhuber. Who the fuck is Simon Zackenhuber?
3:17
Yep. Let me box wreck this guy. And then tenth
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is William School. Nobody wants to see him. Nope.
3:27
Well, I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing Iglesias
3:30
put some hands on him. That's true. Iglesias
3:34
would catch him, too. Simon Zackenhoover is German,
3:42
and he is the most German -looking German that
3:45
has ever Germaned. He looks like the bad guy
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from, like, a World War II film. But it looks
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like he's basically never fought outside Germany.
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Yikes. Well, he's ninth on the ranking list,
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so yeah. And there's not a lot of people actually
4:14
in the way of Zack and Hoover getting a shot.
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I mean, why not, I guess? If we're just taking
4:25
anybody off of this list, I would say Sajo at
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least turned in a spirited performance against
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Pacheco. Yeah. Sajo looked pretty good, actually.
4:38
Yeah, he did. And Bektimir Melikuziev. Why? Because
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why not? It'll be fun. He's a name. Yeah. And
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it'll be fun. I'd watch Beck. He'll get iced,
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but I'd watch it. Yep. But yeah, this played
5:02
out as expected. Well, the Canelo part did. The
5:06
Munguia part, I didn't see that coming. I thought
5:09
he would have taken it. I think he still is getting
5:14
a lot of shit for the Saras rematch Munguia.
5:19
Yeah, and the questionable... PED test. Yeah.
5:28
Gotta take heads to take a Frenchman to decision?
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Yep. Come on, man. That's how you... That's your
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rebirth coming out of the Reynoso gym. Yeah.
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Not a good look. Nope. Getting... fucked up by
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Iglesias would not help his image right now.
5:56
Yeah, but we'll keep watching this and see how
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this one plays out. Iglesias is lined up for
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it and nobody wants to fucking tango with him.
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Yeah. He is one of those guys that seems to be
6:11
getting ducked pretty hard right now. Yeah. He's
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nothing of a name, but he is a major danger in
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the ring. Yeah, yeah. The risk -reward is not
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there for people because the casuals don't know
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him. Yeah. Moving to... I think you're going
6:39
to get your wish. Inoue Nakatani looks like it's
6:42
going to be at the beginning of May. I'm super
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excited. Now I just have to bribe people to put
6:49
my name down when they enter the lottery. What
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would the... Would the undercard for this be
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all Japanese? Or would they have... I think they'd
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have other... I'm sure they'll have like... It'll
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be like Night of the Samurai. I think there'll
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be a Japanese person in every fight. But I bet
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you they bring in some names. I imagine like
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Ola Squaga would be a good one to have. Yeah.
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I was just thinking him as well. And I wouldn't
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be surprised if they bring Bam. For this. Maybe.
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Bam's kind of pro - Co -promoted with Tekken,
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right? Yes. It's Tekken, yeah. This would be
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a card that they would probably bring him in
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for, I think. That'd be huge. Who does Bam fight
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that's Japanese right now? I have no idea. He's
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just too good for everybody from any country.
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At his weight class, let's see, he's at... Junior
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bantamweight? Superfly? Yeah, you can't call
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it junior bantamweight. Superfly is so much better.
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So Willie Baldo, we know, is the champion there
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in the IBF, I mean. They could have that fight
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in Japan. People would come. But I think Willie
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Baldo is probably going to try and fight before
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that, isn't he? He has to fight as mandatory.
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Maloney's been waiting. Kenshiro Taraji? Man,
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I don't want to see Taraji get beat like that.
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Yeah, but he's a name. He's a pretty big name.
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Right. He's trying to file some motion with the
9:00
IBF to have himself inserted as the mandatory.
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For Willy Waldo, but just because they were lined
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up to fight before, I think. But I think having
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a shot at three belts instead of one might be
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more appealing. Yeah, I can't see too many people
9:23
turning down the BAM fight, really. Especially
9:27
not if it's on a big card like that. But maybe
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I'm wrong. Yeah, well. We'll see. We'll see how
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this shapes out. There is a surprising lack of
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Japanese people at this weight class right now.
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At 115? Yeah. Like, there's Taraji. There's two
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guys I don't even know. Or I don't think I know.
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Rusei Kawaura? Kawaura? That's a... I haven't
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seen a name like that before. No, it's a little
10:06
hard to pronounce. Ayumasano? Yeah, I don't know
10:14
this man. I don't know who this Kawaura is. And
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there's a Henta something on here. Nakagawa.
10:27
Yeah, I don't know him either. And then a couple
10:31
of my new faces are making their way up the list.
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Like Aoi Yokoyama's on number 14 for the IBF.
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Nice. That has me excited because he's just a
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kid. And Tomoya Suboi is working his way up on
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all the other rankings. 7, 2, and 6. for the
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WBA, WBC, and WBO. They can maybe throw him in
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with Bam. I don't think he's very famous, though.
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There's lots of other fights I'd rather see than
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Bam with any of these Japanese guys, though.
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For my money, it would be... Willy Baldo, and
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that's really it. Yeah. Distance second would
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be Taraji. Taraji is starting to look old. Yeah.
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It would be kind of nice to see him get one last
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big payday, I think. Yeah, that's kind of what
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I'm thinking is, like, give the old Japanese
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warhorse, give him a big... A big profile fight.
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He's lined up for three belts, so he's getting
12:01
a real shot at something serious. And yeah, big
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payday on a big card. Yeah, I could get behind
12:11
that. But Taraji gets done dirty, I think. He
12:17
will go out on his shield, though. He's not going
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to show up just to survive. Speaking of getting
12:28
done dirty, Daniel Dubois is looking to fight
12:32
Fabio Wardley. Excellent. I actually kind of
12:37
like this matchup. Man, I think that Fabio Wardley
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takes it. You think so? I think he takes it pretty
12:46
easily. I don't know. It's hard to judge where
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Dubois is, I think. Right. Because he looks good,
12:58
and then he looks absolute shit, and then he
13:00
looks good. Like, Dubois, I think, needs to figure
13:05
out his outside the ring stuff first. Whatever
13:11
that might be. Yeah. Well, what was the controversy
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last fight? He threw a party and was, like, late
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to the venue because he was... Hungover? No,
13:26
like... He was late to the venue because they
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were partying at his house before the fight.
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Like, Dubois wasn't drinking and stuff, but there
13:33
was people there. That's dumb. It's super dumb.
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I don't know. People are higher on Wardley than
13:52
I am, I guess, is my takeaway from all of this.
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I don't think Wardley's that good. He's not.
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It's just he has that one -punch power that turns.
14:03
He could dig himself out of a 12 -round deficit
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with this power. It's pretty wild. That's true.
14:13
That is true, but he's still got to land it.
14:17
Dubois is not unhittable. Yeah. Yeah, you're
14:23
not wrong. Like, you're not wrong. I just...
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I don't know. I don't have faith in Wardley landing
14:30
that punch. Man, I thought Parker was gonna be
14:35
able to... I still don't think that should have
14:38
been stopped the way it was. I don't either.
14:40
I still disagree with fucking Howard Foster.
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Such a fucking Brit stoppage, and so inconsistent
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and stupid, but we already talked about that
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for like an hour. Yeah. Somebody was defending
14:56
that stoppage online the other day, and I'm like,
15:00
you're just, you're wrong. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah,
15:06
but that's more on the rumor side than it is
15:10
news, but Dubois is looking to fight Fabio Wardley,
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so. Be on the lookout for that. And last bit.
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Beeble will be fighting his IBF mandatory in
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April. And who is that? I'm checking. Michael
15:33
Eifer. I don't... That didn't help me. Yeah,
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I know. all right i assume well this is b -ball's
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first fight back after the surgery isn't it yes
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so i guess we'll we'll see how the surgery went
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see if he still has it let's see if he can move
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around just as good or better this is another
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german where are all these germans like suddenly
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popping up from They replaced, what, I think
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last year it was Frenchmen. Yeah. This year it's
16:19
going to be Germans. Fair enough, I guess. Got
16:26
to dig out the Euro bumps from somewhere. Yep.
16:31
But that's all the news that I found. I heard
16:36
something. What did I hear? Little Inoue. Takuma.
16:41
got dropped by one of his sponsors. I couldn't
16:44
find why. That's weird. Yeah. But... Well, dropped
16:55
is... They didn't word it as dropped. They're,
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um... temporarily suspending their... whatever.
17:05
Support. So. I... It doesn't sound like they're
17:10
mad at him or he did anything wrong. AJ's uncle
17:18
said that AJ is retired. Oh, I saw something
17:26
that I thought was absolutely fucking horrible.
17:29
So AJ was FaceTiming somebody, like somebody
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he knew well enough to FaceTime and was talking
17:36
about the accident and stuff. So the guy who's
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talking to him has the phone pointed at him,
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but someone off to the side was recording him
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talking to AJ. And it's really clear that AJ
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doesn't know this is going on, and he's talking
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about the accident and his feelings and stuff.
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I thought it was the shittiest thing I've seen
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anyone do. Yeah, I saw that. It was Kamaru Usman
18:03
from the UFC. Is that who it was? I didn't recognize
18:07
the person and I forgot his name, but I just
18:09
thought that was the shittiest thing. Usman claims
18:13
he didn't know that he was being recorded. That
18:19
is possible. It doesn't seem like he was trying
18:25
to get information or lead the conversation or
18:30
anything. Just talking to him. Whoever recorded
18:33
it and put it on the internet is an asshole.
18:35
For real. Very private conversation. Like...
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I... I fucking hate that that has become, like,
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a relatively normal thing to do. To, like, record
18:50
people everywhere all the time. No, yeah, there's
18:55
no reasonable expectation of privacy anywhere.
18:59
Well, I mean, it feels like there still should
19:02
be. Like, it looked like they were in a house.
19:05
Yeah. Who the fuck just randomly records your
19:09
friends' conversations? Pieces of shit. That's
19:15
who. So AJ's uncle says he's retired. Eddie Hearn
19:20
says if you don't hear from AJ, it's not true.
19:26
I think it's too soon to... Yeah. To expect AJ
19:31
to have decided anything. Right. He needs time
19:34
to grieve and process all of this horrible situation.
19:40
And if he wants to retire, that's... It's his
19:44
prerogative. Yeah. He's made so much money, and
19:49
AJ doesn't seem like one of those guys who blows
19:52
it all. Like, I don't think he needs to fight
19:55
anymore. especially after that jake paul payday
19:59
which yeah between the two of them that's a massive
20:02
massive check to cash yeah i just if aj doesn't
20:09
want to fight anymore i don't see any reason
20:11
why people should expect them to tyson fury has
20:18
he's officially unretired um as we expected The,
20:23
like, eighth time. His comeback opponents are
20:27
possibly Efe Ajagba, Tony Yoka, and Arslanbek
20:32
Makhmudov. With Makhmudov being the likely frontrunner.
20:40
I mean, out of those three, he's the one that
20:43
I would want to see the most, but I don't really
20:46
give a shit about Tyson Fury. Yeah, I don't really
20:49
either. I would have been perfectly happy for
20:53
him to stay retired. If he's not fighting AJ
20:57
and that's not going to happen anytime soon,
21:00
I don't give a shit. Richardson Hitchens has
21:09
his mandatory called versus Lindolfo Delgado.
21:14
So that's fun. was trying to get somebody to
21:21
step aside and they wouldn't. Or something. Yeah,
21:27
I remember what you're talking about. What weight
21:34
class is Liam Parrow? 140. No, Liam Parrow moved
21:38
up. He's 147 now. It's Lewis Crocker wanted to
21:45
have a voluntary and they said no. So he's fighting
21:49
Liam Pero. Yep. Frank Sanchez versus Richard
21:57
Torres are going to... Well, their purse bid
22:01
is delayed. This is an IBF eliminator. I'm...
22:07
I don't watch that many heavyweights, but I'm
22:10
kind of interested to see that one. Because I
22:14
like Richard Torres' personality. He's been in
22:18
Japan recently, just on vacation. And his Instagram
22:24
has been really fun. He's doing like a whole
22:28
Japan tour. And he was super excited about it.
22:31
He's like, I came here for the Olympics, but
22:33
I didn't get to do anything. So he's just touristing
22:38
right now. Didn't get to do anything. I don't
22:41
know about that. Because from what I hear about
22:44
Olympic Village. Where the athletes stay, it's
22:48
just a giant mess of people doing stuff. I should
22:54
have worded it differently. He didn't get to
22:57
see very much of Japan. Oh, he got to do plenty.
23:05
Yeah, Olympic Village sounds like fucking...
23:08
Which was the goddess in Egypt? Anyways. I know
23:17
what you mean. Yeah. But yeah, there we go. That's
23:22
all the news. We got to keep rolling because
23:25
we still got our 2025 picks to do. Going to skip
23:30
the notes for now. So recapping. Wednesday, December
23:35
31st. Shisei Promotions at the Ota City Gym.
23:41
There is. There are quite a few fights on here.
23:45
And. The only one I really care about. Kazuto
23:49
Ioka. Gets a stoppage in four. Over Michael Ordosquady.
23:56
Ordosquady? I have no idea. I don't either. It's
24:02
a really weird name. For a Venezuelan. I think.
24:07
But. Yeah I. I went out for New Year's and I
24:13
didn't get to the bar in time to see this. I
24:17
was too busy having fun. So I saw the replay
24:22
of just the stoppage. He didn't ice him or anything,
24:28
but I mean, Ioka doesn't really do that anymore.
24:35
I'm just glad he won. I'm excited to see him
24:38
and Takuma. Because that's supposed to be the
24:41
next fight. Not a bad defense for Takuma. Not
24:48
a bad defense. Ioka's getting old. One of these
24:51
days he's going to show up and he's just going
24:53
to be old. And I'm a little worried it might
24:58
be that Takuma fight. But if it's not, it should
25:02
be fun. Because Ioka does pressure and have enough
25:06
power. He might be able to... pull off the upset
25:09
like Tsutsumi did. Takuma did struggle with the
25:14
pressure against Tsutsumi. Yeah, but I mean,
25:19
Ioka doesn't have that same output either. Honestly,
25:23
Ioka's gonna be a big underdog, and he should
25:26
be, but I'm still excited to see it. And Saturday,
25:33
January 3rd, MVP In Puerto Rico. Oh man, this
25:40
card had a lot of fights on it. Don't really
25:45
care about too many of them, to be honest with
25:48
you. Ebony Bridges got beaten by Alexis Ariza.
25:56
That was kind of a surprise, right? It was. It
26:00
was a shock. So that was cool. Jonathan Gonzalez
26:05
beats the MVP fighter, Jankel Rivera. So that's
26:13
fun. Fucking Holly Holm gets beat on the cards.
26:21
Stephanie Hahn suffered a... It didn't look like
26:25
it was that bad of a cut, just in my opinion.
26:28
Yeah, she also... Kinda afterwards, I was a little
26:34
surprised they stopped it. Yeah, it didn't look
26:36
that bad. So they went to the cards, and there's
26:39
a UD for Stephanie Hahn. Retains her WBA title.
26:44
I wonder a little bit if that wasn't them trying
26:49
to save Holly Holmes some damage. Holly Holmes
26:54
definitely looked her age, unfortunately. Yeah.
26:57
That was pretty rough. Yeah, I don't know how
27:02
to say it. But it didn't look like that was going
27:05
to go any other way. Maybe they used the cut
27:07
as an excuse. I think you're right. I could see
27:11
that happening. I don't particularly have a problem
27:15
with that. Like, home was getting her ass kicked.
27:23
And Amanda Serrano beats Reina Tellez. I think
27:30
they did 12 by 3. If I'm not mistaken. Yeah,
27:37
I didn't watch this whole fight either. I know
27:43
Taya's was a bit of a late replacement. Like,
27:46
she only had two weeks or whatever. And she missed
27:49
weight by a bit. I think half a pound. For short
27:53
notice, though, that's not terrible. Yeah, I...
27:57
For short notice, I can... How do you put it?
28:00
I can overlook that. It was pretty clear she
28:03
tried to make weight. But Serrano was really
28:10
looking for the knockout. I think somebody said...
28:14
Somebody was talking about she's one away from
28:19
the knockout record for women or something. That's
28:23
cool. And so she's really trying to get that...
28:27
She wants two more knockouts so she has the record.
28:30
She beats it. Yeah. But I don't know if it's
28:35
going to happen. Especially not if she does these
28:38
three minute rounds. I know she's been pushing
28:41
for it forever. And everybody always says it's
28:44
going to lead to more knockouts in women's boxing.
28:46
And it might. But Serrano really still only fights
28:51
for the first minute and a half. Or not the first,
28:54
but, like, she has to pick a minute and a half
28:56
in a round to really sprint. Right. I see what
28:59
you mean. Yeah. And I don't think it's a conditioning
29:05
thing. I think it's more of a mental, like...
29:10
Strategy? Or her strategy? It's the way she's
29:16
fought her entire career. Right? I really think
29:20
it's hard to switch. Everybody is like, well,
29:23
it's just, you know, fight for a minute longer.
29:28
But I don't think it's that simple. I really
29:32
think they need to change it in the amateurs
29:34
before they change it in the pros. Yeah. Not
29:43
a whole lot more to say on this card. Not the
29:48
best kickoff of the year. I mean, it's not the
29:53
worst. No, but it wasn't terrible, I guess. Also,
29:58
how often do you really get fights in the first
30:02
week of January? I remember Luis Ortiz had, I
30:09
think he fought Charles Martin on January 1st
30:12
a few years ago. Honestly, I think January 1st
30:16
would be a good day for hungover watching of
30:19
boxing at home. Yeah. But moving on to the fucking
30:28
previews. It's a light weekend. Friday, January
30:34
16th. Got two cards. No limit in Australia. If
30:41
you find a way to watch this, let me know. But
30:46
this one's in Boondall in Queensland. That's
30:51
fun. Let me see here. Only two I know, Liam Paro
30:57
versus Patty Donovan in the co -main, and Nikita
31:01
Zu fighting Michael Zaroffa in the main. Which
31:08
one is Zaroffa? Oh, I've seen him before. Yeah,
31:13
I mean, these Aussie cards are usually really
31:16
one -sided. I don't know. I never get too excited
31:19
for them. Paro versus Patty Donovan might be
31:23
pretty fun, though. Yeah, that should be okay.
31:26
I kinda imagine Paro just boxing him. He should
31:32
just box him. Like, stay on the outside, but...
31:36
Oof, and Goldenboy at the Acreshore Arena in
31:43
Palm Desert, California. I don't recognize a
31:50
lot of these names. It's an all golden boy fucking
31:54
prospect extravaganza. Which sometimes are really
31:59
fun. Yes, they can be. Sometimes they are not.
32:07
Let me see. Ruslan Abdullayev, I guess, is I
32:14
think supposed to be an amateur standout. Alexis
32:25
Rocha versus Raul Cariel rematch is the main
32:28
event. That should be fun, right? I think. Yeah,
32:32
I think it'll be okay. Not a whole lot else going
32:37
on, so. It might be a good weekend to go touch
32:42
grass. Yes, I would say so. I'm just going to
32:49
double check, make sure I didn't miss anything
32:51
on the 17th. No. I didn't miss anything. I really
33:06
don't remember there ever being boxing in the
33:09
first half of January. Like, this is more than
33:12
we usually get. I swear. Yeah, I think you're
33:17
right. But yeah, that's it for the previews.
33:26
Alright. So I'll put in some notes here. And
33:32
then we can get into our picks for the 2025.
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the phone number. Hit me up in WhatsApp. I want
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36:11
2025. What a year. Yeah, it's actually been a
36:20
great year for boxing. Yes. um so starting off
36:27
stoppage of the year do you have one do you have
36:31
a okay i i have my tiny little list i couldn't
36:35
find a real piece of paper i know i am missing
36:39
some obvious mentions for the last half of the
36:43
year but last night my potato brain was potatoing
36:47
so the only one i have for like My mid -year
36:54
pick was Norman versus Jin Sasaki. And I wanted
36:59
to try and think of ones that might have beat
37:02
it. And all I could come up with was Cardenas.
37:05
His last fight against Ayala. That was a pretty
37:11
good knockout. But I think Norman still wins
37:17
for the year. Yeah, my mid -year pick was Norman
37:24
Sasaki as well. For the second half of the year,
37:28
I was torn between Ennis versus Uesma Lima. Okay,
37:34
that's one that I should have thought of, yeah.
37:37
And Usyk KOing Dubois in the rematch. I didn't
37:43
think the Usyk one was flashy enough for stoppage
37:47
of the year for me. And I wasn't able to decide
37:52
which one was the final pick. It's not Ennis
37:57
and Lima. Just because that doesn't have as much
38:00
gravity to it. Fuck it. Norman Sasaki. I just
38:11
think it's KO of the year. Yeah. There were some
38:15
other really good ones, but that one was just...
38:20
He hit him so perfectly. Slumped him. Absolutely
38:25
slumped him. Another honorable mention, who did
38:32
Opataya knock out recently? Kinkara? Yeah. That
38:39
was a pretty bad knockout. It was a nice knockout,
38:42
but... Opataya needs to be fighting better people.
38:47
Exactly. I don't want to give him knockout of
38:49
the year for knocking over cans. That's why I
38:51
didn't pick Ennis Lima for the final. Yeah. All
38:58
right. Masterclass of the year. For the first
39:02
half, I had Benavidez beating Morel. The second
39:06
half was Bud over Canelo. And the final was Bud
39:11
Canelo for the... There was a lot more at stake
39:15
for that one. Yeah. Yeah, I had kind of three
39:21
second half ones. I thought Inoue really masterclassed
39:27
MJ. Yeah, that's a good one. He just outboxed
39:32
him the entire 12 rounds. Bam just beat the shit
39:39
out of Puma. That was a really good performance,
39:44
I thought. I expected Puma to put up a fight,
39:48
and he just couldn't. He tried, he just couldn't.
39:51
But I agree, but Bud beating Canelo is the masterclass
39:55
of the year. I don't think there's much debate
39:58
on that one. Do you have a villain? Yes, and
40:06
I think there's no fucking debate on this one.
40:09
It's Tank. Hank is villain of the year. He has
40:12
to be. Like, the two, well, the fucking crash
40:19
out about his son playing with dolls or wearing
40:22
pink or whatever the fuck it was. The whole thing
40:25
with the waitress at the strip club. The fucking
40:30
taking a knee and getting it covered up, the
40:33
refusing the rematch, the taking a fucking Jake
40:37
Paul fight instead of the rematch, like, it's
40:40
all just villainous, villainous behavior. Tank
40:43
is my villain of the year. Yeah, I have him as
40:47
my first half. For the second half, I picked
40:50
Howard Foster for his, the goddamn stoppage.
40:56
Yeah. But the... I thought about Howard Foster,
41:00
but Tank is just... Tank is the final pick, for
41:03
sure. Without question. I mean, another honorable
41:08
mention to Zufa boxing and the whole changing
41:12
the Ali Act and all that bullshit. Yes. That's
41:15
pretty villainous, too. To get Congress involved
41:18
is very villainous. Killing legislators in the
41:22
picture. Yeah. But individual, who is the villain?
41:28
It's Tank. Definitely. Prospect or new face of
41:36
the year. My first half was Terra Moana. Second
41:40
half, Tomoya Suboi. That's a good one. I landed
41:47
on Terra Moana for the final pick. Another year
41:51
of four knockouts. So, staying busy. I kind of
41:57
struggled with this one. I think I had Lover
42:00
for the first half. Kenneth Lover. Yeah, I was
42:06
really struggling. I like Suboy, but I think
42:08
I mentioned him last year, maybe. I don't remember.
42:13
Yeah. I kind of wanted to put Cardenas, because
42:17
I didn't know who the fuck Cardenas was until
42:19
this year. But he's not a prospect. He's just...
42:24
He really kind of burst onto the scene with the
42:28
Inouye performance. Yeah, that's where a lot
42:32
of people first heard who he was. Yeah. But I'm
42:37
going to stick with Kenneth Lover. I really like
42:40
him. I think he's going to be really good. If
42:42
the fucking Kamedas don't ruin his career somehow.
42:51
All right. Fighter of the Year. In the first
42:54
half, I had two picks. Brian Norman and Abdullah
42:59
Mason. The Brian Norman one aged like milk. Yeah.
43:06
In the second half, I had Inouye and Bam. And
43:10
ultimately, I landed with Bam being my pick for
43:14
Fighter of the Year. I think first half I had
43:18
Seiya Tsutsumi just because I can, mostly. Now
43:25
that the year is almost over, I had kind of three
43:29
I was thinking of. Inoue and Bam, same as you.
43:33
But Oscar Collazo has had a really good year
43:36
as well in the minimum weight category. Yeah,
43:41
he has. Which I know nobody watches but me. But
43:45
he had a couple really good fights this year.
43:50
But I also ended up with Bam. Bam's just running
43:54
shit at his weight class. He had the two fights
44:00
that I thought were going to be like, oh, we'll
44:03
see. Like, if Bam really is as good as we think
44:07
he is. Well, I knew he was legit, but is he as
44:10
good as we think he is? And he made Caffu and
44:13
Puma look like trash, and they are not. Like,
44:16
those are two good fighters, and he just made
44:19
them look stupid. So, I think you gotta give
44:24
it to Bam. I landed, yeah, I landed about the
44:29
same. Obviously. Moving to ass -whooping of the
44:36
year. In the first half, I had Boots beating
44:39
Stanionis. In the second half, I had Usyk Dubois
44:45
2 and Bam beating Puma. And landed final pick
44:51
Usyk Dubois. This is one I was struggling to
44:56
remember just in general. So my pick from the
45:02
first half was Espinoza over Vasquez. I thought
45:06
that was an ass whooping and a half. The only
45:10
one I could come up with, and it's definitely
45:12
recency bias, Ola Squaga just beat the shit out
45:16
of Kuwahara a couple weeks ago. That was on that
45:19
December card I went to. Yeah. And it was just
45:24
like... It only lasted, I think, four rounds,
45:28
but he just beat the piss out of the poor guy.
45:32
And you could hear them so loudly in the arena.
45:37
And he did it dressed as a Grinch, which I thought
45:41
was pretty funny. But I think Espinoza still
45:45
was a longer ass whooping. So I'm going to stick
45:49
with my first half pick. All right. Comeback
45:56
of the year. Do you have one for career or mid
45:58
-fight? Both if you got them. This is the one
46:03
where mine aged so poorly because my first half
46:07
pick was David Allen. I wanted to believe. I
46:16
kind of struggled with this one and I had to
46:19
land on Devin Haney. I was surprised how good
46:25
he looked in his last fight. Especially, like...
46:31
So he got his ass kicked by Ryan Garcia. That
46:34
was last year, right? Or, like, the year before,
46:37
2024. And then he looked so scared and timid
46:42
against Ramirez. Yes, he did. And so then to
46:48
come out and win the way he did... Who did he
46:51
fight? I can't think of the name. Brian Norman?
46:55
Yeah, thank you. Fuck. To come out and beat Brian
46:59
Norman the way he did, that was a career turnaround,
47:03
I think. I had been kind of writing Devin Haney
47:08
off as mentally not with it anymore after the
47:15
Ryan and Ramirez performances. So Devin Haney
47:21
is your final? Yeah. Oh, shit. In the first half,
47:26
I had Jesus Ramos. He had two stoppages to start
47:30
the year. That was coming off of the Erickson
47:35
-Lubin robbery. And in the second half, I had
47:41
Jack Catterall. Interesting. He came in nicely
47:46
with a new Bozianis. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He came
47:51
in like a Philly fighter. It was fucking phenomenal
47:55
to watch. Final pick for the career resurgence
48:00
was Jesus Ramos, for sure. Because he only had
48:04
one fight in the second half, but still, it was...
48:07
He still had a good outing. Yeah. And in fight
48:12
comeback, Fabio Wardley versus Justice Hooney.
48:18
Oh, yeah. I should have remembered that one.
48:21
That was 100 % the in -fight comeback of the
48:25
year. Definitely. No question. For Upset, in
48:33
the first half, I had Lamont Roach beating Tank.
48:38
I don't care what the hell the cards say. In
48:43
the second half, I had Abbas Barou beating Ioannis
48:46
Teyes. Okay, yeah. It was pretty funny. That's
48:52
a big upset. This no -name German shows up and
48:56
beats the home fighter. This no -name German
49:00
just harassed the hell out of him? Yep. But the
49:04
final roach -beating tank, that was... Yeah.
49:09
So, my first half one was Roly beating Ryan,
49:13
just because I love it. And nobody was really
49:17
expecting it. Second half, the Kameda beating
49:23
Casamero, one, I love it. Fucking hilarious.
49:27
Two, I was so sure that they had put their cousin
49:31
up against Casamero so they could rob him. Rob
49:34
the cousin. I thought that was the setup. So
49:39
I was surprised. And then, this is a bit of a
49:43
reach, but Ben beating Eubank in the rematch.
49:48
I thought was a pretty big upset. But beating
49:51
him the way he did, I guess. Yeah, I can see
49:54
that. But yeah, my pick for the year is still
49:59
Rolly beating Ryan. Oh, hero of the year. I am.
50:12
So this is out of ring stuff. Yes. I decided
50:17
Yudai Shigeoka is my hero of the year. So he's
50:22
Jinjiro's brother. He retired from boxing and
50:27
opened up his cafe so he could take care of his
50:29
brother after he suffered the brain damage in
50:32
his fight. I just think that's really wholesome.
50:37
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So he's my hero of the
50:43
year. Oh, man, mine sucks by comparison. So in
50:48
the first half, I had Al Heyman for the Taking
50:51
Care of Pritchard cologne. Turns out that came
50:53
out just at the end of 2024. So it doesn't count.
50:59
Still very cool of him to do that. I mean, he
51:04
can still be the hero because I think he's still
51:06
paying for it. Yeah, I suppose. Why mine sucks?
51:11
Because I picked Terrence Crawford for not. holding
51:13
up the belts not holding up the the boxing world
51:18
and just retiring and saying no i'm done yeah
51:21
dropping the belts yep and yeah that's not a
51:26
bad pick letting everybody have their have their
51:29
glory yeah oh fight of the year what do you got
51:36
okay uh So my first half was Eubank -Ben won.
51:44
But second half, man, there were so many good
51:48
fights recently. Yes. Like, so many good fights.
51:52
I forgot to write it down, but I just thought
51:56
of it. Mbili... Martinez? Martinez. Thank you.
52:02
I was going to say the wrong Spanish last name.
52:06
Mbili Martinez. I had, honestly, Nakatani Hernandez
52:12
was a fucking banger. And that same night, one
52:17
that probably none of the listeners watched was
52:21
Yabuki Alvarado. Yabuki versus Alvarado. That
52:26
was a banger, too. But, I mean, I think I have
52:29
to land on Mbili Martinez. Yeah, that was just,
52:36
that was... Just all -out action the entire time.
52:45
And I want to see that rematch. I really do.
52:50
My first half, I had Bivo better be of two. In
52:55
the second half, I had Martinez and Beely like
52:58
you did. I also had Superreal Matias versus Alberto
53:02
Pueyo. Oh yeah, that was also a banger. There
53:07
were so many good fights this year. I kept Beevil
53:13
Better Beev as my final pick just because it
53:15
was an undisputed fight, so it has some gravity.
53:21
I think that's a poor choice. Yeah, I didn't
53:28
arrive at that conclusion easily. But that's
53:36
all we got. That's all the picks. What event
53:40
stood out to you? Well, so mine is basically
53:48
just nostalgia. But me and my brother went to
53:51
the fights in February there. And that's when
53:56
Tsutsumi beat Takuma in a way. Or no, that's
54:01
not that one. I went to so many fights. I actually
54:08
can't remember which ones were on which card.
54:12
That was the Daigo Higa fight, wasn't it? Yeah.
54:19
That card is my favorite because I went with
54:23
my brother. It was his first time at the boxing.
54:25
The fights were fucking awesome. That was when...
54:32
Tenshin fought Maloney. Seiya Sutsumi fought
54:36
Higa. And then Nakatani knocked out Contreras.
54:42
That's a nice card. Yeah, I got to watch it all
54:46
with my brother. My event was Eubank Ben 2, just
54:53
because I was there. Got to experience British
54:57
fucking boxing culture. Got to sing Sweet Caroline?
55:02
I did. Got to get four beers at once. Did they
55:08
give you the little holders there? They did give
55:10
me the holders. It was fucking glorious. So the
55:15
events I went to, they don't always do this,
55:20
but that one did have the beer girls with the
55:22
little keg backpacks walking around. So my brother
55:26
thought that was the fucking greatest thing ever.
55:30
I can see why. I would enjoy that too. But yeah,
55:41
that's it for the year 2025. Holy shit. It was
55:45
a good year. It was. Brian Norman with a huge
55:51
stoppage only to fucking flop in the second half.
55:55
yeah still stoppage of the year though yeah for
55:59
sure ah well now that we're wrapping up fucking
56:10
do we have do you have parting words you have
56:14
anything left um honestly no i am so fucking
56:19
tired all right That's it. 2026 has started terribly
56:24
and it could only get better. That's my parting
56:26
words. I really truly believe by next December
56:32
the world will either be over or things will
56:34
be better. The world will be over? Yeah. I wouldn't
56:39
be surprised if somebody fucking nukes somebody
56:41
this year. Parting words. Yeah, I think I would
56:48
echo yours. It's only been a few weeks in 2026.
56:55
It's only been a week and a half and everything
56:57
sucks. Well, the boxing will be good at least.
57:04
Yeah, I am super excited. Some of the fights
57:09
that have already been announced are going to
57:11
be great. And Inoue Nakatani has to happen in
57:14
May because that's the only reason I stayed in
57:17
Japan. Well, we'll leave it there. That's it
57:23
for this edition of Boxing Before Dark. Fucking
57:27
haven't said it in a minute. My battery's getting
57:30
low. And it is getting dark. Peace.