Latest / Boxing B-Sides / [BxBD] Ryan Garcia crowned, Usyk-Verhoeven, and Zuffa Boxing 04

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[BxBD] Ryan Garcia crowned, Usyk-Verhoeven, and Zuffa Boxing 04 · Boxing B-Sides

0:00
This shit ain't nothing to me, man. This is Boxing
0:03
Before Dark. Boxing. Boxing. Boxing. Back. Back.
0:06
Back. Back. Back. Before. Before. Before. Before.
0:11
Boxing. Boxing. Boxing. Boxing Before Dark. This
0:15
is Boxing Before Dark. Alright. God damn, it's
0:27
Boxing Before Dark. We are back up in your ears
0:32
to talk the fights. Shanada, Japan is not treating
0:36
you well as you start heading towards the door.
0:40
No, work's been absolute shit. But, but, there
0:46
is a light a couple months away. They announced
0:49
Rod Tang is headlining the One Samurai in Ariaka.
0:54
I tried to watch him last time he was in Japan
0:57
and he had to pull out. So I'm going to pick
1:00
up another ticket, and if he doesn't make this
1:03
fight, he's dead to me. His career's about dead,
1:08
too, at this point. Yeah, I think his career's
1:12
kind of on life support anyways, but I would
1:16
really like to see him fight live once. That
1:20
would be pretty cool. It's a cool thing to say
1:22
you did, right? Yeah. Yeah. Which is why I'm
1:27
also excited about March, because I get to see
1:30
Knockout CP Freshmart. I bought my ticket. Everything's
1:37
looking good, except it's a Sunday. Travel arrangements
1:41
have to be made. It might be earlier, hopefully,
1:47
so that it finishes earlier. I'm wondering, now
1:50
that I think about it, if they did that because
1:52
Ola Squaga's the headliner. Oh, to have it...
1:56
Like he's American? Yeah, to have it timed for
1:59
them. For us, I guess. Yeah, like, Donair's the
2:03
co -main, so maybe it'll be fairly early in the
2:07
day. Interesting. Because I was trying... I was
2:12
checking, and on Tapeology, it says that the
2:16
start time is 3 Eastern in the morning. Oh, then
2:23
it's not... Yes, seems like a standard start
2:27
time for Japan. Getting back from Yokohama might
2:32
be hard. I don't know where this stadium is.
2:34
It depends how hard it is to get from the stadium
2:36
to the main train line. We'll see. If I get stuck
2:44
in Tokyo overnight, I get stuck in Tokyo overnight.
2:47
I can salary man it. Just go drink till 5am and
2:50
catch the train and show up hungover as fuck.
2:54
is that the like the stereotype or the common
3:01
thing that happens the stereotype is that they
3:04
come to work hungover quite often but i don't
3:07
think it's usually on monday it's usually on
3:11
like a thursday or a friday makes sense i guess
3:17
to do it later in the week yeah Later this year,
3:24
Mayweather Pacquiao 2 on September 19th. The
3:30
fight nobody wants. Like, who's excited about
3:33
this? Fucking, I can't imagine. I really don't
3:37
know. It's not like the first fight was no fun.
3:40
I guess the idea is that Mayweather will be rusty
3:44
enough and Pacquiao's been active. I think. I
3:49
think that's what they're trying to do. I think
3:52
it's just two big names that Netflix thinks people
3:55
will tune in for. If it's free to watch with
4:01
the subscription, then yeah, probably. I hope
4:05
they stack the undercard, though. Get some good
4:08
boxing in front of a bunch of casual eyes. That's
4:12
what a lot of the chatter I've been seeing online
4:14
is, is that we're putting two guys in their late
4:18
40s. As the headliner, it's going to turn people
4:23
off to the sport because you're going to be watching
4:25
old men well past their times. I don't think
4:29
they need to stack the undercard with names,
4:32
but they need a pro box style undercard. Good
4:36
matchups. Good matchups that are exciting if
4:39
you have no idea what you're watching. They really
4:43
need to put some bangers on the undercard. Yeah,
4:48
you're absolutely right. Because what card was
4:54
Mbili Lester on? Canelo Bud. Okay. But, like,
5:00
they need fights like that. They need just two
5:03
guys swinging with, like, high action so that
5:08
the casuals are like, oh, yeah, this boxing stuff's
5:11
kind of, like, pretty good. If it's all lopsided
5:14
fucking mismatches, it's... It's going to be
5:18
bad for the sport, not good. Yeah, I agree. Putting
5:23
your blue -chip prospects into showcase fights,
5:27
this isn't the time for that. No, you need close
5:31
matchups. I have heard rumors that it's Pacquiao
5:39
and Mayweather that are doing it, so it'll be
5:41
their stable of fighters. Oh, no. Yeah, so I'm
5:46
a little worried. They got Manny Pacquiao Jr.,
5:52
Kermel Moten. Moten could be flashy and get a
5:59
knockout, at least. Hopefully, you would think,
6:04
but he's moving up quite a bit for his next fight.
6:08
He's moving up like three divisions. Yeah, I
6:12
don't know. I'm a little nervous that this is
6:14
not going to be good. Yeah. Then I'm going to
6:19
have to field all the fucking questions from
6:22
other people I know who are going to tune in
6:25
for this because it's Mayweather Pacquiao. Yeah,
6:28
like, it could be a really big opportunity for
6:32
the sport, but I kind of think they're going
6:33
to fumble it. I honestly get the feeling as well.
6:40
Which sucks. Well, another spectacle on the horizon.
6:46
Oleksandr Usyk is fighting glory kickboxing champion
6:51
Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids of Giza on May
6:58
23rd. What the fuck? This must be pretty breaking.
7:02
I haven't heard this before. This must have broken
7:05
while you were sleeping, because we've been talking
7:08
about it for a bit in Discord. Goddamn. Yeah,
7:14
that's going to be a weird fight. Verhoeven's
7:17
a really good kickboxer, though. Yes. Yes, he
7:21
is. His record in kickboxing is 54 and 10. The
7:26
only concerning thing is... His knockout ratio
7:30
is really low, so he's not a power threat. You
7:36
can't sell it as a power guy. Right. Yeah. I
7:42
don't know. I'm kind of done with these circus
7:44
matchups. I'm not going to lie. I want Usyk to
7:48
just fight somebody young and viable. You know
7:54
who's not done with circus matchups? The WBC.
7:57
The title is going to be on the line. This is
8:00
a voluntary defense. How the fuck? Exactly. What?
8:07
Yeah. This is his first boxing match, isn't it?
8:12
I don't think so. But he has not had many. Let
8:18
me make sure. He definitely doesn't deserve a
8:22
title shot. Yeah, doesn't matter how many fights
8:25
he's had. If any. He's had one. Okay, so I was
8:30
pretty close. It was a four -rounder that he
8:33
won in two. Knockout in two over Janos Finfera,
8:38
who was 0 -5 at the time. Perfect. And this guy
8:44
gets a title shot. This gets more stupid the
8:49
more I fucking look into it. What the fuck? yeah
8:57
uh this if you're gonna do a crossover event
9:00
do a crossover event whatever at this point like
9:04
fuck it who cares but wbc like what the fuck
9:08
is this the wbc is losing credibility at an enormous
9:14
rate right now big time that's fucked um Doing
9:21
it like the novelty of doing a fight at the pyramids.
9:25
I get it. People, we were looking into it. People
9:29
do concerts there. There are events that are
9:32
hosted at that location. Location. So it's not
9:36
unusual to have something like this. It's the
9:42
crossover. The novelty of the crossover. It's
9:46
fine. Really. highly competitive world champion
9:50
kickboxer. There have been plenty of kickboxers
9:54
who've crossed over and done really well. Chris
9:56
Algieri's one. There are quite a few heavyweights
10:00
that were listed as well. But the title, dude.
10:05
The title should not be on the line. And yeah,
10:08
if Usyk wants to do crossover fights for big
10:11
money, fuck it. I mean, Usyk can kind of do what
10:15
he wants. Go for it. What the fuck are you doing,
10:18
WBC? Wait. At this point, I feel that Usyk could
10:25
genuinely vacate all the titles and do circus
10:29
shows. And just make money. Yeah. And it's completely
10:33
fine. Like, you're not holding anything up. But,
10:37
like, Agit Kabayel has been waiting for his shot
10:41
at a belt. Specifically the WBC for quite some
10:44
time. He should be pissed. Yeah. He is the mandatory
10:51
after this, which we're assuming Usyk's going
10:55
to pretty much take him to school. Verhoeven,
10:59
I mean. I would assume. Yeah. And then Caballel
11:03
gets a shot. Imagine if Verhoeven, with his weird
11:07
footwork, throws Usyk off and lands a punch from
11:10
the gods. What if Usyk gets Sarast? The power
11:13
of the pharaohs. In Verhoeven's Fist. Boxing
11:22
would be dead. Yeah, I might... That would be
11:26
one of my... Throw my hands up. I'm not watching
11:29
this shit anymore. Goddamn. I like Goosing, but
11:34
I kind of want it to happen now. Just as a...
11:38
just doesn't stop doing this fucking stupid shit.
11:41
Like, eventually it's gotta blow up, right? Yeah.
11:46
It happens, like, cherry picks go wrong all the
11:49
time. This would be worse than a cherry because
11:53
it's coming from another sport altogether. Yeah.
11:58
I mean, it's not gonna happen, but it would make
12:01
boxing look so bad. power of the pharaohs verhoeven
12:12
is secretly moon knight uh yeah so verhoeven
12:20
he's signed a two fight deal with misfits i don't
12:25
know if it was misfits or mf pro but he's with
12:29
that group and i think this is one of the fights
12:32
on the deal Yeah, I don't follow misfits at all.
12:37
But, like, Rico Verhoeven's a bit of a legend.
12:41
Like, if he wants to get his bag, get your bag,
12:45
man. Like, I don't think kickboxing pays the
12:47
best. Yeah, definitely not what he's going to
12:52
be getting paid for this. Yeah, well, I think
12:56
the misfits guys get paid pretty decent for what
12:59
misfits is, right? Yeah, I think you're right.
13:03
It's owned and operated by one of the original
13:07
influencer boxers, the KSI dude. Yeah. So, like,
13:12
he'll make money. So, good on him, I guess. But
13:16
the WBC needs to get their shit together. Take
13:24
all your shit and put it in a box and get it
13:27
together. Like, what the fuck? It makes me think
13:35
of all the situations where WBC has been citing
13:43
rules and regulations and bylaws of the organization
13:47
to strip very qualified fighters. And then you
13:54
do this. Where are your rules and bylaws now?
14:00
They don't matter if they make a lot of money.
14:04
Of course. That's all that is driving this. Fucking
14:10
stupid. Yes. Yes, it is. But what isn't stupid,
14:17
Top Rank and ESPN are at the negotiating table
14:21
to renew their broadcast deal. Very surprised
14:25
to have heard of that, just because... It seemed
14:28
like ESPN was getting out of the fight sports
14:31
game altogether. But I'm glad to see TopRank
14:37
is going to find a home. I'm glad TopRank's finding
14:41
a home. And honestly, I like having boxing on
14:44
TV. Yes. Like ESPN or TSN in Canada, those are
14:50
channels that every sports bar has. Successfully.
14:56
Yeah, you can go to the bar and if there isn't
14:58
a big game on, you can be like, hey, there's
15:00
boxing on channel 401. Can you switch it for
15:04
me? You know? Yeah. Yeah, I used to do that with
15:09
Buffalo Wild Wings. Typically, they only show
15:14
UFC. Yeah. But I could go to any Buffalo Wild
15:20
Wings and say, can you put one of these on ESPN?
15:24
Yeah, like in Canada, Boston Pizza will do that
15:27
for you every time. But even my local, like,
15:31
just one -off pub by my house would do it if
15:34
there wasn't a big hockey game. You know, like
15:36
they have TVs set up, they can show three channels.
15:39
They'll switch two of the TVs to boxing for you
15:45
or something. Yeah. The... End of the road is
15:55
in view for Katie Taylor. She's going to take
15:59
one last fight in Dublin and she's done. I think
16:05
that's a good move. Katie's gotten old and she's
16:11
taken a shit ton of punishment. It's time. Yeah,
16:15
I was going to say it's been time. It's been
16:18
time for a little while in my opinion, but one
16:21
last fight. in Dublin. It's going to be fucking
16:24
huge. People will turn up for Katie Taylor's
16:26
retirement. And I think she kind of deserves
16:29
that big send -off. Absolutely. Fucking trailblazer.
16:34
Especially in Ireland. Well, she legitimately
16:37
had to take him to court to get women's boxing
16:42
legal in Ireland. She deserves her one last big
16:49
send -off. But I'm glad she's made the decision
16:52
to make it a send -off. Oh, instead of just another
16:57
event? Yeah. In her career. I think if you know
17:03
it's your last fight and you're that big a name
17:05
and you announce it, it lets your fans come out
17:08
and make it special. Rather than having one last
17:14
fight and then announcing it at the end. I think
17:18
more people will show up because they know it's
17:20
her last fight. Yeah, that's what I was thinking
17:22
is if they know that this is the last chance
17:25
they have to see the Katie Taylor fight, then
17:29
they're going to go. Yeah. And like, I just think
17:32
the atmosphere will kind of be set up for it
17:35
being a retirement party almost. The crowd will
17:40
be bigger and louder and... They'll probably
17:44
sing her some song. I don't know. Yeah, the festivities
17:47
will be. Different than if she. Was just fighting.
17:51
She announced it after the fight. Yeah. Yep.
17:56
Well, we'll be. We'll be watching. For Katie.
18:00
Fucking it. End of an era, though. Yeah. Like.
18:03
Yeah. She's been around since the beginning of
18:07
women's boxing. I wonder. If the end of the Katie
18:15
Taylor era is a good cutoff point for switching
18:21
to three minute rounds. Like the peak amateur
18:28
and very accomplished professional is retiring.
18:34
I mean, you've still got the old men making the
18:37
rules. Well. When has that gone wrong? I don't
18:43
disagree with you. I'm just saying I don't think
18:45
it'll happen. They don't give a shit. Well, speaking
18:51
of not giving a shit, the Kazakhstan Sports Authority
18:55
gives Jannebeck a six -month suspension. So he
19:02
pretty much just can't fight in Kazakhstan for
19:05
six months. Okay, but did you see the craziness
19:08
that came out with all of this? No. Apparently,
19:12
he had a stroke a few months before. What? Yeah.
19:18
Yeah, I remember seeing that in Discord briefly,
19:21
but I was like, no, no fucking way. He's a young
19:23
man. He's fine. Okay, so I actually knew a guy,
19:28
and he wasn't a professional athlete, but he
19:31
just trained really hard to keep in shape and
19:33
stuff for, like, health reasons, and he was running
19:36
marathons and shit like that, and he stroked
19:40
out in a gym. Like, I think he's not that much
19:45
older than me, and this happened years ago. He
19:47
was probably in his, like, mid -30s. Yeah, it's
19:51
about Janabek's age. Shit just happens sometimes,
19:54
right? So, I mean, if he did have a mini -stroke,
19:59
I think is the way they phrased it, I don't know
20:03
if he should be boxing. Doesn't seem like a good
20:05
idea to me. But the doctors don't give a shit.
20:11
Like... But that was their argument was that
20:14
it was leftovers from being in the hospital or
20:18
something. Because they do treat you with like
20:21
steroids and stuff to get your blood flowing
20:24
and things. Oh, right. So that's where the PED
20:26
pop came from? That was their stance. That's
20:31
the explanation that they offered. Yeah, it was
20:34
accidental while he was in the hospital. But
20:42
that's just fucking crazy too. Like, if you're
20:47
having mini strokes, you shouldn't be getting
20:48
punched in the face. He cuts down a lot to stay
20:53
at 160. And that does not help with stuff like
20:57
that. Absolutely. At all. Not good for your brain.
21:00
Not good for your health in general, but definitely
21:02
not good for your brain. Yeah. To dehydrate yourself
21:05
that much. So... If they're believing his story,
21:11
and I assume if it's true he sent medical records
21:15
to the commissions and stuff, I assume they would
21:18
ask for that. And, uh, I mean, if that's what
21:24
it is, I can kind of see a slap on the wrist.
21:27
Like, you're not going to not let the doctors
21:31
treat you. Yeah, that does give it better context,
21:34
so. But also, if you're having mini strokes,
21:39
you should retire. Yes. Man, that is wild. Again,
21:51
this is just stuff I saw on Discord from other
21:56
sources, obviously. But like, Vom's usually pretty
21:59
good about picking his sources to share. Yes,
22:03
she is. That whole thing is just fucking crazy,
22:09
though. And which organization gave him a one
22:14
-year suspension from the day he popped? WBO?
22:18
Yeah. Which is also just a slap on the wrist.
22:23
He probably wasn't fighting within a year anyways.
22:26
It was leading up to the Lara fight. It was a
22:32
few weeks away when he popped. Right, okay. Yeah,
22:37
I don't know. That whole story is crazy. Man,
22:40
Janet Beck. What the fuck, man? Another reason
22:44
why people should all fight closer to their natural
22:48
weight. Yeah, I've... With, um... We'll talk
22:52
about it a bit in a second. I think... Richardson
22:56
Hitchens pulling out of his fight. Yeah. He also
23:01
cuts weight like a motherfucker. That was a...
23:04
That reignited the... Should we get rid of next
23:09
day weigh -ins? Should we just do same day weigh
23:12
-ins again? I've... I've looked into this stuff
23:19
a little bit. And instead of 10 pounds like the
23:24
IBF does, 10 % of the weight I think would be
23:28
a good middle ground. So if you fight at 147,
23:33
you can rehydrate, I guess you'd round up 15
23:36
pounds. So you're fighting closer to your natural
23:41
weight, and you're still not ballooning outside.
23:47
And I generally, there's not a whole bunch on
23:52
it, but rehydrating more than... 10 to 15 % doesn't
23:58
help you anyways. You've done too much of a weight
24:00
cut. So you've only really hurt yourself. Yeah,
24:06
like it's kind of a bell curve. Yeah. And that
24:08
like 10 % is pretty near the middle of the bell
24:11
curve. And there's some fighters who can rehydrate
24:15
better than others and all that sort of stuff.
24:17
Like bodies are different. But I kind of think
24:24
a percentage like that, uh, rehydration clause
24:28
would be effective. Right. And not damaging.
24:33
10 % at flyweight versus middle is, yeah, those
24:40
are two very different numbers. Or light heavy.
24:43
Right. Like, so, like, the 10 pounds, I think,
24:50
is too harsh for the higher weight classes. It
24:53
works for the guys I like because that's about
24:56
10%. Right, yeah. But a percentage of each weight
25:03
class, I think, might be a good middle ground
25:05
that I don't think anyone's tried yet. They tried
25:11
same -day weigh -ins and people were dying. They've
25:15
tried this and people rehydrate so much. Like...
25:19
But if you keep the rehydration controlled, it
25:25
might be better for the fighters. We'll have
25:28
to call Daryl Peoples. Yeah. I do kind of wish
25:34
that, and this is many things, but I do kind
25:38
of wish the boxing commissions would put more
25:41
interest in science. Like, they could pay for
25:47
these studies to be done. And these sorts of
25:50
studies wouldn't be that expensive. You're paying
25:53
for a couple scientists and you're basically
25:55
just using the blood tests and shit that they
25:58
probably already take. Just someone re -examining
26:03
it from a different lens. Yeah. Rather than,
26:07
this is how we've always done it. Yeah, like,
26:10
it... It kind of surprises me that none of these
26:15
combat sports guys... pay any money for science
26:19
to be done. And if you have people who are already
26:26
funded pay -wise, you're just paying for the
26:29
tests and giving them work. Science is expensive,
26:35
but there's ways to make it not so expensive.
26:42
I should call up a couple universities and try
26:45
and get some grant money. But I don't do human
26:51
stuff. I'd have to find friends that do human
26:53
stuff. You'd just be like the project director?
26:58
I could just write the grant. Hmm. Lewis Crocker
27:05
is pulling out of his title defense against Liam
27:09
Parrow. Why? I didn't see what specifically it
27:14
was, but I saw that he was injured. When was
27:20
that scheduled for? I don't remember. It's not
27:24
real soon. No, I think it's April. Must be a
27:30
bad injury if he's pulling out of an April fight.
27:33
Yeah. Let me see if I can... Find it real quick?
27:40
Yeah, I want to see what it is. Hand injury.
27:46
Hand injury, yeah. Ooh, ligament damage is not
27:52
good. That might be a career problem. Yeah, I
27:58
don't think it'll be an ender, but it could become
28:00
a problem. That sucks. That was kind of a decent
28:08
matchup, I thought. Yeah, would have been nice
28:12
to see. Liam Parrow back in the title picture.
28:15
It still would have been the weaker of the four
28:19
champs. Yeah, but still. And Ireland in Australia,
28:26
like, people would come out for that. Oh, man.
28:32
Will people come out for this double headliner,
28:36
Laurence Acoli versus Tony Yoka? And Bakari Samake
28:42
versus Ermal Hadribe. I think it is Hadribe.
28:49
No. No. April 25th. Nobody cares about any of
28:53
these people. In Paris. In Paris? Yes. We'll
29:00
have to send Vom. He lives in Paris. To go heckle
29:05
Tony Yoka? I honestly could not care less about
29:11
Akoli or Yoka. And I honestly don't recognize
29:15
the other two names. I don't either. I don't
29:17
know if you do. Okay. Yeah. I do not give a shit
29:21
about this card at all. Do you give a shit about
29:24
Andrew Tabidi signing with Zufa? No. I also don't
29:32
know who that is. cruiserweight contender you
29:36
have here i had that just in case um you needed
29:40
a little primer so that must be for what's his
29:48
name yeah yep i was drawing a blank i all that
29:51
was coming was a coley i'm like that's not the
29:54
same person yeah i'm guessing that's what they
29:58
signed him for So Opetai is just going to be
30:01
knocking over cans at Zufa, too. Yay. Excellent.
30:06
The best fighting the best. Mm -hmm. Did you
30:12
see that they've announced their first belt fight?
30:16
Zufa? Yeah, I think it's the light heavyweight.
30:21
Hot Rod is going to be... Yeah, I forget who
30:24
the other one is, but Hot Rod's fighting for
30:26
the Zufa belt. Oh, boy. Yay. The five belt era
30:32
has begun. Excellent. I do actually kind of like
30:37
hot rod. I do too. He's entertaining. He's fun
30:40
to watch. So, I mean, getting the Zufa belt,
30:44
I guess is going to get them more money. I assume.
30:47
Yeah. He'll get paid better for sure. So good
30:51
for hot rod, but like who gives a shit about
30:54
Zufa belts? Yeah. Right. Like whatever does it
30:56
for you. If the Zufa title. Fucking gets you
31:00
going, then have at it. I mean, he signed with
31:04
them, so what else is he going to fight for?
31:07
But it's not like he was getting other title
31:10
shots anyways. Honestly, Hot Rod is that level
31:14
that I was expecting to go to Zufa and just,
31:18
you know, exist. He is at that level, isn't he?
31:25
He was not going to get a title shot with anyone
31:28
else. No. Pro box title. Right. The title picture
31:34
for Light Heavyweight is jammed up with Beevil,
31:38
Better BF, and Benavidez. Yeah. Not a chance.
31:42
So, like, for Hot Rod, it made sense to go to
31:45
Zufa, and I'm glad to see he's going to make
31:50
more money. Speaking of making money, Frank Warren
31:58
is filing suit against, I think this is Sela
32:04
and TKO and Zufa. And I think Turkey is listed,
32:10
or is that Sela? I think he's the Sela. Okay.
32:14
Yeah, Frank Warren doesn't lose very often. One
32:18
billion is madness. I don't think he's going
32:20
to get that, but... It would not surprise me
32:23
if he has a real case. Frank Warren doesn't file
32:27
nonsense lawsuits. He's not litigious, I think
32:32
is the word. Well, he is litigious, but only
32:36
when he has grounds. Okay. Shrewd litigious man.
32:43
Yeah, like, I don't know. This is interesting.
32:47
I'm interested to see what happens here. Yeah,
32:51
so for the uninitiated, the lawsuit is that Frank
32:56
Warren was supposed to be like a partner organization
33:00
as those entities built up their boxing operations.
33:06
And the case is that Frank Warren got cut out
33:11
before the terms of the contract were fulfilled.
33:17
So the... more specific that I've heard but I
33:22
I think this is listed in the lawsuit is that
33:27
Frank Warren gave them access and helped build
33:33
a road plan for them to get into boxing that
33:37
he was supposed to be a part of And that was
33:40
written in the contract. Like he would help them
33:43
develop and plan their entrance into boxing and
33:48
be part of it. And then they cut him out. So
33:51
that's the part, like basically they're stealing
33:55
his business plan. So that's the more like specific.
34:02
It's not just, oh, you guys said you'd play with
34:04
me and then you didn't. It's we talked specific
34:10
business strategies and I helped them design
34:14
these business strategies. And that was part
34:17
of the contract. And then they broke the contract
34:20
when they took me out and stole my IP, basically.
34:26
I don't know the right words for business stuff,
34:28
but... Proprietary information. Yeah, basically
34:32
they came in and just... ransacked him business
34:37
-wise. Thanks for the plan, Frank. Peace. Yeah,
34:42
which is illegal if they had a contract saying
34:45
otherwise. Yeah, that was... I don't imagine
34:49
he would be suing otherwise. If they had... Yeah,
34:55
I'm actually pretty interested in this one because...
34:59
I mean, Dana and Sella and those guys, they all
35:05
kind of, from the outside, appear like they feel
35:10
super untouchable. And they can just do what
35:13
they want because no one has enough money to
35:15
fight them about it. But, I mean, if you break
35:20
the contract, you break the contract, Frank probably
35:23
has a leg to stand on in court. I think the $1
35:26
billion is probably to try and get them to settle
35:29
before. Like, not take it all the way to the
35:34
end. Yeah. Because the settlement would probably
35:38
be less than what the court result is anyway.
35:44
Which is not going to be a billion, but... No,
35:47
but I think the billion is just like... You always
35:52
aim high, right? Of course. I saw that Don King
35:56
is also suing them. Yeah, I didn't look into
35:59
that one. He's suing the TKO Zufa or whatever.
36:05
And the WBA. Because his guy, I think Michael
36:10
Hunter, was supposed to fight Gerald Miller.
36:13
And they pulled Gerald Miller for unknown reasons.
36:19
And Miller ended up fighting the hairpiece situation.
36:24
Right, right. So it's supposed to be Michael
36:28
Hunter that took his hair off. Right. I mean,
36:33
Don King does file nonsense lawsuits, but it
36:36
would also be funny if Don King won that one.
36:39
I do not cheer for Don King in any sense of the
36:42
word, but it would be kind of funny if even he
36:46
can get money out of suing Zufa. Yeah, whatever
36:52
dries them up. With Frank Warren suing the TKO
37:01
group and the Saudis, and then we've talked about
37:09
it previously with Eddie Hearn and really keeping
37:13
American fighters busy, are the fucking Brit
37:17
promoters saving American boxing right now? They
37:21
might be. God. I mean, those two are the only
37:25
ones that are really in the old guard doing anything.
37:30
They're kind of just saving boxing, I think.
37:33
Yeah. They've been keeping top rank afloat. That's
37:39
for sure. Yeah, I kind of hope we see the old
37:43
guard circle the wagons and get Zufa fucking...
37:48
In line, at least. I don't care if they exist,
37:51
but this we're gonna change everything has to
37:54
stop. Yeah. There's a... There has to be some
38:00
compatibility with how Zufa operates and how
38:04
everyone else does. A bit. I don't want a UFC
38:12
-style boxing entity. Zufa signs Conor Benn to
38:24
a one -fight deal worth 15 million to fight Regis
38:31
Progray at 150 pounds. That's fucked. Everything
38:38
about it's fucked. This was entirely them spending
38:42
a shit ton of money to piss off Eddie Hearn.
38:44
That's all this is. Oh, yeah. That's the only
38:47
reason it's Connor Ben. Yeah. But, like, there's
38:52
no way they make back a third of this. Who the
38:56
fuck cares about Regis Progray? This is going
39:00
to be on the Tyson Fury, Makhmudov card. I guess
39:06
they want to get Brits watching, but they were
39:08
going to watch anyways. Nobody is tuning in for
39:11
Connor Ben specifically. Yeah. That wasn't already
39:14
watching Fury. The salt from the UFC fighters
39:25
has been fucking tasty. They are fucking livid.
39:30
That Conor Benn, of all people, it's a lot of
39:34
who the fuck is this guy? And he's getting 15
39:38
mil for one fight. What's that, like 10 times
39:42
what the UFC guys get? Yeah, at least. To fight
39:47
nobody? Like, Regis isn't a nobody, but nobody
39:52
cares about Regis Progray. Like, he's not a big
39:57
name. Nope. I don't know. This is fucking stupid.
40:06
I think it's pretty goddamn funny. Let's spend
40:13
$15 million just to piss off Eddie Hearn. For
40:18
one fight after which Conor Benn can very easily
40:21
go back to the matchroom. It's a one fight deal,
40:25
dude. Maybe. But Eddie seems legitimately hurt
40:32
by this. I don't know if Conor can go back. That's
40:38
a pretty big backstab. Especially if it happened
40:41
the way Eddie says it did. Like, not even taking
40:47
a phone call. Yeah. I haven't seen anything from
40:53
the Connor -Ben team about it. Dana said that's
40:58
not how it went down, but you can't believe a
41:00
word he says. Dana can suck a dick. Give a shit
41:04
what that piece of shit says. What I really hope
41:14
continues to happen is dumb fuck moves like these,
41:19
Zufa continues to make just really stupid decisions
41:23
like this. Yeah. By all means, Connor Ben, get
41:28
paid, my man. You're the one putting your life
41:31
on the line here. Also, you have burnt, like...
41:37
such a bridge on this one because it's been um
41:41
what's the word verified that eddie hearn bailed
41:47
connor ben out during that whole drug scandal
41:49
lent him hundreds of thousands of dollars to
41:53
keep him afloat and he could he kept him working
41:57
because remember he had a few fights in the u
41:59
.s at the time like they were they were on at
42:02
uh the most odd times so that they could be prime
42:05
time in the uk Yeah. No, it's just, I know money's
42:12
money and everything else, but honestly, Connor
42:14
Ben probably would have made more money if he
42:17
just signed a multi -fight deal with Matchroom.
42:21
Probably could have gotten a fight with Regis
42:24
Progray. Yeah, he wouldn't have got $15 million
42:27
for that one fight, but they'd have got him three
42:29
fights for seven or eight. That comes out to
42:34
more money. Right, because you take this one,
42:39
it's a big bag. Congrats. Where do you go after
42:42
that? You're going to have to re -sign with Zufa,
42:45
and they're not giving you 15 mil again. No.
42:49
But also, this is very publicly 15 million for
42:53
fucking Conor Benn to fight a C -level fighter.
42:58
Boxers are going to want more if they have any
43:00
name value going to Zufa now. Hmm. Yeah. Also,
43:06
how stupid is Jio Pataya feeling? Because I know
43:09
he's not getting $15 million a fight. And he's
43:13
a fucking champion. Yep. Yeah, a lot of the big
43:20
name UFC guys have been like, where the hell's
43:23
my $15 million? Yeah. Well, and they should.
43:27
Absolutely. I really, really want this to fucking
43:30
backfire so badly. I think it's already starting.
43:35
Oh, God. I really want the UFC, the top guys,
43:41
and whatever grade of fighter they are, this
43:47
is like a good unionizing movement situation
43:50
right here. You're giving this fucking clown
43:53
15 mil while we're getting paid peanuts. Yeah.
43:59
This is absurd. UFC makes so much money. Yeah.
44:03
It's not like UFC can't afford to pay their fighters.
44:06
In 2025, they made $1 .5 billion in revenue.
44:13
And it was 50 % was profit. 57 % was profit.
44:20
So they're making $570 million a year. Yeah.
44:28
A little more than that. Yeah, to cover their
44:31
overhead and everything. And they don't have
44:34
$500 million in overhead. No, they don't. $1
44:40
.5 billion. 57 % profit. That's a thousand Connor
44:48
Benz. Where... Where is... Why... Why can't the
44:58
UFC dudes get paid? The money is clearly fucking
45:04
there. Yeah. Nah, I think this move into boxing
45:10
is going to backfire on Dana, or I'm hoping it
45:13
does. And it's going to be great. Pour me out
45:18
some of your finest haterade, because I absolutely
45:22
hope it fucking backfires too. Anything more
45:27
for the news? Because we still got fights to
45:31
talk. No, I don't think so. All right. A little
45:36
bit of information. The social media stuff, LVX
45:40
MediaNet. That's the handle everywhere. Wherever
45:43
you're listening, hit us with the rating. It
45:45
fucking helps move us up the goddamn search algorithm.
45:50
And if you want to get yourself a nice little
45:53
boxing calendar, LVXmedia .net slash boxing.
45:57
And while you're there, check out the Wayside
45:59
Sports Review. You can see Josh rant on text.
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48:17
Oh, man. Recap shit. It is a good time for recaps.
48:25
For the recaps. First one, Thursday, February
48:29
19th. Ohashi Promotions at Korakuen Hall. Fucking...
48:34
Do I know who these people are? Not really. I
48:38
only know Jin Sasaki. Gets the stoppage win,
48:42
I say win with very heavy irony, over Marlon
48:47
Bagalpalan. Yeah, Jin Sasaki looked like shit.
48:53
Straight up trash. Yeah, just high guard, getting
49:00
lit up, and he does have power. Yeah, that's
49:05
what bailed him out. He bailed himself out. But
49:07
he just looked like shit. Jin Sasaki probably
49:13
should consider not boxing anymore. I think.
49:17
I agree. After seeing that, absolutely not. Absolutely
49:25
no skill. And he was just taking a shit ton of
49:31
punches. I assume they chose somebody who didn't
49:34
have much power. Which was a good choice, because
49:38
anyone with any power would have knocked him
49:40
out again. Yeah, the amount of punishments of
49:45
the body he was taking would have been the perfect
49:48
setup to just nuke him in the face. Yeah, yeah.
49:53
Nah, Jin Sasaki looked like straight ass. And
49:56
I know we're going to have listeners going, he
49:57
always looked like straight ass, but like, this
50:00
was worse. Yeah, this is worse than his usual...
50:05
Level of trash. Man, speaking of trash. Saturday,
50:13
February 21st at the Nottingham Arena. Matchroom.
50:19
Let's see here. Leo Atang. Congrats. Stops Dan
50:24
Garber in one. You get to keep the name. Yep.
50:28
I get the feeling he's going to be keeping the
50:30
name for quite some time. Yeah. He's pretty solid.
50:35
And he's going to crush Cairns as long as they
50:38
put him in front of him. Speaking of Cairns,
50:42
fucking David Allen stops Kareem Barajan in one.
50:49
Did you see his interview with, what's the British
50:53
podcast? Propa Boxing, I think? No, I didn't.
50:57
After the fight? He was at, like, a fucking McDonald's
51:02
playpen with his kids or whatever, and it just
51:04
had him on, like, FaceTime. The kids were so
51:08
loud he had to go outside. But he, his plan is
51:13
two more fights and then Zhang. That's the roadmap
51:19
for Dave Allen, according to Dave Allen. All
51:22
right. I'd watch it. Why not? Yeah. Why not?
51:31
I mean, Yang's a million years old. Maybe he's
51:36
slow enough Dave Allen can avoid the right hand.
51:40
Left? I forget which one Zhang throws hard, but...
51:44
I think he's a lefty. Yeah. After I said right,
51:47
it sounded wrong. But, I mean, you gotta kinda
51:51
love Dave Allen just because he's Dave Allen,
51:55
but... He is a lefty. Dude is not... He's not
52:00
going to live very long when he can't box anymore.
52:04
He will be destitute within a year. There's that,
52:09
but he just also goes into hard depression and
52:13
eats himself to death. He was talking about how
52:18
he was morbidly obese. I know he's a big guy,
52:22
but he was like, I was 350 a few months ago.
52:26
Not months, but Jesus Christ, man. This man legitimately
52:31
is just gonna die when he doesn't have boxing.
52:37
So, keep letting him knock over cans, please.
52:40
People come watch him. He's fun in interviews.
52:44
Yeah, he's a character. He's a fun character.
52:47
Speaking of fun characters, Molly McCann gets
52:52
the scoring referee. Points decision. Sandy Ryan
53:00
squeaks it by to claim the super lightweight
53:04
title. The very reputable and respectable WBC
53:11
title. Yeah. Bilal Fawaz gets the majority decision
53:17
over Ishmael Davis to claim the Commonwealth
53:22
and British title. He has a hell of a story.
53:29
Yeah, crazy story. Hell of a story. He is a character.
53:34
He's a weird dude. He's an interesting fighter
53:37
to watch. I would say he's a pretty good... If
53:42
you look at Chris Eubank Sr. Yeah, I've heard
53:46
those comparisons. That's what he reminded me
53:49
of, was Eubank Sr. I don't hate him doing well.
53:57
No, his, the only thing was like his, Chris Eubank
54:03
would do those weird types of like poses and
54:07
stuff, but he actually did stuff as well. Yeah.
54:11
Whereas Fawaz was a little bit gun shy for some
54:14
reason. Yeah, that's true. That was, that's my,
54:19
if I had a complaint about it. It would be, you
54:22
know, let your hands go. I don't really like
54:25
the showboating, but I mean, given his story,
54:28
I kind of have to cheer for him. Yeah, same.
54:33
Oh, you know who I don't want to cheer for anymore?
54:36
Lee Wood and Josh Warrington. Lee Wood gets the
54:41
UD. How do I feel about that? Fucking not very
54:48
good. You think Warrington should have got the
54:51
nod? No. The fight was kind of shit. They're
54:55
both hot garbage is what it is. Yeah. Honestly,
54:58
I don't think this would be a bad time for Lee
55:01
Wood to retire. I don't think he will. But going
55:04
out on a win in front of a big crowd. Rival.
55:07
It wouldn't be a bad idea. Yeah. This is like
55:11
the moment for him to hang it up. Yeah. Yeah.
55:14
This would be a good way to bow out. He's not
55:17
going to do anything of note. In the future.
55:21
I don't think. No not really. And it was a good
55:27
crowd. Like. I don't know. I kind of feel like
55:32
they both should retire. Josh Warrington did
55:35
right? I think so. I think he announced it after
55:39
the fight. Yeah. If he had continued. He should
55:45
change his training regimen. Just like run his
55:48
head into a wall. Well, I mean, he got a couple
55:52
good headbutts in there anyways. Yeah, he did.
55:56
Can't retire without him. Fucking, yeah, this
56:01
was not a good fight. I watched purely out of
56:04
hate for Warrington. I wanted to see him get
56:07
sparked again, but I'm glad Lee Wood won. Yeah,
56:11
I am too. Lee Wood, like of all the, even though
56:14
he has the fucking broccoli head. Of all the
56:18
Brits, he's definitely not at the top of my hate
56:21
list. Yeah. It's good for him to win, I guess.
56:26
With his hair texture, because I'm assuming that's
56:28
natural, I don't know how many other haircuts
56:31
he can do. Yeah, you're absolutely right. That's
56:36
probably the best one he's got with curly hair
56:39
like that. Yeah, good thing that it's come into
56:41
fashion. Yeah, but he had it forever. Exactly.
56:46
He had it before it was cool. Yeah, yeah. Let's
56:51
roll on the ring. High stakes at the T -Mobile
56:55
Arena. Let's see. From the bottom up, Mohamed
57:01
Alakel gets a stoppage in two. Whatever. It's
57:06
as expected for the Saudi plant. Joshua Edwards.
57:14
UD over Brandon Colantonio. Brandon fucking won
57:21
the story of the night. He looked like he just
57:25
knocked off from the factory and he was on his
57:29
way to the pub, but instead he got pulled into
57:31
this. I have to admit that I only saw the co
57:36
-main and main on this one. It's fine. Oh no,
57:38
I did see Beck as well. Yeah, it's all right.
57:42
These are, like, as expected, pretty much. Well,
57:48
not really, actually, in the case of Joshua Edwards.
57:51
He was... This was supposed to be, like, an easy
57:55
scalp, but Cole Antonio gave him work. And Joshua
58:00
Edwards did not look like the future of American
58:04
heavyweights the way we expected. Probably good
58:10
to find out early. Yes. It's weird how this garbage
58:17
man looking person, he just looks like a blue
58:20
collar dude. Just an average Joe. This dude is
58:23
giving you fits. What's up? You're the freak
58:27
athlete here. What's going on? Yeah. Yeah. Freak
58:32
athletes. Amari Jones stops Luis Arias in four.
58:37
Went about. As you would expect for a vet on
58:42
the downslope of his career. What did you make
58:55
of Beck's win here? I mean, Beck's Beck. He kind
59:00
of always looks the same. I thought he looked
59:04
the same as always. It's, um, I don't know. He's
59:11
not bad. He's just not, like, star power. He's
59:18
not going to be competing with Oslis or Hamza
59:21
Shiraz. He's not going to be competing with those
59:23
guys for a title. But I could still see Beck
59:29
getting, like, a world title that's weaker. I
59:35
don't think it's completely out of the question,
59:36
but it would have to be like a Mario Barrio situation.
59:41
Yeah. Is Beck Zufa level? Maybe, but I don't
59:51
want to see him go to Zufa. I think he's good
59:53
enough he can hang around with the real guys.
59:58
He can be competitive with the top contenders.
1:00:03
Yeah, if he went to Zufa, I think he'd win. Oh,
1:00:07
they would move him up? He'd either have to move
1:00:09
down or up. He'd have to move up. I don't think
1:00:13
Beck could move down. Beck Demir versus Hot Rod?
1:00:20
I think Beck could win that. It'd be hard, but
1:00:23
I think he could win it. Man. Frank Martin. Nahir
1:00:33
Albright. Fight to... This is the first time
1:00:36
I've seen one. A unanimous draw. Yeah, that's
1:00:41
strange. I had never seen that before. Must have
1:00:47
been an actually really close fight. It was.
1:00:50
I assume. It was. I honestly felt Nahir Albright
1:00:53
did better. And if anyone was going to get the
1:00:56
nod, it should have been him. But... uh frank
1:01:01
martin is the house guy so what do you expect
1:01:04
hopefully they do the rematch um frank martin
1:01:09
showed some limitations kind of showed himself
1:01:14
to be one trick ish like he has this he uses
1:01:22
his athleticism to kind of hop in behind his
1:01:25
left hand and then he pivots on it and tries
1:01:30
to throw a combination off the pivot. And he
1:01:33
kept doing that. And here Albright was able to
1:01:36
stuff it after the fourth or fifth round. I mean,
1:01:42
yeah, if you have a pattern, good people will
1:01:45
figure it out. Yeah. They both said they want
1:01:51
the rematch, so I really hope they do it again.
1:01:54
I think Frank Martin might be... Heading into
1:01:58
the Fraud Watch. Territory. He's getting kind
1:02:02
of old. Yeah. And he's not doing a whole lot.
1:02:10
Moving up. Supposed to be. Look. This was canceled.
1:02:15
Richardson Hitchens versus Oscar Duarte. As we
1:02:19
discussed earlier. Supposed to be the co -main.
1:02:23
The people's main event. Gary Antoine Russell.
1:02:28
UD win over Andy Hirooka. To me, this went as
1:02:34
I expected, where Andy's going to be able to
1:02:40
use his... He is a pretty damn good athlete as
1:02:43
well. He's really athletic, and he was going
1:02:45
to be able to use that to maybe not take the
1:02:50
rounds off of GAR, but make the rounds competitive.
1:02:57
So even though it was a unanimous decision, I
1:03:00
think the scores were wider than the fight was.
1:03:04
I don't know. What did you think? Hirooka actually
1:03:09
kind of surprised me. I expected it to be wider
1:03:15
of a fight than it was. i didn't think andy had
1:03:18
the the experience i thought gar was going to
1:03:22
out experience him and he definitely did in the
1:03:24
early rounds but andy adjusted better than i
1:03:28
thought he would like i know he lost but he impressed
1:03:33
me in the loss i i do want to ask you do you
1:03:38
think if he didn't have visa issues it would
1:03:42
have made a difference oh if he had gotten adjusted
1:03:46
like the jet lag or whatever yeah well and i
1:03:49
don't think it's just jet lag entirely like that
1:03:53
must be a little distracting maybe not i don't
1:04:00
know i don't know yeah i mean we'll never know
1:04:04
but i kind of think this fight was gonna go this
1:04:06
way anyways yes i i agree completely i just i
1:04:11
my only My support of Hirooka was just for him
1:04:17
to give a good account of himself. And kind of
1:04:20
put people on notice. Like, he's actually a legit
1:04:22
contender. Not just some undefeated, only fought
1:04:27
in Japan bum. And I think he did that. Like,
1:04:31
he succeeded at that. Like I said, he did much
1:04:35
better in the later rounds than I thought he
1:04:38
was going to. But I think it's just a lack of
1:04:42
experience. They kind of skip some steps in the
1:04:46
middle with Hirooka here, I think. Yeah, I think
1:04:51
you're right. Lack of options, willing to travel
1:04:56
to Japan. Yeah, and like, I know they don't fight
1:05:01
very often and everything else, but the Russell
1:05:04
brothers always look good. Like, they are consistently
1:05:08
good. And I thought the corner advice that the
1:05:13
older brother was giving was really good. He
1:05:16
was being pretty hard on Gar in the corner, actually.
1:05:19
He was. I thought. But, like, the actual substantial
1:05:24
advice. Since we talk so much about T .O.'s dad,
1:05:30
I've started paying more attention to what they're
1:05:32
actually saying in the corner. And Gary Russell
1:05:35
Jr. seems like a really good coach. He stepped
1:05:39
into the role really well. Yeah. That isn't just
1:05:44
a you're my family and I won't replace you. I
1:05:47
think he's a really good coach. Also, complete
1:05:51
sidebar, but they all use it, I think. I love
1:05:55
the whole face shield, the anti -swell. That
1:05:58
thing looks cool as fuck. Oh, yeah. It's like
1:06:02
a metal mask with, I think it has a snake on
1:06:05
the front that they put over their face. I just
1:06:08
think it looks cool. Man, the post -fight interview
1:06:13
was interesting from GAR. The other 140 champions
1:06:22
are who you would immediately think. But he said,
1:06:27
I'll fight anyone. I want to fight Shakur last.
1:06:31
was his was his what he said and to me that was
1:06:35
like that was quackery I think he's not he's
1:06:42
not ready for he's not he's not beating Shakur
1:06:44
no yeah I mean I don't know if it's quackery
1:06:48
or just being logical realistic yeah like I'll
1:06:55
fight the hardest guy after I've beaten everyone
1:06:57
up to him I don't think that's an unreasonable
1:07:00
thing to say. No. It's not the bluster that boxing
1:07:07
fans are used to, but I mean, I kind of like
1:07:10
when guys are realistic. Yeah. Let me pull up
1:07:17
who else is at 140. Yeah, I'm so bad at weight
1:07:23
classes. So, his fellow champs. Richardson Hitchens,
1:07:29
of course. Dalton Smith. And Shakur. I mean,
1:07:36
like, if you're chasing unifications, of course
1:07:39
you're going to go after Smith first. Definitely.
1:07:44
Hitchens has to fight Lindolfo Delgado. He has
1:07:48
to. Oh my goodness. I kind of feel like... We
1:07:55
didn't talk about, but I kind of feel like Hitchens
1:07:57
pulling out of this fight. I know he was sick
1:08:00
and everything else, but it's a bit of a duck
1:08:03
if he doesn't fight Duarte. Duarte is a hard
1:08:07
fight. I don't think he's the best or anything,
1:08:11
but he's going to lay hands on you. It's going
1:08:14
to be damaging. And if Hitchens kind of steps
1:08:18
out and fights his mandatory. It feels duckish
1:08:23
to me, and Hitchens is kind of a duck anyways.
1:08:29
Hitchens, if he wants to keep his title, he has
1:08:34
to fight Delgado next. Unfortunately. Yeah, I
1:08:38
get it, but I'm just saying. If he doesn't reschedule
1:08:45
the fight with Duarte after that, it's kind of
1:08:48
a bitch move. Yeah. Yeah, if you're so certain
1:08:52
you're going to beat him, then just do it another
1:08:55
time. Man. I had to exclaim Cletus Selden is
1:09:08
number six in the WBA? Are you fucking kidding
1:09:12
me? The standings are always trash. What the
1:09:22
fuck? I don't know when these were last updated
1:09:29
because Hiroko is still at number one. I don't
1:09:32
know if he would be dropped. How far he would
1:09:34
be dropped for losing. I don't recognize quite
1:09:41
a few of the WBA names, to be honest. I don't
1:09:45
know. Like, I don't know who Agbar? I don't know
1:09:49
how you say that. Agrabah? Oh, no. Yeah. I don't
1:09:54
know who number two and number three are. Yeah,
1:09:57
I don't either. There's another guy named Arislandi?
1:10:02
Cuba, what are you doing? Cuba has weird names.
1:10:08
Yeah, they have wacky names. Is he Cuban? Yes,
1:10:11
of course he is. His name's Arislandi. He might
1:10:15
have been Dominican. Because they do some...
1:10:18
Names like that, too. I guess. But, last words
1:10:24
for GAR and Andy? It went the way I expected.
1:10:30
Gar's still Gar. I didn't see that he'd slowed
1:10:34
down at all or anything. And, like I said, Andy
1:10:38
impressed me. Yeah, I'm happy to see. I think
1:10:42
Andy's going to grow from this. He'll be much
1:10:45
better. for this experience um yeah yeah they
1:10:50
just they they skip steps he wasn't ready for
1:10:54
gar yeah in my opinion oh man you know who else
1:11:00
wasn't ready wbc welterweight champion mario
1:11:06
barrios gets 12 owed by ryan garcia i have to
1:11:13
admit garcia looked the best he's ever looked
1:11:16
yeah he was fantastic he was working with both
1:11:18
hands he wasn't his one shot type of guy yeah
1:11:22
which just makes me hate him more because if
1:11:25
you can do this why don't you just do this every
1:11:27
time why haven't you been doing this yeah like
1:11:31
i fucking hate ryan garcia but i have to admit
1:11:34
it was a very impressive performance he looked
1:11:37
like he should be world class like he looked
1:11:41
like everyone said he looks That I had never
1:11:45
seen before. I wonder how much of that is because
1:11:55
Mario Barrios is hot. I don't know what temperature,
1:12:01
but he is some temperature of garbage. I don't
1:12:06
think he's hot garbage, but Mario Barrios overachieved.
1:12:13
He just straight up overachieved for the skill
1:12:15
set he has. That is applicable in more than one
1:12:20
way. But yeah, I heard that Garcia hurt his left
1:12:27
hand. That might be the best thing that's ever
1:12:29
happened to him. He had to use both hands. This
1:12:35
is a situation where a father trainer was fucking
1:12:40
on point. Well, and like, apparently I don't
1:12:45
know anything about his dad, but his dad was
1:12:48
his coach all the way through amateurs when Ryan
1:12:51
looked really good. So maybe, maybe this is a
1:12:56
case where that's the best, like the best matchup.
1:13:00
Yeah. Because Ryan seems fucking impossible to
1:13:03
coach, but maybe his dad has figured out how.
1:13:09
Yeah, I think you're right. Like, uh, Derek James
1:13:12
and Joe Goosen, whatever their faults might be,
1:13:16
had issues. Yeah, well, and, like, Ryan got kicked
1:13:22
out of... Was it Eddie Reynoso's camp? Yeah,
1:13:26
Eddie Reynoso's camp. Yeah. Like, this might
1:13:30
be a case where the fighter is just so hard to
1:13:33
work with, it has to be somebody close to him
1:13:35
that can manage his crazy. Yeah, I don't see
1:13:40
anyone better suited. Yeah, I fucking hate it,
1:13:45
but Ryan looked really good. If only people could
1:13:52
see your expressions as you're having to say
1:13:56
all this. I am biased as fuck, but I have to
1:14:02
admit, he looked really good. Man, I think the
1:14:06
possibilities here... Are pretty fucking spicy.
1:14:13
Because he has. Two rematches that he. Like has
1:14:18
to take. Right. He has to avenge the Raleigh
1:14:21
loss. Which is a unification fight. He has to
1:14:25
fucking. Get back the no contest. With Devin
1:14:29
Haney. Yeah. Yeah I mean. Those. Those are exciting
1:14:37
fights. And. If this Ryan shows up for either
1:14:42
of those fights, I think he probably wins. Yeah,
1:14:48
I think you're right. The only thing I could
1:14:53
see happening with Devin Haney that would be
1:14:56
different is that Devin Haney is able to withstand
1:14:59
the power a little better. At the higher weight,
1:15:02
yeah. And, I mean... Devin Haney got caught bad
1:15:08
early. If that doesn't happen, he might be able
1:15:12
to outbox Ryan. Because he got up, but I don't
1:15:18
think Haney ever really recovered. Mentally,
1:15:22
if nothing else. I don't think just mentally.
1:15:25
I think he was pretty rocked that entire fight.
1:15:28
I don't think his legs were doing what he wanted
1:15:32
them to do. So, if this Ryan shows up, I think
1:15:39
Roley gets steamrolled, unfortunately. But the
1:15:44
Devin Haney fight is one I would actually like
1:15:46
to see. Because I think that could be a really
1:15:49
close fight. If Haney avoids getting caught early
1:15:54
in the fight. Man, Lewis Crocker left standing
1:16:00
out in the rain. That might be the best thing
1:16:05
for Lewis Crocker right now. I wonder if he can
1:16:12
swing a voluntary against Patty Donovan, because
1:16:15
that could be a really big UK fight. Like, people
1:16:18
would turn the fuck up for that. They turned
1:16:20
up for it the first time. Oh, they already fought?
1:16:25
I don't watch this. It was a vacant title fight
1:16:28
when they fought. I don't watch this weight class
1:16:32
very closely. That's alright. But yeah, I would
1:16:36
like to see Garcia -Haney too, and I think that's
1:16:39
a pretty big, big fight. So, Ryan Garcia in the
1:16:46
post -fight interview said only one name, and
1:16:49
that was Shakur Stevenson. You got fucking solid
1:16:54
rivals here. I'm not sure why you're wanting
1:16:57
to jump down. Or drag up Shakur. Ryan said, they
1:17:04
first said 144 catchweight. And then Ryan said,
1:17:08
fuck that. I'll go all the way down and I'm going
1:17:11
to take your title. I don't want to see it. I
1:17:14
don't either. Ryan's going to be drained at that
1:17:17
weight. He'll have a built -in excuse. I don't
1:17:21
want to see a catchweight. Like you said, he's
1:17:23
got good fights here. Stay in your fucking lane.
1:17:26
Wait for Shakur to move up. Yeah, it's going
1:17:30
to happen. Right. It's a matter of time before
1:17:34
Shakur gets there. Deal with the business you
1:17:38
have in your neighborhood and Shakur is going
1:17:41
to come there anyways. Number one contender is
1:17:45
Connor Ben. Yeah, people were convinced that
1:17:51
they were paying Connor Ben that $15 million
1:17:53
and they were going to get the Ryan Garcia fight
1:17:55
because that was the only fight that made sense
1:17:58
for that much money. And Connor Benz fighting
1:18:03
Regis Progray. Regis fucking Progray. Oh, man.
1:18:13
Going back to Lewis Crocker, you said the Liam
1:18:15
Parrow fight was cancelled, right? I think it's
1:18:19
cancelled. I don't know if it's postponed. Because
1:18:23
Parrow hurt his hand, though, not the other guy.
1:18:26
Crocker hurt his hand. Right. Yeah, I think Lewis
1:18:32
Crocker needs to just milk that injury and stay
1:18:36
out of the fire for a little while. Karen Chikadzian,
1:18:44
the dude that fought Boots twice, he has a final
1:18:50
eliminator with Patty Donovan. Man, the IBF just
1:18:55
loves to recycle their people. Yeah, Lewis Crocker,
1:19:02
man, just stay fighting your cheeky Mandos. Yeah,
1:19:08
stay out of the fire. Let the Americans figure
1:19:11
their shit out. Really? Like, if in my ideal
1:19:17
world, Ryan Garcia avenges the loss to Rawley,
1:19:21
then he three -belt unifies with Devin Haney,
1:19:25
and then off to the side, little Lewis Crocker.
1:19:30
comes into the picture just to complete the set.
1:19:35
I mean, it would make sense. But I would fucking
1:19:39
love if Roly pulls off the upset again. Unified
1:19:43
champion, Roly Romero. I don't think there's
1:19:47
any world where Roly beats Devin, but wouldn't
1:19:51
Roly beating Ryan again be just fucking amazing?
1:19:57
Yeah, it would be pretty funny. I would love
1:20:00
it. Yeah, Lewis Crocker, you gotta settle that
1:20:11
Liam Parrow shit. And then you're gonna have,
1:20:15
by the time that's done, you're gonna have another
1:20:17
mandatory lined up. You're not gonna be in the
1:20:22
conversation with these other people. I think
1:20:26
that's the best thing for him to do anyways.
1:20:29
It would be ideal for him. Yeah. All right. Let's
1:20:35
move to the last fight, the last card. Sunday,
1:20:39
February 22nd. Three that I was tracking. Daniel
1:20:45
Perkins stops Shea Keneally in six. Atif Olberton
1:20:52
wins by end of first round retirement. Joseph
1:20:59
George sat on his stool and he just straight
1:21:02
up keeled over? Yeah, that was really weird.
1:21:07
I did not like that they kept him in the ring.
1:21:13
Get the fucking ambulance in there. He was out
1:21:17
for a while. Best case scenario, it's some weird
1:21:21
dehydration thing. Worst case scenario, he's
1:21:25
got some weird brain bleed. Like, why are you
1:21:28
keeping him in the ring for 15 fucking minutes?
1:21:31
Get him on a stretcher, get him in an ambulance,
1:21:34
and take him to the hospital. They did eventually
1:21:38
get him there, and from what I read, a first
1:21:43
-hand account, or a first -hand source, is that
1:21:47
he's okay. So that's good. But it was a weird
1:21:52
delay. I didn't like the way they handled it.
1:21:55
I thought it was ridiculous. You know what else
1:22:01
was ridiculous? Clarissa Shields. The main event.
1:22:05
Gets the UD. Tenno's. Franchon Cruz discern.
1:22:11
It was a fight. That happened. It certainly was.
1:22:17
It was boring as fuck. It was pretty bad. Pretty
1:22:20
hard to watch. For whatever it's worth, Clarissa
1:22:25
Shields got nearly 20 ,000 people in the arena.
1:22:28
So fucking get after it. Yeah, but... There's
1:22:33
nobody for her to fight. There's nobody there.
1:22:37
There's nobody around. No. That's always been
1:22:41
Clarissa's problem. Lack of opponents. Yeah.
1:22:50
But... That's it. That's the last card. Unless
1:22:55
you have any burning thoughts. Nah. Alright.
1:23:02
Last bit of notes here. Phone line. 833 -589
1:23:06
-7637. Hit me up in WhatsApp. Give me your spiciest
1:23:11
takes. What did you think happened to Joseph
1:23:12
George when he keeled over? What did you think
1:23:16
of Ryan Garcia beating the piss out of Mario
1:23:20
Barrios? Discord. You hear us reference people.
1:23:26
You reference the chat, Discord, the server.
1:23:31
You hear us mention people that are in there.
1:23:34
So if you want to join the conversation, lvx
1:23:37
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bitch. We do not have a lot on the horizon. Yeah,
1:26:18
this is pretty weak. Yep. Thursday, March 5th.
1:26:23
Eye of the Tiger. This will be streaming on Punching
1:26:28
Grace. The fuck is that? Exactly. I went to check
1:26:35
it out. It's... Whatever. It's a site. But it's
1:26:44
free? Yes. Well, on a weekend like this, it might
1:26:47
be worth watching. Let me double check something
1:26:52
here. What? Eye of the Tiger is always such mismatches.
1:26:58
I don't like their cards. They're usually pretty
1:27:03
shit. I guess you get to see knockouts. Steve
1:27:08
Claggett? His opponent is still TBA. For a week
1:27:15
and a half away? Yep. Excellent. So that's going
1:27:19
to be a real good close fight. Who else did I
1:27:27
have on here? The co -main, I think it's the
1:27:32
co -main, Lennar Perez, cruiserweight contender,
1:27:36
is fighting Isaac Chalemba. Holy shit. Isn't
1:27:44
he like 100 years old? Yeah. Fucking eye of the
1:27:50
tiger, man. Leave Isaac alone. Oh my goodness.
1:27:58
His age isn't listed. It's because he's inactive.
1:28:03
When was the last time he fought? I'll see if
1:28:07
I can find his age. May 2024. It's the last time
1:28:13
he fought. He was born in 87. So he's not as
1:28:19
old as I thought. Man, he's just been around
1:28:22
for a while. But... Fucking Eye of the Tiger.
1:28:30
Like... They are anti -Probok. A while... A long
1:28:38
time ago... Wait. Is it Isaac Chalumba? Hold
1:28:43
on a second. I want to get this right. It was
1:28:46
someone else. Never mind. I was thinking there's
1:28:51
a person that we used to refer to as the banana
1:28:54
peel. But it's not Isaac Chalumba. I think Isaac
1:29:00
Chalumba usually loses when he's supposed to.
1:29:03
Yes, he does. The person I'm thinking of, I think
1:29:10
it's Darnell Boone. Always loses when he's supposed
1:29:14
to as well, but he always scores huge knockdowns.
1:29:18
I think he got one on Andre Ward. That's crazy.
1:29:25
Yeah, quite. Steven Butler versus Ramadan Hiseni
1:29:32
is the main event. Just excellent. Yeah. I know
1:29:41
I should try and talk up Eye of the Tiger because
1:29:43
they're Canadian, but they suck. Yeah. You know
1:29:50
what else sucks? Sunday, March 8th. Zufa Boxing.
1:29:56
Who is on this card? I don't know who any of
1:30:02
these people are. And that's saying something.
1:30:07
Main event. Jai Opataya. The IBF cruiserweight
1:30:12
champion is facing Brandon Glanton. I don't know
1:30:19
if this is confirmed, but I saw somewhere that
1:30:23
they were going to try to put the Zufa title
1:30:25
on this one too. I haven't seen that, but it
1:30:29
wouldn't surprise me. I mean, you kind of have
1:30:32
to. Jai's going to be their cruiserweight champ.
1:30:36
Of course. Is Jai's belt on the line? Like his
1:30:40
real belt? Yes. I kind of hope Glanton sparks
1:30:45
him. That would be fucking hilarious. I mean,
1:30:50
Obataya doesn't seem to have the best chin ever.
1:30:54
He's been pretty rocked by some pretty mid dudes.
1:30:58
And Glanton has some power? Yeah, I think he
1:31:04
does. It's got a lot of knockouts and TKOs anyways.
1:31:12
Bulletproof Brandon Glanton. I would like to
1:31:18
see Obataya fuck this up. It would make me happy.
1:31:24
Just another notch on the fuck Zufa belt. Sorry,
1:31:33
Opitaya, you're just collateral damage. It's
1:31:35
nothing personal, but yeah, I would very much
1:31:38
like for Quentin to fucking end you. I know we
1:31:42
can't, but I would love to add a Zufa sticker
1:31:45
so you can buy Fuck Zufa. Well, that's all we
1:31:53
got coming up. That's a really shit weekend.
1:31:57
Yeah, this was one over on B -Sides. I said...
1:32:01
Go outside. Yeah, touch grass. Find something
1:32:05
to do. Go watch a movie. Yeah, go walk your dog.
1:32:12
If you live in the northeast, go play in the
1:32:15
snow. Oh yeah, go have a snowball fight with
1:32:18
the fucking police. Apparently that's happening.
1:32:22
That's a thing? Why? That sounds fun. Yeah, this
1:32:28
sounds like a really good community building
1:32:29
activity. for the police to do. Yeah. People
1:32:35
are so fucking weird these days, man. Yeah. Oh,
1:32:41
man. Newfoundland, where I did my PhD, has gotten
1:32:46
hit with crazy amounts of snow. It's a record
1:32:50
for them. And my buddy sent me a picture of his
1:32:53
house. And he's dug out now. but originally he
1:32:59
had to crawl out the upstairs windows and like
1:33:01
walk off the roof onto the snow and start digging.
1:33:04
Jeez. The picture he sent me was from inside
1:33:09
the house and the living room windows are like
1:33:12
completely covered. His house was just dark.
1:33:17
I would like that. Just to be blacked out. Yeah.
1:33:24
Me too. But like, they've been trying to dig
1:33:27
out and shit. And I talked to them a couple days
1:33:30
ago and there was more snow in the forecast.
1:33:33
So I think they're just kind of fucked right
1:33:36
now. Well, we're done with the five parting words.
1:33:46
Do you have any? Go touch grass. Yeah, go outside.
1:33:51
If you're into MMA shit, we mentioned 1FC at
1:33:54
the very beginning. If you like MMA shit, Ultimate
1:33:58
F 'ing Casuals. Yeah. I keep it fucking busy.
1:34:05
I will find the most random shit I can. Did you
1:34:09
know that UFC, or the TKO that operates UFC,
1:34:15
they also operate Zufa Boxing, as we know. They
1:34:18
also operate a... UFC BJJ. I didn't even know
1:34:24
that was a thing. Yeah, they have a jujitsu whatever.
1:34:31
They also do pro wrestling, right? Yes, real
1:34:35
American freestyle. It's like Olympics collegiate
1:34:39
style wrestling. No, I mean like they do WWE
1:34:43
style wrestling as well. Oh yeah, WWE themselves
1:34:45
are part of the TKO. Okay, I wasn't sure which
1:34:48
one it was. and there's real american freestyle
1:34:51
that interesting is yeah that's happening um
1:34:58
if you hate mma like me because it's boring as
1:35:03
hell uh one f the one friday fights are usually
1:35:08
really good they're mma light it's almost all
1:35:11
muay thai and kickboxing usually oh yeah I really
1:35:15
enjoy them, but here in Japan, they end so goddamn
1:35:19
late. For me, they start way too fucking early.
1:35:25
But it's on YouTube for free. You can just watch
1:35:28
it later. Yeah. You know what they started fucking
1:35:31
doing? The first three fights on the bill are
1:35:34
not included in the replays. Oh. Or the broadcasts.
1:35:40
I have noticed one is giving out less bonuses
1:35:43
on Friday. I think this move into Japan is expensive.
1:35:49
So they're tightening their budget a little.
1:35:53
And I think server replay space is probably expensive.
1:36:00
Yeah, it is. Man, that's all I got. Go outside.
1:36:13
There are better things you could do on Thursday
1:36:16
than watch this Eye of the Tiger card. There's
1:36:19
nothing on Friday or Saturday at all for boxing.
1:36:22
Go set up a date. That's it for this edition
1:36:29
of Boxing Before Dark. We'll fucking see you
1:36:34
on the other side of this unfortunate weekend.
1:36:38
Thank you.