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[BxBD] Kicking off 2026 · 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.
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Boxing. Boxing. Boxing. Boxing Before Dark. This
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is Boxing Before Dark. Alright, let's fucking
0:26
boogie. Yeah. Let me start the timer. Holy shit.
0:34
Boxing Before Dark. Welcome to 2026. Yeah. It's
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going to be a big year. I just have this feeling.
0:43
It's going to be another excellent year of boxing.
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They're already lining up some really good fights.
0:49
Yes. I'm excited. News. Fucking... Not a lot
0:58
of news. Um, Kakachi versus Jazza Dickens. Because
1:03
I know the masses have been waiting to hear news
1:06
about this. Yeah, so exciting. March 14th. So
1:12
that's fun. I really hope Kakachi kind of just
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goes away. I don't like him. He's so dirty, Leo.
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Yeah, I know. He did Cordina dirty, and I lost
1:23
a lot of respect. Yeah, just in general, he fights
1:28
very dirty. I'm not a fan. At the same time as
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Jazza Dickens. It probably isn't the guy to do
1:37
it. No. But maybe. Jazza's probably used to getting
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headbutted and stuff. Yeah, I suppose. I mean,
1:44
that's how a lot of those British guys fight,
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isn't it? Yes, they do lead with their heads
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quite a bit. Maybe he's the one who can avoid
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it. Or if they go head -to -head. Let's see who
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comes out the victor. Probably Kakachi. Yeah.
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Oh, well. We'll see how this card shapes out.
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If that's the headline, that's... It's not an
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exciting headline. No, it's going to be rough
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to watch. Yeah. Probably we'll complain about
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paying for that one if these guys are headlining.
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The IBF. is trying to push Canelo versus Oslis
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Iglesias. So that's pretty fun. Do you think
2:34
Canelo will take that one? No, I don't. I don't
2:37
either. I think Iglesias is too good. Canelo's
2:41
just... I think he knows he's just past his peak.
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I don't know about just. I think Canelo's on
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his way down, yeah. He's enough past his peak
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that he's self -aware that he's past his peak.
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I think he's been self -aware for a little while,
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and that's why he's been handpicking people.
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Yeah, Iglesias is not the one you want to handpick.
3:05
No, no. That would be a passing of the torch
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in a big way. I don't expect he would want to
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pass the torch to a Cuban. No, I'm just saying
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if that fight happens, that's what it's going
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to be. If he was going to give a shine to anyone,
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he would have done it with Munguia. But Mangeo
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just isn't good enough. No, he's not. It's unfortunate.
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Even he's worse now that he's training with Reynoso.
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Which is weird. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, this
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fight's not going to happen. IBF can push it
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all they want. Canelo will drop the belt. He's
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dropped that belt before, hasn't he? This is
3:56
for a vacant belt. Oh, right. He doesn't have
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any belts. Yeah. I'm an idiot. Crawford retired,
4:02
dropped them all. Yeah, yeah. No, I totally forgot
4:05
the Crawford fight even happened. It's early.
4:11
It's early on the holidays. Fucking Canelo's
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not going to do this. The IBF. You can just start
4:21
looking for someone else, for real. Yeah, yeah.
4:24
Hold on, let me see who they have in their rankings.
4:27
Well, I'd prefer if they look for someone else
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versus Iglesias than someone else versus Canelo.
4:32
Yes, 100%. But you know how they are with me.
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Yeah, yeah, I know. Iglesias is the number one
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rated. Second rated is Empty. Three, four, five
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is Canelo, Munguia, and Callum Simpson. Who the
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fuck is Callum Simpson? We talk about him a lot,
5:01
but mostly just in passing. I just need a picture.
5:06
No, that didn't help. Number six is Hamza Shiraz.
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Iglesias versus Shiraz would be cool, but Shiraz
5:15
is busy, isn't he? Yes, he is. He's fighting
5:18
Pacheco for the WBO. And then after that, it's
5:26
a bunch of nobodies. It's a bunch of Frenchmen.
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Well, two Frenchmen. It's a lot more Frenchmen
5:34
than usual. Yeah, I don't know. Like, Iglesias
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does Munguia bad. Yes. He probably beats Callum
5:45
Simpson pretty badly as well. He beats probably
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most of these guys pretty badly. Yeah. Beck?
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Iglesias beats Beck, but that might be fun. You
6:00
got the one -punch potential. Oh, yeah. Beck
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the bully. It'll... He's way down at the bottom,
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though. Yeah, he's 14th. So that's not going
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to fly for a vacant fight. No. But the rankings
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annoy me so much because Bektamir is number one
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with the WBA. Which means nothing, but... Resendi's
6:31
probably not going to fight him. He got elevated.
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I've been talking about him, even once Crawford
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retired, I was talking about him as the full
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champion anyway, but it's official now, so. Right.
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There's that. You think, just moving slightly
6:56
to the right on my screen here, do you think
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Canelo would fight Mbele? Yes, I do, actually.
7:06
I tend to do too. I think Lester Martinez demonstrated
7:10
how to tame the beast. But I think Canelo's still
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got a chin and Mbili's not a mover. So I think
7:20
it would be Canelo's best chance at another belt,
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personally. Yeah, yeah. That would be for WBC?
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Yeah. Okay. So Mbili's the interim and Canelo's
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the number one ranked. Wouldn't be a bad fight
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for the full title. Yeah. I could see Canelo
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using that as an excuse to pass on Iglesias.
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But then in their rankings, it would be Munguia.
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So, I mean... I could see Munguia taking that
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fight, but I could see Munguia getting his ass
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beat. Yeah, Diet Canelo is not gonna... I don't
8:05
think that'll have as good a flair as the actual
8:08
Canelo would. Yeah. Interesting situation, though.
8:16
Terrence Crawford fucking based for dropping
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all the belts. Yeah, not holding up the entire
8:23
division like Canelo has for years. Yeah. Now
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we've got a lot of fun matchups on the fucking
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horizon. So that's good. Yeah. If Canelo does
8:34
want to do a passing of the torch, he's number
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one and Pacheco's number two for the vacant WBO.
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He's number one? Canelo is, yep. But I don't
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know if Canelo's ready to cash out yet. I don't
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think he would want to pass the torch. Or he
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would allow that to happen. No, that's what I
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mean. Yeah, I see Canelo and Billy next for Canelo.
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And I think Saudi will pay for that on their
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deals as well after Billy had such a good showing.
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Yeah, I agree. That's my prediction for the next
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Canelo fight. And the Iglesias fight, I guess
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they move on to Munguia or Callum Simpson. Yeah,
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I expect of those, if... Depends on who wants
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to put it on and where... I don't know where
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Munguia is aligned, like, promotionally. Because
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Iglesias is with Eye of the Tiger. But... Eye
9:45
of the Tiger is so shit. Right. He can be pulled
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out by anybody for the right price. Yeah. I don't
9:54
know who Munguia is with either. I don't follow
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this stuff very much. That wouldn't be bad if
10:03
they were going to do a Canelo and Beely headline.
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Munguia versus Iglesias wouldn't be bad on the
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undercard for that. Okay, so according to AI,
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because I'm too lazy to really look, after Munguia
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left Golden Boy, he signed with Zamfer and has
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a co -promotional deal with Top Rank. And Top
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Rank doesn't have, they don't have any leverage
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right now being without a network. Right. So
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Top Rank and I and the Tiger would have to kind
10:42
of find somebody. They need to find daddy. Mutually.
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Yeah. Yeah. They need mom and dad to pay for
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it. And according to Ring Magazine, Iglesias'
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promoter is calling for Munguia, not Crawford.
11:01
Canelo, you mean? Sorry, that's what I meant.
11:04
Yeah. Too many words on my screen while I'm talking.
11:10
Oof. Well, that's a good call. Good shout from
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Iglesias. Munguia is definitely more likely to
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take it. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good move. Speaking
11:23
of making moves, Bam is a promotional free agent.
11:28
I mean, people have to be lining up to get him,
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right? I would imagine. He's like the star of
11:35
the little guys right now, in a way, of course,
11:38
but as far as Western fighters are concerned,
11:43
he's like the star of the little guys. Yeah.
11:48
I mean, do you think he'd sign with Goldenboy?
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No, I don't. I don't either. Golden Boy has fallen
11:57
off hard. Which kind of leaves Matchroom and...
12:01
Re -signed with Matchroom. Well, he was kind
12:06
of co -promoted with Ohashi, wasn't he? Bam?
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Yes, he is. I think he's signed with Taken. Okay,
12:17
okay. I had the wrong one. Yeah, he is... Because
12:20
Taken's Honda, right? Yeah. Yeah. And they signed
12:23
a lot of little guys. I mean, I don't think it's
12:28
a bad move to re -sign with the Japanese promoter.
12:32
They're getting them big fights anyways. Yeah.
12:37
It's not like he's not getting on TV in America
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and stuff. Only fight I want for Bam right now
12:45
is Willie Baldo. Yeah. I expect that's the only
12:50
one on Bam's radar as well. Who's Willie Baldo
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with? I'm not sure who he's with. He's bound
13:00
to... His mandatory is Andrew Maloney right now.
13:04
Right. So he's got to settle that. Willie Baldo's
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with some company I've never heard of. Box Stars?
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Never heard of it. But it's spelt funny. And
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they got Manny Pacquiao listed as a co -promoter.
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Like MP promotions. Interesting. And Matchroom
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was involved in his last promotion. So who the
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fuck knows, I guess. Anyways. Yeah, I don't know.
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I think Bam can sign with whoever the fuck he
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wants. And I don't know enough about promotion
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to say who's his best choice. But co -promoting
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with the Japanese guys that have inns with all
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the small fighters doesn't seem like a bad move
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to me. Yeah, I think the free agency is that
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he's not with Matchroom anymore. But yeah, he's
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not with Matchroom. I imagine... I expect he's
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still bound to take it. Right. I don't know.
14:27
Like, so there's Matchroom and Queensberry are
14:29
the ones that seem to have their name on everything,
14:32
right? Yeah, right now, yeah. One of those two,
14:38
probably. Right? You don't want to sign with
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Top Rank unless they announce something big real
14:43
soon. Yeah, they need a network. They need to
14:46
land on a network fucking fast. Yeah. Somebody
14:50
was talking about how the Paramount stuff might
14:52
be why they haven't... Like, who bought Paramount
14:56
recently? I think that... No. Netflix bought
15:03
Warner Brothers. Which might also include Paramount.
15:09
It might. Anyway, somebody... In Discord was
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talking about how that might be why Top Rank
15:17
hasn't announced anything. Skydance Media bought
15:20
Paramount. Okay. I don't know. Top Rank needs
15:28
a fucking home soon. Yes. I need to know who
15:33
to buy a subscription for when I get back to
15:36
Canada. Right. Like right now I can let my...
15:39
ESPN laps because they don't have Top Rank or
15:42
UFC anymore. So fuck them. Yep, don't need them.
15:48
But yeah, this is one to keep an eye on. What
15:51
about PBC? I mean... Oh, I totally forgot they
15:55
exist. Yeah, I kind of did too because they only
15:58
do like four shows a year. Yeah. Not quite where
16:03
they were a few years ago when they had spots
16:07
all over the place. But they have the potential
16:11
to, like, get back there. They still have lots
16:14
of... They have a big stable. People. Yeah. Yeah.
16:19
And apparently the deal with Prime Video is...
16:23
is real. Isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a matter
16:38
of them doing non -pay -per -view shows, like
16:40
the developmental stuff where you have your prospects.
16:43
That kind of footprint. It's non -existent. Yeah.
16:49
It kind of seems like everybody has no idea what
16:54
to do with those guys right now. Because everybody
16:57
wants to be on these big streaming services,
17:00
but they don't want to show any non -pay -per
17:03
-view fights. Yeah. We'll be watching Bam with
17:12
great interest. Yeah, I'll watch Bam wherever
17:16
the fuck he goes. It doesn't matter to me. Patty
17:23
Donovan versus Liam Parrow is off. This was going
17:26
to be on, I believe, the 16th. A no -limit boxing
17:32
card in Australia. I think this was the co -main
17:36
to Nikita Zu versus Michael Zarafa. Yeah. What
17:42
happened? Did it say? Uh, Patty Donovan got sick.
17:46
No, I didn't see exactly what happened, but.
17:50
He must have gotten pretty sick if they cancelled
17:53
weeks out like that. Right. Ah. COVID. That's
17:59
too bad. Yeah, I can't find anything that says,
18:06
it just says illness. I mean, it has to be something
18:14
fairly serious. If it was like a flu or something,
18:17
he'd probably just go through it, right? Right.
18:19
I would expect he would, but who knows? Yeah,
18:27
it all just keeps saying illness. I wonder if
18:31
he got like rhabdo or one of those. I mean, it
18:36
happens. Is having a herpes flare up? Yeah. Let's
18:41
go with that one. Yeah, that's what we're doing.
18:43
Patty, you gotta come out and air the laundry,
18:48
dog. Otherwise, we're going with herpes flare
18:51
-up. It's gotta be a pretty bad herpes flare
18:55
-up, too. Oh, that's the type of shit that gets
19:01
people in trouble, saying stuff like that. People
19:06
would have to hear you say it first. Nobody listens
19:09
to us. Yeah, that's right. Somehow, someway,
19:13
this has to make its way to Patty Donovan's ears.
19:16
So he can sue us, and then we'll get in the news,
19:19
and then people will listen to us. Yep. It's
19:22
all a marketing ploy. The big one, gonna jump
19:26
over that really quick to get these other two
19:28
out of the way. Renee Taez misses weight by .6.
19:35
Yeah. It sounds like the fight's going ahead.
19:41
But she was also called in on two weeks notice.
19:44
So I kind of you got to give her a little bit
19:46
of a. Wow. No, if you say you're going to make
19:51
weight, you have to make weight. But also missing
19:53
by half a pound on two weeks notice isn't the
19:57
worst thing fighters have ever done. Yeah, she
20:01
did. She did make an attempt. But in her like
20:04
three hours or whatever, she lost like point
20:07
two pounds. Yikes. Yeah. But I mean, she's out
20:15
of her league anyways. This was going to be a
20:17
run over and now she's dehydrated. Maybe go Serrano
20:25
by knockout in your betting days. Tyson Fury's
20:34
training in Thailand. Yeah, I saw it. Interesting.
20:37
Three different places had this up when I just
20:40
searched boxing news. So I'm sure it's all based
20:43
off the same video, but they've got Tyson Fury
20:46
hitting the mitts in Thailand. I have my hands
20:51
up because I don't know what to do with him.
20:54
Yeah, why would you, why? Like, he's not sparring
21:01
anyone. Half his size in Thailand. Yeah. I don't
21:06
know what the fuck. You're going to have to fly
21:07
in sparring partners because there's nobody in
21:10
Thailand that's going to be even close. Yeah.
21:12
So this is like super rumors. But there is video
21:15
of him training in Thailand. I did see a picture
21:19
of him in Thailand. Yeah. But they've got him
21:23
like working out and stuff on video clips. I
21:29
suspect he's there to womanize. I would also
21:33
suspect that. I think that's the training he's
21:37
doing is horizontal cardio. How to pick up ladyboys?
21:44
Yeah. I don't know what else he would be doing
21:49
there. Yeah. His reputation makes me believe
21:56
that nothing good is happening when Tyson Fury
21:59
is in Thailand. Yep, I can't help but agree with
22:03
that. But if he's even kind of pretending and
22:07
letting videos leak out and stuff, perhaps he's
22:10
trying to angle for another comeback. Perhaps
22:16
he's assuming AJ is not going to fight who was
22:21
AJ fighting. No, AJ didn't have a fight. Perhaps
22:27
he was trying to get ready for the AJ fight that
22:30
everybody's been talking about. Which I assume
22:35
now is derailed as fuck. Yeah, so that's the
22:40
point. Last point in the news, AJ's accident.
22:44
More than certain, everyone's heard of it by
22:47
now. But it was... Who is this? K .O.? That's
22:54
the driver. K .O. Day was the driver. And he's
22:59
been charged. He's officially been charged. I
23:02
tried my best to double check this. With causing
23:06
death by dangerous driving, reckless and negligent
23:09
driving, driving without due care, and driving
23:11
without a valid driver's license. Huh. So, why
23:18
the fuck are you putting somebody like... So
23:22
rich in a car driven by a dude with no license.
23:26
Right. I would imagine they'd have, like, a pro
23:29
chauffeur. Yeah, just hire a fucking driver.
23:32
Get a local. Somebody who knows the conditions
23:35
and everything. Like, not to victim blame or
23:41
whatever, but that seems like a dumb choice.
23:46
So. It's really too bad, the whole accident.
23:53
Saul was of the mind that this is going to break
23:57
AJ mentally. AJ does kind of seem like... Temperamental?
24:06
I was going to say sensitive, but I wanted to
24:09
use a word that was less loaded for boys. But
24:12
he seems like he does make really close connections
24:16
with people. Yeah, the two people that passed
24:19
away were really close to him. Yeah. But I don't
24:23
know if that'll break him or, like, inspire him
24:33
to win in their honor. Yeah. Like, maybe he'll
24:38
dive right into training to get his mind off
24:40
of stuff. Because AJ kind of seems like he might
24:43
do that. I don't want to think about stuff, so
24:48
I'll just throw myself into work. Yeah. But I
24:55
could see it going either way, to be honest.
24:58
But I want to give AJ the benefit of the doubt
25:01
and say he's going to try and turn it into inspiration
25:05
rather than letting it kind of wreck him. Yeah.
25:12
But that's a tough one, because those were two
25:13
people that have been with him for, like, ever.
25:17
And I did not look at the videos. I purposefully
25:21
avoided the fuck out of anything that had pictures
25:24
or videos of this, but the way people were talking
25:26
on Discord, it sounded really gross. And the
25:30
way they handled it after the accident sounded
25:33
really gross. The only videos I've seen were
25:37
of AJ getting out of the wreck. I saw a little
25:43
bit of those pictures. Like I said, I was avoiding
25:45
videos, but somebody said like they pulled the
25:49
dead bodies out of the car and one of them was
25:51
missing a head and stuff. I, I completely avoided
25:55
all of that. I don't even have morbid curiosity.
26:00
I'd rather not see that. Yeah. So, um, I don't
26:04
know, like depending how much AJ kind of noticed
26:07
and how much was on. his side of the vehicle
26:10
like that would change things too right yeah
26:13
seeing the the carnage yeah or like i don't know
26:19
i don't know man i hope aj turns it into like
26:22
motivation somehow but it also wouldn't surprise
26:26
me if he can't that looked sounded fucking horrific
26:31
and i saw pictures of the car and it just looked
26:33
awful Well, wishing the best to AJ. Rest in peace
26:42
to your buddies. Yeah. Oh, shit. On that somber
26:48
note, let me throw some notes in here. Fucking
26:51
social media. LVX Media Net. That's the handle
26:55
everywhere. If you can't find us, we're not on
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it. Follow our shit wherever you're listening.
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Leave a rating. It really helps push us up the
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All right. Let's fucking get into the recap.
29:31
First things first for Saturday, December 27th.
29:36
The promoter is Koki Kameda. Yeah, the Kameda
29:42
card. Very cool. He had it in Japan and tried
29:49
to get it to finish just before the Saudi card
29:52
started. Some actually maybe smart marketing
29:56
there because it was not pay -per -view. Yeah,
29:59
good tie -in. Let's see what we got on the card.
30:06
John Riel Casimero wins by knockout in the fifth.
30:11
Like, fuck that guy. Yeah, he still looks like
30:15
shit. I don't care. I don't care what anyone
30:18
says. I don't know who they had him fighting.
30:21
This kid's... 11, 5, and 2. Tom Mizukoshi. Yeah.
30:30
He wasn't very good. This was definitely we want
30:35
Casamero to have a win so we can hopefully sell
30:39
him off to somebody. I think. Such a piece of
30:46
shit. Hopefully it goes for the bare minimum.
30:51
He must be not... He's living worse than usual.
30:55
The whites of his eyes were the same color as
30:57
his skin. I swear to God. Oh my goodness. It
31:01
was bad. Kenneth Lover? KO2? Yeah. Lover looked
31:10
good. I'm still really excited about this kid.
31:14
I think he's ready to take some maybe step -up
31:18
fights. I mean, this guy had a positive record,
31:22
but they can start pushing Kenneth Lover a little
31:27
more. I think he at no point looked like he even
31:31
had to think about what he was doing in there.
31:37
And I think this is the main event. Masaichi
31:41
Yabuki stops Felix Alvarado in the 12th for the
31:46
IDF flyweight title. This was a fucking war.
31:50
The cards don't make it sound that close, but
31:54
it was just all action, all punches. People should
31:59
actually go watch this one. It's worth going
32:02
and finding. I almost thought about adding it
32:07
to my Fight of the Year contenders. Not winners,
32:09
but second half of the year, it would be top
32:12
five for me, for sure. Okay. It's really good.
32:19
Yabuki's always exciting. He's one of those guys
32:22
that throws 8 million punches and doesn't have
32:25
the best defense. One of my favorites. His backstory
32:33
too, I hadn't really heard it before, but I was
32:36
at the bar watching this, so the guys were kind
32:38
of translating a little for me. He apparently
32:43
had 300 run -ins with the cops before he took
32:46
up boxing. 300? I don't think they were all arrests,
32:50
but he's got 300 encounters. You were questioned
32:54
about things with the cops. So he used boxing
32:59
to really turn his life around, which is kind
33:01
of fun. I like those stories. Masamichi. Yeah.
33:10
Really good fight, though. Go find it. So, that
33:15
ended around the time of The Ring 5, Night of
33:20
the Samurai. Yeah. Starting us off, Reito Tsutsumi
33:28
stopped Leobardo Quintana in four. I actually
33:35
didn't watch this one. One -sided affair, yeah.
33:39
I talked them into leaving the Yabuki fight up
33:42
on the big screen so I didn't watch the Tsumi.
33:46
I thought this was a pretty fun fight. I don't
33:58
know. Did you see this one? I don't recall it.
34:02
I don't have good recollection of it. I think
34:07
the split decision was a good... Like, a good
34:12
decision. And the difference was the knockdown.
34:16
Imanaga got knocked down in the eighth, I think.
34:21
That'll do it. Yeah. I thought it was a pretty
34:24
fun fight. This one was worth watching. But I
34:28
have to admit, I don't know who either of these
34:29
guys are. Do you know who Junto Nakatani is?
34:35
I do. UD over Sebastian Hernandez. I've been
34:40
seeing a lot of chatter online that people are
34:44
disappointed with Junto. I didn't know who Hernandez
34:53
was. But I said Junto was going to have trouble
34:57
with a Mexican. Because if Junto doesn't hurt
35:03
people, he gets frustrated. You saw it in the
35:08
Nishida fight. Yes. So, I kind of think I called
35:13
this one. And I kind of think it was pretty close.
35:17
Like, Nakatani winning is fine. The 115 -113
35:24
scorecards are good. Yes, I agree with that.
35:28
But that 118 -110 by the Saudi judge is fucking
35:35
atrocious. But personally, I scored it at home.
35:41
And I had it a... I had it Hernandez 115 -113.
35:47
But there were two swing rounds you could give
35:50
to Nakatani. And I had one other round I marked
35:54
as swing that I did give to Nakatani, but I thought
35:57
could have went to Hernandez. So like 115, 113,
36:02
I have no problem with, but I don't know if Nakatani
36:05
should have won that one. As I watched it a few
36:09
times and every time I keep, I would just be
36:13
like, Hernandez is doing more. Like it's like
36:17
they were like the judges, whoever that 118,
36:20
110 guy, Nawaf al -Muhammad or something like
36:24
that. Like, yeah. Were you just not paying attention
36:28
to body work? Because Sebastian was digging downstairs
36:31
a lot. He's a judge from Saudi Arabia. And the
36:39
box rec has him as judging 166 votes. But they're
36:47
all in the Middle East. I guess there's a couple
36:51
in Thailand. But, like, he shouldn't have been
36:55
judging this. No. I think my takeaway from this.
37:01
Like, he clearly judged for the guy that he thought
37:07
Saudi wanted to win, in my opinion. And he clearly
37:13
wasn't fucking paying attention. Like, 118 -110,
37:19
Hernandez definitely won more than two rounds.
37:21
There's no fucking question. And I know Frost...
37:27
on the discord is always like oh well it's just
37:31
they can't see and stuff that is not what happened
37:34
here that can't be what happened here like it's
37:37
saudi arabia they're not that loud they're not
37:40
that distracting to the judges and that fight
37:44
didn't happen in one area of the ring like that
37:48
fight moved around right but But again, I have
37:55
no problem with Junto winning, but I do think
38:00
it kind of shows his weaknesses, and I don't
38:04
think his power carried super well to 122. Like,
38:11
maybe Hernandez is just fucking hard as a rock,
38:16
too. That's a possibility. He might just have
38:18
an all -time chin and body. Could be. Because
38:22
he was eating body shots, and they sounded hard.
38:29
The only possibility that I see is if you have
38:33
a lot of swing rounds, or if you scored a lot
38:37
of swing rounds, but you just gave them to Nakatani.
38:40
I still don't think you can give him 10 rounds.
38:43
Yeah, I'm not so sure either. You're right. Fernandez
38:48
won more, definitely won more than two rounds.
38:53
convincingly. I just think... I think this is
38:58
a judge that just didn't have the experience.
39:04
Judging at big events shouldn't have been on
39:07
the co -main. Like... Yeah, I just... I don't
39:15
think he should have been doing that. I would
39:17
say that we have judged more fights than he has.
39:21
In the last few years. In the last years. I would
39:24
say so, anyway. Yeah. Well, and again, I just,
39:27
like, this is his first fight that he's judged
39:30
that has any fucking stars on BoxRec. Most of
39:36
them have zero stars. Some of them have one.
39:38
Some of them have two. But, like, they jumped
39:41
him to a four star on, like, Saudi pay -per -view.
39:47
I just... He shouldn't have been there judging.
39:53
Judging on the card is fine, but he shouldn't
39:55
have been judging this fight. Right. I agree
39:58
with that. It's not fair to them to put these
40:02
judges in these positions. And for a little while,
40:06
I felt they were doing it with the female refs,
40:09
too. They were throwing female referees on these
40:13
big cards for diversity. in my opinion that they
40:19
weren't really ready to be refereeing the co
40:22
-main and then they make mistakes because they
40:24
don't have the practice the same thing happens
40:27
to judges if you don't have the practice and
40:29
like you get overawed by the occasion and clearly
40:37
this guy in my opinion was like oh turkey wants
40:41
junto to win so that he can fight in a way, so
40:45
anything that's remotely close and anything I'm
40:48
not sure about, I'll just give to Junto. That's
40:51
what I'm thinking happened. Yeah, but even so,
40:54
he still fucked up because Hernandez definitely
40:57
won more than two rounds. Like, clearly won more
41:00
than two rounds. Yeah, definitely. But I do think
41:05
it's unfair to put referees like that because
41:07
he had, what, 166 fights. This other guy, the
41:12
next ref, Mike Hale has 600. So, it's just...
41:22
I will say, none of these refs are refs I recognize.
41:27
Like, who is Gary Kitanoski? 625 fights under
41:33
his belt, though. And he at least has a couple...
41:37
Like, he did Benavida's Yard. But that's what
41:44
I mean. The other guys have three times as many
41:46
fights. 400 more fights. It's a lot. It's a lot
41:56
of experience that he's lacking. Yeah. Anyways,
42:00
I think Hernandez surprised fucking everybody.
42:04
Surprised me. Yeah, I think he's going to be
42:08
able to leverage this to get himself back onto
42:10
bigger cards. Well, and I'm kind of happy for
42:16
him because he's got a super sad backstory, too.
42:21
He just had a child that was born with some health
42:24
problems. And so, like, he's going to need some
42:29
money. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. A lot of people
42:35
are saying that this makes the Nakatani Inoue
42:39
fight less exciting. I don't give a shit. Nakatani
42:44
could have fucking lost and I still want to see
42:46
those two fight next. But I'm possibly more invested
42:52
in that happening early next year than other
42:54
people are. Maybe. I do feel a little not quite
43:00
as excited for Inoue Nakatani as I was. Still
43:03
excited for it, yes, but not quite as much. See,
43:08
I... I kind of thought this was... This doesn't
43:15
change how I rated Nakatani, I guess. And maybe
43:18
that's the difference. I saw this coming when
43:21
he moved up. I did not expect Hernandez to be
43:27
the one to showcase it, but... Yeah, I don't
43:35
care. I want to see Nakatani in a way. It does
43:38
not matter. Speaking of which... Oh yeah, in
43:42
a way... fucking sweeps, practically sweeps,
43:46
Alan Picasso. He did have a sweep card, a 119
43:51
-109, and then a 117 -111. I don't know about
43:57
that. Yeah. Oh, guess how many fights this guy
44:04
has judged. Oh, I was already looking, so. 82?
44:09
82 is not enough to be judging an Inouye fight.
44:13
The fuck are you guys doing? Yeah, that's not
44:17
acceptable. Steve Weisfeld probably has a thousand
44:23
fights. I've never actually looked at him. 3
44:26
,207. Yeah. So, like, can't blame anything he
44:31
fucks up on lack of experience. The other dude
44:35
had 181. I don't like it. I know I always complain
44:44
that we always have the same five judges, but
44:46
there has to be something in the middle there.
44:48
Right. There's something between 3 ,000 and 200.
44:56
Like... Anyways. In a way, looked really good.
45:06
I thought. Did Picasso surprise you at any point?
45:11
I thought he would have gotten taken out, so
45:14
to be able to go the distance was pretty cool.
45:17
I was a little surprised that he didn't try to
45:22
win. Yeah. There was a whole lot of shelling
45:25
up, I thought. Like, I don't know. I'm not saying
45:33
Inouye carried him or anything, but I think Putcastle
45:36
went into survival mode. Pretty much from the
45:40
onset. Yeah. I don't know about from the onset,
45:48
but it didn't feel like he was trying to win.
45:52
I don't know. This was kind of what I was expecting.
45:56
I'm a little disappointed Inoue didn't get the
45:58
knockout, but I'm not surprised. Yeah, especially
46:04
when you're fighting to survive. That's when
46:07
that's your plan. Or your strategy? Well, Inoue's
46:11
been talking a lot about being more defensively
46:14
responsible and stuff. Which obviously is going
46:18
to mean he doesn't open up as much. And he still
46:20
got fucking flush -shotted with left hooks anyways,
46:25
but Picasso had no power on them. Did you see
46:29
that one? It just looked like a bitch slap. It's
46:34
a really good gif out there. Where... Inoue does
46:38
the thing where he dropped his right hand and
46:40
Picasso just, like, slaps him. There's no power
46:43
behind it at all. But somebody with power would
46:47
have probably knocked him down again. You think
46:51
Junto Nakatani with, like, an overhand left could
46:54
knock him down? I think Nakatani could knock
46:58
him down. I think Inoue... has the best fight
47:04
of his fucking life against Nakatani. I don't
47:08
think Inoue's gonna... He's not gonna be too
47:12
excited. He's gonna be so fucking locked in,
47:14
it doesn't happen. And as much as Junto, like...
47:20
I think he'll be nervous. I think he'll be more
47:25
nervous than Inoue. Hmm. I can't imagine that
47:29
Inoue would be nervous. He's had a lot of, like,
47:32
big fights. Already. That's what I mean. But,
47:34
like, Junto hasn't really. No. He hasn't had
47:40
very many big fights. He's looked really good
47:43
in all his fights, but he hasn't had very many
47:46
big fights. And this last one being not so great,
47:48
I can see him being really nervous if Inoue's
47:51
next. Is his biggest fight Andrew Maloney? Yeah.
48:00
It's either Maloney or Nishida, but I think I'm
48:02
the only one who rates Nishida higher, so...
48:05
Yeah, Nishida was a good one. But, like... The
48:13
rest of them are... They're not bad names. It's
48:16
not like he's got a completely shit resume, but
48:19
he just... He hasn't had, like, the Neary fight,
48:22
or the Fulton fight, or... You know? Yeah, Ramon
48:27
Cardenas. Small... It had a high profile on the
48:31
event, even though Ramon Cardenas was a relatively
48:35
unknown opponent. Yeah, I don't think I would
48:41
say Cardenas was as big as much pressure. But,
48:48
like, well, the Donair rematch was big, even
48:54
though it turned out not to be. Fulton... Neary.
48:58
Like, I think those were big events with a lot
49:01
of pressure. MJ was a big event with a lot of
49:04
pressure. Like, a lot of people were saying MJ
49:09
was going to be the one to knock Inway out. Really?
49:14
A lot of people. Wow. That's silly. He's got
49:23
power. Kinda, yeah. The haters are going to hate.
49:31
I don't know. I think this is going to make Nakatani
49:36
nervous. I still want to see it. I still want
49:41
it to happen in May. Because I'm an idiot. I
49:46
thought my visa was until the end of August,
49:49
but it's until the end of July. So I've got to
49:51
be out August 1st. It has to happen before then.
49:56
I expect it will. It should. Yeah. May would
50:03
be perfect. I want this. I want this during May.
50:08
I want it to be fucking huge. And I want Inoue
50:11
to knock Nakatani out. That's what I want. Picasso
50:20
versus Hernandez. I think that would be a good
50:26
one. Hernandez wins. I think so, too. No power
50:31
Picasso. I mean, I think Picasso probably goes
50:36
back up if he keeps fighting. Oh, back to 126?
50:42
Yeah. He's been there most of the last, what,
50:48
year and a half? I believe so, yeah. Three of
50:58
his last four. Yeah. He's kind of been at 126
51:03
off and on for his whole career. He kind of floats
51:06
between the two. I don't rate Picasso very much
51:14
anyways. I honestly don't really care what he
51:17
does next. If he takes this as his big payday
51:22
and goes and finishes his neuroscience or whatever
51:24
the fuck he's doing. Yeah, that's what they were
51:26
saying on the broadcast. Neuroscience degree.
51:29
Yeah. Which is impressive, don't get me wrong.
51:33
But, I mean, I think you have to pick one, don't
51:36
you? Being a neuroscientist versus boxing? Yeah.
51:45
Yeah, I expect that someone who studies brains
51:49
is gonna not want to have theirs pummeled. Well,
51:54
it's not even just that. I can't imagine the
51:56
time it takes to do both. Like, attend class
52:03
and train for boxing. Manny Pacquiao managed
52:07
to be a senator and still box. Manny Pacquiao
52:10
didn't do shit as a senator. Anything more for
52:18
Knight of the Samurai? No. I want Nakatani versus
52:24
Inoue next, and I think this whole thing was
52:27
stupid, and they should stop making these setup
52:29
fights. Because Junto almost blew it. He did.
52:36
I want no more setup fights. Well, word on the
52:40
street is that there's going to be a setup fight
52:44
for AJ and Tyson Fury. They're gonna have. That's
52:48
a little different because they've both kind
52:51
of been out of the ring forever. Yeah. That one
52:54
I don't mind. Just a can I still do it fight.
52:57
I think that's a little different scenario. Alright.
53:02
And honestly I don't 100 % hate this because
53:06
Nakatani's never fought at 122. But you gotta
53:13
stop. putting them on the same card at the very
53:17
least. I hate it. Honestly, if I was Nakatani,
53:23
I would have just gone up. If you lose, you lost
53:27
to the very best jumping up weights. It does
53:31
nothing to bother your reputation, really. Right.
53:36
The chasing greatness or whatever. Yeah, yeah,
53:39
yeah. And then... This really kind of hurt Nakatani's
53:45
reputation. People have been... Down on Nakatani,
53:49
yeah. Yeah. And I don't think that's fair. I
53:54
just think this was a harder opponent than they
53:57
thought. Number one. And number two, it's somebody
54:01
who's a bad style for Nakatani. Like, I know
54:06
he trains in America, but that doesn't make him
54:09
good at fighting Mexicans. Right. People pretend
54:13
it does, but a tough pressure fighter was always
54:18
going to be bad for Nakatani. Wow. Super fun
54:25
fight, though, to watch. That did get added to
54:29
my potential fight of the year list. Coming up,
54:38
this... Two cards on the 10th. First is Queensberry
54:47
in Germany. This will be on DAZN. I only have...
54:52
There's more than a handful of fights on here.
54:56
The only two I'm paying attention to are Agit
55:01
Kabayel, the interim WBC heavyweight champion,
55:05
versus Damian Kaniba. I think it is Naiba. And
55:11
then co -main, I believe it is, the interim WBC
55:18
lightweight title, Javier Herrera versus Ricardo
55:21
Nunez. We saw Naiba recently on a card, didn't
55:28
we? Yes, we have. He fought Joey Dwejko. Which
55:36
is not a great name. Don't get me wrong. But
55:40
this could be a sneaky good fight. Naiva looked
55:45
good, I thought. Especially for a heavyweight.
55:49
But he was fighting a nobody, so who knows. But
55:53
this could turn out to be better than it looks
55:58
on paper. I'm honestly expecting Caballel to
56:02
kind of style on him. I know that's what everybody's
56:06
expecting and it might happen. But this could
56:09
turn into an actual fight. Naiba had a jab and
56:12
he looked pretty good to me. Or he could have
56:19
been styling on a nobody that doesn't translate
56:23
to somebody who can actually box. Those are the
56:26
two options. And the other card. Fresh promotions.
56:35
This is going to be pay -per -view .com. Priced
56:41
$55 in the US. That's a lot. It is. But they
56:50
don't have any other... I don't know. Revenue
56:55
stream. Yeah, I get that. I just... I... $55
57:03
is a lot. It is. To me. On this card... Sorry.
57:14
Former IBF bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez
57:19
is fighting Fernando Diaz. I don't know Fernando
57:24
Diaz. Do you? No, I don't. I don't really recognize
57:29
any names on his box rec either. I suspect Rodriguez
57:37
should win this. I would think. I do too. He's
57:43
the one that Inouye got the really nice knockout
57:45
against, right? The body knockout? Yes. In the
57:48
WB World Boxing Super Series or whatever. Yeah.
57:54
That's one of my favorites. The absolute, like,
57:57
the look on his face as he shakes his head at
58:00
the corner. Fucking love it. Um, Not much else
58:07
on the undercard. I'm expecting these are all
58:10
just fresh promotions, prospects. They're based
58:16
out of Puerto Rico, so yeah. These guys are all
58:19
Puerto Ricans. Subaru Matias, the WBC 140 champ
58:26
versus Dalton Smith, the number one contender.
58:33
I don't know. what to make of this fight. Like...
58:39
I don't rate Dalton Smith, so I'm not expecting
58:42
much. Fair enough, I guess. But, Subaru Matias
58:49
has bad nights. Yes, he can be off. But, he usually
58:58
loses to, like, boxers. I don't think I would
59:02
call Dalton Smith a boxer. Yeah, stylistically,
59:05
I don't expect Dalton Smith to avoid the danger
59:09
that Matias presents. Fair enough. Yeah, I'm
59:16
kind of leaning towards Matias too, but... I
59:19
mean, the last time he fought in Puerto Rico,
59:21
he kind of blew it. Well, he's not going to be
59:25
at home this time. Well, Brooklyn, I believe
59:29
they call it like... It's like Puerto Rico Part
59:32
2 or something. The New Yorkans? Yes. That's
59:40
true. I guess he hasn't lost in America. Or has
59:46
he? Yes, he did. He lost to Ananion way back.
59:55
Oh, yeah. Then he came back. The rematch, he
59:58
just... obliterated him. Yeah. Anyways, I suspect
1:00:06
Dalton Smith is just gonna get beat up. Unfortunately.
1:00:13
I don't know if I really want to pay $55 to watch
1:00:16
it. I don't either. That's it, though. That's
1:00:26
all we got coming up. The month gets better.
1:00:29
a lot better, but this is part of the slow ramping
1:00:35
up for the new year. Yeah, but I mean, that happens
1:00:41
every year. Yeah. I do feel like lately either
1:00:46
there's more fights that I'm excited for in general
1:00:49
or they're spreading them out a little better
1:00:52
the last year. Like 2025. There was pretty big
1:00:58
fights almost every month. I would say they were
1:01:01
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Alright. Parting words. Parting words. I don't
1:04:01
really subscribe to the new year, new me bullshit
1:04:05
very much. But I do have one resolution this
1:04:10
year. And I'm going to actually try and keep
1:04:14
a diary this year. Because I started one last
1:04:17
year and it lasted like two weeks. two weeks
1:04:20
it's probably the best i've done ever is two
1:04:25
weeks but i'm going to write at least two sentences
1:04:29
every day of something i did uh i hear for some
1:04:34
people um bullet journal journaling makes it
1:04:38
easier because you're not trying to write complete
1:04:40
sentences just writing fragments of thoughts
1:04:44
yeah that for me it's just actually writing anything
1:04:49
yeah i just don't do it picking up the pen yeah
1:04:54
that's my new year's resolution and i already
1:04:57
haven't done it yet i did buy the book though
1:05:00
so well step one is complete never too late to
1:05:05
start exactly we're only a few days in no need
1:05:09
to i could go back yeah uh retroactive yeah Oh,
1:05:17
shit. I don't know if I have any resolutions
1:05:19
this year. Not that I thought of, anyway. I don't
1:05:24
know. Shrug. I usually don't do them. Yeah, I
1:05:30
don't either. Like, whenever the... If I get
1:05:35
the urge or motivation to do whatever, I'll just
1:05:40
do it. Yeah, you don't need to wait for New Year's.
1:05:43
Yeah. That's it for this edition of Boxing Before
1:05:52
Dark. See you next week. Bye.