Latest / Boxing B-Sides / [BxBD] it's the Jacob special

Transcript

[BxBD] it's the Jacob special · Boxing B-Sides

0:00
This shit ain't nothing to me, man. This is Boxing
0:03
Before Dark. All right. Are we ready to boogie?
0:28
Absolutely. We've been boogieing. We've been
0:31
boogieing already. Boxing Before Dark. Holy shit,
0:34
we're back. Did you think we left? No, we're
0:37
just on a little break. A little hiatus. Leo
0:40
lives in a third world state, so we missed a
0:43
week. It was this weird situation with internet.
0:48
It was really nerdy. We don't really have to
0:52
get into that. But we're joined by somebody new.
0:57
My man, Jacob. Welcome. Hello, hello. I'm very
1:03
happy to be here. I've been listening since I
1:06
found out about you guys. And obviously I've
1:08
been on the Discord as well, making myself known.
1:10
So yeah, pretty keen to get amongst it and just
1:14
chat boxing for a few hours on the weekend. Absolutely.
1:19
I'm super excited. We have insider knowledge
1:22
with a real boxer. Good insight. I'd limit how
1:28
much I'd call myself a monster because I haven't
1:30
fought yet, but at least I've been on the unfortunate
1:33
end of a few pretty rough punches in my time,
1:37
so I've been hit by what I'm seeing. Well, let's
1:44
get into... Since we've been away for a little
1:47
bit, let's get into some... Let's reach a little
1:50
bit way back. A little into the way back machine.
1:55
And we're going to go back to July 19th because
1:57
this was a busy day and we fucking missed it
2:01
because of technical difficulties. It's no fun.
2:07
Let's start with Matchroom at the Star at the
2:11
Frisco. The Dallas Cowboys training arena, I
2:15
think it is. Yeah, that's a crazy location. Yeah,
2:20
definitely. Some... Stuff coming up from the
2:25
bottom here. Nishant Dev gets a stoppage in six
2:28
over Omar Rosales. If you're not paying attention
2:30
to Nishant, don't worry, because I will. I like
2:36
him. He's got it. He's pretty good. Yeah, he's
2:39
pretty damn good for coming out of the 80s. Yeah,
2:43
well, that's the thing. Watching him in the Olympics
2:45
and how his movement is as well was something
2:47
really impressive. It'll be interesting to see
2:49
how much his... He's getting stoppages, but I
2:51
don't know how much his actual power itself is
2:53
going to hold up at different stages. But in
2:56
terms of skill level, he looks absolutely brilliant.
2:59
Yeah. He's translating a lot better than people
3:02
expected him to early on. Because we see a lot
3:04
of guys do pretty well in the amateurs, and no
3:07
one really knows how much it's going to translate
3:09
to the pros. But like I say, he's looking pretty
3:11
good, man. I see why you're paying attention.
3:14
We all should. I think since they switched to
3:17
the 10 -point must system for scoring, that's
3:22
when... It helps the amateurs. It helps the amateurs
3:24
transition a lot better. Like Andy Cruz looks
3:28
fantastic. Yeah. It's really hard to score 10
3:33
-point musts sometimes. There legitimately are,
3:38
for me, some 10 -10 rounds. They're super rare.
3:41
But if you have to pick somebody, it really changes
3:45
your scorecard. It really does. Especially because
3:49
a lot of it depends on what a judge values as
3:51
well. Because people can see the exact same round,
3:55
right? And they can watch it. They can watch
3:57
it 10 times over. They can see the exact same
3:59
things. But based on their understanding of the
4:01
sport, they'll value things completely differently.
4:04
I guarantee me and you would have different scorecards.
4:08
Yeah, I mean, we probably would. And, you know,
4:10
my scorecard compared to a lot of my mates at
4:13
the gym and all that would be completely different
4:14
because, you know, if you're someone who values
4:17
high -level pressure fighting, you know, you're
4:19
probably looking at someone like, you know, we're
4:22
just going to assume that it's not this exact
4:23
fight. But just as an example, you know, you
4:25
look at Thorne versus Pacquiao where one of them's
4:28
landing much cleaner punches than much more of
4:30
them and one of them's just... pushing up, being
4:34
aggressive, getting in their face way more. For
4:36
some guys, they value the latter. Some guys value
4:39
the former. And it's a way to get these weird
4:42
things to the scorecards. And I always think
4:44
about it as well with a more high -level example,
4:48
I suppose. Not that my goat, Jeff Bourne, is
4:51
not high -level, but if you look at Conor Whittaker,
4:55
Conor Whittaker versus Oscar De La Hoya, that's
4:58
a pretty controversial fight amongst some people
5:00
nowadays. Because they were both doing different
5:04
things. You know, have some people say, oh, well,
5:07
you know, Delaware couldn't land anything on
5:09
Whitaker. But then you have other people that
5:10
are like, oh, Whitaker wasn't hitting him back.
5:12
He was making a miss for not countering. So why
5:14
should he do it? You can't win on defense. You
5:17
can't win a fight if you don't hit anybody. That's
5:21
100 % it. And that's why I respect, you know,
5:24
different takes on... you know, judging a scorecard
5:28
because you really have no way to judge values.
5:31
Some guys will look at ring journals, some guys
5:33
will look at his landing. Some guys will look
5:36
at who paid them the most. Yeah. Fucking Tim
5:43
Cheatham. Yeah, oh, this is a crazy sport. It's
5:47
the wildest out there. Yeah, it can really be
5:50
anything. Let's move up. Omari Jones, who I believe
5:56
was an Olympian for the U .S., gets a stoppage
6:00
in three over Alfredo Blanco. No big deal. Also
6:05
no big deal, Austin Williams. Boo this man. TKO9
6:10
over who? Exactly. Has he gone back to his better
6:18
nickname yet? I believe so. He's Ammo again.
6:22
Ammo is so much cooler than Tiger Williams. Tiger
6:27
Williams has been done to death. I think that
6:32
goes hard. Tiger? So to me, Tiger Williams is
6:37
always going to be an NHL player that 99 % of
6:41
boxing fans have never heard of. Oh, yeah, it's
6:44
true. I just thought it was like a phrase that
6:46
sounded cool, to be honest. He had the most penalty
6:52
minutes in a season for decades. So, anyways.
7:01
Moving up. Unless you have anything to add on,
7:05
Emma, do you want to dunk on him a little bit
7:07
for being a little bit leaky? He is leaky. He's
7:12
always been leaky. And everybody keeps telling
7:14
us that, well, he'll tighten up when he has to.
7:18
So I guess we need to see him against somebody
7:20
he has to. Like, how old is Ammo? He must be
7:27
getting to where they should step him up, right?
7:29
He's 29. They need to start putting him against
7:34
better competition. Well, when they did, he got
7:37
knocked out. Yeah, well, then maybe he's just
7:40
not so good. He's the only hope that we have.
7:45
For middleweight here in the U .S., we don't
7:47
have anybody. The U .S. copium is madness. Yeah,
7:52
well, can't help it sometimes. Middleweight's
7:57
a funny division because you look historically
7:59
at some of the fighters that you've had in that
8:01
division. It's usually been stacked, but you
8:04
look at especially for America, it's in a straight
8:07
place. Anyone who's any good moved up to chase
8:12
Canelo money. I think is what it is right now.
8:16
Sends Janabek. Yeah, well, Janabek knows he's
8:22
not getting Canelo money because he's high risk,
8:25
low reward. He's not cool enough. Yeah. You know
8:32
who was cool? Diego Pacheco. Cool under pressure.
8:35
Was he? Cool under fire. I'm really trying to
8:39
glaze him here. I really like... Or I want Diego
8:44
Pacheco to be really good. I do too. But... He
8:47
looked nice. I thought he pitched a really mature
8:51
game. Didn't succumb to a lot of McCombie's pressure.
8:57
Which, if he was a little bit more raw, like
9:03
he was a few fights ago, then it might not have
9:06
gone as well for him. True. And maybe McCombie's
9:10
a little better than he gets credit for. I think
9:13
so. People are like, oh yeah, he had plant on
9:16
the ropes, but plant's washed. And I don't know
9:19
if plant's that washed. He's past his peak, but...
9:24
Yeah. Crossing is a sport where people are quick
9:29
to call someone washed. Super quick. Yeah, very,
9:34
very quick. And I think it's because there's
9:36
obviously that obsession with not losing a fight.
9:38
But if you look at, you know, this, like, Plant,
9:42
McCombie, Pacheco, if you look at all of this,
9:45
Taylor Plant is still going to be a high -level
9:50
fighter. Like, it's not as if he is at a point
9:55
where George Cambosos might be, for example,
9:58
where he's... From a business perspective, he
10:01
is at the end of his run because he's racked
10:03
up that amount of losses. And I look at his and
10:08
how he went against McCombie. He still got the
10:10
job done. But I think if you're looking at the
10:12
actual boxing that's going on there, I think
10:14
they both made some pretty good account of themselves.
10:18
I think McCombie impressed me a lot more than
10:20
I expected. And that's why I do give Pacheco
10:22
credit because he did go out there and do what
10:24
he did. I think, yeah, McCombie, I think he's
10:27
at a higher level than people tend to give him
10:29
credit for. I think that's a better win for any
10:33
boxer. Not just because of, you know, how much
10:36
I love Cato Plant. You know, he's one of my favorite
10:38
boxers. But also because if you look at Pacheco
10:41
and the way that he handled that fight, like
10:43
you said, he pitched an incredibly mature game.
10:46
Like, he came in with the game plan that he needed
10:48
to. He used all of his attributes properly. And
10:51
especially because McCombie's a tricky guy at
10:54
times. You gotta be a certain type of good to
10:58
be able to put enough of a pressure game on against
11:01
Caleb Plant. Because he can move. Because Caleb
11:05
can really move. So if you are able to do that
11:07
to him, and then Checo has that thought of a
11:13
fight against Kambi, I just think that's past
11:17
marks all around me, personally. I don't know,
11:20
I'm probably not being too critical enough for
11:22
it. from podcasts but i just do think that there's
11:25
path marks all around they all handed that really
11:27
well well mccombie clearly has power and that's
11:33
something that i don't think pacheco's had to
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deal with before maybe i'm misremembering some
11:40
of pacheco's fights but none of the guys on his
11:42
box rec really stand out as being oh shit he
11:45
can punch and people can say anything else but
11:49
mccombie buzzed Plant a few times. Like, McCombie
11:53
hurt him. Plant, the guys that have hurt Plant
11:58
historically, like, you look at some of his fights
12:00
and the level of his years, Canelo obviously
12:03
being, like, he worked it, man, especially once
12:06
he just figured out his rhythm and everything.
12:09
But, McCombie sticks out like a thorn a lot more
12:13
because a lot of the other guys he's beat, you
12:15
know, for his world titles, like, he was... in
12:17
my opinion you know i was watching some of this
12:19
advice again last night he was just cruising
12:21
you know like caleb was just they couldn't get
12:23
it um but he has a lot of names that are kind
12:27
of garbage like who is caleb trow true i don't
12:34
i don't even know how you say that now yeah oh
12:37
that guy or like vincent felgenbutts or mike
12:41
lee or jose like Leo, you're the name guy. I
12:52
have no idea how you read these things. Boxing
12:56
is broad, man. I mean, that's the thing with
12:58
the way the belts work in interim belt. There's
13:00
so many different belts, man, that by the time
13:02
that you get to tracking who all the champions
13:05
are, there's just so many of them. Oh, okay.
13:09
This is a complete derailment. To settle a Discord
13:13
argument. Leo, who has the global belts? WBL.
13:17
Global? Okay, thank you. Fuck, I couldn't find
13:20
it earlier today and people are like, no, global
13:22
is the world titles. No. No. WBL global. Yeah,
13:27
okay. Straight up global. Damn all. I added you
13:33
in the Discord and you didn't answer. Sorry.
13:38
Oh, no. Absolutely derailed me. That's good.
13:40
Moving up to Bam stopping Pumelala Kafu. Bam's
13:47
still not getting his flowers, and it makes me
13:50
sad. I think because Kafu was really tentative
13:55
and really timid, rather. But Kafu's a counterpuncher.
14:02
I don't think it was a terrible game plan, but
14:07
it looked bad. If that makes sense. Yeah. So
14:11
Bam has better movement. So Cafu tried to completely
14:15
negate the movement by just camping in the corners.
14:20
Cafu was looking for a Gabe Rosado type knockout.
14:24
Like, Rosado against Beck is what he was going
14:27
for eventually. And it didn't work. And I was
14:31
a little disappointed. I did think this would
14:33
be a more exciting fight. I was expecting more
14:37
fireworks. Yeah, Cafu is still a really good
14:41
boxer. And at the very least, Bam had him scared
14:45
enough. He felt he couldn't box in the middle
14:48
of the ring. I think this is a good win for Bam.
14:52
And I think nobody's going to recognize it because
14:55
they don't know who the fuck Cafu is. It's the
14:59
problem that everyone at the lower weight classes
15:01
has. I like the win. I think it's good. But Bam...
15:06
Yeah, it's a good win. I reserve this term for
15:11
a very select few. I try to keep the sanctity
15:16
of it a little bit, but Bam is something special.
15:20
Yeah. That guy is special. But that's a problem
15:24
in itself for boxers. When you make everything
15:27
look easy, everyone assumes your competition
15:30
is bad. Bam is suffering from success just like
15:34
Inoue did at like 118, 122. Inoue still does.
15:41
Inoue still does. I think he does. I think in
15:46
the eyes of a lot of people. Because you see
15:49
it a lot of the time with people talking about
15:51
pound -for -pound rankings. And getting involved
15:54
in pound -for -pound conversations, I hate that
15:56
so much just because I think... It's so hard
15:59
to actually... There's such a fun talking point,
16:02
but I wouldn't... It is. But people also fucking
16:07
never watch the lower weight classes. So when
16:11
I throw out a name like... Well, Bam's famous
16:15
now. But when I throw out a name like Kalazo,
16:18
people are like, who the fuck's that? Who's he
16:21
beating? And I'm like, he's beating a bunch of
16:23
really good guys you've never fucking heard of.
16:25
Yeah. Just because I'm a degen for the midgets
16:30
doesn't mean that they're not good. It just means
16:33
you don't know who I'm talking about. I get called
16:36
out at bars constantly and they're like, name
16:39
five boxers. And I name people in 105, 108. And
16:44
they're like, I've never heard of any of them.
16:46
And I'm like, fucking Google it. If you can spell
16:50
that random ass Thai name. Yeah, well. I skipped
16:56
the TIE fighters because I can't spell them either.
16:58
I can't spell them. I actually got into both
17:02
when you were doing Muay Thai. Oh, so this shouldn't
17:05
be too difficult for you. Oh, no, it's very difficult.
17:09
Do you watch the one Friday night fights? It's
17:14
my new favorite thing. Me and Zoe watch them
17:17
and hang out on the Discord. It's super fun.
17:21
I don't know if it was his Friday Night Fights,
17:23
but my guy Tyson Harrison, he's from my gym.
17:26
He just recently won his fight in one championship.
17:29
I didn't want to talk about that for a second.
17:31
Very proud of him, obviously. He came out of
17:33
our gym in Brisbane, Tyson Harrison. And, yeah,
17:36
he fights on one championship. So I absolutely
17:38
love watching, you know, and obviously the higher
17:39
level guys as well, like, you know, Bob Tang,
17:42
Taiwan Chi. I love watching them train as well.
17:46
Nice. Still, let's do another game. Oh, I have
17:51
to be, man. It's just too common. That's how
17:53
I got started with. And there's many such cases
17:54
like that, too. Like, I think it was Chris Coates.
17:57
Henshin Nasatawa. He was a kickboxer, wasn't
18:00
he? Ah, fuck. Yeah. He was. He was. Kickboxing,
18:03
not Muay Thai. Yeah, kickboxing. I always love
18:08
bringing that up because it's so funny seeing
18:10
the different idiosyncrasies with them, too.
18:12
Because a lot of times, like, for example, when
18:14
I was sparring this morning, those usual Saturday
18:16
sparring sessions, there's a lot of Muay Thai
18:18
fighters that come there to work on their boxing,
18:20
and you can tell because they've got such a distinct
18:21
guard. Yeah, well, and the stances are very different.
18:28
Yeah. Like, the footwork is different. So different.
18:32
I think that's what I actually, that was my biggest
18:34
struggle as a boxer early on. Changing your feet?
18:40
Yeah, no, because I was... You know, I was always
18:43
trying to think of, oh, I've got to check a kick.
18:45
But, you know, in boxing, no one's kicking me,
18:47
I hope. Except Nick Ball. Someone will do it.
18:56
Which fight was that, Leo? The Goodman fight?
19:00
Which? Nick Ball. With the kick. He kicked someone?
19:08
Yeah, it was Sam Goodman, right? I think you're
19:13
right. I just want to say the facts that when
19:20
they released the starring videos, right? My
19:23
guy was he had. Oh, no, it's TJ Doheny. I had
19:27
the wrong in a way opponent. Nick Ball kicked
19:31
TJ Doheny. Oh, I remember watching that fight.
19:36
Doheny is such a weird fighter, bro. weird to
19:39
watch he's got like this weird rhythm adjustment
19:41
it's fun to watch but i get why in a way it takes
19:45
him off the way he did well anything more for
19:51
bam no i've been so good yeah one of my favorites
19:58
right now Yeah, and that's the thing. Seeing
20:02
a guy that fights with that high guard and a
20:04
low weight division as well is the absolute best
20:07
thing in the world because those guys are so
20:08
fast and twitchy. So, you know, one moment they
20:13
throw something and the next they've already
20:14
popped back into guard and it's just like, bang,
20:17
they're already gone. That's crazy. Those guys
20:22
just move so well. I wish I could move like that.
20:25
I'm unfortunately a bit heavier than that, a
20:27
bit taller. I can't model my fight offense too
20:31
much. All right, let's move up. Fucking... PBC
20:37
on Prime. Just some quick ones. Stop me if you
20:42
need to. Gary Allen Russell stops Hugo Castaneda
20:47
in 10. Mark Bexayo still doing it. UD over Jorge
20:52
Mata. I wanna... Just a little bit. What the
20:57
fuck happened to Mark Magzayo? Because I was
20:59
excited about him. And then he just disappeared
21:02
for fucking ever. And this is basically being
21:06
disappeared. I mean, he's under undercard on...
21:10
Yeah, it's all the prelims. Yeah. Like, he's
21:15
not that bad. I don't understand why he got delegated
21:19
to bullshit. Or is he bad and I just like him?
21:25
He's not terrible. Maybe it's just... Maybe it's
21:32
just me and my, like, Filipino bias, but I like
21:39
Mark Magzayo. Well, and he trains with Freddie
21:44
Roach, which I also have a bias for, so... Definitely
21:48
so. Anyways, that's all I wanted to bring up.
21:52
What the fuck happened to Mark Magzayo? Good
21:56
question. We'll have to see if he has any fights
22:01
coming up. Because usually, sometimes if guys
22:03
don't have much wind, as long as they keep fighting,
22:06
they can change promotions and they kind of pop
22:08
back up sometimes. I mean, look, some of these
22:13
people are still fighting. So there's definitely
22:16
a chance. After the loss of Brandon Figueroa,
22:21
he kind of went... back down to the regional
22:27
scene, kind of. And he was fighting on the Thunder
22:31
Studios cards. Marv Nation. I guess he did have
22:37
two losses in a row, but I just don't think he's
22:40
that bad that that should delegate him to garbage.
22:44
Losses are to Ray Vargas, say what you will,
22:47
but he's still pretty decent. And Brandon Figueroa
22:52
is good. Or is he? No, he's world class. Like,
23:00
even if, for example, obviously, he's not fighting
23:05
at a world championship level at the moment.
23:08
But even just being in the mix with some of those
23:10
guys, if you lose to someone like that, that
23:13
kind of does put a bit of a buffer. Because,
23:16
I mean, put it this way, right? Like, imagine
23:19
that you're losing to someone who isn't. fully
23:23
at that championship level and you're trying
23:26
to convince a promoter that you'll be at that
23:28
championship level if your loss is to someone
23:30
who wasn't fully there I guess yeah that's that's
23:34
usually what it is because I think about it because
23:36
there's some you know some guys that they're
23:39
just like so close but no cigar against some
23:41
genuinely you know top level opponents maybe
23:45
it's just a style matchup or whatever but they've
23:47
still got the skill like you know you mentioned
23:49
in this case but There's just so many times where
23:53
because of that and having that loss, because
23:55
it's such a record -sensitive sport. It is, and
24:00
I hate that because it makes people not want
24:02
to push themselves. Yeah, correct. It brings
24:07
too much of a business sense looking for the
24:10
O. And I don't think it's necessarily something
24:12
that has to be in existence because you can see
24:16
some fighters kind of coming away from that.
24:19
The fact that Manny Pacquiao was back and got
24:21
a world championship. Obviously, he's a special
24:23
case because he's an all -time great. But the
24:26
fact that he was even back. You look at his resume.
24:28
He's had some losses. It was the generation that
24:32
was there during Floyd. They had absolutely zero
24:35
issue taking some losses. You can look at Delahoya.
24:38
There's Hopkins. I've said this a million times.
24:42
Floyd Mayweather Jr. fucked boxing. He was terrible
24:46
for the sport of boxing. I don't even think it
24:49
was his fault. I just think he was not good.
24:52
Like, I think there was a point where a lot of...
24:54
I think the way he promoted himself and the advice
24:57
he gives younger fighters is his fault. I don't
25:03
think it's his fault for being that good, but,
25:06
like, we didn't see the same problem after Rocky
25:08
Marciano. Right? Like, I think Floyd Mayweather...
25:14
was enough of a media star and, like, an influence
25:18
outside of the ring that he fucked it. But I
25:23
also just don't like him, so. That's completely
25:27
respectable, to be honest. I think he's an absolutely
25:29
deplorable human being. Which shouldn't really
25:33
have to mean much saying, but yeah. Yeah. Anyways.
25:41
David Picasso. Majority decision over Kenosuke
25:47
Kameda. Is this one of the Kameda clan? I'm not
25:52
sure. I have to go look at his face. Oh my god,
25:55
the Kamedas are crashing out. If we have time,
25:57
we have to discuss it. Yes, please. I'm pretty
26:04
sure this is one of the Kamedas. He looks like
26:08
one of the Kamedas. moving up brandon figueroa
26:13
ud over joette gonzalez um so it's it's interesting
26:18
no what number one that should not have been
26:21
unanimous i would be okay with figueroa winning
26:25
but some of those scorecards are fucked yeah
26:29
that was a close fight yeah that's that's what
26:33
i was gonna get at was like this is a this is
26:36
a guy that's like tailor -made stylistically
26:38
for someone like brandon figueroa To have a really
26:41
emphatic win. To remind the viewing public. Like
26:45
I'm still Brandon Figueroa. Despite Stephen Fulton
26:49
kind of clowning on me a little bit. Which is
26:53
clearly what they had planned. But. Joette Gonzalez.
26:59
Did not come to lose. Joette Gonzalez did not
27:02
get the script. I thought that was a super close
27:06
fight. I always cheer for the underdog. So I
27:09
thought. joette probably won by one round but
27:13
my scorecards are often fucked but it was not
27:17
as wide as the official scorecards it just wasn't
27:22
like it had to be closer than that the the 15
27:26
115 113 of course is good but The one guy only
27:35
gave Gonzalez the first four rounds and gave
27:39
the last eight to Figueroa. That is not how that
27:45
fight played out. That had to have been filled
27:48
in ahead of time. That's not what that fight
27:53
was. Everybody giving Figueroa the last four
27:58
rounds is a little suspect to me. Like, that
28:03
was clearly, okay, we can't, we can't, we can't.
28:06
Okay, but everything close goes to the A -side.
28:09
Or am I crazy and I was just cheering for Joette
28:13
Gonzalez because I like him? You said one of
28:15
my trigger words. A -side. B's only, please.
28:21
But that's what happened in this fight. Like,
28:25
maybe you could convince me. Maybe. But you have
28:31
to be biased to make the convincing. To be honest,
28:37
the way I see it, when it came back to that last
28:40
four rounds, I think they were just looking at
28:42
who was imposing themselves. I don't know about
28:45
the arrangement of the scorecards, but I do think
28:48
there was that period in the middle of the fight
28:50
where it looked like Pacheco was just fighting
28:54
his fight. That's essentially the phrase. It
28:57
was the guy who... looks like even if he wasn't
29:01
landing every clean punch in the world, the way
29:04
that he was dictating the tempo and whereabouts
29:06
they were doing their boxing just looked like
29:08
it was completely in Figueroa's control. And
29:10
I think that's probably something they would
29:12
have valued. Whether that means the scorecards
29:16
ended up the way they were, I don't know. There's
29:18
probably some reason the judges done that. But
29:21
I think I understand why it ended up. But I also
29:32
understand why the scorecards themselves are
29:34
weird. Because I don't think it was massively
29:36
wide. But at the same time, you know, this is
29:39
a sport where you can have a really, really close
29:41
fight and a really, really wide scorecard. It
29:44
is. Because a wide scorecard doesn't mean that
29:49
it wasn't a close fight. You know, and vice versa.
29:52
My problem with this one is that It really feels
29:58
like every close round on every scorecard went
30:04
to the A side. And I like Figueroa. It's not
30:15
that I'm against them, but they're so uniform.
30:18
It's sketchy. It never has to be like or dislike
30:23
of a fighter. Sometimes it's just the way the
30:24
promotion is run or the way it seems. the way
30:28
things just look like they're going but also
30:32
joe gonzalez gets constantly that's what he's
30:36
there for until he exists to be he he's there
30:40
to get i understand that but he tries so hard
30:44
and he does such a good job like he is one of
30:47
those b -sides that will always be there until
30:50
the end of the fight trying to win it And they
30:53
fuck him every time. And I don't even just mean
30:57
with losses. I just mean on the scorecard. Like,
31:00
they don't appreciate him. Makes me sad. Fulton
31:06
made a really good account of himself. Figueroa
31:08
is tricky. Like, I think that's the thing. Boxing
31:10
is very much a sport of levels because you look
31:13
at, for example, Fulton, right? And how he looked
31:18
against Figueroa recently. Fulton looks incredible.
31:23
Now, then you look at Folsom versus Inouye, and
31:25
then you look at Figueroa versus Gonzalez, and
31:28
you can see there's just so many different levels
31:29
of play here, right? That's true. It just means
31:34
it's a sport where you do get guys like Gonzalez,
31:36
unfortunately, where they're good fighters. Watch
31:39
them. They're good. But they do find themselves
31:44
being the B -side, because they're sort of like
31:45
the B -side of the B -side, if that makes sense.
31:49
Yeah, I know what you mean. gatekeepers, even
31:52
if they're not as bad as most gatekeepers. That's
31:55
the term. That's the term. You're gatekeeping
31:58
elite instead of gatekeeping world level. Like,
32:02
those are kind of two different gatekeeps. And
32:06
man, in a sport like this, if you're getting
32:08
money for doing that, you're winning. It's a
32:11
dangerous sport. You want to be compensated appropriately.
32:14
Fair enough. But I still feel bad for Julek Gonzalez.
32:19
Yeah, I don't blame you at all because you see
32:21
that, you know, he did what you want a fighter
32:23
to do. He definitely gave every account of himself
32:25
that he could. And especially Figueroa, you know,
32:28
he's got the kind of style that makes it difficult
32:31
to fight him. So you don't stick to going with
32:36
that game plan towards being able to make it
32:40
look like he had the sequences he did against
32:43
Figueroa. He's a bit longer of a fighter from
32:46
memory. yeah figueroa's got a bit of a fundora
32:51
build not quite as bad but yeah the human pacheco
32:57
is similar in that sense i think in terms of
33:00
where they're really aggressive in fighters pressure
33:03
fighters mostly and they're very long and they're
33:07
such awkward opponents right and especially they're
33:10
awkward for you know fewer boxes but they're
33:14
even more awkward if you're a pressure fighter
33:16
yourself because You see that long jab and you're
33:18
trying to get away from it. And then instead
33:20
of, you know, coming off the back foot or avoiding
33:23
that, you've got this guy who just comes straight
33:25
at you and you're still in combos. So that was
33:28
an entertaining fight, I think, above everything
33:30
else. Because they both wanted to bring that
33:33
fight there. I thought Gonzalez was boxing really
33:36
nicely a lot of the time. But, yeah. That leads
33:41
nicely into the next fight, though. Because Fandora
33:45
found a fucking jab. What is this? This is mythical
33:49
status. I've been saying Fandora with a jab is
33:54
mythical status. He might be unbeatable now.
33:58
Him getting into Harvard has made Fandora unbeatable.
34:04
That's such insane law as well. It really is.
34:08
That's studying engineering. A six year engineering
34:11
degree. Fucking Harvard. That's crazy. that actively
34:18
churns your brain cells out. Like, that's so
34:22
awesome. And my favorite part is, like you said,
34:26
Tondora, he was a completely different fighter
34:27
there. I think there was so many talking points
34:31
made in the media about what's him. This would
34:34
be a different Tim because he wouldn't have the
34:35
cut. I don't think people took into account that
34:38
Tondora, like, he's been in the lab, man. Oh,
34:41
I didn't expect this. I didn't expect Fundora
34:45
to evolve like this. Like, this is Fundora making
34:48
bigger changes than Fundora has ever made. Everybody
34:52
always talks shit about Fundora not using his
34:55
size, and he suddenly... I mean, it fell apart.
34:59
Tim did pressure him enough that Fundora went
35:02
to base. Back to monoloid system settings. Thank
35:09
you. I don't know how to say it nicely, but like...
35:12
He made Fundora forget that he's not stupid.
35:16
Like, Fundora has been fighting stupid. He's
35:20
been infighting as a fucking seven foot tall
35:23
guy. Like, that's dumb. But, Tim made him forget
35:28
that he had a jab. Tim made him forget that he
35:31
could keep him on the outside. I'll let Jacob
35:36
give his thoughts on this one, but I think I
35:38
might be right. I think Tim might just be...
35:42
kind of mentally broken yeah i've had a few weeks
35:47
of thinking about this one so because as a segue
35:52
the first thing is that first and foremost fondora
35:58
evolved a lot and the fondora that they had film
36:02
on heading into that camp is not what they got
36:04
on fight night so 100 i agree absolutely and
36:09
that that is a massive credit to fondora because
36:12
if you look at the greatest boxers of all time
36:15
they have one thing in common and it's that they've
36:17
got plan a b c and d um even if they're not implicit
36:21
fans they've got the skills and the kit bag you
36:24
know and that's that's what you need to do to
36:28
be on that level and tim didn't really have that
36:32
plan b which one of my favorite points on him
36:36
not really having that plan b is if you look
36:37
at one of his favorite fighters who He actually
36:40
does try to emulate in terms of fight style,
36:43
and it's Triple G. He likes to put the pressure
36:46
on in that high guard and all that. But the difference
36:49
between him and Triple G is with Triple G's amateur
36:51
career and what he led into, he always had that
36:55
plan B. He can have that fight like versus Lemieux
36:58
where he just completely picks them apart with
37:02
a jab. Yeah, goes back behind the jab. It was
37:04
a beautiful thing, that one. Exactly. And that's
37:07
how it is. I think one of my favorite boxers
37:10
of all time, Andre Ward, I always think the same
37:13
thing. I watch a lot of his fights and he has
37:15
had so many different looks he's given to fighters.
37:20
Whether he picks a point where he's like, okay,
37:22
we're going to be infighting today or we're going
37:24
to be popping the one -two. There's so many options
37:27
in his kit bag. And that's what Fandora brought.
37:31
He was able to adjust. He knew what Tim was going
37:34
to struggle with the most. Because Tim, he can
37:38
deal with a jab sometimes if he's able to move
37:43
in after the jab. If the jab's followed up with
37:47
something else, like against murder's a leave,
37:49
that's where we get the issue. Because it's the
37:51
same thing that comes up in his pad work where
37:53
there's all the footwork issues. Especially,
37:56
you know, he comes across, he might be crossing
37:58
his feet over. He might be balanced. He doesn't
38:01
keep his balance right. There's so many different
38:03
little small details that... typically in other
38:06
boxing economies uh for lack of better words
38:10
they do get on top of but yeah that's that's
38:14
the thing fondora he understood at all times
38:16
if he popped the jab up that he needed to keep
38:18
that two on the back because he wasn't just like
38:20
devon hating that thing you know like he was
38:23
he was loading up on some combos he was making
38:26
sure that he got tim's respect and that's when
38:29
tim realized he was gonna have to take a shot
38:31
if he was gonna land a shot and Once Tim realized
38:35
that, he started going well. But I think the
38:38
reason that the fight stopped when it did was
38:40
because he just was taking that many shots. And
38:44
it was brilliant. It was an outstanding use of
38:46
his skill set. And he should be able to keep
38:50
his inside game and his pressure game along with
38:52
his career as well. Because the fact of the matter
38:55
is, if you're a lanky guy who can both pressure
38:58
fight and fight on the outside, that makes you
39:00
that much better. I think about Hitchens, you
39:05
can't get on the inside of Hitchens and you don't
39:08
really want to. Same as, you know, again, I don't
39:14
know why his name eluded me. He's one of my favorite
39:16
flatters. Junto Nakatani, you don't want to get
39:19
on his inside particularly either. I don't know
39:23
if I agree with that one. I think, I personally
39:27
think his uppercut is good enough to keep people
39:29
away. I think part of why Nakatani kind of lost
39:35
his cool against Nishida is because Nishida was
39:38
beating him on the inside. Yeah, I mean, he's
39:44
got a really long torso. That's always going
39:45
to be there. I just mean, like, this is months
39:51
ago on the podcast, but Nakatani did not respond
39:54
well to Nishida getting in and having success.
40:00
Nakatani kind of threw a tantrum like a fucking
40:03
child, in my opinion. That was really funny.
40:06
I still like Nakatani, but he's definitely gone
40:11
down on my list a lot. I didn't give it time.
40:16
I think when I say Nakatani and on the inside,
40:19
I mean more, you know he will work your body.
40:24
Right, but... So the thing with Fandora is he's
40:28
okay taking shots on the inside. Like, Fandora
40:32
is happy fighting on the inside, taking them
40:36
or giving them. Yeah. But Nakatani isn't. Yeah,
40:42
okay, that's fair. I've heard... So it's not
40:47
my theory. I think it was maybe Chris Algieri.
40:51
Anyways, doesn't matter. One of the podcasts
40:54
I listened to, they thought maybe the Tim Zhu
40:58
stoppage happened when it did because I was surprised.
41:04
I thought Zhu had his best round right before
41:08
they stopped it. And the theory on the podcast
41:13
was that Tim Zhu kind of... blew his load like
41:21
he he gave his all and realized that he didn't
41:26
hurt well he didn't hurt fundora and even if
41:29
he gets on the inside fundora is a good inside
41:32
fighter so i fucking took a bunch of damage and
41:36
extended all this effort to get to the inside
41:40
to just have a harder fight somehow right like
41:47
It was demoralizing. He got past the jab, he
41:52
put in all this effort, and he had some success.
41:55
But when he got there, he was met with even more
42:00
resistance than he had just overcome. And that
42:04
kind of mentally broke him more than physically.
42:11
Although I do think... Tim was taking damage.
42:15
There's no doubt about that. But it did seem
42:19
weird to me that he quit after the round he had
42:23
the most success. But this is something I've
42:26
said before, and I'll say again, if a fighter
42:29
can't trust their corner to call it when they
42:32
should, they'll quit. It's not just a Tim Zhu
42:36
thing, but if you don't trust your corner to
42:39
protect you, you'll protect yourself. I mean,
42:43
they definitely don't have a track record of
42:45
projecting it. Exactly. After that first Fundora
42:49
fight, Tim can't trust his corner. Like, okay,
42:53
Jacob, we've never asked you because it's your
42:55
first time on the podcast. What do you think
42:57
of that first fight? Like, that should have been
43:00
a no contest. That big fucking cut, somebody
43:04
should have stopped it. If the doctor isn't going
43:07
to do it, which I think was ridiculous, the doctor
43:10
should have fucking stopped it. The ref should
43:12
have stopped it. But if they don't stop it, the
43:14
corner has to. Yes. Somebody has to. Tim's corner
43:19
fucking failed him. Yeah, I mean, the others
43:21
failed him too, but he's not their person. So,
43:26
like, the corner failed him. He can't trust his
43:30
corner ever again. Who's the Mexican Leo? He
43:36
was in an interview straight up saying, I don't
43:39
trust my corner to stop it. And everyone called
43:41
him a quitter. I don't know who you're talking
43:44
about. No, I can picture his face and I have
43:47
no idea what his name is. And I'm just going
43:49
to sound racist if I get it wrong. Yeah. It wasn't
43:56
Mikey Garcia. It was, but he kind of looks like
44:00
Mikey Garcia. Maybe a little older. No, I'm going
44:05
to get fucking tore apart. Fuck, I can see his
44:08
face. I have no idea what his name is. Anyways,
44:12
they called him a quitter. They called him a
44:13
quitter a couple times. And after he retired,
44:16
he said, well, it's because that first time I
44:20
just took way too much damage and my corner didn't
44:22
stop it and I could never trust them again. I
44:26
feel like... Daniel Dubois might be in a similar
44:33
situation because they wouldn't pull him out
44:35
for his eye. And that eye was fucked. It was
44:42
right. In my opinion, it was right of Daniel
44:45
Dubois to step out of that Joe Joyce fight. There
44:52
was no reason to keep taking damage to that eye.
44:55
Yeah. I mean, it's hard to tell because the fact
45:00
is, you know, so many injuries are invisible.
45:02
You know, you don't really know until a fight
45:04
finishes to see what condition a fighter is in.
45:07
And I think about Shigeyoka a lot in this instance,
45:10
too, because, you know... Well, that was the
45:12
JBC. He should have never been able to fight
45:15
again. Or not within 10 months of a fucking skull
45:20
fracture. That's ridiculous. Against the same
45:22
guy? Yeah, it was crazy. There was a lot going
45:26
on there. but on top of that you know like i
45:29
thought in terms of his boxing and his body language
45:32
you know he looked like he was good that last
45:34
two rounds and i was like yeah oh no yeah in
45:37
that fight and you would never have told you
45:41
would never have known but given his medical
45:44
history he shouldn't have been in that fight
45:47
at that time oh not at all i'm just using it
45:50
as an example to show like sometimes you have
45:52
absolutely no idea when there's like I really
45:57
don't blame Anaguchi's corner. There needs to
46:03
be a lot more normalization of having fights
46:06
stopped for medical reasons. But that's my take
46:10
on the sport. I understand that it's the brutality
46:12
that attracts people to it. But there's also
46:14
a skill level in boxing that can also be emphasized.
46:21
But yeah, it's definitely something. Anyways,
46:27
I can see we're running way over time. You want
46:31
to know what was also something? What was else?
46:36
It was Manny Pacquiao getting a draw with Mario
46:39
Barrios. Jesus. My God. Imagine that. A draw
46:45
in 2025. I really thought he won that. I really
46:48
thought he won that, man. A lot of people do.
46:51
Barrios was way too nice, though. I'm not defending
46:56
the draw or saying it shouldn't have been a draw,
47:01
but Manny would take a body shot, get hurt, step
47:05
back, and do the schoolyard like, oh, give me
47:07
a second. And Barrios did. And the ref was like,
47:12
what the fuck are you doing? There were multiple
47:14
times the ref looked at him and was like, you
47:16
guys can still punch. Why are you stopping? The
47:20
punches aren't on the script. I really think
47:27
a disrespectful, not even disrespectful, but
47:30
just like a Barrios. Yeah, that Barrios could
47:36
have stopped Manny to the body easy. Barrios
47:39
was giving him too much respect. But Barrios
47:43
was getting fucking clipped by a 47 -year -old.
47:47
The fuck? He was. He was, man. Manny showed up,
47:52
man. Like, he was moving. That was what impressed
47:55
me the most. He was moving, and he was quick
47:58
with it, you know? Like, he had everything. I
48:01
talked a whole bunch of shit after seeing Manny
48:05
in that exhibition against the kickboxer, and
48:07
I do have to take that back. Manny looked better.
48:11
100 % exact same with me as well. I did not think
48:14
he had that in him, but look. Am I surprised
48:18
that I felt wrong? Not that much at all. Because
48:22
you look at his career and his history with fighting
48:25
and with his sport. Yeah. You know, some things
48:28
just stay. It's that saying that class is permanent.
48:34
And Manny's on all the pins in the world. Nobody's
48:39
actually testing. The great equalizer. Nobody's
48:42
testing Manny. Sample. But overcoming age. That
48:47
is not drugs. That is not PEDs. That is prime
48:49
Filipino greatness. Okay. Sure. He does have
48:56
the Filipino calves, Gene. Manny's legs are fucking
49:00
massive. He's awesome, man. To be able to do
49:04
that. Can you imagine how many people's uncles
49:07
would have started shadowboxing in the room thinking
49:09
that they're next? Yeah, no, I do get the storyline
49:14
of it and everything else, but Mario Barrios
49:16
should have won that fight and sent Pacquiao
49:21
home. He really should have, especially even
49:25
if he didn't even have to pull out a vintage
49:27
performance or anything. If he just fought the
49:29
way he fought against Ramos, he probably could
49:31
get it done. If he just hadn't paused every time
49:35
Manny took a step back and touched his stomach
49:38
and was like, ugh. Yeah. Like, that's fucking
49:43
bullshit that people don't even do in schoolyard
49:46
fights. Like, come on, Barry. His corner was
49:51
yelling at him so much about that. He probably
49:55
just didn't want to get baited by anything. I
49:59
guess. He's like, oh, I'm not falling for this,
50:02
you know? Hmm. That was garbage. All around,
50:05
that was garbage. Manny Pacquiao still shouldn't
50:07
be fighting for titles. He should not be ranked
50:10
number nine in the fucking rankings. If I was
50:15
Essamon, I would be pissed. Like, I would be
50:20
so fucking angry. Essamon kills Pacquiao. Like,
50:26
I like Pacquiao and everything, but Essamon fucking
50:31
kills him. Decau Essiman? Yeah! He's ranked number
50:37
10 and Manny Pacquiao's ranked number 9. In where?
50:42
Um... Shit, which... Which one is that? Is that...
50:49
The Ring, maybe? I wasn't... It was... I know
50:55
I'm not making this up because I thought it was
50:58
fucking ridiculous, but I don't know which...
51:00
Which... belt does Barrios have? Maybe it's the
51:06
WBC then. Let me check. WBC... No. Must be ring.
51:17
Wait, no. I'm at the wrong weight class. Give
51:20
me a second. Might just be kind of stupid. No,
51:27
it's the ring. Pacquiao's ranked number 9 by
51:29
the ring. Essamon's number 10. And then Pacquiao's
51:36
not on anyone else's rankings. Is that correct?
51:41
Interesting. Well, he did say he was going to
51:44
keep fighting. I would have imagined that they
51:46
would put him into the rankings somewhere. Nobody
51:49
else has him in the rankings on Fox Live. Interesting.
51:56
But The Ring has him at number nine. Barrios
52:00
is eight. Pacquiao's 9, Essamon is 10. And if
52:04
I was Essamon, I would be fucking pissed. Because
52:08
Ekow Essamon destroys Pacquiao in a fight. I
52:14
think there's a lot of cases with the rankings
52:15
of that where I see guys where I think they'd
52:17
beat someone that's above them. Yeah. But this
52:21
one's just worse than others. All right. Let's
52:26
fucking keep it rolling because, like, I don't
52:28
know. I feel like Mario Party is just going to
52:30
be an all -time long episode. I'll have to...
52:34
This is a Lin -length episode. Moving up. Join
52:38
the Patreon to see what was cut. Yeah. Fucking
52:43
Lawrence of Koli versus Kevin Lorena. That little
52:48
dead air was more time than that fight deserves.
52:52
Lawrence of Koli. I said I reserve the use of
52:57
this term. Oleksandr Usyk is fucking special.
53:03
KO5 over Daniel Dubois to reunify the division.
53:12
This is a Mount Rushmore of heavyweight boxing
53:17
that we're looking at. I was defending that this
53:22
was going to be Usyk's hardest fight. It was
53:25
not. Yeah. At all. I expected better from Daniel
53:29
Dubois. I really did. I thought he was improved.
53:33
Yep. But now you're talking about that. There
53:38
has been some out of ring controversy around
53:42
this fight. Did you guys hear about that? I did
53:45
not. The potty? Yeah, yeah, Dubois was apparently
53:49
partying the night before, and a bunch of, like,
53:53
not good, like, nothing super crazy. It's not
53:57
like he is suspected of drug dealing or prostitution
54:02
or any of that stuff, but he was, like, partying
54:04
real late, and he showed up at the venue really
54:06
late, like he was only there an hour before the
54:09
fight or something crazy. Had to get extra sleep.
54:14
Getting back on track. Usyk is just fucking amazing.
54:19
Usyk did Usyk stuff. Just like I said Usyk would
54:22
do. Nobody's beating the Ukrainian with the gap
54:27
to smile. Like, it's crazy. He is so good. Just
54:35
for someone his size and with his pedigree. to
54:43
have come from the weight divisions that he has,
54:46
to have had the success he has as an amateur
54:50
as well, is just incredible. And that's just
54:54
going through, you know, his resume and how he
54:56
got here. That's not even talking about the fundamentals
54:58
of how he is as a boxer, which is just incredible
55:01
as well. You know, his movement, his understanding
55:05
of range. It just doesn't seem to matter who
55:08
they put in front of him stylistically. He just
55:11
keeps finding answers. That's what's so impressive
55:15
to me. Which was basically my analysis before
55:19
this fight. Usyk is going to do Usyk things.
55:23
That's what happened. All right. So wherever
55:30
you're listening, leave a follow or hit us with
55:34
the follow, subscribe, whatever the fuck the
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to help us out, following It's the easiest one.
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If you want to step it up, you can do a rating.
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If you're not feeling like giving us a fiver,
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then 833 -LUX -PODS. That's a direct number to
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me. Let me know what's up and give me a chance
56:01
to fix it. Moving up is a review. I don't know.
56:07
If you're feeling froggy and you want to talk
56:09
about the show, then that would be really helpful.
56:12
And last, and certainly not least, the Patreon.
56:17
Fucking everyone has one, us included. If you
56:21
want to check us out on Patreon, you get ad -free
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stuff, which, like, the ads have changed, as
56:26
I'm sure you've noticed. So what you can do,
56:30
LVX Media Net on Patreon. That's the same as
56:34
all the other social media shit. And last thing,
56:39
I want to get you involved in the conversation.
56:42
Jacob that you just heard, we know him from Discord,
56:48
right? So lvx .be slash Discord if you want to
56:53
get yourself into the conversation. If you're
56:56
an MMA head, there's a space for you. If you
56:59
like baseball, basketball, any other sport you
57:02
can think of, there's people to talk about it
57:06
with. It's a good community. It's a lot of fun.
57:09
And, yeah, lvx .be slash discord. All right,
57:13
going to take a short break, and when we're back,
57:15
some fucking news and rumors and shit. All right.
57:21
I have so much news and rumors, Leo. It's crazy.
57:25
This is a lot. Yeah, we don't have to talk about
57:29
all of it. Yeah, just a little bit. Josh Taylor
57:33
retires, citing eye problems. That's, um... Yeah,
57:38
I don't know how much I believe the eye problems,
57:41
really, but I think Josh Taylor retiring is probably
57:44
good timing. I'm trying to think of a funny new
57:49
one. Like, rest in piss, you won't be missed.
57:53
I don't know. He's not that good. Rest in luck,
57:57
I don't give a fuck. I don't know. I think that's
58:01
the best I can do for the time being. Go drown
58:05
in a bog, you hog. Scottish bogs. I don't know.
58:13
On the... I don't know if... Whatever. I bungled
58:19
this transition here. Bad segue. We lost Jacob
58:26
and we fell apart. That's what makes a good segue
58:29
is that I say it's a bad one. Yeah. On the topic
58:33
of crash outs, as if you do or do not know, the
58:39
Kameda clan, for one, they're crashing out. Has
58:44
crashed the fuck out. It's been a little crazy.
58:48
What were they saying? Okay, so this all started
58:52
a couple days ago. Vom on the Discord is on Twitter,
58:58
and I'm an Instagram whore. The Kamedas don't
59:03
have Instagram, so I didn't hear about any of
59:05
this. But they have sued the JBC for discrimination
59:13
against their fighters. Some sort of like, you're
59:18
discriminating for no reason. I forget which
59:21
exact fighter it was about. But they lost their
59:24
shit during the... Who did Higa fight? Vasquez?
59:31
Antonio Vargas. Vargas, sorry. Yeah, so during
59:36
the Vargas -Higa card, the Kamedas were actively
59:40
crashing out on Twitter. saying they were suing
59:44
the JBC and all this stuff. And they did list
59:48
a specific fight and a fighter that the JBC was
59:52
blocking for what they call discriminatory reasons.
59:56
But then after that, somebody else, all in Japanese,
1:00:01
was like, maybe this isn't the time. Like, maybe
1:00:03
have your crash out after the big international
1:00:06
fight that everybody is watching. And the Kamedas
1:00:10
straight up just told them to fuck off. That
1:00:14
was the whole tweet. They replied, fuck you,
1:00:16
fuck off. And then they signed Casamero. John
1:00:25
Riel Casamero. I don't know what the fuck they're
1:00:33
doing. They're just making everything worse.
1:00:36
But the absolute worst news to me personally
1:00:39
is that they also signed Kenneth Lover, who is
1:00:43
the Filipino prospect I really like. And he should
1:00:46
not be signing with the Kamedas. He should sign
1:00:49
with someone so much better. He deserves a good
1:00:52
fucking promotion. And, like, the Kamedas are
1:00:56
full crash out. Fuck the JBC. We're suing you.
1:01:00
We're going to have... fights in kazakhstan and
1:01:04
like we're going international which is i guess
1:01:07
whatever sure like yeah i i am sure the jbc is
1:01:13
biased against kamada fighters like i do not
1:01:16
doubt that yeah i don't either but a public fucking
1:01:22
crash out and signing casamero is not the response
1:01:26
you should be having guys what the fuck like
1:01:32
It's very much Japanese boxing politics drama,
1:01:37
but this is drama enough that everyone is going
1:01:41
to enjoy it if they look into it. Speaking of
1:01:48
crash outs, the guy who beat Galalia Fi gets
1:01:55
a probation rematch ordered. PED he popped for
1:02:00
was an over -the -counter energy supplement.
1:02:03
So just some shit you get at a GNC or whatever
1:02:07
shop is near you. Yeah. Wow. He failed for PEDs
1:02:14
in his previous fight. This is the rumors and
1:02:19
news. So I got to look up the exact date. So
1:02:23
this is Francisco Rodriguez Jr. He... Okay. He
1:02:32
beat Josue Morales. Or, sorry. Yeah, he beat
1:02:40
him, but it was turned to a no contest by the
1:02:44
Texas Commission on... Oh, I misread this when
1:02:50
I was making the news. It says no contest by
1:02:54
the Texas Commission on... January 6th. Because
1:03:01
of PEDs. But then they let him fight Galal Yafai.
1:03:06
In Texas? Where he... No, Yafai was in... UK?
1:03:12
The UK. Yeah. But they let him fight Yafai and
1:03:18
from what Eddie Hearn says, he had no idea. that
1:03:24
Rodriguez had popped in his previous test. So,
1:03:29
he popped for PEDS in a fight, they didn't tell
1:03:33
the other commission, and then he pops for PEDS
1:03:36
again. Yeah, well, Texas... That's pretty shit.
1:03:41
...over a Mexican fighter, and then fighting
1:03:47
in the UK, no surprise it slipped through the
1:03:51
cracks. But what was the PD from the previous
1:03:54
fight? Is that known? It probably is. I don't
1:03:58
know if I checked that. Because I'm wondering
1:04:00
if it's the same over -the -counter thing. How
1:04:04
do you spell Francisco? Rodriguez, Texas, PDs.
1:04:11
See what this gets me. So the thing is, is I
1:04:15
don't know if anybody knew about this. Like,
1:04:20
I don't know if it was public knowledge before
1:04:22
the... Before the fight. Before the Yafai fight.
1:04:27
Yeah. But if it wasn't, it should be. Okay. Francisco
1:04:34
Rodriguez failed his drug test on December 15th,
1:04:40
2024 and was put on a 90 -day suspension and
1:04:43
was assessed a $500 administrative fine. by the
1:04:48
Texas Combative Sports Program. There is no world
1:04:53
governing body in boxing and the Texas Commission
1:04:56
are not required to inform other commissions
1:04:58
of the decision. This article doesn't say what
1:05:05
he actually popped for in Texas. But, I mean,
1:05:12
I don't think it really matters at this point.
1:05:15
Or does it? What I was thinking was, if it's
1:05:19
the same supplement that got him popped the first
1:05:23
time, then okay. Why would he still be taking
1:05:27
it, though? No, not okay. Then you know that
1:05:30
you're going to pop and you stop taking it. Like,
1:05:32
that's worse, isn't it? What I'm saying is, what
1:05:37
if he popped for a steroid the first time? It
1:05:39
would make me more skeptical of this OTC thing.
1:05:43
No, that's a masking agent. is what i'm saying
1:05:47
but i steroids popping twice for an energy supplement
1:05:52
popping twice in a row for the same thing is
1:05:57
i would argue worse you think uh i don't know
1:06:01
yeah i was just like you've already gotten caught
1:06:04
doing something like stop doing it like your
1:06:07
second dui is worse than your first one if you
1:06:11
get charged I mean, this is a bad analogy, but
1:06:14
if you get charged with, you know, like, a DUI
1:06:18
and then driving without a license... Because
1:06:23
you had a DUI. Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, I
1:06:28
was just thinking about steroids and how they
1:06:30
mixed into the conversation. Yeah, but if you
1:06:34
get caught for steroids once, at least change
1:06:36
the steroids. Like, come on. Yeah, and that's
1:06:39
what the OTC thing could be, is a... something
1:06:42
to mask it or like a diuretic yeah yeah i don't
1:06:47
know i can't i can't find everything that came
1:06:50
up was this new one but i do think it's a little
1:06:54
ridiculous that he popped in texas and uh the
1:06:59
uk had no way to check if that like it feels
1:07:06
like the boxing commissions should talk a little
1:07:08
more I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Like,
1:07:11
if you pop in Texas, the UK should know. And
1:07:15
if you pop in Nevada, like, Mexico should know.
1:07:20
I don't know. Instead of forum shopping? Yeah,
1:07:24
instead of, like, pulling a Connor Ben or whatever.
1:07:27
Kangaroo Court? Yeah. Oh, man. Well, we went
1:07:34
for a while on the, uh... The damn... And because
1:07:40
of that, we're going to have to call it here.
1:07:45
Okay. I think it actually works out nicely because
1:07:49
based on time, we got a lot of good chatter going.
1:07:55
And there's nothing coming up. There's just fucking
1:08:00
nothing on the horizon. Some of these news and
1:08:05
rumors fit well with next podcast anyways. Fun.
1:08:09
If you want to know what the other news and rumors
1:08:11
are, tune in next week. All right. Let me do
1:08:17
the plug thing. You've been listening to Boxing
1:08:24
Before Dark, a Lux Media production. If you are
1:08:26
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1:09:34
We got new ads. Oh, did we? They're not very
1:09:39
good. That's exciting. Oh. They're not ones.
1:09:42
What's wrong with them? It's not product testimonials
1:09:46
from me anymore. Oh. Okay. It's automated shit.
1:09:53
Man, some of it, like one of them was for a law
1:09:58
firm. Another one was for power tools. Like,
1:10:01
the fuck is this? Well, if you don't want to
1:10:05
hear those, you're going to have to go to Patreon.
1:10:07
You have to go to Patreon. God damn, because
1:10:09
they're fucking rough. We gots to get paid. Fair
1:10:13
enough, but Leo, you... I was going to say, you
1:10:17
have to get paid for your equipment and shit.
1:10:20
Yeah, that's kind of what it is. So if you don't
1:10:23
want to hear those, Patreon. Shit. Sucks to suck,
1:10:26
dog. Yeah. Parting words. I just said mine. Sucks
1:10:35
to suck? No, if you don't want those law firm
1:10:40
ads or fucking power tools or whatever other...
1:10:45
nonsense they have in the rotation yeah you're
1:10:49
gonna have to go to patreon sorry my parting
1:10:54
words well i actually have two parting unrelated
1:10:57
things i went to ryzen yeah god damn it was so
1:11:03
much fun the production value at ryzen was crazy
1:11:06
it was at that sinema arena yeah which is made
1:11:10
for concerts and shit The pyrotechnics, the visuals,
1:11:14
everything was on point. It was great. The backstory
1:11:19
videos were also great. There were 18 fights,
1:11:24
19 fights, I think. It was a fucking long day.
1:11:29
All that was great, except I don't like the fights
1:11:32
as much as boxing. So everything was great, except
1:11:35
the actual fights. How did your Japanese practice?
1:11:41
pan out um no one engaged even when you like
1:11:46
asked in proper japanese like who is this person
1:11:50
and they're like foreigner well they were polite
1:11:56
but also clearly not interested in talking with
1:12:00
me so i i asked a question a direct question
1:12:04
and they answered but made it very clear they
1:12:06
didn't want me to talk to them again so i didn't
1:12:09
um So that was fine. Also, the fucking food sold
1:12:15
out so fast. Wow. I waited in line for an hour
1:12:19
to get beer and chicken and fries. And they sold
1:12:25
out of chicken and fries two people ahead of
1:12:27
me. Wow. So then I waited in line for a half
1:12:31
hour again. And when I got to the front, they
1:12:34
also had no food. So I drank five beer and ate
1:12:37
no food. uh fight started at 11 a .m and they
1:12:45
ended at 10 p .m so you had a marathon of fucking
1:12:51
fights of fucking no food was my problem but
1:12:56
yes yeah the it was fun i'm glad i went i probably
1:13:00
wouldn't go by myself again if i had a friend
1:13:02
who wanted to go i would definitely be down but
1:13:06
there was a couple crazy call -outs in the ring
1:13:09
or like okay my two favorite ryzen gossip i guess
1:13:16
so there's the guy who's a huge simp for the
1:13:20
maid cafe lady or i don't think it's a maid cafe
1:13:23
but like the the hostess lady Do you know who
1:13:27
I'm talking about, Leo? Yeah, I know who you're
1:13:28
talking about. Yeah, man. Yeah, so he was fighting
1:13:31
a dad with two kids, and the dad's video was
1:13:35
his kids crying the last time he lost. And I
1:13:38
was cheering for the dad, and he won the first
1:13:40
two rounds very clearly, and then got knocked
1:13:44
the fuck out in the third round. I don't care
1:13:48
if this guy impresses the lady he's paying money
1:13:52
to talk to him because she's going to talk to
1:13:53
him again later anyways. As long as he pays money,
1:13:57
she's there. So I was cheering against him. And
1:14:01
the dad brought his kids in and he gave his retirement
1:14:05
speech and the kids were crying in the ring again.
1:14:08
That made me really sad. There was a fighter
1:14:12
whose whole background video was pachinko, and
1:14:16
he walked out to pachinko music and the bonus
1:14:21
videos of his favorite pachinko games. There
1:14:25
was a different guy who his whole thing was hunting,
1:14:28
so it was him hunting and butchering deer and
1:14:33
shit and then eating them as part of his training.
1:14:36
Wow. Yeah, I thought that was kind of fun, actually.
1:14:39
I like hunting. And then my favorite thing that
1:14:43
happened was there was a guy came into the ring
1:14:46
for a call out and he was wearing a super nice
1:14:49
kimono, but he didn't have it on properly. He
1:14:52
had the one arm out so that like half of it draped
1:14:57
off him, kind of like a toga. And then you could
1:15:00
see all his Yakuza tattoos. Oh shit. The funniest
1:15:05
part was the guy he was calling out was in a
1:15:08
white dress shirt and black slacks with a black
1:15:10
ball cap and looked like a fucking middle school
1:15:14
baseball coach. It was great. I loved all of
1:15:20
it. But the fucking tension was there. They kept
1:15:25
showing him on the screen. I booed three times.
1:15:28
So, fuck tension. Yes, it's better when things
1:15:34
are more relaxed. I hate him so much. But my
1:15:46
actual parting words, and I know this is going
1:15:49
too long, but tomorrow I get to meet Seiya Tsutsumi.
1:15:54
Party. Yeah, there's a punch burger. meetup at
1:16:01
a burger joint that he likes so he is a waiter
1:16:06
for one day at i think it's called jessica seven
1:16:10
it's either jessica or jennifer seven um is the
1:16:15
name of the restaurant and uh yeah so i'm gonna
1:16:18
go and i'm gonna fangirl out and try not to embarrass
1:16:21
myself too badly but my goals are an autograph
1:16:25
and a picture together what are you gonna get
1:16:28
him to sign uh i am gonna take the the big banner
1:16:33
i think that'll be fun and i want to see his
1:16:37
reaction to that yeah yeah i want to see what
1:16:40
he says to that too and uh then i am also just
1:16:44
gonna take a book where i collect all the free
1:16:47
stamps you can get around japan Because I think
1:16:50
his autograph in that book would be a really
1:16:53
good souvenir as well. So if I can only get one
1:16:56
signature, it'll be on the banner. But if he'll
1:17:00
sign two things, I'm going to get him to sign
1:17:03
both. I think he will. I think he'll sign both
1:17:05
for you. He probably will. Yeah, I this is very
1:17:09
low key. Like you don't need a reservation or
1:17:13
anything. It's not super well advertised. He's
1:17:16
been putting up posts on Instagram is as far
1:17:20
as I can tell it. I'm so excited. Yeah, I'm so
1:17:25
excited. I'm gonna make an ass of myself. I've
1:17:27
been practicing my Japanese all week and I'm
1:17:30
gonna get flustered and fuck it up and just speak
1:17:32
English by accident. and then he'll give you
1:17:36
like a simpering sort of smile sign your thing
1:17:40
and then like chibi you along yeah yeah yeah
1:17:43
i i won't fuck up the japanese for picture because
1:17:47
because that's easy yeah that would be cool um
1:17:52
just thank you so much for having me i really
1:17:54
enjoyed talking to you guys and hopefully i find
1:17:57
the time in between sparring and everything to
1:17:59
pop on some other time Yeah. Thank you so much.
1:18:02
Thank you so much for having me on. It was really
1:18:04
cool. See you guys. Bye. All right. That's it
1:18:08
for this edition of fucking Boxing Before Dark.
1:18:11
My batteries are getting low. It's so long, guys.
1:18:15
We'll see how much of this survives the cutting
1:18:18
room floor. All right. We're out of here. Bye.