AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 19
Buzz Grant (11-6-0) is a Pro Boxer out of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The Canadian heavyweight champ, Bola Ray, lends his vast experience in the sport and provides his comments and analysis on boxing on The Scoop, on YouTube and TalkinFight.com/live. #boxinghistory #askthechamp #thechampspeaks #boxingleague @buzzgrant88
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#boxer #boxing #boxingtalkshow
Transcribed:
Are we live? Yep testing testing hello boxing fans around the world welcome to another episode of the scoop featuring the champ, paula, bray, welcome to talk and fight, and we’ve got a special guest lined up for you tonight.
Yet another special guest this week to end up our uh week of special guests, uh ambola you’ve got a good friend of yours, buzz grant lined up in the green room, who’s ready to chit chat the night away with you, yeah yeah, there’s uh.
This little spark plug um as opposed to a cricket.
Well, actually he’s a cricket on steroids, [, Laughter, ] yeah.
This angry blade of grass um.
He was uh a rumor buzz from the amateurs actually um.
He was just one big energy bubble, just nothing but punches constant um, always in great shape, but then he did the absolutely incredible when, as he turned pro that is and uh, he not just won the canadian title, but he won the title at 122.
: um yeah.
What makes that incredible is buzz, can walk around as i’ve seen him as heavy as 160 pounds um, how he’s able to cleave a quarter of his body? That story still tickles me because as being a heavyweight, this is all insanity for me um.
But with that being said, um my name is bola raymond oluwali, and this is the scoop.
What’S going on right, there you go there, you go, how you doing i’m good buddy.
How are you man, uh, i’m living the dream of living the dream, even with this uh covert stupidity going on, i’m actually still got my hands uh entwined in boxing so um.
I can’t really complain yeah how you keeping i’m good.
Luckily, i’m working during all this i’ve been good yeah, yeah, you’re, very fortunate, you’re fortunate um.
What had what have you been doing? How have you been keeping yourself busy and, more importantly, what does boxing or life after boxing look for you, at least as an athlete um? Well um, when i was in the amateurs i had these crazy dreams of turning pro becoming a millionaire.
Like every person i saw and then when i turned pro and started seeing my paychecks and realizing, i don’t even make minimum wage um.
I realized i had to get a career when i first signed my contract for my canadian fight.
I thought i was sort of you know at the peak of what i was hoping to accomplish.
I realized i can’t live on this money, so i sent myself back to school, did a little more education and two months after i won the title, i started at bombardier driving the go trains in toronto and i’ve been doing that now, 14 years, which turned out Really well for me, um.
Obviously my boxing career didn’t do as well as i was hoping after winning the title, because i dedicated a bit too much to the career um versus the boxing career um, but yeah it drives the go.
Trains, love it great job.
That’S that’s an understatement.
I still remember working at when we were training at coutures, extreme coutures, yeah and you’re.
I just thought that you had the perfect, perfect scenario you got up.
You start work at 6am.
You drove the train until 10.
Then you had a four hour break until two and you train yeah.
Then you go back and finish your shift and then after work i go for a run.
Then i go to bed sleep and then do the same thing.
The next day, you see what i’m saying yeah, like you, had the perfect scenario like except no other life who needs another life yeah, but it actually worked out well.
For me, um working split shifts um, really well to continue my career um.
It’S the best of the worst scenario.
You know yeah yeah.
How did you get into boxing mackie brian? Are you kidding me well brian, and i grew up together um from orangeville.
I always looked up to him always wanted to box, but the problem was the closest boxing gym was in brampton yeah, so my parents like absolutely not driving you to brampton staying around for three hours when you work out and then driving your home.
Just not not a thing they’re going to do so.
Three days after i bought my first car, i drove down to the bramley boxing club and joined boxing wow.
Why didn’t you join? Why didn’t you join jamestown um to be honest because i’m cheap and it was cheaper? I don’t know, and at the time actually jamestown had shut down and they were actually training out of bramalea.
Oh really yeah, for there was about six or eight months there where jamestown shut down and they were using bram lee to try narrative, um so they’re in the process of closing when i first joined so they’re about six or eight months from actually closing.
But mackie told me don’t join we’re, closing, etc, etc.
So i joined bram lee then about six months later.
All the jamestown guys came to ramley for about six eight months and then when they got a new club, i decided to stay because i was comfortable with pete and everyone else.
Oh okay, okay, yeah wow.
So so this is before they moved to uh champion.
Did they work at a champion for a bit when i was uh the whole time i was with dwight.
We were at a champion.
Okay, they were all over the place yeah.
Actually, there was also uh when they were beside latin quarter.
That’S when i we used as far as mackie is when they reset latin quarter.
Okay, so i accidentally, i walked in that day, one day, um into latin quarter, and i saw dwight and uh they’re like oh okay, and then he started trying to recruit me and i think it took another like three four months um.
He saw me at a couple of tournaments and i you i was at the provincial yeah.
I went to the provincials the opens and i stopped his guy kevin anderson in the second round.
First round second round, i knocked him out knocked him onto the computer table and uh dwight then really pushed hard for me to come and start training with him and the rest was history.
The most i remember, but you ever an amateur was [ __ ] eating.
Before weigh-ins by nuts, because i was starving forever and you’re sitting there just eating like a sandwich or whatever, and i’m like, oh that yeah, i guy i’m like i haven’t, eaten a good meal in like months.
You know before wins like the fun memory i have with you in amateurs, oh yeah, i used to do that all the time and oh slack out here – oh my god, val ryan, wanted to stab me in my throat yeah first time i ever had to take My underwear off was in front of val all yeah and i got up and i was like point two over or something stupid, so i stepped off and just dropped my pants and like whoa whoa.
You want to tell him like now, whatever step back up and she’s like standing there, like my god, i’m not shy, that’s beautiful yeah! Well, i i uh in my opening monologue.
I i spoke about your fight with um jason hayward, yes, and the preparation for that, which i still to this day.
I tell people always anyone who would listen about this mad nut that dropped down to 122.
and how you did it.
How much were you walking around at 155? 160.
? That’S what i thought.
Yes, oh so i was fought at 126.
, so my coach are like what’s another four pounds, no problem.
What’S another four rounds problem, it was a problem so, a week before that fight, i was dating a girl lived in acton.
At the time i lived in brampton.
I rode my bicycle to acting, which took me almost two hours hung out with her for an hour and then rode my bike back and i stepped on the scale and i lost a pound and a half and i’m still six pounds out whoa and i’m like.
I’M not gon na, do it the guy, i just don’t think i’m gon na make it.
I sat in the shower and, like almost had a breakdown of, i don’t think i can make 122.
like it’s just almost virtually impossible.
So, for the last week everything i ate i brought back up to make weight.
It was the only way to make way wow.
I literally was puking up my guy.
I was anorexic that week, wow yeah, that’s that’s dedication to your craft.
I don’t have that.
I can’t miss a meal.
I can’t, oh, my god, yeah when you when you play that super bantamweight.
You miss a lot of meal wow that just it just would not happen.
Oh wow, okay, and actually you won the canadian title.
What a week after me, i wanted october 13.
2007 13th.
It was so then that’s like i was you know.
One month after me, yeah i was gon na say it felt like it was a little longer.
I think it was about a month yeah, no problem.
That was a proud moment.
Ontario was doing well, we were ontario was doing well.
We were we’ve done really well.
Throughout the years we really have yeah we’re uh we’re about to do even better we’re coming back.
There’S going to be a big insurgency, there’s a lot of great talent out there and you wanting to be a coach is amazing.
Um, because you do have you have the you, have the desire and you have the ring experience, which is what a lot of these coaches don’t have it’s true.
They don’t have it they’ve never been there.
They’Ve never been hit and they don’t know they don’t have the psychology um i couldn’t teach well.
I could.
I could tell stories about my friend buzz grant, going off and and puking up [ __ ] for a week to make weight.
But i can’t i i can’t teach you how to drop weight run and when you, when you that doesn’t work, continue running running in the sauna yeah.
That’S heavyweights! That’S what we do right, but that’s it! No! You got a lot of nutrition involved.
A lot of nutrition involved, a lot yeah but figuring out silly stuff, like salt, is sodium sodium retains water.
Water is weight like just like, like there’s so many like little things and little tricks like instead of eating three times a day, eat five little meals a day, because then your metabolism runs all day long and you actually burn more, really yeah, because your metabolism, you You trick your metabolism and you think you’re overeating, because you’re eating all the time, but meanwhile you’re really not eating much and like carbohydrates.
The only thing your body can consume right.
Your body actually takes a lot of effort and stuff to get rid of protein.
You need your carbs for energy but eat all your carbs in the morning, so you have all day to burn them off like throughout the day you slowly get into only protein at the night, like so there’s like a whole science and trick to it right, i’m Making weight which heavyweights don’t know? No, we don’t you know, oh no, we don’t damage at nine o’clock and that’s okay to you at nationals.
I walked onto the scale with a sandwich in my hand.
I cursed your name many times.
I remember in regina in 2004 standing in line eating a sandwich and i wish i knew because if i did, i would have got a doll yeah.
I wonder how why is it? I didn’t make many friends with the officials.
That’S awesome, so this venture you’re gon na open a gym, you’re gon na bring boxing back to orangeville.
That’S my plan.
So that’s amazing! I’M moving back to orangeville um! I had a loss, as you know, a couple years ago and um down in the house going back to my hometown.
It’S kind of where my you know all my core boys and my friends are and uh now that we don’t have a gym there.
I’M thinking it’s what we need.
We got a bunch of farm boys.
I want to scrap going back to orangeville and i’d really like to open the gym once covet’s over and uh yeah.
I want to get back into coaching.
I miss it.
I really do it’s good for you good for you thanks.
We um.
We desperately need so many well, we need.
We need new blood in the in the sport um in the coaching component.
But more importantly, we need competent blood yeah because there’s way too many enthusiasts who go off and think they can do wow.
I mean, as we see, there’s a lot of we’ll call them uh boxer, size, coaches turn to competition, [, Music, ] um.
You know guys that have taken a few classes themselves, never really been in the sport, never won a title.
Yeah heck a lot of guys, never even fought yeah yeah a lot they’re making um this is.
This is something that actually irks me a great deal because um nah, not gon na mention any names, but you have certain clubs who go off and start teaching or hosting um.
What we call corporate corporate shows corporate tournaments right with corporate people.
Boxing right that don’t know a damn thing about boxing.
So what happens? There is you’re gon na have these people with disposable income who could help the sport grow, but instead being ill-trained, compete, get hurt, may sue but, most importantly, have a bad taste about the sport and never come back, never invest in the game.
Never like.
I.
I just see it it’s almost it’s almost selfish and something has to be done porn.
What i want to get away from, is you see a lot of gyms now where they push on signing off for privates, right yeah and if, if you don’t have the money you’re, not getting any attention? Persuasive coach, the grinder on brambley, if you win every day and you tried pete, paid attention to you and spent time with you, it had no.
How much money was in your wallet? How much you wanted to actually learn and fight where now it’s if you’re broke, and you got no money, guess what no one’s gon na spend attention to you, where i’m going back to.
I want old bags with duct tape on them.
I want, like you know like that.
Rundown gym look private! I want, if you show up and want to fight, i’m going to teach you how to fight that’s what i want good for you now you’re! That’S going to take subsidy these guys these boxing clubs, as you know, like name a boxing club that you think is wealthy or doing well.
Well, a good one, or just name, one name, one that is doing well that, like i don’t know any um, there’s very few full-time gyms still my problems.
I get corporate like uh, you know like um, like an extreme couture.
That’S like a fighting gym! That’S a corporate right like yes, exactly um, something along that line.
That makes money, but it’s not necessarily a fighting gym.
It’S not a fighting gym, no, no um.
The reason why i’m asking is because, at the end of the day, you’re going to be looking at i’m thinking again for the progression of the sport right and you you hit the nail on the head, you are with your endeavor to go off and and imitate.
Mr sherman um wow, he was one of a kind he absolutely he did well outside of the outside of the gym.
Hence why he was able to donate and literally that’s what he did was donate his time yeah to whoever came in um.
The legendary hank boone was my coach.
He was, he was another one, it cost you 20 bucks a month and he’d do private.
He didn’t care about the money he made more than enough as a millwright.
He came in and he just dedicated his time and hence why he is arguably the most winningest coach in canadian history.
Most people – don’t most people, don’t know that hank boone had four guys on the national team at one time never has there ever been a coach like that.
He he coached the package yeah, so he loved the sport and he cared that’s what it was precisely right.
Wasn’T to make money and pat his pockets precisely and then you are you’re gon na do very well.
I i’m really excited to hear to see exactly what what the future holds for you, because at the end, you’re gon na do very well with that mentality and forget about everything you know and what you’ve experienced and whatnot, but just mentality you’ll do very well.
You’Ll.
Have an army of farmer boys? Oh my god, yeah i mean i, i do well outside of boxing and stuff financially.
So it’s not like i’m opening a gym because i needed to pay my mortgage or pay um.
I really just wanted to break even i wanted to cover my rent um and if i get a little tiny place you know i don’t need much.
It’S not giving me much for rent anyway, so the membership i’m going to try to keep as low as i can to most people in there.
I just want to break even every month.
I don’t want to cost anything in my pocket other than my time and i’m going to give all my time to these kids and adults and whoever wants to join.
I just want to cover the rent in the hydro and whatever good for you you’re going to bring in other coaches.
I don’t i don’t think so.
Um at least not off the hob.
I definitely not off the hop um, we’ll see how it goes, but here’s my thing: i want to be kind of like what i had growing up was pete and other coaches were all volunteer.
So i’m not going to hire someone to be coaching at the gym.
You want to come and help out and like volunteer and whatever all the power to you, but i want you to be there because the love of the sport, not because i’m putting money in your pocket good for you, yeah and you know we’ll still run our Other programs, like you know the lady box, fits and whatever else sure um, because that helps you know cover the cost of rent and stuff.
But i don’t want privates, i don’t i’m not yeah, i just i.
I personally privates are wasting money.
There.
People usually pay for private just to have like a psychiatrist that they can tell you all their problems too versus really working out.
I mean i was a personal trainer for years and i know, but a bunch of people that are just sort of you know telling you about their day and whatever else just want someone to talk to you, you feel like a bartender, you feel like a therapist.
You feel like a shrink right good on you um.
I brought you on this today because i wanted to celebrate you as a former canadian champion and your contribution to boxing history bottom line, especially not just in ontario.
I think, canada.
Why um? You had an illustrious professional career, let alone your energy career, and i wanted to make sure that you well.
I want to do my part to ensure, via this platform, to ensure that your name still is in the conversation in conversations when it comes to boxing and uh who propelled the sport ford um, we we went through a whole lot of crap.
We went through the ken hayashi era – oh okay, so i watch shows now and i’m like.
For instance, like last weekend, the three lions show right yeah and you got three first round knockouts, it’s like man that would have been fun back in the day.
Can i actually like you know my third fight he’s like no, the guy three and one is not good enough.
You need a better guy, it’s like what, like you know what i mean like yeah, because he was silver over matching us you’re, your first pro fight on my undercard.
Yes, that was my third pro fight.
That guy was like 11 and 3 or some 13 and five he had 18 fights yeah, and this is who he justified me fighting yeah.
No, it was brutal back in the day when we were there and there was two or three shows a year.
That’S the other one.
I was trying to explain to people.
People don’t understand, like, like you literally, had to take a fight in someone else’s hometown being dug just a fight, because all because of him stealth promotions will put on two shows a year and there might be someone else putting one more on so difficult.
He he we we got.
We got huge in 2007 with um uh orion orion sports right when they were when they got the casino and they were they’re putting out what three shows a year with uh steve muller right, but to get on that show was almost impossible precisely right, precisely yeah.
No, it was wow what changes, what what? What? How would you like to see the sport change upon your return? Now we’re talking amateur pro, let’s go with the amateurs? Okay, so i do i’ll be 100 honest.
I haven’t been really in the amateur scene in a while.
I don’t know how politicized it is.
Now i hear rumors about you know national team.
You win national teaming.
Now you got to live in montreal yeah.
You know things like that.
So obviously that is just ridiculous.
So if i created an amateur champion in orange, ontario that kid or adult or a young adult whatever should not have to be moved to munchau the man or woman on their dime yeah on their time.
That’S just ridiculous to even think for one we both know we feel comfortable with our coach.
We feel comfortable with our training.
We want that.
That’S how we got to that point.
Why would you now change something? You don’t want to change, what i’ve learned and how i’ve learned it just because i’ve got a national team because the money’s in montreal? That is absolutely ridiculous.
If that’s all true, i would like to somehow force that to be changed.
Um um, the whole country outside of quebec is attempting to make that change nothing’s happening.
But if we all rally together, it can happen yeah, i i say we just clean quebec away.
Yeah didn’t they want to separate.
I heard something like that: yeah, so um.
The main thing i want to do is just get a bunch of fighters fighting all the time, not picking fights either like when i was an amateur like you fought every chance.
You got it like.
Where now it’s like, you have coaches, no picking and choosing who they fight because they want like.
I don’t want that.
You know one of my kids is fighting anyone they can at the end of the day, the amateurs there’s no record it.
Doesn’T it doesn’t affect you, he doesn’t stay with you, you can.
You can have 100 losses because still go on to win the nationals, it doesn’t affect you right.
Nothing.
The pros is a different game.
You, your record, means something of course.
So why not fight? I remember pete having to pay people usually from the u.
s or whatever to come and fight me when mackie would have shows that big time in orangeville yeah, no one would risk coming to fight me.
It’S like listen man in two months: you’re gon na have to meet me at nationals or amateur and they can often the ontarios or whatever anyway.
But i remember back then remember you show up in the tournaments and it’s weigh-in, whatever you weighed in at that’s what division you’re in yep now you have to like apply for a certain division.
So now guys, can you reapply meaning, like you, you register, so you register as like a lightweight or you ready whatever right so now i can look at the list and figure out okay.
Well, i don’t want to fight these guys, so i’ll go up or down and wait, oh dear god, so that started in about 2000.
That was the last year, my amateur so 04.
, so an 04 literally, i would register in a weight class either below or above i was going to fight in because i knew guys would hop around and avoid me and then like today.
I’D move to my weight class so guys would literally be dodging you and i would i kept getting walk overs everywhere.
So then i just started doing okay, so i’d go lightweight, even though i knew i was going featherweight and then i waited like the night before and go featherweight where it’s got like eight guys in the weight class and you are allowed to like jump ship.
You can change it yeah, but you have like up until a certain hour or whatever right, but like back in the day, you just showed up whatever way you wait exactly that’s in 2004.
They changed that now.
I don’t know if it’s still like that, but i believe it is so add that to the list of things that you want changed yeah you just show up and you fight exactly you don’t know who’s registered who’s.
What because they literally have you registered and they’ll.
Do the draws you know who you’re fighting before you even show up? You just have to make weight when you show up to fight oh wow.
Well, things are different from this.
I did not know that ours was you weighed in and then like.
You had no clue like an hour later, all the coaches sat in a room and watched people pull stuff out of a hat and find out who you’re fighting.
It’S not like that anymore.
Yeah, yeah um.
Add that to the list, you’re gon na have your hands full.
My friend, ah once i got on the uh, the ontario board, no problem, i’m good on you good on you all right buzz uh.
I want to thank you for coming out and uh have a good chat.
It was great, seeing you first and foremost um.
I’M wishing you all the best with this uh with this, never with uh life.
After boxing as an athlete um, you still training, i’m still training, i’m still fighting.
I’M that’s what i was trying to say.
I want you to come back and have a fight.
I i was just about to fight when the lockdown happened.
So i can’t for one reason, my dad and i my dad’s, like my best friend, he was my best man, my wedding he’s, like my boy and when i first turned pro we were talking about, and i won’t say who somebody that we thought was kind of At the end of the career and shouldn’t still be fighting okay, my dad looked at me and he said you know, there’s gon na be a time where you’re still gon na wan na fight yep and he goes and you’re gon na have to listen to me.
So my dad has always been by my side, never giving me advice on anything.
Never like, never spoken a word about what to do, how to do it who to fight anything, but he goes.
There’S gon na be a time where i tell you it’s done and you have to listen to me it’s over and i’m like.
Okay, yeah, no problem thinking, there’s no way.
That’S ever happening and after my last fight i’m walking back to changing him and he goes how’d.
You feel and i’m like, i felt old in there.
He goes.
You know what i’m gon na say to you right, like yeah, dad tonight’s, the last night.
He goes yup tonight’s, the last night, son whoa, so because that will never fight again, but now i can coach, i still train, i still spar.
I stole the sport, but because of that i’ll, never fight again.
No – and you know what i can appreciate that, like i continually respect that um, i too have said my my barometer to quit is when i no longer when i’m up against guys who are athletically better than me if you’re athletically, better than me like, i can’t Get too fast, you’re too strong, then i’m i have no business being in the sport anymore and i have yet to see that um.
If i’m getting hurt, then yeah it’s time to pack it in i’m, not i’m not there yet so um and i’m still waiting for my million dollar payday, my grocery bill’s, just a little bigger than yours, yeah.
So true, but, like i said with that, i’m gon na wish you would do.
Thank you again for coming on.
Please come again.
Thank you very much at me, anytime ray would love it appreciate it appreciate it once i open the gym i’ll be requesting to come back on.
Please do we’ll do honey.
Keep in touch good, see you tonight and with that i would like to.
I would like to wish everybody that i do that’s my show and if you like, this show please hit the like button and subscribe and don’t forget the notification bell.
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