AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 2
Sheila and Stafford chat with the owner and founder of TalkinFight.com about the sport of boxing.
Hosted by Sheila Stafford, this is a weekly show that always features a special guest, and helps to promote boxing locally, especially women who are taking up the sport, and touches on many topics.
#Boxing #TalkinFight #GrandyTwins
#TSBR #TheStaffordBoxingReport
Transcribed:
[, Music, ], hello.
Everyone welcome to the stafford boxing report.
I’M sheila, i’m stafford! No baby! You come home now! Oh my bad see.
I was about to get blamed for something anyway.
We have a special special special guest, graham boyce, who is the founder of talk and fight, and he does so many other things as well, so everybody welcome graham boyce [ Music ] thanks very much for inviting me to your show.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you.
Well, we appreciate you and what i would like to say is thank you.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity on talk and fight and being able to have a platform, and my first question that i’m going to ask you is what made you reach out to me to give us this opportunity.
Yeah, i wan na know.
Uh two words.
Come to mind, one change, two impact uh when i saw uh sheila’s backstory on linkedin and how she wanted to make a change and an impact in her community.
I thought you know we should be doing that around the world, not just in atlanta – and i said i’m going to reach out to this young lady and find out if she’ll come on and help support us support communities around the world in a very similar manner.
Because we want people like you having shows like this from africa, from australia from asia all around the world, uh telling their story as how they can impact and change their communities through boxing boxing is very important.
A lot of people misunderstand boxing and the importance of boxing you know because it shows strength and stamina, resilience the perseverance, the the dedication all these virtues that somehow get misplaced or misused uh.
You know.
Yes, we get educated, we get taught to go work in the factory at the end of the day, but no boxing allows the individual to show who he or she is and – and that’s why i said so – i’m reading sheila’s little bio there and i’m going wow.
I got ta get hold of this young lady and i got ta find out she’ll come on board and do a show for us.
It took a while to convince her, but i’m glad i’m glad i’m glad.
I was successful because you guys been doing a great job and i really appreciate it.
You guys been doing fantastic, thank you, so honored and so humbled with those words that you just said, and we just want to keep on doing what it is we’re doing, and we want to continue on doing better and being better, even within our personal lives and Doing the stafford boxing report, so i would like to thank you once again for definitely giving us this opportunity and to also put in there that everyone who has a social media platform, please be careful of what you put out there.
Even if it’s just a short clip, a video or real just be careful, so, graham you do a lot baby.
Let me let me let me say something: okay, graham as sheila number one fan supporter, i want to say thank you from a man to another man for giving my wife an opportunity to execute her passion on your platform.
You don’t understand how this has definitely changed.
Sheila perception about life, it has definitely improved our marriage because it gave us a platform and an opportunity to work together.
So often you have a marriage couple and each of them have different careers, but not often are there a couple where they can work together and have the same passion for something that they truly believe in.
As you stated earlier, sheila and i have a passion to give back to the community.
It was just through this avenue.
Boxing is an avenue that we’re going to use to impact the community, particularly our at-risk youth.
We would like to be looked upon as a role model that comes with a lot of responsibility and at the same time, we understand how important it is for you to present a product on talk and fight, that it will interest the viewers and, as well as Support your brand and we are extremely um, grateful, honored and privileged that you not knowing anything about sheila or myself and you are in canada.
We are in the united states and how we have come together from across the border for one purpose.
One cause which is through the sport of boxing but at the same time give a different image a different perspective about boxing, and how not only can it be used to provide an income for an individual family but create jobs, demonstrate discipline, structure, focus determination.
These are very critical tools that are necessary for a young adolescent to have in their toolbox to be successful, and i cannot forget to to uh to express the importance of financial literacy, because every fighter wants to become a prize fighter to win financial income from winning Their fights every promoter, the boxing industry, is about financial income right.
So financial literacy is very important because oftentimes we see fighters who early in their career were very successful and were able to obtain a substantial amount of income.
But after boxing because they didn’t have the financial literacy tools, they kind of squirmed their finances away.
So we want to impact the community at a particular the early stage of the adolescent growth with financial literacy, and once again i just want to say thank you so much, because not often do people offer or extend opportunities for individ individuals who does not have that Type of background that one will require to have an opportunity yeah and one of the things that you need to keep in mind throughout all.
This is the inspiration that you’re providing for other individuals to do the exact same thing i mean, if you can do it, anyone can do it and and and so let’s revert back to uh the question that sheila had and talk talk, some more let her let Her fly sheila.
What do you got so, graham, you do so much consulting ventures.
Business plan writing, but i really want to start from the beginning because it was a very humbling beginning where how you started do.
Did you have anything to do with newspapers, [, Music, ], there’s a long story behind a long unwinding road, quite frankly behind me and in front of me but uh? Realistically, it’s all about people and uh, and that’s why i do what i do.
I believe in people i believe in you know i have pretty good intuition about people and i really believe in people, in the goodness of people in in the straightforwardness of people, integrity people.
So when i first started yeah um, i got back from bermuda.
I was managing hotels in bermuda back in the 80s and i came back and looking circumstance would have.
It ended me up re-meeting, a couple of people who had known when i was a teenager and they ran a magazine and they invited me to join that magazine and become a writer.
I became the national news editor of that magazine for four years throughout the 80s, and i interviewed a lot of really famous people and i’ve begun to understand quite frankly that, no matter how famous or how rich or wealthy you are at the end of the day, You’Re still a human being, and that’s one of the big takeaways i took uh in the 80s from those people was the very essence of humanity.
At the end of the day, no matter how rich you, you have something to give, you have something to sell.
If you will um – and so here i was in the 80s – a young man just learning to get by quite frankly, because i also had a another job as a bartender.
You know at the end of the day, i wasn’t just you know, making tons of money making everyone happy.
No.
I had a very rough and tough existence as as a national news editor at a recognized magazine, and i had to interview a lot of people uh.
Everyone in the entertainment industry, from producers and managers record store owners and chain franchisees owners, radio, station operators, as well as all these rich and famous people, and – and so the point is, is i my takeaway from that was hey? Maybe i can give a voice to those young people, those young musicians, who needed a voice who needed someone to support them and that that took me to launch in my own label back in 1989, which i ran for 10 years till 1999.
And, quite frankly, it was very successful.
We had distribution 23 different countries, but what i was doing was in essence, giving young people a voice, giving those people who didn’t know they had a voice, a voice.
And if you, if you, if you flip now uh past all those years on to what i’m doing now, i’m doing the exact same thing, i’m running yet again, an entertainment empire which is growing day by day by offering people the opportunity to have a voice.
So um, whether it’s you sheila, whether it’s natalie at the end of the day, all these great people that i’ve said do you need a voice.
Do you need to speak to people well this this whole internet thing is very easy to operate very easy to use.
If you know how to use it and use it correctly, so if you, if you flash forward from what i was doing in a traditional media, sense back in the 80s, which is what 40 odd years ago, but but back then i’m doing the exact same thing.
Now i’m giving people a voice, i’m letting people communicate their messages that need to be heard to a very wide audience all around the world, and i’m really appreciative, quite frankly, of all the people who’ve supported this endeavor.
When we launched talking.
When i say we, i didn’t do this solely on my own.
There’S, no there’s no soul thing here.
It’S it’s a very uh, integrated effort where there’s a lot of people involved in this operation and a lot of people are involved to make sure that your voices are heard around the world.
So we reach, as you probably know, and i’ll just remind the audience of this.
We reach people in the boxing communities across africa, whether it be north africa, east africa, south africa, west africa.
We we reach a lot of people in australia and new zealand.
We reach a lot of people in europe, obviously, and of course, the americas as well.
So i’m just saying simply what i’m doing is more or less a reality based on what my team is offering me, and that support is what i really need and you guys are giving it to me you’re, giving me that support that i need out of atlanta.
I mean who knew that there would be two people in atlanta who thought boxing would be their savior.
You know for the community and that’s that’s what i appreciate.
That’S what i like.
We global we global teamwork.
Teamwork, makes the dream work.
Yep team here to make a dream work.
You guys are great.
I love your sayings that you come every week when you come up with these things.
Maybe practice them maybe write them down beforehand, but uh, but these things that you come up with like when no matter who you’re talking to i love uh.
You know what you guys are saying what you guys are communicating right around the world.
It’S fantastic stuff.
It really is, and it’s resonating it’s shown by the numbers.
I mean i’m not going to sit here and brag about how great you guys are doing, but i am going to brag about it because you guys are doing great.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Guys numbers are going through the roof uh, you know we.
We we have a platform that streams on.
Oh, my tech guys would know this better than me, but roughly speaking, 17 different platforms right around the world and uh.
You know we’re not tick.
Talkers, we’re not youtubers we’re very serious people who have a very serious message and that message is getting across because of people like you mom.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very humble, so we want to talk more about talk and fight with what you have going on like any.
You know, relationships that you’re building and everything that talk and fight wants to do since you’re we’re talking about always helping.
So, let’s get into that yeah, we wanted you graham to talk about the different facets of the conglomerate business that you have like when i was speaking with eric.
He was talking about how we want to use talk and fight as a platform for amateurs to learn how to speak before the camera before they go.
Professional also use the technology to to size up the fighter, weight, etc.
You know more about your product, but we want you to explain to the audience about the the the big platform that you have.
It’S just not about talk and fight.
It’S about other components that you have with talking fight without a doubt, so, basically a nutshell uh.
When we launched talk and fight it was more or less a hobby, it was something we were doing for fun uh we would broadcast one show every friday night called the friday night panel and uh me, and a few friends were just simply online because of kovit Through zoom talk about boxing – and out of that, though, came a number of discoveries based on the responses we were getting from our audience.
We discovered that boxing was a pyramid-based structure where you had an awful lot of people on the bottom, making no money and a very few people on top making a lot of money.
So we said: can we change that? Is there a way we can change that? Can we flatten out or democratize this industry, somehow you know, make it more uh, fun and stable, economically speaking for the people who are involved in the sport, you know so so, no matter where you’re from in the world.
Could we make this more equitable for you and the tech team came back and said yeah? Absolutely we can do that.
We can do that by doing what nobody else is doing in boxing, and that is begin to use data and analysis to begin to understand, movement and capability.
So, quite frankly, we have now developed a hardware and software integrated solution that we’re about to unleash on the boxing world.
Quite frankly, where it’ll be established in gyms, where you can begin to take a look at how boxers move young boxers.
That is – and i guess old boxers, but i mean at the end of the day how they can move, how quickly they move, how fast their punches are hit.
What speed they’re hitting at the power of those punches, that type of thing that that nowadays can all be measured? It’S not being measured, and so we said hey can we can we do that and so, as i said, the tech team came back and said: yeah.
We can do that.
We just need to buy these cameras from france, uh integrate them with some software that we’re developing, which we did, and now we can begin to distribute these platforms across gyms around the world and what that will do at the end of say one year.
Let’S say one year goes by anyone who considers themselves an agent the same way: football players, basketball players, hockey players, whatever they’ll, have agents; okay, in the very same way, that agents can begin to use data and analysis to prove that they have the best of the Best in their stable they’ll be able to use that now in unboxing, because it’s not being done right now in boxing right.
So is it fair to say that you’re a pioneer? We are absolutely pioneering uh the integration of technology into the sport of boxing, because right now, right now, if i’m bob aaron or don king or eddie or whoever, if i’m, whoever those guys are, i’m sitting there, relying on someone’s opinion.
I think this guy’s a great boxer, and why do i think that? Because he’s got a 19-0 record and why has he got a 19-0 record because he’s been fighting tomato cans? Okay, bottom line? Okay, this technology, that we’re about to introduce will absolutely revolutionize the boxing industry because they’ll be able to prove how good these guys are.
I’M talking young guys, not not the old established, guys and gals uh, but young people coming up through sports.
So this more or less a long term vision here we can absolutely revolutionize the industry by introducing this technology and to answer your other question with respect to one of the other things we found when we started interviewing boxers, whether they be [, Music, ], retired, boxers Or still active boxers young boxers amateur boxers, one things we recognized is they they’re a little bit shy in front of the camera? So we said: is there any way? We can help these guys out and i know an awful lot of people who are involved in the entertainment industry who don’t have a job anymore, because the entertainment industry itself has changed, and i said you know i can bring a lot of those friends to the Table here and they can educate these young people as to how to speak in front of a camera, how to answer questions, how to redirect focus of the line of questioning.
So, for example, if you’re asking me the wrong type of questions, i might say to you: hey, that’s a great question sheila, but you know what i’d like to talk about.
I’D like to talk about and and go from there and so we’ve launched an academy.
So when we actually get this whole thing underway, we’ve got a multi-pronged approach in terms of um, not just the talk and fight aspect, which is merely media channel, which enables what we’re hoping to be a huge family of people from around the world.
Who have a love of boxing and understand the impact and importance of boxing in their communities enabled them to integrate technology on a localized level so that those young boxers become they get recognized because there’s an awful lot i’ll give you an example, there’s an awful lot Of boxers in africa, who are just as good as american and european or mexican boxers, but never ever ever, get recognized why money bottom line money? Okay.
So how can we level that playing field introduce a bit of technology and a super great example would be you guys might be familiar with this, but i’m sure when i was in ghana, for example, a few years ago, one of the things that i recognized that Everybody had a cell phone, i said: hey.
Does everyone in ghana have a cell phone it’s because they never had a cableized system like we have in north america they never so when when when cell phones got introduced, everyone bought one.
The point of the matter is: is they’re they’re not reluctant at all to use new technology they’ve just not been introduced to it; no one’s brought it to them.
No one said hey.
This is available to you so now those fighters in, like i said before – north africa, east africa, south africa, west africa.
Now they can become recognized for how truly powerful they are based on the technology we’re about to deliver to them right, and so the fourth thing that we did.
Having said all that the media channel the technology that we’re about to introduce with sportbox, okay uh, the the academy where we can educate these people as to how to speak and speak properly and speak well, which i’m not saying they can’t.
But i’m just simply saying directing focus.
Here’S the fourth thing that we said is you know what we should do.
You know what i found.
I think i think boxers need money more than need belts, okay, what are belts at the end of the day? What are belts at the end of the day? Okay, something that some guys invented: okay, wbc, wba, wbo ibf, whatever what’s a belt bottom line, felt something you try to achieve is great.
If you do achieve it, just like karate.
At the end of the day, i became a black belt.
Why? Because that’s what i was told was the best, but at the end of the day, what we’re looking to do is put some money into these people’s brains.
Some fettuccine, some chips.
There you go so we said why don’t we create an elite boxing championship? Okay, so we we approached tim witherspoon, our good friend, two-time, heavyweight champ, and we said: hey tim.
Would you host an event? Why would you hold just one event? Why do we hold ten? Why do we hold twenty? There are many many casinos and many many resorts around the world who are looking.
They have big festival halls who are looking for events.
Why, in a post covered world, they need people to come to their venues and what better venue uh to have than the casino and or a festival hall, whether it be dominican republic, whether it be puerto rico, whether it be doesn’t matter where it does to me.
It doesn’t matter at all, we can, we can host it, we can showcase these boxers.
We can have fights, we can.
We can make our money i’ll be blunt, can make our money through pay-per-view sales.
They on a localized level can make their money uh, selling tickets and selling.
You know food and drink to the people who come to these events.
Everybody wins win-win.
That’S what i’m saying there you go, graham, the plug! Yes, sir, hey, you know what graham you’re right, though it’s a lot of talent in africa, man, because we be getting a lot of emails messages through instagram.
These fighters really want us to promote them to uh, become their managers, etc, etc.
And you know now having a better understanding of all the resources and the platform that you are providing.
You know it got my you know got my got my head, spinning like okay.
We can connect this this this, but you absolutely right.
It’S a lot of talent in africa.
They just need an opportunity to be showcased.
Absolutely we agree.
We agree.
As a matter of fact, one of our first uh show hosts uh with was uh.
He was born in nigeria, but he became canadian.
His name was bola ray, fantastic guy, heavyweight, champ, canada, fantastic fella, and he hosted about i’d, say about 90 different shows every week.
He’D have a show, you know and uh, and he was absolutely fantastic.
His his specialty was the heavyweight division.
He could speak for hours on end about the heavyweights, but he didn’t stop there.
He went on to describe uh, you know every single, different division, every single great fighter and all the different things that that great fighter brought to the sport and why that person should be recognized for the value that he brings to the sport.
So all i’m saying is this is a lot of talent in africa.
That’S being ignored right now by the boxing community and i’m not saying i’m going to exploit it i’d like to, but but we’re looking for partners and we have partners in africa right now, like i said, i’ve spent some time in west africa.
I know some people down there.
I have a lot of friends in the middle east.
I have a lot of friends in east africa and we have dave rajuli, who does a great show called ringside talk and he he constantly promotes south african fighters past and present and and does a great job doing it.
And, quite frankly, i did not know there were so many great boxers that came out of south africa.
To be blunt, i didn’t know and uh, and it’s great that we have hosts like him who bring those kinds of personalities to the table.
So the guys, like you and me, know, wow, there’s not only a boxing scene in south africa, but it’s actually powerful and these guys really know their stuff and they enjoy it.
And, and and this is this was news to me and i was going wow – that’s fantastic yeah, so anyway, one more thing i wanted to say: uh.
The people in africa definitely support the sport of boxing, like it’s a huge crowd.
It’S like in america.
Well, in certain parts of the world how people are into soccer, people in africa are into boxing, i mean they are very passionate about boxing and they come out in huge crowds to support those type of events.
So i totally concur with you, though, graham yeah, when we, when we saw some initial video, i think it came out of kenya and uh.
This young chap sent us uh some video footage of his training and they were basically training within a concrete bunker.
For lack of better description and we were going wow, but that’s it just kind of brought me back to the rocky movie like at the end of the day like they’re, you may have the harshest conditions, but if you’re determined and you’ve got that perseverance that dedication, You can actually make it and then these guys are making it.
These guys are powerful, but they’re, just unrecognized and so yeah pro bellum is doing a great job, wasserman’s doing a great job.
There are great organizations out there doing a great job across north america across europe across mexico, but there are certain parts of the world that are being ignored and i’m not saying africa is being ignored because there are a lot of great fighters coming out of africa.
But my point is: is we talk and fight look forward to getting down to africa and showcasing some of these great fighters and and and quite frankly, live streaming a lot of these great fights because they’re completely unrecognized right now, yeah? So babe? Look, you know what we need to start.
You know tapping into uh those guys from africa and having them on the show getting some exposure yeah, especially the one that yeah that’s been sharing our story.
I i agree with you on that.
So, graham how’s boxing in canada, like in philadelphia before the covet, and i think it’s starting to get back to it now you know philadelphia, i would say, would be the mecca of boxing.
There was always a sparring session going on every week or or every day.
So so how is canada in boxing? We have a very complicated history with respect to boxing.
Canada has numerous provinces and numerous great boxers that come from those provinces, but we had an idiot by the name of ken hayashi, who was the commissioner of sports here in the province of ontario, who would not allow boxing on a professional level to take place? So, basically, in a nutshell, for over a 10-year period, uh boxing was quashed here in ontario, which is the biggest province uh in america.
You have states here, we have provinces, but uh.
It was quashed and uh and and and the people here didn’t have a chance to fight, and it was really unfortunate.
I mean the opportunity.
The interest is there, in other words, the opportunity to mix and match uh very, very, very, very recently, uh our team went down to a place called rebel nightclub uh, which was sold out and a great show was put on and uh.
So the in my point is: is the interest is there here in ontario across the country? It’S certainly there um, but what’s and and quite frankly, the organizational structures there so uh boxing canada, boxing ontario uh, the various administrative bodies, are there to put boxing back on the map.
If you will here in canada, as you know, lennox lewis, a great uh.
You know, i don’t know if you know lance lewis’s story or not, but you know he he was born in britain for sure uh, but sadly his father decided to leave the family and his mother decided to relocate to canada.
So when, when she decided to relocate to canada, uh lennox being a young man, uh decided to go to the boxing gym and and got trained by some obviously great trainers and went on to win a gold medal for canada at the olympics and from then uh.
You know, obviously, his his career somewhat blossomed, he’s a great, probably the best heavyweight fighters, but the point matter is is he’s a great illustrious example of what we can achieve as being a small country, and there are many small countries around the world with great boxers And that’s where we kind of step in so we’re kind of like if you will right now, the switzerland of boxing uh, you know we’re not the powerhouse.
I mean.
If you take a look at england, they they put 90 000 people into a stadium to see tyson fury, uh fight.
They have a great boxing legacy.
Without a doubt.
United states has a great boxing legacy, not not just philadelphia, but i’m i’m reporting monday to friday.
Every single day, on the great boxing scenes i mean it used to be las vegas, but nowadays, you’ve got you’ve, got boston with some great communities in boston.
Supporting boxing you’ve got philadelphia.
You’Ve got brooklyn the barclay center hosting some great events right, not to mention la and the events that take place in california, so right across america, and not to mention oh by the way, not to mention florida, which held tampa held the creator clash event.
Now a lot of a lot of us are sitting there going.
Oh man, you know: should these youtubers really be considered boxers, but at the end of the day, these youtubers, who make more than you me well, okay, they make more than me uh, but i’m just simply saying.
At the end of the day, these youtubers hired the best trainers, the best coaches and they got into the ring and they fought each other and they gave each other hell.
And it was really good to see these young people who really hadn’t boxed before they got trained, though i’m not saying they’re professional, but they donated all the money from their from their event.
Called creator clash it was held down in tampa.
They donated all that money that they made to like the heart and stroke foundations of america and all they gave it all away.
They weren’t in it for the money.
They did it because they were serious about it and it was fun and they wanted to see who was the best of the best among their group of you know, creators and they were youtubers, for you know what you and i would call youtubers, but they did A great great show uh, it garnered a lot of attention and it’s you know i don’t have a lot.
I did not have a lot of really nice good things to say about youtube in the beginning, when jake paul and his kind of family came along, but at the end of the day, he’s brought a whole new generation to the sport of boxing and boxing.
As you guys are, proving can be incredibly beneficial to young people it gives them direction gives them support, gives them a focus.
I mean you guys could describe better how it impacts the community than i, but because i’m coming at it from a business perspective.
But realistically you know what what we saw happened down in tampa this past year and what we’ve seen happening among the women’s boxing group holy cow, i’m blown away by the increase in chelsea, not just prosperity of the young women who are boxing, but how the industry Is now supporting them and saying wow, these guys could, as in gals can actually fight these guys can actually fight, and, yes, they can actually fight.
When ebony bridges went into the ring last year right and she she she survived.
I i think it was a 12-round fight.
I can’t remember, maybe eight rounds, but she survived and she came out of there with like her eye absolutely closed.
She was she was punch, blind uh, but she was in it to the bitter end.
I mean it was a bloody bloody fight and that put a lot of credibility behind women’s boxing.
Quite frankly, and ever since then, i’ve seen i mean sheila is doing it natalie’s doing it.
We’Re watching increase in numbers based on women who who at one point were entering uh boxing gyms merely for the fitness level? Okay, then they got have i lost them.
I don’t know.
Oh there they are they’re the back.
Well, so so women would enter at one point for the fitness level and and and now i’m seeing them enter the ring why they want to know what it’s like to fight and boy.
Can they fight? So so, given the fact, you’ve got youtubers on one hand, women.
On the other hand, you have these two demographics meeting in the middle boxing is in for one heck of a resurgence and we’re gon na be at the forefront of that resurgence.
Absolutely we we we absolutely, i can’t do it alone.
I can’t do it alone.
No teamwork make a dream.
Work now.
Remember that teamwork make a dream work, but you know what graham i want you to kind of expand on how you believe, or perhaps i might say, um your opinion about boxing gyms being important to the community great question.
Well, i’ve always been a huge supporter of a facility that attracts young people to give them the ability to express themselves to begin to talk socialize among themselves to talk with like-minded people to receive instruction from [ Music ].
Their superiors is kind of a you know, but you you, you need the masters to do padawans, quite frankly, and and that’s what boxing gyms do.
Uh was a great show.
I think it’s called baltimore uh, a tv show that came here and one one of the main attractions of that particular show was the young fella who came out of prison and started up his own boxing gym and all the young people who you know.
Let’S, let’s call them downtrodden, you know they went to that boxing gym because they felt welcome there.
They felt part of the family and i think that’s what boxing gyms around the world offer is that support that’s necessary that maybe they don’t get it home, and so i’m a big supporter of those kinds of facilities uh, whether they’re, whether teaching karate, whether teaching boxing.
I don’t care if it’s a library club at the end of the day, if you’re supporting the young people and what young people need.
I support it.
That’S good! That’S good, because oftentimes people look at the sport of boxing as it being.
Yes, it is a combat sport, but they think it’s negative, but it’s so much other things that comes into boxing than just getting the ring trying to you know beat somebody else.
It’S really not like that.
If you really understand and study the sport of boxing it’s about skills, it’s about finessing, it’s an art, it’s a science and it’s a lot of preparation that goes into this, but it’s also a lot of life skills that you can get from becoming and participating in The sport of boxing, so that’s what we want to demonstrate and emphasize with the stafford boxing club, and so hopefully we will have the community support that you know: hey man, we’re not producing something, that’s going to cause a division in the community.
We want to do something to provide an addition to the community, particularly in the urban community.
We need outlets, like that.
You know what i mean like so many kids are involved in so many things at an early age.
Yes, people say well man back in the day, man.
I can’t do stuff like that, but one thing about life time.
You know things will change in life that just just reality, but at the same time it’s very important for us to have outlets in our communities, and we just believe the stafford boxing club is something special because oftentimes in no disrespect you have guys who are former Boxers end up, you know, opening up a gym, but you have a husband and wife.
Both you know have a passion both are students of life, and i think it’s important for the community and our youth to see uh a real marriage, a a healthy, strong, uh, black marriage.
You know succeed in doing business together, like i enjoy working with my wife.
I really do i mean i never.
I never saw this coming in our marriage like this year, we’ll be married for 14 years.
You know and we got married within three weeks of meeting each other.
You know what i mean and so like just to evolve to this point like we never thought that we would be on a podcast and i’m just a blessed man, because just look how beautiful this woman is you get what i’m saying like she’s the you know: What i mean she’s, the mayor of my backbone, you know what i mean, so i’m just very grateful for her for her support.
She’S, beautiful she’s, educated she’s, a strong spiritual woman and the community needs to see that you know they need to see like two operating.
That’S one not one doing this and one doing that, and so that’s what our youth is missing and that’s what we plan to do as a vehicle using the stafford boxing.
We got that one right this time.
We got that one right there yeah it is.
I thought yeah so so in a nutshell: that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve we’re trying to achieve a family on a global level.
You know people of like-minded spirit who can connect with each other understand each other and talk to each other, because we’ve talked to many many many many boxers.
Okay and the one thing they have in common is no matter who they’re fighting.
They have an appreciation for that person.
They have a respect for that person.
They may in fact eat the heck out of each other, but at the end of that fight they like each other.
They respect each other so and that’s something that’s missing.
Uh on the streets, if you will um, you know, you know, respect you’re, right, you’re, right, hey, hey, you’re, on! Graham! That’S why a lot of people get killed yeah because they don’t respect because they don’t respect and then they’re always talking about you’re disrespecting me and then it just goes yeah right.
So hey! Graham! I wanted you to um.
Have you ever heard? Well, since you’re from canada, you probably know about george chuvalo.
Yes, of course i met him once okay yeah he was, i mean he had an opportunity to fight muhammad ali uh, frazier and george foreman, and he never got knocked down by none of them guys.
So he was a tough one.
Let me tell you this.
When i went when i met george, i was 17 or 18 years old as a waiter and uh, and i got ta say like at the end of the day that the maitre d he asked me goes hey, do you want to get his autograph and i Said who is he he was so nice? He was so appreciative he was so normal.
I didn’t even know that that was george cevallo.
Like i didn’t know, he was that normal, like he was that humble he was that nice and uh, and that’s that’s one of the takeaways i take from my teenage years when i met someone that famous, who was that cool, quite frankly and uh you know so So ever since then uh when i, when i talk to these boxers, you realize they’re, they have families, they have needs they’re normal, just like you and me, and uh yeah they’ll get into the ring.
Why? Because they’re fierce warriors and they’re not athletes per se, i like what mike tyson says about it.
You know he’s not he’s not an athlete, he’s a fierce warrior and there’s a lot to be said about that kind of intuition.
Like that kind of grounding in knowledge, you know what i mean: we’ve got some construction happening in the background.
I don’t know if you can hear that or not so i kind of have to wrap this up soon.
Yeah, it’s all good.
It’S all good! You know who i like, though i hope i’m pronouncing his name right, john long zone or zane.
Am i saying it right? I don’t know, i don’t know who you’re talking about there.
You got me on that one.
He was he’s an he’s, an um asian guy, but he i think he lives in ontario ontario toronto or something like that.
He started boxing at the age of 31 and i think he just had a fight may 14th and he caught my attention because he started kind of late in his years and i think he had um his boxing match when he was 40 and i think he Had what 19 fights 18 kos or something like that? You know who i’m talking about yeah, i think yeah.
He stays up there because he couldn’t go back to his homeland because of the pandemic, so he ended up staying there.
So what we’re gon na have to do is you’re gon na have to send me his name and i’m gon na have to reach out to him and then get him on the show.
Yeah hey.
Graham, i wanted to ask you now: you’ve been around the sport of boxing for a long time and we asked rick glazer this question.
What is the difference that you see from the fighters in the past to the fighters today? What’S the distinction in terms of the dissimilarities and the differences uh money, so back back in the old days when i used to follow muhammad ali, joe frazier uh holmes, those kinds of guys, george of all, those kinds of guys uh.
When i was a kid – and you know they were, they were making nothing.
At the end of the day, the managers promoters the broadcasters they were making tons and tons of money.
The fighters were making nothing okay.
At the end of the day, flash forward 40 odd years or so here i am, i have the ability to change all that, and you know yes, youtubers come into this as i create you know, creator clash, as i said before, made those youtubers could have made Those youtubers a lot of money, but they gave all that money away.
So what’s the big difference right now money, so you got you got tyson, fury saying you know i want.
I want 500 million dollars to fight andy and joshua.
Like that’s a that’s a ton of money, okay, that could be going to a lot of really decent people.
I’M not saying tyson fury’s, a bad guy, i’m just saying that.
That’S a lot of money to be paying one guy if he wins that fight.
What i would like to do is see uh an equal distribution of that money uh by implementing the technology described earlier by implementing the kinds of fights that we could implement on a localized level.
So, for example, let’s just say, for example, let’s take cleveland okay and let’s say we have a fight in cleveland, okay and, let’s just say, within the cleveland area, there’s 10 000 people who, like boxing they’ll, pay 10 bucks to watch it on a pay-per-view level.
Okay in their homes, okay, so 10 000 times 10 bucks, that’s a hundred thousand dollars.
I guarantee you, that’s a lot more than putting 100 people in the seats at the local arena is all i’m saying so.
What’S changed nowadays is the amount of money that can be generated on a pay-per-view level so and that’s changed the nature of fighting quite frankly, but what it shouldn’t do.
Is it shouldn’t restrict fighters from making money and that’s what, however, is happening? So we want to level the playing field.
That’S what our goal is.
You know we want to level the playful uh on a technology level by giving the guys access to technology that’ll enable them to become better fighters uh, both male and female.
Okay, it’s going to democratize the entire industry.
We want to make sure that that data will be graham will just be right back everybody.
So that’s amazing! I, like everything that he’s saying yeah yeah i i was going to ask you that, like the things that graham is talking about – and here is graham, he is coming all right.
So we want to make sure that data and that analysis gets back into the hands of the uh.
The people who matter the people can make a change.
So you know and those people you know eventually you’re gon na.
I could hate to say it, but they’re gon na die out.
You know the the bob arum’s, don’t change the world.
They’Re gon na die out so and i’m saying that a bad way, i’m just simply saying we are preparing for that change and uh.
You know guys like you, who are sitting on top of a community in atlanta who can promote boxing as a positive force for change.
Those are the kinds of people that i want to embrace and bring into this whole entire talk and fight family.
To be blunt, i mean that that’s that’s about the bottom line, hey you know what graham you you answered my question prematurely, because i was about to ask you: how did you see us sheila and stafford and the stafford boxing movement being integrated with the talking fight Platform and growing because, yes, we are um non-profit, but at the same time we do have a for-profit component of this.
So we want to make some of that money that’s being available in the boxing industry.
So how do you see us growing and and creating opportunities for economic growth? I think the easy way to describe your role.
If you will, if you want to prove that way, is uh ambassadors.
You guys become the face uh of talk and fight, not only in georgia but across the whole southeastern states right across america.
Quite frankly, you guys can put what we’re talking about into action.
You guys can deliver the technology to the local gyms and i don’t mean local gyms as in just those gyms in atlanta, but if you really put your heart and mind to it, you’ve got an awful lot of credibility now being host of talk and fight.
You’Re.
Now being you’re being heard around the world right now, there are people around the world.
Listening to us and hearing hey.
Can i do this too, and the answer is yes, yes, you don’t have to sit there and put on a pair like you know.
How do you teach a a a soccer guy to be a great soccer guy? You know just give him a ball and say here go play with the ball.
No you’ve got to teach that young fella.
You got to teach that young gal you’ve got to teach them the skills that are necessary.
That’S that’s important, but, along with those boxing skills, you’ve also got to teach them how to speak, how to be comfortable within their shoes.
If you will, you know, know themselves know their opponent in in a good way in a flamboyant way in a generalistic way, but yeah know what you’re about know.
Why you’re doing what you’re doing you know? Am i doing this just to make money? No, you know, did deonte wilder really make all that money um just so he could buy a big house.
No, he made all that money, so he could support the medical bills needed for his young daughters, uh.
You know ill health and get her better.
You know so there are many many different reasons why people get into the support of boxing, but while we’re in it is to support communities around the world period baby, we ambassadors are talking fight the brand we premium we global.
Now you feel me always premium.
I, like it: okay, just hey, it’s all: hey everything’s, on on the record.
Now it’s understood now.
Okay and all i get is get understanding we’re just trying to get some understanding.
Yeah, absolutely i mean you know.
If, if we were, if we were super structured, you know you guys would be on our board of advisors, you guys would be uh top of the chain if you will so it’s on the way, absolutely absolutely absolutely absolutely without doubt i mean this has been so Much fun, i’m really glad that you guys are enjoying what you’re doing and bringing all these great people to the interview.
Wow a fox, you don’t see a fox in the daytime uh anyway, a fox just i’m in the middle of the middle of the woods.
As you can tell and uh the producer just knows the fox [ Music ] wow, that’s cool yeah cause.
You look like a fox because you lose a fox yeah, hey i’ve launched a lot of businesses and i’ve done a lot of things with a lot of great people, but i’m having so much fun right now and there’s people like you know you guys are talking To an awful lot of people who mean so much to me and when i, when i listen that rick laser interview by the way when i was down in spain – and i listened to that, i went wow bang, you guys nailed it big time.
I mean you asked the right questions.
You hit him with the right feedback, i mean he was.
He was like whoa, you know, i don’t.
I don’t think, because when we talked to rick earlier we didn’t touch on half that stuff.
We select the boxes and it was a great interview and i really appreciate that.
Well, graham, what we would like to do is present a great product, so it’s a lot of you know work that goes behind the scenes.
It’S like a fighter.
That’S that’s the mindset.
We have like a fighter when a fighter continues to work on his craft.
He becomes an expert in it and so sheila and i we work together.
That’S what that’s, what we do: iron sharpen iron and i’m just happy to have an accountability partner.
That’S what’s important! An accountability partner because she would say: okay, did you get ready? Look, we got to get ready tonight.
Did you do this? Did you do that and it’s it’s really fulfilling baby? You know what i’m saying that you pushes me to greatness, and i love you for that.
I want the world to know that man, you everything to me.
Thank you for reading.
I’M going to start crying here, come on! Stop that hey! Listen! I just want the world to know that this is my queen she’s, the crown of my glory she’s everything.
When you see me, you see her she’s behind the scenes.
She speak life into me.
She don’t speak death.
She don’t try to change me.
The only thing she try to do is encourage me, my wife, she writes notes and she put it in the bathroom.
So when i go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, i look at the notes.
She said.
I love you, i’m proud of you you’re, a strong man.
You know those small things are very important to me and it should be important to any man if you got a wife like mine.
Now, i’m just blessed like that.
You know hey man and i think, as we grow up um, you know, young people should respect their elders and and and the lessons that those elders can bring to them and not disrespect them, and i think that’s what boxing teaches as well.
Is that level of respect? Because how else are you gon na learn and that’s what me and sheila plan to do? We plan to take life experiences our understanding about boxing, the history of boxing education? That’S what we’re going to talk about on the podcast, because that is some of the history of boxing.
You know i’ve been looking that up with the mafia.
Oh you know what, graham, how do you feel about uh clarissa fields going to uk? Oh, she is my bad, my bad, it’s okay, my bad clarissa.
She is going to uk and getting the support from that community because if i’m not mistaken baby, then you tell me it was about a 80 000 um.
It might be more than that, like they’ve, been doing 80 a woman fight like that, it’s all women on this card, they’re doing 80, 000.
So just think about it: 80, thousands in the stadium, then you got pay-per-view and you got all and then they have michaela.
I can’t wait to see um yeah.
They got brand coming everywhere.
How you feel about that, graham? Why is it that the uk will support women boxing, but the us is kind of it’s a hard time in embracing the change.
I i think once we get into uh, shall we say uh national competitiveness, that that’s, when you’re gon na start to see the change um with gals like clarissa, going over to uk and beating up on whoever she needs to beat up on that’s fine.
But when she starts waving that american flag, i think you’re gon na start seeing a lot of american boxing fans saying wow.
You know who? Who else is there that we should be looking at other than clarissa? So and that’s a good question too, by the way you know i mean the uk does a great job of promoting their female boxers all the way from the olympics, all the way through to the pro ranks they do a great job of promoting their their boxers.
We we don’t here in north america, i’m speaking both canada and us i mean we try our best uh, but what we’re not doing is marketing properly to the box, the average boxing fan.
So, for example, when i was in spain recently, if you were to take all those people who into bull fighting and transition them to boxing you’d, have a huge uh database and a huge demographic, a huge population of people who really really enjoy the sport.
Because not it’s not because it’s brutal, but because of the skill that’s involved like you, were mentioning earlier stafford, it’s about the skill that’s involved and yes, we can.
We can argue, there’s a lot of skill involved in bullfighting.
But all i’m saying is: is there’s a huge market in spain for boxing it’s untapped, so when claressa goes over to uk it’s for the money uh without a doubt and i’m really happy super duper happy.
I mean we’ve been promoting women’s boxing since day one and we we continually look out and seek more and more and more women hosts for our shows who can promote sports, uh and and women’s integration sports.
You know, as he you know, like look.
Look at the the crap that goes on, like women’s soccer women’s football uh, what what they had women playing in their bikinis at one point uh, you know so i’m just saying like i i’m not that guy.
I don’t like that kind of stuff.
What i like the purity of sport of boxing and the women who get involved in it, they beat the heck out of each other, just as well as the men beat the heck out of each other.
And that’s what i like about it and uh, and i think classical in the uk is great if she wins even better for americans, because quite frankly, uh it’ll give hope to an awful lot of young american female fighters out there.
Who want that same level of support? So let me ask you a question, graham who you got in this fight.
You know what i like.
I like clears a lot, but i don’t like the fact that she switched to mma um.
I don’t like the fact that she held her own promotion um.
I can’t remember who she fought there, but she held her own promotion and she didn’t do a good job of it.
She should have left in the hands of professionals and now she’s kind of floating back into the world of i need a bit of money, so i need to go over to england, make some money, so i kind of you know her integrity is not in my Humble opinion 100 she’s in it for the money, so i’m really hoping that there are more female american fighters coming up behind her in her wake who have integrity, who aren’t just doing it for the money but are doing it for the support.
I love the support.
[, Music ], i’m hoping that is what comes out as as a picture of the perfect american boxer.
I can see that because i didn’t even think of it.
That way.
I was thinking she went to do the mma because there wasn’t anybody that would either fight her or she was getting bored but either way.
I see what you’re saying just stick with the boxing: don’t switch or retire so the passion and that’s what i was going to say, passion a lot of people.
Don’T even have that passion anymore, some of the boxers.
No, they don’t.
Some of the boxes.
Don’T even have that passion they’re just doing it, like graham said, just doing it for the money like we, we, we got a password for this trust me to to it shows in our expression and our enthusiasm in our preparation and our appearance.
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