AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 2
Watch the weekly episode of TalkinFight featuring a very special guest, Zahir Raheem, on YouTube or LIVE at talkinfight.com/live Friday’s at 7pm EST . . . #boxer #boxing #boxingtalkshow
Transcribed:
All right, i believe, we’re live thanks for joining us, uh viewers of talk and fight uh.
I believe we have a guest uh joining us shortly uh, but in the meantime let me make the introductions.
I got derek in the house christian and mike how you all doing tonight, great good, good, well we’re waiting for you, yeah email friday.
I heard uh no favorites, while we’re waiting um for our phone and guest uh to join us.
Why don’t we just start off with our usual roundtable discussion? Uh derek you’ve got some uh update for us on some boxers, yeah yeah, so on february 13th, adrian broner welterweight uh set to fight against pedro campa.
But unfortunately, during these times one of his team members came down with covid and that’s the on the pedro campus side and uh.
So, unfortunately, fights uh he’s backed out of the fight which is uh understandable completely.
But it leaves a void and everyone’s trying to figure out who’s who’s going to be fighting adrian broner if they can find a replacement in time um.
So you know it it’s interesting.
There’S it’s an interesting dilemma because he’s coming off a loss from um manny pacquiao he’s also had a couple of losses from mikey, garcia, sean porter and um.
So they need to find somebody that he can beat, but not somebody, that’s so much of a journeyman or somebody.
That’S you know a little too inexperienced.
That’S not going to draw the crowds and get the pay-per-view numbers.
Doesn’T it he’s got a bit of ring rusted and he’s got ring yeah, it’s like what 25 months since he’s yeah exactly he’s got he’s got lots of ring rust, there’s a bunch of candidates so that they’re they’re talking about uh.
There are yeah yeah, one of them is uh ivan renek.
I believe his name is okay, 23, 5 and one with 18 knockouts.
He would like to jump.
He would likely jump in no matter what to face him.
It’S just like you were saying he’s one of those guys.
It’S not going to be he’s not going to be easy right, like reddick, he isn’t a big puncher, but he does.
He does throw a hell of a lot of punches, so that might not be the best kind of thing that constant pressure for yeah for uh broader there might be yeah.
It might be a little overwhelming, for you know, 25 months of ring rise right exactly exactly, and the thing is is that so i i here’s what i’m thinking and i don’t know if you guys agree or not, but and the reason i say that is we Recently saw him fight right and he lost against crawford he’s.
Also come off.
Kell brook’s come off a loss against errol spence as well as triple g, so essentially in the welterweight division, and then you think of broner who’s come off a loss from pacquiao, porter and garcia.
So of all they’re.
All both of them are pretty equal, they’re, they’re um, but the thing is kell brook.
I think he might be retiring.
I’M not even sure what he’s doing right, because you know that you know it’s three three three fights and there was that that was being alluded to and um.
If you look at i’m, i have to look here beca at my notes, because i don’t want to get it wrong.
But if you look at so broner has, i think 39 fights kel kell brook was 42 24 kos for broner 27 kos, or something like that.
For um for brooke and three losses: uh for brooke and four losses for broner, so they’re pretty equally matched up, and this would this would kind of.
This would be a good.
This would bring in the money because they’re, both top names and they’ve also you know, had losses against the some of the the big names in the welterweight division.
So then it it would kind of take it to the next level and see who’s who’s going to uh who’s, going to be victorious and who’s going to stay in the game.
Right right, you know, you know.
I believe i believe that that would be a good matchup um.
Another matchup, i think, would be another like a great opponent would be uh lewis, ritzen, okay, lewis, ritzen he’s 21 and one two.
You know 12 knockouts.
I think he would be an ideal opponent, an opponent for broner, because um, you know, you’d have the fans sitting on the edge of the seat and those guys are both.
You know they.
They have the kind same kind of attacks, they’re both oriented the same kind of fight, fighting styles and stuff, like that, and i think um it would be a comeback fight.
You know, for somebody, who’s been out of the ring for so long yeah.
I think louis rhythm would be a good contender for that match man to fill in step in and fill those shoes, yeah yeah, absolutely yeah, but uh yeah 25 months.
That’S a long time.
Yeah definitely definitely, and especially especially, you know, coming off losses and stuff like that too.
I suspect for a lot of boxers because kovit’s throwing everything out they out the window for them, so a lot of them are going to have ring rust.
You know and like also you’re trying your training camps and like boxing rings, a lot of them are probably shut down, they’re having to find alternate ways to do stuff.
Oh yeah, some of these training videos – man, these guys are you, know, they’re in their basement.
They got these makeshift gyms going and they’re they’re in there just busting their butt by themselves.
You know with nobody and uh.
You know you don’t train as hard when you’re by yourself, and sometimes you need that push right to really strive and and push out those extra reps, or you know that extra five minutes in the ring, that’s what these fighters aren’t getting right now.
So you know a lot of them are gon na talk your technique and things like that.
It’S one thing to keep your conditioning up, but it’s hard to it’s.
You know you.
Can you can film yourself? You can go back and watch again, but it’s really hard to kind of score.
Your own technique.
That’S your trainer for that yeah! Absolutely definitely so, if you guys heard uh heard the rumors that uh click, let’s go back yeah, that’s i don’t know.
That’S motivated by two factors: i think like money, money, money, money; well, actually yeah, three factors, money, money, money and the fourth factor is, you know he could he’s.
Probably he what is he’s 44 now and foreman foreman took the title at 45, so he’d want to probably break that record, definitely try and try and try and beat foreman’s record right.
Definitely but the thing is, the thing is: is that literally who’s going to pay 75 million dollar purse for this guy to get in the ring after being gone for four years, and especially especially with the talent pool right now? Oh i i don’t.
I don’t know if i see i don’t know.
If i see that man i don’t like like hey, i love the guy.
You guys great, you know one of the greatest.
You know guys of his time and let’s be real man.
You’Ve been out of the ring for four years.
You know there’s still a little bit of hype around your name, but at the end of the day, 75 million bucks who’s gon na take the fight.
First of all, who are you gon na fight? There’S too many factors to come into play, yeah exactly and the thing is is like, so you know if he got if if he were to get back in the ring and he’s gon na fight he my opinion anyways, is he probably get destroyed by joshua? He get definitely be destroyed by fury and and the only one though i think he might even have a um.
He might have a shot at deontay wilder and the reason i say that i know you’re not going to like that man, but because i know you’re a big fan, but but it’s just because deontay wilder is he’s like he’s, got super human power like knockout power, Yeah it’s insane, but his ring skills are, you know, they’re good, but he started.
I think he started in late in boxing right.
So he’s not like where’s.
He got a guy like klitschko mate.
He knows every.
What is he like? 60? Some odd fights? Oh yeah.
I believe his ring iq and boxing skills are incredible and, and he would he might be able to just like just just school them.
You know right and, but all it would take is one shot from wilder like that’s all it takes with.
With that type of power he possesses.
Oh man, it’d be awesome right honestly, but but i still think like joshua or fury could definitely take klitschko right now.
Yeah at this point.
At this point, yeah like how active has been in the last four years right yeah and they both did in the past anyways right.
So exactly yeah.
I think we’re all starving enough for content at this point in time that whoever he fights we’re all gon na watch, yeah yeah exactly no kidding it’s yeah.
True right, you know, honestly, i i don’t even know who, who do you think, would even take a fight like that, to be honest and and honestly who’s going to put up that kind of money like do you? Do we really want to see klitschko come back? Do we really want to pay this guy 75 million bucks to get in the ring and maybe get knocked out in the first freaking? You know first round, maybe especially with the talent man like four years out of the game, that’s a huge gap, man and that’s a that’s a whole lot of new talent man like, and how does it even like? How does it even work like do they does? He have to um? Does he have to like start all over and start from the bottom and start working his way up through a couple of punching bags and like and like prove that he’s got it still or does he just walk right into a title fight right, like i don’t Know how that works does it? I think i think, there’s certain like um.
You know you know, honestly, at the end of the day, it’s all about it’s all about what his camp, what his camp puts in front of him, and what what the managers to sign the contract for really right yeah, if he’s talking to 75 million dollars to Get back in the ring, you know for a fact: he ain’t gon na be fighting some joe schmoe off the block.
He’S gon na be fighting.
You know he’s gon na be fighting a headliner, because that’s the only way, you’re gon na be able to make a purse 75 million dollars because, first of all who the hell is going to step in the ring with him anyway and not death billion dollars themselves.
Right, oh yeah sure we could find a youtuber or an instagram influencer them, and you know yeah as much as everybody hates them they’re doing a great thing for boxing.
We know that we love it.
They are.
I think that could be a whole new genre.
It’S just people with really punchable faces on youtube professional boxers for the money i mean the money’s there for it uh the views are there.
I think i think we might be on to something here.
Well, i can’t wait.
I can’t wait for the logan uh logan mayweather man, that’s gon na, be that’s gon na be funny.
I can’t i can’t wait to see this kid get his head knocked off for 200 grand yeah right christian christian.
I don’t know if you’ve seen it or not, but uh mike, and i were watching some some face slapping the other day.
If you, if you want to see something, absolutely hilarious, the the australians yeah it’s just a concussion is all it is you’re.
Just watching someone get a concussion, yeah, you’re, drunk and you’re crying it is, you know the the slap fights are to uh are to boxing what t-ball is the baseball at the end of the day, you’re, not you’re, not aiming for a moving target.
At that point, it’s all right.
You you stand right there.
Just let me line this up, and then you just see these guys just yeah, but they followed very brilliantly.
The slow-mo videos from that stuff is absolutely magical before his head.
Does you know you know what the opposite of that, though, is this bare knuckle boxing that we’re watching it’s it’s emerging and uh? You know you’ve seen that how uh wrestling back in like the 80s kind of took over, but that was more entertainment, not a sport, then mma came into it and it became brutal and uh.
This is, you know, opened up a path for boxing to come in, but boxing now is taking it to the extreme, with uh bare knuckle boxing and and they’re promoting it like.
If you’ve seen these fights online they’re incredibly brutal, you see a lot of split eyebrows man.
That’S what you see a lot of eyebrows hanging over the eye.
Like you know: men and women: oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, uh! What’S what’s her name vaseline, it’s the only thing holding their eyebrows together by the end of it um the girl from wwe page.
She did not resign her contract with wwe and she is now signed to bare knuckle boxing.
So you have people making the jump from professional wrestling over to bare knuckle boxing, which is kind of funny.
Well, there’s a few different venues at this point in time.
Right, you know, you’ve got uh, you’ve got your mma fighters.
You’Ve got uh, you know, there’s a few different ways: they can go.
You’Ve got this bare knuckle stuff.
That’S going on boxing.
The proper boxing is making a big resurgence right now, and you know we see it every every four years or so again the olympics come around and then we start to see everyone for a brief moment in time starts really getting excited about amateur sport again.
So, there’s a few different avenues for the average avid sports fan uh to get their fix.
At this point, our guest, our guest, will be joining us very shortly, uh former olympian himself and uh.
I believe you had a little piece lined up.
Did you not christian? With respect a little bit, as you guys know the last little while i’ve been kind of, i mentioned last week that i’m starting to gear up in my head towards the olympics and that’s the way uh.
My thinking is going so mikey and i were actually having a conversation a little last week and we started talking about you know the difference.
You know pros in the uh in the olympics versus uh amateurs, um and uh.
Rio was the first uh was the first modern olympics, where we actually had saw professional boxers in the ring with uh with amateurs uh, and this was obviously very controversial at the time going into it uh.
So we just wanted to take a quick look at that kind of moving forward um.
So like back in 2016, the bleacher report said uh, and i quote on this one.
This is an idea, so ridiculous, so bad and so dangerous that it boggles the mind that someone out there was stupid enough to think it up.
Much less believe it was a good idea now that was yeah now that was their response.
When a week earlier, the associated pres had reported that international boxing association president uh ching wu, and i apologize in advance – guys there’s a bunch of names in this uh.
What we’re going to do tonight here that i will pronounce terribly i’m just going to butcher them and you’re going to have to deal with it honestly that one’s going to be pretty close, that one that one should be fine.
It gets worse for me, uh uh! Sorry he fast tracked the proposal that was going to allow professional boxers into the uh the rio games um.
So, a few weeks back, if you remember, if you look back into our into our log here, uh you’re gon na see that we covered some of the differences between professional and amateur boxing um like equipment aside, the focus is very different.
Uh olympic boxing is much more point driven.
You know extra points, for you know staggering, your opponent or knocking them into the mat or even controlling the pace of the fight um.
The obvious fear um was that uh top seat fighters were going to step into the ring with a much less experienced fighter and that someone was going to get hurt.
Um lennox lewis at the time said again.
Once again, i quote here uh, i kind of think it’s preposterous to a certain degree.
The amateur system is based for amateurs.
This is why we put the headgear on to protect them, because they have a lack of experience and they’re, not that primed as a professional.
Yet now all of a sudden you get a world champion or somebody in the top 10 now going against bakery an amateur somebody with a lack of experience, and i don’t think that’s being fair, you know so that was that was a pro uh, that you know That was him weighing in on that you know, but how did they actually do so and for the men there was three uh boxers who qualified uh three professionals who qualified in rio uh, all of whom were over 30 years old, and none of them were able To uh win against the largely younger competition uh, you know more than once.
Uh there was a couple of uh wins in there.
Um hassem dam, jikam, 32 years old, from cameroon, faced off against uh michael borges 25 in the 81 kilogram division and lost to be a decision that was his only fight uh and he lost afterwards.
He said you know.
I fought all these amateurs before and i’m not surprised to lose to an amateur, because i used to be one.
Professionals do not have an advantage, because the characteristics of the fight are different.
Now this, of course, is going to be referencing things like the fact that you know these fights are comprised of you know three round bouts rather than uh than 12.
.
You know, so you have a lot less time to add.
You know to score those points.
Um carmen uh thomasone of italy uh he uh won his first match uh and then uh against uh lindofo delgado of mexico uh, but then lost to a 25 year old, lazaro alvarez from cuba.
In the second round uh thailand’s uh, amnesty uh won his first bout against ignacio parent of argentina uh and then law to uh, francis uh, sophie sofiane and again i apologize for the pronunciations here.
I’M gon na brew, i’m gon na butcher.
These it’s hard, though it’s hard.
No, you know i have a lot more worse.
I have a lot more respect for the guys who do this for you to do this.
You know professionally at the olympics when they get a list of names this long and they actually have to pronounce them properly um a bit of a mixed bag uh, for example, um.
Let’S see our uh our italian fighter, he has a professional record of 20 uh 20 wins one lost no draws five of those wins by knockout, uh camera, our camera, rooney and fighter 37 wins five losses, no draws 21 of those wins by knockout um and our Typhon four and oh six of those wins by knockout, so i mean these are not uh.
These are not inexperienced fighters, these guys, who obviously had amateur careers before they went through and are having successful.
Professor or worse, some of these guys have recently retired uh, we’re having you know, extremely successful professional careers and when it came down to uh, you know the olympic format it just it did not favor them at all.
So i’m really curious at this point in time and i’m curious to get your thoughts and i’m curious to get our guest thoughts once uh once he gets on here, um what your thoughts are moving forward uh, you know you know looking back at rio and moving Forward do we think there’s any place for uh professionals in the olympic format.
You know what honestly and truthfully not really there’s, there’s not really a place for it, but why ban it? You know what i mean: it’s not like, they’re dominating it.
If, if you want to give the ability to this guy to jump back in the ring – and you know, try and win a medal for his country, then why not give him that ability? But it’s it’s just showing you that the longer that you’re out of that amateur boat that that game um, it shows it’s hard to compete man.
You know each round these these amateur fighters on average you’re, throwing you know twice as many punches as as as the pros are because it’s done on such a scoring a different scoring level right, like you know, three rounds, three minutes versus you know three 12-minute rounds.
You don’t have the time to feel out your opponent, it’s you get in there right away.
You stick to your game plan, you work your combinations and that’s what you’re trying to do you’re trying to score points.
Realistically, you you never really see.
You know pros in this in that game, but if they want to go, why not man just let them, but it’s not like they really need to man.
It’S you wouldn’t have to ban them they’re not getting far.
It’S not like they’re putting gold medals on pros.
It’S it’s an amateur stage.
It’S always been an amateur stage.
Well, yeah.
The big fear was, i mean everyone have the time kept: referencing uh the uh maryland back.
Everyone kept representing basketball and the dream team american dream team.
That’S yeah we’re good we’re just going to step in and just kind of walk right over the uh, the amateur competition, but actually i but you may remember a few weeks back.
We had uh little tyson on here, sandy sagurus and uh.
It was one of the big things that she talked about was making.
The switch from amateur to professional was how her training had to uh shift from being a kind of speed bit speed based and technique.
Driven to you know she had to really upper her power game yep and it’s so it’s the opposite right when you go backwards and you’re trying to go from pro back to amateur like i, i actually think they’re at a disadvantage because they’re used to like you Know you score points for like being aggressive and, being you know, power punches and you know it’s totally different right.
It’S like, as you just talked about, it’s completely different right.
It’S all point.
It’S all point your face, and some of these guys had fought at the olympic level before our italians homosonia.
There had taken uh fourth place in in athens in 2004.
, so it wasn’t, they were completely unfamiliar with it.
It’S just.
You know that that training had changed.
You know your body physicality changes when you change that training and uh things like your speed are going to be altered.
Also also, as you become a pro man, you, you tend to find.
You find your you know like that.
Groove and you kind of ride with it, and you kind of become this fighter that you didn’t know who you were back in amateur days.
You know so you become this whole other entity of yourself and, and you kind of like become the fighter you’re supposed to be it’s hard to go back to the beginning man.
You know once once you’re set in your ways, and you know the training and and your ring time and the way you the way you execute your game plan to try and go back to you know back before you found yourself and became this amazing fighter that You are and made the pro level.
I i believe you know that kind of that kind of transition to go backwards is almost damn near impossible.
Man – and it goes to show you with you – know these pros entering the 2016 olympics and you know not being able to make it past.
You know the prop 16 kind of thing.
It’S it’s incredible! It’S incredible that it happens like that, but, like you said before christian, it’s a it’s an amateur stage and definitely it is, and it does uh it does wonders for for them.
You know, puts them on the map puts them on notice.
You know you win a gold around your neck and you’re, probably going to be a a great contender in your weight class.
Once you become a pro, i think the shorter really going to be the big one.
That’S going to it’s the shorter matches that really throws everyone here, uh from the from the pro level, and it’s like you said you can’t feel them out and once you go into that pro you do you become your own boxer.
You get your own technique, your own style yeah.
Well, you don’t have time for that in olympic boxing, it’s you get out there and you better start throwing fast.
If you want more landing, uh points, that’s for sure, that’s for sure yeah.
It’S gon na work! For that support, but the best person that the best person that’s gon na be able to answer this, for us is probably our guest when you, when he gets in here, because you know he was a captain of the us olympic team.
So would definitely have to ask him his thoughts on on that in the meantime, so logan paul floyd mayweather.
Who do you think christian? Oh well, i mean it’s going to be mayweather i mean i just i think, logan paul.
I think logan paul’s got a better chance of winning a gold medal in handball with the olympics.
Well i mean i i’m i’m just hoping that it’s going to be entertaining at the end of the day.
It’S going to be a tyson fight from the 80s and 90s man you’re going to get up to take a piss you’re going to come back and the credits are going to be rolling you’re going to be like what the hell happened.
Well, that’s just it! You can’t leave the couch, thank god for tv.
Definitely, you never definitely need a bag stuck to your leg right.
You know, so you don’t get up and miss that one jeez.
You could just strategically play some mirrors, so you can still see the tv wow.
That’S a good idea or set one up in your bathroom already, because you know you can’t blink for this fight.
Somebody call you and facetime you to the tv there’s ways around this michael you’re, just not thinking hard enough right.
I believe the date is already set to you for that fight as well.
I think it’s sometime in february, isn’t it is it? Is it a big money maker like what’s the purse on it um? I know i know: mayweather is getting 50 million, oh yeah, because otherwise, otherwise, why would he do it right and and yeah exactly and logan paul is only getting, i believe, uh.
200.
000.
.
So it’s it’s kind of ridiculous, okay, yeah! So the floyd money, mayweather fight with logan paul uh in the next one february – 20th yeah february 20th, so the date has been set.
People watching remember, write it on your calendars, uh.
You know you don’t need to take a lot of time out of your day, because it’s going to be really quick, so you know just put aside a couple of minutes before bed and i’m pretty sure uh it’ll be enough time to see this fight this well.
This joke, but uh, hey, they’re, right, they’re, doing wonders for boxing, so you know give them two thumbs up: i’d love to watch these youtubers come in and try and fight the best in the world.
Man it’s the best.
So, graham you have anything you want to say: oh yep, there’s only 50.
I was just wondering if we can go back to that olympic conundrum, whether it was the administrators and or the promoters who wanted the pros to go into the olympics.
So i don’t think any pro boxer would want to go backwards.
So i have to wonder whether or not there was more involved on the back end in getting the pros back in the olympic competition, like maybe them at their career being done as a pro, and they wanted to go back to see if they could win a Medal, maybe something like that along those lines you know like.
I can see why the the, for example, the hockey players the basketball players, because they want to be considered best in the world, but the the pro boxers are already winning the world titles yeah in their respective divisions.
I just can’t, i just can’t understand it.
I have to wonder whether there was something else going on in the back end.
Maybe maybe it’s the fact that they know they’ll never win a world title.
Maybe it’s it’s an ability to win a gold medal for their country, which you know in their minds, can be just as good as winning a world title.
Because, let’s be real, you know not every boxer out there is going to be able to win a world title or fight on that world stage.
So you know, maybe it’s a way for them to you, know, feel fulfilled in their journey in boxing putting a medal around their neck.
Well, keep in mind it’s it’s! It’S like we talked about.
We mentioned a little bit last week.
It’S it’s one of those moments where we’re we’re seeing for you know one for a couple of weeks out of the year out over four years, everyone suddenly starts caring about amateur sport again and not just boxing uh.
You know people are watching amateur sport, they’re getting excited about amateur athletes, uh or at least olympic athletes.
In this case students we’re talking about pros being involved as well.
That’S a lot of eyes on the tv you’re, getting a lot a lot of views and you’re getting more exposure by being an olympian than you are in your home country.
I mean if you’re outside of north america or western europe, you may not be getting the same exposure, but you are going to be.
You know exposed to the you know the world at the olympic level and that could do a lot to help your uh your professional career, at the end of the day, if uh for another reason, maybe sponsor sponsorship, deals back home they’re going to help with that Funding they’re going to help that’s going to help with your training uh.
You know it’s going to have been helping your career.
You know a thousand different ways by getting those sponsorships, especially since you know some countries you’re getting uh.
You know uh government sponsorships as well.
You’Re getting you’re getting sponsorships from the actual uh.
You know your federal government in some cases, so this can go a long way to help a boxer whether they’re, you know pro either newly pro pro for a while or if you know they’re looking to get there.
You know more screen time, it’s a huge opportunity.
Definitely definitely national, probably decided you know walking into olympic stadium with the smiling and the waving and all that other fun uh in the free track.
Suit yeah.
You know you had a free tracksuit.
There are bragging rights involved with saying you’re an olympian, i’m sure yeah man give them that wheaties man, that’s what you want right.
Well, the wheaties box now you’re back in that! That’S that’s we’re talking.
Sponsorship deals again right so, and these go a long way, especially for uh.
You know, for people outside of you know the north american system, where there’s maybe less money involved at the pro level.
Having said that, it’s kind of interesting because we’re about to ask someone who did win at the olympics so but then decides to go pro.
So obviously this is very interesting balance.
If you ask me, oh well now and now we can ask him well perfect time and we can.
We can ask king king king rahim good evening uh, can you can you? Can you adjust your phone horizontally there we go there.
He is hello, hello, gentlemen, how’s.
It going king rahim, thank you for coming on the no man, it’s uh, it’s a great honor to have you on the show talking with us today.
Thank you for coming on.
Taking the time out of your busy schedule to uh, come on and talk with the boys on friday night panel, oh, i thought he was slapping you there mike no man, i felt it.
I felt it oh believe me you’d feel it oh.
I would i’m sure it’s perfect.
It looks great, oh good, good, good there we are so we were just talking about the olympics, maybe uh! Maybe christian can roll into that one for us evening uh.
We were just talking a little bit about uh.
You know professional boxers uh stepping back into the ring in the olympics and uh specifically how it didn’t go all that great for the ones who did in rio in 2016.
.
So we were talking a little bit about uh.
Just you know, differences in training and is there a place for professional boxers in the olympic format? No, no! No next question all right.
Okay! So that’s a no, but is that thought based around? You know that the the training styles are too different, the style.
The fight is too different, or is this more of a safety issue for you? For me, it’s more of there is.
Is you can’t put up? You can’t put a boy versus a man it just it’s not there’s no competition.
You got kids fighting 16, 17 years old, fighting 30 year old men.
It’S just not gon na look right.
You talk about men that got experiences experience with fighting with smaller gloves, no head gear, less protection.
Now you gon na put them in the ring with a baby, so you’re, taking the lennox lewis line on this one.
That was his thoughts on on this whole thing.
Oh, i didn’t know that, and i don’t i don’t say that from experience i get in the ring with a lot of kids now a lot of my guys that i’m hoping to see in the next olympics awesome well that answered michael.
My next question: i was going to ask uh what you’re doing now, so i guess you’re training new fighters.
Then yes, i’m training fighters.
I got a slew of them and i’m firing them.
So i wanted to ask um.
So your amateur record, you were like 215 fights right, like it wins in your amateur vote like how over how many years did those fights happen? Man, because that’s a ton of fights for an amateur right, i mean i started fighting i was i was 12.
.
I won a junior, i went i went i went to when i was 12 years old, my first nationals, i won the nationals and then i won international in dublin, ireland, the second year i wanted international and then went international one and london england again so my That those numbers you see is not just national or nationwide or city-wide, but that’s international numbers right right, because that’s that’s! That was a ton of fights man.
I must say, and that’s a very impressive record i’ll tell you.
I i’ve watched a few of your bouts man um, and your your your ability to close that gap and get on the inside when you’re fighting those tall guys manages is incredible.
The way you can stay in there and you you got that power to just deliver those body, shots man, it’s just uh.
No wonder you got the nickname, i work hard at it.
It takes five thousand hours of doing anything to master it and i’ve been treated.
All my life, that’s all i know yeah, that’s it from that’s it.
So you got one like 50 or 500 000 hours, [ Laughter ].
So so did you did you grow up in philadelphia? Yes, i did i well.
No, i didn’t no.
I was raised there, but i left i left in philadelphia when i was 13 after i won my second junior olympic world.
I got a scholarship to marquette michigan with al mitchell.
Oh okay, olympic coach, who trains uh michaela myers.
Now, i’m pretty sure you got a long resume.
I mean from andre ward, everybody in the amateur yeah yeah, but went up there with him and i never went home, never went back home and that was it right that was it man.
I went guys accepted the scholarship and from there i left there you know i was young, i didn’t have no money, but i was getting paid from don king and uh lou dover shelly finkel.
That was primed me to sparty approach.
You got guys like junior billy, julia jones, who defended the title 19 times.
I was just keep a chief official spawn partner.
You got ta, look at uh, uh uh uh, tim austin, another one.
So when i was a kid that was my hustle, i didn’t.
I had never had a nine-to-five job.
Boxing was always my job.
If i didn’t have no money than that food, i caught a promoter who y’all got fighting that need.
Some call me come on you talking 1500 a week, man that’s 16 years old.
I was rich going back to the hood.
You couldn’t tell me nothing about robbie, of course, and of course, especially in the end 1500.
Bucks is a lot of money.
Man brand new.
I was driving around with the title.
The cops pulled me over and said: where’s your driver’s license registration insurance.
I said: here’s the title, here’s my here’s, my name, no, insurance, no, nothing! I was getting the money.
I didn’t know no difference.
Oh wow man.
That’S awesome! All i knew it wasn’t stolen.
That’S all that mattered to me so, but i was asking you about philadelphia, because it’s a big boxing town right, there’s a ton of gyms there’s a i don’t know if it’s still that way or not.
I have no idea, but it back back years ago, when i used to watch a lot of boxing as a kid like philadelphia was like the mecca first.
Well, i don’t know if you you know who uh cool boy steph is no defined fault.
Look him up.
My little brother trains him he’s fighting for the world title this weekend.
Oh yeah yeah he’s ranked number one in the world so he’s amazing, yeah, bloodline man yeah.
But what is that? I’M building mine now and i got a couple images that i’m going to be coming out with soon good, where, where are you training out of atlanta, georgia, atlanta, georgia, nice? So your boy, your boy is stefan fulton right.
Yes, stephen stephen fulton, stephen fulton yeah.
I bring you, bring the one he’s right: fight, never uh he’s 18 18.
You know with eight knockouts yeah there you go five six and a half with a seven and a half inch reach yeah.
You got him yeah and he’s anything he’s set to fight on the 23rd man for the world boxing organization’s world super bantam title.
That’S right! Yes, yes and he’s fighting angela leo yep, that’s going be it that’s good! That’S gon na be good man.
That’S gon na! Be a good fight, actually that should be uh a good boat to watch man for sure okay.
So i got another question for you, so you you you you! You won against eric morales in 2005 and that was deemed like, like a huge upset right.
Yes right so they say so they say so they say but shouldn’t you have fought pacquiao right after that was that in the works at all.
Well, because i would have thought you would have fought pacquiao next, but instead morales got it even though he lost against you yeah, but i’m gon na tell you this, but i’m gon na take the funny part.
It was sold as a tournament, a lightweight tournament when we fought morales had just beat pacquiao yeah.
It was like yeah exactly, but he was already signed to fight him again.
Was it already signed? Then? Yes, well, they wanted to do a lightweight tournament where they could put morales and pacquiao in the same car would just make the same revenue, but they might fight each other, so it was milking the game.
Morality just beat them.
The the the the numbers was huge.
They said: let’s do it again, but not face each other, that we can milk the game.
We do a tournament hernandez fight, pacquiao, rahim fight morales, the winners fighting each other, yes be a great day.
I said: let’s do it, but the problem was: if you go back and watch the fight, go all the way to the end of the fight after the fight the commentator said: oh so bob aaron, i guess that means zahir and pacquiao will fight yeah aaron says On my on national television, no, no, no, the fights still go on the rallies and pacquiao just go back and watch it, but before that they sold it as a lightweight tournament – huh, oh okay! So now, after after that fight, if you go back and look at my record, they put me on the shelf.
They offered me a fight with jose cotto miguel cotto brother.
In puerto rico.
I just hunted down and said: no, i could be morales.
Why would i go to puerto rico to fight him? You bring him here, i’ll fight him.
They put me on the shelf.
It left me yeah your next.
Your next flight wasn’t until uh march right, yep yeah, so they put you on the shelf from september to march, right after you came off that that win like that’s ridiculous, yes, and and and do you know, i still what i i paid my own money and Went to the morales pacquiao fight, i was in the nosebleed watching it shaking my head saying.
Damn that’s supposed to be me taking my head watching it yeah the guy next, you believe they believe you when you said that’s supposed to be me.
Fighting pacquiao right now did the guys next to you believe you at all sure you were buddy.
So what’s your what’s your favorite combination, man? What’S your favorite punch combination because you know i know watching your fights uh you like to put put a few of them together, man.
What’S your favorite one, what’s what’s your knockout one, oh man, now you see me now you don’t you’re right, [, Laughter, ]! Well, very well put man, that’s good nice, but back to my question about philadelphia, what makes that, why is that, always being such a big boxers town, i’m gon na, tell you why? Why, like i wan na know, if you look at a city like philadelphia, and you see, you have 50 miles 50 square miles with houses touching each other for 50 square miles.
You know how many people it is, there’s a ton of people, yeah they’re.
On top of each other yeah, so they don’t do nothing but fight.
Okay, you fight for everything, damn it you’re fighting, because you’re too close to me yo fighting solves everything.
There you go and it’s all very.
It sounds bad, but it’s the truth and when you, when you when you and just like, for example, i had a guy come in the gym and he tells me he’s about six seven.
His name is chris he’s, probably gon na be mad at me.
If you ever see this video, because when you do your first punch, it took you too long to bring your hand back to your face.
You know that clearly you told me you had no street fights because the first time i pointed you that did that on.
He would expose you, he gave me two hours on one side, yeah yeah, oh god, that’s hilarious, you bring it back, he threw it and it took him too long to bring it back.
I said.
Oh, no, that’s a steep learning curve, but it’s a short one.
Well, what happened to that yeah? Don’T know, i don’t know, i don’t know what happened to zeb.
Oh show up.
I figure he’s in the hot pocket mike hey, derrick derrick.
I think the anthem of questions was rocky in, like the mid 70s.
You know.
Definitely man rocky made it really popular yeah.
No, but it’s always been known right, like all the time like there’s, there’s like there’s like boxing gyms everywhere, yeah, more more probably more per capita boxing gyms than probably any other city in the us i’d say: oh did we lose them? I don’t know we have to talk to our technical, uh advisors.
I i think he’s calling zab [ Laughter ].
He is making a call he’s, calling him he’s.
Calling he’s called he’s called the ranch right now, i’m not kidding.
Oh my god.
It’S hilarious man.
That’S great, that’s hilarious.
What a great show this has been there! Someone should google this uh.
Would they have the same olympic boxing team like was it? Would they both on the 9016 uh? Let me see we’ll check that out.
Christian ken man he’s our guy.
What’S up stats guy come on stats, guys, zap, judah and well.
We can’t have no dead air, so yo derek yeah come on come on! What do you? What do you think man riddick bow ridiculous, stepping in the ring with mike tyson? You think it’s gon na happen.
I don’t know, i don’t know this like these, these older guys getting back in the ring.
I don’t know what do you guys think i don’t know.
I think it’s a good way for them to make a couple bucks because they need it doesn’t have that excite like that league.
What is it lol or whatever it is yeah it just doesn’t have to me it doesn’t after it’s like well, just yeah, it’s lost.
It’S luster and it doesn’t have that excitement that you know they’re they’re, not as fast they’re, not as quick they’re.
Not, but you know hey, i.
I commend them because it’s all about competition, so you give them a gold star.
Yeah i get they get the gold star, they get the gold star, but hey the champ bola ray just chimed in on this one.
He says: riddick beau is really good friends with tyson.
I don’t think they will fight each other.
Actually riddick bow was the one that said he wanted to step into the ring with tyson after uh after the fight with uh roy jones, jr he’s actually quoted as saying that i think it would be.
I think it would be a good about man, i’m not saying that they’re, not good friends, hey! You know what champ you’re, probably right, you’re, probably right.
It probably won’t happen, but i’d love to see it.
And so would you you can’t lie about that one, but how does that work like do you actually have to have animosity towards another guy in order to fight them? No, it’s a sport like you’re professionals, right you’re, gon na.
Do it raise that agree with me whatsoever on this one, if ray just clicked the link, you could probably join this conversation, yeah yeah right click, the link come on bola.
What was that i would know that was not on the uh.
The 96 olympic team toy.
Wasn’T it no uh failed to qualify for the 96 olympic games? Unfortunately, ray even agrees with me: man, listen, you don’t need animosity.
He loves punching his friends in the head.
Yeah man, you don’t you don’t need to have animosity to you – know, give your buddy a shot in the head.
That’S so true man, it’s so true.
We were 10.
I can attest to that.
Well, i guess we’ve lost our guest uh for the evening.
I don’t know man uh yeah he’s taking the dog for a walk.
Yeah.
Probably that’s a good question here.
We’Re talking about zab here, just real quick though i thought we did not make.
The uh of the olympic team in 96 he’s had an amateur record of 110 and five um he’s a two-time, u.
s national champion and three times new york golden gloves champ.
He also won the 96 pal national championship.
Uh see he beat hector camacho jr but lost to david diaz in the final olympic trials failing to qualify for the olympic boxing team.
He did.
He was there at the olympics as an alternate at the time.
He was so he was in atlanta in 96, but as an alternate, oh okay.
Well, i guess we’re having him on sometime next week.
I guess since uh, since he didn’t come on today, yeah our producers, uh thought both both zab and zaheer would be on tonight.
Together, we knew we knew the hero was coming in for sure uh, but, like i said, zab might have got caught in the hot box with mike.
So that’s okay, though man, it’s it’s okay, because we’re here and that’s all that matters.
That is all that matters right right, we’re the panel right, everybody watching out there.
You love us.
Man come on come on man, you got ta like us, remember view it like it share it yeah you got to stop using upper caps when you put those posts to the facebook.
We’Ll see all right.
Gentlemen, all right.
Well, i guess uh.
Graham, do you have any anything you want to talk about? Did you did you happen to see uh scarlett delgado’s interview today with mandy boujol speaking of the olympics? Yes, a little bit of it, no yeah! No! I’M gon na have to uh google that, when we’re done here, scarlett did a really really awesome job with her very first interview for us and mandy spoke uh quite well as to be expected about the progression, if you will from uh in her career, but staying At the amateur level uh but uh, you know it was i’m not gon na say she didn’t.
She never said she was disappointed.
The olympics weren’t uh happening last year, but were postponed to this year, but the amount of uh preparation, that’s involved.
So, although they are amateurs, yes, they are olympians and uh their training.
Uh is incredible.
To be blunt, so yeah we can’t take anything for granted when we’re talking uh.
Yes, that’s right, uh.
Anyone else want to read the polaris comment for me.
There well amazing interviews.
So proud of both of them can’t believe that scarlett has grown up so much that’s pretty cool um.
I i don’t think we’re gon na get uh zahir back.
No, it doesn’t look like it and i don’t want to see if we can get both him and zab on our next panel or one of our upcomings.
Well, that certainly was fun.
I mean uh, it was pretty exciting, it was pretty spontaneous, it happened pretty quickly, but as they here had had the time in the evening i mean i’m sure if there was no covid, i’m sure he’d be out doing something else, but uh, but he had the Time he really looked forward to joining us tonight and i’m glad he did um.
It was a lot of fun he’s.
I’M sure he’s got way more stories too.
Oh, my well i’ll, be god to hear some of uh some of the stories from the actual olympics themselves as we uh gear up for tokyo and start talking a bit more about that.
So our producer, just chimed in eric, says uh.
So here’s battery died.
Oh that’s unfortunate! Well now he knows her next time, we’ll get him in here next time with a full battery.
What was mike tyson’s quote it’s great to have a plan until you get punched in the face everyone until his battery died yeah.
What could possibly go wrong? All right, gents uh we’ve been out for prob, probably an hour yeah we’ve been on for about an hour yep about an hour, and so i have nothing left in the tank.
Uh i’ve got uh.
I’Ve got champ bowl array coming up in half an hour and does anyone have any last quick comments going around? We ended a little suddenly there this evening there uh, we lost our guests that i was hoping to hear a little bit more again about the uh.
The olympic experience uh from an actual olympian, so that’s something we’ll be looking into in uh in the weeks to come, so something to look forward to and uh we’re looking to talk to some more olympians, hopefully yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.
Well christian! You got me kind of excited for the olympics too man, but uh yeah.
That’S it remember, guys! Watch it out.
There, man, you know.
Jab jab, like hook subscribe, knock
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