5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Benavidez v Yarde: Eddie Hearn

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

Where does Bam Rodriguez sit on the current pound for pound list? And how the fight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul made?Eddie Hearn sits down with Buncey to answer those questions, ahead of a night of world title fights in Riyad. They discuss Subriel Matias’ failed doping test and where it leaves Dalton Smith. Plus, Eddie shares the story of a very expensive beard trim.There's commentary of David Benavidez against Anthony Yarde on 5 live and BBC Sounds from 2am on Sunday. Commentary of the undercard, including Sam Noakes against Abdullah Mason, from 11pm on Sports Extra.

This is Five Live Boxing. So it's Riyadh, four world title fights, something ridiculous, like 176 wins and zero losses. That's what seven of the eight boxers are sharing. It's quite a ridiculous bill, Anthony Yard's fighting for the WBC light heavyweight title. Sam Nokes from South London is fighting for the vacant WBO lightweight title. And Bam Bam Rodriguez is on the bill, one of the top five fighters. in the world. Now what happens in Saudi Arabia is you spend a lot of time waiting. You wait around in marble hotel lobbies underneath chandeliers with a massive echo. You can hear it here.

Then you sit down with people and it takes a long time. You have a date, you know, a date to eat. Not you don't meet someone and go on a date. You have a coffee. You have some some Arabic tea. So I sat down with Eddie Hearn who's involved with Ban Rodriguez also involved with one or two big fights coming up. There's a big show in Monaco. There's a big show in Birmingham and of course there's a massive show in Miami. Now sometimes when you sit down with Eddie, he's a really busy man. I mean really busy and other times you just hit him at the right time and you just sit down and have a chat. So I make no apologies for one or two left and right turns into subjects that are not strictly boxing. I make no apologies for that. I'm Steve Bunce and this is a very special

five live boxing. And I'm not quite sure where to start. I suppose we should start with Bam Bam Rodriguez, new father. I looked at him at the waiting just now and you forget how small... I know you keep saying he's only 25, but he looks like a child.

He does, and he's a really... He's an interesting character. I mean, you know, like he's into, like, all this kind of anime stuff, and, like, he's... You would never think that this guy is a top five pound-for-pound savage. But he is...

I knew you weren't going to say boxer. He's actually a genius. I mean, he's... I'm really excited for more people to watch him in action this week because we've been building him nicely over the last couple of years. And he has become a real boxing star. I hope this card can just keep reaching out to the casuals as well who tune in. Because over, you know, historically, super flyweight and flyweight's,

they don't become household names. He's as close. This is the first time. I think there's been a guy as deep on the pound for pound list. I mean, if he beats Martinez on Saturday, see, I think the pound for pound list looks like this. I always argue about Usik and Crawford, but I go Usik, Crawford, Inouye, Bivol, Bavol, Bam.

Wow. Right, and a victory for Bamb... That's a five, that, isn't it? Could go past Bivol, because he's been a little bit inactive. And then he's like... And then we start talking about Inouye against BAM, as BAM moves up to Bantam, which he will. Well, I just think...

Yeah, I think... I think Bam is going to move... to Bantam weight, probably middle the next year. If he does that and a new way stays at Super Bantam, you're only one division away. Then it's a realistic conversation. So, Ed, with regards to Bant, what I liked about the press conference yesterday, when you had that seven and a half hour car journey to try and get there, and I've subsequently found out that you finished it with a four-mile sprint through

boulevard city or whatever it's called, Puber got in his face, which was fantastic. I mean, that was very un-Bam-like. He probably did, isn't it? Bam gave him a tiny, tiny push. Yeah, not much. Don't forget my Americano, mate, please. Top man. The man that needs the coffee the most gets the coffee laugh.

So, I just think the style of Puma Martinez, who's a very good fighter. I mean, arguably number two in the division. Well, probably is. Just, wait till you see this kid. Wait to you see his feet. and it's very rarely we've got a couple of them

in our stable boots, Ennis, Bam, Shakur maybe Bivow as well where every time they fight you just know

that I've no fear anything so with Bam I'm just I just know I know he's going to win and this is a unification even a so cool

against yeah it gets one and two in the division I just know I'm not even know nervous. I just know how good he is. And the same with boots. Yeah. Put him in with Ortiz. Put him in with all of these guys. I just know he's going to win. He's comfortable with wets. And Shakur, the same.

Yeah. Oh, yeah, Shikshik. Yeah. Isn't it? Not a bad little state. That could, that's another pod that looking at your modern stage. Maybe that's the end of year gig. This one says, a bit of coffee confusion. What's that one? That looks nice. See, I've got a double express of a hot milk. Here's my man. There we go. Ed finally gets his coffee. Last in line. Thank you, sir. This is great content. Listen, there's nothing like a little bit of coffee detour.

when you're in Saudi coffee, by the way, is excellent. Is that good? No, do, yeah. I can't function without coffee. Good coffee. I was about mid-30s until I had my first coffee. No, really? Now, I can't function without coffee.

I mean, I know you've got an extra shot in there. This is turned into an IFL interview. No, that's not all right, yeah. We're doing jumpers in a minute, and cardigans and naughty socks. Fit check. I might call Kugan over for it. I might have Kugan as a side guest

to do a fashion break. By the way, Ed, I don't know if you ever noticed, and you're allowed to say something unpleasant. You ever seen these what I'm wearing on my feet? Interesting. They are rascal shoes, aren't they? A bit of hiking on that, is that? They are hiking shoes, son, yeah. I got pulled into the shop in Covent Garden because they were queuing outside.

So I thought I'll have a little look here. So I joined in, looked in, looked at the next thing when I was in the shop, it's rammed. There's like 70 people in their shop. And they're all buying these shoes. And they're buying like two pairs each, three pairs each. It was like a, it was like you inside a movie. So I thought I better try them on whilst them, yeah. So I tried them on.

And the woman said, look, you know, these are perfect for you. They suit you, they match you. By the way, I'm not the oldest person in the shop. Really? No, no, not by a long stretch, not by a long stretch. So I told what I do, so I'll give you a discount on those. I'll give you a discount on those, sir. So then I panicked.

I've then realized there's not a single sign in a shop with a price. So I think, okay, I'm not. What can they be? What can they be? Anyway, with a discount, 210. Oh, no. But I've had to wear them now, and I think they're quite funny. I've got a better story.

Go on. Went to New York the other day for the Dalton Smith Press conference, which now looks like it's off. Yeah, we're talking. And beard was out of control, didn't have any clippers on me right there. So I thought, I'll just need to go to the barbers. But I haven't really got time. So what I'll try and do is I'll find a mobile barber, right? But one that can come to your room?

Yeah. So just Google, Mobile Barber, New York, right? Geyser comes up straight away. He works at some impressive barber store. it'll come to your room with the gown and everything. I thought, wow, that's nice, isn't it? Yeah. So sent him a message.

Boom, straight back. Yeah, I'll be there. Six o'clock, whatever. Great. Bloke comes to the room. Sort of New York Italian fella. Gives you a good lad. Anyway, puts the gear on.

Minor trim. Like number one in here, a little bit of razor under ear. Nice job. 25 minutes, half an hour. Finished. I go to him. Thanks for that, mate. I said, I'll keep your number for next time.

I said, how much I owe you? Go on. Go on. No, no. You've kind of given it away. And at this point, there's not a lot you can do because he's in your room. He's done it. Right?

He's done it. He's in the room. It can't be a hundred. It obviously is a hundred, isn't it? $300. It's a $10. It's a 10 quid job. I've gone.

Ten quid job? I've only got $210 on me. And you ain't giving him a card, are you? I'm thinking, 100 bucks. Like, it's not. Normally 40 or 50 bucks. Obviously, he's come to the room, fair enough, you know. So, but it was one of these ones.

I went, that's great, mate. How much are you? And he goes, 300. I said, like, you can't really go, what? Or, you know, because he's in my room. He's got all the gear out, right? He's put the nice oil on. He's giving me a little bit of moisturiser under here.

So I'm like, 300. And he's gone, yeah. So I'm thinking, I've got to go and get some cash out. But there's no cash point. It's so embarrassing. So I've gone to the bloat, I went, I'm going to have to go to the cash point. I said, I've only got like $210 on me.

He went, oh, that'll do. That'll do. You just charged me $90. What was the real price? Do you know what? So between your shoes and my beard, you're talking about $500. Yeah.

$500? I know. We're living the life, buddy. You know what? We are living in life as we sit in another hotel. I used to do a thing at first with you when we were out here in Las Vegas with you and then with Frank Warren. It would always be, I'm in another lounge, I'm in another suite.

Well, we are in a nice hotel, we're in an ice lounge, having coffee, as you obviously gathered. Before we talk about Mattias and before we obviously get onto the Miami extravaganza, just a quick run through the rest of this car down here. Obviously, Devin Haney and he's fighting at you. He's having an association with, he's fighting Brian Norman. It's a bit nasty. I'm not so sure I like Dad's arguing.

Yeah, I think Bill's like... Pant of mine last time. Yeah, Bill's not really like that, but he's like trying to... get the interest going in the fight. The interest in the fight for me is Devin Haney is fighting for his third division, world championship? Overlooked that, is it?

Yeah, and, you know, I think when you study guys, you have to give Devin the respect of the guys that he's mixed with and gone, you know, he went to Australia twice to beat Cambo's, beat Lomachenko, fight that could have gone either way, but still beat him. You know, had a good fight with Ryan Garcia when obviously he was overweight and failed the drugs test, beat Regis Progray, beat Linares at a decent stage in his career.

So, you know, I think, but when you look at Brian Norman, he hasn't beaten anybody. And it's a bit like Sam Noakes and Abdullah Mason. Both of those guys have never beaten anybody. This is their best fight. Yeah, they're both world-class fighters. I love the fight and I have no idea what's going to happen. But neither guy has ever mixed, really, at real world level. So that's a great fight.

Noakes, Abdullah Mason. Haney Norman's a really good fight. I think Haney will be too good. I think he'll win on points. And I think Norman knows it as well. Because the dad's doing a great job, but the kid himself. I mean, there is still the ghost of Christmas past of the Ryan Garcia fight. And when he fought Ramirez, he didn't look comfortable.

He ran for 12 rounds. And I know that Bill, the father, is concerned about Devin getting hit. You know, he doesn't want to, but Devin don't get hit a lot normally. He's a master boxer. And then Benavides against Yard. Yard's bang up against it. I mean, I've got to say, like, for me. me. He knows it. That's a good thing. Yeah, Benavides is very, very good. And so Yard's now 34. And Yard's

lost all momentum. When he boxed Kovalev, he was a young man full of, yeah, and he was like, and then when he boxed, even when he boxed better beer, which he did a great, he was a great performance. It was just, and now, like, this, you're talking four years on, aren't you, three, four years on? No real fights, no real activity. Benadides, he's 28, throws a lot of punches. I think that's a very hard night's work for Anthony Yard. Yeah, and I think Yard knows it. I mean, I hate to use that last chance saloon, but I get the sense that Yard and Sunday, they know it.

They know they're going to win this. Well, he's getting a big payday. And, you know, he may be looking at it at this stage in his career, like, you know. Can't take it. Yeah. We will get on to Miami in a second, but I just got to ask you, breaking news last couple of hours. Subria Matthias, failing a test on November the 9th for Osterine-Varda test.

Does that put in doubt or does it definitely end his, title fight on the step i think it was january tv well the worst thing about that is when i when i was in new york for my 300 dollar barber that was for the dorton smiths son 20010 son i want to i want a refund from matias for the barber and the barb and my flight as well do you know so yeah it's it's a it's a it's always a mess you know you had um obviously joe parker recently then you had matisse nice actually to see a few people failing test that aren't on our show because we went we went for a period where they were all on our show, even not our fighters. But it's a poor situation.

Mattie, yes, one more. Another coffee beer in order. Yeah, sorry. It's a poor situation, especially for Dalton Smith. And now, I think a lot of the time, I always feel that, like, for me, I would say nine times out of ten, when a fighter fails a drug test,

I think they're guilty, right? I do believe in contamination, I do believe in all this stuff as well but what I want more than anything is it dealt with swiftly because what happens now is Dalton Smith sitting there he's going you know what about me I've been waiting for six months

seven months for this fight don't I get you know so the WBC have to make a decision and the decision will probably be because also this fight was licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission so they and they're very strict so they will come in

and say right Matias you're banned for a year or whatever you are. That will fall across probably the ABC, across other states as well. And we will say to the WBC, look, you know, next in line, we think it should be Dalton against next in line and put Matthias in recess,

give him his due process. Yeah, yeah, but also, but also he might be innocent. I mean, let him go through that. But hopefully Dalton Smith will get the opportunity. So might that switch to Sheffield then? It might be, but I mean, Puello. So, Matthias Fort Puello.

Yeah, it was a hard hard. Yeah, it was a very close fight. Could have gone either way. It was a great fight. And then after the fight, Puello's team canvassed the WBC for an immediate rematch. They said no because Doughton was mandatory. But what they said was the winner of Doughton against Mateus will fight Puello.

So now you'd think that it would be Doughton against Puello for the vacant title and then maybe Matthias feed a winner if he comes back and gets cleared. So again, a bit of a mess. But we're fighting hard behind the scenes to make sure Dorton gets. his opportunity. And I tell you, if it's Puello, that's some fight.

Yeah. Again, not easy, but it shouldn't be easy. Yeah, no, it shouldn't be easy. Okay, Ed, let's go some. Let's not mess around. I want to ask you, the exact moment,

and I don't mean in March or June or July or August or September. When was the moment that you realized, oh no, it's going to happen? Jake Paul is actually going to fight AJ. AJ's actually going to fight Jake Paul. Can you remember the exact moment? Well, it wasn't taught.

The truth, the exact moment was when I received the email with Jake Paul's signature on the contract. I mean, that was the true moment because you never know with these people, and I don't mean that disrespectfully, but the fact, it's not, so game players is a bit strong,

but they're just like hype merchants. So it's like, when we first got the call, and that was four or five months ago, they said, look, we're interested to do the Jake Paul Joshua fight in February, March of next year, blah, blah, blah, and I'm like,

so I'm sat chatting with AJ, and I'm saying, look, just to let you know, Jake Paul's been on, And he's like, yeah, he's DM me as well, like on Instagram. I mean, like, whatever. I just told him, yeah, I'm down, like, whatever. Yeah, of course. And I say no, do you?

No, and, but I said, listen, I mean, I can't imagine in a million years that they're going to fight you. But obviously, if they do, sweet. Then, like, like, a week later, they announced Javonter Davis. I'm like, you know, surely this was just a... Don't call me Shirley, yeah, let me. So then Javonta falls out, and the Kesa calls me. And he's like, look, what do you think? about AJ stepping in. Now at this point they're probably thinking this is probably a good time to

get AJ like he's not in a proper camp. The date was November the 17th or whenever it was. I can't remember where it was. Yeah. And it's only three, it's actually three weeks away at a time. So I said, look, let's talk about the money. The money was a little bit less than we first talked about because it was a fast turnaround. So then they came back and said, look, Netflix want to go in December. So I said, better for us. Not that we need a camp for Jake Paul, but, you know. So then they came back and I said, look, I need to know, this is a real fight, right, Nikisa? I said, I'm not interested in like balloon gloves and four to, and two minute rounds. Like if you want to do a real fight. No, no, no. It's a real fight. I said, do you want 10 rounds?

Do you want eight rounds? The Javonsor fight was eight rounds. We'll do eight rounds again. I said, fine. They said the only thing is Jake's going to weigh about two. 20 to 25 You know We want AJ to come down in weight And I was like Look he's a heavy weight He's never cut weight before

He said look not being funny We Not we need some advantage But we need you to have some kind of Disavime So I spoke to AJ He was sitting at whatever he was 265 or something like that

And I said to I think I told Nikis He was 290 Or something at the time But Nickisa said Originally Nikisa always said

240 pounds, which is very tight for AJ at this stage. Anyway, we agreed at 245, so under 245 pounds. And that was really the only stipulation. Then we talked about the money. The other issue was DeZone. Because AJ is exclusive to DeZone. This fight's on Netflix. And I had this issue with Katie Taylor.

And actually, to be fair to DeZone, what they've always been good at, when an unbelievable opportunity presents itself to a fighter, they're not, you know, they also get it. They, they, obviously there's a commercial deal to be done, but at the same time, they get it. And I said to DeZone, and I also wanted to speak to Turkey-Lashake, because we've been planning with him what we're going to be doing. Yeah, so I said, look, and no one was over the moon, but I said, look, you got to understand. Our profile of the back of this fight is going to go through the roof. We are, by signing this contract, we're going to enter 2026 as the hottest thing in boxing.

Absolutely. And also, to be honest with you, our US profile, has really only experienced the Andy Ruiz defeat of Madison Square goals So that was step one of an So we're still a big name over there But this is going to take us to another level

In the US Right So they get that So then we're you know We're back and forth on the money With Nekisa and the zone And then they're like right We're good

You know we want to announce on so and so I'm like So I phoned AJ I said Do you know this is going to happen And he's like Yeah And we're like And we're just

What did he say, Ed? He was like, really? I was like, yeah. And we couldn't understand the catch. Like all of us. We started to think to ourselves, is he any good, this guy? Like, maybe he's really good.

Or maybe, oh, it's something we don't know. What we're missing? We understand that the money, Jake Paul's making a fortune. Jake Paul's getting unbelievable credibility from fight fans that have always said You've never fought anyone of note. Absolutely. But this is unbelievably risk, like risk.

And I could tell Nikisa was like, I mean, Nikisa went on Sky Sports the other day and he went, yeah, you know, the thing is, is the Giovanni fight. This is more dangerous than the Giovanni fight. I heard it. But it's a lot easier because, you know, Giovante's got the speed. AJ's slow, he's finished.

Wait till you see the speed of this guy, in there. And so, listen, you have to give Jake Paul to credit. And what I will say is, you know, people at this point start playing back loads of interviews. And luckily with me, I've got myself in some decent shape over three years. So when there's an interview that's three or four years ago, you can see I look like a balloon at the time. And I was saying Jake Paul's average or this kind of stuff. I stand by the fact. Jake Paul's improved a hell of a lot.

He's not a world-class fighter. He's a good novice. Yeah, but he is like top 60 in the world, cruiserweight. Absolutely. That's what he is. And he does it properly. He does the hard camps, he does the hard spars, but this is just, this is just different. And I still can't get my head around.

And the best way, you know, we haven't had a lot of criticism about the fire. I mean, you get some people, do you think it will affect the legacy or this kind of stuff? I just think the best, and this is with AJ as well, honesty is the best policy. How on earth can you turn this opportunity down? How, like we received an offer and we accepted it. That is the crux of this deal. Every single person in boxing would have said to the same offer. Or half a half a half a half a 10% of it.

No. Yeah. There is no one. And by the way, if AJ would have said no. Yeah. I would have flown to him immediately or driven to him or wherever he was. Yeah. And I would have given him a like a real.

Facts of Life. Like, you know, and you realize and as fighters realize, you get to the top. You get beat. And like this is this legacy conversation. You know, people do you, like, you know, like, you know, like, you. don't, when you win Olympic gold, right, and you win the World Everyweight Championship twice, they don't go anywhere.

And this isn't a, oh, we're going to fight Jake Paul and then we're going to call it a day. This is a, we've got massive plans for 2026, but we're going to have a run out here, nick a career high payday, and then we're going to go back into camp for the serious stuff in 2026. So we're still focused. So you've been talking about the, you know, fair, because there was a bit of a curveball, what it might have been December on one of those shows you've got, and you said to me,

He thinks he can just come back, AJ, in an undercard fight, and no one's going to notice. The truth is Bunsey. We were going to fight this week. On this show here? Yep, right? And we agreed with Turkey at a show. I haven't told anyone this. We were going to fight an eight-rounder against a guy called Cassius Cheney, who's a decent heavyweight.

He's talked about it, Cassius, yeah. And we agreed with him to do to fight. We were going to rock up. No press conference. No way in. And on the night, Turkey at her shake was going to go, oh, by the way, we all, we all so ever guess, I swear. And AJ was going to open a car

and he was going to go and do an eight-rounder. So you bank, it's a you bank seat in a moment. So, but when I put it into comparison, AJ was going to fight an eight-rounder against Cassius Cheney for a 40th

of what he's getting to fight Jake Paul in another eight-rounder. And by the way, Cassius Cheney is top 100 in the world. And that is the story of what we were going to do.

All I can say is, you know, Because all I can say is, poor Cassius. I know. No, no. Actually, you know, because he was, it's funny because we were negotiating a deal with Cassius Cheney. Yeah. Right. Who was, who was offered a career high pay day to fight AJ.

But it was only an eight-round fight. Yeah, yeah. And AJ wasn't on a lot of money either because it was literally just a run out. I love that. I love that idea. So when we first made the offer to Cassius Cheney, his team are like, no, it's an AJ. fight. We want, I don't know, we want a million bucks. I was like, mate, AJ ain't even making a million bucks for this one. So we, uh, Kevin Rooney, our matchmaker, I said to him,

we're going to do Santa Cassie's chain. We're going to get another fight for him. Because I did feel a bit bad, obviously, but we explained the situation. We never signed a contract anyway, but we, we did it. We did say to him, the fight's looking good. So, you know. So there's a bit, it's half a promise. So yeah, so that's what we were going to do. Now that turns into Jake Ball. So the, the main thing and the reason, and the reason that why we were going to do to Cassius Cheney fight or a fight at all

is because every time AJ fights he's under the utmost pressure in a massive stadium headline in a massive fight and you know Buntsey like sometimes you just need to wrap the hands

and just get out there and just you know kind of like eradicate the demon and people talk about oh it is like the reality is that the Dubois defeat

hurt and it was a harrow in defeat because he kept getting up and he kept you know and listen he nearly found his wife way back into the fight. But it was a tough one. It was a really tough one.

And he's had to find himself a little bit. People don't realize. I think people sometimes just think that AJ's got this, you know, perfect life. And he's this unbelievable massive star. He's got millions of pounds. He's got his lovely house. But his whole life, he's boxing. And when you get beat like that against Dubai,

it took him a long time to find himself again. And he's in a good place now. And this has just come at a good time. time. It's just a little bit of fun. He's like, he's in Miami now. He's like,

he's ready for the presser. He's already, he's already got to pressers. You know, so, you know, so he's like, I think he's just got a little bit of buzz back.

And I think he's not, this is a good thing because he doesn't, I say, he will take it seriously. Of course he's got to. It's just like, you know, he takes his boxing very seriously.

And that's why when people say, oh, is it an exhibition? Like, have you got an agreement with Jake Paul to take it easy on him? Please. Can you imagine them saying to me? I mean, forget. Listen.

Forget, Adrian. I mean, some people say that I'd sell mine then, right? I mean, if the price, it had to be a very good price. It's a pretty bad joke. No, I know. But, you know, on a serious note, I wouldn't ever allow that. Let alone, AJ. You imagine me phoned up AJ and go, yeah, we're fighting Jake Paul, but, mate, what you've got to do is for the first three rounds.

You can't, no, AJ's going to go in there, not even hold him up, not even batter him. He can't. He can't. He can't. Everyone's saying now, oh, if it goes longer than a round, I was like, well, round's a bit harsh. Can we have two? Why is it then? I mean, you know, you've been in a business a long time.

You've been around the business a long time. Why is it that they genuinely, I mean, Nekisa and Jake seem to genuinely believe that A.J. is finished. Yeah. I think Nekisa not as much as Jake, but the thing is, you imagine the people around Jake, right? Most of them don't know boxing. And the ones that do know boxing are. the payroll and they're just you buy into the fact that you know like i mean if you really i mean i do it sometimes when we when we're right up against it and i've never been in a fight where i've

been up against it as much as jake paul against a j yeah that's true but there's been times i don't know Darren barker against sergio martini yeah yeah yeah brian rose against demetrius andre you know fights where you're these are hard fights but you're you're convincing yourself and so is the team yeah why you know so like i bark and martin i'm like i'm martin i'm sorry you know so i like i barker Martinez is a great idea. Darren, like, you know, Martinez is a little bit on the slide. He hasn't boxed for nine months. You know, he got rocked in that fight against so-and-so, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you get beat and you're like, we probably didn't really ever have a shot in that fight. So this will be the same thing. Jake, he's coming off a knockout defeat. He hasn't boxed for 14 months. He's past his best. He's confidence he's shot. He's moving around training camps.

He's a, and actually, like, listen, by the way, this is a good time to get AJ. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, he's not really out of camp for this fight. Yeah. He's ticking open in different countries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. His confidence probably is a little bit lower than it's been at times in his career.

But it doesn't matter. But so, but you can find ways to convince yourself why it's a good time. Yeah, you can find ways to convince you to it's a good time until perhaps today when they stand face-to-face in Miami. And he looks into AJ's eyes and he just sees what a thought you're up. Yeah, but you see AJ, this ain't, you know, see the Jake Paul stuff. Yeah, poking him. all this kind of stuff. No, no.

And I will message AJ before the presser. This ain't a game. Don't let him play you around. And, you know, joke, joke, joke. We're going into there. There's a lot of people that, really, so kind of like boxing, AJ, is riding on your shoulders here.

Yeah. To kind of get rid of this. And I like Jake, I've been telling you for three years, he's a good novice. You've been going, no, he's not. And I'm going, he's a good novice. No, but he's improved a hell of a lot. So, Ed, I just want to say,

I'll let you get on your call. coffee. Ried now, Monaco in a couple of weeks. Ben Whitaker next week. Ben Whittaker next week. I'm on BBC duty next week. Yeah, good, good.

It's good. I would love to be with Ben because Ben's one of my favourite fires. And then Monaco with that Conner Walker Pat McCormack. Yeah, is that? Correct, correct.

I get it. I mean, I do... I think the board have to... I mean, they've done fights over here in Saudi for the British title. Absolutely. So why not in Monaco? Yeah.

And their reason... reason is, which I do think's valid, they are not the host commission. So in Saudi Arabia, they were the host commission. Kind of weak argument because it's still an international fight. But I think we've got to actually just evolve a little bit. Flexibility. Yeah, with boxing now on an international stage, especially on the time zones, like when you're tuning in and Saudi fights are on a British time zone, if it's for the British title, who cares? Who cares? If it's in Monaco and it's 10pm at night, who cares? Yeah, absolutely. But not just that, McGrail against Massoud for the European title.

By the way, and this is probably a little bit for the hard, Johnny Fisher's back as well, but for the hard cause, Beatrice Ferreira against Elif Turhan. I know. Probably one of the best female fights. Are you coming to Monica? Yeah, of course, I'm here. Good, good, good, good, good.

That would be a great time. Then we got Stockton the week after. Then we got Jake Paul, AJ on the 19th. And then we got Garner on the 20th, which unfortunately. You can't make. And then we're back out here on the 27th. Yeah. For Inouye.

wild times I get a cue sometimes I've overhyping it and saying oh Bansy please stop with what a year what a time but it's been But we say that all the time But it's true

And I was When we've done the presser Last night For this show in Saudi I was going to say Top to bottom This is the card of the year And I think I'll say that

Every single presser But it is when are you I mean this is just Such a wonderful time for boxing And the reality is Although Matrim's business You know he starts and snooker and everything else.

And the same with you guys. This is our business. And our business, not just talking about our matrim's business, the business of boxing, it's hotter than ever. I mean, it's literally, you can find work every week.

Oh no. You can find work six times a month. Yeah, actually. Yeah, proper work. Listen, if we could talk all day, we could go back to shoes, we could go back to fashion, we could go back to coffee,

we could go back to some of the smaller fights on some of the deals. It doesn't make a difference. I'll see you tomorrow night at Ringside and then in Monaco and then in Miami. It's like fantasy land. Yep. It is.

God bless. Thanks so much for your time. It's been an absolute pleasure. So that's Eddie Hearn there, revealing one or two things, and in fine form and finally getting about six shots of coffee down his neck during the 30 minutes. So the fights on Saturday night. Sports Extra from 11 p.m. with the undercard, including Sam Noakes against the unbeaten and quite brilliant Abdullah Mason,

and then from 2 a.m. Sunday morning on 5 Live. It'll be Anthony Yard against David Benavides. He's unbeaten. He's known as the Mexican monster. That's for the WBC light heavyweight title. That's going to be taking place late on Saturday night into Sunday morning. I'll be ringside.

What a time it is, as Eddie said there, without making any apologies. What a time it is to be a boxing fan. We'll be in Monaco soon. Then we'll be in Miami. Then we'll be in Derby. Then we'll be, well, just an endless list, really. Some people are actually going to be out in Saudi Arabia over Christmas. Not me.

Anyway, I'm Steve Bunce, and this has once again been a very, very special fight of live boxing. In the mid-90s, whilst Britain was having its beckon moment, South Africa was having its own. But cricket captain Hansie Cronier didn't kick the ball. He hit it for six. I must congratulate in particular, Captain Hansa Cronje. Hansi Cronier could do no wrong, but in January. January 2000, he did. South African cricket captain Hansi Cronier

and three teammates have been accused of match fixing. I'm Mark Butcher, former England cricketer. Join me for sports strangest crimes. Hansi Cronier, fall from grace. Listen on BBC Sounds.