5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Joshua vs Ruiz: AJ wants Fury next

Episode Date: May 30, 2019

Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. faced the media for the final time before their world heavyweight title fight this weekend at Madison Square Garden. Joshua says he is turning his attention to a fight with Tyson Fury, after Deontay Wilder announced his next fight would be a rematch against Luis Ortiz. Also, Mike and Steve talk to several of the undercard fighters including Katie Taylor and Callum Smith ahead of their world title fights, and Carl Frampton pops up to talk about sparring with Taylor, his training partner Tommy Coyle and where he goes next in his own career.

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That's pockethose.com slash podcast for your two free gifts with purchase. Pockethose.com slash POD C-A-S-T. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Let's get ready to rumble. Five live boxing. Madison Square Garden, the mecca of boxing. It's a big history. great legends of fight here guys like Ali, Joe Lewis.

The buzz in here is nothing less than deafening. For one time only, taking that lines then to Manhattan and to New York. You're going to war. It's you against America. It's you trying to win that public. Against Ruiz, you want to see a devastating knockout, too much strength, too much power, too much ferociousness. Who will land first? Who will land hardest?

You got fire in the... The greatest round of boxing we have had on Five Life, perhaps since Hatchez. He don't wait for the referee to break. He's swing. It's a right up a good that would have knocked King Kong out, Anthony Joshua, with a devastating display of power. There's a big world out there, so we looked at America. MSG is a good place to start.

And we'll be there at Madison Square Garden, live on Saturday night, Sunday morning UK time for commentary on Anthony Joshua versus Andy Ruiz Jr. We're here at the final press conference, at the beautiful Beacon Theatre, which is on the upper west side of New York, at around 75th Street, and a couple of blocks from where John Lennon was murdered back in 1980.

A gorgeous setting here, Steve, could have been transplanting from the West End of London. Beautiful theatre. It's clearly based on one of the West End theatres. I'm not such a theatre goer that I know Shast we have a new intimately in London. If I did, I'd be able to tell you that that Baroque Hall over there is the same as X, Y and Z. It is quite a stunning venue,

and I bet the acoustics are absolutely brilliant inside here. And the mass ranks of reporters from the UK and New York and beyond here in the United States are assembling close to the stage in front of us, trying to get close to the two boxes, Joshua and Ruiz. And I thought, Steve, towards the end of the press conference itself, one of the questions posed by a local New York report was suggesting that the buzz around the fight is growing as Fight Week moves on and that there's more of a realisation that actually, Andy Ruiz Jr. might be a sterner test than some have suggested. So that's two reasons why the buzz is improving and increasing.

First of all, the sun's out today, so we're not ducking between doors with terrible storms that have drenched and made this city particularly wet. And the second reason is you're so right, Mike. People are now starting to realize that Andy Ruiz isn't a second-rate late replacement. Put him in, don't talk to him, and we'll just get on with the fight. People are starting to analyze Andy Ruiz's record. They're starting to look at the way he looks, and they're starting to compare that with some of the very toxic PR publicity

that accompanied when his name was suggested, those awful pictures of him last year, looking in dreadful shape. He's in terrific shape, arguably the best shape of his life. And he came up a good point, Ruiz. He said, I've had a 15-week camp with a fight in the middle. And, of course, the fight in the middle was with a man whose dimensions are almost identical to Anthony John.

Joshua's. So if we didn't know better, we'd say he's played a fantastic three and a half month game. And Mike, there is a sense and a feeling. And part of that is that people are starting to arrive. It's not the 30,000 that went to watch Ricky Hatton, because Mike will never have 30,000 going to watch any fighter. You know, Joshua might get close. Let's say at the moment, it's building. There is a sense that it's building, and that's all we want. It's just that little sense, the little feeling. But this is a hard city, Mike. Let's get that right. We're not In Las Vegas, you're captive. You are basically captive.

You're in this hotel, which is linked to this hotel, which is linked to this hotel, by bridges going across. Every single hotel there, or most of the ones that we go to for fights, are owned by the MGM group. So, of course, the same posters, the same screens are showing the same stuff. So you are saturated, inundated, beaten down with it. You don't get that here in New York, because you walk 100 metres outside of our hotel where there's a feeling and a sense of the fight happening.

and there's a 200-foot poster of one of the women from the American women's football team going to the World Cup. And as we stand here, Steve, looking out onto where the press conference concluded just a few moments ago, I think it is also quite striking that looking at the set-piece events that we've been at during the week, there is momentum building. I mean, look at the crowd in front of us here. We were at the workouts down by the site of the 9-11 memorials earlier in the first. week at a shopping mall close to there and there was a fairly good turnout there the undercard press conference on wednesday of this week was pretty much a british affair so it was hard to get a gauge

on what the excitement and the coverage might be like here in new york and and across the u.sa but there is a very healthy turnout here today and what there is if you don't mind me saying to it this is a turnout from the 90s this is a turnout for 15 years ago and i'm going to say this to you and some of our listeners might be shocked and stunned and amazed by this but when we're When they have so-called big fights here in America, when we have some of those terrific, like, middleweight world champions, well-to-eight world champions, like world-to-eight world champions, when we have those fighters, even when we have the Auntie Wilder fights, there is nothing like this. They don't do stuff like this, Mike. They don't do public workouts where they get 500 people.

They don't do press conferences like this where there's about three or 400 people in a run. They just don't do it. You know, what Eddie's doing here, what we're doing here, and it's a British invasion, is that we're making things a little bit more popular. again. This is like something, I swear to, this is like something from the early or any point in the 90s. That's what it was like when you went to Las Vegas. That's what it was like when you came here for Kevin Kelly, Nassim Hammett back in 1997 or whatever it was. And it's that same type of feel. And what's great is there one or two of the faces around now that we're around there. Thomas Hauser's here, we spoke to him early in the week. Wally Matthews is here, one of the most

aggressive and unpleasant journalist. I love them. He was a close friend of mine. But boy, oh boy, he'd stand up at a Mike Tyson press conference. And he'd rip into Don King, and he'd rip into Tyson for selecting Bruce Seldon or Buster Macphish Jr, whoever the hell it was, and he'd rip into them. And Don King would laugh and dismiss him. He's back in the middle of that throng somewhere along with thousands of others. So there is a film, like you know what? It feels like a fight. Joshua and Ruiz, very comfortable at the press conference dais,

as they were in front of the microphone when I spoke to each of them. And when I got to talk to Anthony Joshua in the bowels of this beautiful theatre here, I spoke to him about Ruiz and what the Mexican-American brings to the ring that as an amateur and a professional, Joshua hasn't faced before. So I'm 6'6-4-4-Rewis, who's about 6'2, he has a good head movement and stays off the line. Why I mention the height is because the range, where I'm taller, I have a lot more range of my punches and he has a lot more shorter arm, so he moves his head really well.

and he's very good at like punch selection. So his left looks his best shot, causes damage with it a lot. And he's not afraid to take a shot to land five. And I think that's the Mexican style that he has. And as I say, anything there that in your amateur and pro career you haven't faced before, there are elements of what Pervetkin did early on, I think.

Yeah, definitely, definitely. But you know what? I was thinking about it the other day. In terms of that amateur career, it was fast, it was quick, but I bought some really tough, guys early on. I didn't stay around to box all of them, but I've had some good experience with some amateur guys. And then look into my pro career, Povetkin, as you said, Joseph Parker, him and Joseph Parker had a really good fight, very close. So I've box similar styles to a certain degree.

But as much as I watch Andy on YouTube and all these other social networks, I feel like there's nothing like fighting him in the ring, you know, that's the mistake. You can watch them and feel like, yeah, I know this guy in and out, and then they're completely different. So do you know what? I just got to be confident in myself. I'm not worrying about Anne. I'm just worrying about myself. And away from home as a pro for the first time, what elements did you change or what were you able to to stick to being away from home in Miami, first of all,

and now here in New York? It's interesting, as you said, I've had my career comfortable in the UK, which has been good, and now it's completely changed. You've got two ends of it. When I first started boxing, about a year into it, I got whisked away to Sheffield every week, so I was only home at the weekend. So I've been used to staying away from family and stuff,

so that's fine. I don't miss anyone. too much because I know I'm here for work, but we set up training camp in Miami. The main thing was time zone, adjusting my body clock to the time zone. And I think I've done that now. So other than that, that's what I love about boxing. I always say it, boxing bag, boxing ring and a coach, you can set up anywhere. As long as you've got the energy, you know, the passion, you can set up anywhere. And that's what we've done. So the time zone was the main thing, and I feel fresh. And in terms of Fight Week in New York, how is that playing out for you?

It's a lot. There's a lot because there's a lot. There's a lot because, This is like ground zero. This is not, I'm not on like a pedal stall where you're world champion in London, you know, the Olympics in London. This is that completely different zone. I've got to really like, how to explain it. Start fresh.

So the extra little bits I used to do in London, I've got to do it all here again. But it's fine, but it takes so much effort and so much work away from boxing to try to promote the sport and promote myself and the fight. So that's the difficult part about fight week. And a day,

after you suggest meeting face to face with Deonte Wilder, he announces without a date and a venue that he's going to take on Luis Ortiz. What do you make of that? What can I make out of it? Yeah, I said, I want to meet him, I want to have a chat with him, and then next day there's no date, no venue,

but they just announce the fight. I'll still say there's hope in it, but how I thought is that the next person I want is Tyson Fru. After this? Well, yeah, let me get past this, but that's the confidence having myself. I think I can beat Ruiz.

And then the person I would like after that, then if wilder ain't available, is to start looking at, like, Tyson Fury. And your knowledge of the business and what's going on at the moment with broadcasting companies, how likely do you think that is for 2019? Probably not. I think that these, like, fighters and I've got big egos now, it's like, well, if he wants to fight me, he's got to come and see me and all that. And I'm like, well, I thought myself to be in a position of power.

I remember when Eddie, I first fought for the title in my 16th fight, and I was like, Eddie, why have I got such a, my deal working at? good but he was like just your challenger you're fighting for the title he goes once you get it you're in a position of power so i've done that and i've done that four times over by winning i bf ib o wba you know and all these other titles and then i feel like there's still a power struggle where people are like well even though i'm not a champion people still know who i am so i'm still king so you've got to come and see me and all that stuff and it's like put that stuff aside man let's see if you can get a real solid fight under under wraps because sorry to keep on going on with um boxing i feel like

Stats and fact show. He fought him. He got X. He was happy to accept X to fight him. What did he fight him for? We offer them twice as much, but they still say it's not good enough, and I don't get it. I really don't get it. And yet, here you are. At the start of the week, you're talking about Deonté Wilder, before the fight now, talking about Tyson Fury. I mean, how frustrating is it that you haven't switched from one to the other, and we're getting, it seems, no closer. Jerome Miller, Lewis Ortiz, Andy Ruiz. You know what, as much as I don't want to disrespect Ruiz, this is the... this is the nature of the beast. Like, this is heavyweight boxing.

We've got to keep our eyes peeled on everyone, even the up-and-coming fighters. So I'm not only worrying about who else is out there. I'm worrying about who's coming behind me as well. And if these guys aren't up for it just shit, is what it is. You know, I just concentrate on other fighters and the division must go on.

But I never say it is in the position where I'm like, you know, I want to fight these guys so I'm going to beat, I'm going to knock them out. I want to challenge myself. As I said, it's not about Ruiz. It's about myself. It's not about furious about myself. But these are guys have to compete with

to see how far I could go in the sport. But here we are the home of the fight of the century, Ali and Frazier, and then you had Foreman in the mix and Ken Norton and how we all remember that. And Joshua Blatsy, who was on the undercard, was telling me that was the first fight he ever saw. So don't you want to be creating those kind of memories?

100%. You know, like, Eddie showed me a video yesterday where it was on his Twitter, and it was like, I was in a suit, then he went to boxing, then it went like as like New York New York song back in the background and I said it reminds me of like a retirement phase because from one part in the ring to putting on my suits

so it's like that transition from the boxing ring to like my working life when I'm done with boxing and it just kind of like made me realise that everything you do as a boxer is just about memories it's not about my own ego it's not about like feeling like I'm the biggest and the badest because when it's all said and done and I make that transition into the next life

I want to be able to say wow I had a great fight with Fury Do you remember that night here with Vladimir Klitschko or Povetkin? It's just the memories I'm trying to create because when it's all said and done, that's all we have left is good memories. And the garden, you were here before Christmas for Canello Alvarez against Rocky Fielding, and I'm told that that really stirred you

and that really made you determined to fight here. 100%. It's one of the greatest, well, it is the greatest arena around the world. So to fight here is really good. And then watching Rocky and Canelo, the crowd was amazing. Even though, as you said in London, 80,000, 100,000, but in here, like 20,000, because it's like more compact,

there's not a bad seat in the house, it was just electrifying. It was mad. And I'm going to be doing it in a few days anyway. So I've got to kind of put my shield of armour on and just stay focused and just get the job done. Leave your memory. Yes, leave my memory, leave my stamp. That's exactly correct. Great stuff.

Thank you, Anthony. Thank you. Well, a few nights ago, Mike, in dusk on that fantastic platform overlooking, well, the worst viewing Manhattan, but don't tell people that. He was joking, he was relaxed, he was fun, he'd just come up from Miami. A totally different Anthony Joshua there. Downing, obviously, was it a dressing room you managed to capture him in downstairs. Yes, in one of the dressing rooms in the bowels of the theatre.

And we were talking on Monday, Steve, too, Anthony, about how one of the factors that he's learned during his time as a pro, but in particular during his time as a world champion, is how he rations the passion, how day by day he builds himself and doesn't burn himself out mentally the weekend before the fight or two weeks before the fight. And what I saw down there in that dressing room was a mask starting to come down, the fighting mask that comes down on the day of the final press conference. It will be even more apparent at the way in on the Friday, no doubt about it.

And by the way, Eddie Hearn was saying that there are 5,000, and tickets being given away for the way, and 4,000 of them have already gone. So the way in itself is going to be an occasion here. And you've got the thread there at the end of the interview of how he wants to really leave a mark, leave his memory on Madison Square Garden. We'll pick up on that in a moment, Steve.

But he also said that his attention is now being diverted to Tyson Fury. Is this just now tip for tap because Deonté Wilder is suggesting that he's going the Louise Ortiz route? Well, I think it's more than a suggestion. I think that fight's done. think the announcement we saw and the press releases we've seen since we've been here in New York

for show, Mike. I don't think that's, because they could have used it. They could have used it for show. They could have shown, said to Eddie, look, we're about to sign Ortiz. Why don't you come to the table? As we know, Joshua's claim, and I believe him, and Eddie Hearns claim, and I believe Eddie as well, is that we said, let's lock these fighters in a room to sort out, have a chapman to man, heavyweight champion, the heavyweight champion.

Two hours later, Ortiz was announced fighting Wilder in a rematch. To be absolutely honestly honest with you, Mike, it's straightforward. We've always known that Joshua wants to fight Wilder or he wants to fight Fury. We've always known that Fury wants to fight those two. You know the rest of this story. We've been talking about it for about nine months. So I'm not at all surprised that Joshua suddenly has turned his attention to Fury. And it's probably because they feel they can do a deal.

And I tell what also, Mike, let's get this absolutely straight. There is a small piece, a high moral ground. the very few heavyweights over the last 50 years of occupied. It wasn't always occupied by Ingemar Johansson, 1960, Floyd Patterson, 1961, Sunny Liston, 1963, Cassius Clay, 1964. It wasn't always occupied by then. Only every now and again does a heavyweight get to go on that rarefied little patch of earth, patch of ground. And perhaps Joshua thinks, you know what, as good as Ruiz is, as good as X was, as good as Y was, I need one of these guys. has gone, perhaps that was a genuine call for Fury,

because it's the first time that Joshua has been talking about Fury for a very long time, Mike. Another talking point that emerged when he spoke to reporters earlier in the week and repeated again at the final press conference was his enlisting of a Navy SEAL or a group of Navy SEALs specialist troops to help him deal with what he believes might come in his career as crisis situations, such as the knockdown against. Vladimir Klitschko. And apparently he's been talking to members of the elite unit who were involved in the tracking down

and the killing of Osama bin Laden back in 2011. And they were talking to him about how, in their experiences across the world, how they've reacted to being shot and how they control the aftermath. And he's been talking to them about how he could then translate that to dealing with a knockdown. What it reminded me of, Steve, was many years ago, Adam Booth,

when he was working with David Hay, would make David Hay tumble around the canvas and then get up and try and fight when he was so dizzy from the tumbling around the canvas he would then have to keep himself together while he's dizzy and his head spinning.

And that helped David Hay win the cruiserweight title against Jean Moormick out in Paris. You remember rightly David Hay got hit with his shot and he went down and he rolled and came straight back up. They'd actually worked on being hit, going down and getting up. And there's a massive similarity, Mike,

between being hit on the chin and dropped in front of the night, 90,000 people and being shot because shock sits in. At some point, shock kits in and it's how you handle it. And I know that with Navy SEALs and all elite military units is how they react, not to the pressure, not to the fear, but it's how they react to the actual physical damage of being shot, because you tend to suffer more if you go into shock and if you let that shock dominate you. So let's call it nerve, shock, whatever you want to call it. It's that immediate response, something that's happened in an instant. So that's really sensible. And you can imagine, he's a sponge.

Robert McCracken has been saying to us since 2012 as we went into the Olympics, this kid is a sponge. He picks up everything. And there's a good line today, there's some lovely lines in the interview, but there's a good line at the press scores where Anthony Joshua was asked a question, or maybe he was just talking, I think, and he was saying that I have to say yes. I have to listen and say yes. It's part of my British Nigerian. culture that if someone says something to me, I just do it. I don't question it. I just do it and I listen. So that all ties in. This kid is a sponge and some people might hear me saying a kid because he's nearly 30 years of age and he's a world champion. Angelo Dundee speak.

And exactly my guy, my guy, yeah. And the thing is Mike, I still think about him that way. I still think about him as, you know, I've got to be a bit careful here. He's not necessarily a work in progress, but certainly someone that is working his way and progressing down a path. Let me just move the words around a little bit. And we were talking earlier about David Hay. David Hay is going to be alongside us in the commentary positions on Saturday night, Sunday morning UK time for live commentary on BBC 5 Live, Anthony Joshua against Andy Ruiz. For Ruiz, it's his second world title fight.

He was beaten on a majority decision at the end of 2016 in Auckland by Joseph Parker. and he told me how this compares to that occasion. It doesn't compare anything, man. Being here is a blessing. I'm so happy to be here and I have the second chance to become the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world and with God's help and with my focus mentality, that's what we're going to do.

And I know a very different opponent, very different a situation, but what can you take from that first setback that will work for you here? I think the hard work and dedication that I was lacking on doing, Now that I have a new trainer that's on me all the time with Manny Robles. He's been helping me a lot, especially with the speed, the movement. And I think that's what I needed since the beginning. And I know you've been talking in the buildup, Andy, about your background in the sport and how you were bullied as a youngster, and that was part of the process of getting involved in boxing.

Yeah, of course it was, but you know what? Now that I matured a lot, and boxing came me out of the streets. I'm here now in this big crowd. and make a fight, so I'm really happy and proud of myself, and especially my parents always being there for me, so I'm really happy. And sending a message to anybody involved in that kind of behavior anywhere around the world?

Sending the message to all the guys that are having a hard time that are going through stuff. They just have to pull through, you know, believe in themselves, pray to God, and things will get better. And one of the journalists mentioned here, Andy, that actually there's a realization now. One last question, Andy. One of the journalists here at the press conference

was saying there is this kind of growing realization that actually you're not just here to make up the numbers. Of course, you know, we've been working for my whole life, you know, for this opportunity and for this day, and we're going to take full advantage of it June 1st. And, you know, I just thank God every minute of this. And the only thing to do now is just to take advantage of it. Good luck.

Thank you, man. Thank you. I've been struck, Steve, not only when we met him for the first time on Monday on the roof terrace, as you were talking earlier about the time we spent with Anthony Joshua, but also here today, because this is much bigger than any press conference he's been involved with before, much bigger than any fight week he's been involved with. And yet he was up on the stage there, and I was just making my way along by the foot of the stage, and I waved him to come over, and he just sat on the edge of the stage and started talking.

He is so relaxed. You know what? He's at peace, Mike. And, you know, we're not going to be making out with smart Alex. We said this on Monday. He's absolutely at peace. But perhaps we thought on Monday, classic asterix attached. Then he might start to tumble a little bit as the week went on.

He might start to come undone as he was faced with stuff he's never faced before. Vast audiences. And I've got to be up, sure, honestly, not only has he not started to tumble, not only has he not started to panic, he seems to have grown into it. I thought he was more relaxed up there today, more. confident and whilst you were waiting to interview him Mike on the stage I was actually standing up next to him as he was doing various interviews for Mexican TV now I'm a fairly good judge of a character and a man if he's starting to struggle a little bit and I was three feet two feet

from his face looking right at him Mike he is this calm he is absolutely calm he's as calm as Joshua is and he's enjoying it as much as Joshua what was also striking though Steve was how far he had to look up when they came face to face in the center of the stage he He has a huge reach disadvantage here. He might be able in the early stages to make it work to his advantage, but he is going to be much, much shorter in terms of height and reach. Yeah, this is when we're going to start to see that Joshua Brain, which we've seen.

We see in every single fight. We see snippets of it in every single fight. It doesn't just go flat out in every fire. We saw lots of it in the park of fight. I think we're going to see a lot of it here. He's going to measure things of his jab and start softening him up. And he's going to use every bit of that five or six. six inch reach advantage that he's got.

I don't even want to get the measure out on the reach advantage. But as we've said, all week long, and we're setting the build-up to this, and when he was first announced, he knows how to get close to guys, okay? But I think Joshua's got, well, we know Joshua's got a much better boxing brain than we ever give him credit for. And I did notice when I was interviewing Anthony Joshua, Steve, that there is this kind of blemish on his upper eyelid, on his right eye, kind of a sty. But Robert McCrack and his trainer was telling me that there are no concerns in the camp

about that. But just looking as we have at Andy Ruiz across the week, Joshua is going to have to be very, very close to his best to get rid of this fella and to make an important statement at this time in the heavyweight division. And let's get this absolutely straight. Now let's establish this

now in no uncertain terms. If Joshua goes out there and blast him out in two rounds, that doesn't mean it was a massacre. That means that Joshua got his tactics and his punt selection absolutely right. And so you're absolutely right. I think Joshua, I think we're going to see a really sharp, a really determined, a really aggressive and a very nasty Joshua.

And if he doesn't blast him out in the first round and a half, two rounds, then he'll break him down for a beating over five or six rounds. But one thing, Mike, it will not be left to chance. It will not be Joshua yawning and going in. Joshua prepares, that's what we like about him. He's meticulous. He trains like Frank Bruno used to train. Like every fight, whether it is his very first fight, whether it was his very first fight, whether it's a massacre out in Marbaea at that time, or whether it's facing Mike Tyson.

He trains like he's fighting the greatest fighter in the world. And I like that about the kid. Let's get ready to rumble. Five Live Boxing. Welcome back to Five Live Boxing with Costello on Bunce. For the first half hour of the show, we were concentrating on the main event, Anthony Joshua defending his three versions of the world heavyweight title

against Andy Ruiz Jr. here at Madison Square Garden. A stacked undercard features the likes of Callan Smith defending his WBA super middleweight title, we'll hear from him shortly. But first of all, Katie Taylor in a potentially history-making contest against the Belgian Delphine Pursune for all versions of the female world lightweight title. And Katie joins us now. Katie, Delphine Pursune has spoken about boxing for her being just a hobby, whereas for you, it's work.

How do you think that will factor into the fight on Saturday night? I think we both train just as hard for this type of fight. We're both coming into this fight very well prepared. We both have a chance to make history on Saturday night for our nation. So we were putting everything underline. You know, so whether she has a job or not, she's training just as hard as me, that's for sure. And in a sense, you have to give her a lot of credit

for the way that she's broken through and developed her career, given that she's had such a scant amateur background compared to you, for example. Yeah, it sounds like she had a lot of battles growing up being a female boxer in Belgium. are sure, but sometimes that's what female boxers have to do. They have to battle through those obstacles, and

she's put herself in this position out to fight for the ultimate prius in boxing, the pinnacle of boxing. So I definitely have an awful lot of respect for her. She's a fantastic champion. So I'm looking forward to a great challenge on Saturday night. And on that point, you spoke about the struggles for female boxers. In that terrific documentary, Katie, it's almost forgotten that, you know, you spent a lot of your career with no chance or no prospect of going to the Olympics

because there was no female boxing at the Olympic Games. So given what happened at London 2012 and how special that was, and anybody who was at any of your fights at the XL Arena, we'll never forget those days and nights, but how would winning on Saturday night here compared to that London 2012 success? I think this is definitely the biggest sight of my career,

although the Olympics in London was obviously a phenomenal for me as well. It was a childhood dream, and to see a dream fulfill like that was so special for me and my family but I have a chance to get to the very, very top of boxing it's every fighter's dream to fight for the undisputed title every belt is on the line here including the ring magazine belt as well

I can't get much bigger than this fighting in Madison Square Garden as well at the mecca boxing so this is what it's all about really might mention nearly the obstacles you had to overcome and of course one of them you didn't actually overcome it you had to play the game when you had to boxers Kay Taylor Yeah. Were you Keith or Kevin, Taylor, when you had those competitions as a boy?

I don't know, if you honest. I've never known. Do you know? Were you key for Kev? Whatever do you want to call me? Yeah, just Kate Taylor, I guess. But, yeah, there are the things that you had to do. When I started boxing as a 10-year-old, the female boxing wasn't even allowed in Ireland at the time. So I definitely had the battle through.

And I had then had my first official female boxing at last when I was 15 years of age. So it's coming along with. way since then. We talk about you having broad shoulders, Katie, because you're carrying a lot, you're carrying a burden and especially in all those years, cameras at your Europeans, cameras at your worlds, if you lost a contest, maybe you're losing once to an Italian woman and I think RTE E called me up at midnight to get a comment. I mean, that type of stuff, I mean, that, you've had that for so long now on your shoulders,

just carrying, not just the female sporting island, but arguably worldwide. I think it's a great position to be in, that's for sure. I mean, it's a great responsibility to have. And I think now every single matchroom show, there's a female fight on every card as well. It's not unusual for these female fights beyond cards now, which is absolutely huge. We're opening doors for the rest of female boxes coming up as well. This is what it's all about. I want to cement this legacy, and to have a big part of play in changing the sport is very, very special.

Delphino said that she couldn't win a three-round fight against you, but she fancies herself over the longer distance. Do you sense that that's how the fight will play out? I think it's going to be definitely a tough 10-round fight, that's for sure. I do realise that amateur boxing is very, very different to professional boxing, but I am prepared for a tough 10-round fight, and I'm going to be strong in the 10-round as I am in the first round. That's how hard of training for this fight.

Again, I notice something on the documentary, when you sit there about amateur boxing and professional boxing being different, there was a session on the pads with with your trainer, Ross where you threw something and darted back out. And he said, no, no, no, you stay there. You stay there. So it's about adapting, isn't it, that style that was so successful for you. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, it's definitely very, very different. And that's something that I had to really adapt and change. When I did turn pro, I had to sit down and we punches a lot more. I realize that it is more about big pair of shots as well. And it is very, very different. But I think I have adapted very well. I'm getting better and better in each fight. And I think I'm more of a professional fighter now,

than I've ever been. And with all of those styles that you faced, amateur and pro, is there anything that Delphine Pursune brings that you might not have faced? I think Delphine Pursune is very, very awkward, that's for sure. She's probably a hard person to look well against, I think I said before, but I don't think it's anything that I haven't seen before. I feel like I've came across every style out there. I've had nearly over 300 amateur fights.

This is my 14 professional fight, so I definitely have faced. A lot of the tough girls are there in the past, so that experience is definitely going to help me during this fight as well. Well, we wish you well on Saturday night. Thanks for sparing the time to talk to us. You're welcome. Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Katie.

Yeah, you're welcome. As ever Steve, Katie Taylor, quietly confident. And this, as we were saying on the first of the podcast here in New York this week, could be that women's super fight that the sport needs. Because we were hearing about how big Clarissa Shields against Christina Hammer was going to earlier this year and it turned out to be a pretty one-sided if not a flop because it was a great performance by a Coresha shields but it wasn't anything like the contest that was built yeah and also Mike Cecilia Bracus the woman that owns all the belts I think she's got six or seven

belt she hasn't been in a fight yet which is the standout fight and she's in the weight above two weights above absolutely she's two weights above but there has been talked that she if anybody she does she half fences losing a bit and Katie's even half referenced that she might gain a little bit so there could be something there. But getting back to this one, I think that the women's boxing needs this one, Mike. It needs a hard contest. It needs something from Pursune. I've watched enough of Pursune and we watched doing the ring up closer, the open workout here. And she might be a little bit raw, but then you're always going to look raw against Katie Taylor. If Katie Taylor's in the ring after you and you're trying to compare feet, you're trying to compare speed and you're trying to compare what she's doing,

you're always going to look raw. That's just a simple fact. I think Purson brings an awful A lot of problems in this fight. I think we're going to have to see Katie Taylor try this, try that, before she finds a rhythm. If Katie Taylor were to dominate this and win all 12 rounds about barely breaking the sweat, like Clevesha Shields did that night against Hammer, I would be absolutely gobsmatch shot. And Katie referenced there how awkward person can be. And sometimes it's those awkward shots when they're not necessarily that technically talented that can be difficult for a fighter.

But we're joined now by Carl Frampton, one of the many. great fighters in attendance here this week. Carl, you've actually sparred with Katie Taylor. Yeah, Katie is, she's an amazing talent. I sparred with her. It goes back from the amateur days. I was on the high performance team and she was the only female boxer around. She's just spoiled the boys, you know, from flyweight, feather weights, light weights. And it was always very, very competitive. If I stood off Katie Taylor and tried to have a boxing match with her, I'd be outboxed. And it was kind of my strength anytime. And we had a spar. I would kind of lie on her and try and push her around.

And her dad was in my ear telling me to do that as well. So she's always been an amazing talent. Such a lovely down-the-earth girl. Really pleasant to be around. Very unassuming. And this fight, there's so much expectations on her. Like, people just expect her to win. I don't know the opponent.

She's a world champion, and that's probably my ignorance. But I don't know how good she has. I've never seen her box before. But I expect Katie Taylor to win the fight. Like, I expect her to win all fights. Carl, you know, you're from a city. that expects you to win. You're from a city that expects you to deliver.

And I was saying to Katie, when we were talking to her, that she's been carrying so much on her shoulders for so many years, like 12 or 15 years. That's a weighty old amount of expectation to carry, isn't it? As you discovered, you know, in the last two or three years. Yeah, of course, it is. And that brings its own pressures. And I spoke to Katie about that literally half an hour ago,

and she says, look, there's been pressure on her whole career, and she knows how to deal with that. And I don't think it's going to be any different. this time but Katie even from the amateurs pressure all the time and like she can't deal with it she has dealt with it up until this point as a professional she hasn't been beaten she's picked up three titles she's about to pick up

her fourth in my opinion and the ring magazine belt to go alongside that that's it's an amazing feat inside 15 fights top of the bill Carl what have you made of Antony Joshua as a as a professional and the kind of effect he's had on boxing in the UK but now trying to extend that to here in the US. It's massive. He's a superstar and it's probably a flick of a coin

between Anthony Joshua and Canello to see who's a number one megastar in boxing at the minute. And Joshua, if you look at what he's done, he picked up boxing relatively late. He went on and won the Olympic gold medal and he's already a unified World Heavyweight Champion. It's an amazing thing. And I'm hoping, obviously, we all want to see the big fights

with Fury. and Wilder as well but at this point people ask a question who's the number one heavyweight in the planet people talk about Fury people talk about Wilder I think it's Joshua and the proofs in the Putin

he's the one with the belts it has to be Anthony Joshua Carl you mentioned there that that triangle of fighters that seem to be moving in circles away from each other disappointing news really with the Wilder Ortiz

announcement I just wondered if you mix with people that aren't necessarily in the business you mix with people that are fans You hear people. What do you pick up from normal punters, guys that watch you but are not mad, say, boxing fans? What have you picked up from them and the way they view the heavy whites?

Well, again, it's about, talking about Joshua in particular, it's about they see him as, we're talking about Katie Taylor and Mindigo and all these expectations. The casual viewer just thinks Joshua's going to run through everyone. And a certain extent, that might be right. But obviously, Wilder poses his own threats, a serious punter, very unorthodox. Joshua's serious puncher, but a little bit more upright,

but a real proper athlete. And then you've got Fury, who isn't the biggest puncher in terms of heavyweeds, but he moves. He moves pretty well. So Joshua is, in my opinion, number one, and I think that is a good fight, but I'd love to see him fight the big guys. And just finally, Carl, you're here in New York

alongside Tommy Cole, but you've begun your own training camp now. Back in August, we expect, somewhere over here. Luggan, like, August. East Coast, Boston, Philly, New York, possibly, but I'm hoping to find out the next few days. You're back in love with the game? Yeah, I am. I have been loving it for the last few years

since I've linked up with Jamie and the boys in Manchester. And yeah, I love this game. And while I feel like I've still got a bit left, I'll keep doing it. Great stuff. Well, can you do us a favour and pass on the baton to another on the undercard? Thanks, Carl. Thanks for your time. And Callum Smith, who's defending his WBA super middleweight title on the build. Great to see you, Callum.

How are you enjoying the fight week here? A bit different from what you've had before? Yeah, it's a bit different, but it's good to finally be here, be a Mads Square Garden, for those that hate this time. But it's good, and I'm not a big fan of press conferences, as you know. But it kind of switches you on, you know, once the press conference, suddenly you're one step closer to fight night. So it just gets you a bit more mentally switched on.

You know, watching Hassan up there, and I'll say something now, it's probably not the sort of thing you should say to you at this stage in the fight. It's hard to dislike him, isn't it? Yeah, no, I would say. He's a nice man, he is. But I say the minute the bell goes, I'll be in there to take him out, and I'm here to win.

I'm here to successfully defend my belt, and I've got a job to do. But, yeah, outside, he is a nice man, and I'm sure I shake his hand after it. And since we last saw you in the ring, you've become a father for the first time. Yeah. Is there any sense that you needed timeout,

or is your career lost momentum, do you feel? No, not really. I think, no, it was my... I chose to have to time out. I never felt it had affect my career. I probably wouldn't have done it. I've had breaks before, I've had hands operations and I've always come back and performed

and as long as the camp goes the way you wanted to then I think in activity it's not as bad as a lot of people make out on certain fighters and I think a lot to be made and being out for so long but I think Josh has been out a week longer than me and no one really questioning him it is what it is I feel good

I've had a good camp and I feel like I can still put in a big performance regardless of how many fights how many months I've had all the ring and because it's here I know you spoke earlier in the week about when you make the walk to the ring it could be anywhere in the world but is there that pressure to look good because it's here yeah there's always pressure to match a massive platform but I've always felt the bigger the occasion the

better I performed and no matter square guard is a massive massive occasion for myself and there's pressure obviously I'm a world champion also people expect me to blow all all my opponents away and again that's a pressure I've always thrived on coming through I was always tiff for big things and ever and ever won was always not really, no one was ever really satisfied and I was never satisfied myself I always set the bar at the very highest and I finally achieved it and now I have achieved

that I want to see what more I can achieve kind of go unified a division and be undisputed and that's what motivates me and no doubt that all that starts Saturday night it seems to me that you like putting yourself under that bit of pressure, you know, putting yourself, not in that underdog sense but you like to put yourself under the pressure

to make it look good, to win well to move on to bigger things and that's good yeah definitely I always set the bar very high and a lot of me fights where I am expected to win if I go and just win mediocre, no one speaks about it but if I win and look good doing it then it leaves an impression on people and this fight's no different I've got a lot to lose. I work so hard to win a world title I don't plan on giving them up through to complacency or whatever. I'm fully switched on and know I talk have been involved in a massive fight in my career and

they all disappear if I slip up the weekend so I'm fully focused I've got a lot of respect for Sanandam, but I'm here to win and I'm here to take him out. So no breaking the focus at 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon to watch Liverpool? Yeah, I watch that I watch Liverpool. But that again, the fight day, I switch off from boxing and just, I spent time my brothers and my family and just keep it as a normal Saturday afternoon back at home. And then, no, the minute we leave at the venue, I switch on to becoming a boxer again. But I'll find somewhere I watch the fight and hopefully we can have a Liverpool double.

Great stuff. We wish you the best of luck, Callam. Thanks, Colin. Just one last passing of the baton, if you would, Callum, too. trainer Joe Gallagher. Joe, if we could just grab a quick word. We've spoken to so many boxers. Thanks, Callum. Over the past week and of course when Amir Khan

fought here five or six weeks ago Joe about how they feel to perform here at Madison Square Garden. What about for a trainer who's so steeped in the history of the sport? What does it mean for you to be climbing up those steps for one of your fighters? I was saying it to Steve

earlier on in the week. It was 25 years since the passing of Phil Martin at Champs camp. And that was a portion of a baton? Yeah, it was on the age of 44. But now you regarded as a mental. Yeah, mentor, did everything, father-like figure. And it's a huge thing.

And I just thought to yourself, I said it to Eddie the other day, enjoy Saturday night. It's his first time. I was a promoter in the Big Garden. And I've been to the garden before with John Murray when he lost to Brandon Rios. But to walk out as a trainer and a manager with, not just a world champion,

but they recognised number one superman. middle weight in the world. I said it Steve the other day when we're at the terrace just thinking, wow, it sure feels looking out and going you're doing well here and proud of you

and yeah, I'm really proud and I just want Callum to put a performance in that I know he's capable of but for me it's pinch yourself moments it is, do I mean at the garden

watch so many great fights here brought up in so many great fights here and yeah it's something that we're going to enjoy. Great stuff Joe. Great to see you luck Saturday. No problem.

Cheers. Thank you, mate. Cheers, Steve. Thanks, Steve. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So Callum Smith, Steve,

almost emotionless. I remember once speaking to George Gross, who coincidentally Callum beat to win the title last September in Saudi Arabia. And I said to George, what do you feel as you're walking to the ring? And I was talking specifically about the night that he faced Carl Frotch at Wembley Stadium. And he said, I was emotionless. And did you get that feeling about Callum Smith? All that he's focused on is the fight and nothing is going to be.

to distract him. No, I think that's right. I think he's picked up everything along the way that he's the mistakes and the mistakes his brothers would have made when they were fighting for schoolboy titles, when he was a nipple, when I'm talking a baby, when they were fighting for junior ABA titles, Commonwealth Games medals, and then when they turn pro, English titles, when they turn pro fighting for British titles and professional fights, he's been there. He's been in more corners or close to more corners because Joe Gallagher does that with his fighters. Paul, Liam and Steve. All of them.

Absolutely. British champions. And he's been around all one amateur stuff, lots of amateur stuff. So he's been around them the whole time. He's been next to them the whole time. And he's picked up different bits of all of them. And what we have and what we see is that's Callum. That's the way he is.

He doesn't give anything. I tell you what, I'd hate him as a poker player if I was playing against him. I know that much. Let's get ready to rumble. Five live boxing. And those were some of the voices that make up the undercard at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Sunday morning UK time. Katie Taylor expected in the ring at around 2 a.m., followed by Callum Smith,

and then the main event, Joshua against Ruiz Jr., sometime after 4 a.m. Sunday morning. As we said at the start of the show, we began at the final press conference in the beautiful beacon theatre on the upper west side of New York City. We've now moved a couple of blocks across to Central Park and across the road, literally, from where, as I was saying earlier, John Lennon was murdered nearly 40 years ago. we're standing right by the memorial close to the entrance to Central Park, strawberry fields with the word imagine in the centre. Buskers banging out the songs here as they do every day of the week here in Central Park.

And Steve, just looking back at the press conference and the mood of the two men, there is a different feel now about the fight, I think, certainly to when it was first signed. Yeah, it's a fight face. That happens. The close you get to a fight, you get that fight face. As you talked about earlier, the mask comes down. And when it was announced, it was a little bit sort of splattered and splintered. Joshua was in one place.

Ruiz was in another place and the promoter was here and the Americans were doing this. And it never really gelled, Mikey. It never became a big story. Stop the press. Let's talk about that fight now. And I don't think that improved over the next five weeks. Until we got here, I got the sense on Monday on that beautiful landing. I got the sense on Tuesday at the open workouts.

and today, inside that glorious theatre there, you've got the real sense. We've got a fight on our hands here. Okay, it's not fight at a century 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. We know that, but we've got a fight on our hands here. And that was something that we weren't talking about 4, 5, 3 and 2 weeks ago. And there's certainly a buzz among the British supporters

who are already over here. Many more expected to arrive in the next 48 hours or so. Eddie Hearn, the promoter has been talking about as many as 8,000 in Madison Square Garden and the famous arena on Saturday night, but not everybody is as enamoured with this fight as some of the British fans, and I know we've been getting a buzz about it, but at the undercard press conference earlier this week,

we spoke to Thomas Hauser, one of the most respected boxing writers here in the United States. He's wrote the definitive work about Muhammad Ali, The Life and Times of Muhammad Ali, one of the best boxing books ever written, and he's been telling us how he doesn't get quite the same kind of buzz around this fight and this week. AJ is huge in the UK, but you heard Eddie Hearns, today that 8,000 Brits are coming over for this fight. Well, that means that here in the United States, since they haven't sold out yet, maybe they've sold 8,000 tickets to Americans, 8,000 of people who came across the ocean, 8,000 here. So A.J. is not a name. We could walk

outside of Madison Square Garden right now and ask people who's the heavyweight champion of the world. And the answer you would get most is, well, I don't think it's Mike Tyson. You know, you'd find very few people who said, well, AJ holds these three belts, and Deonté Wilder has this, and Tyson Fury is the lineal champion. The heavyweight division now is a mess. Is AJ a very good fighter? Absolutely. He has charisma. He's a wonderful man, as best I can tell. He has an exciting persona. He could be the man. But the promise that was there

after he beat Vladimir Kitchko in front of 90,000 screaming fans at Wembley hasn't been fulfilled. And I don't think it will be unless we can get those big fights. It's a real shame because boxing fans are being deprived, the sports being deprived,

and the fighters are deprived of the opportunity to really, be considered is great. You know, when we talk about great fighters, whether it's Joe Lewis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, we talk about the great fights when they had the Inquisitors. We talk about fights like Dempsey Tunney, you know, Joe Lewis against Max Schmelling, Ali Frazier, Foreman, you know, all these guys fighting each other. And you don't have that in boxing anymore at any level. Errol Spence and Terrence Crawford should be fighting each other. They aren't.

Both men are deprived of the opportunity to be great. And it's the same thing now in the heavyweight picture. That's a shame. And as we were saying in a previous podcast, Steve, we kind of almost needed therapy after listening to Thomas Hauser. And it is a kind of a sobering analysis of all that's going on here. And I've written a piece on the BBC Sport website which suggests that, you know, or ask the question,

are we at the dawn of a glorious new era, which after what Deonti Wilder says is happening this week and he's going to be going to fight Luis Ortiz rather than Anthony Joshua or a rematch against Tyson Fury, that's starting to look like it's more unlikely than ever. But we are as fight fans dreamers, but it does seem now with Tyson Fury earlier on talking about changing his focus now to Tyson Fury,

these fights are getting further and further away. Well, we can see them. We're on a cliff. If you want to, you know, the edge, we're looking over the cliff. And we can see them. They're somewhere out there in that sea of Great Fightland. They're not getting any closer, that's the problem, Mike.

The question is, are they getting further and further away? Well, yes, they are. Because if you and I were in this park listening to the John Lennon one-man tribute band, last year, we would have put money that we would have seen two, three or four, certainly two or three of the fights we want. We've seen one of them. Will we see the others? Yes, we will.

But it's just that distance. It's just that horizon. It's getting further and further. further away. And I remind you of a stat I used first on Monday. 37 months Deonti Wilder and Joshua have shared being world heavyweight champions. We now know, thanks to Wilder's latest announcement, that it will be at least 48 months before they meet. Four years of being champions at the same weight, holding belts that are similar in everything other than color and fake diamond uselessness. That's not a word I've invented it.

it. 48 months. It's never happened in boxing. And I don't mind being corrected. If someone can tell me when two guys were world champions for 48 months and then finally met, I'm telling you, it's never happened. And briefly, Steve, our final breakdown podcast will be after the way in on Friday here, New York time.

Anything you've seen so far in any of the set piece events this week to make you shirk from your opinion that it's all about Anthony Joshua? No, it's all about Anthony Joshua, but I've been delighted this week. with what I've seen and what I've sensed and what I've heard from Andy Ruiz. I don't need to hide this fight or sell this fight. People are going to listen or they're going to watch or they're going to read the papers of their own volition.

But I am telling you, he has impressed me from the moment we first caught sight of him at dusk on Monday to when we just left him an hour or so ago at the Beacon Theatre. He's here to fight and he will Tony Galento style go down swinging. And so the final podcast of the week from here before the main event will be after

the way in it will be available to download late Friday evening UK time and of course don't forget commentary live on Saturday night Sunday morning UK time beginning at around 2 a.m we believe with Katie Taylor in her unification fight against Delphine Pursune followed by Callum Smith defending his WBA super middleweight title and Anthony Joshua against Andy Ruiz Jr we expect them to make their walk to the ring sometime between 4 and 430 a.m on Sunday morning UK time Rumble. Five Live Boxing. The best B2B marketing gets wasted on the wrong people.

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