The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel x Ade, episode 19: Jim Lampley remembers George Foreman; Darren Barker's bold Fury vs. Joshua prediction, Eddie Hearn & Frank Warren stop by

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Ariel Helwani goes solo for this edition of Ariel x Ade, kicked off by Darren Barker's sitdown interview with Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren (05:26).Barker joins the show (18:27) to go behind the scenes and discuss hot topics including Daniel Dubois' next fight (20:22), Dana White and TKO entering the boxing arena (23:43), whether now's the time for Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury (27:13), and more.Hall of Famer Jim Lampley joins the show (43:16) to pay tribute to legend George Foreman and tell stories from their time as colleagues and friends.Finally, Helwani recaps big wins by George Kambosos Jr., Tiara Brown, and Cherneka Johnson (1:06:49), before looking ahead to a busy boxing weekend (1:09:11).

Hello and welcome to a brand new edition of Ariel and Ade right here on the zone the undisputed global home of boxing. I'm Ariel Hawani right here in our beautiful New York City studio and usually I go across the pond and I say hello to our our friend my co-pilot my co-host the great Ade Oladipo the face of Dazoned Boxing but he actually touched base with me this morning told me he's on a very very serious assignment he's got a huge interview lined up he couldn't tell me a lot about it but said unfortunately it's that big and that important that he couldn't join us on his own Show today would you believe that and so look I mean if it's that big I can't wait to see what it is

I mean I'm looking right now it hey Frank. Hey What's happening? I think Adi is actually like out. I'm Celebrating his birthday. What do you mean? I mean, I'm looking over at his, uh... What is this? His Instagram. Somewhere on Earth? Clearly that's him getting ready for the interview.

Atlantis, the Royal, Dubai? What is this? That doesn't look like a serious assignment. What is happening? I don't know, because it even looks like he's watching his own content from the backseat of a car? He's watching us live right now?

What? Adi and G-Man, what is this? What is this? That's not us. That's his other show. Watching while he's out galavanting? What is... And how do you know it's his birthday?

It's pretty clear that it's his birthday today. It's all over his IG story? Exactly. I guess you don't follow him. He posted a story about his own birthday to himself? That's what you do. He wished happy birthday to himself? That's right. Ah, how could we be mad at IDAY?

Despite the fact that I was told he was too busy to join us today, I mean, what is he? 25, 26? He looks fantastic. Actually, he's 45. fact that I was told he was too busy to join us today I mean what is he 25 26 he looks fantastic actually he's 45 45 I don't believe it 45 he's older than me with those guns with that complexion I mean look at this guy he looks like a million bucks I tell you that much all Well, he will not be joining us today. Salute to Adé. Happy birthday. Feliz cumpleaños.

Bon aniversaire. Yom hule de Tamer. Mali gayem bati. I could go on and on. We will be joined by a litany of massive, massive names from around the world of boxing. Later in the program, we will be joined by the great Jim Lampley who is going to return finally to ringside commentary in May right here in New York City. He'll be calling that Times Square card. We'll be joined by Jim Lampley for many, many years, the voice of boxing here in this country, the voice of HBO boxing

and a dear close personal friend of the late great George Foreman. We found out on Friday that Big George, the former heavyweight champion, one of the all-time great personalities in the history of the sport, one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport, unfortunately passed away at the age of 76. What a larger-than-life figure. A man who obviously in the 70s was a part of that three-headed monster in the heavyweight division, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman. They all fought each other, gave us that great moment in Kingston, Jamaica. Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! The great Howard Cosell calling that amazing moment. And then of course, the rumble in the jungle.

We have the poster right over here. One of the all-time great fights, one of the all-time great builds to a fight. You got to see the documentary when we were kings. That one didn't go his way. He took the loss very hard. He built himself back up. In fact took a ten-year break, became an evangelist, found God, became very religious, and then came back ten years later to the sport, built himself back up to fight for the heavyweight title again, and shocked the world when he defeated Michael Moore at the time the heavyweight champion in one of the all-time great moments in the history of combat sports. And of course, that resulted in one of the all-time great calls in the history of boxing.

It happened! It happened from Jim Lampley on HBO Boxing. And so we will reminisce about all of this and more when happened from Jim Lampley on HBO boxing and so we will reminisce about all of this and more when the great Jim Lampley joins us later in the program. The great Darren Barker who has turned into a fantastic broadcaster in his own right for us right here at the zone. Of course former IBF middleweight champion. He'll join us in about 15 minutes time to talk about news and notes from around the sport. A lot going on as always. A big weekend has come and gone and a very big weekend coming up once again in the sport of boxing.

But first, actually, we put young Darren Barker to work earlier today because he had an opportunity to sit down with the frenemies, with the former foes turned best friends, Frank Warren of Queensberry, who of course will debut right here on Dzone come April, and Eddie Hearn, who has been here for quite some time of Matchroom. They sat down, all three of them together, to talk about a lot of fun things going on

in the world of Queensberry, Matchroom, and the sport of boxing. Take a look at this, and then we'll be joined by DB himself on the back end. Eddie, Frank, how are we doing? Good? Doing good.

This still feels weird to me. What is that? That's the good thing about Tinder. You get these relationships, you meet on there. Is that how you say we met? That's how we met. Just being, if I would never have swiped right, or whatever it is you do, I would never have met Frank, you know

Right, so now Queensbury and Matram are Under the same, their own banner Does that mean this is the end of the Hearn-Warren rivalry or is it just the beginning? No, it's the beginning It's the continuation. Look, I think we're I like to feel we're Friends. I know you're I like to feel we're friends I know you certainly big friends with George as our CEO at Queensbury but the rival is there we all want to be the best we're like you when you as a fighter what did you want to do that's what we want to do we're there we want to retire

actually yeah but no one would tell you. But no, I think it's, you know, we're competitive people, we want to make the matches and the benefit of that would be the zone and be their viewers. It's a brilliant time for boxing and in the meantime it'll make it easier for us to make the matches I think. So do you, like, so already now you look at the schedule and we'll talk about it in a minute, but are you looking at it thinking, well, it's not a bad show, it's all right. Yeah, I mean, you look at it two ways. Number one, we must try and make sure our shows are better than Queensbury.

Although it's friendly now, that'll never leave, and he's the same, and even George, we talk every day, he still wants to do better shows than us, that's what we wanna do. And then he'll announce he's the same and George, even George, like, you know, we get, we talk every day. He still wants to do better shows than us. That's what we want to do. And then he'd announce he's free and then we'll think, right, come on. But the difference is now is we're actually talking and we're making fights together.

And also the great thing about it now, which we never thought would happen is, we're on the same platform. So when he announces a good show, and that's what they've done in their last thing, I no longer look at it and go, oh, I look at it and go, oh, we've got to announce some good shows, but how good is that, that that's the offering for our customers, our subscribers. When I say ours, this is the same family now in terms of the platform. We want the best content on Dezone, whether that's coming from Matchroom,

Queensbury, Golden Boy, any promoter around the world. The value has just increased so much for the customer and for the subscriber. And that's really what we want because we want to grow this platform as big as possible for the sport, for our businesses and for our fighters as well. You've seen Frank sorry you've seen the zone grow as Eddie says from afar. Yeah. At what point did you think I'll have some of that? A few years ago. Yeah. A few years ago I thought they suddenly. You never said it at the time. He was our opposition. I thought a couple years ago I just felt to myself,

hang on a minute, this is starting to look quite serious and you know we're really over in the moon with what we're doing and I'm also really pleased with the relationship that we've got now because I really do feel as much as we are rivals as much as all these things we do in our hearts believe in our product and believe in boxing and we are and we certainly Queensbury made our commitment now and we want to be the best Eddie I want to be the best Oscar want to be the best and you know whoever else is there they're all everybody wants to do it so the competition is gonna be fantastic and the end of the day, that just means the viewers,

subscribers are going to see special events all the time. I think that's the beauty of this as well, the passion from you both. So when you're looking at that, as you say, it's the future of this sport. We're all sort of striving to make it better. And I guess for you Ed as well, you must be proud of what you started with The Zone and where it's gone and where it's leading to now. Yeah, we took a chance, really.

I mean, look, we had a massive exclusive deal with Sky Sports. They wanted to renew with us. And we took the leap of faith with an app, really, that outside of existing domestic rights they had, you know, in Germany or Spain, no one really knew the brand in the world of boxing. And we believe, like, you know,

like I had those conversations that Frank had, that when you sit down with these people, you look at the level of investment and the kind of people involved, and the way that sport was transcending through streaming, this is where we wanted to take the punt. And for us as well, it's the global element. It doesn't matter where we are in the world,

there's only one place to watch. And that was what fascinated me, especially with our move into America, when we were in Sydney last weekend, the same thing. So it's a global message, not different broadcasters in different territories. It doesn't matter if we're in Australia or Mexico or America or UK, it's on the zone.

And we're really pleased because, like I said, when I was pitching early on to fighters, particularly in America, and they said, what is it again, it's an app. And it's like, yeah, how do you say it? And it's like, and I like to think I can sell anything, but at the time, when you've got existing promoters saying,

you're gonna go on this app, you know, we've got Fox or we've got Showtime, you can't go on an app. And now when you look at it, it's quite amazing what the zone has actually done in terms of the product that it provides to fight fans. Like there is literally not a fight of any significance really anymore

that is not on the zone. And that is incredible. And we're very proud of being there from the launch really, the inception of boxing on the zone. We've said that this is the global home of boxing. Could we see Queensbury on the road? Yeah, of course we'd do it.

We've run shows, but we made a conscious decision six years ago to basically regroup, we signed with BT back then, signed the fighters that we wanted to sign, invest in them, for example Daniel DuBois we invested in nine years ago, it's not like just happened, even with Moses it's three years ago, finding and looking at talent, investing, bringing them through and that's really been working in a big way for us you know young Nick Ball for example the position he's in and we've got quite a few guys on the cusp of fight for some big big titles so that's

what we're about and it's now taking it to the next level you know I'm an old geezer now I mean he's a young man. And I really respect all the work ethic and all what Eddie does. And he does it brilliantly. And like my kids are doing the same thing, like with George Francis, they're there, our team, they're all young men. So I'm looking at them, I'm like the old bloke there looking, thinking, I'm listening to them and seeing what their ambitions are and what they want to achieve and I love it and so this opportunity now to be on this global platform this opportunity for our fighters to get the exposure rather than us having to go and sell to various

territories you know TV companies in various territories to do deals it's it gets rid of a big headache for us and the fact that all of us are on there is brilliant because that is where boxing takes place, not in this country, in the world. You want to watch the best fights you watch design. You mentioned scheduling, does it make it easier or harder? Are you on the phone to each other saying right keep the May 19 free? How's it work? It's gotta be easier isn't it because first of all I'm afraid for example we're doing a show here in the

UK both of us we're not splitting the audience yeah you know we're not splitting the two you know the viewers will tune in to see that one fight rather than thinking to themselves, I've got to pay two subscriptions here. We're getting a formula like football, like the football, you know, it's like Spurs and Arsenal don't play on the same day, do they? And it makes a lot of sense and that's what's so good, another thing that's so good about this. Yeah. Which arm Spurs am I?

Couch you are mate. I'm going to sit back, I'm going to get me I? Cautious, yeah. I wish you were, mate. I'm going to sit back and get me a popcorn for this one. Who's got the better schedule? Well, it's just a stupid question. How are we ever going to agree on it? The great news is now, I guess we're friendly enough, and because of the same platform, to say they're both great schedules.

And genuinely, obviously, for me, I look at at the schedule and now it's a case of oh good that's on the zone. You know and what Frank said about the scheduling as well is so important we will never ever have a UK clash again. You know when you look at what we what we are doing collectively what all of us are doing collectively we know we know we've got to deliver. It's all about delivery. For all of us. And the question, are our shows better than Eddie's and vice versa? You know what? They're all great shows because they're gonna have to be great shows now.

I've got to say it. 5V5 didn't go down too well. We can move on. We can move on from that. with you both being on the zone now Is there a chance of that happening again and forget a five v five is there opportunity now for? Matron to fight Queensbury on a regular basis. We've done that in a few with a few fights But the five v five we've we've been we've been talking talking about it today we are in the process of making a presentation within was it tomorrow or I think it's tomorrow or whatever it is this week where

we I think we've picked our 5v5 between the two of us. I think it's more 10v10 in it I mean that's the depth of it where you know his excellency said we want to do the 5v5 what are the fights and I think rather than us saying here's the five you know myself and George and Frank have been working on it to say well it is probably more like 10 so there you go you choose your five because he's going to want to call the shots anyway. So it's going to be look there's 10 amazing fights here whatever ones you like we're ready and we'll put them on in red and the five that are over we're sticking over here. whatever ones you like we're ready and we put them on in red and the five that are over we stick it over here. I mean I can't wait. It's a great thing though isn't it because it's

about what it's about it's about what's boxing about yeah it's about competition it's a fight and that's what we're about. A couple of topics Kambosas, Hitchens, Dunyak? Hitchens will fight at the end of June and Kambosas is the guy that we want. We've started that negotiation now with Luda Bella and it was a good performance from George, he's a great character. We could well be back to New York and the Madison Square Garden Theatre, which is obviously home to his historic win against Tiafimo Lopez. And I think it's a good fight for Hitchens to really build his profile and his name and George is dangerous.

So good chance we could see that end of June. We're just putting our schedule together. We'll have one UK show and one US show for June. And we're in the process of getting that announced probably next week. Scott Nicholson lost her title. What will be the plan for her now? Yeah, it was a tough loss. I mean, a fight that could have gone either way. I don't think she performed at her best, but it was a great build-up. You know, I think it's going to be a big rematch

later in the year, but I think first, she needs to complete those other boxes that when she's in that kind of fight again, she can deal with everything you need to, not just rely on the footwork and the judgment at distance. Moses Atama, the future of the heavyweight division back in May. Yeah, May 24th in Glasgow, we've been announcing his opponent next week. He's

on a journey and I would love to see him become the youngest ever British world champion at heavyweight. And the British heavyweight scene is on fire at the moment. You know, you look at, I mean we're gonna announce Fabio's fight, which will be hopefully at Ipswich Stadium fight for him That's gonna be a great one Derek Chisora's 50th May do that. Well, we're talking about fight not birthday Don't don't do that to Derek. It's my birthday You know, so here be here be fighting that and Eddie and I can walk him out together for his last fights

He's worked with both of us and that'd be a that'd be a momentous fight he's also the mandatory to for the IVF title against Daniel Duvall so there's lots of good fights to be made there we get you know Joe Parker we got to get out in the summer Daniel Daniel we're looking to do a big show at Wembley with him in the summer so there's some really really good opportunities but we're we're looking to do a big show at Wembley with him in the summer. So there's some really, really good opportunities. But we're working on the fights and obviously all those fights you're going to see on the heavyweight station. That's it.

Not a bad time to be a boxing fan. Not a bad time to be a boxing fan. And if you're, you know, for the heavyweights, I mean, it's all happening and some really good fights to be made and to be seen. Gents, thanks. Tremendous stuff there from the great Darren Barker, a man who I am sure, even if it was his birthday, would never leave me high and dry.

And so let us say hello to our correspondent for the day, the former IBF Middleweight Champion, the one and only Darren Barker. Hello Darren, great job. You're hired. We loved it. Thank you very much. I'm coming for everybody. Thank you for coming on.

And I would never leave you on your birthday. I appreciate it. Well, that reference was because it's apparently Adé's birthday today, so he couldn't join us. He's out. Oh, okay. Well, if it was my birthday, I would still be here now. Okay, perfect. And I know it's late over there, so thank you very much for joining us, and it's been a long day. Could I ask, you know, you asked them about,

you know, it's still kind of weird, surreal, seeing the two of them, these old foes, I call them frenemies now, because you always kind of wonder, like is someone ready to, you know, stick the knife in the back for you, a guy who, you know, was with Eddie for so long, and you were probably there during that Cold war and heard a lot of stuff.

Is it surreal for you to see them so chummy? Yeah, I said that at the start of the interview. I mean, it felt weird being sat in between them, but I think I'm the same as everybody else. I enjoyed the rivalry, but nothing changes really. They're just, as you say, frenemies now. They both want to outdo each other, but I just think boxing now is going to elevate to another level.

I think it's going to be, we're going to be in such a better place now that the two are working with each other, certainly in the UK anyway. I mean, there's gonna be opportunity for so many shows to happen, so many potential cross-promotions, so many opportunities for fighters to fight one another. It's a really, really positive move and one I'm thrilled about. I wanna ask you about a few things you guys talked about

and one of those things is Daniel Dubois He he mentioned Frank Warren did that he's got some big plans for Daniel Wembley Stadium that would suggest a massive fight and a massive fight would suggest Alexander Usyk, how do you feel about this? Do you think that Dubois Usyk is the right move because there's also Joseph Parker out there who Dubois was supposed to fight back on February 22nd. He was apparently ill, could not fight but Coley steps in. You know how the whole story plays out. You were there. Do you think this is the right call? Well look, there's that controversy from the first fight. Was it low? Wasn't it low?

There's always going to be that narrative until it's sort of run again. So I get it, I understand that that fight sells. You feel, I guess for Parker, if he doesn't get his opportunity, I mean, what tremendous form he is on at the minute, he's in a great place, but I think one thing's for sure, and this has been the case for a few years now, the heavyweight division is booming. I mean, some of the stars are coming to the end of their reign and we're looking at the

next crop coming through, but it's so good to be talking about the marquee division in boxing and yeah I think whoever they fight whether it be the boy who's sick Parker etc that we're all gonna sit down we're all gonna watch it we're gonna be buzzing to be spectating on something magical you didn't ask me but can I tell you how I feel? Go on. Don't love it. Don't think it's fair. Parker showed up. He made the walk.

Why is he getting looked past? And if it means an Anthony Joshua rematch, okay, that's a nice consolation. I don't know if that's the direction that they'll go in, but I still feel like there's a lot of mysteries surrounding this illness. We have not heard from Daniel Dubois. Hopefully, if they announce the fight, we'll get some sort of clarity as to what happened, but something's not sitting well with me.

Parker signed up. He was told if he beat Dubois, he would probably be next. He'd become the IBF champion, of course. It just doesn't feel like it's fair, and I know life isn't fair, and I know boxing isn't fair, but I would just like to cast my vote for it not being fair for Joseph Parker. Yeah. And look, you get to the position where you're mandatory, you deserve your shot. And I'm with you on that.

I totally get it. I'm not one that thinks there was any foul play with this illness with the bar. I think you get that close to a fight, you're going to take the fight, surely. With the money that's on the line, I just can't see there being any reason why he would pull out. But, yeah, whether it is Dubois or Usyk, I will watch it and I'll be on the edge of my

seat, no doubt, I'm sure. But yeah, there's a reason we have this system that you work the rankings and you get to mandatory and you're sort of owed your shot. So yeah, I'm with you. You know, I feel for Parker, but I would, I'll be very happy to see the bar. We'll see. I have to be honest. By the way, you mentioned this system

Recently we have found out that there are some individuals coming into the sport who are looking to kind of abolish the system whether they're Successful or not that remains to be seen but I'm sure you've heard about Dana White's plans of getting rid of the you know The sanctioning bodies not adhering to their rules not adhering to their belts or their rankings and whatnot As I mentioned at the top, you're a former IBF champion. How do you feel about all this? Someone just kind of torpedoing the foundation of the sport and doing something completely different. Look, I'm all for trying, look, trial and error.

Let's see, if this can elevate and make the sport even better, then great. Why not give it a go? I'm not too sure about the logistics, how it works, and who's going to be in it, and et cetera, et cetera, and so on. But it just shows how big boxing is right now, that it's a product that more people want to get involved in. Look, one thing's for sure, boxing is always the test of time.

When there's a big fight, everyone takes note. And that's the case now. There's a big event, there's a big talking point that is this league system, this TKO thing, and everyone's turning their head and thinking, what is going on? We're all like meerkats. What's happening? And that's boxing. That's boxing.

It just shows how great this sport is and yeah, people wanna be involved in it. Frank talked about Moses Itama. You asked him about Moses. It sounds like he's coming back in May, his opponent yet to be announced. If you were guiding Moses at this point, there seems to be this debate, this tugging and pull

about like how quickly you can push him. He talks about some big names. He says, give me the auto-Valiens of the world. Let me go. He's still a youngster. I mean, if he was living here in America, he still couldn't drink. He can hardly even drive given his age. What would you do?

How quickly would you push him him given his skill set? This is difficult for me because I think as a former fighter, and if I'm Moses Hama, let me free, just let me fight anybody. And that's why you've got to have good teams around you. You know, like I would, I generally, if I'm Moses Hama, I'll be calling out Usyk and everyone. I'll be wanting to fight them all. But it's about sort of reigning

in slightly, taking your time and knowing that you've got something special there. We know, look, Frank Warren, he's brilliant at building fighters. And one thing's for sure, I have no doubt, and I'm sure many, many will agree with me, even though it's early, Moses of Tambo will go all the way. He's that special because there is nothing lacking. He has hand speed, he has ring IQ, he has power, he's elusive. There is nothing he can do. He's comfortable on the front foot, on the back foot. The way in which he's destroying his opponents with such ease is breathtaking. And I just, as a fan, which I am of Moza Tama, why not just put him in there? It's so easy for me to say, but I just want to see this phenomenon explode and do something spectacular. I believe he will. But that's lucky that I'm not his manager

or co-owner. Okay, so let's stick with the heavyweights for a moment. Another big question surrounds Anthony Joshua. We all thought it would be Fedocompli, he'd fight Tyson Fury. Now he's engaging with Jake Paul, of all people. It doesn't seem like he would be next, but what would you like to see Anthony do next coming off that loss to Daniel Dubois? Now now he's engaging with Jake Paul of all people it doesn't seem like he would be next But what would you like to see Anthony do next coming off that loss to Daniel Dubois? I? Mean I think the the opposition has to be great for for him to Train scared and that's what's required when you get to this stage of the career

you can't be ticking over and the run of the mill training sessions, you've got to be in that gym, giving it that extra percentage. Like I say, you've got to be training scared and that all boils down to the quality and the caliber of opponent that's going to be facing you on fight night. So I think it's going to have to be tough opposition. I don't think there is any need or there is no option for a rebuilding process for Anthony Joshua. He won't want to go through that. I don't think the fans or spectators are going to want to go through that.

It's robust, basically. For me personally, if I was Anthony Joshua, and it's a big risk, it's a huge risk, I would just take the rematch. I would be looking at Dubois. It's the fastest route to becoming what he wants to be a heavyweight champion again. And yes, it's very dangerous.

And you would have to say Dubois would go into the fight a decent favor, but for me again, talking and thinking as a fighter, get me back in with a man that beat me. But wait a second, if Dubois is fighting Usyk, how can he fight both of them? Huh? Well, you said Dubois, right?

Yeah. But we said earlier, it seems like you're okay with Dubois fighting Usyk, and so if Dubois is gonna be tied up with Usyk and it seems like we're moving in that direction, who's AJ fighting next? Yeah, that may be a rematch with Parker. Yeah, that's the one I think. Do you believe, do you really believe in your heart of hearts? Fury's never coming back? Like that is the obvious one. You don't believe it? I'm pretty sure he'll come back. Okay. That's my gut. You think he fights this year?

Yes. You think he fights AJ? He can't drag on beyond this year. Do you think it's AJ? Do you think his next fight is against Anthony Joshua? Yes. Wow. So maybe it is AJ Fury. Maybe it's AJ Fury, yeah. It would be a shame, right? I mean, we're right there. It actually makes a ton of sense now. I know it probably would have been better if it was for, you know, titles, undisputed, whatever, unified, but they're both backs against the wall, tail end of their career, who survives, who moves on, who calls it a career.

There's a great story to be told now, right? 100%. 100%. I think it a career. There's a great story to be told now, right? 100%. 100%, I think it's perfect. And look, as I say, frankly, Joshua, he needs that big challenge, he needs that big task. If Tyson Fury was to come out of retirement,

it's only gonna be for that fight, I believe. It's gonna be the fight that we all desperately wanna see in this country. Yes, it will be a few years too late, but still it's a massive, massive fight. You telling me that doesn't sell out Wembley Stadium twice? Oh my gosh. Well, it's over.

I mean, it's massive and yeah, I would like to see it. Well, a fight that we expect to sell out, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is 32 days away. That's Chris Eubank Jr. against Connor Ben. The press conferences were must-see TV. Adi did a great job. We had the the egg slap and all that other stuff. And so can you tell us like over there, you're in England right now, what is the temperature? What is the buzz like? What's the build like? And what if anything did you take away from those interactions in those two press conferences a couple of weeks ago? Well, look, first and foremost, the Ben and Newbanks will never get along.

Their kids ever meet and they don't even know that they're Ben and Newbanks. They will get this horrible aura from one another and they just won't get on. That's a fact. It stems back from their fathers who had that great rivalry. And yeah, like I say, it's filtered down the Suns now. I remember when Connor Ben turned

professional and everyone was saying oh such a shame that Connor wasn't bigger well he's become bigger and they found a way to make this fight happen and yeah the buzz is real you know it's kind of calmed down a little bit after that initial announcement and the press tour, but it's still there, it's still in the background and everyone is highly anticipating a fantastic occasion. It's going to be huge. When a big fight is announced, I always visualize and fast forward to that moment where the

referee brings them both together in the center of the ring and then pulls them back to their respective corners. That energy, that noise, that buzz, that, like I say, anticipation just before that first bell. Can you imagine? Oh, it's going to be great. The feeling just before that first bell. I cannot wait. And that's the general buzz around the UK right now.

Do you have any... They split opinions. Well, I must say, Ariel, there's a real divide between the fans. I think my opinion from what I'm seeing and what I'm reading is, Eubanks won over a lot of fans, I think. He seems to be, well, he doesn't seem to be, he has been very outspoken and I think people are kind of, they respect his honesty, albeit he's wound up a lot of people. And Ben, I think a lot of people who are supportive of Ben

like that fiery, that aggression, like his dad used to show. And like I say, it's a like that fiery, that aggression, like his dad used to show. And like I say, it's a real split between, you know, whether you're a Eubank fan or a Ben fan. You know, if someone were to score those press conferences, you know, like it was a boxing match or a boxing round, I mean, that was a 10-9, 10-8 masterclass from Eubank. The way he controlled everything, the way he, you know, the eggs, the back and forth with Eddie, he was phenomenal. So I'm not surprised to hear that.

Do you have any memories of watching either of those two fights as a youngster coming up? Yeah, I do. More so the rematch, and it was a fight in which I fought Nigel Ben one, it was a draw. I thought Nigel Ben won, it was a draw, but I was aware, fully aware of the rivalry between the two. My dad was a boxer, ABA champion, and I grew up around the big British fighters, and when there's a big domestic rivalry, you're fully aware of it. And yeah, I've been really, really, I am really excited about this fight. I'm really, really excited about this fight because it's kind of unheard of.

It's so unique that this is happening and it's so similar to the dads rivalry in the sense that they just don't like each other and you know it's bubbling nicely. Yeah, there's a lot of big fights coming up and we're anticipating an announcement in the not too distant future of a Tank Davis Lamont Roach rematch. Adi and I have been talking about the controversy surrounding the first fight and I'm just wondering as a fighter, what did you make of that whole scene

in that questionable round where it seemed like Tank took the knee, didn't get the point deducted, it wasn't called a knockdown, he gets the face wiped off, all these things seemed to play in his favor and then eventually it ends up being a draw and if it was scored a knockdown, Roach wins the fight, got screwed millions of dollars and potentially the greatest moment of his career.

Your thoughts on what should have happened? Well, I haven't watched it from start to finish. I've obviously seen the moment in question. And as far as I'm aware, I've never read the rule book, but I've never known fighters to be able to call their own time out. Yeah, you can't. You can't. You can't do that. This is the hurt business. You can't sort of say, what was it again? His eye was it?

Yeah, it was his eye. He said that there was grease from his hair that went in his eye. Yeah, you can't do that. Yeah. In the ninth round, like the fight had, had, had gone on and then all of a sudden you're like, he got punched and it was a jab and it didn't look all too impactful, but you never know what could bother someone. Would we have seen Javonta Davis do that three, four years ago? I don't think so. I think, you know, that there's, I think before the fight we were hearing that Davis was talking about this is his last year in boxing.

Has that desire gone? He's achieved so much in the sport. I don't think we would have seen him do that a few years ago. I think that the hunger and the desire is dying to leave Davis, if I'm honest. It's sad to see, but it happens to everybody. Right. Well, we'll see if they do, in fact, rematch. I think everyone wants that and how he looks in that fight. I'll ask you two last things about fights coming up this weekend,

and then we'll let you go. I appreciate the time very much. Pat Brown, it seems like everyone's very excited over in the UK at Matchroom about his debut this Friday right here on Dazone, the Olympian turned professional now. What, if anything, do you know about Pat and what do you think his ceiling is? Are you as excited as Eddie is about him coming over and joining the program? I am. I'm really looking forward to calling this fight on Friday. He's a very likable individual. He's switched on, he's mature, he's focused and what he has in abundance is lots of ability, lots of power. He's going to be in very exciting fights. I think people are going to really warm to his style. He can do a bit of

everything but naturally he has that fire, that aggression. He wants to get involved. He wants to get stuck in. He wants to land big shots. I get the impression he's a man on a mission. He wants to turn heads, climb rankings and earn and win titles as quick as possible. I'm all for that. I'm all for somebody saying, look, I want challenges in this sport. I just don't want to be, you know, knocking in any old bump. Look, there is a process where you need to learn,

but when you've got the talent, like you say, former Olympian, Pat Brown is going to be in some very, very exciting fights. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. I mean, everyone's speaking so very highly of him. He's got a great personality. So we'll be watching on Friday and I personally can't wait for Saturday. It's a card going down in Las Vegas at the Fontainebleau. It's a rematch of a very controversial fight that happened here in New York. It's Sandy Ryan, the pride of Derbyshire

going up against Michaela Mayer once again for the WBO welterweight title. And I don't know how much you've paid attention to the build, Darren, but I'm worried. If I'm a fan of Sandy Ryan, I feel like Michaela Mayer is very much under her skin. Apparently they were scheduled to have a face-to-face earlier today at Sky Sports. According to Michaela, who showed up, she said that Sandy didn't show up.

We did a face-to-face here, a virtual one, and it felt like, you know, Michaela was really getting in her head. There was that incident with the paint before the fight all kinds of shenanigans and I'm wondering if I'm a backer of Sandy Ryan who's a tremendous fighter whether or not she's 100% in it going into this massive rematch. What if anything have you have you read from it? It would be very difficult for you I'm assuming to be a backer of Sandy Ryan with you being a Notland Forest. That's that's a good call out. But I do like Sandy. I do like her. She's great. But you're right.

You know, we have a rivalry. Us and, what is it, Derby County? I mean, they're Notts County. Yeah, come on. No one cares about them. Third place, third place, primarily. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, how you manage that, I do not know, but hats off, hats off. Thank you. Yeah, brilliant fight. And I think this is a fight where, it's a prime example of corners and teams having to do their job and sort of rein in

that sort of spire, that fire that Sandy Ryan has. May has played in what I would call a blinder she she's sort of caught you know got the bait and she's reeling Ryan in but I think it's about Sandy Ryan now really kind of listening to her team staying switched on don't get too carried away I've always said this with fighters Connor Ben being one, a fighter that has that fire in abundance, that desire to want to get stuck in and want to land big shots. You would rather a fighter have that than a fighter needing to go find it, a fighter that lacks that fire, lacks that kind of drive and determination. Sandy Bryan has it in abundance.

It's about managing it, managing it so she can manage the fight correctly. But I think they're well matched, I really do, and it will deliver. Lovely stuff. Thank you so much for the time, Darren. Appreciate it very much, and I wanna urge everyone out there

to subscribe to your new podcast, First Round TV. Well done. You're getting into the game as well. Thank you very much. And I want to urge everyone out there to subscribe to your new podcast, First Round TV. Well done. You're getting into the game as well. Yeah. Thank you very much. I'm having a blast. Look, as I'm the same as you, we're all the same. And we love this sport. I'm so passionate about boxing.

So to be able to commentate and now be able to create my own podcast and speak to these Amazing fighters that put their life on the line and they all have so many brilliant Stories, I'm honored to do it. So thank you for the shout out. Yes, very good I'm gonna I'm gonna have to pay a parking fine now. I've got In the design studio in West London and I've got a parking ticket So I need to put out the trash pay my parking fine and then go to sleep. All right, well do your thing. Thank you very much for your service.

Keep up the great work and appreciate your time on this Tuesday evening. Thank you, mate. There he is, the great Darren Barker. Look at him, he put himself out there. He got a parking ticket for freaking sake. I mean, that's a write-off, right? I mean, I feel like you can expense that tremendous stuff go check out his channel first

round TV we hit on a lot of topics there and there's like I said a couple of big fights coming up this weekend big Golden Boy rematch as well on Saturday evening we'll tell you more about that back end of the program but of course at the top of the show we talked about the passing of the great big George Foreman a larger-than-life character in the world of the great big George Foreman, a larger than life character in the world of combat sports. A man who, you know, helped put the sport on the map in the 70s, was a part of that three headed monster in the heavyweight division with Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, ended up becoming one of the all time greats and not just in

the ring, but outside of the ring as well as far as broadcasting is concerned, as far as being a salesman is concerned, synonymous with a cooking appliance. There are some people out there who have never seen a second of his fights, but know what a Foreman Grill is. That's when you know you've had a successful life and a man who has been a close, dear, personal friend of his for many, many years who helped call his incredible moment, his incredible win over the great Michael Moore a moment and a call that has become synonymous with both his career and Foreman's career and is now going to be the title of his upcoming

autobiography which comes out in just about three weeks time is the great Jim Lampley who we just found out some amazing news about. He is finally returning to Ringside Commentary right here in New York City on May 2nd at that great Times Square event just a few blocks from where we are right now. We can talk to him about that, but the main reason why we wanted to have him on was to remember the larger-than-life character that was George Foreman, and he is kind enough to join us. So let us say hello to Jim Lampley here on this Tuesday evening. Jim, thank you so much for the time. First and foremost, my condolences to you and your family and all your friends on the passing of George. 76, we saw him just a few months ago on social media. It seemed to be

in good health and spirits. And so I wanted to express that and ask you off the bat, how are you doing since finding out the news on Friday evening? Thank you for asking. It's been rough. I don't think any of us who don't live at his home in Houston saw this coming. I know of no other friends who really had a sense that George might be on the verge of this kind of sudden departure. So it's been a shock to my system, a shock to a lot of people's systems. You know, it's not just a loss for boxing. It's a loss for the world because he so elevated his persona and his personality. And to come from the circumstances from which he emerged in the Fifth Ward of Houston, go to the Job Corps to seek a new way of dealing with the world,

to learn to box at the Job Corps, to win that Olympic gold medal, knocking out a heavyweight veteran from Russia in his 30s when he was 19 years old. The whole story is so improbable and so uniquely about boxing. If I knew more about combat sports, I would probably say combat sports

in general, but to me it's about boxing. And boxing is more than any other sport, the place where you can go from nowhere to somewhere, and George did. Just a great, great journey through life, a meaningful, personal imprint, a friendship that I will never, ever forget. And I'm just happy that the world has responded by celebrating and congratulating him in the way that we've seen for these last four or five days. Obviously, I know of George Foreman as the great fighter, the Olympic gold medalist, the salesman, the broadcaster. I didn't know him on a personal level, you did.

And so could I ask what do you want the world to know about who George Foreman was as a person? You had to earn his friendship. That was not a given. You know, just because you were working with him on HBO and you appeared next to him on camera, that didn't mean you were his friend. You were his friend if he discovered over time that he could trust you and that you would do the things that would help

him to achieve yet another career as an expert commentator in boxing. And he developed the necessary trust in me to allow me to gently here and there guide him toward thought processes and initiatives that could help him to be a better and better and better expert commentator on boxing. And he understood the mentality and the psychology of boxing like very few people ever could. He was a much, much brighter, more intelligent,

more thoughtful personality than most of his public exposures gave him the chance to show. But he wasn't an egotist, so he wasn't looking to show off that part of his personality. But I learned over time how wise he was, and there were even a couple of personal situations in my life, upheavals in my life,

for which I sought his advice and counsel. And he was tremendously valuable to me in that regard. He was the kind of person who could give you great common sense advice on how to wrap yourself back up and get together after a loss or a disappointment or something went wrong. I actually spoke to him a few months ago about how much I missed ringside commentary.

And he was one of the thousands of people who said to me, relax, just sit tight. That ball will roll back around the track and come your way. And it turns out ironically, in the same week in which he died, I learned that that's true. Wow, that is unbelievable. Was that the last? It's unbelievable, Ariel.

The title of my book comes from all of his fight. The cover blurb that he wrote for my book, which goes right under John Grisham and above Billy Jean King on the back cover. I am told by people in the family that that was probably his last public act. The prologue, the first thing you read in the book is about the 19-year-old Jim Lampley watching the 19-year-old George Foreman win his gold medal in Mexico City

and his American flag celebration after that, which was so meaningful in establishing his long-term persona. All these things connect us together now at the moment when the book is about to be published and at the moment when he has departed this particular realm of life. Wow. Is that your earliest memory of George Foreman, seeing him win the gold medal in 1960? 100%. Yes, absolutely. I was 19 years old in my mother's apartment in Carl Gables, Florida, and watching the Olympics as I always did.

And I saw him beat Josefovich and win that gold medal and wave the little flags around. And I thought, boy, is this guy interesting. And eventually later I learned from George that he had learned how to box in the Job Corps when he left the Fifth Ward of Houston and went to Hayward, California to join the Job Corps but he also learned a lot of other things. He was broadening his life at that time. He was growing up. He was becoming a man and the most unusual thing that he told me he did during his

Job Corps tenure was he had a friend who was a big Bob Dylan fan and he got it in his head that Bob Dylan was meaningful and was something important in the culture and he began memorizing the lyrics of Dylan's songs and when he told me that I literally I tested him you know I went back to the first couple of Dylan albums and said okay tell me the lyrics for this you know tell me the and said, okay, tell me the lyrics for this. Tell me the lyrics for Gates of Eden. Tell me the lyrics for Desolation Row. He knew them.

Wow. He had remembered them. That's astonishing to me. But it's a mark of what a singular and unusual personality he was. Of the many things that fascinate me about George Foreman is that if you watched him in the 60s and 70s you would think this guy is terrifying, he's mean, he's aggressive, he's surly, he's not

very warm and cuddly, and then of course as we get to know him 80s, 90s, he's Uncle George, he's a cuddly teddy bear. And so I'm wondering, which was the more accurate version of him? Or was that who he was in the 70s? And why do you think he was? And then how did he make that transformation into one of the most beloved and trusted people on television in the 80s and 90s? Well, I sort of knew the younger George Foreman, you know, but in a very vague disconnected way. I was a boxing media person. He was a boxer. Maybe we had three conversations

during that period of time, but not much. I didn't really get to know George Foreman in any practical sense until he came to work for HBO and we began to spend more time together. And I was at first, like you, I was a little, not necessarily frightened, but concerned about how well we were going to get along and would he accord me the level of credibility

that I needed him to accord me to think that he could work with me and should work with me. He knew Larry Merchant, he had known Merchant for a long time, and he knew that Merchant knew stuff about boxing, but he had no way of knowing whether I was, you know, just a pretty face talking dog or whether I was somebody who actually had the potential to learn about enough about the sport to be a competent blow by blow person. And he, he set out to help me. He was, he was thoughtful and helpful in fighter meetings and research

situations and telling me what he thought about the fighters that we were about to cover, even if he'd never seen them, you know, he had thoughts about styles and how styles would interact and stuff like that. and how styles were going to interact and stuff like that. So he was outgoing enough to be a helpful colleague on our broadcast and I was always learning things from him as we went along. And the more I showed him that I was learning from him, that it certainly wasn't the other way around,

the more receptive he was to the process and the more thoughtful he was about telling me what he thought I should know. One of my favorite stories ever told on my program is you telling us about it happened and the backstory behind it. I'm not gonna ask you to tell it to us again. It's an incredible clip and people can find it. But one thing I didn't ask you that I'd love to know

is how difficult it was for you in that moment to be impartial. This is a good friend of yours. This is a man that you love and call a colleague and here he is trying to make history at 45 years young. And obviously the call had happened reverts back to a conversation, a personal conversation that you guys had as far as him telling you how he thought the fight was going to go. But was it tough for you to call his fights given how close you had become? I'll be honest and tell you that at that particular moment in time, with apologies to Michael Moore, I wasn't trying to be impartial. I knew what the boxing audience would most want to see. Moorer was not an outgoing personality.

He did not seek adulation from the fans. So it wasn't really a betrayal of Michael for me to celebrate George in that moment. The world was going to celebrate George in that moment. The world was going to celebrate George in that moment. And that was, forgive me, Michael, that was a knockout victory for the whole sport. That was really a moment that elevated boxing because on a personal level,

it was exactly what fans would most have wanted to see. and most of them thought they had no chance of seeing that so for him to deliver that in that moment and that's part of the genesis of it happened but of course the real genesis of it happened is that he had told me you know he had said to me on at least two occasions you watch there will come a moment late in the fight and he'll come and stand in front of me and let me knock him out. Always the same words. He didn't change those words.

He'll come and stand in front of me and let me knock him out. And to this day, every time I look at it, I marvel thinking to myself, how did he know? What was it in him that convinced him that he could manipulate Moorer in the way that he did? And Moorer, I believe probably to this day, I like Michael. Probably to this day Michael would say, oh no, it wasn't that kind of psychology. He didn't manipulate me. That was an accident.

He got lucky. I believe that's probably what Michael would say to this day, but that's not what I believe. Because based on what everything I got from George in the lead up to the fight, he had a plan. He wouldn't tell me what the plan was, but he had a plan. And I'm pretty sure based on what I saw in his face after the fight, that what had happened was

he executed the plan and achieved what he thought he could achieve. One of the amazing details about that fight is that he wore the same trunks in that fight against Michael Moore that he did against Muhammad Ali 20 years prior in 1974 in Zaire. Did he tell you he was going to do that beforehand? I don't recall whether he told us. I do recall that before the first round began, before round one

began, when he took off the road, we realized he was wearing probably Ross Greenberg in the truck saw it, probably Mark Payton, our director saw it, somebody might have seen it, but the bottom line was yes, he was wearing the orange trunks from 20 years before in Zaire. And oh, by the way, they were a little tattered. You know, they had some worn spots in them and stuff. I don't know where they had been. But yes, he wore the trunks from Zaire and he memorized the lyrics to The Impossible Dream. Wow.

And he came to the ring singing the impossible dream and he made it happen. It's one of the most uncanny things I've ever seen in a sports event and certainly the most uncanny thing I ever saw in a boxing match. I love the moment when he realizes the the fight is over. He looks up at the sky. Now here's this guy who is, you know, kind of born again and a man of God, and he just looks up to the sky and he gets down on his knees and he starts praying. It's a beautiful moment. Go ahead. He looks up at the sky and he runs across the ring, runs to the far corner and gets down on his knees in supplication to his Lord and it was as beautiful as anything I've ever seen.

Do you feel confident in saying, and I'm sorry for opening these wounds Jim and I appreciate it and we won't keep you very long. Crying because George is dead, that's all. Okay, no I understand, we know about how much the Ali loss hurt him and we've heard the stories of him, you know, going to Paris and staying in a hotel room for two weeks and almost being ashamed or feeling ashamed of coming back home. Do you think that the wound fully closed on that night? Do you think he was able to finally get over the other that it took 20 years for him to get over that

loss? Well, let's put it this way. I know that you didn't take that to his grave. All right. I know that, that, I know that he offloaded any negativity with regard to Ali and, and that by the time of George's passing, probably even by the time of at least passing in 2016, they were friends. And they were close enough friends that George regarded him as a confidant. And George told me that he had secret private late night conversations with Ali. And at one point I asked him, when he discussed that with me, at one point I asked him, I

said, so have you talked about religion with Ali? And George said, why would you ask me that? I said, well, George, you know, he's a practicing Muslim and you are a Pentecostal minister with his own church. There seems to be a big gap there. And he said, you know, you've heard about W and Obama having late night, midnight conversations with each other because they share something that nobody else shares.

I said, yeah, I've read that. I've heard those stories. He said, well, we're the same. He calls me at midnight. I call him at midnight. We talk about lots of things unrelated to boxing. And at the end of the day, with regard to your question, the answer is that we decided, he and I, Ali and I decided good is good and bad is bad, and any morally conscious person knows the difference.

And on that basis, we found common ground between Islam and Christianity. Wow. I know I'm putting you on the spot here, but I'm just wondering, because a funny kind of favorite story of mine regarding Foreman's career is that he only fought once in 1975, and it was in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens against five men and it was on ABC and Kosan Ali were calling it and Ali was kind of trolling him. There's the poster Foreman versus Five and I love this because it's so kind of off the wall it's unique and that was his only appearance post Ali in the following year in 1975 and in an era where people kind of scoff at the you know the sort of influencer boxing, freak show boxing.

Like, you remember that this stuff was kind of going on all the time, dating back to, you know, the days of bare-knuckle boxing. And so I'm wondering, did you ever talk to him about this decision, why he ended up fighting just once in 75 and against five men in Toronto, of all places? No, I never talked to him about that.

And maybe one reason I didn't talk to him about that is that I cut my teeth and began my career working for Ruin Arledge at ABC Sports. And I knew that Ruin Arledge was a fan and a devotee of the self-created event that he foresaw that sports television networks like ABC Sports were going to participate in the proliferation and development of new events

that would take new competition forms and Foreman versus Five, just like Ali versus, who was was it Rocky Aoki Antonio Yeah, those those things were in partnership with ABC and Probably partially stimulated by Arlages fondness for new sporting frontiers How do you want him to be remembered when people say George Foreman? Who was George Foreman? How do you want him to be remembered? When people say George Foreman, who was George Foreman? How do you want people to remember this man?

A giant, one of the five greatest heavyweight champions of all time. The man who authored one of the most unpredictable and thrilling upsets, uh, in the history of the sport and gave me involuntarily, inadvertently gave me the platform that became the title for my book. And I will never be able to forget that he died at this moment, just when the book is getting ready to come out. I mean, it's not my story, it's his story, but the degree to which we are now connected at this moment, you know, with a title that's about him and a prologue that's about him and,

you know, all the other elements of the book that relate directly to him. It's stunning to me and it makes me love him even more and miss him even more. I am sure that you'll be thinking about him on May 2nd when you return to the airwaves as far as a boxing blow-by-blow man. It's such a great story.

We've talked now a few times about your desire to return and it was so great to see that you will in fact be returning. So I want to congratulate you on this incredible piece of news and ask you also, what can you tell us about this? Is it a one shot? I'll tell you that all my beloved expert commentator partners, George Foreman, Manuel Stewart, Roy Jones, Larry Merchant, Max Kellerman, there are others. They will all be there with me in Times Square because I owe so much to all these people who taught me how to be a boxing blow-by-blow person and every one of those people played a role.

And by the way, they became my closest friends on the planet. If you were to ask me who is the closer friend Roy, Emmanuel or George, that's a pretty close call and each one of the three could state a case. So it's in a huge part of my life, it's stunning how graphically meaningful it is at this particular moment in time and it's among other things, it's the universe telling me, your book tells a story that people want to hear. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate it very much. Uh, my best to you again, my condolences hang in there and can't wait to hear

you on the call come May 2nd. Uh, thank you, Ariel. Thank you, Turkey. All sheep who's bringing me back to ringside thank you do you have to be dot com who put me back into media rooms and at ringside for that particular media enterprise i couldn't be more thrilled by what's happening in my life right now with the one soul exception of formants departure and of course we look forward to the release of your book on april fif. It happened We had a great conversation about it right here in the studio just a few weeks ago

Can't wait to read that when it comes out in just a few weeks time. So good luck with that. There it is You could get it right now wherever you get your books Barnes & Noble Amazon any place on the planet. I highly highly recommend it. Can't wait to to dig into that So thank you so much Jim and all the best to you. Thank you, Ariel. There he is, the great Jim Lampley book coming out, returning to the airwaves on the 2nd of May for that card headlined of course by Ryan Garcia versus Rolly Romero. What a card that is. You've got Devin Haney, Jose Ramirez, and also Tiofimo Lopez against Arnold Barbosa Jr.

So that is going to be incredible stuff. And those are some incredible stories. Just trying to do our part in remembering this larger than life hero character that they don't quite make him like George Foreman anymore. There's so much that you can say about his life and his impact and his resume and everything that he accomplished and everything that he had to overcome to get to where he got. It's really an incredible life and I've enjoyed over the last few days reading people who knew him and worked with him and lived with him, reading them, eulogize him and remember him. And it's always with such fondness, with such emotion, with such care, with such love,

he really did seem like a larger than life, cuddly character. And so again, our condolences to his family and we are certain that he will never be forgotten. His contributions to the sport of boxing that he will never be forgotten. His contributions to the sport of boxing will most certainly never be forgotten. We do our best to transition now. They talked a little bit, Darren Barker and Eddie Hearn, about this past weekend in Sydney. A pretty good card. It was highlighted by a win by one George Kambosis in his matchroom debut over Jake Wiley,

an opponent who took a fight on very short notice. And as a result of the heart that he displayed in that unanimous decision loss, actually got a matchroom contract out of it. So kudos to Jake. And now it appears as though Kambosis may be returning to the scene of his perhaps greatest triumph, and that is right here in New York at the theater at Madison Square Garden.

And it sounds like they want to book the fight against Richardson-Hitchens, which is a great fight. And, you know, there's a great story to be told with Cambosus coming back to New York, to the theater, site of his win over T.F.Femo Lopez just a few years ago. And that's a brilliant fight and a brilliant opportunity for Richardson Hitchens. It was not a night to remember a homecoming to remember for Sky Nicholson who lost to Tiara Brown. The buildup was tremendous.

The back and forth was incredible between the two of them. Um, and in the end Tiara Brown hands Sky Nicholson, her first pro loss, a split decision loss. She is now the new WBC featherweight champion. It sounds like Eddie is interested in a rematch, not quite sure if that will be next and so everyone loses, everyone loses in fight sports. Uh, we get to see now how a sky dust herself off and, and reinvents herself. Of course she lost in the Olympics, dusted herself off, entered the pro

ranks and went undefeated for quite some time. And so no doubt she will be back. She lost in the Olympics, dusted herself off, entered the pro ranks and went undefeated for quite some time. And so no doubt she will be back looking forward to seeing them run it back and looking forward to seeing how she reinvents herself. Last week on the program, we did speak to Sugar Neeks Johnson, Shernika Johnson, who was able to defeat Nina Hughes in their rematch. The first fight, of course, back in May, controversial. The wrong scorecard was read, all that stuff and more. Well, this time around, she was able to defeat Nina Hughes in their rematch. The first fight of course back in May controversial,

the wrong scorecard was read, all that stuff and more. Well, this time around, she was able to stop Nina Hughes, stamp it, prove her point. Now she moves on. We see where she goes from here. I talked about the fights coming up this weekend. Well, we've got Pat Brown coming up in his pro debut. Yes, everyone very excited about Pat Brown. He'll be making his debut on a next-gen card, a matchroom next-gen card

this Friday. That's March the 28th. So stay tuned for that. A lot of people very high on Pat Brown and his capabilities and his ceiling. You heard Darren Barker speak so very highly of him. He'll be calling the action. So looking forward to that. Also looking forward to that Sandy Ryan versus Michaela Mayer two card. That is going down this Saturday. That's a top ranked card and it's going down in Las Vegas.

So no New York City shenanigans. Hopefully a lot of security, no pain throwing, all that nonsense and more. Hopefully none of that happens. We just need to see the best woman win and be able to move on. Although again, if I'm a fan of Sandy's, I do have to wonder right now if there's if there's something going on, there's, there's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of mind games going on right now and we saw her fight very emotionally when they fought back in September.

If she fights that same way, Michaela Mayer is a great fighter, is a champion, is an Olympian. You can't fight like that against her. And so let's see if she learns her lessons. Let's see if she's not really falling for any of these tricks, if you will, from Michaela Mayer. That goes down on Saturday night. Also on Saturday night, right here on Dazon, there is a rematch of a fight that went on Saturday night, also on Saturday night, right here on Dazon. There is a rematch of a fight that went down back in October in Riyadh. We've got Tevin Farmer returning to action.

Do we have it? There it is against William Zapata. That's this Saturday right here on Dazon. Zapata won the first time. That was on the Latino night in Riyadh. It was a bit of a controversial one. They run it back this Saturday. Farmer thought he won.

A lot of people thought he won. We look forward to that one going down this Saturday in beautiful Cancun, Mexico. Perhaps Adé is over there later in the week to celebrate his birthday. And of course, I do want to say we love Adé. I mean, no one works harder than him in the sport. He is the face of the zone. One minute he's here, the next minute he's there. He's all over the gap. He's everywhere. He deserves a week off to celebrate his birthday. And we do certainly miss him, but we obviously support his decision to take the week off and be back next week.

No, KSI versus Dylan Danis in case you were wondering that was supposed to happen this weekend. The fight has been called off. It has been postponed, cancelled personally. I think if a fight's not happening, if a whole card gets nicked, you know, like it's it's off like nothing's happening. There's no event happening. That's canceled, if you ask me. They were getting into it. The nuance of the word, the semantics, to me, it ain't happening, it's canceled. Who knows if they'll ever fight again?

These two guys have been circling each other for a couple of years. Who knows if there's even an appetite for it? I don't know. Certainly in the influencer world, I would think. But we do wish the well to, we do wish well to KSI. It seemed like he was quite under the weather. He was feeling sick. He had that video. People gave him some stick over that, but it doesn't seem like he would be the type to pull

out of a fight against Dylan Danis and cancel the whole event. There's a lot of money, there's a lot of marketing that goes into that. So probably not ideal for KSI and Mams Taylor and the whole Misfits family. We'll see if when they run it back or if he goes in the direction of a Nathan Diaz. Nevertheless, it ain't happening this weekend, so you can cross that one off the calendar. All right, we're out of time. Oh, yeah, before I go, we always love a good parting shot here. And so... Usually I like to trick Ade.

I like to say, okay, where are we going? Where are we going, Ade? Well, we're not sponsored. We know that already. We'll go back to Sydney. And the big man, Terra Mana, Terra Mana! What a guy! So talented! They called him Terra Mana twice. Defeating James Singh via first round TKO, the big man.

They're very high on him. Haka afterwards. That is a big boy. Yeah, and he left the Australian crowd very happy. Another big win for him. He's, you know, he's slowly but surely climbing up the ranks, doing his thing, and doing it in style as well. Congratulations to Terra Mana, Terra Mana the big man from Down Under. Alright, officially we are out of time. Ade will be back next week, so if you like him more than me, you'll be pleased to know that.

We'll have a lot to talk about as always, and we do appreciate everyone who continues to support this program right here on Dazon, the undisputed global home of boxing. By the way, if you want to listen to us, you can download this via podcast on all your favorite podcast platforms. Just type in our names and it will pop up but continue to support us right here on YouTube thumbs up to the chat thumbs up to the chat thumbs up to the chat or if you're a fan of watching the program on the Dazon app please continue to do that as well all right for now we say goodbye from New York thank you so very much for watching thank you to Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, Darren Barker, and the great Jim Lampley.

I'm Ariel Hawhani. For my partner, Adeola Depot, the birthday boy, good night from New York. Enjoy the fights.