The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel x Ade, episode 24: Eubank-Benn fallout, Times Square preview, Canelo, Inoue, more

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo start this stacked show by reacting to Chris Eubank Jr.’s massive win over Conor Benn (01:22) and Eubank Sr.’s shocking arrival at the event (04:52). Then, they debate the possibility of a rematch as Ade voices some concerns (16:03).They break down Friday's card in Times Square (28:41), headlined by the return of Ryan Garcia, and discuss his potential rematch with Devin Haney (31:18). Ade makes a bold prediction for the Teofimo Lopez vs. Arnold Barboza Jr. fight, before circling back to Garcia and Haney’s returns. Next, they preview Canelo’s fight in Saudi Arabia against William Scull (41:18) and Jaime Munguia’s must-win rematch against Bruno Surace (45:37). Plus, they touch on Martin Bakole’s return against Efe Ajagba (47:53) and Naoya Inoue rounding out the weekend with his undisputed title fight against Ramon Cardenas (49:01).Finally, the duo discusses Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois 2 this summer (51:21), Joseph Parker’s claim to undisputed, and Eddie Hearn’s update on Anthony Joshua and a future fight with Tyson Fury (58:04), before wrapping up with the Parting Shot (1:03:28).

Hello and welcome to a brand new edition of Ariel and Ade right here on the undisputed global home of boxing. My name Ariel Hawani inside our New York City studio and it is apropos because New York City is essentially the epicenter of the boxing world We're just days away now from this highly anticipated somewhat mysterious card that is taking place in the heart of Times Square never before has Anything like this happen and it's not just about the location It's a tremendous three pock of fights going down Friday night on the zone

Can't wait to get into it on the program and can't wait to let you know that today's show is brought to you by our good friends over at Final Destination Bloodlines. Yes, May 16th, only in theaters. Final Destination Bloodlines. We appreciate their support oh so very much. And I do want to also

let you know that later in the program I'll tell you more about this great film. Last week we had another sponsor. This week we have a new sponsor. We're just rolling in the sponsors these days and it is great to see. And so from the upcoming epicenter of the fight world to last Saturday, which was the epicenter of the fight world in London. We go to London town where my partner resides. Everyone was buzzing. Everyone was talking about London and now we get a

chance to recap it all because we have been talking about. Connor Ben and Chris Eubank Jr. for probably like three, four years out of it. I would say, right. Would you say like. It's been a while. Yeah. I'd agree. That's a good point. It was a story that had been playing up for three,

four years and I have to admit, and we're just getting right into it because there's so much to get into today. I have to admit, I am still a little bit emotional over what happened. I'm still a little bit like exhausted, but not in a bad way. Like it was such

a roller coaster, the night itself, let alone the week itself, let alone everything that transpired leading up to it. It was such an emotional roller coaster and then everything that happened with senior showing up and junior. I mentioned earlier today that I felt it was almost Shakespearean in how it all played out. It was poetic, the symbolism was beautiful. Just as a top line opening thoughts, we're 48 hours or so removed. No, I should say almost about 72 hours now removed from Saturday night. How do you feel about what transpired at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium? I'm still overwhelmed. I'm exhausted. It easily exceeded my expectations. I don't know what I did expect. I think maybe most of us kind of predicted the first four or five rounds

and how they would play out. Right. Conor Ben would be fast and maybe Chris would have to kind of sort of keep Conor Ben off. I think past five rounds, it was anyone's guess, right? It was like, okay, this could go anyway, but I did not expect it to go that way I didn't know both of them could deliver the type of damage they did I didn't know both of them could take the kind of damage they did these guys were clearly not just fighting for themselves they were fighting for their names and I dare say I feel like if it wasn't you bank and Ben if they were fighting just I don't know Paul and and Richards in there one of them might have said okay enough's enough because the punishment

that these guys were dishing out was just extreme and it was I haven't seen a fight in years where it genuinely is foot to the pedal from rounds one to 12 normally there is a lull in the action and okay this is a round off for both of them look at this action both of them are normally tired but these guys decided to slug it out from round one to twelve and I tweeted after and you know it wasn't just in the moment because it's now as you say three days removed and I could copy and paste the same tweet I tweeted that's one of the greatest fights I've ever seen it really is one of the greatest fights I've ever seen and both of them deserve so much respect because that was just incredible. Like if you were in the arena, sorry, the stadium, you know, you, you got your

money's worth, if you bought the pay-per-view, you got your money's worth. No one is leaving that venue thinking, ah, it wasn't what I expected. It was sensational. And I know Eddie was on the show today, San, it's going to happen again. We don't need to see it again. Honestly, cause it's never going to,, it's never gonna live up to that. Sorry, sorry. Let's not get to the aftermath.

We'll have plenty of time. I'm getting too excited. You're going through the whole freaking run down here, off the jump. I was feeling, I will admit, I was feeling after senior's comments to a bunch of media outlets, we played some of them last week,

there was such, I don't know if it's vitriol. I don't know if it was disappointment, but the words that he used, disgrace, I would never be in your corner. I would never take part in this again. All that it kind of left me feeling a little uncomfortable because this whole thing was, was built on the bloodline. I mean, it's the perfect, once again, sponsor for a topic like this. It was built off the family history, the lineage, the rivalry between the two fathers.

And if one of the fathers isn't on board, the whole thing feels like it's broken. They have to be on board. And so with him coming out and saying that, if he didn't say that, it was just kind of in the shadows. All right, fine. They're not on good terms. They're not on speaking terms. That's fine.

But he came out with such animosity that it made me feel weird. And then we get to the later portion of the week and you see that Junior missed his weight by 0.05 pounds and has to pay even more money 500,000 pounds. And then you see the way in which he looks and then you remember, oh by the way he has to weigh in at 170 by tomorrow morning, by Saturday morning, 8 a.m., and all of it was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. Now, I'm not doing the thing that a lot of your media

colleagues in the UK like to do, oh, it's a Shamu fight. No, I was on board with this fight from the jump, even after the jug test, I'm not doing that, but I was feeling some sort of like, weigh about it, and then we get to the fight, and then we get to the reveal. And then all of a sudden it was just like every single thing from the reveal to the walkout to the fight itself, it all freaking hit. This is a scene out of WWE and I say this not to mock it, not to knock it,

to say like, you don't get reveals like that in combat sports, in boxing or in MMA. This is a dad being there for his son. Who cares about the motives? Who cares if he was paid, if he was not paid? That's a moment we will never forget. And from that moment on, everything changed. Everything felt special to me.

Ari, I am 44 years of age. I've been watching boxing since I was about eight or nine. That, that moment there is the greatest moment I've ever watched. Um, having watched thousands of fights, having been to hundreds, having covered hundreds of fights, um, that moment, there were two moments. So it was the reveal. And then there's the moment where they're getting out of the lift and then it cuts to Connor and Nigel watching them get out of the lift. And I genuinely was shaking.

Like just all the emotions were running through me. Like I could have started laughing. I could have started crying. All the emotions of, Oh my God, all the boxes now have been ticked because this, as you say, I mean, look, we were, you know, mean you kind of went on a bit of a rant about you banking, you bank senior and his words about his son. So this evil was the best play they've ever done. Very WWE esque, right? Or it was a change of heart at the 11th hour. I don't really care.

I don't really know. But seeing him there, seeing him come out with that smile of that car just filled me with this is going to be one of the greatest nights in British boxing history, and it was. Do you think, so he says in the aftermath, senior does, I was always gonna be here. Do you believe him? I don't know, I don't know.

Honestly, again, I've watched, I had to go back and watch those seconds out and IFL TV interviews to see if there was any chink in the armor. Did I miss something? And I didn't. He was very emotional and I almost felt very rude to Connor, sorry to Chris. So I think it was an 11th hour swing.

I honestly think maybe I'm here in Turkey, reached out, maybe family members got involved as well. We don't really see the other family members on the U-Bank side. Maybe they got involved and said said you had to be there. But I could see the smile when Chris U-Bank Jr.'s face and it was all worth it. So whether or not it was an 11th hour swing, whether or not they knew he was coming from weeks away, just the emotion on U-Bank Jr.'s face meant it was fine. He was okay, I'm okay. And then we got on with the show. I want to give props to one of the YouTube commentators on our page because I saw someone write with regards to that walkout, which I feel very comfortable in saying that it's one of the

greatest walkouts in the history of the sport because there are great walkouts and, you know, they're just like good songs or cool production. But again, Shakespearean in that it's a father and son reuniting. Look at the look on Junior's face. Look at the look on Senior's face. But also, it's father walking son out to fight the son of his greatest rival on and on it goes. But one person in the comments wrote, so the walkout was broken up into three parts.

There was the, you're simply the best part, right? And then there was that other song, and I wrote it down, I wanna get it right, that middle song, it's called Overcome by Scott, S-K-O-T-T, and then it's the still D-R-E. And the YouTube commentator wrote, the, the still DRE and, and the YouTube commentator wrote, you're simply the best was for senior overcome.

And the words lyrics was for Sebastian Eubank, who unfortunately tragically passed away and still DRE was for junior. And when I read that, like when I say it, it gives me chills. There's just so much there, man. You know what I mean? There's so much there.

He lost his brother, senior lost his son, the family, we could say all we want about them. There's tragedy involved, they're still healing, they're wounded, they're broken. For them to come together like that on the grandest of stages, what more can you say? I mean, it's just, and then, and then Adé, and I'm sorry to like belabor this,

but like the next this, but like the next day, this footage comes out of a 13-year-old junior begging his dad from this reality show, and like you could see this guy, this kid who reminds me of my son. My son is turning 13 tomorrow, and I have similar conversations with him about other things. Right now, the big debate is, can he get a phone? He doesn't have a phone. And the mannerisms, the way in which he speaks, and it just all hit me as a father, as a human being, as a fight fan, loving and respecting the Eubanks for what they represent.

The whole thing was just this one ball of emotion. I don't even know if I'm doing the best job describing it all, but it's something on there for getting, and I'm so grateful it turned out the way in which it did. Yeah, I love the fact that that footage is sort of come out from nowhere, right? I mean, that's the beauty of the internet sometimes. Sometimes it has its faults. Sometimes though it can be wonderful. And that was a wonderful moment. Lennox Lewis in the house as well. And it was Lennox Lewis who was actually convincing Kusumek senior to let junior fight, let him do what he wants to do.

And you can understand why senior is like, no, senior knows the dangers of the sport. He's been in some horrific fights, right? He knows just how bad the sport is behind the scenes. And you can understand him wanting to keep his son away from it. But the fact he said, okay, go ahead. And he's been by his side.

Honestly, like a Hollywood script writer could not write the last three years. And you know, the best thing about all of it is Ariel. So you have all that you have the walkout music, you have him turning up, you have the beaming smile, you have sort of Conor Ben in the ring pacing up and down, but the fights got delivered. You can have all of that, but the fight has to deliver. Because that's all we're going to remember, right? I mean, we only remember those things if, you know, these guys are going to give us something special and boy, oh boy, did they deliver. They delivered and they delivered.

My God, did they ever. I mean, right now you say it's one of the greatest fights of all time. Right now it's the fight of the year, as far as 2025 is concerned, it is the front run. And there's still a lot more great fights to come, but, uh, you're a hundred percent right. And, and I saw some people afterwards say like, yeah, just because the fight delivered doesn't mean the whole thing wasn't a sham. No, no, no, it actually validates the whole thing.

The whole thing was worth going through. The whole thing was worth our time, our energy, our attention. These two came together and I was concerned about the weight cut. I was concerned about the rehydration and we will get to the potential rematch in a moment. But for for Junior to fight the way in which he did after the cut that he had and for Connor to fight the way in which he did against the bigger guy and after the shots that he was taking in the 11th and 12th and in particular the 12th, I couldn't believe by the end of that fight that they were both standing. It's one of

the greatest fights that didn't have a single knockdown in it. You know what I mean? Yes, yeah of course. It's unbelievable what those guys did in the pocket the whole time, in the trenches, going toe to toe. Then the footage comes out afterwards of them talking smack to each other in the midst of the fight in a venue like that With with a crowd like that. The British boxing fans are unbelievable with the with the dad sitting ringside I'm still kind of glowing about it all. I'm The dads were side-by-side as well. Yeah, and and you saw when you bank senior got in the ring He made a beeline straight away for Nigel Ben. I mean, those two guys have been through everything.

I mean, I, I grew up with those two guys and the animosity. They actually had their own show as well and they needed kicked off there and that was going to be number three. So the fact that they made a beeline for each other and they hugged it out. So to watch their sons go through that, I don't know how you can be but side by side knowing that your sons are doing that to each other. but there were two question marks going in there for me. How was the weight going to affect Chris Eubank in terms of making the weight? Will he die down in the latter rounds? That's kind of what happens if you struggle to make weight.

And would Conor Ben's power carry up to 160 pounds? And both of these guys answered yes. And that's what makes it even more incredible. The two biggest question marks going into the fight, both of those guys answered those question marks emphatically. Emphatically. Honestly one of the greatest fights honestly I've ever seen ever and I say that now three days removed from it whereby I can you can calm down and breathe a little bit and say, okay, let's relax that day.

No, no, no, I won't relax. I could watch it again and still be like that because it really had me glued and scared at the same time. Yeah. And for the fight to deliver after all that, I mean, honestly, I hope and pray that someone was doing some sort of documentary filming throughout the past three years because you've got an incredible movie on your hands. If you have been filming some behind the scenes stuff,

there's an incredible movie to be told in the aftermath, in retrospect. Afterwards, we did find out that Junior went to the hospital. There was some concern that he broke his jaw. Eddie told me today that did not happen. Connor went to get checked out as well. Both seem to be okay, relatively, after a car crash fight like that. And also, Connor went to get checked out as well, both seemed to be okay relatively after a car crash fight like that.

And also, oh, by the way, not only did the fight delivered, it delivered as far as the box office is concerned because he said it did well over a million buys worldwide and close to a million just in the UK alone. So this was a big freaking deal and it was worth everything. So anyone saying that it was a sham, that it wasn't a real fight, there were no titles on the line at all, there was no sort of like number one contender spot, final eliminator

nonsense on the line. It was just two guys who will forever be linked with two last names that will forever be linked with fathers that will forever be linked. And it all came together in the best way possible. And so we can't talk about the aftermath now, and we can talk about what's next. I was surprised in the immediate aftermath, Are, that there was some people saying they don't want to see it.

I thought it was fait accompli, like, that's an amazing fight, why wouldn't you wanna see it again? Relatively close. By the way, did you think Chris deserved to win the fight? We haven't talked about that. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. Yeah, I did. I did.

I thought it may have been seven-five. Yeah, I thought eight-four may be a bit harsh in corner. But a couple of the rounds were so close, but the right man won. So I don't necessarily care about how good or bad the scorecard is. As long as the right man wins, I'll have my problems with the judges another time. But I thought Chris was a 1-16, 1-12 sort of winner. I thought that was fair. First loss of Ben's career so obviously with the rematch terms already set they've already signed off on it you would think

he would want it again Eddie confirming he wants it again. Chris has really yet to speak and I know there has been some talk from his team from himself from his father that he wants to go after Canelo Averas. Well here's the thing Canelo Avras has a fight this weekend And then we all know he has the Terrence Crawford fight if that does happen It's only happening next year and I don't feel like he's in that vicinity just yet. His stock has gone up I don't feel like he's in that vicinity just yet The biggest fight for him is a Connor Ben rematch and the biggest fight for Connor Ben with all due respect to the Mario

Barrios is of the world is a Chris Eubank jr. Fight. So why wouldn't anyone want this rematch and the biggest fight for Conor Ben with all due respect to the Mario barrios of the world is a Chris Eubank jr. Fight, so why wouldn't anyone want this rematch? Do you not want it? Um, I do I want to break quickly though on you bank being in the vicinity of Canelo I mean you just told me the numbers I didn't realize it kind of did those numbers a million pay-per-view buyers you do that number you're in the vicinity of Canelo he's all you can L as a numbers guy. He's always wanted to fight in the UK. He's never really had a proper dance partner. You do a million pay-per-view buyers and sell out a stadium, you are on the mind of Canelo. He was already on the mind of Canelo. I don't know what happened. He kind of fell off. Now you most certainly are on the mind of Canelo. I am, I don't want to say it again. Why? And because neither of those two guys, I think are healthy at the

weights they're fighting at. Um, I think Christie baiting junior needs to go up to 168 pounds. Christie baiting junior is going to be 36. I mean, I'm guessing it will be the same stipulations for Chris in terms of one 60, then one 70, and then you can go. He's not healthier that way and he confirmed that by the way. Is that true? Yeah so 170 again and that's only going to get harder as you get older and we all saw how bad he looked. I mean look I'm happy that he's okay. I spoke to his manager Napa he's fine but but that's only gonna get worse as you get older Well, this is gonna be a 160 fight without that 170 cap fine. Okay, let's do it But if there's another cap then no not not for me not for me

I mean we're teetering on the edge of just I think being very close to danger and we know how dangerous the sport is already But Chris is struggling at that weight class. He's struggling sport is already but Chris is struggling at that weight loss. He's struggling. This is a guy whose best fights for me are at 168 and that was nearly a decade ago when he thought Abner yielded him, let alone now back at 160. So I would prefer Chris to go to 168 and I think Connor should go to 147. If Connor can make 147 healthy, there are massive fights out there. There's the Barrios world title fight, but there's three guys fighting this weekend, Times Square, New York, who I'd love to see Connor in the ring with. And they are big money fights. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and

Tia Fimalopoulos who will jump up to one four seven. So if I'm Connor, get back down to your natural weight and let's chase the Americans. That's what I would prefer both of them to do. Do you think they will? Because absolutely not. Yeah. Absolutely not. No, no, no, no, no, no. No one's listening to Addy.

I mean, absolutely not. No, but I mean, like there is, there is, I hear some people saying this and I understand, especially when you talk about the weight, health and safety. It was pretty gruesome. And by the way, a lot of the footage that came out of the face-off at the weigh-ins, that was at the ceremonial weigh-ins. So that was like five, six hours later and he still hadn't quite, you know,

rehydrated because he had to, you know, he had to weigh in. I hate the rehydration cause. And dude, even with the rehydration cap, on the night, Chris looked so much bigger. Yeah. But he looked so much bigger. There were times when he was pushing Connor back

to the ropes and his back looked enormous. And I'm thinking, wow, if there was no rehydration cap, this guy could have come in 20 pounds heavier than Connor. Connor's just too small for him. As good and explosive and as strong and aggressive as Connor is, ultimately Connor's just not a 160 guy. Yeah. Connor's not even a 154 pound guy. But I've seen 147 guys a lot bigger than Connor. Connor's actually quite a small 147.

Compare him to your your Errol Spencers of the world and your Jared Ennis of the world and Kell Brooks a few years ago. He's actually not the biggest welterweight. So I'd prefer if he can make 147 safely, get back down to your natural weight class. You're only what 27, 28, and make a run for some of the biggest names in the sport. Do you think that there will be even more, I feel like I know the answer to this question, but even more interest in the rematch, so that's another reason why you have to do it.

At this point, it was such a big deal. The rematch will only be bigger. It will be, once again, a stadium show. Like, there's just too much at stake. There's too much on the table. You can't go walk away from it all. You did it once. We're gonna do it again.

I am a little worried about a September return that does seem a little quick, that's in five months from now. But you know what I mean? Like the finances are just too great. No one's walking away from that, right? Yeah, and ultimately the casuals determine when fights happen, not like hardcore fight fans.

Most hardcore fight fans, like my sister, I got her tickets to the event, she doesn't understand the weight cap thing. She doesn't understand rehydration clauses. She just seeing two guys get in the ring and swing it out. And that's all they care about. So it's only really hardcore boxing fans that are concerned about Chris's way

and what Chris can weigh and Conor being too small. Ultimately, 90% of the fans that are in there and 90% of the fans that bought the pay-per-view don't care about any of that stuff. They just want to see Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr. get on again because the first fight was so good. And normally when the first fight's that good, you do it again. You'll be stupid not to do it again. But I just have concerns for Chris. I'm actually, I'm not too concerned with Conor going up to 160 again. Conor's last two fights before this were 154 160 is a natural jump. It's Chris at that age

Find it 160 still he should really be at 168 We were talking last week about how there was basically like a double turn how Chris Was sort of the heel for the majority of his career Connor this golden boy Connor becomes a bad boy Chris still kind of a bad boy He's been a big fan of the wrestling tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the

tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the

tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the

tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. He's been a big fan of the tournament. the suspension, all that, is it behind him? Basically, did his stock go up in a loss? Do a lot more people respect him because he went up there against the bigger guy, stood in the pocket, took his best shot, and didn't go down?

There are still some that, I mean, I think Brits are very difficult to hold this kind of real strong grudge and they're not easy to forgive, but it's definitely swung his way now. I mean, if you can't respect that, then maybe you're just watching the wrong sport and you just hate for other reasons. I think he's gone at a lot of respect. I mean, you get that. I mean, he went in there and delivered. And I feel like there was a lot of people that were jeering him. Let's be honest, he got jeered quite a lot going in. And it's always the case of, okay, how's he going to, what reaction or response are you going to get leaving the arena? And it was applauded. I mean, people were showering

him with love. I mean, he was, he was putting on Instagram, the love he's getting and he's not done that for, for years. And he was happy to kind of open up his Instagram and show people some of the love that's coming his way. So I think there has been a U-turn. I'm happy for him. He's been in for a lot in the last couple of years. I've spoken to him privately about that. And now I feel like he's finally becoming the star that we all thought he was going to become. I mean, it was just a big full stop. Hopefully now we can all move on. He can move on and he can show us how good he is. And I think he started that on the weekend. By the way, should the rematch be at Wembley and not Tottenham? Like what's the more prestigious venue? Wembley.

So why do you think that they're going back to Tottenham? Or at least that's the plan. I understand why they weren't at Wembley this past weekend, FA Cup semis, but why would they go back? I don't know. I mean, maybe at the time they thought, okay, 65,000 is a push for tickets. Maybe. I know that might sound crazy, but remember only

sold out, I think a couple of days before. I remember seeing the big sold out signs, so put everywhere on everyone's social media. Another 30,000 on that's a big ask. Now that's a big ask. You're talking, you're talking AJ Fury territory. So now though, maybe this time round, maybe you do go Wembley, but I think first time round, remember it was supposed to be the O2 arena, which is what, 22,000. It was a massive jump to go Tottenham anyway, as opposed to sticking to the O2 arena. So I think they played it safe. Now though, all bets are off. Now you maybe can go to the national stadium.

Well, what's a bigger fight domestically, that rematch or Usyk Dubois? Ooh, that rematch or Usyk Dubois? Ooh, that rematch. Of course, not even a question. Not even a question. That rematch. And Usyk Dubois is happening at Wembley. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that rematch. That rematch is just-

I mean, other than- It's now become enormous. AJ Fury. It's the second biggest fight, right? Yeah, that's the only one that tips, is it? Yeah, that's the only one. And look, I'll be honest with you, even AJ Fury, I mean, you're talking again, a million pay-per-view buyers, the rematch is going to do 1.5.

I mean, I've always said that AJ Fury gets over 2 million. I think it does. But 1 million in today's world where everyone's illegally streaming and everyone's got the fire sticks, 1 million pay-per-view buyers is no joke. I mean, this isn't the days of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, which you'd almost guarantee those to get those numbers. One million doesn't happen anymore. No one does one million.

Canelo struggles, Ryan Garcia struggles. So for that to do one million, as you say, no belt on the line, no real championship at play is honestly, it's incredible numbers. Yeah. I'm very happy for the two of them. I'm happy for the British boxing fans and I think it's gonna be a night that people are gonna be talking about for a very long time and amazingly like who would have thought the two sons and especially after you see that footage of him begging his dad to want to box at 13 like 13 is not it's not old's, you know, it's like some kids.

It's kind of old for boxing. Right? Yeah. Yeah. For it to pan out like this. And people said that Junior didn't really live up to the expectations for him to have this moment, for him to have this night and for Connor to step up the way in which he did. It was really, really special. So I'm very curious to see what happens. We could talk quickly about the rest of the card.

We do have a lot to get to. Was there anything that stood out to you? Anthony Yard with the win over Lyndon Arthur, Adam McKenna, beating Liam Smith, perhaps a surprise to some, Vidal Riley and Shev Clark. That was the one. That's the one. Riley gets the nod.

I thought Vidal Riley. Is that the one? Vidal Riley was fantastic. Yeah, I thought Vidal Riley was the nod. Yeah. Is that the one? Fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. I thought Vidar Riley was fantastic. I mean, a lot of people will know him as being the friend of KSI, right? And training KSI. Now this guy is a sensational boxer. I mean, chef Clark's a British champion. Chef Clark lost narrowly a few months prior for the European title. That tells you where chef is. That was a shout out. But I gave Vidal every single round. I mean, Vidal Reilly, honestly, I mean, I don't want to sort of run before I walk here,

but I feel like Vidal Reilly could be a world champion and weight in the next sort of two years or so. I think that was a standout performance. Again, he was the underdog going in and you wouldn't know it. If you had just come from Mars and you kind of tuned on your TV, you would pick him as the favorite because that's how good he looked. I mean, his punch selection was fantastic, the power.

That was an incredible performance. That and Aaron McKenna, two standout performances. But I think Vidar Raleigh is going all the way to the top. I'm calling it now, Vidar Raleigh will be fighting for a world title in 12 to 18 months. Wow, so when you say top, you don't mean top of British boxing. You mean like the top. No, I think he's fighting the best of the best in 12 to 18 months.

Wow. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. 100%. All right. Well, bookmark that. Book it. We shall revisit in 12 to 18 months. All right. let's turn our attention to this Friday Times Square. The beauty of this, Adé, as you know, is it's not just a great card with three amazing fights. A massive part of the appeal is how's this gonna look?

How's this going to work, right? It's in the middle of Times Square, one of the busiest intersections, parts of the world. How are they gonna block it off? What are they going to do? And even little things I feel like we haven't even really thought of like, all right, so if, if someone's fighting a

Tottenham Hotspur, like they're in the locker room, there's a walk this, like, where are they going to train? Where are they going to warm up? Where are they going to get their hands wrapped? What's the walkout going to be? I asked Ryan Garcia earlier today.

He said he thinks there's an element where they get in a taxi and then the taxi brings them over. So I guess they'll block off a section. But to me, as great as the fights are, I want to tune in just to see how it all looks. You know what I mean? And that's unique in its own right. That's what makes Friday so special.

Yeah, this is, we haven't seen anything like this. And as you say, there are still so many question marks um I mean are they gonna stay in hotels nearby lobby hotels are they gonna kind of corner off a section of the lobby and is that gonna be where every fighter gets warmed up and and as you say wrap their hands i'm so intrigued by how it looks i mean we're hearing it's gonna be 250 to 300 sort of v vips ringside and then i'm guessing there's going to be thousands of people just walking by and stopping and they get to watch, you know, six of the best boxes for free. I guess I guess that's how it's going to play out. And some are going to have really good vantage points from sort of buildings

in and around Times Square. I I was I was going to come over and watch this. I'm not I've got other things to do, but I was going to sort of get on a plane by myself and just come and see this. Because I think this is going to be a spectacle. This is a once in a lifetime thing. So I'm very intrigued to see how it works. Fingers crossed the weather stays as good as it is right now in New York because we

know things can change very quickly. And if it starts raining, then all bets are off. It doesn't work. So it needs the sun to stay out. As of right now, it doesn't say, it says that there might be some rain in the morning, but nothing. Really? In the evening, well, I don't even see it's like

on the thingy, it says, it says rain, but I don't actually see where the rain is, but nothing at around, you know, five, six, seven, eight o'clock locally. And it says that around that time It's by the way, is it gonna be that warm? Geez Louise. It's gonna be around like 78 degrees Fahrenheit, which is like 26 or so Celsius, which is a beautiful night. It's been pretty warm these days. So they're they're they're apparently getting very lucky They're so they're so there's so many intriguing storylines here like Ryan coming back to New York, right?

I was surprised that he even wanted to come back to New York after everything that happened last year in Brooklyn. Ryan not fighting Devin on this card. And you know, we were lamenting the fact to a degree, like, ah, you know what, you got them. Sometimes the stars don't align. This guy's fighting in June, this guy's fighting in October.

It'd be better if they were fighting around the same time so that they can fight you know after their respective bouts all that stuff and more but I've kind of come to the conclusion that Ryan versus Devin is so big the rematch that let's just say Ryan wins and Devin loses or Devin loses and Ryan wins or they both some way somehow lose and I know that's a massive, massive, massive leap but I just think we're getting the rematch regardless. In other words, do you think they both have to win for us to get the rematch later this year? Yes.

Yes, honestly I really do. For it to be what we want it to be. Oh, of course what we want but sometimes what we want and how it plays out are a little different. I feel like there are too many other options at one for seven or one 40 for both. If one loses, I mean, Tiafema Lopez, they're still hanging around Jaron Ennis as well. I mean, there are other guys out there. If one of those guys loses that will sort of fit in to that, to that hole and it will still be a big fight. I'm with you by the way.

I don't know if this is what you're saying, but one favorite is losing this weekend. Oh, okay. That's not necessarily what I was saying. I was just trying to say like... One favorite. I'm convinced. Wow. The boxing gods have a funny way of messing up plans when we think plans are already sorted

for the future. And there are a lot of favorites fighting this weekend that seem to have plans for other fights. Obviously Canelo, Crawford. Okay, so by the way, when you say favorite, you're talking about the whole weekend, not just Friday. Not the whole weekend, not just Friday, but I think the loser comes on Friday. Oh, okay.

I think one of Ryan, Devin, or TFemo is not walking away with a W. Who are you leaning towards? I can't give away everything, Gary. Do you feel something though? Like do you feel... I do. I really do feel something. I really do.

Because of the... Okay, go on. Barbossa. I'm not going to make any different facial reaction. I think Barbossa probably... I don't know what the lines are. I'm not a big line guy, but I feel like Barbossa... Dude, that's the one. That's the one. I was surprised with the set.'t know what the lines are. I'm not a big line guy, but I feel like Barbosa.

Dude, that's the one. I was surprised with the set. That's the one for me. Yeah. Like, Tio for me sometimes is, when Tio's hot, the nickname is perfect from the takeover. When he's hot, he's a nine, 10 out of 10. He's a pound for pound star.

When he's cold, he's cold. And I think we've seen that in some of the performances over the last few years. Barbosa right now is hot. I did Barboza's last two fights. I did Latino night, we beat Jose Ramirez, who he was a big fan of growing up, right? A lot of respect had to beat him. Then he came to Manchester and beat Jack Cattrell.

Jack Cattrell was a big favorite that night. He's going into this fight. I feel like being slightly disrespected and I almost feel like he's going into this fight hot and Tio not so I I see a banana skin there I really do I think Barboza is a good fighter who's finally coming into his own I mean we covered his fight at the Barclays and he wasn't great that night I actually thought he lost right since then it's a completely different Barboza I if I had money and I don't I would not be putting

any money on T on to win this fight well, it is worth noting that he is the the smallest underdog on the card currently I'm seeing plus 185 Ramirez plus 700 and and Roley plus 550 so It's not a leap to pick him as the the underdog most likely to win But but I agree with that because he has been on this trajectory. He looked great against Cattarall going into enemy territory. There's obviously a little bit of bad blood here. They did not face off yesterday.

They got into it back in February. So you see there was a lot of distance between the two of them. But I think Barbosa of the three B sides is the best and the most accomplished and really the toughest test at this juncture of his career comparing all three. No knock on Ramirez or Romero,

but he is the best of that bunch. So I could definitely see that as well. I guess if one favorite was going to lose, it is the best case scenario because Lopez has a few options. Ryan and Devin have each other and you really don't want either one to lose going into that planned rematch in October, that's what we've been told.

And so the best case scenario is they both, and Haney in particular reminds you, all right, I'm the man, Garcia looks just as good as he did back in April, if not better. And then we get that rematch. I have to say though, I'm the man, Garcia looks just as good as he did back in April, if not better. And then we get that rematch. I have to say though, I'm just blown. I can't get enough of just how different he looks and how different he sounds, his demeanor.

Like he has like a fresh face. It's almost like someone like wiped the plates, his hair, everything about him. He was so unhealthy and so erratic. It was so uncomfortable to watch him last year in Brooklyn. The man today is just calm. He's, I feel like he's way more comfortable. I need a bit of the erratic. I need a bit of the erratic.

No man. That was No, no, I'm not sure. And no, he was a hundred last time. I don't need a hundred. What do you need? I need 20. I need 20. This is 20. He's dancing at the face-offs. No, no, no. This is, this is, this is five and 10. I need a bit more. You go through the history of sports. Like, I mean, you're a big basketball fan.

You need a bit of crazy. Dennis Rodman. You need a bit of crazy sometimes. Draymond Green. In order for them to be their best, sometimes you need to almost accept a bit of the wild side of them. I need a bit of the wild side of Ryan. I like this.

I really do. I like this. I need it. And by the way, look at the performance. As much as we say he was wild and crazy and you know, out of shape and whatever last time, look at the performance he put on last time. It was fantastic. So, I don't know. I feel like I need a bit of that.

I need a bit of spite. I don't want him to drink beer and do all the other stuff he was doing, but I feel like I need a bit of wild Ryan. I think wild Ryan's the best Ryan. If he can control it. I guess we'll find out. I feel like he's mature. I feel like he's grown up. I feel like he's comfortable. Like sometimes in the early days, I don't know if he was a hundred percent comfortable doing media, comfortable in the limelight. Obviously he's been open about his mental

health issues in the past. Like to me, that's, that's a grown man and he understands that he's a superstar. You can make the case that when all is said and done, he'll be one of the faces of boxing. I don't know if he's there just yet, but he's well on his way. He's well, well on his way. He's one of the biggest stars in boxing.

Everyone knows who he is. If you're somewhat interested in sports, cause you see him on social media and the different accounts follow his things and the videos and all that stuff. And so it feels like he's owning that now. And I enjoy this a lot more. Maybe a year out does that to you. Maybe, you know, getting suspended for a year makes you kind of, okay, look, this is what I love to do. You know, the, the IG fame and all

the sponsors are fantastic, but ultimately my bread and butter, as they say, is boxing and I wasn't allowed to do it for a year. So maybe there's a bit of that with him as well. And that will, I mean, if that doesn't mature you, nothing will, right? I am a bit concerned for Devin, is what I have to admit. I mean- Devin has the most pressure on his shoulders, right?

Big time. The last time we saw Devin, regardless of, you know, the question marks, because of that fight, the last time we saw him, he was on his backside what three four times Yeah, we haven't seen him since I can't believe he's not at an interim fight I can't believe Devon's not had a fight for a year Devon was best when he was active and active fight is the best fighter and he's moving up in weight as well

144 pounds and I know Ramirez is but I've always fought Ramirez was a big 140 Devon Devon just came from 135 Ramirez was a big 140. Devin just came from 135. Why is he tight at 140? Devin should be fighting at 140. 144, I feel like he's giving a bit of size away here on the night. But I like Devin. I want him to get the job done. But I'm a little nervous for Devin. I'm a little nervous. So I'm being told that the F4 mentioned Conor Ben will be in attendance on Friday. So one of the 300 people. Maybe he wants to get in the mix with any of these guys? I'm telling you dude. Dude I'm telling you. He's got the same personality as them. Yeah. Like Connor Ben's personality over here still rubs people I think the wrong way. It's a bit like the Ben Whittaker thing I was

talking about. Why? And some people try to check me on this but I feel like Ben would get a lot more love in the US than he does the UK because of his personality. I feel the same for Connor and let's not forget as well. Connor speaks Spanish. I feel like Connor could go over there and be a bit of a star the way he dresses, the way he carries himself and he will jump in that ring straight away. If one of those fighters points at Connor and says something, I'm telling you now he's through the ropes in a second.

We saw that in October when when when Junior fought, remember? Yes. I thought it was about to pop off right there. And I think it almost happened in the hotel lobby. By the way, one thing I always wondered, what's on the side of his head? What's written over there? You know what I'm talking about?

I don't know. Yeah, the red tattoo, I think the red. There's some writing, right? Yeah. At first I thought it was like just lines. He's got thousands, I don't know. Yeah, but that one. He's far too many.

I kind of did like when he was growing the hair out, fight week with the beard and then it all went away. I liked't know. Yeah, but that one, I kind of did like when he was growing the hair out fight week with the beard and then it all went away. I like the beard. I like the beard. And then all of a sudden it got cut and it was down to down to serious business. Yes. Like, like Mr. Joshua Boazzi who shaves before all the fights. Yes.

All right. So that's, that's on Friday. That's, you know, that's, that's a huge deal. Again, I love when there are fights and unique venues. I love that we're going from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Times Square to Riyadh to Las Vegas on Sunday. Don't forget about, in a way, and don't forget that the Canelo Alvarez debut in Riyadh

is actually happening in the evening here in the United States in the early, early morning over in Riyadh to accommodate us. So I guess technically early morning over in the UK as well. And here we are. Look, if we're talking about spoilers, Adé, no one could be a bigger spoiler than William Skull. By all accounts, Terrence Crawford versus Canelo Alvarez is right there in September. It's all but done. There are all kinds of rumors about it airing on massive platforms with massive promoters involved in massive stadiums. Williams Skull wins some way somehow on Saturday night. He ruins all of those plans. Like think about, think about

how much is attached to a William Skull loss and think about how much he can ruin it all if he wins. It's kind of mind blowing, the amount of money pointed to this. I don't even know if he knows how big, for him it would be a big upset just beating Kanela, right? That's it, that's my job. I don't think he knows the ripple effect of what that defeat could mean.

Like William, I respect for you. I respect for all fighters, but please don't you dare because we need to see Canelo versus Terence Crawford. But I was watching William Scott, the grand arrivals today, and it was interviewed by Claudio Trejo, who always does a fantastic job. And he says he's going to eat Canelo. That was his words. He's going to eat him. Like Canelo is too small. He's too big. He's too strong. You know, like Canelo almost, Canelo's time's up basically, he's trying to get there. And I was like, oh, this kind of talk kind of scares me.

But Nigel Ben revealed- I mean, what else is he gonna say? I'm gonna lose to Canelo? I know, I know, I know. But I was like, the eight part, I was like, oh, stop it. But Nigel Ben revealed that, you know, Conor's been sparring William Skoll and Conor had his way of William Skoll.

And I was like, well, if Conor's having your way, then it's not gonna be good for you against Canelo. I just expect Canelo to be Canelo and just get the job done. It might not be a spectacular, but he's just gonna get the job done. When you say get the job done, Canelo has been a little bit criticized recently

for not getting his opponents out earlier. Do you think he does that this time around or do you think he just toys with them for 12 rounds? I don't know. It's like I've always said that I think Canelo is undersized for 168. I mean, these guys are going to come into the ring. I mean, you I think we watched the faceoff between these two, the press conference and skull is so much bigger than Canelo.

They will weigh 168 and be the same weight for all of about two minutes. And then skull is going to get up to nearly 200 pounds So it's a lot to get these cyber guys away because they just can absorb so much punishment so many punches I think can I know we'll try and put on a show in order to get us really excited about Crawford But ultimately can ever has been going to points quite a lot recently and I think this one probably goes points as well William skull by the way last I checked a plus 1300 underdog, Canelo a minus 3000. You think it should be bigger?

No, I'm shocked at those numbers. Oh, I kind of think- Canelo minus 3000? Minus 3000, well the last time there was a massive upset in the world of boxing, obviously there's been a ton but obviously we remember that the Tyson Douglas, I'm not comparing this to Tyson Douglas, chill out! But it did happen in the early morning in Tokyo.

So weird thing, and by the way, I do believe when Haseem Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis it was in the early morning in South Africa too. You are correct. Weird things happen when they try to cater to the North American audience. So could something happen? And Kennella's first fight outside of North America as well. I mean, he's not used to this. He won't be used to the environment. It's going to be new for him. William Skoll, I mean, this guy's traveled, right? I mean, he's not, he'll fight anyway. I think he fought in Germany. He's not afraid of traveling. He's used to it. You know, those type of guys have gloves, will travel.

I mean, look at the size of him. He's a big lump. And that Cuban style of boxing, you never know. I'm trying to sell him. Ultimately, I think Kenan is going to get the job done, but this is a guy that's undefeated. We'll go in there with no fear. He's won the lottery and who knows he could win another lottery. So who knows? I mean, what happens is he fight Crawford? If wins? Does William Skoll fight Crawford for the undisputed? Yeah, yeah, yeah. William Skoll against Terrence Crawford, Allegiance Stadium, live on Netflix in September. What a scene. No, they'll probably run it back, right? Immediately run it back.

Do you think they run it back in a month? I mean, turn that around so quick. I'm telling you, as quickly as humanly possible. Monday morning. Get it done. Get it done. But no, no, no. Canelo's winning. Canelo's winning. I mean, you've got to be something very special to beat Canelo. You've got to be Dmitri Bivovl. You've got to be Floyd Mayweather. And in my eyes, you've got to be Gennady Golovkin. Right. You won't go there. That's it. Well, talk about a guy with some pressure on his shoulders.

Obviously not the same as a Canelo or Devin Haney, but you know, Jaime Mongea has a lot to prove in this rematch against Bruno Suarez. It was the upset of the year. No one saw it coming. Suarez was a massive, massive underdog and he shocked Mongea in Tijuana. Mongea training with Eddie Reynoso, training with Canelo Alvarez, you know, seems to be doing the right things, although has been very active. Should he have taken a little more time? Should he have fought someone else to get his mojo back?

Who knows? But I'm really... This is like a sneaky card this weekend. Excuse me, a sneaky fight this weekend on all three of these cards that I'm really looking forward to. Because you get to answer the question, was it a fluke in December? Or is Mongia done? Is Soras just the guy who has his number,

who can figure him out? I'm really curious to see how this plays out. How about you? Yeah, this is fascinating. I mean, pressure's on Munguia big time. I think Munguia is a good player in the 168-pound division. Maybe not to get another title shot anytime soon, but there's so many fun fights out there for him. Caleb Plant's out there for him. The winner of Edgar Balanga versus Hamza Shiraz is out there for him. Your guy Christian Mbeeli, let's not forget him. He's out there for him. So there are so many good names out there, but you've got to get the job done. And if I'm Saras, I'm like one second, I knocked you out once in

your hometown, I can do it again. So there's no pressure whatsoever on Saras. There's pressure on Munguia and Munguuia's fights, look Munguia is always in a war, like it's never easy work for Munguia, like even his knockouts, I mean this guy does get hit a lot. So maybe there's an accumulation thing going on here, maybe. I mean we saw Joe Joyce recently just kind of almost cave and you can't put that chin back together once it's cracked. So I do wonder if it's just been cracked with Munguia. Hopefully it's not because as I said, I think he's a fantastic addition to the 168 pound league. But I don't know, man. I don't know. Again, if I'm Saras, let's bring it on.

Let's bring it on again. You want to trade with me? Me and my five knockouts would do it again. Yeah. Look at that, by the way. 35 knockouts from five knockouts. Holy smokes. How does that even happen? And by the way, Monge is one of those knockouts. That's the crazy part. How does that even happen?

That's crazy. Hey, by the way, what about your boy, Marmichole? I saw some footage of him. He's looking Svelte, right? I don't know about Svelte. Okay, well. I think you're being kind when you say Svelte. Svelte-er?

I still don't see one ab. Well. I don't see anything.velte. Okay, well. I think you're being kind when you say Svelte. Svelte-er? I still don't see one AB. I don't see anything. And I will say this. Everyone, including myself, is sleeping on FAA Jaguar. I mean, you've got the record up there. A Jaguar, 20 of those 20 wins, 14 knockouts. A Jaguar can hit. And the last time we saw Martin Boccoli, he was getting off his backside.

So this is, this is no, and that's, that's a quick turnaround for someone that got stopped. Yeah. Right. This would, this wouldn't be sanctioned in sort of New York or London. You'd have to have your 90 day suspension and then get back into camp. So this is a quick turnaround. But Cody has lost weight by Jagbaz, a puncher. And I'm a Jagbar. I'm testing that chin immediately just to see if he's really overcome the problems. But look, Pakoli, I think will win against my Nigerian brother. And then we'll see what Pakoli does. But again, this is what I'm talking about.

One of the favorites is going to lose. There's a lot of favorites here that are things planned. And one of these favorites is not coming back with a W, I'm telling you. Well, talk about favorites. Naoya Inoue is a minus 8,000. A minus- is a minus 8,000. I wasn't talking about him. Well he's on Sunday night against Ramon Cardenas you see it right over there in Las Vegas his return long awaited much anticipated return sort of flying under the radar if I'm being

honest with all the stuff happening on Friday and Saturday I kind of wish he was getting a Saturday night big show in Las Vegas, but it's always a treat getting to watch the monster fight. I was wondering, I was gonna ask if he was maybe the the favorite that you thought might slip, but it sounds like you're saying he's on to bigger and better after Sunday. Yeah he is, he is, and I wish he was a week earlier or a week sort of in the future. I mean it's awful because Times Square is so unique. So everyone's gonna be eyeballs on that obviously. And then you've got Kanano fighting in Saudi Arabia,

Riyadh season, all the bells and whistles. And then we're talking about Inoue. And even the way we've done it on this show, right? He's the last four. Well, I was just going in chronological order. I mean, I don't know. I don't know if that's true. I don't believe that.

I mean, I was going literally Friday, Saturday, This just okay my apologies my apologies, but no look I love a new way It's great to see him back in the US. It is a shame that it hasn't got all the bells and whistles, right? It deserves to be a big thing But Cardenas is gonna cause some problems causing us. It's a good fight. He's only lost once that was what back in 2017 But this is a new way. This is top three pound for pound. This is, this is the guy that's going to go down as one of the greatest fighters I think of all time. Honestly, I think he's going to do more crazy things and go through more weight classes in the next two or three years. But again, like all the favorites on

this fight card, we are already talking about fights planned for him. After that, there's Nick Ball, there's Akhima Daliyev. I'm like, well, can we pump the brakes and let these guys just win their fights first and then start making plans? If I'm Cardenas, that just gives me extra incentive to really do everything I can to stop, to stop this monster. And by the way, Inoue can get hit. I think we've seen it in his few fights that he has. He can get chinned, he can go down, but ultimately he gets up and he knocks you down and you don't get up. So Cardenas has a chance here, but I mean, as you said, the odds are minus 8,000. He has a little chance. Well can't wait for it. What a weekend of boxing, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Very, very fun, unique, unique settings. Love everything about it. And we thought we were going to

get a similar weekend in July with the All Women's card on Friday at Madison Square Garden. This planned New York City special location card with Shacor Stevenson and Williams-Apeyda and others on it as well. And then we thought maybe Dubois-Usik or Usik Dubois too would happen on that same day, July 12th. Well, we have found out since that it is in fact going to be on July 19th at Wembley. Wanna ask you about this. Number one, are you surprised they're doing it at Wembley? This perhaps a sign that Dubois Stock has gone up big time.

I don't know if he was Wembley worthy around a year ago before the Joshua win. Usyk obviously well known and respected, especially coming off the two wins over Tyson Fury. But there was a part of me that was surprised that they were going to such a big venue were you surprised? Yeah a little bit look this wouldn't have happened 12 months ago but I think they're now in belief that there's almost been you know like the old movie Highlander where you chop someone's

head off and you take their power and I almost feel like they think that Daniel Dubois by chopping the head off of Anthony Joshua, has taken Anthony Joshua's power. That was a big win for Daniel Dubois against AJ. And I guess the hope is that a lot of those fans have crossed over to Dubois now, right? He's now the next British heavyweight superstar. Now that Fury's retired, kind of an AJ, we don't know what he's doing. And then you have the fact of Alexander Usyk. Alexander Usyk is now a superstar. He's well known in the UK what he's doing. And then you have the fact of Alexander Usyk. Alexander Usyk is now a superstar He's well known in the UK because he's beaten everyone from the UK So I think they're hoping that the two combined will put a lot of bombs on seats

And I think they're gonna go really big on the undercard as well. I think your man Joseph Parker could be on the undercard I mean, I think I think so. I'd be I think he's sitting not to put Joseph Parker on the other side. I mean, I'm hearing think I think so. I'd be I think he'd be sitting not to put Joseph Park on the other side. I mean, I know what I would want, but I feel I have a feeling that and this is just my feeling that they might go somewhere like a Dillian white. There's history there. I mean, I know Joseph Parker called him out, I think about six or seven months ago before he got the Dubois call. So I feel like that kind of makes sense. And then maybe you do a Hergavitch versus a Cabellel maybe. So it could be a fit card. And if it's a fit card,

I feel like they potentially could get 85, 90,000 in there. Bless Daniel Dubois, they had a face off on the field yesterday. He did the little push there. It still seems a little forced. It's just not him. Coming from him, because he's just such a nice soft spoken guy. Here it is in case you missed it,

courtesy of Queensberry promotions. I mean the, the push is great. Also the juxtaposition of him in the suit versus Usyk in the sweats with the one pant leg up is just tremendous. But I get the impression Usyk isn't too bothered by any of this, by the challenge. He kind of just feels, he says he has a couple fights left. I don't feel

like he views Daniel as a threat. I don't know if that's a mistake or not, but... He should. Yeah. I mean... He should. He should. He should. You know what it is? Obviously, look, he beat him in Poland and they're selling it on the low blow. And it's probably thinking one second before the low blow, I was literally winning every single round. And then when I got off the canvas, I won every single round. Um, but this is a completely different Daniel Dubois going into that fight in Poland. I gave Daniel Dubois no chance whatsoever. He had just teamed up with Don Charles. I think they had a four

or five week fight camp since then he's been on a tear. Like Daniel Dubois is the second best heavyweight in the world. I have no doubt about that in my mind. I know some will argue Joseph Parker and it's a good argument, but I ought to have Daniel Dubois. So you're fighting number two. Um, so there is danger there. He's now more aggressive. He doesn't fear Usyk.

There is no respect. Um, and I feel like Daniel Dubois, I give him a decent chance in this, you know. I mean, Usyk's a favorite, doesn't really, big favorite, but I give Daniel Dubois a shot here. Usyk's 38. Dubois plus 530. That's not crazy. No, but I mean-

Look at somebody else you just told me. It's a pretty, I mean, yeah, he should be, you know, higher than those guys, but like, it's pretty sizable. It doesn't seem like he's getting a ton of respect here coming off the biggest win of his career. I think everyone Usyk fights not named Tyson Fury would be plus 530 or higher. At this juncture.

At this juncture I don't see anyone. I think Parker would probably be like a plus one for them. No, you're probably right. By the way, what is your stance on that? We weren't doing this show back then. Was it a low blow or was it a legit shot? I've seen it so many times and I don't know. I know that it sounds like I'm copping out,

but honestly, I could watch it again in slow-mo and I'm like, it's so difficult because of how high Usyk's shots are. At the time when I watched it live, I thought it was a legit shot. I was like, hold on, he's knocked out Usyk Schultzar. At the time when I watched it live, I thought it was a legit shot. I was like, oh God, he's knocked out Usyk. And then I don't know if Usyk conned the referee and gave, you know, like I'm the superstar,

this is my hometown, how dare you start counting? But I thought it was a legit shot when I saw it live. So I'm gonna stick with what I first thought, as opposed to all the photos people were showing me, like no, it was low, it was low. When I watched it live, I thought it was a legit shot. And I thought Dubois had beaten Usyk in Poland, which would have been the biggest ever upset for a Brit abroad. Oh, absolutely. I personally thought it was legit as well. Here's a post from Usyk, even

from this height, I could see that low blow. I think he was sitting atop Wembley Stadium. Usik is a great character I enjoy him very much. I'll miss him when he's gone And and there's enough here to sell it on I still feel like my guy Joseph got screwed and all of this I still feel like he should have gotten the shot because he showed up in February Got on this got on the shot against who? DuBois or Usik? Usik if if Usk needed a dance partner, and those two were fighting for the opportunity to fight Usyk, for all intents and purposes,

I know it was the IBF title fight and all that, but that's what they were fighting for. One guy showed up and one guy didn't, and I feel like the guy who showed up not getting the shot, and also, by the way, got a knockout win, a very impressive quick knockout win, not getting it and now just kind of left in limbo

and having to fight someone like Dillian White is a pretty tough pill to swallow, if you ask me. But no point in belaboring that. It's happening, it's gonna be a great scene. I'm happy for Daniel. I'm not trying to knock Daniel. He deserves another crack because I do think it was a little bit unfair.

It was controversial, so you can sell that. You could build off that. And by the way, since then, all he has done is won and won impressively. So, you know, if it's not gonna be Joseph, it has to be him. It's obviously more intriguing than a Joshua fight. Once again, a third fight against Usik

or even a fury fight right now, a third fight against Usik. So let's see how it all plays out. By the way, speaking of Joshua, I did speak to Eddie earlier today, Eddie Hearn, his longtime promoter. And he did say that he's actually coming off a small injury, which I had not heard before. And so when I asked him, OK, what does this mean now for Joshua?

What's going on? Fury's saying he's now training again with Sugar Hill Stewart. He's like, actually, you know what? mean now for Joshua, what's going on? Fury saying he's now training again with Sugar Hill Stewart. What's happening? He's like, actually, you know what? We, we, we aren't really, you know, we're not really rushing right now.

We're not against it. So he says little, how little, who knows. But maybe there's a chance we don't see him for the rest of the, I don't know. Now I'm just hypothesizing, but I do feel like all of a sudden the Fury stuff has kind of come back, right? He's teasing us.

But who the hell knows, man? Who the hell knows? It's getting tiresome. It's so annoying. That's it. It's getting to the point where he kind of just, like, you know what? Forget about it. Um, now it looks like Fury's like, okay, I'm kind of ready guys.

And now it's like, oh, AJ's got an injury. What are we doing? And also he pops up on the day of the Dubois-Usik press conference, like almost like he's trying to steal some of their thunderers, having a little bit of FOMO or something like that, you know what I mean? He did post this earlier today saying, and this was in response to Usik, FuryDitty said, I beat the effort two times and the world knows the truth anytime, any place sucker UK next time, 100K people. So it all it's almost like twofold. It almost feels like he's having FOMO just seeing Usyk back against Dubois and also seeing the scene at Tottenham Hotspur this weekend

and being like, you know what, I should get that. I should have that. That's what it was. It was that it was that 100% it was that he would have seen that and it would have, you know what? Me and AJ can do that Times 2.5 or whatever. I mean that we're the only ones that are capable of having that moment It's not necessarily the money and look, I mean we're talking hundreds of millions, but ain't that I mean fury and AJ is set for life I mean they have generational money now. It's not even about titles again like you bank and Ben no titles on the line They've already won titles. They both have held every belt that you can help as a heavyweight champion so it's now just the case of let's just make the fight that we Brits and the world have been waiting for for a decade but can we just do

it please and both are healthy um I I know AJ's here he went to um boxing science uh a strength and conditioning training set up in Sheffield, just to do a check over. He's good to go. AJ's good to go. He might have had an injury, but I believe that Anthony Joshua's good to go. Fury looks good to go. Can we just get this fight on please?

Can we just get this fight on? Oh, so you're saying that Eddie was lying? I'm saying that AJ had an injury. Okay, alright. But I don't believe he's injured. Okay, fair enough, fair enough. I don't believe he's injured. Yeah, I don't believe he's injured right Okay, fair enough, fair enough. I don't believe he's injured. Yeah, I don't believe he's injured right now.

I believe AJ's now ready and itching to fight. Every time I see AJ, he's doing some form of training. It is kind of weird though, right? Because if in fact they do Parker versus White and Fury isn't available, who the hell does he fight? You know, like we thought, okay, maybe he'll fight Parker. Maybe he'll fight White, who knows, you know? But then if those-

Maybe, I know Wilder said he's got a fight in Korea after the fight he's got coming up in June or July. June, yeah. Wilder will get rid of that fight straight away. And if Boccoli looks devastating against FAA Jaguar, maybe you do Boccoli. Maybe, I don't know. That's why I kind of asked Eddie,

and to be fair, he did shut me down. I was like, is it Fury or Bust? Because none of these fights excite me. If I'm honest with you, I'm saying these names, Bacoli and Wilder, they don't really excite me. I just want to see Fury, that's it. And if I'm AJ and I get the call and it says Bacoli, I'm like, Wilder, it's only Fury.

That's it for me. Right now, April 29th, does it happen this year? Yes. You think so, wow. What, back end? Yeah, Wembley Stadium, yeah. Oh, well then it can't be too late, right?

No, well, because of the weather. Yeah. Yeah, September, October. I know he fought a Tottenham, I think in November, early December, right, was it early December? Fury, yeah, and it was really bad. Everyone go in there. Everyone was freezing. It wasn't the greatest night out.

So you're right. I mean, September, October, October, the weather starts changing. Or let's be honest, I mean, it's a good chance to go to Saudi Arabia. It could go there. It could go there. They both had enormous fights there. And so I could understand an argument for it to go back there. I would want to see at Wembley Stadium, but I can understand an argument.

Yeah, I kind of feel like it won't. I feel like they're starting to recognize that certain fights have to happen in certain locations. Look at Ben Eubank. There's look at all the hoopla surrounding it. So let us see. But it continues to be one of those things. I'm glad that we can finally put Ben Eubank in the other side of the, of the, of the column and be like, oh, this is actually one that we've been talking about for four years and it actually happened and it actually delivered.

Isn't that amazing? So, you know, we're, we're, we're getting through them, we're working through them slowly but surely here in the, uh, in the sport, the, uh, the open workouts at a are happening right now here in New York city at the Manhattan center, uh, the open workouts are happening right now here in New York City at the Manhattan center, uh, a stone's throw away from us right next to Madison square garden.

That's where all the fighters who are competing on the, uh, time square card will work out in front of the fans, the public, the media, et cetera. You can watch those right now, uh, right here on the Dazon YouTube channel. So we're going to kind of pass the baton over to those guys.

But before we do that, we do have to share our parting shot. And it is presented by our good friends over at Final Destination Bloodlines. Thank you very much to them for the support. Go check it out May 16th, only in theaters! And what a time for a film like that to come out. Do I get free cinema tickets or anything? Maybe, I'm not sure. That might have been in the small print, but truth be told, super producer New York Rick

in the back, the EP of this program, his favorite movie franchise is in fact Final Destination. I kid you not. So it's Kismet, as they say. Go check it out. It's been 14 years since the last one. Is that true? It hasn't been 14 years. Yeah, 14 years since the last final day. I thought the franchise was done and then I like,

no, we got one more for you. Yeah, one more. People are not going to make it out of this one. One more. May 16th, only in theaters. We appreciate them so very much. We're going to go off the grid here, Ade, because this one is just absolutely ridiculous.

We're gonna go to our friends, BKFC, and I know that's a bit of a gray area, only because is it officially boxing? It's striking. You gotta look at this. You have to see this. This is Enzo Tobiah, a second round knockout of one Michael Igwebe.

Look at the way in which... look at that! Yo man, what is that? I need to study what happens to the brain. Oh the extra shot. Oh did he land an extra one? Why did he do that? Wait one second. Oh referee! Why is the referee in another town? It kind of by the way the extra shot. I don't like let me show it again. Yeah, let me show it again Where is the referee? Watch this go far away. What's this? It's like a million. Yeah, okay Referee wake up. He doesn't even push him out of the way. He's just like you go over there. Yeah, you stop now push him out of the way. He's just like, you go over there. But yeah, you stop now.

He's out. Where's the rest? Where is he? Why do you have that extra one? Although did it land in his chest on his Wait, wait, kind of? Yeah, chest, chest, chest. Yeah. What is that? I've never seen someone fall like that. Now that was he's out. That brain literally had a short circuit. That's that's very dangerous. Yeah, I'm still trying to just get on board with the BKFC. I'm getting, it's taking a while. I'm still, you know what it is? The reason I'm kind of getting on board, cause before, let's be honest, it was like

retired fighters, boxing and MMA. And I was like, why are 38, 39 year olds now deciding to take their gloves off? But now I'm starting to see a lot more young people. So I'm like, okay, you're not, you're not old and done. You've still got some energy left. So I'm starting to see a lot more young people. So I'm like, okay, you're not old and done. You still got some energy left. So I'm fighting you. So that's why I'm getting on board a little bit. Done and dusted, as you say, over in the end. No, younger people.

In fact, we just had a young man named Jeff Molina, who is just 27 years of age, announce earlier today that he's going to be KFC from the UFC. So it does seem like more and more youngsters, Austin Trout and well, Regis Progre doesn't fit. Is Regis decided to, is he doing it? No, but he has openly said he wants to end his career there. So sort of speaks to. Hey, hey, hey, before we go, Eddie battered the UFC, didn't he, today on your show?

Yeah, he has continued. I mean, he went in. I mean, he used to look up to data. I mean, he was literally... What do you think's happening here? What do you think's happening? Do you think he took those comments to heart? Yeah. Yeah. Eddie's done literally on that. Like, okay. Okay. Cool. And I believe Eddie can name more than six MMA superstars. I believe he can. You think so? You think he was just playing? Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, I think he was playing. Ultimately, do was playing ultimately Sat back and heard them say it's broken. It's dead. We're gonna do away with this that of the other and he's like, wait a second

Like this is this is my life. This is my DNA. This is my this is my bloodline You're not just gonna come in here and revamp all this and I take exception to you saying it's dead It's broken all this stuff and more that's what it feels like right? There's that and there's also Eddie probably thinking, like if Dana had said that a decade ago, when there was a time when MMA was certainly on top, right, full of superstars, then it makes sense. He's saying it now, and Eddie's probably looking around

thinking, one second, boxing's dead? MMA right now is in murky waters, like organizations left, right. And certainly just collapsing. So he's probably thinking this is the wrong time to say our sports dead. When they should say the UFC isn't really doing much anymore. There are no more producing superstars. I mean, there was a time when Aspen or versus Jones would be made just like that. Aspen has been interim champion for a year and a half.

And we got to get those fights going on. So I think Eddie's probably watching it. He knows he's MMA. He's probably thinking right now, I feel like the UFC needs more help than boxing. Put it that way. He said, MMA is a poor relative boxing, which is, what did he say last week?

He just had that cheeky smile on his face. He said, hey, how's it going over in the MMA world? Something like that. And I was like. Yeah, that's exactly what he said. And you knew, you knew that he was wanting to come to the studio. Oh my gosh.

Really, really, really kick it whilst it's down. I'm a big MMA fan, so hopefully it can get back on his feet and just produce what he used. Hey, I like a little competition. I like a little rivalry. Why not? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, the Rocks trailer looked good today, didn't it?

Oh, wow, yeah. Well, we're bringing up all the topics here. Yeah, that's not really good. I'm not saying it's not really good. The Smashing Machine. Have you seen the actual documentary? I haven't, but I saw your, I think your tweet about it, which makes me wanna go and find it and watch it now.

It was very unique because it came out in 2000 or 2001, and it came out on HBO. And remember, MMA is very mainstream now. Back then, MMA content of any kind on any network, documentary or not, was supremely rare. And this was a look at a former UFC star, a current Pride guy going through some wild stuff and a real like down and dirty

all access behind the scenes. It was the first doc that I ever saw as far as MMA is concerned and still to this day might just be the best fight fills. Another great one about Dustin Poirier in his early days. There aren't a ton. And I have to say, I was like, how are they going to recreate this? And then I saw that trailer and I was like, damn well done Rocky looks pretty damn good with the prosthetics. recreate this and I saw that trailer and I was like damn well done Rocky honestly looks pretty damn good. They did with the prosthetics yeah and you know the Rocks the same size as him so it kind of just worked like the Rocks kind of the same shape but the face was incredible yeah I feel like I can hear the Rock but

I can't really see him. That was great and I thought they did I thought they did a fantastic job of casting the Rock for it. U6 in it as well. U6 in it yeah which is good to see so I'm looking forward to watching. Brian Bader playing Mark Coleman I thought they did a fantastic job of casting the rock for it. U6 in it as well. U6 in it, yeah. Which is good to see. So I'm looking forward to watching. Brian Bader playing Mark Coleman. Bas Rutten is in there as well. I saw, I heard Stephen Quadros' name.

Like there's a lot of nostalgia involved in that. Yeah. There haven't been, by the way, there's been a ton of great boxing movies. Haven't been a ton of great MMA movies over the years. No. Here comes the boom. And there are so many crazy stories to tell.

Oh yeah. Now I'd love the story. I'd love a story. This is getting random. I'd love a story just on Pride. Oh yeah. Like just, there's the, what is that? Well, like what went down at Pride?

I'd love to know all the ins and outs of that organization. Well, that's a great point because this is a slice of that because this will primarily take place in Pride and the UFC in the very very early days But you're 100% right. I mean pride for those that don't know At the time in the early 2000s was way more popular than the UFC Yeah, they were getting like 50 60 million viewers on New Year's Eve for their big Wow shows like it was a deal the the biggest events were happening New Year's Eve on broadcast television the whole country the biggest events were happening New Year's Eve on broadcast television the whole country. Japan would stop and watch these fights and guys like Bob Sapp and Antonio

Rodrigo Noguera, Mirko Kocop and Fyodor Emelianenko, we could go on and on at it, but we're not that kind of show here, right? When Bob Sapp was like 300 pounds jacked, like just... Yes. You know what's crazy about Bob Sapp? Sorry, this is crazy. I was doing a deep dive. When he was in Pride looking like Incredible Hulk, you know he was only like 25? He looked so much older. He flamed out of football, yeah.

He flamed out of football, yeah. He looked so much older. I was like, my God, why did I watch it thinking you were nearly 40? I was sorry, that's a random thing. Sure, maybe because you were younger. And then he went on a 13 fight losing streak and it looked like he was maybe throwing fights.

And then he got mad at me for asking him about that. But that's a whole other story for a whole other day. I can't wait for this weekend from New York to Riyadh to Las Vegas. It's gonna be a tremendous weekend of fights. There it is, Fatal Fury in Times Square. Looks amazing, looks amazing. Ryan Garcia against Rolly Romero and there you see golden

boy matchroom and top rank coming together and then the other one Saturday night in Riyadh Canel Alvarez against William Skull not to mention the rematch versus between Bruno Sarras and Jaime Munguia the return of Martin Bacoli in Saudi the scene of the crime just a couple of months ago a lot to get into and then we end the weekend in a way. Which means we'll have a ton to talk about this time next week. We look forward to that. For now though, it is time to say goodbye. Another fun one in the books from Adé and I.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. A ton of content coming your way on all the Dzone channels leading up to this weekend, Friday and Saturday double header. We're eating good these days. We are very spoiled. So sit back, relax, enjoy the fights and we shall be back right here next week to do it all over again. Good night.