The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel x Ade, episode 29: Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez, what's going on? Plus, interviews with Richardson Hitchins and Justis Huni

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo start the show by discussing Caleb Plant’s upset loss to Armando Resendiz and where the result leaves the Jermall Charlo fight (4:57).Next, they're joined by Justis Huni to preview his short-notice title fight against Fabio Wardley and talk about how adversity prepared him for this moment, boxing in enemy territory, and his quick rise to the top at heavyweight (12:52).Then, Richardson Hitchins joins ahead of the George Kambosos fight to discuss becoming the face of boxing in New York City, potential next opponents, and more (33:27).Ariel and Ade react to the back and forth between Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez and what it means for other stars in the division (50:12), before pivoting to Jaime Munguía’s recent failed drug test (57:27).The duo finishes the day with a look at this weekend’s slate of fights, including the return of superstar Keyshawn Davis (1:04:46), and delivers the Parting Shot  (1:08:31).

Hello and welcome to a brand new edition of Ariel and Ida right here on DAZN aka Dazon the undisputed global home of boxing and my oh my we have a lot to discuss on this here program a lot to discuss between us and a lot to discuss with a lot of interesting people to count them two Big-time guests on today's show. We've got justice Hooney who is headlining portman road Ipswich towns own Well, I guess it's Ipswich's Ipswich town is the football club fabio wardley going up against justice Hooney who is replacing jerell miller This saturday on the zone'll talk to the big Australian. In a matter of moments,

we will also talk to Richardson Hitchens, who will be back in New York fighting George Kambosas in about what, 11 days time. And so two massive guests on the program, but it's not just a solo act here. We got my guy Ade Oladipo. You heard the, mmm. It was very sensual.

Mmm. I heard it. You went low with that one. It is, you know what? It was the guest. I was like, mmm, he's I heard it. You went low with that one. It is, you know what? It was the guest. I was like, mm, he's a good guest. Yeah, you like Richardson? He's a mm, he's an important guest.

Oh, I love Richardson Hitchens. I think he's a superstar in the waiting. I almost feel like the door's open for there to be a King of New York, right? Oh my God. I mean, I don't think, I feel like we've not had anyone really since, what, Miguel Cotto, Filling Up Madison Square Garden.

There's been no one knocking the door down saying, this is my home. And I feel like Richardson Hitchens could be that guy, a couple more big wins. And I feel like he does the big room in MSG. I mean, the small room is good, the fit is good, but we're talking big MSG. Let me, and you've discussed it so many times.

I think he's got the personality and the skills to pay the bills to fill that building up. Sorry, just one second. I'm just speaking to Amanda Serrano and letting her know that you think that there is no great New York fighter headlining MSG twice in the span of what, three years? I was letting her know. One second. Hey Jordan, how are you?

Mr. Maldonado, everything okay? My friend, no, I'm just kidding. But I mean, you can make a very strong case that Amanda is that fighter, right? You could, you could. I mean, what I can say to saying about Katie then, all right. Cause this is, but Katie's not the New York fighter. Katie's not the New York fighter. One second.

Once I can, Katie, Katie, have you done MSG twice? If you filled it up, yeah, cool. Same thing. What's the, we're going to play that game. No, no, no. You're saying that there's not a New York fighter. I would say Amanda Serrano is a New York fighter Headlining MSG twice in the span of three years. I'm just saying give the give the young lady some love too That's all and you know, you know, you're right, you know in my defense

I think Amanda's maybe got one or two more left I'm talking about someone that's gonna carry the torch for the next decade, but you are correct, right? I stand on it You are correct. I got it wrong. No, it's all good. Amanda's there. Hey, by the way, you're reminding me of something earlier today on my other program, the Ari Hawhani show, we had the great Mark Kriegel in studio who has a book that comes out today. I just want to give him a quick plug for this audience as well. It's called Baddest Man, the making of Mike Tyson, a New York fighter and maybe one of the greatest of all time. Certainly one of the most interesting and polarizing and entertaining of all time.

This book, look at this book right here, how thick it is, this book takes you up to the Spinks fight in 1988. That's how much on the making. Yes. I, when I first got it, I was like, wow, this is like the complete history of Mike Tyson. This is just till 1988 when he's 21 years old.

Uh, it's, it's an amazing read, highly recommended. It's out today, wherever you get your books. If you're a fan of Tyson, fan of the fight game, fan of great writing as well, go check out this book, Baddest Man, The Making of Mike Tyson by the great Mike Krego. Might be the greatest story in boxing, Mike Tyson. I mean, Muhammad Ali would always be, for me,

the number one, the numero uno, and his story's incredible. But Mike Tyson, the ups to downs, the comebacks, and what he's even doing now, it's story is incredible. But Mike Tyson, the Upstodowns, the comebacks, and what he's even doing now, I mean, it's an incredible story. The third act was amazing. Yeah, yeah, dude, it might be the fifth act, honestly. We could keep on going with him,

but Mike Tyson could be the most famous boxer to have ever lived. Honestly, he could be that big. I would say Muhammad Ali would be number one. It's probably, yeah. World renowned and also below. Mike second, Mike second. He's maybe in the top five.

He's certainly in that. No, no, no, what, second? Yeah, second. Who's third, fourth, fifth? Yeah, you're right. It has to be second, yeah. Yeah, I mean, there's- What are you thinking? What are you thinking?

I'm thinking of people in the last like two, three decades. So Floyd is up there, but he's not on Tyson's level. Everyone knows Floyd. Delahoye up there, but not on his level. Not on Tyson's level. Yeah, Sugar Ray Leonard, not on Tyson's level. And then back in the day, like Rocky Marciano, back in the day with like Floyd Patterson

and guys like that, they were world renowned. Jake LaMotta, but yeah, I would probably say, I'll leave Tyson. I think you take Mike's picture anywhere, anywhere in the world, people say, that's Mike Tyson. I think you'd take Mike's picture anywhere. Yes, yes. Anywhere in the world, people say, that's Mike Tyson. Yeah. I don't know how many people get that. That's a great conversation.

Yeah, it's a great debate. I was very, I have to say, if I could pour my heart out for a moment, I was very distraught on Saturday night. I was very distraught for two reasons. My beloved New York Knicks got bounced from the NBA playoffs. It was hard to watch six games, Indiana.

I hate them. And then I said, you know what? All right, let me move on. Let me, let me, let me pop on this fight on, uh, on Amazon prime. You know, you got Charlo on there, you got Caleb Plant on there. Clearly, you know, they're both in, you know,

very winnable fights and they'll fight later on this year. We remember the slap a couple of years ago. There's bad blood. Like this is great. They're both trying to get back into the mix, both fun fighters, entertaining fighters, American fighters.

You know, we need some of this buzz in Las Vegas and on the American fight scene. Charlo does the business, does his job. And then I'm watching Kayla Plante and I'm like, oh my God, not again. You did it again, boxing. You did it again. Just like we saw a month prior in Times Square

with Haney and Garcia and like we see time and again, we saw it to a degree with Wilder and Joshua. You have the fight and yet you do this thing where you say, hey, let's do a tune up fight. Let's have them fight on the same night, but not against each other. And someone inevitably slips, falls, hurts himself, loses. And they did it again, Kayla Plant loses. Why do they keep doing this? When will they ever learn? and someone inevitably slips, falls, hurts himself, loses,

and they did it again, Kayla Plant loses. Why do they keep doing this? When will they ever learn? Yeah, yeah, it's funny because on the show last week, I was like, no, no, they've got to do this. So I felt bad as well. Why, why, why do they have to do it? I said they had to because we didn't know where Jamal was.

I said, Jamal's had what, two fights in five years. Where is he mentally? Where is he physically? Jamal looked good. I was like, okay, Jamal's back. And like you, I was like, okay, cool. Let me put my feet up and maybe get myself a glass of cognac and watch Caleb Lant and just do what Caleb Lant does and win. And I was like, you know what, from the first round, I was like, oh, we might have a problem here. We might have a problem here because Caleb's not looking sharp. And look, credit to his opponent. I can tell these things about Caleb. I mean, let's give his opponent some credit. His opponent looked really good. And Caleb's always been one of those guys where I always feel like if he's fighting the very elite of the division, so whether

that be Canelo, whether that be Benavides, yes, I think you'll struggle against those guys. But just that rung below, I've always had him as the leader of the rung below. I don't know if he's that anymore. He's been in a lot of tough fights. I think the pop looks like it wasn't Ney. Didn't look really fast on his feet as he normally is. Didn't look fluid and I feel like maybe he's lost a bit of a step. But I will say this.

I don't know if it means we don't still do Caleb Blanch and Mo Challa. Okay. I don't know. I don't know if you just don't just do it. Like, I mean, yes, it was a defeat. It's not know. I don't know if you just don't just do it. I mean, yes, it was a defeat. It's not like he got knocked out. It was a close fight. Maybe you say, okay, you know, ignore the rematch clause. Let's just still do Jamal Charlo, Caleb Blount. Okay. So this is the same conversation that we had a month ago, right? Do you still want to see Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia? And we'll get to Devin Haney and all the

talk surrounding him fighting Tiafuma Lopez later in the show. But I said at the time, yeah, I kind of still want to see it because their story is together and regardless of how they look. But I think for the larger public, the fight takes a hit, right? The interest in the fight takes a hit. Charlo.

I think it only takes a hit if it's like, I don't know if in your head, I don't know if it was a super pay-per-view fight like Ryan and Devon almost felt like it was a massive So I find it to look great like didn't they need to remind people like hey together We are magic Caleb didn't look great. Charlo was alright, but didn't they need to put on a show and be like yo You're next yo, you're next after their respective wins If one guy looks a little bit ho-hum, and let's be honest, I don't know if you were looking at the crowd, it wasn't exactly capacity crowd

at the Mandalay Bay Event Center. It's gonna be, I don't, basically, you could do it, I don't know if they could headline the card. You know what I mean? Maybe their co-main event on a PBC card. Maybe, or maybe it isn't just a super fight. Maybe it's not, I think PBC in their head had it as a pay-per-view event, it's not that. I mean, Jamal Charlo and the Charlos themselves together combined

have completely lost the step. And Caleb Plant, I mean, he's a big name. I don't disrespect Caleb. I think he's a great guy. But I don't look at Caleb Plant and think, okay, this is a guy that's going to do great pay-per-view numbers. That's why I say you can just do it. I mean, again, I don't think this is one where you're going to put them together and it was going to do 500,000 pay-per-view buys like Devon and Ryan. So. I mean, again, I don't think this is one where you're going to put them together and it was going to do 500,000 PPV buys like Devon and Ryan. So when Ryan lost, yes, it lost a bit. I feel like this fight was always just going to be a fight that was in regular prime, right? Regular PBC and amidst a small kind of arena.

I'd never had it as a super fight. So that's why I feel like just do it. It wasn't a super fight to begin with. What because of the slap? There's no title on the line. No one wins this fight and is the number one in the division. Well, by the way, according to, I think it's the WBA, they have Charlo now listed as number two in the rankings. He went from not being ranked to now number two after beating Thomas Lamanna. But again, that's just another example of these rankings being a little bit fugazi, right? So bad. So yeah, fugazi is an understatement for the rankings.

I mean, you haven't done anything in the division and all of a sudden you're number two. I mean, it's crazy, but I don't know. I don't know if we just go to it. I don't feel like anyone necessarily puts too much stock in Caleb Luz. And I think people just want to see these two go at it. Again, you can sort of hark back on the slap

a couple of years ago. I think there's enough just to do it. Caleb, it's not like Caleb's not lost before. We've seen him lose a couple of times. So, so what? Let's just have the fight. It's a fight that makes sense. Let's just do it.

It was really just a grudge match type of fight. And so, because there's no belt that, you know, needs to be defended or there's no sort of like stakes involved, it's really just like a personal beef between them. It just annoys me because ultimately the reason why fights shouldn't get made is because the timing doesn't work out, right? Like this guy just bought and this guy's coming back a month later. And so the stars aren't aligning, but if they're both ready to go on the same exact date, make the fight.

This idea that someone like Jermano Charlo needed a tune-up fight, if you will, he didn't need the tune-up fight. He really didn't. This idea that you need to build up to it and have them fight on the same card against different guys, where I think last I saw Caleb Plant was a minus 2,500 favorite, these are A, A, A plus side, like you have no business losing to this guy.

Just make the fight, give the people what they want. There's back and forth. There's all this talk. Um, it's just another example of, of, of the sports sometimes getting in its own way. This one, not as bad, obviously as Ryan Garcia losing. Um, just, you know, uh, four or so weeks ago, right here in New York city, but, uh, it just feels like it keeps on happening.

And especially we keep seeing these, like it almost happened to Inouye too, so it's like, you know, it's like, it, just, you know, uh, four or so weeks ago, right here in New York city. But, uh, it just feels like it keeps on happening. And especially we keep seeing these, like it almost happened to Inouye too. Thank God he was able to, but like we're announcing the next one before the first one, the easier one has to play out and it just ends up being a jinx. It happened with Fury and Inganu.

More often than not, I'm thinking it's like 50, 50 if they keep it going, but it didn't happen. We didn't get it with AJ and Wilder. And what were we told before that? We were told they had a signed contract, right? They both had a signed bout agreement and we will never get that fight probably at this point. So and the worst thing is as well, I mean for the fighter, I mean if you're Kehle Platt, there's no way you're not thinking about Jamal Charlo. There's no way not that he's overlooking his opponent, but there's no way he's not thinking,

okay, cool, we're gonna have a big one in September, October. It must be in your head. It must play in your head as well. And for his opponent, he's like, okay, one second, wait, you're trying to book a fight before you fight me? We'll see. So for Caleb, it's like,

your mind is a little bit geared towards Jamal Charlo. And for his opponent, I think it gives him an extra 10%. Cause I geared towards Jamal Charlo and for his opponent, I think it gives them an extra 10% because I'm going into that ring of I'm his opponent thinking you really are thinking about fighting another guy before you've done the rounds with me. Okay, we'll see how this plays out. And for Caleb, it didn't play out too well, but I don't know.

I think Caleb's one of those guys. I think people just like to see him fight. He's always in fun fights. Again, I know he's level and I know he's not elite elite, but I know that he'll give everyone a good fight and that's what he is. So I think we can still run it with Jamal Charlo regardless. Well, looking ahead to this weekend, Adé, it's another massive one for Australian boxing. We've talked about this, the growth of Australian boxing. There's a lot of big names, a lot of big fights coming out of there. Later in the week, we have Jairoataya fighting once again, defending his right titles.

But what about Justice Hooney taking the fight on short notice, going into enemy territory at Portman Road against the local boy, Fabio Wardley for the WBA interim heavyweight title. A big opportunity for the young Australian fighter and he is kind enough to join us on a late Tuesday evening over in England. Justice, thank you so much for the time. We really appreciate it. We know you're taking this fight on short notice. We know it was supposed to be Big Baby Miller and you jump in there. Could you tell us where were you when you got the call and was your answer yes right away or did you have to think about it considering who Fabio is and considering the short notice timeframe? Yeah, so I got the call late at night, Australian time.

And yeah, it was just exciting. It took, I got to have a think about it overnight. And then, yeah, the next day was just like, weighing up the pros and cons. And yeah, the opportunity was just too big to let it go by. I wouldn't have known when I was gonna get another opportunity like that. So yeah, I had to take it with both hands and now I'm here. Three days out. I love it.

And this is gonna be such a great scene in a football stadium and he's beloved over there. You've been there for a minute now. Could you tell us what's the vibe? How are you being treated? How are you being received by the locals? Um, it's still pretty quiet here. The, you know, I've been out and around. Um, yeah, still, still haven't been recognized that much.

Okay. They're not throwing tomatoes at you or hissing you as you walk. Okay. Good. Nah, nah, nah, it's been good. I've been dropping my time over here and, um, yeah, I can't, I can't wait to just get in the ring and do my job.

Yeah, I like the idea of them throwing tomatoes at you. Don't worry, it's not coming. Don't worry, Justice. You're okay. You're okay, Justice. But I spoke to you, what, a couple of weeks ago and I said, look, this is going to be a football stadium. You're going to walk out and it's going to be around 30,000 there. And what's it going to be like for you getting booed? Because, you know, most times you're coming out, you're getting cheered, you know, it's always respectful. This time you are coming out to a football crowd and they all love Fabio. Have you thought about that walk about 10pm getting booed to the ring?

Look, I'm just going to take it all in, embrace it, and to show everyone who I am. You know, I'm not coming over here to take part, I'm coming over to take over. So I hope everyone remembers my name after this fight. Yeah, you mentioned to Ariel there that you weighed up the pros and cons, your records on the screen right now, 12 and 0. You don't normally see two unbeaten guys go at each other this early, right? There is that kind of that build up first of your record before you get chucked into the lion's den, so to speak. Was that one of the cons where you was like, okay,

mentally, am I ready for this? Or do I need a couple more fights? Was that one of the faults in your mind before you chose this fight? Yeah, that's it. I don't think it was so much, um, how many fights I had. I think it was, you know, taking it on a five weeks notice and, you know, thinking to myself, will I be able to prepare myself for, you know, a 12 round fight against Fabio? You know, he's a, he's a tough competitor and yeah, I just said to myself, it's all or nothing, you know, put everything into, um, the training camp that I had and, and now we're here. Like it's all or nothing, make or break.

Uh, you know, I'm, I'm confident and, um, I'm backing myself to get the job done. I know a lot of the, the talk going into the fight is, is about you being on enemy territory. You, you, you territory. You've had a great response to all of this saying, I survived the drive-by shooting back in 2022. You think I'm afraid of some rowdy fans at Portman Road. For those that may not be familiar with this insane story, can you tell us what happened back in 2022 at your home? Yeah, it was, I was under a week out from a big fight in Australia and yeah, my house just got shut up randomly early in the morning and I was, yeah, like I said, less than a

week out and you know, I had tunnel vision. I was locked in. I still went to sparring after that, that morning and ended up getting the job done come fortnight So, you know once I'm locked in and and focus on the job I have a hand and you know wanting that prize at the end like there's no stop of me like I'm set on that and Yeah, I think the crowd booing me and stuff,

like I'll be able to handle it. You know, it's everything has, you know, built me up to this moment in my career and I'm ready to take it on. The thought of you going to sparring just a few hours later is insane, credit to you. Do you have any idea now three years later why this happened? No, no, not at all. I just like, I kind of just

looked past it like I didn't really I didn't really care at the time. It was a big deal, but I was that focused on the on the fight I had the week after and yeah, I just kind of shrugged it off and kept going. And anyone get hurt? No, no, fortunately, no one was hurt. But yeah, just grateful to still be here and still be on the same journey. Yeah, and we are very grateful you're here as well, because I think you're a fantastic heavyweight prospect. I keep saying prospect because you are relatively young in this pro game. I mean, Eddie's been talking about you for a couple of years. That jump from amateur to pro, how difficult, how easy was it? We had a guy recently

over here, Delicious Horry, you probably know him, who's retired after one fight and he always spoke about the difference between sort of amateur and pro and maybe that jump being maybe difficult for him. Has it been an easy transition for you? Uh, it was, it was a weird transition because, um, the time I turned professional, I had qualified for the, uh, 2020 Olympics and now I was just, it was around COVID time, so we weren't really able to compete in Australia. So I turned professional to keep getting in the ring and forming in front of a crowd.

And then, yeah, I had to pull out of the Olympics due to an injury that I got in my fourth professional fight and now we're here. It's been a weird transition but I'm fully transferred over to the professionals and I'm really enjoying it. It's been relatively plain sailing right? You've made every fight so far look pretty comfortable maybe apart from the Kevin Lorena one who I think is an underrated fighter. I think Kevin Lorena is a really good pro. We saw that against Daniel Dubois. What did you take away from that performance?

First of all, to never switch off, you know. The fight's not over till it's over and you know, I almost learnt the hard way. But fortunately I came through and, uh, you know, I don't even know how I was still standing after that, that last round of that part, but, um, I got through it and yeah, ended up getting the wind. So, um, yeah, that, that far was a big lesson for myself and my career. After that, I was like, yeah, never, never want to go through that again. So yeah, big, big learning

curve and big lesson for me. By the way, considering the fact that they're now allowing pro boxers to qualify for the Olympic Games, the rule has changed. And considering what happened to you in 2020, did you think about trying to make it for the 2024 team? happened to you in 2020? Did you think about trying to make it for the 2024 team? Not really. It didn't take much for me to just say, I'm just going to stick to professionals because there's so much in the amateurs like you got to go through to get back to that position. And there's always new fighters coming through. So it was like, you know, do I want to go back through that and then, you know, risk it like I could get ripped off, get a bad decision or something.

And then, you know, it just wastes a whole lot of time. So I just ended up making the decision to stay pro and continue my professional career. I had read that you came over to the UK to do the promotional stuff back in May and you decided to stay for several weeks. You didn't go back home. You stayed, I think, in Blackpool. Why did you decide to do that?

Was it just smarter to not go back and forth at that point? Yeah, just the traveling. After I did that first travel to come here, I just thought to myself that there's no way I could see myself flying all the way back to Australia and coming back. It was just, yeah, it's a long flight and it takes days out of the camp,

out of training that I can't get back. I just ended up staying here and I've enjoyed my time here. I'm fortunate. You did the press justice with Fabio a few weeks ago. You've done the face-to-face. You did the long stare in the centre of the Portman Road pitch as well. What would you make of Fabio? The size of him, him as a fighter, the personality, what'd you make of him?

Yeah, look, I've, I've said it in interviews before. I respect anyone that gets in the ring, you know, and, um, he's, he's earned his way to where he is. He's earned the, the, to fight in his hometown, um, have a big fight like this in his home stadium here. So, you know, I'll give credit to him, but yeah, like I said, I'm not coming all the way from Australia to just take part, you know. I'm going to give it my best shot to, you know, take over over here and, you know, leave my name in everyone's head.

You know they say once you fight for titles there's no stepping back, especially if you win right. It's a case of going up and up and up and the challenges getting harder. We spoke to Fabio I think it was a couple of weeks ago and I said to him, how far away do you think you are from the top three? The top three being Usyk, Dubois and Parker. So I guess the same question to you. How far away do

you think you are from the big boys of the division? Once I get a victory in this fight, I think I'm right up there. As long as I believe in myself and I back myself to come up against anyone and get the job done. I feel like I'm unstoppable. So yeah, once I get this fight done, I think I'm right up there to take on anyone. So could I ask like who would be the name if we're in the post fight interview right now, who are you calling out after a win

over Fabio Wardley on Saturday? By the way, that's me doing the post fight interview. That's him, all right. So we could, I mean, you could do it. I'm going to ask those questions. Go, do ask him. Should I do it now? Yeah, who's next?

Should I do it now? You just scored a big knockout. Ask him. So it's a justice, obviously, look, big win, massive win in front of this 32,000 crowd at Portman Road. Who do you want next? Any of the big names? Now we need a name, justice. No, no, no.

We need a name. What is this? Anyone? We need a name. He said, he said, in the show we do. Come on. I've got no names, man. I've got no names. Do you no, no. We need a name. What is this, anyone? We need a name. It's in the show, we do. Come on. I've got no names, man. I've got no names. You know, before we were getting this opportunity, I was just like, I didn't know when I was going to, you know, have big fights or anything.

So, you know, now that this has come up, it's like, it's kind of just took me like 100 steps forward, like a big leap forward to where I thought I was going to be this year. So, you know, it's really a surprise to me, but, you know, I just got to continue stepping up to the plate and, you know, stepping up to bigger and better challenges. Very quickly obviously look as you mentioned it's only been sort of five six weeks notice. How quick do you have to then sort of put a camp together because you mentioned you're in Blackpool I don't know how your manager you know I mean Spencer Brown Nosey does a good job but how quick do you have to find sparring partners, accommodation, a local

gym? How easy or how difficult is that? Oh God, I haven't had anything to do with it. So I wouldn't know, but I guess it was just all done on the go. You know, I think I did like one week training at home and then we're on the plane over here to do the press conference. And then we've just stayed here ever since. So, yeah, it's been a experience that I'll never forget. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to, you know,

the after party after the win. What's the official prediction? The official prediction. Look, I'm not going out there to, to look for the knockout. Um, I know Fabio is tough and he comes to fight and he, um, like we've seen how, how bad he wants it in that first Fraser Clark, uh, fight. Like he'll, he'll go to the 12 rounds. So,. So I'm just looking to go out there and box my box, my then not get caught up in his fight.

So yeah, I'm the, if it comes down to going the distance, I think, you know, if I box and stick to my game plan, I'll get the job done and win on decision. I said it last week, even before, even before I knew you were coming on, I'm infinitely more interested in this fight than I was the original. I'm really looking forward to it.

The scene is gonna be great. Massive opportunity for you. Wishing you the best, Justice. Thank you for doing this. Good luck to you on Saturday. We're really looking forward to it. Thanks, Justice. Thank you, Bella. Really appreciate it, boys.

All right, there he is. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. The big man, six foot four,feated justice, Huni, uh, former WBA international champion, WBO global heavyweight champion, Australian heavyweight champion, IBF, pan Pacific champion and WBO Oriental champion looking to become the WBA interim heavyweight champion, a massive opportunity for him. And I think you would agree. I think tougher tests for Fabio than Jarrell was going to be.

What do you say? Hmm, close one. I think he's a better boxer than Jarrell and he's fresher. He's fresher than Jarrell. Obviously, look, the record, you saw it there unbeaten. So I think he brings a different stylistic problem for Fabio. Jarrell was just a big, strong guy that was going to stand in front of Fabio and they were going to go toe to toe. Justice won't do it. Justice will move around. He's

got that fantastic amateur pedigree. Remember Fabio has none. Fabio has no amateur pedigree whatsoever. So this is definitely a case of boxer versus puncher. The thing is this boxer in Justice can punch and Fabio who is a puncher can now box a little bit as well. So I think it's intriguing. They're both exactly the can now box a little bit as well. So I think it's intriguing. They're both exactly the same size around the same weight as well. So yeah, justice better not watch that. If I'm justice, I do not watch that.

Honestly, that's scary. Maybe the most terrifying knockout in recent memory. I will never forget, especially that shot of his, like his temple indented because of the jaw. But look at this man right here. Look at that, look at the body shot there, Deway. He's a big boy. I had him in-

Look at that, look at that boxing. Sports studios. Dude, he's really, really sharp. But again, it's the levels, isn't it? I mean, Fabio's certainly fought better opposition. But a lot of people, obviously Eddie Hearn will say justice has a higher seeding, but a lot of other people think that maybe

justice sealing is higher. So I don't know, I think it's an intriguing matchup, honestly. Remember, the winner of this is kind of in line to fight the winner of Usyk Dubois. So it's a big step up. My only question is, it really is, I mean, WBA, I wouldn't, I wouldn't. If you're Fabio, though, if you're Fabio, that's what you want, but Justice, I don't think it's ready for that jump. And that's why I kind of said to him, if you win, there are no backwards steps here. You gotta keep going further and further. Are you ready for that?

Are you ready for the real big guys in the division? So if he wins, I think they might just kind of take it easy. But if Fabio wins, I think it's all systems go. Yeah, I mean, look, it's kind of a win-win for Justice. Short notice, massive step up, on the road, so to speak, right, in a way fight. Even if he, I'm not saying he wants this, but even if he fights valiantly and loses the decision, that's sort of a moral victory, right?

I don't know if six weeks is short notice. I mean, I know, look, I know everyone wants a 10 to 12 week camp, but I mean, he's a young guy and you always hear the phrase, right? Stay ready, don't get ready. So I think most of these guys are in the gym now, they're professional athletes. I think if you get a call six weeks out, is that not enough time to get in shape and take a fight? I mean, look, who am I?

I mean, I'm, look at me sitting on my comfortable chair. I don't know, but I just feel like six weeks isn't as short as people are saying it is. I mean, I've seen guys take fights in a week, two weeks notice and still get a job done. Sure, but against a Fabio Wardley, you know what I mean? Like they're taking those fights against maybe lesser competition and getting the job done. True. Obviously you've seen it. We've seen people take short notice fights.

We see it all the time in MMA. A little less so in boxing, I would say. But as Fabio told us last week, you know, they wanted the date, they didn't want to lose it, massive opportunity for him. And what could you tell us by the way? Because there's two stadium shows happening this weekend in the UK, right? Boxer has one and obviously this one's a Queensbury one. How many tickets are they expecting to sell over there in Ipswich? Is it really going to be like- I'm hearing. I mean,, dude, I already heard,

and I spoke to someone from Queensbury a couple of weeks back, and they said 20,000's already been done. Wow. And so you can imagine, if 20,000 was done a couple of weeks back, I think the area, like my sisters ask for tickets, I think the area just wants to go to a big event.

I think they're really making it a carnival type feel. I think there's gonna be activities outside the stadium. I think people just, we don't really see boxing events in Ipswich. We just don't, even in that kind of area of the country. So I think a lot of people are just intrigued as to what's going on. So I think they probably will get between 25 and 30,000 in there, which I mean, again, I think it goes to show

just how healthy the sport is over here. I mean, we literally are going from stadium fight to stadium fight to big arenas to stadium fights. And obviously there's the big one, July 19th. So it's a healthy sport. And I think it's in a position right now where it's probably the second biggest sport in the country. I know there are a lot of rugby fans that will argue with me, but I think boxing right now is in a really good spot. Oh, yes.

I mean, just by listening to Talksport and by seeing the media coverage it's right below football. By the way, is Dillian White fighting on this card or not? He's also Fabio's manager and I still see it says TBA. They said he was going to fight on the card. Is he on the card or is he not on the card? He's on the card. No, no, no. Dillian White's fighting on the card. Is he fighting a mystery opponent? What's happening? I have no idea. I mean someone reached out to me and said it could be a guy called Vladislav Sorenko, who Ukrainian, I think, I believe is unbeaten. I used to do his fights nearly

a decade ago in South Africa. He's a very good fighter. If it's that, then that's quite a tough opponent for Dillian White. I don't know what's going on. I don't know why it's hard to find Dillian White an opponent. It's Dillion White, he's a big name. I mean, a lot of people will be queuing up to fight him. But I think they have big plans for Dillion in the next couple of months. I think it's got to be the right opponent. And like you said, they don't want no Caleb Plant, Ryan Garcia slip ups, because I think they've already got a name locked in for Dillion in the summer.

So I think they just want someone that can give Dillion rounds. He's not had good rounds recently. He's not looked good recently. And I just think it's a case of Dillian showing us what he's got left. He's 37. The Ebenezer Tete fight last time out wasn't great, but I still think there's one good run in Dillian. And then you give him either a Derrick Chazour fight where both of them have it and disappear, or you give him an AJ fight. AJ wants an opponent, or maybe even your good friend, Joseph Parker.

So I think they're gonna play it easy for him on Saturday. All right, well that's the big one. This Saturday, June 7th, that's over in your neck of the woods, over in England, over in these necks of the woods, if you will. June 14th, right here in New York City at the theater. We've got a guy who you said at the top of the show could be the next face of New York boxing.

He'll be defending his newly won title, the one back in December, a massive win over Liam Parrow. And that was one where I think a lot of people weren't expecting him to win, if I'm being honest. I think it was being set up for some other plans. Richardson Hitchens went in there, did the job, and now he gets to come back home against George Cambosus,

the place where George Cambosus shocked the world a few years ago, the theater at Madison Square Garden when he defeated Tiafema Lopez, the pride of Brooklyn, the great Richardson Hitchens joining us right now. And you know, Richardson, I don't know if you know this or remember this, a couple days after you won that belt, the IBF Light Welterweight title, I was in like the VIP section at Madison Square Garden rubbing elbows with the, you know, with the A-listers, with the MVPs and all that stuff. And there you were holding the title, holding court, and you just kind of like walked by me. So I was like, man, oh, here's a fight guy. Like, yo, what's up, Rich? And you were just like, hey, hey, you want an autograph?

You just walk right by me. Do you have any recollection of this? Because I was in my feelings a little bit. I had, nah, I don't remember. I was like, I was in like a happy, happy space at that time. So I really don't remember that. My fault if I, you know. No, it's all good. It's all good. Granted you the wrong way. No, it's all good, man.

I could tell. I mean, you probably were on cloud nine. You're probably still on cloud nine after what you did back in December. And now you get to come back home and you found out that they were going to bring you back home at that venue against a guy like Kambosis who's had success here. I'm sure you were just over the moon, right?

This is a perfect scenario for you. Yeah, you know, Kambosis, he's a great opponent, you know what I'm saying? A great name for me to take, elevate my career to the next level and that's all I'm in the sport to do. So everything has been going as planned and yeah, that's about it. What's it like? I'm always intrigued when a fighter sort of has that dream

of winning a world title, right? That's the dream for every young fighter coming through. I guess it's to go and represent your country in the Olympics. If you don't do that, it's to win a world title. Now you've done the world title thing, how does it feel? I mean, do you almost feel like, okay, that's now done. Let's move on to the next thing. What's it like?

To be honest right now, like I've been saying, I've been telling these people for years, people that haven't been watching, I've been saying that I'm going to be one of the faces of the sport. Like I'm going to be one of the guys to take over the sport, you know. And even like my last fight when they had me, the underdog or not being the guy to pull out the win, in my head, I'm just like, it come with the territory. A lot of people don't really know what they're watching. If you know what you're watching, you know that I'm a special talent, a generational talent. So I just feel like I'm far ahead of my years just from being in a gym with guys like Terrence Crawford, Corey Stevenson,

and a lot of these big, a lot of guys that have big names in the sport with guys like Terrence Crawford, and Corey Stevenson, and a lot of these big, a lot of guys that have big names in the sport right now that have been there before me, I've been in the ring with them for numerous years, testing my skills out, testing my abilities against them, and I knew that. I always knew I was a special talent. So right now, a one world title ain't nothing to me. Any fighter can do that. You know what I'm saying?

I feel like, not any fighter can do it, but I feel like there's been a lot of fighters that can do that. I feel like I'm a standout type of fighter. So I feel like I'm here to push my talent to a limit. Take over the sport of boxing and anybody that's doubting me, when they do come to that arena, they do turn on that Dizone app. They're going to see they watching a person that's just really good at their craft. I'm not a doctor, but I damn sure perform in that ring like a surgeon. Yeah. And I think, and I don't know if you were listening earlier,

I said to Ari, I was like, this is the kid I think that can fill out MSG, the big arena. I feel like New York needs a face of boxing. And I feel like you have everything, even just the way you talk. The way you talk, you back it up in terms of the way you are in the ring. And I think you're in a division and you've got the frame to go to one four seven clearly. I think you're in a division where big fights can be made

and you've got George Cambos who talks a lot, who brings his own fans as well. I mean, what's it like having someone like Cambos? Like Liam Parrow talked a little bit, but it doesn't talk like George Cambos. George Cambas talks. What's that like? I really don't know. I just think that, you know, he's a guy that, he's banking on the experience he had with the big fights he's been in. And I just feel like with me, none of the guys he fought is on my level. You know, I told him that face to face.

He laughed at it. So June 14th, we'll see if he still be laughing at that. I know the calculations and the class and the signs that I bring to the ring. So I think that when he's in there with me June 14th, if he makes any mistake, it will be a short night. And I told him in the faceoff, I told him that if it's going to love him, they'll stop the fight. So I'm looking at him saying, oh, you're nowhere near like the Teofimos or Devin Hanes, it's just out of cue to my back.

So when I'm in there every second, I'm looking to make him pay for every mistake he makes. So I'm extremely sharp right now. I know that he can say that, but he know what he's in front of. He know that this is a very serious fight. This is the big leagues. When it comes to technical ability, it don't get bigger than this. I don't care if you've been in the ring with Devin Haney or Lomachenko. I'm an all around fighter. I'm not small like Lomachenko. I'm not a fighter like Devin Haney. I have so many tools in my bag, you know, and like I said, if people paying attention, they will see

I displayed so much in my short career already. So June 14th will be a great night and I'm looking to put it all together. By the way, where do you think George is at in his career right now? Because, you know, he's lost three of his last five and the one win that he had, the Maxie Hughes win, very controversial, disputed,

gets a short notice win over Jake Wiley back home. That was his matchroom debut. But there are some who think that he maybe doesn't have the magic that he did back when he was fighting the Lopez's of the world. Where do you think he's at right now? Right now, I think that George Campbell's is where it's at its ceiling. I know that's where his talent and what he brings to the game, that's where he's supposed to be. That guy, he just fought his last fight.

Game opponent, 16 and 0. But right now, especially in the time of boxing, some of the young talents, so many great fighters that it's just ain't George's time right now, especially in the time of boxing right now, some of the young talents, so many great fighters that it would be, it's just ain't George Tom right now. I just feel like that win over Teofimo was a big win, but Teofimo, like I said before about Teofimo, Teofimo is a guy that goes off of talent. This is not a guy that, he goes off of talent and boxing experience. You could tell the strategy and the IQ behind Teopimo ain't there. I've seen it over and over in Teopimo game. That night when George Cambolus beat him, I just felt like he just fought a fighter

that just came in with no game plan and just went in there and fought. So I just think that what George Cambolus's at in his career, it's a good position right now because he does have a name, so he's able to get these big fights and get these paydays. But I don't, he's not like a guy, he's never been a guy to me that I've seen, you know, went on a downhill or it got any worse. I think he's still George Campbell's. I was speaking to Eddie about you, Eddie Hearn, and we were kind of both baffled about why

you've gone under the radar, right? Because everyone for years, always Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Tia Fimlo Lopez. And he was like, he doesn't understand why Richardson-Hitchens has gone under the radar because you speak so well, you fight so well. Why do you feel like people are only starting to notice you after the Paro win in the last sort of 12 months? Where has Richardson-Hitchens been? To be honest, a lot of people,

they didn't really notice me because my promotional back, and you know, firewood Millard Promotions, you know, they gave me the head start, you know, to my career. They definitely gave me the head start to get to where I needed to get to, got me to fights. But as far as the promotional company, they wasn't promoting me. They was more focused on Tank Davis. And that was, I should have left a little sooner than I already did just to get to where I was at. But

me and my manager, Keith Conley, we got together and we said that, we said, he said to me, your kid's been to where you at, where you want to be a little bit longer, but you follow this plan, you'll be where you need to be. And he told me from day one, you are a pound for pound talent and we're going to take you to the world title in a matter of a year and a half, two years. And that's exactly what happened. It was two years and one month exactly. And I think with Eddie Herron, he brought structure back to my career. You know, witharn, he brought structure back to my career. With Eddie, he brought structure.

He got me the platform. He got me the opportunities. I delivered every single time out. No matter how I delivered, how I got the job done, I got the job done. Next week, this is another big platform, another huge opportunity. Now I'm coming back home as the world champion, back to New York City. I think New York City is the best city in the world, just personally in my opinion. And I think that New York City been missing big time boxing, you know, because New York

is a lot of fights that come to New York, but New York never had their own to bring world championship boxing back to the city since I don't know how long. So I think that I've been saying I'm gonna face the New York Boxing and it's showing. So next week, I think it's a great time. The weather's nice, it's beautiful, it's June. Everybody's ready to be outside. It's a big event for the city and we're ready to turn up. Do you feel like you need a stoppage win?

There's been a bit of a stretch here of decisions. Do you think that will help in terms of your popularity and growth? Of course, a stoppage win, a dominant stoppage win is always the best way to win, and, you know, elevate the stock. But at the end of the day, it don't matter how I win, I just know I'm gonna win in dominant fashion,

just like I've shown in all my fights. Most of my fights is, you know, dominant wins. And I know that next week it will be a dominant performance. George Cambosa's ready, he's game, but at the end of the day this is the hurt business and like I told him before, the people that came with him, they really care about him. I don't give a fuck how much, how game he is or how of a true competitor he is. It will be a time in the fight where they got to seriously ask about throwing in the towel or somebody got to look out for his best intro. Cause I'm not coming to play George Campbell's.

He's not a better fighter than me. And I just feel like I'm on a whole different level. So he could come next week or all the things that he's saying he want to be dirty, he want to be this. I'm knocking the fuck out. I love it. I love that energy. By the way, we were talking a little bit about Tio Fimo.

What do you make of all this Tio Fimo, Devin Haney drama that's been playing out over the last couple of days? You know, Tio playing right now with his career, honestly, you know, he shouldn't be, you know, I don't know. I think he's turning down big fights or he's saying he's fighting to hand that fee him to each his own. If that's what he want to do, that's what he want to do. I don't really know all the specifics behind the scenes.

So Tio shouldn't be, you know, I think that he's just, he plays, he played the wrong hand, you know, a few times and hopefully that if he can't get the Devon Haney fight, hopefully they call me in after this fight to get the Devon Haney fight. And if not, if Tio Peele want to go another route, if he don't want to fight Devon Haney, there's still a huge unification fight right here that me and him was in the talks of prior to me fighting George Camp Boses. And after this fight,

the winner of this fight, obviously is a big fight movement for us. So, I mean, these guys are all in the ready. Like I said, they wasn't in a position to see me, I was in a position to where they had to see me two years ago, obviously, but they collected their money, they collected their belts while I was in a position to where they had to see me two years ago, obviously, but they've collected their money. They collected their belts while I was out the scene. Now

you got me a strong talent, a guy that they know that I'm nothing to play with. And if they don't know, they'll have to see me in another year or so, 2025 or next year. So I'm creeping up so soon. Boxing is now, it has always been a Richardson, but now I feel like it's a worldwide sport, right? I mean, you fought in Puerto Rico. I mean, there's fights in Saudi Arabia. Would you ever sort of think about coming to the UK? There's a couple of guys over here, potentially there's Connor Ben, a division higher, there's Dalton Smith, who's starting to creep up in your division as well. I mean, both of those are promoted by Eddie Hearn and Matrim. Is there ever been any talk about maybe coming over

to the UK to see those guys? The Conor Ben fight would be a great fight. That's the fight that I do want, you know, as soon in the future before he goes up to 154. Me and Conor Ben is cool, you know, and I mean, I have ultimate respect to him as a man for that fight with him and Chris Eubank. Tough, tough fight.

And him going up and displaying that tenacity and dog. But you know, a fight with me and Karna Ben would be something that I would want before he moves up from 154. Obviously he's a huge 147 pounder, so that would have to be a fight that, you know, like I said, before we get out to 154, that we grab it and we can make. And Jack Cattaraw, he was a guy I was also going to talk to.

And like you said, Dalton Smith, he's climbing the ladder. And these are all fights that's possible. And fighting in the UK, I'm down to go wherever. The UK fight fans, I love the whole energy watching the fights. Every fight is like a big event over there. So I think that with my name and a big name in the UK, it can be very lucrative. So Eddie Hearn, I got the main, you know, God when it comes to UK boxing. So I think that if me and Eddie keep a healthy relationship, that's something that I would definitely want to go to the UK and

make a big fight happen over it. As a New York boy, obviously the dream will be to fill out the big arena, MSG. Obviously you need the right dance partner for that. That must be the big dream, right? The world title was one dream. Surely the big, big dream is to do big MSG. We don't really see many big events there anymore. Obviously, Katie and Amanda are going to do it, but in terms of guys doing it, it's been a while. We haven't seen a guy sort of sell out that

arena for ages. Do you think you're the guy to do it? Yeah, right now I honestly do believe I'm the guy to sell out, you know, New York Boxing. When it comes to Barclays Center, New York City, I think that, you know, all the young people and the young people in the young culture, they love me. They love my story. Just me being a Brooklyn kid, literally coming from nothing. I'm not one of them guys that... When I put on my caption, I'm from the mud that I'm just

saying it because the song is nice. I've really been through these streets. I've really been through these situations where I had to like, you know, risk my life in a, I'm not risking my life in the streets, I'm risking my life in a boxing ring to provide to me and mine, you know, because obviously boxing's not a game you play with boxing, it's a fight game

that could take a lot of years for me to life, you know, and just you as a person. So I had to, you know, this was my lane. This was my purpose in life. This is something I love to do. And I think that New York, just everybody in the city, they, they, they mess with my story, but New York is one of the places nobody cares about how hard you work until you make it. So I think right now this is New York is one of the city that jump, jump on, you on, really start supporting you once they see you there. So I think that now they kind of seeing all the hard work and all the sacrifice I made through the years, they really actually

seeing that like, oh, this kid was like, he wasn't just working, he really was working towards something big. So now I feel like this is the time where the city is going to really get behind me. So it is what it is. I just think that, yeah, soon in the near future, me and Tio Fimo fight will be a huge fight in New York. Me and Devin Haney fight definitely sound out in New York. So I can't wait just to see what the future holds for me and just the city of New York. Well, we're a little down right now

after the Knicks getting bounced. Looking forward to having something to celebrate in a little over a week at the theater right next to the garden. Good luck to you, Richardson. Thank you for coming on, appreciate it very much. And looking forward to seeing what you do out there on June 14th.

Yes, June 14th, MSG, live on the zone. Don't nobody miss it, it's gonna be a great night. Thank you, my friend. All the best to you. There he is, and there's the poster right there. Richardson-Hitchens against George Cambosas. The back and forth has been great so far, and I suspect once George sees him here in New York on fight week next week, it's going to be a lot of good stuff and the matchup team is going to be all over it. Let's talk about this Devin

Haney versus Tiafimo Lopez drama that's been playing out because yesterday we got the word from BoxingScene.com that the fight was signed, sealed and delivered, that it was a done deal August 16th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Alright, maybe not the one that we thought was going to happen following Times Square. I think a lot of us thought alright, they'll still go to the Devin Haney versus Ryan Garcia well although last week we found out that Ryan Garcia had hand surgery. His team telling me that he should be okay for an October date which was always the plan for the rematch against Haney but then then all of a sudden, here comes this news. However, today we take a

left turn and the ring, obviously owned by Turkey Al-Sheikh, reports that the fight isn't happening. And then we see a slew of tweets back and forth between the two of them. Here's Devin Haney replying to a tweet, a quote tweet I believe it is from one Tiafema Lopez. Lopez wrote, I am looking to work with a company in the retail industry to launch and expand my make boxing great again, brand and other ideas I'm working on tag a retail company. If you like to see garbage. Devin writes just STFU TFU. All right.

What does that mean? What does that mean? Just be quiet already. Here's another one from Devin. The fight with Teo is not signed. I signed my part and Teo has been stalling. As of today, he has decided he doesn't want to fight me. He is officially the biggest duck. Here's more from Devin.

And I wanted the fight at 147 and he wanted to fight at 140. We negotiated to meet at 145, even though he was willing to fight Boots at 147. Here's more from Devin. Oh, Oscar Delahoye writing, Devin Haney is calling Tio a duck, more like Tio is smart to not fight a runner who has less fans than Diddy does. Devin replying. That's nonsense.

What's your obsession with me? Yeah, that's nonsense. Tio also saying, by the way, that he, that Devin ducked him. I don't know what to make of all of this. What do you make of it? I just, I'm tired of it all. Honestly, I'm tired of it all. I mean, we just hear from Richardson Hitchens, these are fighters that want to fight. And these are two guys, and by the way, I mean, these two have been circling each other since they were at 135, four years ago. We've been hearing about Tio versus Devin for four years. That's the fight everyone wanted to see, Tio versus Devin.

It wasn't sort of Tio versus Gervonta or Tio versus Shakur or Tio versus, no, it's been Tio versus Devin for about four years. And by the way, I actually think it's more for me, a more exciting fight than Tio versus, sorry, Devin versus Ryan. I know Devin and Ryan have got the history, but I think Tio is, for me, a more exciting fight than Teo versus, sorry, Devon versus Ryan. I know Devon and Ryan have got the history, but I think Teo is skyrocketing right now. And I think Devon is. He stalled a little bit because of that Ryan fight, but I think he's skyrocketing. So I think it's a fantastic fight.

And all of a sudden, it just doesn't happen. Because of what? But I'd love to know the real reason. Is it the weight? Cause it can't really be the weight because Tio Fimo was gonna fight Boots. He was saying, let me fight Boots. That was gonna be at one four seven.

He even said, let me fight Kraw for the 154 pounds. So it can't be a weight problem. Is it a money problem? I mean, are these guys not getting paid? I think we know these guys get paid. They get paid very well. I mean, I would always say get your worth, but sometimes I feel like they're getting over their worth

in terms of their deliverables, especially when you go on what happened at Times Square. So I have no idea. I just find it annoying from those tweets alone. It looks like the portion of blame has to lie at the feet of Tia Fima-Lopez. That's what it looks like until we hear from Tio, but I don't know, man.

I'm just kind of fed up with a lot of these kids, in the most of you. And maybe this is just my old man talk, but sometimes I'm like, we've got such a good grouping of about six or seven, I think fantastic young American fighters that could make this sport just go bang in America. Like as big as boxing is over here in the UK, I mean in America some people say it's not even

a top 10 sport. That's why here, that's what people are telling me. But yet we've got the talent to make it a top 10 sport. I mean just alone at 135 and 140, we had Richardson Hitchens there, we got Ryan Garcia, we got Tio Fima Lopez, we've got Devinitchens there. We've got Ryan Garcia, we've got Tia Fima Lopez, we've got Devin Haney, we've got Shakur Stevenson, we've got Gishon Davis, we've got Tank. I mean, you kidding me? Like, if those guys were to all mix it with each other, you've got the best era since maybe the Four Kings.

But what did they do? Nothing. Honestly, it's just, what was it? I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. I don't know. I most certainly hope if these guys do in fact fight that it happens here in the United States because this is a tailor-made American card for Las Vegas, maybe somewhere in California,

certainly here in New York with Lopez's backing and Haiti fighting here as well, twice back to back now. So, and I know his dad has now called New York home. So I think it would make a hell of a lot of sense because we don't have a lot of big fights Happening here between two Americans that can sell out legit, you know top-notch NBA NHL Vegas venues So I would love to see that but there's still a part of me That's like I kind of would rather just see Haney versus Garcia next. Like if this gets rid of Haney versus Garcia in any way, shape or form, Tio could beat him

and then all of a sudden the stock and that fight goes lower. I don't know if I wanna buy it. Obviously in a vacuum, it's a great fight between two of the best and there's a backstory there. I get it, but at the expense of Haney versus Garcia too, like which one would you rather? But you know, what I don't want is just,

I don't like the stalling and waiting. Yeah. You're right, I mean don't get me wrong, Haney, Ryan, there's something special when those guys mix. And then you got the involvement of Oscar and you got the involvement of Bill Haney. So it's this perfect storm.

But with Ryan being injured, no more pausing on careers. These guys need to fight. These guys should be fighting three, four times a year. At the moment it's once a year. This fight was earmarked for August 16th. So I'm like, I'm all systems go. I just want to see fights. At this stage, I'm not trying to wait for a guy to get fit and healthy. Okay, look, my hands better now. Now it's going to take me another two months to spar and then I have to make weight. So we're not seeing Ryan until 2026. So I'm off the Ryan

train for now. Give me fighters that are healthy and ready to go. Tio and Devin are healthy and ready to go. Just make the fight. Just make the fight. And if you are Turkey, who's obviously coming to this sport and so far has been able to kind of make the fights that we want to see, even he must be thinking, is this really what happens? This is it? this is all the headache. It's not that easy, is it? It's very difficult to get a lot of these young guys to fight each other, honestly, because I mean,

the negotiating table must be as big as anything because they seem to want everything, anything to get in the ring. And I just, again, I'm just tired of it, honestly, I'm tired of it. Well, yeah, and Tio has been a little bit unhinged on social media these days. You know, the difference is- A little bit.

A little bit unhinged. The difference is- He's been crazy. 20, 30 years ago, you didn't really see how the sausage was made. And now we get like minute by minute tweets back and forth and it sort of falls on deaf ears as time goes on. So let's see what happens. I want to bring up the Jaime Monguilla news because we saw him just a few weeks ago in Riyadh. He gets back on track, he beats Bruno Surras but then oh my gosh, there's the news

that he has tested positive. Now his team has put out this statement, they have sent this to us. This is from the team, Jaime Mongia. It's in both English and Spanish. It's a very, very long statement that they put out, but I'm going to I'm going to read a couple highlights. Following Jaime's initial statement, we want to provide additional clarity in response to speculation and misinformation circulating about his recent Vata test. First, it is important to reiterate, Hemi Mangia has never tested positive in over a hundred anti-doping tests across his professional career until now. His record speaks for itself. He has always complied with Vata testing protocols and has built a reputation as a clean and respectful fighter who honors the integrity of the sport. We

asked the boxing community to remember that context before rushing to judgment. The test in question was one of multiple tests conducted during training camp. All others came back clean. The positive A sample result was unexpected and deeply concerning to us. Now, there's a bunch of stuff here, but we want to bring up this. We also want, this is from them, we also want to clarify because a lot of people are saying, hey, what's going on with Eddie Reynoso? They write, we want to clarify that Eddie Reynoso serves only as Jaime's trainer. He is not involved with Jaime's nutrition, supplementation, or medical oversight. Likewise, no one on Canelo Alvarez's team has any role in overseeing Jaime's

regimen or is in any way responsible for this situation. Any implication that Reynoso or anyone associated with Canelo's team bears responsibility is entirely unfounded and unfair. The only person responsible for receiving Jaime's supplements and vitamins is Marco Antonio Perez Espinoza who has worked with Jaime since nearly the beginning of his professional career. This is the first time Marco has ever been connected to a situation of this nature and is fully cooperating in the current review process. So that's just some highlights from the statement released. But the first thing everyone brought up, Adé was Canelo, Reynoso, not a great look. They're trying to distance themselves from it.

And often when these positive tests come about and there's the A sample and then they test the B sample, the B sample usually more often than not says the same thing. Let's see how it plays out, but not great news for Jaime Mongea who had a nightmarish end to 2024. Yeah, and it doesn't help that the person that he failed a drugs test against is the person that knocked him out a few months prior. And all that nonsense about he's passed a hundred tests before means absolutely nothing.

I mean, it could be a thousand tests before. This is the one you failed, dude. This is the one where you failed and they caught you. And look, I don't want to play soft in this one. I think we need to get very tough on this. I think this is the most dangerous sport in the world. I follow loads of sports just like you, Ariel. I think this is the most dangerous.

And I think it needs to come to a situation where they have to crack a nut with an axe. Like the punishment almost has to be over the top now to stop people from doing this. The worst thing about this, when the Ring magazine reported this, I had a look at the comment section and everyone was like, we're not surprised, we're not surprised, we're not surprised. No one is surprised now when people fell drug testing or sport or boxing. And that in itself is a problem. It's a massive problem. And boxing needs to really do something about it.

Giving people a year ban like they did Ryan Garcia means absolutely nothing. Cause these fighters fight once a year, max twice a year. They need to really make a statement, whether it's a five year ban, lifetime ban, withholding their purses until after the drug test have come out.

And if you fail your drug test, you don't get your purse. Something needs to happen. I mean, I follow athletics. I'm a massive athletics fan. And I remember when Justin Gatlin was at the peak of his powers, like world champion, world record holder. This is just before the Usain Bolt era. He got an eight year ban by the IAAF. Eight years for running in a straight line for nine and a half seconds. It took him after a pills, took him five years to come back. Five years. He isn't hurting anyone. There's no brain damage. He's not taking, he's not risking his life in the ring. And yet boxing seems to slap people in the wrist with 12

month bans for cheating. I have no sympathy for Jaime Munguia. I have no sympathy for the person that wrote that statement. Well, let's see what the B sample says. Let's see what the B sample says. The B sample is going to be the same as the A sample. Well, let's see. 99.9% of the time it's the same. Exogenous testosterone metabolites in the A sample.

And yes, you are right. 99% of the time, the B sample says the exact same thing. By the way this is what Mongia said when the news came out throughout my boxing career. I've undergone numerous anti-doping tests and I've never tested positive. Again that's no indication that you didn't do something now. I was tested twice during this training camp and both results came back negative which is why receiving this notification of an adverse finding has been a complete surprise to me. Several experts have explained that there are multiple ways contamination can occur and I'm fully willing to undergo any retroactive current or future testing to demonstrate

that I've always been a clean athlete. I will not make any further comments." And then says he's going to test the B sample. And you're right, you get knocked out, shocking knockout in December, you have to fight the same guy. It is not the craziest thought to think, okay, I need to do something in order to beat this guy and in order to get back on track, your confidence is low. Um, it all kind of makes sense if you look at it. But let's see, let's not, you know, let's, you know, wait until...

No, no, no, no, what I want to see... Because, no, no, no, no, no, no. What I want to see, like, say the B sample, no, no. What I want to see, like say the B sample does come back, right? And I don't know why it takes so long for the, like literally the B sample should be here now. But if the B sample comes back as positive, it's what I want to see from then. Like what happens then? Like I don't even know who was sanctioned in these fights in Saudi Arabia. Cause a lot of the ones that which have involved British fighters have been sanctioned by the British boxing board of control. So I don't

know who actually is overseeing this. But something serious needs to happen here, Ariel. I mean, because again, these fighters, the risk reward for taking PEDs is just non-existent. The risk is, okay, I'll get a 12-month ban. I keep my purse. Who cares? I fight once a year anyway. The reward is massive. The reward is, well, I could win. I look really good. And then I get a here anyway. The reward is massive. The reward is why I could win. I look really good and then I get a mega fight. There needs to be some sort of deterrent and there is no deterrent in boxing. There is literally no deterrent. I mean, I can list names and I'm not going to because I don't want to get messages from managers. I can

list boxes that have failed tests in the last three years that are fighting and making millions right now. So what's the deterrent? It means there isn't none. And it's far too dangerous a sport for there to be no deterrent. That's, I'll end on that. That's my piece. Oh, I mean, people have died.

I mean, that's all you really need to know. So yes, it should be as strict as possible. I mean, in baseball, we have seen some, you know, here in America, we've seen some pretty strict suspensions and they're hitting you know they're hitting a ball with a bat. Now that could hurt someone if it you know strikes a player in the head or something like that but here getting punched in the head. No I agree 1000% but let's see how the whole situation plays out. Not a great look for him, not a great time for him and yeah

just a really really bad stress for Jaime Mangia. So as far as this weekend is concerned, you're going to be out there. I'm jealous. I love those stadium shows. I think it's going to be a great scene. I think it's going to be fantastic and, uh, it's going to be a lively crowd.

This is great stuff. This is really great stuff. It's a, it's another Queensberry versus, uh, matchroom matchup right here on Dazon. And then we also get Jayapataya. Ooh. So like I said, a massive weekend, matchup right here on Dazon. And then we also get Jaya Pattaya. Ooh. So like I said, a massive weekend, a massive weekend for Australian boxing. And outside of the Dazon circle, my guy, top 10 popcorn list, Kishon

Davis, the superstar himself. I'm getting so much stick. Why? I'm getting so much stick. Why? I'm getting so much stick. Because of that one. I'm putting them on my list. Yeah, the zone put out my list,

like, you know, this time last week. What did they do? They put it out again. And I'm like, what's up? Yeah, why'd they do that? Why'd they do that? I don't know. I'm like, what, you guys, you wanna give me that much heat?

I took it as- Why haven't you put Ariel's list? No, no, I took it as they liked your list more than mine, if I'm being honest. That's how I took it. No, man, I'm getting a lot of heat. Where's Keyshawn? And you know, there's nothing about boxing.

I was like, you know what? I forgot about Keyshawn. I take it back. I love Keyshawn Davis. Well, he's getting another massive homecoming over in Norfolk, Virginia, and a great scene where some legends were greeting him. Look at this, Michael Vick greeting him with

all the players in attendance. Love this for Kishan. Look at that. Look at Kishan getting the love. North Pole State. He is a star and he's a great guy with a great backstory as well. Speaking to the squad over there. Look at that. Look at that. I love this because the journey to get to this takes years. I mean, so many fighters don't get to this and for him to get to this stage now where he's a world champion, he's recognized by the great Ariel Hauwani, he's one of the most exciting fighters on planet Earth. I think he's got the frame.

I know I just said that about Hitchens, but he's similar. He's kind of got that frame where you feel like, okay, you can add a bit of slab and meat here and there and go up to 147. I mean, it's superfights all the way for him. I think he gets past Edwin De Los Santos, who's no gimme. It gets past him. He's not going to fight anyone else in the division. The champions are Loma, Shakur, and Gervonta.

I say, you know, effort 147. Okay. Well, let's see what happens. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Apologies. Effort 140. My apologies. 140. Let's see what happens. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Apologies. Evett 140. My apologies. 140. Let's see what happens. By the way, also at that homecoming, the great Alan Iverson, who's maybe the greatest product of North Fork Virginia, showing him love. Look at AI showing the big man love.

Wow! What is going on? Yes. Look at AI showing up. The original AI. This is incredible. Yes. This is incredible. Have you not seen this clip? No. Yeah, this is great. Love this.

This is how you give... That is a proper legend. Dude, this is how you start to give your guys sort of the push they need. I mean, you don't get bigger push than Alan Iverson. He would have grown up. In fact, Gishan would have been too young, but he would have heard stories about AI.

He would have heard stories about AI. Look at that. Look at that. Oh, I'm jealous. He would have heard stories about AI. Look at that. Look at that. Oh no, I'm jealous. I wish I could get out there. Wish I could put my Spartan uniform and get out there. Yeah. Super stud. I was today years old when I found out

that Michael Vick was the head coach over at Norfolk Steak. I did not know that, truth be told, but loved to see it and loved to see all the love that Keyshawn is getting. He is a great, great fighter, a great young man who has overcome a lot and is a real inspiration. He talks openly about his struggles with mental health

and somewhat fitting that this is, June is Men's Mental Health Awareness Month, so shout out to the great Kishan Davis, looking forward to seeing him back in action. So it's a great weekend of fighting, and you know, this past weekend, I had a, it was a PBC heavy heavy card and we deal with rights issues over here and so I was thinking, I was thinking, okay what are we going to do for our parting shot? Where are we going to go with

that? You know, do you have any guesses? I like to try to keep you on your toes here. I mean there was a card in Mexico, Kaleo Co got a good win in Yeah, nice win. In Mexico. Yeah. That was a good win. Not bad, not bad. But knowing you, it's going to be BKFC. BKFC, final answer? Knowing you, yeah, yeah, BKFC final answer. Hmm. Yeah, how did you, I'll just say.

It's a good one and I was leaning in that direction because I like to try to stump you but it didn't feel right. It felt, honestly it felt a little too obvious so then I was thinking, I was thinking and I was like, you know what? I felt, I felt, I predicted, I had a premonition that at some point in today's program, you were going to reference the greatest of all time. Actually, if I'm being honest, I referenced him because you said Tyson is the most famous. Ah, Muhammad Ali,. Muhammad Ali nine years. It was nine years ago today.

The great Muhammad Ali. Emotional. And so I look, I look back at the archives and June of 1963, he fought Henry Cooper. And do you remember at Wembley Stadium, he was dropped in the fourth round. Ali was dropped to the left hook. But what did he do? He came back and he freaking beat up Henry Cooper in the fifth. His eye cut, bloodied.

And there it was, June 8th, 1963. Parting shot, Muhammad Ali traveling to Wembley Stadium to beat Henry Cooper via fifth round TKO. Shout out to the greatest of all time. This might be your best parting shot of all time. Thank you. This might be your best of all time. Honestly, that's a great part.

I do think there was a bit of like, I don't know, a bit of Skullduggery in round four, the end of round four, but it doesn't matter. What do you mean by that? What do you mean? You think the fight? I mean, there was a lot of like, Muhammad Ali got a bit more than your usual minute to recover in the round, but it's Muhammad Ali. He's a freaking man.

He was 18 and 0 going into that fight. They did run it back and he did beat him a few fights later. So I think that he proved his point. But man, could you imagine back in the day, 63 going to Wembley Stadium to watch Ali fight there? Dude, dude, dude, honestly. I mean, the numbers they got as well. And Henry Cooper was very, very popular as well.

So a young Muhammad Ali going over there and the way in which he talks so brash, I mean, he must have got hated. Like kill him, kill him, destroy him. But then all of a sudden Muhammad Ali's one of those people that just turns you around. You literally, you know, he walks into the ring and you hate him.

And in the end you clap him as he leaves because you just realize you've watched something special. And we don't have many like Muhammad Ali. I mean, there's only one Muhammad Ali, but we don't have any, I think, polarizing characters. I think Usyk's kind of, you know, what Usyk's going through with the Ukraine and Russia war, he's quite similar, but Muhammad Ali was a one-off man,

a very, very special, look, there you go. There, can you see that there? Yeah, the one and only. What I loved about him so much among the many, many things is that he traveled. He didn't mind going to enemy territory. The rematch, by the way, was at Arsenal Stadium. He fought George Chivalo at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. He traveled everywhere.

I mean, all through the United States. He was at every major venue, of course, Madison Square Garden many times as well. But the Astro. Abroad? Abroad, yeah. I mean, look at the poster you've got behind you, Madison Square Garden many times as well, but the Astro- Abroad? Abroad, yeah. Look at the poster you've got behind you. The poster you've got behind you, running the jungle. I mean, the Philippines, Philly, Manila.

Yep, yep. I mean, he was a worldwide fighter. That's why I asked these young fighters, are you going to travel? And a lot of them like, I ain't leaving America. I'm like, what? What do you mean you're not leaving America? Do you want to be an American star or a global superstar? I feel like I always come on this show and dick at Americans. I feel bad about it. No, no, no, it's all good.

But I did want to ask you, because I remember exactly where I was when I found out that he passed. I was at Dodger Stadium. I was in LA covering UFC 199 and it was late. It was around, if my memory serves me correct, it was around like 9 p.m. Pacific time, which would be 12 a.m., which would be 5 a.m. in the UK. Did you wake up to the

news? Do you remember where you were? Yeah, I remember I was in my old council flat in Stratford, East London, and I woke up to the news. And it's weird, someone having such a profound impact on you that you never met, you don't know, and that you only just watch old tapes of. But I think I definitely obviously shed a tear. Such an impact on me, Muhammad Ali. Like I probably watch more Muhammad Ali interviews, I mean like chat show interviews, than I do his fights.

I think he was one of the best speakers of all time. His story, I think is was one of the best speakers of all time. His story, I think, is just incredible. Honestly, I think it's just an incredible story. And it's one whereby you ask any young fighter today, fighters even coming through, 15, 16, who's the greatest fighter of all time? They all say in unison, Ali. It's like it's almost by default, that's the answer.

And it isn't just because of what you've done in the ring It's almost been parried and matched up because of what you done outside the ring as well An incredible guy really truly. Yeah. So again wanted to recognize that nine years ago today June 3rd 2016 we lost the greatest of all time the one and only Muhammad Ali All right a great day a great show great stuff. Appreciate two guests stopping by from different corners of the globe. Enjoy Portman Road. Are you gonna wear an Ipswich kit? Are you gonna are you gonna pander to the crowd? What are you gonna do? No. No, I'm not doing that. I'm a Liverpool fan. Yeah, exactly. I'm a Liverpool fan. We know we're hardcore around here. We don't do that.

You don't switch? I got a nice little suit jacket. No, I hope it doesn't rain. That's the thing. All these outdoor events, please don't rain. What's it saying? What's the forecast? Dude, maybe light showers. I'm hearing light showers. Ah, golly. That happened last year, right?

When they went to Crystal Palace. It did, it did. That was not a good event. No, that was not good. That was not good. Although the walkout, the Ben Whitaker walkout was good with the over, with the Drake over. Yeah, good luck.

Yeah, and then his performance wasn't good luck out there we shall be watching great weekend of boxing coming up right here on the zone enjoy it all hope you enjoyed this program thank you very much to Justice Hooney thank you to Richardson Hitchens thanks to all of you thanks to all of them thank you to Ade of course we appreciate your support so very much and please continue support what we're doing over here, all right? We're doing big things and we love you guys very much.

All right, enjoy the fights. We'll talk to you next week.