The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel x Ade, episode 30: Eddie Hearn talks Canelo-Crawford, Dana White, Anthony Joshua's next move, Fabio Wardley's win, more

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo open the show by discussing the latest updates about the Canelo-Crawford superfight (03:31).Eddie Hearn joins the conversation to share his insight on the fight and Dana White’s involvement, the latest on Anthony Joshua, Dave Allen’s rise, Richardson Hitchins vs. George Kambosos Jr., and ends with his reaction to Fabio Wardley’s devastating knockout of Justis Huni, Jai Opetaia’s victory, and other fight news (11:29).The duo give their opinion on the announcement of Moses Itauma vs. Dillian Whyte in Riyadh (41:30), break down Wardley’s dramatic comeback KO (43:46), and react to the Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos cancellation and chaotic aftermath (48:55).Next, they talk about Vasiliy Lomachenko’s retirement announcement (1:01:12), with Ade providing his favorite moments from the Ukrainian’s illustrious career, and then close with this week’s Parting Shot (1:09:07).

Hello and welcome to a brand new edition of Ariel and Ade right here on the undisputed global home of boxing DAZN. That is DAZN, I'm Ariel Hawani right here in our New York City studio at our uncrowned headquarters and of course I don't just fly solo on this program. I am joined as always by the face of all things to zone boxing, the one and only Ade Oladipo, who I am surprised is not stateside, either for the highly anticipated George Cambosis

versus Richardson Hitchens fight going down right here in New York City, or perhaps more importantly, the kickoff of the Club World Cup, which goes down this weekend. Why aren't you here? I thought you were coming over. Yeah. What's happening? I am.

I am. I am. I'm on the first plane to Miami in the morning. Oh, Miami. Are you? Okay. Yes, Miami. I am. It's me for living. I'm going to Miami.

Yes. So you kind of incorrectly got my title wrong. You said all things the face of boxing. Oh you're right, you're right. My bad. Tune to be. My bad. All things the face of everything.

I love it. Because I'm doing the football. Now is the HQ for this in Miami? No it goes all over. So the first game is in Miami? No, it goes all over. So the first game is in Miami. We go to Charlotte, we go to Atlanta, we go to New York. I mean, they want to give sort of a taste of football to everyone. So we go all over.

And you're traveling. I don't. So I do the first game in Miami, then we come back to a studio in London, and then I come back out there for the quarterfinals, semi-finals, finals. Well, perhaps you could stop by when you're in town. It would be nice to see your face. It would be nice to see you too, Ariel. And I shall definitely stop by. I'm looking forward to it. I think that Corinthians is going to win it all. I'm really backing them. I'm really backing them. What?

What? What? I don't know. I don't know where you got the odds from or where you just feel like you're trying to be a bit hipster with your knowledge. Yeah. But they ain't winning it. You don't like it?

They ain't winning it. They ain't winning it. They ain't winning it. I mean, you've got Real Madrid coming over. Sure. You've got the European champions, Paris Saint-Germain coming over. You've got Man City. Yeah.

Come on, come on. And all the top stars are playing. All the big boys are playing. Wow. All the big boys are playing. I have a feeling that they might just use the full squad. So a few of the big boys might get rested, but when it comes to the knockout stages, expect to see Mbappe, Jude Bellingham,

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harland, Messi, everyone. It's gonna be good. I think this will be cool. Yes, the zone, the home of the Club World Cup. One of the many exciting things happening right here on the undisputed global home of all things sports. Big weekend coming up, very busy weekend has come and gone. Gosh, I can't wait to get into Fabio Wardley

versus Justice Hooney. Right now, probably the leader for the comeback of the year, I would say. I mean, Fabio was losing nine and a half rounds and then there comes the tenth and he shocks everyone, including Justice, and knocks him out. Wins via TKO at Portman Road. What a scene that was. We have to talk about the mayor of a weekend that the Davis brothers had over in Virginia. Just an absolute nightmare for these young men. We'll get into that, we'll get into Nakatani.

Much to get into, but let's start with some breaking news, Mr. Adi Oledipo. This morning, right here in the United States, we woke up to the news that, yes, finally, Canelo Crawford is official, not for the 12th of September, but for the 13th of September. It is happening in Las Vegas, a venue yet to be officially announced.

The reason for that is it was originally supposed to be 12th of September at Allegiant Stadium. They moved it to the 13th, I heard, because Canelo wanted to fight on that Saturday night, because that Saturday night is typically when he fights, when it's Mexican Independence Day weekend. And there's a UNLV football game going down at Allegiant Stadium.

So they're figuring out how they can move that if they can move that. And so for now, location TBD, but city, Las Vegas, and promoter, Zufa Boxing? Is it in fact Zufa Boxing? Because if you go to UFC.com, Ade, you will see the splash page says Zufa boxing? Cause if you go to UFC.com, Adé, you will see the splash page says Zufa boxing. And I don't think a lot of people picked up on this, but if you'll recall way back when,

when Mayweather McGregor was a thing, Dana White rocking the Zufa boxing shirt, that never really amounted to anything. In fact, Zufa doesn't even exist anymore. Zufa is not a thing. Once they sold the company to Endeavor, Zufa went away. It went with the Fertitta brothers. So is this potentially what they're going to call this new promotion? We shall see. No one has asked that question. The brass hasn't really discussed it just yet, but we do know the date. We do know the city. We don't know the location and we know it's

airing on Netflix. Your reaction to this news, of course, for the undisputed Super Middleweight belts and the ring Super Middleweight title. Sorry, sorry, very quickly. Just confirm something with me from your opening piece there. Are you trying to say that they are at the moment thinking about moving a football game away from the stadium to have the boxing event there? Well, it's a UNLV game. You know, it's a big...

What's that? What does that mean for us Brits? So UNLV is the university in Nevada Las Vegas. It's it's a NCAA team not the biggest of College football teams but they have the date they're they're they're playing there now, you know, I would suspect There's nothing money can't buy and so we'll see how it all plans But like they want it at they they want it at Allegiant Stadium. Now could this be at T-Mobile? 1000%, but I think they want the spectacle, they want the scene.

And worth noting, you know, there were a lot of stops and starts. Obviously we knew that these two were gonna fight in September, we saw the face off, you were there in Riyadh, Skull and Canelo. But then there was the talk of like, hey, is it just going to be a Riyadh season or Sela event? And hey, is it gonna be on Pay-per-view and not on a streaming platform?

And Dana White, you know, addressed some of this, this weekend saying, no, we're all good. And once the UFC changed their Noche UFC card, which was scheduled for September 13th from a pay-per-view to a fight night and moved it from Mexico to San Antonio, it seemed like whatever was the issue going on there, like two, three weeks ago, the path was cleared for this announcement which we got today. Yeah, bridges have been mended and have been fixed over the last few weeks because there certainly were issues that I guess won't come to the light, but there certainly were issues

a couple of weeks ago. At least it felt like that was the case anyway. Look, I'm excited. It's a huge fight. I think it's, and I think Turkey said it's the fight of the century, the fight of the decade. It's definitely in that conversation and I can't wait for it to happen. I hope it happens in a stadium. I mean, I've, and me and you've worked together on big stadium fights over here and nothing beats a massive stadium fight. I love arenas, right? Arenas sell out, the noise stays within an arena.

But if you can get 90,000 or whatever the Allegiant Stadium holds, if you can get 60, 70,000 in there of ferocious Mexican fans and boxing fans all together, all sort of picking who they want to win, I think it sounds fantastic. Obviously, a couple of things that came out of this announcement Netflix. Yeah was a big one Obviously look Crawford's last fight was under zone Canelo's last fight was under zone the zone must have made a play for it Obviously they assumed that Netflix would Netflix would get it, but they must have made a play for it So the zone aren't gonna be too happy about it being on Netflix Maybe there is this okay. Look what Jake Paul Mike Tyson did in terms of numbers. That's Mike Tyson

I still think it would do great numbers Maybe there is just, okay, look what Jake Paul and Mike Tyson did in terms of numbers. That's Mike Tyson. I still think it will do great numbers, but if you're trying to compare it to that, then I don't think for me that's apple and oranges. But look, I'm excited for it. I think it's an incredible matchup. I think it almost determines some will say the fighter of this generation, although there is a guy out there called Oleksandr Usyk, but it's an incredible fight between two incredible boxers. And I think this is going to do fantastic numbers. So yeah, as a boxing fan over the

moon that it looks like this has now finally been confirmed because I think there were Rocky Walters a few weeks ago. Well, I will say that when, you know, we've been hearing about this fight sort of being in the works for almost about a year now. I feel like once Crawford beat Madriamov, it sort of opened the door for this being a possibility. When it was first being talked about, I'll be honest with you, I was like, man, I don't know. Crawford historically, no, no, no, meaning his chances.

And my point is, I've turned the corner. Like I'm actually backing Crawford in this one. I think to me, Crawford is the favorite. I don't know what the odds are, and I doubt he is the favorite considering it's 168 versus a 154 pounder, historically a 147 pounder. But considering how Canelo has looked as of late, and maybe this is the test,

maybe this is the thing that he has been missing to like give him a little bit of an oomph, I think Crawford could beat him. I think Crawford could beat him. Yes, so do I. Yeah, and I don't say this like I think Crawford can beat him. I think Crawford could beat him. Yes, I do. Yeah. And I don't say this like, I think Crawford can beat him. I think Crawford will beat him.

Like, I don't expect to wake up September 14th and be surprised if Crawford is the new undisputed super middleweight champion. Crawford's never been beaten. Unbeaten fighters have this thing where they don't think they can lose. Crawford's never really come close to losing. I mean, the one time he come close to losing was against Sean Porter. And like, he found out he was down.

He's like, what, I'm down? And then he seemed to go through the gears very quickly. He's fresh, he's a young, what is he, 37, 38? He's a young 37, 38. There's hardly any damage. There's no wear and tear. There's no big injuries that I can think of when it comes to Terrence Crawford.

And if you're going off his last performance against Madrimov, yeah, it wasn't the greatest, but almost a bit like what you said about Canelo. I think he'll turn up when the real threat's in front of him. Was Canelo as good as he is, I mean, you're talking an all time great, right? Still, as you say, the undisputed champion, I can see slippage. I can see quite a bit of slippage. So I feel like Crawford's getting Canelo at the perfect time. If this fight happens, as you say, a year ago,

I'm like, oh, I'm with you. No chance Crawford. Now, I feel like Canelo slipped enough to the point where I think this is a very competitive fight that I think Terrence Crawford will win. How do you feel about Dana White being involved? Do you think this will work? I'm not a fan. Why? I'm not a fan.

Why? I'm not a fan. Well, I know Dana White is a boxing guy. He likes what we say he's a boxing guy, but ultimately he's a UFC guy, MMA guy. Does that matter? Who cares if he's a UFC guy, not a UFC guy? I think I want the best promoter for the job. And I think the best boxing promoter right now, and I don't say this because I know some

people are going to say, ah, you work for Mattrum and that's the way. I think the best promoter is Eddie Hearn. I think Eddie Hearn is the best boxing promoter. And I think Turkey's wanting best in class for this event. He's going to probably have the best in class presenter, the best in class ring announcer, get the best in class promoter. And I think the best in class promoter is Eddie. I think we've seen that over the last five years. I mean, there was a time where you could have said Bob, there's a time where

you maybe, you know, 20 years ago, Don Kings, but right now, I think Eddie's proved that he's number one. So I think you get the number one boxing promoter who by the way, has promoted both of these guys fights. He's done about seven or eight Canelo fights. I think he's done a couple of Corford fights. So he knows them both well, he's promoted them both well, get Eddie to do it. All right, well, what a perfect segue that is because what did you know it,

the aforementioned Eddie Hearn is joining us right here now. So let's ask him. Eddie, I think you were listening to some of that probably with a bit of a smile on your face. I know, I was like, blimey, you know, I was thinking, go on, Addy. Should you be the promoter of this? Would you have liked to have been the promoter of this fight? Oh yeah, of course.

I mean, who wouldn't? I mean, you know, it's a fantastic fight. But I don't think, but the reality is, is the promoter of this fire is Turk Yalashayk. You know, it doesn't matter when, you know, whenever there's a Riyadh season event or a Ring magazine event, all the decisions are made from his Excellency. I've been involved, you know, and you actually don't really get much of an opportunity to make any decisions because he makes them all for you. Everything down to the design of the promo, to the on-sale ticket dates, to the venue deal. They're financially bankrolling the event, so they're going to be making all

the decisions. I think it's a good look to have Dana doing it. you're a guest promoter and that's really what a lot of us are when we do re-ed season or ring magazine events. So should I be doing it? No, not really. I mean, look, I think Dana's got a much bigger profile than me in America, so I get the move. I wouldn't be able to do it anyway because I'm exclusive to Net to design And obviously the fights on Netflix But now I think it's a pretty pretty cool movie I think it's good for boxing, you know, I think

As I said to you before Dana's making a move into boxing for a reason right, and it's a dangerous move for his business and for the UFC business because really could be taking a lot of the focus off. I mean, if you're really promoting this fight, it's a 24-7 job for three months. That's how I would be promoting this fight, you know, different cities every day. So it's difficult to be across the UFC business as well. But he's here for a reason. Boxing's red hot. I've said to you before boxing, I think, what did I say, MMA was like a poor relative of boxing at the moment. That might have been a little bit harsh watching it back. No, it was good stuff.

But we have to admit boxing's red hot at the moment. And this is a big fight, big fight. One of the biggest, certainly in America for some time. I know you're probably privy to a lot more than us here sitting at this desk, but what did you make of all the talk over the past month or so, Eddie? Because it did seem like there was an announcement that was coming, then it didn't come, and then the tweet about Cele promoting and not not the UFC and then the UFC changed their show from

a pay-per-view to a fight night like something seemed different from the original announcement can you tell us what you were hearing about the state of this relationship because as you know the talk was like oh this thing isn't going to get off the ground yeah I, I think, I don't know really what happened, but one thing I'll tell you is, his excellency will do what he wants to do with the vision that he has without really taking much notice of the advice

or the other people that are working on the shows. I've been around him for two years, so he's going to be calling the shots and you either fall in line or you don't. And if you don't fall in line, you don't do the job and you don't work for him. I've said before that I don't agree with everything that his excellency does, but he's got incredible vision, a huge bankroll and a big appetite for the sport. We don't agree on everything and sometimes we don't do a fight, but a lot of the times we do. I guess this was just maybe one party wanted to do it one way and one party wanted to do

it another way and in time they fell in line Eddie you said Boxing's growth in the last few years has been good. Obviously Dana White now is part of that Netflix is now part of that obviously boxing's changed a lot in the last decade or so the zone coming on board What do you make of Netflix now clearly showing that they are involved in the sport of boxing? Again, Adi, just a great example of how powerful the sport is right now. You've got Dana White trying to get into the sport, TKO trying to get into the sport, Netflix trying to get into the space as well. And it can only be fantastic for all of us. I mean, you know, we've seen the growth in interest,

digital numbers, viewership, tickets, since the explosion of Riyadh season and this big investment of the best fights getting made. I mean, you were there Saturday, Adi, you know, there was like 18,000 at Ipswich on a random Saturday night for Fabio Wardley against Justice Hoonig. And the big fights just keep on coming and I think boxing's in a tremendous place.

And the more broadcasters, the better, but particularly a platform like Netflix as well. I think Netflix are going to be looking to do anywhere between two and four shows a year, probably. They're going to make a big fuss. You've got Taylor Serrano coming up. You've got Canelo Crawford coming up. But I don't think they're going to be... We can't just rely on that kind of volume of shows. We need the pure boxing fans platform like a design that's going

to consistently feed the audience with quality programming. But every now and again, if the reach of boxing can explode to that kind of level of numbers, that's going to help the whole ecosystem of boxing. It's going to get people more interested in the sport. That could be from a grassroots participation, that could be going to your local show, or that could be going to a big show at the O2 Arena, the Manchester Arena, whatever. So it's brilliant, brilliant for the sport. Based off that, could they contractually make a play for AJ Fury? Are there too many hoops for them to go through?

Or could they, because they're only gonna want the biggest and best fights. And I think AJ Fury is the biggest thing ever. AJ is exclusive. AJ is exclusive to design. So, you know, one thing that design has shown in the past is the, I'll say the ability, but really it's more of a moral, common sense position of not denying

fighters opportunities. It doesn't really apply to AJ because he's very happy on the zone and he did a great run of fights on the zone. But Kati Taylor is a very good example. Katie Taylor has boxed pretty much her whole career in terms of her major fights on The Zone. And we did Taylor Serrano 1 on The Zone. MVP came along, gave us a fantastic offer to fight Taylor Serrano 2 on Netflix. I went to Ed McCarthy at The Zone and I said, look, you know, I know that Katie Taylor is a disowned fighter, but Ed, in my opinion, this is a fantastic offer.

And I don't think we should be denying a fighter an opportunity like this. And he said, okay, if that's what you think, we support Katie Taylor. That's very unusual for a broadcaster to do so. And again, the third fight comes around, they're paying her more than double what she got last time and she's on there again. So of course, the plan for Dazon is to keep all the big fights on their platform and that includes Anthony Joshua. Anthony Joshua will return. I had a lengthy conversation with his team today. He's now back in the groove of starting to think about locking in a date in 2025. So October, November, December, that will be AJ's next fight.

And we look forward to a big end to the year. And look, we don't even know if the Fury fight is going to materialize. What we do know is that's the biggest fight in boxing forget Canelo Crawford AJ fury is the biggest fight in boxing unquestionably and he's in a good place had the surgery and motivated to return to camp wanted to ask you one of the question about Canelo Crawford but since you've dropped this interesting nugget on us could I ask ask, is there a front runner? I know you said recently you were thinking of Dillion White, he's now booked against

Moses Itama. Is there a front runner? Yeah, Dillion White was probably the front runner, to be honest with you. Now it looks like he's going to fight Moses, so that was a curveball. Jared Anderson's been mentioned, obviously Deontay Wilder is back soon. I think AJ would have been out of the ring just over a year by the time he steps back into the ring. He will be coming off surgery. I don't think it's going to be, I don't think Fury is going to be ready to fight around that time anyway.

But I expect it to be someone that will gear him up for a really big fight in 2026. And probably 2026 will be his last year in the sport. I mean, you never know. Wow. But yeah, but I think, you know, you're thinking about it, Eric, it's probably three fights away. Now I think, you know, for me, if I'm advising AJ, I like, you know, we're back this year, we have two Tyson Fury fights, what else is there to do? You know, maybe fight a Daniel Dubois, but you know, I think that for me, once AJ fights Tyson Fury, he's kind of done it all. You know, I'd love him

to have another crack at Dubois and I'd love him to have another crack at Usyk, but you just go on and on and on. Now, if we get to next year and he's still firing on all cylinders, then 2026 won't be his last year. But for me, something feels right about coming back this year, beating Tyson Fury twice, and then sailing off into the sunset, you know? But who knows?

It would appear as though the next best thing, if Wilder wins on June 27th, would be that one. It's not quite the super fight, but it has been one that we've been talking about for so long. Don't tell Dave Allen this. I know he's been campaigning for it as well, but AJ versus Wilder is a big one.

Yeah, AJ Wilder is a massive fight as well. And I think because of the loss to Dubois, it makes the fight more palatable, especially if Wilder can come back with a good win. while it makes the fight more palatable, especially if Wilder can come back with a good win. Dave Allen. Yeah, Dave Allen. Dave Allen's fun. Love this guy. Dave Allen's. Honestly, he's becoming a real fan favorite. I mean, I said the other day, like, we're going to probably headline him in September, October in Sheffield. I think he'll sell the whole

thing out. Honestly, there's like a massive love for this guy. And he's always been very good, but the lack of discipline and everything like motivation and focus, and now he's kind of got it all going. And he's been through those guys, you know, like Lewis Ortiz, Dillian White, David Price, like he's fought a lot of these top guys and now he's kind of learned how to, sorry, learned how to deal with with heavyweights and he's actually a threat, Dave Hatton. You know, he's got a tremendous chin and he punches very hard and if you do that in the division you're always going to be a threat. So yeah, who knows? We could see the white rhino against Deontay Wilder, but he's definitely in the hat for AJ as well. I do want to ask about the fight this weekend. I'm fascinated by George Gambosos. I mean,

this guy's story is incredible. The record books say that he can on his debut a lot of good people. But final one, I want to quickly circle back, final one on Kenello Crawford. Do you see that as competitive? I mean, when it was first announced, who was you picking as favorite? Who have you got now? Yeah. I mean, don't sit on the fence. Let's hear the pick. You're not tied to any of them. You know, I'm very close to Kenello. Like, you know, I actually, he messaged me the other day because he didn't like something that I said and I was talking to him about it. I don't want to upset anyone and that's never really been my style. What I said was when I was watching the William Skull fire live in the arena, I was thinking to myself, I actually

wouldn't be that surprised if Canelo didn't fight again. I didn't think he looked motivated. And he didn't have an argument, but he just said, I thought, you know, I said, no, I was just being honest. I don't, you didn't look motivated to me. Now that's probably because it was William Skoll and he was running around the ring, you know, doing anything he could not to engage in a fight. That night made me really think about who is gonna win this fight. Because you know the thing is with Crawford, right?

When you spend time around him, he's so confident, so confident. He has no doubt in his mind that he's going to win this fight. Anyone that has movement is going to cause Canelo problems at this stage in his career. First, when the fight was made, I thought that Canelo Alvarez would be a huge favorite in this fight because of the size. Um, but I really see it as a 50-50 fire. Like I honestly, probably favor in Crawford. Wow. Because of, but because of what I saw.

Oh, you're going to get another Canelo text. Yeah, no, but I want Canelo to win. I just want to put that out there as well. Um, but I see it like, I'm talking like 55, 45, but I would always, I would always pick Canelo, but I just been, you know, that, that, uh, leaving Times Square, I got on the plane with Crawford and we flew to, I've spent a lot of time with him over the years and he's a massive believer in himself, massive. And he's got a tremendous boxing IQ and he knows boxing inside out. And he's so convinced he wins this fight. And Canelo's got to switch up everything he's been doing in the last few fights. Like

a William Skull performance will not beat Terence Crawford. I don't think an Edgar Belanger performance will beat Terence Crawford. I don't think a Heinlein Munguia performance or a Charlo performance will beat Terence Crawford. So Crawford, Canelo is going to have to produce a quality performance to beat him. And can he do that at this stage in his career? I do think that this is the kind of fight that's going to motivate Canelo, who's a true great, whose work ethic is second to none, to beat or to put in a great performance, will it be enough? Just got a sneaky feeling for Terrence Crawford. Oh, wow.

Wow. Wow. Terrence becoming a free time undisputed champion. You know, I said to Crawford on the plane, I said, you know, your problem is, you know, we were like, we were half banter and half. I said, you've never really been anyone in them in their real true prime. I said, who is your best win? What would you say is the best win of your career? And he said, Ricky burns.

Wow. Now Ricky burns was my fire. Good shout. It was a great win at the time, you know, but let, you know, with all due respect to Ricky, he's not a Hall of Famer. He's not going to go down as he'll go down as an all-time great of Scottish boxing. But I said, and it's not your fault. I think you're so good and talented, but you've never actually been able to like when you beat Errol Spence, even he kind of acknowledged that it wasn't a primary Errol Spence, Kell Brook,

Amir Khan, Gamboa, all these guys, Sean Porter even, none of those guys were in their true prime when he fought them. There is an argument that Canelo's not in his true prime, but this is for me the fight that does cement Crawford as a generational great. I really, and I think he's so talented. I do. Can he deal with the size? Probably.

Yeah, yeah, Canelo's not a big 168 pounder. All right, let's talk about this weekend, Richardson-Hitchens versus George Kambosos, IBF super lightweight title on the line. What was it like, Ed, sort of promoting these young brash Americans compared to the, the quiet English fighters that you promote? You've got quite a few of them though. You've done quite a few of them.

I really wanted to make this fire because for two reasons. Number one, I think that Hitchens needs this dance partner, right? Like he stylistically and from a profile and a buildup point of view, you know, it enables Hitchens to talk his shit, as they say, and it enables him to fight an aggressive, you know, talented fighter who has significant victories on his resume. Obviously the tier female Lopez winning the same venue. And it gives Richardson a chance to make a statement

in a high profile fight. Flip it the other way, it gives George Cambosa an opportunity to create history and become a two division world champion, probably one of Australia's greatest ever fighters, and to do it in the same arena, against all odds, against an American with a lot to say. And I've got to say, like, do not rule out George Cambosus in this fight. Like he's one determined, like I remember when he fought Tiofimo Lopez, I promoted the

fight, we won the first bid. I gave him absolutely no time. He came in and he gritted his teeth and he dropped Tiofimo in the first round. He got dropped later in the fight. He spooed and he traded and he went through the trenches. Honestly, this guy's made a lot of money over the last few years. This fight, I know,

because he's a challenger in the fight, he's got nothing to do with money. He has got the bit between his teeth to win this fight. And I'll tell you something now, Hitchens has got to be a little bit careful because I see the head-to-head today,, we've got media tomorrow. We've got the press conference on Thursday. He's yapping away. And I love it, by the way. I think it's great. But you just, this is a kind of fight and the kind of stage where you've really got

to control your emotions. And I rate Richardson Hitchens extremely highly. I put him in the same ilk, if you like, as Devin and Tio and Shakur is an extreme talent. But all of those guys, he's from the same mold. But this is it. This is the big time. And Kambosas is going to push the buttons all week. And if you come out wild, do you remember, it's exactly the same against Tio. They were at it all week. And if you come out wild, do you remember it's exactly the same against Tio.

They were at it all week, Tio came out in the first round, stood in the middle of the ring, traded up, bang, got dropped in the first minute of the fight. This can happen. It's gonna be a really, really good fight. And also the co-main event as well, Andy Cruz against Mashiro, you know, that IBF title.

Everything's up for play now. Keyshawn going off the rails, you know, he's gone. So the lightweight division wide open. Eddie, you know, we've known each other now for a few years. Mates, maybe acquaintances, you know, sometimes. Why not? But you saw me taking a selfie in the bathroom here at the studio.

Can I just, can I, mate to me, can I make one request, one favor, if you will? Can we stop fighting Frank Fighters? I mean, could we, just for your own, could we just, could we put a stop to this? I mean, it's hard for me to watch you go through this. Every week, can we stop? What's the-

Honestly, Saturday, I can't even, I've got, I can't say I wasn't gutted, I mean, it's hard for me to watch you go through this every week. Can we stop? What's this? I can't even, I've got, I can't say I wasn't gutted, but I was so like the drama of Saturday was so incredible. It just left me gobsmacked. And just when you, just when you think, just when you think you've seen it all. Yeah. Just when you think you've seen it all, yeah? Like, when I say this fight was one-sided, I mean, I can't even go into the conversations I was having with Frank Warren,

but no one on that row gave Fabio Waldley 1% chance of winning that fight. Not from round 10, from about round six, right? And I'm sitting there smug as you like, you know, I'm joking to Frank Warren. I'm actually saying, I think actually, I mean, I actually did think at one stage he was taking that much of a battering. Ben Davison, they might pull him out. And I was saying to Frank, hey, you want to pull your boy out here? I mean, you know, so one sided. Hey, you want to pull your boy out here? I mean, you know, so one-sided and it was like

Like when you've seen so much and you've had you've been through so much emotions in the sport when something like that happens You're just like this. Oh My god, and I'm just like and as you can imagine 50 people are jumping all over me. pointing at me, screaming at me, have that hern, shut your mouth, hern. And at that point, you've just got to soak it up. And I'm just going, wow, wow. And I like Fabio a lot. We worked with him for a large part of his career. And I just, And I just, you know, just as he had only four weeks notice, I just thought, I can't believe he's at this. I mean, it was so easy. And he just, it just shows you in boxing,

particularly in the heavyweight division, you switch off, you lose focus for one second, and it's all over. But I actually drive home, just going, wow, wow. I remember laying down to go to sleep and my head was on the pillow and all I could just see was that shot again and again and again.

And you know, but I've got to say, it's why I love boxing. Yeah. So yeah, I'm gonna keep going, Ariel, is in answer to your question. Yeah, what's the record by the way, do you know? Yeah. It's probably like, it's something like nine two, or nine three, or something like that.

It's very wide, very wide. But aren't we getting great fights by the way? Aren't we getting great fights? I mean, you know, we got another great one coming up, Anto Kakachi against Ray Ford. Ooh, incredible. And I fancy, I fancy my boy there, but I was on a great run, you know? Yeah.

The August 16th. So we'll keep going. We'll keep going. We're not giving up. Um, but we're very excited. We got over the next one to three years, you're going to see a phenomenal conveyor belt of talent coming out of Matrim. Even on the card this Saturday at Madison Square Garden, Adam Maka, 18-year-old world amateur champion, turns pro, Tara Mawana,

big Australian heavyweight, seven wins, seven knockouts, Nishant Dev who's gonna change the face of boxing in India Zay Quinn Moses Shakur's cousin who's 18 as well. Like we've got some phenomenal talent and We'll get don't worry. We'll get some marathon. Not a sprint. I appreciate that. I appreciate that mentality It wasn't all bad news this weekend following day You did have Jayapataya with the big win once again and it does feel like we are seeing a guy in his prime at the top of his game fighting talent that is maybe not quite on his level. What do we need to do to get that Zerto Ramirez fight?

I know he's fighting June 28th on the same card as Jake versus Julio. That's the one, right? It has to be that one. Yeah, for sure. Badu Jack is the other champion, but I think there's going to be a rematch order by the WBC. But we really need his excellency to pull up for that fight in Riyadh season. And he's given Jaya some tremendous opportunities, but to lead to this. So I think you're going to see Jaya Opetair against Zerdo Ramirez, hopefully October, November time in

Riyadh is a tremendous fight, you know, pound for pound, one of the best fights in the sport. And of course, the best fight in the division. But yeah, they don't talk about the wins. Jaya won, Beatrice Ferreira won, we placed her on MVP show at the weekend, which was great as well. So yeah, we won two, we lost one, but of course the one was pretty painful. But for Jaya, it has to be a unification next. I think this man's gonna do big damage at

heavyweight. I really do. Like I think his timing to come up to the heavyweight division is going to be absolutely perfect and I think he's getting better and better. I really do. Adé? Oh sorry, sorry, sorry. I thought you were going to go. No, no, I thought you were going to go. Very quickly. Sorry, I know we've got a wrap very quickly. Moses Atalma, Dillian White. Again, it's not been confirmed. We briefly spoke about it. I almost thought this is a big term for Dillian White because he's now almost being fed to the sharks. He's never had this kind of process, right? He's normally the guy that's the, the, the, the favorite going into fights. All of a sudden he's now taken on the ups, the upstart in Moses Atelma. Um, a step too far for Moses or a step too late for Dillian? No, perfect matchmaking for Moses. I mean, you know,

Dillian's a tough man. He's been so inactive over the last, what, three years, comes in with no form or no activity, it's obviously a huge financial opportunity for him. And I think, you know, he won't be going into the fight just saying, well, it's my last payday, but it might be, you know, and I think he'll be going into the fight trying to win because he's a good fighter and he's a proud man. But it's just like you couldn't really get a worse style to come in when you've been out for so long. Some really fast young kid who has absolutely no fear. I mean, listen, if Dillian can take him five, six, seven rounds, I think he could be a problem.

But he's just going to get pinged by everything. Early doors. And yeah, it's a hard night's work. I would have liked to have seen Dillian have a little fight, if I'm honest with you, because I think it will be hard to do himself justice coming back after that long against someone like Moses. But listen, one thing's for sure, and I've said this before,

Moses has never fought anyone, anyone really near world-class. But he's a phenomenal fighter. So it's not a case of, oh, he's never fought anyone. No, he's brilliant. But he has never fought anyone remotely world-class. So it is a step up, but I think he's great matchmaking. Looking forward to that. Looking forward to this weekend. By the way, you mentioned Adam Maka. He's gonna come on my show tomorrow. And wouldn't you know it,

your old friend Sam Jones texted me, hey, get me on the show, get me in studio. Oh, you know what? He's such a two-faced. Some can of piss, huh? He's going to me, Eddie, are you in New York? I said no not till the late afternoon. Oh could you come on the aerial show? What? I said he goes can you go on there with Adam Mack? I said I won't be able to go on there till late. He went oh

oh I suppose I'll have to go on. But you haven't be telling yourself out Sam. I know you. He's like what do I gotta do? Who do I have to pay? Now that by the way that's a You won't be telling yourself out Sam, I know you. He's like, what do I gotta do? Who do I have to pay? By the way, that's a great move on his part. That was a very slight move. Sam's a manager, but he's a great promoter as well. He talks the guys up well and Adam Mack is a phenomenal talent. Sam Jones doesn't always get it right. He's got a great eye for talent. We work with a lot of

young fighters that he's got, but Adam Macker is going to be a very interesting, you'll love watching him fight. He is all action. I mean, there's a real drive at the moment, isn't there from from fight fans, particularly to say we want entertainment, we don't want you giving up boring fights anymore. And what trust me with this kid, you haven't got to worry about that. He's a phenomenal talent and just 18 and making his professional debut at Madison Square Garden. Love it. Thank you, Eddie. Always a pleasure.

Appreciate the time on this Tuesday evening. Thanks Ed. Thanks guys, take care. Big show this weekend. Man, much to discuss coming out of that interview. Where to begin? Where to begin? Yeah, dude, wow. Golly, he's backing Crawford over Canelo, over his boy.

At that point, I would just pick, I appreciate the honesty, but you might as well just pick Canelo just for the relationship, right? That's why I love talking to him. Yeah, dude, especially if you're getting 55-45. I mean, it's so close. Just go with the guy that you've promoted seven or eight times, because he's going to get a call or text from Canelo. There's no two ways about it.

But I think he has a soft spot for Crawford. Yeah, they have a nice relationship. They kind of got this weird relationship. Yeah, I think he likes Crawford. What did you make of the Dillian White versus Moses Atama news? I'm excited. I'm excited. This is what we want, right?

We want guys taking the big leap. Moses has that potential. He's looked phenomenal. Were you surprised? Did you think this was a little too soon? No, no, no. I don't think it's a big leap. You don't think it's a big leap. Moses has that potential. He's looked phenomenal. Were you surprised? Did you think this was a little too soon? No, no, no. I don't think it's a big leap. You don't think it's a big leap? I mean, from name value alone, it's a big leap, right? Yeah, from name value, but I'm very much, what have you done for me lately? And look

at the images here. I mean, he destroyed Mike Balogun. He absolutely destroyed Dempsey McKean. And if you're dealing with Wyatt, I mean, you looked really bad against Ebenezer Tete, who I mean, Ebenezer Tete is just nothing, nothing worth talking about. And before that was Christian Heymer. He's not been active. I think he's had like two fights in four years. Obviously we're supposed to fight AJ. That fight didn't happen.

He's now 37. So I think like Eddie, I think it's really good matchmaking. It's a risk. Don't get me wrong, but it's really good matchmaking. It's a risk, don't get me wrong, but it's a risk worth taking. Not many people know who Moses is outside of the boxing bubble. Everyone knows who Dillion White is over here.

So it's almost a bit like that Highlander movie, you chop off the head, you take the power. So I think it's really good matchmaking. I much prefer Atama versus White than White versus AJ. We didn't have time, but what about Wardley, AJ? Could that be a possibility? Yeah, it's risky. Or is that not a smart fight for AJ?

Yeah, it's risky. I mean, Wardley is a puncher. They've been in the same camp. They're both kind of supervised, if you like, by Ben Davison. So they know each other well. So I don't know if there's a friendship that's been built. But I think seeing what we saw on the weekend,

I mean, you could be outboxing Wardley and a bit like the Deontay Wilder thing, Wardley has to be good for one second. And that one second could put your lights out. It's almost the risk reward for AJ isn't there. It's a risky fight, but there's not much reward. It'd be a case of AJ bringing everything to the table and Fabio bringing very little.

And I'm like, if I'm AJ, I'm like, why am I doing that? Okay, so tell me about your perspective on Saturday. You're there, Ipswich, Portman Road, it's the big homecoming, your sister's there, at least I think you got her tickets. Did you get her tickets in the end? I did, I did, I did. I got a four in the end.

Four tickets. Weather not great, but still still seemed like a great scene. Wardley's walkout was phenomenal. Justice ready to go. And you think maybe this is the coronation of Fabio Wardley. This is the big homecoming. And then it's one round down.

Two, three, four, five, six, seven. His body language is awful. His hands are down. He seems tired. He seems deflated. He seems defeated. I mean, Justice is having the fight of his life, he's piecing him up, he's landing big shot

after big shot after big shot, and then the 10th round happens. What's your reaction? Dude, a bit like Eddie, I was stunned and gobsmacked. There was a moment right at the end of the first round where Wardley catches Justice right on the bell and Justice legs buckle which are not a lot of people sort of sore but I've watched it back a few times and I remember watching that thinking okay Wardley's gonna get him but Justice clearly doesn't have the chin Wardley's got far too much power and I'm like okay

he's gonna get him in round two okay no no he'll get him in round three trust me and I'm talking to people next to me I'm like, okay, he's gonna get him in round two. Okay, no, no, he'll get him in round three, trust me. And I'm talking to people next to me. I'm like, I'm telling you, Wardy's gonna get him. It gets to like seven or eight. And I'm like, okay, Wardy's done. Like this could get stopped. I was actually thinking, okay, Wardy's gonna get stopped in his hometown

in this stadium fight. This dream of his for nearly three or four years is turning into a nightmare. And he's talking to himself. He can't quite figure out just as who need. The corner are giving him advice, but then I'm thinking he's only been doing this for 10 years. Like he picked up a pair of boxing gloves

for the first time 10 years ago. No matter what advice you give him, there's no way under this type of intense pressure that he can work things out. It's just impossible. He's fighting someone in justice that's been doing it since he was six. Wardley started when he was 20. I'm like, he's been found out. He's got to a level and congratulations to get to that level. But I was thinking he's

been found out. But you have to remember Wardley's a puncher. He's not a boxer. He's never professed to be a boxer. He's a puncher and a puncher always has an opportunity until the final bell. And that's what Wardley brings to the ring now. And at Deontay Wilder, like danger. So once you've got that puncher's chance, until the 12th bell goes for the end of the fight, he's always in a fight and we saw it. It's heartbreaking for Justice, but in some respects he does arrive with this performance. It's a moral victory if there ever was one

because he looked so good for those nine and a half rounds. But it's almost hard to comprehend. Even us talking about it doesn't give the performance justice. It was nine nothing. It was nine nothing going into the 10th. And I believe all but one judge had it scored as such. It was so one sided and it was kind of shocking to watch develop in front of your

eyes because Wardley, you know, like I said, he, he, he was having this homecoming. It was a big deal for him. And, and justice took this fight on short notice, but I did say beforehand, if you recall, this was a better fight, a more interesting fight than the Jarell Miller fight, and I thought justice was game. And so it was amazing to see it all unfold. And so if you don't like the AJ idea where does Wardley go from here what would you like to see from him? Rematch. Straight up. Run it back. Yo if I'm Wardley I'm getting out of there I'm not I'm not I'm like thanking the the the boxing gods that I got out of there and I'm

moving on. Maybe so but Wardley likeies stock's risen because of that performance. And Wardley's stock hasn't diminished, but I'd say it stayed the same to the point where prior to that fight, I was like, Wardley should really be screaming from the rooftops for the win of Dubois Usyk, right? He's ranked number one with the WBA. Next stop is a world title. But I almost feel like it's kind of pause now. And I think like it's going to pause until you maybe run it back. And then there was the controversy. Was it a fast count? Wasn't it a fast count? I think there's enough in there. Look, it's ultimate about

people watching bums on seats, who's paying the ticket prices. And I think people would pay to see it again, because I don't see a path yet for Wardley. I mean, Bacoli maybe potentially. I was just going to say that. Yeah, I was just going to say that. He's asked for Derek Chisora in that 50th fight. So there are fights out there. Caballel?

Caballel, Caballel's like Hooney, but better, but much better. So I'd be a bit concerned about the Caballel one, but again, Wardley does have the four hammer, but I'd be a bit concerned about the Caballero one, but again, Wardley does have the four hammer, but I'd be concerned. Anyone that can box is obviously going to cause Wardley some problems. And I don't say that to diminish how good Wardley is. I know Wardley, we speak a lot, but again, he picked up the gloves 10 years ago. I mean, you know what? The best comparison is Jake Paul. Jake Paul probably picked up a pair of gloves 10 years ago. Wardley should really be doing kind of what Jake Paul's doing. So for Wardley to even be where he is, is incredible.

Honestly, it's incredible. So I think they've got to be a bit careful with the matchmaking. That's now two really tough fights in three. The first Fraser Clark fight was brutal. The second one, maybe not so. This one brutal. So they've got to be a bit careful.

You can't keep taking punishment like that. So I think the next one's got to be, I don't know, a hard fall. Okay. What really is our best avenue to success? Well, I have to eat a bit of a humble pie, Ade, because I've been talking up Keyshawn Davis for the last couple of weeks. I put him on my popcorn list. You did not. I've been saying he's the future couple of weeks. I put him on my popcorn list. You did not.

I've been saying he's the future face of American boxing. He was enjoying, or at least should have enjoyed, a homecoming back home in Norfolk. He had that first fight a couple fights ago. It was amazing. He sold it out at the Scope in Virginia. And golly, he's in there against Edwin de los Santos. And a mess of a situation. I mean, you can't position yourself as the future face of American boxing, as this rising star, as the rising star of the world. You can't position yourself as the future face

of American boxing, as the rising star of the world. You can't position yourself as the future face of American boxing, as's a mess of a situation. I mean, you can't position yourself as the future face of American boxing, as this rising star talking about a Tank Davis fight and all these other guys, miss weight and then not even have the fight when Top Rank has put on this whole show, essentially for you.

Now his two brothers were also on the card, they called themselves DB3, and then things get even worse. Then things get even worse. Then one of the brothers, Keon, loses, and then to Nahir Albright, and then we get word that Keishon and his younger brother jumped Nahir backstage. Did you see this footage? I did.

I did. I saw everything. Honestly, it's making my blood boil. As you're telling the story and sort of giving us really good sort of accounts of it, sort of hour by hour, it's even making me more angry. Yeah. And I screwed up. Kelvin was the one who lost. Keon is the younger brother. But yeah. So I just want to get that right. Kelvin lost his first pro fight, but he was supposed to win. He was supposed to beat Albright. It was supposed to be a showcase for him.

And then we go to the backstage interview with Mark Kriegel and Albright is saying that he just got jumped and then footage emerges of a whole melee and there's a young kid in a stroller in the middle of all of this. I said it sort of in just like a nightmare of a weekend, but it truly was a nightmare of a weekend to the point where you're like, where does he go from here?

He could get back on track. It will be all good. But that was as bad as it gets for someone who, you know, a week ago, I was touting as the potential future face of American boxing. Yeah, dude, I said that, you know, nobody at 135 pounds could beat him. And bear in mind, that's a division that has Shakur. And at the time I had Vasily Nomachenko, has Gervonta Davis. In fact, I said, I don't think anyone at 140 could beat him and bear in mind that's a division that has Shakur and at the time I had Vasily Lomachenko has Gervonta Davis. In fact, I said I don't think anyone at 140 could beat him. That's how high I was on Keith Sean Davis.

But the last weekend was an embarrassment. It's not just the fact he missed weight. Fighters have missed weight before. It's that he misses weight and he's not even remorseful. It's like, yeah, I've missed weight, so what? And then he's so arrogant to think that, okay, Edwin Delas Santos is gonna just take the fight regardless of it, we're gonna make a deal. And I'm so happy Edwin didn't.

Cause for me, missing weight and still having a fight is almost cheating. So I'm happy Edwin and his team were like, no, no, we're not fighting. I've made weight, why didn't you make weight? And then I see him ringside, sort of stuffing his mouth with popcorn. I've seen an image of him with this massive box of popcorn.

I'm like, is he not read the room? And then I find out that I think nearly 1500 people, I think this is the number, asked for their money back because they obviously came and bought tickets for Keyshore. Wow. So obviously the promoter then has to, you know, find money to give to those people. Then you lose your title. Then you don't get paid.

And then your brother and you decide to jump another fighter. It honestly, it makes me sick. It makes me sick. Again, I'm a big Keyshawn fan, but this no. This no. I just think it's, I think it's so wrong. I think it sends the wrong message out. These kids need to remember what they wanted from the sport.

They wanted to win titles, to headline in your hometown, to main event, to make money, and you've just squandered all four of those things. I actually think it's a disgrace. And I don't know. I think I saw a statement of some sort from all three brothers, but it's not enough. It's not enough. If I'm top rank, if I'm his manager right now, I'm like, dude, what are we doing? What are we doing?

Well, it's especially tough, especially for Kishan, because there was this thing with Abdul Mason and now here's Mason shining in his hometown as the sort of impromptu main event that had to have been a hard pill to swallow. But Top Rank is in a bit of a state of transition here. They're looking for a new home. They're looking for people that they can rely on, right? They're looking for people that they could say like, we are going to promote you,

we're gonna send you to the moon, we're gonna put you in big fights, in big venues, we're gonna bring you home when it's appropriate. And Kishan has, you know, he's, he's positioned himself as one of those guys. And you know, all of this happens. Nightmare. Yeah, no.

It, in the penultimate show on ESPN, um, for them, they've got one more and, and this is the scene. Uh, you'll see, you'll see Keishan. I believe he's in the, where is he? Saw this like five times. You'll see him emerge here momentarily. I don't want to get the color of his shirt wrong. There he is in the hat, there he is.

Yeah. And then you'll see a youngster right over there to the right who I do believe is his son. Just not a great look. I just, a great look. I just... No. No. And, you know, I look at Key Sean as the leader of that pack as well. I mean, he's the name, right?

I mean, he might not be the oldest, I'm not quite sure, that crew there, right? But I look at him as this senior in this pack. He's the one that's known, he's the world champion, he's the face. And I expect him just to kind of just, just to behave better. Honestly, that kind of reminds me a little bit of I remember when sort of Broner was coming through and it was Gervonta, it was the Charlos, Errol Spence. And I used to kind of look at them and think, what are they doing? And I think even Errol recounts some of that and says, I wish I sort of, you know, was a bit better behaved coming up. And I expect the young fighters to listen to that and think, okay, look, you know, Errol was like regretting so much of what we did.

And I see again, I see Keyshawn has been given a headline spot. I mean, ain't that what you dream about? Yeah. Headline spot, title defense. They give you Edwin De Los Santos, which is basically a gift. Edwin hasn't done anything since he lost to Shakur. He's been out of the ring for a year. So they're giving you someone that you could really bowl over

and you can't even make weight. Honestly, it's embarrassing. And, you know, I mean, he should look at Terence Crawford. I mean, they got the same trainer. He should look at Terence Crawford and think, that's professionalism. But do I not need to learn from that? Do I not need to learn from Shakur Stevenson who makes weight?

I don't know, man. Aire, some 25 or so years ago, there was a time where Japan was the epicenter of all things combat sports, especially as it pertains to mixed martial arts. I mean, on New Year's Eve, they would get 50, 60, 70 million people watching these big pride and K-1 kickboxing shows. And now they are enjoying a beautiful period, uh, in boxing and you have Naoya Inoue leading the pack, but you have Junto Nakatani winning once again, this past weekend, potentially setting up this

mega fight, a collision course, if you will, next year in Japan. This to me, if they do it right, you know, you do it on a New Year's Eve that traditionally was always a big evening no matter the date for Japanese combat sports, but it doesn't really matter. Two Japanese killers, two Japanese studs going toe to toe. Naoya was sitting in the front row in attendance. Nakatani picks up the big big win seventh round TKO via doctor stoppage I I would love to see this at the Tokyo Dome or at the Saitama Super Arena and and I know

that in a way is probably gonna fight Ahmed Ali of later on this year but if he gets by that test and I'm sure Eddie is banking on Ahmed Ali pulling off the upset, we could be getting an all Japanese super fight at some point in 2026. 100%. I mean Nakatani is special. And I think most people now when they do their pound for pound rankings, finally, they've got Nakatani floating sort of like nine, 10. So he's now entered most people's sort of thoughts as a really, really good fighter.

Obviously Inoue's been sort of top three pound for pound now for about five years. This is it. This is, we were talking, Kenoto Crawford, Eddie came on and said, Fury AJ's the biggest fight ever. I'm telling you now, from an Asian standpoint, this is as big as both of them. Nakatani, one weight below. I mean, 118 to 122, that's just a trip to McDonald's. I mean you can gain four pounds on a trip to McDonald's. Nakatani go up. And

I think even Inoue ringside said welcome to the Super Bantamweight division. Inoue is welcoming that fight. Inoue wants that fight. As you say, he's got Akhmedailev, but we're talking, I don't know, Inoue fights like three or four times a year. I think we're looking at the super fight of all super fight, the biggest Asian fight of all time, early 2026 between two unbeaten killers, killers, assassins, these two fantastic fight, fantastic fight. Are we going to see Jaiopatel versus Zoro Ramirez? I asked Eddie about this.

Well, like I love watching Jai fight. fight. I love watching him knock out people like we saw Sunday morning here in the United States, but I am a little tired of seeing him fight guys who appear to be lesser than him, right? They appear to be just a step below. That's the fight. No, no, no, no. Several steps below, Ario. Being kind. Yeah. So why aren't we getting it? Here's the knockout from this past weekend. Why aren't we getting that fight? I know Zerto has to fight on June 28th, but why do I feel like it's not going to happen next? Cause it's same to me. It has felt like it should have happened three fights ago for these two. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the idea of even

Zerto fight on this Jake Paul card and not fighting Jarrett Pantaya makes no sense. I mean, why, why are they not fighting each other? Is it, is it a money thing? Are they both wanting crazy money? I mean, that could be an issue each other? Is it a money thing? Are they both wanting crazy money? I mean, that could be an issue. Both of them have fought on these Riyadh season cards. We know the pay packet for the Riyadh season cards are a lot more. So are they waiting for Turkey to fund it? I'm not quite sure.

If I'm Jai, I'm talking to my handlers and I'm saying, look guys, if you can't get me Zerdo, I'm 29, let me put on 20 pounds and go mix it with the big boys. Oh yeah. Jai is what, 6'1", 6'2". I think Jai will, honestly, I can only count on my hand, maybe three or four guys that I think could beat Jai at heavyweight. I think Jai could go up there and flatline a few of those heavyweights that I think he'll look like, they'll look like they're moving in quicksand. That's how fast Jai's feet and hand are. So if I'm Jai, I look at what Usyk's done.

They're not too dissimilar in size. They're both self-posed, both very skilled. I'm thinking, you know what? I can go mix it with the big boys. Where the real money is and the real rewards are as well. Honestly, Usyk says two fights left. For me, it's Dubois and him. I know it's not gonna happen,

but as far as the most interesting fights out there for him, it's probably Dubois and him. Now, and I say that- I think the super- remember I said this last year. I'm sorry, last show I said these super fights, of all super fights coming is Jaya versus Moses and Thelma. Oh yeah. It's coming. What, two, three years? It's coming.

Two, three years? Two years max. Two years max. It's coming. What, two, three years? Two, three years? Two years max. Two years max. It's coming. That would be something. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that would be something. Yeah.

Yeah. I love that. You know, when I said the two fights, then I immediately regretted it because I don't want to be... Joseph Parker. Yeah. I was like, ah, can I add a third? Is this what you're really thinking?

Is this what you're really thinking? Yeah. I said it and then I was like, ah. And I think he just welcomed the new baby into this world. Joseph, I hope you're not listening. I meant to say Parker and, and, uh, Opataya. Those are the two fights. Not to be fair. Not to be fair.

I wouldn't fight Parker anyway. Yeah. Of course. He wouldn't fight each other. Yeah. No, I meant, I meant the two fights for us, like Parker and Opataya. Oh, okay. Okay. They've done that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I was trying to say. Adé, we do have to talk about some news that happened late last week. The great Vasily Lomachenko announcing his retirement. What about this? I mean, it seemed like it was sort of the, you know, the worst kept secret. It kind of felt like it was something that was coming. But he did make it official. He said goodbye one of the all-time Greats I would say of the past. I don't know 10 15 years Represented his country Ukraine on the biggest of stages did have a couple of high-profile fights in which you know He lost some tough ones

I think a lot of people till this day still do believe that he beat Devin Haney or should have gotten the nod But what are some of the memories that come to mind when you think of the great Loma, as they called them? The first one that springs to mind immediately is 396 and one. So this guy had 397 amateur fights, 397 and lost one and that one he avenged, I think two or three times that record. And I tweeted about it. I put it all over my socials, records

are there to be broken. I think it's fair to say that's never ever being broken. Ever. Like no one's even going to get close to that. It doesn't even make sense. If someone showed you that, you'd say, okay, I need to see record books and footage because I don't believe you. So to be that good as an amateur. And he actually turned pro at like 27. So it's not like he was old. So to have got those many fights in such a short space of time is incredible. Him fighting Salido in his second fight, I think it's mad. Fighting for a world title. Salido came in overweight.

Lump was like, I don't care, let's still fight. Then he fought Gary Russell Jr. in the next fight, straight after losing to Salido. Gary Russell was unbeaten. And then let's be honest, he's fighting outside of his weight class. Like he really is a featherweight fighter at lightweight. Like he should never be with these guys. These guys are coming from 170 pounds down to 135. And he was a guy that walked around at 147. So he never should be fighting these guys. But I think he, I remember watching Mayweather thinking Mayweather has clocked the boxing game. Like Mayweather sees things in slow motion and is just not even one step, two steps,

three steps ahead. Loma was the closest thing to Mayweather in terms of this guy has just found out what boxing is and he's making it look easy. I thought he was so special and his record in 30, 40 years time isn't gonna look good 18 and free. But those of us that were very lucky to watch it live, we, I think we realized that we were watching something special. Were you surprised that he walked away 37? No, I think he was talking about walking away

prior to the camp Bosoz fight. Yeah. I think he's had shoulder surgery on both shoulders. I think it's the way he trains. I've been lucky enough to see him train and he busts his body through it. So I just feel like maybe it's like enough elbow surgery, two shoulder surgeries. I think his country going to war as well, maybe kind of fast track the decision. And maybe as well, and he won't want to admit this, I think he probably looks at

those fights against Devin and Tio and thinks, if I was 25, you guys wouldn't even be able to hang with me. And the fact that those are tough fights and difficult fights where maybe he thought they were easy fights shows that these younger kids have caught up with him. So I'd rather see him go out like this than lose to people that wouldn't have laced his boots a decade ago. I love the message from Oleksandr Usyk to his fellow countrymen. Thank you for your journey, your dedication, and your greatness. You are one of the greatest athletes the world of sport has ever seen, not just in boxing, in sport period. Your amateur legacy is unmatched.

Two Olympic gold medals, nearly 400 wins, a master of movement, timing, and precision. And in the professional ring, you made history again, becoming a world champion in three divisions, doing what many thought was impossible, and doing it with style, class, and intelligence. You inspired millions, you changed the game, you set a new standard. I'm proud to call you my friend, my teammate, my brother.

Your legacy will live on for many, many years in the hearts of fighters, in the minds of fans, in the history books of boxing. Congratulations on a legendary career." Beautiful stuff. Wonderful, wonderful. You know, I thought, yeah, completely. I thought Loma would have been what Usyk is now.

So in terms of Usyk being pound for pound number one, two-way undisputed, if you would have told me what Usyk is now. So in terms of Usyk being pound for pound number one, two weight, undisputed, if you would have told me at the time of that London Olympics where they both fought that one of these guys is going to have those accolades, I would have said, oh Loma 100%. And then I thought about it and I was like, Loma was obviously a champion at feather,

champion at super feather, and then obviously a champion at lightweight. He could have easily become undisputed in both feather and super feather, but decided to chase the weights quickly to get the challenges. He could have stayed along in those two weight classes and become undisputed in both, but said, you know what, no, let me go and really challenge myself and go up to lightweight, which ultimately was probably his undoing, but he really could have done double undisputed,

maybe even three time undisputed if he really wanted to. Yeah, I got to see him just once live back in May of 2018 at Madison Square Garden, the actual Madison Square Garden against Jorge Linares. He headlined that card right at the beginning of the top-rank ESPN deal and yeah, just a great win for him he won the the WBA and the ring super lightweight titles and and just I thought like the movement the speed the aura as the kids say he had it all he really did so happy trails to the

great facility little Machaco who I suspect at some point will get his rightful spot in the boxing Hall of Fame in Canister in New York at some point we'll get his rightful spot in the boxing hall of fame in Canastota, New York at some point down the line. First ballader if you would ask me, right? That guy is going in 100%. I don't know exactly how they do it because Manny Pacquiao just went into the hall of fame and it seemed like he should have gone in a long time ago. Perhaps they do this.

Do they do the same thing with the four years like they do in the major sports here? Do they have to wait the four years? They do, but it's weird with Manny Pacquiao because he's now come back. So it's like, well, one second, what do we do? Do we pause this? Nah, you don't pause it. I don't understand. There's no rules for this sort of thing. Amanda Nunes is going into the Hall of Fame and she's coming back as well. It's a weird thing. But yes, there is Freddie Roach and the great

Manny Pacquiao getting their moment in the sun, Vinny Paz as well. By the way, have you ever been to the Boxing Hall of Fame? I haven't, no, I haven't. It is something I do want to go to. There's a couple of things I want to go to the Hall of Fame and I want to go to like the WBC convention as well. I find those things fascinating. So yeah, they're there. They're on my bucket list of things to do in this crazy sport that I love. We should take a road trip. It's upstate New York. Do you see my smile?

I love to. That would tell you, I love a nice Hall of Fame. Have you been, Hall of Fames aren't really that big over in the UK, right? They're not really, like, is there a Premier League Hall of Fame? They've just started it. Well, I said they've just started it.

It's been going for like four years, but no one's interested. No, honestly, no one's interested. Like, do people get inducted? I don't even hear about this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where is it? Yeah. London?

They do like a look. No, sometimes it's just announced. The way I see it, I've seen like, they did like the first three guys, and then the rest have just been announced. So there was like a big sort of do for the first three, and then it's just the case of, you've been inducted into all of them.

Okay. There's no big thing about it. It's really bad. At all. Like I've never heard anything. Is there a Cricket Hall of Fame? I have no idea. You're moving on to sports that I get very little about. Is there a Darts Hall of Fame? Absolutely no chance. Nope. Who's the guy? Who's the guy? That is kind of strange, isn't it? What, Phil Taylor for Darts?

Oh yeah, yeah, Phil Taylor. He should be there. Phil Taylor? Oh, 100%. Great darts? Oh yeah, yeah, Phil Taylor. He should be in there. Yeah, yeah, Phil Taylor. Oh, 100%. Greatest darts of all time. And Snooker, who's the Snooker guy that they always talk about? Ronnie O'Sullivan, Steve Davis, Stephen Henry.

Oh, so you know your Snooker, huh? Oh, Snooker I do know. My dad loves Snooker, so I followed Snooker from a young age, yeah. Shout out to Ronnie O'Sullivan. There's a great documentary about him, right? There is on Amazon Prime, I believe. That's right, that's right. Yeah, on Amazon Prime. Yeah that's right. That's right. Yeah I watched it. Yeah it's fascinating. Well Ade, time now for

everyone's favorite segment of the week. It is time for our parting shot. So many to choose from this week right? I mean so many to choose from. Oh my god dude dude dude. What? What? I saw one on on some bare knuckle thing. Is it that? I saw one on bare knuckle and it was the guy was out. You always pick bare knuckle thing. Is it that? I saw one on bare knuckle and it was, the guy was out and he could have been out for about a minute. You always pick bare knuckle. No, it has to be. I'd be shocked if it isn't.

Go on, I bet it is. Go on, play it. It is. Freaking Justice Hooney. How does Justice Hooney not get it? No, it's not that. It's not Justice Hooney. No, this bare knuckle one's crazy.

It's not Nakatani. I know you got it. No, no, it ain't Nakatani. No, it ain't Nakatani. I know you're good. No, no, no. It's not Nakatani. No, it ain't Nakatani. Go flat. Jai Opataya. No, no, no, no, no.

Nonsense. Come on. There were a ton of big fights. A ton of big knockouts. No, you're right. It's none of those. You are 100% right because when you have a great scene, like the scene that we had this weekend,

when you have some of the greatest fighters in the world coming together, converging, you have to honor one of of them and so I thought it would be apropos for our parting shot to go back to Canastota New York and pay homage to one of the greatest of all time yes you know who I'm talking about right Christy Martin sitting next to Sydney Sweeney at the uh at the parade this is big stuff look at Sydney Sweeney you the parade. This is big stuff. Look at Sydney Sweeney in the mix there. Who is this? Sydney Sweeney, the Hollywood actress. She's playing Christine Martin.

What was this? What is this? This is a joke? What's going on right now? Look at, they're parting. This is their part. They're giving the royal wave. You know Sydney Sweeney, right?

Yeah, but why do they do this thing, by the way? Did you see Act do this? Did you see this? Did you see act through this? Nah, stop it with that. Please. If someone can quickly find a car like this, it was in the parade and he was waving to people. Stop. I'm like, who are you waving to? He was doing the real wave. He was doing this to everyone. Oh my God. And I was going to ask like, what's he doing? What's he doing? You know who Sydney Sweeney is though, right? No, never.

Never. She an actress. Never heard of her. She's a huge Hollywood superstar. Everyone loves her. So what she is going to play? Christy Martin? She's playing Christy Martin in her upcoming film, the biopic.

You've not seen this? This is big news. Give me, give me a film that this Miss Sydney Sweeney's been in. Give me a film. Guys, can you help me out back there? Euphoria. Do you? Yeah.

Yeah, God no. Anything else? Is she that famous? Anything else? No, she's like legit, supremely famous. Never heard of her in my life. Madam Webb, Madam Webb. Reality?

Yeah, stop it. Stop it back. I wasn't telling you this stuff. Guys, is Sidney Sweeney not that famous? Titanic. Titanic? Must have been what, one when she was in Titanic. What are you talking about Titanic? He was one of the kids trying to get off the boat. Oh really? Yeah. That's rubbish. No, why? By the way, why do I see so much about Sidney Sweeney? Is she actually not that famous? I've never heard of her in my life. Okay, she's famous. So she was waving and no one knew who that was.

No, that was a big deal. It was a big deal. They're like, oh my God, Sydney Sweeney is in town. Okay, cool. By the way, not for nothing, Sydney Sweeney, according to this, 25.2 million followers on Instagram. I'd say that's pretty famous. Wow.

That's famous. No, that's famous. I take it back. That's very famous. Also, her middle name is Bernice. Okay. Okay, cool. That's interesting doing a biopic on Chrissy Marta, though.

I think that's quite cool. It's a great time for women's boxers with the big fight coming up July 11th here in New York. You go into that one, because fight coming up July 11th here in New York. You go into that one because I know you're going to be in New York. I am. I'm in town. I'm in town, dude. I'm in town.

I'm trying to go to all of them. I'm trying to go to the Ed Belanga. I have to show it. July 12th. I'm trying to do that as well. And then the final, I'm trying to do everything. And obviously Ade and Ariel. Sorry, Ariel and Ade.

Wow. This fucking guy. Whoops. Apologies for the language. All right. It's time to go. Can we believe that? Thank you very much to you. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk who are good friends over at Glory Kickboxing, celebrating their 100th event in Amsterdam this weekend. And they've got the great- Todd Christian's there, Todd Christian's there. Look at this lineup right here,

the great Rico Verhoeven headlining. Look at that lineup. They were gonna do it a two-day event and they decided to do a one. It's Rico Verhoeven against Artem Vakitov, who has a win by the way over Alex Pereira in kickboxing. He was talking about signing with the UFC, said, nah, I'm going to headline Glory 100. That too is available right here on Dazon in addition to the Richardson-Hitchens-George Cambosas Jr. fight going down at the theater at Madison Square Garden Garden right here in the greatest city in the world, New York City. Go post them.

Yeah, I like it. I like it. I love that. I love that. That ceiling at the theater with the lights. It makes it look like it's really low though. Yeah, it's iconic though. I love it.

You know exactly where the fight is being held when you see that ceiling. Great stuff, Adé. Appreciate it very much. Safe travels to the 305. Enjoy all the fights. Good luck with the Club World Cup. We'll talk next week. Take care.