The Ariel Helwani Show - Ariel x Ade, episode 9: a fired up Conor Benn stops by. plus, what’s up with Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney? Canelo-Crawford done?

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Ariel x Ade kicks off with a reaction to the news of Keith Thurman's planned comeback (07:35).Then, the duo discusses the fact that Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney will compete on the same card, but not against each other (10:44).Next, they touch on talks of Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford heating up (20:54), before bringing in Conor Benn to preview his potential showdown against Chris Eubank Jr. (30:25).Finally, they recap Misfits X Series 20,  including Darren Till's win against Anthony Taylor and KSI's short-lived matchup with Wayne Bridge (59:32).

Hello there and welcome to a brand new edition of Ariel and Ade, the flagship boxing program right here on the global home of boxing, DAZN, and we got a lot to talk about on this lovely Tuesday evening here in New York City. That's where I reside. That's where our HQ is, the Uncrowned HQ, over across the pond, just a stone's throw away. If you've got a really, like, really, really strong arm is where my co-host, my guy, my partner in crime, rocking a Black Mamba Kobe Bryant, may he rest in peace shirt, which is a little bit weird because we all know that Brits know nothing about basketball, like literally nothing.

One second. We know quite a lot. And I'll have you know that I know quite a lot as well. And I will say this. Kobe is top three, top four of all time. Is that fair? Is that fair? Is that fair for someone that knows nothing your personal list or my personal list well i'd say i'd say the list i'd say the list

listen i don't want to get into a a pound for pound nba debate with you because i would smoke you the only grit that you should be talking about is the great john amici do you know john amici i do know john amici i actually know john personally oh wow i do know john wow yeah i do i do yeah yeah we share we share a mutual friend that's quite the flex here i am trying to clown you that's quite the flex bro you are quite the flex bro yeah if you're coming for the king don't miss i can call him right now in fact i can get one of them right now would be a good a big get for us. Are you wearing jeans? No, I'm not wearing jeans.

I'm wearing a jean top. Yes. But I'm not doing your, was it Canadian? Tuxedo. I want the full thing. I'm not doing it. Can I get the full thing? Let me see.

Are those sweatpants? Yeah, the sweatpants. What is this? WFH day? Well, yeah, it is actually because this is my home. Yes, you are correct. This is my home. So yes, it is WFH day? Well, yeah, it is actually, because this is my home. Yes, you are correct. This is my home. So yes, it is WFHA.

You know, I'm very happy to see you, Ade, on this Tuesday, January 21st. You know why? My energy is a little low. What's wrong? My energy is a little low. No, nothing's wrong. You know, new year, new me. Have to make some changes.

I don't know if you know this. I don't know if you watched my show earlier today but i'm currently fasting and uh i'm going i'm doing a 24 hour fast at a and uh we're struggling you know we're struggling we've got uh we've got a water bottle here with just a pinch a pinch a pinch of sea salt and that's it and i'm so easy energy levels low easy work i've done that you would say that yeah Yeah. I did. I did a 72 hour coconut water fast two weeks ago. Two weeks ago? Two weeks ago.

72 hours of just coconut water. That's it. By the way, I would take coconut water in a second. I mean, there's some sugar there. There's some sweetness to it. This is what real men do. And you know what? I expected you to flex on me in this

is there a reason you're doing it is that you're trying to lose a bit of weight you're trying to it's personal at this at each state of your life trying to get a six-pack you're going through some sort of midlife crisis i've been told my h my hrv levels are too low oh oh okay in reality it's quite serious then in reality yeah i didn't mean to dampen the mood. In reality. I mean, I had jokes loaded and then you just done that. I am inspired by my good friend who around a year ago brought us on his fitness journey en route to 175 pounds, I do believe. When he became an

athletic influencer himself. In case you think I'm making this up, I do believe that we have some sort of physical evidence, maybe not, or perhaps my joke is completely going to fall flat. There it is. Here he is working out in front of all of us. I mean, look at this guy.

Pants tucked into the socks. I was just trying to cut weight. To be fair. Anything to cut weight. There he is cutting weight. I mean, you know what? You look like Kobe in the bathroom over there, in the shower when he won the championship.

It was so hard. It was so hard. Why did you do this? It was so difficult. Well, you know what it is? Because, you know, I talk about boxing all the time. I can't box. I'm not going to try and pretend I can box. But I thought, you know, one thing I can try and do to try and get into the minds of why after I've rehydrated after the cut I can

kind of understand why fighters you know weight bully and and cheat on the skills I think and I kind of experienced it it was good to experience and I got a lot of feedback from fighters a lot of pats on the back oh what's this at eight dramatic for that was. That was literally two hours before we hit the skills. So I had like, I think five pounds to get off. And it was brutal. How much did you weigh when you started this journey? 207 pounds. Wow.

And you got down to 175. Yeah. And ultimately you just did it for fun. Like no one put you up to it? No, no, no, no one. I just thought, you know, I just got down to 175. Yeah. And ultimately you just did it for fun. Like no one put you up to it? No, no, no, no one. I just thought, you know, I just need to do something. I do like challenging myself. Let me just do something.

Again, get a bit of respect from the fighters. They say, oh, you talk about the sport, but you've never done the sport. I thought, okay, let me see if I can get some respect from you guys. Let's do the weight cut and let's see. You know what I really wanted to see though? I really wanted to see how strong I was physically the next next day 12 hours after the weight cut rehydrating just again just to kind of see how strong fighters and i was shocked as to how strong i was i was like oh god how have i literally nearly collapsed and now i can lift the house i was shocked the next day

how much did you weigh like how much did you actually put on in 24 hours 15 pounds wow yeah quite easy i could have put on more i put on 15 pounds i i wasn't even like it was just going through me sure honestly it was just going through it was actually quite interesting to do my my favorite part of that clip that we just aired was when you went like this like you you're like no no cameras right now no i can't i'm locked in i can't do it i can't do it that's like your own crew like who's that your your your mate is that your your real name i had a friend i had a friend yeah i did try to make it seem as though the bbc will follow me yeah not right now i've given you a lot yeah this is too much stop it stop it but no i honestly i loved it and i would never do it again okay

you're done one and done i'm done trying to get down to that i did think i could make 168 but i thought you know let's just not. Why? Why am I doing this to myself? So yeah, one and done. Okay. All right. Well, I, like I said, inspired by your journey, I'm taking the, uh, the first step here with

my, my sea salt water and we'll see how it goes. You know, perhaps if you need any assistance, any help, any advice, obviously I've been through it. I've experienced that. I did it. I made the target in the timeframe. So if you need any help, I'm here for you. No, I've been through it. I've experienced it. I did it. I made the target in the time frame. So if you need any help, I'm here for you. I appreciate that.

I thought you were going to say, you know, call up your mate, you know, George Lockhart or someone like that. But I appreciate you raising your hand. George is too expensive nowadays. You can't afford him. An absolute legend. Ade, we have a lot to discuss on this Tuesday afternoon. The boxing schedule is heating up.

It seems like the news cycle these days is just absolutely dominated by fantasy matchups that are on the verge of happening. But Ade, we do have to start with some breaking news. Frank, can I get some breaking news music? There it is. This is big. You heard that, right? This is like the BBC. This is like, you know, when you're watching the news and in the middle of the broadcast, something big happens. Ade, I don't know if you even know this. The great Keith Thurman is coming back. Have you heard of this?

Of course I have. Oh, all right. Of course I have. I was trying to surprise you. There it is. You're talking to Mr. Boxing here, Ariel Hawane. I've heard of it. Keith is back. He hasn't fought since, what, 2022 when he beat Mario Barrios?

Yep. He is just, I don't know how serious to take Kiefer. Kiefer's been a part-time boxer for like the last six years. Wow. Yeah, he's one fight a year, no fights a year. He's just, I don't know. I don't know what he wants to achieve by coming back. I don't know what he has left to come back to do.

He is a name. He's a presence. He could fight some up-and-comers. And you know, Keith probably looks at the 147 division and probably thinks, one second, it's quite thin. And I could easily go in there all of a sudden, re-ad season, make

some money, who knows, and do some damage. So look, good luck to him. He's a great guy. But Keith, I kind of have lost interest in the Keith Furman thing a few years ago when he just stopped fighting. And I wanted him to fight. I was desperate good luck to him. He's a great guy, but Keith, I kind of have lost interest in the Keith Furman thing a few years ago when he just stopped fighting and I wanted him to fight. I was desperate for him to fight and he just didn't want to fight. So, um, yeah, my interest in Keith Furman has been lost for three, four years. Well, he returns, uh, the 12th of March in Sydney, Australia against Australian Brock Jarvis, as we have right over there on the screen.

And, uh, what's interesting is you, you, you bring up the point that, you know, a lot of these guys, like there was a time where he was maybe one of the faces of the PBC, especially when they were getting off the ground. These guys who stopped fighting a year, two, three years ago, now seeing these fights being made now seeing the money being thrown around, that's gotta be a kid. You're like, if you retired 10 years ago,'re like ah you know that sucks yeah but if you retired right before this explosion these paydays these purses re-ed season turkey all that stuff i would imagine that part of the motivation has to be like yeah let me get some of that i i left a little bit too soon right

100 i mean you're seeing what's going on with Turkey. The Ring magazine awards a couple of weeks ago. Everyone's there. Everyone's dressed up. All this announcement of big fights. I guess we'll get to what Ryan and Devin are going to do in a while on the show. Just all these fights all over the world. Big money. They're hearing about these purses. People getting purses they've never gotten before. People are fighting two, three times a year because the purses are so great they want all this money when you can get it get it and if you are Keith Furman as you say and he's not fought for a couple years he probably thinks you know what let's just do a camp let's see how I feel if I can go let's go so if I'm Keith I can kind of see why he's doing it but I just don't know if it's there anymore again when you've not fought for a couple of years is it still there i don't know i hope it is because it's exciting he talks a lot he's good he talks a lot a lot but let's see if it's there and i don't know brock jarvis will prove it's there but let's see i'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt let's see nice return fight let's see it goes down in uh what less than two months time okay let's talk about turkey and some of those fights and you just alluded to ryan garcia

and devin Haney. And so we found out just a couple of days ago that the plan right now is for the first ring card under the ring umbrella, not Riyadh season umbrella, will feature Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. However, they won't be fighting each other. And according to the early reports, Ade, everyone's saying that this is happening in new

york okay makes sense ryan devin fought in new york in brooklyn at barclays center in april of last year but they're all saying times square which i guess like you know with turkey anything is possible and he has proven that times square to the best of my knowledge hasn't hosted a fight in quite some time if not ever times square is a very busy place and a lot of crazy stuff happens over there. You know, MSG is literally like five minutes down the block. There's Barclays. There's a nice stadium in New Jersey. Why Times Square? I'm not sure, but they're not fighting each other. And so there's a lot to sink our teeth into, at least as far as these initial reports are concerned. And we've seen both Ryan and Devin with Turkey over the last week or so. They were both there in London at the Ring Awards.

We know how it all went down. Everyone's making deals as a result of being in London around two weeks ago. The plan as of right now is Ryan Garcia versus Roley Romero and Devin Haney against Jose Ramirez. Now, the initial plan seemed to be Ryan Garcia against Pitbull-Gruz, but then, as we were told by, I think, Turkey himself, he said, hey, Pitbull's fighting on February 1st. He does want to put the cart before the horse. Much respect. I love that. So, we're going with Roley Romero. Now, Roley versus Ryan, Pitbull versus Ryan, I like those matchups. Ultimately, what we all want is Devin Haney versus Ryan, too. I don't love the fact that they're both on the same card, not fighting each other with the plan of them fighting in October,

just sort of waiting in the wings. You know how this goes. You tempt fate. You tempt the boxing gods. You slip. You break a hand. God knows what happens. You lose.

Controversy. Why are they not just fighting each other here in New York, the scene of the crime where the first fight happened a year ago? I don't know if I love this side A. I have to be honest. I will say this off the jump. If they're not fighting each other, it's one person's responsibility. Sorry, someone's to blame on either side. So whether it be Devin and his team or Ryan and his team, someone has said no to not fighting each other. Because I think we've seen now with Turkey, he makes these fights and they turn around very, very quickly.

We got to see Alexander Usyk-Taysom Fury rematch straight away. We got to see Bivol Baturbev straight away. He would have done this fight straight away. Someone on either side has said, you know what? No, no, no. Let's have one warm up and then we'll go straight into it. I'm with you. I don't like it.

We did this with Wilder AJ. And I interviewed Wilder. I'm like, God, you're actually on the same card as AJ yet you're not fighting AJ like this is just makes no sense and all of a sudden Joseph Parker beat Deontay Wilder and Wilder AJ now looks like it's done forever so I don't like the idea of rolling the dice like this these guys should just go at each other straight away um it's not a case of okay Ryan hasn't fought for a year when this fight rolls around and Devin's had a couple of fights in between. No, no, no, Devin's not fought either. So they're both on an equal playing field here.

Why do this? I will say this though, Ramirez is a bit of a dangerous fight for Devin Haney. Devin Haney's coming off a defeat and a couple of knockdowns and he got bashed up a bit by Ryan. I watched Ramirez's fight. I was there in Riyadh against Arnold Barboza Jr. And it was quite competitive. Ramirez is a former champion.

He's no slouch. He's no scrub. This is a tough fight for Devin. I think Ryan can get past Roley a bit more easier. But for Devin, I don't think this is a gimme. Again, considering what he's come through, I don't know if this is the kind of fight you want to walk straight into. Ramirez is still quite dangerous.

So, yeah, I don't like the this is the kind of fight you want to walk straight into. Ramirez is still quite dangerous. So I don't like the roll of the dice either. But again, it's not down to Turkey, 100%. Someone on either side, and hopefully they're watching this video and they can confirm, Oscar confirm, or Bill can confirm, Bill Haney. Someone has said no to this because this would be happening straight away if both parties wanted it. Okay, so I'm going to push back on two fronts. Number one, I would also say Rolly Romero, no slouch as well. You look at who he's lost to.

Uh, I mean, he doesn't, he doesn't lose to, to, to scrubs. He only has two losses and, and,

and, you know, losing to the likes of Pitbull, Tank Davis, like these guys aren't scrubs. Um, the other thing is I actually, and again,

we're all kind of finding this out at the same time. I actually don't think it's on either Haney or Garcia as to why this fight isn't happening in May and why they're doing it this way. I think they've laid out a plan. Hey, you guys could fight under the ring umbrella. We've heard that the ring events aren't a part of Riyadh season. It's a different budget, right? I would imagine Haney and Garcia would ask for more money to fight each other, as opposed to fighting the likes of Ramirez and, and, uh, Rolly Romero. And so it's a nice one, two punch. Hey, we'll do a deal with you. You fight, you get your teeth. Um, you know, you, you, you, you, you cut your teeth, you get your feet wet. You fight each other in New York, you fight on the same card in New York together on the same card on the same day,

so you'll create all kinds of buzz. And then you'll fight opening of re-ed season in October for the big payday. And so I'm not saying it's anyone's fault per se, but I could totally see Turkey laying out this plan. Hey, fight on this card first for us. And then you fight each other on the big Riyadh season card in October. And part of the reason why I don't like this is A, you're tempting fate. Crazy things happen in the fight game. People slip, people get hurt, people lose. And the other thing is, look, for the most part, as much as people want to talk about the atmosphere at these events in Saudi Arabia, it's building, it's getting better.

You would know better than anyone. But as far as the construction of the card is concerned and who's fighting on these cards, to be honest, I don't think that an Usyk-Fury matchup, which features, you know, a Ukrainian and an Englishman is a huge stretch in Saudi Arabia if it's not happening in England. My point is, two American fighters, both with great ties to the West Coast in particular, I thought it was a stretch for them to fight in Brooklyn, both with great ties to the West Coast,

fighting to open Riyadh season, to me feels like a greater stretch than Better Be Abival, Usyk Fury, Usyk Fury 2, Better Be Abival 2, and Ghanu Joshua, and Ghanu Joshua and Ghanu Fury. Do you get what I'm saying? This one is the first time that we're getting two Americans fighting over there under the Riyad season umbrella. And I don't know if it's going to go off as well

as some of these other ones that we've seen over the past year and a half. No, agreed, agreed. I mean, I was there for Latino night and that had so many fighters from the West Coast who would have done big numbers on the West Coast. I mean, again, I mentioned Ramirez versus Barboza a bit earlier. That fight would have headlined in the West Coast. So many big ones. Ramirez main event against Chris Billiam Smith potentially could have done big numbers.

So I think we've seen it before. We've seen fighters from the West Coast or America come over to rehab season and not all big numbers. Now, don't get me wrong. Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are bigger stars than the guys I just mentioned. But the fact is, we still haven't seen American fans travel over like we have seen UK fans and some European fans come over to Riyadh. So yeah, I think it's a bit of a push. I would like the fight to be in America. The first fight will be. I think the second fight should be as well, just because it does big numbers. We were both in Barclays, the Barclays Arena for their first fight.

And we were astounded by the numbers, the noise, the numbers. And I almost felt like the rematch could do even bigger and better. And I actually felt the rematch just went on pay-per-view. I know you said that both of them would have wanted quite a lot of money.

I felt like it was such a big pay-per-view fight and they would have got their money anyway because i think it's such a there's so much intrigue and sort of drama attached to both of these guys so yeah look i hate when fighters that are supposed to fight don't fight and can fight and we kind of just wait and roll the dice and roll the dice as you say boxing is full of stories of rolling the dice and your numbers not coming up and i'd hate not to see this fight because of injury, because of a delay or some sort, because of worst case, someone losing or someone getting cut or some nonsense. If they're healthy and they can fight, fight. What are you doing? Otherwise, it's going to feel like a big tease that week in New York if it happens. Look, I'm happy Garcia's coming back. I'm happy Haney's

coming back. These two guys Haney's coming back. These two guys aren't cupcake opponents, and they're going to be at the press conferences, and guess what? There's going to be more trash talk between them than between them and their opponents. You get what I'm saying? I don't know.

I think this is the only thing I don't know. Romero, Rolly Romero? Yes. I mean, that guy literally likes to fuse wherever he goes. But there's a history there with Hany Garcia. It's combustible. There is. Yeah.

Agreed. Agreed. One thing I will say, it's going to be crazy. It's going to be a crazy event. Honestly, it's going to be crazy. It almost felt like Martin Bacoli and F.A. Jaguars being forgotten. Yes, that was on the report too.

Is that the main event? I don't know. Nah, come on. That's like me suggesting that Joseph Parker, Danny Dubois is the main event over Better Be a Bivel 2. I know you love Bacoli. You know I love Bacoli. What's crazy about it all is if in fact the Times Square idea comes to fruition, I can't even wrap my head around that. It's like one of the busiest intersections in the world.

And just like a – it would be a spectacle. It would be unbelievable. I just can't wait to see the details if in fact they go that route. Now, another little interesting thing, as first reported by Dan Rafael, the veteran boxing journalist, the card currently is slated for a Friday night, May 2nd. And some have suggested the reason why it's on Friday night is because Canelo Alvarez historically likes to fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend, May 3rd. He now has this relationship with Turkey Al Sheikh. Does he not want to go head-to-head with Canelo Alvarez?

Would make a lot of sense. What a weekend that would turn out to be. Now, according to Mike Coppinger of ESPN, all signs, all roads appear to lead us to a September showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. We talked about that fight a little bit last week. And so if in fact that is the case, A, we're getting two Canelo fights this year. Great. We got them last year. If it's Crawford on the back end of the year, amazing. I do wonder what we see Canelo do in May. And do you believe this? Do you believe this is the reason why they're targeting a Friday night so that they don't go head to head with Canelo on Saturday? No, I think they're just doing Friday just to be different. Again, you mentioned Times Square to be different, which again would be a spectacle. Friday would be different. It is

another spectacle. It would almost be a throwback to kind of the ESPN Friday night fights, which everyone loved. So I almost feel like they're just doing Friday just to stand out and try something different and see if it works. I've always said that boxing shouldn't just be a Saturday event. I don't know why it is. Every other sport goes most days, at least in this country anyway. So I feel like they're just trying something different. I would be astounded if Canelo fights in May. Like, if the carrot being dangled in front of him is Crawford

and the money that we're hearing potentially that both could be getting, the risk, I mean, you mentioned the risk of Ryan and Devin fighting the risk of Canelo fighting I know Canelo always gets through his fights and he never seems to be cut or hurt but I mean you're rolling the dice big time here on potentially hundreds of millions I can't see Crawford fighting I really can't so I think Crawford's gonna wait it out and if Crawford waits it out I can almost see Canelo writing it I really can't. So I think Crawford's going to wait it out. And if Crawford waits it out, I can almost see Canelo waiting it out. If there was an obvious opponent, then yeah, okay, cool.

Fine. But there's not an obvious opponent. He's not going to go in there with Christian Mbili. I know that's the one you like to kind of push. I was waiting. I was foaming at the mouth waiting to say Christian Mbili. He's not. He's not.

He's not. And I don't know if there are opponents out there, you know, like, I don't know, someone he can blow away in three or four rounds. I mean, if that is the case, what's the point? I just don't see. Canelo is not going to get the same check for that. Who's going to put up the money for that? PBC are not going to put up the money for Canelo to fight a nobody and pay him what he usually gets paid. I don't think the people are going to turn up in their droves as they always do with Canelo fights. So I can almost see, and it's very rare, but I can see Canelo sitting this one out now until September if that fight gets announced

with Crawford in the next couple of weeks. I just can't see either man risking it. Canelo on Cinco de Mayo weekend is like fish and chips, peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese. What would you do? What would you advise? Put your manager hat on. Again, Crawford, biggest fight of this generation,

potentially, for Canelo. Would you advise do what you normally do just to stay fit and sharp or wait? Well, this would be counter to what I was just talking about regarding Garcia and Haney, right? Like you don't want to tempt fate. You don't want to slip on the banana peel and fight someone before the big fight.

And so, yes, of course, with hundreds of millions, and Lord knows he doesn't even need more money than he has now. If, in fact, that is a done deal, and Coppinger is a great source. He is saying it's, it's all but done very close to being done. And we've seen FaceTime videos of the three of them, Turkey and Canelo and Crawford. It's incredible how far we've come, especially between Canelo and, and Turkey himself. If in fact it is. I did say it last week. I said it last week. Yeah, no no you did

you pooped on me you pooped on me a little bit you you you were you were bullish um and and you know what shame on me shame on anyone who who doubts anything at this point because boxing has now become the place where the big fights get made uh mma is the place where the big fights don't get made apparently john jones tom aspinall and and boxing is the place where these super fights get made it's it's a wild world that we live in today um. So yes, I get it. It's just, to me, it's kind of wild with how many years does Canelo have left? Two, three, max? I don't know. Him not fighting on Cinco de Mayo is just something. I was just trying to figure out why would you go on a Friday other than to be different? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I buy going on a

Friday just to be different. Tyson and Paul went on a Friday, but that's because they didn't want to go head to head with UFC. They also didn't want to go head to head with a football game happening. Like there were reasons for it. To me, there has to be a reason why they would choose a Friday over Saturday. Or, or if they are in fact doing Times Square, maybe it's just like, hey, Times Square says you can only do this on a Friday. Who the hell knows? Maybe. Maybe.

Maybe. I'm just playing devil's advocate here and chucking something else out there. I go with your theory of, look, they're going on a Friday because Canelo, as Canelo has always done, fights on a Saturday, single de mail. I think that's more likely. But I'm just sort of putting my manager or head on here and thinking, what is Canelo even doing fighting when A, there's no sort of obvious opponent out there and B, you're talking about the fight of this generation. If he were to fight Terence Crawford,

like Canelo, you're fit enough. We've seen you enough. You can chill out until September. I mean, everyone else seems to take one fight a year. You can do it for once in your career. And this might be the time to kind of say, okay, guys, I'm sitting out. I've got enough money in the bank. We're good. Let's sit this one out until September and let's get ready for what could be the biggest challenge of his career. Maybe, I don't know. We'll see how it plays out. Could I throw one out your way? Go go ahead a potential

fight so canelo owns three of the four super middleweight titles the ibf champ is william skull you beat william skull in a fight that no one's really asking for but you get that fourth belt and now the crawford fight is for undisputed super super middleweight yeah you know what? Yeah. That would be insane. Honestly, that would be just... Insane in what regard? Like, just, like, my regard for Canelo to fight William Scott. It's a fight, by the way, it's a fight I think he'd win. Yeah. But the idea of Canelo versus Crawford being for undisputed at at 168 pounds, would be incredible. What I will say, and this is the final one for me,

with regards to options, this fight needs to be signed before February 22nd. I've always said that if Bivol were to become Undisputed, Canelo would want that rematch with Bivol at 175. Canelo would ask for that,

and I think Bivol would want that as well. Yo, if you're Canelo and you've got the Crawford fight waiting in September, you ain't fighting Bivol in May. No way way you know why you know why because the biffle one's a bit more if you lose you lose you've lost to the bigger guy you can't come off a loss you've tried to be great again going to 175 pounds you're too small i saw canelo the other week he's 5'8 he's not big enough but you know what i'm daring to be great again if you lose to

crawford a guy coming up it's a lot more pressure i feel like he might want to roll the dice that 5'8". He's not big enough, but you know what? I'm daring to be great again. If you lose to Crawford, a guy coming up, it's a lot more pressure. I feel like he might want to roll the dice at 125 pounds again with Bivel. Just chucking it out there, Ariel. It's fair. It's a fun one to think about. Let me ask you about 168, no rehydration, which is a part of the report as well. Any issues with either 168? I think most expected that, no rehydration clause. Love it. Love it.

I love it. You know, I love what Crawford's doing. Crawford said, you know what? Let's do this. Bring it on. Like, yeah, bring it on. I have big kahunas here. Let's go. I don't need a rehydration count. I don't need any of that. I'm coming to your weight class. I think I can beat you. Let's go. And I honestly, dude, he doesn't need to do this. The fact he is doing this is just sensational. I will say this, though. I don't know anyone that could force Canelo to do a rehydration class. You think that's in the contract?

And Canelo's going to say, yeah, sure. Canelo's like, do you want to fight me or not? You've asked to fight me. You want to come to my weight class? Come. But don't start coming with all sorts of stipulations. So yeah, no one's forcing Canada to do anything. And I don't think Canada would do a rehydration clause anyway.

So although I rate Crawford for doing the full 168 jump, I almost have to take a bit of that rate in a way because Canada would never agree to do anything he doesn't want to do. Of all the potential mega fights on the horizon in 2025 in the sport of boxing from Better Be a Bivel 2, which I know is signed, but it's still kind of crazy that it's just happening so quickly, a potential Dubois-Usyk fight, Haney Garcia, as we talked about, AJ Fury, we're still holding out hope. On and on it goes, Canelo Crawford, on and on it goes. Where do you put Canelo Crawford in terms of your sort of interest level? Is that at the top of the

list? Number one by a gazillion miles. By a gazillion? Despite the big, I mean, it's essentially a 147 pounder against a 168 pounder. I know his last fight was at 154, but it's a pretty big jump for Terrence. It's a big jump. 154 to 160, it's a big jump. But Terence is pound for pound. Some people say pound for pound number one. I mean, he's at worst number three, at worst, right? I mean, whatever juggle you want to do between him and Nui and Usyk.

So this is two guys that are, for me, top six pound for pound. So yes, their age will say that they're on the slide and maybe so, right? But these are two guys at the very top of the boxing tree and they're fighting and look Canelo's not Canelo really should be a 160 guy like I've been around 160 guys I've been around 154 guys Canelo Canelo's given so much away himself Canelo's not a big 168 Benavidez is a big 168. Canelo's a 160 guy at best.

He really is. So there isn't too much size difference here. Yeah, there isn't too much. I've been around Crawford as well. Crawford's quite thick set. This is going to be something special. This is, again, it's two demographics it brings in as well. In America, the African-American, the Mexicans, the Mexican-Americans.

This is a super fight of all super fights. Anything else that could be made this year is fighting for second place. This is number one by a country mile. I don't know in terms of revenue generation, but in terms of my interest, this is just special. This is special because this fight plays out about a thousand different ways in my head. And I still have no idea who I'm picking, if it gets made. It's just fantastic. Well, this is a perfect segue, Ade, because here we are talking about a 147-pounder moving up to the 160 region, if you will. We're talking about a fight that we've been dreaming about for quite some time. We're talking about a fight that is apparently close to being officially announced, close to being finalized. We're all waiting on the announcement.

We're talking about bad blood. We're talking about a family history and rivalry coming to fruition three years or so in the making. And we could talk about Conor Benn versus Chris Eubank Jr. We could talk about their fathers fighting way back in the day. We could talk about what it means. You can listen to me, a British boxing historian, tell you all about how big of a deal of course all of this is or we could talk to one half of this main event mr connor ben who is kind enough to be joining us right now live from the uk just like ade is right now as well connor thank

you so much for joining us really appreciate this thanks for joining the show my pleasure my pleasure my pleasure to be on uh it's great to have you. I know it's late over there. So, uh, especially appreciate your time. And so, uh, can we,

can we not beat around the bush here? Uh, we've seen the photos, we've seen the tweets, but we, we, we haven't received the big announcement just yet, at least from your perspective,

at least from your end is, is everything signed, sealed and delivered. I know I'm ready to go. I know I've signed. So for me, it's just a matter of date. It's a matter of venue. But I know from my end, the fight's been agreed and signed.

Okay. And I don't want to put you on the spot in terms of, you know, putting the cart before the horse, spoiling any announcements. We've heard about April. We heard about Hotspur. All that stuff is out there. I don't want it to come out of your mouth out of respect for you and the relationship that you have with everyone putting this card together but can i ask you this as far as the particulars are concerned this was a huge you know a huge debate that played out in the in the public sphere a the breakdown

the the the purse breakdown and d the weight and rehydration clause what can you tell us connor about all this what did we agree on as far as the purse breakdown and and rehydration clause. What can you tell us, Connor, about all of this? What did we agree on as far as the purse breakdown and the rehydration clause? First off, I'm a fighter, so I've agreed to absolutely anything and everything. You know, the 60, 40, 55, 45, however you want to carve it up. Just get me in the ring with him.

You know, so that was taking care of by my team. And as for the weight, I'm coming up two weight divisions to fight this man. I fight at 147. I'm a 147 fighter. So me coming up to his weight division, we've only stuck within the region of the IBF rules, which is championship weight, 160, and the rehydration in which they're doing championship bouts which is 10 pounds i think that's extremely fair more than i think that's more than fair how close connor were we to not get in the fight with that rehydration cap like did

did chris you make juniors team try and push back on it because i saw you and chris go back and forth on twitter a couple of days ago about the rehydration. Was it close to not happening because of that? Or was Chris's team okay and fair and like, okay, let's do this? It was what was agreed previously. So I don't know why. Listen, you know his antics. You know what game he's playing. He's playing that card.

Personally, I think he's coming up with all these excuses as to why he's going to get smashed to pieces. He's covering his own ass. The reality is it's IBF championship rules. I'm coming up two weight divisions. I don't understand why everybody's talking about the rehydration cause, which is within the 10 pound region of championship weight for the IBF. When I'm jumping up two weight divisions. Do you want to tell me the last person you know that's done that?

Yeah, I mean, it's... And what time frame? When was the last person that done that? Top of my head, Jamel Charlo Canelo. Top of my head. Could be wrong. Top of my head.

But look, the fight's done. done and well we hope it's done fingers crossed obviously as ariel said no announcement yet but fingers crossed we get an announcement very very soon how serious was the barriers conversations on your side like was was there a stage where if this fight doesn't get made now i'm walking away and i'm going to fight mario barrios for the WBC title? Yeah, of course. Listen,

you know, after I've been through for the past two, two and a half years for me to come back to British soil, my home and win the WBC world title in where I had my debut for me, that's, that's what dreams are made of. And you know, what story for me to come back for two and a half year, uh,

fighting itself to then fight for the WBC world title and winning it. Cause no doubt, And, you know, what story for me to come back after a two-and-a-half-year fight in itself to then fight for the WBC world title and winning it. Because no doubt, I believe I would have stopped Barrios. You know, so for me, it was, okay, no problem. Give me Barrios. I know everybody wants this fight. I know the supporters want this fight. And I felt like I really wanted to give the supporters

the Eubank fight, but the barriers were serious. It was a serious fight that I wanted for sure. You know, as we're looking at you right now, Connor, and as I'm listening to you and I see the intensity and I see how fired up you are. And it's 10.30 in the evening over there, if you are back home in the UK. I'm wondering, you know, when this was first announced and you guys were so close to fight back in 2022, a lot of the hoopla, the buzz, the hype was surrounded around your father's story. Now this feels different, right? So much has been said, so much has been done.

We've seen you guys go face-to-face, toe-to-toe. Can you expand on that? What's the difference this time around as far as the buildup is concerned as opposed to back in October of 2022 when it just felt just felt like okay it's the kids of two very famous fighters who once had a rivalry they're going to be fighting now this feels completely different am i wrong yeah for me definitely this is way more personal um it was more commercial before i mean it's a massive commercial commercial fight but it's

way more personal. You know, I don't think I've ever felt hatred towards an opponent before. I don't think I've ever wanted to spitefully knock somebody out before. I know people beg to differ with my fighting style, but the reality is I've been through a lot, you know, and I was going through a lot at the time.

So for him to just then carry on the way he did, I took it personally and I still take it very personally, you know. So, you know, to being on the brink of suicide,

to coming through, to, you know, having him come out with the remarks he was coming out with, which were lies, all of his lies. Yeah, I take that very personally. You know, for me, I'm still here standing, living and breathing, feeling stronger than ever.

So, you know, without a doubt, without a doubt, I'm coming for his head. You know, you have brought us into the dark period. We've talked about it, how low you were. And when you speak to Chris about it how how low how low you were and uh when when you speak to chris about it he's he's somewhat dismissive of it he's kind of saying i don't really buy any of this he thinks it's just kind of a song and dance is that what bothers you the most that you that you are you were speaking about life and death not boxing you're speaking about how dark it was for you how dangerous it was yeah. Yeah, listen, listen, Ariel, who cares what he says?

He's an idiot. Do you know what I mean? He's an idiot who falls out of everybody over money. So, yeah, I ain't going to listen to what he said.

Even his dad can't stand him. You know, so he can talk all what he wants. Do you know, my principles and morals stay aligned. You know,

and ultimately, it don't really matter what he thinks or what he says or what he does because he's going to feel the pain come fight night.

Where do you think you are in terms of your relationship with British fight fans? I think, um, as you know, some have backed you, right? Every time you see them out personally,

they back you that there's, there's always a want for a photo. Some online have been quite tough on you. You haven't fought back home by the time this fight rolls around for, for what, over two years. Where do you think that relationship is now? Uh, yeah, Some online have been quite tough on you. You haven't fought back home by the time this fight rolls around for, for what, over two years. Where do you think that relationship is now?

Uh, yeah, it's only painting my heart black, no doubt. Um, but you go through things in life. Um, and you know,

that's neither here nor there. Some more public than others. And some go through greater adversities than others. Um, the reality is I'm still here, still fighting. paint my heart black yes it did did it give me fixed skin yes it did give did it give me resilience yes it did did it give me strength yes it did did it hurt yes it did um but the reality is social media really is the minority yeah and all these former fighters who former gb fighters who weren't successful as pros

or former fighters that had a less you know, unfortunate career or pundits who've never been in the ring the reality is, I look in the mirror I look at my life, I look around me, I would still rather be me than them, any day of the week, any day

of the week, twice on Sundays because my integrity holds more weight than their character or their title. That's the reality. So for me, I look around me, I'm blessed. Do you know what I mean? I fought the case three times. I won the case three times. Do you know what I mean?

I was resilient and I was strong in standing for what I believed in. And that's it, period. Forget what you say. You ain't been in my shoes. You ain't seen this. You ain't done that. There will always be something. People will always find an excuse for my success because I'm the netball kid.

I never went that GB route. When some of these GB fighters ain't no good, they ain't good pros. Do you know what I mean? And that's the reality. I've turned over a people go the netball kid the the kid who had all the advantages in the world they'll always find an excuse for my success when the reality is I've done this all myself and it's just hard work the fight this time around is so different I think from when it was first made uh when it

was first made obviously look you hadn't had those couple of fights at 154 pounds we hadn't seen a bigger stronger version of you and since then chris eubank junior has been stopped by liam smith so so both of you have been through quite a lot i think whether it be out the ring or inside the ring where do you see yourself now as a fighter and where do you see chris as a now? You were ringside for his last fight, you jumped in the ring as well for his last fight. Where do you see both of you now two and a half years on from when the first fight was supposed to take place? Well personally I still think he's an idiot, so that ain't changed. Two, he is what he is but I believe anything I do just just trumps him i don't even think the weights

even me jumping up two weight divisions i don't feel like that's going to be an issue for me whatsoever that would be the only thing that you would think is coming up two weight divisions you know i spar like every weights i spar super middles i spar middles all the time you know so for me, it's no, not concerned at all. I'm feeling dangerous. I'm feeling explosive. I'm feeling,

I'm feeling like I got that buzz back. You know, my last two fights in America were of a person who was heartbroken, lost, struggling, not knowing if I was fighting or not feeling like I'm on the run from my own people

you know it was just it was a mess you know the fights where the camps were hard to get through not knowing if I was actually fighting or they were going to try

and put a block in the way it was just a mess so for me to manage all that as well as fight and not being motivated I wasn't motivated at all I mean yeah it mess. So for me to manage all that as well as fight and not be motivated, I wasn't motivated at all.

I mean, yeah, it was hard. So for me, I feel like I've got that buzz back and love back for fighting now that I can. Connor, you mentioned Chris's relationship with his father. And obviously a big part of this initially was about your father's and their history. Luckily for you, you have a good relationship with your father. And I think we all would love to see Chris and his father repair their relationship so that he could be a part of the promotion as well. Would you be disappointed if Chris Sr. isn't a part of this promotion? And how much will your father be involved as well?

Like on the dais, will your father be up there, which will then only kind of enforce the point that his father isn't there if it comes down to that listen their relationship ain't my concern the reality is you want every father and son to get on that's like the ultimate especially when they're in the public eye massively you know for me my dad is my hero he's my legend i mean i love my dad so much man you know for me he's i've just got the phone with him now about when he's coming over. He's going, I can't come over then, son.

I'm like, Dad, you know, I need you from start to finish. But no doubt my dad will be with me in my camp. You know, I feel like as I've got older, I see so many similarities in my dad, similarities I didn't understand maybe growing up. And I think as I've got older, I've sort of just admired a man, you know.

And, you know, no doubt, you know doubt Chris and his dad have what they have. At the end of the day, bottom line, with or without boxing, that's still my dad. You know, let alone us being who we are because of our dads. You can't say this fight is what it is without our dads. Period. I would not be the man I am now and the fighter I am and, and, and who I am as a man if it wasn't for my dad.

You know, this is, this is generational. This is generational wealth. You know, when I mean generational wealth, I don't mean financially. I mean,

in the upbringing, in the, the morals, in the foundations, in the, the principles and installing you from a young kid, that's generational wealth. And the same for my son.

So, you know, for me, I tell my dad every single day, Dad, I'm so grateful. You know, I wake up in this house because of you. You know, my son is blessed because of you. You know, you laid the foundation for me. So, yeah, my dad's my hero. And, you know, I pray my son loves me as much as I love my dad one day. Much respect.

I love to hear that. I'm wondering, obviously, when they were rivals a little bit before your time, but I'm wondering if you have any early memories of finding out who Chris Eubank was and the history with your father. Do you remember being six, seven years old and watching with your dad or learning about him or him telling you about him? Do you have any sort of early memories of the Eub eubanks if you will no not at all i mean i probably say probably from the age of 14 when my dad took me on his first tour and and my dad was just yeah

he didn't say the nicest things about about him but um yeah it ain't the show. You know, it's genuinely a family feud, for sure. And it's just mental because the fathers and sons are, you know, the apple don't fall far from the tree. So yeah, no, I can't recall a date, but I know just that it's genuine from my dad, you know, polar opposites in personality. Yeah, you know, I grew up watching that rivalry i remember the second fight vividly the first one not so much but the second one i remember old

trafford vividly like it was yesterday and i never ever thought that nigel and your dad and chris senior would ever sort of get on ever would ever talk and eventually they did eventually they started doing tours and talking and sitting down and having conversations did you say how those talks went are they yeah i did actually they didn't go very well sometimes they didn't go very well but i don't look at you and chris and i think eddie said this the other day apart from aj fury it's the biggest fight that can be made in britain this year and i echo that it is it clearly is don't you ever think that there will be some sort of i don't know a handshake after or even a handshake before because you're both putting on what will be the biggest

show in britain you're both making lots of money and you both almost need each other as well you both need to be dance partners for each other yeah listen we'll see how i feel after the fight you know um we'll see how i feel after the fight ultimately i'm not going to do anything i've got to do out of feeling pressure from the public to do what i feel that's the right thing to do you know i'll see how i feel ultimately this is personal and if i if i wasn't here today would i get an apology no well. So why am I going to be apologetic when I render him

unconscious? How many rounds do you expect this to go, Connor? I'll come out,

I'll come out very sharpish off the traps, you know. I just can't see it going past

four or five. You've got to remember my last two performances. You've got to look at them. You've got to remember my last two performances. You've got to look at them. You've got to look at fractions of a man who didn't know if he was coming or going,

who didn't know if he was going to be able to fight or not, didn't feel right fighting abroad under the circumstances, were meaningless fights. Fights I know I can beat. Even on the back of my fight with Rodolfo Roscoe, I smashed you down to pieces in four rounds.

Even off the back of that fight, you could say, just not caring the world, no adrenaline, no. And it's a dangerous place to be when you're going to walk into the arena without no adrenaline no like i know i'm gonna beat him you know so that that was very concerning for me and it made me

question my love for the sport it made me question if i wanted to fight anymore because how am i not getting a buzz out of this how am i not getting a high how am i not getting that you know adrenaline rush of excitement going into war why Why am I not getting that? You know, and with everything going on, of course, it's understandable. And my love got taken away from me a little bit at the time. Even on their performances, I'll smash you back to pieces. So let alone me feeling up for it and, you know, extremely motivated to have this one down in the history books how much have you missed all of this right i mean this is this is big time boxing

at its biggest right again we're here in tottenham hotspur stadium could be 60 or 000 um again you've had those fights in america but the small fry compared to this right i mean you're going to be doing the media rounds you're going to be doing the media rounds you're going to be doing the face-offs it's going to be cameras in your face i feel like you're one of the best speakers when it does get to that stage not many people can handle that situation like you you must have missed all of this and it's coming around again now i missed everybody missed everybody you know i missed everything it was my life. You know, it was what I began to only know. It was my whole world.

You know, do you understand? So even the little things, you know, talking to the guy who stacks the rings, talking to the guy who announces me coming into the fight, talking to the guy who tells me when to go. You know, so all of these, all of them people, you know, I miss. You know, because it's what I do. It's what I love to do. So when I lost it,

I didn't know how to... It was hard. It was a hard one, you know, but I've missed it so much and I'm excited to get back on British soil and more importantly importantly give the fight give the supporters the fight they want whether that's me jumping up

two weight divisions whether that's me you know I'm just coming in there to do a job on him and you know remind the British supporters why I'm one of the most dangerous fighters in the country currently you know that's me going up to 160 rendering rendering my conscious job made that's 147 fight

for the world title and then fight Eubank again before the year's out oh wow uh and is that a part of the contract is there a rematch clause um I'm not sure I've left that to the legal team okay but as far as I'm aware as far as I'm aware he's not going to want to rematch anyway could I ask obviously very personal and I always hear from fighters you don't want to fight with emotion you don't want to fight angry

you don't want to fight like you want to kill your opponent you have to be measured you have to be calm any concern on your end you will be in the ring with him and that emotion everything you've been through over the last couple of years will take over and you won't fight a measured fight no i always go in there to kill him you know yeah you know people go like strictly business you know if you're trying to take food out my kid's mouth and you're trying to crush my dream how can you say that's not personal? I'm coming for your head.

It's your kids. It ain't mine. I promise you that now. It's your kids. It ain't mine. And that's why, for me, I sit there and I go, yeah, if this was, you know,

you're talking thousands of years ago, you're talking life and death. It's modern day gladiators. So for me, when it comes down to it, I'm coming in there to kill because if i ain't if i ain't if ain't you it's me i promise you now it ain't me and that's my mindset so irrelevant uh people that you know making this fight oh you know your emotions i'm an emotional guy you know one minute i'm up here one minute i'm down here you know i'm so you know no doubt come find out i'll be raging uh you're giving us chills

here uh this is this is incredible stuff what a story what a backstory and uh so happy that it has appeared to have gone over the line one last thing before we let you go connor and thank you again for this tremendous tremendous stuff um when when the fight appeared to have been finalized turkey i'll shake posted a video from back in 1990 on British television. Your father and Chris Sr. signing the contract on British television. It seems as though you guys have already signed your

contract, so we won't get a recreation of that scene, but I'd love to, perhaps for our younger audience, play that clip right now and get your reaction to it if I can. Okay. I have nothing to say to Nigel. I find the man intolerable in that he's so wild.

I have no time for such people. He has no class as far as I see it. About Nigel Benn, I would say this. The man is a powerful puncher, a very powerful puncher. For this, I would like his autograph because after I finish with him, he isn't going to be anybody. I think the public is demanding this you know I walk down the street people say hey you just boy hiding well let's make sure the fight takes place by

signing a contract right now Christopher I have to say there seems an element of genuine hate between these two ambros for sure I don't hate the man I just wanted wbo title I always I pray that I have enough dignity not to hate the man. I personally do hate him. I personally do hate him. Your answer just before this reminded me of that. I'm like, yeah, you don't want to be personal. You don't want to make a person. You don't want emotion. No, no, I want to kill the the guy you're exactly like your old man you know what that's funny because do you see what i mean so there's just so many similarities there ain't forces it's just it's just who i am and you know the apple don't fall far from the tree you know listen i look up to my dad like he's my idol he is my idol he's my everything so

i want to be like him i want be, I don't mind being in his shadow. You know, the love I have for him is, is phenomenal. But it's just funny when you watch things and you see so many similarities, but his fight wouldn't have happened without, um, you know, his excellency making the fight, man. So I'm just so glad that, you know, he's here and he's changed the game because ultimately Eubank wouldn't have taken the fight, providing he didn't make the fight happen. You've got to remember, he thinks he's the ace out against Canelo and Golovkin. So you boys just have to sit there and go,

who's actually the one who's being hardworking? Well, we are delighted. It is a done deal. We can't wait for the official announcement. And dare I say, can't wait for all the media, all the press conferences, all the face-offs, everything that is going to come with this mega fight hopefully in just a few months time connor thank you so much good luck to you thanks appreciate it and hope we hopefully we get to talk to you soon before the fight as well definitely thank you boys all right

there it is take care of the great connor ben ade you're there man i'm not even going to pretend uh you've lived with this right you you perhaps I don't know how old you are exactly but you were perhaps watching live back in 1990 when we had that I wish we could get something like that right wouldn't that be great recreating that moment perhaps on a show like this um but that was incredible tell the public why this is such a big deal especially where where you live right now why is it such a big it's just like in England there is no bigger boxing rivalry than Ben Eubank. There is none.

Eubank won the first one. And the second one, I actually thought Nigel Benn won the second one in Old Trafford. It was 50,000 in their stadium fight. And it was a draw. And that et Nigel Benn for years. Et at him for years that he didn't get one up on his rival. And now it's almost that's that seems to have passed down to the son in connor like almost like you've got to do this for the name and um

they're both so similar to their dads like chris eubank jr is exactly like senior exactly i'm watching that thinking my god that's that's junior that the way he talks these mannerisms the way in which he's a lot more relaxed and calm. And Conor's fired up like Nigel. Honestly, it's just... And this fight's now exploded. I mean, again, this fight was going to take place in the O2 Arena. It was going to be record-breaking numbers in terms of how quickly the fight sold out in the O2 Arena.

It's now way too big for that. They're talking about the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which is three times bigger than the O2. And so this fight has become bigger. It's so much bigger. And I can't wait for it. I know Conor's been desperate to make that fight happen. Obviously, Chris has been on a different trajectory, a different journey.

He has been fighting. He's been fighting over here. A win, a loss. But it's now, behind AJ Fury, it's by far the biggest fight that can be made over here a win a loss but um it's now behind aj fewer it's by far the biggest fight that can be made over here and um everyone that's saying they don't want to watch it because of what happened with conor in the past and maybe this weight rehydration everyone's going to watch it everyone's going to watch it it's such a big fight it would be a shame if christina isn't involved right this has agreed right it would. It would feel like something's missing.

I mean, a big something is missing, if I'm being honest. Honestly, no, no, no. It would be massive. You'd almost feel unfair to see Nigel there. Yeah. If Chris Sr. is not there, I almost don't want Nigel there. It's just not fair. There's an imbalance there.

I really, really hope they can sort this out because Chris Sr. needs to be there. I would love to do the face off with both fathers. Oh God. But of recent it's been promoted. No disrespect to Eddie and Franklin. No, no, no. I don't want you guys.

I want senior and Nigel Ben in the room as well. Can you imagine that face off? Oh my gosh. Yes. I mean, everything, everything. I would love to see Chris senior in, in Chris juniors corner. I would love to see him on the dais. I would love to see him a part of this Jr.'s corner. I would love to see him on the dais. I would love to see him a part of this.

To Conor's point, this doesn't happen. There's no demand for this. There is no Hotspur Stadium without their dads, without what they did twice in the 90s. And I like that he admitted that as well. I like that because some would say, no, no, you know, I'm my own person now. I've stepped out of my father's shoes.

I think we hear that quite a lot when you have sort of um sort of sons and and father fighter relationships but no no no this is only being as big as it is because of the fathers the name still holds so much weight it's it's generations of people here you i'll be in taxis with with taxi drivers in their 60s and all they talk about is eubank senior and ben senior and they're watching this because of the fathers, not because of the sons. So it has an intrigue for all ages, all demographics. This is why it is so big. This is why it will go to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It could have gone to Wembley.

This could have gone to Wembley Stadium. It's that big. And that might surprise sort of Americans listening. Like, why is it so big? Like, what's going on? But it is because of the fathers and the sons have sold it as well very well. Sure, everything that's happened over the last two and a half years or so could i ask who's who's the fan

favorite right now in the uk who do you think because to your point i would say fan favorite yeah i'll say you make and that's why i asked connor like i said your relationship with the british fight fans like where where do you think it is now because um online connor still you know he takes some stick yeah fight fans online and i guess look it's hard to tell if online's the majority or the minority but he takes some stick whereas eubanks seems to be getting a lot of um plaudits so i think the fan favorite is chris and that's what's turned around from the first fight the first fight the fan favorite was clearly connor so that's been the one big change i think people seem to like

Chris's attitude, the way Chris has dealt with it. And I think Chris has got a lot of respect as well. He's been in some tough fights recently. He's won, as I said, he beat Liam Smith, lost to Liam Smith. I think people like Chris now. It's taken a while for the public to get behind him. I think the public are generally behind Chris more so than Connor, but that could change as we lead up to the fight. All right. We'll have plenty of time to talk about this fight and the history and the buildup and all that stuff. So let's park it for now. I want to go back to this past weekend, Manchester co-op live arena right here on DAZN, Darren Till making his Misfits debut, defeating Anthony Taylor. It was, it was, you know, it was one way traffic the entire time. Everyone expected that. Darren

just so much bigger than Anthony Taylor. And quite frankly, I felt a little uncomfortable considering how much bigger he was. And then we find out at the end of the broadcast that Anthony Taylor collapsed, had to be rushed to the back. Medics gave him oxygen. This is why there are weight classes. And in the world of influencer boxing, they need to be careful because in their world, these weight classes aren't adhered to the same type of way. And I know we're talking about two fights on this program where there's a big jump, but Darren Till should not be fighting Anthony Taylor, in my opinion.

And yes, I know he was supposed to fight Tommy Fury. If we can put that aside for a moment, I'm just wondering from your expert eye, did you like what you saw from Darren Till? Do you think he has a pretty high trajectory as far as boxing is concerned? Well, it depends. When we say boxing, are we separating the two here? Are we saying sort of misfits type boxing? Are we talking?

I'm talking just boxing at the moment, because let's be honest, a lot of the MMA guys who have crossed over to any kind of boxing, crossover, influencer, regular boxing, haven't looked tremendous. And so I'm just wondering if you saw something out of him that made you think you know what maybe we can revisit that julio cesar chavez jr fight that we were supposed to get last july maybe we can't go down that route yeah those type of fights yes i mean if we're talking those type of fights yeah i do would love to know what weight he lands at is he going to be a cruiserweight can he make 175 to be a light heavyweight i'm not quite sure

but if we are going to have those fun fights if you like against people like julio cesar chavez jr then fine if we're talking about him taking on legit real pros up and coming pros british championship european level then no no not at all i don't think i don't think he's that good and beating anthony taylor doesn't show me you are if it wanted to be Anthony Taylor is 170 pounder and look Anthony Taylor's I think great for misfits but I think we saw the level of Anthony Taylor and we've seen it before um so I don't know I would I would love to see Darren versus Tommy Fury I think that's such a big fight even bigger now because of what happened agreed on the weekend so I think if he stays in that kind of realm of fighters then i think there's there's you know there's there's a story for him yeah i i don't know if there's an mma route back for darren too i don't know if there's

any interest in an mma route back but i think he can make a lot of money because he's he's he's he's lovable he's a bit of a a rogue if you like i think people like the fact that he says what he says says what he wants and i think there is a lane for him i just don't think there's a lane in professional boxing but there's a lane for him certainly i would i would stick on this lane for now uh forget about mma for now you've got something going you're the second most famous person under the misfits umbrella at this point behind of course ksi i'd love the tommy fight i agree with you the tommy fight is bigger for in some ways the same reasons why the ben eubank fight is bigger because when you have it taken away from you and there's all this bad blood and crap talking now it feels even bigger but let's just assume that that fight isn't going to happen to me if i'm mams taylor and company ksi versus darren till is the biggest fight that they can

make and so on a night, on a night where we found out that KSI's next fight would be against someone named Wayne Bridge, um, and that ended up falling through 48 hours later because I guess it got too personal. Um, I was scratching my head thinking like, why don't you just wait and see what happens with Darren Till here? Because it's right there for you. I would love to see that fight. And I think it would be a gigantic fight for misisfits. You say too risky? Why? You know,

I watched that and I saw a couple of tweets as well, not to jump on people's tweets, but I watched Darren Till and in my head I was thinking, he's too good for Misfits. That's the first thing I thought when I saw him in the ring

and there's a few people that I think maybe are a bit too good for the scene, like Idris Virgo is one, for example. I think there's some people that are maybe just a bit too good for the scene like Idris Virgo's one for example I think there's some people that are maybe just a bit too good for the scene and I watched Darren Till and look Darren could have stepped that sort of put his foot on the gas in the second round and I think and really

got Anthony out of there if he wanted to honestly so I almost feel like his level's a bit too high for the look Darren Till was a killer a few years ago in the UFC an absolute killer and I know slightly different MMA to boxing, but this is a legit professional fighter, legit. Like, he fought for the title. This is no scrub. So I was watching him and I think, you're almost cheating here.

Like, this scene isn't for you. This scene is for people that really haven't had a professional background in combat sports and they've somehow taken it up and they've learned along it up and they've learned along the way and they've got quite good and then they're fighting each other when i see a professional legit professional fighter like darren till someone who again was at the highest of the

highest of levels five years ago i'm like yeah no you're not supposed to be in this scene that's why i don't mind inviting tommy who, again, is a professional boxer who's had amateur fights. So it kind of, that makes sense. KSI, no. I think that's a bit too, I think it's a bit of a jump. But KSI might want the challenge,

but I look at it and think, I don't know if the risk and reward weigh up. Okay, so honestly, when you saw that KSI, at least for 48 hours, his next fight was going to be against Wayne Bridge, who I guess is a four. Look, I fancy myself a hardcore football fan. I'm bleeding red. Come on, you reds. We're in third place. We're killing every.

I mean, I don't, I don't, I've never heard of Wayne Bridge before. I've legit never heard of him. I've since learned a little bit about him, two caps, all this stuff. Shout out to Tony Bellew. Shout out to Luke Littler in the crowd as well, that they,

you know, they were doing this whole bit. And then it ends up being some guy who looked like, you know, one of the dads on my kids, you know, rec league team. It was the most random thing I've ever seen in my life.

I was like, eh? I thought there was, I honestly thought there was another angle somewhere. Me too. I thought this was part of the skit, right? Like, okay, old man. I thought, 100%.

I thought that they're going to do some WWE thing here. I know Mams likes that. And I thought, okay, they're going to try and throw us a curveball and something else. And I was like, Wayne Bridge? I didn't even know Wayne Bridge had a fight. And then I obviously, as you did,

did a bit of research and found out he had a little fight in 2018. So it wasn't like he had a fight last year. as you did did a bit of research and found out he had a little fight in 2018 so it wasn't like he had a fight last year and I was like okay what's going on here so yeah it made no sense

obviously we know Wayne Bridge over here he's played for Chelsea he's played for Southampton played a couple of times for England but it made no sense

like no sense whatsoever so no I'm almost happy it fell through oh 100% because I think it would have been a bit of an embarrassment ksi should be happy ma'am should be happy the zone should be happy this is not no one's asking for this and and as there's this jockeying of position between ksi and and

jake paul you can't crap on i don't care how old mike tyson is you can't crap on him for fighting mike tyson and then your next fight is against Wayne Bridge a guy who even even the like the competing of the two like again I mean KSI and Jake Paul are the biggest rivals of all rivals like just from that standpoint one can't do the numbers one did on Netflix against Mike Tyson then you then say okay we'll fight Wayne Bridge like it's just not happening I mean the one fight you've not thrown to us yet is the one fight that has to happen. Like, why are we still doing this? Jake Paul KSI.

I'm so confused as to why. They couldn't be further away at this point. I don't even feel like there's any, of course there'll be demand if they make it happen, but it feels like they're going like this. Does it not? Does it not feel like they're going like this? This is Jake Paul versus Nate Robinson. Is it not? This is the like they're going like this this is this is this is jake paul versus

nate robinson is it not this is the fight that we saw four years ago from jake paul like he's for better or worse he's graduated from those types of fights and and i think ksi has graduated as well he just fought tommy fury not that long ago i don't get it i don't get it i mean there were some talks of kSI versus Amir Khan. I remember hearing that. And I was like, okay, dangerous, but I like that. And that would, again, that would almost one-up Jake Paul, if you like, right? It would put bums on seats.

It would be a lot of interest. It would be fantastic. I mean, to go from rumored to be fighting Amir Khan to be fighting a former footballer who had, I think, one white-collar fight is had i think one white collar fight is just it's not great honestly it's not great so i'm happy for ksi because i'm a big ksi fan and big man so i'm happy that that hasn't happened but now the search the search starts who does ksi fight who wants to fight in march who does he fight yeah all right well let's see it won't be darren till it doesn't seem like it it does not seem like it but uh I would love to see it happen. I also want to send a big hearty congratulations

to our boy, Wade Plem, who won his debut. Looked damn good out there, Wade, right? Not bad. It was insane, honestly. I mean, there's talk in the talk and walk in the walk. Like me and you, we talk the talk and I don't think any of us are going to get the gloves on and get in the ring.

At least I am not anyway. For Wade to do it, although a bit younger than us, I have to applaud him. I had to get in there and actually have three minute rounds. think it was what a four rounder three minutes it was that's insane he looked really good the first couple then obviously the gas tank ran empty yes I was like Wade just hang on Wade just hang on and he hanged on and I thought like you know Wade's now by the way Wade's a big name in the scene like Wade now automatically I think it's a top six top seven name in the scene in terms of profile, in terms of a good win now. He might be getting some big fights soon.

I mean, who knows? Wade could be in the mix. Wade KSI. I mean, I saw Nikisa throw that out. Did he do it? He threw it out on Twitter, which I don't think they want. No, no, no, no. There's a story there, right, with everything they've been through.

100%. Obviously, he has to get his feet wet a little bit more, but it was cool to see, and I was proud of him. It was nice, and he had BJ Flores in his corner there guiding him. Masai Warrior, I believe he is. I don't know where they found this young man. He showed some heart, you know, sticking with it. Fourth round, it was getting a little dicey dicey there for

Raid, but no, amazing stuff. It was, it was really cool to see him part of the whole buildup and let's see,

let's see where he takes this. Want to, want to mention a couple other things before we go. We are getting the monster back in action,

lest you forget, Mr. Ade Oladipo. We're getting, in my opinion, one of the most exciting boxers on the planet fighting this Friday,

a rare Friday morning show, at least here in the United States. We usually get them on Tuesday mornings here in the United States. We're getting Naoya Inoue fighting against Yijun Kim, putting his undisputed super bantamweight titles on the line. We were supposed to get him against Australia's

Sam Goodman twice, twice the fight fell through. And so I'm happy we're getting in a way in action because I always love watching him fight. It's such a spectacle every time he fights in Japan. And perhaps this is the last fight before he comes over to the United States and puts on a show here.

I think he's like a minus 5,000 favorite. To me, this is just an opportunity to see one of the best, you know, there's three, right? It's him, Usyk, Crawford. Everyone probably has Usyk number one now. But it does seem like every time one of those best, you know, there's three, right? It's him, Usyk, Crawford. Everyone probably has Usyk number one now. But it does seem like every time one of those guys fights, they kind of leapfrog the others just momentarily,

you know, while we're prisoners of the moment. I love watching him fight. I'm excited to watch him fight. Yeah, but there'll be no jump for Inoue this time. Well, yes. Minus 5,000. Even if he knocks the guy out in the first minute, the first round, there's no jump.

What I do respect for Inoue is that at least he's still fighting. I mean, he's had a couple of cancellations against Sam Goodman and he could easily say, you know, I'm not fighting. Let's just move on and we'll fight someone big in America or in Saudi Arabia, obviously heavily linked to be on a Riyadh season card, but he still wants to

stay active. The thing now is, though, we now want to see some super fights because there are super fight opponents out there. Nakatani's one that everyone's been screaming about let that fight happen right whether it be in Japan or again in Saudi Arabia or the US everyone has been waxing lyrical and screaming about a potential fight with Jesse Baron Rodriguez again weights but all of a sudden in this crazy world of boxing now weights don't't seem to mean so much. I just want to see him in a super fight now. And that's not to say he's not been in super fights before, but something different.

And this doesn't obviously get anyone excited coming up on Friday. It's the one after now that we're all like, okay, what's next? And that's quite dangerous. It's quite risky. Obviously, a new age team will make sure he's fully focused, but I'm already thinking what next and what next being hopefully May, June, July. Man, I remember it was around six, seven months ago. I saw Bob Arum throw out the suggestion of having the Oya Inoue fight at Dodger stadium in Los Angeles. Obviously a huge Asian population there. You have Shohei Otani who plays for the Dodgers

of Japanese descent as well. That would be a scene. And there's a part Shohei Otani, who plays for the Dodgers of Japanese descent as well. That would be a scene. And there's a part of me that thinks, well, why take him away from Japan? He's such a huge draw there. He's selling out the Tokyo Dome, Ariake Coliseum, all these, like, who cares? Just keep him where he's a gigantic draw and there's millions upon millions of people. But there's something fun about now seeing him cross over the monster coming to the United States and fighting here in a big fight. I would love to to see it happen i won't dare bring up the tank davis fight uh because it gets so mad you just did it i mean i i it by the way isn't it crazy that by saying i'm not going to do it you do it i know you do it i know you plan it we're

literally talking about we're literally talking about uh connor ben going up to 160 to fight chris eubank we're talking about terence crawford a natural 147 pounder if not 140 going up to 160 to fight Chris Eubank. We're talking about Terrence Crawford, a natural 147 pounder, if not 140, going up to fight at 168. But the moment you mention Pitbull versus, in a way, ah, you're crazy. Ah, you don't know what you're talking about. Why? I mean, look at this guy.

He's freaking shredded. Look at this man. No, no, no, no. Wow. Look at that. That is some shape. That is some shape. And, you know, I'm always led to believe that he's struggling to make weight.

So he is going to move up. I don't know why. Call me crazy, but Gervonta is such an exciting fighter. It is. I mean, and Gervonta, by the way. I mean, Leonard Ellerbe at times has said he can make 130. I don't know if that's true. So he's pushing the boundaries as well, especially when he goes to 140. So he's not a big guy either. So look, it could happen. I think it's more likely

Jesse Baron Rodriguez goes up as opposed to Inoue goes up to fight Tank. But either way, Inoue's got a couple of superstar SummerSlam WrestleMania type fights either side of his weight class, which is exciting listen uh i would love to see that that's the one i want dodger stadium in a way bam let's go this summer let's go let's go be fantastic oh yeah when you spoke to bam didn't he say two years or something yeah yeah i was like maybe not this summer you know you know when he said that like i i couldn't stop laughing. Because I thought you might say, I don't know, sometime back in 2025.

When he said like 2026, 2027, I was like, what? What do you mean? I mean, come on. Bro, who knows where we're going to be in a year from now, okay? Give it to us now. We've become spoiled, all right? We want all the big fights and we want them now. We're getting some big fights this weekend, Mr. Adi Oladipo. We're going to Nottingham.

Well, you're going to Nottingham. Are you going to Nottingham? I am. You are going to. I am going. Yes, I go up Saturday. I go up Saturday morning for it, looking forward to it. Obviously, it's the first fight card for Mattram Dazon in the UK.

Dalton Smith, European title fight. Dalton Smith, I think a fantastic 140-pounder. On the cusp of really getting into that mix at the world level. He's just below that at the moment. But I think even he said at the back end of 2025, he should be, or at least he wants to be fighting for a world title, or at least be fighting a former world champion or someone maybe coming off a world title defeat. So he's right there. European title fight should be a good one.

Ellie Scottney is fighting on the card as well. Really good female fighter. She's in a unification fight. So it's a good show to kick it off. Nottingham's always great for boxing. It always has been over the years. Carl Froch, Lee Wood, they love their fight in there. And I think Dalton Smith now is almost trying to become

that next British fight star, as some of the old guards kind of just, you know, go off into the sunset. I think Eddie's hoping and banking that he can do something for that Sheffield area. And it's always good, I think, when they take them around. So get a fan base in Nottingham, get a fan base in Manchester. So wherever you land, you sell out. And I think Dalton Smith's one for the future.

It's a fantastic day on DAZN on Saturday. You start with that card. You head over to California, Diego Pacheco. No, excuse me, Las Vegas. You go to Diego Pacheco against Steven Nelson, a stablemate of one Terrence Crawford, who's undefeated and impressive. Big opportunity for him against Pacheco.

I love this. And then you also get BKFC Knucklemania 5 on Saturday night as well. Jeremy Stevens versus Eddie Alvarez. A little something for everyone, Ade. It's crazy. It's crazy. Honestly, back to the Pacheco one.

I think that's such an important fight for Eddie and Matt from US and what they've done over there. Pacheco was one of their first sign-ins. And I think everyone kind of said, okay, Pacheco could be one for the future. Let's see. I always thought he was a bit wiry for 168 pounds. He's now filled out a little bit. Again, a bit like Donald Smith. He's on the cusp of a world title fight.

I guess the biggest problem for him is that 168 is dominated by one man and one man only right now. That's Canelo. But I do think that we are going to get some good fights. Like if Pacheco comes through this one, Eddie should be able to make Pacheco Belanger. It's an in-house fight. Make it. We're interested to see what Munguia does. But again, there's fights there to be made

for Pacheco, some big names. I think Pacheco's a star. He now draws a crowd as well, which is always important. I think there'll be 6,000 or 7,000 at the venue, and that's all Pacheco. So really looking forward to seeing what Pacheco can do. And then the following week,

we get the return of, in some people's eyes and in her eyes, the quote, Clarissa Shields, back in beautiful Flint, Michigan. How about that? Defending her WBC heavyweight title against Danielle Perkins.

Super Brawl Sunday. I love it. Sunday, February 2nd. You know what I like about Clarissa, what Clarissa's done? I've noticed in the last couple of weeks, Clarissa's mentioned Savannah Marshall

and Savannah Marshall's mentioned Clarissa. Clarissa knows that was such a big fight. And I know Clarissa's done. I've noticed in the last couple of weeks, Clarissa's mentioned Savannah Marshall and Savannah Marshall's mentioned Clarissa. Clarissa knows that was such a big fight. And I know Clarissa's spoken about sort of not wanting to come to the UK, wanting Savannah to come to the US. Over here, it's such a big fight. I don't know how big a fight that is. And that's not me looking past her opponent

that she's got coming up, Clarissa, but Clarissa needs to be in super fights. And the Savannah one was such a big fight over here. And I do feel like, I know they're both in the PFL and all that good stuff, but I do feel like them two getting on again over here, it's just such a big fight. So hopefully if Clarissa comes through her fight,

she can call out Savannah. Savannah can put those PFL gloves down and put some boxing gloves up and let's just get that one done again. Yeah, would love to see that. Time now for everyone's favorite segment of the week, sponsored by no one.

Ah, what? We still haven't got a sponsor? No, no. What's going on? But we're working on it. It's of course the parting shot, Ade, and we'll go back to Manchester where your friend and mine, Darren Till,

won his Misfits debut against Anthony Taylor. He put it on Anthony Taylor. Here it is. What do you think of the technique? And also, what do you think of the high black socks from when Darren Till? You know what? Yeah, that shocked me.

The socks kind of shocked me. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. I've seen high white socks, but not the black ones. Not black ones. He's obviously trying to be different. The technique's good good i mean darren's been sparring legit boxers i mean you know mma guys can fight they can box and darren clearly has a bit of a boxing background he's in a good gym you know you know he's been around all those liverpool fighters as you said tony belly was there liam smith was there i'm sure they've all shared the ring with Darren before, so he can fight

I just do wonder what he does next, I mean I'm so intrigued as to what he does next I would love it to be the Julio Cesar Chavez but I would desperately love to see Tommy Fury and I put it out there, I tweeted I said on that performance Darren Till

would have beaten Tommy Fury a lot of people got very peed off with me. So hopefully people have started to show Tommy Fury those tweets and Tommy Fury gets riled up and says, okay, let's do this. It's a big fight. It's a big fight. Big, big fight. There is something funny about the fact that Darren was one of the most vocal dissenters of this scene. And now here he is fighting on a misfits card against, you know, influencer type personalities.

Gotta make that money. Gotta make that money. And maybe he's the guy who goes in there to kill the scene. Maybe that's the whole gimmick. By the way, just moments ago, Darren Till actually tweeting this. John Fury has rang a member of my team and informed us that he will only let Tommy Fury fight me if I send a public apology to them so i will say i am sorry little john sorry that you've got a face like a bulldog

chewing a wasp you fat greasy lesbian oh okay so that's not happening then i don't know did john really think that Darren was good? Of all people, Darren Till. This whole thing is so weird. Apologize for saying it. Maybe it's all building up to something. I think John is fantastic for the scene. I can't believe the WWE have not got John Fury as a manager.

Oh my God. I think he's incredible. Imagine he had a stable of travelers and John Fury's out there cutting promos on their behalf. Oh my God, that's a great idea. That's a fantastic idea. Usually I'm the one coming up with the wrestling ideas. This is fantastic. Honestly, I don't know how they've not done it yet already.

He's massive as well. I think he'd be fantastic. But I do think he plays an important part in this as well. Like Tommy Fury, KSI was already big, but it became even bigger because of John Fury. And I feel like he could be an important part in this as well. Like Tommy Fury KSI was already big, but it became even bigger because of John Fury. And I feel like he could be an important part in making Tommy Fury Darren till even as big as anything. So I'll be surprised if we don't see Tommy Fury versus Darren till sometime

this year. I do think now it's, it's, it's big. It might be bigger than Tommy Fury versus KSI 2. Oh, 100%. Tommy Fury versus KSI 1 was awful. I don't want to see that again.

That was a horrible fight. I'd love to see this. I'm talking just numbers, just numbers. Oh, yeah. But I mean, I just don't think that there's any sort of demand for it because the first one was awful. By the way, earlier in the show, you said that the fight that you're most looking forward to

or that you most want to see in 2025, Canelo Craw for me it's it's darren till versus tommy fear and that's the difference between us right there that there sums up that sums up our relationship right there yes sir ade you're the man another great episode has come and gone it's time to say goodbye uh some big fights happening this weekend i will be watching you from afar in my beautiful adopted hometown of Nottingham. Is it Nottingham, sure? Or is it just Nottingham? I don't know. Just Nottingham.

It's the home of... Nottingham. Robinhood, right? Home of Robinhood. Home of Karl Frotch, your best friend. Flat Earth, yes. By the way, it's not Nottingham. It's Nottingham.

Okay, make sure on telly, say Nottingham. And can you give me a shout out? Can you say, hey, we're's not Nottingham. It's Nottingham. Okay. Make sure on telly say Nottingham. And can you give me a shout out? Can you say, hey, we're here in Nottingham, home of, you know, Nottingham Forest. My co-pilot, huge celebrity fan. He's been backing them all this time. Can I get some sort of mention? Yes. Love it.

Guaranteed. I will put it in the autocue read. Love it. Love it. Thank you, Ade. Talk to you next week, my man. Good luck out there. Thank you, everyone, for watching another episode of Ariel and Ade.

Your continued support means a lot. I'm going to drag this out so we can just see Ade continue to dance, show off the moves, cut a rug, show off that style, that grace, that pizzazz. Enjoy the fights this weekend. We'll see you next time.