The Ariel Helwani Show - Shakur Stevenson and Conor Benn IN STUDIO, Paulo Costa, Morgan Charriere, Chris Algieri, massive weekend reaction

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

Ariel Helwani opens the show with a recap of combat sports’ massive weekend, before Petesy and the Boys in the Back join to break down Katie Taylor’s big win over Amanda Serrano on Netflix (02:32).Shakur Stevenson returns to the studio after his statement win over William Zepeda to talk about the fight, his friendship with Terence Crawford, his promotional future, his callout of ‘Tank’ Davis, Floyd Mayweather’s mentorship, and more (45:21).Retired former champion and current analyst Chris Algieri calls in next to discuss the next month of boxing, including Manny Pacquiao's return. He also match-makes for the sport's biggest stars such as Shakur Stevenson and ‘Tank’ Davis (1:32:08).Conor Benn is next up in-studio alongside Shakur Stevenson, and the two trade verbal blows while setting the terms for a future matchup. After Stevenson leaves, Benn discusses issues with rebooking the fight against Chris Eubank Jr. and more (1:58:08).Paulo Costa joins before his UFC 318 return against Roman Kopylov to give insight into his long layoff, wanting to fight Khamzat Chimaev, his loss against Sean Strickland, defending Ariel online, and more (2:58:28).Morgan Charriere is the final guest of the show and joins after his back-and-forth win over Nate Landwehr. He gets into pausing social media, his girlfriend’s fighting career, who he wants next, and more (3:42:48).Ariel and the crew finish off with a reaction to Ben Askren’s update videos, news and notes, and by answering your Super Chats (4:01:52).

Ladies and gentlemen, great to be back in our home. It was a memorable one for yours truly as they say myself and we'll go over all of that at the top of today's program, but there is a lot to get to, my friends. After another busy weekend in combat sports and an insanely busy weekend coming up in combat sports, by my estimation, there are five pretty big events on Saturday alone.

You've got the PFL Africa debut over in South Africa. You've got Usyk Dubois II over in London. You have UFC 318, headlined by Dustin Poirier versus Max Holloway for the third time. And more importantly, the last dance for one, El Diamante, Dustin Poirier, this is it. This is the final one. This is his final fight.

Is it really going to be his final fight? Yeah, it seems like it's going to be his final fight. You have Manny Pacquiao against Mario Barrios or Barrios versus Pacquiao for the WBC Lightweight title. You have the return of Bam Rodriguez over on Dazon as well. You've got a lot in the span of some, I don't know, 12 or so hours on Saturday. But we'll have a lot of time to talk about all of that in the hours and days to come. Loaded show, lot to get to, very fun post, I don't know if you could call it a pay-per-view Monday.

Well, there was a pay-per-view on Dazon pay-per-view on Saturday, a post Netflix Monday. You had the Netflix card on Friday, you had the Dazon pay-per-view on Saturday, a post Netflix Monday. You had the Netflix card on Friday. You had the Dzone pay-per-view on Saturday. You had the UFC in Nashville on Saturday. There was a BKFC event as well on Saturday. Oh, what a time in the world of combat sports. He had like 45 wrestling events.

There was AEW All-In over in Texas. He had Saturday night's main event on Saturday, last match for Goldberg. You had Evolution on Sunday night. Oh my gosh, you could do an eight hour show just recapping it all. Today on the program, back in the show, we're going to be joined by Morgan Charrier, the last pirate who defeated Nate Landwehr on Saturday in Nashville.

He's been trading wins, losses, wins, losses on Saturday in Nashville. He's been trading. Wins, losses, wins, losses, wins, losses. He's back home in France. Big win for The Last Pirate. The former Cage Warriors featherweight champion will talk to him about that at the top of the fourth hour or is it the third hour? Third hour, fourth hour, the four o'clock spot. Paulo Costa Boa Xinha. Is it Boa Xinha or Boa Xinho? Boa Xinha. It's been so long I don't even remember his nickname. Boa Xinha?

Boa Xinha, yeah. Boa Xinha. He's returning finally. Co-main event this Saturday. UFC 318, Smoothie King Center against Roman Kapilov, who's been on a roll. We haven't seen Paulo Costa since June of last year, coincidentally the last Dustin Poirier fight,

when he fought Shawn Strickland in the co-main of that pay-per-view at the Prudential Center. His last win was the fight against Luke Rockhold the night that Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman, whatever number show that was. In another lifetime I would remember this. That was one in Utah, 2022, I believe. It's been a while for him. Anyway, always great to catch up with Paulo Costa, so we'll check in with him at 4 o'clock. Prior to that, we're going to be joined by Connor Ben in studio, which is very

exciting. Connor Ben of course coming off that thriller, maybe the fight of the year, potentially the the walkout of the year for Chris Eubank prior to that fight. It sounds like they have a date September 20th. Do they have a location? That hasn't been announced. He was at the events this weekend. We'll talk to Connor Brandon's studio. Looking forward to that very much. Prior to that, Chris Algieri is going to join us to preview all the stuff going on in boxing. Did you know he's a former kickboxing champion who then transitioned to boxing? We don't see a lot of that. I'm going to ask him about that, about Rico Verhoeven and whatnot. But we'll talk to him about everything going on. Prior to that, we'll have Shakur Stevenson, who had the big win over Williams of Peta this past Saturday. We had him in studio last week.

We'll have him in studio once again. We were supposed to have Wonderboy Thompson also on the program, but he just hit me up and told me that he has an appointment to check out his shin. That gnarly, gnarly cut, that gash happened in the second round of his fight against Gabriel Bonfent, a fight in which he lost, which I thought he could have won. One judge had it for him, the other two did not. Anyway, he's going to join us tomorrow, so have no fear, have no fear. There's the lineup. A nice five-pack two in studio guest.

Just another Monday. It's just another manic Monday. The UFC card was a very entertaining one. It was headlined by Derrick Lewis against Taliesin Teixeira. And what a fight that was. It only lasted about 35 seconds. I think it was 35 to be exact. Lewis went in there, knocked down T'Chara, did his thing.

And the ending was a little bit confusing and unceremonious in that right here, you'll see Telsen's right hand grabbing onto the fence. It appeared as though he was using that to prop himself up to gain some leverage. Ref called off the fight and then there was all kinds of shenanigans from Derrick Lewis. There was the classic Black Beast celebration. There was the peeing on the corner. There was the phone call apparently with Donald Trump who was all over the sports world this weekend. There was all kinds of stuff. Was he really fact talking to donald trump in that moment according to dana white. Yes

Uh, he took off his pants, of course he Waved them around his head and when I say pants, I mean shorts It was uh, it was vintage derrick louis a nice win for him. The Nashville crowd went home happy. Like I said, Bonfein with the somewhat controversial split decision went over Stephen Thompson. Steve Garcia, who'll be on the show tomorrow, had a unanimous decision win over Calvin Kader. Another hard-fought victory for Garcia, who quietly is putting them together. Charrier with the win over Nate Landwehr. a scintillating third round stoppage. He won a performance bonus for that.

Vitor Petrino had a very nice submission win in the first round against Austin Lane. What else? Tuco Tokos defeated Junior Tafa via Arm Triangle in the second round. Chris Curtis fresh off his cornering at the Tough Enough event. Defeated Max Griffin via split decision. What about Jake Matthews? 69 seconds, all he needed to submit Chidi and Jokowani. Eduardo Moura defeated Lauren Murphy in her retirement fight.

So unfortunately, she doesn't go out a winner. Walter Walker has become one of the great stories in the UFC. Three straight heel hooks. The brother of one Johnny Walker. Three straight heel hooks. He does it again, this time against Kennedy and Zetchukwu. He submitted him in just 54 seconds. Unbelievable. Very old-school for someone to just kind of stick to the same thing over and over again, especially something as unique as the heel hook. And then of course Mike Davis with another just, I mean just an absolute beast out there, another great knockout this time against Mitch Ramirez. And the the night started with Fatima Klein defeating Melissa Martinez via head kick knockout in

the third round. So I thought a lot of great action there on Saturday. It was in the midst of so much stuff going on. Top of the show, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Netflix card. Wanted to talk a little bit about my experience. Obviously, as you know, Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor fought for the third and very likely final time, as you probably know by now. Katie Taylor won.

And some might say this was the least exciting of the three. You're probably right. The output way, way less than the second and the first. They had actually landed the exact amount of punches and it was just 70. A little bit of cut, a little bit of a bleeding there situation, but it was it was a different plan of attack from the two of them. A much more measured, much more controlled pace throughout and that I think benefited Katie tremendously. I thought Amanda was going to go balls to the wall. She almost knocked her out in the first round of the second

fight, fifth round, 10th round of the first fight and thought perhaps she had her chance. But she admitted afterwards that it was a very measured attack and perhaps in retrospect in the immediate aftermath that wasn't the best plan of attack because she didn't win the fight. As you see here, one judge had it 95-95, the other two 93-97 for Katie. And I thought Katie did enough to win. So it ends up being three, nothing for Katie Taylor by, by no means was it a bad fight.

The, the, the, the standard was so freaking high. It was set for the second and the first. They were in my opinion, 2022 fight of the year in boxing, they were the, the, the standard was so freaking high. It was set for the second and the first. They were in my opinion, 2022 fight of the year in boxing, 2024 fight of the year in boxing. So that's an incredibly high standard to replicate. Um, they're getting a bit older and, and, and both probably wanted to correct some of the mistakes of those first two fights, despite the fact that Katie won both.

They were both very, very close and some thought that she won the second. So it was interesting to see them fight a different fight. But in the end, the right person won and you know, they both look like they're going to continue. There was some thought that Katie Taylor would, would retire after this fight. But while I asked her that question, she just kind of used it as an opportunity to say she doesn't want to fight Amanda again, but it doesn't seem like she wants to retire anytime soon.

And there are obviously some big fights out there for her. There's the likes of Chantel Cameron, who was talking a little bit of smack. Holly Holm is back in boxing fighting with MVP. There are fights out there and certainly for Amanda Serrano as well. For me personally, very, very surreal to be in Madison Square Garden looking up. Yeah, it's just such a special venue. To be at Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena, my favorite arena, you know, my favorite team plays there.

It means a lot. I've had a lot of great memories there. To be on a platform like Netflix, the biggest platform in the world, to be with these two fighters who I respect tremendously, and really the whole card just filled with great role models and people and fighters. It was just a very special evening. I would be lying though if I didn't say that I had

mixed emotions throughout. One of my big problems as a human being but also as a professional is that I have a hard time letting things go and compartmentalizing things. And so I was talking actually to, I don't mean to name drop here, I was talking to Andre Ward on Thursday as we were waiting for the weigh-ins, and he was talking to me about being a perfectionist, and I was talking to him about being a perfectionist when it comes to work and all this stuff. And I told him about one of the incidents that I'll never quite get over. I was working 2019 going into 2020 Christmas day game, Celtics at Raptors. And I was the sideline reporter for ESPN.

It was a big deal. It was the first ever Christmas game in Canada. Raptors had just won the NBA championship. They were playing the Celtics at home and I was doing the walk-off interview. And I tried to get cute with my, with one of my questions to Jalen Brown, Celtics one. And I tried to like sprinkle in a fact about two teammates with 30 or more points on a Christmas game. I just kind of botched it. I botched it and I was so mad. I was livid. I was fuming afterwards.

I remember seeing Richard Jefferson at the elevator bank, and he was like, why do you look so upset? And I told him, and he's like, bro, just let it go. Like, no one noticed, no one cares. Even Mike Breen, who I respect more than any broadcaster on the planet, texted me, oh, great job. And I couldn't let it go. And I went into my hotel room and I was yelling at the

top of my lungs and I remember telling my wife I want to walk into traffic, I was so mad, I'm such an idiot. Well, that was the most mad that I've ever been after an event and I think Friday was up there as far as how mad I was because, and it was a great lesson for me and I think there's a lesson for a lot of people here. Right before I walked into the ring, so how it works is the fight ends, and it's still a surreal thing, and I don't get to do it often. Every six, seven months there's just not a lot of opportunities, and I could discuss that as well, but right before the post-fight interview for the Shernika Johnson versus Shredda Metcalf fight, which was ultimately won by Shernika Johnson. She is now the undisputed Bantamweight champion

right before, I'm talking seconds before, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm told by someone on the team, Hey, uh, you should ask her, uh, what it feels like to be the first ever undisputed bantamweight champion in the four belt era for male or female. It's never been done. Now I knew that it's never been done as far as the women are concerned because I had said it earlier in the week while doing the press conference and reading about it. The male part did not sound right. It did not sound right. But I'm talking I got like 30 to 45 seconds to process this. So I'm like, all right, well, if this is what's being told to me, then I guess it's right. And so I say

to her, first line, you're now the first, male or female, how does it feel? How does that sound? She reacts, all this and more. I go and sit down and I'm like, I really don't, something seems off here. And I look it up and lo and behold, it's not right. Naoya Inoue was undisputed bantamweight champion in 2022. I mean, if I could have dug a hole in MSG and buried myself, I would have been very happy to do that. I know that there are a lot of people in the sport of boxing who are trying to discredit me at every single opportunity, who are trying to say that I don't belong there, who are trying to say that I'm not worthy,

that I'm an MMA guy, this and that. They could say all they want that I'm not good at my job. They could say that I don't ask the right questions, whatever. But if I give them any type of inch, if I give them any type of ammunition to back up their claim that I don't belong there, that pisses me off. Because I'm trying to do even extra to show that I do belong there, that I have put in the time, that I have respect, that I have the knowledge, that I have the chops, all

these things and more. And I think I proved that on this show, on the Dazon show, but on a platform like that, it's times 10, it's times 100. And so I gave them that. There's no one to blame but me. People can tell me anything they want, it's up to me to say it or not. So I'm not blaming anyone. I should have known better.

If I wasn't 100% sure, I shouldn't have said it. And I felt horrible about that, and I felt horrible that I may have ruined her moment or misled her or anything like that. And I did reach out afterwards and she said she didn't even notice it because of the moment she was so excited, whatever. I just felt better reaching out, but I was so fucking mad. I was so, I was so livid that I had made that mistake on such a big platform. I couldn't get over it. I'm not over it now. I was pissed off all Saturday, all Sunday. I was, I mean, I was beside myself. Earlier in the night, I was not mad about a moment that was talked about a lot in

the aftermath, which was my post-fight interview with Ramla Ali. Ramla Ali and Leila Furtado fought in a highly entertaining affair, which in the end Ramla won, which I thought Furtado had won about, I don't know, 6-2, that type of scorecard. In fact, I was texting the group chat asking what the odds were going into the fight because I was so surprised at how the fight was going. And it was something like minus a thousand minus 1100. She was that big of a favorite. The broadcast Sean Wheelock, who was the unofficial, um, scorekeeper, he also had it, I think six to two or five to three.

So when they were reading the scorecards and it was like, I don't remember what the numbers were, but let's say like 87, 85, something like that. I was talking to the Portuguese interpreter and I was telling her like, okay, you're going to stand here and Lila is going to stand here. And I was that sure that she had won the fight. She fought her, her heart out. They both did, but someone has to win. And then of course they announced that that Ramel wins. So now, okay, now you got to change what you're thinking. And I, I, I, like this is my dream. This is everything I wanted to do. Like if you would have asked me 20 years ago, be in the ring, be on the stage, interview the fighters, not in the back, but like in the ring, moments after. And I take that job extremely, extremely, extremely serious.

Like that is a privilege and it's a huge honor, but it's a very important job. Um, I didn't think she wanted sometimes in the past when I've done this, and sometimes when I've watched people do this, I have, I've thought to myself like, you know, just be honest with how you feel. Um, don't be disrespectful, but I don't like when people say like some people are saying, or the internet is saying, or some have said, or they're like, no, if this is how you feel, don't hide behind some people.

And so I didn't think that she wanted, so I said to her, yeah, I want to be transparent with you. I didn't think you won that fight. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. The clip that was put out cut off the part where I said that and reiterated it in my follow-up, but nevertheless I thought she handled it very well and I would like to think that, you know, that I did. Clearly this ruffled some feathers. A lot of people were upset about

this, which, you know, is going to happen, but not for a second did I try to be disrespectful or take away from her moment. I did see, unfortunately, a lot of people try to be disrespectful or take away from her moment. I did see, unfortunately, a lot of people try to insinuate that this was some sort of like Jewish Muslim thing, which, you know, is very disheartening and fortunately has become the norm as of late. And, you know, just the things that are posted and written are just mind-blowing that this is okay, that people feel this way. I tried to go out of my way on Thursday and Friday, excuse me, Wednesday and Thursday, press her and weigh in to give her props. I say, Salaam alaikum to her. I talk about her, her, her background from Somalia, Somalia, as, as, as an activist, as one of the time women of the year in 2023.

Like give her all the flowers in the world. And she's an incredible, incredible human of the Time Women of the Year in 2023, like give her all the flowers in the world and she's an incredible, incredible human being and role model. And you see some people being like, let's just be clear about something like, Ramali is X, Y and Z to talk to her like this is crazy. Like, first of all, like I'm not taking into account

who this person, like you either want to fight or you didn't. And if you're looking at it through that lens, then you're doing it wrong. Your background, your life history that shapes who you are. That tells the story, but ultimately we don't score fights based on. What you've overcome, who you are, what you stand for, what you believe in, where your family's from, where you are from, things that you have won. That's absurd. Uh, that is, that is absolutely Furtado deserved to win that fight just as much as Ramla did. And to suggest that Ramla has been through more

and therefore deserves to win the fight is a crazy, crazy thing. Now I know I'm giving firepower to some loony people out there. But I just wanted to clear up. There was no malice. There was no disrespect. There was no bad intentions. I just wanted to keep it real and I would do the same. I think in that role, when there's a bad judging decision, when there's a bad scorecard, when

the wrong person wins, there is a responsibility to keep it real. She did say multiple times that she thought, I think it was in the same way, that she thought judging decision when there's a bad scorecard, when the wrong person wins, there is a responsibility to keep it real. She did say multiple times that she thought, I think it was in the second round that it was a knockdown. It wasn't a knockdown. And she used that moment as the basis for her whole, um, you know, her whole, uh, defense as to why she want, um, for Tatto's glove did not touch the mat and neither did her knee, no part of her touched the mat. It was very close, it was that close, but they showed multiple

replays. She didn't have access to that, I don't blame her for it, but I did, I saw it. So it wasn't a knockdown and the referee made the right call. Nevertheless, these are moments I want to be in and I want to get better and I want to do it more. In case you don't know, in MMA you can't really do it in my position. Cause you have to work for the promoter to do these jobs, to be on the broadcast, you have to work for the promoter and I've turned down many opportunities because I don't want to work for a promoter and boxing. It's different.

You work for the network, for the platform. So in this case, I was working for, for Netflix and the production company who was doing the event ever wonder and not the promoter. So, um, and that's the way most boxing is, is done as far as production is concerned, just like other sports, when you're doing the NBA on ESPN, you're not working for the Knicks or the Celtics, you're working for ESPN. Same with NFL, same with major league baseball and on and on it goes. MMA is a very unique sport in that regard.

And so these are opportunities that I love and that I try to take advantage of that I tried to take very, very seriously. So you start to get in your head and you start to, to overthink things. And, um, yeah, I love and that I try to take advantage of and that I try to take very, very seriously. So you start to get in your head and you start to overthink things and yeah, and you know, that's just from my perspective. People are saying like save that for your podcast, save that for your show. Well, I mean, if not there, when? If not there, when?

And am I open to the retort retort of hey maybe you should say like do you think you did enough to win I've done that before but in this case I thought it was so egregious I thought it was so faulty that it needed to be said if it was a close one if it was a five three or four four something like that I wouldn't say it I've never said it in the ten or so times that I've done it if not more but this one I thought was like 6-2 to be honest and there wasn't a knockdown. But it wasn't all bad, it wasn't all bad my friends, it was great to be there and to be in the the main event. I really didn't like my post-fight interview for the rematch in November with Katie and Amanda. I like this one

much better on Saturday or excuse me on Friday. Ellie Scotney was incredible. The Baumgartner Miranda fight was surprising. It was surprising how close it was. Shadeja Green was outstanding. What a win over Savannah Marshall. So there was there was a lot to like. Chantal Cameron unfortunately was the only one I didn't get to interview because we were running out of time.

Tam Tebow was amazing. So I would love to do more of this, and I take it very seriously, and it's just a huge, huge honor. I got to meet Isaiah Hardenstein, former Nick. That was a cool thing. There were a lot of luminaries in attendance, but perhaps none more so than the boys in the back who at one point while I was talking to Isaiah Hardenstein, I get a picture of their POV of me talking to Isaiah. And then I realize, oh, they're somewhere. And then I see them almost like there's like a spotlight on them because they're right there. And when I saw them, there were less people around, so it was very easy to point out GC and Rick and then as I look on one of my favorite Twitter accounts the Jedi Goodman account I happen to see that perhaps they were on camera more than I was throughout the night.

It was unbelievable. Here's Katie in the back and there's GC and Rick. Very nonchalant there at the beginning. You may have missed it. There's another shot of GC and Rick just in the crowd. You may have missed it. There's another shot of GC and Rick just in the crowd Here's during the I think this is the national anthem there's GC again, but then the best of them all Was immediately following The main event interviews the crescendo the apex of it all Here it is in case you missed it the night ends in the most fitting of ways. New York City, Madison Square Garden, please show some love to these legends, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano!

That is absurd. What's so absurd about it is there's no one around them anymore and it's just GC hamming it up. How did this happen? My theory, guys, is that the jib operator recognized you and just kept shooting and the direct, because for those that don't know, there's a guy in the truck that has to take those shots. There's a million shots and someone might have said like,

oh, these are good shots, so he just tried to up his chances of getting you on the air as much as possible. Is that the theory we're going with or is it just you're just great on camera and the camera's in love with you? So the first time we got on, they're showing the broadcast in MSG and like there's a roving hanging camera. And the first time I went by, we got on the Jumbotron.

I was going crazy. I was like, Oh, Rick, Rick, we got on the Jumbotron, man, that's amazing. And then tech starts flowing in there. Like now you actually got on Netflix. So then at that man, that's amazing. And then tech starts flowing in, they're like, no, you actually got on Netflix. So then at that point, you would just see the camera, like you'd just be kind of chilling, and then the camera would just swing by in front of you. And yeah, we'd just kind of go crazy.

I mean, Rick was busy playing magic most of the time. Yeah, I mean, defend yourself here. Try to aim it as close as we could. What do I need to defend? GC was in the moment. Are you actually playing magic in that moment? No, no, no, you can tell, as Connor has astutely pointed out many times,

if I'm sideways, it's magic. If I'm straight up and down. I was just, everybody's tweeting at us and texting us. So I was just responding to some of those. So good. That last shot where it's just empty seats. Everybody had filed out at that point. I mean, it was, we were on a high. Katie Taylor just won. We both better as an underdog. Is this the last shot here? Is this the last one?

This is the end. The closing shot. There were a couple great tweets, because a lot of people had a reaction, you know, seeing us, seeing us in there. There were several great, great tweets. What do we got? What do we got? I think we have some, yeah. The best one was Jedi. Jedi had the best one of the night, by far. As far as, there it is, my thoughts on the night,

mysterious Frank dodged a bullet. I mean, could you imagine? Who, me? Could you imagine while Frank was lamenting the fact that he didn't get a ticket, could you imagine if you would have been front and center? We would have been screwed. The whole gimmick.

The gimmick dies that night. Or was he there and he's just that good at eluding the camera? Yes, yes, yes. There were a couple more. Watching live, I yelled out to my wife, that's GC in New York, Rick. And she replied, can you please turn that shit down?

And then I think we have one more. This is from Instagram, Scott Dean. This was the best moment of the night for me. My girl was confused. What's wrong with you? As I did the robot to the boys in the back theme song. Such a good song. So good. So good. That was great.

P.T. did you notice them as well on the big screen? Yeah. We spent a lot of time trying to locate them. Chuck did with his eagle eye. And then from then on we were just looking down like every time I broke away from the frights were like, they're going to be back on now. I think it's way for the come down. My dad picked me up from the airport this morning. Eleven hours ago, just to record. And then he goes, Jesus, I knew my was on the fucking telemortem Ariel.

And even yesterday, right, we're going around doing the pubs and don't want to spoil too much, but we're in a pub at the end and two lads from Limerick were talking to me outside and then they walk in and they went, Jesus, there's your man from the Netflix broadcast. I was like, fucking hell. When I walked in this morning, there's a man who works here at Yahoo who's a huge boxing fan. First thing he does as soon as he sees me, he puts his hands up and he's just like, the man from Netflix, there he is, I saw him a million times. It's unbelievable. You got way more love than me, the two of you.

We didn't even have to do anything, we just stood there. There you are, you just had to show up with an Irish jersey. I thought you were going to wear the one from the mystery box. I'm telling you, the Roy call was made, Like that's an iconic Ireland Jersey from the 1990s at the 1990 world cup. And I think that's why, especially for Irish people watching at home, they would have saw that Jersey and then locked in on it every single time to the point where they're like, hang on a second. You know what I mean? So it was actually genius. Then we were also with more of your Irish friends and they were like I saw you on the broadcast I can

afford you're a hundred percent Irish just like no some American dude wearing that that's my favorite part there were so many passionate Irish fans in that building and it cut yes every single time no more passionate the GC what's crazy is you don't know when you're on air, right? So I was able to see the jumbotron. Oh, it was the same bra, okay, got it. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but most of the time, yes. Pizzi, you just landed as you pointed out. Yeah, no, it's great. Just listen to you.

Drawing on there for 24 minutes. Thanks for that. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I mean, listen, you don't want to pick a fight with me right now. Can I just say it? In the mood that I'm in, coming into this studio, a total pigsty. I was keeping it to myself. But if you want to pick the fight, we can pick the fight. The one time that you come here, literal garbage all over the studio. Garbage in the studio, empty boxes, nothing's put back. So I would keep the quips for another day, but please continue. Oh, listen, listen, it's too warm in there. You need to turn down the thermostat, which you need to do.

The thing about the Ali thing, if you didn't ask that of less respect for you, if you didn't say like, that was controversial, that would be very bad, right? Like, they're on the broadcast, everyone on the broadcast, it's announced and they're going, oh, this is a terrible decision, this is not good. And then for you to go in and interview her and then just be like, Jesus, fair play to you. Ram Lali. That was brilliant. That would be, that would have been weird. That's what I thought. But, uh, you know, all the, uh, all the experts online, some of them, some of them, I'm not gonna say all of them, uh, thought otherwise. What did you

think PT? What did you think? Uh, by the way the way, kudos to you and Chuck for a very special post-fight edition of The Crack on Friday. I love those. Um, but being in attendance, you were there for the first one. You were there for the third one. You were there at Three Arena. You've covered Katie for so many years. You've watched her. You said, I think, I think, correct me if I'm wrong, you said it was one of her

best performances, which I think a lot of people wouldn't agree with. Why'd you feel that way? I think it was her best performance out of all the the whole trilogy. Like I thought she was winning those fights, but I was like, oh, I won't, like if they called it for Serrano, I wouldn't have been like, well that's shocking. I thought, I had no doubt in my mind on Friday night in MSG. I was like, she's definitely won this fight. There's no doubt about it. So that was the reason I think it's her best performance and all of them.

Look, maybe not the most exciting, but I thought she was more dominant than she'd been against Serrano in any other fight. The atmosphere was incredible. We got in there and it was like, well, no, this is gonna be a complete Serrano show. And then I reminded Chuck that the first time they fought in MSG, I believe he said this to me when we sat down and I was like, the Irish people are still in the pub.

And that is exactly what it was because we were walking down 8th Avenue and the Irish pubs were still heaving. And it was, you could note this because every time Katie showed up on the screen, there'd be massive boos when we first got in and then Serrano would come in, the place would explode. But as the fights got closer and more Irish people were coming in and very close to the actual main event in fact, it started to level off. I still think there was more Puerto Ricans in MSG. I felt like they had the edge this time over the Irish the first time. But I think from when the anthem started up until the end of Serrano's entrance was the best

atmosphere I've ever been in in and out of fight like ever. My God. It was incredible. It was honestly deafening. It was deafening and I, you know, who knows if it was loud or not. 2022 is one of the loudest arenas I've ever been in and this was the same. Everyone deserves a ton of credit for the Serrano Walkout in particular, the Serrano Walkout to me was just unbelievable. I wasn't familiar with that. Andy, do you know that artist that came out? Yeah.

What's her name again? Naty Natasha. She was pregnant, huh? Yeah, she was. I was like, wow. So cool. She was amazing. Yeah, she was so, so, so good.

That's a great song. It's not new, so it's an interesting choice, but I thought it was great. Is it called Criminal? Yeah. Criminale. What is she saying in there? Oh man, I don't know the lyrics by heart.

But is it about being a criminal? It's saying, no, she's saying, let me think it in my head. Criminale, crin, crin, crin. He's saying like, she's saying your style, your flow is very criminal. That's what the chorus says. And then it transitions into the next City Dancers. Oh, that was so good.

New York. And then freaking Nueva York. Nah, the way I screamed in my house, I was like, she had to do this. If she didn't do this, I was gonna riot. She freaking nailed it. She nailed it. Now, I will say, in the arena,

you go from that to the Katy one. The energy's a little different. But then when you go- Wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean? I wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait the religious music. But then at home when I watched it, it was much better. Yeah, it looked incredible. The Troy color all on the walkway and everything like that. But do you know what? I love that about Katie, that they were dying for like, will you just come out to like, you know, where the streets have no name for you too? And she's like, no, it's got this Christian rock band from Galway that I really enjoy. So we'll come out to this one. Yeah.

Fair play. I tweeted right in between, and I saw some people saying this, like right in between, I was like that walkout from Amanda was one of the greatest that I've ever experienced. Yeah. I don't know if it's quite Chris Eubank Jr. Um, from, from April, but in terms of the

energy, the music, the production, and by the way, coupled that with the, um, the Berlanga walkout on, on Saturday, on Saturday. It's very hard to nail. We've seen people try to nail the live singer component and it doesn't work. You couldn't even hear Fat Joe on Saturday. The audio was just horrendous. So it's just a hard thing to nail. And then I saw some people being like, oh, I can't believe the promoters are walking out with Amanda, the team walked out first, and then it's just Nekisa and Jake with Amanda.

And literally like three minutes later, there's Eddie Hearn walking out with Kitty. And you know they don't like Eddie Hearn and vice versa, but I thought it was a nice touch and a respectful touch to have him walk out with her because he usually does walk out with her. And even the whole team walked out. Brian Peters walked out, Ross, Tomas.

So I don't feel, and correct me if you feel otherwise, Pizzi, like there were some things that I think bothered people in the buildup, you know, that Katie was announced first and all this stuff. In the end, she walked out second and I thought they gave her the same type of respect that Amanda got. Yeah. I think when I came down to fight, no, it was all evens. Like, obviously we were all like, what the fuck is this? When Serrano start levitating above us at the weigh in on Friday and we're like, well, that's an interesting choice. And I think even Katie was, we had Gavin Casey on the crack on Friday and he was kind of said, she just laughed

at it. Like she was like, I is, is, you know, of course you were going to do this. And it did kind of all week, like obviously the narrative, the fight was kind of like Katie somehow won this fight, the second fight, how did she do this? You know, it's probably from all those headbutts she was landing. So, you know, there was that kind of feeling all in the lead up to this fight, but I think respect was given completely on the night. And even when she was announced a winner, I thought Serrano was a touch of class. Always is.

Everybody on the team seemed to just accept the situation. So I thought it was brilliant. And it was just a brilliant moment. Like to think how like in 2022, we were all like shocked that they could do this, but then like to do it again and then again and have it be so massive and feel so significant. I feel like it was certainly for me as an Irish person that every single person I knew was all locked into one thing that night. It's incredible.

It really is. Is this it? I mean, if she's saying like Chantelle Cameron can't sell tickets, so what are we going to do here? A little spiciness there, huh? In the post-fight presser. She must have got good to her. You brought something out of her this week, I think. I loved it.

I freaking loved it. Because suddenly she can't stop. Yes. But I don't know. If it's not that fight, like what are we doing? You know? They're going to, like, and I know she hates us talking about when she should or when she shouldn't, but she's literally doing laps of the game right now.

Well, like she has done everything twice. She, like I was speaking to someone and they were like, but look at what she's doing. Like, you know, this is a new opportunity because she's able to bring all these other other women through and I'm like, you're aware that Olympic boxing for women is a sport because of her, right? Yeah. Like you, you, she's already done this so many times. First woman to headline MSG

with Serrano back in 2022. She's done literally everything you can do as an athlete. And we're all just so proud of her here. It was a magic. It was like an outpouring of pride. And as I'm leaving MSG, it was about 2 AM and I looked down 34th street, I believe it was. And first of all, MSG is torn green, white and gold. And then you look down the road and it's, it's the empire state building lit up like that too, and you're like, what, what, uh, what an impact this little woman from Bray has had in the world is it's incredible. I finally got a chance to watch the documentary. I didn't get to finish it, but I watched it on Saturday. You really have to go out and watch.

It gives you such an appreciation. So, you know, I have so much respect and, the documentary. I didn't get to finish it, but I watched it on Saturday. You really have to go out and watch it. It gives you such an appreciation. You know I have so much respect and appreciation for her, but then you see her fighting on these undercards against no-name opponents and having to scratch and claw her away, and you learn more about the family dynamic. And then to see, we almost take it for granted.

Oh yeah, MSG, no big deal. AT&T Stadium, no big deal. Netflix, like it was as humble of a beginning as possible. The family dynamic and all that, um, it's a must, must watch. It's called Katie and it, and it holds up and it actually gives you more appreciation for what she's done and what she's overcome and who she is. I still feel like, I don't know, man, I still feel like there's the Holly fight out there.

Can we do that in Ireland? can we do that at Croke? I'm not giving up on the Croke Park dream just yet. I'm not giving up, I don't understand. Someone has to be smart enough in that country to understand this would be such a big deal. It just has to be, it has to be looked at one last time. But it sounds to me like she's not done. That's the big takeaway.

Oh no, it doesn't sound like she's done at all. We're all having these conversations, she's like, what are you talking about? Oh no, it doesn't sound like she's done it all. Like, we're all having these conversations. She's like, what are you talking about? And by the way, you turn back the clock and fight like that, smart, measured, why not? You know what I mean? Like she didn't take the same kind of knocks. Of course there's like, what else can you do?

But there are still some fights out there for her. So overall, it was nice to see the respect. They'll move on. They'll go their separate ways. the impact that they've had on on On the sport of women's boxing and look at you know all the women that are coming up behind them like Ellie Scotney is amazing She's gonna be a big star in our own right and she deserves to be Cameron's doing her thing. Like I said Tebow as well. Shrink and now undisputed champion bomb gardener Maybe didn't look her best but you know, it It was a massive opportunity for Bomb Gardner to be honest.

I thought, you know, I think she'd be very disciplined. She only fought four rounds in two years leading up to that point. I know, but like that's a different story altogether. Like given that opportunity, I think she'd want to have done better. Oh, 100%. I think she's the next big star for female boxing and I expect it a lot. And you know, she got, she came away with the win. It it's far from a disaster but it could have been so much more for her Phil. You crushed it all week you were all over the gaff you were everywhere

here there and everywhere in between you were even hosting here and I understand that you came with some presents for everyone. I do have it. Oh shit I forgot it's right there. Which I appreciate because of the mess that you left for me here. So it was very kind of you. Thank you. It was actually all choked the mess. Yeah, I know the hats and all that. Listen, no big deal. It's your birthday coming up in two days. Thursday. Yeah.

Oh yeah. You're the 17th. Connor's the 16th. Happy birthday GC. Sorry about that, mate. I never forget. No, no, no. It's been a month filled with birthday celebrations. You got for the whole team, Connor, I can't believe Connor got an Irish one. That's- What about having a swim? Like it's obviously taking us out every year on Jersey.

It's like a cult. Should I open mine? Yeah, I'm actually very excited to see what it is. I'm a little bit nervous. You actually got this for my kids, which was a brilliant- You loved it. I remember you going, what is this?

I loved it. And they loved it too. My son got an Indian B team. A second division, second division Indian team. Which he actually wears quite proudly. My other son, what did he get? He got Valencia. Valencia.

My daughter got, oh, Atalanta, Atalanta of the Serie A fame. Okay. So let's see this. It's such a great idea. It's great. Shout out to shirt in a box, mystery shirt in a box. Excuse me. Yeah. So you just, you just pay, you just pay and then you tell them your size and a couple of things and that's it. Right? Yeah. So like if you had a friend say like you, who's a Nottingham forest fan, I'd say he's a Nottingham forest fan. So they don't send the knots County Jersey or something.

Oh, that's brilliant. Okay. What is this? Do I take out the card first? Take out the whole lot SV Werder Bremen Werder Bremen what it's a wild looking Jersey. Oh That is you oh that bonus league isn't it? Yes it is fire by the way, I do like the colors read this base in the free The Bundesliga, isn't it? Yes, it is. Yeah, yeah. Oh, fire. By the way, I do like the colors. Come on. Let's read this.

Based in the free Hanseatic city of Bremen, founded in 1899, Werder compete in the Bundesliga. Bremen share the record for most seasons played in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and are ranked third in the all-time Bundesliga table only behind Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. Bremen have played at the Weisser Stadion since 1909. The club shares a rivalry with fellow Northern German club Hamburger SV known as the Nord Derby. Werder have been German

champions four times and have won the DFB Pokal six times. Follow them here on X. It's what a great I love this. I freaking love it. Like that for in terms of the colors, come on. They couldn't have picked a better one. That is incredible. Grunweiss, whatever that means. Shout out to uh, Warder, what is it? Uh, you know them? Most famous player to ever play for them. Fucked a boy. What a name.

We put it on the desk right over there. What a name, Frank. It's brilliant. I love it. Thank you so much. It's very kind of you I love the colors and I love the thought you're a mensch. What did Rick get again? He got um He got an amateur Italian team. Yes. That's the best because now you have like some sort of connection to the team Worst team in Italy. Worst team in Italy. That's what he said to me.

Noises Jersey though. Right. To be fair. He says it's a beautiful Jersey. And then Guyana was Jordan, which is so random as well. Guyana on his feet. Oh, they're all very nice. In fairness, we came back.

I wish I would have wanted the Guyana. Yeah, we came back into the studio afterwards and you're talking about strewing things about the place. Oh, is that? Frank just has fucked on the ground. He's like, oh yeah, thanks very much. I was like, nice one, Frank. Wow.

Wow. Wow. P.T., we'll check in with you later. Thank you very much. Have a nap or two. You were tremendous and the office isn't the same without you. Let us transition to our first guest of the day, who I thought maybe was the MVP of the weekend. What a 24 hour stretch it was for boxing in this great city. MSG on Friday,

Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday. And what should have been the headliner was Shakur Stevenson versus Williams-Peta. But shout out to Hamza Shiraz for his destruction of Edgar Berlanga. What a way to to end the evening as well. So in the end, it was a like I said, two great cards, everyone's friends, even Jake and Turkey taking a picture together. Perhaps the Cold War is over. And it was so great to have Shakur Stevenson in studio last week. We asked if he could come back today before he goes home and he obliged. So let's say hello to

the WBC lightweight champion who defeated Williams-Apeyda on Saturday at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The pride of Brick City, the one and only Shakur Stevenson. The future so bright, you got to wear shades. How are you my man man? I'm good, my man. You know, we were talking about this yesterday? You have one of the softest handshakes of all time. You gotta protect the hands, right? Yeah, everybody keeps saying that, but my hands are like, really small. No, no, I'll do it.

But you don't want people to squeeze your hand, right? For sure, no, no. When you shake hands, people, you kinda like, trying to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They know, when you shake hands, people will be kind of like trying to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They trying to show you they strong. Yeah. You don't want that. Nah, I try to stay away from that.

How you doing? I'm good. It's good to have you back, man. It's nice to see you. Are you going home after this? Uh, yeah, I plan on going home. Well, they told me, do you mind if I say, like they told me you parked your car here.

Nah, I ain't parked my car. Oh, you didn't, you have like an RV or something? Yup. And are you driving home? Yeah, I ain't parked my car. Oh, you didn't, you have like an RV or something? Yup. And are you driving home? Yeah, I'm driving home. To Dallas? To Houston. To Houston, from here?

From here. You go straight? Straight there. Do you drive it yourself? Nah, I gotta drive. You got a guy. Do you not like to fly? I don't like to fly, but it wasn't like, in this scenario, it was more so like, I just want to enjoy my family.

I've been away from my daughter for mad long, so I want to be around my daughter, my girl, and just enjoy the time. It's going to be a fun little ride. I love it. Go to Road Trip. How many days does that take? 24 hours. Oh, that's not too bad.

You can sleep on there, right? Yeah. It's a bed on there. Okay. And by the way, your daughter is now a superstar. Oh my god Yeah, how old is she? She's three three and what's her name? Leilani. Yo, she is crazy She's incredibly cute, but she's on she's on camera there Yeah, saying that she wait in case people miss it. Can we show the clip? Yeah show the clip Okay, he wanted to win that fight really bad. So She's on camera there saying that she, wait, in case people miss it, can we show the clip? Yeah, show the clip. Okay, here's-

He wanted to win that fight really bad, so- He almost knocked you out. No he didn't, girl, is you crazy? Boom. What is she watching? Oh, nah, she's seeing what she saw. Yeah, yeah. She's seeing what she saw.

Honestly, it made me wanna go back to the drawing board and work on not having moments like that. So she's seen what she saw and I appreciate her for it. You got to, kids they tell the truth. When you hear the truth, you got to take it with salt and make sure you work on your game. So was that the first time that she's been in attendance? No, that's a second, I want to say, yeah, like a second or third what why do you want her there?

Why do you bring her there some people would want like oh the family? I want the family not there I want them to be away. I don't want to mix the two. Why is it important for you? I'm confident in myself. I don't see no negative things happening. Like I don't think in that type of manner, but also want her to see like her father, what he's doing, like what I'm doing in the world. I want her to have big dreams and dream big. Like that's the main thing, just dream big.

And I want her to see that I chase my dreams and look where I'm at and look what I'm doing. She seen the grind, she comes to the gym. She get to see the whole process, so for later on, I just want her to have that same type of mindset and know that she can do anything that's possible in this world. Do you know where she's sitting when you're fighting?

No, I didn't know where she was sitting, but I kind of, I feel like I was hearing her. Really? Yeah, like I felt like I heard her voice. Just having her presence there, that has to give you a little extra, right? Yes, for sure. Especially in that fight.

That fight was like a gridiron, go get it, call one of those moments to where it's like the world didn't know that I can dig deep and I kind of dug deep. So, okay, 48 hours later, how do you feel about the performance? I give it a B minus. Okay, why B minus? I got hit more than I wanted to, but I put on a performance that the fans like and I fought for the fans.

I did what the fans wanted and a lot of people didn't expect that because I've been telling y'all all week that I'm gonna fight for myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I kind of went against what I... Yeah, here are some of the highlights right here. So when you say that you got hit more than you wanted to, was that avoidable and you wanted to get into a war just to show people that you can and survive or was he just maybe

a little bit better or tougher than you thought? Nah, he was tough, but still at the same time, I could have moved. I could have started off the fight using a lot of lateral movement, move all around the ring, but then Tom and Jerry would have been the situation. Are you thinking about this in the fight? Is this on your mind? I'm going to be honest, it was on my mind. Really?

Yeah, it was on my mind just because I knew it. So it got to you? Yeah, it kind of got to me. I'm going to be honest, it was on my mind. Really? Yeah, it was on my mind just because I knew- So it got to you? Yeah, it kind of got to me. I'm a competitor. I'm so competitive to where I do hear stuff and I do kind of like, okay, I want to shut the critics up. I want to shut people up and get them something real to talk about. And also I want people to know I can fight too.

I'm not just a boxer. I've been boxing my whole life. I'm a fighter, boxer. I can do it all. Like whatever I'll choose to do that night is what I'm going to do. So that's a tricky game though, because if you're thinking about this and you're saying like, oh, I'm going to prove these people wrong, it all could have came crashing down. It could have, but where I'm from, scared money don't make no money.

So you got to have it in you. I knew, even in the early rounds, a lot of people was kinda panicking. I could hear a lot of panic in people's voices, but. Like in your corner? Nah, not in my corner. It's just, you could hear the crowd. Everything that's being said,

yo, get off the ropes. It's like everybody got kinda panic syndrome. But for me, I just knew to stay calm. Like I stay calm, everything's gonna be okay. And the good thing I had my grandfather in my corner to kind of have the sense of urgency when needed. So whenever he gave me his voice and had that sense of urgency,

I kind of flipped it around and start dominating. So what's he saying? Like how do you know when there's a sense of urgency? You can hear it in his voice. He's talking not just for us. It's more so he's like the judges. Like you don't want to be on the wrong side of the judges. This is an Oscar Delahoyer card.

Golden Boy is really the promoter for the card. So we don't know what the judges want to do. So don't leave it in the judges' hands. And that's what I kind of kicked in. And I listened to him, man. I made sure I got it done. Did anyone talk to you before the fight? Did Turkey come into the locker room and be like, yo, I want to show, anything like that?

Nah, he ain't come in the locker room. Honestly, those locker rooms was crazy. I'm going to be real like- Tell me, tell me. Because I appreciate Turkey for the opportunity. Turkey is the reason why the world is even looking at me differently, because he gave me the opportunity to fight against the payday. So I appreciate him.

But the show was just kind of crazy. The locker room was very hot. Then when you got out there, it's burning up hot. You would think it's going to be some type of AC, but it's a lot of mental battles that you got to sit there and keep ignoring and tell yourself, stay locked in, stay focused, because it don't matter. None of this, all that would be looked at as excuses if you start focusing on the wrong thing. It just was a lot going on.

This was in a tennis stadium. It tried to go a little bit different. It looked good on TV, but would you suggest not to go back there? Is it not ideal for boxing? I just think it got to be some AC in the locker rooms at least. You can't just have me burning up in the locker room. There's really no AC in there. Man, I felt like I was burning up in the locker room, then I'm burning up in the ring, and

it just felt like it took a lot out of me. What about the way it was set up? Because the tennis stadium, the court is very small, so it's not like this big arena. So it looked almost like the fans were on top of you, which I thought made for a good visual, a fun visual. Did you like it? Did you notice any difference? I like the rowdiness.

I love it. Yeah, yeah. It was good. I love the crowd. I could hear Zepetia fans super loud in the beginning, but as the fight kept going, they kind of shut down. That's my favorite part of the night. I like hearing that.

It's a thrill. Yeah, yeah. Did he say anything to you after the fight? Yeah, we talked. Zepetia's a good guy. Oh, I meant Turkey. Oh, Turkey. Yeah, he came up to me early. What did he say anything to you after the fight? Yeah, we talked. Zepetna is a good guy. Oh, I meant Turkey. Oh Turkey Yeah, he came up to me. He told me a good job. He's proud of me. And he was you know looking forward for the future Okay, you wore the Tom and Jerry hat. Where'd you get that? I mean he was trolling me so I had to troll him back

Yeah, I think he actually appreciated it. Yeah. Yeah, he had it. We all enjoyed it. Like it was a great event I told you my only complaints was the little heat problem Yeah, I think he actually appreciated it. Yeah, yeah. We all enjoyed it. It was a great event. I told you my only complaints was the little heat problem, but- I think it affected you in the fight. Were you that hot where you were feeling sluggish? Yes. I'm in there, I'm like, damn, I ain't feel like this in a fight in a long time. Luckily, I train sometimes.

I train a little hot and I train in Houston, Texas. I was good. I was comfortable, but yeah, it was kind of crazy. Yeah, and it was a little bit out there, right? In Queens, was it a pain to get there or no, from where you were staying? I got a good driver. You're good? They gave me a good driver.

He kind of... Shout out to my boy Oscar. He's actually outside right now, but he got through the traffic so easy. He got through the traffic. It was amazing. Everything went how it's supposed to go. So if we would have talked last week about how you want this fight to go, ultimately you get the win. You get the fun performance.

People start putting respect on your name again, it seems like. It feels like, I mean, even though you're giving yourself a B minus, because I'm sure you're a toughest critic, all in all, this was a great weekend for Shakur Stevenson. Would you not say so? Yeah, I wanted people over. You feel like you, like is that all done now? Yeah, it's done.

I mean, a lot of people turned their backs on me. I get it. It comes with the territory, but for me to go out there and perform the way that I did and let people know there's a different side of me. And I actually told you this on my show. I told you Zepeda was going to bring out a certain side of me that the people haven't got a chance to see.

So I appreciate Zepeda, I appreciate the people, I appreciate Turkey, I appreciate everybody just for allowing me the opportunity to perform on that platform and do what I did that night. You said you spoke to Zepeda afterwards. Yeah. But what did you guys say to each other? That's my guy. That's my guy. We kind of reminisced and started talking about back in the OTC days, we was in the OTC together, Olympic Training Center for the people that don't

know. But he was with Team Mexico. I was on Team USA. We was around each other and he's a good person. His family is a good person. Even the people that thought that I was disrespecting his mother, I would never disrespect the man mother. I heard somebody in the crowd say Cabron, and I kind of stick my middle finger for that. But as far as his mother, I seen her on the elevator, I seen her at the... She just seemed like a sweet lady, so I appreciate his appearance and I got nothing but love and respect for that warrior. I love how you have so many of your friends, contemporaries in the boxing world come to support you. Terrence is there, Clarissa was there,

Keyshawn is there. It seemed like you had a lot of people backing you and that's always the case with your fights, but I love the comradery that you have with these guys. Fellow Olympians, fellow greats, fellow champions. It's really nice to see. Yeah, I came up with these people. These people I actually really came up with.

We was really together outside of boxing. It's not just boxing with them people. Like these people I actually really came up with. Like we was really together outside of boxing. It's not just boxing with them people. So, Clarissa, you've seen her front row loud all night and I appreciate her so much. Even Terrence, Terrence screaming at me all night. That dude. You hear his voice? Yeah. He's my like, I wish Bud Crawford was my coach. For real? I really wish he was my coach. Cause like, I can hear him, and he's screaming at me, like he on top, like, yo, you gotta do the, like, it's the sense of urgency with Bud too

that I love too, so. That's crazy, because he's not in your corner, but you can still hear him. He's like another corner. I can hear him every step of the way. Wow. I appreciate him so much. Throughout the fight? Yes.

Wow. That is amazing. One of the big topics going into the fight, and I'm curious about after the fight, is your promotional future. That was your last fight with Matroom. Yep. Do you think you'll stay with them? I don't know what the future holds.

I can't tell you if I would stay with them. I appreciate Eddie. Eddie did a good job making this happen. I also told you I appreciate him for what he did in Saudi. So I will be willing definitely to work with Eddie, work with anybody, but as of right now, I want to go clear my head and see what a space, everything's taking me.

And I'll be able to answer that question probably later. I thought he was very complimentary. He didn't let any of the sort of things that were being said or the fact that you might be a free agent get into it. Like I thought he was bigging you up every opportunity that he had. Did you feel the same? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eddie no boxing. Eddie pays attention. The little things that he was saying just made so much sense. If you heard him, he said this guy was an English fighter or he was in England, he will be the biggest star in the world, just based off of my accomplishments. So I got to give it to Eddie. Eddie knows what he's talking about.

He's definitely good at his job. Could I ask, did something go wrong between you two in the sense that it was a two-fight deal that you signed with him? And then we started to hear these whispers that it was gonna come to an end, which surprised me because I thought you had the long relationship with Top Rank and I thought, okay, maybe this was gonna be your home for the foreseeable future.

Did you feel like it wasn't a right fit after that first fight? Now I just think the media makes everything something. Like with me, it's like, they post every single thing I do, even behind closed doors. It's like, it's always some type of leak or something to where it's like, it gets super messy. I don't feel as though Eddie was bad.

I think Eddie is great at his job. I keep telling everybody this. So truthfully, I don't have nothing like bad to say. I just think in my brain, everything just gotta make sense. Okay. And if it makes sense, I'm on board. Is there a possibility that you just signed with no one

and since you have the relationship with Turkey, technically you don't really need a promoter at this point? That's a possibility too. It all depends. We gotta see what the cards play. I told y'all the fight that I want. That's the fight that I'm chasing and they gonna say,

oh, you doing everything and saying this guy's name, but if I don't say his name, they gonna say that I'm scared of him. So it's like a back and forth thing with me. Well, obviously that guy is Tank Davis. Tough weekend for him. He got in some trouble again. Does that affect your future plans or how you feel about fighting him next?

I don't get into personal business. I don't get into whatever he got in his situation. And when it comes down to jail and any of them type of things, I don't wish that upon nobody. So I hope everything is good with him, but I just speak specifically on the business of the sport. So I would love to fight him as a fighter for sure. I guess what I was saying was like maybe this could delay his return or could tie him up. Does it make you think like, oh, he's got some things he's got to take care of.

Maybe I need to maybe pivot. Maybe, maybe I don't know. I don't know the situation. I don't know. For now, it's still tank at the top. Yeah, yeah, for sure. That's the biggest fight. What's going on with the Roach fight?

Is it possible that's really off? I have no clue. That's kind of like a question you gotta ask him. Yeah. If the fight is off, I would love to fight either one of them guys, for sure. Okay, so maybe if that fight isn't happening and he's out for some time, you'd be open to Roach.

Yes. I'm at, yo, I keep telling people this. I'm cool with him on Roach. Me and him is like real cool, but I be open to Roach. Yes. I'm at, yo, I keep telling people this. I'm cool with Amon Roach. Me and him is like real cool, but I would love to fight him. I feel like me and him makes so much sense skillfully. I think he's one of the skillful fighters at 135 pounds along with myself,

and I think we make for a tremendous fight. Oh yeah. It would be interesting if you fight Roach and Tank fights Jake Paul. Right? I mean, yeah, I definitely think that would be like, I think that's a waste. It's a waste for Tank.

Yeah. I mean, it's not a waste because it's business and I probably would do the same if it's making a lot of money to be honest with you. But I'm just into like boxing. I'm into the best fighting the best in your weight class. I'm not into like WWE boxing. I don't get into that.

That would be a huge difference. Yeah, it's just not the same. You're not fighting against the best in your weight class, the guy that's right here that everybody wants to see you fight. So I'm just not into that. Would it get under your skin if like you're right there, you're a huge fight and this is the path?

Nah, it wouldn't get under my skin. I mean, once again, I think Lamont Roach is a tremendous fighter. So if I could go fight Lamont Roach in a big fight in front of the world and two of us go in there and display our skills, I'm cool with that. I'm content with that. So, I wouldn't bother me or nothing like that. We didn't get into tanks so much the last time because I wanted to focus on the upcoming

task which was Zepeda. But there was a time where you guys were pretty cool, right? Yeah, for sure. What changed? Competition. As you get older, you start to know what competition is. He kind of looked at me like, I feel like I was a thirt. Which is rightfully so. I don't blame him for the way that he looked at me.

But it is what it is. It's two guys that just want to be the best in our sport and we were ready to lay it all on the line. Did he say to you, like, yo, I don't want to be friends or is it just like a gradual thing where it started to become more distant? Now you just know energy. You know energy.

Once you feel the energy that's coming at you, you understand like, okay, I get it. When do you think that started to change? I think as he kind of matured and got older, once you get older and mature, his energy kind of let it be known like, yeah, you the ops, we got to fight. And perhaps as you were progressing

and getting to the level that you're at now. For sure, he knew, he knew. He knew exactly, deep down inside, he knew. He knew. He knew exactly. Deep down inside, he could sit here and say, I'm not this, I'm not a good fighter, I'm not that, but deep down inside, he knows that I'm the truth. So with him knowing that, he knows that I'm the biggest threat around where he's at.

Do you see he gets very upset when people ask him about you? Yeah, I think that's insecurity though. I think he's insecure. Because he knows that you give him trouble? What's he insecure about in your opinion? With top level guys like him, cause like I'm kind of different.

I look at things like competition, but his mentality is more so like, it's either me or it's nobody. It's not a one A, one B, or you don't have nobody equal to you. So I understand his mentality, but I like to prove that I'm the best. So we kind of just move in different ways.

You don't really think he's done after this year, right? Nah, hell nah. There's no, because that's what he said at the beginning of the year. Too much money to be made in boxing. Right. So do you think it happens now? What do you think?

Yes. You do? Yeah, for sure. You think it will be your next one? I think it could be. Really? I think it could be. Wow, how gigantic.

It could be, I don't put it past him. Whenever he pick up the phone and say, yo, let's make this fight happen. What is the step now that you make, like in terms of trying to get this done? I think the main step is one of us got to find a way to reach out and try to get the fight to happen. It can't be no little kid shit. It can't be no back and forth, go back and forth.

We got to be grown men and get the fight done. That's how I feel. I would love to talk to him and have a real conversation and make this fight happen, but some guys be kind of egotistic, so I don't know where his ego is at. When's the last time you spoke to him privately? I mean, bro, he crazy. He he DM me some crazy shit and then what I don't even say like smack talk yeah yeah he talked crazy he talked crazy we mean I'm got like DMs are just going back and forth really yeah recently oh not too

long ago wow long ago yeah but before this fight yeah before this fight okay and you and you write back but this is all like just like gamesmanship this is Long ago. That's a long ago. Yeah. But before this fight? Yeah, before this fight. Okay. And you write back, but this is all just like gamesmanship. This is not like real serious talk about trying to make the fight happen. Yeah, it ain't nothing. No trying to make the fight happen. It's more so like a fuck you.

Right. It's one of those. Really? Yeah, that's what it is though. It ain't no- If you saw him in person, what do you think would happen? I think it's gonna be normal. Yeah. I don't think it's gonna be nothing, to be honest.

He has a contentious relationship with Turkey, it seems like he has talked about, like not wanting to work for them. Do you think that would be an issue if you're with Turkey and he's not? I'm willing to do whatever to make the fight happen. So it depends whatever they want, whatever they talking. Let's just make the fight happen.

Where do you think is the best place for it? I like New York. We both from the East Coast. Yo, MSG. Nah, I think it got to be. What's the biggest stadium like? Well, like we're talking like outdoor stadium. Biggest stadium in New York.

Like MetLife? MetLife is probably the biggest. Where the Giants and Jets play. That's where we gotta fight. Yo, that would be sick. That's where we gotta fight. Or Yankee Stadium? Yankees.

Whatever is the biggest stadium. So bigger than MSG, huh? Yes. That's where we gotta fight. It's prestigious. It's prestigious, but like- You need more people. This is the biggest fight in the world.

This is the biggest fight in the sport of boxing. Everybody wants to see this. Casuals, non-casuals, boxing fans, like everybody wants to see this fight. And put that shit on Netflix too. All right, whatever they want, I'm down. If you put that in front of the pay-per-view wall on the biggest platform in the world,

you guys only stand to benefit from it, I think. Yeah, I agree, I agree. I would love to work with whoever. Oh man. Do you think after this performance, and as you say that people are turning back in your favor, it doesn't seem like there's a face of American boxing. Like Terrence, I would say,

is probably the best American boxer right now, pound for pound, but how many does he have left? How many years? You know, he's obviously a little bit older than you. Yeah, for sure. Do you think that the lane is open for you to be that guy? I am. I am.

I'm coming. I'm coming. It's right there. It's right there. The world is starting to see exactly who I am. So it's right there. All I gotta do is grab it. It's literally right there.

Like I don't see any sort of... Is this something you care about? Do you want this? I'm scared of it. Why? Because we're like fame, the bigger you get, the more that comes with it. It's just so much that comes with it. It's a lot of dangerous people that will do anything to tear you down.

If I get super huge as a star, everybody will be trying to tear me down. I try to stay far away from that kind of stuff. I'm like a family guy. I'd rather be around my family all day. I don't want to be around weird old energy. Well, you've kind of experienced that as of late, right? And you haven't quite reached the apex of your career. Is that what makes you feel this way? Like, nah, you know what? If this is the byproduct of it all, I'm out.

It's just scary because I know like I do want to go down in history as a big legend. I want the world to know, whenever I leave here, like far as Earth, my name be cemented as one of the best boxes to ever do it. I want that. But then there's another part of me where it's like, once again, it's just so dangerous with... You can't even go to the bathroom by yourself because it's just so many dangerous people in the world. So it's like a 50-50 thing with me, to be honest with you. How is it in Texas as opposed to if you're on the East Coast? Do you have a little more privacy?

I think Texas kind of like, they starting to know me. Like that's like my second home. Yeah. It's like Houston. Everybody kind of knows me out there. So yeah, it's been getting big, but once again, it's just, it's a scary thing too. Yeah, I know, 100%.

Have you talked to the guys above you, the OGs if you will, about how they deal with this? Yeah, but you got to realize, only person to really talk to that's reached the level that I'm talking about to where I'm getting is like a Floyd Mayweather. I was just gonna say that, yeah. Because he's the guy who kind of got the biggest, like,

superstar in the sport of boxing that I have ever seen in my life. So yeah, I'm gonna holla at him, but I just don't want to be in that. It's a scary thing. I got you. And I saw you posted a picture that you were talking to Floyd on FaceTime.

I talked to him after the fight. Yeah, yeah. That picture was after the fight. Yeah, yeah, so what was, this is it right here, right? Yep, yep. Kobe and Jordan, by the way, who's Kobe, who's Jordan in the pic just said here? I'm Kobe, he's Jordan.

Okay, I just wanna make sure. I don't wanna, like, that's the thing, people want me to say, like, oh, I'm better than Floyd, and like, bro, I I watched this man entire career I watched every fight that he done had so I Can I don't I'm good with whatever y'all say even compared me to somebody that great sure It's just it's amazing for me. So what did he say about the fight? Yeah

Floyd kind of like he called me. It's like, yo, good job, you did good, you did real good. But it's some little things we're gonna work on. We're gonna tighten up on these little things. And he told me he wanted to get in the gym with me, so we're gonna make it happen. So when you say we, that means he's gonna work with you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Will you go out there or will he come to you?

I will go to him. Okay, this is great. What about him promoting you? I would love to work with Floyd. It just gotta be the right situation. Sure. If he has the TV and everything that's surrounding, I would love to get in the situation with Floyd.

Why do you feel like now all the dark days are behind you? Are you getting the sense from the people in the aftermath? Are you reading things? Okay, so you put stock into that. I try not to put too much stock into it. But you're human. Yeah, because it can all, you gotta know like, they love you one minute, they hate you the next.

So like one minute it can be this, but the next minute it could be that. You experienced that? Yeah, I experienced it. Quite literally, but the next minute it could be that. You experienced that? Yeah, I experienced that. Quite literally. Yeah, I seen it firsthand, so I don't try to get too caught up in the hype. I try to stay right there in that little middle process. Not get too high, not get too low, but just stay right there.

Is there any part of you that's like the hell with all of you? You guys are so fickle. You turned on me and now you're showing me love? I mean it's human nature. Human nature, I think. Human nature is the love of a product that's winning. And if everybody loves it, a lot of other people gonna love it also.

So as far as human nature, I get it and I understand it. I'm not looking at them and like, oh, it's like that for sure. But at the end of the day, it is what it is. I'm not tripping. What's so crazy about it, like, okay, so your record is off the top of my head, Undefeated. You know how many wins you have, 27, 24, right?

24 and 0, 11 knockouts. And I tweeted something to the effect of like, I don't want to hear this shit anymore, right? And then Dan Rayfield comes at me, which he's an OG. I have a lot of respect for him, and he's like, oh, but you know, those performances were a little bit, you know, and I'm like, yo, Padley wasn't boring. At all.

And then what, there were two fights that were like, okay, they weren't highlight reel fights. What about all the other ones? Why are the two superseding everything else before that? Why are we saying that this is the norm when it was just, why can't those be the anomalies? And clearly you've now replaced those two performances with two great fights. So why are we still sticking to those two bad ones? Because the world focus on negative.

The world that we live in, everybody focus on the negative. Everything we see on social media negative. That's the stuff that goes viral for the most part. I think a lot of people is focused on them two fights because it's negative. It's the little blemish on my career that they could kind of hold tightly. Right. The only thing they can have against you. Yes.

Yes. I'm a young black, successful fighter coming up and I just feel like we got the word against us already. So we just gotta keep our head up, stay strong and keep focused. One thing I was wondering about those two fights, did your relationship with Top Rank have anything to do with them? Like meaning you just wanted to get out

and you weren't happy there and you just. Yeah, I mean, I think they played a part. I think when these big organizations don't like you, it's easy to hit back at you. Or if they got an issue with you, it's easy to fight back. So, and they fight back back through narratives and social media and how people look at you. I think they kind of played a little part,

but I don't hold nobody. I can't hold grudges. I don't live that way. That's not healthy for me. I don't feel no type of way no more. I appreciate them for what they did to me. You gotta realize they had me since 19 years old and they helped where I'm at now become where it is today. So I appreciate them still. It's good and bad with everybody in the world. I try to

focus more on the good than the bad. It's crazy though that come 12 days from now they don't have a TV home. Yeah, that is crazy. I ain't gonna lie. They gotta do something. They gotta do something. It's crazy though that come 12 days from now, they don't have a TV home Yeah, that is crazy. I ain't gonna lie. They gotta do something. They gotta do something. So, I-26, their last show on ESPN and they have nothing. Nothing announced. Yeah, they gotta do something. But I got faith in them. I think Top Rank is a great company. Probably one of the best companies I ever worked with so I got faith in them. They gonna find something big and something big is gonna happen. It's better for the business if they're around.

For sure, it's better for the young fighters coming up. Like you don't want promoters and all these people to lose the things that they got because there's a lot of young athletes coming up that wanna sign to this promotional company, this promotional company. So I just wish them the best for the future of the next generation.

Did you watch the broadcast? Did you watch your fight? I watched parts of it. I ain't really watched the entire fight. I ain't sit down and pay attention to it, but I also heard it was a lot of hating people on the broadcast. For real?

Yeah. Like who? I heard, I never watched it. I can't tell you the things that were said, but I heard Antonio Tarver was kind of hating. Okay. Is that surprising or? Nah, he already been a hater. Why? I don't tell you the things that were said, but I heard Antonio Tarver was kind of hating. Okay. Is that surprising or? Nah, he already been a hater.

Why? I don't know. I've been trying to figure it out. I never understood why he was hating me. Really? Yeah. So what you were being told from, I will be honest, I didn't notice it,

but I wouldn't be looking at it from the same perspective as you or someone on your team. They were saying that there was negativity towards you? Yeah, there's a lot of people been telling me there's a lot of negative, like a lot of people was trying to only focus on what Zapata was doing and not focus on what we was doing too. Okay, okay.

Do you watch the fights after? Like, will you watch your own fight or will you- During that 24 hour car ride, I'm gonna check it out for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's common for you, right? Like some people won't watch it until their next one. Nah, I got to watch it because I got to see what I did wrong and I got to correct some

of the mistakes. But I actually got good memory of some of the things that I felt like I did wrong. Like what? I think early on I do agree with people. I kind of sat on the ropes too much. I also started with people. I kind of sat on the ropes too much. I also started the fight. Like I kind of came out and really started a fight with him. I kind of let him know, like, let's fight. And I could have boxed just a little bit longer before I started the fight, I feel like.

If this fight happens without all the Tom and Jerry stuff, like in a different universe, where none of this is being said about you? Do you think you fight a completely different fight? It just depends. It depends, cause some nights, like, I know a lot, sometimes when I'm in the gym, I be having the same thing going on in my brain. Like I may, people may tell me to box.

And if I'm angry at that point, or if I got something on my mind, I might end up just fighting. So it's hard to say. It's hard to say. I may have did it anyway. In that period where people were really like taking shots at you, did it ever get to a point

where you were feeling like super down, where you needed to take a break from social media? Yes. Yes, for sure. I kind of got rid of my social media. Yeah, it did because. I felt like it just wasn't deserved like. During the Edwin de la Santos fight, I understood it just because of that night. But then when I fought Artem and how bad they made that performance feel, it was like,

all right, y'all tweaking. I can't, there's nothing you really could do. Like I beat him 12-0. Easy fight. Anybody else would have had that type of fight. It would have never been that much like, it just been like, okay, easy. Keep moving. Like nothing, the backlash that I received from it was just like, I guess OD.

It's just OD. What y'all doing? So you just needed a break? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I needed a break. I just needed to zone people out and talk to myself, have them conversations with myself and start understanding that social media is not a real place. That does not mean nothing.

You have a family at home who loves you. The opinions of your family and the people around you is what matters the most. And when I had them conversations with myself, it was easier to get back on social media. It was easier to go tweet at people without even caring about what's being said back. Like, it ain't no, deep thought about it.

So, yeah. Did you watch the main event? Yeah, I watched the main event. Were you shocked? I was sad. That's my brother. I knew Edgar since, I don't know Homsie Sherwax. I just met this dude probably, what,

and started the last time I seen him. I I didn't, I've never heard of him. I don't know him. So I used to come over in regionals with Edgar. Like me and Edgar used to be at the same weight class. I want to say I was like 85 pounds. He was 90 pounds. And he just had like this big growth spurt and just outgrew me.

So like watching that, I didn't like it. I didn't want to see that. Yeah. It was, I mean, who knew what was going to happen, but for it to go down like that, I didn't like it. I didn't want to see that. Yeah, it was, I mean, who knew what was going to happen but for it to go down like that, especially after everything that was said in the lead up. Yeah, but also we warriors, we warriors. So my thing is you win some, you lose some. Like when you lose, I don't think,

and I get like, cause fighters talk trash, but people got to understand it's also a business. So like when Ega's talking trash, people don't really know the real Ega. Ega is like a really good, genuine person. Like he's mad cool, off the camera, like that's who he is. But when you selling a fight, you have to talk, you have to get into that type of, for the fans. That's how the fans going to tune in. So I felt like the business side of him, that's what people got to see and they trashing him

online for being a warrior. He didn't quit. He came back out the next round and fought. After he got caught with a shot, he still continued to fight. So for me, I just look at things so much different than how other people view things. So kudos to Edgar. He's a warrior. He's a champ.

He made it further than a lot of people that we came up with. I see mad people that we came up with that's ready to talk shit about. Y'all can't talk about him, bro. Look where he's at. He's on a big stage, bro. He was the main event in Queens. It don't get no bigger. He walked out with Fat Joe and Remy Ma.

Come on, bro. I'm proud of him. That's what I was saying. I was worried it was a rap when Fat Joe walked out with him. Fat Joe Chris. Yeah, yeah, I'm proud of him though, man. I'm very proud of him. No, for sure.

You know what sucks? We want fighters who sell fights, who speak up, and then shit can happen. You can get knocked out and then you get clowned. Now they mean me and you. Yeah. Now you're all over the internet. Yeah.

And I just think it's lame. Like I told you, I view things so much different than the average person. So for me, even if it was Hamzee, Shehraz, and I don't know him, I would still look at the same situation and understand like, we warriors, just come with it. You can't clown nobody who's willing to get in that fire. We are in that fire. So you can't clown us. You can't say none to us.

Y'all not in that fire. What about that press conference though with Delahoya? What were you thinking during all that? Oh, that was the best press conference I ever been to in my life. Were you enjoying it? Yes, I enjoyed the moment. I enjoyed the moment.

You know, that was the main thing I tried to do. Focus on the moment. Like I wasn't trying to think about the fight. I was just constantly focused on the moment. And that press conference, that was amazing. It was incredible. I mean, they sold the fight. Yes, yes.

You know what I mean? Everyone was talking about at that point There was a bit of a battle for for headlines because because the Serrano Taylor fight was happening same weekend same city But then once that happens like oh shit, don't forget about this Yeah, and once you seen like their press conference and our press conference. It was like, okay. Yeah, this was amazing By the way, I was hosting their press conference. What are you? like, okay, this was amazing. By the way, I was hosting their press conference. Are you saying that it wasn't a good press conference? No disrespect, no, no, no.

It was different. It was different vibes. It's just more like, yeah, different vibes. We was kind of like- Did you watch that card? Nah, I was asleep. You were asleep, you had to go to bed. Yeah, I was getting ready for the party.

You didn't see any of it? Shadayja, Patterson? I didn't see nothing. I ain't seen nothing. You heard about it? Yeah, I heard about it. Shadayja is a beast. I knew Shadayja for a long time too.

She from Jersey, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, she a beast. Alicia? Alicia, I'm Shadayja for a long time too. I bet. From Jersey? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, she a beast. Alicia? Alicia, I'm not too much of the biggest fan of her. Oh, you're not? No.

Why not? I just don't think like, like she's okay. She's not like super good fighting to me. Okay. Like she's kind of like, she thinks she's super strong, but I don't know. But I heard her fight was kind of close too. It was close, yes. Yeah. I heard some people thought that the girl won.

I don't know about, she didn't win, but it was closer than people thought. She was the biggest favorite, I think, on the card. And so some people thought it would be like 10 zip. Yeah. I'm just not a huge fan of her. Another person, maybe you're not a huge fan of, Conor Ben. He's coming in studio. For real? When?

In like 35 minutes. Oh, I should wait here for him. You want to wait? Yeah, I might wait here for him. Yeah, what's going to happen? Ain't nothing going to happen. Conor Ben, he be talking, but he know I'm the truth. He know I'm the truth.

He can sit there and say, run this, do that. He know deep down inside, I'm the truth. You can sit there and say, run this, do that. He know deep down inside, I'm the truth. You guys trade DMs as well, right? Yeah. What does he say? Say he's going to beat me up. And you're open to going to London to fight on him? Yes, but the thing is, it got to be at 147. I know I said on air, 154. I'm not a 47 pounder.

I'm not even a 40 pounder for real. I'm really like a real 35 and can make 30 pounder. But I will fight him at 47 just because I don't think he's that big. Like he's stocky, but like far as like, he ain't on my level bro. Like it's levels to this. Like, kind of been is cool, but like I'm picking on the dude, like I'm picking on that guy to be honest. I'll tell the truth.

Build up for that fight would be fun. Yeah, he talk a lot of shit, but he got back it up. Did you watch his last fight against Eubank? Yeah, he was tough. He's a, he got a lot of heart. That's what I like about him. At what, 60? Got a lot of heart, but like his levels. Would you. What, 60? Got a lot of heart. But like, it's low.

Would you be open to that fight next if the tank thing doesn't, like, what's the plan B? I would love to go to London and fight him in front of his fans and- You would love that. I would love it. Because someone of your stature might say like, no, I don't want to go over there. Why not? Well, you know, that's what people say.

Here's the thing. I would love to fight in London because I feel like London got the most good fans to where they studied the actual sport of boxing. So let's make it happen. I would love to do it. Wow. They treat boxing there like it's the NBA here. Yes.

You're in your car middle of the day and they're talking about mid-tier fights. We talk about NBA or baseball here, it's crazy. It's soccer there and boxing. Yeah, I kind of went through they mall and everybody was noticing me. I'm like, man, this is crazy. I'm not even from here and they showing love, asking for pictures, just supporting me. So I appreciate you learning too. So do you think you'll fight again this year

or do you think you're done for the rest of the year? I can't tell you. I don't know. Once I get home and monitor how I'm feeling and check my hands out. How is your hand, by the way? They good. Both of them?

They good. Okay, you just can make sure. That's always a concern with you, it seems. I told people before the fight, because everybody was so focused on my hands. I told them before the fight, I said, whatever I got to do to win, I'm going to do it. If I got to throw them the entire night, I will. So I did that. No breaks?

No breaks, what you mean? Like on the hands. Like after the fight? Yeah, like are you good? Yeah, I did that. No breaks? No breaks, what you mean? Like on the hands? Like after the fight? Yeah, like are you good? Yeah, I'm going to take a break. No, I mean, like did any of the hands break? I mean, no, I'm going to take a break from boxing. OK, I got you.

I got you. How long do you take a break from the gym? Right now, I probably do like try to do a month. Oh, wow. Yeah, like that to do a month. Oh wow. Yeah, like that's so hard for me though. What do you do? I play pickleball. Oh really?

Yeah. I know you probably didn't expect that, but I'm like, I love playing pickleball. Pickleball. Singles or doubles? Doubles. Can you only play doubles and pickleball? No, you can play singles. Okay.

But singles is like more tiring. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like more- You Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like more work. You ever play paddle? I seen it, like I seen you could throw it off a cage. Yeah, off the wall, yeah, yeah, yeah. I seen it, but I never played it.

Pickle, who do you play with? I got a spot on, I actually shout out to my spot, they watching, it's the pickleball zone. In Houston? Yeah, it's in Houston. And these guys, there's a whole bunch of people. Do they know who you are? Yeah, they know who I am.

They actually must have watched my fight too. Oh, that's great. So you just roll up there and you're just playing with regular people? Yes, for sure. That's amazing. And that's okay with the hands, right? Yeah, it's okay with the hands, but like... Keeps you fit?

I'm a regular person. I don't look at life like, even being a celebrity, a lot of guys look at being a celebrity like they bigger than the next person, but at the end of the day, we all human beings. So I bleed the same way somebody else bleeds. So you could put me in any given room situation. I'm going to be comfortable there because I don't look at myself as above. I'm kind of, I'm good with everybody. The every man.

For sure. That's why you could be the face of American boxing. People could relate to you. Yeah for sure. Well it's been great getting to know you and I really appreciate you coming back. He might even be in the, should I see if he's in the building, is he here guys? Connor's en route. Is he in the building?

He's probably like 15 minutes away. Okay, I promise you I'm going to stay here. You're going to stay. You want to be in the studio when he's here? Yeah, I'm gonna. You can come back? I'm gonna see him. I wanna make sure he see me. Yeah, but no, no, like you guys wanna talk on air.

I'm down. Let's do that. I promise you I'm down. Let's do that. Okay, so you go chill. We're gonna talk to Chris Algieri. You know Chris Algieri? Yeah, I know Chris Algieri.

Yeah, and then you'll come back. Okay. All right, we'll take a quick break. Shakur Stevenson, the man, and we'll be back in a second with Chris Algieri. All right, back on the a quick break. Shakur Stevenson, the man, and we'll be back in a second with Chris Algeri. All right. Back on the program. That was Shakur Stevenson. Maybe we'll see him in about 25 minutes or so. Connor Ben still to come in studio. Stay tuned for that. The great Morgan Charrier going to join us as well. Paulo Costa going to join us as well. I told you at the top of the show, this is an incredible time for combat sports,

whether you're a fan of MMA, boxing, kickboxing, pro wrestling. This Saturday, there's five major events going on. There's PFL Africa One, there's UFC 318, there's the Bam Rodriguez fight over on Dazon, there's Usyk Dubois II over on Dazon pay-per-view at Wembley. 80 or so, 90 or so thousand people expected. Over on ppv.com though, you've got the return of the great Manny Pacquiao.

Yes, Manny Pacquiao is returning. He's going up against the WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, a somewhat controversial booking. There it is. Also, Sebastian Fundora against Tim Tzu II. You've got Pitbull Cruz on the card as well. It's a star-studded PBC pay-per-view affair. And over on PPV.com, you can get an exclusive viewer chat in real time.

I've checked this out. I've said that as far as streaming platforms are concerned, it's the best one, no subscription required. You just pay once and that's it. It's crystal clear. It never buffers, it never crashes, it never lets you down. And a big part of their Fight Night offering is one of the most brilliant minds in the game.

He is also a co-host of one of my favorite boxing podcasts, Inside Boxing Live, with the great Dan Canobio. He's the one and only, the pride of Huntington, New York. Chris Algieri, kind enough to join us. Hello, Chris. How are you? Hey, I'm doing well out here in Vegas. I'm really happy to be here on the show. Already? Already in Vegas on a Monday?

Oh, yeah. On a Monday. I got in actually yesterday. I worked on the show. Already, already in Vegas on a Monday. Oh yeah, on a Monday. I got in actually yesterday. Oh my gosh. I worked some shows from Pro Box on Saturday night and I was like, no reason to come back to the East Coast. I'll go right to Vegas, get settled in. Well, obviously as you know, as I've told you, big fan of yours, big fan of the pod,

big fan of everything you do, you keep it real. You're tremendous on the mic and so it's a great pleasure to have you on. Regarding this particular fight, can I ask you, be honest with me, when it was first announced, when you first heard Pacquiao WBC title, he's ranked, he's fighting Barrios, what did you think? Honestly, I was upset because I didn't like the idea

of any fighter being able to cut the line because there are other contenders who are working towards their spot to get the title shot. Being a world champion is literally a dream for every fighter who releases up the glove so you don't want to be sitting around waiting and how other guys can just cut the line. But then you just kind of think of it. It's like Manny Pacquiao. You know, of course if the rules get bent and now we have Manny Pacquiao coming off the four and a half year layoff and right into a title fight. Okay, so cut the line is one thing. It's an older Manny Pacquiao coming off a four and a half year layoff and right into a title fight. Okay, so cut the line is one thing. It's an older Manny Pacquiao. It's a Pacquiao that has been away for several years against the WBC champion. Not like a tune-up fight, not an over the hill fighter,

a very much in his prime champion. That's a little concerning as well, no? It's concerning for the health of Manny Pacquiao for sure. But just knowing Manny, you know, obviously I fought him, but I always say when you fight Manny Pacquiao, it's not just a fight, it's an experience because the press tour leading up to it, the media surrounding it, I spent a lot of time around him before we fought. And even since then, now that I'm retired and a media member and a commentator, I've actually called some of Manny's fights. I called the fight against Lucas Matisse, got to interview Manny in the fighter meetings. And just of Manny's fights. I called the fight against Lucas Matisse, got to interview Manny as in the fighter meetings. And just knowing Manny and knowing how he operates and the way his mind kind of looks at these kinds of things, I'm not surprised. The guy's a warrior and he just wants

the biggest challenges around. And he's always been that way. If you said he couldn't go up to that weight class, well, guess what? I'm going to that weight class. I'm going to fight this guy. Hey, but Manny, he's too big and I'm going to be like, wow, okay, I'm going to that weight class. I'm gonna fight this guy. Hey, but Manny, he's too big. You're not gonna be like, well, okay, I'm gonna go up there. I'm gonna beat him. So that's just the mindset that Manny has. He's just always looking to upset the apple cart. He's 46 turning 47 in December. Obviously, this is a question for him. I recognize that.

But why do you think he's doing this? What do you think is the point of all this? Is it simply just money or do you think there's something else? No, I think it's more. I think it's more than just money. And I think the point of all this? Is it simply just money or do you think there's something else? No, I think it's more. I think it's more than just money. And I think it goes with what I was saying about him just being a warrior.

And this is what the man does. He's fought his whole life. From such humble beginnings, as a teenager fighting for money to feed his family and to what he's done since then in terms of what he's brought back to the Filipino culture and helping all the people that are around him at all times.

He's an extremely generous guy. So money could be definitely be part of it. And money, money never hurts. And when I'm in a pack of fights, he makes a lot of money. But I think more so it's more him seeing recognizing a challenge and the fact that this is what he does. Yeah, he set away from the sport. He did the politics thing.

But I mean, nothing's like fighting. Nothing's like being at the top of the sport. And we all miss it. I mean, I miss it being retired. I'm sure nothing's like fighting. Nothing's like being at the top of the sport. And we all miss it. I mean, I miss it being retired. I'm sure Manny does too. But you know, as of this Saturday, Manny's back. Okay, so it's been a few years since your last fight. I believe 22 was your last fight.

21, 22? 21. 21. It feels like a long time ago. Have you ever considered coming back? No, no. I mean, well, actually, so let me put it this way. I wasn't going to retire right after that last fight

and I was gonna come back. I was actually in discussions for potential fights and matchups and moving back down to weight. And I just kept getting hurt. I just couldn't get through a training camp. I got to the point, you know, I was at the age of 38. I was just trying to 38 my last fight and I would have been making that other comeback at 38 years old.

And my body just was not operating the same way. Um, I was still trying to train as hard as possible to be in the condition that I would need to be, to be world-class. But, um, yeah, the mechanics are not, we're not, we're not, we're not playing, playing with me. So, um, uh, I kept getting hurt. And after I think like a third camp that I pushed back, I was just like, all right, I think it's time. Well, one thing of the many that I love about Chris Algeria

is that not only were you a great boxing champion, but a kickboxing champion as well. And we don't see this often. We haven't seen a lot of people make the transition for whatever reason from kickboxing to boxing. You've seen kickboxing to MMA, but not as much kickboxing to boxing. Why do you think that is?

Why do you think most of the kickboxing guys, especially these days, the ones who fight for glory, go to MMA as opposed to the sweet science? Because when you're taking weapons away and you start to hyper-focus on just two weapons, you're just focusing on those hands, it becomes so specific. And boxing is such a nuance and complex sport.

There's a reason we call it the sweet science. When you go from high level striking, as in kickboxing or boxing, over to MMA, you are adding weapons, sure, but that's kind of easier. It's easier to add weapons and learn new techniques. But if you always go back to your kickbox, you always go back to range adjustment and learn some ground stuff.

You see that much more often. I think it's the idea that you're focusing all of your energy on two weapons. And it just, boxing literally takes a lifetime to master. No one does it. Cause as you age, your body just isn't the same. It's just a super, super complex sport. And I think it's really hard to focus

on just the two weapons. Do you follow kickboxing at all these days? I do, I do. I mean, Glory was making a big comeback couple of years ago. I was really getting into that. Um, I actually, my, listen to this, you're gonna love this. I wrote my first fight that I called on a major show was actually a Bellator kickboxing show with Bruce Beck. That was my very first commentary gig back in 2016. And, um, I was with Bruce Beck calling the fights and he didn't know much

about kickboxing. And I were in the in the hotel gym. I'm teaching him deep kicks. I'm showing him what the different kicks are. And then it came up that he was doing a top ranked show and was asked, who do you want to do? Be the analyst. And he brought my name up. And that's how I entered into the commentary world. Wow. I didn't realize it was that way in which you entered. Bruce Beck, by the way, for those that don't know, a New York sports legend, also called some early UFC events, but more of a stick and ball type of guy. I remember the Bellator foray into the world of kickboxing,

which didn't last very long, maybe five or so events. And it hasn't, for whatever, it's one of the great mysteries, right? Why hasn't it broken in here? Why is it not popular? People have tried, Gloria's tried, Bellator's tried. Why do you think it has never reached the status of MMA in boxing here in America? You know, I think, I think fight fans or fights, well, maybe not, maybe not so much anymore. There's a lot more overlap. But I think initially when the UFC first came out, it kind of went one of two directions. You're either a hardcore boxing fan, you stuck to the traditional stuff, or you got into this new thing, this cage

fighting where these guys are wrestling to the ground and doing punches and kicks and, and there's grappling involved. Um, and it kind of made two separate fan bases and it left kickboxing in the center and it left us alone. And, um, I actually left kickboxing because there was really no money in it. I, I, I love the sport kickbox. I still do. I still train it. I still go to the gym and kick. I still watch it. I still follow it. But in this country, there just wasn't that hunger for it like it is in other countries. Canada was always very popular. I fought a lot of Canadian fighters. Europe, obviously, there's a lot of fighting, a lot of kickboxing over there. People are way more into it. The Dutch kickboxers are some of the best in the world.

And, um, yeah, it just, it just, it just never took off over here, unfortunately. And then it's not like we didn't try, but didn't try. I mean, in the early two thousands, I remember literally getting K one max videos and like getting them on DVD back then, and like cherishing being able to get that stuff and trying to watch that. But, um, I was always a boxing fan, but yeah, kickboxing just didn't take off. It's actually why and how I made that transition to begin with. Speaking of the Dutch, Rico Verhoeven hasn't lost

in like 12 years. He's the face of glory. And I wonder if this guy was a boxing heavyweight champion or an MMA heavyweight champion, how much bigger he would be? He's gigantic in the Netherlands, and maybe some parts of Europe, but worldwide, not so much. How do you think he, is that an impossible question to answer? How do you think he would be. He's gigantic in the Netherlands, and maybe some parts of Europe, but worldwide not so much.

How do you think he, is that an impossible question to answer? How do you think he would do in boxing, given what you've seen from him? No, I agree. I think he would be a super, a mega star. I mean, he's dominant. He is in kickboxing.

You know, you can't really, it's not apples to apples. You're like, oh, well, you know, he's gonna be, he would be that dominant in boxing. He probably wouldn't be, but he would be a lot more well known and he'd probably make a lot more money. But I do like to see that he's getting, he's getting some, uh, some attention. He's been in some movies and stuff

like that. You're seeing more and more of him. Um, and, uh, but man, what, what, what a dominant champion. But when I look at guys like him, I feel like he would be good at anything he chose to do. He's got the mentality, he's got that champion mindset, he's got the champion lifestyle. If he had chosen boxing, I'm sure he would be one of the best in the world as well. I'm trying to push this Francis Ngannou versus Rico fight and then he took it to another level. He proposed a three leg fight series, one MMA, one boxing, one kickboxing. If it goes that route based on what you've seen from the both of them, what do you think? I mean, you would probably say Francis wins the MMA and Rico wins the kickboxing who wins the the in-betweener

Who the boxing will be in between will be boxing would be the boxing. Yeah, that's the one that they're both sort of neutral at Yeah, I think that would that would decide who's the ultimate champion now I think I would love it before you like you're focusing those weapons. I love it. And the fact that Rico made brought that idea up. It's got a little it's got a little matchmaker promoter cap on as well. So I like that. That's what's going to get him to, you know, getting that world recognition that he deserves. I love that idea.

I would probably lean Rico in boxing because of the hands and coming from high level kickboxing. But Francis has been working and I know his coaches, Eric, and they're doing great things with him. So I don't know, I'd like to see it, I'd pay for it. By the way, before you decided to go from kickboxing to boxing, did you consider MMA?

No. Never. No, and the reason for that, and I got asked this a lot, You decided to go from kickboxing to boxing. Did you consider MMA? No. Never. No. And the reason for that, and I got asked this a lot, and I still do. When I grew up, I watched boxing. My mother's from Argentina, so I watched fights with my grandfather growing up.

It's literally the first sport I ever remember watching. And I remember him telling me about these great champions, the Alexis Arguello's of the world, Sugar Ray Leonard. He loved Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson. Roy Jones is one of his favorites. So like, I remember watching all those guys with him during those formative years. So for me, it was like, my dream is to go do this thing. My grandfather's my hero. These guys are his heroes. I want to do that. You know, when UFC first started and you know, Randy Couture was coming up,

my mind was already set on boxing. I had already decided that the best fighters in the world were boxers and those are the guys that I wanted to be like. Let me ask you about this weekend, a crazy weekend as far as New York City boxing is concerned. A Friday at MSG, a Saturday at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queen. Who was the star of the weekend in your opinion?

Both shows, you could pick anyone. Who was the MVP? Pardon the pun. Hamza, Hamza Shiraz. Okay, interesting. I think he has really, I mean, he kicked the door open. And I was very high on Hamza at 160. I thought that he was gonna be the guy

who was gonna take over the division. When they announced that he was gonna fight Carlos Adamas, I was like, ooh. I rate Carlos Adamas very high. I get pushback from a lot of people. I think he's very underrated. And when he was going to fight Carlos Adamus, I was like, I rate Carlos Adamus very high. Um, I get pushed back from a lot of people. I think he's very underrated. Um, and when he was going for him first, I was like, I like this, I like this attitude.

He's the young guy in the block. He's looking to be a world champion. He's going for the, I thought it was the tough, you know, the toughest out he's going for that guy. Um, and obviously we know how that fight went. It was a draw. Most people had a down this winning. I did as well.

And then we started hearing he had hand problems at 160. We're realizing they had trouble making the weight. And there was a lot of questions going into this fight. 160, it's a stack division. A lot of the physical gifts that Hamza has his height, his reach, his power was really tailored tailored for 160. Was he going to be able to bring that up at 68? And I think we have an answer, a resounding yes.

I mean, he still looked big. He looked huge at 68. He's got long arms, long reach. He had good technique. His power, I think is actually even better at 168. So he showed this physicality. He was able to push Berlanga around, who's a very big 68 pounder.

So I think he really kicked in the door to 168 to tell everybody, hey, listen, I'm here and I'm going to be a problem. They're trying to push, all right, he could be next for Canelo, that's what we want. Obviously Canelo has to get by Terrence. What if that's an all time classic, they probably run it back, et cetera, et cetera.

But let's just say they do fight, I don't know, first quarter, probably May would be the next Canelo fight, right? What do you think his chances are? I'd like to see Hamza again at 68. I don't like these, I don't like these guys hanging around for the Canelo ticket to, for the tilt to canal sweepstakes. He's a young guy. He's in the prime of his life. He's only had one fight at 68. I say, go find another tough guy. Get, get,

get even more prepared, get more comfortable at the weight class. Um, but from what I saw from, from him that night, I, yeah, I think, I think that's, it's actually an interesting fight. I wasn't too keen on it prior to this fight, but now that I've seen him at 68 and seen that he is a true super middleweight and he brought out those skills and that power with him, it's not out of the question, but I would like to see him fight one of the other young studs in the weight class because there's a ton of them. Can Edgar rebound from this? You know, he's getting clowned in the memes and the videos

because he talked so much. But as I was talking with Shakur it's like we want guys to promote fights and then they promote fights and get knocked out and then the fan base will clown them and so like what do you want do you want mutes it's a tough spot I feel for him in that regard do you think he can rebound from all this given all that he said leading up to the fight yeah and I agree with with you and about that andigor, you want to speak and we want people to be able to sell fights. But it's tough, you're putting yourself out there and listen, every one of us goes out

there and we can embarrass ourselves in any given night. We can be a hero or we can be a zero. It's just part of what the game is. I do believe Edgar can come back from this. I think he's going to need a little rebuilding time. He's going to need to step down maybe from the main event status and get a couple of wins under his belt, get refocused in the gym. Um, but listen, the guy sells, the guy moved with the needle, love him or hate him. Um, you know, people are going to tune in when he fights, but I do think

he needs some, some, some developmental fights, uh, to get himself back. He's still young too. So, um, there's that and that, listen listen, I'm gonna put it out there. Eggers, Eggers my boy, I spent time with him in the gyms in Brooklyn. I think he's a great kid. And his public persona is that, but I do think he has time to rebound. What'd you think of Shakur?

I did exactly what I expected. I was, I didn't think, I thought that Zapata was tailor made for Shakur. I know there's a lot of people saying that Zapata won a lot of rounds. I had a very wide, I think I gave Zepeda two rounds, maybe three. I thought Shakur looked great. He was, he was sharp. You know exactly what was coming. His defense was brilliant. If you're not paying attention, you might think those shots are getting through, but for the most part it didn't. And he looked

strong. He kept saying before the fight, I harder than this guy listen. Yeah to me. He showed it his punches were crisp. They were sharp They were getting reactions from Zepeda and Zepeda just didn't seem like he had the heavy handedness that he had showed against lesser opposition Even though he was hitting on the arms and shoulders. I thought she called look great I think that was the kind of performance that he needed Tank Davis Lamont roach to tank Davis Shakur Steven Stevenson, which one interests you more? I think there's so many narratives around the rematch with Lamont and I thought Lamont was brilliant the first time they fought Obviously we had a very controversial moment in that in that fight as well So that's a very exciting fight, but the fight that I've always wanted is is the Shakur tank

It's a fight that has to happen These guys have been circling each other in the same orbit for so long It would be a real shame if that fight doesn't occur at least sometime soon And and obviously tank had a pretty awful weekend in his own right? I'm not trying to overlook that but we never know how these things are gonna affect Perhaps I should have added tank versus Jake Paul to that multiple choice. Is that the one that? That was on the docket.

That was certainly on the docket. I don't know if it's off the docket, by the way. I would say it's probably not. Once that gets brought on on board, that doesn't really get brushed under the rug at any point of a guy's career. I think Canelo is still on the docket as well for a Jake Paul down the road.

So there's so much money to be made with these guys. But I'm curious, I want to see Tank and Roach settle, settle with what they got going on. I think that's really important. And I think it's also important for Roach to get the recognition for how good of a fighter he is. And so just curious, if Tank and Roach are going to meet up,, and I agree I would like to see them settle it because it was so controversial, who do you want to see Shakur fight? I want to see Shakur and Tank. Oh, so you want them to just wait?

No, not necessarily. No, I want Roach and Tank to settle their score however way that pans out, but I think all those guys could be fighting each other. Roach has shown himself that he's world-class and depending on what happens as you know as you said tank and his issues outside of the ring you know this Roach fight doesn't happen I wouldn't mind seeing Roach and Shakur yeah run it right away you know it's like that I think that would be a great

way for Shakur to chase down tank so he does get him in the ring all right let's talk about Friday were you surprised at how Amanda Serrano fought that fight? I thought Katie Taylor fought a brilliant fight. She didn't want to engage. Meaning, why get into a firefight? Be smart, don't get rocked again. Don't do the same mistakes as the last one, especially you almost got knocked out in the first round.

Amanda didn't fight the same type of fight and it seemed to have cost her. Do you think she'll regret this? You know, trilogies rarely live up to the first two fights. The third fight's usually a bit of a version, like a diet version of the first two. We see that in a lot of trilogies over the years. So I wasn't super surprised

that it wasn't a full-on firefight. They're older, they've both taken damage in those last two fights. You leave a piece of yourself in the ring in those tough, tough fights. And also, I know Amanda was talking a lot about the headbutts in the second fight. So I know that was a major issue in a narrative. But she just had an issue similar to what actually Burlanga had the next night was getting her feet into position to get Katie into those firefights where she has the advantage because of the power. And you're not going to beat Katie Taylor in that kind of fight. She's an Olympic gold medalist that in and out flashy, chippy, scrappy style. That's

the way she likes to fight. And for Amanda, you know, in order to, to, to put that power on her, she kind of has to trade with Katie. Katie has fast hands, but Amanda's got that power and she'll take a few shots to land hers because she believes in her power and just don't think she was ever ever able to get herself into position to cause that kind of firefight. Do you do you have any interest in seeing Katie still fight at this point? Of course, because I love her style and I'm a big fan of her as a person and as a fighter. But I part of me is also like I wouldn't mind her just walking away and being like, I've done it.

I did it. I made the money. Um, I'm three and O against my, my, my biggest rival. Um, I, I've changed the sport for, uh, you know, women's boxing. Um, and I think she's, I think she's had an effect on, on women's sports in general, I think both ladies have. So a part of me looks at it like, what, what more can we ask of you, champ? But it's, it's entirely up to her.

She's the fighter. If she wants to fight, she can fight. Similar to how we're talking about Manny Pacquiao fighting this weekend. I don't ever knock fighters who continue their careers because you're in control of your own destiny. A lot of people thought, all right, it's the Katie and Amanda show,

but the next one up is Alicia Baumgartner and the prevailing wisdom seems to be that she didn't quite grab that brass ring against Jennifer Miranda on Friday night. Do you agree with that sentiment? Yeah, it wasn't a great, it wasn't a great performance. It was a great night for her. She had an awkward tough opponent in front of her undefeated fighter who was physically strong and big for the weight class.

You know, Alicia has been out of the ring. Ring rust is always an issue, especially with a fighter like her. She's a, you know, she's a bit of a rhythm fighter. She's, you know, she's a puncher, especially with a fighter like her. She's a she's a bit of a rhythm fighter. She's you know, she's a puncher. She's a counter puncher. So being out of the ring can hurt those fighters often more times than than than just, you know, bangers. So there's that she's also had a lot of trainer changes.

So I think she needs to get busy, get active, start start back to getting to building her her her in the ring persona and not so much the out of the ring stuff. But she's still super talented. Did you watch the full card? I did not. I was in Fresno working for Pro Box TV card. We had some meet and greets to do, so I missed some of the early fights, but I read about Shadesia. I was kind of happy to hear that. She's, I mean like I like them both but

Today's has got a great story and it was that was a huge win, especially getting that bonus. Oh incredible Yeah, very very emotional I was actually gonna ask you about the scorecards in that one and then in a in an earlier fight a Ramla Lee fight Because I took some heat for saying that I didn't think that Didn't see the fight, but I saw your interview. Oh great wonderful wonderful wonderful they did they did they did cut off when I reiterated no disrespect intended and I guess the question in its own right could be viewed as such but I thought it was so lopsided that I in fact went up to the interpreter, the Portuguese interpreter because her opponent Lila Furtado is from Brazil and I was like okay you stand here and I'll ask the question. I was so certain that this was like a six to two, seven to one. I was flabbergasted when they scored it for her. So I just wanted

to keep it real. Some appreciated it, some didn't, Chris. Yeah, that's generally how it goes these days. If you're going to take a risk, you're going to get it on both sides. But listen, that's what you saw, that's what you felt. You're not keeping it too close to the chest. I like that. Do you like this idea? It seems like MVP is going all in on women. Obviously, they've got this thing where they're trying to be different than everyone, but it used to maybe be like, oh, we're going to be different by doing influencer fights. These aren't influencer fighters. And this is perhaps the one thing that the ring, reed season contingency isn't really focusing on which is women's boxing. Let's be different.

Let's scoop up all the women talent and let's put on the biggest women's fights possible. Do you think this is sustainable? Do you think this can work? I think what they've been doing is very smart MVP and they're maturing and growing and building and being innovative. There was a big vacuum. They signed up all those women and building and being innovative. There was a big vacuum. They signed up all those women and they're all good. I mean, that whole card was not only, it was good, red

corners, good blue corners, good matchups. So it was a good card and good boxing speaks for itself. I don't necessarily think we need to make every card just a full woman's card. I would like to see mixing once again. But if you're putting on that level, those level of fights, I mean, man, women, whatever, it's going to be a good card. I think it's a smart move on their behalf. Like I said, there was a vacuum with all these women who are just waiting around, not fighting that often. But now we're seeing these women really stepping up. I think part of it is because they're getting so much more exposure, but also there's money to be made. They can train full time. They can focus it and get real teams, um,

and being more active. So that's, that's always going to help them help the sport progress. But, uh, no, I like what MVP is doing. They're, they're, they're filling in a lot of the gaps that, um, that we've seen with losing HBO and Showtime and Showbox and, and, and Friday night fights on ESPN. Um, we need these builder cards and these just really just different more innovative cards and we're seeing that and on a grand scale.

Yeah, and what a time that card on Friday, the ring card on Saturday, you guys are doing great stuff with Pro Box. Then we've got this weekend, Usyk Dubois in London in the afternoon, Bam Rodriguez at night, Pacquiao Barrios on Saturday, like three high level cards going on at the same time same time again the place to be for all the action as far as Pacquiao Barrios is concerned the pay-per-view that is being brought to you by PBC also Fundora

Zoo 2 which is a tremendous fight we'll talk to Tim on Wednesday that's PPV.com they've got an incredible live stream and HD live stream no subscription required and you can hang out with Chris. Is Dan gonna be involved as well, or is he not big enough for these cards? No, I think Dan's too big. Dan might be actually on the telecast. I think he might be doing some of the draft stuff. Oh my God.

But guys, don't not come now. Come check out me, come hang out in the live chat. We have a lot of fun in there. People ask some really good questions. That's one thing I love about boxing fans, man. Like, I got historians in these live chats asking me amazing questions throughout. So, don't leave me hanging.

Well, keep up the great work. Pro Box, when you show up and do top ranked stuff, tremendous as well. PPV.com stuff. And in particular Inside Boxing Live, I believe twice a week these days, the YouTube, the pod, you guys. To me, the best boxing only podcast out there.

And I say that from the heart. So keep it up, appreciate it very much. Good luck this week in Vegas and good luck on Saturday. Great to have you on Chris, really appreciate it. I really appreciate it. Truly, you have a great show. Thanks so much for all the kind words. All right, there he is, the great Chris Algeri.

PPV.com is where you can watch the action. PacquiaoBios, hope you have your Saturday cleared off because there's like legit five high level events going on on Saturday afternoon. All right, about 30 minutes ago, we had Shakur Stevenson in studio. I asked him about the Conor Ben history. I mentioned to him that Conor Ben

was coming into the studio. He is in fact in the studio and he said, you know what, I'll hang around. Now I want to ask Conor himself if he's okay with this. I don't want to spring this upon him as you can see we could go to the Henry shot we are ready just in case so let us bring in the Destroyer who had that incredible fight just a few months ago and who is hopefully coming back in September hello Connor my man it's great to see you have you in studio hello my

friend please have a seat have a seat oh Connor I try to be very respectful to my guests and I don't like to spring things upon people I actually separated you and Shakur as far as the booking Okay, he was earlier and then they had we had a Chris Algieri in between but you did come up in our chat Yeah, and you with her with with Shakur Stevenson. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. He was on earlier. I don't know if you know this I just been told yes, and and he's like, oh he's coming He didn't know and I said oh, do you want to wait around? But I said we would ask you first because I didn't want to spring anything upon you But you're gonna no no no if you say no we're gonna do it. Bring him in. Are you sure? Oh, I don't I don't want to pull him but because you have been kind enough to come here

So I don't want to bring him in but we you know We could see maybe we can settle the differences. Yeah, whatever. I mean listen We can sell it in the ring too or that too. Yes Okay, so the guys will bring him in whenever you guys want but it is good to it is good to have you here It's good to be here. Yeah, this is amazing because we've had some tremendous chats via zoom, but it's not quite the same Yeah, what brings you were you here for the ring card? I was here for the ring show. Yeah I do think to watch a bilingual I thought it was a great night of boxing. Start to finish really. The main event surprised me massively. What'd you think?

Well, I just felt Hamza was up against it. I thought Hamza was, you know, coming up in weight, coming off a draw, coming to Brooklyn. So it was all stacking up against him. So for him to come here and do what he done, you got to, you got to take you out of to him. Because everything that was said about him. Okay. There he is. Here's Shakur. Shakur Twitterson. There he is. What's happening? Hello. Yeah, this is great. Good. You guys know each other? You've DM'd? I ran into him, man. I ran into him. Yeah. Where? In London.

He was sizing me up. Okay. Where's this? He was sizing up in London. Yeah, I ran into him. Yeah. Where? In London, he was sizing me up. Okay, where is this? He was sizing up in London. Yeah, I'm still sizing him up right now. I don't need to size him up, he's easy work. That's why I'm saying though, let's make it happen. Do you know what, to be fair though, well done. Appreciate you.

Because it was sort of entertaining. Especially the part where you got clipped and you almost went over, that was really entertaining. Oh, you thought I got clipped? No, you did get clipped. You Oh, you know you know you did you did get clipped? Okay? Well look I'm not that was by me you definitely I won my fight. Yeah, your last fight. What did you do? Well? Let's see you jump up two-way divisions 47 you can come up, but I'm telling you now. I like you. I like that's good for your health Oh, it's good for my okay. You can't can't do nothing like it. What you gonna do? Oh, I...

I just saw you, yo. You're not that big, bro. You're not that big. When I hit you, you feel it. Okay, so? When I hit you, you feel it. You're not gonna hit me. What, you're gonna be on your bike? You're not gonna hit me. You're gonna be running.

I don't have to run. You will run. Did you watch my fight? A little bit. The part where it's a peter, I almost knocked you out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Knocked me out? Yeah, yeah, you almost knocked you out.

Yo, you're the only one, yo. I saw the legs almost knocked you out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Knocked me out? Yeah, yeah, he almost knocked you out. Yo, you know, the only way yo... I saw the legs buckle. Buckle? I saw the legs buckle. Stop lying. Stop lying. Three times, four times? Stop lying.

Four times? Four times? I thought at 135, this guy thinks he can come up to 147. And come and fight me. Me and you are close to the same size. I ain't close to the same size. We ain't close to the same size. Bro.

We ain't close to the same size. All right, you go up to 160 then. No, fuck no. I'll fight you at you bro. We ain't close to the same size. Bro. We ain't close to the same. Alright you go up to 160 then. No. Fuck no. I'll fight you at 147. Listen I'll come back down and fight you at 147 in November. November yeah. I'm down.

I'll fight you at 147. I'm down. I'll fight you at 147. No no no no no. Don't hear no excuses. I'm not saying excuses. You are. I'm saying it but look.

After I beat you, just tell me I'm great. But you ain't great. Listen you know what. No no. After I beat you. I'm not going chat shit, I'm not gonna chat shit. I watched the fight, your IQ is phenomenal. Appreciate you. Phenomenal. Appreciate you. You're not that good looking though. Appreciate you. So you can't take that one.

Okay. But I will back to you at 147. I will back to you. So we're gonna make the fight happen at 147. Let's make it happen. After I beat you, are you gonna tell me I'm great? No, I'm not gonna tell you. I'm not gonna tell you. I'm not gonna tell you. But I will back to you at 147. I will back to you. So we're going to make the fight happen at 147 after I beat you. Are you going to tell me I'm great? No, I'm not going to tell you you're great.

Why? Because if I beat you, I move up two weight classes to beat you. If you beat me, if you beat me, I will. You know what? I'll tell you you're great. And if you beat me, I'll tell you you're great. Well, I've done. But you're not beating me.

Well, you just said it. As far as stipulations go, that's a pretty simple one. That's it. All he wants is to say that he's great. All I want is your respect, that's all. I have my respects anyway. Yeah, yeah, you got my respect too, bro. You're a hell of a fighter, bro.

But, listen, you come up to 147, that's where I'm at my most dangerous. That don't scare me. It shouldn't scare you. You're a fighter. If it did scare you, I'd be very worried. I got a question for you. But I see you coming in with your glasses on because you don't want to look me in't scare you. You're a fighter. If it did scare you, I'd be very worried. I got a question for you. But I see you coming in with your glasses on, so you don't want to look me in the eye.

Excuse me, brother. I like how you said that. I like how you said that. Excuse me, brother. Excuse me, brother. Look, look, look. Listen, I don't want to hear your question. I'm not answering it.

I don't want to hear your question, bro. We're having a conversation, bro. I don't know what's the question. I got a question. How many amateur fights you had? About 22, 24. When did you start boxing? 17 years old you're cooked You're cooked because of

You start boxing that wage 17. You're cooked. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. It's cooked So it was cooked mean meaning like you're in trouble. You're cooked of what? Of me Why is the 17 the indication that I started boxing when I was five years old I'm in this game. I've been in this game for 23 years How many years you've been in this? We can we can be me. That's fine. You can't be me. That's fine. I love a challenge. He's making me want to go man I'm not gonna do that though. I know but I know right now if we were to handle it, I'd handle it.

Bro, that's your opinion. You're supposed to have your opinion. Yeah, that's good. Look, look, look, look, look. We're boxers. We're boxers. We're boxers, yeah. So let's keep it boxing.

You're a boxer, I'm a fighter. Come in and fight me and I'm gonna box your head off. You do that and I'll come in there and take your head off. And I'm gonna box your head off. Do your best 147 let's make it 147 I like him. I will I will throw him around like a ragdoll in there throw me around No, you ever thought I

Yeah, so this would be the biggest what do you walk around at? Like what are you at? Like in a month from now? What would you be? Why not? He's gonna make a difference? I'm a 147. I'm almost dangerous most explosive. I know 160 fighter even he's saying to me looking at me He's a one. I can't believe how small he is. I did it's like it's a shock to me. That's fine. That's fine But I got to 160 and and knock him about so I'm not fighting No, you did good no no you did your thing bro. I'm not 160 fighter you did your thing bro. I'm a a 160 fighter. I'm not a 154 fighter. I'm a 147 fighter. I'm currently right now at about 157. Wow. You know what I mean? So I'm still going, I'm going at 147.

We can honestly do that next. I'm down. I'm just. You think I'm joking. I'm not joking either. I don't think you can. In fact, he said he would go to London, which surprised me. Yes.

We can do it in London. It'll be bigger. Yeah. And to be fair, after your last fight, people will be a lot more interested in the fight. Yeah. I think it's going to be a lot more interesting. I think it's going to be a lot more interesting. I think it's going to be a lot more interesting.

I think it's going to be a lot more interesting. I think it's going to be a lot more interesting. I think it's going to be a lot more interesting. I think it's going to be a lot more interesting. I think it London it'll be bigger yeah and to be fair after your last fight people will be a lot more interested in the fight yeah you stood there and you fought him to be fair I did all jokes aside I thought it was an entertaining fight I appreciate that bro yeah yeah I've been very critical of your fight I know you talk a lot of shit I don't it ain't shit it's facts it's not facts it's facts it's not facts facts. It's facts. It's not facts. You're telling me you're an exciting fighter to watch? Um. No, exactly.

It depends. Can I answer the question? No, you just um. You can't cut me off and not let me answer the question. You umbed yourself. Let me answer the question. Yeah, um. That's how I got to answer the question, bro.

What I'm going to say is, it depends on what you like watching. Do you like watching somebody dominate a fight? Well, do you like watching somebody paint walls? That's basically what it's like watching you fight. Do you like watching somebody dominate a fight? Alright, so let's start with the majority don't like watching you fight. No, people like watching me fight. People that study boxing.

You're not even lying to yourself. People that study boxing love watching me fight. I hate watching you fight. I hate watching you fight. No you don't. I don't learn shit. Don't lie, don't lie, don't lie. You don't teach me nothing. Don't lie. Don't lie. There's nothing I can learn from watching Cuddleman You can learn about that and a pair of that. I got all of that. That's what you can learn. I got all of that

That's what you can learn. I got all of that. Well, you don't know cuz you're too good to get tested So you what you can learn from this is that and a big pair of Cuddleman. See how you say it You're too good to get hit by a 147 a bad one. I'm a bad one. He's hit by a 147 fighter. I respect that. You're supposed to have that up pin, bro. But all I'm saying is, we get in the ring, there's going to be a big skill gap. Talk to me when you've stepped up two weights to fight somebody,

and then you can say, OK. I understand why you're saying that. That's hard to do. That's very hard to do. I know it is. That's why I respect you. I think he's trying to do that against you. Go up two weight classes. I'm here. Listen, we can honestly, we can do that next. I'm not one of them fighters

that sit there and go talk about it and go listen, let's just do it for media. Let's do it next. We can do it in London next. I'm down. This year. I'm down. Yeah? I'm down. If you don't want the fight September 20th, which I'm hearing he's bottled it, if he

doesn't want the fight in September, well then we can do you a favor. That's cool. Give me enough time to get ready for your greatness. But don't go fight Eubank and take a lot of punishment. I don't. And then after I beat you, say you had two wars with Chris, I don't need no excuses. All I want to know is- When have I ever come up with excuses, man?

You're right. You're right. So what's. You're a good fighter. So what's going on with this September 20th? I've heard Eubank doesn't want the fight. He's moaning about the weight stipulation. The 160. He doesn't want... What does he want it? But you got to remember, he's full... He didn't hear him moan about making 160 for Liam Smith when he got beat. He didn't use that as an excuse. He didn't moan about the 160. I'm not a 160 fighter.

I'm willing to come up to 160. Do you know what I mean? And sort of put my career on hold to give the fans what they want, which was the U-Bank fight. If he doesn't want to do the fight September 20th, you know, we've already got plans. You have the world titles there. You have Chacor there. This is bigger.

You think it's bigger? This is bigger. Genuinely, you think? Than Mario Barrios? Okay, yeah, nice. You think it's bigger this is genuine you think then Mario Barrios okay yeah nice you think it's bigger yeah look at this guy right here this guy's a superstar come on come on America you don't think he's a superstar me person yes I'm asking you he's a great fighter do I think he has superstar qualities no who's a bigger deal belt aside for the WBC world title would be a massive deal you see think- Bigger than fighting.

Not necessarily. Bro, you know how much we would sell on pay-per-view, bro? You talk shit, I talk shit. It would be amazing, bro. I don't talk shit. I talk the truth. I talk shit. Yeah, I know you do. And I back it up. I'm happy for you. Appreciate it.

But, bro, it's a hell of a fight, bro. Don't start downplaying the fight when you know it's a fight. No, no, no, no, no. I think it would be huge box office. Okay, listen, listen. I'm not down playing the fight at all. I don't know how big you are in terms of the UK commercial terms in the UK. UK fans love me bro. Do you think? Yeah, they love me.

I don't know. They do. I'm telling you they do. Maybe they do. If they do then it's a massive fight. Look what we learned from the U-Bank fight. Belts don't really matter if it's a big fight, right? It's a personal goal. Sure. No, 100%. 100%. So you're saying to me, how many big fights do I have to have?

I get it. I get it. I get it. Sort of on hold. I should be world champion now. I get it. Or should have been two years ago. But I've gave the fans the fight that they want. It made massive commercial sense. Am I going to give up the world title again for a fight I don't believe... Listen, let's do it man. This is it. I'm not even worried.

Do I get a cut? No I don't want a cut. I just want to be a part of the broadcast. Can I be a part of the broadcast? Yeah we can. Okay yeah thank you. Hey hey hey I appreciate y'all. I want to let you kind of be. He give him his time He's a hell of a fighter. This is great respect to you, bro And hopefully we can make it happen bro November December appreciate you too. Yeah, man Shakur. You're the man. Thank you so much There he is Shakur Stevenson Man, we just made a fight for you. Yeah, that's big stuff

We can do the fine it's my first about back one for seven. I dropped back down and straight away fine Thank you. I want to warm up at 147. I didn't want to warm up at 147. I didn't want to warm up at 160. You know for me I just want to go in there and fight the best. But for me, I've done the big fight now. For me I just really want to tick off some personal goals. But if it makes sense it makes sense to fight Shakur. If it makes sense it makes sense to fight Ryan Haney. Do you know what

I mean? But the personal goal for me is always to win that WBC World. It was always like a dream of mine. And I feel like I should have been WBC World Champion years ago. So it's something I want to tick off. But if a big fight arises, then we can make that instead. And by the way, I genuinely want to say I booked you guys apart. You don't believe me, huh? You don't believe me I hope you don't think that we took anything away because that wasn't part of the plan. No, it's fine Hand to God. You know me a little bit by now But I wasn't gonna keep him and I'm happy he took the opportunity to leave there

So it is it is really great to have you here. And by the way as fate would have it that title is being defended this weekend Are you going to that fight? We're working on it. I might go there but I might also attend Usyk-Tabois. Oh gosh yeah same day. Yeah so I'm a little bit torn in between what I do. Honestly for you my two cents? Go on. I think you should be in the front row in Vegas. That's the one you want. It won't change the business side of things because the fight will always be there anyway

whether I'm there or not. You put yourself in the middle of that discussion. You're there sitting front row, the camera pans to you. I want next. Yeah, I mean, you can do, I mean, listen, I might do. You know, we're coming. I know you said Dubois is a big deal for the country. It's Wembley and all that.

I'd love to see Dubois get the win. Yeah. You know, I'd love to see. But in terms of your personal goals, that one is more related to you, is it not? Massively, massively. I spoke to Mauricio as well over the weekend and it's definitely, the WBC title for me has always been a childhood dream so for me for

it to be in like arms this length it's like do I push that aside again to make a Chikor fight? Do I push that aside again to make a Ryan fight? You know so it's sort of like it's a hard one. It really is a hard one It's an interesting one because you have so many possibilities in terms of like for lack of a better word sexy fights That's it. These guys are sexy names, but the champion may not be a sexy name, but it's the belt So now you're in the phase of like you want to take off these goals as opposed to just these superfights You did the one super fight if you will how many more can you do? But then it's like is it a difference between prize fighter? as opposed to just these superfights. You did the one superfight, if you will. How many more can you do?

But then it's like, is it a difference between prize fighter and championship fighter? This is the difference because I know there's a lot of world champions out there who go take the money because now who cares about them? There's so many world champions out there who have quarter of what I have and could have, didn't have the opportunity

to make the money, but there you go, the money, money's all that matters. You know, so it's a hard one because I want my kids, kids to be blessed from the fruits of my labor. I'm blessed because the fruits of my dad's labor. Do you know what I mean? So what's more important? I spoke to Miguel Caro and he said to me once, by the way, Miguel Caro is a goat. I'm like, I was a big fan and I was a fan after I met him. The way he took time aside to come and speak to me, he's gone, all that matters, not the world tiles, the legacy is your kids, that's your legacy. And he really put things in perspective for me.

So, but this one's a personal goal, but I'm not gonna be selfish and do something that's better for me than my family. I'll always look after my family, period. They're priority to me. I want my kids to be so blessed that they wake up every day and it's a dream. You know, and that's like my goal for me. But I want to win that World Tour and now's that time. By the way, how old are your kids? My kids are, my son's four and a half and my daughter's one and a half.

So the four and a half, does he understand who you are or not quite? No, no, no. It's mad because this is my, his life is a dream. Like it's, to him it's just his reality. And it reminds me of me the way I was when I was growing up because the life I was living was so blessed. And I thought my parents didn't go to work was normal. I thought living in a mansion was normal and it's so far from normal but that's just their reality. And I don't really want my son to know who I am like that. I'm just his dad and I will always just be your dad. So it's interesting because you always hear about that silk pajamas line, the Marvin Hagler

line. Most boxers, the line, the Marvin Hagler line. Most boxers, the successful, the truly successful ones, come from really tough upbringings, right? Because they have to, they have to succeed. So what was your why? You didn't have to succeed, right? You are already in a family that was successful. I know you guys went through ups and downs,

but you kind of tasted the good life, if you will. So where does that edge come from? I've always lived a good life, Ariel. Okay. I've never wanted for nothing. My parents never worked, don't work. They invested their money wisely in property, bought loads of property. So for me, it's just my ambition is just I always want to do better.

I always want to do the best I can. Is it to be better than your dad? No, not at all. I'll never be better than my dad. You don't think so? No, I'll never be better than my dad. Why not? You still got a ways to go?

No, because even if, like, my dad's my hero, so to him, he'll always be someone I idolize. It will never be, I never think I could be better than my dad. Even if I was better than my dad, I would never have that mentality that I am better than my dad. He's like my hero, you know? So I feel like when you're born with ambition

and you're born with like, wanting to be the best you, you can be, achieve as much as you can, really push the limits and the boundaries to how far you can go. Especially when everybody's saying you can't or everybody's saying, no, you'll'll never do this you'll never do that I'm gonna prove you wrong I can do it. Do you think it's because people thought

that like oh this guy is just like a silver spoon guy so that's the edge that's the why. Yeah that's my that's my chip on my shoulder that's what gets me out of bed in the morning. And then you got the massive chip because the last few years then it became a whole new one. No no no, no. That don't give me a chip. That don't give you a chip? No, I've changed my... It's changed my heart. Like, it's painted my heart black.

Like, I'm a lot more... I don't really care anymore. Is it still that way? Yeah. Yeah, I don't care. Did April not erase some of that? No, not really. No. No, because what?

And what about... Because it's fickle. Right. Do you know what I mean? They love you, they hate you, they love you, they hate you and then they love you again. Do you know what I mean? It's only for now until you know. They do not feel good to get the love and respect. Of course it does. It's beautiful. Like I mean there's a lot of people believe in me. There's a lot of people who have faith in me. There's a lot of people who follow me and trust my journey and it's beautiful and I really appreciate everything one of you because it's what helped me through.

But you've got to take everything with a pinch of salt because how many of them actually really care about me? How many do you really care or I managed to fire the entertains? You really have to protect yourself from being naive in thinking that one day it won't be you because it can be any dog's day. You have to protect yourself from being naive in thinking that one day it won't be you. Because it can be any dog's day. You know, and that's all the way I look at things now. If it's not me, it's somebody else.

I see loads of other athletes getting, hate getting stick because that's just your time. You just got to ride the storm. Do you know what I mean? For whatever it is, whether it's their fault or not their fault. You know, so it really is something that, I mean? For whatever it is, whether it's their fault or not their fault, you know, so it really is something that, I mean, it was massive for me to get used to at the time. Ultimately, look at Haney, for example. Do you know what I mean?

You know, even still now. He could do no right at this point. He can't, he can't. And he can't do no right. And I personally don't like him him but does he deserve the stick he gets? Not really. No, because in reality he did nothing wrong.

Exactly. Exactly. He wasn't the one that did the stick. Exactly. He did nothing wrong. Okay, his biggest crime is that he had a so-so fight in Times Square. And filed a lawsuit. Yeah, I guess so.

Yeah, so it's embarrassing. You just wouldn't anyway. But my point is still now, Yeah. Getting ridiculed, hate for nothing really. Yeah, so I'm gonna love you and then one minute I hate you, one minute you're the next big thing, one minute then you're not, you know? And that's just the way it goes.

And it's the way you just gotta deal with it. And that's the sort of the way I am now, is they love me now, they can hate me next week. What about when you're walking out and about, like when you're on this- That's beautiful. of the way I am now, is they love me now. They can hate me next week. What about when you're walking out and about? Like when you're on this. It's beautiful. No hate, right? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's beautiful.

Especially here in New York. Oh, yeah, I've seen that, huh? Yeah, it's beautiful here in New York. Did that surprise you? Every time. Yeah. You never get used to it. You are with some fans.

Yeah, you never get used to it. You never get used to it. The amount of love I get shown in America as a whole, from LA, New York, Miami, Arizona. Is it different than in the UK? The connection with the people? Maybe less critical here of you? Oh, yeah, people don't care here about anything.

They hold you to this weird standard up there in the UK, right? Yeah. You gotta be the guy. You can't make a mistake. You're not human. You can't do this. You can be the guy. You can't make a mistake. You're not human. You can't do this. You can't say this. You can't go there. You can't. It's very, you got to be a role model. And I sort of respect it because you do want to be a role model. You do want to be the best version of you can be, but there's no grace period. You have

to be on formal all times. And for me, I want to be the best role model I can be, genuinely. I see kids, big fans, and I take time to speak to every single one of them because they need that role model. So I do get us athletes have to be held in this category where you have to just be a great role model to the kids. You know, but ultimately I do get shown a lot up here in the US. It blows my mind. I feel like sometimes I just come and move out here.

Really? Yeah. Move here? Yeah. Where would you want to live? I'd probably go LA. LA? Interesting.

Why LA? Good gyms. Yeah. That's a really good gym. You think you could have a more private life here? Definitely. Is that appealing? Yeah, I'd say so It's like he lives in Connecticut. No one talks to Katie Taylor. She's mad. I know that you didn't know that I didn't know that was a Connecticut. It's wild. She goes to the supermarket. Not a soul knows who she is Imagine her in a Dublin supermarket. Yes, I moved to Well, I've got a place in Spain in Mallorca. Yes. Mallorca. And it's in with all the locals.

No one there knows where I am, it's beautiful. I go there and I mean, they know, but like no one cares. So it's really, it's nice cause I can really enjoy time with my family. Is that like a vacation home? Yeah. Okay, I know you do training camps there too, right? I do training camps there,

but the past two and a half years when I went through everything I was going through, I just up to move my family to Spain. And we was there for maybe four months. Did you feel like you had to do that? Yeah just get away from all the noise. Yeah it was beautiful though like it was really funny because it's been years since I've lived a simple life and we went there and it's like a you know a beautiful little apartment and it was me and my kids nothing flashy nothing fancy and it's like a beautiful little apartment. And it was me and my kids, nothing flashy, nothing fancy.

And it was literally just like, it's all I need. It's all you really need. Do you know what I mean? Away from all the noise, away from all the fame, the money. It was just a beautiful thing to be with my family. I'd do my 10K runs every morning and then I'd go pick myself and go to the beach. And we'd just stay on the beach all day.

And I would get like these ice creams. And that was like every day. Simple life. Yeah, yeah. But it was perfect. It was so beautiful. Not caring a word about anything. Was there ever a point where you were like, this is so great, I never want to go back to that?

There was definitely sort of like an anxiety or fear getting a flight back home or driving back home. Because then all the shit is waiting for you there. Yeah. Yeah. So I definitely ain't going to be here for a long time. You know, I'm going to do what I need to do. Entertain the public.

Secure my family. Win the World Trial. And then... What's that? How many years is that? How many would you say? Well, because I also know a lot of boxers say like, oh by 35 I'm done and then they're fighting till 47.

35? Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah 35 is a bit far. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see how my career goes. But you know what it's like. Boxers always say that. I'm done by this age and then they stay 10 years later. No, no, no. You're not going to be that guy.

I'm not that guy. I'm not that guy. I love fighting. I love fighting. I hate the pressure in life. Do you know what I mean? To be this guy. What do you mean? What do you mean the pressure? Just to be, to constantly have to be a Romano. To constantly have this high expectation. I'm human. I'm just like you. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I'm just like everybody else. Like you can't, you can't mess up because if you mess up, you can't mess up. Everyone's talking about you, your front page. Yeah. You can't afford to mess up. But I love fighting. If it was just fighting, you know, I would fight till I'm 50.

Yeah. But I ain't just fighting. It's everything that comes with it. And I'm listen, I love, I love the game. I love fighting. But I also want to enjoy time with my family. I feel like for as long as I'm in this game, I can't fully relax. I'm always looking for the next day. I was back in the gym on the Monday after the U-Bang fight. So I always want to be... I always want to be fighting. I always want to be in that sort of fighting mode. On edge. Yeah, like I'm always like just ready to have it. I want to just be able to just go, that's it. And just relax. Do you sometimes daydream about that? Oh man, it's going to be so great when I don't have to do any of this.

No, no, no, I'm not there yet. You're not there yet. Okay. No, I'm not there yet. You're not there yet, okay. No, I'm not there yet. You still have goals, you still have things. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm still going to, I'll fight him now. I was worried for a second there. No, no, no, no, no, no, but I would fight him now. Yeah, no, I get it.

I believe you. It's like if we had a pair of boxing gloves, I'd fight him now. That's the way I am currently, do you know what I mean? But for as long as I'm in the game and chasing this belt, chasing the legacy, chasing the big fights, you can never really be calm. Still, or present. Because I'm always like, who's next? Who wants it?

Who am I fighting next? When am I fighting next? So what the hell is going on here? Because they kind of announced it out of the blue, but there was no there was no like there was no location announced So we had signed for the rematch clause. Okay, that was part of it was a two fight deal period right away, right? Right away It was all the same terms and regulations. So you gotta remember you banks his last five fights have been at 160. Yeah His he's had what 1570 fights at 160 is his majority of his career was at 160 what 15, 17 fights at 160, his majority of his career was at 160. Obviously he had pre-planned all this with the weight cut and it was a good narrative to push and a lot of people believed it.

But the reality is, I've come up two weights to his weight division. You know, if he doesn't want to do the fight and he is bottling it, which is what he is, he's scared. What does that mean? But I know what bottling means, but like how is he bottling it? By not wanting to do the fight. Is he not signing? He signed already. So what's, so what is he saying now? Well, what I'm gathering is that he doesn't want the fight. Seriously. And he wants to get out of it or, you know, move the weight. But the reality is I'm not, I'm not 160 even you can hear Shakur. I'm not 154. You gotta remember when I fought Roscoe in USA, in where was it? Florida.

Yeah, look at the size of him. I'm not 154, I'm a 147 fighter. You know, and he wanted to push that narrative. You didn't hear about him moaning about the way when he had to fight Liam Smith, and even when he lost he didn't use the weight as an excuse. But he pushed that narrative well, you know, and he said he was in hospital for a few days. I was in hospital, too There's a big difference between me and him

Why wouldn't he wanted those so huge it did a lot for his I've published personally The only thing I can think of is he's scared he's scared because he's scared because he don't want a close one Yeah, he's afraid to lose you. That's why I think so I don't think he wants to do that weight if because he don't want a close one? Yeah. And he's afraid to lose you. That's what I think. So I don't think he wants to do that. Wait, if he wants to move up and fight a Janibeck, please go ahead.

I'd love to see that too. He's saying that he wants to just. He doesn't want to fight a Janibeck, no. But I'm just saying he went up in weight. You think he's trying to get the Canelo fight? Well, as far as I'm aware, Hamza Shirazi's fighting Canelo. Well, they said 26.

I think they said between him or U-Bang. Well, I know that the rematches is signed and all agreed. For you? Yeah, yeah, no, of course. For both. It was already signed when it was part of it. It was a two fight deal. Yeah, of course.

That's what I'm surprised. Yeah. Now the only thing I can think of is this boxer stuff. Do you think that's coming into play at all? I can't get into the politics of it because I don't really know. It'll just be me speculating, but all I do know is you banks is moaning about

the day and he's moaning about the way. So, um, listen, I want to fight you bank. I want to get redemption. I think he's scared of that. That was the best you bank in there. That was the best you bank in there. Um, but there's a lot of mistakes I made. There was experience gained, lesson learned

in there for me. But there was wrongs that I could write. You know, there was greed, I was loading up, there was a lot of aggression, a lot of anger. You fight emotionally? Oh yeah. I wanted to hurt him. Do you regret that? No, because I fucking hit him hard. Sorry. But sometimes you know, like sometimes when, no, please. But sometimes when you like, you fight with emotion, you don't stick to the game plan.

I didn't stick to the game plan. You did not. No, I didn't at all. I mean, what'd you think looking at it? I don't know what your game plan was. That wasn't the game plan. What was it? I just wanted to go in and take his head off.

That was my, that was everything. I'm in camp, in training, I was hitting the bag, thinking about punching him in the head and my goal was to hurt him. That was my hurt him. That was my only goal. I didn't really think much about the victory. I wanted to beat him up. And if you look at my demeanor in the fight, I don't know if you watched the fight. Of course I watched the fight. I've not watched it back yet. You still haven't?

I still haven't. But I'm going to watch it back this week for my trainer. I was up 30 seconds before the rest period had gone. I was standing in the corner 30 seconds before the bell had gone. Just ready to go. Every round. Watch it every round. So when they said he had won him down, so I'm sitting there going,

well, I feel good. Who landed the heaviest shots? Who looked more vulnerable? Who was, demeanor was in control. You know, last 11, 12 give-arounds to him, no problem, take the rounds.ounds to him, no problem. Take the rounds.

But even then I still wouldn't have even drawn. I wouldn't have even won if I had won the 11th and 12th round. So I sit there and I go, okay what fight was I in then? Because I felt good. You know but next time I fight, if it does happen next, I'll fight with less heart, less balls, more brains. That's crazy. I didn't notice that detail of you standing up.

Watch the fight back. 30 seconds before your bell will go off. Why didn't your corner tell you to chill? I was chilled. I just wanted to get up and steam into him. I was chilled. I just wanted to get up and carry on. Like I think in one of the rounds I went, yeah next round you got more of that.

It was fucking crazy. It's the fight of the year as we sit here July 14th. Like, he looked vulnerable in there. He looked vulnerable. He looked like he could go at any minute. And that was the problem with my greed was because I was always just one shot away from closing the show.

And I was looking for that one shot too much. But it looked like all I needed was that one shot and that never came. But even then I still think I won the fight. So till this day without watching it you think you actually deserved to win? I think I could have gone either way. Not won 16-1-12 at all. By the way, that fight was almost three months ago. On a quiet Tuesday night you've never said like, let me pop this, let me watch this thing.

Because I know I didn't do anything I had prepared for. So when you spend 12 weeks doing the same shit every day, for you to not get it right, in the only time you have to get it right, which is 36 minutes, how can you not kick yourself? Yeah. And so that's how I feel. Like even my trainer in the ring,

while I was leaning over the ropes, Tony's gone, yeah, you know, you I was leaning over the ropes, Tony's gone, yeah, you could have done. I went, Tony, give me a minute. Give me a minute, it's too soon. But I know I've done nothing that I should have done in there. It might have been great for the viewers. Does it eat at you?

When I watch it back, it will. I've sort of pushed it to the back of my head. But yeah, I need to watch it back and sit down with the team and do what I know I should have done. I know what they're going to say as well, which is the worst thing about it. So if for whatever reason this falls through and I hope not, do you think it will be like one of the big things when you're old and gray, 80 years old, like man, like if you feel this way about it from three months ago, how are you gonna feel in 20, 30 years if you never,

the politics of boxing, I think it ultimately happens, but what if it doesn't? Will this eat at you? With you, Ben? Yeah, if you don't get a chance to right the wrong. Hopefully, yeah, no, I mean. You have to do it, right? For your soul.

Listen, it's either now or never. I'm not waiting around for U-Bank. It's been like two and a half years of this fight. They've had the fight. If you don't want to do it again, just come out and say, you don't want to do the fight again. But you can't, that was the best U-Bank in there. Do you know what I mean?

He pushed his weight narrative and got fined 10 grand for sympathy vote. What was this latest thing? Misuse of social media? Yeah, so he had lied saying that he'd done it for social media views. That's what he said. The sauna stuff. Yeah, it was for social media. And so they fined him for that.

That's what he said. Yeah. That's what he said. Yeah. It was for social media. Did you get his fine? Did I get his fine? Yeah, you know, the one from the missing of the weight. Yeah. I've got 500,000. You got it. I got it. I bought Rolls Royce. How soon does that hit the bank account? Uh, it took a few months. Wow. But I was like, I went to the boys straight away.

I went, cause we're waiting. We're all standing there waiting for to see if he had made the weight or not. I've got, that's my Rolls Royce. Oh my God. Cause I want to bought a Rolls Royce otherwise, but I jump in every single day and I think about just Chris sweating out. You know I jump in there and I can smell sweat. I jump in there and I can smell pain. I jump in there and I can smell unprofessionalism and it smells really good. Smells better than a brand new car. Yeah Could you sit next to him like this?

No, no. I think he's an absolute idiot. I think he's more of an idiot now. Really? Why? Because he's just an idiot, isn't he? He's just an idiot. I just don't like him. I personally don't like him. As a human being?

As a human being, I don't like him, no. But what about... I respect that we put on a great fight for the public and we did that and I'm happy that I had that dancing partner to do that with and give the fans a fight that they wanted and it lived up to expectation because nobody else could have brought that out of each other apart from Chris. I've not had to go to that place before and neither has Chris you know so I respect that but on a personal level,

do I think he's an idiot? Yeah, I do, yeah. I don't like him. In the aftermath, as you know, like he, and even in the buildup, like, to steal a phrase from pro wrestling, like he became a baby face. It seemed like the public had turned

from negative to positive towards him. I saw the interview that he did on Sky afterwards. It's like, he's in front, I think in front of the eye and it's dusk and it's like, he was being celebrated as a hero did that piss you off oh god far piss me off I don't care about him like that but you noticed this

too right that people were really start I would say I don't know I first time my life I'm backing Chris Eubank jr. what for whatever reason I don't know cuz I'm you even like me or you hate me yes you even love me or hate me. When you have two personalities, one really brash and aggressive and then the other one really conniving and slippery,

some people like him, some people like me, you ain't going to have everybody like you, period. Do you know what I mean? If everybody likes you, then what's it? If you're everyone's cup of tea you're a mug We say that's a good one. So Lot of people gonna hate me love you gonna love me Do you always feel this way or was there a time where you wanted everyone to love you?

No, I always I mean, I guess when you're younger, you're just like I don't understand why I'm getting hate Yeah, I'm doing the best I can I'm trying to do the hardest sport in the world I'm trying I give me a break. That was my age when I was younger. Now I don't give a fuck. What do you want me to do? Not be me. You want me to live in a world, in my world, where I can't be me. So you can like me. That's a bad place to be. Do you imagine living in a world where you can't be yourself? Yeah, yeah.

Nah. It'll be who you are. If they don't like you, tough. Does it make a difference? No. Do I wake up with my beautiful family? Yes. What would you want me to do? Do you want me to like, do you want me to make you like me? I don't care. I don't care enough for you to like me. I don't even know your name. That's sort of my, I've become, you become that way. Sure. Do you know what I mean? And you see loads of young fighters come through who get abuse and who get hate. You have to develop thick skin in this game otherwise you break. I was just wondering if you were comparing the way people reacting to him to the reaction

you were getting because you're like, I'm the guy moving up two weight classes. Oh no, he pushed the narrative well. He pushed the narrative well, you know, with the whole weight thing, like I was draining him and he killed it. He killed it. And a lot of people believed it, which I find absolutely mental considering we got in the ring on the night and you can clearly see that we are sizes apart. What about the rehydration clause? Is he fighting that for the rematch? As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't even want to do 160. So what is he pushing for? 168?

I don't know what he's pushing for, but whatever it is, I'm not doing. It's 160 or bust? I'm not even a big 147. So I'll fight the likes of Shakur, Pillowfist. I'll not fight Pillowfist instead, he's coming up from 135, over jumping up to the end, super middle. So what, for him to come in at light heavy? Right. Do you understand?

No, no, I understand. I went into the ring at 160, 162. I weighed in at 157, and that was me putting on weight. Right. And so it's July 14th, this fight was announced for September 20th. Yes. Do you have a deadline? How long you gonna wait now today today?

You think I'm joking no, no, I know you're not joking but literally today today today is the deadline It's the deadline today is the deadline. Yeah, what do you need to know today? Whether the fights going ahead or not and And who do you find out from? Eddie? From the team. My team speak to the higher-ups, the, you know, his excellency, all of them. We're under the impression today's the day. Otherwise, we move. Wow. And I just, listen, I'm excited to give a dance to 147. Well, I'm at my most dangerous. You see Crawford when he went up to fight Madrimov. 154 is knocked out of street, it ended. And then it's going to happen to now 168.

It's a massive difference going from 147 to 154. Glove size, the way they absorb punishment, it's different. So I'm excited to drop it down to 147 where I'm at my most dangerous. You saw Turkey this weekend. I saw the video of you guys. Did you talk about it? I did. We can make plenty of fights there to make. So are you really starting to look at other options? I'm I'm already, I'm this already. Yeah.

So I'm kind of heartbroken right now. Oh yeah. I want jokes. Everything I'm talking about. I'm not just giving you talk right now. What I'm saying is factual. I'm talking about ain't based off talk. I'm not just giving you talk right now. What I'm saying is factual. The fights either happening today or not. Today the next 24 hours. Yeah. Wow.

And I'm not wasting. Listen, you got to imagine I've spent a lot of time waiting around to make this fight. You know, it was good to fight in January, February, March, April, you know, so I wanted to only get back out. I was back in the gym on the Monday I was ready to I'm I would be ready to go now you know so for me I have to wait till September cool I'll do it for for you at the U-Bank fight but I'm ready to just go just get me get me a date what's your gut say what do you think happens I'll rip I really can't tell you. You have no inkling?

I don't have no inkling, no. I can't tell you. But it doesn't matter. Because what's for you won't pass you. And I'll just stay in the gym, stay working, stay learning. Getting better, being the best fighter I can be. And give the fans the fight they want. If Shakur isn't ready till November, well,

again, it's just painful because these big fights take long to make. Really all I want to do is just fight. I just want to fight. November will again it's just painful because these big fights take long to make when really all I want to do is just fight. I just want to fight. You're ready to go. You could start a training camp today. Yeah I ideally need six weeks. Meaning six weeks to prepare. That's it. Yeah six weeks. That's not too bad. No it's not. Most guys would say like 11th. If they said to me you've got six weeks now it's the fight of Shakur. The way I've made one for seven for two years. So it would just be me gauging away.

That'd be the only thing. But apart from that, I'm always in shape. I'm always there and thereabouts. I don't eat loads of shit. I don't go off the rails. I stay on the ball and stay in the gym. Why did they announce the fight? If he wasn't there was a rematch cause that so they just you bank and that Turkey announced

it after the fire. Sure. It was going to be in september in london How come they didn't announce a venue? The venue as far as i'm aware is i'm not going to give you an exclusive Why not? Well, there's only two places right? Well, then you just have to do the math. I think it should be wembley You're gonna have to do the math But then the only thing I could think of is that hot spur would be like yo We gave it to you the first time you have to do the math. I think it should be Wembley. You're going to have to do the math. But then the only thing I could think of

is that Hotspur would be like, yo, we gave it to you the first time, you got to come back to us. You're going to have to do the math. You're not going to the O2. No, it's not the O2. But yeah, as I said, like, all I want to do is fight, just make up for lost time,

get back out. For me, really, from dropping back down to one for seven, it has to be here. I really want it to be the world title. I know the world title for me, as soon as I got that off, bucket list done. Not many fighters can say they've achieved the world title and the money as well. So for me, I've just got to get the world title. It's another money that always follows.

Money's money. You make it, you lose it, you make it, you lose it. Money's money you make it you lose it you make it you lose it is money's okay But the world's help for me something. It's a real personal goal to just say like yo, I've done it I made it when all you lot died from the beginning. I made it. I made it happen As far as like payday for world title versus you bank. Is it a big difference? Oh, yeah huge So you see you want the? Like multiples of like two, three? A bit more. Geez.

Oh, yeah. You're talking numbers. Yeah. Forget the belt. Well, see, how far do you go? How much money can you... You can't go to the bank and deposit a belt. Yeah, I know, but I know that I can take that to my grave. Yeah, I know. So, no, I know it's a hard one. Would I rather have money or be world champion? I've made a lot of money. Now, it comes at a price. I think the more money you make, the more you sort of then go, okay, well, it doesn't matter if I'm making that much for a world title. World title is still a world title. Right. I'm not quite

there yet. So if the money's obviously I want the U-Bank fight because of the magnitude and because it's personal. So listen, I'm not even thinking about the money. So you're talking to me about money. I'm not even thinking about the money if we're talking the rematch. I'm talking about getting redemption. I'm talking about beating Nisqyza up again. I'm talking about Wembley. That's what comes to my head when I'm talking U-Bank.

I'm not going extra zeros or not. By the way, were you surprised? When I'm when I'm talking you bang yeah, I'm going extra zeros or not By the way, were you surprised ultimately? I know you've been asked a million times about the dad showing up But did you think the whole time he was gonna show up? I thought the whole time he wasn't oh really Yeah, did it shake you at all when you saw it didn't shake me. I thought I'm watching it. I'm just going in my head. It may have not seemed it, but I'm sitting there going Like I'm proud. I'm just going in my head it may have not seemed it but I'm sitting there going like I'm proud I'm happy good for them I won't go as far as good for them I won't go as far as good for them but for the theater for the theatrics for the for the for the moment event yeah it was incredible but they're just you kidded me you kid me. You fooled me.

You done a good one there. Do you think his dad showed up, senior showed up because he wanted to be there or because he got paid to be there? Definitely paid. That was it? Yeah, they don't like each other still. I don't think, but. Were you surprised that he didn't show up for Harlem's fight?

Do you know what? You're asking me these questions and I'm just like, I don't really want to... I understand it's personal. Yeah, it's a bit personal. I get it. It's just you're so intertwined in this story. No, I do think they're all... I don't like any of them. I got it.

But I think it's... I don't feel comfortable addressing it. I get it. Even though I don't like them, I feel like it's maybe a bit. I respect it. But do I think it was because I paid? Yeah, I do think it was because he's paid. Do I think that should get on? No. But then again, I could be completely wrong on there having cup of tea together on scones. When your dad sees him in private? I don't think they ever really get on. Like they wouldn't sit down and have a conversation together about anything.

I've not witnessed that. Every time I've been there, my dad's rolling his eyes off the time. Well, they shake hands? Yeah, shake hands. Okay, so it's all good like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw them in the ring, obviously.

I think when he starts talking, Yeah. It's when my dad just goes, mate, give me a rest. Yeah. Like you should have seen me, I was in a hospital with Junior and his dad had come over, senior had come over, my dad was there, it was really surreal.

Wow. Yeah, so it's great, give me chills. Yeah, so we were all in the hospital, me, Junior, Senior. How close? Well, he was in the other room. Wow. Yeah, I'll bet, like close. And senior had come over to me and just started talking to me

and just having a conversation. I'm after Lerius. I don't publish it obviously and go I'm in hospital, look, because it's the fight game. It's what we do. And he had come over and just grabbed my hand. He said pass me your hand. So I passed him my hand and he just started stroking my hand. I'm confused. I was confused at the moment. And then he, it was a real weird one because I don't know why he was stroking my hand for. But in the same breath, he was like,

he didn't like seeing us both in that state. So you think it was genuine? Oh, it was genuine, yeah, yeah. It was definitely genuine, yeah. But it was bizarre because I don't know why the holding hand part had to do with anything because I could have perfectly felt the energy just having my hand on my knees, whatever. But he had just looked at me and he was like, he was just like, just upset.

He was upset that the fact that we get punched in the face by everybody else is making money off us. But that's where he's now maybe retired. This is what we do. This is what we're fighters. We're prize fighters. We sign up to fight. You know, and I just don't think he likes the idea of fighting in general. Now how did your father feel about him being there holding your hand and all that? I think he's got a lot of love for me. Okay. On a personal level, I think he's got a lot of love for me. He's always given me advice and given me knowledge in the madness of everything he's talking.

So sometimes it doesn't make sense, but then in there, there's a hidden gem of wisdom and advice. I think my dad... yeah it's funny because I'm not sure if my dad gets jealous. I'm not sure if my dad gets jealous when I'm like for example, seeing you play this song, he's like you need to walk out to this song. This was before me and Junior were fighting. And my dad's like no he's sticking to my song. He's telling you this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where's that? This was just a sign in an appearance. Senior was like, yeah, you should come out to this song. And my dad's like, no, he's coming out to Dangerous. It's incredible.

Yeah, yeah. So it's, I've got a lot of love for it. They're just both different men and they're both nuts in their own rights. Did you talk to Junior when you were in the hospital? No, not at all. And I wouldn't talk to him. Did you see him? Yes.

Yeah, but I wouldn't talk to him. Why not? Like not even like a... I don't know. Did you see him? Yes. Yeah, but I wouldn't talk to him. Why not? Like not even like a... Salute for what? Respect. I don't know. You just went for war. Respect for what? Respect that he thought I was going to be an easy touch, which is why he fought Welterweight. So where's the respect in that? Where's the pride in that? There's no respect or pride in that. Like Shakur, I'm not, I, like, if you want to fight, call or fight, but I won't gloat about it. You're a one free five. Do you know what I mean?

You're tiny. You made magic, the country stopped, the world was talking about it. It was controversial. It was theater at its finest. It was controversial. It was the theater. It was the story. It was the narrative.

It was the, there was a family feud. There was so much to it, but, and I'm happy we could really do that for the public. I still would have chosen to have a world title any day because of you don't really get that many opportunities or moments in life where you can really sit down and go, shit, I did that. I was leaning over the ropes after the fight

and I'm looking around and there's like a ton of emotions going on for me. Just like, okay, one six, first of all was one 16, one 12. That means I clearly lost. I didn't feel like I clearly lost. Then I'm then thinking it's finally done. It's happened. Then it was like, wow, look at the crowd. Then it was like, I'm financially secure after spending, you know, seven figures on legal bills. So then it was like, I'm glad the fight was what it was, but then it was like all the emotions. And I was so upset that we had loss. Because I felt like I was doing this for my people. So we had loss. I didn't do the right thing. So it was so many different emotions going on in my head at that moment I saw you processing some of that because I saw some people like congratulate great fight and you were like what?

Congratulations, that was the look that I was getting on it still now it is. Yeah still now it's to us It was like oh, it was a great night of fights, but he was like no no no I lost Yeah, I didn't do what I lost. Yeah, and that good enough so when people go yeah you know the people can't come to me still now and go congratulations well done yeah for what yeah I lost but then I'm like are you sure you got the right guy? that speaks to how great the fight was but again I know you don't care about it I don't want it you know nobody wants to lose right no matter how much money you got no matter how big the fight is, no matter how great the fight was, you always want to have your hand raised.

I don't prepare, I don't train to lose. I don't spend 12 weeks of my life away from my family prepared to lose. You know and that's sort of my, just the way I am, I don't want to lose. The fight, it aged really well because the next week was the Times Square card and it was so bad that it only made you guys look even better. You know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to gloat on other people's... It wasn't great.

Yeah, I know it wasn't great, but... And it was nothing that the promoter, like they tried. The problem was, in my opinion, was that Devin and Ryan knew that there was a big one coming up, so they wanted to do- Be safe. Yeah. Be safe, this is-

That's the problem when they're doing these fights when they're like, this one's coming up. You say that, but then look at the influence Turkeys had, Turkleler Shakes had on- Oh, I'm not knocking him. Shakur's, no, no, Shakur's fight. So he's trying his best, but how, like, that, for me, that was the best performance Shakur's had. So that's the influence best, but how, how like that for me, that was the best performance

Chakor's had. So that's the influence of his excellency making that, you know, that happen. It's just you have to go one at a time. But I don't think, I don't think you can do that with some fighters. I don't think Haney Stiles will ever change because he's been knocked down. Against Norman you don't think he changes? No, no, no. Against Norman. No, I don't think so. Who do you think wins that? Do you know what? Not in an ignorant way.

I've not seen, probably because I've been doing my own thing, you know, not even fighting at 147. So I've just been doing my thing. I've not stayed tuned to who's been, who I never heard of him up until he fought Jin Sasaki. What a knockout who I was gonna who I was gonna fight during that period. It's for the IBF and the fight that happened because obviously I was going through while I was going through balls mandatory for him. And I saw him knock him out and I thought that was a great knockout phenomenal knockout. I don't know about the performance I don't know what Randy was but I saw the knockout. He catches hanging with that shot he's young he's hungry as well. How old is he? He's like mid twenties.

Yeah, he's hungry. I think he could beat Haney. From a technique perspective, I think Haney's great fire and he does what he does well, but I don't think, I think Norman's a great fighter. And he does what he does well, but I don't think, I think Norman's hungry. He don't really care about the stardom. He don't care about the fame. He just wants to fight in an interview that I see. So if this doesn't happen September 20th, if it's done, is number one WBC and have you been told you're next?

We can make it happen. And do you think Pacquiao could pull this off? You know what, I do. Really? I do, but then I would feel bad for Pacquiao. Well, if he beats Barrios, then fair play. You say fair play, but. If he wins fair and square,

Barrios is good. Yeah, Barrios is good. So if he, I know it's a big if, but if he schools him, turns back the clock. I mean, listen- By the way, you versus Pacquiao would be gigantic. I know you guys had the little face-to-face in Riyadh last year. That would be a win-win for me. It's fine Pacquiao because he's a mega fight, but for great money and also for the world title, you can't really go wrong. Yeah.

I don't think he can pull it off his Pacquiao. Period. That's it. But more than likely it's Barrios who wins. Let's be honest. I would be surprised if Pacquiao wins But wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised. I would besided you know so it's but regardless I've got so many options there geez you know what I mean I've it's like you got guys at 35 wanting to fight you I fight like I'm not just saying this if everybody wants to fight all that's fire I've just got up to, I'll drop back down to 147. My first fight back at 147, I'll fire. Shakur, no problem. Like I'm really not, I don't, if I'm going to jump up to 160, you think I'm scared about?

No I didn't. Shakur who can't punch anyway. It was a pretty good performance. Listen, it was a good performance but I feel thought I thought it was a Peter made it exciting He took his shots who took who shots I thought you know Shakur took some shots and yeah, he did. Yeah, he did. Yeah, but But they my shots. No, I know I'm not one for seven So if you're gonna come to one for seven in eight ounce gloves where I've had all my career best performances Well, I'm excited. They excites me. I need fights that excite me and that excites me.

So what should we do? We call Eddie now or what? Can't you keep, if you get Eddie on the phone, call him. What's happening? You want me to call him now? I'm calling him now. What are we calling him for? What are we asking him?

Edward, Edward, what's happening? Okay, we need to know. By the way, we're doing all the impromptu stuff here today. No, I know, you're really springing it on me, ain't ya? No, well, I don't know. Do you want me to call him? Let's call Edward, let's call Edward. I don't want to get in trouble, I like you. I don't on me, ain't you? No, well, I don't know. Do you want me to come? Let's go Edward, let's go Edward. I don't want to get in trouble.

I like you. I don't want to be happy for you. No, no, let's call him. I don't want your smoke. Okay, let's call him. I'm calling him. Here it is, putting it on speaker. If not, I'll just go to Frank Smith.

Yeah. Hey Eddie, I'm live on the air right now. So I'm sorry for, Connor Ben is sitting right in front of me and he told me that today is the day. It's the deadline. Today's the day he has to know what's going on with the with the U-Bank fight what could you tell us? Well we're waiting. I mean these people are so painful you know they signed a contract to fight a two-fight deal we told them September 20th 27 they

said yeah that's fine obviously it was announced on the night the rematch would be on the 27th and they're just slow and painful So, you know, we asked we don't want to be messed around Connor Benny's one of the biggest stars in boxing right now Everybody wants to fire him. We need an answer and hopefully that will come I think he's in the next 24 hours So we stand by we also I don't know if you saw a Shakur Stevenson was in here and they had a nice little chat And they both agreed if that fight falls through that they'd be interested in fighting. Of course said he'd want to go to London in November. I think that are you interested in this? Everyone wants to fight Brian Norman was moving

Devin Haney Richardson Hitchens dear female, Shakur Stevenson, Ryan Garcia, Connor Bennies, the hot stuff in the division right now. So the fight with Shakur, I love it. That's a massive stadium fight in the UK. We got plenty of options. All we know is we signed up to a two fight deal. We always keep our word. Are you fighting or not? We need to know. Do you want to say anything to Edward? Eddie, that was the best bit promoting ever that was cool I feel really good about myself haha all right

let's get this fight let's get this fight done come on it let's fucking have it come on mate all right Eddie so that's it you hung up on him yeah that's all he needs okay so he seems to be on the same page as you I told you 24 hours, but I'm happy to go back dance one for seven. I've done the fight now Jim I've done the fight now would I love redemption now? We gotta get is he's a day get this payday By the way, that's in two months two months. I'm ready. I'm ready. Yeah, I know that's what yes I'm at least I'm good either way though. I'm good now Financially, I'm good Your grandchildren will be good and their kids will be good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, my great-great-great-children will be good. Yeah, no, listen, we are prize fighters. I can't say that money ain't a factor because would I rather money over a world title any day of the week? Do I want my kids looking up in the trophy and seeing the green belt and but then having to go without, not being able to go on holidays, not being able to have their mum and dad present, not being able to have the finer things in life, the best things in life, I'd rather give them everything than not have the belt. Do you know what I mean? But then there comes a time where you have everything and now it's about getting the belt. So I feel right, for me, I just

want to get that world title, if not Shak uh, should call it Twitterson. She called it. She called a track star. She called a pillow face can get it next. I like, I'm genuinely like not fast. I'm a fighter win, lose or draw, giving people value for money. I'd rather lose an exciting fight than win a boring fight. You said, look at Haney.

Yeah. All right. No one cares. No one's watching fight stocks went down after his performance. So it Haney, look at Haney. No one cares, no one's watching fight. His stocks went down after his performance. So it's like, did you even really win though? I know he's saying, talking shit about me and the scandal that went on and well, no one cares about you, bruv.

You're boring. That's it, period, you're boring. And you filed a lawsuit for battery because you got battered. That's it. That's like your career high. All the world titles, all the however many you got, you can shove them up your ass because nobody really cares. All people you're known for is getting battered and filing for a battery lawsuit and lost.

That's your biggest hell today. So, don't even know where that come from, but it's true. You're the freaking man, Connor. You're the man. Thank you so much. What a great debut in studio. Oh, mate, Spl're the freaking man, Connor. You're the man. Thank you so much. What a great debut in studio. Oh, mate, it's blinding. You know what?

You are the best. I appreciate that. You are the best to do it. I love watching your stuff from years. I remember you came up to me one time. Where were we? Somewhere. Maybe I was at Wembley.

And you were like, oh, I've watched yourself. I was like, Connor, Ben knows who I am. I was blown away. I was touched by that. So thank you. For years. Thanks for being a great sport. And I wish you all the best. And I hope in the next 24 hours you get some good news.

I'll message you the good news. Okay. I love that. We'll take a quick break. We'll say goodbye to Connor. We'll be back with Paulo Costa, Don't Go Anywhere. Amazing stuff there from the Crack Boys on Friday. Amazing stuff with Connor Bench. Of course, Stevenson, Eddie Hearn. Let's not waste any time. Our next guest finally returns to action this Saturday. This Saturday he is back UFC 318. Is he really back? Is Bojasinha really back? I don't believe it. They say he's back. He's back? Of course I'm back, of course. Why you don't talk to me? Paolo, I'm gonna get emotional. Where have you been, Paolo?

You know, Tamara must think I'm a stalker at this point, Paulo, for the amount of times I've texted her. When can Paulo come back? Where is Paulo? We miss Paulo. What happened to Paulo? Where did he go? Did I offend Paulo? Did I upset him?

Is he mad at me? You're back, Paulo. Yes, I'm back. I'm very happy. And of course, thank you for always having me very well, super well on your show. Ariel, I'm super glad to be here one more time. Thank you very much for always opening the doors of this great show for me. We missed you, my friend. We genuinely missed you. Where have you been? Where have you been? I've been training, training, doing a lot of different stuff, but mostly training.

And I travel, I went to different genes to train different partners. First, I went to Germany in the beginning of this year, January to March, I spent there two months training in Dusseldorf. The gym name over there is Spitfire and in Dusseldorf is UFG gym. Yes. I have trained with some very good fighters over there. And after that I went to America. And I went to Denver, Ohio, just training on different places, doing some, you know, getting new skills and knowledge and techniques and improve myself as a fighter.

Did you feel like you had to go to a different place, change the scenery, change things up? Is that why you did all this? And if so, why? Why did you feel like you needed to do this? I just feel I need a new refresh, you know, see different things and being connected with old, my old style, that style to chase, to be more aggressive,

bring back the power of the old days, you know, that since I fought the very first five Fighters that I made in FC very aggressive, you know my fans and the people Around me has always asked me and argue me to come back with this kind of style of fight. So Yeah, I was looking for that. Looking for bringing back this style. I think this is who I am. There was some talk that you were going to fight last month and then all of a sudden the fight got moved. Same opponent, copy love, but it got moved. Why did it get moved? Yeah, that move happened because I got sick. I got flu, severe flu. I could not train for 10 days. Very, very sick. So I communicate to UFC headquarters and they postponed this

fight for next Saturday now. Was that frustrating because you were so close probably feeling good before you got sick and then you have to wait even longer? I will be. I will be. I yes it's frustrating because it's not under my control. No, no it's not under your control. You got sick by flu or something like that. And this is frustrating for this part, but I understand the NFC was very comprehensive as well. Thank you, NFC. Thank you, Hunter and Meek Manage for being so comprehensive with me. And they understand and move with no big problems.

I saw that you posted in early July, I think July 2nd, you were already 206 pounds. Is that lighter than usual for you that far in advance? Yes, yes. Because there was like three weeks before the fight and I don't know who's to go so low, so early, you know, so early in the training camp. But that's because I was in training camp for already two months. So in total, this fight, I'm training for this fight for almost four months, so it's a lot. But I'm glad we finally get on this final week. And I'm happy to be here. Just be back, you know, in the fight, fight, fight, uh, in the week, fight week is important. It's important. It's very important. Just focus on my weight right now.

I'm almost with the same weight with this picture that you showed, right? Wow. Yeah. So does that mean no more secret juice? Yes, no secret juice until just after. That's it. And how's the merch going?

The merch is okay, not too fast as I wish, but yes, we're doing very good shorts, but yeah. Nice one. Yeah, this is amazing, yeah, I love that. Yes, I love the logo. You told me a long time ago you would send me some stuff, but I don't know, maybe you didn't get the address or something, I didn't get it.

Yeah, did you send me that, motherfucker? No. No. That's fine. By the way, I like your signature. Is that a dollar sign in your signature? Yes. Oh, you're smart guy.

Yeah, look at that. You got it, you know? I believe when you put something on on your mark so Some symbols I believe in symbols, you know, hmm, so I believe when you put some symbols on you mark or It's something that is very important for you this can bring

Good things for you and I hope this brings some dollars to me. Of course, no I hope so too because sometimes you know when you don't fight a year or so you the MMA world it changes so much the fight game changes that people forget about you. Do you feel like people have forgotten about you? Do you feel like you've kind of been forgotten about and you have to remind them on Saturday who Boa Chinea is? I don't think people forget me. Yeah, forget. Yeah, I don't think people forgot me but I think yes I came from two losses and not good very good performance in the last one against Strickland. So somebody said the last recordation is the recordation that the people will remember.

So I want to change that. I want to erase that last presentation for this new one, Saturday. Now I'm just focused and very excited on that. I want to, because I know if I bring a great performance on Saturday next, everything gonna change for better. Do you think, do you feel like this is a must win for you? This is very important win for you, for me, and this is a great matchup. You like the matchup? You like the matchup? I like, I like because he's a striker, he's

Southpaw. I know how to fight against Southpaw. I know he's dangerous. He has good kicks and a good left hand, straight left hand. But I'm very prepared for that. And I'm excited, I'm happy for this fight. I think he can bring a great fight for me and him, of course, for everyone, for the audience. And I'm very excited for this. I think this is going to be a good dance. And I think this fight is going to be short, not so long, not 50 minutes, no way. I think two rounds, maybe in the first round, I think this is gonna be a good collision, you know?

Yes. Looking for finish. I will be there to finish this fight since the very minute. Right now the fighters from Georgia, they're very hot right now. They're having a lot of success. Ilja, Murab, does that worry you? Where, me? Yeah, like, cause you know, they're on a roll right now, the Georgian fighters. They're having a lot of success.

Does that worry you that maybe you'll continue? But I'm not Georgian. No, no, but he is. Oh, he's Georgian, Kopilov? I think so, no? He's Russian. Well, I screwed that one up. Yeah, it's almost the same. I was thinking of Roman Dolitsa.

No, no, no, Kopilov, I think he's Russian, yeah. What do you think of the Russian fighters? They're having great success too. The Russian fighters are having success also. Yeah, but Brazilians as well. Yeah, no, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I really botched that, Paulo, because I'm so nervous that you're here, that you're back in my life,

that I'm a little bit anxious, you know, when I'm in your presence. I feel you, Enes. You are just joking with me. No, what do you mean? Yeah, I can see, I can see. You cannot lie to me. No, we miss having you in the studio. Oh, yes, me too, brother, me too. When you coming back to New York?

After this fight, if you invite me, I will be there. You're gonna come to New York City? After this, after this fight, with this victory, I promise you, I'm gonna show up. I would love that. Can I ask you about your uncle Reggie? Reggie? R-E-, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or is it Heji? He passed away, he passed away, but. You wrote something very nice about him.

Tell me. Well, is that how you pronounce his name? Yes, Reggie. Reggie, okay. He was pure aura, I learned many lessons from him. He taught me how to treat women. He never ran away from a fight and he knew how to appreciate wine like no one else. Yes, yes. He has, I got emotional.

Very important in my life. Okay. I'm sorry to hear. Yeah, yeah. But I miss him. But his lessons will never be forget. He is on your mother's side or father's side? For more incredible that it can songs for the both sides. What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Did you get engaged yet, Paulo? It's been so long.

I wanted to know what's the status. Again? Did you get engaged? Engaged for, no, no, yeah, no, yeah, no, yeah. Still? It's still, it's still, it's still. You know, the thing is not easy in Brazil. No, come on, this is too long now.

This has been two years you've been telling us. We have be sanctioned from Trump. You have we hear that? Sanctions. Yes. Tariffs. Tariffs. Donald Trump put 50%.

Now Brazil is the most sanctioned country in the world. In the fucking world is Brazil. Can you believe that? No, I can't. But why do he, why do you choose 50% for Brazil? Why did he pick that number? I don't know why they picked that number, but I just know it's a very, very high number, right?

So it's, it's very unfortunate. Yes. And not fair. And now I think it's very unfortunate. Yes. And not fair. And no, I think he's very fair. Oh, okay. It's up there, but you like Trump, right? You like Trump? Ah, yeah, I like, I like, I think he's much better than Biden. Yeah. Would you want to fight at the white house? What you talking about? Yeah, they're, they're saying, Would you want to fight at the White House?

They're saying that they're going to do a fight at the White House, July 4th. Outside the White House? Outside the White House. You didn't hear about this? No. They're going to do July 4th, 2026. It will be the 250th anniversary of America. And they're going to do an event at the White House, on the lawn. Oh my God, this is... I would like to see you there.

Oh, yes, maybe, maybe, maybe. But they have a space for that. They're going to do it, yeah. They already said it. He announced it. Dana confirmed it. John Jones says he wants to come back. Conor McGregor says he wants to come back.

Everyone wants to be on it. But I think that you should be on it. Oh my God. Oh my God. This is something. This is something. I'm surprised you don't know about it because you're so active on social media.

No, I didn't hear that. I didn't see that. Maybe I see, but maybe I didn't believe. I don't know. Who would be your dream fight? You at the White House versus? Tremayev. Ah, that's the one.

Tremayev, yeah, yeah. This son of a bitch. I want to fight this guy. I Want to fire do you think he beats DDP? It's hard to say because the DDP stuff, you know, you know how to How to defend he very already take downs that she might have supposed to to try again. I I don't know but Doesn't matter win or losing these I want to fight that mother father. Oh my gosh What a fight it has to happen at this point enough enough

Has to happen. Yeah, could you imagine you versus she mayev for the belt at the White House this time next year? Oh my God, this would be incredible. All you have to do is win one fight and you're right back in there. Yes, man. Yes. I'm focused on that Ariel. And I will call his name after this.

If God give me this victory, I will call his name and I gonna pronounce, you know, I gonna call his name and I'm gonna pronounce, you know, I'm gonna call this son of a bitch motherfucker, go to the river for fight, you know, him. He need to fight me. I need to fight him. Why do you dislike him so much? Because look, I have tried to fight him for a long time ago, like from... Since we have a beef inside the PI,

and he has been avoiding fighting me for a long time. He always say no, and EFC has tried to put this match up for a long time, like two years ago. And they always say, okay, Shumayev say no, he don't want fight you, he won't fight anybody at 185, but he don't fight you, he don't fight you. And then they called, finish the deal, but I get the surgery on my elbow. So in that week, he sent a message for my girl, Tamar. He acted like a woman.

He treat her. He say, Paulo, they say some bad shit. I will try to remember. He say something like, I'm going to beat you, your husband. Wow. And I'm gonna do bad things, he's dead and dead and dead. But he said for her and not for me, you know. So I said, why this guy is sending message for my girlfriend, you know.

This is no sense. So this is something that pisses me off. And I want to put these things inside the cage and bring to the cage. Wow. He messaged your girlfriend. Yes. I have the prints of it, I think. He crossed the line in your opinion.

He crossed the line. He's so emotional. He act like a woman. I mean, I respect women, you know, but a man cannot act like a woman, you know, be so emotional, be so reactive, you know, he's kind of people. You can see he start to yelling in the cage

he started to yell in the cage. And you can see he has a level of control, you know? He lost the control very, very easy, so emotional. And this is a kind of thing that humans use it to do, not man, you know? So I don't respect that. I don't respect him. I don't respect him. Sure sure. Yeah. I thought maybe he was going to DM to say like when are you guys going to get engaged

or something but he's just trying to pick a fight. No he's not. He was not because the fight was already on. Yeah. And yeah, I think he he he felt pressure or I don't know, maybe he felt he felt pressure. I was there in the same city training and the fight was coming and he start to send a message for her. By the way, I wanted to thank you because a few months ago Magomed on Kolaev was talking shit to me He said he didn't like me that he was gonna block me big nose guy and then you came to my defense So I wanted to thank you for that. Of course. No

He say you have a big nose. Yeah, he said he didn't like that. I'm a fake big nose guy And I was giving him props, but I think it was his manager controlling his Twitter you know. Ah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, this is not good. This is not good. I think, yeah. I don't let my manager control my social media.

No, clearly. I saw you were one of the few guys supporting Bryce Mitchell when you had all his problems. I support everybody that the people used to hate. Okay. I don't care for cancellation or for patrols. Fuck them, fuck them. I support you, my friend, Ariel Hawani. Thank you.

I support Bryce Mitchell. I support Dana White right now. Why right now? Because back in the days I wasn't support him, but now. Why? Why didn't you like him back in the day? Back in the days I have some beef, you know. Not really he did bad things to me,

but I was a little bit sad, mad. You know? What time frame was this? When you fought Izzy? No, no, no, no, because my first six fights in the contract was horrible. I was unfairly getting paid, you know? Yes. And I try to... I talk very honestly, I say, guys, come on, look, this is unfair.

I will be close, engaged to this country for a long fight period. This is not fair just because a bad decision in the past. But now it's okay, it's the past. Yeah, now you're in a good spot, you're happy. No, no, no, no, again, it's good money. I'm happy. You're good. And if the Shamiah fight doesn't happen,

I would love maybe to see you versus Izzy. Oh, yes. He's a good, he's another guy. I have a black list and Shemaya and Izzy is on the tire top list. And maybe Strickland too or no? I need to fight him again just to remake... Yeah, what happened in that fight? What happened in that one? There was not a good fight. No.

Everybody saw it was not a good fight. But why there was a bad fight? Because my style was changed. I was countering him, not pressure him, not looking for finish this fight, not put pressure on him. I was walk backwards. Even Strickland asking me, why you go backwards? I was expecting him to come, you know, for put pressure on me and put me on heels and stuff and say, brother, I'm sorry. I just tried different things, but I think I tried different things on the worst of opponent to the death, Triklan. But it's okay. Yeah, that's in the past.

That was a year ago. Yeah. Now we have Kopilov, proud Russian fighter. Yes, yes, yes. Kopilov is an exciting fight, I am too. And I just gonna bring, I'm focused on that. I'm gonna bring a great, great, great performance, a great entertainment.

All right. And you're gonna finish it quickly and then you're gonna come visit us in New York. Yes, yes, yes. This is my plane, okay? Perfect. I don't know if I have something to do here in New Orleans.

You like it there? It's nice? I just arrived today, but Tamair says nice food. in the audience you like it there is nice i'd just arrived today that the might say is nice for the day i have seen that very nice people but i don't know if he has some someplace to go to visit over here nice place nice place nice culture and nice people very very nice good great food maybe food for after the weight cut though okay

okay because yeah the sauce and everything. Last question, Dustin or Max, who do you think? Dustin. Dustin, last one, he goes out on top. Yeah, I'm cheering for him. Yeah. I don't know if he gonna win, but I'm cheering for him

because for everything he has been doing for MMA and his city, I like the guy. Nothing against Max, but I'm with Dustin for this long. Paulo, we missed you. Please don't be a stranger. Thank you for coming on, especially you landed today, so I appreciate it. Good luck on Saturday. We're looking forward to it and hopefully we'll speak after the win. Next week you come to us, you come visit. You're always welcome. Thank you my friend. Thank you. You always are gonna have my time. Okay. Thank you. Thank you Paulo

All the best there. He is the great Paulo Costa Boa Chinha Joining us co-main event this Saturday UFC 318 they were supposed to fight at 317 and Got cancelled because Paulo had the flu Now why did I say Roman? Kapilov was Georgia and of course, I know Roman Kapilov, he's the Chase Hooper fighter. That's his claim to fame. He's the Pokemon evolved version of Chase Hooper. Yes. Roman Dolite. You know why I was thinking of Roman Dolite? Because we saw him. Yeah, they're also both named Roman. I actually knew where you were going with that. Thanks for jumping in, saving me.

I can't jump in. I was slack and I was... Hurry up! Before you... Ah! Hurry up! Paolo just like, who is that? You screwed up! I thought he was playing, you know, playing dumb.

If I'm being honest, could we just be honest with each other? Morgan Charrier is going to join us in about 18 minutes. It's it's tough to go from from Freaking Shakur to Chris to then Shakur and Connor to Connor and Eddie. It's a it's a lot Yeah, a lot just happened. I don't fault you you also haven't been to the bathroom once haven't been to the back I've been in the bathroom three or four times this show A lot happened. Can we talk about the behind the scenes? Well, first, can I just give props that he earned, just ripping a promo, just what is he, he's out at tea or whatever and he's just like,

hey mate, there's a promo for you. It's incredible. On demand. He's just ready to go. What happened backstage? When I say backstage, I say behind the scenes. It was very friendly. Cordial.

Cordial. Cordial. Yeah, like we were hoping maybe something would happen. I started recording and it was just like, what's up champ? Yeah, let's do it. All right. Is there a better character right now than Shakur Stevenson?

The guy's hilarious. He hopped right in, man. Both were great. I gotta be honest. I think the best character is Connor Ben. No, but I don't know if a lot of people thought Shakur had that in him. Yeah, but I but I don't know if a lot of people thought Shakur had that in him. Yeah that he I'll say this and you said it to him It feels like the tide has turned back. Yeah, like it feel like it really turned against them

Now it feels like everybody's like ah Shakur like oh, we forgot to tell him about the shirt second time double dose double Should just warn it. Yeah, you're twice and not then if I wear it. I was walking Connor worn it. I should've been here twice and not. Then if I wear it, I was walking Connor Ben around. Oh yeah, that's weird, that's weird. We didn't expect that. Wow, good point. Great point.

We don't want a fanboy too hard, you know? Connor shows up. Connor Ben would start talking shit to me and then I'd be like, I'm also named Connor. He'll chin you. And he'd be like, how did you spell it? I'd be like, so you're in an ER and he'd be like, get the fuck out of here, mate.

He'd chin you. If you're everybody's cup of tea, that makes you a mug. Imagine him, that's a great line. That's a great line. Imagine they actually fight and they could use all of this. Like really the, I don't wanna say the Genesis because they've had some back and forth, but we had two of the best fighters

just sitting right next to each other. Was there a moment where we thought this might pop off? No, but we obviously, we have a monitor that's showing you the entire time and you're just like you're just like you're just like waiting for it to like completely erupt. No, no I'm just I never want to interrupt those moments so I'm just letting it breathe breathe and then I'm waiting for my moment to jump in and then I sit back. Also can we talk about Shakur's just like wherewithal to like know that it, it had run its course.

It had run its course and he was like, all right man, enjoy the rest of your interview on that. I was like wow, Shakur producing the show, I love it. These two are set to make way too much money to fight in the studio. Like they are, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I mean, Connor and Chris are gonna make a lot of money. If we had them sitting next to each other,

the thing would have lasted 25 seconds. I don't buy that. Connor and Chris are gonna make a lot of money if we had them sitting next to each other the thing would have lasted 25 seconds Adam. I don't buy that Connor Chris. I don't buy it. I do love how They they know there's too much money on the line. You can't you can't do it at every chance Connor God He clarified he's like I just want to let you know I I don't like the guy and I don't like his entire family Chris would be fined seven billion dollars But if if he got into anything it seems seems like they'll find them for everything. The line about the Rolls Royce, every time I get in and I smell sweat, sacrifice. That promo, that is a promo.

And I love it. It's great. That is hatred. That is hatred at its purest form. They need to make sure number two happens. Oh my God. I think it happens. I think everyone recognizes there's way too much money. We can't just get a Connor, Ben versus Chris Eubank fight like, oh yeah, it just got made. Honestly, after today, no disrespect to Barrios, but that would feel like a let down. Oh yeah, 100%. Anything would. It's too big. But what I was gonna say was like, it can't just happen easily. There has to be some drama en route to it being made and he doesn't want it and all this but I think it ultimately happens

Like I said in about 15 minutes will be joined by Morgan charlie I want to talk about some some news and notes that happen Since we last spoke and the biggest would probably be that from a pure sporting standpoint that Dana White told the boys Over at the the full send, who had quite the weekend by the way, if I'm being a thousand percent honest, Kyle from the NELK boys, did you see him hanging out with Drake all weekend? I was having major, well, I don't know if I could say I was having FOMO because FOMO would imply that I could have been a part of it, but Drake had this three day concert at the Wireless Fest, Wireless, do you guys know

what this wireless thing is? It was unbelievable. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I saw the clips online. No, no, no, but it's not just clips. It was one of the old-time great performances. He brought out Central Sea, he brought out Dave, he brought out Lauren Hill, he brought out everyone. It was unbelievable. It was a real true like coming-out party for him, you know, after the past year or so. It was fantastic. I didn't even know that was a thing. Flew out all the streamers, gave the Nelk Boys guy, Kyle a Rolex.

Anyway, Dana told them it's happening, White House. People are asking Dana about who's gonna fight. I mean, it's impossible. They're not, you know, I know Connor's throwing his name into the hat, I know John Jones, but like so much can happen in the next 300 and what is it? 56 days or something like that or 55 days. But it really does seem like a real thing.

And I said it, when Trump announced it, I said it, it's going to happen. Or at least they're gonna do everything in their power to make it happen. And there's old Johnny Boy back at it with the tweets. Can I be honest? I want to know what this testing pool is. I want to know what the testing pool is.

What is the testing pool? Do we really think John exited the testing pool and then reentered? Cause I think, I think I'm ready to call cap on that. Just reentered the testing pool That lasted for about two weeks. Figured we keep everyone's options open. Fighting at the White House? It would be for me, it's about the opportunity to represent America

at the White House. I don't care who I fight that night. I found my reason why that's what I needed. Something that was more than money. All right. So how much, how much we doing this for? 500? Okay. Donald made his announcement. By the way, the disrespect to call him

Donald. Not even Trump. The prez? 47, 45? Chelsea supporter? Yeah, tremendous. Fourth of July, I called the UFC headquarters that same afternoon. I'll just leave it at that America now that tickles my pickle." By the way, I think technically Donald, he announced it in the evening at that like big celebration but whatever that's neither here nor there. Is there more? That's it. He wants in. That's it. He wants in. I don't know. Dana White told the the Nelk boys that the ideal main event would be him versus Tom Aspinal. Again, a lot can happen between now and then, but there's an art to being missed and and I know that John hasn't fought since November, but I don't think that he is he's necessarily allowing himself to be missed very much because the moment he left he came right back.

And by the way, I have no problem with all this. We never had a problem with any of this. It was the fact that he was holding up the division, holding up the belt. Everyone said, please stick around, stick around as long as you want. Just give up the title so other people can realize their dreams. Fun fights, one-off fights, legacy fights, super fights, all day. You're bigger than the title. John Jones is bigger than the UFC heavyweight title. He's bigger than any title. There's only a couple of guys who are bigger than the title. John being one.

If Tom would have beaten John, the fact that he beat John would be bigger than him becoming UFC heavyweight champion, in my opinion. Conor is big, bigger, and there are other guys who are getting there. Islam is getting there, Ilya is getting there, but John might be the only active one who's bigger than the title right now. Surely he understands that. So that was my whole point the whole time. Just give up the title and do this.

This is great. Stick around. If you want to fight freaking Alex Pereira next year at the White House, great. Especially if Alex isn't the champ, wonderful. If you want to challenge the champ, great. If you want to fight Cyril Gagne again, if you want to get, I don't know,

Tim Sylvia out of retirement, amazing. We just had an issue with you holding up the division while telling everyone that you were living your best life while other people were being stopped from living their best life. But this is great. I think this is a huge win for the UFC. And no doubt we'll factor into whatever contract negotiations they're having right now because I think everyone will want to broadcast that event. I mean that is tailor-made for a Netflix, right? That is a Netflix mega premium event. But, but they are saying it's going to be a pay-per-view which surprised me a little bit because if you are really going to have the biggest names, the biggest draws on the card, you're missing out on some of that money. Some of that, you know, like if it's a Conor paper view, a John Jones paper view, that's a 20 or so million dollar gate at minimum. But I guess with the sponsorship and all the buzz and everything that would come with it you would you would maybe offset that I

don't know but I'm curious and oh by the way is that going to be the international fight week card because historically these days international fight week is like the 28th or whatever and so if the fourth is a if the fourth is a saturday then international fight week would have been the 27th do you think they're going to do back-to-back pay-per-views or do they get rid of International Fight Week or do they make International Fight Week in Washington? I Don't know What do you guys think? Still not certain if it's gonna happen. You don't believe it. I

Will believe it when I see it I think it would have to be the International Fight Week You can't ask people to do International Fight Week and then ask them, okay. In Washington? Yeah, I mean what's the difference? Yeah, gigantic card. It's on the White House lawn. International Fight Week, July 4th? Yeah, it's... 250? Vegas. Vegas. Washington DC is more international than Vegas is. That's true. But it has no meaning anymore. There is no, there is nothing. No, you guys saw it. Stop, we were at UFCX, I felt it. UFCX was incredible. Slap fighting on Friday. UFC BJJ on Thursday.

By the way, you can do the- Do the slap fighting on the White House line. You can do the Hall of Fame at the MCI Center, whatever it's called these days. No, bring it to the Oval Office. Do slap fighting in the office. Slap fighting at the Pentagon. The Lincoln bedroom. Tough enough at Washington, my friend. Right now, who's the main event?

If you had to guess. Connor Chandler. Lincoln bedroom. Tough enough at Washington, Right now, who's the main event? If you had to guess. Connor Chandler. Connor Chandler? Yeah. Islam versus Shafkat the week before in Las Vegas. Islam versus Shafkat? He's saying it's not gonna be at the White House.

In Las Vegas. Jesus, you just made my mind explode. Islam versus Shafkat. The week before in Las Vegas. Connor, Mike. You're saying no. You week before in the last week. Connor Mike. You're saying no. You're saying it's not happening. I'm not sold.

I'm not sold it's happening. Damn, way to poo poo it. I'm not poo pooing it, I'm just being honest. Connor wants in. Yeah, Connor wants in, John Jones wants in. We couldn't get John Jones versus Tom Aspinall, period, but now we're gonna get John Jones versus Tom Aspinall on the White House lawn.

Yeah. They're inspired. Donald made the announcement. I would love to see it, I would love to see it. I hope it happens. I think it happens, I really do. I think you're underselling the 250th anniversary of the United States?

No, I think it's gonna be massive. I think, by the way, Trump pulled up to the Club World Cup final. You don't think he wants a UFC event at the White House lawn? He's sitting there watching Reese James and Cole Palmer do their thing against PSG. He's in there in the trophy celebration. You see how much sports mean to him? He wants to be in there. the trophy celebration. You see how much sports mean to him? He wants to be in there. Trophy celebration was fantastic.

It's one of the greatest scenes of all time. It's hilarious. Do we really think that he was on the phone with Derek Lewis? It had to have been, right? I don't know. I was trying to see, because he was holding it like this,

and it was like, it's hard to tell. Dana handed him the phone though, didn't he? Yeah, but is it that easy to just call the president? I think the president called him. Said, put me on with the Black though, didn't he? Yeah, but is it that easy to just call the president? I think the president called him. Said, put me on with the Black Beast, ASAP. No, because Dana said at the post fight, he said, where's Trump at? And he's like, I think he's watching, let me call him.

Cause he had said earlier to him, he put him on, he was on a text thread, it was Trump, Dana and Kid Rock. And he said he was watching you see that night. If you're Trump and you get a call from Dana White that night and your event just happened, I think he answers. So yeah, I think he's there. Do you think that you could just call the president on an iPhone?

Dana White can, yeah. Straight. Yeah, Trump as a telephone. Direct? Oh, Trump's definitely on that iMessage. He's hitting him up. He just texts. He has his own cell phone and they're like,

you can't do that, you're supposed to have this. Maybe he's got the iPad out. Maybe he's got the iPad. How do you think he gets the posts up on true social? That's right. And then screenshots him and puts them on iPad. How do you think he gets the posts up on true social? That's right. And then screenshots him and puts them on. Well, we've seen the behind the scenes. He hands it to somebody and they post it.

Sometimes, sometimes. Did you guys see the BKFC presser last week? Oh yeah. Certainly did. Yeah, I'm pumped. Can we see that one with, the one with Mike Perry, that clip with Mike Perry? That was a good one.

Here it is in case you missed it. Yeah, you're welcome back, because I welcomed you back. October 11th is your date, and you'll dance for me, boy. You'll dance for the owner, and then we can talk. But your date is October 11th, Michael Perry, the return of platinum. And we've got some hell of an announcement from an opponent for you.

One of the baddest men to ever grace the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where it comes to bare knuckle, and he's gonna throw down with you in front of me for my viewing pleasure and then I'll decide if you're worthy. Oh my dear. That was a highlight. They announced all kinds of things. Thiago Santos, Yo Romero, Jamel Herring. They announced a big tournament that's gonna culminate next year. But it was quite the scene. They had all the champions there.

25 mil up in that tournament. 25 mil. Crazy. 15 to the winner. 15 mil to the winner. There's gonna be a bare-knuckle fight for $15 million. Yeah, seems lofty. Wow.

Why, what do you mean? Do you have higher expectations for the White House than BKFC? Yes. Wow. This was the beginning of the presser. Here's Connor's opening remarks I feel like Conor GC could use that for a meme somewhere

And in front of me some of the baddest men and women to ever grace planet earth This is what we're about here at bare-knuckle fighting championship the alien of combat sport. And may we rise above the night sky and rain down blows viciously on all our deniers and announce here today that Bare Knuckle FC has no love for the big glove. So let's get going Bare Knuckle, let's go Florida and let's announce some incredible matchups, some shock signings, and the most lucrative tournament in all of combat sport, where we crown in an open weight the baddest man on the planet.

Let's go give it up. Come on. Let's go Florida. He must've had a couple of those bucked up energies. No love for the big gloves. I love it. I've been a big C Mac. Yeah, today's his birthday.

It was, it was almost spiritual. It sounded like a preacher. I was getting into it. What's good about this birthday is that I feel like just completely out of the news. Like not it's good. It's good to see it like that. Had a successful press conference last week.

Now just the quiet weekend. Nothing else going on. Yeah. Just a weightlifting. Just keep going full on Conor. Just a weightlifting video came out. No, no, just keep, full on Conor. Haunchy, there it is, there it is, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, happy birthday to old McGregor. Give us that one, what was that one? You got the jib, you were like, eh. Yeah, happy birthday to old McGregor. Give us that one. What was that one? You got the jab, you were like, ehh. That's a good shirt you're wearing there. What is that, dead rabbit? Yeah, it's a great back. I got this during the Guinness Tour with Pete. Oh my gosh. When's that coming out? I don't know. It's up to old Jordan. Hopefully Friday. Hopefully Friday.

It's up to Jordan. Yeah, he's got to edit it. Oh, is it going to be on the crack? That's up to old Jordan. Hopefully Friday, hopefully Friday. It's up to Jordan. Yeah, he's gotta edit. Oh, is it gonna be on the crack? That's the crack. Yeah, it's crack. It's like a special kind of fight feast almost for the crack. Isn't there like a, oh, look at this crew right here.

I had a great day with great people on my final day in New York. There is really a void without PT here. What a trip, what a fight, what a city, can't wait to come back. There's GC, there's Rick, there's Pizzi, massive grin. Wow, you guys didn't blur out Frank? That's not Frank.

Let me see that again. They thought it was Frank, that's not Frank. That's not Frank back there? Looks like him. Camera guy Nick is there. Who are all the other people? Pizzi's Irish friends. Wow, the whole crew is out. Irish, Irish, Aussie, Irish. Oh Irish,

Irish, Aussie, Irish and then American. No it's weird that you guys crop me out of the picture. Oh here it is. I gave you the itinerary on Saturday. I said hey guys what are we doing? And I just got dead rabbit I was like you know like, you know, you can tell when you're wanted when you're not wanted. And then I gave you the full itinerary. And up here, like some itinerary. Times, you know. You would have loved it, man.

One to 1.30 here, 1.30 to 2.15 there. Nine hours of drinking, gallivanting through pubs. Oh my God, yeah, it sounds like. Right up your alley. My kind of sleep. I actually had a nightmare scenario afterward. I accidentally hopped on a local instead of an express train. Yeah, it sounds like right up right up your alley my kind of shit. I had a nightmare scenario afterward I I accidentally hopped on a local instead of an express train. Yeah, it's tough ruin my night. That is tough My night stuff. Yeah, that is tough. Like eight pints of Guinness deep to oh gee eight

I was I was drinking a lease to Eight he was a man. How many the PCF legit have? Legit. There's no telling. There's no telling? All his friends. 15? All his friends too. Did it approach 15? Somewhere in there.

He kept telling me he was locked. An Irish slang for. He called me at the end and I could tell. He called you at the end? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Ah yeah. Ah you kind of piss. Ah you should have come.

Why did you come? Oh if I was in, if you were in Ireland, I would've come to you. I was like, ugh. I left at like seven and he sent me a selfie at like 1130. Still drinking with all those same friends. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it. All right, well, seems like a good time.

Sorry to have missed it. I did have FOMO for that. Let's go back to UFC Nashville, one of the big winners. Spoiled a bit of the fun. He had an incredible, incredible performance. A third round stoppage and got a performance bonus for all his tremendous work. He is the pride of France.

He is the last pirate. He is Morgan Charrier and he just landed this morning and he's kind enough to be joining us on the program. There he is. Salut Morgan. I appreciate it. I'm sorry for keeping you up too late, but maybe you're still on American time, so it's okay. Yeah, I'm a bit juggler. Okay, yes. Thank you for coming on and congratulations on the win. By the way,

how was Nashville? Did you enjoy it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was really cool. We arrived in the US the 4th of July. So we saw all the fireworks and everything. So it was really cool, yeah. Was that your first time in Nashville? Yeah, yeah. First time in Nashville, yeah. I think I would never probably go there if I wasn't for fighting. Sure. It's one of America's great cities.

There's a lot of partying there. There's a lot of bars and fun things to do. Did you get to experience any of that after the fight? Yeah, yeah. After the fight, we've been on the Broadway strip just to look around and see the parties, but it's not my kind of stuff. So we just look like tourists and then we get back up to to the hotel. I saw you got a you're maybe trying on a cowboy hat and the gear there you are what

do you think you like it? Yeah yeah it was looking really good but you know it's too expensive 400 dollars for the hat yeah yeah yeah so you just tried it on, you didn't buy it? Yeah, yeah, no, never. Too expensive. I think this was your first time fighting in the States, not in the Apex, right? Like in an actual arena? Yeah, yeah, actually, yeah. What did you feel was the difference between fighting in an arena in the US as opposed to an arena in Europe and in France in particular in terms of the ambiance?

Niceville was kind of hot I would say because I've been in London. London was quite, it was not a big cheerful like the crowd was really calm. I feel like calm. But when you're in Paris, it's fireworks. So it's like on a scale of one to 10, Paris is 10. And Nashville was probably eight. But I think it's because I was fighting Nate maybe. A local guy. Yeah. Usually I feel, well, especially when you fight in France,

maybe not in England, you're the favorite, right? Here very much you weren't the favorite. French guy in America against Tennessee. Did you like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I loved every second of it. It's like, when they are booing me on this kind of stuff, for me it was like applause but reverse. It gave you, it gave you fuel. Yeah, yeah. It gave me super power. Like, I I don't know, I enjoy being the enemy and just feel the energy and embrace it being the mean guy there. Well, it's interesting because

you're known as the last pirate. That to me is more like being a pirate, being like the bad guy, right? In enemy territory. So it's more aligned with your persona. Exactly, exactly and that's why I've been used to do all my career, all my fights. You know I've had only two fights in Paris in MMA so I'm more used to this kind of stuff than being cheered by my crowd. Yeah so would you like to have a few fights now in America as a result of this experience? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely.

Definitely. I would love it. I really enjoyed, you know, just getting the country. I don't know. I don't know. It feels different. It feels than in Europe. You feel here in the US, it's more established sport than in Europe.

And the quarterback is like, yeah, I like it. I was a little surprised that you were on this card because UFC is coming to Paris in September. Yeah. So I thought that they would save you for that. Are you going to try to be on that card too or no? I don't know yet. I need to look if I have injury or not because I know I have some bruises so I need to see in one day or two if I feel better or not and I'm not totally satisfied

from the fights from what I did so I think I need to work a bit and I don't know if I would make it to be in another second for Paris against someone really good to make the show again. Like I really want to progress on my skills. Sure. Would you be disappointed if you weren't fighting in Paris? I don't know. I don't know. I would be a bit disappointed, but sometimes you need to do good choice for your career. So if I don't feel to rush in, I will not rush in Paris. What, as far as the fight on Saturday is concerned, what are you unhappy with? What are some of the things you say you need to work on? I'm still working on some things on my style. So I've tried some new things, some new way of setups

here in the fight. And the second round when he pushed the pace, I got hit way too much than I should. And so I'm not too happy about that. So I need to work on this kind of defense and all this stuff because I knew he was going to raise up the pace on the second run but I was not able to not take too much damage and I don't like this too much. Yeah he's a fun character though, did you enjoy competing against him? Yeah yeah yeah yeah he's a bit, but it's like I love it really each minute of the fight because he make it a fight. He make it a fight.

He wants you to be head fuller against him to really do a big show. That's his way of fighting, and I like this too. So yeah, I really love the fight, yeah. The last time we saw you was a few months ago against Nathaniel Wood in London. So coming off of that fight, where were you at confidence wise and mentally heading into this one? How are you feeling about yourself?

Um, I've worked really hard, uh, after the fight. So I was really confident in myself because we've done really I think one of my hardest training comp ever 12 weeks, hyper-focused everyone and we just wanted to prove ourselves some things and yeah like I was no negative mind coming to the fight. I knew I was better and I would find a knockout but I knew the fight could become hard at some point because Nathaniel is really tough and he always wins it. So this was a bit of a quick turn, but it was just like four months later. Were you happy about that?

Usually fighters don't come back so fast these days in the UFC coming off a loss. Yeah, I was really happy to be able to come back really quick because I love to fight in season, to have at least three fights in a year is a good year for me. I was used to do four or five before UFC, so two fights, it's really long for me between camps and all the kind of stuff. So I was happy especially because I had the defeat and I was frustrated but not no injury, no thing. So yeah I was so happy to have a quick turnaround and in Nashville I get the quote, I get Nate. So yeah it was really really really good for me. As fate would have it, I believe your girlfriend also competed this weekend, right? Yes, she improved to 49-0 in Muay Thai. Unbelievable. On the same day as you,

was it hard for you guys not to be together? No, I kind of used to this. It's not the first time I see a baby in our life. It has been done four times, maybe four or five times. We fight the same amount. Sometimes she fights when it's my birthday, when it's her birthday, you know. It's been so long we are together and fighting at high level. That's kind of still always a real produce.

But there's a fun fact about this. It is time we fight on the same day we want to get out. Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. How long have you been together? 12 year. 12 year. Yeah. 12 years. Wow. And are you married? No, we're not married, but. Whatest-ce qui se passe? Qu'est-ce qui se passe Morgan? Douze ans? No ring? Twelve years? What's happening?

Say nothing, say nothing. Sorry, sorry. How did you meet? In high school. In high school? Wow! Yeah, yeah, yeah. And were you both fighters at the same time or did you know? I was a starting MMA And she started car one maybe two years after Wow, so so you got her into it? Yeah, but I didn't like force her to do anything or what. It's just like she watched me fight and watched me train. And so she wanted to do only the striking part.

So she find a club by herself. She didn't tell me and she just did go boxing. And one day she say, I'm boxing. And I was like, oh yeah, sit there. And that's it. Wow. And 49 and 0, she is. Yeah, that's a monster.

Incredible. How, why is it? I feel like she should be more famous. 49 and 0, that's incredible. Why not maybe do a kickboxing, glory. Has she thought of that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know, for the girls, it's really hard to be new

and especially in kickboxing in Kauan, the coverage is not really good she's really good on instagram she does really great promotion herself but the organization when they were she fight in kawan are not good at communicate you know that they are not that good in that area to promote people so for the girl to really be able to go to glory or have good person, you know, this kind of stuff, it's too complicated. You need to be connected.

You need to have everything. She come from really small town, really small club. Like, yes, that's, she does this for fun, you know? Yeah. Have you tried to get her to MMA? No, she don't want it. She don't want it? She said the gloves are too skin.

Too small? Yeah, gloves too small. She said, no, I want to stay pretty. Okay. That's amazing. So are you both back home now? Yeah, we're back home right now. We're eating some junk food and enjoying because we want to get there.

So that's amazing right now. That's incredible. By the way, you're very good with the promotion too. But I noticed on your YouTube channel, like three, four months, you didn't post anything. Yeah. How come? Yeah, yeah, again. It's because, you know, I had the fight with Nathaniel and then after I needed to be super focused on the next fight so YouTube has to go. So you cut it out? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I cut everything in case needed. I cut everything. Promotion is good, everything is good but winning is important. So are you gonna go back? Yeah, I will go back but well, I don't know because look you had success cutting it out So maybe you should stick with that for a bit Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking, you know, but I would just you know find some stuff and release it in two years Maybe oh so film it now and then save it for later? Yeah, exactly.

Okay, I like that, I like that. Because you're so good at all the other stuff, but maybe sometimes that distracts you a little bit, do you think? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it can. Because you need to be your own entrepreneur, your own boss, but it's two different career being a fighter and being in charge of a business. So it can take a lot on the head when you're fighting at really

high level. Did someone tell you this or did you come to this decision that maybe you need to do less stuff? No, it came clear to me that it's too difficult to be on point on each. Sure, sure. I think you're right, just for the mental health as well. If you just clear everything out, you could just be focused, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, just being on Instagram in Fight Week can kill you on Fight Night. Yes, yes. You see the comments, you see all this stuff. Yeah, it's better when everything's off. And you've had this stretch in the UFC, one win, one loss, one win, one loss. What do you think you need to do to go on a winning streak? Yeah, it's what I'm working on.

That's why I don't want to rush in Paris. I want to be consistent, be able to repudiate performances, finishes and write them up. I think I'm fighting my style and how to do it. So right now I'm just, you know, melting the things that I need some weeks to try seeing, do some hard sparring and then we'll see what come for us. By the way, are you a...

We might have talked about this, I'm sorry if I asked you, but are you a sports fan? Do you follow French sports? Not especially because I'm too focused on training and following UFC, but if you want to talk about PSG... Yeah, what happened? What happened to PSG? How did they lose 3-0? What happened? Bro, you know, sometimes you can get tired. Yeah, they've been playing too many games, right? Champions League and... Yeah, you know, the pressure, all that kind of stuff, being the champion.

I don't know, I don't know. You know, it's a high-level sport and Chelsea is a good team, so... Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise though. You know who I love? I don't know if you know him. He just got signed to my favorite team, Gershon Yabuseli. You know Yabuseli? No, sorry. Oh, he's a French basketball player. Okay, okay. Yeah, don't follow basketball. Sorry. You don't follow basketball. The French are amazing now. Yeah, I know, I know. But you know, I'm just focusing on fighting, sleeping, training,

and I see nothing. That's it. That's it. I get it. I respect it. I will let you enjoy with your girlfriend. Congratulations to her and to you. Thank you so much.

Keep doing your thing. It's a lot of fun and I always appreciate the support, the French public. They support you so much. It's amazing to see how much they back you and even if you can't fight there, I'm sure you're going to be a part of the fight week. By the way, if you don't fight then and even if you do, who makes sense for you next before I let you go? Who would you like? I didn't think about anyone. I think right now I'm still not planning to shoot names and try to do that kind of stuff. I will just let my manager see what he wants next for me. I have that kind of stuff planned. Because otherwise, I will go out to the hardest everyone, each time. So, you know, I will let them do the thing.

I like this. This is a very uh this is a very professional Morgan Charrier this you're you're very you're focused now no no no names no no videos no anything you're just tunnel vision as they say tunnel vision exactly one shot you know I love it I love it well uh congratulations well done and look forward to the next one Well, félicitations, congratulations, well done and look forward to the next one. Merci, bye bye. Bye bye, there he is, the last pirate. Morgan Charrier, big win for him, fan favorite. Incredible when you look at his stats, when you look at his list of accomplishments. Had the win over Nate the Train this past weekend, who's a fan favorite.

13 career wins, 21 victories overall, but 13 via knockout, 3 via sub, 76% career finish ratio has never been stopped by strikes in his MMA career, only been submitted once, 11 losses, so that is significant, but only one via stoppage. As far as his UFC fights are concerned, has won a bonus in four of his five fights, two performance, two fight of the night, and is currently a player at featherweight. Just, you know, needs to go in a bit of a role here. So let's see. We wish him the best. Tomorrow on the program, as far as UFC Nashville is concerned, we'll still recap that.

That's the beauty of having multiple shows. We'll be joined by Chris Curtis. We'll be joined by Stephen Wonderboy Thompson and Steve Garcia is also going to join us. So, we'll be joined by Chris Curtis, we'll be joined by Stephen Wonderboy Thompson, and Steve Garcia is also going to join us. So it's going to be a great day on the program. I can also tell you that the aforementioned Mario Barrios is going to join us to talk about his huge fight against Manny Pacquiao this Saturday. We can also talk to him about Connor Ben. Patricio Pitbull is going to join us live from New Orleans. He's returning to action this Saturday at UFC 318. Some might say a must-win affair for him. So looking forward to that. And we'll have the great pleasure of being joined by the one and only Bill Goldberg,

who had his retirement match on Saturday at Saturday night's main event in Atlanta. Uh, he lost to Gunther, had a great post-match speech, and then it got cut off by NBC. But he's a gent, he's a mensch and he's going to talk to us about it all. Did he happen to watch it? The, uh, the retirement match of one Bill Goldberg, the former UGA dog. Yeah, I had to catch the replay.

You saw it? I had to catch the replay. I did see the cutoff too. Yeah, people were upset about that. People were upset. It was great. He had an incredible walkout. His walkout is legendary and he used to have the head of WCW security, Doug Dillinger, bang on the door, he would come out. So this time they had old Doug there. All these years later, but then they also had Chuck Zito and then they also had Josh Barnett and then they also had Ernest the cat Miller and then they also had his son Gage. It was like all the buddies were there to walk him out.

It was a really nice touch. And I thought they did it the right way. The match was like 18 minutes long. And then he had the speech and then they cut it off. Heartwarming nonetheless, also heartwarming has been the updates provided by one Ben Askren. Incredible stuff. I will say my heart dropped when I saw the first update.

This was late last week. When I saw the way in which he looked, we had all heard the scary, the scary updates. We had all heard the rumors, the lung transplant, double lung transplant. This is what he looked like. This is from a few days ago. It was posted on, if my memory serves me correct, either Wednesday or Thursday. This was what popped up on all our feeds and obviously we know Ben.

And this is Ben but very, very skinny, emaciated. The facial hair wasn't something that he usually had, obviously. And it's scary, like very, very scary, and makes you think, what did he look like a week ago? What did he look like two weeks ago? You know, to get to this point to be able to To be comfortable enough to speak. He's coughing. He mentions in the video that he He died four times In the past month or so anyway a couple days later. He provided a

New update in case you missed it here. It is. What's up guys give a Update on how I'm doing everything is going In case you missed it. I was mistaken. So there really hasn't been any big updates on these days. They have been trying to tinker with the sedation and other things, but honestly constantly changing. Part of the day you think he's doing great and learning part of you not. It's been very up and down. Whenever he wakes up the oxygen it's been dropping What's happening is that his heart? takes the blood And doesn't get to go through the ECMO therefore it can get off oxygen

They're hopeful to start transplant valuation this week. So that was that was like a month ago that they want to start transplant evaluation. It feels like holy crap. It came a long way since then. And that's why you get one mental Monday's message. And that was I'm going gonna plead guilty. I felt guilty for myself one time Right and that doesn't do anyone any good and I thought Man, I never smoked one cigarette never smoked any weed there anything. Why did my lungs get stolen on me? Right. Why could why is this happening happening to someone who smokes so vitally?

Then I realized it happened. So over, done with. I could be bitter and angry. I could whine, cry. It's not gonna help anybody. I am where I am now and I'm gonna move forward the best that I can. So, I hope you guys are enjoying the updates. I will not feel sorry for myself.

I'm gonna get out of here pretty soon and I hope you guys have a great day. Peace. What a guy, incredible. What spirit, what a fighter. And you can see how much better he looks just a few days later. It's great to see everyone rally around him. It's

great to see all the support. Dana White confirming over the weekend that he has helped. We know about Jake Paul. We know about others as well. We are doing our part. We're hoping that this week we'll be able to put up the signed poker table up for auction. Is that the hope? Is that the plan? Yeah, yeah. We're looking into options for that now. Yes, and all the money is going to go to Ben's family. And I've already told his lovely wife this as well. So I'm just so happy to see him like this, and it's so great.

And in moments like this, you really get to see everyone rally around him. He had mentioned that in the first video about like he felt like he died and he got to see all the tributes and he was very touched by it. One that touched me seeing of course he'll always be tied to Jorge Masvidal they were bitter rivals and we all know how that fight ended up but I saw this video from Jorge that I wanted to share. This goes out to the one and only Ben Askren. What's up my brothers?

I know we were rivals in the ring. I just want to say God bless you and when I get back in America, if I could come shake your hand brother and just say a prayer with you, it'll be amazing man. I know you're going to pull through this because you're a fucking warrior brother. God bless. Your story is crazy inspirational what you're going through right now. God bless you man. I'm hoping to get back and be able to just shake your hand, bro.

I hope all is well, brother. That is incredible. That is incredible. Love to see that. And yeah, Ben, we're all pulling for you, my man. And it looks like you are getting better. And I know that it's a long road ahead, especially with a surgery like that.

But what a turn of events. And what a freaking tough guy. And then the mentality about not feeling sorry for yourself, about not feeling down is, I mean, just, it's jaw dropping, it's inspiring, but again, there's some videos that have popped up now, you know, when he spoke to us the Monday after the knockout, that's Ben Askren.

Cut and dry, no BS, won't feel sorry for himself ever. The guy was knocked out in front of the world in seconds, everyone clowning him and he's like, yeah, so what? And I asked him, you know, does it hurt more that it's a record? Fastest knockout, no, makes it better. Might as well break a record. I don't want to be a

Mid-tier guy. It's crazy. Absolutely crazy So we're wishing him the best and more to come as far as the auction again crazy weekend coming up PFL Africa with the likes of Johnny Eblen and Dakota ditch of on the card We found out today. It's going to air here in the States on ESPN+. This is notable because it's the PFL Road to Dubai Champion Series. Did they actually sell the rights? Is Johnny Eblen the Road to Dubai Champion Series champion? He's holding a belt there, but if you look at the press release, there is no mention of the title. And if he is the champion, why isn't Dakota Ditcheva the champion? What are they doing? For the love of God, what are they doing?

Just make Johnny Eblen your middleweight champion. Just make Dakota your 125 champion. Just make Usman Ramagomedov your 155 champion. Why is it so difficult? And what is this road to Dubai champion series nonsense? Just call it PFL Africa 1 if you want to do that. Anyway, some of these international events haven't been airing in the States. Prelims are going to be on the PFL app, main card on ESPN+. There's going to be a PFL Africa card on ESPN

Plus on Saturday afternoon and UFC 318 on Saturday evening. What a time. What a freaking time. PFL announcing a new CEO. His name is John Martin, formerly of Warner. Worked with the TNT brand, worked with, I think was it CNN. We have the tweet. There it is. CFO of Time Warner, Turner Broadcasting. I wrote this. It was a few days ago. Former CEO of Turner Broadcasting. Lifelong MMA fan in black belt and karate. He will lead the

company now in this new era. The former CEO, Peter Murray, is now going to be the CEO of PFL International, which to me is actually the hotter brand, if you will, in the pecking order of things. But there you have it, so a new era for the PFL. We did get an update on Friday's Netflix card, According to Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions. Taylor Serrano 3 goes the distance with nearly 6 million global viewers. It is the most watched professional women's sports event of 2025. The main event scored an estimated average minute audience AMA of nearly 6 million global viewers from opening to closing bell. In the U.S. an estimated AMA of 4.2 million viewers tuned into the main event, according to

Video Amp and Netflix, making it the most watched professional sports event of 2025. The event was number one on Netflix in the US, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and made the top 10 in 43 countries, sold out crowd of 19,721, generating a gate of 2.63 million at Madison Square Garden, the highest gate ever for a women's boxing card and the highest gate for a female sporting event in MSG history. And as yours truly told you, they broke a Guinness World Record, 17 titles on the line, 21 if you include the ring belts from top to bottom. Three undisputed title fights, two unified title fights, 17 titles. That's the most for any card in boxing history. So I would say a pretty notable night. Good stuff. Nice numbers there. There appears to have been some bad news regarding next week's Abu Dhabi card. Highly anticipated fight between Movsar Evluev and Aaron Pico appears to be off according to several outlets, most notably Red Corner MMA who

appear to have their finger on the pulse. Haven't been able to verify any of this because I've been on the air but will take their word for it. And this is notable for a couple of reasons. A, it's Pico's debut. B, Evluev, we presume if he would have won would be next for Volk. Pico, if he won, we presume would be in the running for Volk. This would delay things and would be unfortunate.

A highly anticipated fight. Main event is a big one in the 185 pound division. Robert Whitaker in there. I don't know. We'll see what happens. I don't know what they do. What a mess. It really should just be Mofzarr versus Alex Nix, if you ask me. Why don't they just do that? One fight that is happening in August is going to be Jeff Neal versus Carlos Pratches. That was officially announced for Chicago August 16th. There you have it, UFC 319.

Flying under the radar is that card. A better lineup, I would say, than 318. The main event is fantastic. DDP versus Hamza Chamayev. Can't wait for that. Time now for Super Chats. Do we have any, Frankie? Yes, sir, we do. And to start us off as Zoe saying shout out to my brother James and his wife Carla on the arrival of their beautiful daughter, Gracie Eliza. She surprised us all by showing up super early and she's a tiny doll with just two pounds, but proving to be a warrior already. Love it. Wow, two pounds. That's incredible. Shout out to her. Get well soon. I would imagine a little bit difficult at first there, but that's a huge blessing. And it doesn't really matter.

We've seen many, many instances where someone comes out very light, premature perhaps, and turns out to be all good. So much love, Mazel Tov, good luck, and hoping that everyone is doing well and feeling good. What else? Jake from Wendy City, guys, if Dana were to write his own memoir or autobiography, is it something you all would be interested to read or would it just be full of dishonesty?

I think it would be interesting just given how successful he is, how notable he is in the history of combat sports. There was a biography written, I believe it was Frank Carreri who used to be the editor of WEC.TV. Prior to that was an MMA writer and maybe a combat sports writer in general. Anyway, my understanding was he wrote a biography, Dana read it, some variation of it, didn't like it, and it never saw the light of day. Now that was a biography, not an autobiography, but I thought notable. This is from like five, six, seven, eight, nine years ago, something like that. But yes, I think I would read it. I do

think a biography would be more interesting than an auto, but I think both would be interesting. So I would read it. I think I would read it. What else? And lastly, Jasset says favorite journalist movie minus the insider Wow Almost famous. That's a great one Cameron Crowe Spotlights the the recent darling that everybody points to you know, I never saw it Fantastic. I'm not good with the recent. Deep impact. FrostNixon.

Oh, stop that. FrostNixon. Yeah, FrostNixon. Stop that, Frank. Yeah, are you joking about FrostNixon? No, he said deep impact. No, I know, but GC said, like he was joking. I haven't seen it.

FrostNixon's a good one. Have you seen it, Frank? I have seen Spotlight. Is Spotlight really good? What's the one with Aflac? Aflac. Our new sponsor. Argo? Argo? Oh, yeah, Argo. His spotlight really good. What's uh, what's the one with that flack? flack Argo Argo, yeah Argo Argo is great. Yeah, I feel like I was not. Oh good. You know what? Is that not journalism? Wait, why is it not journal? I can't remember. I thought it was like they did a movie thing

No, they were journalists embedded inside the embassy there and then they were not Now that was a good one GC GC. Good night and good luck. Don't let Frank try to dissuade you. Good night and good luck. That's the Murrow movie, right? Yeah, I saw that one in theaters. It was a little slow, but I enjoyed the sort of nostalgia. What's the one?

The net? No. Go see Spotlight. Yeah, Spotlight. What's the one in, is the one about Watergate? Is there one about Watergate? That was all the presence, man. Is Spotlight about the...

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? Yes. Good one. Michael Keaton, the editor-in-chief, was great. Ruffalo? The Buffalo Roam? Bill Murray? Spotlight. Good one. All that said... Anchorman.

Wow. Yeah. You were just waiting for somebody to give you a life ref. But a lifesaver. Any other ones? Roger and me, not bad. Mm. Mm.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Just waiting for them to come in. Yeah, just trying to see here. Chokin' All. All the King's Men. How many of these have you seen? The Pirates of Somalia. Shout out.

By the way, they could be seeing anything right now. Hopefully you trust whoever's reading this. Are you looking at a list? I feel like there's one that I'm missing. I feel like there's one that I'm missing. Titanic wasn't... Cronkite, the story of Walter. Oh wow, there's a Cronkite movie?

Mm-hmm. I need to be, is it a doc? Who plays Cronkite movie? Mm-hmm. I need to be, is it a doc? Mm-mm. Oh. Who plays Cronkite? Cronkite. Sidney Sweeney. Myself, Sidney Sweeney.

All the President's Men seems to be getting a lot of love here as far as- I mean, it's a great movie. To Zodiac? Zodiac's great. Oh shit, that one. That one's Robert Downey Jr. Wow.

Shattered Glass? Yeah. That's the one about- Can't talk journalism movies without having Shattered Glass? That's the one about... Can't talk journalism movies without having Shattered Glass on there. No, actually though, it's on all the top 10. Major League? Major League. Just because Bob Euker is a reporter.

Yeah, yeah. Kapoti! Sure? I feel like I'm missing one. What is this? Are we just going one. Yeah. What is this? Are we just going to go forever? What has happened? All right. All right.

Always one night crawler was pretty good. Night crawler. Video, video, military film. All right. I found it. Um, also wanted to give a very, very special shout out to Carol Lee. Shout out to Carol Lee, uh, the wife of our great cameraman, Henry, who is currently there she is, in Brandenburg, Germany right now for the 17th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships. She's the drummer

on Team USA's Senior A team. Now, I do believe it's probably like maybe 11 30 p.m. in Germany right now, at the very least 10 30. So do we know how she did in day one, Henry? She's racing tomorrow. She's racing tomorrow? Earlier today, you told me today. Oh, that thing, the first day he started. Today's the first day, okay. So she's racing tomorrow.

What time? I have to go to the meet, I'm not sure. Okay, well tomorrow it is. We wish her the best in the 17th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships. That's very exciting. Well done to her. Godspeed. Go make us proud. Over in Brandenburg. That's amazing. Incredible. I have never won a gold medal of any kind. I did compete in the Miccabi games back in the day, 1999, the Pan American games. We played in the bronze medal game,

but lost to Brazil on that fateful day. You guys remember that, right? Oh yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I have to say ever since you guys were on Netflix, you've changed. It just, things just seem, you know. How so?

Elaborate, explain it. Um, it just, you know. Perhaps that journalism movie conversation, I don't even know what movies we were talking about. Yeah, no, no, listen. It is what it is, it is what it is. Still waiting on one more, huh? There's one more I'm forgetting.

That's one more. There's so many messages here about the big Ted-a-Ted. Is there another? Oh man, the Ted-a-Ted was great. They asked me earlier to feed them grapes while they were sitting there. I was like, what are you guys? No, when they make the movie about Connor Ben

versus Shakur Stevenson and this is in it, this moment that we have today, this will be the best journalism movie. My favorite part about Friday as we close the day is like, I wanted to crawl into a hole and you guys were just happy that you were on Netflix. I was like, oh well, I'm glad someone's happy here. Oh yeah, at the time of my life.

I looked happy. Yeah, I know, I know. I mean, the pre-fight energy in MSG was bar none. No, I know. From the moment the cold main ended until the fight started. Well, I'm glad someone had a good time. It looks like I'm on a Six Flags roller coaster.

Look at the guy next to me. The guy next to me is scared. He's scared of you. He's scared of the camera, he's scared of me. I want the Irish dudes in the back with the flags. No, I'm happy you guys had a good time. Great seats too. Great seats.

Not bad. Great seats. We sat down, I was like, this is it. Almost as good as Isaiah Hartenstein. This is the perfect seat. Nah, chill. That's so big, Harg had to get his own seat. Yeah.

Inside. Yeah. How did that feel? What'd you say to him? Did you pick up what I was saying on the struggle with the pocket? When you were talking to him, it was looking like you were trying to put your left hand

in your pocket, and you couldn't find the hem. And it was like you were being denied entry into the pocket and eventually you gave up on it. Listen, I'm talking to one of my favorite Knicks players of the last 10, 15 years, a little bit nervous. I know he couldn't find the pocket. But the nerves got to you. He's the freaking man. He is no longer a Knicks. So what was the feeling like there?

Like, how did that go? If I, if I may say it's actually kind of hilarious because I had said a few weeks ago like yo congratulations like we were pulling for you you know we we love we love iHeart we love SGA we love Lou Dord so like we're you know we hate the Pacers obviously so we're happy for you but we miss you and and then he just wrote to me like hey I'm going to the fight his wife is one of the ring girls oh yes shout out so shout out him. They had a baby recently So shout out to her for coming back and he's like yeah, I'm like Man, I heard you're here. This is crazy. Now. The funny thing was I

texted him like when you get here because we had talked beforehand and He tells me like his itinerary but it's like wait a second Does he not realize this is me and then when I went upary, but it's like, wait a second, does he not realize this is me? And then when I went up to him, he's like, oh shit, I thought you were the other Ariel H, AKA Ariel Huckporty of the New York Knicks, who I always joke is the closest that I'm ever gonna get

to being a Nick because his name is Ariel H. You guys don't know who he is, but he's backup center for the Knicks, number 55, same number as him. And so I can't believe I was actually confused with Ariel Huck Porty. So here I am in the inner circle talking to Isaiah Hartenstein, and I'm like, man, we miss you. And to his credit, the reason why I even know him was because he signed the autograph for my kids and I tagged them. And he asked me about my boys. And that meant a lot. He thought you were Ariel Huck Porty. I guess he put me in his phone as like Ariel H lot. He thought you were Ariel Huckporty?

I guess he put me in his phone as like Ariel H. So he's giving me his thing. As y'all were texting, I thought you meant right in front of you. So when I texted him like, yo, when you're coming, he's writing me an answer where I'm like, this is not for me. This is very, and then I'm like, then I saw him and he's like, oh, I thought you were Huckporty.

And I was like, oh man, that's amazing. Because I said I wanted to get a jersey with Ariel H. on the back because, you know, it's the closest I'm going to get. Anyway, you had to be there. Was I nervous? Was I nervous about the pocket situation? No, I don't know what I was doing. Ariel or Rick snapped a picture of you from afar.

And like you can see struggling with the pocket. Yeah, your hand being denied entry into the pocket. It was like as it was happening, I looked at Rick, I was like, he's struggling with the pocket here, how is he going to play out of this? Well, listen, when you get a bespoke suit like that, you know, double-breasted, mixed colors, orange and blue. It looked great. It looked fantastic. It's just one of those things. Let's, let's, one more time.

What's wrong with the pocket square? No, no, no, pocket square, great. I'm saying the pockets themselves. Oh, the pockets. Use your entry, yeah. Actually, funny thing about the pocket square, if you go back to that clip of me saying, oh, the legend, and they cut to you, notice something here.

Do we have it? Yeah, Andy's grabbing it right now. Here we go. Here it is, here it is. Notice to the left of your screen. Okay. Pause, pause. Okay, go back, can we go back?

Notice right now, there's no pocket square, pause. Okay, go back. Could we go back? Notice right now there's no pocket square, right? Okay. Go back, go back, go back, go back. Look at Brian Peters. No, look at Brian Peters, her manager. He took my pocket square out and he's wiping his face with it. The MF'er. Look at this, look at this. Play it. Can we go slow mo here? Look at this guy. He wipes his mouth and he puts it in his pocket.

No, he threw it on the floor. Look at this. Did you get it mouth and he puts it in his pocket. No, he threw it on the floor. Did you get it back? As I'm leaving, I'm like, yo, where's my pocket square? I like that pocket square. Oh, I threw it on the ground. Go, go back. Go back. One more time. One more time. Look at this. Look at this. He white. You know how gross that is? Do you know how gross that is? Look at this. Okay. He's so, he's so chuffed. Look, they're loving each other. Oh, look at that.

That's Harnside's wife, by the way, in the back. Did he reach in? He popped it out of my shirt. Wow. Or my jacket. What a night. What a night. What a night at the garden.

I mean, that's a game worn right there. That's a game worn, yeah. You gotta hold onto that. Wipes his brow. Serrano Taylor three, the winning side wipes it on there. I took it back Anyway, we're out of time guys hard out hard out 534

Nailed it. Yeah Now listen, it was a big day. We didn't even have Wonder Boy show up. I mean, I feel like when when you bet when when Ben and Shakur got together that was a that was almost like a separate, you know, that's like the oh, yeah We lost one, but we got one. Oh, yeah I I did want to say like I felt like in the in the in the beginning. He was like, yeah, I didn't want to You know, I didn't I don't want to partake but then I want him over I want to back over

What do you think who would felt like that? I felt like he didn't want to- Who is he? Connor? Yeah, Ben. No. You think he was in from the beginning? Connor was up for it from the demo. Oh, okay. Oh, really?

Cause I got the feeling he was like, oh, but you're going to do it anyway. Like I legit didn't plan on this. No, Connor was down. Oh wait, shout out to Shakur for just sticking around. Just stuck around. What did he do? He just hung out there.

We brought up his family. They were waiting downstairs. then his daughter no his daughter was not with him cousins I believe Oh Zach Queen Moses yeah yes that's a comer yes I saw him on the list he's gonna be a name to watch please some of the less when they said yeah the list of people yeah Anyway, it's been a great day Sure have fun was had we made some big fights. We put Eddie Hearn in the the title Discussing the YouTube. Oh my god, you know yourself

He'll be thank you very much all our guests. Of course Stevenson Connor Ben Paulo Costa Morgan charlie Roma, Dolce and copy love Thank you very much all our guests, Shakur Stevenson, Connor Ben, Pablo Costa, Morgan Chariot, Roman Dolizze and Kapilov, Chris Algieri, shout out to Eddie Hearn as well. Shout out to the boys in the back, shout out to everyone back there as well, shout out to you, back tomorrow same time, same place, same piece, same right here.