The Ariel Helwani Show - The Smashing Machine review, Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford press conference & weigh-in reaction | The Craic

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

Petesy Carroll, Chuck Mindenhall, and Ben Fowlkes reunite to cover the week’s biggest topics.First up, Ben gives his exclusive review of The Smashing Machine, starring with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, off the back of his private screening (7:08).The crew then breaks down the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terrence Crawford presser, where Dana White faced pointed questions on fighter pay (26:34).The guys talk big picture about the boxing matchup, where their hype levels stand with fight night looming (49:14), and give their final picks (56:44).The other boxing fight taking place this weekend is Lewis Crocker vs. Paddy Donovan. Petesy is on the ground in Belfast with his breakdown of the highly anticipated bout (1:02:08).To finish, they turn their attention to UFC Noche. The trio dissect Diego Lopes vs. Jean Silva, and whether the card is being overshadowed by Netflix’s boxing event (1:08:46).

Welcome back to the crack, everyone, and do not adjust your screens. I know I'm not in my Blanchard Sound studio. I am, in fact, in Belfast for the IBF welterweight title fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy, Donovan. It's their second meeting. It was fairly hairy the first time with Paddy Donovan getting disqualified. He had a masterclass of a fight in the lead-up to that. But of course, that is not the only boxing match happening this weekend. There's a big one I hear in Las Vegas between a man called Saul, Canallo Alvarez, and Terrence Crawford. They had a bit of a press conference last night, which produced a lot of talking points, which we will be discussing

today. There's also a UFC card, UFC Noce, I believe it is. Jean-Silva, one of the show's favourites in action there. Very emotional when he was signing the posters earlier this week if you haven't noticed. Now, I'm Pizza Carol, as you know, but I do this show with a couple of guys and they've become very you know, very big

time, in fact, over the last few weeks. Like, they're doing all kinds of things. I'm going to have to bring them on now when we can talk about it because you know, here they are here. You might know know them. Chuck Mendenhall. He's the one with a hat on there and the other guy there, that's Ben folks. Mr. Mendenhaw

a genius that he is. We haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, but since we've seen him, I don't know if you heard about this, Ben. He has signed himself a big old book deal. And he's gracious enough to join us today. But Chuck, this is very exciting for all MMA fans. I don't know how exciting he is for our show.

How are we going to keep you on this goddamn show with this book coming out and this new superstardom that's on the horizon for you, sir? You have an inflated idea what writing a book is, I think. It's not what you're thinking. Although I did appreciate Binla. I wanted to get like the little extended cigarette, you know, with the extender and the beret and the mink and all that stuff.

I thought that that would be a nice touch, just to fool you guys. But honestly, man, it is a cool thing. In a long story short, some publishing house contacted me about a book. And I kind of went back and forth and I was like, well, the kind of vision that they were talking about, this has Ben Bella Books, by the way. The kind of vision they were talking about, I was like, I don't know if I'd want to write that book. but here's the book I wouldn't maybe want to write and I kind of pitched it my own way and they seemed to like that and so here we are it happened very quickly and I was

but it's something I've thought about and I know Ben I probably talked to you about this over the years but like it's something I've thought about probably for you know 13 14 years but when I initially had this idea and this is basically an idea of maybe kind of interlaced essays in the Liebling-esque form or like I'm not you know you hate to set a bar even mentioning that name because I don't want the expectations to be Do it. Off the charts. Do it.

But I mean, that's the idea, right? It's just to kind of give like a more irreverent approach through essays of the general game at large. MMA this time instead of boxing, probably UFC-centric, obviously, and see where that goes. So they love the idea. I'll be working on that. But you know how the publishing industry is. This thing, you won't see it for at least 18 months.

I mean, it's going to take a, it takes the while to write, and then they have to go through the production and all that. stuff and uh but it will be on the horizon and i will keep everybody updated as i go along here they contacted you this is not how i thought the publishing industry worked at all when they come to you and they're like hey how about write us a book i thought it was like you have to go around and basically be like hey look i know people don't read books so much anymore but well listen man like the way that this worked in i so the fight game was like about it was an idea i had based kind of like the sweet science where the sweet science was based on

1951 to 54 55 when Liebling was you know kind of on the scene and back then everything was very different obviously so you write like you write something similar I guess what you look at it from like an elevated view of it like kind of humorous tapping your foot as you're watching some of the stuff happen mine would be probably the whole of MMA like basically looking at because it's such a young sport but I had this idea I'd say back in 2011, 2012. I was like, and so I pitched it.

I did what you're talking about. I went around and I was like, hey, man, I'd love to write this book. Everybody kind of laughed it out, or they didn't respond at all. And as I look back on it, I think it was probably too soon for that kind of book anyway, because, you know, you look at what had not happened yet. You know, there was no Connor McGregory. There was no big boom with Ronda Rousey. There was a lot of the big things that have happened over the years and a lot of the, you know,

hypocrisies and everything else that have solidified and materialized over time, like that you know to be the truth now are all in better focus. So I feel like it was a blessing in disguise that I didn't try to do this earlier. And you wait a little while until somebody does approach. And I'm just as astonished as you. When I saw that come through, I was like, wow, I never thought I'd see the day that a publisher would actually just knock on my door. That's amazing.

The first thing, you've got to think, author photos. The most important part is we've got to think about what we're going with on the back of the book jacket. I think you want to do something. Obviously, we're going to be wearing a hat. I mean, that's a gift. I could throw people off and not wear the hat. What do you think?

I think maybe you'd go a totally different type of hat. Maybe fireman hat, like a, you know, like a five-year-old playing dress up or something. But I think we're going to want, you know, let's get a few different looks to, like, maybe you can bring them on the crack. We can help you vote on some of them. One where you're doing like the thoughtful kneeling in the weeds kind of thing. One where you seem to be like doing research in a library and you're just holding up like a giant book and you're just like stuff like that because we know there's a giant tombs

out there about mama written i just got to go through them uh obviously the long cigarette holder should come in at one point uh let's just get a lot of different looks and we'll see what the audience thinks deal yeah yeah like you can do a lot with your hands as well you know praying like look yeah oh yeah you know like divine inspiration kind of stuff like there's a lot we can do here joke like i'm just saying maybe i don't know if you ever read uh the pugilist at rest the uh tom jones I think it was like great singer short short stories that Tom something I'm totally Bertrand it but he he wrote a collection of like boxing short stories maybe in like the late 90s early 2000s and the cut the the the picture I believe on the back of the book jacket the copy I had

was him sitting in a gym wrapping his hands oh very seriously wrapping his hands and you're just like I don't know man how does that we might we might be over promising here a little bit And too many guys have done the participatory thing, right? Like, I'm not, I'm definitely not doing that. I'm not George Plumpton. I remember Matthew Polly, remember did tap out, I think it was, which was actually a really good. I enjoyed that, but no, man, that's not my speed. I'll probably do the fireman thing, though.

Well, listen, you know, Ben's given up a lot here to Chuck, but I don't know if you know this. Yeah, you buried the lead here. There's a bit of, there's been a lot of things happening in Missoula because of a certain man who appears on this part. podcast shuts down the local cinema so he can view the smashing machine so he can tell us what it's like all about on this show. And it's not only that, Ben, can I let them know what you're doing after this? Because I feel like, so we're going to have to stop this episode. And don't worry, we're going to be here for a while. I'm going to be here for about 90 minutes. But we're going to have to have a very hard out because Mr. folks here, big time

Ben, as I call him, going off to interview The Rock after this, Ben. this is pretty fucking crazy like the biggest superstar in the world you're shutting down theaters in your hometown to go and watch his movie just tell us a little bit about this please you say shutting down it was more like opening up

because they they wanted to arrange a screening of this movie for me and they were like we have screenings in New York and L.A. And I was like yeah I don't know if I'm going to make it to those since I live in Missoula Montana and they were just like well all right

what theaters are near you will have somebody set up a screening for you And I was just like, I don't know if you understand what the movie theater situation is around here, you know. But I put them in touch with our local independent theater, which honestly is a great theater. I'm a sustaining member of the theater, which means you get free popcorn. They put the popcorn in the metal bowls for you and everything. You can get free reveals and everything. That is really cool.

Yeah. I love this theater. It does a bunch of, it does, you know, some like live event kind of stuff there. But like whenever there's, you know, an A24 movie comes out, this is the kind of thing. theater you see it in. And so they were great. Shouts out to the Roxy Theater in Missouri for being so helpful right there on the hip strip. They put this together, but they were also baffled as to why they had to open the theater at noon on a Thursday, not their usual operating hours. You know, this is the, this is a nighttime kind of theater. Nobody's going to

see movies in, but they were very gracious. They opened it up for me. They even made me popcorn. I'll be else. I brought some of my own snacks because I was like, they're not going to have the popcorn machine going. There's only one guy. comment. But they made me the popcorn without me even asking. They were, they were very, very kind to me. They were also very confused as to why this was happening, not the normal kind of thing that happens at that theater. But yeah, I got to see the movie. I saw it yesterday. I have thoughts. I have questions that I'm excited to ask. But for people who don't want to wait, I'll say, it's a good movie. That is a good movie. It's a good movie. There it is. There is

the review of the Smashing Machine. You all came from, tell me. I can imagine, I can imagine Ben walking in and they're like, wait, who's he with then? Like, they're looking around behind you. Like, is he with somebody? Just him? What's going on here? Yeah, they did say they were, they were watching people passing on the street outside and

being like, does that guy look like he would be here to see a movie? You know, and so, but you let me know when you want to get into, because I have a lot of thoughts on the movie, but I will say, like, for people who are out there, I know how it can be when you're a fight fan. And you'd be like, you're making a movie about my thing. And there's a part of you that's just going, don't screw this up. Don't make me mad by not making a good movie about my thing. But then there's another part of you that's also like, it's going to be hard for me to turn off

some parts of my brain and just enjoy it since I know this world so well. And since I'm in it so often. So it's a high bar to meet. And I'll say they met that bar. They created a really good movie about this world and this sport. I'd put it up there. And it's not like there's a ton of great MMA movies. movies that's been made. I think right now, going into this, I've had a warrior as warrior and

by that I mean the the one with Nick Noltee and what's his name? Tom Hardy. Tom Hardy. That's a good MMA movie, I think, and the show Kingdom, especially like the first season of Kingdom. Those were the two things where I was just like, those are pretty much the best things that's been made about MMA. This joins that category. What about the one with Kevin James or whatever that guy's name was. Chuck, here comes the boom. Quit playing with me. Quit playing with me, Chuck.

Sorry, man. That wasn't the time for that joke. But tell me this, right? Obviously, like, we were showing this clip a few weeks ago. This feels like it could be kind of a movie that can elevate Dwayne Johnson, aka the Rock, into a new stratosphere. Like, you know, he's getting praised for his work here. We've seen the side by side.

I can remember when it was announced for us. Like, I was like, I don't think he's going to look much like Mark Kerr. he looks stunningly like Mark Kerr, from what I've seen. How good is he in this role? Because as you know, as we've talked about, we've must have seen the smash machine 10 times at least because it's such a legendary documentary. Like, did he live up to expectations in this role? Honestly, he's really, really good in this.

And I had my doubts as well. Not only about like, can he look like Mark Kerr. And they did do that. I think the two categories where I think, even if there's, this gets no other awards consideration. The two categories in which you got to give him at least a look is the prosthetics, because the prosthetic stuff that they put on Dwayne Johnson to make him look more like Mark Kerr is subtle and yet it works, you know, it's it helps him kind of disappear into

the character, at least a little bit. Also, the hair, they do good hair stuff at this movie and wardrobe because you might recall the late 90s and early 2000s was a hell of a time for me. men's fashions, especially like athletic bodybuilder adjacent men where you're just like, how are you always in sports clothes and half of them are polos, you know, and it's, they nail it. They absolutely nail like so much of the look and the feel of that time period. And honestly, the rock is amazing in this. I did not think that he had hit in him to do, especially the kind of emotional nuance and

complexity that this role requires and that he really shows off here. because I knew he could do the action movie stuff he always does. My kids loved him in Jumanji. You know, they, they, I'm being serious. They're like, Dr. Smolder Bravestone, they're like, hell yeah, he's great in that. He's great as the few kind of action movie tropes he's played. But I had serious doubts, can he do something like this? And he does it.

He absolutely nails it, especially because it's like you can see him changing the way he uses his body to mimic Mark Kerr's mannerisms. Because people who know Mark Kerr and, especially you've seen that documentary where you're like, he's a giant man with these very gentle kind of mannerisms, almost as if he's learned a way of moving through the world to not scare people. And like he's very kind of delicate with the way he moves. And the Ruck does that.

And you can you can really see him physically kind of disappearing into the character. But also so many of these scenes, they're complicated scenes. There's like Mark Kerr in both in the documentary and in this film, he's a man with a lot of contradictions. going on. And so it's difficult, I think, to be able to embody that without having to hit the viewer over the head with it and draw special attention to it. And they're doing it. They're doing it really well as like filmmakers and he does it really, really well as an actor. And especially being opposite Emily Blunt, who she's fantastic. She's never been bad in anything. She's really, really good here

in what is frankly a difficult role as Don Staples because it's not a likable character at all. but she manages to get all the little nuances of it. And so he has a lot of scenes where it's just the two of them, and you could very easily be out-acted in those if you're not up for it, because she is so good. And he, honestly, you look at this and you come away and you'd be like, all right, if I needed to have it proved to me that the Rock can do other stuff, that he can do real serious dramatic roles, this does it.

Ben, did you walk away from that, like, with some better understanding, I guess, of why they would make a film about a documentary that had already been made? Like, you know, because I felt like a lot of people when this was kind of, I was like, well, there's already a documentary about this. Why are they doing a film? I'm guessing an artistic license. But did you come, like, did you like walk away from it saying like, okay, the movie had something to it that you're like, that's why it had to be told, you know, in this form? You know, this is one of several questions I am excited to ask. Because I'm not only getting talked to to to Rock. I'm getting to talk to Betty, who's a really good director and wrote and directed this thing. And so I really am curious about the motivation for some of the. choices because you're right it's when I saw the trailer that was my first thought was are we just recreating the documentary because you see in the trailer that scene where he's sitting in the doctor's office and talking to the woman in the waiting room doctor at the doctor's office about what he does for living this this type of fighting that he does and that scene is almost word for word and shot for

shot exactly what's in the documentary and so when I saw that I wondered is what are we are we just going to do that over again and there are a lot of scenes that are essential. recreations and like dramatizations of scenes in the documentary and it's clearly a very intentional choice because not only is it the same words a lot of times and the exact same scenes doing the same work it's the same camera angles you can tell like somebody went through and really like crafted their movie to mimic a lot of parts or to dramatize a lot of the parts that you see in the documentary if anything it should be seen as high high praise for the documentary because these people like skilled filmmakers looked at that and said well we can't that's

really good we kind of just want to do that and i it added a few different scenes that did like everything they added was good and it added some emotional depth the movie does a good job of feeling like kind of stripped down and real and you know which it should if you're mimicking it on something real like if you have that to base it on but it also does a few little touches here that are just subtle enough where you're showing like a little bit of the other stuff that's going on internally

for Mark Kerr during all this and it doesn't have any fat on it really doesn't have any wasted scenes it does a good job with what it has to work with gets you in and out of there about two hours and I am curious though if it's like we wanted to make a story

about Mark Kerr do we watch the documentary and go it's all right here because it's the same period of his life It's the same events. I do wonder how it's going to read to people who haven't seen the documentary because some of these scenes, they feel a little awkward and almost like too real to be comfortable in a movie. When you saw him in the documentary, you accepted it because you go, hey, that's how life is.

Life can be like this. And you also accepted some parts of the arc because you're like, it's not just like, guy comes along, meets some trouble, overcomes it and triumphs. Like that's what we kind of expect of a movie. And real life isn't like that. It's easier for people to accept that in a documentary. I wonder how they will accept that when they see it in this film. And especially, like, I just read one review that said something about, but particularly

about Emily Blunt's portrayal of the Don Staples character where they're like, you know, it's kind of flat and like, surely the real person it's based on was not just like this. And you're like, oh, my lord. Honestly, if you see the documentary, you go, that is kind of how she, at least how she came off. in the documentary. Like, that, that is how it was. And I could see how people who haven't seen that and don't have that basis might come in and be like, I don't know, this seems a little weird or unbelievable to me

when really it is entirely believable because it all really happened. Can I ask two questions? First one, is the plot of the movie there is a documentary being filmed about Mark Kerr? No. Okay. I was wondering what was. They find different ways to do some of the same stuff because there are moments. in the documentary where we are learning things because the person is being interviewed for the

documentary. Like Mark Coleman has a couple moments, especially, you know, there's a moment early on where Mark Kerr's girlfriend has come with him to this pride fight that he's competing in in Japan. And Mark Coleman doesn't love it as his like kind of coach training partner is. And he's in there in Mark Kerr's corner and he says something to the documentary crew where he's like, I'm not a fan of bringing wives and girlfriends to fights. They should stay home because you can focus on what you have to do. And there's no one really for him to say that too in the film. So they have to find other ways.

And they do pretty subtly and deftly find ways to show that that's what Mark Coleman is thinking. And in other points, they're being interviewed by the media. There's several scenes of them being interviewed by the media, particularly the Japanese media, when they're over there in Japan and things that we would see them saying to the documentary camera. cameras, they are instead saying to a reporter who can just straight up ask those questions. So like, it does manage to do some of the same stuff that way. Second question, in that documentary, there are, as you say, like, one of the most intriguing things I can remember about watching the documentary at the first time is this kind of, he's a bit

of a sweetheart, Mark here. Like he looks like a fucking ogre. Like he's a big, massive guy, but he kind of seems to have this softness to him. that's, you know, it's very intriguing, but it's also these scenes of him fighting. And that dude was, he was the smashing machine. He was headbutting guys from full mount, I remember one of the scenes. How good are the fight scenes? Like, I mean, that is important for someone like you, Ben, who has spent the guts of your life watching this sport.

How effective are the fight scenes in the movie? They're good. You know, with what we have to compare to other fight scenes and other movies, it's up there. it's better than I thought the fight scenes in it was the Hallie Barry movie that was one of the you know

Hallie Barry was good in that movie but also when you watch some of those fight scenes you're like oh this does not at all feel believable and I thought just kind of like structurally that movie was a little bit of a mess but like the fight scenes are better than that maybe not quite as good

as some of the stuff you see in Kingdom and Warrior but still still very good Bruce thank you Jordan the name of that Hallie Barry movie I don't I don't recommend it necessarily I think it's great. I think it's my favorite one. Really?

No, no. But the, you know, especially it does the same exact stuff early on in the movie where we see Mark Kerr fighting essentially in a nightclub in Sal Palo or something, you know, where he's fighting in like these kind of like local like small promotions in Brazil. And those scenes. Yeah, that's where he started, right? He was that's the very first time. It was the Brazilians, I think, who started calling him the smashing machine first. But like those scenes, especially. they recreate it almost perfectly.

And especially since I just went back and rewatched the documentary like a week ago, two weeks ago, it was fresh in my mind. But I was like, they're doing it just move for move exactly the same. Some of the other fight scenes when we're doing the Pride 2000 Grand Prix, you know, there's moments where you're like, this is clearly a movie. We are not really punching each other. I thought Ryan Bader was frankly a way better actor than you would ever think Ryan Bader could possibly be. He plays Coleman, right? he plays Mark Coleman the only problem is here's where I think it'll be a real benefit for the people who are just coming into the movie cold not knowing anything is because they'll just accept that that's Mark Coleman like this guy plays a character named Mark Coleman and he's a big big character in the film and for us we're watching it and at no point are you in danger of forgetting that that is Ryan Bader you know he does a good acting job but he looks and talks and sounds like Ryan Bader and he does not at all seem like Mark Coleman and so you're just like you you kind of can't get past that but But Alexander Usik is in this as Igor Vob Chancian.

They even have a woman there to play the small, very polite, blonde woman who was always with Igor. I don't know if that was a manager or interpreter, but she was always there. There was pride events. You'd always see her. They found somebody who crushes that role. Like the detail, the attention to detail in this is really, really, really impressive. And I love Boss Routen as Boss Routen. Yeah.

It shouldn't work. It shouldn't work to have a guy come back 25. years later and play himself and yet it does he he's so effortless at least when he's playing boss rootin the role he was literally born to play like he's so like when you see boss rootin show up in this movie for the first time i i might have out loud said boss wow because you're just so happy to see him stephen quadros too uh quadros was in it quadros is in it too like and he and he still looks and sounds pretty much the same too like the a lot my i was so impressed with kind of everything they did around the scenes

where they're in Japan and at Pride events like both the fighting, the behind the scenes stuff, the like backstage stuff. They're doing so many little touches there. Even like the press conference stuff, it's exactly how it was when you see it in the documentary. And that's the stuff where you can tell like somebody really, really hit the time and like the loving attention to detail

in this movie is. Have you ever met Stephen Quadros? Oh yeah. We worked together. He was a commentator for the IFL for a long time. Oh, that's right. That's right. We spent many times riding in cabs together and hanging out in hotel bars together.

One of my favorite things. I'd never met him. I'd never met him. But Tapout used to have this big compound in the inland empire of California. And they would occasionally have these little parties. And I went to one of them because I was doing a piece on Dan Hardy, who was invited. So I went with him. And Quadris was there.

And he's like playing the drums. I go and he's playing this drum kit. Yeah, he's in there playing the drums. Yeah. And I was like, wow, this is cool. Bands team quite. he comes up to me because he recognizes me and he goes hey man how you doing and he squeezes my arm my arm here and he's like is that moitai that's how he said hello i was like that's the greatest

introduction i think i've ever had in my life but that dude is a character man he is a character and like there are still several stories he told me about just like other people he knew in the mixed martial arts world like just like he the guy's a raconteur and he he would tell me these stories and I'm still thinking about some of them and years later being like, wait, was that true? I know. Like that kind of stuff. Yeah, you hear his voice and you know it's him immediately. Yeah, well, look,

this all sounds very exciting. I'm actually really excited to see him. I'm very jealous that band, look, I mean, there's a cinema in Blanchardstown if anyone wants to get on the phone to Pizzie Carroll, like, nope, I'll watch it. I'll watch it if you want. They probably won't give me popcorn but I can do it at. Listen,

we have got to take one. Listen, I can't have guessed like this on the fucking show. trying to get some money back. You know what I mean? We've got to get the ads flowing here. So we're going to be back. And I know you're all dying for us to talk about yesterday's press conference, which is endlessly entertaining.

We've compiled the best bits for all of you. We also have to talk about the UFC card because, shocker, spoiler alert, Kelvin Gasselam has missed weight once again, this time by five pounds. And of course, I want to fill you all in on this big rematch in Belfast. I've been doing lots of research. We'll be back. after the break and we are back on the crack crackheads i hope you enjoyed that fantastic review i'm selfishly looking forward to this part um of the show yesterday i was inundated with clips from this

wonderful press conference in los vegas for a massive fight undeniably uh a gray fight um i'm sure we're going to talk about all of this um but a very very interesting scene yesterday with turkey ales chic Dana White, their relationship will also be explored at some point, but it wasn't quite the easy press conference that Dana White has been used to on his UFC events. A bit of a curveball thrown fairly early on. I think we're about 10 minutes into the podcast, lads, when one brave man with beautiful long hair got up and he tried to put the world to right with regard to the Ali Revival Act. I believe we have a clip, Mr. On Air Jordan. question for Dana. Dana, this fight, as you said earlier in the week, is set to be the third highest gate in combat sports history. The second biggest gate you've promoted alongside Mayweather McGregor. The top five gates in combat sports history come in boxing and they

come in the last 10 years. So my question to you is, why then do you want to make sweeping changes to the Muhammad Ali Reform Act that is meant to protect fighters to, to bring about a business model that currently has your company already paid out $375 million in antitrust lawsuits and has two potential pending class action lawsuits on the way as well well this is obviously a long discussion if you want to talk to me about that set up an interview this isn't about me and my business is about these two guys on Saturday night by my follow-up Dana earlier this week the California

State Athletic Commission had a hearing about TKO trying to bring those changes to the Ali Act and it was postponed three months because of you want to showboat right now set up an interview with me if this is really what you want to talk about it's America baby for these two ask them you can set up an interview with me Dana my follow-up is if TKO can't make those changes to the Ali Act will you still invest in the sport of boxing will you compete in the market listen if you want to be an asshole let's do it in private and we can do an interview yes if you want a showboat i get it if you have questions for these two that are fighting on saturday that's a different story fight fight fight fight fight fight fight this isn't a discussion

to have at a press conference for these two that are going to fight on Saturday too if you want to set up an interview with me and ask me these questions let's do it one-on-one And you can ask me anything you want. All right. Well, Terrence and Saul, have a good fight. Yeah, you have a question for these two? No. No?

Beat it. There it is, lads. Dana Hoyt, shock to be asked a real question at press conference. He's trying to sell something, damn it. Why are you guys out here trying to ask him? I mean, I guess maybe the question to ask him is, if the only questions you want to hear at the press conference are for the two guys fighting, why are you there?

Why have Dana White standing there in the middle at the podium there? Like, what are you there for if the only questions we want to like hear and the answers we want to hear are the two guys fighting? It's a sad state of affairs when it seems so out of place. Like I can't help but like watch that in the UFC theme. It's like the press conference we see at UFC events. And this guy gets up to ask this question. And it's looking like a young Anthony Kedis, by the way. Yeah.

I kind of did. Get away. I love it. He, uh, I don't know who this guy is. That mad respect for that guy. Yeah, me too, man. Honestly. But Chuck, it's weird this week because I saw, I don't know if you saw, Ariel kind of

broke this down on a show on Wednesday, I believe it was. He did an interview with PBS Las Vegas as well. And the, the woman who was interviewing was so well prepared and he was kind of trying to bat off the questions. And she just stuck to him, stuck to task. And he honestly just didn't seem like he had anywhere to go with his answers. He was just kind of stuck and she was kind of peppering him with questions with regard to the Revival Act with regard to the payment of fighters. Is it, is it a surprise to you that how

ill-prepared Dana White is for these questions when he is, in fact, getting into boxing, when it is a massive story within that sport, what they are trying to accomplish here? You almost wonder if he thought that, you know, it was going to be like a UFC press conference, right? Because we're so used to at this point. It kind of just being a, you know, a ridiculous kind of circus, circusy environment and there's really nothing of consequence being discussed or asked. That's what it seemed like in this. I didn't see the actual PBS one, but I do think that he seems to be a little caught

off guard by this. And it's kind of crazy because this has been a big story. We've talked about it on here plenty of times. I know Ariel's been talking about it. This is something that I think as people who've. followed the UFC and we understand the model and understanding what that means if you're trying to force that model into the boxing realm. And at the same time, you are trying to have things amended in that Alley Act to basically enable you to do that. That's the big story of this.

Unfortunately, that is when you watch this event and Zufa Boxing and Dana on that podium, that's the first thing that comes to mind. That is the very first thing that comes to mind is like, how is this going to work? What is your intention with Boxing? How are you going to do it? Like, you know, so for him to be unprepared or, because to me, it struck me like he literally didn't think that he was going to be asked about that. Didn't it feel that way? Like he was caught off guard. That's crazy to me. You would think that he would be a little more prepared just to have some kind of stock answer there rather than calling the guy an asshole.

And I think for all of us who don't go to these events, like it's, it can't, you know, I know how it is. There's a big pressure in that room. Everybody wants to cheer. They want to be on Dana's side. They want to be on the fighter's side. Um, so they start booing you if you, if you actually do this and then he gets mad at you, they're against you. They're with him. But the great thing was it's a boxing realm. You have Canello almost sticking up for, you know, the questions themselves. That was kind of fun. Like that it turned into something else when he, you know, when, uh, when he himself's like, hey, boxing's big before you got here, that type of thing. Yeah. It's, it's, uh, we actually have, we have the clip here of Max Kellerman, like, kind of crazy for me to see Max Kellerman like this, because, I don't know, was it, like, 10, 15 years ago, I thought he was, like, the goal standard.

I thought he was, like, the best guy, like, you know, a real down-the-middle journalist when I came to boxing, like, someone to admire. And I'm not, I'm not saying just because of his performance this week, that's completely scrapped, but the fun. Yeah, he was anything but a boot looker, right? Like, at the time, he was the guy who went at you all the time. He went at you with hard questions.

There's just, look, this fight is great. Like, I'm going to watch the shit out of this fight. I like it. Like, you know, Alvres, a leg, legend. Terence Crawford's my favorite fighter probably at the moment in boxing. It's a great fight. It deserves all these bells and whistles. But there's this fawning element to everything around this fight. And we have an example over here with Max Kellerman towards the end. And as Chuck mentioned, Canello Alvarez has a bit to say when he goes out of his way to

poor compliments all over the Great Dana White. and for the first time and so long the people bringing you this present love boxing let me start with his excellency turkey all the shake let me start with him because if he's never born none of us are here right now this was his idea and then dana white Dana white is the greatest combat sports promoter in my lifetime. He built an institution. You know why boxing's not as popular as it used to be anymore, right? UFC is really popular, that's because of Dana White.

He built something like the NBA. Uh-uh, stop now, because he's about to do it for boxing again, for boxing now. You want some, you want an NBA or an NFL in boxing? here it comes because he knows how to build an institution and how do you do that hey max hey marks boxing is always bigger bigger and big don't don't say boxing is no big you know how big is boxing should it get bigger yes or no should it get bigger canella maybe it's going to be bigger but look boxing is always big and big and

bigger and bigger and bigger I need to talk about that too I love it is boxing. I love Canello in English, by the way. I love it. No lies. Oh, my God. I mean, how much longer might that have gone on if Canello had not stepped in there? It is like that is over the top and just kind of embarrassing to watch a man do that.

Especially like the idea that like if this specific person isn't born, none of us are here. Well, I don't, I mean, it's somebody else could have been born to then use the Saudi wealth fund to, like, pour into combat sports. Like that, let's not act like it was such a visionary idea. Like, what if we made big fights by paying the guys a whole lot of money? Like that, that's not exactly Thomas Edison coming along and inventing the light bulb right there, you know? And then to, we got to, like, heap this praise on Dana White there for it. It just moments like that, you know, where you're just going like, did we have a talk behind the scenes where we were like, well, I must have my ego stroked for at least, you know, 30, 45 seconds at this press conference. Otherwise, we're not doing it because it's ridiculous and there's no point to it.

Like, clearly you can hear from the fans, they're not there for that, man. They, like, no one is there to watch Dana White or Turkey Al-Sheek. They're there to watch the fighters. Like, that's what's getting everybody excited is these two fighters. and to forcefully take the focus off of them and put it on the money guys behind it is obviously ridiculous and you can tell that the fans recognize that

by Canello stepping in. I'd also point out this is one of the big differences that you see from boxing and MMA is that there is a fighter up there who knows he has the power and the ability to speak up and say, shut up. True.

Stop praising the bosses so much. Stop licking the boot. It's unnecessary. we are big time. We have been big time because he knows you're not going to have this show without Canelo. We're not the same as what we've created in the UFC where a lot of these guys are interchangeable parts. He also has already made so much money from boxing that even if he never fights again, he's totally fine. And there's a reason to praise

everything and be like, hey, Dan White's going to bring what he did for the UFC over to boxing. If I were one of these boxers making a ton of money, I'd be like, please don't do that because there's a reason all those MMA guys are trying to get into boxing and it's never going the other way. It's because the top boxers make so much more of the money and just keep so much more of the money that is made than the top UFC fighters. And so when you were up there saying, hey, he's going to bring that same thing to boxing to those guys, especially if they're paying attention and have been paying attention, that sounds like a threat and not a promise.

And that's sort of the question about like how, why Dana seemed uncomfortable, Especially that PBS, I also saw that Vegas PBS one. And my first thought, Pete C, when seeing that, was this is why he doesn't do these. This is why he does not do it. This is why he would much prefer to go on a podcast with somebody who, you know, they're not in this world. They're just kind of like a general men's interest kind of podcast or general sports interest kind of podcast. They don't know the MMA world or the combat sports world. Because he can say anything he wants to them.

They don't know. They don't know enough to push back. They don't know what is actually going on in this world. they'll just accept whatever he says. And it's a much more comfortable environment. But it's also like, if you're in the gym and you're only sparring with the sparring partners, you know, you can beat up, the people who aren't really prepared, you go out there and you get yourself into a real fight with somebody who is not here to play nice with you

and not here to do all the things you've come to expect in the gym, you look unprepared. And I think that's exactly what happened. He'd been sparring with the puppies on these podcasts. And then he went out there and got himself in a conversation with somebody who had done their homework and was ready to press him on it. And he was not prepared for that. And I think his answer to that is probably going to be like, let me not do any more of these.

Can I just say that, like, you know, Max and, Max and Dana have an interesting kind of like history. Because way back in the day, Max was, like you're mentioning about 20 years ago, and Max was kind of a boxing face. And I think he was a guy who actually was bringing a youthful element to the sport,

a bigger opinion and a bigger enthusiasm towards it. And he was more of a hard hitting, tell it how it is, kind of personality within that. Dana was seeking his approval. I remember doing a piece with Max Kellerman in 2004, all the way back then, where for Stop Smiling Magazine, I think it was, where I just did this, you know, this kind of general personality profile type thing. And Max used that analogy that Dana later adopted about the four corners. Max used it and said, and so I'm almost positive that Dana got that for Max.

Now, and over the course of time, they've had just an interesting thing. I think Dana has always sought for Max's approval. I think now he has a bit of a blind spot for Dana in reverse. Like it's almost like, well, you've done a lot for me. And now it's kind of like come back the other way. Because I remember when Max got on Twitter on X or whatever, but at Twitter at the time, he put out like, hey, I'm on Twitter. And Dana immediately said, follow this guy or whatever.

He did something like that. And he's like, this is what happens when Dana says to follow you on Twitter. And he had like 10,000 followers in the first day. Do you remember this? I know it's kind of a weird detail, but that's the kind of thing that they have. So it's a little weird to hear Max up there doing this because we know that he is probably,

it's one of these things you're like, dude, you're being obsequious over a guy who, it's like somebody who hasn't paid close attention. You just played peripheral attention to a guy's been very good to you over the years. That's what that was. Obssequious. This is why this man's writing a book, PC.

You hear that? It's called that. It's called that. completely lost me I got lost I just started staring at the wall fuck I hope he doesn't

ask me about this couldn't spell it who brought you hats it's it's interesting what you're both saying and they did like look

this press conference is to build the fight right like that's essentially what they're usually for but unfortunately like with the

kind of talk from Kellerman here and the way the questions went the talking points are all regarding Dana White and Turkey

coming out of this. Yeah. And that's the thing is like you're opening the door to have the business conversation at that point because you want to shine this light on it. And so it's more than fair for somebody to come in and ask about the specifics of that when you guys decided to make that such a focal point. And I also don't think he's going to grant that kid that request for that interview. I really hope he does. I want to I want to see the young Anthony Ketus with the balls of steel. I want to I want to see that guy get a sit down with Dana White. And let me know when that one is and I will be glued to that one. Well, let's let's have a look at this relationship between Turkey Alashik and Dana White because I think I think we all said when this was first announced on this very show

that one of the most obvious things that could possibly go wrong here is the clash of egos. These are two big dogs and now they're playing in the same yard. And there appears to be a moment at the very end that's very awkward where Turkey seems to suggest that Dana's about to break some news. Let's have a look at that one, Mr. Honor, Jordan. There is a big surprise from Dana White. He will announce it now. Thanks for coming out tonight, everybody.

We appreciate it. We're going to face these guys off for photo ops. We'll see it to weigh us. Oh. Head scratch. That is something else. That's what I'm like, wait. man that is that is awkward like look let's let's just put it out there um there were questions about

where this was going to happen uh very early on it seemed like dana's position within the promotion there was definitely some conversations out there saying that it may be compromised he came out and said that's what you don't trust the media talking all this bullshit i don't know if anyone actually published a story saying dana white is off this we were just getting that kind of scent this to me suggests this might not have the legs that we may have thought it was, thought it would at the beginning choice. It's a very interesting look, man, because, and Dana had complained at another

juncture fairly recently where he's like, you know, Turkey probably shouldn't have said that yet. This is one of those things that you kind of wait on. Remember this? He was kind of reprimanding this. And I think that Turkey operates more on the speed of his own impulse. Like, we've seen him do this. Whereas Dana has learned over the years, honestly, to not do that because he used to do that. He used to do that all the time. And I think that there's something in him now that's like, you know, he's done this a long time and whatever

the hell this big surprise. Did we find out what this was? I don't know anything. No, I don't know. Okay. So I'm guessing that there's reasons that they are not ruling that out there. But this is exactly where it's at because you have a guy in Turkey who I think he snaps his fingers and things happen, right? And I don't think you're going to be able to play that with Dana White, not if you want Dana to be effective. Am I the only one who, If that, if I had been a Dana White situation, I would have immediately scrambled to be like, what could I say? I'm going to run a, I'm going to run the New York City Marathon. Like, you know, just like something.

I'm finally going to jump off the Mandalay Bay for that. Yeah, I'm doing that, that base jumping off the Mandalay Bay that I was supposed to do. I'm finally doing it. Like, I would have, I would have so quickly tried to, like, scramble and be like, uh, what can I say? I know, exactly. Play it off. Chuck Mendenhall is writing a book, everybody. It is, it's like, it does feel like the kind of situation.

you would have an anxiety dream about it's like you know you're you're at a friend's wedding and they're like and now to give a speech and you're like what i didn't plan a speech um there's obviously been earlier in the week there was news from boxing scene that they were denied credentials here like this is this is you know again ben we we we had a chat about this in our in our message group among ourselves uh shocked by this right yeah it's on like anyone from the Saudi power structure there to interfere with the fourth estate. That's not usually they're very hands off with the media. I thought we were done playing the credential game in combat sports just because what's the point?

What do you gain by it? All you managed to do was create for yourself this like, you know, annoyingly negative headline and make it look like you are trying to hide something or you're trying to keep some people out because they might have too. critical an eye or something and what do you actually accomplish like you're it's not like this this website that you don't like is going to go away because they can't create credentials to this fight everything is out there they can write off the same stuff that everybody else is doing they can write off the same interviews we're seeing the same press conferences the damn thing is on Netflix like what do you think you're accomplice the way you get a website to go out of business is wait like the media forces

are crumbling and you can just be like, all right, that's, that's what, be patient. Yeah, that's what I'll take care of it. Trying to, to mess with them just creates a story where there doesn't need to be one. And it's not like you would have suffered at all from giving them a credential and letting them come cover the event. They're going to be able to do all the same stuff. And you want, like, that's, that's why you're having a press conference is because you are trying to gather the media, give them talking points, give them headlines to write coming out of this thing. so that it helps increase the visibility and people know that there's a fight on Saturday night. That's the entire idea of the thing. And when you're getting mad at somebody asking a real

question, that's essentially what you're saying is, hey, you're supposed to be here helping us promote this fight. And we're not interested in anything that doesn't do that. And if you're trying to keep media people away from the event meant to promote the fight, you're defeating the purpose of the entire thing. You guys surprised at all like how, you know, like if this used to happen, there was at least a lingering concern about it and people would be talking about it we'd be bringing it up

when Josh Gross and Loretta Hunt and those types way back in the day we talked about it for years it wasn't like it was something that just kind of went away and in fact when I was at ESPN

ESPN was lobbying for Josh to still get in and still being denied and it was like one of those things so it just kept the discussion going that this was this ridiculous petty made no sense

vendetta that was going on but it was almost like with the UFC of the original UFC's, especially because it was such a diehard, you know, and everybody was kind of working together to make it bigger. It felt like, well, the privilege is to be here, right? Like, there's a privilege to be this. Whereas these long-tenured media, like Lance Pugmeier and like, you know, people who've been decorated in this, in the space for a long time, you know, them being denied is not a, it's not a privilege to go to the event anymore. You're covering the event. And obviously, like, the idea is to go to.

tell the truth of what's going on. And I find that, like, I find it somewhat disturbing that these days it doesn't even make a big wave. I don't know if we'll be talking about it in another week. Things move so fast, but I'm like, it feels like we're so used to this behavior now that it, you know, it's not treated as the big deal that it once was. It's just, it's crazy to me that all of the talking points in the press conference is nothing about the fight.

You know, it's all about this situation. It's all about the power structure behind the fight. and I honestly I was watching all the coverage of this way I watched all the embedded everything you know I love embedded Ben you love embedded too and it was all like watching those haircuts watching the baggage claim yeah

you know like everything for the first 10 minutes of the first episode of Embedded or I don't know if it was the countdown or whatever it was it's just like Canello buying things it's like look at this watch it cost 900K put it in the basket let's get on my private jet and we'll have a my chef present me with this sushi

mail they arrive at his house there's two granite hands coming out of the fucking driveway and then he's like i love coming home to watch my daughter at our equestrian center walks around the corner he's got a full-blown fucking equestrian center i think we've all said that at least once in our lives yeah universal experience right there yeah but it's it's i was finding a very difficult to get excited for the fight and i have to say i don't know if i was until i read eliot worsel's piece on on Terrence Crawford and that guy is so fucking talented

and we said this before on the show if you need to wet your appetite for this fight please go over to Uncrowned and read Elliot's piece on Bud. It's absolutely sensational.

He's one of these guys that has always been awkward and that's part of us a lure if you're a boxing fan I guess but it's also also been a blockage for him to become a superstar. This is now his opportunity to become a superstar and Elliot does a great job of describing that,

how it's a contradiction to the rest of Terrence Crawford's career with great quotes from Billy Nelson, who is the coach of Lewis Crocker, who we'll talk about now in a minute, and Ricky Burns back in the day who Crawford defeated. But, I guess my question is, like, have you got excited for this fight that if someone had told you, you know,

last year it was happening, you'd say, fuck, I can't wait for that. Like, are you feeling the buzz for this? I mean, I'll go first, Ben. I think I was like, I'm excited about it because I think it's two names that you've contemplated a long time that have their own oras

over the course of time. I do believe... What do we got here? A little bit of a face off there. Look at that. You can keep talking. Okay, I can keep talking for this. All right.

This is all new to me. But you wonder if it happened after the Errol Spence? Like after Bud had that fight, I thought that he could not be bigger than, you know, it was as big as he could possibly get. I think the Madreemot fight like kind of maybe slowed the roll because it was up a weight class and he's going up too.

I think there's a little bit of like, you know, there's a little bit more of an asterisky thing to that than there could have been if it had happened sooner. But at the same time, man, as we've seen in boxing, how often do you get this kind of fight? It's just it rarely happens. And I think for that alone, man, just knowing that both guys were it's very difficult to imagine either guy losing. That's what makes it fun for me. what about you mr folks are you feeling the buzz for the biggest fight of all time yeah i mean i i was feeling some buzz just for a long time leading up to this because i think that this is one of those fights people can get into because it brings together so many different questions so many

different variables that you're trying to weigh like for one thing after canello's last fight i think a lot of people are going is canello still canello and that creates an interesting question and then there's the question of the wait for terence coffert I mean, it seemed like this was something he's been eyeing for a while. And so you wonder how it's going to go. I thought, you know, Darshan had a good piece for us earlier where Andre Ward had been talking about how he thought, I think when it was on a show, how he thought this was going to play. And he was making a good point. Like, at some level, when you're going up in weight, if you've been cutting weight, you're not necessarily having to completely reshape your body.

you're just not damaging your body with the weight cut any longer, you know, and that maybe at a certain point, like, you are not losing so much, you are gaining something by making that weight cut process easier for yourself. And like those kinds of questions, those kinds of variables, I think, go a long way to getting people interested. But I also think the fact that we're doing this one on Netflix, that we're creating a thing that it seems like everybody can watch kind of together. There are so few of those things anymore. We live in such a fractured media environment now. Everybody's kind of off siloed into their own worlds, into their own interests. And that was one of the things I think we got out of that Jake Paul, Mike Tyson event, even though we did not necessarily get any great boxing out of that particular part of the show. It felt like something, hey, everybody is watching this and talking about it on social media. We're all kind of tuned into the same thing and having a conversation at least about the same subject,

which is so rare. now. And I think that this provides you with the opportunity to have that back again. I also think it puts a UFC noche event on the same night in kind of a weird situation, too, because it's like I went to the UFC.com earlier this week, the official website of the UFC and just like plastered right there. It's like Canello Crawford, watch the uncrown stuff. And then it's like, you kind of got to scroll around. And it's like, by the way, the UFC, whose website this is also has a separate event this weekend. We'll probably send some of our company representatives over there, you know.

That creates a weird thing, especially since it's the Noce thing, which last year was a huge deal at the sphere. Dana White was talking about that one for like a year, you know, just building that thing up. We're so into it. And now we're kind of doing like a plan C sort of thing. And even the UFC can't be bothered to pay much attention to it. I did a, I have a column up right now about this very thing, about this very thing. Because I was there in Las Vegas last year and I, you know, I would see, I would see Canello occasionally in the hotel, like kind of walking around. There's this huge amount of people.

But the UFC had the sphere. So it was like, okay, you've got these two huge entities here on the same weekend. And they were kind of competing, although I felt like Kinello, I felt like Kine, still in the end was like kind of the king for that weekend right at mexican independence like he's still the kind of the king you'd see everybody everywhere you went um that that was going on and uh you get to this one and it's almost like the no like it's it's crazy i was trying i was pointing out that the usc fighter you can you can't blame for having a little bit of fomo and a little bit of like dad's with his other family this weekend you know what i mean because it's like you

know what i mean because dana's like he's not going to be in san antonio he's going to be in las Vegas and it's like it's just such a it's it's a strange thing if you said it you know 10 years ago that yeah you know that Dana would be promoting Canello you know what I mean versus some big event like this with a supposedly big event for the UFC you would have been like that's that's insane there's no way he's the identity of the UFC yeah somebody somebody other prelims is going to do the Dana 50 G's baby and you're going to be like yeah he ain't here man I know he's not even going to see this all those thoughts for a woman at last we'll be back to give our takes our picks, everything like that. We'll be talking about

Belfast. We'll be talking about U.S.C. Notia after this quick break. And we are back, ladies and gentlemen. We actually have some footage of the weigh-ins on our Jordan as Justin for me. Before we make our picks, maybe we should just have a look at these

lads weighing in. Lovely selection there. Calvin Klein. White. Love the delicate step on the scale. Like if I just, if I ease onto it, maybe it'll think I'm lighter. I do the same thing in my bathroom every morning. standing on the edge of the scale I'm doing fine

pushing on the toe oh my god Crawford has put on some serious size here for this fight obviously moving up two weight divisions would he come in that I don't know Jordan you don't have the fucking numbers

for us like this is important details all right that's good that's good 167 and a half very nice so I guess both 167 and a half very nice who wants to go first

who wants to make the pick Go on. Someone, someone. I'll go first. I'm taking, I'm taking Crawford. Oh, look at this guy. Just got a feeling. You know, I think maybe vibes is off for Canelo. And also maybe, you know, father time gets to us all. Tough to keep going out there with the same hunger when you're thinking about how you'd rather be watching your daughter at the equestrian center. I don't know. You know, I don't know. It's possible that like another point that, Hunter, Ward did make, I think when he was talking to Ariel, he was like, hey, look, if you're looking at the last Canelo fight, that's kind of like a preseason game for him. He's not showing you everything. He's not showing you everything that's in the playbook. That could be. But I don't know,

maybe it's just that I like Terrence Crawford and I think that if anybody can go up and wait and get it done, I think he can. It's funny too. I feel like there's something like he's still got up his sleeve. Like, I don't know why. Because I, maybe it's because we didn't see in the a dreamtow fight, which I guess some people might have thought he slept walk through a little bit too, but at the same time, I just feel like he's got this, like, we still haven't seen like his, you know, that real follow-up to the Errol Spins fight, so I feel like this is it, you know what I mean? So I'm going to go him too. I just think that it's, he's so good, dude, he's so good. And so it's like, it's harder for me to imagine him, like, losing, you know?

So I'm going to go with Crawford. Well, making it a clean sweep. So, Mr. Worssel, I am blaming you for this, which are beautiful words that you put me down. I was reading a Laus and he going, oh, man, this is fucking, oh, he's going to do it, isn't he? He's going to fucking do it. So it's completely your fault, Elliot. I am also picking. What a great, by the way, what a great angle he took on that piece, you know, like, where he's asking the question, the kind of nonsense questions that guys get asked, and he's, like, trying to get some pry this guy open.

It's so great. It's a great way to go about that. It's what you think, like, I know, exactly. that situation. That was a writer's writer piece right there. That was a good one. Yeah, absolutely excellent. As I said, I am in Belfast, lads.

I got a quick word with Mr. Eddie Hearn yesterday, who is fucking incredible. Like, in terms of a promoter, I'm not trying to say he's the most ethical guy in the world. He definitely isn't. He's a boxing promoter. But in terms of doing his fucking job, this guy is class. Like, he is, even the press conference yesterday,

the press conference is here. They have a set here. They have a set there. it's it's just massive um as a media guy um it felt like just every everything was kind of do you want a one-on-one with eddie can we sort that out for you yeah that would be great you know like real kind of access real uh there was fighters hanging around you could have grabbed them kind of remind me the old days of the ufc what everybody's really trying to get themselves in front of cameras um the clip we're going to show you is a reaction to again the PBS interview

we talked about earlier where dana kind of said yeah that whole must My involvement in this new boxing thing with Turkey is being contender series for these big ring cards, essentially. That's how most people understood it, so I asked Mr. Hearn about that. Dana White did an interview with PBS yesterday, and he has now said essentially that his side of this new thing with TKO and Turkey Al-Sheek, he'll be like the contender series to the ring cards. At least that's what it sounds.

What do you make of all of this? It seems to have changed from what we first thought, Dana and Turkey. It's what I said the league was. It's lower level fighters and young prospects who are, who they believe they can build into big stars, to big pay-per-view stars. I don't think it works. You know, but will it, you know, these guys are very powerful. They're very clever, and I'm sure they're going to come up with something compelling.

But in boxing, that's not a new format. That's been done before. We're all trying to build stars. Now, to do it in a league with some different kind of marketing and profile and storylines, yeah. Maybe you can unearth a talent, but people want to watch the big stars fight. That's the reality. They want to watch great fights between people they know. So, yeah, it is what I've always known it to be.

I'm sure TCO will have a different, you know, they're obviously involved in the fight this weekend. That's a massive fight. But, yeah, the league, I think it will be a great format, but I don't think it's really going to, you know, start dominating boxing. well there it is they certainly will dominate this weekend with this amazing fight between canello alvarez and terence crawford but let me tell you lads up here in the north of ireland in belfast i've been just kind of being subtle i'm like are you looking forward to the fight this weekend only one person out of ten has mentioned the word canello to me when i asked him that question everyone else is completely locked in

for lewis crocker v patty donovan donovan their second meeting um it feels like it is, and Panny Donovan has said as much, this will be the new face of Irish boxing. This is the first time two Irish men have ever contested a world title fight. It is going to be in Windsor Park, the Northern Ireland's homeground,

also Linfield, FC's home ground, Linfield, you know, they are Lewis Crocker's favorite team. They have an alignment with the Protestant community here in Northern Ireland. He's been a guest of

honor there's obviously we have patty coming up from the south but really there's just so much respect between these two guys um i have a piece coming out about this on unground it might be out today or tomorrow um and really it's amazing thing to see and and donald mccray who have mentioned many times on this on this show wrote a brilliant book about how boxing kind of rose above the sectarian partition here when when things were going down in like the 80s the troubles. Boxing was kind of above at all. The communities came together and that's what I feel off this event. There is a huge amount of respect, but there is a huge amount on the line here. Louis Crocker, 20,000 people expected at Windsor Stadium. Everybody here is talking about this fight.

This town is boxing mad. Molly McCann is also making her debut on this card. Just so the people have an idea of the context of this, these guys fought in an IBF title. Eliminator back in March. It was in the SSE Arena. And this is what happened. Paddy Donovan in the yellow, he's wearing the croncolors there because he is coached by Andy Lee.

He got two points deducted for using his head and certainly very much like an Amanda Serrano, Katie Taylor situation. There was clashes of heads, but Andy Lee put it down to this leaning guard of Lewis Crocker's. At the end of the eighth round, he knocked him down, as you can see here.

Donovan goes in for the kill. he hits him but it's actually after the bell we don't sound so when you see crocker going down here he says it's after the bell and patty donovan is disqualified now since then there has been appeals to the ibf who then ordered this rematch they mandated this rematch and it is now for the ibf welterweight title because boots ennis has vacated this title and this is a huge huge fight over here this is possibly the biggest fight in Irish boxing history. I know that's been thrown around quite a bit. Obviously, there's been big dates before Steve Collins, Chris Eubank, all these guys, but lads, if there is elements of the Canello Crawford build that seem a bit soulless, this is one thing

you cannot say about this fucking fight. This is, on everyone's mind over here, it's going to be absolutely massive. Molly McCann said to make her pro debut on this card. I saw her at the press comments. She's in great spirits. Could a very different figure. to the person that made her UFC debut against Gillian Robertson all those years ago and pretty much she even said this to me like she said I was completely overwhelmed by this situation

she is coming in here despite it being her pro debut as a season vet and she is a very heavy favorite to win the fight I know Matrum will want to put their promotional arm behind her but lads can I just ask are you interested in Lewis Crocker and Patty Donovan I know it's a very

Irish centric fight but um have Has it drifted across the Atlantic at all? Any intrigue in this one, Chuck? Well, I hadn't thought about it too much until you just went on that rant, man. But now I'm very interested in it. I'm into it. You sold it to me right now.

You sold it, man. I'm very into it. Also, can I just point out, I don't know if you were thinking of this, Chuck, but when Pizzi's telling us like, I'm taking the pulse of the city and only one and ten people, and I'm like, I know where Pizzi was doing his informal polls. Church. Yeah. it wasn't at the library

I tell you that when pizza's out here just being like I gotta find a way I can expense these beers let's see let me go ask this guy over here on the next stool

what he thinks of the big fight this to get the pulse of these things you need to meet the working mind you know what I know yeah no

you need to meet the the fans where they are and where they are is every bar up and down the main drag and belfast I love it though that there that's the feeling

is there any sentiment whatsoever about the Callum Walsh fight? No. Really? Here's the thing. A weird thing about Colin Walsh is nobody really knew about him until Dana White started talking about it. I wondered about that.

Yeah. I do think he's well. Like my favorite Irish boxing journalist Gavin Casey, who's been on the show multiple times, who you've met, of course, Chuck. He's like very keen on him, but he's from the same place. They're both from Cork. But he said as much to me, like, I just don't know much about the guy. He had that fight in Dublin. It wasn't very well attended. But he is growing.

He's growing. The buzz is growing for him. And obviously, he's in this huge spot on the undercard this Canello Crawford card. But I mean, I just wonder, you know, this event's going to be on probably 10. People are going to be leaving Windsor Stadium about 11. I'm sure they're going to be unpacking their thoughts on the event in the watering holes around Belfast. I wonder at 5 a.m. local time Belfast Sunday morning how many of them are actually going to dig up the old Netflix and say oh I forgot this other

massive fight is happening you know it's it's crazy but you know you come home you throw some chicken tenders in the oven you're you're like do I rewatch heat again or wait a minute oh yeah that fight is on

rewatching heat is a good option though gonna make it make it 15 20 minutes into heat, you know, and then you fall asleep on the couch. That's a, that's a classic move. Elaine, every time she lets me pick a movie, she's just going to say, don't, don't turn on heat again.

I'm like, okay. I'm fucking, I'm you know, I've been in several relationships where I've tried to show a woman heat. They don't appreciate it. They just don't like it. And that's fine. That's just something we're just going to have to accept that as a divide between the sexes. Yeah, it's, look, I cannot wait

for this boy. A wonder if I'll still be awake for Canello air. They, we got an email to day from Matchroom. And thank you some with Maddie Lawless, who started out that interview with Eddie. Just a pleasure to deal with all these guys. Honestly God, great, great people. The message we got today is, we're intelligent clothing. We are in Ireland. It is going to rain. We will give you a poncho, but that will not be enough. Wow. Intelligent clothing. Wow. I mean, and the problem is, I already got drowned today. So I was texting Jordan. I was like, We better test this hotel Wi-Fi before we do the crack today.

I'm just getting some lunch downtown. I'm going to be walking home. Take me 30 minutes to walk home and we'll log on. As I was walking home, the heavens opened, had to fully change everything. So I've got no fresh clothes for tomorrow. I'm going to stink in this fucking venue. So hopefully that puncho is stylish.

Here in Montana and in other northern parts of the United States, we have a saying that there is no bad weather. There is only bad clothes. for the weather so that's our way of saying wear intelligent clothing it's uh look i i actually i cut us off we were talking about nocha ufc earlier on and i called it u s c nocha and i know i did i apologize to everyone that's fine man and you dana boy i'm sorry and i know you care about this card i know people are poking fun at you because you're at the other thing i know you care i'll tell you what chuk john sylva he's a man who really fucking cares he's a wild man he really is he's a

wild man he always have you talked to him before he always strikes me as a guy who's slightly touched or something really what gave you that impression the guy who barks on his way of the cage but like I'll ask him a simple a simple question and he turns throws his head back

and just starts laughing like he's having this whole internal dialogue and then he'll just come back and be like I'm just happy man I'm just happy to you know it's just he's such a different guy but I I feel like he's got uh I feel like he's kind of in a weird way

like if you're going to keep this fighting nerds sheen whatever you want to call like where they're relevant he's going to maybe have to do some work here because some of these guys obviously last week they got beat a couple of the guys got beat he's coming under this one where he's the interloper essentially into a

noche card where the Mexican faithful is going to be backing Diego Lopez so these guys are in bad situations but I feel like it's kind of on him now to correct the ship you know I mean like to make it to make it right So I think he's got that in the back of his head. He was talking about that.

And it was clear he kind of had a chip on his shoulder with that. So it should be fun. I mean, his fights are fun anyway. But I felt like he was really dialed in when I talked to him this week. That is that quote that you led with there, the I've already won quote, I think is very fitting for him. Because when you watch him fight, especially you watch him in that Bryce Mitchell fight, that is the vibe you got from the moment he hit the curtain and came out there. It was like a celebration for him. And in the fight, you could see that he's really enjoying this and that he's almost sad.

He has to end it as soon as he does because he would like to stick around and enjoy the party a little longer. Like that is the kind of confidence and the ease with which he fights. Like, you know, we talked about this before, how there are some people, even great fighters who really have to get over that mental hurdle and talk themselves into being comfortable, being seen that way, being out there being the focal point and having all that pressure on them while everybody's watching. and there are some people who seem like they are just born naturally loving it and he seems like one of those guys and i think that that is honestly a huge advantage in a fight how how much is this fight being left behind like i mean i kind of cut us off there because we had to jump to their ad break earlier but in terms of like you mentioned earlier going on the website ben and uh i've mentioned earlier the embeddids starring canallo alvarez and terence crawford as opposed to these guys it really does like how aware are people of this card you know like this used to be massive massive events

as you highlighted earlier Chuck like this was not at UFC was a big big deal that was the sphere event right like you were at the sphere event that time it was absolutely massive this feels like complete afterthought this weekend you're talking to me or you're talking to Ben I wasn't at the sphere event

so I thought I assumed it was to you yeah look I was vague with that one lads It's how you just jump up and grab it, you know? It just feels like the UFC has done such a good job of putting itself in the forefront in the fan's mind with any event, right? Even through, you know, the pandemic, they've fortified themselves. They've done this, uh, they've done this the whole time we've covered this sport. It feels very strange to watch UFC bury one of its own events.

And that's what it feels like to me. Like this, to me it feels like the, the no shit card is an afterthought, you know? And there are some other fights like Tatiana Swara. comes back you know there are some other some other fighters on there who you are very intriguing and obviously I'll be tuning in but I don't know how many people you it's like it's on the you know it's on the ESPN plus you know it's on ESPN plus when the other one's going to be on Netflix and it's getting all the bells and whistles Dana's going to be parked in Vegas with all of the the power players and it just feels like they're at the kids table for this one man you know what I

mean like they're just they're they're operating on some much less lesser scale and even though the top fight I think is awesome I love the I love the main event but if you look at the card itself are you blown away by it I feel like it's just it was I don't really feel like there was any big special emphasis put on this one besides that main event no it's it's not

and look Kevin Gasslam again I mean how many do you run this segment on this show it's it's fucking crazy do you think he thought it was off because he went on YouTube and he's like oh embedded is Terence Crawford and Canello this week let me order some cheesecake yeah maybe I'm not fighting till next week I mean I'd be happy with that physique personally

like that would be that's gonna hit the flex gonna hit the flex when he misses by five pounds that is what do you think of this he hasn't gone for an ashamed pose at all like he doesn't seem to be defiant seems defiant in his facial expression on that one well look lads there is a lot of fights this weekend

I'm gonna be in Belfast you are going to be in America there is fights in America I guess that one in Vegas I will be watching the shit out of that as well. Look, I'd love to stay here and talk all day, but unfortunately, one of our team has to go and interview The Rock. Benny, excited? You're buzzing for this one. What do you do to prepare yourself?

You do a few jumping jacks, arm curls, well, you do. I mean, that's what I do to prepare myself for any of these. I'm over there knocking out push-ups and things like that. I am excited. I've got a lot of questions and a lot of thoughts after coming out of that movie. So I'm just wondering how many of them I'll be able to get in here. uh yeah i'm looking forward to it well listen crackheads you have a wonderful weekend um we are oh there it is i really fucking forgot again and i said last week that i'd write it down somewhere

i probably haven't written down in my office pete will your book with mcgregor every be released from prison maybe no um no that that's that was that was nix 10 years ago buddy and uh who's to stop you from just sitting down and writing something. Fully enough, that's what Connor wanted me to do at the time. Just fucking make it up, it's fine. Yeah. No, I think I think chucks

will be a lot, will be coming a lot quicker than that one. But yes, we did attempt to write that book for several hours over the course of two years. It didn't quite work out for us, but as John Kavanaugh would say,

win or learn. do we have any uh do we have any other ones there jordan oh pety thoughts on nfl week one who's your team this year well listen i've put money on the bills um i think green bay looked great uh had a big win there last night bit let down by chucks denver broncos i'm gonna be honest with you i thought big things that's all yeah bone nicks i mean get the finger out of your ass buddy okay this is meant to be your year you got the keys to the offense let's see something fucking happen out there you know let's fucking see something you got fucking javanta gone off to the cowboys he's gonna be fucking running in touchdowns all over the fucking place like he's uh who's that guy ezekiel something

or other that they use have anyway i'm talking shy elli yeah there we go um listen i don't want to keep ben from dwayne johnson he's got to go right we've got to go all right last one here we go pc i just know this is the day that you remember say it wasn't man august ill rich i just want to thank you because it really shows your dedication and love for all right for your work I wish this were a bit but this is like legit you're getting

every single week man I'm like I'm gonna tell you lads I'm fucking you don't know I mean super chats who knew they existed anyway

band's gonna go and interview the rock we love you all thank you so much see you next week enjoy the fight Thank you.