The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Boxing with Chris Mannix - Anthony Joshua - Dillian Whyte is off

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

Chris is joined this week by boxing writer and broadcast Corey Erdman as the guys discuss the AJ-Whyte situation, Jake Pauls win over Nate Diaz, and how Jermell Charlo says he will fight Bud Crawford, but should Bud wait for that fight. Later, Matchroom Boxing Chairman, Eddie Hearn drops by to talk about how he learned about Dillian Whyte's failed test and the what took place after to find the best possible fight for Anthony Joshua. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I think you for joining me every week. As I've often said, you guys are the... best audience in all of combat sports, those that subscribe, that rate, that review. I thank you is the best way to help us grow this show. So it has been a weirdly busy week in boxing. Came into the prep for this show thinking we talk about the Jake Paul Nate Diaz fight, talk about the Valdez Nevereate fight, and we're going to do all that. Corey Erdman, boxing scene.com.

He's going to join me to run through all the news of the week in boxing. but in the last couple of days, there have been some developments in the heavyweight division. Dillian White, former World Title Challenger. He is out of a scheduled fight against Anthony Joshua, testing positive for a banned substance. In his place, Robert Hellenius, another former World Title Challenger who will step in

and face A.J. on short notice. Eddie Hearn, matchroom boxing. He's going to join me to discuss everything has happened over the last few days as it relates to A.J. and Dillion White. I want to weigh in on this myself before we get to Corey and to Eddie. And look, I don't want to talk too much about what happened with Dillian White, largely because I don't know enough.

I don't know what substance Dillian White tested positive for. I don't know the amount of the substance in his system. I don't know any reasoning or excuses Dillion White might have for testing positive. So I want to put that on a shelf for a moment and just talk about the replacement. and that is Robert Hellenius. Now, it's not a great fight. Let's be real about that. Robert Hellenius, he's old.

He's washed up. Deonté Wilder probably got the last bit of credibility out of Robert Hellenius, who resuscitated his career with two wins over Adam Kavnowski, which were significant wins at that time. Goes into the Wilder fight. His game, you know, comes to fight, but gets knocked out in the first round viciously.

One-punch knockout by Deonté Wilder. I think most people, believe that was going to be the end of Robert Lenny's. He came back this past weekend, won a low-level fight in a castle in Finland. If you haven't seen the video of that, I encourage you to go on social media and find it. And now he's stepping in to face Anthony Joshua. It's not a great fight. Anthony Joshua should win this fight convincingly. Should win this fight by knockout, if we're being honest. But I don't really care because I came into 2023 thinking of it as a rebuilding year for Anthony Joshua.

Anthony Joshua has had a tough last few years. He lost to Andy Ruiz in 2019. He lost two fights in a row to Alexander Usik, neither one of them, which were all that close. He has a new trainer. He's trying to rebuild for a new last chapter of his career. That's what I always viewed 2003 as. He fought Jermaine Franklin.

That was the right fight. Dillian White. See, this Dillian White fight had the benefit of being the right fight for Anthony Joshua, the boxer, and the right fight for Anthony Joshua, the businessman. Because Dillian White has history with Anthony Joshua. They fought back in, what, 2015. That was a fight when both those guys were prospects. He talks a lot.

There's bad blood there. And he's got enough credibility with his own win over Jermaine Franklin to make him a credible opponent for Joshua. But I never thought it was a particularly. dangerous fight for AJ. In fact, it was the kind of fight that would take place in front of a rabid crowd in London and AJ would win by spectacular knockoff. That's how I viewed the AJ Dillian White fight. With that fight now off, I know there are a lot of people out there saying, hey, Andrew Ruiz put his hand up again. There's a storyline there. Philip Hergevich is on the undercard, just bump him up. Martin Bacoli is out there. Michael Hunter is out there.

But asking AJ to take one of those fights on what is effectively five or six days notice, it just wasn't realistic. What's more realistic is AJ taking a fight like this, which is a low-level fight, and continuing to rebuild his confidence, continuing to rebuild himself as a fighter, get another, you know, however number of rounds with Derek James in his corner, and keep building towards what should be a pretty compelling, 2004. I mean, 2024 for AJ has the potential to be a massive year. Let's say this Deonté Wilder fight comes through, the one that's planned for Saudi Arabia, January, February of 2024. That's a major event.

Dangerous fight. Major event is going to make Anthony Joshua a boatload of money. Let's say Anthony Joshua gets through a Deonté Wilder fight. A showdown with Tyson Fury is massive. Whether it's in the UK or in the Middle East, that fight is going to generate Joshua tens, 20s of millions of dollars, just a boatload of cash. It just doesn't make sense to take a challenging fight, even a B-level fight, like Hergevich,

like Andrew Ruiz, like Martin Bacoli. You've got to be cautious in situations like that, especially when they come up on short notice. So that's kind of a long way of saying, I don't really have a problem with AJ taking this Hellenius fight. I think it's, I'm a little iffy on Hellenius still boxing because he's been in some wars over the years and that knockout by Deonté Wilder was vicious but he did come back this past weekend he got a win third round knockout and his team believes he's ready to go once again so I just I'm fine with it it's whatever I don't think it's a good fight I don't think AJ is going to be

threatened I think more likely than not he wins by big knockout but at this point of his career what he's trying to do where he's trying to go with his career this is the right fight for Anthony Joshua. All right. So we're going to talk to Corey Erdman about that and much more. A little bit later on, Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing. He's going to join the show as well. But first, Corey Erdman, boxing scene.com, to his own broadcaster, he is up next.

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All right, Corey Erdman is here, boxing scene.com, DeZone Broadcaster. You can catch Corey on Friday at Overtime Arena in Atlanta. He'll be on the mic for the overtime boxing series. That's a series. and watch every Friday on DeZone. And Corey, I was just talking a moment ago about the AJ Dillian White situation.

Dillian White, of course, testing positive for a banned substance. He is out of the Anthony Joshua fight on Saturday. Robert Hellenius, who was last seen in a mainstream way in the U.S. against Deonté Wilder losing in the first round. He is now in. So give me your thoughts on everything that's transpired of the last couple of days between AJ and Dillian White. Yeah, well, I mean, obviously.

I was disappointed and you know it's the timing obviously isn't good for matchroom either because they're obviously coming off the heels of dealing with and litigating the Connor Ben situation and then having Dillian White go through this as well it's not a nice situation for them to be in PR wise but it did mean that I didn't completely waste my time last week because when I got here to Atlanta Chris rather than go sightseeing and do any number of things that I could have done here in Atlanta, I was finding a way to watch Finnish television so that I could watch Robert Hellenius fight in a castle built in 4,75. And I was thinking to myself, like, what is the purpose of this other than feeding my own brain sickness? The purpose was that I was actually doing

research for what would turn out to be the marquee fight of the very next week. So it turned out I didn't waste my time. Yeah, I said at the top of the show, I don't have much to say about the Dillion White situation. They don't know anything about the Dillion White situation. I don't know what tested positive for. I don't know what his rationale or his reasoning is going to be. So we're going to put that on a shelf for the moment. As far as AJ against Heleneus goes, we've seen a lot of criticism about that fight, largely because when Heleneas was last seen by a worldwide audience, he was getting nearly decapitated by Deonté Wilder in one round, knocked out by Wilder. Whoever he thought, you know, that was going to be the end of Robert Hellenius. I think he even announced retirement. after the fight or suggest that he was going to retire after the fight. He comes back for a low-level fight, as you said, in a castle in Finland. I saw some of the pictures and visuals from that. That was interesting to say the least. Do you have a problem with AJ taking on Robert Hellenius on short notice? No, I mean, with this kind of notice, I think that Heleneus is about

as good as you're going to get. And like, yes, could Joshua have given, you know, more of an unknown fighter, a younger fighter, an opportunity on short notice, I suppose. But, you know, Hellenius is at least a name that is known to people. And they still have to market a fight like this. And as much as we're in the know and the listeners of this show are in the know and they know what the deal is with this fight, there will be others who will see, oh, you know, former World Title Challenger, a guy that's fought some big names. And there is some value to that.

And there's also some value in that kind of continuity, the through line with what Deonté Wilder did to Heleneus. And the obvious fact that the fight that Joshua and his team are headed towards is that fight against Deonté Wilder. So there can be some comparison there. And also, I think for Joshua, there is some value in what should be a knockout victory. Because it's been a little while since there's been a bit of a pallet cleanser for Anthony Joshua. Of course, he gets the win over Jermaine Franklin. But then there's the two losses to Alexander Ucic. It's been a while since he's been able to add to that highlight real.

You know, like our friends in the editing department when they're putting together promos for AJ fights, they're still using that like Rafael Zumbano Love knockout when AJ was like 7 and 0. So there is some value, as sad as is to say, in just getting some fresh content and something out there with AJ potentially starching someone because I think that's what we're expecting to happen in this fight. Yeah, I think it's easy to say that AJ should have taken. on someone tougher. And it's easy to say, you know, on paper,

you could make a fight with Philip Hergevich, who was fighting on the undercard. Or we saw Martin Bacoli out there looking for the fight. Michael Hunter will fight anybody. You saw Andy Ruiz putting his hand up again to be a late replacement for Anthony Josh. But the reality is that very few of those fights were realistic, especially within the time frame that Matrum had to make a fight.

I mean, we saw Andy Ruiz. He couldn't make a fight with Deonti Wilder because money was a stumbling block. Philip Hergovich is undefeated. He's got an eye on a world title shot his next fight. Would he have taken that fight on short notice? I don't know, but he's got a fight of his own on the undercard, the potential to face Ussick, in his next fight.

So there's that part of it. And look, I've often said that, you know, 2023 is a rebuilding year for Anthony Joshua. He's coming off back-to-back loss to Usoc. He's lost something like, what, three of his last five fights. He's bouncing back. He's got a new trainer in Dark James. He wants to stay active with that trainer.

He wants confidence builders. Like you said, he wants knockouts. And he's building towards a big fight, presumably, against Deonté Wilder. In the first quarter of 2024. So, Hellenius to me is fine. Like, they took it off pay-per-view, which is the right thing to do. They'll give refunds the people that don't want to watch. AJ versus Hellenius at O2 Arena.

I just think we couldn't, we shouldn't have expected Anthony Joshua to replace Dillian White with anyone below or anyone above sea level. Just wasn't going to happen. He needs something else at this stage. And Robert Hellenius, even though I have some questions about whether Robert

Hellenius should still be fighting, because that was a catastrophic knockout he had to Deonté Wilder. But he just fought this past weekend. So he's obviously in decent shape, at least. And look, he is a couple of fights removed from two pretty impressive wins at the time against Adam Kovnoski. So I don't really have a big problem with it. I don't really have a big problem with him after Josh. I think he's got to be active at this point.

He's been too inactive over the last few years. And he had to keep that date. He had to fight somebody. I didn't want to see him in against Derek Jasor. I frankly don't want to see Derek Chasor anymore, period. I think Derek Chasora, if we're saying Robert Hellenius is nearing the end, Derek Chasora is at the end. It's over for Derek Chisora. He's got to stop taking beatings in the ring.

Even though he's fighting Gerald Washington, who also shouldn't be fighting. You've got a lot of guys on that card that I don't think should be fighting anymore. I didn't want to see Chisora against A.J. I think that's dangerous for Derek Chisora. For Heleneas, it's still dangerous, but maybe not so much.

I'm with you. I'm expecting something seismic from Anthony Joshua in that fight. It would be good for him for his highlight real, confidence to get a win under his belt and then move along with his career. So we'll address more of that with Eddie Hearn. He's going to join the show a little bit later on. Let's talk about this past weekend.

We had Jake Paul go 10 rounds for the first time in his career beating Nate Diaz. Corey, I predicted a knockout in this fight. But other than the knockout, this went basically as I expected. I wrote on Friday for s.i.com that Nate Diaz does not have a chance to win. and all the MMA fans out there that were in my mentions and all the people that were shooting me down on social media, no, proofs in the pudding. Like Nate Diaz, while showing more conditioning maybe

than I thought he went 10 rounds in his first boxing match, so there's that, did not seem to take this fight very seriously. Never threatened Jake Paul until he got him in a chokehold in the very end of the fight. it just it just went as I expected. How did that fight play out for you? Yeah, pretty much as expected as well. And you're right. Like Nate Diaz was, I think that this is kind of the last time that Jake Paul can go to that well and that well being fighting a current or former MMA fighter and basically tricking the audience or a portion of the audience into believing

that they have an opportunity to win. I don't even know if that's true, Corey. Like I think MMA fans are always going to believe in their guy. I think if Jake Paul made a fight against Connor McGregor for December, which is not going to happen, by the way, there will be a large swath of pay-per-view buying MMA fighters that are going to be convinced that Conner McGregor, all 170 pounds of him, can beat Nate Diaz. Or beat Jake Paul.

Yeah, that's a good point. And, you know, like hyper-popular guys like McGregor are going to be outliers here. And that's why Nate Diaz worked here, because I think that logically people understand now, after seeing it time and time and time again, many times with Jake Paul himself, that someone who is specializing in boxing is going to beat someone who's kind of a multidisciplinary fighter. That's just how this works in sports and in particular in combat sports.

Nate Diaz was sold as a guy that could have been a boxer but had these other skills. And so he went into MMA. And it was rooted in these sparring sessions with Andre Ward over. a decade ago and the fact that Ward was kind enough to say, yeah, he was pretty good. You know, but we've, we've heard that all the time. People are just very nice about people they spar and they're typically not going to, you know, denigrate them afterwards. No, you had to listen to the guys, you had to listen to the guys that were doing the denigrating. Like, what was it Falcoa who sparred 12 rounds with him and Robert Garcia's gym?

He said after two rounds, this guy was done. He said, boxing's not for him. I believe that guy. Like, I respect Andre Ward for backing up his guy and all the people that are part of team Diaz, but he's never boxed. He has never ever boxed. And when you put a guy that has never boxed, that has fought in one combat sports discipline for his entire combat sports career, in with a guy who as green as Jake Paul is,

clearly has some boxing skills. Rudimentary, yes, but he's got some boxing skills. He's got real power in both hands. You put him in, put a guy like Diaz in with a fighter like that, or any MMA fighter in with a guy like that, and they're going to lose every single time they're going to lose. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, at the very least, you know, Diaz was basically able to,

and I wrote about this on boxing scene on Monday, he was kind of able to mimic what a, like a UK or European level, like journeymen. I'm talking journeymen, like 70 to 100 lost journeymen, what they're able to do with prospects, which is basically just give them rounds, pander to the crowd, be a little bit of a clown, amuse everyone, and then ultimately lose in the end. And Diaz had the punch resistance and the cardio to offer that for Jake Paul, while not really troubling him in any way.

So he was able to do that. And he showed that, yes, Jake Paul has power in both hands, but he doesn't have, like, magic eraser power at Cruiserweight or at 175. He wasn't able to get Nate out of there. So he was able to show certain things that Jake will obviously have to work on. if he has his goal of becoming world champion by 2026, which is what he said at the press conference afterwards. That's a new one. I mean, not super new, but he's gone from saying, I will be a world champion someday to put a date on it. And he's targeting Canello. Like, let's be clear, it's not, he doesn't want Canello's title.

If Canello doesn't have a title, he wants Canello because that's a huge payday. If he can convince Canelo Alvarez to get into the ring with him. But he's added that to his list of future teases. One thing he's saying, though, and I'll take him at his word for it right now, is that he's willing to get into the cage with Nate Diaz, fight him in the PFL, offering Nate Diaz $10 million. And Corey, if I'm Nate Diaz, I take that immediately. If there's a check for $10 million plus pay-per-view upside, even if I don't really want to fight in the PFL, which it sounds like Nate's all that,

not all that warm to, you take 10 million bucks and you get Jake Paul into your combat sports domain. Because Nate Diaz against Jake Paul in the cage, that's Nate Diaz all day long, in my opinion. Yeah, and faster. Like, I don't, in the cage. Oh, yeah. Where you can choke a guy out. Yeah, exactly. You can do all sorts of things.

Yeah, there's, I don't see a way for Jake Paul in the cage to do what Diaz was able to do in a boxer group, which is just go rounds and survive and absorb punishment. There's just, there's not ways to escape in the way that there is in the boxing ring. So, yeah, of course, for $10 million. I mean, I'm sure that would be a career high payday. of course you take that fight. And, you know, credit to Jake Paul for, like, if he's serious about taking that, because that's a real risk.

And, you know, Jake Paul, obviously, one thing he obviously cares about is his level of fame. He doesn't want to be humiliated on the internet. That is his currency in being able to be the troll who ultimately gets the upper hand. He's putting himself at real risk of becoming a meme if he steps into the cage, you know? So credit to Jake for putting himself out there

and offering to do that. So you kind of touched on this. Do you think there's any, I mean, what's marketable out there for Jake Paul? I had some people on social media say, Horamazvedal. No, no, it's the same outcome. It's the same, you know, even if you put like a John Jones in there with Jake Paul, I don't think John Jones beats him. He's a lot bigger, but I don't think John Jones beats Jake Paul in boxing.

Fred Seneghanu probably does because he's so much bigger. But, you know, the crossover options are, they're dwindling. I mean, I think Conner McGregor would be huge, but I don't think Dana White's going to sign off on Connor McGregor going to fight Jake Paul in a boxing match. Not now, probably not ever. To me, the only options for Jake Paul in boxing in 2024 are a rematch with Tommy Fury and then KSI.

I mean, KSI is the mega showdown. That's the mega fight. Probably over in the UK. They can probably do something like Wembley Stadium. I mean, they could do something big with Jake Paul against KSI. That fight gets even bigger if KSI can find a way to beat Tommy Fury later on this year. And there's so much spice to that,

you know, the relationship between KSI and Logan Paul, they're now best of friends. They are business partners. Logan has told me the beef between Jake and KSI is absolutely real. They hate each other. That has some spice to it. That has the ability to make Jake Paul a bundle of money in a crossover type of fight.

But other than that, there's nobody left in the UFC that I want to see him fight. There's nobody in the other promotions, combat sports promotions, that I want to see him fight. And he's not ready for a real fight. I mean, Canello has got business in 2024 and probably beyond against other real fighters. I think it's just KSI. It's just Tommy Fury. And if Tommy Fury loses the KSI, he's probably out of that mix as well.

Yeah, I mean, I think like a year ago or so, you know, there was the possibility. I think Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was being, you know, dangled out there as well. But that, like, that feels it. Is he retired? I don't even know. Is he back? Kind of retired. Well, and it feels gross to me because it feels like it's preying on, you know, Chavez Jr.'s very real personal problems. And if Jake were to win, it's obviously because, you know, Chavez Jr.'s demons have just sacked him of whatever talent he had before. And so I'm not personally interested in seeing him go that route. I think the reality is that Jake isn't going to, and nor should he really, fight someone who isn't already famous, who doesn't have built in fame and a built in storyline, like the two names that you just mentioned. And there's also still some learning for him to do.

And because of this predicament that we're talking about, that learning for him is going to have to happen in the gym. But a fight against KSI, it's kind of the perfect matchup because not only does it have all of those juicy storylines for the people who are invested in that world, but it's kind of two guys that are running on a parallel path. And the winner can kind of say, well, I am the real boxer that's going to continue forward. And the other one, you know, if they want to continue on and do the thing, that's fine. But it determines who the real one of these two is. And that's at least something. But there's just, you're running out of options because Jake could fight an obscure

a boxer and just market the fight on his back as being, you know, me versus a real boxer, whoever it is. But I don't think that's appealing to him and it's not going to make him quite as much money. And, you know, you know Jake a lot better than I do, but I get the sense that being a famous person and having successful events that aren't going to be clown for tanking or anything like that, that is of utmost importance to him too. And if he steps outside of this realm of fighting people with built-in clout, he puts himself at risk of becoming that.

Yeah, he's been very critical publicly of the things that misfits boxing are doing, the kingpin boxing are doing kind of a gimmicky stuff, tag team boxing, all the stuff we're seeing happen with influencers right now. He doesn't want any part of that, doesn't want to be. a part of that. Yeah, I think it's KSI is a mega event. If he can make that happen in the summer of 2024, that's a huge event over in the UK.

I think there's still money in a fight against Tommy Fury. So he's got a couple of options left on the table. I tell you, it was interesting. I was, it was a packed crowd at American Airlines Center on Saturday night. I was in the crowd. Didn't call the fight, but I went and watched. And none of these people are boxing fans, none of them. In fact, you know, you talk to a few of them and the things you hear are, this is my first ever boxing match.

You know, Floyd Mayweather could walk through that crowd and he would be less identifiable than the guy Logan Paul does a podcast with. Like that, that's how, I mean, that's how different and unique that crowd was. So he's able to bring some people into boxing and able to introduce them to some real fighters. And that's what brings me to my next topic. and that is Amanda Serrano, who we saw for the 20th round beat the daylights out of Heather Hardy. I give Heather Hardy a lot of credit.

I mean, she was all guts in that fight, but didn't have a chance to win from the opening bell. 41 years old going up against a still in her prime, Amanda Serrano. That was just too much for Heather Hardy to handle. But I did find it interesting that Alicia Baumgartner was there, ringside, part of the commentary team for that fight. That's a big fight, Corey. Serrano against Baumgardner has become a pretty significant fight.

That's a fight that I think can do a big crowd at Hulu Theater, at Madison Square Garden, maybe a small venue in Las Vegas. Of course, if you bring it back to Detroit, Baumgartner's turf, you could do a crowd there. Maybe go to Puerto Rico and do a crowd there with Amanda Serrano. But that Baumgartner-Serano fight has, while not quite reaching Taylor Serrano or some of the other mega-fights we've seen the last couple of years, That's on that next level. I think that's a pretty competitive fight. If I'm both women, that's the fight I'm pushing for next.

If you're Amanda Serrano, what does the title defense at 126 do for you? You're not going to get a fight with Katie Taylor, at least not until May of 2024. And Katie Taylor, for all we know, could retire after fighting Shantel Cameron a second time. So if you're Amanda Serrano, you're pushing for that fight. And if you're Baumgardner, that's the only fight out there for you too. You want Taylor. You'd do a fight with Michaela Mayer at a different weight. but at 130 pounds with all four of your belts,

that's the only fight for you. So I think that's a mega fight that could be brewing over the next six months. How do you see it? Yeah, I think it's a fantastic fight, both marketing-wise for both of them. I think that, you know, Serrano and obviously her affiliation with Jake Paul and the muscle

that they would put behind that promotion as well would benefit Alicia Baumgartner. But also it's just a fantastic fight as well. Like Serrano, for me, regardless of gender, is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport still, for me, you know, just an all-action volume puncher. And at least Baumgartner is in that bucket as well. I mean, this is a dangerous puncher who has an exciting style in the ring. And we saw kind of the storyline building with Baumgartner on commentary as well, kind of talking to Serrano on commentary and kind of saying like, hey, I'm this. new generation that you haven't fought yet. Like you, you were one of the greatest of all time.

You have broken barriers, but there's an A tier of fighters who have come along since you, and even since Katie Taylor, that you haven't had a chance to fight yet. You know, her and Michaela Mayer and Seneza Estrada, like all of these A-level fighters that Serrano has yet to really match up with, let's see if she can beat them. Like that is compelling. It's a generational battle. It's a fantastic style matchup. And it does good business as well. I mean, Serrano and Baumgartner's stock, you know, their social media following, everything has been growing and growing and growing over the last year or two. I think it would be the perfect time and the perfect fight for both of them. Yeah. And if you're Serrano who has pledged in the past that she wants to stay at 126, she's only going to go up again

for a rematch with Taylor. You got to come off that some because there's nobody at 126 or 122 coming up that makes any kind of sense, makes any kind of money for you. And Baumgardner, even though she's a strong fighter and we've all seen the Terry Harper knockout, I'd probably favor Serrano in that matchup. I mean, I was looking at the numbers from Serrano against Taylor. Serrano threw like 650 punches over 10, two-minute rounds against Katie Taylor. Like, she could overwhelm Baumgarder. And Baumgartner may have to just land that one bomb.

And Serrano is also shown she's got a pretty good chin and is willing to stand in the pocket. That's just a great fight. That's a headlining fight. And I don't think there is a headlining fight out there for either one of them. I mean, Serrano in a title defense, whatever, Baumgarner defending her title against Choi, the Korean fighter. Like, I'm good. I don't need to see that.

Like, there's nothing else out there for either one of them. I hope those two sides can get together. It's matchroom, it's MVP. They've done a deal in the past. They did a deal for Taylor against Serrano. They can do a deal again for Baumgarner against Serrano. All right. This weekend, Corey, we have a pretty good matchup in the 130-pound division.

Oscar Valdez, two fights removed from a loss to Chaucor Stevenson. He will be going for a 130-pound title for a second time. He's going to face a fellow Mexican in Emmanuel Navarrete. This feels like a good style matchup. I know Navarete is a slight favorite, but I think a lot of that is because people think Valdez has lost a step. He's a little bit older, had that tough loss. Chaucer Stevenson's been some wars in the past.

But, I mean, what, I saw Navarete get knocked down the fourth round by Liam Wilson. He's not invulnerable. I think this has the potential to be a fight of the year type of fight. What do you think? This is an awesome fight, both in terms of the caliber of the fighters, but also the style matchup as well. And it's kind of suffering from how many big fights it's coming on the backs of right now. I think that if this were coming off of two quiet weeks, there would be a whole lot more

excitement about this fight. And it deserves that level of excitement. And I hope that as the week goes on, people will start kind of really getting revved up for this fight, because this could be a fight of the year. I don't think there's any way that this fight can be boring. And it's just compelling stylistically as well. I mean, these are two guys that aren't adverse to action, but have very different approaches as well. I think that Valdez is probably more traditionally skilled than Navarete is.

But Navarete is big, is awkward in his personality. punch delivery, his ability to land long-range power shots from weird angles, both coming up and chopping down. That's very interesting. It makes him dangerous at all times. But as you said, looked a little bit vulnerable against Liam Wilson as well. He's not as big and he's not kind of the, you know, the zombie that can absorb everything that he was at 122 and 126. That changed the dynamic of this as well. And I'm interested to see how Valdez will approach this fight. Is he going to approach it as the problem or as the problem solver. Is he going to wait for Navarrete to come at him with, you know, with his vaunted offense? Or is he going to take it to Navarrete a little bit and try

to work on the inside? I think if he does the latter, for me, if I'm kind of prognosticated, if I'm coming up with the game plan, I think he's better off doing that, even though it may be tempting for him to say, I'm the boxer, I have these other ways to win. Let me try and fight off the back foot. I think you take it to Navarete. That makes for a better fight. And I think it it gives him a better chance of victory, too. I agree with that part of it. I think he's got to make this an inside fight. You keep it on the outside against Navarette,

you become open to those upper cuts that he likes to throw, let him use a little bit of that length. I get the premise that Valdez is more the boxer than the puncher, but I think he's got to make it a war. And I think we're going to find out pretty early if Valdez has another war in him, you know, because whether it's Shakur Stevenson, broke his jog at Scott Quig years ago.

I mean, he's been in some tough, tough fights over the years. And at 32 years old, we'll see if he has a tough fight in him. But I think this is one of those perfect style matchups that is going to make for a great main event for Top Rank on ESPN this weekend. Last thing I want to talk to you about. Watch the Showtime All Access epilogue from Crawford against Errol Spence Jr. The part I laughed at was you had, this is after they showed the footage of Bud Crawford yelling at Jamel Charlo.

I just saw it on this clip on Twitter, where Jamel Charlo's like, you know, explaining his bona fides to James Hardin. See this? Like, Hardin's looking at him. Hardin's like, he in your way class? What belts do you have? Like, Hardin's just trying to figure out who,

I know Hardin knows who Jamel Charlo is because they're both Houston guys. But Hardin trying to learn about what exactly is the dynamic between Jamel Charlo and Bud Crawford. Now, Jamel's out there now saying he'll take the fight against Bud, put that on his Instagram recently. I would just caution people to not get too amped up for Jermel against Bud. Because I'm of the opinion, Corey, and I've said this on a previous podcast,

but I'm of the opinion that Canelo Alvarez is going to beat Jermel down so badly that it might be a while before we see him fight again. I think Jermel against Canelo is so one-sided. And I think that we are, I think we're. grossly overrating how faded Canelo is if he's faded at all and we are overestimating

Jermel Charlo who was life and death at least one fight in parts of two with Brian Castanio. What Brian Castanio did to Jermal Charlo which was walk him down and hunt him that's exactly what Canelo's going to do and Canello has a better chin than Brian Castano Canel's got more power than Brian Castanio

and people have been, I've been seeing the stuff on social media canelos not taking the fight. Seriously, he's golfing that was like three weeks ago. But I'm not going to get too amped up for Dremel Bud because I don't know what Jermel is going to look like after Canello gets through with him. I think that is going to be a brutal beating for Jermel Charlo. I do. I just think Canello's got too much left, is too big, is too strong, is too fast, and fights

a style, which is pressure, getting on the inside, throwing punches, hard punches. That's going to be very difficult for Jermel Charle to compete with. that. Yeah, I'm very much favoring Canello in that fight as well. I mean, I, you know, is he going to dish out such a severe beating that it renders a Crawford fight impossible? I don't know. But, well, by the way, can I just have one of the thing, Corey, like, Jermal's out there, some of the things he's saying is that, well, Roy Jones did it. Well, that's not a great comparison. Like, Roy Jones went up and then when he went back down, his career was forever changed. He was not the same guy at light heavyweight after he went up

to fight at heavyweight. So there are quite a question. questions about whether or not Jermel would come all the way back down to 154 after a fight with Cannell. I think it's more likely he drops back to 160, which would take the bud fight off the table as well. Yeah. And I would also caution people. I mean, you see this all the time. You know, people will see a clip of a fighter doing something other than working out. And they take that as evidence that they're not focused on the fight. In July. In July for a September fight. Right. In July, I mean, I hate to break it to you, but fighters also have hobbies. And even your most sort of single-minded fighter, you know, like Marvin Hagler would like lock himself in a cabin.

Like Marvin Hagler like did ballet during camp at one point too. So, you know, like, fighters do stop. And also what's the difference of, you know, Jamel is ringside watching a fight? That's not in the gym like hitting the speed bag either. Like what you do in your leisure time is what you do in your leisure time. So I wouldn't read too much into that. Listen, Jamel versus Crawford is a fight that's very compelling to me. If they can make that. that happen, obviously. And they're, they're planting the seeds for that. I find it, you know, I haven't had the chance to talk about this with you, but I found it remarkable that in the midst of what Terrence Crawford was doing to do that he had the wherewithal to also trash talk

Jamel Charlo that it was so easy for Germal, or sorry, for Terrence Crawford, that he had the time to think about that while he was beating up Terrence, Errol Spence, excuse me. I mean, that, like, it just goes to show how extraordinary that performance was that he was able to do that. That was mind-blowning. Remarkable. Well, I guess the question I would have is if Drumel is going to fight Canello on September 30th, he's not going to fight again until April, May, June of 2024. Bud Crawford's about to be 36 years old.

Is there a fight out there that makes any kind of sense for him? He's already ruled out a fight against Boots Ennis. And if you make Boots Ennis kind of the bar of fights that Terrence Crawford is interested in, there's not any, is there, are there any fights above that that makes sense for Bud Crawford at 147 or 154? I mean, if they could, I mean, I'm not saying this is a better fight than Boots, but like if they could compel him to face like a Keith Thurman or something, like that's the only other possibility. But I think after we saw what he did to Errol Spence, that becomes less compelling. that would be the only other option for me.

I think he waits it out, faces Spence probably at 154, and then maybe you do have the Jermel Charlo fight, regardless of what happens in the Canelo fight, then you can work towards that. But, I mean, Crawford is already talking about retirement as well. I don't know how much longer he even feels like doing this. I think that he's really proven his point. And again, like we've talked about this on here before,

but he's really felt kind of victimized, by the boxing machine. And I think that there's a part of Crawford that probably just wants to get this Spence rivalry over with and say like, hey, I did prove my point. What more do I need to do? I don't need to put my body through this any longer. I don't need to give anything more to this sport

that he feels just tried to extract from him. So I don't know if the timeline is even a possibility for him to fight Jermal, but if he wants to continue fighting, obviously I'm interested in that fight. Yeah, I don't think, I just a guess. I don't think the Spence fight happens this year.

I'm not sure if Spence rematch happens at all. I think when you have a little bit of time away, I don't know, even at 154, if Spence is going to want to go back into that type of fight. I think the money would have to be great. And I'm not sure it's even marketable right now.

I mean, you know, they did reportedly, what, 650, 700,000 paper view buys. You do a rematch, even at a new weight, that number's going down. It's going down significantly because people have seen that show

and they know what to expect or at least what they think they know what to expect in a rematch. I don't hate a Keith Thurman fight. Keith Thurman's been weird lately, though. Like, spent the entire week out in Vegas, and the only one that called him out was Clarissa Shields. Then I see this video of him on a plane. I don't know if you saw this.

This was on Twitter. I did, yes. But he's on a plane, and he's continuing to talk about himself in the third person. Like he's arguing with a passenger about what has happened his career. He claims he's still undefeat. Has a loss, but is undefeated. Gets Mani Pack now. I don't really understand all that.

lodge. You guys in Fox since February of 2022. I don't know. I don't know. That's not a competitive fight to me either, but I guess you could sell it because Keith Thurman's the other PBC welterweight that Terrence Crawford has long wanted a shot at and didn't get a shot at. But Boot Tennis is obviously off the table. Alexis Rocha off the table. Amandestanionis off the table.

I would like to see Crawford move up though and like let these guys get the belts and let these guys fight each other. If he's not going to defend these titles against the mandatories, whether it's Danny Owens for the WBA, Rocha, WBO, boots for the IBF. I don't think the WBC has one. Yeah, I know Thurman is there, but I think he's going to fight at 154. Let these younger guys fight it out and try to get some unified title fights at 147. Go up to 154, start the campaign there, maybe fight Keith Thurman, then see what happens.

Like maybe Spence wants to do the fight in the summer of 2024. Maybe Jermel Charlo fares better than I think he will. against Canelo Alavres. He's ready to go in the spring or summer of 2024. I just think let these titles go. You know, you don't want to defend it. You want to fight these guys. You're supposed to fight them against.

At least one of them is probably going to be gone. Let's say best case scenario, you get Spence Croft in December. One of those belts is going to be out of your hands by then. Somebody's going to take it in a sanctioning body is going to take it away in a mandatory situation, whether it's the IBF or WBO. Who knows? So just let them all go. go to 154, fight someone there, and then see if in the summer or the fall of 2024,

if one of those other big names are available. Yeah, and I think from a physical perspective, it's interesting seeing Crawford move up as well because one of the many things that was fascinating and impressive about his performance against Darrell Spence is that he also physically bullied a guy who I think many people thought, and justifiably so, was the physically strongest high-level welterweight in the world. You know, we saw Crawford, and we all know about his wrestling background, get to the inside with Spence and maneuver him wherever he wanted him to, and pushed him off. And that was a key moment in the second round or the third round. You saw him just shove Errol Spence back.

He was able to do that against Errol Spence. So I'm interested to see, well, can he do that against some 154 pounds as well? I think that obviously his skills translate moving up, but especially after seeing him against Errol Spence, I think that his physical strength does also. Yeah, we saw Beaumack, Brian McIntyre say something that I've long believed in that Spence and PPC allowed Crawford to grow into that welterweight body. And I think there's truth to that. I think if Spence had fought Crawford five years ago when Crawford was just coming up from 140 and was not a full-fledged 147, maybe the outcome would have been different. But now with Crawford looking every bit as strong and stronger, as you point out, as Spence, it just wasn't a fair fight. And I think regardless of whether it's at 154 or 147 again, it's just not going to be competitive. I don't need to see that rematch again.

I'd rather see Crawford fight someone else at 154 pounds. All right, check out Corey Erdman on Friday at Overtime Arena live on DeZone. Who's the main event of this Friday show? We got Albert Bell and Presco Carcosha. Albert Bell still hunting for his title opportunities, so hoping to get some exposure and maybe get some of those big names. Obviously, Bell want to be maybe a little bit more exciting than he has been. in the past. And with the overtime rules, there's knockout bonuses if you score a knockout in the first of the last round. Fights are a little bit more condensed. We hope that maybe he'll be

compelled to do that. So tune in and check it out. All right. Check out Corey on Friday. And when we come back, my conversation with Eddie Hearn. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions. my journey from basketball to college football

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little camp? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're not just so you're not. But just so you know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right.

Eddie Hearned, matchroom boxing. Matchroom Boxing USA. He's got a show this weekend over in the UK, O2 Arena. Anthony Joshua will be in action, but he will not be facing Dillian White as planned. Dillian White out of that fight after an adverse finding on his most recent Vata test. Robert Hellenius, former title challenger, he is back in or he is in as the opponents. Eddie, let's just start from, you know, when you found out about the adverse finding for Dillian White to come. coming to a decision to inserting Robert Hellenius as the opponent? So I found out I was actually on East Coast time, but it came through in the early hours of Saturday morning, UK time. Just total shock, disbelief. None of it makes sense, but it happened. And, you know, obviously we went through this situation with Conner Bent.

We learned a lot from that situation. the circumstances were very different as well this was not a co-promotion as well and waited for AJ to wake up on Saturday morning spoke to him and obviously we had no choice and he wanted to move forward with another opponent and then the search begins

you know probably 30 or 40 applications 99% of them are complete waste of time but you have to go through them you have to find someone most important that's credible enough but someone who you know legitimately you can get a deal done with at pace because if you start wasting three, four, five hours on four or five different guys before you know it, the whole show's falling through.

And actually, before Dillian White accepted this deal, we had an agreement with, actually, Louis Dukubis for the fight with Robert Hellenius. And he was one of the guys that we were thinking about selecting. Obviously, we ended up fighting Dillian White. And when this news broke, Robert Hellanis's lawyer said, listen, we're two hours away from going into the rink in an eight-round comeback fight. If we get through OK, we'd love the AJ fight next week. And obviously, knocked this guy out in three rounds.

They sent me a video straight after, and the negotiations ensued. And he was the guy we went for. Credible. Can punch. big, big guy. We know he lost by knockout to Wilder, but that right hand would have knocked most people out. A couple of good wins on Fox against Konaki.

You know, six days to go. Very credible. Why was someone like Philip Herkovich not credible in your mind? I've heard from people around him that he would have taken the fight, but was not asked. Everybody who wanted the fight came forward, Philip Hergovich never came forward for the fight. It wasn't even that, you know, more than credible, by the way.

I mean, a very tough fight. I mean, I don't really like the idea of going in with Hergovich on six days' notice, and I don't think they really like the idea again with Joshua on six weeks' notice, if I'm really honest. He's been training eight weeks for a Southport in Dempsey-McKean, probably had no orthodox sparring. AJ, you know, was training for a different style. He wasn't even really mentioned Hergovich.

He's also got his shot at the world title against Ussick next. Does he want to put that on the line against AJ? I don't know. But no, there was no conversations actually with Hergovich, and his team didn't reach out. And, you know, we know what he's been training for, and that was decided that's next. And also, Chris, as well, part of me wants to keep that undercard together.

It's a bit like Gerald Washington. You know, he put his name forward as well. and I just felt that he's been a little bit inactive. He's coming off a couple of defeats, but also want him to fight Derek Chazora on the card. So, yeah, Heleneas got the pick. I'm assuming you know what it is Dillian White tested positive for. There's some confidentiality issues that you can't be specific about it.

But if I can put the question this way, with Dillian White, in your mind, is this a Billy Joe Saunders type of situation or is it closer to a Jarrell Miller type of situation? I mean, I haven't honestly, because of the speed we've had to move, I haven't really had an opportunity to even digest that information and go through it. You know, we don't represent Dillian White, but we have worked with him for a number of years. It surprised me greatly and, you know, he's got a huge fight on his hands now. I think one of the problems with the testing process is in this situation, there's no one really to be accountable to.

As we know, Varda is a reporting agency that we employ to. give the teams the information on a very strict and stringent testing program. But he is going to have to try and clear his name now. But who with? That's his bigger issue. And, yeah, regarding the tests and the substance and all that kind of stuff, obviously, you know, he's going to fight his own fight. A lot of that stuff is confidential.

I'm sure it will be made apparent. But I haven't really looked into it in great depth other than just trying to sort out Saturday night and making sure Anthony's, Joshua can get in the ring after 12 weeks of hard work and genuinely looking fantastic. You've addressed this over in the UK a couple of times on Tuesday, but I want to ask you for this audience about, you know, Eubank Ben was a protracted situation where you didn't cancel that fight right away. That fight wasn't canceled right away. This fight between Dillian and AJ was called off right away. What is the difference between the two? I think firstly, every

test results, every substance is very different. Also, that event was a co-promotion, Ubank Ben. And when we spoke to our co-promoters who represented Chris Eubank and gave them the information of the very trace amounts within the tests

and all the other tests that he passed around it, they wanted to take their own medical advice and they didn't want to cancel to fight. We then put it in the hands of the British Boxing World of Control to make their decision. And also, we we learned a lot from that process. I mean, we definitely made mistakes and we wanted to act swiftly this time around, but also this fight is a pure promotion from Matrim. We had the

opportunity to share those results with Anthony Joshua and his team, who decided that absolutely they didn't want to fight Dillian White with one week to go. There was no chance of any appeal process, which was different in the Conner-Benz situation as well. So we had to act more swiftly, but we definitely learned a lot from the Conner-Ben situation. and I think we handled it in a right manner. There was a lot of buzz going into this fight. You know, both these guys don't like each other. You had press conferences.

You had face-offs. In your mind, is this fight now gone forever? Yeah, I think so. You know, I think, you know, I don't know what Dillion's going to do or how he's going to go about this situation, but it's a huge, huge fight on his hands. You know, we've been a year, over a year in the process with Conner, and he's now, you know, been reinstated in the WBC rankings.

He's had this suspension lifted and cleared by UKAD, and we're just coming out the other side of it, you know, 12, 13 months on. So you can imagine Dillian White has to go through a similar process with a different set of results and analysis that we've seen. And at that age, you know, is that a process that you can come through the other side of? we wish him all the best and again I was surprised you know and you want to

you always believe and you want to believe in those people and it's not something I would expect from him knowing the meticulous way that he goes about his work and how careful he is after the previous incidents

that he was exonerated for but you also can't ignore it and it has to be dealt with. One of the reasons you wanted to get a fight for AJ on August 12th was because you want him back in the ring. You're hoping to make a fight with Deonté Wilder in the next four or five months. We know those deals are tricky with the Saudis. How confident are you that a Wilder fight is going to materialize sometime either in December of this year or the first quarter of 2024? I mean, we can only do what we can do from our side, which is we've told

skills challenge Saudi Arabia. We're in for that fight. We will fight the Ontario Wilder next. We'll do it in December or January, no problem. And that was one of the reasons that he was so adamant in fighting this Saturday. Because if you don't fight this Saturday, you have three or four weeks off, then you go back to camp. You end up fighting in November, December. The Wilder fight's gone.

You know, he's also trained so hard in this camp. He's done so much great work with Derek James. It feels tremendous, and he wants to showcase that. But at the same time, you know, we remember the late replacement of Andy Ruiz last time, this same incident happened with Jarrell Miller. And we've got to be on the A game on Saturday night because we can't afford to lose this fight. I assume you didn't consider Jarrell Miller as a replacement.

No. I mean, you know, I have my own thoughts on whether he should get an opportunity like that again and putting that to the side. There is absolutely no way I would never, I would ever entertain a fight with Jurel Miller without him being part of an extrinsent. barter testing program that we employ in all the big fights. A couple things before I let you go because there is U.S. interest in some things with matchroom right now.

We saw Amanda Serrano get a win over Heather Hardy this past weekend. Alicia Baumgardner, your fighter was a part of the broadcast team for that fight. She mentioned that she has one fight left on her matchroom deal. There's also the potential, I guess, for a mandatory being called for one of her 130-pound titles. clearly the big fight for Baumgartner is against Amanda Serrano and I'm guessing a fight against Choi is not big business for you. How do you approach Alicia Baumgarner? Are you planning on resigning her? I mean, do you want to make the Serrano fight? What's next there? Oh yeah, absolutely. We want to re-sign him at Alicia Baumgardner. I mean, you know, she's,

we've had a great run with her. We helped her find her way to undisputed and she's done a tremendous job. I think she's a start. We're in talks to extend that contract right now. The fights for her Amanda Serrano, Katie Taylor, Chantelle Cameron. You know, we've got all the undisputed champions. Obviously, Amanda's with most valuable promotions, but we've made a big investment in women's boxing. We do all the major female fights and Alicia is going to be in the biggest fights in the sport. So, yeah, we hope to conclude that. We would love to make Amanda Serrano, Nix. Love to. Honestly, Serrano against Baumgardner is a brilliant fight. Two tremendous fighters, two tremendous undisputed champions.

But at the same time, I think Amanda Serrano would have one eye on Taylor Cameron and so with Alicia. But, you know, I think it's time now for Alicia to take the biggest fights in the sport. Last thing for you is it's been all quiet on the Edgar Berlanga Jaime Mungia front. You know how much I love that fight, Eddie. You know how much I advocate for that fight over here. Has there been any movements when it comes to making a fight between Mungia, who's represented by Golden Boy and, of course, Berlanga, who is your fighter?

Yeah, I mean, the instructions from DeZone are very clear to both sides. We don't want any other fire for Belanga or Mungia than them fighting each other next. And that's the instruction of our broadcaster. We should try and make that happen. You know, of course, both fighters and their representatives are entitled to get the best possible that deal they can for that fight. But if we can't make

Belanger against Mungia and we can't get those fighters in the fight, what are we in the sport for? You know, I ask myself, Edgar, can you beat Heiming Mungia? He believes, yes, I can. I believe it's a 50-50 fight.

Mungia thinks he can win. It's Mexico against Puerto Rico. It's the kind of fight that's going to break you out into a massive start. Like, if Mungia fights Boulanger, I cannot see how Canelo Alvarez cannot fight.

fight the winner of that fight, right? I mean, it's just such a natural fight. So you're going to put yourself, so the question is, do you want to roll the dice? Unfortunately, in boxing, sometimes trainers or advisors don't want to roll the dice. Well, guess what? I want to roll it. And I believe in our man. And I want to see a Gablelanger and a massive fire that he can win. So I'll be doing everything I can. You know, look, it's no secret. The two fights that are top of the adjutant. gender right now, he's Devin Haney against Regis Progray and Jaime Munger against Egablanga. Two brilliant fights to add to their design schedule. And we're doing everything we can to make both them. And that Haney Progrey fight closer? I mean, I spoke to Devin last night. Now, Regis is in for

that fight. We're tying up Devin Haney on different bits and pieces, but the main thing now is to establish the date and the venue. You know, we're looking at Vegas, Atlanta, maybe the Bay Area as well. But I'm almost certain you'll see Regis Pro Greta against Devin Haney next. All right, Eddie, big second half of the year for you. Big week for you as well. I appreciate the time, man. I know it's a busy day. No worries, mate. Cheers. That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Corey Erdman and Eddie Hearn for joining the show. As always, subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you download podcast. And I'll see you next week.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smygle and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at a Podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.