The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Boxing with Chris Mannix - Can Anyone Touch Inoue?

Episode Date: May 11, 2024

Mannix and Keith Idec break down Naoya Inoue’s latest dominant performance, if there’s a competitive fight out there for him, the latest developments with Ryan Garcia, Top Rank’s Teofimo problem and more (6:03); later, George Kambosos joins to talk his fight with Lomachenko and if he will ever run it back with Teofimo Lopez (53:53). #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hosted by S.I's Chris Manix. That was my moment. Now with interviews, analysis, and everything going on in the world of boxing. When you have talent, you are giving. given another chance. Here's Chris Mannix. And we are back. Boxing with Chris Mannix,

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And it has been a busy week already in boxing. We had a major fight over in Japan earlier in the week. Nioia, in a way, He successfully defends his 122-pound titles against Louis Neri, knocking Neri out in the sixth round of that fight. There was some drama early on. Inouye got knocked down the first. You started to wonder, was this going to be the fight that ends the run of Inouye? Not so much.

Three knockdowns later for Inouye, and he stops Luis Neri in that fight. And now we wonder, what is that next big fight for Noe Inouye? Is it Sam Goodman? Probably not. Is it M.J. Akmadaliev? Probably not either. Is there a big fight that will generate worldwide interest in Inouye? Is there a big fight that can lure Inouye back to the United States to fight?

Keith Ideck, longtime boxing writer currently working over at Boxing News, good friend of the podcast. He joins me to discuss Inouye's performance. We get into the latest developments with Ryan Garcia. We talk Teifima Lopez, all that and more with Keith Ideck. Aydek. George Cambosus joins the show. And I will always have something of a soft spot for George Cambos. I was ringside calling that tremendous performance a few years ago where Cambosus

dethroned Teofi Malope. Is that a bad, I run of bad luck since then. Lost two fights, Devin Haney. It was kind of unimpressive against Maxie Hughes on Saturday in Australia. Sunday morning in Australia, Saturday night here in the U.S. Cambosis will face Facil Lomachenko for the vacant. IBF title. This is a huge fight for Cambosis because he has to prove that he is still on a championship level in order to continue to get these types of big fights. If he wins or has a good show

against Lomachenko, we're still going to see Cambossa's back in big fights. If he gets blown out, might be the end of the line for George Campos. Stick around. Good conversation with George a little bit later in the show. As always, please subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you download podcasts. And when we come back, my conversation with Keith Ideck. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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,

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follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of ton-tons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Keith Ideck, long time boxing writer, currently working over at Boxing News. Busy week in the world of boxing. And I do love when we get a good weekday show, which is what we had earlier in the week

over in Japan, when Neuay-in-A-in-A-No-Wa successfully defended his undisputed 122-pound championship knocking out Luis Neri in the sixth round of that fight. There was a bit of a moment there, Keith, in the first round when Neri dropped in a way and you start to think, whoa, we just saw Neri in a great fight

against Azzan-Hobanesian. Is this the moment that the monster gets dethroned? Not so much. I think that kind of just focused in a way locked him in a bit more, knocks Neri down three times and successfully defends his belt. Let's start there. What was your takeaway from Inouye Neri earlier in the week? Chris, I think in some ways we learned more about Inouye in this fight, more than any other

fight that you would want to see, right? He couldn't have come back from that any better than he did. He composed himself. He got back into the fight. He took complete control of the fight in the next round, and he blew Luis Neri out. a very commendable performance by Inouye. And I think maybe, again, we learn more about him in this fight than any other fight than when he beat Donair. Yeah, I mean, it definitely made the fight more interesting.

Like seeing Inouye go down in the first round, you get your heart racing a little bit. Because every fight up until that point has had very few, you know, moments where you thought Inouye was going to lose. It was more of the question, would the opponent get to the final bell? And, you know, most of them have not up until this. point. So it definitely made that fight a little bit more intriguing. But then you go shot for shot with Inouye, you're going to lose. The guy is just too big a puncher, even at 122 pounds. And that's what it kind of boiled down to with Neri. He just could not win a physical fight with Nye Inouye. So a good early moment, interesting early moment, and then afterwards kind of went exactly how I

thought it was going to go. The question, though, I have, Keith, is like, what is interesting, right? now for Noe in a way. What is a good fight? We saw Sam Goodman get into the ring afterwards and taking nothing away from Goodman. He's 18 and 0. He's a credible title challenger. He's earned the right to fight for a world championship at 122. But does anybody out there really believe Sam Goodman's going to win that fight? Like, no. Like I feel the same way about Sam Goodman as I felt about Marlon Topalas, as I felt about Louis Neri. Maybe he can have a moment or two in a fight like that. But at some point, he is going to fall, you know, fall victim to the biggest puncher in these lower weight classes. So is there an interesting fight out there for in a way, in and around these weight classes?

What is the fight that gets the public at large interested in an in-a-way fight? It's not the Sam Goodman fight, as you said, Chris. He's a mandatory challenger. And Sam Goodman's a tough kid. And, you know, a good win against Rae-Salaim. And he's put himself in this position. So kudos to him. And he'll get paid off of this and everything.

He'll go to Japan and get beat up, frankly. He's not a big enough puncher. He's not nearly good enough to keep Inouye off of him in any way, shape, or form. That's a relatively easy fight for Inouye. But Inouye is at a point now, Chris, where it almost doesn't matter who he fights in Japan. He's going to do big business there no matter what. So in that way, he can stay there and draw big crowds and do good television and streaming ratings. And that's what he'll continue to do.

It's kind of unfortunate for him, Chris, and that there's no natural big fight for him. in what would be considered a reasonable weight class for him to move up to. Right? I mean, 126 should be about as high as he goes. I mean, there aren't many huge fights for him there at 126 pounds, I don't think.

Of course, people on the internet, you know, on Twitter and different social media platforms, of course, are asking for him to fight Gervante Davis. That's not a reasonable request. I mean,

the guy's tiny. You know, he should, people want tank to move up to, you know, to fight better fights at 100. 140 pounds or take the fights of 135 pounds that people want to see. It's just not reasonable to ask in a way to move up or to criticize him for not moving up

three more weight classes to fight Jervante Davis. He started 108 pounds. Like going up to 135 is crazy. And I don't think, by the way, that Javante is coming down to 130. I don't think he's making that weight anymore. And, Christy, you know, people are saying, oh, well, Pachiao started in the lower weights like that. And he came up.

Let's pick the exception. That's a generational anomaly. You know, you're not going to see that again probably. And it's not really fair to, in a way, to ask him to do that. So unfortunately for him, there's not this natural fight for him that people are going to get really excited about, except in Japan where, again, he can fight whomever. And it's going to do big business. And I think that's what he'll continue to do. I don't think we'll see him in the U.S. unless there's some opponent from the U.S., and there aren't many in and around those weight classes that,

make a lot of sense for him to cross the Pacific pond to come over here to fight. I don't think it's that he doesn't want to fight here. But if you're doing all this, like people from the United States sometimes are so arrogant that they think, oh, well, he has to fight and he, does he? Why? Why does he have to fight in the U.S.? He's doing huge numbers in Japan, making a lot of money. People are waking up, as you saw the other day, Chris, people, and many other times before. People are waking up on the East Coast that, you know, it's not really that early. It's eight o'clock by the time the fight starts. But in some places, it's 5 a.m. or whatever.

And people are waking up because they want to see this guy fight live. He's that exciting. He's that intriguing. And I think that's what he'll continue to do. He's doing 50,000 plus fans in the Tokyo Dome. He's making an excess, reportedly, in excess of $6 million for these fights. He has no reason to go anywhere but his home country. I mean, it's profitable.

It's successful. He's a major star over there. so you know, you're right. He doesn't have any reason to come over to the U.S. So there's two fights out there that I think are most fascinating. One is a domestic showdown against Juno Nakatani who has a belt at 118 pounds. That's a big fight over in Japan. Nakatani moves up to 122.

We can challenge in a way. That's a major event in Japan. I think it's a great fight because both those guys are big punchers. And I think Wolem's going to get knocked out. Probably Nakatani, but I think it's a great fight in Japan. The other more intriguing fight, it's Bam Rodriguez, Keith. And I've been saying this.

I've been saying this for over a year now since Bam won that belt at 115, defended it against Reza-Katsal-Rung Visai. That's an interesting fight. Now, Bam is going to fight in June against Gairo Astrada. That's a major fight in Phoenix. End of the month. That is for Estrada's 115 pound title, which he won after Bam vacated that belt.

After that, Bam might decide to unify. I think there's a rematch. clause in that fight. He could fight. He could fight. He could also move up to 118 and look for a belt in that way class. And if Bam Rodriguez can get to 118, either later this year or early next year, and if Inouye stays at 122, which is going to do for at least one or two more fights, some point the mid mid-2025, Keith, we're going to be talking about Inouye versus Ban Rodriguez. And I think that is a really, really interesting fight. It is, Chris. But again, you're asking a guy, not you specifically, but he would be required to move up two more weight classes.

And remember, Bam was a guy who said he was more comfortable fighting at 100 as he gets older. Of course, it could be harder and harder to make these lower weights. But he was more comfortable fighting at 112 pounds than he was fighting at 115 pounds. So now you're really talking about maybe three weight classes. There's not much weight in between those divisions. But you're technically asking him to move up three weight classes above where he's most comfortable for this fight. Now, will he do it? because there's so much money involved, probably,

because he's fighting Estrada, that's a huge fight. For the lower weight classes, that's a huge fight in the United States. And I think that fight will be, it'll do good business in the United States, certainly nothing near what Inouye's doing in Japan. But people are excited about that fight. And if he goes and performs well and beats Estrada,

well, you might be building some momentum toward the fight you're talking about. But he would go into that fight as a significant underdog, even if he beats Estrada, convincingly and then goes and wins a title at 118 pounds, neither of those things are foregone conclusions by any stretch. So it's a big ask, but he's a young kid. He's very talented. People have been, you know, had their eye on him for several years, becoming a star in the lower weight classes. So I think there would be some interest in it. But I almost look at in a way at this point.

The Nakatani fight is interesting, like you said, because he's a big bantam weight and, you know, he'd be coming up. He's a big puncher. And in Japan, that would be a great domestic fight. But in some ways, I almost look at Inouye right now where he is, kind of like Clarissa Shields, because she, there's no one, if she fights Samantha Marshall, again, there will be interest in that fight. But who is she fighting? She'd have to move down too much. And I know Inouye's not moving down, but you'd have to move down too much.

You'd have to move up too much. Who's she fighting? Yeah. I don't know. But the idea of Rodriguez-BAM makes more sense to me because, you know, you know, of what happened his last fight against Sonny Edwards. He made 112 for that fight, but man, he had to kill himself to get there. Like, he's a growing guy, right?

Like, he's at 115 right now. I don't think it's a stretch to see him get to 118 pretty quickly. And once you're at 118, you're only talking about one weight class in between. I know it's a lot of dot connecting there. But, like, once you get to that threshold, if in a way is still at 122, and it doesn't sound like he's in any rush to move up to 126. I just think it's a makeable fight that makes a lot of sense. Putting aside the fact that, bam, maybe not in the healthiest of ways,

gets kind of big in between fights. Like, he's a big guy. Him and his brother both put on some weight in between fights, and they have to really work their way to get back down to that 115 pound weight class. If he can win a belt at 118 before, let's say, the spring of 2025, we're going to be talking about it. It's going to be out there because that is probably the big. biggest fight you can make in these lower weight classes. Bammas started to establish himself as

not a star yet, but a known figure in U.S. boxing circles. And of course, in a way, is the biggest star over in Asia, one of the biggest stars in terms of talent in all of boxing. That's a fight, I think, that we're going to be talking about and could be a makeable fight at that point in the middle of next year. And it's also, Keith, I think, a fight where we could see Bamb, in a way, come over to the U.S. Like, is there enough money? in a Las Vegas casino or an MGM grand property to get in a way to come over to fight Bam Rodriguez. Will Bam be big enough? Now, he hasn't sold a ton of tickets at this point, but I do think they'll do well in Phoenix for the Astrodify.

I think they can do 10,000 seats in Footprint Center in Phoenix. Is Bam a big enough star for a Vegas casino to say, you know what? We'll put up whatever it is, X million dollars to get these two guys over here to fight in our venue. That's a fight, Keith, I think we could see in a way make his return to the U.S. for. and I don't think in general, Chris, that he's opposed to fighting in the U.S. It just makes more economic sense from the danger. And for the meantime, because remember, right before the pandemic, he was supposed to fight John Riel Casamero at Mandalay Bay.

And then, of course, the whole thing got scrapped because of the pandemic. So he was going to fight here. And that wasn't perceived as a huge fight. I mean, it's a Filipino fighting a Japanese fighter, so it could have really been anyone fighting in a way. that spot. That would have been a fun fight if it ever had happened, because Casamaro is a big puncher and everything. Of course, he would favor Inouye to beat him, but Casamero really can crack, and that would have been an interesting fight, I think. So I think he'll eventually come back to the

United States for a fight, whether it's Bam Rodriguez or someone else. You know, Chris, it's interesting how it all unfolded over the last four or five months, too, because I think now we would be talking about if Robisi-Romeres didn't lose to Raphael Espinole, we would be talking about in a way moving up to 126. I don't know if it would have been a permanent move or a temporary move, but we would be talking about him moving up to featherweight and fighting Robesio-Romiris. Bob Aram had mentioned that to me and many other people a year ago. That was the blueprint. They were going to have him, you know, become a champion in their eyes, become a champion in another weight class. And Ramirez had rebuilt his career to the point where people were really

high on him again, you know, his win against Nova and then, you know, winning the title and everything the way that he did. So it was a surprising loss to Raphael Espinoza and that derailed that fight. But I think we would be talking about in a way making his featherweight debut in his next fight had that not happened. Yeah. And now you look at 126 and what's the big fight there? I mean, Lee Wood is gone. Ray Ford's one fight away from being gone. Espinoza is not a big name. Ray Vargas currently has a belt at 126, he could be gone as well. Like there is nothing all that interesting at 126 that would at least motivate in a way to move up and take that type of fight. By the way, did you see the video of John Real Casamero watching the in-a-way fight?

It was on Twitter, and I saw it over the last couple of days where he was celebrating, you know, excessively with his friends when Neri knocked Inouye down. And then at the end of the fight, they show the close-up of them and they're just dead silence. No reaction whatsoever when Inouye goes in and stops Neri. That was great. I'm sure you saw that. Maybe Casamara has a draft king's account or something and he puts some coin on Neri or something. Who knows, you know? No, but I think it was more like, you know, like he probably felt it was vindication.

Like, yeah, I told you it wasn't that good. And maybe he is. Maybe he really is that good. We got to talk about Ryan Garcia and the latest developments with Ryan. I try not to engage too much with all this, Keith, because there's so much misinformation being put out there. A lot of it being put out there, quite frankly, by Ryan Garcia. But what we know at this point is that Ryan Garcia has tested positive for Osterine.

The other substance that was detected in his system, apparently that's not enough to call it a positive test necessarily. but Osterine was in his system on the 19th and it was in his system on the 20th. That is what he has to deal with. Now, May 22nd is when the B sample is going to be opened up and it will be tested. But as you well know, 99 times out of 100 or whatever it is, the B sample comes back the same as the A sample. What happens after that, Keith?

What happens if the B sample on May 22nd or whenever it's officially tested comes back as positive for Austria. What is Ryan Garcia's next move then? Well, from a legal standpoint, I don't think he has any recourse or anything, because as you well know, Chris, we've discussed this many times. Ultimately, you're responsible for what you put in your body. I'm not saying, I don't know what his intent was and I'm not going to sit here and accuse him of this or that. I tend not to give fighters the benefit of the doubt for obvious reasons. There's a lot of money at stake, and people have taken shortcuts for decades. So I don't know what he on purpose and what he didn't do on purpose. What I do know is that he's responsible for whatever

is ingested into his system. So he has to pay the penalty for that. I know you and I did an emergency pod or whatever the day after the fight. And when you asked me about it that day, I said, well, maybe they'll take some time in between and Devin Haney will go get himself together in a tune up fight in between or whatever. And then they'll fight again after that. Now I think it's almost imperative for for ryan garcia to make this rematch happen again because he has he still after what he did april 20th now has a point to prove again that he can do it on the up and up because again no matter you know who was at fault whether he did it on purpose or whatever he had this in his system it's a banned substance it's now a tainted victory whether he

likes it or not and he really should fight devon hayney again uh i think devon hayne Heaney deserves that based on what happened with the, obviously the PED testing, him coming in three plus pounds overweight. Devin Haney deserves to be treated fairly in this case and get a second shot at Ryan Garcia, hopefully immediately, no matter what happens on the 22nd with the B sample. I hope that happens. There's clearly a lot of intrigue in a rematch now, right? Much more so than before we found out about this test, right? because at that point it just seemed like Ryan Garcia beat down Devin Haney. That's what it seemed like then.

And now there are obviously questions about his win. So I think there's a lot of intrigue related to the rematch now. Hopefully the business will make sense and they'll do it again sometime later this year. Yeah, I want to see the rematch as well. Before then, though, like I think Ryan Garcia has two fights on his hand. One fight is with the New York State Athletic Commission and what they are. are going to decide when it comes to this victory. Now, my guess, and I believe you'd probably agree with me,

is that the New York Commission, if this B sample comes back positive, which it's more likely than not to come back the exact same as the A sample, the New York Commission will overturn the result. They'll declare it a no contest, and they will slap some kind of suspension on Ryan Garcia. Maybe it's six months.

Maybe it's a year, but six months to a year is kind of the going rate for suspensions in the U.S. anyway for first time type of offenses. So he's got that battle in front of him. The next battle he's got is in the court of public perception. You know, Canelo Alvarez back in 2018, he tested positive for Clen Buterol. And he got hit with the six months suspension.

He paid a price for it from the Nevada commission. But I think, Keith, that Canello kind of skated on it in a way in the public eye because he had a plausible story. Whether you believe it or not, that's up to you. but there was a plausible story out there about tainted meat. You know, Mexican athletes had tested positive for it. It's in, you know, meat there. Again, believe it, don't believe it.

But he had at least an explanation. Ryan Garcia needs an explanation. He needs to show how this substance got into his system, whether it is attached to a supplement or a medication or something that he would have taken unknowingly to get into his system. Because right now, blaming Victor Conti ain't it. I'm not a fan of Victor Conti.

I don't think Victor Conti or Memo Heredia belong in the sport of boxing. If you are part of, you know, PED distribution in a prior life, you should not be allowed back into professional sports. That's my opinion on Victor Conti. But saying that Victor Conti set him up and saying that this is also one big conspiracy, that's not going to fly. So to me, it's important for Ryan Garcia in terms of public perception to, at least come up with something plausible, you know, whether it is tainted meat, you know,

tainted eggs as we see with Connor Ben. Again, there's a wide section of people that are not going to believe him. You know, that that's fine. But if you can come up with a reason, a reason that people can believe, some will believe you. Some will be willing to say he did it accidentally. If you don't, and you continue to stick to the conspiracy theory stuff, no one's going to believe you. And I think it's going to follow you around the rest of your career. This stain is going to remain with Ryan Garcia for the rest of his career, as you said, Chris, like it or not for him, even if it were an honest mistake, which I don't know. But this is going to stick with him, much like it has stuck with Canelo, because I think we're almost playing with the definition of plausible a little

bit based on, you know, what can, you know, because you and I have both been very skeptical about it. And people still think that Canello cheated, intentionally cheated. And it hasn't gone away. I mean, Oscar used that as a motivational tool as a way to get under Cannell. in last week. And I found it hilarious when Oscar was saying, oh, I didn't really mean to get a to, it wasn't my intention to get into his head. That's exactly what you were doing. It's a whole purpose of which is fine. You wrote the speech. You wrote the speech. So that's the art of, you know, promotional antics and everything. But yeah, I mean, I don't, no matter, I understand if Ryan Garcia made an honest mistake, let's just give him the benefit of the doubt for this, for the sake of

this argument and say that he did make an honest mistake. This is not. going to go away because there are going to be people who always think that he intentionally cheated and whether he did it on purpose or not he was dirty in this fight that's it period and blaming it on victor conti whatever you know i had my own public thing with victor a couple of years ago and i don't have anything personal whatever i mean i don't think he should be involved in boxing either but blaming this on victor conti is ridiculous i mean there's this has nothing to do with with his testing that because he knows Margaret Goodman or was involved in Vado once upon a time. It's nonsense.

I mean, this has nothing to do with Victor Conti or VAT. And to be clear, Keith, just to put a perspective, like, these tests are not done in, like, Victor Conti's lab. They're all done in Salt Lake City. All these labs. How would he, what would Victor Conti have access to his testing? I mean, you know, so anyway, he's trying to excuse this away. That's the bottom line, Chris.

He's trying to excuse this the way, and he's not going to be able to do that, like it or not. He's going to have to deal with this head on the best way that he can do that. And as you mentioned, it's a potential obstacle toward them fighting sooner rather than later. If he is suspended for more than six months, if he gets suspended for six months, they could fight late in the fall or something like that and fight and fight immediately without having fights in between. Six months isn't even a suspension for fighters. Right. That's a typical time in between fights. But if he gets suspended for a year, well, Devin Haney's not going to wait around for a year for that.

He's going to want to fight in between. And I'm sure he'll get a fight that's reasonable for him. Sandor Martine, baby. Sandor Martine. It's not a dangerous fight in the sense that Sandoror Martine is not a big puncher, but it's not an easy fight because there are people who will tell you that he beat T.ifima Lopez. He obviously beat Mikey Garcia. That's a tough fight. He might have to do it because he's his mandatory and all that.

I think Devin, though, would stink out the joint more than Sandoz Martine would stink out the joint. I think he'd win a stink fight, right? I don't think it would be aesthetically pleasing at all, but I think Devin would probably outbox it. No one fighting Sandoor Martine is an aesthetically pleasing fight, right? I mean, that happens when you fight him, basically, you know, so I don't see an exciting fight with him. But maybe that's what Haney winds up doing if Ryan Garcia gets suspended for a year. So we all have to wait to see how this plays out. but I would hope that ultimately they just fight again in an immediate rematch later in the year.

Yeah, and the other name that Ryan has been throwing out there this week is Errol Spence. They've been going back and forth on it on social media. Obviously, there's a connection there. Errol Spence now in a very public dispute with his now former trainer, Derek James. Ryan, of course, trained by Derek. A lot of social media back and forth there. Ryan went as far to make another poster. Remember, he made Garcia Romero a few months ago when he thought that fight was going to happen.

Now he's making Garcia against Spence August 10th in Texas. That's wishful thinking. I think you and I would both agree. Does that fight make any sense to you? Is that interesting to you at all, Ryan Garcia and Errol Spence? Well, the storyline is incredible. There's no two ways about that. But he's now going to move up two weight classes to fight Errol Spence, who clearly is done at 147 pounds and is fighting at 154.

he's got to fight Fondora there, right? So why not Errol Spence? I mean, he almost, you know, he was close to a junior middleweight for his fight against Devin Haney when he weighed in, I guess. So what's the difference, really? But look, it's a natural thing because of what's going on with Derek James right now. But I don't see that fight happening. Look, Errol's going to take, he's going to test the waters out of 154 against the junior

middleweight. He's not going to fight Ryan Garcia. And I think based on some of Spence's responses, he was kind of just like, okay, you know, kind of shooing him away a little bit like he was, it's not a realistic thing and he's just being trolled. And it's unfortunate with what's going on between Earl Spence and Derek James, because I really looked at that partnership as one that would stand the test of time even in boxing. There was a bond there and closeness there that seemed real to me.

And unfortunately, when money's involved, Chris, you know, oftentimes these things happen. But that was one I didn't see coming, though. that they would break up over money. And I certainly see where Derek's coming from. But it's one of those unfortunate things. Yeah, it's tough because you're right. You rarely get someone that trains you from the very beginning, dating back to your amateur days, your pro debut,

all the way through your career. We just saw Canelo Alvarez and the Renoso, Eddie Renoso, Chepa Renoso, that is an example of one that has worked. it is disappointing when, you know, that kind of relationship ultimately breaks up. Look, I just, even if Ryan wanted to fight Errol Spence and even if Errol Spence wanted to fight Ryan, this New York issue is not going to go away in three months, right? Like, if this comes back as what it looks like right now, the commission is going to make that fight a no contest and they will suspend Ryan Garcia for a period of time.

So I think we're talking about late fall before, you know, we're even discussing Ryan Garcia in a back in a fight against anybody. That's just my educated guess on all this. I want to talk for a minute about Teofima Lopez, who right now, it seems like, is still heading towards a fight against Steve Clegett, down in Miami, June 29th. This is not something Keith that is getting Teufima Lopez out of bed right now. Like, he is not all that excited about the idea of fighting Clegette, who is a fine fighter, but not a name. and, you know, not someone that Teofimo envisioned himself fighting at this stage of his career. And as I look across the 140-pound division at potential options for Teofimo, I just don't see a great one right now, not at least before the end of this year.

The other title holders, you're looking at Subriah Matias. You know, I don't think that's going to happen this year. You've got Issa Cruz. I don't think that's going to happen this year. And, of course, Devin Haney, he's got his own stuff to deal with before. He even revisited the idea of fighting Teofimo. I don't know. Like, you know, top rank, you know, they've invested a lot of money and a lot of time in this guy.

Is there a fight that they can make that you think will satisfy, you know, Teafimo's desire to be in a big fight? He's sort of in no man's land here, Chris, a little bit because it looks like Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are going to be tied together for quite some time here before they finish their business, right? Because those were going into their fight. those were the two natural opponents or him, whoever won would be a natural opponent and a unification fight moving forward with Tiafima Lopez. Now you remove those two opponents from the pool and what are you looking at?

Like you just said, I mean, guys are with other promoters. They're high risk, like Subaru Matias, is kind of like a high risk, relatively low reward type of fight for Tiafima Lopez, and it would require them to work with DeZone and or matchroom, however that would work out. There's a,

there's Esau Cruz, the same principle applies. You'd have to work with PBC and all that to make that that fight happen. And I don't know that that's necessarily a big fight either. What I do know is I do not, under any circumstances, want to see Tiafima Lopez fight Steve Claggett, who's a fun fighter from Canada. I've seen his most recent fights, like those last three or four fights on ESPN and everything. Steve Claggett comes to fight, has no business being in the ring with Tiafima Lopez, doesn't deserve a title shot. This is silly. And it's, and it's, It's not a good, in my opinion, not a good use of top ranks budget for Tiafima Lopez's next fight.

Now, they're in a bad position because of what we've already discussed. There aren't any natural opponents out there for Tiafima Lopez that would make sense. Certainly no one within the top rank stable because Jose Ramirez left and Arnold Barbosa Jr. left and are now with Golden Boy. There's not much there for them to choose from. I get that. But Steve Claggett, how low on the list was Steve Claget, Now, you have to pay Tiafima Lopez a lot of money. I understand that.

And I'm sure Steve Claggett's getting a very small percentage of what's available for that fight. And I don't mean to, I'm not trying to belittle Steve Claggett. He's a tough guy. He's got some popularity in Canada and everything. But he has zero chance whatsoever to be Tiafima Lopez. And it is a complete mismatch that should not happen. Now you sound like me with the, what was I? What did I say of zero?

Oh, Charlo against, uh, Canello was it. What was the one I said at zero? Oh, no, Keith Thurman. Keith Thurman against. But at least, Keith Herman, at least is a, you would admit. Yes. Oh, yes. As an elite level fighter. Steve, no one's confused Steve Clagin for being an elite level fighter. I mean, you know. I just don't know what you do. Other than put the guy on the shelf, I don't know what you do. Like, you go down the list of the guys at 140. Like, do do a Jermaine Ortiz rematch? No, nobody wants to see that. I don't see it. Like, I look, I've looked up and down the respective rankings. Like,

the two guys that were most likely are guys that just left, you know, in Barbosa and Ramirez. So without them, I don't know what you do. Like, I mean, Sergey Lipignette set a fun fight. You want to see if he's ready to go at the end of June? Like, I don't know what, I don't know what top rank does in this situation. I think they're between a rock and a hard place with, you know, one of the biggest names in their stable. Now, they're in a similar position at the moment with Chikor Stevenson, but at least Chaucor Stevenson. But at least you get through this fight in July, you resigned with us, or at least whatever, short-term deal.

we'll give you a Loma. You know, later on this year, you know, we can do maybe unification fight somewhere else next year. Like,

I can see a pathway there. I don't know what the pathway forward is with top rank and Teofimo. I think it's Clagget or it's, what? I mean,

what is it? What is it out there? And in fairness, the top rank, they did try to make higher profile fights for Teafimo Lopez. They offered Jose Ramirez $2 million to fight him.

And Jose Ramirez opted to go sign with Golden Boy and turned down the fight. So they didn't try to do. that and then they put him in the ring with germane ortees jermaine ortees is very good you know fought from the southpaw stansil virtually the entire fight and there are people who think that he beat tiafima lopez i understand what you're saying that there's not much public demand for their rematch in the sense that their fight was not entertaining but based on the outcome you could argue that it should happen again but it would cost a lot of money too because lopez is going to want more money to fight him

again ortees is going to want more money based on how the first fight went maybe that's too expensive of a fight for them at this point to keep on ESPN, to keep it on ESPN, their waves or on ESPN Plus. So they're in a tough position as far as that goes, Chris. But maybe what you said about Shakur,

now naturally, Shakur wins this fight on July 6th and Lomachenko wins on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon in Perth, Australia. That's the fight that makes the most sense.

And it's the fight that Shakur Stevenson wanted next. He wanted it when he fought Edwin de Los Santos. A totally smart fight to make, makes perfect sense and all that. If for whatever reason, Lomachenko does not want to fight Shakur Stevenson, Shakur has talked about moving up as high as welterweight, and people think that eventually he will develop into a welterweight,

and that's where he'll settle in for a lot of his career. Maybe Shakur would want to move up to 140 pounds of Vitea Fima Lopez, if he were to... That's a great fight. Because, right, and if Stevenson's, the reason why Steve is, Stevenson wants to test the waters more than anything, potentially in free agency, is because he wants bigger fights. But the Teofima Lopez fight is a big fight. So maybe if that's what top rank can promise him to keep him in the fold, maybe that's what does it. I mean, it's not,

you're not asking him to move up two or three weight classes. It's five pounds. And he's a growing kid. And Teofima and him are practically the same size, you know, height wise and everything are practically the same size. So I don't think that's too big of an ask. And that's a real fight. You know, it would... Do you think Loma, do you think Loma wouldn't want to fight him, though? Because Loma wants all those books. Well, he didn't want to fight him last year. Yeah.

So I don't know. I mean, there were people that I spoke to that communicate with Lomachenko. Obviously, Lomichenko never told me this. Agus Klemus never told me this. But there were people who thought that Lomachenko might have retired after the Haney fight. Because, you know, there's still a war going on in Ukraine. He was very disenchanted by the outcome of the Haney fight. And obviously he got over that after a while.

He's being paid very well to go over to Australia, frankly, to beat a guy who Campos is a tough guy, you know, and made the most of his opportunity against Tiafima Lopez. But really, I mean, he got dominated twice by Haney, might have lost to Maxi Hughes. This is a fight that Lomachenko should win handily. Yeah. Look, I agree. And that was kind of what I was going to get to next, this Cambososso's Lomachenko fight. Saturday night here in the U.S. Sunday morning over in Australia. I just, look, I like George, too. What he did that night in New York City was remarkable because no one believed he was

going to win that fight. People on his own team didn't believe he was going to win that fight. He goes into hostile territory and outboxes Teufuma Lopez. But what I've seen since then gives me no reason to believe he's going to have much of a chance against the fire the caliber of Lomachenko. The Haney fights were not competitive. The Maxi Hughes fight has actually aged even worse, given how bad Maxie Hughes looked against William Zepeda, who's obviously the real deal, but Maxi just got steamrolled by Zepeda. Look, to me, you know, success for George Cambosis might be making it to the final bell. Like, just getting out of that fight in 12 rounds. Given credit, I mean, I don't think there's anybody in recent boxing history that has made

more money out of one win than George Cambosis has. He got two huge paydays to fight Devin Haney, got another payday to fight Max Hughes, and now is back in Australia, presumably getting another big payday to fight Lomachenko. And even if he loses, there's probably still some money in a fight against Teofimo in a rematch, which is another fight that could potentially be for Teofimo down the line. So I think he's done a masterful job of maximizing his earnings,

but I look at this matchup, and Keith, unless Lomachenko is shot, unless he's got nothing left after the Haney fight, this is a fight that I think Lomachenko should dominate. I agree with you, Chris. Let's just say that the unlikely happens, the very unlikely happens, and Cambosis wins. To tie it all together, well, then you got a big fight for Tiafima Lopez. Cambosis would have beaten Lomachenko, moves up to 140 pounds to fight Tiafima Lopez.

Then you got to fight, you know, like I guess that, just when we think we all have it figured out, Chris, we've learned us less than countless times. the unexpected happens sometimes. So maybe he pulls off an upset and then he finds up fighting. You're right that the Lopez rematch is kind of always there for him because Tia Fima will always want it. But it would be hard to sell that coming off of back to back. Frankly, four performances against Devin Haney, non-competitive performances against Devin Haney,

a questionable win against Max T. Hughes, and then a probable loss to Lomachenko. That's hard. that's a hard sell. Yeah, look, if Cambosis is able to pull off another upset, I agree with you. I think he's far more likely to move up in wait and fight Teofimo than fight Chacore Stevenson, because that's a fight that would not go well for George Cambosus. I think a Teofimo fight, he probably also be an underdog in, but at least he knows the guy.

He knows how to fight him as best he can. Going up against Chikor, I think would be bad results for Campos. Last thing for you here, Keith, you know, we saw the Canelo, fight this past weekend. Pretty good fight, entertaining fight against Jaime Mugia. Canello ultimately winds up winning a decision. Now the conversation shifts to what is next. And you and I

both agree it's not going to be David Benavides. Canello came out recently and at one point it was $150 million he wanted to fight Benavita's. Now it's 200 million that he wants to fight Benavita's. So that's off the table, at least for now. Which leaves you or left us earlier in the week with two potential options.

That one would be Jamel Charlo who was a champion at The other being Edgar Berlanga, who was in Las Vegas telling everyone with a microphone that he was getting the Canello fight next. The Charlo News this week was a bad, you know, DWI, you know, effectively evading cops. You know, a lot of bad stuff going on with Jamal Charlo. Now he officially has been stripped of his title by the WBC. Carlos Dlamas is now the full title holder. That makes me believe, Keith, that it is Edgar Berlanga or bust.

Edgar Berlanga, of course, has the relationship working with Matrum. Canelo has worked with Matron in the past. Berlanga, for whatever it's worth, nominally, the number one contender for one of the belts that Canello holds. Is that how you see it, or is there a dark horse in all this that could make his way into the Canello sweepstakes? No, I see him fighting Berlanga, Chris. And after the fight, when he said in the ring, something to the effect, I can do whatever, his exact words, where I can do whatever I want. that was in effect saying let me know in the Berlanga press conferences

and I'll be there because that's what he's saying right I'm not he in effect said I am not fighting Benavides stop asking me about this we have to ask the questions of course it's our job we're going to continue to press him on fighting Benavides because that's the fight

that should happen it's not happening anytime soon no one's paying him $150 million to fight anyone so unfortunately Unfortunately, as much as no one is going to want to see it, he's going to fight Edgar Berlanga next. I heard Belanga on your podcast, I believe it was last week.

And Berlanga talked about a lot of things. He talked about what his entrance music is going to be, all the celebrities that he knows. One thing he didn't say was how is he going to beat Canelo Alvarez? And I don't mean give away his exact game plan. but why should anyone believe that Edgar Berlanga is capable of beating Canelo Alvarez? There is nothing that he has done thus far in his career that would indicate that he's capable of doing so. Berlang is a nice, I like Berlanga. He's a tough kid.

He had this knockout streak that put him on everyone's radar. He's done a good job of putting himself into this position. He's been guided by Keith Connolly to get into this position. They've made some masterful moves that have gotten him here. Kudos to them for that. But he does not, what he has accomplished does not warrant a shot at all Thor titles. Now, that happens all the time. I mean, guys get, you know, there's the yielderie didn't deserve to fight Canello either, but he did.

So I'm not saying it's not going to happen. It's going to happen, whether we like it or not. But what are the fans getting out of that? I get it. You know, Puerto Rico, you got the Puerto Rico, Mexico rivalry. There'll be all kinds of celebrities involved. the net. That's all positive for boxing that people who are extremely popular outside of the boxing space are interested in this fight because they're supporting Edgar Berlanga and you have

you know, Mexican celebrities that support Canelo. That's all fine. But you're going to, what are you going to charge 80, 90 dollars to watch Canello win a fight in which he enters the ring as, as what, a 20 to one favorite? I don't know. I mean, he would have to be, right? Yeah, he would be a big favorite. And, You're right. You know, Berlanga's argument, if I remember correctly for how he can beat Canello, is effectively, don't worry, my ring IQ and my performances go up based on the competition. And that's, that's a hard argument to believe when the best win of Edgar Berlanga's career was probably a guy like Padra McCrory, who is an unknown in most boxing circles. it's tough to make the argument that Berlanga would be anything but a punching bag for Canelo.

He's got some pop and I'm sure Conno will respect it early on, but if Jaime Mungia can't put a dent in Conno Alvarez, I don't know how Edgar Berlanga is going to do it. And Canello showed against Mungia that fourth round, he still has real pop behind his punches. He can hit you with shots that you don't expect, that you don't see, and that's still a weapon in his arsenal. So I do think that it is, though, going to be Burlanga, that most likely the fight for September. I think the question is, what does he do after that? And look, we've got that big fight August 3rd with Terrence Crawford moving up to 154 to fight Israel Madrimov. We have read the comments from Turkey Al-Sheek over in Saudi Arabia saying he wants to make Canelo against Crawford.

I got to believe, Keith, that if Crawford wins a belt at 154, that opens the door a little further. for a fight against Canello. Up until that point, Canella was saying, no, I don't want to fight a Welterweight, there's no upside in it for me. If Crawford all of a sudden has a belt at 154,

well, it still is a big size gap. No question about it. But at least in the mind of Canello, it probably justifies a little more. Plus, if the Saudis want it, then there's going to be real money on the table to do it. So I think that's the fight

that I could see happening maybe before the end of the year. Maybe we could be talking about December. Canello's done that before. He's fought in September and fought again in December. If he gets through a Burlanga fight relatively easily and the money is right, I could see Canello against Crawford in December of this year. How about you? Yeah, I don't know about the December part, Chris. I mean, maybe that would be true. And they obviously the Saudis wanted a fight in December this past year.

They were hell bent on doing it and they did do it on December 23rd. So that makes a lot of sense. But I think if you're Canello, let's just say he goes. and beats Berlanga. And it's imperative that Crawford is impressive against Madrimov. Like he wins that fight convincingly, right? If he does do that and Canello goes and beats Berlanga in September, then I could see the momentum, as you said, building toward Canello and Crawford because he doesn't want to fight David Benavides. I'm not saying he's, you know, the guy's done more than enough in his career and he fought Golovkin three times and all that. People said he would

never fight Golovkin. So I'm not going to say he's afraid or anything like. that, but he clearly does not want to fight David Benavitas because all of the things that he has said about fighting David Benavides don't measure up to someone who thinks that that's a fight that he can win for whatever reason. I'm not saying he couldn't beat David Benavitas, but there's a reason why he is avoiding this fight. And that's what he's doing at this point. He's not, he's making all kinds, you know, he's playing with words and everything, but he's avoiding David Benavitas. And now, I think, Canelo, yeah. Go ahead. No, I say, Canelo. needs to make some decisions though, Keith, because I got to the arena early this past Saturday,

and I watched my man William Skull win on the underguard. And my man, William Skull, fighting in front of quite literally nobody but the people that worked there, picked up a decision win on the Canella Wondercard. He is the IBF number one contender. And if Canello's not careful, William Skull is coming for all those belts. If Canello wants to make six figures for his next fight, he can fight William Scull. How about that? At some point, we have to have a conversation about the IBF making a fighter the mandatory who has no significant wins. And in his most recent fight, fights an eight-rounder. That was an eight-round fight he fought that last time.

There's something wrong. I'd love to hear the justification for William Scull being the number one contender in their rankings. I doubt we'll get it. Could William's skull last longer than Avni Yilderum? That would probably be the only question I'd have coming into that fight. I hope we never find out. I hope we never find out either. Keith Ideck, follow him on social media at Ideck boxing. Check him out in boxing news.

Good friend of the podcast. Keith, always good to catch up, man. I always appreciate it. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it. And when we come back, my conversation with George Cambosis. All right, George Cambosis is the former unified 100,000. 35 pound champion. On Sunday morning in Australia,

Saturday night in the U.S., he will take on Vasid Lomachenko for the vacant 135 pound title is the third time in the last four fights that George will fight. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

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Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On his home soil, and he joins me from Australia now on the show.

So, George, you have been eager to face Basilid Lomachenko for a pretty long time now. You guys were penciled in to fight each other back in 2022. We had to return to the Ukraine when the war broke out there. But you have been looking for this fight for a while. Why has this been something that you've wanted, even when you were a champion? Yeah, look, Lomanchenko is a legend of a sport. You know, so we know what he brings to the table. We know his style.

And it's a guy that I've always watched from young. So why would you not want to fight a guy like him, a guy who brings so much to the table? but again, styles make fights. I know what I bring to the table, and I know that both our styles, the action, the punches,

the shots, it makes for, you know, fan-friendly fights. I know what I bring to the table with my artillery wins his fights. So on the subject of styles, when you were watching,

you know, old Lomachenko fights or watching him as you were kind of coming up, was there something that you saw that made you believe I've got the right style to beat him? I like the way he moves, the way he comes forward as well, and he likes to place his shots. That European style, that Ukrainian style that he has, you know, presents, you know, great opportunities for my style.

I'm very explosive, very sharp and very fast. So everything I bring to the table, you know, will be able to work against a guy, like Lomanchino. You know, I've been watching some of the buildup to this fight, and it's very polite. It's very professional between you two. Not a lot of the Teafimo stuff, not a lot of the Devin Haney stuff. How do you feel when you have an opponent kind of in front of you that maybe you don't dislike in ways you've disliked other opponents? Look, I've continually said that I respect Lomachenko. I don't dislike Lomachenko, and I'm sure he's the same.

We are both of the same faith. We are very similar, you know, people. And we are true worries. We have two guys that love to fight and love to take the biggest test possible. But, again, that respect comes Sunday is all out the window. He's trying to do what he's trying to do. I'm trying to do what I'm trying to do. So, yes, this is not Cambosus Flopis,

Cambosus Hayne 1, maybe Cambos is Hainey 2. This is not bad blood. This is not, you know, calling people, all types of things and other people getting in headlocks and, you know, big commotions happen like we saw in New York.

You know, this is two respectful guys, two guys that love to fight. And come Sunday, it all goes out the window. The respect goes out the window, and I'm coming to do a job on him. You have said that you think that Lomachenko has, quote, lost that dog that was inside him. Why do you believe that? I can see it.

I can see the way he's come to Perth and he's having a good time. And I can see, obviously, you know, after the effects of the Hainley fight, I know that looms so much still in his head. I'm just a man possessed. I'm a man willing to do whatever it takes in front of my home nation in front of my people, in front of my family. And just as we had that face off, that three, four minute face off, where we both didn't want to look away. I would see it. I see it in his eyes. I'm sure he's showing him eyes.

I'm going to do whatever it takes to win his fight. We'll find out someday. I know I've got the dog in me. I'll have to find out if he still has it. You mentioned that Haney fight, and you both have lost to Devin Haney on your resume. Why do you think the loss to Haney has affected him in a way that you don't think it affected you?

Well, yeah, look, we always look back at the Haney fight. But again, we forget about the Lopez fight as well. He couldn't do what I did against Lepen. Now, politics will always get involved and obviously what they say, but I had the four dots. I was able to do something that he was not able to do. You know, for me, it softens the blow against the Haney losses. You know, I knew what I was coming up against.

But for him, he was trying so much, put everything into it, his whole body into, becoming undisputed. That was his goal. That's been his goal for his whole life. But that's gone. That opportunity is gone. He will not be undisputed ever. That's finished.

So I'm happy to have that accolade as much as people say yes, no, no, yes, whatever it is. It softens the blow from my hanging fights. I think it took a lot more of a toll. When you give everything to achieve something and you come up short, especially that round 12, I'm sure, haunts him and we'll haunt him for the rest of his life. And that's a difficult task to get back up again. But I'm up for this far. You're an underdog in this fight.

Do you think you should be? Yes, I love to be the underdog. You've seen a first hand what an underdog. Cambosos can do, I still get chills from your commentary, you know, commentating that fight where it's, you know, such a, you know, historic fight, me and Lopez, that's boxing. And I'm sure, again, we're going to have very similar, you know, drama in this side on Sunday. So, yes, I'm on the underdog. I love it.

Beautiful. I've got the big odds. Everyone thinks that, you know, Lomachenko's, you know, going to do a number on me. Beautiful. I love it. I, you know, soak that underdog role. You know, your last fight was against Maxie Hughes and you won that fight. You got the IBO belt that you currently have.

Do you think you need to be better, though? Because I think you'd probably agree that wasn't your finest performance against Maxi Hughes. Do you think you need to be better to beat Lomachenko? Oh, definitely. Look, that fight was the worst cambosis in a fight where he was not too motivated coming up against the goal of Maxi Hughes. I was more thinking about going to Disneyland with his family before the fight. And I don't know why. So, look, I'm extremely motivated.

And you've seen it again. When I'm motivated Cambosis, a fully focused cambosur, with the preparation that I have had, you know, fighting a goal of his Wilmachenko. And how do you not get motivated for a goal of Lomacheenko? This guy is a legend. And I know by taking out a legend, what it does for me, submits me.

So bring on Sunday, I'm very excited, and I'll be at my best. Third time in the last four fights that you have brought a big championship fight to Australia. We don't often see fights on this level. in Australia, really in many parts of the world outside of the U.S. and the U.K. nowadays, what kind of boost do you get fighting in front of that home crowd? Yeah, it's beautiful. You know, after the Haney fights, when we did such big mega events,

I always prayed and I said, give me one more opportunity to do this again, do it right, do with the right team, and have that full focus against a guy at Lomacheenko. That was always something I prayed, and I knew that, I manifested, I knew that it would happen, it would come. here we are, but being able to bring these mega fights to Australia, Cambosis keeps doing it, he keeps bringing these fights, he keeps doing it and he keeps showing

that we're sold out. There's about 100 tickets left. We're sold out here in a beautiful 16,000 seat RSC arena. We're going to beat the record of the UFC, so go boxing. And look, it's motivating, it's inspiring, and I can't wait to step

inside the ring on Sunday in front of my fans, in front of my family, in front of my people, and beat the legend Lomachenko. Your best win today came in hostile territory. You went into New York City and beat Tafima Lopez in front of what was originally his group of fans. Is there any extra pressure for you fighting at home? No, no pressure. I'm an underdog.

You know, a lot of people, you know, I'm not expecting me to win this fight. So there's no pressure on me. The pressure is on him. His career is really on the line. I lost to a guy like Cambosus really wrecks his Hall of Fame, you know, Future Hall of Fame, you know, for that everything. I'm saying, well, you know what? It puts me, I believe into the Hall of Fame.

Lopez, Lomachenko, Devin Haney fights, Sylby Bay. That's a great, you know, achievement. So, look, all the pressure is on him. Pressure is on him. Of course, there'd be small pressure, but nothing new. This is not my first radio. We've done the big fights, and, you know, I thrive on being the underdog. All right, before I let you go, you're obviously on a path to get your belts back at 135.

and you've got your eye on Shakur Stevenson, maybe Tang Davis, other guys at 135 after Lomachenko. But you got Teufi Malopez out there as a title holder at 140. Do you think before your career ends, you will fight Teufi Mo Lopez again? You don't have to wait and see. My focus is between Lomacheco. I have not looked at anybody.

I cannot look at beating Lopes again. I cannot look at, you know, Javon, DeVichikor, and even that a less drug sheet, Ryan Gassel. I come by looking at any of these guys. I'm focused on Vasily Lomacheenko. That's the only guy that's been on my mind for months. You know, that's the only guy I am focused on it.

But we have to wait themselves. Well, we've learned long and long ago, George, not to count you out of any fight because you tend to surprise in those moments. So good luck to you, man, on Sunday. Be a great fight, and I look forward to seeing it. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it, mate. Good to chat.

That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Keith Ideck and George Camposus for joining the show. Subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you download podcast, and I will see you next week. Manix, I'm a man on the run and I'm not doing your fucking podcast. We're not doing it, bro. I'm a man on the run. On the run.

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 headwriter, 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 Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say it. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,

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