The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Boxing with Chris Mannix - Canelo-Munguia is Here

Episode Date: May 4, 2024

Joining Mannix on this episode is veteran boxing trainer Joe Goossen. Mannix and Goossen discuss everything going on with Ryan Garcia, why Goossen believes boxing should bring back same day weigh-ins, an all action clash between Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia and more; later, Edgar Berlanga joins to discuss his chances of landing a Canelo fight and why he believes he is up for that level of challenge. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, SNL'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 Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast For 1979, that was a big moment for me 84 was big to me I'm Sam Jay 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 I don't think there's a more important 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 podcast A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

The volume. Well, the 82 game preseason is in the books, and it's finally time for the real season. So don't miss out on any of the NBA playoff action at Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. If you guys follow me here for boxing, you know that I am a basketball guy through and through.

Covered the NBA for almost. 20 years and I love the competitiveness of this playoff field. It all begins with the play in tournament which has some blue bloods participating in it. Out west you've got the Warriors and the Lakers in the Eastern Conference, the Heat and the 76ers, which is going to lead to some ridiculously good first round matchups. The Celtics are either going to get the Heat or the Sixers most likely out west. Young teams like the Thunder and the Timberwolves are going to wind up probably against a more experienced group at the bottom of the bracket. This playoff mix is incredible.

I think it's going to make for some great matchups and some great gambling opportunities over the next few months. So download the Draft King Sportsbook app and use code Manix. New customers bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. That's code Manix only on Draft Kings. The Crown is yours. Gambling problem, call 1-800 Gambler or in West Virginia visit 1-800 gambler.net in New York. call 877 8-8-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope-N-Y 4667-369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-78-9-777 or visit CCPg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over, age varies by jurisdiction.

Void in Ontario. One no-sweat per new customer. Issued as one bonus bet based on amount of initial losing bet. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See dkng.com slash promos for deposit wagering in eligibility restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources. This is boxing with Chris Manning. Oh, somebody punch him in the face. Anthony Joshua is a composed and ferocious finisher. Watch this. 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 given another chance. Here's Chris Manix. And we are back. Boxing with Chris Maddox, part of the Volume Sports Podcast Network, third show this week, second one from Las Vegas. As always, we want to welcome in all the subscribers to the podcast feed.

If you are not a subscriber, get over to the Boxing with Chris Maddox feed, hit that subscribe button. Make sure you get all our pods in your feed every single week. And just a reminder, we will have one more podcast on Sunday that will recap the big event at Team Mobile Arena, Canelo Alvarez, Jaime Mungia, super middleweight belts on the line. Shout out to all the podcast listeners that I have run into in Vegas.

There have been more than a dozen of you that I have bumped into over the last couple of days. Love catching up with you. Love talking boxing. Thank you and everyone for listening every single week. So I am just back in my hotel room after being at the Alvarez Mungia way. And no drama at the way. And both these guys came in under 168 pound limit.

it. There's obviously a healthy amount of respect, even a friendliness between Canelo and Mungia. We'll see how that manifests itself on fight night, but no drama there. Oscar Delahoya showed up continuing to antagonize Canello Alvarez with a t-shirt that read, Eat More Meat Across the Front with a big T-bone steak on the top of it, and that was obviously a reference to the positive test that Canello attributed to tainted meatback into But they didn't have any kind of confrontation. There was nothing dramatic going on at the way in on Friday. The only interesting moment came when Ryan Garcia popped into the media area. And he had a chance to catch up with Ariel Hawani, who was doing some reporting down there for DeZone.

And look, Ryan was, and it continues to be, pretty upset about the results of this positive drug test that had him test positive for Austria. Now, we went through this in the last podcast. If you haven't, go back and listen. Lance Pugmeyer, longtime investigative journalist. He sat down with me and we kind of peeled back all the layers we could with what we know from that positive test. But Ryan, he was pretty heated.

And he has decided that this is a conspiracy that traces back to Victor Conti. Now, Victor Conti is, of course, the former Balco head. He was involved with Barry Bonds. He was involved with doping and Olympic athletes. Like he has been involved with some bad stuff over the years. He has reinvented himself over the last decade and a half as a whistleblower of sorts, as a advocate for clean sports. And he works with a number of athletes, including Devin Haney's.

So Ryan's opinion is that Victor Conti, who has some loose ties to Vada. He worked early on with Margaret Goodman, who is the doctor in charge over there at Vodka, It made some introductions for them as they were just getting into drug testing and does direct his athletes to VADA, right? And is a public advocate for Vada being the best testing system in the sport. But Victor Conti doesn't do the drug testing for Vodka. It doesn't really have anything to do with that. I take it back. Doesn't have anything to do with that.

So Ryan's accusations, there's just not a lot of foundation there, not a lot of evidence there, that is going to make that hold up, at least not up until this point. Remember, these tests, they are taken at the time, and these tests were taken on the 19th and the 20th, the day before and the day of the fight against Devin Hayden. They're shipped off to a lab in Salt Lake City, the same lab that all the drug testing agency uses, whether it's WADA, drug-free sport, VADA,

they effectively all use the same lab that's out there to test these results and there's really no evidence that Victor Conti has anything to do with it. And as I said on the DeZone broadcast, I am not a fan of people like Victor Conti, people like Memo Haredia, people that have been associated with doping in the past, having any place in professional sports. And look, the reality is besides boxing, they don't, or some other combat sports. They don't. You don't see Victor Conti associated with NBA players or NFL players. It's usually just boxers.

That's because boxing is kind of the Wild West. So while I'm not a fan of Victor Conti, I don't see the connection aside from his past with performance-enhancing drugs and his current connection with Devin Haney. So Ryan was upset, which, by the way, I understand if I was accused of something and I believed I was innocent, I would scream from the heavens that I didn't do it. I would. I would be furious. You could not silence me if I didn't do something.

So the outrage from Ryan, I understand and I respect. I just think he's going to have to do more to prove his innocence if these results stand. If it is shown that Osterine was in his system, that the other metabolite from testosterone, which we still have some questions about, was in his system. He's going to have to show whether it's through supplements. And look, that's something Ryan said in that interview. He said that he's having experts examine these supplements that he has been taking. All the supplements he has been taking.

And look, I think that's a positive step. I think that's the right thing to do for Ryan Garcia. He's got to figure out how it came to be that that stuff was in his system. Because that will go a long way towards, you know, I'm not going to say clearing him. but providing some mitigation here, providing an explanation for how they got into his system. So we're still a long way towards the end of the story. Weeks, if not months before we get the full picture of exactly what did or did not happen with Ryan's drug test. But he's here.

He's in Las Vegas. And he was understandably upset about all the events over the last couple of days. So as for this show, good one. Joe Gousin, long-time boxing trainer, actually the former trainer for Ryan Garcia. He's also on the Amazon version of this broadcast on Saturday night. He joins me for a long interview about a lot of different topics. We talked about fighters making weight on the same day of the fight. Joe has been a longtime advocate for bringing back same-day weigh-ins.

He explains his reasoning behind that. We also talked about Ryan and covered it a lot of. of different ways. We talked about it from the perspective of the drug test, the behavior that seems to have changed since Ryan was in Joe Goosen's gym. We also, of course, get into Canello against Mungia, which is the big fight this weekend. A little bit later on, Edgar Berlanga, the super middleweight contender and number one challenger, mandatory contender, mandatory challenger. I'm saying one of those wrong. Number one contender for the WBA belt owned by Canello Alvarez. This is a decent chance.

that if Canelo beats Mungia, we get Canello against Berlanga in September of this year. I talked to Edgar about that possibility, about his last fight, and about why he believes that even with a rather thin resume, he is ready for a fight like Canelo Alvarez. Stick around for that. Joe Goussin, Edgar Berlanga, both coming up next here on the show. 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 IHeart 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 you'll say. 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. 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 Podcast, 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-tapped 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 Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket 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 y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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. Well, it is always good to catch up with Joe Gousin, long-time trainer, broadcaster, once again, working with Amazon for this Jaime Mungia, Canelo Alvarez fight Saturday at the MGM Grand. Good to have you back in the mix again, Joe, you with Fox. They dipped out. Now, Amazon's... I'm like Al Pacino's lining the Godfather, just when I thought I was going to get out. They pulled me back.

It's a nice way to make a little bit of a little bit of a nice poll, yeah. No, no, no, I'm very happy. honored and thankful quite honestly um that i've i've got the work i like it although you know my mainstay and my first love is the gym you know i've been in there since god knows one of many years and but this is kind of the icing on the cake and um and i am in all of my years i've really never broken in a associate trainer per se. Now, Ricky Funas, who runs the gym and is my family, okay? Ricky does his own thing, but I broke in this young kid, Jonathan Wally, who has picked up a lot of slack for me.

He started at 18, he's 30 now, so he's been with me 12 years. He's a big, strong kid, very smart, has great rapport with the fighters, because he fought amateur as well, and he was quite good. to tell you the truth. But you know, it takes a certain mindset dedication and timing to have all that work for you. But the timing worked out well for us meeting each other when he was 18, came out to my gym, and I'm very thankful to have Jonathan Wally. He does a great job. And he's one of the few guys I would actually put any of my fighters in their hands. I just don't do that. you know you always think that you're going to that you know if you want it done right do it yourself right and it's hard to find somebody that you're going to hold to that highest standard and jonathan

has really been the guy for me and um i'm just so i yes i'm still doing the gym i'm more selective than ever and um i'm i'm giving jonathan some projects that if if they are fruitful um um um I'm going to be very, very proud, and I'm, I got a lot of confidence in them. So that's kind of where I'm at right now. We're back here in Vegas. Yeah. What kind of memories does Vegas bring up for you in terms of, you know, the fights that you have worked over the years? Yeah.

Well, Vegas started for me long before I got another five business. I want to say long before. But, you know, me and my buddies used to drive here. It was so cheap back in the day. There were very few hotels, a handful of hotels. you know, at the turn of the 70s right there, 70, 71, when we jump in my VW square back and shower at the local high school

and then hopefully meet some friendlies and, you know... Is that we're calling them friendlies? Yeah. And maybe share a room or so. Because, you know, we didn't have any money, of course. And then, you know, it was just a blast, Vegas. So, you know, I've been coming here for a long time now. insofar as working.

I did do my first, the kid I was telling me about Randy Shields as an amateur. He did a big tournament here in 71. I told you, I started with him in 70, and it was at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the old one. It's not standing anymore. And it was a huge tournament, and we had a blast. It was my first time ever in Vegas. So my first time here actually was, I want to say, for a boxing match,

amateur and then after that I go oh this is a good place to go me and my buddies would come here and then soon thereafter in the 70s um we would come up every so often uh Randy shields who I told you I worked with would have a fight here but most of them were out of L.A. And then my brother and I Dan um we started you know 10 goose boxing as a business in 80, 81. one-ish and very soon thereafter we were we were spending a lot of time here in the 80s

early 80s all the way through and we aligned ourselves with top rank we signed Mike Nunn out of the 84 Olympics that were held in Los Angeles same Olympics Tyson was on and he was an

alternate Mike Tyson like we were an alternate Mike Nunn but they both made their mark in boxing. So we had several fighters. I want to say that I had an NABF championship fight here in 83 with Alonzo Strongbow. I may be wrong about that date, but Michael Nunn for sure when we signed with Top Rank. So we signed with Top Rank in 84, and then Nunn did a lot of fights.

They were promoting out of the showboat back then. and I don't even know if that's still standing, I'm sure. I don't think. Could be. Yeah. Name is. He was on the outskirts of town. Ah, okay.

Maybe Old Vegas down there and Fremont Street area perhaps. Well, I was staying at the showboat. Dan was, of course, at the MGM. Of course he was. In a suite, no less. Exactly. Exactly. So it's funny because I got to bring up this one line.

Steve Springer, the former writer of the L.A. Times. Great writer. Great writer. So we're standing in front of the MGM, and it was me, Non, Springer, Dan. And so Dan, I said to Dan, I said, Dan, why do Mike Nunn and I have to go back to the showboat? And you're going to stay here at the MGM. He goes, I want you close to the situation. Steve Springer goes, what does that mean?

I go, thank you, Steve. I don't know what that means either. But that was a Danism, you know, I want you there close to the situation. whatever that situation might be so yeah he was good like that and so um we had a great time we we we Mike Nunn did a lot of fights here we spent he became champion at the uh Caesar's palace in July I want to say 28th of 88 15 round fight second to I think the second to the last 15 round fight between the B ABC and finally the Nunn was the IBF champ I think the the last 15 round fight was Pius and Calvin Grove, maybe a couple of months after that.

And those were same-day weigh-ins and 15-round fights. I know you are one of the strongest advocates for same-day weigh-ins. We've had this conversation in the past. Yes, yeah, I am. Polarizing position, though. I mean, I meet as many people think it's terrible for a fighter to weigh in on the same. day as I do people. I guess we then, those people really don't care about all the amateurs around the world that weigh in the same day, sometimes two times a day or more. Okay, they seem to

come out just fine, okay? And their children and teenagers, and they do it to this day. They win. Here's the, I, because, you know, there's certain points that you'd have to make to, to make my case for this. but it would force people that are basically, let's just say you are a 40-pounder, but you know that you can starve yourself, which is not good for two, three days, eat literally nothing, so you could be the bigger guy at 35, okay? So now you go, well, I can eat three, four meals, I can drink what I want on Friday, and then maybe go up from 35 to 50,

and then I can eat breakfast the next day. I can eat lunch. I'm not to fight until night. You could have six meals and tons of liquids. You could be 20 pounds heavier the next day. Now, that isn't very safe, especially if the other guy is a legit 35-pounder. So he doesn't have to starve himself.

he has fluid and food in him, and he is a legitimate 35-pounder, and he might go up seven, eight pounds. Okay? Now, if you had to weigh in the day, if you had to fight the day you weighed in, that guy who was really hurting himself, his brain, his body, and everything else, and then eventually the other guy,

because he's going to have anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds against a legitimate 35-pounder. Now he's going to be, instead of 35, he could be 55 or more, easily more. You could be 60, see? So what the same day Wayans did, it forced you into the division you belonged in, okay? Okay? And so now what you do, you go, oh, okay, oh, now I can eat. I can lose that couple of pounds I got to lose the last week. I don't have to lose 12 pounds in three days or more, which is really detrimental to the body,

very stressful to the body and brain, quite frankly. And what you're going to do is you're going to move up. you're going to weigh in the day of the fight at, let's say, noon or earlier. Now you're going to be able to have a nice breakfast and a light lunch. You don't want to go into the ring feeling heavy anyway. You talk to any fighter that overeats the day of the fight, and they go, it's the worst mistake I ever made. So it forces you to fight at the weight you belong at. There's not a disparity in weights between the two men.

They're going to pretty much eat the same amount of food and weigh the same amount that evening. Okay? So there was a reason why it worked for so many years, okay, decades upon decades. And to show you how ill thought out this was, they've got to make rules to combat the rules they instituted for the before the day. before the fight weigh in, which is what? Oh, now there's got to be, oh, you can't come in any heavier than this after the way. There's a weight limit. And there's a, yeah, because you wouldn't need all of those rules and the weight limit the next day, you know, where they have to reweigh you.

Because you wouldn't be dealing with guys that were starving themselves, hurting their bodies, and then gaining 25 pounds later and fighting a little gym, out which one is more safe. You weigh in the day of the fight, you move up and wait to the division you belong in, you eat a little food, you drink a little liquids, you're fine because you haven't starved yourself for a week, three, four days. I've seen it, had to do it. And, yeah, it's safer all the way around.

It's safer. It's not detrimental. Like that horrific weight loss where these guys are suffering. and I mean suffering. Okay. And, you know, yeah, I am a proponent for same-day weigh-ins. The IBF has that 10-pound rehydration clause in fights that involve one of their titles. Do you think that's a decent compromise?

No, no, no. No, because now you had to make a new rule. What's the next rule, okay? to combat the bad ruling in the first place. Okay? It's a cascading effect of, you know, should have just left it alone. It's like, why don't we just, you know, look, 15 rounds and the same day weigh-ins were perfect for a championship fight, okay?

I've seen a lot of people go 10 rounds, some not very talented people, okay? as well as 12. Those used to be state titles, 12 rounds. Okay? You fought for the state title. It was 12 rounds. Two rounds more than a 10 round. Let me just tell you something.

The last three rounds is like playoff anything, playoff baseball. That last couple series of playoffs is where, you know, it proves your medal. And the last three rounds there really proves a championship medal. And the other thing, I think it's more dangerous to have 12 round fights. How's that? I see the arched eyebrow. I mean, I would think the more rounds, the more dangerous now? Well, no, okay.

Let's see. Here's what you have to do in a 12 round fight. You can't lose any rounds. You can't lose the first two rounds, three rounds. Now you're really playing catcher. In a 15-round fight, so what a 12-round fight makes you do, it makes you fight harder, faster, and sooner with maybe a guy that's a real puncher. across the ring from you where you're the boxer, maybe not as big a puncher, but you're

savier, you're slicker, and you know what? Now that makes you have to go out and challenge him sooner, putting you in harm's way. Okay? Now, um, I say, take a look at the Leonard Hearns fight, 15 round fight. Leonard did very little. You could lose five rounds. He didn't catch turns until the sixth round. He threw a nice left uppercut. And what did it do? It turned the fight around. Hearn started boxing and actually winning the fight six through ten. Okay. So what it does, it forces you to fight more and take more punches and then take chances you wouldn't normally take if you could have the feeling out period like all the champs did. They took the first couple three rounds. Sometimes the fans would start booing because they weren't engaging quickly. They would build in. They would build in

do it was a nice momentum. It would build into a fight. And then boy, after five rounds, now you got your 10 round fight. Okay? Which adds up to be 15. And it was the perfect distance. Just like 90 feet to first base is the perfect distance.

So same day weigh-ins and 15 round fights. That is a... Well, I just explained, I just explained to you why, though. I just don't say it, you know... Oh, I know. I'm not... I'm not... I'm to anybody who might be, Lizzie. I'm not saying this hap, hasn't.

I mean, I've thought this out. I've seen the difference. I've seen the people missing weights for titles. Oh, just last week or so, right? Okay. Because some people don't belong at that weight. You know, you go from 23 to 25, the advancement in your body gets stronger, bigger, I mean, it happened to me.

I know the difference between me at 22 and 25. Okay. And the weight difference, and I was always one that watched my weight and took care of myself. I had an easy time doing it, you know. So I'm just saying that, look, the proofs of the pudding, you have more people missing weights for titles than I ever saw on same-day weigh-ins. Because, again, you were fighting at the weight you belonged at. Yeah, and I mean, people, the public sees the ceremonial way in often. They don't see how sickly some of these guys look at the actual way in, which occurs hours earlier.

You never saw that before. I never saw that. That was different. So we're here for Canelo against Mungia, big event on Saturday. But Joe, what everybody's been talking about the last couple of days is what's going on with Ryan Garcia and everything that's been happening in his life. You trained him for over a year. I'm just curious, what have you been, what's been going? Maybe two years.

Two years, yeah. What's been your reaction to everything that's been going on the last couple of days? Well, before I address that, let me just say something, if I might. Number one, Ryan was out at my gym when he was 17. Okay, I love Ryan Garcia. You're one of the earliest fans of him. I remember talking to you years ago for a profile on him, and you thought he was going to be great. I knew he was going to be great.

I hustled up a guy to put some big money into a managerial contract when he was 17. Before he was even a pro, I knew where it was all going to go. I had talked to some pretty important people about him, and they listened. They trusted my judgment. But things happened. And that contract that I offered, and it was good money, it was a lot of perks. And he was 17. He wasn't even a pro yet.

So, yes, I saw the handwriting on the wall. And that's not just because I imagine it. I saw him in action. And I saw what he was doing to pros and grown men in my gym. And I'm going, okay, this is special. Now, that being said, I used to give Ryan Wright homes. He lived with his sister right there in North Hollywood with his little brother. And so,

you know, we always had a good time. We always laughed a lot because he was funny. He was personable and intelligent and great and athletic and powerful. He had it all. I mean, look, look at the following he's got. Okay. But you could see this before any of that really manifested itself, if you knew what you're looking at. And so I always had a great relationship with Ryan.

And, you know, then he signed with Oscar. and went through X amount of fights and then gave me a call a couple years back, you know, as a grown man. And, you know, I was always thankful for that, that he put his trust in me. And we had a great time for those two years together. We had a good, fun, clean time together. You know, he knew what he was doing when he hired me. In other words, who he was getting.

He was getting an old school, kind of, you know, old general. And he knew it was going to be serious. If he was going to hire me, it was going to be serious. And I would say it was, 100% serious. He dedicated, worked hard. Just great. What an athlete. So, you know, Ryan is very close to my heart.

I really, really love the kid. He's so much fun. Yeah. I mean, if you wanted to hang with him, somebody, Ryan would be one of the great guys to hang on. Trust me. Okay. So I relate to Ryan a lot. And I just, my heart breaks for him for any negative thing that befalls him. He's a good kid. He's not a bad person at all. And you hate to see bad things happen to good people. and that's pretty much how I feel about Ryan and what I see going on here.

He's capable of great things. I mean, I think we saw that the other night. He's so capable. And I hope whatever, I don't know, I mean, I heard about what's going on. I know none of the details because I'm not that type of. I'm really not digging into that stuff. I don't, I'm not on social media. I don't have any accounts.

I don't go on anything. I read my morning news like old school, you know, out of a newspaper. And I sit in the backyard. I read my, I have a cup of coffee. I really don't involve myself in a lot of drama. I got enough drama in my, my own life, you know. I've got wife of close to 50 years. I've got grandkids, I got 10 grandkids, one great grandk kid.

I got my hands full, you know, and I got my gym, and I got my fighters and my close friends that I've had since before high school that I talked to regularly. And so I really don't have time for other people's drama, you know. And so, but, you know, it's almost impossible not hearing about what happened recently. It is the boxing business. So like I said, it's something that I really don't like happening to people that I love. I'll ask you this. Did it stun you? Did it surprise you when it was revealed that there was a substance in him?

Well, I can tell you this. I saw nothing of the sort. Nothing that would have ever led me to believe. Ryan, first off, Ryan's put together already. I don't see the need for it. He's built naturally really well, okay? He's proportioned really well, head to toe. So he's got the perfect boxers build, you know,

very well proportioned and evenly distributed. Broad shoulders. He's just, I, it was, I never saw. anything that would lead me to believe that that was a possibility. You know, he's actually very conscious, or conscientious about his look, you know. And so, yeah, no, I mean, I've never seen anything that would lead me in the, I've never suspected anything like that.

I was with him a lot every day. I was a hands-on guy. I'd meet him in the morning when we were in Coronado, every day to run. I was down there. And then the gym, on weekends, we'd go on our day off, or on our week, you know, we'd go out to eat, you know, just the small group of us.

We had a great time. It was really a very team concept type of thing. And it was very well regulated. And, yeah, you know, so I, like, I said, to me, I never saw anything that would ever lead me to believe anything nefarious like that was going on. What do you think about the other stuff? And I know you're not, as you said, not on social media every day, but while Ryan, never,

never should say, while Ryan has always been big personality, something has changed over the last few months that have made it even bigger and taken it to some darker places in some circumstances where he's out there publicly saying stuff like, I drink every day, I smoke every day. Maybe some of it's trolling, maybe some of it's not. There was video of him during the fight week in New York out of the club, at least on a Monday, and he said he went out a couple of days during that week. That doesn't strike me as the kind of guy he was when he was around you,

when he was around Eddie Renoso before that. It just seems like something has changed in his world that's changed his behavior. Yeah. You know, people get older. They experience things and want to experience other things. They get new friends and new associates. And, you know, look, Ryan's a charismatic guy. People want to be around them, male and female. Okay.

and I think that would explain some of this. He's in demand. I know he's got a lot of people that, look, I mean, I think he was his greatest promoter was Ryan Garcia. I mean, that takes a lot of intelligence and savvy and charm. He figured, he figured,

it out before anybody. That goes to show you the IQ on this kid. He's having fun. He's 25. I've had fighters that could burn the camp at both ends that come and kick your ass the next day. At will. I could probably think of a couple

that have been in your camp that have done that. Diego Corrales, perhaps, being one of them. No, when Diego was with me, he didn't. Okay. No, no, no. He was like, when Ryan was Smith with me, Ryan was really a dedicated Dan. And I suppose he still is in a way that maybe not everyone understands.

But I certainly had fighters that were, you know, oh, believe me, I could tell you the stories. Guys that were contenders, champions. Look, they're in their 20s. I was in my 20s. I worked in nightclubs when I was young. I could stay up for two days and go, I hang with the dittabababababab bang. and not feel a damn thing. And, you know,

rinse, wash, rinse, repeat. You know, so he's, he's, he's at the peak of his, you know,

physical well-being. And, you, you feel like you're going to live forever. At 25. I know. I did. So,

uh, look, it's not the end of the world. You know? So you were, when you watched, that fight against Devin Haney. And we'll put aside for a second the stuff that's happened in the aftermath,

which Ryan obviously has to address the positive test and all those things. But when you watched that fight, what did you make of the way Ryan fought and how he was able to do what he did to a guy that many believed was a top 10 pound-for-pound guy? Okay. I'm not even going to address the fight yet before I tell you this. Okay. Because before the fight, I don't like going on.

record about picking winners and losers because of what I do. Okay. And I don't want to run into that next guy. I go, hey, man, you pick the, you know, and I've got to ask him questions for an upcoming. You know, I get that all the time, Joe. Exactly. I know you.

See, and Chris, that's why I really, I'm like. We live in a gambling company world, Joe. And, and look, I try. Here's the thing. I work with fighters. I may work with that kid one day. You never know. I've worked with fighters that have left and come back more than once. Okay. You know, the old grass is greener on the other side sometimes. And then sometimes they figure it out and they realize, you know, who's in their corner through thick and thin. So here's what I said before the fight to two people off the record.

one was a reporter and one wasn't. They were really the only people that, you know, were with me at a certain time and place where I felt comfortable talking. I know we weren't being recorded. And all I said was this. I said, Devin Haney is the perfect opponent for Ryan. Well, why is that? Well, number one, he's a right-hander. Okay.

no right-hander's beating them ever in the pros it's number one number two he'll keep his distance from you he's not like a pit bull who's going to pressure you and try to get nose to nose with you so he's a right-hander that'll keep his distance from you he's not a knockout puncher well there's three three good things for ryan right there it's a right-hander he'll keep his distance he's not a knockout puncher he's not a knock-out puncher he's not a knockout puncher well there he'll keep his distance. He's not a knockout puncher. And he's got a certain set of punches he throws, and that's it.

Perfect guy for Ryan. Ryan fought Devin Haney six times. In the amateurs. The last one, he beat him. And that's the important one. What happened the last time I fought you? I beat you. Okay? So,

that's important. that's good for your confidence. So all the things, right-hander, distance, not a big puncher, limited variety of punches. It's a perfect guy for Ryan. Because all Ryan has to do is to hit you with that left hook. And I'm going to tell you something right now, Chris, and I said it before when I was working with him.

I don't know if everyone would believe him. He is the hardest puncher per square inch of anybody. ever worked with. It is mind-boggling how the velocity, the shortness of it when he wants to be,

like when he pulled out of that little clench with the right hand, that short hook, you don't, you know, yeah, when he hits things in the gym besides people, when he hits instruments of technique,

whether it's the Fierce Reflex bag, which his father owns the company, which is a great teaching tool. I really like it. The heavy bag, the speed, I don't care what it is, you're mesmerized by the speed and power. He generates so much power within such a short stroke. It's frightening. It's frightening. I don't know who could actually.

I think he's going to come into a phase where nobody's going to get out of there. Conscious, if you're a right-hander especially. It's funny, a lot of the criticism of Devin after the fact was about his chin. It doesn't have a chin. My takeaway from watching that fight was, shit, he's got a great chin. He got up. The first one, Joe, the first round. No, in the first round?

He didn't go down. That was clean. And that's when you're cold, too. I don't care you can warm a ball. Your head isn't used to it yet. Okay? You get hit like that from Ryan Garcia in the first round and get up? No, my hat is off.

Listen, none of this is meant to diminish Devin Haney as a fighter. I just think that much of Ryan Garcia. I always have. I've always said it. And he is. He's very smart. He, look, I guarantee you, Ryan Garcia, had devised exactly what he did in the ring.

He did what he was going to do, what he decided to do, period. He sets traps, as you well know, for opponents. And I think Devin, in the second half of that fight, walked into a few of them. I kind of lulled Devin to sleep in a way in those early rounds. I just don't think, yeah, no, I agree with that. I mean, but the fight was over after the first round in my mind. you look it's like getting hit by a car okay you yeah you can walk away for everybody just limp a little bit you're going to feel the effects of that that little car jolt you got for the rest of the day and that

punch that he got hit within the first round that just doesn't go away that it's like a video game you know you're at 100% power and lowers it down to like 40 real quick you know um yeah that's what happened. So he was running on a depleted power source, Devin, for the rest of that fight, and give him credit for making it through. I mean, he took some hellacious left hooks from Ryan. I've seen guys in the gym, tough, tough, good guys, headgear, big gloves get, couldn't, they, they're done. They're done after they get hit with. One of those. By my count, he ate five clean left hooks, went down on three of them, stayed up on two. That is remarkable to stay up and get up on the three got knocked down. I think Devin showed he had

heart in that fight, metal in that fight. A hundred percent. A hundred percent agree. Look, aren't you a little surprised that actually made it to the final bell? Shocked. Shocked, right? I think the seventh round knockdown, the first knockdown, was so early in the round. that you're like, there's no way he's getting out of here. And then, you know, you got to the 10th, 11th round when Ryan was kind of looking at the corner of Bill, sort of doing that whole Lomachenko thing, so I'd stop the fight.

At that point, you know what kind of wounded duck is in front of you. I was shocked that Devin made it all. And was competitive. You know, he was competitive early, and then I thought he won a couple of rounds late. Oh, look, look, you can make the case. He won two through two, three, four. six maybe at least two through five, six, then maybe eight, and then 12 was kind of a toss-up.

Like, he was... No, no, look. Devon, these guys are champions for a reason. And you talk to any champion, and they'll tell you, I don't care which champion talk to. They go, they're all good. They're all good. Once you get, at that level, they're all good. They can take it better.

They can dish it out better. Their defenses a little bit, because you can't get there unless a lot of, lot of working parts are really in order, okay? And that's how you get there. And then to stay there, that's the trick, you know? And so Haney's got those qualities, championship and champion qualities. And, you know, look, I mean, you haven't seen the last of it in Haney. No way.

No way. I mean, hell, who didn't lose all Lee lost? Duran lost, Leonard lost. Oh, you go down the list. Sugary Robinson had 19 losses. Yeah, I mean, come on. It's wild. Most of those came later on.

Correct, yeah. I mean, didn't Sugar Robinson fought Jake Lamont like three times in a month or three times a couple of months? Is that insane to even think about? Incredible. Right. Incredible. And these were long fights, too. Like, you mean, wild.

So, no, no, it's true. And, you know, one loss is not the end of the world. It really isn't. And especially when you're as dedicated, and Devin Haney's a dedicated, you do not sustain that, that assault unless you have worked your butt off because your legs want to disconnect from the shot

that the brain takes, and they just want to stop working for you. And, you know, a lot of guys will just be unconscious from it. A lot of guys will be staggered by it. A lot of guys will go down from it. It's like having to somebody, you know, pull the rope out from underneath you. And, you know, give Devin Haney credit. He really showed his worth as a champion.

You know, the weight obviously was a big story going into the fight. Ryan coming in three plus pounds heavier. And on the broadcast early, one thing I brought up was the second fight between Diego and Jose Luis Castillo, where Castillo came in, what was it, three and a half pounds? overweight for that fight. How much of a difference do you think that makes on fight night, the three plus pounds that you don't cut? It makes, the difference it makes is that you don't have to cut it.

Okay. It's not so much that you, because after the WAN, they're both going to be heavy. but it's it's not having to lose that 3.3 and the strain on your body okay so if you

don't have to lose three you didn't if you looked at Haney Haney looked very drawn he takes a lot to him to get down in which he has to work exactly naturally a big guy which is why I say sometimes

you wouldn't do that not sometimes You wouldn't do that if you had to fight the same day. He might be a junior middleweight. Exactly, my point. This is what I'm saying. They kill themselves. He didn't look good.

He did not look physically good, making $140. Okay. Ryan didn't make it, which means he didn't have to end up looking like Devin Haney. Okay. Which means you didn't have to debilitate your metabolism and your body and your brain. Okay. You were able to keep the flu. woods in you and the food and you didn't have to do the two three day starvation diet so oh I'm

sure he had a certain point he he was you know worrying trying to cut it then at a certain point you go there's no way there's just no way did you train Diego for that rematch right with castillo yeah uh-huh when you think back on that that fight now are you talking about the one where they didn't fight. No, where they did fight, where he got knocked out. That was the third, because the second one, we chose not to fight. Okay, but there was the whatever, yeah, you didn't, that fight didn't happen. The one where he got knocked out in the fourth round.

Right. Where Castillo came into that fight three plus pounds heavier. Yeah. And, I mean, when you think back on it now, would you do anything? Do you have any regrets about going forward with that? You got to remember. I'm not the final word. on that there's a lot of people involved in in in that whole you know so I look I mean

Diego wanted the fight regardless and a lot of other players that were involved in that wanted that fight to happen you know at a certain point there's no turning back you know So, yeah, those are things that, again, trying to make weight at a, at a weight you don't belong, and then screwing everything up, okay, which is what happened in that fight with Corral. And then you're in there with a guy that didn't have to, you know, suffer. Right? we suffered and they didn't. So, yeah, it's debilitating to lose that weight.

We're here, obviously, in the press center for Canello against Mungia. Canello undisputed super middleweight, I'm a undefeated, but maybe a little untested at the elite level at 168. When you start kind of studying this fight, what are some of the big talking points that stand out to you early on? Well, you know, Mungia is a big. strong guy. That's true. And he's a hard hitter. And he's got experience. He's got 43 fights under his belt. Okay. But he also made a switch in trainers, too. So what was he looking to do? What was the

rationale for switching trainers? Do you have an answer to that? Well, I think part of it was the circumstances that Eric Morales was dealing with in Tijuana. I believe he's running for mayor of Tijuana. and just didn't have the same amount of time to work with Jaime. I also think that maybe he was looking for a little more balanced approach to training. I mean, he and Eric were your best defense as your offense. I think with Freddie there's been more of an effort to be a more complete fighter. Okay, see, so this is what I actually talked to Mungia about in the fighter interview. Was, and let's face it.

I think it's obvious if you looked at a few of his fights, Derevanchenko in particular, which was his latest, toughest fight, right? The flaws were then they become apparent. And I asked Jaime, I said, Jaime, are you addressing? I think the most obvious thing right now going in this fight against Canelo is shoring up your deep.

defense. Your offense is there. But see, he swings so powerfully that things pull away. So his right hand pulls away when he's digging to that. See, when he throws a one-two, he's going to follow that with a liver shot and then a hook. It's a pattern. He'll stick to a pattern. But he throws it with such power that things start flying apart defensively. You know, and then sometimes when you reach for things, and it's a little bit longer hooked to the body, it's only natural that the right hand is going to pull away a little. Or, you know, maybe not pairing the jab so much.

You've got that right hand over there when you're jabbing next to the side of your head, and you leave the middle open for the opponent's jab. He got hit with that a lot by Derevanchenko. He got hit with right hands over low left hands. He got hit with a variety of, rioting a bunches, okay? It would pretty much everything in that way.

But you know what? He takes it and then he gets buzzed and then it comes back, you know? He's kind of a freak that way. And then he comes back and, you know, then you've got to start questioning yourself. You know, man, I've hit this guy with everything. He's coming back and now he's murdering me to the body with that left hook. And now you got Derevincenko on his hands and knees from that liver shot in the 12th round, I think it was. And, you know, so he's got guts.

He's got heart. He's determined. He hits hard. He's big. He's a legit 68-pounder. He's got 43 fights. He's got that experience. And so I think we've kind of summed up Jaime Mungia as best we can, right?

And on the other hand, you've got Canello, who's, we've got 60, what, four fights right now? 62 and 2. Got a draw, the Golofkin draw mixed in there. Maybe 60, yeah, so 62, 2, and 1. It's a hell of a record. A lot of things. Now, most of the guys that I grew up with in the 60s and 70s,

they all had at least 65 fights, 70, 80, 90 fights. Okay. So, you know, they were, and they were still fighting great, but they fought a lot of four rounds. rounders, six rounders, eight rounders. You know, you just didn't get a title shot at 20 fights back then. Okay. You were just coming out of your four, six, eight rounders.

So, you know, Canella's got a lot of experience. Is he is, I don't, you know, I think he's very selective about what he does right now in the ring. He's not in any rush. Although, you know, if you start moving away from him a lot, he's going to step it up a little bit more. If you're not moving too much and holding your ground, well, he'll figure you out. He'll even maybe give you a few rounds

until he starts picking you apart. And then he's very, very smart that way. Then he starts finding openings. and making openings by doing certain things. He'll touch you here, touch you there, keep touching his hand, and then come somewhere else with it when you think it's going back to where he's been touching you.

So he's very smart, and then he's very powerful. So, you know, when you see Derevanchenko hitting Mungia and causing some damage, then you ask yourself, what if that was Canello's right hand? you know, if he hits you cleanly. So, you know, these are the questions. And there's a reason why, you know, look,

we talk about betting favorites. I mean, look at the last favorite, the numbers were way off, weren't they? Well, in this one, in the Canello fight here with Mungia, I think Canel is a minus 550. Sounds about right. and I think that's reasonable, you know. He should be the favorite.

So, but I don't underestimate Mungia's power and his heart and his determination and his youth. See? So he's got some good things going for him as well. I think, look, Conno's a different fighter than the guy that kind of dominated boxing from 2018 to 2021. to my eyes, he doesn't throw the kind of combinations. No, he doesn't. He used to. If you looked at my notes, as I viewed film,

it would say he's throwing one and two shots at a time. You're exactly right. And I think defensively, he's a different fighter, too. At his best against, like, Daniel Jacobs and the second fight against Golovkin, I thought he slipped punches a lot more or rolled with punches more. now he seems more willing to either parry them or let you punch into his gloves.

Right. That's the case. But see, that comes to the experience. Sure. Because what happens is that you know what it's all about. You know what you can get away with. And you know that you can actually let a guy shoot off some steam, wear himself out a little bit, by you not wearing yourself out. And he's, you know, this is true what you point out.

and it's accurate and it's insightful. But, you know, with experience comes some benefits. And one of them is how to survive, relaxed, and, you know, in front of a guy without having to exert a lot of your own energy, waiting for him to slow down and looking for the opportunities and capitalizing. Look, he'll be more than happy to land one or two great shots every couple of rounds. And that's the question I have. like can Mungia take

those shots? Because pretty much every fight I've called that he's been in, he's been either hurt, wobbled or backed up. And these punchers are not what Canello is. Canello can still hit like a mule.

Yes. He still has that blood force behind both hands. What happens in the third or fourth round when Mungia takes it for the first time? One thing that Canello does is he really drops his knuckles in

nice. See? That's something you learn by hitting the heavy bag a lot. And having been instructed that way, because I've incurred a lot of fighters, great fighters that don't really do that. I'll have dropped their hand in and hit just the

knuckles on the bag, not the flat hand. No. I always say, what do you not want to get hit with on the hand? Yeah, those things, right there, the knuckles. Galafin used to be pretty good at that, too. Exactly. That's because Abel's Sanchez was his trainer and Abel's old school that way. He's a heavy bag guy and he's a body cushion guy, which I am too.

You know, like I always say, if you had to keep one thing on the floor, what would it be? Would it be a speed bag? Would it be a double-end bag? Would it be a weave bag? Would it be the jump rope? Would it be the uppercat? No, it would be a heavy bag because it's the closest thing to a human being. you know, in weight, right?

And it develops stamina if you hit it a lot. See, a lot of guys don't hit the heavy bag a lot. But I always say, you want to punch hard and well in the later rounds? Hit the heavy bag 10 rounds every day, okay? And just don't play with it. Find a pocket and drill it as hard as you can without losing your defense. Learn how to keep your defense tight while dropping in, bam, hard shots. after another. And believe me, guys will be surprised because a lot of guys wear out six, seven,

eighth round, and you're still digging knuckles into them like you're hitting that heavy bag on their arms or wherever, and they feel it, okay? And this is how you win fights in the late rounds. I'm not just saying the heavy bag, but there's a combination of things, okay? I use everything on the floor, but I never neglect the heavy bag because it's like it weighs a lot. well joe glad to have you back on air man and if you uh feel someone over your shoulder on flight night it's just me looking at your notes what's joe if you if you can read my chicken scratch then you know what you deserve a gold medal joe appreciate your time man now thank chris by the way just lastly you're you're i i want to say this because you're you're a credit to the game

you're really you love the game that's the only way you can be a credit of game is by loving it and i know you love it and you do your home homework, much more than I do, I can tell you that. And I want to tell you how much I appreciate you. And thank you for having me on your show. Appreciate it, Joe. You got it. And when we come back, my conversation with Edgar Berlanga.

All right. 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 IHard 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'm 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. 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 Podcast, 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 Little Kim? 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 all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.

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. Edgar Berlanga joins me now. Super Middleweight contender. And as we discussed earlier, Petty Thief still owes $600 now that you're down to me.

Look at you're making nice purses. You can at least stop mooching free meals off me, all right? I got you. Yeah, I bet you do. Yeah, I bet you do. Edgar and his entrepid manager, Keith Conley, like to charge meals to my room at hotels. And his manager always says he's going to pay me back and never actually does. But good to see you, man.

Good to see it here. And now you're number one contender for the belts that are on the line on Saturday night. That was made official by the WBA in the last couple of weeks. that feels like a pretty big moment for you yeah um i'm excited man you know is that it's really a dream come true you know just to just to even be at this level you know i got to thank god my lord and savior man because without him i wouldn't be here um you know this is this is a this is a big thing happening now you know um you know conello knows it we know it you know it's going to be a big a big thing a big fight that could possibly made this year you know

um i feel like it's going to be one of the biggest fights but despite you know ryan gosh Yeah, and, you know, in the Devin Haney fight being big, but between me and him, for Atlantic people, it's going to be something crazy. We're sitting here now in the press center for the Canelo-Mungia fight just days away, sitting right in front of a digital poster of Canello and Mungia. And there was some talk that maybe it would be your face on that poster as early as today or tomorrow when that fight actually happens. That didn't materialize Canelo went that direction.

Is it any way bittersweet kind of being here, you know, knowing. you're in line for that shot, but you were reasonably close to getting it. Yeah, I mean, I kind of knew it wasn't going to happen just for the simple fact that I just came off my fight. You know, remember he fought in January, so he had that, he had a long time to, you know, to get ready and prep and, you know, and obviously negotiate the fight with him. But with me, you know, I just, and then I got cut too with the headbutt, so that was another thing that would have been too much of a rush, you know, I feel like it would have happened too quick, you know, and I feel like for me and him, we need at least like four months.

to marinate the fight, but also, like, promote the shit out of it and really do a good job with it, you know, it happened so fast. And I'm saying that they didn't do a good job promoting it, but I feel like it just this fight happens so fast of announcing it that they didn't get the, it didn't get the right promotion and need it, you know, and with us, I know that we're going to have that time, you know, and I know, you know, the promotion for that fight is going to be crazy. When you talk to your manager, Keith Conley, and your promoter Eddie Hearn about how realistic it is that that fight will be next for you. What are they telling you?

It's looking like 99.9% is going to happen. You know, I spoke with kind of those people's, you know, they're interested, they want the fight, you know, we want the fight. So it's about, I guess it's just about him just, you know, he got to win this weekend and that's it, you know, and the fight is on. You know, it makes sense. He knows it makes sense. You know, right now he's in a, we're in a weight division.

If you really look at everybody that's in the weight division, there's only about three of us that actually are mega stars you know you got me you got mungia and then you got benavitas that moved up to 175 that actually like are making noise like a really make note and then you got you know charlo but charlo's like going through his little situations you know plant already got two ls but you're talking about undefeated guys you know superstars in the sport that got countries behind them is me mungia and benavitas if you really think about it you know so cana lano knows those are the big fights to be made right now you get what i'm saying especially me for September.

But not only that, you know, you got, I could be a legend in my country, man. For real, like, you know, me being the first male guy fighter to win multiple world championships. Undisputed, man, it's different, bro. It's like Amanda Serrano did it, but it's not, like, I keep saying it's not a bigger impact as if, you know, like a male guy, you know what I'm saying, a male fighter will do it. Especially if you do it by going through a Canelo Alvarez. Yeah, exactly. It's about who you fight, too, in these situations. Exactly.

I'm not only just like taking the, you know, the victory, but it's like what you just said is about beating. I'm beating a fucking legend, bro. You know, and I'm beating the guy that had the crown at 168. And, you know, I'm going in there, you know, and I'm pulling it all on the line for myself. You know, I know, I know that this would mean a lot. You know what I'm saying?

For me, for my family. And just for my status, you know, for my last name, you know, you see he has his last name, Canelo. I got my last name Belanga. So I want to put my last name on top of the world, you know. When did you start thinking about the possibility of fighting Canello? You've been kind of in the same weight class as him for a few years now. He's been collecting those belts over the last few years.

When did you start to think, like, this could be real. I want to fight this guy. Bro, before I was even pro, like, me seeing him, and I already knew I was going to meet up with him. And I seen what he did to Cotto. I was like, oh, yeah, I got to get back for sure, for sure. Like, for sure, I got to get back, you know? And, yeah, like, then when I turned pro, then I started knocking, like, my first four fights, I already knew I said, he was already talking about it.

Like, yo, in the future we're going, this fight's going to be. You know what's so crazy, bro? This shit is so crazy. I had a dream. I had a dream. Two dreams were kind of, I had two dreams. The first dream I had was last year. This was like around November.

And the dream, I had a dream that I fought. And he came to my fight. And he was at my fight. And I was on top of the ropes celebrating. I just knocked the guy out. And he was pointing at me telling, telling Eddie in my dream, that's the guy, that's the, that's the guy that's going to, that's going to fight me. This is the guy right here. And he just kept pointing at me.

And I looked at him and he told me, he was like that me and him is going to make history. And it's like, you're, I swear in front of Jesus. I had that dream. He came out. He started showing me pointers. Like in the dream, you started showing me, but I got to do more waist movement. I got to use my legs a little bit more. but he said everything else is fantastic.

And then the second dream I had was like a month ago I had with him. He was at a fight. And it was weird. He was fighting. He was the main event. I was co-main event. And he was in the stands for some reason. And I seen him.

And I wanted to go up to him. But I was like, nah, I was like, fuck, let me go up to him. And I went up to him and I said, Campion, I spoke to him. And I went in his ear. And I said, we got to make this fight happen. I said, you know, this fight is going to be something amazing for the sport. and it's going to be history for me and you. And he was like, he said,

I said, why, and I started to talk a time in Mexico. I was like, ma'mo, cabron, come on. He started laughing. He said, no, no, mamma se la pellea. He said, when you want to do it? He told him, when you want to do August or September? Because you know, August, the Saudis is going to show. He was like, what are you going to do August?

And he was like, no, no, no, let's do it August. And he was like, nah, nah, no, let's do it September. He was I don't want to do it in August. Let's do it in August. Let's do it September. Well, you got to do Mexican Independence Day weekend. Yeah. Yeah, but so that's what he was saying.

He was like, ah, let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. But yeah, it was crazy, bro. And look, no, I'm here, man. How would you approach a promotion for a fight with Kinellick? We've seen Mungia pretty much be as respectful as humanly possible, just basically say. No, I'm respectful, bro.

Like, you know me for many years now. You know, you know, I never came out of character or nobody. But sometimes you promote. Like, sometimes you want people to get used it. And I got to promote the fight, but I already know how I'm going to promote the fight. through the artist. You know, I got a Kanghe, I got Mike Towers, I got all these, like, you probably don't know these guys. You know, a few, yeah. But, you know, I got Anuel, I got Bad Bunny. Like, I got all these guys to really, like, push the fuck out of this fight for me, you know,

and these are guys that got millions of followers, bro. Like, if you probably, like, Adolet following up, it's probably, like, over a billion followers, you know, and, and they already spoke to them. Like, I was in a big concert this past weekend on Saturday. I went to Alex sensation concert in Jersey, had all the stars. They all the, and they put me on the, and they put me on the stage. It was 20,000 people. They put me on the stage. Alex sensation said, Canelo and Belanga is going to be September. 20,000 people was going fucking crazy, bro. I got the video on my phone. And when they were screaming, right? When they said my name, the Puerto Rican champion

from Puerto Rico, bro, I felt 20,000 people like, I felt that energy, bro. My body got hot. And I said, yo, this shit is going to happen, man. This is crazy, bro. Like, we're here now. You know, so that fighter is going to promote it by itself, but I'm going to definitely have, like, all the artists like really backing it up, you know what I'm saying, to making this event like a concert, you know. I remember your last fight, I turned around. I didn't even see him there, but I turned around, and I see Fat Joe sitting right behind me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I had a lot of other, like, celebs that was there that, you know, Spanish superstars that you don't even know that was there. We seen Adel, you know, I had Lua, Lale, walk me out. He's fucking, he came and walked the streets of Puerto Rico, you know, so, yeah, man, it's going to be, it's going to be something crazy. I already got who I want to walk out. You know, I want Fat Joe.

bad bunny to walk me out. I want Mark Anton to sing the national anthem. So, you know, this is, I know, I want to make this shit some. I'm a white guy from Boston. So like, you get like Donnie Walbert rocking out. Then I'm cool. I probably woke out with Donald Trump. That'll make a statement. That's for sure. To get there, Canello's got to win. And if nothing else, I think this is going to be an entertaining fight between these two guys. I don't think Montgomery can't think he's a come forward fighter. What do you think of this fight? How do you, how does this play, if I play out in your mind. It's a tough fight for both fighters, man.

You know, you got Mungir that throws a fucking a hell of a puncher. He throws a lot of fucking, his punch count is crazy all around. Almost double the number of punches thrown in the Canelo. Yeah, for sure. E to 40, I think is the number. But the thing is that with Canelo, Canelo precise with his punches, you know, he knows where to punch you at. You see how he punched throwing on Charlo.

You know, he hit him right on the spot and dropped him. So that's like for that, right? So I say Canelo could probably knock him out if he lands a shot on his chin. And if he doesn't land, he's going to be in for a long night because Mungia is not going to stop. He's a machine. You know, he's going to keep going and going and going and going and stop. So I'm leaning on Canelo, obviously. I think Conello is going to win.

But, yeah, Mungia is a beach too. And you were kind of preparing for the possibility that you were going to face Mungia months ago. I mean, that was in discussions. Like, as you were kind of watching him, what were you thinking about the best way to fight him? When a guy's throwing that many punches at you, what's the best counterattack? First of all, you know, one thing we wasn't doing,

we wasn't going to run or move around the ring. You know, my main thing was just, you know, to have a good job. You know, we got to watch with his left hooks. He has great left hooks to the body, to the left hook to the body and to the top. So he throws a lot of punches, but you just got to have your IQ on point.

You have to have my jab, what I had to have been in his face all night. you know and and match him you know he's throwing all those punches you know my conditioning would have to been at an all-time high you know to be able to go 12 rounds I know that fight would would not go 12 rounds among gear because I'm just I'm a type of fighter that when I step in there with guys that's like at that level my IQ like goes up you know what I'm saying like is it's you know how you got that you know how you got that thing when you when you fight up like when you when you when you play if you ever play basketball oh yeah you play basketball like with a regular guy

you're like eh you're taking it cool but then when you got got when you got to guy in there as elite you yeah yeah your IQ everything goes up you start like you start going crazy and that's that's me you know like I've always been like that like not saying that I took any of the fighters that I fought lightly but you know you know how it is bro like you stepping in there with one of these guys bro my mindset everything is just going to go shoot to the roof you know what I did to McCory I was already on McCorme like McCorme I knew McCorme was dangerous he hits fucking hard yeah I felt his shots in the fight you know and I was like no yeah I can't get hit one I can't get hit and I got to be i got outsmart this motherfucker and that's what happened i just outsmarted him so that was basically

is that what makes you believe that you can win a fight like that that your game elevates based on the competition because you know if that fight gets made the story's going to be he's not ready he's not ready he's not ready why do you believe you are ready because i already know myself like look so padraig right they was looking at all my old fights right and they thought i was going to fight the same fight i was with quigley and with all these guys but like i said i knew the the competition was stepping up. I knew McCorrie was on the feet. I know he had the IBO heavyweight world title at 0.75. I knew he was knocking things out. You know what I'm saying? I know he had a hammer. They called him the hammer. I knew he had a hammer. So

my IQ just went to the next level and then you know just me just in the gym too and Mark for right. My coach just working and working on fundamentals on IQ on the basics. You know and his coach came to me and was like yo bro, y'all did like magic or something. And I would start a laugh. I was like what you mean? I did what you mean? I the magic. He's like, bro, everything we was practicing on, you didn't do nothing that you did any of your fights. Any of your fights, you didn't make no mistakes. The shit that, he was like, bro, we was watching you day in and day out, like studying every move, everything you was doing. He said, you didn't look nothing like that, how you looked your last couple fights. I said,

bro, it's just, that's just me, bro. Like, if I step up another, if I step up again, and it's, it's Canelo, my shit's going to go even more. Like, boom, my shit's going to fucking mouth. That's not, that's why I'm like, let everybody, let Vegas put me as down on the dog let all these motherfuckers hate on me let them say i'm not ready let them say all this shit but the night of the fight they're gonna see before i let you go uh you mentioned how big a fight the garcia haini fight was obviously been kind of tarnished over the last 24 hours with the news of that positive test as a fighter like what what goes through your mind when you read news like that and see news like that it was sad man because i'm not a lot i see like ryan ryan was

enjoying himself he was going crazy i'm not going to lie bro like we need we need stuff like that like you had artists right that like anuel right anuel is a big big big big big land artist he watched boxing because of me right but now he's he told me yo bro ever since i watched that fight and all that shit he was doing now he's actually tuned into boxing and that was coming from his mouth over facetime with him and i say he said bro i watched you for i always watch a fight you know what i'm saying you're my brother so i'm always watch your fight but i wasn't in tune with boxing like when i see that motherfucker that niggas he's like sorry he's like that dude it's fucking crazy,

bro. All that you can be on the stage, doing this, doing that. You know what I'm saying? Trolling, he made a big guy like that in the land

in the street falling in love with boxing. He's like, you know, I'm going to start watching boxing because this shit is exciting. And I was like, damn,

that's crazy, bro. Like, it is, he, you know, people, he actually did a huge impact on boxing, you know what I'm saying

for doing all the trolling and everything. But going back to what you were saying, it's sad, you know what I'm saying? Like, I hope. I mean, it's real.

Yeah, the positive test is the positive test. We don't know yet how much, you know, their trace elements. Is there a significant amount? We don't know the quantity of the banned substance. We just know it's there. So there's something that's there. And look, if you're, and I've talked to Bill Haney about this. I've talked to Devin briefly, you know, people around him.

Like, they're devastated by all this. I mean, that's the biggest concern is it's a fighter in the ring, man. Like, you guys risk your lives every time you put lace those gloves up. If you're going to beat me, you know, beat me square. Don't come three pounds over. don't you know stop you know you don't got to you band substance to be that then that goes to show what type of fighter I am you know I'm that I'm that dangerous that you have to do all this techniques to try to beat me you know I'm just sad because I grew up with both of them

you know in the amateurs we used all that national tournaments together we won national tournaments together you know just me seeing it I'm like damn bro and then especially I was going for Devon too you know what I'm saying I was arguing about the Mexicans that was there they was like me nah Like they was going crazy. I'm like, yo, I'm going to Devon, man. Like, oh, but he almost pulled it out. Even still, even going down three times, he almost pulled it out. Yeah, bro. He would have kept that jab in his face, bro, like how he was. Remember, like after the first round, then he started keeping that jab in his face. Yeah. He got a little bit lazy. A little bit lazy. Yeah, yeah, he slept on him too much, boy. It was like too,

too much, bro. It was too much he slept on him. Speed kills in this game. Yeah, man. And with that, with Ryan, bro, you got to be alert. Just like Tank, he, like, Tank was the blueprint of being Ryan. You know what I'm saying? Like he was dodging all the left hooks. You know what I'm saying? He kept throwing the left hook. Obviously, at some point, right, certain fighters are going to stay the same. Yeah. You got certain fighters like me that will keep out.

I'm like a sponge in a sport, bro. So I'm going to keep elevating my game. I'm going to keep doing different things. So whatever. So if you see me in my last fight, don't expect that for me to be, for that to be me in my next fight. You know what I'm saying? Because I'm going to keep elevating my game each and every fight. And certain fighters, they just stay stuck with the same.

moves they do the same shit they don't change nothing they do the same hem with the same combos the same repetition the same everything the left hook and I'm like damn I've really seen when Ryan was like Ryan couldn't land the left hook no more and like for two or three rounds he was just running around the ring yeah and everybody was like boo-bo boom but that's a tactic he used for his last fight he slept them he sleeps you he moves around moves around have you running after him have you run and then he sleeps you then when he stops he shoots the left hook you're not you're not expecting it because It's a trap because he just had you running around chasing him after the ring three rounds.

That's what he did. What's the guy he fought? Duarte. He did that to running. Doing shoulder roll, doing the shoulder roll. Playing around. I don't know what that was. There was a shoulder roller.

I don't know what that defense was. I don't know. But that's what I'm saying. It gets people frustrated because people see that scenario. What are you doing? And they get people frustrated out their game. And like what he did to Duarte? What he did?

Keep moving around. Can move it. I slept them. And as soon as he went. boom landed the hook it was over fight over you know and people people criticize people have criticized devon's chin

after that I actually think the opposite I think the man got up from three left hooks and took two others like that's not a guy with a witch name me one fighter that Ryan's fought that got up from that shot like Francisco Fonseca

and I remember being in that fight took one of them and was asleep like Devin got up that's no chin you talk about a chin that's a chin he has a chin like what you said get knocked down three times and then getting up up and still fighting down on your mouthpiece and finishing the fight he has a chin and he has

hard and balls you know like what you said a guy that got hit with a left hook like that the first round he probably would have been out cold absolutely that was a clean you know and he stood in there he wetted the storm and kept it you know and kept it uh and kept it uh and kept it a hundred and just kept you know kept doing what he did but um yeah bro i don't know bro i just look at boxes my IQ bro is just crazy but i already i already seen him you bro when i seen him running when i see him running and i'm from room and i'm seeing him run and i'm from room and i'm seeing him run and run for two rounds and everybody's like boo, boo! I'm like, oh my God, I'm like, yo, he's saying him up, pops.

I'm selling you, he's setting him up. He's setting this kid up. He's going to set him up. He's going to run, run, run, run. And by the third round or fourth round, he's going to fucking throw that left hook. Lulls you to sleep a little bit. Imagine you're chasing somebody for three rounds that the guy don't want to throw him and he's running after him and trying to hit him.

That shit throws your game more. You know, and then you go into sleep mode. Then it's like, all right. And then boom, he starts. And then boom, that lightning left. That's all it takes. That's all it takes. Well, I hope it all kind of, we'll see how it all plays out, you know, the substances

and whatever that happened because, I mean, you know, New York is not going to play around with that. You know, if that turns out to be legit, we'll have to see how to play it out. Yeah, well, Ryan, you got to be like, you got to fight in that kid, you got to be on point from round one to round 12. Yeah. Because he has fast hands, you know. That's definitely God-given.

Yeah, that's for sure. Edgar, good to see out here in Vegas, man. Hopefully four months from now, that's your face up there on the poster. Oh, will it, man. Yes, sir. This poster is everywhere, man. posters are on every single wall of every single part of this or this casino. Yeah, for sure.

It's crazy. It's crazy. Well, good to see you, man. Yeah, likewise. That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Joe Goosin and Edgar Berlanger for joining the show. As always, subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you download podcast.

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