The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Boxing with Chris Mannix - Is The Future Bright for Canelo

Episode Date: May 10, 2023

Chris is joined by longtime boxing writer, Keith Idec to talk about Canelo's win over John Ryder, did he do enough to prove the doubters wrong about him, and what could we see next for Canelo? Later, Regis Prograis stops by to talk about his decision to sign a deal with Matchroom about what made his conversation with Eddie Hearn so special. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is boxing with Chris Manning. Oh, somebody. Punch him in the face. Anthony Joshua is a composed and ferocious finisher. Watch this. Andrew Ruiz is the heavyweight champion. 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. This is. Boxing with Chris Mannix, part of the Volume Sports Podcast Network, calling Cowards Podcast Network, like to welcome in everybody listening live on AMP. You could follow it to be there on AMP. You want to get this podcast as early as possible.

It comes out on Wednesdays. If you want to listen live, you can listen Tuesdays on AMP. Keith Ideck, senior writer from boxing scene.com. He's going to join me in just a couple of moments. We're going to break down everything that we saw. in the Canelo Alvarez John Ryder fight in Guadalajara this past weekend. I was down there ringside for that. It was an incredible atmosphere.

As far as performances go, well, we'll dive into that a little bit. A little bit later on, Regis Progray, the 140-pound champion, he joins me to discuss his rationale for signing this new deal with Matrum. Obviously, he chose between top rank and match room for this deal. He was adamant. This was the right one for it. I get into all that and more with Regis program. But first, a good friend, Keith Ideck, senior writer from boxing scene.com,

who was just telling me off air how envious he was that I was in Dallas right now for the Jake Paul's Nate Diaz press conference. I could feel and can feel, Keith, the envy in your voice as you talk about Jake Paul these days, right? Yeah, Dallas, Jake Paul, the whole deal. you know, it's a, where else could you spend a better, better spend a Tuesday afternoon, you know what I mean? Come on. Yeah, I was at that press conference and I got to admit, I expected a little more fireworks or a few more fireworks between Jake Paul and Nate Diaz. They had a face off, a couple of slaps back and forth, but knowing these two and especially Nate Diaz, how volatile he can be on stage, I expected them to maybe throw it down a little bit, but it was relatively tame up there between these two guys. It will be a big event. No question about it, August 5th, when they fight at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

A lot of Nate Diaz fans out there. Jake Paul has got a few of his own. So it'll be interesting to see. I'm going to guess you're not going to cover that. But, you know, we'll pass that on. On the site, we're going to cover it because it's a... Sure. I think it's going to get a lot of attention.

And it's an interesting fight, you know, for where Jake is in his career and, you know, and Nate Diaz has a huge fan base and everything. I think it's going to be a big event. I don't know necessarily that I'll go to it. Somebody from the site will go to it. I don't know that it will necessarily be me. But look, I think he should fight Tommy Fury again, and I think that will happen eventually. But this is a big event.

This is something they were going to do one way or the other, which obviously they're doing. So I think it'll get some attention. Yeah, I can't blame Jake for taking the bag on this one. The financial reward is significantly higher, I would think, to take on Nate Diaz, who is still a big name in the U.S. His first fight outside of his UFC contract. The buildup is going to be a lot to say the least. They're going to be talking a lot of trash to each other over the course the next few

months. And the Tommy Fury fight will be out there down the line. If the Middle East comes back through again with another pot of gold, I'm sure they'll face off against each other. But for right now, I get it. This is why it makes a lot of financial sense for Jake Paul. But that's a conversation for another podcast down the line. On this episode, Keith, I want to talk.

about what we saw last weekend from Canelo Alvarez. Canello, of course, making his return to the ring. First fight since his decision win over Ganadi Golovkin. First fight since having surgery on that left hand. First fight in Mexico in almost 12 years, in Guadalajara for almost 12 years. I can tell you from being down there, Keith, it was an incredible scene, ringside. In the neighborhood of 60,000 fans in that stadium for that night, the entrance was spectacular, a 150-piece mariachi band playing Canelo Alvarez into the ring. The crowd was into it.

Canela was into it. So it was a great buildup, no question about it. And then you had the fight. And for about five rounds, you saw signs of the old Canelo Alvarez. In the second round, you had an uppercut that busted up John Ryder's nose, broke his nose, kind of shades of that uppercut that broke Billy Joe Saunders face a couple of years before that. And then the fifth round, he puts Ryder down with a terrific one-two combination that I was actually surprised Ryder was able to get up from and continue.

But he did. And from there, Keith, if you had concerns about Canelo Alvarez at this stage of his career, you probably saw some of them validated because it seemed like he faded somewhat down the stretch again, which he's done a couple of times in recent fights. And even though he won a lopsided decision, Ryder was active over those final three rounds. You could argue won a couple of those final three rounds. So to me, it was more of a mixed bag with Canelo Alvarez.

When you watched that fight, what did you see out of Canello? I was surprised that he didn't put John Ryder away because, When Ryder got up from that, you know, it was a jab and a great right hand that put him down. When he got up, he didn't look like he was on the steadiest of legs. And I really thought the fight was going to end in the fifth round. There was a decent amount of time left in the fifth round as well. So I did think that he would finish John Ryder in the fifth. Kudos to John Ryder, though, man, because that dude is cheese, man.

That is one tough guy. And not that we didn't know that coming into the fight, but really, you know, one of the toughest performances in a high profile fight that we've seen just because he didn't come close to winning obviously but he did make rounds in the back end of the fight competitive and he won two or three rounds probably and no one would have predicted that based on what had happened in the fifth round and the way the fight had gone up until that point. So I want to give John Ryder the proper amount of credit for what he did there and, you know, it was the biggest opportunity far and away of his career. and he really went in there and he showed a lot of guts and everything. Is this the same Canelo Alvarez that we saw five years ago? Probably not.

You know, or definitely not. But I don't think there's so much slippage that we have to look at him as some kind of diminished product. Like he doesn't belong fighting the top guys or anything like that. I do think that it's a, and I know we're going to talk about this later, I don't think it's a great idea to fight Dimitri Bibbaugh on 175 pounds again. but he's still an elite level fighter. And it's not like he struggled. Like if this were a closer fight, Chris, and, you know, he won 115, 112, let's just say,

he won seven rounds, Ryder won five rounds. He gets the point for the knockdown. I would be more concerned. But the one thing I would say, though, just as a reminder to people, and I know you're well aware of this, he has 63 professional fights. if there's such a thing as an old 32-year-old fighter, he's it because he started this career when he was 15 years old, and that's almost 18 years ago. A lot of wear and tear not only in the fights, but in the training camp. So he's, you know, he's not your normal 32-year-old fighter.

You know, like, let's just say, Jamal Charlo's 32. He never fights, and he doesn't, you know, he doesn't have as much wear and tear on his body as Canello does, you wouldn't think. but, you know, 63 is a lot of fights. Yeah, and look, for more than a decade, these have been hard fights. You know, people criticize Canello's resume for bizarre reasons, but he's fought the very best, really dating back to like 2011, 2011, 2012, you know, right before he fought Floyd Mayweather. And since Floyd Mayweather, you know, 85, 90% of his opponents have been top to your guys from Eris Lendi Lara, Austin Trout in that mix.

You move on to Gannadi Gailofkin and Dmitri Bivol. He's fighting a hard distance fights. I mean, 36 rounds with Gennati Gailovkin alone, you know, is incredibly difficult. 12 rounds with Dmitri Bble. Go back further, 12 rounds with Erislandi Lara. Like, he's had to go into some wars with some of these guys. So my read on to Keith is if if you look at 2018 to 2021 Canelo being peak Canello, beginning with Goloffkin and maybe ending with

Callum Smith, Caleb Plant, whatever you want to kind of put it down. I would call that fighter an A plus fighter. The fighter I saw last weekend is probably a B plus fighter, which is still better than virtually everybody in his weight class, maybe everybody in his actual weight class, but not the same unbeatable force or complete force that he once was. I don't think he's the same defensive fighter.

He used to be, at least in terms of slipping punches, that's not there. And I do think conditioning has become an issue. It was an issue in the Demetri Bevo fight. It was an issue in the second half of the Golopkin fight. And it was an issue over the final three rounds of this fight with John Ryder. And look, I don't think these are issues that are going to go away in subsequent fights. He is an older 32 years old. But I think those skills, Keith, that we saw.

saw from him during those prime years, those are probably not going to come back. He's probably going to have to adjust to being a different version of himself. Yeah, Chris, I agree with what you're saying. I would just say, and I want to preface this by saying that Canello Alvarez is great. I don't mean this in any way to diminish what he's accomplished. But I do think, one, he's always had stamina issues. That existed when he was 26, 27, 28, 29, always has had stamina issues for the most part. Beyond that, some of those fights during that stretch of time, and I'm not saying he shouldn't have been very competitive with those guys, but I think his dominance was exaggerated to a certain extent, because if you go back and look at some of these fights, now the first fight against

Gaddae Golovkin, he lost. So I understand people put him on this pedestal and made him the number one pound for pound fighter. He lost. Then before the second fight, he gets popped for PED use, right? So there's some things going on there that would pick away at his legacy, so to speak. And the Kovalev fight is a good example. Kovalev, now he went up to 175 pounds, so you absolutely must give him credit. The guy's 5'8, basically, and he went up to 175 pounds, and a weight class he does not belong fighting in and wound up knocking Kovalev out. However, Kovalev, while he was a lot bigger than him, had been knocked out twice, was certainly a diminished version of himself and was very, very, very competitive with Kinello up until the point where he got knocked out. Now, he still got knocked out, but point being, some of these fights were really competitive.

You could certainly argue that at least the one that I mentioned against, against Gennady Golovkin, the first fight he lost. So people You know People rewrite history all the time I don't mean this against you obviously But people tend to rewrite history sometimes And like he was beating people 11 rounds Like elite level fighters 11 rounds to 1

That wasn't happening So yes he is diminished physically At this point in his career But maybe You know history has kind of Rewritten how dominant he actually was When you could certainly argue That he was the best pound for pound fighter

And And the PED thing, which I brought, sorry, Chris, the PED thing, which I know I brought up on a podcast numerous times, that matters to me. Yeah. And look, John Ryder said something this week and maybe he was kidding. Maybe he was only half kidding. But he was saying, like, the difference between me and Canelo Alvarez is that I came out on the wrong end of some really close decisions. And he came out on a right end of close decisions, which is, you know, obviously kind of a joke there. But look, John Ryder could have earned a decision against Rocky Fielding in his hometown,

could have earned a decision against Callum Smith in Callum Smith's hometown. Canelo Alvarez, as you know, you point out, has been on the right end of a lot of close decisions. With Territus Lady Lara, Austin Trout, Gennady Golofkin, go on down the line. He seems to have gotten the benefit of the doubt from judges in a lot of significant fights. So you're right. He has not been this inevitable force. And as it relates to John Ryder, tough guy, he seems like a class act, glad he got, you know, hit the biggest payday of his career. Also could have lost to Daniel Jacobs and not gotten his fight.

So I'm honest about that. True. Are you channeling Keith Conley there? Our friend Keith Conley, the manager of Daniel Jacobs, who will go to his grave, believing that Daniel Jacobs deserved the win in that fight. In fairness, a very close fight that could have got, I mean. Very close fight. No, no, very close fight. And look, John Ryder has taken enough L's in that situation.

They may be deserved a W in that moment. So let's spin it forward a little bit with Canelo Alvarez. There are two obvious frontrunners, so to speak, to face him. He wants to fight Dimitri Beaville. He wants to fight him in a rematch at 175 pounds. Demetri Beavall, who it sounds like he's going to be idle, at least until September, when Canello makes. his decision or however this plays out.

Demetri Beavle wants the fight too, but he wants the fight at 168 pounds. And Keith, a lot of people have fixated on that saying maybe weight could be an issue in making that fight. I actually think money is a bigger issue in making that fight. You know, Dimitri Bevel made about $5 million to fight Canelo a year ago.

He is going to want substantially more than that to fight Canelo. Canelo is going to want at least his usual payday, which is north of $30 million, between 30, and 40 million, whatever it may be. And that's a boatload of money for a fight that just isn't a mega event on pay-per-view. So as much as Canello wants Dmitri Beaville and as amicable, amiable as Dmitri Beavle may be about making that fight, even maybe agreeing to go to 175. I have the belief that money is what makes that fight not happen before the end of the year.

What do you think? I think it is about money, Chris, like pretty much every. everything in life, right? It's about money. But when they say it's not about money, it is definitely about money. But I don't blame Dimitri Bibball here because this is his opportunity to capitalize on the biggest win of his career. So he and his team have to squeeze as much money out of this fight as they can. They know that they sort of have Canello in terms of leverage right where they want him. He's been very vocal about this is the only fight that he wants next. Now, he has other options. But this means a lot to him from a legacy standpoint. And he's pushing for it to have to happen.

So if it means that much to him, which I think that it does, he might have to go into his side a little bit and give Dimitri Bibow what he wants. I'm not saying, you know, give him everything that he wants, but he's going to have to concede and give him some of what he wants. Because unfortunately for Bivol, the better be a fight is not happening anytime soon for a variety of reasons. And that's the fight that he really wants because he wants to go become the undisputed light heavyweight champion. He's already beaten Canello. In his mind, he won eight or nine rounds against K Canello last May 7th, so he doesn't really need to prove anything again. I think it's kind of, it's amusing in some way that Canello, the 68 pounder, is demanding that the fights at 175, bival the 75 pounder who's never fought anywhere close to 168 pounds is demanding that it's at super middleweight. It's a bizarre standoff and only in boxing that something like this happened. But again, it might be Bivol's real way of just really trying to negotiate and get the money he wants more so than he actually wants to fight at 68 because, yes, he could become the undisputed champion at super middleweight, but I think it's maybe more of a ploy to get what he wants.

And he's going to stand firm, see what happens. I mean, if you're Canello, Chris, really, do you want to instead fight David Benavides or would you make the concessions financially that are necessary to get this fight that you want? From my opinion, as an objective bystander, I don't think this is, I know why he wants the fight because he wants his get back. He wants to avenge that loss totally makes sense. I just don't know that he's capable of beating Dimitri Bibbaal, particularly at 175 pounds. So I would advise against it. But what has made Canelo Alvarez great among the things that has made him great and, you know, credit to the sport for the last, however long he's been at the top

level is he has gone and sought challenges that most guys would, that's, I agree with what Eddie Hurd says that all the time. It's a little crazy, but that's what makes him a great fighter. And It's true. You know, it's funny, you say that Beevil has leverage, and I kind of agree with you, but his leverage is Canello's ego. Like, you know, Canello, he doesn't have, he's not a mandatory Freddie Conno's titles. Conno has no obligation to face him, you know, contractually. He just wants it. Like, he just continues to call out Bevel because he just can't live with a loss, no matter how, how unlikely it may be.

that he takes another one in the rematch. I'm going to say right now, I don't believe that fight happens in the fall. I think money's going to hold that thing up, but I don't believe anyone's going to come in, whether it's DeZone, showtime, foreign entity that may be able to put up a bunch of money. I don't believe that fight happens in the fall.

But Keith, I also don't think a Benavides fight happens in the fall. This to me is a little murkier. And maybe you have a little more information on it than I do. But I don't get the sense from talking to people around Canelo last week, that they have any interest in fighting Benavides. Now, some of it might be they feel Benavides still has to do more to get the opportunity for the fight.

I don't know if I agree with that. Some of it might be like, you know, Canelo's always had this weird attitude about fighting Mexicans. Like, he just hasn't exactly been racing towards those opportunities. when presented, but I don't get the sense as we sit here right now that a Benavides fight is front burner for Canelo. And everything I've been hearing about Benavides is that there are plans at least starting to be made for Benavides to take another fight in the fall, whether it's David Borell or somebody else. What's your read on that part of the equation?

Yeah, I don't really want to hear about him. I don't mean from you, obviously, but I don't want to hear about him not fighting. He's already fought Mexicans. He fought Chavez Jr. He's fought Mexican fighters before. He fought guys from Mexico. Frankly, yes, David Benavides is a Mexican heritage, obviously, in his bloodlines at all, but he's from the United States. He's an American. But come on. I mean, so the reason why the fight doesn't happen, because that's not a good look for Canelo, if that's actually the reason he uses. He has said that in the past, but I don't know that he's married to that, I think. So I don't think that hopefully will not be the reason why they don't fight.

It's a tough fight. I mean, Benavides is a big, I'm not saying Canelo couldn't win. He could. But Benavides is a big, strong, rugged dude, younger, more in his physical prime. You know, comes forward, throws a ton of punches, you know, wears you down to the body. And of course, Canello is a great fighter. He could win. But it's a tough fight.

I don't know what more Benavides could prove from a commercial, you know, he just fought in his first pay-per-view, as we well know, did pretty well, you know, did decent numbers with a guy who, excuse me, who Canello has fought already, which probably helped the pay-per-view as well. So from Benavides's perspective, do you want to go and fight David Morel, which is a really tough fight? I mean, a really, really tough fight. And in some ways, you know, I understand Morel's not nearly as proven as Canelo, but that's a hard fight, man. He's a young guy. He's a tall Southball with a lot of skill and power. Yeah, he's not all the way. He only has nine fights. He's already kind of an elite level fighter, despite that he hasn't beaten anyone like Benavides or like Canel. That's my overall point is that is a very tough alternative to Canello. And if you're Benavides, you want to go and get that money and get the Canello fight as opposed to fighting David Morel. But. On the other side of it, from PBC side of it and showtime side of it and all, if David Benavides is now a pay-per-view fighter, you can't just put him in the ring with anyone. They did decent enough business with the Caleb Plant fight,

who was a proven fighter and had fought Canello on pay-per-view. You can't just put him in there with anyone, and there aren't that many options, really. I mean, I get, I don't want to get you too excited here. He could fight Demetrius Andrade, I suppose. I've heard that. But that's not a huge commercial. It's a good fight.

It's an interesting fight for a lot of reasons, but it's not a huge commercial fight. It probably does less pay-per-view business than, not probably, it definitively would do less pay-per-view business than Andrade. So they don't have a ton of options, if not Morel. So he's in a tricky spot, too. The thing is, if Canello doesn't fight, let's just say Bivol, they can't come to a financial agreement, he doesn't fight Bivol. And then he doesn't fight Benevides.

Well, who's he fighting? Because you've got to pay him an enormous amount of money. and if you're not going to get much return on it, you know, who does he fight? Well, I think you and I both know who the outlier and all this is. And it's someone Eddie Hearn is starting to mention as an opponent sooner rather than later. And that's Edgar Berlanga. We know that Edgar Berlanga is someone that Eddie is trying to put on a track to fight Canelo Alvarez. Originally, you know, we were talking about maybe him fighting Canello in May of 20.

But you're starting to hear some things, Keith, about how well, if Berlanga looks great against Jason Quigley, and with all due respect to Jason Quigley, Berlanga should look great against Jason Quigley in that fight. Jason Quigley, in his last significant fight, was stopped in two rounds by DeBetoros Andrade, who doesn't stop anybody. So that is a tailor-made opponent for Edgar Berlanga. But I do get the sense that there are at least, maybe not on Canello's side yet. Maybe Canelo's not on board with that fight yet, but at least on the side of Berlanga, Eddie Hearn, that maybe they want to push that fight forward to September of this year or the fall of this year in order to keep Canelo aligned with them.

It's obviously why Matroo signed Edgar Belanga as a potential opponent for Canello. Yeah, it could happen. I don't know what the public's appetite is going to be for that, on what Berlanga has done. Man. He sounds so excited. You sound giddy about that possibility. And I don't, you know, Berlanga's a nice kid and, you know,

he's built up somewhat of a fan base here in New York and everything. And his manager is one of the very best negotiators and managers and all of boxing. You keep Conno, you know two ways about that. Edgar could punch. I He doesn't In my opinion

Does not belong in the in the ring with Canelo Alvarez even a diminished version of Canelo Alvarez at this point If he looks great against Jason Quigley that would obviously help their cause because You know he'd be coming off a great win but well no He'd be coming off a A win that looked good on on his own Not a great win because Jason quickly got blown out by Demetrius Andrei to however a long year and a half ago or whatever that was. But you're right, Chris.

That is obviously why they signed Edgar Belangett's why they've committed so much money to his, you know, tune up fights in effect to keep him undefeated and to make him look good going into the potential Canelo fight. And if that's what winds up happening in September, I would just say to everyone involved, good luck getting people to buy that for however you want to dress it up, 5499 and 59 99 whatever price points you come up with based on your subscription package

80 bucks if you buy it on good luck so what's your gut then right now as we sit here just past Cinco de maia weekend when we get to that mexican independence day weekend that weekend that canela likes to fight on who do you think he's in the ring with I guess maybe I'm more optimistic than you Chris I think he's going to fight billball I think he's going to I think wow Okay. I completely understand what you're saying about the financial part of it. But I think he'll make the concessions within reason. You know, if Dimitri Ball says, I want $20 million and Canello is going to have to go into his, you know, side of it to make him whole on the other side, obviously not.

But if they're reasonable, and I think they will be at a certain point only because he doesn't have many options. Who is he going to fight? You know, Blatzi's got out. He's not with the zone and Eddie anymore. that was one of the more appealing alternative. And he looked dreadful, dreadful in that last one. That was just an uninspired performance at his last five time out. But at least he was an undefeated guy that they could have put him in the ring with,

and it would have been a fight in the UK that they could have sold. It would have been a commercial success in England. But there's not many options for him. So I think they'll have to be reasonable to a certain degree as well to make it happen. But I really do think Canello wants this fight. And look, if he goes and fights Bivol, and he loses again and then he stays on the

zone side of the street and the matrim side of the street, he could fight Berlanga after that. And then people would say, well, look, he just went up again and fought Bivol. Let's see how he looks against Berlanga. Then I could see that but if Berlanga's the next fight and he doesn't fight Bibbol for whatever reason,

it's just a really tough cell. And then it's back to back. You get the sense. Sorry, that's back-to-back fights in which he would be you know, a 20 to one favorite or whatever. Yeah, I get it. Do you get the sense that Benavides is going to wait this out for a little while to see what happens with Canelo over the next, you know,

whatever it is, six weeks that it takes to kind of discern what he's going to do? I think he has to. I just think he has to see how he plays out with Canelo. And he's not, he just fought March 25th. It's not like he's on some six-month layoff already. And he made very good money for the plant fight. you know, so I think he'll just wait to see what Canello does. And my best guess is he won't be Canello's next opponent.

And then he'll have to figure out whether David Morel is the right guy for him to fight next. And Benavita is a tough kid. You know, it's not like he's, you know, he's afraid to fight anybody or anything like that. And I know Morel really wants to fight from the BBC side. They know it's a fight that people, because I've heard people say that Morrell needs to fight three or four more against who. Like, who is, if he's not fighting. Now, you can say he could fight Andrea, I suppose. I mean, Andrews always is the guy that now is affiliated with PBC.

That's a very good fighter. But, I mean, who is Morel going to fight over the next two years and beat that people are then going to say, oh, he deserves the Benavides fight now or whatever they're saying. So even though he only has nine fights, I do think he's ready to fight Benavides at this point. I think DeBetra's Andre to go over to top rank and complete like the trifecta of U.S. promoters that you can't get a fight with. Like just to prove to the world and then just retire. Like retire undefeated as a two division world champion.

Maybe pick up a third secondary title and just be that guy that no matter what platform you were on or what promoter you were connected to, you could not get a fight. I think he should do that. That's my advice to be your standard. He could be defending his middleweight belt. He was, he could have Janibak set to fight this weekend, Stockton, California. He could be defending that middleweight. wait Balthamette stayed at 160.

Not that he would have been fighting anybody there either, but doesn't matter. I mean, that's a, that's a dozy. Janubek Alam Hanala against Stephen Butler in Stockton, California. That's, wow. And it's in Stockton, California, because Gabe Flores is somewhere on the undercard. He's from there. Other fighters are from Stockton on the undercard as well. Right.

He's done well in Stockton, but just the, you know, a guy from Canada against the guy from Kazakhstan and Stockton is interesting. Can I get your take on what happened this weekend in Guadalajara with some of the undercard action there? Because there were some wild scenes down there in Mexico. You had Steve Spark going into this fight against Gabriel Valenzuela, a Guadalajara. And look, it was a good fight, competitive fight, fun fight to watch. Steve Spark got knocked down.

I did think he did more than enough to win the fight. I thought he controlled seven of the 10 rounds. You throw in the knock down. Maybe it's a 6-4 type of fight. But then the scores are announced. And not only does Valenzuela win, but it turns out that two of the judges who were on the official sheets for that fight were replaced by other judges. Two of the judges who were from neutral locations, I believe Puerto Rico in the U.S., were replaced by two judges from Jalisco, Mexico. Mexico. And the two judges that replaced the neutral judges scored the fight for Valenzuela.

I thought that was outrageous. And I didn't realize it at the time because when you're listening to, in this case, David Diamante recite the judges, you don't really think there's going to be any change. You don't think their names are going to change. But then after the fact, when you learn that the judges had been replaced at the last minute, wild. Wild. If I'm Stevie Spark, I'm furious at all that. I mean, it was a close enough fight that there's probably not anything can do about it, but the fact that two judges were swapped out that late in the game, to me, that's crazy, Keith. Yeah, for Galaaz's cousin and uncle probably, you know, but yeah, look, Steve Spark, he didn't sign up for that, but he sort of knew what he signed up for going to fight him,

in effect in his hometown. It's right next to Guadalajara. I mean, he, but he did deserve to win the fight. I thought, I actually thought he was going to get knocked. out at a, you know, when he, you know, earlier in the fight. But he came back and I thought he won. I thought he definitely deserved to win the fight. It's just crazy, man. The way this sport operates, I mean, that that's outrageous what you just said, Chris, of course, with the changing and swapping out of the judges, because of course Steve Spark's team did everything that it could to make sure he had some kind of chance in a situation where the odds are stacked against him because he's, you know, in effect in the guy's hometown. And that happens. I mean, that's

terrible. I mean, but, you know, another crazy, it's just boxing, though, right? Because another crazy thing happened, but you probably, I know you didn't see the fight because you were busy on Saturday, but you know, Michelle Sorrow gets screwed again in Russia with all kinds of shenanigans happening at the scale and then on score cards and everything. And this sport is just, you know, it just, it screws people out of their livelihood, you know, out of the purses that they deserve and everything. And it's just, it's unfortunate. But you're right. Steve Spark, the bottom line is Steve Spark deserved to win the fight. There's a lot. obviously some shady doings there with the commission that allowed that to happen.

And what are you going to do? He's Steve Sparks, you know, an Australian kid or he's going to go. He's going to go petition the local commission. Good luck with that. Come on, you know. So. You look, I feel for Stevie Spark because the Canadian judge, who was the only neutral judge there, scored the fight kind of how I would.

It was six four he added for Spark with that knockdown. mixed in. So I think it's enough to win the bite. That's why I had you heard in tweeting afterwards that we'll get Stevie Spark back out you know, we'll act like he kind of won and get him by it. He is, match room is pretty deep. Match room is deep in the 140 pound division now.

And so there'll be opportunities for him to get opportunities in the immediate future. Last thing for you. What do you make of the smoke that's out there, which is becoming more than smoke because now you're having Eddie Hearn comment

to bud and say that discussions are taking place about a double header in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year featuring Tyson Fury Alexander Usik and Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. I asked you to handicap who Canello's next opponents would be. Handicapped for me the likelihood that we get probably the biggest double header ever if that were to take place. How likely do you think it is that's something like that? happens. I'm not saying that Eddie's not being told that they could make it happen because obviously he is. But how much money is that going to cost? And I understand that these people, money. I get it. But how much money would you have to come up with to satisfy those four people? Right. I mean,

those are two megafights on the same card as far as I've been hearing, right? I don't know. How much money is too much? Because I don't know who can. Like, I understand. that they they view it as a victory for their country to bring enormous events like this there that otherwise wouldn't whatever they have no business being there frankly other than I'm just having a lot of money it's it's it's it's kind of silly that they're there other than the financial component because none of these fighters have fans there of course it's a odd place for it to be but if really I would like to know what the actual number is which I don't that it's going to require them to pay to get those

one of those fights is going to be expensive and obviously they could do that because Joshua Nusik just fought there so that obviously they could get one of them but to get both of them on the same card and I know I've again I've said this on the podcast previously as well Chris I'll believe it when I see it

who is going to fight Deonté Wilder and I'm not saying that he's not still a high level fighter and all that I just don't think they want to put him in the ring with a guy who He was a pulverizing puncher like that. And he has skills that Deonte Wilder doesn't have. And I'm not saying there's no way he could win the fight.

I'm not saying that. But that's not the guy that I would put a guy who's clearly gun shy, clearly from the release thing from how or four years ago, whatever that is now. I'm not putting him in the ring with Deonti Wilder. You know, if they do it and I'm proven wrong, then I'm proven wrong. And I don't mean this as a knock against Anthony Joshua. I'm just saying from a matchmaking standpoint, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense because there's other guys that he could fight

that could get him to the Tyson Fury fight if that's what you ultimately want. I would keep, you know, my best guess is if he fights Deonté Wilder, he's getting... Well, it's probably the neighborhood of $200 million combined persons to make that fight happen. Okay. I mean...

They have it. I mean, they have it. They have it. They do. It's just an astronomical sum of money. But, I mean, man, to imagine seeing those two fights on the same day, on the same card. Oh, it'd be incredible. Wild.

Man, no, I mean, it would. Wild. That's great. And the winners presumably would fight each other. I mean, it would be awesome. But, you know, fun. Who knows? All right.

Follow Keith Ideck on Twitter at IDECBoxing. Read his stuff over at boxing scene. Keith, always appreciate the time, my friend. Yeah, thanks for having me, Chris. Good to see you, man. Hopefully it'll be unflummoxed when you leave Dallas there. You know what I mean? I'll be flummoxed for a while. Flummoxed, flummoxed.

That is the record for the use of the word flummoxed in any situation ever. Well, as you know, May is a huge month for boxing. You've got KSI against Joe Fornier, you've got Katie Taylor's homecoming in Ireland against Chantel Cameron. you've got Devin Haney and Vasily Lomachenko for all the belts at 135. Pay-per-view is always a great option, but I promise you there is nothing better than being in person for these title bouts. Well, Game Time is the fastest growing ticket app in the U.S.

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Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. And when we come back, my conversation with Regis Progrey. in 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. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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, 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 J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a 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, 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 for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Regis Progray is the WBC 140-pound champion, and he has a new business partner. Matchroom boxing will now be the promoter of Regis Progrey for cutting a deal with him just this past week. His first fight, June 17th against Liam Paro, back in New Orleans, back in his hometown. And Regis joins me here on the show. So Regis, it's been a long journey for you. you over these last couple of years, but you have locked in with a major promoter. You've got kind of some structure around you, I think, for the first time in a little while. How were you

feeling about this whole arrangement? I feel awesome. That's the word I can describe this whole situation is just, it's awesome. I mean, just, just everything going forward. I really never had a major promoter like that. I kind of, you know, since my pro debut, I got it out the mud. I literally just had to fight my way, just scrapping, scrapping my weight. You know, luckily I became, you know, world champion the first time, and then I became a world champion the second time. But I just been strapping my way through things, and I always had a hard road, and I feel like, you know,

I always felt like I should be way bigger. I mean, like, how many two-time champions do they have in boxing right now? And, you know, my name is nowhere close to being on that level right now. So now I just feel like with the signing with Matron with Eddie, I feel like I'm finally going to get the exposure that I really deserve. Why has it taken this long in your mind for you to connect with a major promoter? As you said, you've been a world champion in the past. The only loss on your resume was a razor-close decision to Josh Taylor on Josh Taylor's home turf.

Why has it been this long for you without somebody big behind you? I mean, well, the first major promoter I had was Luther Bella. and then after that with luther bella you know we did a few show box shows and that was my tv exposure at the time and then after that i kind of went to the tournament um that was it seemed like that was the best thing for me to do at the time and then after that after the tournament it was just like little things you know here and there i you know it just i fought on i fought on showtime um i fought on thriller uh you know so it was just like little things like that then i fought in dubai and it was no no type of big tv network so So it just was always like little things that really didn't lead to nothing.

So with this, like I said, with this, I just feel like I'm finally getting what I feel like I deserve. What was it like for you to watch Josh Taylor who, if I could have gone either way, very close fight. What was it like for you to kind of watch him go on to become undisputed and get kind of all the rewards that go with that? Right. I mean, like, boxing-wise, obviously it was frustrating, but I always tell people on a personal level, I'm always so good because personally, like, outside of boxing, I'm always in a good space, you know, between, like, my friends and my family, you know, I, like, I separate boxing from my personal life all the time. So, and, and, but what it did in boxing, it just made me way hungry. I was just like, all right, this is how this feels. It feels, this is how this feels to lose.

And I was like, man, I'm not going to, I'm not going to be in that situation again, you know. Of course, if I can't help it. And, you know, with that, with me going to London, just with that whole situation, it was just like, I did a lot of things that I wouldn't do again, that I know I shouldn't do again. I mean, you know, it's details in the past now, but it was a lot of things I was like, I, you know, I shouldn't have did this. I should have did this. You know, it was a lot of things I shouldn't have did. And so it just, but. like I said to answer you a question it just it made me that much hungry I was just like all right

I'm going to be a world champion again and I sacrifice you know at at the time I think after that the move a lot of people expecting me to do they wanted me to go to 147 and I was like why I always in my mind I still feel like I'm I still feel like I'm undefeated in my mind in my mind I still feel like I was a world champion I never that never left my mind so I was like why what people was like oh, you need to go to one-point seven, you need to leave one-four. I was like, why? I didn't lose in my mind. I'm still a champion.

So they were saying to leave and go up. I was like, nah, I'm still a world champion. And I'm going to prove I'm still a world champion. I'm going to be a world champion again. I'm going to be a two-time world champion. And it took three years, but I worked and I worked and I worked, and I finally got back to that level. And, you know, people, they were telling me I was tripping, you know, at the time,

they offered me Maurice Hooker. And at first, before a pandemic happened, and it's crazy, it was with Eddie Hearn also. But before a pandemic happened, it was supposed to be like catch rate of 142, 143. And that pandemic happened and he was like, oh, we're going to go to 47. I was like, no, I'm not fighting at 147. I'm literally, I'm telling you, I'm going to be a champion again at 140. So I'm not going to 147.

And so a lot of people, and they offer good money for that fight. A lot of people telling me, oh, I'm tripping you, you're doing this, you're doing it. I was like, listen, I believe in myself. I know I'm going to be a world champion again. And now, you know, here I am. So let's get into this deal. It was widely reported over the last couple of weeks that you had two major suitors, Matrum and Top Rank. It was reported that Matron offered you a three-fight deal.

It was reported that Top-Rank offered you a five-fight deal. Are those details effectively true? No. At first, Ty-Rank deal offered a five-fight deal. Then they brought down to a four-fight deal. Matron always stuck with a three-fight deal. Okay, so why was this three-fight deal with Matron the right one? for you. Well, well, it was just, first off, it was more on the level to a, when I met with

Eddie, it just, it felt right. That gut feeling, when you have that gut feel, I'm a person I go off instincts and that gut feelings, and it's just, it's like, it's a delay gratification type of thing. And Eddie told me, listen, we're going to fight this year, we're going to keep you busy. And, you know, most likely in the third fight, it's going to be a super fight, you know? And so and the number is going to go, you know, it's going to be crazy when you get that super fight. And so the deal with Tyranke is they wanted four fights. And they were saying, I mean, the names was like Barbosa. The first name was Barbosa in August.

And Eddie told me I was going to fight Liam Powell in June. This was before I even signed the deal, he said, listen, most likely you'll be fighting in June. So for me automatically, like, that's one thing that pulled me in. I'd rather fight June than August or automatically already. Then they say we're going to do it in the wallers. I think Tyrone said the same thing. We'll do it in the walls. We'll do a homecoming for you.

But that's one thing that pulled me in. And then after that, the opponents was like Barbosa, Ramirez, I think, Tio or Josh Taylor. Obviously, I want all those fights. Barbosa, you know, he's whatever. But Ramirez, I've been wanting to fight here for a long time. Josh Taylor, of course, I definitely want Josh Taylor. See a female, I definitely want Tiafema. But the thing with that is, and I want to clarify with people, Ramirez, what I'm hearing,

Ramirez has one more fight on the deal with top rank. So would I fight Ramirez? And honestly, I don't think me really, like right now how I'm thinking, I don't think me and Ramirez probably will ever fight because he had a chance to fight me a bunch of times and he never fought me. So I think that if I go, if I would have went to top rank, Ramirez might come to match for him. You know, he'll do everything he can to run away from me. Tio Fimo, he has one more fight, supposedly one more fight on the deal, too, with ESPN.

So that's not guaranteed. The only, and Josh Taylor is probably going up to 147. So, all right. So now I'm just left with Barbosa. That's like, that's all. I mean, obviously, you know, these are all things that could happen or can happen. But, you know, like I said, I don't know. But with Eddie, you know, I think he's, you know, he's going to give me some fights.

And then, like I said, the third fight is probably going to be like a super. fight. Maybe even the second fight is going to be into a super fight. I know he's talking to Matthias and that is a fight. He has a belt. That's the fight I want and I think that's a, that's a big fight, a big fight and it's a big fight because he has a belt. And I think we are the two most fear people in the division right now. So it was just, I just felt like it was a, I just felt like it was just a better like overall thing to just go with that true. So were you genuinely concerned that if you signed that deal with Top Rank that you would see the guys you want to fight leave the company? I don't know specifically.

I don't know how true it is that a guy like Teufo. He only has one fight left. No, he's saying that. I don't know if that's necessarily true. Jose Ramirez has kind of said the same thing about his deal with Top Rank. But what you're saying is you were genuinely concerned that if you sign this deal to supposedly fight these guys, that maybe these guys wouldn't be there. Yes, that's what I'm saying.

It was just like, that's not a guarantee. And Eddie, I know a lot of promoters they have across the street and all that type of stuff. But with Eddie, he doesn't have an ego. He can still make those fights. You know, like Eddie doesn't, I mean, a lot of promoters, they have egos and stuff like that. But I feel like Eddie was, if I still want, if I say, Eddie, listen, I'm not fighting nobody until I fight Josh Taylor. I feel like he will go, he would talk to Bob, Arofti will talk to whoever you have to talk to

and they can make that fight. So I think that, and the main thing is that this is why I really sound to deal too well. It's more, it's just more freedom with Matron, you know? Like I'm telling people from Matron right now about the under cause. I'm giving certain names to the undercars. I'm doing my own rule of promotion and stuff,

so I'm doing that with, I feel like I'm a part of Matron. I'm a part of the company. And I am going to be like the U.S., the face of the U.S. as far as Matron goes. If with top rank, I just feel like I would have just been another fighter over there. That's all. Like I would have been a part of their plan, but with Matron, I am the plan. And to sum it up.

Did you anticipate some of the social media backlash afterwards because everybody immediately jumps on, hey, you've been calling out Ramirez. You've been calling out Taylor. You've said you wanted to fight Teofimo. You just signed a deal that, you know, on paper looks like it guarantees you won't get those guys. Did you expect that backlash to be coming? Well, I mean, yes and no. I mean, really listen, boxing fan, you can't, you never can make a boxing fan happy.

They're just going to be with you. That's true. They love you. Then they'll love you again. That's just how it is. You know, like right now people, I see a lot of people online talk about like, oh, Skater Matias. People don't know that Eddie is talking to Matias.

Eddie's supposed to be signed him. So that means we're going to fight. Like, I'm not going to, I wasn't entertained them because at the time I didn't even have a promoter. So why would I even entertain any of that stuff? Because I know it's not going to happen. But, I mean, that's how boxing fans are. I mean, just, I think sports fans in general, they just, they love you, then they hate you,

they love you. It's a back and forth thing. And you, they don't understand the business. They don't know what's going on in the back room. That's just, you know, a lot of people just, they just have no opinions. So, you know, that really don't matter at all. I don't really, I don't really care about that. So the other element which you touched on was the formation of Rougaroo promotions as part of all this.

Tell me why that was significant for you forming this and making this kind of part of the deal. It just, it just gives me a lot. It just gave me control, you know, it gives me a lot of control of my own career. You know, if you don't, if people don't know, like, I don't have a manager no more. I'm like doing things between me and my lawyer, my sister, my coach, we doing that stuff ourselves. I don't like I'm just, I want to become my own boss. And that's a part of that, become my own boss and just knowing, learning the business more. And so, yeah, with the root promotions, I mean, obviously I'm in Texas and I'm around.

I go to L.A. and I'm in New Orleans. And I know so many fighters that the opportunities too. So with this, I can give them opportunities. Like I said, with my card in New Orleans, I'm putting a lot of people on, putting a lot of people giving them exposure, giving them opportunities that I didn't have. So that was just, you know, for me, that was important. And that's why same thing. That was another reason why I signed with Matron because it's just more control over my own destiny, my own career. Is your hope to kind of build out a stable with your promotional company?

Eventually, yeah. I mean, right now it'll be obviously focused more on me because I'm still having. be in my career, but I think eventually, yeah, I would want to stay. I mean, I know so many guys that's actually really good that can really do something that's potential world champions. And I feel like, you know, I can definitely be a good scout to, you know, talent because I'm literally training with these guys. I know with it, I know, like, who else better than know what it takes to become a champion than somebody already did it two times. So, yeah, that's, I think that is the goal. But right now, it'll just be, it'll be focused more on me. And, obviously,

putting people on when I can. You've sort of discussed the pathway to the big fights with you and what that big fight could be. And Matias seems like that's the most obvious one that could be made because, you know, you're right. Eddie and Matroom have been talking to Matthias. I know they're optimistic about signing him to some kind of deal. Maybe they get him out at some point this summer in a title defense.

Are you looking at maybe a unification fight before the end of the year? or is it in your mind that that unification fight might be a third fight on this deal? I would want it to be a third fight. Yeah, I would, I think let it build up more, and I would want it to be a third fight. You know, obviously I'm going to fight Liam. I got to get past him first. You know, everybody saying it's going to be a walking a puck, but I don't look at it like that. You know, I always look at it's another man.

He's undefeated. He wants to take my belt, so he's going to do a lot of stuff that he wants to win. And then after that, I mean, Eddie, I think I will talk about with Eddie and Kevin and, you know, see what's the next route after that. And then, you know, third fight, you know, going to something like that, going to the unification fight. If Top Rank still has control of some of the belts at 140, you know, I get what you're saying, whereas Matchroom has done deals with Top Rank before. But it could get complicated trying to make some of those deals happen. How long do you, I mean, you are two-time world champion already. You've got an opportunity to become a unified champion at some point in the next eight to 12 months.

Do you have in your mind a plan to go to 147 at some point? No, I don't. Listen, one of my fair fighters is Marvin Hagler. And Hagler just stayed at Middleweight this whole career. He became, you know, he was just like, it's just like he became unstoppable where at Middleweight. and I feel like I can do the same. I really feel like I can do the same thing at 140. I feel like I can be the next Marvin Hagler at 140.

And I think it's a good way for me. Obviously, I feel like I could go to 147. But it's just like why. The big fights are at 140. You know, right now 47 is, you know, a few years ago, 147 was going to be the move. That was the big money fights. But right now, you know, the belts are all,

they all, you know, holding up. now because it's crawf and arrow that's it and they have to fight each other nobody wants to to see them fight nobody else they want to see them fight each other so it's just like i go to 147 for what i just be in a mix over there at 140 you know i can be i am going to be the man at 140 i'll be the person to beat and everybody is it's just so much you know it's so many good fighters at at 135 140 that's right around me and you know i just i feel like i can stay here probably the rest of my career you know Marvin haggler and it's a great reference he was a rarity in that he was physically able to do it for so long stay just at almost exclusively one-way class.

What's the secret to you to being able to stay at that weight? I mean, guys, even if they want to stay at 140 or at one-weight for a long time, sometimes their body just grows out of it. How have you been able to maintain your kind of discipline to stay at one-way class? That's one thing about I'm really disciplined. When it comes to like boxing, I'm really, I don't, so if you don't, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do no drugs. Never did. I probably do, I probably do a lot of stuff after I'm retired, but right now I never did that stuff.

And, you know, I try to stay, you know, I just try to stay clean year round. You know, somebody, another person I look up to, he talked to me. He said, man, stay clean. It is the great but all happens. He said, you know, that you got to stay clean and stay training year round. So for me, you know, I try to do something year round. I don't just start training when I get the, when I'm in training camp. No, I've been, like, I've been training this whole time since my last fight,

because I have a, I have a schedule that's in-camp schedule, and I have an out-of-camp schedule. So my out-of-camp schedule is definitely important to me to, you know, stay trim. And on top of that, like, I had a nutritionist about, like, a year, a little over-year-go or something like that, and it's just everything been working. I've been making 140. Like, every time I've been making it easier because he's putting it, it's science, It's like a math problem, a scientific problem. So he's just been plugging the numbers in,

and literally we're just doing the same thing every count. So, yeah, that's how I can stay at 140. Let me tell you some. If you and Matthias is built properly, that is a big fight. It already is a can't miss type of fight in the ring, because your styles, I think, would be perfect for each other. But getting, and it's more Matias, getting him more known by the casual fan.

I think that can make that an even bigger fight. Look, I know you, you knew that before you signed that deal with Matchroom, that there was some conversation going on with Matias, that that was going to be. You weren't just, I think a lot of people thought you were blindly signing with Matchroom, and they had nobody at 140, and what is he doing? But you knew that that was, what was way it was trending. Yeah, exactly.

I knew it. He told me, Eddie, I told me, we had dinner. Now it was a week ago. It was, it was Tuesday now, but it was, yeah, last Monday. And, yeah, we had dinner, he said, yeah, I'm, you know, I'm trying to get Mattias too. I'm most likely going to get Mattias. And I think that's a, you know, I think that is a major fight. And that's somebody I do want to knock off.

I think that out of the champions at 140, he probably is the hardest fight. And that's somebody, I do want to, I do want to get him under my belt. I do want to knock him off, get him under my belt and stuff like that. So I knew he was, I knew it was coming. and, you know, like, the fans, they're going to start, I mean, after this comes out, the fans are going to see, all right, that's why he signed with match him. Now they're like, oh, man, you ducking this, you ducking. They say, you ducking this, and you're ducking this one. I like, you know, all right, go ahead and say I'm ducking, but like I said, boxing fans, they love you, they hate you, they love you again.

It was, man, it's crazy because before I was a world champion, people loved me. Like, it's like, I don't know what it is. Like, when you were a world champion, they hate you. They just don't like you. But like, before I was a world champion, everybody, oh, that's, I see the stuff. And I try to, and for me, like, it doesn't bother me. But one thing I do, I try to look at stuff. I try to look at as much as I can.

Obviously, I can't look at all the comments and stuff like that. But one thing, I actually tried to look at what the fans are saying, how to connect with them and what they're saying. And at first, people were like, oh, before I was even a world champion again, people's like, oh, man, he's the best, man. He's underrated. He's the best. He needs to be a champion again, all this. And now I am a champion. again and like people don't like me you know so it's i think people just like the underdog they like

the underdog type of story but like i said that's cool but now they're going to see this interview they are going to say all right he went with them because matias and sound will match him also and we're probably going to have a big unification fight at the be at sometime next year yeah look the longer you stick around at least as long as the current landscape stays the same you know ryan garcia's going to be at 140 that's certainly a makeable fight as long as he's affiliated with Golden Boy down the line. You know, probably he's going to do some things early to get used to the weight class, but at 140.

And you collect those belts. Ryan Garcia fights, a mega fight at some point later on as well. So a lot of big opportunities in your future. Well, Regis, welcome back, man. Glad to see you right back in the mix. You deserve it. You've earned it over the last couple of years.

June 17th against Liam Paro, Smoothie King Center in your hometown of New Orleans. Looking forward to it, man. And now, thanks for joining me. All right, man. Thank you. That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Keith Ideck and Regis Progray for joining the show.

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