The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Boxing with Chris Mannix - Ryan Garcia takes issue with Canelo

Episode Date: March 19, 2022

Chris is joined this week by the great writer and broadcast Corey Erdman and one of the top lightweight boxers, Ryan Garcia. Chris and Corey dive into if Ortiz is ready for a Terrance Crawford fight, and what should be done to make sure that fighters are safe in the ring. Later, Ryan Garcia stops by and has some strong words and feelings towards Canelo Alvarez. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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When you have talent, you are given another chance. Here's Chris Mannix. All right, we are back recording this week in Los Angeles, the site of the Blair Cobbs Alexis Rocha main event on DeZone. Joining me on the episode this week, you've read his stuff on boxing scene, and this week you can hear him make his debut on the DeZone telecast, filling in for Todd Grisham, one Cornelius Erdman.

I've got big shoes and big biceps to fill this week. Yeah. few other things as well, but we'll save that for off the air in that conversation. How are you feeling about this? Good. I mean, it's kind of been a long time coming, I guess, in the sense that I've kind of been in the orbit, you know, kind of working behind the scenes and DeZone and kind of calling fights for the competitors.

So it's cool to actually, you know, get to do this. And it should be a decent set of fights, a fun set of fights, at least. It's a fun character to dive into with Blair Cobbs, and I'm sure we'll talk about that. But, yeah, I'm happy it's finally happened. Yeah, no, it's disappointing that Virgil Ortiz had to take off this card with an illness. I don't know if that Ortiz-McKinsen fight would have been super competitive, but Virgil Ortiz has become an attraction nowadays in boxing, 18 wins, 18 knockouts. It's interesting, you know, whenever Oscar Delahoya talks, I take it with a lick of salt

because somebody just says stuff, right? Like he's saying Ryan Garcia and Canelo should settle their beef with a fight at 165. in a few years. Okay, one's at 135 and one's going to five a light heavyweight title, but sure, why not? We'll let that one go. But, you know, I hear Oscar, you know, during the week before this illness was revealed,

saying that, you know, Ortiz is ready to fight Terrence Crawford right now. Crawford, of course, you know, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, the WBO Welterweight champion. I perk my ears up a little bit at that. I mean, Ortiz has kind of been trending towards that fight for a couple of years now. It's a couple of years ago he beat Mori Socher.

a stablemate of Terrence Crawford with Terrence Crawford in the building. Just last year, he beat Agus Cavaloscus, a fighter that Crawford beat, but someone that gave him some problems during that fight. So, you know, I pay attention when something like that comes up. I mean, what do you think? Do you think Ortiz, at 23, almost 24 years old, is ready for a Crawford fight? So, yeah, to your point about Oscar, I think, you know, 40% of what he says kind of has validity sometimes, it's promoter speak, right?

But this does seem in line with what Virgil also wants, because he said the same things. He said the same thing about Errol Spence. You know, he's calling out those same names right now, and I can kind of understand why, because fighters with the style that Virgil has, I'm not saying that Virgil doesn't have room for improvement. Certainly he does as a 23, 24-year-old young fighter. But I also think that right now, why not take the shot when you have that kind of game-changing power? And also, seemingly, maybe 147 is a little bit of a struggle for him. And I don't want to relate that to what's happening right now with him getting rabdo and being in the hospital.

That could have happened whether he was struggling with the wait or not. But there were whispers about Virgil kind of struggling with 47 for a little while. So that, and that's kind of been his attitude is basically like, why not give it a shot? You know, he believes that he could take those fights. Why not? And to your point as well, I think that he's kind of past the point where the boxing audience is cool with the Michael McKinsons of the world for Virgil Ortiz. and once you're past Virgil, you're talking about those names. So that's kind of where he is at.

Yeah, I don't see any downside to doing it. I mean, I have this argument with Sergio Moore all the time. And Sergio, thank God he's not a promoter because he would let everything marinate for years and years on it. It's like, oh, you know, Virgil give him another couple more fights and he's ready for Crawford. Well, Crawford's in his mid-30s now. Like, what are we doing? We're going to wait until one fighter really ages out if we can get two guys that, you know, would present a competitive fight. I think, you know, Ortiz would be.

competitive against Croft. I would make him the favorite by any stretch, but he does have game-changing power. He has learned in his last two fights. He was hurt in that fight against Kavoloskis. So I think that he's as ready as he's going to be. And even if he loses, like, big deal. Like Kinello Alvarez lost to Floyd Mayweather at the exact same age. He was 23 years old when Floyd took him to boxing school. Canello learned from that. He got better from that. Even in the aftermath, Eddie Rinozo, Canello, they have said, we were better off for losing that fight. He kind of humbled us. a little bit and pushed us on the path that we're on right now. So I see no downside.

I mean, I'm not so sure it's makeable because Crawford made a lot of money, rather, to fight on the top rank side. He was making like $4 million to fight the cavaloscuses of the world. Can Golden Boy come up with that? Can DeZone come up with that? Can you do it off-paper-view? These are a lot of questions, but if it's doable, 100%. I wouldn't blink for one split second at putting Ortizium with Crawford right now.

No, and you look at, to prove how little it matters if you lose a fight of that magnitude, just look at the other side of the pond and all of those PBC welterways that have all fought one another, and they've lost, and then they come back out, and they can still headline pay-per-views again, and the fans don't have a problem with it, and the marketplace doesn't have any problem with it. Like, only one or two fighters per generation gets to swim completely unscathed and gets out while beating everyone along the way, and other people have to take those lessons that might come in the form of a loss and take the added publicity that comes in the form of a loss

and facing those guys. And maybe that's the situation for Virgil Ortiz. Again, I'm not saying definitively he would lose to Terrence Crawford. I wouldn't make him the favorite either. I wouldn't necessarily pick him. But he's not out of his depth in that fight, I don't think. Not at all, not at all. And if this would be his last fight at 147, he moved to 154,

he tried new things there. I mean, there's only upside to fighting a Terrence Crawford. All right, I want to talk about what Showtime revealed this week. They announced their full schedule for the next few months. some good fights on there, some not so good fights on there, from Showtime Slate, what they announced. Tell me what you like, tell me what you didn't like. I like almost everything.

There's two fights that I don't like for entirely different reasons. I can name them. I can probably name them. One is Charlo Sulechki. Oh, God. But I do want to say that I think it's a little unfair the heat that Charlo is getting for this matchup taking place. Number one, you know, we all understand the efforts that were made to make different fights for Charlo. But number two, in terms of who could fit that role, that being, you know, a top 10, top 15e guy in the WBC rankings to make this a title fight, there aren't a lot of like...

No, he was the only one. Sulezki was the, like, I called this six months ago. Yeah. No, I didn't anticipate the Mungia negotiations falling apart. And I want to get into that, too, because I agree with you. Jamal Charlo and his team made a good faith effort to make a fight with Jaime Mungia happen on that team. date. I have no, I still don't know exactly how this all came apart, except that publicly, Oscar Delahoya came out and said we want to get DeZone involved in this. That seems a little

odd. It's not, I don't think that Charlo versus Mungia is a paper view fight. It shouldn't be anyway. And if it's not a paper view fight, there really isn't a need to get two broadcast outlets involved. I don't know if it's true, but Mike Oppinger reported that if there was a beat of rematch between Charlo and Mungia, it would be on his own. So, like, that seems like a fair solution to all this. Like, you know, Charlo's got the belt. He's got a little bit of leverage there. You do the fight on Showtime. And if there is a rematch, look, if Charlo loses, he should want a rematch. You shouldn't want to go out like that. You don't want to go out like that. And look, rematches can oftentimes be better than the first. I mean, Fury Wilder, better than the first. Go back

even further. Goddy Ward. Like, I mean, maybe not Gotti Ward 2 wasn't better than the first, but the anticipation was better, was bigger after the first one happened. That's really if you're a network, all you're really asking for. So I kind of thought it was a fair, you know, proposal by PBC there. So you're Mungia, and I don't know what Mungia is doing now. He's apparently backing out of the Adama's fight. Like, there's not a lot out there on the table. But look, on the Charlo, I hate Charlo Celetsky with a passion, but I understand why it became the fallback, like why it's there. Yeah, and that's the thing. Like, if you look at what the other options were that would have been viable?

Like, who were we talking about? Like, Sam Agington, like, Janubeck, like, you know, I don't know what we're talking about. Like, I don't think, nobody seems to want to fight Janubeck. I don't really exactly know why. I'm not quite sold as him as the,

I think Sergio called like a Golofkin type. Like, all right, let's just pump the brakes there until we. Yeah, I stopped short of any, of, you know, an elite fighter like Jamal Charlo being like, I am deathly afraid of Janabak. I don't think he's thinking that. He'd be his two world champions that he beat. One was like, I think one was the Dom, right?

I think he beat Asana Dam, Janibac, and then somebody else. I forget. Rob was a Rob Brent. I don't know. One of the, he had a couple of names on his resume. Well, the issue, again, I go back to the old chestnut of mine that I consistently take issue with, is that if Jamal Charlo wanted to fight Demetrius Andrade, he could fight Demetrius Andrade. It could happen tomorrow.

Like Eddie Hearn has boxed them in in ways that no promoter has boxed in another fighter ever before. By literally saying we will take exactly what you paid Sergey Dervincenko back a year and a half ago. We'll take that exact dollar figure. If you're willing to take. that or even maybe less to make that fight happen, you got no excuses. So while I don't think Charlo is ducking Jenebeck or anybody else, he has gone out of his way not to fight Demetrius Andrade for several years now. We have to agree on that one, right? Like he has gone out of his way not to do this. And those reasons could be personal between the two promotional side. No, it's not. I don't know.

Because they'll send him over there. This is not one of those Mungia situations. They would send Andrade across the street. So what do you think the reason is then? Andrews stuff. He's just Southpaw, he's slippery, and I don't believe that Charlo's team, I never say fighters don't believe, because they always believe. Fighters are, sure, yeah, you never, never criticizes a fighter, they always believe. But I don't think Charles team believes he could beat him. So they think he'd lose, he'd lose ugly, and it would set him back. Although, there's a possibility.

I would disagree that I would set him back to, like, is he gaining anything from Juan Montiel and Machecke-Soletsky? Like, the two of the last prime years of his career, he's blown on that? Like, you don't gain anything from those two wins. In fact, you probably, like, the Montiel fight, Just one fight, but he looked a lesser version of himself in that fight. He couldn't get Montiel out of it. That's the same Montiel that Mungia pancaked in two rounds, a couple of years before that.

Unless you look at it from a purely financial perspective, which isn't what fans want to hear, but it's probably true that whether he fights Andrade or whether he fights the Montiel's and Sulechki's of the world, probably makes the same amount of money. And if he keeps winning, you know, then he ultimately stays in the running for this jackpot fight that he has in mind. I always go back to something Angel Garcia told me years and years ago. He said, why would we fight that guy? We're getting offered X money to fight the good guy, X mine to fight. I'm paraphrasing him here.

X money to fight the lesser guy. Like, why wouldn't we take the same money to fight the lesser guy? Right. It's not incentive-based, at least not over there. And fans hate hearing that because we want, we're consumers of the sport. We're paying money to watch these things. And so we hope for fighters to be as ambitious as possible. But that's not always the case.

Right? I mean, sometimes when you're put in that scenario where it's an easier fight for the same amount of money, and whatever your bigger goal is is still there, either way, I completely understand why someone would take the lesser option. All right, so you don't like, we're in agreement, Charlotte Seletsky kind of dog shit. What do you like on this schedule? What do I like on the, by the way, I also don't like Trevante and Rollier-Ramero for entirely separate issues. See, I have, I've come a little bit around on that. I hated it when it was announced last year because, everyone was available, right, at that time. Like, Ryan Garcia still available.

Devin Haney, still available. Lomachenko, still available. And he picked Raleigh Romero out of that group. That, to me, was a fairly brazen example of Gervante ducking top fighters. This time, I mean, I guess Haney technically is available, but he's still trying to get that Cambosis fight happening. Ryan Garcia is taking his comeback fight in April. I hated a little bit less because there aren't the options

that were available in the fall. Yeah, my reasoning for, liking it is obviously outside the ring things that we don't need to get into that I think optically and Showtime did, I think, the right thing and the thing that rarely happens just in sports in general, but especially in boxing, which is that it imposed consequences on a fighter for their actions outside of the ring. It almost never happens. But then you're kind of coming back around and just letting it happen anyway. I know that there have been developments in the case, but still, you know, you can reward any other fighter out there in the world. I know the best options

aren't available out there, but to me, you could have picked someone other than Rollier-Ramero, and it would have tasted a little better to me. And their pass on it is that there were no charges filed against Romero.

We should be clear, though. Like, the word like Exonerate gets thrown around. I'm not sure I'm not willing to go that far. Right. On all that, I mean, charges weren't filed. That it's where, this is a, this is the country we live in. This is what should happen.

You should be punished forever for, you know, not according to the justice of not committing a crime, but I'm with you on all that, especially when he's throw Giovante and some of the stuff. We know he's been involved in. over the years. That's not the best of looks. All right.

So I'm more okay with Gervante Romero. Hate Sulezky Charlo. Give me the ones you like. There's a lot there to like on this case. In terms of pure unadulterated violence, David Benavides, David Lemieux. I don't know why that's the one jumping out at me. But I... Interesting. Listen, I know that... That's your Canadian

breath around there. Yes, of course. I feel a sense of Canadian pride. But still, I still think that even in the autumn of his career... He's deep in the autumn of this. career. Yeah, it's a cold autumn. I don't disagree with you, by the way, that somebody, I feel the same way about David Lemieux that I do, Sergey Kovlev.

Like, somebody's got to take that proverbial scalp. Like, David Lemieux still has a name. He's won, what, three or four fights in a row at this point. Doesn't look brilliant in any of them. But somebody should be the last to take his name. And Benavita is probably good to be it. And he's going to be dangerous until the final punch. He can still crack.

Really, really dangerous, you know? So for as long as that one goes, you know that both fighters in that fight have the exact same intention and basically the exact same game plan and implemented in slightly different ways. So that certainly jumps out of me. What do you like? I mean, the obvious one to me is the rematch between Castanio and Jermal Charlo.

And kudos to Showtime for once again keeping that on premium TV and not putting it on pay-per-view for $75. I mean, that would have been, based on the competitiveness on the first fight, they probably could have justified putting it on pay-per-view in the rematch. things like that have been done before, but they kept it on the main network. And I think it's a great fight. Like, you know, I have many questions about it.

Like, did Castanio leave it all in the ring in that first fight? Like, did we see the very best of him in this time around? He's going to get clipped by something big by Jermel Charlo. At the same time, like Jamel Charlo did not look like he knew how to fight a guy up close. Like Castanio took the fight to his body, and Charlo's inability to create space caused him to get clipped, to get banged up to force a pretty fair. You might have lost, but I mean, a draw was okay, in my opinion.

That to me is probably the best fight on the slate going to the summer. The first one was an awesome fight with one particularly terrible judge, and I think that's the right assessment is that I think... It should be like the bumper sticker of boxing. Awesome fight with one bad judge. At least one terrible judge. Yeah, I think that it's probably fair to think that Charlo has more ways to adapt and do something different in that sense.

second fight that Castanio does. He just, he has more tools in the toolbox. He does, yes. That doesn't always mean that one fighter is better or one fighter can beat another fighter, but I think there's more room for improvement for Charlo. And in a broader sense, one thing I like, and I was talking about this on another podcast as well, the Showtime schedule, and I'm saying this knowing that I'm working for another network in a couple days, there's the feeling that it is just a little bit more curated than other networks. You know what I mean? Like these, there are more hand-selected fights. There's sometimes more, and we know why that is.

They're less beholden to promoters and whatnot. But there is, when they do that schedule rollout every once in a while, those matchups feel a little bit different. There seems to be a little bit more thought put into what's going on in the air there. And I appreciate that as a fan outside of my, you know, outside of my work within the sport. Yeah, no, I agree. You know, their problem is always that they're at the,

they're beholden to what PPC is going to give them. and they have to compete with another network for that. So, you know, some years, they get the good stuff. Other years, they get the crap. And it's gone back and forth, quite frankly. And there's lots of reasons for that. But that would take a whole other podcast to do. I also like the bantam weight fight.

Stephen Fulton versus Danny Ramon. Danny Ramon, like, I was disappointed in MJ Akmedalia for not giving him a rematch. Like, Danny Ramon didn't have to fight MJ Akbadalia a few years ago. could have vacated the WBA version of that title. Kept, what was it? The WBC, I think it was at that time. I think so, yeah. And kept it, and then not had the tough fight against the fucking 6-0, you know,

used Becostani killer out there. Like, I mean, like, he didn't. How many fighters you know would have done that? Like, very few. Like, Danny Raman could have gone, fought like a more marketable and easier U.S. fight. He didn't. He fought Akhmadaliyiv. It was an excellent fight.

And Akhm Dahliav didn't give him a rematch. And I always was, I was kind of held that against Akhababai. Dahliav a little bit. Nice guy, Akhma Dahliav and a very talented fighter, but I thought he owed Daniel Ramon a rematch. I'm thrilled for him. He's a nice guy and a good fighter that he's getting a chance against Stephen Fulton. That's a good style matchup too. Fulton feels more a counter puncher in that matchup and Romand just comes forward all the time. Yeah, he's a counter puncher who throws 1,200 punches in a fight, right? Like he's punching second, but he's punching more often, which is really neat. There's just one of the many reasons why Fulton is

one of my favorite fighters to watch. And that goes back to your other point about, you know, Romon loses that fight. He takes an incredibly dangerous fight with a low upside, but performs well, has an entertaining style, and we don't even really think about that when it was announced. We're not like, oh, this is the guy that lost MJ, huh? Fans don't care about that as long as you perform well and as long as you have an entertaining style. Yeah, yeah, that's all that matters.

So good to see him back in a matchup like that. And when or be do another big payday, whether it's against Brandon Figueroa in a rematch with Fulton or a showdown with Ramon, a lot of good things happening in that way class. All right. this weekend we have got two cards going on i'll get to ours in a few minutes but edgar berlanga is back at mazna square garden berlanga last scene uh winning a it's called uninspired decision against cosaris uh three or four months ago uh he suffered a torn bicep in that fight he was knocked down for the first time in his career in that fight and that fight corey marked the second consecutive fight that berlanga

went the distance he was not down for the first time in his career in that fight and that fight cori mark the He had the run of 16 consecutive first-round knockouts. It was a big story for a long time, justifiably. And then Desmond Nicholson, a journeyman type, takes him the distance. And then Cossaris, who, yes, I know. He looked fine against Billy Joe Saunders. I'm so tired of hearing about Cossars against, like, Billy Joe Saunders with a fever of 112 going in there and looking good against.

I'm just not here for that part of the argument. But I guess my question to you is, like, after last year, does Berlang have something to prove to you in this upcoming fight against Steve Rolls does, has the shine come off him? He's still undefeated, but has the shine come off him based on the last two performances? I think that reality has just kind of set in. I mean,

I think you would have been unreasonable to think that this is a guy who was going to keep knocking guys out in the first round. Like, you know, the question is whether that was just a really nice first chapter to his career or is he Tyrone Brunson, right? It's good comparison. That's kind of what we're looking to find out. Like a Jeff Lacey almost Or Jeff Lacey, right?

Which, you know, had a pretty good peak as well. I mean, if you become Jeff Lacey, that's still a pretty good career. Yeah. If that's what Edgar Belanga turns into. I think he learned and we learned that he can be a little bit susceptible. But the other thing we learned is something that we are just kind of revisiting with him, which is that he has a long history of arm issues and shoulder issues dating back to his amateur career. You know, I know some people that have worked from him since his childhood.

and he had like big time shoulder and arm trouble during his amateur career for a long time, like going back to not his childhood, but like his teenage years, basically. And those may be things that will continue to arise, and those may be things that hamper him down the road, maybe keeping him out of fights, might end up changing his style. I don't know, maybe some of that power gets thwarted, depending on how serious this gets. But I think this is a decent test for him with Steve Roles,

who will be able to force him to work on the inside, a little bit is very technically sound. He's not sloppy in there. He's not going to create obvious openings where Berlanga could just kind of overwhelm people athletically like he was in those first whatever 15, 16 fights. So this is a good test for him.

This won't provide all the answers about him, but I think, yeah, I think we're just entering the reality phase for Belanga and that fairy tale is over. It's a good point about the history of injuries because that could mean he could have more of them going forward. And like I'm curious to see what Andre Rozier, his team over there, what they do as far as him coming in with his chin up, because that's

what he does. Like I watched that knockdown dozens of times, and, you know, that wasn't arm related. That was chin up, and he got clipped, and he was hurt. Like, people focus on him going, him banging his gloves together and feeling frustrated. If that round goes 30 more seconds, he might have gotten knocked out. Yeah. Like, he was hurt towards the end of it. And he kind of stumbled back into the corner, smile on his face, but he was banged up.

So he got fortunate in that sense. Good test with roles, though. they are planning a June fight for him. Maybe wait to see what happens with the Rolls fight. Yeah, a little premature. A little bit. A little disrespectful to my man, Mr. Rolls. Penciling in June 11th, another Canadian.

There we go. I got to give like disclaimers here. Heavy bias. Heavy bias on Canadians. But it's an interesting fight, especially if Berlin comes out, stops rolls, middle of the fight, fifth or sixth round. We can get back on the Burlanga train. If he struggles once again, you'll start to wonder, you know,

was he more hype than actual substance? Yeah, I was going to say one more thing. I mean, I think that's putting that in perspective, like those guys that he fought in the first 15-16 fights, you're kind of, like, great fighters will stop those guys. Maybe not in the first round, right, but you will stop those guys. Not everyone is going to stop Steve Rolls. It takes a pretty good fight, like top 20, top 15 fighter to stop a Steve Rolls,

and certainly impressively. So if you do that, I think that does say something, right? Like, of some conclusions in boxing are kind of foregone conclusions in a sense, but it says something about how good you are and where you rank, where you are, if you could stop this caliber of guys. So I think it'll mean something if he can get rolls out of there. Only been stopped by Golovkin. So that would be a feather in the cap, Berlanga, if he can do it.

All right, let's talk about the main event this weekend. And before we were recording this, as we sit here in the lobby of the LA Hotel, I was regaled by Blair Cobbs, who was, I want to say, dressed like a male dominatrix. Is that a thing? No, yeah, absolutely, yeah. It was black leather. He looked like Sean Michaels, but in a different ensemble. It was just a very, it's very interesting.

It's one of his inspirations. Well, he would make sense. He's got him. So the loss of Virgil Ortiz is the gain of Blair Cobbs and Alexis Rocha, because they are now main event fighters. And for the casual fan, you know, this is kind of a, all right, whatever, who's Blair Cobbs, who's Alexis Rocha? But I think the hardcore boxing fan knows exactly who these guys are.

Like Blair has made a name for himself over the last couple of years with his compelling style in the ring and his obviously engaging personality. He's channeling Rick Flair every time he's out there. And Alexis Rocha, you know, since that loss in 2020 to Rashidi-El, he's rebounded, brilliantly. He's won three fights in a row since then and reestablished himself as one of the top prospects at 147 pounds. I really like this fight. I think this is one of those fights where, you know, I don't know where both guys rank among sanctioning bodies, but the winner of this fight will put himself in a position to be considered for, at the very least, a Virgil Ortiz,

and maybe somebody even bigger. Maybe if those belts fragment in the next six to eight months, if, you know, depending on what happens with Errol Spence, maybe they get a title shot down the line. So I think it's a, it's a good fight in terms of style. realistically, and a meaningful one as well, which if you check those two boxes for me, I'm good. I'm good with what that fight's going to be. Yeah, because these guys are kind of, they're stuck in that moat between being a prospect and being a contender. But whoever wins this for me is a contender, you know, maybe not a top contender,

but yeah, you start talking about them maybe facing a Virgil Ortiz or someone else. That becomes, that's on the plate. I think this is a fun fight storyline-wise because these guys have kind of come up parallel to one another. They've often been on the same card. I think like Blair was... Last card, they were, you know, Blair fought Brad Solomon. Yeah. I forgot who Rocha. I'm blanking now who Rocha. Same card that they fought. And when they were coming up, they were kind of thought about differently. Like Rocha was the blue chip prospect who was, you know, a junior Olympian, heavily touted coming out of the amateurs. At one point, he was kind of universally called

one of the top welterweight prospects on the planet. Blair Cobbs, there was a point. There was a point, when, you know, he was facing Villalobos and people thought he was going to lose. He had to win in order to get on that A-side track, and then they became kind of parallel figures, and then Rocha loses, but Blair keeps winning, and now they have to face one another. Like, in a-throw-in the story of Blair-Cow's basically being a fugitive

for the first half of his life with his father. Yes, his father being a fugitive. Well, Blair on the run kind of with him at the moment. Not really an accomplice because his child, you know, it's not fair. Yeah, sort of a fugitive by association. Right. way. Yeah. Yeah, there aren't too many. Tremendous. Wilder backst. It's among the wildest.

It's a sport where there are so many, that's among the wildest. Yeah, and he's among the wildest characters in boxing, too. Like, he really, you know, probably going to use up some of my commentary material here, but just in the past four weeks, he's called out Terrence Crawford, Errol Spence, Canelo Alvarez, and Virgil Ortiz. And he's, you know. And he stood there, like, he got more visibility off that than anything else. Yeah, he is doing anything he can to get visibility.

and to get in the public eye. He got Spence to tweet back at him. Like, you know, Spence is like, who's his 30-year-old prospect, yada, yada, yada. Right. But, you know, in a, you know, all publicity is good publicity kind of sense, boxers struggle for name recognition, right?

We're not like a super hyper mainstream sport anymore. So anything you can do, which is what he does, is anything, whether it's the costumes, the wrestling theme songs, calling out any fighter under the sun. It works for him, you know? and the Alexis Rocha method depends upon continuing to win and win and win and win, and he doesn't get any shortcuts because he doesn't talk the way that Blair does outside of the ring.

So there are two very different personalities, but inside the ring, I think this could be a really explosive fight because both of these guys, when they do get to the inside, really like to go for it. I know that people think of Blair as kind of a pure boxer. He's kind of more of an ambush fighter. He has good mobility, but when Blair wants to go in and bang, you can see his facial express and just change. And he goes for it.

And Rocha, I think, composes himself a little bit better on the inside than Blair does, but Blair's a little bit more athletic. You know, he's a little bit more explosive, a little bit more unpredictable. Yeah, I can see, like, these are the types of guys that could trade knockdowns and give us, you know, one hell of a main event. I'm really excited for this one. Yeah, I think my early read on this, my biggest question is, What does Blair Cobb's chin look like?

Because he's been hurt, he's been down, he comes in high with that chin a lot, like really high. And he's working with Freddie Roach, and I'm sure Freddie is well aware of that and is doing everything he can to adjust that. But that's his biggest liability. I think he does have a big athletic advantage over Rocha. His speed, I think, is going to be equal to or better than Rocha. But Rocha, to your point with his back story and kind of coming up the amateur ranks, he's a disciplined guy. And if he sees an opening with a guy coming in chin high, he's going to wait for it,

and he's going to clip him. Like that's the thing to me, like the biggest question. Like, can Blair keep his chin down enough to build a lead on the scorecards and land what he wants to land? Because, I mean, I just see too many times him coming in wide open for some of these shots. Yeah, and I think that that defensive tick is kind of tied to him getting really emotional in the ring. And I don't necessarily mean that in a bad thing. but you can sense when Blair Cobbs gets excited during a fight, and he starts going a little bit wild,

and he starts wooing at his opponent, and he starts throwing that sweeping left hand, that's when the chin comes up. And a lot of fighters who really fancy themselves as punchers kind of have that habit, because they like to stand up tall and get as much leverage as they want, and the chin comes up as well. So when you combine that with a guy that can get a little bit fired up in the ring,

yeah, like Cobbs can leave himself exposed, and a guy who's really disciplined and tight on the inside like Rocha is, it could be his kryptonite. But at the same time, he has that game-changing power and athleticism. And we've seen him come back from really scary hours before in the ring. I just don't think we've seen him come back against the fight of the level of Rocha. If he gets in trouble, it's different than a Villalobos. It's different than any of the guys he's fought beforehand.

It's going to be because Rocha will finish him if he gets him hurt. Like he's good enough to do it. I mean, again, good for Rocha for just getting back in the ring after the Ellis. Ellis hasn't fought since then. I know. I know. He's been out of the ring since 2020. That's wild. Now Rocha has reestablished himself as a player at 147. Ellis is... And with a win, could jump over, Alice, at terms of, you know, public standing. I think he's over in public standing. I mean, when you fight three times since then, you're past him. And Rashidi's a good Boston guy, you know. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Another disclaimer. I support all Boston guys, but man, he's got to get back in the ring. It really has to get back in the ring. Anyway, I want to finish with something that's been on my mind for the last. you know, a few weeks or so. And it's topical now because it was a couple weeks ago at Tijuana where we saw Jaime Mungia all but pass out after the way in for his last fight against Demetrius Ballard. This week, you know, we don't know exactly what's going on, Virgil Ortiz, but, you know, you alluded to some weight issues. I'd heard the same thing about Ortiz. I was having this conversation with Joe Gousen recently. And Joe was a big advocate for same-day weigh-ins. Like, we haven't done same-day way-ins really since the

mid-to-early 1980s like they've been done away with. And, you know, it's, it was done away with officially because, like, promoters and networks said, oh, I've got to be help, the safety of the fighters is paramount and stuff like this. But unofficially, it's because, like, you know, if a guy

goes down on Friday, you can find a replacement on Saturday. The guy goes down Saturday, you ain't find a replacement on Saturday. That's why we've done away with that. I can just fight with Sergio on DeZone this week. And Sergio's adamantly against same-day way and he thinks it's unhealthy for fighters to have to do it. I would agree with him if we thought that fighters treat a same-day weigh-in

the way they treat a Friday way in. But that's not true. Like, a fighter goes to a Friday weigh-in as depleted as they possibly can be. They are just eating air pills like in the days before. Sometimes ice chips. Sometimes ice chips to get down because they believe that with a good night's sleep and a big steak in their belly, they'll be fully healthy, you know, 36 hour or whatever it is, 36 hours later,

and they will have blown up two weight classes above to where they are. If it's the same day way in, they wouldn't do that. They wouldn't know if you have to fight in six hours, you better make weight in a healthy way. And I'm thinking to myself, like, that's the best way to do it. Like, that way when you have a welterweight title fight, you actually have welter weights in the ring, not, you know, super middleweight versus junior middle weight in there.

Like it's just, when you really think about it, it's kind of fucking insane. Like, it's just, like, you have these guys, like, sit up there and you'll do it, you know, tomorrow, on Saturday night, rather, you'll do it, you'll say, like, you're here for the welterweight fight between blah, blah, blah, blah, who knows what Blair Cobb's going to weigh

on the day of the way, or the day of the fight? Who knows what Alexis Roach is going to weigh? I mean, back to me, Melacuzia, he's fighting. What's he going to weigh on that? Like, these guys just gain so much weight that they become different fighters altogether. So, I would like to,

to see the powers that be, explore going back to same day ways. I don't know if it's a sanctioning body, if it's a network, if it's a promoter, but go back to same day weigh-ins, and I think you'll have much healthier fighters. Okay, so I'm unequivocally against same-day ways. Okay, but I agree with many of the things you're saying. I just think that they shouldn't be implemented with a same-day way-in. Okay, but they were done before the, like before 85, I think it was, They were always, that was what it was.

Yeah, yeah. So 83 was kind of unofficially when it ended. And to your point is because Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, the day of four hours before a rematch or scheduled rematch with Michael Spinks just said, I'm out of here. I'm sure the promoters were very, very concerned with the health and safety of him. Yes, yeah. I'm sure that was known to do that. Or that they didn't have a major pay-per-view that they could put on the air and make money. I wonder which one carries more weight with promoters.

So your, you know, your proposal. it hinges on fighters not treating the way in as they do right now, with the same-day way in, right? That they would come in just as their normal kind of walk-around weight, and they wouldn't have to cut anything to get down to that particular weight. I think that's asking a lot, and I think, unfortunately, any amount of dehydration that can't be fully erased and when fighters can't rehydrate makes it really dangerous.

So last year there was a study done by the Cleveland Clinic that looked at the deterioration of the brains of fighters by weight class. And they found that in smaller weight classes, it happened fight by fight drastically more so than with heavy weights. And so the connection they made was obviously that dehydration has a lot to do or makes it significantly more dangerous for fighters when they go in and then take head trauma while being depleted. And unfortunately, even if fighters on the same day came in less depleted,

They don't then have that time to rehydrate. Like, unfortunately, I actually think that the way that it is is still safer, even if guys are, you know, drastically rehydrating, then it would be even if a guy came in and just had to cut two pounds the day of and then didn't have ample time to rehydrate overnight. What I do think there should be, though, is I think that there should be more control over how much can be cut, which is to say that I think that there should be check-ins more regularly.

Like the IBF does. like the IBF does to make sure, because I've been with a fighter who's cut 17 pounds overnight, and they were just sitting in the car, chewing gum, spitting on the way to the way, and 17 pounds overnight. And there are more drastic ones when you look at like an amateur. Sergio's talked about his Vernon Forest rematch, like eight pounds in a week or something like that, like just some absurd number. Yeah, and that's not even the most drastic that we'll see in boxing, right? So I think that there have to be, or there should be measures to say,

okay, you can only be X amount over, you know, a week out, a month out. Like, there should just be more check-ins. Like, at this point, we just hope that fighters are safe when they get in the ring. But sanctioning bodies, promoters, everyone involved that is in charge of these fighters' lives should act like it. A lot more so than they do right now. So I get what you're saying. But my kind of counterpoint to that is, like, wouldn't fighters at some point decide to fight and weight classes they're already...

Like, the only reason you're dehydrated. is because you're trying to make a weight you probably shouldn't. Like you're cutting down, you're draining, like you should be hydrated when you're making a certain weight. Like, when I do a juice cleanse, I don't think my actual weight is what it was at the end of the juice cleanse. Like, that's not really what it is. So, like, it would probably decimate the lower weight classes,

but I think that eventually, you know, fighters would adjust and, like, they'd be in natural weight class, and more than anything, they'd be healthier. Like, I completely go. agree with your point that like if you're even remotely dehydrated, six hours is not enough time to get back to where you need to be. But I think eventually, the fighters would be like, you know what, I'm not a junior middleweight. I'm going to super middle weight and I'm going to make weight the natural way. They would do this. I mean, they just think they're going to be more powerful.

They're going to be the bigger and stronger, use their physicality. It's a tactic in all this. I think over like the course of time, fighters would eventually not be dehydrated at all going to this stuff. Yeah. Well, what it would create is basically a big bang for boxing where like whatever the rankings are right now, like all those welter weights, they're not welter weights. You know, they would be fighting most of them

at a complete, basically anywhere from like 115 to cruiser weight, very few of those guys, I think would comfortably fight at a same-day weigh-in there. Like, I come from, back to Canada, in Ontario, we still have same-day weigh-ins. And so, for example,

Sammy Vargas, we've seen many times, we've seen a couple times on DeZone, right? He's a welterweight. In Ontario, it basically fights at 155. because he has to weigh in on the same day. So these weight classes would get really moved around,

and we'd basically be shuffling the deck of the fighters we have right now. The flip side of it is like, you know, while I love, like, the fly weights and super fly weights and all that's great action. 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.

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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.

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

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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. Heavy your weights often draw better. Like, the bigger you are, the more attention you usually get. Be more bigger fighters nowadays, where you'd, like, take Earl Spence, for example. Spence would probably a middleweight if he had to do a same day away.

Oh, yeah. It's like he's a 5-11 muscular guy. He'd be a middleweight at that point. So maybe that'd be, I don't know. It's not going to happen. I remember Joe, Joe Gooson is a passionate supporter of it. And he sold me pretty good on the idea of it. He's a passionate supporter of Canadian fashion, too.

He is, the denim. I walked into Ryan Garcia's gym a couple of weeks ago. I half expect to see Ryan in denim. I didn't see it. So he hasn't adopted that yet. But I feel like Ryan can pull it off a little bit better than Joe. Probably. Joe was in full denim when I saw.

I'm like pretty much what you would expect Joe Gooseby wearing. He was actually wearing. All right. Corey Irby will be on the call on Saturday on DeZone alongside myself. Sergio Morris, Anisa Estrada, the 105-pound women's champion. She will be on the call as well. Corey, good luck, man. Good to have you as part of the team.

And thanks for joining the show. Thanks as always. When we come back, my conversation with Ryan Garcia. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinnwity host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts.

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And with cash out, the balls in your court. So you can close out your bet whenever you want before the fight is over. To get your $150 bonus in site credit, guaranteed, just sign up with the promo code boxing on the Fandual Sportsbook app. So Ryan, we were just talking about the magazine story from two years ago. It doesn't feel, it feels like a longer time. Everything's gone on with you in the last couple years. You're almost a different person than the guy I wrote about a couple of years ago.

Do you feel like a different person? I feel like a different person. I feel I've learned a lot from my experience. I've had to deal with a lot of drama in my career, short career so far. But I think everything works out for the better. And it's made me a stronger person, better leader, and I'm able to see things clearer. And, you know, it helped me stop like a train wreck before it happened.

So I'm good and I'm happy that I made the decision to take a break. And now I feel way better and I'm ready to leave where I left off at. So you beat Luke Campbell in January of 2021. And on the surface, it feels like that should be the top of the world for you at that moment. That should be, you know, you were on your way to greatness after that win. Did you feel like that after that win? And when did things kind of start to kind of cascade for you? Yeah, I felt like on top of the world, you know, knocked Luke Campbell out.

It was ready to, you know, just going to a dominating year. and things changed and I started feeling a far, started feeling like I was spiraling down, but it was never about boxing. It was just about things outside the rain that were affecting me and it been affecting me. And it finally caught up to me and just came crashing down at one point.

And, you know, I've doubted what anxiety problems in the past. So it was just, everything was adding up and came to a halt and I decided to take a break. When you say it came crashing down on you, what do you mean by that? Well, and, Anybody who knows about anxiety and depression can know that, you know, there's signs there, but you don't really pay attention to them.

So it kind of felt like one big explosion. And I can't really, you know, explain it fully detailed, but just know it was very hard. And I was tormented in my own mind for a while. And I couldn't get out of it myself, so I asked for help. What was the key for you getting past it, you know, getting to where you are now? I think it was just, you know, speaking of, asking for help, getting real professional help. started there and then you know just enduring persevering and trying to get better you know I was like there's no really other way around it you know I had to choose to just push myself get

myself back up because uh you know I was in a dark place but everything kind of helped me it was a big big help from my family and friends and you know just everything around me everybody contributed to getting me back on track when did you say get back on track like When did getting back into boxing, I mean, you were tweeting about boxing, you were unspired about boxing. You were never really out of the boxing mix per se. But when did getting back in the ring start to get into your mind? Once I started feeling good enough to go outside, you know, probably.

And I kind of found just, you know, a clear mind. I think that's when I kind of was able to just do regular things and not feel panicky. The panic attack stopped. It kind of just stopped out of nowhere. I don't know. I can't explain it. Like, everything just started working out. And I just accepted the lesson that life was teaching me at that moment.

And then I move forward, you know. And everybody, you know, kind of has questions on why I was tweeting and why not because, you know, I'm competitive. And my fire is always there. So you're never going to. You were still watching fights and you were still anybody around your weight class. You were tweeting her first thing to die out of me. You're going to have to beat the shit out of me, you know. I'm competitive from my soul in.

You know, my soul was in it for sure, but I just couldn't get myself to go. But yeah, that's the pass. I'm ready now. So we're here in your gym in San Diego, Joe Goussin, your new trainer nearby. You know, there's been a lot of talk about this, about kind of your trainer change. When did it kind of crystallize to you that you needed to make a change? There was discussions before Luke Campbell when I was fighting Fonseca. I went to Lupe and said,

why isn't Eddie around and I'm only like two weeks from the fight or what or not whatever it was and he was like you know what just don't worry about it just do your job and I was like all right did my job got it done and you know Eddie I always gonna have love for him he's a great trainer and I have nothing but respect for him but you know he I mean it's just facts he just doesn't really show up you know it doesn't give a hundred percent to me he didn't and he didn't really give a hundred percent to a lot of people and it's not like I'm talking shit is just the truth and I'm in a very very important fight of my life I think every fight's important for me but especially coming back

you know everybody's going to be looking to judge me and they do that every fight but specifically this fight and he didn't show up the first two weeks so I was very mad and and then there was a situation about you know I don't know somebody said that Connell didn't let me into the gym or whatnot like it was just a lot lot of, I didn't want to hear it. I didn't have time for that. Like, I'm trying to work. I'm like, I'm here. This is like my life. Like, I'm not playing around here, you know, and I just said, I'm switching. You know, it was like, I'm done. I'm going to just go sit. When Canelo said what he said about you, about you not being as committed as you needed to be or something like that.

I mean, how did that hit you? I mean, did it get me a little, was like shocked? Yes. Like, I was kind of confused on it. I didn't quite understand why he would say something like this, especially to the media, because he could have definitely taken me somewhere else and told me personally. So I was kind of confused on that, and I kind of took it as disloyal because I would never do that to him. I would never speak on him in the gym on what I think he should be doing or what not. We're a team. We shouldn't even speak any ill towards each other. And I know I've never done that, and I never will.

He's a great fighter, a great human being, and I hope the best for him. but when he said that, I felt betrayed, like, really? Like, okay. And, you know, to be honest, I don't think he really, like, he didn't really want to show me the love I did. I don't think so.

It's just based on other things, but, you know, it's all good, man. I have a good heart, good intentions, and I never wish bad on him, but I think I'm in a good place. I'm happy. That ain't going to change how I throw my punches, so I don't care.

But you didn't see that coming. That when he said, that. No. Not at all. It felt like out of left field to you? Yeah, because they know what I was going through. So I think the instance that he said that I came to gym for 20 minutes or whatnot, whatever he said in the interview, it was a moment where I was trying to work out, right? I was, I think it was even before, Fortuna, before I canceled Fortuna. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, it was like Fortuna. No, it was summer, summertime. Yeah, it was summertime. And I went to the gym and I was trying to do the workouts and I just broke down I left the gym and I went I just couldn't stop crying he

was there and we went on like a like a 40 50 minute I was like I don't know what's wrong I can't I can't move I can't do anything I don't I can't I was just out of my mind and I was like I was just crying non-stop and I was like I don't know I don't know if I could do this and that's what kind of was like yeah you've seen it yeah that was true I did leave 20 minutes in but I would never do that if I was focused and in a and like getting ready for a fight. It was just a moment where I was broken down, like, mentally. And so that's why I was kind of like, wow, you really going to do that? Like, you know me. You know I'm like that. Like, I don't mess around. Like, he thinks, he knows that I never gave him any edge. I never,

I was like, all right, like, I was competitive no matter what. Like, if they pushed, I pushed, and you were not beating me. No matter who it is in the gym, I'm going to push harder than you. They know that about me. And that's why Eddie knew I was going to be great. And he told me. And he told, to everybody. So that's why I was kind of, wow, I was kind of confused on what he said. But, you know, people, I don't know what his motive was on that. Like, what was point was he trying to get across? Like, I mean, he would probably say, you're just shitting on me. How was that motivated? I don't know, but like that, I don't need motivation. I am my own motivator. I got a lot writing on me. I don't need motivation. I'm a strong maniac training machine that I'll figure

out of way to get the shit done. So, no, it's, like Michael Jordan, like all that, that's me. Like, Canella Alvarez, Ryan Gar, that's me. Floyd Maywa, that's me. I'm that person. So he's crazy for him to say that. But like I said, nothing more of respect for him. All love. Can't believe you said that. Is it suck that, like, we're at this point where, I mean, like a year or so ago, the big brother, little brother thing was kind of out there, like he's the present, you're the future kind of thing, all in the same. He shows up. I mean, he never goes to any fights, and he shows up at yours, does it bring side? Yeah, it's kind of messed up. And, you know, it is what it is.

So you hear now, Joe Gousin, we were talking about this before we started, has been as complimentary of you as any trainer to a fighter who didn't have over the years. Publicly, very publicly. Why did it make sense for you to start training with Joe? And what were those early conversations like about how he could help you get better? They gave me two options. And, you know, I have already a connection to Joe, I trained with him when I was 17. And I know that Joe's a hardworking guy, and he's an old-school type of trainer.

And I love that because I'm an old-school type of fighter I would think. You know, I like to, you know, talk about boxing. I like to study boxing. I like to look at the old fights. Talk about the old fights, and he has a lot of knowledge. So in my head, I knew that was the right fit for me, and we have already a beautiful connection. Like, we get a lot of things that, you know, that we understand. So that was the perfect fit.

I didn't think twice. I just said, yeah, let's go. Joe Gooseon is it, it is what it is. Let's go. What's been his biggest influence so far? I mean, what are the things he's trying to kind of imprint with his style? I mean, everything, you know. I would say mainly technical stuff, obviously, with your hands, being played.

place at a certain spot or when you get into a certain position, where you should have your hands. And that's pretty much the biggest thing we're working on right now. And obviously, I'm always thinking on how to get better and I'm figuring it out too. So you'll see improvements come into the ring or maybe not. Maybe you just see me knock them out. Maybe I have my hands down the whole fight. I mean, how much does he talk to you about Diego Corrales and kind of, you know, that? No, I mean, he tells me certain things they did that, you know, that were good for,

their style and certain moves that I could probably apply to my certain positioning on a fight in the ring. But, I mean, at the end of the day, we're all got our own thing. And what makes a great trainer is a great fighter. So I think at the end of the day, we're going to push each other on just everything, knowledge on the game. You know, one thing I will do, anybody. I don't care of it.

Eddie Rennos, I don't care of it. It's Freddie Roach. I don't care if it's the most legendary trainer in the world. if I got a question about something, you're going to hear it for me, because I'm also trying to get better. And if I say that positioning, why would I do that? You're going to have to answer me because I'm not going to throw something that doesn't make sense to me. You know what I mean?

I like to think with the trainer so we could find the best option. And I don't just say yes. You know, I don't just jump into dark waters and just hope I'd fucking swim. What, you know, when it comes to the technical stuff, you know, are we going to see it, I would say a different version of you? You kind of joked about hands being downed stuff, but what are we going to see from you in this kind of new version of you? I mean, you're definitely going to see me tighter, I would say, tighter in the rain.

I won't make so much technical errors, but I've gotten away with it because I'm so fast and strong, and I'm the best fighter ever who's ever lived. But other than that, you know, you're going to just see me do me and fix a little bit of errors. that I had. You know, I got caught with Luke Campbell because I made a tactical error.

And it's, you know, you're facing a South Pole. Things are coming from a different side. And it was just a good shot. Like, there's nothing I could say. It was a great placement shot. And Luke Campbell is not the softest puncher. And you'll, I mean, you'll realize that. You see Lamachego's face, his face tore up.

That Luke Campbell could hit. So yeah, I mean, there's just little mistakes that I fix. Like, in most of my fights, you've never even seen me cut up bloody or even like i wasn't even really shook with campbell you see it was like i got hit it looked way worse than it actually was i got up and i was okay so you won't see me get dropped for sure uh knock on wood pop pop but uh but i will i will beat this dude and i think i will beat him one through three rounds and i don't think i'll get hit what do you think of the way the lightweight divisions kind of caught fire in the last six months or at least got some more attention

with the way cambosis well i mean cambosa's having the upset oh yeah i mean Teafemo kind of dropping out of it. That was a very weird fight. I mean, Cambosus, don't get me wrong. Cudors to him for winning. I don't think he's as skillful as even Teofima. I still don't think he's still as skillful. I think he caught Teofima at the right time.

That's all. I really do believe that. But again, it's just my opinion based on just I know boxing, and I could see it. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, 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. 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 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your part.

podcast. 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 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. You know what I mean? The thing I do like about Cambosis is he might not be the best talent, but he probably works super hard. So he beat talent when talent didn't work hard. And you cannot never knock a guy on that.

And I wish that he makes a lot of money in the sport and he could take care of his family forever. But I will show him that he would not belong in the ring with me. I will get him out there for sure. And I'm not just talking like to a female. I'm actually going to do it. Do you believe that fight's going to happen at some point? I do, and if it doesn't, great, I don't care.

I'm so tired. But why are your goals then now? My goals are, I mean, my goals are obviously to win titles, but I mean. You're kind of above titles. I'm above titles, and I'm above bullshit. So I don't care if I could win a stupid title that doesn't mean anything. I care about beating some good fighters. So if it so happens that Lomachenko gets a bouts from Cambosis,

I will be the first one to fight Lomachenko because Lomachenko knows I could fight. And I think that would be a great fight because he's shorter than me, but he's going to be trying to apply that pressure and I'm going to be, you know, it's just going to be a fun fight. You know, he's going to be very weary for my shit. He knows. And I have to watch out for his pressure, you know, and his technical abilities. So I'll be looking forward to that. If not, I want to fight Teofima at 140, knock him out, and then hopefully get Tank Davis. And when I say knockout, guys, you got to remember.

I will say I'll knock out every single person because I don't see anybody surviving. But if they do great, I will make it into a dog fight because I love it. It's like boxing's fun to me. You won't ever have an easy fight with me for sure. But I will always go for the knockout. First up, is Tago coming up April 9th.

We talked about kind of maybe whatever might change technically, if anything, at all. How do you think you're going to feel getting back in the ring for the first time in every year? Great. My time is immaculate. my explosion is still there, my precision, my timing. That's the best thing about me is my timing.

So I have that on tat. I have everything. My shots are strong. I'm knocking people out, left and right in the sparring. So it's like you're not going to see anything different other than there's nothing different. You're just going to see me do the same thing I've been doing. That's it. Take how it's not going to do anything.

He's just, he's going to move, I think, once he feels a good one. But he won't be there for long. Ryan, good to have you back, man. Thank you, Chris Mannix. You're the best. When we come back, this week's picks brought to you by Fandul. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree.

They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you. and start exploring at discover the forest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council.

And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the... And there they go. Almost on time this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry. Looks like dad has the bag's daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Diapers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but mom has just nailed the perfect.

car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest daughter, who looks to be about nine or ten, has secured herself in the booster seat. Dad zips the bag closed, and they're off. Ah, but looks like mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car, and there it goes. Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big stuff.

Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. NHTSA.gov Slash the right seat. Brought to you by Mitzah and the Ad Council. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest?

Our imagination. Our sense of wonder. And our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring.

I discover the forest. Forest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. All right. It's time now for this week's picks brought to you by Fandoul. And like I promised you, last week I got back to my winning ways. I gave you an underdog last week. Lee Wood, in his hometown, was an underdog against Michael Conlin.

I said he was going to win. What do you do? Pick up a 12th round knockout, one of the great fights of the year and one of the best knockouts that you are going to see in years. Congratulations to Lee Wood. Phenomenal performance. Michael Conlin as well, he put forth a great effort. This week, I'm going to give you a favorite.

I don't like to do that often, but I'm big on this fight this weekend. Edgar Berlanga, who is one of the best young prospects in boxing, he is coming off something of a so-so performance in his last fight. He got injured during that fight. He got knocked down during that fight. It was the second consecutive fight for Berlanga who looked unstoppable when he racked up 16 consecutive first round knockouts. He's had two straight wins by decision, which has had some questioning just how good he is. I'm here to tell you he is good and he's going to bounce back in a big way on Saturday headlining at Madison Square Garden against Steve Rolls.

Some of you know Steve Rolls as the guy that fought Ganadi Golofkin a couple of years ago. He got knocked out then. I think he gets knocked out now. I think Berlanga, he wins this fight. He's the favorite and a big one going in. So it's not, you're not going to win a lot of money if you bet low. But I'm telling you, he is going to win and he is going to knock out Steve Rolls and get back on track as one of the brightest young fighters at 168 pounds.

So that's this week's picks brought to you by fan. That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Corey Erdman and Ryan Garcia for joining the show. As always, subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you download podcast. I will see you next week. And what's that you say, Ryan? You have one final word for Sergio Amora?

Sergio, you don't know shit. What grows in the forest, our imagination, and our family bonds. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. We've all felt left out. And for people who move to this country, feeling lasts more than a moment.

We can change that. Learn how at belonging begins with us.org. Brought to you by the ad council. What does the chicken say? Dog. Cat. Giraffe. Giraff, really?

Giraffe. You're not going to get it all right. Just make sure you know the big stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Get it right. Visit nhtsa.gov. the right seat. Brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council.

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 podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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 what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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, unfiltered 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four is big to me. I'm Sam Jay. 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 with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.