The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Boxing with Chris Mannix - Teofimo’s Takeback

Episode Date: August 12, 2022

Chris talks with the great DAZN broadcaster, Sergio Mora as they react to Vergil Ortiz's win and dive into if he's ready for a title shot. They also discuss Teofimo Lopez's returns and what we can expect from Teo at 140. Finally, they talk about who Tyson Fury wants to fight and if anyone actually cares. Later, Teofimo Lopez stops by to talk about his upcoming fight, fighting at 140, and what might be next for him. #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is boxing with Chris Manich. Oh, somebody punch him in the face. Anthony Joshua is a composed and ferocious finisher. Watch this. Hosted by S.I's Chris Mannix. 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 Manick. So glad you could squeeze me into this podcast. Hey, listen, it was between you and a pedicure. So I decided you. How many times a week do you get a pedicure? A month to get a pedicure. Not often.

Not as much as I should. I say this all the time, Sergio Amora, back again, Desone Broadcaster, former Juno Middleweight Champion. But for someone that grew up with nothing, you like the finer things more than anyone I know. Boogie Mexicans started from the bottom. Now I'm here. Yeah, for context here.

I asked Sergio to do this podcast in person. I'm in Southern California this week, and I get a response from him that sounded a little something like this. All right, man. I'm squeezing your podcast, but I got a busy day, bro. Busy day. You know, day trading right now. Mark is doing well, so, you know, I can actually allow a little bike ride right now

in the neighborhood. But I got to wash my Jeep. You know, I got to hit some golf balls because my game is. suffer. But yeah, I'll squeeze in your podcast 3 p.m. I will be there prepared. But yeah, you're just throwing something else on my already full list. You know, I got a laundry list of a lot of hobbies. I got to take care of. You're lucky you're lucky to pay me for this. Your idea of a busy day is bike riding, car washing, and golf ball, golf ball hitting. And day trading. We got to make money. And today we'll

It was a good day in the market, baby. Great day in the market. You don't check the market every day. I check it every day because I'm a part-time day trader, Maddox, okay? Hashtag Apple, hashtag Marriott, hashtag Costco. These are all my stocks and doing well. I'm glad you're doing well. All right, a lot to get into on this podcast.

A lot of news this week to touch on. But first, Sergio, I want to look back to last week when we were both ringside in Fort Worth, Texas. Virgil Ortiz picks up his 19th win. collects his 19th knockout, sees the ninth round for the first time in his career, albeit only for a couple of seconds, against Michael McKinson. He now wins and moves on. What did you think of Virgil Otis's performance coming after a one-year layoff with a new voice in his corner in Manny Robles? First, we got to give McKinson some credit because, look, we knew that he didn't have enough to win,

but he showed heart, he showed grit. He was trying to find a way to make it difficult and nuggly for, Virgil and he kind of did but he wasn't winning rounds and and that's what we talked about in our last podcast is how is he going to win rounds or is he going to be able to win rounds and obviously the question was no he was just able to you know really show courage heart and you know go more rounds than anyone else did but I just think Virgil Ortiz with his new team he's he's molding nicely manix he's molding nicely into the same killer he was I would like to see more jabs I would like to see less voices in the corner. You know, there was his father, there was Manny Robles. There was like three,

voices in his corner. But that's all the things that you need to work on with chemistry and they will. But whether he looked impressive or not, absolutely. But that's what happens when you transition from your day one to someone new. You have to build that chemistry. And that's what they're doing with Manny Robles. And it shouldn't take, you know, more than two or three fights. Just like with Ryan Garcia, you know, with Gousin. It only took two fights to see Ryan Garcia. And and it's back to his old ways. Yeah, one thing I learned in that fight is that Virgil Ortiz, Sr.,

is the head trainer of that operation. Even though you're right, there were a lot of voices talking in that corner, it was pretty clear that Virgil Sr. was the head guy. You're bringing to Manny Robles. He's there to help. You have a couple other voices there,

but Virgil Sr. is the head trainer, probably will be the head trainer moving forward, which is fine. He trained his son all the way up until the union with Robert Garcia. Now that Robert Garcia is out, Virgil Sr. is going to be taking the lead role with Virgil Jr. And I don't, I thought he had a good game plan going in. Even Virgil in the ring was telling me, like, my father had the right game plan. I was just not listening to it. He was out there trying to headhunt Michael McKinson. And McKinson is very difficult to beat that way because he's slippery.

He's got a decent chin. He knows how to avoid and how to tie up. the body was where Virgil needed to go. And then towards the end, that eighth round, he just hits McKinson with a picture perfect shot right on the hip. Is that legal, by the way? Is the hip considered legal? If the referee's on the right-hand side and you do it on the left-hand side, it's totally legal.

He didn't see it. Bernard Hopkins used to do that all the time. But technically, no, it's not legal. Okay, I didn't know that. But there's a lot of things you can do when the referee's on the other side. And we get away with it all the time. If he doesn't see it, we got away with it. I mean, that was clearly it was considered a body shot.

it was a hip shot because referee didn't see it no I agree look you do whatever you can do within the bounds of the game but I thought it was crazy that Virgil hit McKinson

with a shot in the end of the eighth round and then at the start of the ninth hits him literally in the exact same spot that just crumbles him down to the canvas once again I think if Virgil had not hit him in that spot McKinson might have been able to survive maybe the distance of that finally four rounds to go he looked like he was in good condition

I just think Virgil, to his credit, went out there, looked for that exact same shot and landed it. So good for him. That showed growth and I think an ability to follow the game plan that his father and his team set out. And he still got the knockout. So, you know, he's still, you know, a 100% knockout ratio is still intact.

And even though he says and acts like, it doesn't matter to him, it does matter because it looks great on his resume and it looks great promoting the next fight, only him and better be of two boxers. in the whole world, the only ones with a 100% knockout ratio, well, two boxers that actually are, you know, contenders and champions. That's impressive.

So to keep that, that's how you market your next fight. And by marketing and keeping that 100% knockout ratio, you know, you get more money. You can demand more on the negotiating table. So that's a great, great thing to have on your belt, a notch on your belt. As far as Virgil Sr. goes, I'm a big fan of this because, you know, mostly, you know how I feel about fathers training their sons. I don't like it.

I do not like it for many, many reasons. I've seen so many relationships spoiled over boxing, and I don't like it. But, you know, Virgil does a great job of being the alpha, being the man, being the father, but then allowing someone else to get involved and do the training as well. Kind of like Devin Haney's father does.

You know, I think, you know, Devin Haney's father does the exact same thing. He goes to whatever boxing trainer is going to bring out the best to a son, and it's everywhere around the country. I don't care who the voice is. But I'm the man. I'm the voice. You're going to give the game plan.

You're going to train my son. But come fight night. It's my voice for the highway. And I think that's where I think Virgil's senior should have, you know, planned with many. But these are all things that are going to work on the next time around. And you can bet they're going to iron those out and they're going to come stronger the next time. Yeah, I agree with you there. So let's talk about the next time.

Right now, Virgil Ortiz is the number one contender for the belt held by Terrence Crawford. As we record this, there are reports that the Crawford Spence fight is getting close. It's not there yet, but let's just say hypothetically that Crawford Spence falls apart over money at the 11th hour. And the WBO orders Virgil Ortiz against Terrence Crawford. What would you do if you're Virgil Ortiz? Well, I would, yeah. Virgil Ortiz is so ambitious. He wants to fight Bud Crawford.

I mean, he's stubborn about that. And I'm sure he'll fight. Harold Spence, you know, that fight would be a huge fight in Texas, in Dallas. It's just I would advise him not to. I would, you know, I wouldn't need to talk to his manager, Rick Meridian. He'll tell you exactly what I'm telling you. No, not ready. Unless it's an obscene amount of money where we can't turn down,

then, of course, we're going to take the fight because this is prize fighting after all. But if it's just going to be, you know, a $1.2 million fight, you know, one point something, I don't think it's worth it because, you know, you're going to be able to make that. really fast and it's going to grow exponentially without Crawford, without Spence, without a blemish on your record. So I say steer clear of those names, even though you are chasing greatness, you're not ready for those names. It'll look exactly like when Conello stepped up to fight Mayweather. He got his first blemish, but he got a $10 million payday out of it. So it was worth it. Now, if Virgil Ortiz is going to get a $10 million payday, I'll sign the contract right now.

It's not going to be $10 million. But we know it's not even going to be five. But doesn't like, you know, you mentioned Canello and Mayweather. One thing, Eddie is. Eddie Renoso has said, and Canello has said after that, is that they're better off as a fighter from taking that fight. They learned something from that fight. They were humbled by that fight. Same thing can happen, Virgil Ortiz. And Sergio, you and I both know, if the WBO orders it and it goes to Perspid, like Virgil's

taking that fight. How about if he gets knocked out? How about if he gets physically beat down? No, that's not how you learn. You don't learn through a beating. You learn through a 12-round decision loss. That's what Connell did. You go back and look at, like, look at the 1980s.

Look at that age. One beat down can change the trajectory of your career. You don't want that beat down to be gambling for what if. Now, if you can guarantee me that Virgil Ortiz goes a distance with Crawford and Errol Spence, I say take the fight. But this is boxing where you're one fight, one loss away, one punch away from your career going the wrong way. Yeah, but if Virgil Ortiz is not ready for Terrence Crawford now, when is he going to be? He faced all the gatekeeper, Sergio.

It's not his job. He faced Agus Kavaloskis. He faced Michael McKinson. He has faced every B-level fighter potentially. Good for him. But it's not his job to be facing Crawford. It's Spence's job to be facing Crawford. That's what the public demands.

That's the number one fight to be made in boxing. Okay. I agree. Virgil Ortiz, if he's able to do this and bite more than he can chew, that just shows how much balls he has. It's not his job to be calling out Crawford and Spence. That just shows you the audacity and the ambassies. ambition that this young man has.

This is why we did this on jabs over on the zone and I'll do it again. But it upsets me because I'm not talking about you. You just don't understand. No, I do understand. You know why I understand? Because after you beat Vernon Forrest, what was your message to the crowd right then? Oscar, Elahoya. Oscar Delahoya.

Who at that point was still one of the best in boxing was at all time. And I didn't get it. And you didn't get it. But you called him out. So you called him out. Why is it different? Why is it okay for you to call it Oscar Delahoya and Virgil Ortiz not to call it Terrence Crawford?

Terrence Crawford's 34. He's not 28. He's not in the middle of the prime of his career. He's 34 years old. And he got touched in his last fight against Kavaloskis. Got touched in that fight. I was 28 years old and I was in a different position. Virgil's what, 25?

Like 24. All right. And he just turned 24 at that. But he has power and he has a star potential. My star was already kind of like running out of shine. Your star was burned out. Well, I was about the supernova. You know what that means?

Yes. All right. So, yeah, I was a big red. giant at that time and I was about to explode. But anyway, he's a little young star. He has a future ahead of him and a lot of money to be made. And I just think he's going to take a step backwards fighting one of these guys and then forget about losing. How about if he loses badly or a beat down? You don't come back from those. There's so many fighters that have left so much money on the table but with one bad loss. Even though they got back to the top, won a championship, made some good

money, they still weren't the same if they would actually make the right decision early in their career. Kellbrook is a great example. Caldbrook is a great example. He, he bit off more than he can choose to step up to fight Golofkin, something he didn't have to do. But where did his career go from there? He went from undefeated knocking people out. He left so much on the table striving for greatness. I just don't think it's a good idea of Virgil shouldn't do it. Okay. In 1981, Tommy Hearns, I think it was in his early 20s, took a pretty good beatdown

from Sugar Ray Leonard. He bounced back. That was with a welterweight title. He went on to win titles at 54. I fight that he was winning. I fight that he was winning. Okay, but he took a beatdown at the end. One round, he was winning that fight.

At the end. In the 14th round! Okay. All right, how about this? He was winning before that. So that wasn't a beatdown. How about this? 1985.

The same Tommy Hearns fights Marvin Hagley. You want to call that not a beatdown? It was out of his range, out of his weight class. And Hagler, for God, It's one of the greatest middleweight in all. But he went on to win a light heavyweight title after that. Versa who.

Please. Dennis Andres. Exactly. Forgettable. But then he fought, Aaron Bargley, lost that fight, fought Ray Leonard again.

Look, I'm just saying the careers don't end after one tough loss. Okay, out of the four kings, why is Hearns always the one that, that people mention less? He's not. It's always Hagler.

It's always Lennar. It's Ray. It's Ray up here. And it's not. It's Ray up here. Sadie. Salis above everybody else. The other three are kind of blumped in the same mix.

Duran. It's Duran and Leonard, and then after that attack. Although Duran, you know, he came back after Ray beat his, you know, no moss. Yeah, but Duran was just special, you know. Okay. So what you're saying is Virgil's not special is what you're saying? Not yet. Not yet.

Okay. All right. Well, look, if there's any luck, we'll get Virgil versus, say, David Avedesian. I think that's a good fight for him next because that would mean Spence and Crawford. And it'll be a great fight for the fans. That'll be a physical, physical fight. That's a rock'em-sock and robo. That's a type of fight where that puts you on the next level

where you might be ready for the bigger names. But Alainisian is dangerous. I agree. All right, let's look ahead to this weekend. On Saturday, Teufima Lopez makes his return to the ring. He will be moving up to 140 pounds to fight Pedro Kampa. Lopez was last seen in the ring against George Cambosos last November. Lost the decision.

Was it unanimous? I think it was unanimous. Lost a unanimous decision. in the aftermath of that he dealt with some medical issues he dealt with a broken hand now he's back in the ring at 140 the takeover Sergio has become the take back what are your expectations for Lopez at 140 pounds I want to say it was a split decision but either way yes it was a clear loss and I love this move because we know that he was a big 135 pound the biggest 135 pound I've ever seen by the way in Tio Fimo Lopez and you know he knows he knows what it's like to have overnight success your life changes everyone wants your picture knows your name you get the big money and then you have a just another loss and you get everything taken away from you he's popular enough he's he's still great enough to do something big at at 140 and he

he has a size to do at a 140 and he has monsters at the 140 division you got you know got taylor you got pro gray you got tank you got Garcia I mean that's going to be the next popular decision you know from the lightweights now is going to be 140 so he's going to be fit in nicely at 140 where you know there's going to be a lot of money on the table and he's going to be he's going to be happy that he hasn't doesn't have to shed down that weight his size still going to be uh you know he's still going to be big enough but he's not going to be shedding those extra pounds a lot of money be made man and if he has his head right like he says his his head is right he's going to be probably the name i would favor over all of them but his head has to be right his camp has to be right um and

and his training, of course, because, you know, you don't want these injuries, you don't want these sicknesses that he went into the ring with that he said he had issues with. And of course, his father, you know, is a wildcard. So maybe if they can bring someone else in that can even that out, I think he has a bright future ahead of him. I think the mental part of it is the most important part of Teofima Lopez's career to this point. Sergio, you were around him like I was during the Cambosis week, that was not the Tea Fima Lopez we had become used to, the confidence. And it was still kind of there, but you knew he was having problems getting down to 135 pounds. He was very open about the issues with his former wife.

He had just had a baby who he hadn't seen. Like, there was so much going on that I can't imagine being mentally prepared to go to war against the guy like Cambosis who looked at that fight as winner go home. It was do or die for George Cambosis. So I'm of the belief that if Teofima Lopez is right mentally, if he's right physically, he can very quickly become the best guy at 140. Like the talent's still there. Like even in the ring, Sergio, like I've covered almost every Teafima Lopez fight

of his young career. Most of it live and in person. I covered him at the Olympics in Rio. That was not the same fighter. He was trying to one-punch Cambos into the mat. Like the Teofimo, I know, is a boxer-puncher, somebody that, you know, hits you, moves you. And then when he gets the opportunity, just clobbers you with that big right hand. Similar to what happened with Richard Comey in their fight a few years ago.

That was not the Teofimo I was used to seeing. So everything I'm hearing is that Teofimo has got his mind right. His body's going to be better at 140 pounds. I think he's in a good place right now. I have lofty expectations for Teofima Lopez. I think within the next year, he's going to be a world champion again. And I think there's a pretty good chance if his body allows him to stay at 140, that before he leaves that weight class, he'll be the undisputed champion.

Because to your point, top rank is loaded in that weight class. Like they've got Josh Taylor, who has two of the belts and will probably vacate sometime next year. They've got Jose Ramirez, who's going to fight for a belt sometime next year. They have a lot of guys that they work with. So Teofimo is going to get a million opportunities at 140. A lot of money changes you. Overnight success changes you. You know, on a smaller or in a different level, I went through that when I won the contender, you know, from nobody to somebody, from insufficient funds to a million dollars.

Tio Fima went through that. And whenever you're a kid from the ghetto. Back to insufficient funds. No way. Come on. Thanks to American Express. We had a good day today at the market, baby. Anyway, Tio Fima went through that.

A lot of boxes go through. A lot of athletes go through that, man. You cover a lot of basketball players. They're the ones that go broke before anyone else. Football players, too. because they get a lot of money, their life changes overnight, they don't know how to manage it, and then they start splurging.

Tiofimo, you know, he went through a little bit of everything, not only personal problems, but the financial problems, too. He couldn't even hire the strength trainer that got them into that great shape because he couldn't afford it. You know, so all these things come, and it's a perfect storm, but you know what? That's part of boxing. That's part of being a fighter.

The reason people indirectly or vicariously live through us or admire us, whether, you know, you're a lawyer or a doctor or whatever you are, it's because you fight your own way. You fight you get up out of bed. You fight for your family. You fight to get ahead in your job. Somehow, somewhere you're fighting.

Any fighter could tell you that boxing is easy and seeing. Training is one of the hardest things, but juggling your personal life, your family life, doing all the promotions and marketing for the fight, and then having to show out for 12 rounds against another guy that's equally as hungry, if not more hungrier. I mean, it's a lot of things to judge. struggle. It is. And it's character that that that that that makes it all the way through the end. Look at all the

fighters that have had longevity to the end. Not only are they naturally talented, but they had character. You know, and if some guys didn't have character, they're just super talented or it was a little bit of both. But yeah, I think Tio Fimo, like you said, very smart young man, love talking to him, love hearing his interviews. And I think he has the character get it back. I think he's going to be great at 140. not to look past Pedro Campa, but this is a comeback fight for Teafimo. He's probably, if he's right, he's going to finish Campa in the first half of the fight. But in the last couple of days, there's been an interesting matchup floated for Tea Femmo, that being Ryan Garcia.

You saw Oscar Delahoya tweet over the weekend that he was going to be in Vegas for the Teafimo fight. I know Sergio that representatives of top rank and Golden Boy have spoken about a potential Teafemo against Ryan Garcia fight. Very preliminary talks right now because a lot of the same obstacles that exist between Garcia and Tank Davis in terms of networks.

Are the same ones he's going to face with TioFee. Are the same ones, though I would argue that you know, Top Rank has done pay-per-views with Fox before. Like that I think top-rank and ESPN might be more amenable to doing kind of a co-promotion, a co-paper

review with Golden Boy and DeZone than Showtime and PBC is with Tank Dave. That's my read of it right now because the Tank Davis talks have really gone nowhere at this point. I mean, Oscar, all do respect Oscar, but he's the head of Golden Boy. These discussions are being had well below him. If a deal with Tank Davis gets done, it's because DeZone, Al-Haman, Lupe Valencia, the manager for Ryan Garcia and Showtime and Stephen Espinosa

decide to get a deal done. Oscars, he's out there and he's very important in these, but he's not really involved in the day-to-day of these talks. But what do you think, though? Like, hypothetically, let's say a deal can be done

for Teofima against Ryan Garcia early next year. Is that a fight you like for Ryan Garcia? Is that a fight you like for Teofima Lopez? Is that a fight you like, period? I would rather see Garcia versus Tank. I think Teofima will be too physically strong and big for him.

But Teofimo making his debut at 142. I get it, but I've seen them. I mean, mind you, Ryan Garcia did fill out nicely 140. His shoulders looked big. He looked really, he looked like a solid 140. But Teofimo is a huge, was a huge 135 ponder. He's still a big 140 pound. He has these shoulders, man.

I mean, it looks like he's wearing shoulder pads. Have he seen him do pull-ups? And he does him like the hard way where the back of his palm is facing you. And he goes all the way to the top to like waist level. This guy doesn't do push-ups. He looks like a gymnast. He's that strong on his upper body. And we know that he can punch.

It's his mind that is going to be the issue. But on the flip side of that, Ryan Garcia has been on record saying that he has issues with mental issues as well. So, I mean, it's a problem and it's epidemic that a lot of people struggling with. And we're going to see more and more of that in fighting. But as far as what they do inside the ring, when they're ready, I think Tio Fimo is just a wrong style matcher for. Ryan Garcia. He throws more punches. Who do you want to see Ryan Garcia face then?

All right. But if Tank can't happen, who do you want to see Ryan? If he goes to 140, what's you going to do? Like, do you want to see him fight? That's what he was talking to? No. And that's the that's going to happen anyway. So what does it matter? It does matter. You can push back and say it's not a good fight. Okay. It's either that or staying active. And I don't think in activities are right going to go. I'm just saying, Sergio, if they can make, if it's doable. I'm all in for Maxi Hughes. If you're Ryan Garcia, stay busy, get another knockout. And look, Ryan Garcia can fight Maxi Hughes if you want to in September, October, potentially. But if you can make in the first quarter of next year

a fight between Teofimo and Garcia, do it, right? I would love to hear Tank mention Garcia's name. He doesn't. I don't know. Just to call him up, I'd like to hear Teofimo mention Garcia's name. That way, you know, people can start believing more than just with Ryan, Garcia and Osce Del Hoyer saying

because they're just doing their part to promote. They can call out King Kong, but doesn't mean King Kong's looking their way. but if these guys actually mention their name, then it's kind of like, whoa, it's real now. I would love for Tiofimo Lopez to be like, hey, all right, look, after I take care of this, I'm going to look at your way.

I'm going to make you an offer. He will, and he does. Okay, and if he does it, we'll see what happens with Oscar Doa Hoy and Ryan Garcia, whether they're willing to do something good. Ryan Garcia, at his press conference, after the last fights that I want to fight Tiafimo. I would love to see that fight before Tank.

I mean, Tio Fimo and Garcia would be a massive fight. Wait, you want to see that instead of Tank? No, I would love to see Tank, but Tank's not happening. You just said why. the Heyman, the showtime and everything else. But Tio Fimo's possible. Maybe. Because Bob Aaron will work with Oscar Deloia.

He has before. Again, it's not, I mean, again, all due respect to Bob. It happens at like the Carl Moretti level. This is where these deals get done. Not to take people too far behind the scenes here, but as you know, there are dealmakers and there are figureheads within your company. And not to say Bob and Oscar aren't involved,

Bob is clearly involved in everything that happens within top rank, but the nitty gritty gets done at the management level there. If that fight can happen, That to me is equally as good as Ryan and Tank. Not as popular because, you know, the fan bases are big between Ryan and Tank, but that's a massive fight in the first quarter of 2022, or 2023, I should say. I'm going to the Teofima fight on Saturday. You want to go?

Where is it? Vegas. Ooh, maybe. Maybe. Saturday. This is ringside. Wait a minute. I mean, I had a good day in the market today.

I'll go blow it on roulette. All right. Let's move on to a fight that is happening. Announced this week, Connor Ben and Chris Eubank are. going to square off in the UK. It's going to be a fight that's at a catchweight of 157 pounds. These two obviously are the sons of Nigel Ben and Chris Eubank, senior, who had two famous fights in the early 1990s.

Now you get Ben, who is a welterweight jumping up a couple of weight classes, and you have Eubank, who has been a middleweight of late, previously a super middleweight, dropping down a few pounds to 157. Let me get your thoughts on this first. I've got a few. but Connor Ben, you bank being official, what do you make of that fight?

Revenge for his father. It's marketable. It's sellable. You can put that in a, in a stadium, and it's going to be popular. O2, The O2 arenas.

Retribution, Mannix. Redemption. I mean, it's revenge. It's blood. It's legacy. It wasn't the second fight a draw between them? Yeah,

yeah, but it shouldn't have been. Okay. But I love the fact that Ben is so confident. I love, I love, you know, how he's knocking out people and former champions. Chris Eubanks is really good.

Very, very good to beat. I mean, hard to beat. But I think at the point of where they're at, Connor, Ben is striving a lot farther, a lot faster. And I think him taking this big chances, just he's following what, what Kelbrook did with Golofkin, bit off more than he can chew. With Amir Khan did with Canelo, bit off more than he can chew. And those fights, how'd they end? Not well. Brutal.

I don't see this fight ending brutal. I can see it being a close loss for Ben. It wouldn't be that bad. But I just think Chris Eubanks will have the upper edge, not only in weight, even if they are fighting at 157 or whatever it is, stylistically, it's a bad matchup for Ben. But I love the fact that they're doing. It's going to be a massive fight and marketable because it's going to have the young fans

that are following this young star now, and it's going to be the old school fans from the 1990s that seen their father's fight. It's going to be a big fight. So I love the fight. I love this fight for Chris Eubank because I think he'll make 157 comfortably. And this is the biggest money fight he's probably ever going to be in. Like this is a massive payday for Chris Eubank, unlike anything he's seen and unlike anything he will see. He'll rehydrate probably 10, 12 pounds, whatever the limit's going to be.

And he'll be a big man in the ring against Connor Ben. I don't really get this fight for Connor Ben. Connor Ben is still a young guy, mid-20s at this point, who's on the prospect path, like he has been fighting the former champions, the washed-up veterans, the guys that you expect a young prospect to fight. Notably, Sergio, he has not faced anyone that resembles a puncher. What can Chris Eubank do? He can punch.

He can punch. Right, but he can punch. Connor Ben can punch at Welterweight, but he's going up against a guy that anyone in boxing will tell you has an iron chin. And it's a bigger fighter. You know, George Groves, James DeGill. Lost twice but never been stopped. But naturally big super middle weights.

It's going to be a problem. Weight's going to be an issue. Even if U.Banks goes down to weight, he's lean. He's really only going down three pounds. Yeah, and somebody... He's really big. I know. Somebody told me, somebody close to UBank told me like, look, he easily makes that weight.

And he's a natural athlete. He's always in shape. Yeah, but it's like kind of like natural. I don't want to compare it to LeBron, but like he is, like a physical specimen. Like he just, he, he could do whatever he wants that his body is going to do,

operate accordingly. So I'm, I think this is bad news for Connor Ben. I think he might get hurt so bad. You talk with Ryan Garcia and with other guys like, or Virgil Ortiz,

like, this to me is almost a cash out for Connor Ben. No, man. Why do you think differently? You're just saying an aria about Connor boat versus Ortiz not facing

Terrence Crawford. Why is it okay for Connor Ben to face Chris Eubank? The money? The money is one, of course, because this is a business. The styles and the style matchup is another thing, but the maturity. That's the main thing I want to focus on the maturity. You listen to Connor Ben talk. You watch him fight and he's ahead of his years and it's not only because of his father and it's not only what he does in the ring, but he has this confidence that most fighters learn on the job. Virgil Ortiz is still learning on the job. That's why he switched trainers even though he's knocked out every.

everybody if he if he wasn't confident if he's not confident in 18 and old you know 18 knockouts nothing's going to make him confident uh that just goes to show you that he's not fully matured you know connor ben on the other hand he's a fully matured specimen of a boxer of a fighter and i love watching him fight he's a star he's a future mega star and if he can beat eubanks maybe that's why he's doing he's biting off a little bit more than he can chew but if he can actually somehow win this fight we got the next you know, British Conello I don't disagree.

Because he's handsome, he knocks people out, he's articulate, and he can he can model everything from, you know, laptops to underwear. So he's going to be he's going to be a marketing dream. You're doing best case scenario here, and I get that. But look

at the opponents Connor Bennett's face in the last two plus years. Hold on. He loses a decision. He won't get knocked out. You don't get knocked out by you bank? No. You just said Ubank could punch. Yeah, but he's not going to get knocked out. Okay, but look at the guys Connor Ben is face.

Sebastian Formella, can't punch. Samuel Vargas. No, he wasn't. Sebastian Formal lost to Sean Porter and somebody else before. One last. Okay.

Samuel Vargas, not a defeated, can't punch. Chris Algeria, do respect to our friend, can't punch. Chris Van Heardin, can't punch. Like, he has fought a lot of guys

that can't punch. Now he's going up two weight classes to face a guy that can punch. I don't see the pathway to victory here. I'm not saying it's a great idea. All I'm saying it's a calculated risk that I like that more.

I like this one more than Virgil Ortiz. Yes. Well, there's more money in it. That's the only thing you can say about this match. There's more money in it. There you go. When you weigh the pros and cons, I think this is a calculated smart risk by Connor Ben.

And mind you, there's legacy, there's bloodline involved. There's like I said. There's a story to sell. There's a story to sell. So if I had a father, I would like to revenge his loss or whatever. it is. But I don't. So, you know, if I would have had someone like that in my life, that he came up short with someone else, you can bet that I would have stepped up, man. I would have taken, I would have taken the name to another level. I would have, Manix, you have a dad. If your dad

would have got beat by somebody, wouldn't you want to face somebody that's just a little bit bigger? Just to, okay, but again, they fought to a draw the second time. So it's not exactly revenge. Yeah, but the second point. No, no, it wasn't a draw. It was a split decision loss. It Oh, no, it was a draw. It was a draw, yeah. That wasn't, I think you're overreaching here. And look, if Connor Ben was like 31 years old, I might agree with you, but he's 25. And Sergio, is it going to be, how do you think he's going to go back down to Welterweight

after gaining 13 pounds for this fight? He's going to drop back down to Welterweight and resume his career as a top prospect there. If he loses badly, this to me is a cash out. Simple as that. He's cashing out. He's going to make a lot of money, but this will be the end we see of Connor Ben in the high. Oh, you're nuts. Okay.

Maybe I agree. I might give you some credit with the cash out because like I said, this is a business. It's price fighting. You show me the money. I'll take the risk. But no, one, he's not going to get knocked out. So how's it a cash out? Two, he's going to make a boatload of money.

If he makes it a competitive fight and comes up short, it's still going to be a learning experience. He can drop back down and wait or you can, you know, campaign at junior middleweight, go up and wait comfortably. He's fine. He's a good looking, very hard-punching kid that has a big following. It all depends how he lose. loses that fight. If he gets knocked out, okay. It was a mistake. If he goes the distance,

loses a close decision, it's a win-win. You know, it was the best story behind Chris Eubank, Connor Ben, the parents in the second fight. Don King at the time had written into their contracts that the winner of the fight and the loser of the fight would both become part of Don King promotions. He didn't write in a draw. He didn't write in a draw. So neither one of them had to join Don King, which was an amazing piece of bad lawyering or whoever wrote that contract up for Don King. All right, let's keep it over in the UK for a minute

and let's talk about Tyson Fury who unsurprisingly is looking to get back into the ring. Fury's been on social media and he wants to face Derek Chisora talking about completing the trilogy against Derek Dissora. Mind you, Fury's beaten Chisora twice pretty badly. About 10 years ago was the last fight.

But Fury wants Derek Chisora part three. Chisora. says he wants it. From what I've been told, they are massively apart in terms of money, to the point that representatives or both have told me this fight is not going to happen. So I'll ask you this. I guess I don't think you'll be surprised that Fury wants to get back into the ring, but what do you make of Fury calling out Derek Chasora? It's the Gypsy King being a mastermind promoter, keeping his name in the mix, being popular. And Chisora is always in really entertaining fights.

but he comes up short when it comes to fighters like Tyson Fury. He came up short twice already. He comes up short with every big name that he is. Look, all respect to him for beating Kubraapulev, but Kubraapulov was as washed as to sure. Derek Chisora is, you always got to give him a chance against people to put up a good fight, but not to win. He's a heavyweight version of Gabe Rosado.

Always an entertain. That's a good comparison. He's an entertaining, very, very liked, very popular soldier that loves going to war, but he doesn't come out with the victories or the triumphs. So when it all comes down to it, and they both have like a dozen losses, but they're the people's champ, right? But not against the real champ. You don't give him chances against the number one guy.

You can give him chances against the number four or five guys or guys coming up in the mix, but no, not against Tyson Fury, especially if he's already come up short twice. Like, I want to see Chisora, if he wants to complete the trilogy against Kubraubov, more power to you. Like, that's a fine fight for Chisora. The second fight was actually pretty entertaining. see that fight. If he wants to face Dillion White in a third fight, I'd be okay

with that as well. Dillion White, yeah, those are okay. I don't want to see him against the best heavyweight in the world. It doesn't make any sense. That's a way for Tyson Fury to cash a big check and not be in any danger. And that sort of fits Sergio with what Tyson's been doing since his last fight. Where he's calling out, you know,

Nagano, the MMA champion. He's calling out now Derek Chessori. He's looking to do exhibitions more than he's looking to do actual competitive fights. But you and I both know, Fury's future will be determined in less than two weeks when AJ and Usik getting the ring together in Saudi Arabia.

The winner of that fight, there will be a mandate to face Tyson Fury to become the undisputed champion at heavyweight. That's the fight I want to see Tyson Fury in and ultimately that's the fight he's going to take, right?

Like that's the one where the money's going to be behind it. And yeah, and he's waiting and doing what a very smart heavyweight champion should do. Instead of staying inactive, get an easy fight against a fighter, you know you'll beat easily

and get a big paycheck. And that's what he's promoting. promoting that fight because the longer he stays out of the ring, the more he's going to look bad against the winner of an Usook and AJ, especially if it's Uc because he's a master boxer. So yeah, he doesn't want all that rust to start piling up. I get why Tyson Fury is doing it. I just don't understand why, you know, promoters are considering putting that show or why fans

will be interested in that type of fight because now it's a one-sided fight. And look, it all comes down to Deonti Wilder, you know, not letting the, you know, not letting the heavyweight champion undisputed ever happened. I still go back to this. I have this bitterness, man, that, you know, we didn't get to see Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury for the biggest fight in boxing. That fight would have stopped the world for one night

and it's not going to happen. Instead, we're talking about Ussic, we're talking about other fighters that are not the two biggest names. And while there's out of the mix now, too, it's boxing. I get it, but no, back to your question. We're not going to get into this, but like, have you seen the video of Ussick lately?

Like, he looks like a unit. He's huge. He looks like a tank. He looks like a tank. I have a lot of concerns about A.J.'s ability to win this fight. I have a lot of concerns because Usoc looks like a real heavyweight in his most recent training pictures. Look, if Tyson Fury, I agree with you, by the way, I think Joshua, no matter who he has in his corner, Ussick's just that damn skilled to make fighters, especially big fighters, his size, to look bad.

but yeah, it's going to have to be a one punch that changes things and where Usset goes on the defensive mode and then Joshua starts to, you know, just bullying him around and he can win a decision. I don't see him knocking out Ucic. It's going to have to be a hard-fought decision that he wins. Yeah. Yeah.

Last thing, you mentioned Deonté Wilder. He is reportedly set to return to the ring after a one-year layoff on October 15th. His opponent, Robert Halenna. Hellenius, who is coming off back-to-back knock-out wins over Adam Kibnowski. I love that fight. That is the perfect comeback fight for Deonté Wilder. Heleneas has credentials like he is the right guy, you know, because of those two wins over Kovnazki.

He's not some washed up guy at this point, even though he is 38 years old. And he's been knocked out before. Like Johann Duapas knocked him out. Gerald Washington knocked him out. So if Deonté Wilder has anything left in the tank, he's going to knock out Robert Hellenius and put himself in a position for, say, an Andy Ruiz fight potentially in the first quarter of 2023. This is, you know, I know it came at the cost of Adam Kovnoski because he lost those two fights, but this is absolutely the right matchmaker for PBC to make for Deonté Wilder.

I'm not a big fan of being on pay-per-view, but this is where we are in 2020. Beautiful matchmaking. It's going to sell. It's going to be the perfect fight for Deonti Wilder who's coming up, back to back losses against the guy that's coming off back-to-back wins. It's a marketable fight, two big men, with two of the best names in boxing, the bronze bomber and the Nordic nightmare. Come on, they're just, you know, it's going to be the complete opposite of each other, and

both of them are big guys. It's going to look good on television. People are going to want to watch, and it's a perfect style matchup for Wilder who fights taller fighters better. I think Heleneas, he struggles with taller fighters. Duopas was six foot five. around there. He came up short with was the other guy that he came up short

with Joe Washington another huge guy I think it was. So he doesn't do well against big fighters. I think he does better against shorter fighters. And Wilder, we know that he faced the biggest heavyweight out there in theory. So he must, he's gonna, he's gonna learn off that experience and it's a great, great

matchup that ends in a knockout. I think Wilder knocks him out. Yeah, and look, if he does, he's right back into that heavyweight mix into big fights. And if he doesn't, you know, know. If he doesn't dominate Robert Hellenius will know there's probably not a lot left. While there will be 37 years old a week after that fight. So what? He cashed out. And he did. And he did it in one of the great heavyweight trilogies of all time, if not the greatest heavyweight trilogy of all time. Like it was

a great, great series of fights with Tyson Fury. So well, we'll see what happens in that fight. And maybe we'll see you in Vegas there, Sergei. Thinking about it, aren't you? Hey, listen, I'm thinking about it. had a good day in the stock market. If this week continues, I just might have to go blow it on roulette. I can't believe you're basing your short-term future on the penny stocks that you're trading on e-trade. No, no, no, no, no. It's not penny stocks, my friend. And yeah, American Express had a good day. Yeah, that's cool. When we come back, my conversation with Teifimo Lopez. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashed.

human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So the NFL week one odds are out and now it's time to try Fandul's sportsbook if you haven't already. Get in on the action early this season. Right now, new Fandual Sportsbook customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. What NFL futures bet would you make with a no-sweet bet? Pick local teams, players where applicable, go to the Fandual Sportsbook app to find out more options.

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America's number one sports book and official sports betting partner of the NFL. Download the Fandul Sportsbook app and sign up using the promo code boxing to get started with the no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's promo code boxing. All right, Teafimo Lopez is the former 135 pound champion on Saturday. He will take the first step towards becoming a two-division champion when he takes on Pedro Campa. That's a fight you could watch on ESPN. And Teafimo joins me here on the show.

Teafimo, been a little wild, man. Six, seven months. Good to see you back in the mix, my friend. It's great to be back. And thank you for having me, for real. It's great to be back in my sport that I love. And honestly, looking forward to Saturday night, August 13th, against Pedro Campa. So how does 140 pounds feel on you?

Oh, man, it feels amazing. It's something that has been long overdue, honestly. I think for like two years, I should have made this weight. I should have been on his weight already two years ago. But, you know, God works in mysterious ways. You know, I think I had to become world champion at 35 for us to come up here. So it's just a great feeling overall. It's less stress on my body.

and really just now we're on cruise control. Yeah, what are you able to do differently? How is training different now that you don't have to cut those extra five pounds? Honestly, I'm able to basically take more intake on protein, you know, basically eat more. Those five pounds, four or five pounds is a huge difference. For anyone that's in a sport of boxing or even in combat sports, they know. So it's definitely all about just making. making sure that we don't lose the main foundation and that's staying conditioned, you know,

and not trying to build too much muscle mass, you know, because that could also slow you down. You know, I'm a very elusive fighter, very quick twitch. And this whole turnaround, really, I won 40s just been amazing. This whole camp, I feel great. I feel amazing. And I really can't wait to showcase that on Saturday night on ESPN. So along those lines, like compare how you are feeling physically now to how you were feeling physically going into the last fight against Cambosis. Physically, I will say this time around rather than from the Cambosis, I don't feel as dry, so to speak. My body doesn't feel as dry. I don't feel, and I don't feel too, I'm less injuries, so to speak, you know, and I think that's a huge major factor for me as to, you know,

combat sport. I mean, there's so much contact that we do. So, I try to go in the fight as close as possible to 100%, you know, and sometimes it doesn't really happen, especially at 35. You know, I was breaking down my body, a lot of wear and tear. You know, and I think the huge factor and the difference now is that I don't have to really worry about that. My body is starting to realize that we're not going to go down to 35, you know, we're going to stay at 140 and just work our way and build up from there. Yeah, I was on with Max Kellerman the same day that you were last week,

And he was asking me about, you know, what do you expect from Teofimo? I said, look, I think Teofimo at his best is probably the best at 140. Like, he is really good. He's still atop his game. What I'm curious about with Teofimo going into this fight is going in healthy, going in physically right, going in mentally right. Because, you know, being around you before the Cambosis fight, and I've been around you for a lot of your fights early in your career going back to the Olympics. I mean, you had a lot going on in your personal life. going into the Cambosis fight.

It didn't feel like you were mentally all the way there going into that fight. Has that stuff been resolved in your life as you go into this fight? Absolutely. Absolutely, Mannix. I mean, everything happens for a reason. You know, God works in mysterious ways. And like I said before, and I love it. I'm truly grateful for the journey that I'm actually going through right now. You know, it's great to fail because during those times is when you really get to know yourself more.

you know, you get to know whether you, how bad do you really want this, you know? Does it, does it break you or does it make you, you know? And I can't really wait to honestly showcase that to you all, you know, and see the, not just just a different type of where I'm at mentally. It's how, it's more so to see and let you guys see how I really am in physical form. You know, I think that's going to be the major key to where I become a two-time, two-division weight world champion. So all those things really is what I'm really looking forward to,

becoming undisputed once again, and just shooting for high expectations for everything. You know, becoming the greatest of my era. You know, not just the, you know, I came back into this. You know, I'm already great. I just came back to add the EST at the end. And you hadn't spent any time with your son before that Cambosis fight.

What's it like? having spent this time in being a father. It's amazing. Honestly, my life has definitely changed because of it. And I honestly believe to everyone out there, having a child, having a kid is honestly a blessing from the heavens above. You know, and I think that we really got to be more considerate about that. It's changed my perspective immensely and about how I need to carry myself moving forward. What do I want to do?

You know, it's not about, yes, the takeover is all about we're going to take over the sport. we're going to do what we do, be number one. However, it's more so now, since I have my son, it's about leaving so much behind for him that he knows how to structure when he gets of age. So it's definitely changed everything for me. And it's also influenced me more to even instill that in other people's children.

You know, you, as we talked about, kind of you weren't all the way right going into the Cambosis fight. I know that fight was delayed multiple times, and you just wanted to get out there. You wanted to get through that fight and get past it as opposed to having another delay down the line. But as you look back, do you regret going through with that fight? No, not at all.

It's made me who I am today. I had to go through that. And God made sure of it. You know, I had to go through near-death experience to really understand my values as a human being and as a person and what I really, what am I here for in this sport? You know, what am I here for in this world, really? You know, I'm just grateful that you even have a voice

and have people even come out to listen. You know, and it's all about finding the right tunes to everyone. You know, this really has definitely changed my life in a much positive way. And I thank God every day for it. You know, I thank him because back, you remember in the Olympics, it was so much corruption in 2016. I mean, but we don't need to touch in on that. However, it's because of that failure,

I became the second youngest, undisputed championing, boxing history, you know, after that failure. So I'm just excited to see what this failure is going to bring on to me for more of my successes, really. You know, that's a great perspective because, yeah, you know, you got screwed over, I think a couple of times in the Olympic cycle and then exit in that first round. And you took that and you were not one of the most celebrated signings coming out of the Olympics, but you quickly became the most successful guy coming out of the Olympics.

And so you're saying kind of you use that experience. as motivation, and you'll use this most recent experience of failure as motivation. Absolutely. That's the only way a true champion looks at, he should look at adversity and at life. You know, when you go through failure, it's not saying that you suck, but that's the first step to success, you know, and you really got to change your narrative, you know, and you see all the grades. I mean, they've all talked about it, from the Michael Jordans to Kobe Bryant to even to Tiger Woods and all these guys from all different sports. They really talk about their failures is what made them great.

And that's really what I'm here to put on too. That's why we call it the take back, the takeover. And it's really just to, I want to be up there as well with them. And I will. You talked about kind of what the medical issue that was revealed after the fight. Has that been resolved? Are you comfortable medically going into this fight? Absolutely.

I'm definitely in a much better place physically now. You know, no more injuries. Thankfully, you know, coming into this fight, I believe I'm about like 90% in healthy. So, you know, and that is very high. It's a high ratio for me, especially. So you're all going to see the Magdaleno type of performance mixed with the Mason-M-Norre performance,

mixed with so many other things that, you know, everyone is just going to, it's just an eye-candy performance that I'm really going to put out. You know, I'm a performer at the end. of the day. And I'm here to really show and let everyone know, you know, I am the guy. You know, I'm not someone that is just here for a moment. You know, I'm here to stay forever. And it's really just those things. The complications that I had, you know, it's great. It's great that we're working on that now. And I know that a lot of it had to do because of the weight class

at 135. I know that for a fact. And I'm just grateful now because I had to learn from that to not stay longer than I need to when my body's telling me it's time to move. move. So now it's just all about listening to my body and just moving forward from there. When you watched Devin Haney beat Cambosis, what went through your ride? I didn't watch the fight. I was actually in New York City during the time and I was riding a bike. I was riding one of those city bikes and just listening to music. Because, you know, honestly, I kind of figured I know that if I'm in the sport of boxing, then you got to know the business of the sport of boxing. And honestly, I already knew that Haney was going to win. So this,

There's no point in watching something that I'm either going to fall asleep watching or like, or just know that I already know the end result. So it's no point. I'd rather go and connect more with life, really. If Cambosis, one way or the other, moves up to 140, does a rematch interest you? Yeah, for sure, definitely. That's definitely something that I'll definitely come around, you know. And this time around, he won't, you know, I won't be the one.

dying he'll be the one feeling that so you know i look forward for him moving up to 140 i think that's only that's the best shot that he really has though to stay to stay relevant because devon he's going to beat him again um and and honestly no one's going to care about cambosis so he's going to have to move up at 140 and i'll gladly take that fight you know however i'm focused on all these world title belts um so in the meantime just focusing on on my main goal right now looking great august 13th and then we go from there i spent some time to you around Virgil Ortiz last week. And he had a rough year kind of as well. A lot of critics, a lot of doubters after he pulled out of that fight against Michael McKinson. And he said it was a hard year for

him and he used all that going into that fight he had this past weekend. Use the criticism. Do you kind of, does that fuel you going into a fight like this? No, it used to. It used to, I will say. It used to fuel me. Now it's more so about just it feels that doesn't fuel me. What fuels me is knowing that I am that I am, I am who I always said I am. And honestly, is the best entertaining fighter in the game, you know,

and I think that's just really what fuels me more than ever, you know, just basically putting on for God, you know, representing him mainly. You know, I'm a child of God, and I just focus on just performing at my best just so that he could see that, you know. You know, and when after my fight, I'm just going to, I'm going to grant him and thank him for everything that he has done in my life.

And hopefully, you know, it could tap into all those kids around the world, you know, put some light in everybody and just move forward. You and your father have had a lot of success together as fighter and trainer. But when things go wrong, people wonder, will the fighter make changes? And changes usually means in the corner. Was there any thought in your mind about either bringing someone in to work with your father, replacing your father? What was your mindset there?

No, no. It's a dynamic dual, man, to the wheels fall off, you know. Me and my father, I had so many, I mean, Manix, I had so many people call me and text me afterwards. I mean, people that smile in front of my father's face, you know, and give him a pat on the back and just say, hey, you should leave him and come to our side. You know, and I'm like, you know, I don't want to be rude and say that I know everything because I don't. You know, I still learn. I'm still learning to this day, you know, and that's the greatest thing that I can say about life and what I do. do in my craft. You know, my father, though, is the one that really, he knows me best. He's seen me at my worst. He's seen me at my best, you know, and he's going to be the one that definitely is going to tell me the things that I really need to focus on on how can I beat this guy. I trust

him. I trust him with my life. And honestly, it's, it's really just, just focusing, honestly, I didn't even want, I didn't need or want a assistant coach for this fight. You know, we had talks of other people that wanted to come in and maybe do some some collaborations with that would have made a probably it would have caught more eyes you know however i'm someone that is uh i'm loyal to the tea you know and and and i and i just want everyone to see that you know my father didn't become training of the year just by just by luck you know in 2020 you know we beat the most decorated fighter pound for pound during that time facility lomacheco that was from him you know he told me how the game playing how to go. So I just really want to give my father his flowers, especially for this

fight, and let them be known, let it be known to everyone out there that that man is always going to be in my corner. And if anyone got something to say about it, you can meet me. You can meet me in that ring. Yeah, your father, I mean, it's what have you done for me lately, isn't it? I mean, like your father is the guy that was guiding you through Richard Comey, through Veselya Lomacheco, the best year of your professional career. And now it's, you know, one loss and everybody's looking to... I'll say this, man, because that's the problem with today's, I don't want to say with everything,

but that's the problem with today's world. You know, just because you have one defeat doesn't mean that you gotta go and switch up, you know? Just because something goes wrong or whatever, it doesn't mean that you just gotta forget where it started. You know, I think that's what people don't really tap into. I don't need to, and the thing is, with all these other trainers, I'm sorry,

they don't know shit about boxing, a majority of them. And if anything, they just wanna, they wanna grasp onto me and say that they build something like that. You know, what better way, right, Manix, to try to train somebody else when they're coming back in a comeback, fight, knowing the fighter is determined to want to win this, right, and needing to win this, and then take credit for it, you know, say that they made me and they did this. I'm not one to have that, you know, and I don't want to teach, I don't want to teach these coaches how, how I actually think and how I actually move, you know, if you're not on the same pace with me,

you're wasting my time. And I see that with a lot of coaches. And what does a main ego coach do? They try to stimulate your style into their style. And what happens is that the whole time you're focusing on trying to perfect their style that you're not really thinking in the ring. And that's the thing that a lot of these fighters, because they're not educated enough, they don't really tap into that.

They're just like, okay, I got to go over here because I lost. No, you don't. You just got to go back to the drawing board and stay loyal to the team that that started with you. No question. And look, you're now in a position with Top Rank having a lot of those top fighters at 140 pounds. Like you'll get that title shot very quickly, I'm assuming. I'm guessing that in those discussions with Top Rank, there are big opportunities immediately ahead of you. Absolutely. You know, I know that right now the vacant belts, the vacant belts right now is somewhat, I guess, already taken. So, you know, Josh Taylor is still talking about getting married and all this other stuff. Honestly, we can make that fight happen. You know, I try to make the fight happen with Catero and stuff like that. However, you know, as we could see, you know, I really don't have no say right now. You know, this was a top rank executive move. And it kind of makes me feel some type of way, but I understand, you know, I'm a fighter to the day I die.

And I'm someone that definitely loves to take every challenge and every fight, you know, and I don't duck no fight. So, you know, but it kind of made me realize I got to, how do I come back to take over and set the tone? Saturday night, August 13th against Pedro Campos when it starts. Well, it's good to have you back, Dale. Boxing's better with you win it. Hope to see you in big fights very soon. Thanks for joining me, man. It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.

Woo! When we come back, this week's picks brought to you by Fandul. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

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

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-taped 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 a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed. That's correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Then you're 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. Time now for this week's picks brought to you by our friends over at Fandul. and yes, the hot streak continued last week.

Not the most difficult fight to predict, I'll grant you. But I told you to bet Virgil Ortiz, he won. I told you to bet Virgil Ortiz by knockout. And even though it got a little bit tricky in there for him, he wound up stopping Michael McKinson in the ninth round of his fights. I hope you bet. Hope he got rich. The big fight this weekend, Teifimo Lopez against Pedro Campa.

Again, this is not a fight with great odds. because for Lopez, it is a comeback fight. It is supposed to be a fight that he wins relatively easily. Right now, he is at minus 3,000, according to Fandul. That's not a great number, but it's almost a mortal lock that Teofimo Lopez wins this fight against Kampa, who has never really fought anyone on the level of Lopez. The odds get a little bit better when you're looking at method of victory.

Lopez is minus 410 to win by knockout. I think he's coming into this fight with something. to prove. He's got a chip on his shoulder in the aftermath of the loss to Cambosis. He just doesn't have the firepower to keep Lopez off him. I think Lopez is at a better camp. I think things are settled down in his personal life. I think he comes out and makes a statement in his return, knocks out Pedro Campa. So take Teufimo Lopez to win. Take him to win by knockout. Those are my picks brought to you by Fandul. That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Sergio Mora and Teifimo Lopez for joining the show.

As always, subscribe, rate, review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you download podcast, and I'll see you next week. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 it. on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a hear, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors.

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild... 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.