The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #116 with George Kambosos

Episode Date: December 8, 2021

Joe sits down with George Kamobosos Jr., who has held the WBA, IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles since November 2021.

The Joe Rogan Experience Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day George, congratulations Thank you What does it feel like? Yeah, look, it's been pretty crazy Obviously on top of the world right now Does it feel like you're

living in a fog like a dream a little bit but i've had that vision you know for so long you know i've manifested for so long and um you know before this fight even as a young amateur i knew i'd be world champion i knew one day more time would come and you know it finally did well i was told about you a couple of years ago by my friend Vinny Shorman, who's big in the Muay Thai world, and Liam Harrison is a Muay Thai world champion. They were telling me how awesome you were years ago. But until Saturday night of last week, the world, you know, they didn't know. They had to see it.

Yeah, look, both great guys. And I think it was 2018, I was in a wildcard gym sparring. And I'm in the ring and I see these two guys and they're watching. So I thought, you know, I'll put on a show for these guys. And let's see, they might be someone that can take me to the next level. They might be promoters, who knows. So I always want to put on a show. And they couldn't believe it.

And then I knew that they were coming on your show when I started speaking to them. and when they dropped my name on it I was like wow this is amazing now I'm here with you well your performance against Tiafimo was spectacular it was amazing and I mean it was a fight where how much of an underdog were you coming into that fight I was a huge underdog you know seven to one underdog wow you know better online.ag had me seven to one so you know um that just shows the the adversity that you have to come through you could be a massive underdog but no matter what you know you get through it and you you can win whatever you choose to do well you were undefeated coming into that fight but you just hadn't faced the same level of opposition that he had and it

didn't mean that you weren't capable of it it just you just hadn't had the opportunity before so it wasn't a seven to one like they didn't think you had the skills it was seven to one that you just hadn't had that that moment in the sun before i think because that's right i haven't had my moment yet leading into that fight but you know he was coming off the big Lomachenko fight, the big win there. What he'd done in that fight, so impressive. He knocked out Richard Comey as well. So the hype, the noise that he was making, this was just going to be a normal mandatory fight. That took so long to make.

And he was supposed to just do the business and move on to something bigger. But that hunger that I had, that tunnel vision to show who I am, to show how great I am. And I had to go through it all in that fight, from the cuts to being put down in round 10. But I knew that this is my greatness now, how good I can be and show the world and shock the world. You definitely did shock the world. It is a reoccurring theme in boxing and in all combat sports when someone takes an opponent lightly and they go in thinking they're just going to steamroll this guy and then they's also the other reoccurring theme a guy like yourself who has his eyes on the prize is completely focused and people are counting them out and they rise to the occasion and become a superstar and that's what happened to you you see it many times and i feel that

he didn't take me lightly because he's in great shape he was in unbelievable condition i felt as we led into the fight and we had that first press conference where we looked into each other's eyes and I saw that the, you know, a guy who, it came too fast and he needed to be matched with someone that was not going to take a step backwards. And the whole thing was this whole preparation. I was never going to take one step backwards. I never gave him that, that inch. And even in the fight, I never gave him that inch. I was always there to be dominant. And I felt like

he was a bully kind of character, you know, where he bullied Lomachenko, he bullied Komi. Yeah. He bullied all his past opponents.

But, you know, I've come from bullying. I was an overweight kid at a young age. I've been bullied all my life. You were overweight? I was overweight.

I used to be 135 pounds at like 10 years of age until i fell into boxing so you know i knew it straight away okay i know how to stand up to this guy i know what i got to do in this fight and he saw how serious i was so you know we we stayed focused we kept the tunnel vision and we uh we done the business well you did a beautiful job of boxing him as well i mean you stayed in the pocket and cut angles. You landed beautiful combinations. That one right hand in the first round, though, really set the tone for that fight.

When you sat him down at the end of the first and dropped him, and it was a hard right hand. I mean, it was a beautiful right hand. And when you see his eyes roll back and he drops and he gets up and he's like, what the fuck just happened that was a giant wake-up call and it really set the tone for the rest of the fight it did um i went into that that first round i knew he'd be very emotional i knew he took it so personal and leading up to the whole fight week when i kept getting asked is this personal for you because i knew i knew it was so personal for him so no this is business for me and this is this another fight this is business for me. This is another fight.

This is what I love to do. It doesn't matter who's in that side of the ring fighting against me. And I knew I had to get his respect straight away. He would come out crazy. I stayed composed. I landed some really good short shots on the inside in that first round. And like the great Kusumoto said to Muhammad Ali when he fought George Foreman, he goes, how am i going to beat this

guy how can i beat this puncher and cuss goes hit him with the right hand in the first round him with your best right hand and show him that hey i can punch as well and i had that in my head you know i have the great book by custom auto and i have it highlighted and before i went to the arena i went over it i showed it to my to just have it in my head what an amazing mind he had custom models mind for boxing for the psychology of boxing was just so incredible you know and the fact that Mike Tyson found that man when he was 13 years old it's almost like destiny you know and you know what I believe that everything in life is destiny. I look at my road to get to the championship. It's just falling into place. But with destiny, you need to work hard.

You need to take it in your own hands as well. But everything's meant to be, and that right hand was meant to be. And I said it to my team. I go, you're watching the first round. I'm going to catch him early. I'm going to hurt him with something because I knew I was looking for that right hand. And when he came out crazy and he you know he was heavy on the front foot he tried to fake the jab and i saw that front foot right there i knew his head wouldn't move okay here it is here's that shot i've been dreaming about my whole life bang i let

it go like a lightning strike let's take a look at it jamie show me that punch because that was just so beautiful i screamed when i was at home and I watched it. I yelled out. I was by myself sitting in the living room. Oh! The whole world just jumped up. Okay, now we've got to fight because I don't think many expected me to even stand a chance in the first round.

They were so vocal about one round, one round, especially his dad. Well, his dad made a huge bet. Didn't he bet $100,000 that he was going to knock you out within two rounds yeah well i want to find out the person he bet against because here it is take a look at this and take it in nice beautiful left hook well you were in front of him but you weren't there that was what was beautiful about it like your head movement like right there that angle guys just gorgeous box here it is right here baby bank oh my goodness and i saw it in his eyes as soon as i land that shot and he got up he thought what the fuck was that you can see it right there he's like whoa yeah now we're in the fight and then

the fake smile and this shot i land here bang yeah i was a little bit off balance but that shot there was was probably more devastating than the original shot and then i'm just going off i had to say it i said you know now i'm here one round is that what you said yes i said one round okay oh my now we're in a fight it was an amazing performance why was it emotional for him what was what was about that he had this um this theory in his head and the people around him you know someone told him that when he tested positive for COVID and we were in Miami, I was very upset, very disappointed. I trained for four months in preparation. Wasn't this fight rescheduled like five times?

Yeah, well, June 19th was the original date. And four days later, he tested positive for COVID. So on the day that I found out, obviously I'd been away from my kids, my family, I flew my pregnant wife out to be with me for that fight week. She took a lot of sacrifices as well because the doctors were telling her not to go with the way the world is at the moment. But that's the sacrifice we make. And when I found out, I was devastated.

I literally wanted to cry because that's how much it meant to me. And then I was obviously angry and upset. So that night when we were going back to our room, we had a dinner and went to the room. On the way to the room, there was the bar. And his team were having a good time and enjoying themselves. Obviously, Lopez was not there. And I found it strange. I go, why are they enjoying themselves?

You know, their son just you know ruined the fight but um one of his team members tried to be a smart ass and come up and try to take a photo and try to be you know try to aggravate me and I got my wife they got my father with me I got my team I said look just stay away it's not the time you know I don't know you guys might have COVID you know you're with your with lopez all the time and they got a little bit more aggressive and try to push the matter and i said look just get the fuck out of here i don't want to deal with it right now and that's all it was and all of a sudden someone's gone and told him that i've had a go at his mother which i never even saw his mother i don't even know what she looks like and that just played i think they're

trying to motivate motivate him i think they're just trying to uh push him a little bit extra make it more personal but it's the worst thing you don't want to take this any combat sport personal because as soon as you do everything is slow you you lose your reactions you're going to headhunting and you can see it he was headhunting and you know perfect it felt perfect for me that what i was coming to do well you maintained that composure through the entire 12 round fight too which was incredible like your your precision your movement you never got you never got lazy you never just stood in front of them you know and even when you got caught in the 10th you still bounced back beautifully in the 11th I mean you were you were you never you didn't adjust you didn't change anything you know. You didn't become hesitant. And that's a testament to my conditioning and how hard I train

and how prepared I am for every single fight. And that's been my whole career. From my pro debut to winning the Undisputed Championship, I've prepared for every opponent, given them respect and prepared as a world championship fight. So when I got put down in round 10, I was actually smiling. I was enjoying the whole adversity because this is what makes fights like this great.

And you're okay. Now you're going to show how great you are. You're going to rise. And that was a minute 45 in that round. I think Lopez finishes any other lightweight in the world at that stage, but not this lightweight. I had that that that

inside me and you know it's crazy how bad were you hurt by that right here i wasn't badly hurt it was more like uh a flash knockdown you know kind of back of the year cup the year the equilibrium was a little bit out but um it's going to take a lot more than than that shot to put me away i come back to the to the corner and the coaches were like, you're right, you're okay. I go, yeah, I'm good. I started smiling. They go, you sure?

What are you smiling for? I said, because I made the mistake there. Now watch what I'm going to do. Watch how great I'm going to be. I think round 11 was the best round of the fight, literally. Busted him up and then round 12 closed the show. That cut that he had over his left eye was brutal

it was it was from a punch a beautiful shot split him open my one was from a head clash so they thought I couldn't punch

they thought I didn't have the power why do you think they thought that is that just wishful thinking did they just get overconfident I think because

my last two fights when I fought Mickey Bay and Lee Selby, both former world champions, you know, I didn't knock them out, but these guys are veterans of the sport, guys that have been there before. So they know how to move around the ring. Much more experience than what I was at that stage and more experience than what Lopez has. I just had to box nice with them guys, you know, learn the tricks from the veterans. But they felt the power as well.

So I knew what I possessed. I knew what I had in the tank and in the bank. And that's it. That's my business against Lakers. Having trained with Manny Pacquiao had to be a huge asset for you because even though Bay was probably your biggest name opponent up until then you know you'd been how many rounds had you done with manny 250 rounds over three world total campaigns so so it started with the jeff horn fight it did yeah when uh when jeff got obviously the fight with manny pacquiao i was in los angeles and um Los Angeles and I was sparring his ex-sparring partners,

Jose Ramirez and Ray Beltran. I was doing five and five and these guys are good fighters, former champions. And Freddie come over and he goes, he goes,

you know, Manny's got the Jeff Horn fight. So yeah, I'm hearing about it. He goes, well, you're sparring his sparring partners.

How would you like to go against your countrymen and help Manny prepare? I said, Freddie, I'm all in. I know he's my countryman, but this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Manny's my idol. You can't pass that up. So I had a fight a couple of weeks after the sparring sessions that I impressed and got the opportunity. So I still had to win that fight against Camille Barla in New Zealand. And in between that fight, I got a really bad cut on my eye. And the first thing that went to my head was,

I got to spar with Manny Pacquiao in a week and a half. I go, now this cut might stop it. So I wasn't even thinking about the opponent or thinking about the fight. I knew I was going to win this fight by any means. But I was thinking about my opportunity against Manny Pacquiao. But know we got there we went over uh we got the stitches yeah a week after the stitches came out i was putting so much vitamin e cream and every bit of you know theory that i could find on the internet to make sure it closed up good and wasn't going to give me an issue and i went into that first sparring session with manny and it was okay with it with

a cut did you know jeff horn i did know je Jeff yeah yeah we were in the amateurs together how did he feel about you training with Manny he wasn't happy at that stage you know but um he's a good guy he's actually a good guy of the sport and at that stage he had come out and he said um you know why is he going against me he's countryman why couldn't he give me a phone call? And me being me, you know, I turned around him being a schoolteacher and said, I've never asked for permission, you know, from a schoolteacher ever. So I'm going to go do my thing with Pacquiao no matter what. I think he's got to understand that you had to. And I think he does.

I think he does now. Yeah, he had to. And to be able to have an opportunity like that to spar 250 rounds with one of the greatest of all time. I mean, he won world titles in what, eight divisions? Eight divisions, 13 or 14 world titles. Crazy. It would never be done again. Crazy.

As much as you want to see records broken and I want to break records, that man is a one of one. He's a one of one. I mean, when he knocked down Thurman in that fight I was like this is crazy yeah this guy's 40 years old and still can crack and still as fast as lightning yeah look the power that he possesses but it's not a thumping power it's that explosive speed and that explosive power the full work he gets in position and all of a sudden he's landed three four five shots and then he's angled off. A lot like I did in my fight against Lopez. A lot of that sparring paid off, and it did shape me.

And I know he did put out a tweet as well, saying that, I hope the sparring we did helped you in this fight, and straight away. That's amazing. And I was also excited. He's a legend of the sport. He is a legend. And he's such an unusual guy. You know what's crazy about him is his calves.

Yeah. When you look at that. Massive. They're giant. They're like a thigh. And I know the reason why. Because in General Santos, the mountains that he runs and that steep hill, that's why they're so big. Because he's always constantly running mountains.

And I was doing the mountain runs with him. Yeah. My calves started getting bigger and bigger. But I understand, yeah, why his calves are huge. But he's always bouncing. He's always moving around. He'll bounce for like 20-something rounds. You know, he'll do his pads and he's jumping up and down.

And he really is an unbelievable person, unbelievable athlete, and a legend of the sport. I think as time progresses, people are really going to appreciate his greatness. Yeah. And coming back from defeats too. I mean, he's a guy that's had his downs. He's had his ups and his downs. And he's always smiling and always friendly to people. It's like he's so admirable just as a human being and it shows too that um defeats you know i love how the ufc is you know losses are losses yeah now boxing has this

this stereotype where the zero is is so important i'm undefeated but would you rather rather see the best one in the best you're gonna get competitive fights and great fights but unfortunately boxing it's not like that. Well, the biggest draw in the sport is Canelo, and Canelo is not undefeated. Yeah, that's right. So it's one way of looking at it. You know, he lost to Floyd. You know, Manny is also like a world-class pool player.

Well, he's got the pool tables at his mansion in his house. He's really good. So he's nonstop. Like he plays like a professional. And he loves his basketball. Yeah, Harry's great at basketball too. Shooting house. He's really good. So he's nonstop. Like he plays like a professional. And he loves his basketball. Yeah, Harry's great at basketball too. Shooting threes, it's unbelievable. Wow, he's a serious athlete.

Did training with him, did you make any changes to the way you approach fights or the way you prepare for fights after training with him? I did. I learned the one percenters, the extra bit to do the extra rounds. You know, usually before the sparring with Manny Pacquiao, you do your eight rounds or your ten rounds of pads and you're sparring. But that's it. You do your ab work and you finish. With him, he does his pad work. He does his sparring, but then he's on the bag.

He's on the shadow boxing. He's there doing the pad work. So the extra rounds just builds that that conditioning and that stamina and that's what i just found that push more rounds you know if your body can keep going push more and more that's what i learned from him is that a thing where you have to figure out what your body can do because obviously overtraining is an issue with fighters too have you ever had a fight where you felt like you over trained for it not not as a professional in the amateurs yes as a young amateur coming up, I did feel certain times where I over-trained. But I think the reason is as an amateur, you're fighting so constant.

You might have three fights in one week and then you got two fights the week after. But in the professional ranks, I've always been very smart, got a good team around me. And I made sure that every preparation is pinpoint and a lot of people were thinking i was gonna burn out for this fight and over train because it's such a long you know preparation nearly 10 months yeah but um i said look i got a good team i know what i'm doing i know how my body feels if i started to feel a little bit run down and and burning out i'd pull back but But you're fighting for the biggest prize in boxing. How can you put your foot off the pedal?

This is everything. This is going to change my life. Well, you did it perfectly as far as your preparation because you were in tip-top shape in the 12th round. You never lost any steam. You never lost any endurance. And the way you bounced back from that knockdown in the 10th really showed what kind of conditioning you had.

And I think the conditioning there, especially the bounce back after getting put down, it shows. Because if I wasn't conditioned, I wouldn't be able to survive that round. Yeah. When you think of preparation for fights, and you see guys like Manny Pacquiao, you see guys like Floyd Mayweather, you see guys that are just always in peak condition.

That extra edge that they have, there's not one elite world-class fighter that you can say doesn't have that same kind of endurance and that same kind of discipline 100 i think that the elite level guys you know you need to have it if you don't have that conditioning i don't think you even get to that that elite i think you need to have that from a young from a young age from early in your professional career to be able to have that work ethic that relentless drive you know to have that conditioning. The only guy I can think that wasn't like that is James Toney. Yeah, but his defense too was unbelievable as well. Amazing. Like defensively, you watch these guys and you think, wow, unbelievable.

But the conditioning there was a problem for him. Yeah. You look at the guys like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, you know, all the greats that have that conditioning. Muhammad Ali to do 15-round fights. Yeah. I was even telling the commission, can we move it to 15 rounds? That's how, you know, conditioned I was for the fight.

Yeah. Well, back then, you know, the 15-round fights, they weren't just 15-round fights. They also weighed in the day of the fight, which is crazy. And they would have probably fought three weeks before that as well. That's real fighters. That's real warriors. Wow, you go back to the Sugar Ray Robinson days, and you see a hundred.

Yeah. How many different fights did he have? I think, what was Robinson's record when he retired? I think it was close to 200 fights. 200 fights. Yeah, it's unbelievable. I've only had 20, and to think how the preparations are, and what you put your body through,

and how sore you are after a fight, especially a 12-round fight. To think these guys would fight and then a week or a week and a half later they're fighting again. That's real warriors. That's gladiatorial stuff. It really is crazy

and that's one of the things that the old-timers always point to when you try to make a judgment call of who's the greatest of all time. They always point to Robinson. Just the sheer amount. I think he was something crazy like 90-0 before he lost his first fight. 201.

He lost to Joey Archer in 65. That was his 201st fight. That is crazy, man. Three fights in three weeks, four weeks. And he was 44. Crazy. Just saying that is unbelievable. I mean, just unbelievable.

If you go way back, Jamie, I think it was close to his 100th fight before he had his first loss. Yeah. I think he lost to LaMotta. Okay, what number was that? So these are, I guarantee these are all wins. So the draw was, okay, 41. Okay, so it was 41 fights.

So that was LaMotta. He lost to LaMotta. And then he came back and beat him. But just what a wreck that guy had. Absolutely incredible to think that this great had over 200 fights and would fight every couple weeks. Yeah. 15-round fights.

It's incredible. That's real fighters back then. I love that. I love the history of our sport. Yeah, they certainly were real fighters, but it's also not the best way for your body and your brain. Yeah, because the punishment you take in a fight, you need to be able to recover.

Now you think that them fighting 201 fights, 202 fights that he had, and be fighting every couple of weeks, that body is taking a lot of punishment that brain i know it's crazy it's crazy it's crazy to think of you know and the end of his life was not wasn't the best you know when you when you see guys like that that stay in too long like ali like a lot of these guys do you do you have it mapped out when you're going to exit the sport yeah look i've seen it time and time again you know even even the great manny pacquiao my good friend that last fight that

he had it i wanted to cry watching it because i know how great he is i know what he's done to see that fight just the shots weren't coming off the feet the footwork wasn't there the feet were slow but don't you think that fight was kind of, the whole thing was fucked because last minute change of opponents. It was a difficult preparation because he prepared for Spence and all of a sudden, you know, Ugas came in. Ugas is clever. He's a very good fighter. Very good fighter. Cuban school, you know, that style that he has.

And he can brawl too. He can fight. So, you know, he got him. Got him at a good time as well. Yeah. Everything suited perfect for Fugas that night. But when you see these other legends, you know, Roy Jones, Muhammad Ali. Yeah.

They go that extra step. And it's hard for a fighter. As much as you want to get out, you think about, okay, when can I get out? Right. You know, get as much as you can from the sport and win your championships and get out. But we're fighters. Like I said this weekend when I was at the Haney Diaz fight, I said, I feel good. I feel like I'm fighting this week.

If someone pulls out, I'll fight. That's the kind of warrior and that battle mentality I have. That's awesome. How much weight do you cut? How much weight do you cut? Not much, 10 pounds. So how many days do you need to do that and feel good naturally my body weight it comes right low um the day before the weigh-in you know a

pound and a half two pounds a hot bath and i'm there oh no the weight is easy that's great but i feel good you know i've been told that you should go to 130 before i won these championships you could be champion at 130 i said yeah i can be champion at 130 you could be champion at 130. I said, yeah, I can be champion at 130. I would be champion at 130, but what for? You're champion at 135. I'm champion at 135, and I feel good at 135. I feel strong at 135. I've got that extra bounce, that energy.

I can eat throughout the weight cut. So sometimes fighters want to sacrifice that weight division and lose that extra bit, but they lose themselves in the actual battle, in fight. Yeah, the fight becomes the white cut We've said it time and time again. Well in the UFC, it's a bigger problem because there's only eight weight classes It's the the gaps between the weight classes are ridiculous. Well, you look at I was looking at some photos of Conor McGregor Mm-hmm when he was fighting 45 45 I was looking at some photos of Conor McGregor when he was fighting at 45. And how skinny he was and brutal. He looked like death.

And even Khabib as well. The brutal weight cuts. It's incredible. It's not good. You know, I mean, it's just, Conor never lost at 45, but also never missed weight. He made weight every time he tried at 45, but it was a rough one. When you would see him at the weigh-ins, he looked like a skeleton. And that's when you see problem, you know, big issues in fights and problems start where, you know, brain damage and fighters unfortunately

pass away. And we've seen in boxing because they lose all that weight. They're so dehydrated in the brain where they don't hydrate properly as well and all of a sudden you know you see it in the fights they take brutal shots and unfortunately things happen in the fight so you know i'd rather be feeling great be hydrated you know i know that i'm going to this fight you know that there's going to be no issues with that and um you know feel good no i think that's the right approach to be healthy i mean and if you look at boxing um i think the vast majority of deaths occur when guys have caught weight i don't think there's very many deaths at all in the heavyweight division i think the heavyweight

division is unusual in that you get the biggest guys the hardest punchers hardest punchers and yet you have the least amount of deaths because they're not cutting anyway and it's scary man it's really scary like i've got three kids yeah and i got a life away from boxing yeah so you think of that when you go in there you your life is on the line you know and all of a sudden you're trying to make this weight you want to dehydrate yourself and put yourself at more risk and i'd rather feel comfortable and feel good. Well, it's that balancing act, right? You're trying to figure out what's the best approach, to be bigger and have maybe a little bit more horsepower behind the punches or to be healthy and then you have more gas tank, you can go longer,

you can push a faster pace, you're lighter on your feet. It's like… Well, it's a great example. My fight with Lopez. Yes. He was the bigger man. How much do you think he cuts? I think he cuts a fair bit.

Yeah. I think probably 10 pounds a couple days out from the fight. Yeah. But I know that he puts on a lot of size too. He was way bigger than me in that fight. He definitely looked bigger. Yeah. He's thick.

He would have put a lot more on but again it shows that you know it's not about the size of a fighter right and the way i've always had that approach is it's about the size of the heart you know how much you wanted the willpower that what you're ready to go through and that's the way i took into that fight did you have you gone back and watched the fight no yeah i have not watched the fight. Interesting. The reason being is when I get home, my friends and family, I want to sit down, have a watch party,

and just relive the moment with them. That's why I don't want to watch it. I think that's what I'm trying to achieve. People have been asking me, why have you not watched the fight? I'm trying to achieve to sit back, take myself away from the fight, and just watch it with everyone

like it's live yeah that's what i'm trying to achieve with that well you're gonna enjoy it i know yeah well spoiler alert it turns out good for you i hope so it does the what's interesting about it i wanted to talk to you about this is the corner advice that he was getting did you hear about any of that i have heard about that but we knew that coming in. I knew that, you know, the corner that he has, you know, I don't want to put anyone on the spot, but his father, you know, when you're getting information and you've got to have trust in your corner.

You know, my corner is unbelievable from, you know, my coaches, Javier Santino, Mick Ackaway, to my cut man, Mike Basil, to even my father was the fourth, Jimmy Cambosis, which I'll tell a funny story with that as well. You want to have trust in your team because, again, you could be taking a lot of punishment. And again, as much as you don't want to stop the fight, I expect my corner to have that trust and to throw in the towel or stop the fight because we want to leave that ring and go back to our kids and and family now his corner you know they didn't

do a right job his cut man took forever to get in the ring you know his dad was giving the wrong information they had no game plan yeah the game plan was take him out yeah and that's not a game plan we had a perfect game plan. Yeah. Round by round. We executed it round by round. These guys had no game plan, and that's on them. I think after he beat Lomachenko, they had this idea that he was the next superstar, and he was going to steamroll you and steamroll everybody else. Because he's such a heavy puncher, and the way he fought with that super stiff jab with Lomachenko and real aggressive.

And the fact that he was able to maintain that pace throughout the entire 12-round fight. And Lomachenko, I think it was in the 11th, he put it on him a little. He really got to him. And Lopez survived that and then came back to win the 12th. I knew from that fight that the size difference between myself and Lomachenko obviously I'm a lot bigger but my speed my explosive power

the way I move and get in positions and throw you know punches and combinations that are quite awkward shots shots that you don't see I knew that I would have

that advantage and I was never going to wait I was going to come in there like I did in round one take the shots be prepared to take shots and obviously you know land my shots as well and put him down and show him what what i'm about and

get my respect but um that's on them they they made a big mistake there with with the corner they did have a very good coach that they usually use but they didn't have him yeah whatever reason i was talking to my friend uh Rahim today. We were talking. He's a giant boxing fan. You know Radio. He does a lot of those interviews on YouTube. He's a real expert. A real good guy too.

Great guy. And we were talking and he said something I wholeheartedly agree with. He said it's very rare that a father-son team works out in terms of trainer and boxer. It's just very rare. It's hard because, again, emotion you know it's it's your father and obviously the son but it just it's it doesn't work out you know you see it time and time again my father you know he was the fourth you know even that his job was to uh put the uh the seat in the ring you know and uh get a bit of ice and that's it everything's been a little bit crazy when i started bleeding and the cut man was screaming at my father wipe

him up wipe him up you know and he's like wait a minute my job's only this when we went for the pre-fight plan so he was like okay let me get the tell me find a town wipe him up but um you know when you got the head coach being your father like they do a lot of time doesn't work you need someone to be able to you know that's the rules that's that's that's what you've got to do you got to be able to you know respect you know the trainer and i don't think they had that yeah i don't think it's impossible i think it can be done with the right personalities but oftentimes the problem is it seemed like in the lopez corner you know his dad was so accustomed to lopez just fucking everybody up yeah that he

thought that he was going to wake up eventually and catch and catch me yeah it's for for a certain fighters you know it works but when you come against a guy that was prepared to die in that ring, as scary as it is and as much as, you know, I trust my corner, I was honestly prepared to die in that ring. I told my wife before we went to the arena that I'm prepared to die tonight. If anything happens, you know, everything's for the kids and yourself. I'm here to win this fight by any means. That's the kind of fighter.

And the shots that I took in that fight, I think he takes out any other lightweight in the world. They were some big shots, but I just kept coming. And I know for a fact, when he did put me down in round 10, and I got up and survived that round and finished that round strong as well. And this is like a Rocky rocky fall movie he came back into that corner and he said it to his team and his corner man that you know this guy's made a steal you know i can't put a dent in him and i know psychologically that would have broken him as well that's why that round 11 was so successful that round 11 you know really showed what i was about it really did and the fact that you came out as hard in round 11 as you had in round 1,

and maybe even harder because you had something to prove. You were letting them know that that knockdown is not how the rest of this fight is going to go. This was a testament to myself and how hard I prepared for this fight. I just wanted to show how great I am, especially in the last two rounds. I've been put down, and again, in life you get put down. Sometimes things don't go the way you expect them to go, am especially in the last two rounds i've been put down and again in life you get put down sometimes things don't go the way you expect them to go but you rise and you finish whatever you're trying to achieve you know with everything you have you know the thing is too that you know i lost my

grandfather you know about two and a half months before the fight i had my baby as well my son on the same day and i know he was there with me my grandfather so the day your grandfather died your son was born yes well my son was born and then uh six hours later my grandfather passed away george cambosis you know so in that when i got uh put down and i just got up honestly i felt like he lifted me up i didn't even realize I'm up again. I'm ready. You know, that there is. Wow. Even in the dressing room, the design cameras came out and had the flashlight. And we had the Aussie flag and the Greek flag.

And we had them tied up pretty tight. Half of the Greek flag fell and it came down. And all of a sudden, I felt this touching presence on my shoulder. I thought, okay. I looked at my father. I go, he's here. He goes, he is. And I knew at that moment that I I thought, okay. I looked at my father. I go, he's here. He goes, he is. And I knew at that moment that I will not be beat.

I am winning this fight. He's with me. And, you know, I got the job done. Now, this, it originally was not with DAZN, right? It was originally a trailer fight. Yes. What happened with all that? Look, everything was great until Lopez tested positive for COVID.

And then everything went downwards. Postponements, date changes, venue changes. As a fighter, and again, Lopez as well, we were preparing for a fight. You can't expect the fighter to be making weight to have the right sparring, the right preparation. And all of a sudden they said, okay, let's move it back again. It just doesn't work that way. They tried to move it back several weeks, right? Yeah, originally we had, I think, five or six different dates.

So we had a certain date, September 11th we heard. Then we heard about October 4th. Then they went to October 5th. Then they went to October 16th. Were they changing because they were looking for a new venue? Was it like that there was competition? There was something else on television that night? Why were they doing that? All of them. There was everything. There was certain NFL

games. There was the baseball games that clashed with the same night. there was venues that they all of a sudden they'll change and go to another venue so look that's that's on them you know they missed out um it's a learning curve for them you know there's no disrespect you know it is what it is and you know they would have seen the fight it was they would have seen a fight of the year and they missed out on it well they got the fight of the year when it was supposed to happen. Yes. Now, after the fight, it was crazy when he came over and said that he thought he won,

and that he thought he won 9-3 or 10-2. Is that what he said? Originally, he said 11-2. Well, that doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. And honestly, I believe he was concussed. I honestly believe he was concussed because not only he said 11 to 2, and then he said, I haven't been with my son for so long.

He was only born a couple of days ago. So nothing made sense. I felt that he was concussed. That's why I said you're too illusional. But I was so respectful. And again, I got no anger to him. I'm not here to put him down or trash him. He's a young kid.

He lost all his belts he got beaten up and um sometimes that happens when you get knocked down in the first round and you fight the rest of the fight almost on autopilot yeah concussed yeah i mean that right hand was so clean yeah and when you watch his eyes roll back and he sits down then he got up and he's fighting off easily could have been concussed well the way he looked at me too and he thought okay what was that yeah shit i'm in a fight now i was just i said okay forget the first round now let's go now from round two now i want to show you well what's interesting though is now they're talking about him moving up to 140 because the weight cut's too brutal so they're coming up with a reason for why he lost.

You know, they're saying that. And then on top of that, there's this new thing that they're saying, that he had an esophageal tear and that his lungs were filled up and his body cavity was filled up with air. And they were saying that he went into the fight like that. But when you go through a brutal fight like the one you two went

through and you you hit him with how many body shots did you hit him with a lot of body work a lot of body and shots to the neck as well i mean you hit him everywhere everywhere so if you're hit like why would they assume that the tear was before the fight when you went through that brutal a fight it's so crazy again very delusional yeah and there was nothing before the fall when he was screaming you know in the in the videos of him screaming at the post of me saying i'm gonna eat you i'm gonna rip you okay you look good there and leading up in the press conference you're gonna go to hospital everything okay and then after the fight you you thought you won 11 to 2. you know you're there go to hospital everything okay and then after the fight you you you thought you won 11 to 2. you know you're there telling the world and then you still got enough energy to to do your

back flip right he went around and done his back flip yeah with a esophageal tear with it with a tear so if there was something there right you know you wouldn't be screaming you wouldn't be doing so yeah it's so hard to tell because like, is the doctor exaggerating? Is it something that he sustained during the fight? Who knows? I want to know who's the actual doctor. Yes. So look, it is what it is.

There's been a lot of excuses and, um. He didn't fight like a guy who was compromised, like his endurance was compromised. No, because in round 10, round 10, he landed that shot that shot he was still coming the whole night he was still throwing punches yeah but when you're getting you know barely you know attacked and my shots are landing and the body work that i was landing you know and the placement of the shots who are you going to feel all types of ways yeah so all kinds of damage the funny thing is they you know Deontay Wyler

when he came out with his excuses and they bashed him online about that they came out so vocal doing the same thing

but look the champion that I am I respect them you know all the best to whatever they do in the future if they want to you know

give me my praise respect me so be it. The kind of person I am, through a mutual person that we both know, I sent a video to him, wishing him all the best, heal up with the cuts. This was before anything had come out. I knew the face would be pretty damaged. And just to keep going because you hear things like,

he doesn't want to fight no more. So, you know, he's a talented talented kid you just beat Lomachenko you knock that Richard Comey you beat all these guys again one loss doesn't define you so the kind of person I am I reached out did I receive anything back no what are you gonna do um with the thought of him moving up to 140 pounds, which is interesting, because, you know, post-fight, when there's a fight like that, it takes a while for the dust to settle, especially when you, you know, he got hit with a lot of big shots and he's badly cut and battered. When the dust settles, if he chooses to go up to 140, do you see yourself ever fighting at 140?

At this stage, there's so much unfinished business at 135. And because I make the weight so good, you know, there's no vision of 140 right now. Yeah. But once I take all these guys out, the Haney's, Gervonta Davis, you know, Ryan Garcia, if he gets his act together and starts fighting, Lomachenko. That's my plan to take them all out. And even in the the next fight there will be no tune-up fight he'll be straight in there again against a big big name so once we we handle that business then we'll look at moving up moving up to 140. did you watch giovante's fight i was there oh were you there oh okay you know and the crazy thing was you know before the flight they they showed the cameras and

uh they were showing all the basketball players there and all of a sudden they showed me and the applause that i got i couldn't believe it this is unbelievable this is crazy you're a star now man it's growing it's growing but um you know it's it's been that the way i looked at it was you know i was i was a rough cut diamond and i knew what i had my team knew what we had and it's just had to keep polishing it and keep shining and now it's shining and the world can see it and like i said the person i am you know i'm a confident fighter but outside of the ring you know well i am who i am your performance was so good thank you now when you uh see what happened with lopez when he beat lomachenko it was a kind of a similar thing yeah right like that

made him that that's what made his star rise and then you came along and took the star yeah he took the star you ruined the party but uh what do you think is the big fight in that division is it Gervonta I I think Haney or Tank. Yeah. They're the big names. Either one. Either one. Yeah.

Now. They're all fighting. It's really interesting because everyone's on kind of a same schedule. Yeah, which is fantastic. Everyone's fighting within a month. We started it. I started the big fight. And I gave a fight of the year. Then I was at the Haney fight, watch your ring site.

And we had our little chat as well after the fight with the year then I was at the Haney fight watching ringside and we had our little chat as well after the fight with the cameras there which was all respect you know and then I was at the tank fight as well and I know he walked past

he could see me there with the cameras and everyone you know trying to get interviews and he want nothing to do with it so

we'll see you know the balls in my court I get to pick but also they need to present you know the balls in my court I get to pick but also they need to present now who wants to fight

yeah it's got to be presented now does did they get a medical analysis of Gervonta's hand I'm not sure yet yeah

so that that there is probably going to be an issue but I hope that the hand is is okay yeah hopefully it's not a break because if we do go with

with Tank you know I don't want no more excuses. I'm sick of hearing excuses from these guys. Yeah, well, that's to me, well, either way, Haney's amazing too. It would be a fantastic fight. They're great fighters. Lopez is a great fighter as well. I'm so privileged to be the champion right now at this division.

135 pounds is the hottest division in the world. It really is. So to be ruling it and the emperor at this division. 135 pounds is the hottest division in the world. It really is. So to be ruling it and the emperor at the division. The emperor. Because you got the four kings. Yes. Right. We came out with a cool little thing that they can be the four kings, but the emperor, our ways are more. I like it. Now, when you look at that division, I mean, it's arguable that that's the most stacked division in boxing. Yeah. With Lomachenko, is he going to drop down to 130 or is he going to fight? Is he going to remain at 135?

Because he's the smallest guy in the division, right? Yeah, he's the smallest guy. Obviously, he's come from 126, 130. And I give him a lot of respect because he brought most of them belts to the Lopez fight. Yeah. So, you know, he does deserve a shot as well. But as well, he did lose to Lopez. He's fighting soon, right?

He fights this weekend. Oh, this weekend. This weekend's Richard Comey, who was the one that Lopez knocked out in round two to capture his first title. Okay, so he's fighting another 135-pound fight. And is this just a 10-rounder or is it a 12-rounder? I believe it's a 12-rounder, non-total fight. Non-total fight. And because I know that he had talked after the Lopez fight about possibly going back down to 130.

But he was another one. He thought he won that fight, which is crazy. No, Lopez won that fight. As much as the lead-up, I was taking shots at Lopez and saying I was a close fight You know, maybe a draw he was injured whatever it was, but he did win the fight. Yeah, I just I mean to deny that Lopez Controlled most of the fight seems to me to be kind of silly and to hear from Lomachenko was kind of surprising I thought and again to he came out with you know

The excuses which it made him look worse because he put out the videos of the highlights and showed the world, look what I did. But the world saw. Yeah. See, I've always been that. You lose. Yeah. If it comes one day, take it on the chin. You beat me.

You know, take it like a man. These guys, they can't accept it. I want a fighter to come out of a fight and then put the highlights of his opponent punched. Yeah, I should shoot out of it Nobody ever does that. No, like we saw that part too, man Yeah, well the world saw it and that's why with Lopez coming out and saying I won the fight the whole world Whatever saw it blah blah blah So man the whole world saw this. Yeah, the arena your own fans are booing you now That's a crazy crazy thing

too because when i walked inside that arena i was getting booed like crazy yeah but that's the thing about brooklyn man if you if you're fighting your brooklyn fighter you know you're gonna get booed but if you beat them they're gonna cheer you they're gonna cheer you you won them over and that's what i did i stood on that ring before i entered the the ropes inside and i just stared at him like a gladiator like a roman Roman gladiator, like a Spartan warrior. And I could see him booing there, doing all types of stuff. I said, okay, you boo me now. But I tell you, by the end of this fight, you're going to applaud.

And when that round 12 was done, I stood on the ropes and I'm bleeding. And Eddie Hearns there clapping like he couldn't believe it, like a little kid. And I'm wiping the blood off my face and I'm showing the crowd and say, this is for you guys. Wow. They're going crazy. That's, you know, I'm old school. You talked about the difficulty in coming from Australia and getting over here and competing. Do you think that you'll set up your next training camp here and bring everybody over in advance?

Would that make it easier if you're fighting here or do you think you could lure somebody to Australia for a big money fight yeah I mean you'd probably sell out a fucking giant arena in Australia right now right Australia is a plan you know I've earned that I deserve that I've been on the race since 2017 yeah you need one at home I need? I need one at home. And look, you've got the beautiful Marvel Stadium. They had Adesanya and Whitaker there. Yeah. That there will be 70,000, 80,000 people. They'll be packed to the rafters. Melbourne is fantastic because there's 600,000 Greeks. It's the second biggest Greek population outside of Athens.

Really? So me being such a proud Greek, they are going nuts back home. They are smashing every plate they have. You know, it's been crazy. So, that is the plan.

I know Haney's up for it. I know Lomachenko's up for it. Tank, I don't know if he wants to come to Australia. I don't even know if he can get into Australia to be honest.

Why's that? Well, he has a lot of, you know, certain charges on himself. Oh, does he? So,

I don't know if he can get in there, but we'll see. Yeah. Do you have a preference, the fight that you think would be the bigger fight? All of them, yeah. All of them. It's just, again, two of them have had their fights. They show a lot because I was looking for excitement, entertainment. I feel like I put a lot of pressure.

My presence just being there. I kind of feel bad for the Haney Diaz fight work because when i rocked up into vegas it was all about me you know and i kind of feel bad and even like when they had their post-fight press conference they wanted me in there i said no i'm not going in there because it's their time let them enjoy their moment um i watched that fight for the first time today in the gym yeah it was it was a good fight he's very very sharp, painy. He boxes very nice. And Diaz made him work. And Diaz is not a natural 135-pounder.

He's small. So when you put someone like me, who's fast and strong and a lot bigger, it's a different story. Well, it's an exciting matchup with either one of those three. It really is. The compelling thing about Lomachenko is Lomachenko's, that defeat to Lopez was kind of shocking to a lot of people. And having you just beating Lopez,

he has the opportunity to kind of get it back a little. Get one back, yeah. Yeah, if he could get you. And also, he's a giant name. Yeah, he really is. And again, any one of these three guys in Australia, Marvel's name, it's going to be a sold-out attendance. Yeah.

It's a beautiful arena. That arena is beautiful. And the way it's set where it can be open for the undercard and the co-main. And then on the main event to be closed. I've already envisioned that. And you hear all the sound even more because it echoes off the ceiling. And you hear the sound. It's like a night time for the broadcaster in America. Listen, man. I'd love to go. I've got to that. And you hear all the sound even more because it echoes off the ceiling. And you hear the sound and it's like a night time for the broadcaster in America.

Listen, man, I'd love to go. I've got to get you there. We've got to get you there. I'd love to go, but that 16-hour flight can kiss my ass. Yeah, it is hard. And I got it tonight. I'm flying back home tonight. I've done it a bunch of times.

I did a bunch of UFC cards over there. It's rough. And you're just bewildered for weeks afterwards. You're so confused. And I wanted to talk to you about that. What is that like when you do your preparation and then you come over here for a fight? How much time do you have to give yourself?

Usually in my last fights, I've been here for eight weeks, ten weeks. At points, I'd bring my whole family, my kids over. But for the start of this preparation i was here for four months before he tested positive for covert you know i was here by myself and then my father and my australian coach came over you know so we had the preparation here we're accustomed to the time difference everything was perfect then when he tested positive for covert i said i don't know how long he's going to be till he's ready to get inside

them ropes again it's going to take forever right i can't just stop my life i've got to get back home i got to go be with my kids i've got to be a father so we flew back home we've done that bloody quarantine for two weeks which is not easy and then um you know continued preparation in australia then i flew back two and a half weeks out for this flight. That's not a lot. It wasn't a lot, but I knew because I've done this trip so many times that my body would be accustomed. Is it harder to go back there or to come over here? It's harder to go back.

They say that. I've heard that. Someone's trying to explain that to me, and I don't understand it. I found that coming here, because you don't lose any time, you literally leave 10 in the morning in Australia. And by the time you get here, it's still the same day, 6 or 7 in the morning. Which is fucking crazy. It's unbelievable.

It's like I could train. I could train. I've thought about this, how mad I am with my training. I could train just before I get on that flight and I can get to LA and I can train again. So that means I've done two sessions and lost no time it's unbelievable yeah that's crazy and when you do that do you try to train the moment you land just to try to kill it away straight away kill the jet lag i need to train i need to sweat and i go to bed i have a good sleep and i'm up i feel great that seems the only way to settle it is a hard workout right yeah you

need to have the hard work and I've told guys coming over because I've done it so many times I said soon as you land don't sleep as much as you want to sleep do not sleep just do a light session just shut that box for three four rounds go for a little jog just get something going you know your body can start to to take over It's crazy how the body is. Yeah. To think that a small workout like that can get you set and, you know, help with the jet lag. Yeah, there's something about the circadian rhythm, apparently, that gets reset by a brutal workout. It's unbelievable. Yeah.

And they also say you should try to not eat on the flight, which I've never done. Yeah, well, the plain food, yeah. I don't touch that anyway because that stuff, that's brutal. Do you bring your own food? I bring, yeah, small snacks and I hydrate a lot. Yeah. So coming over, you know, I was hydrating with the stuff that I take nonstop. You know, like I had maybe three, four liters on that flight oh my god you must be

and i was up and down once it hit i was like oh man my australian coach is looking at me guys again far out it was only like 10 minutes ago yeah that's funny the the uh the people in the painting this guy right why is he going up and down to the toilet coke in the bathroom are you um are you very strict with your diet very strict yeah very strict what's what's a normal meal like for you you know i have a high protein so my chicken my turkey you know lean beef and then like my complex carbs you know my sweet potato my pumpkin you know some brown rice uh so quinoa, and then from there, you know, my salad, my veggies,

and that's it, yeah, clean, super clean. Do you have someone prepare meals for you? Not really. My wife, obviously,

when we're at home together, but when I'm here, I'm doing most of it myself, and I enjoy it. You know, I love the aspect of the nutrition, you know, eating right,

getting the right fuel into your body, because a lot of fighters, they train unbelievable, but all of a sudden, they stuff up on the nutrition, you know, eating right, getting the right fuel into your body because a lot of fighters, they train unbelievable, but all of a sudden they stuff up on the nutrition. They stuff up with the post weighing, you know, the right meals. Straight after the weighing, I had my hydration and I had a meal ready to go. My turkey, my avocado, you know, the good fats, the good protein, you know, to put all the good stuff back into me. Now, have you worked with the nutrition to develop this meal plan or? Very early in my career, I think I was still an amateur. I did get to a nutritionist,

learn a couple of facts, and then the rest was just my own study, trial and error. You know, I'd sit there and, you know, I'd have a, I know I'd have a big sparring session, you know, on a certain date and I'd work on things leading into that sparring session, see how I feel. So you can have a nutritionist, you can have a dietician team, but it depends how your body feels. What might work for you might not work for me. Right. I've come to a point where I know exactly what I've got to do to make the weight,

to have the right energy. But again, I'm always open to learn. That's why I study so much on it, And I'm always open to learn more and more. And how did you come to turkey and chicken? Did you try seafood? Do you eat meat, like red meat? I do. I eat red meat. I just love turkey and chicken, the high protein about it. You know, it just sits good in my stomach. But as well, a lot of prawns as well. Prawns? Yeah, because they're a high protein about it um you know just sits good in my stomach but as well a lot of prawns as well prawns yeah because they're a high protein low calorie you know so that there i was having a fair bit leading into this fight and it was unbelievable the weight you know best i've ever felt felt easiest i've ever ever made weight and um what's like the heaviest you ever

get probably 147. Oh, that's not bad at all. I checked my weight two days ago, and obviously I've been eating a little bit more now because I just had a big win. I think I was like 144. Oh. Yeah, so like nine pounds. Not bad. It's crazy.

I could make the weight. That's why I said to Eddie, if you want to put me on, pull one of these guys out. You were really serious. Oh, serious. Because you've got stitches. I stitches like don't worry about the stitches let it open up makes the fight even better that's hilarious

imagine if you actually did that imagine if like someone's opponent fell out and you had to step in on that short of notice imagine using the same fight shorts

full of blood Lopez's blood my blood whoever was going to fight their blood boy that would be a great great story be cool and you know also maximize your time before you have to go back home yeah well you might as well My blood. Oh, my God. Whoever I was going to fight their blood. Boy, that would be a great story. Pretty cool.

And, you know, also maximize your time before you have to go back home. Yeah. Well, you might as well. Yeah. You've got that big trip. So if you can get two fights in, you can make the trip worth it. Yeah, for sure. Do you take any supplements, vitamins, anything like that?

A lot of vitamins. Yeah. Yeah. My glutamine, you know, my immune boosters, my vitamin Cs, my B12s, my zinc, fish oils, all the good stuff. And have you learned this from nutritionists or is this trial and error as well? Again, trial and error. Maybe research online? Yeah, research, trial and error.

Yeah. Listen to other athletes. Listen to other fighters. See how it feels. Introduce it. If it doesn't feel good, take it out. If it feels good, leave it. Here you are now.

You've just come off this huge win. When you're preparing for another fight, it's going to be a few months at least. Yeah. What do you do in the meantime? Do you go back to work and work on technical aspects of your game? Do you do strength and conditioning? Do you do all the above? What do you do in the downtime a bit of everything yeah my my whole theory and thing about is every day i'm going to get better and better and i was in the gym

this morning before we're here um i love it i love training so the big thing now is to continue my strength conditioning get a little bit bigger get a a little bit stronger. I have room and time to be able to get bigger. I make the weight very easy, but still keep my speed and my explosive snap and power because that is a big factor in my game. That's one thing I never want to lose. Perfecting the punches a little bit more. Work on that shot that I landed on Lopez in round one. If I threw it maybe a little bit more with an angle, I might have put him to sleep at that moment. So we keep working.

There's so much more to do. In that fight, the world might have thought that they've seen the best of Cambosis, but for me, I feel like that was 15%. There was so much more to go. Honestly, there was moments in that fight where I said, come on, throw that shot, throw that shot, and they weren't coming off. So I know that there is a lot more.

But once I sit down and watch the fight, I'll be able to analyze it even more and game plan and get the notebook out and go through it all, start running mistakes. It's interesting because that is the mentality that makes a true champion, someone who's never satisfied with their performance and always wants to do better. It is. I'm never content.

I just won the Undisputed Championship. I have not even had one celebration drink. I have been so focused. I've been in Vegas. I've been in LA. I'm here now. Not one celebration drink. That's the kind of fighter I am and dedicated to this sport.

You got the Ring Magazine belt, which is, by many people, they think that that's probably the most unbiased of the belts. Because if you look at the regulatory bodies, they all have their own mandatory challengers. There's a lot of shenanigans that go on with that. So now you have the IBF, you have the W know so now you have the ibf you have the wbo and you have the ring magazine title i have the ibf yeah the wbo ring magazine wba super title which is you know the best wba belt you can get and i also have the wbc franchise belt which is uh to me it's a

super title as well i know haney has a WBC belt and you know the way the WBC has set this up is you got a super champion a guy who you know cannot have any mandatories can be able to maneuver you know and have options to do what they want to do which I like because the last thing you want to do is be caught up in a mandatory it doesn't make sense mm-hmm you know i can maneuver where i have to so how'd you get to become a super champion how's that work well lopez was a super champion he had everything so what is how does one become a super champion what is the their there's i think it's um when you've defended the the belt certain times they elevate you to a point but it seems odd right it is you know i'm old school i'm old school and yeah you

know i love all the belts you know they're my you know they're my pride now you know they're like my kids now it's like i've got five new kids you know but um i'm old school and if they can eventually just have one champion right be recognized and that ring magazine does do that the ring magazine is that you're the linear champion you're the number division, and that's what I am right now. But I love all the belts too. I respect that. And it looks so cool to have all these beautiful belts. Oh, yeah.

There's nothing better than watching a guy walk to the ring, just showered in belts when he wins. You know, you're draping them all over your. Everywhere, yeah. The problem is now trying to get back home with all these belts, it's like it's a mission. Do you have to check them? I would never check those fucking things.

No, I'm taking them with me. I'm boarding them with me. And we get to the airport and like even yesterday, we get to the airport in LA and as we're going through customs, they open them up, they check them. Okay, okay, there's another one. Check it. Then the bag comes, there's another one.

How many did you get? A fair few. So that's part of my entourage now. Yeah, for sure. I've worked hard to get them. And like I said, this is not the end. This is going to be a long reign. It's 15% of what the world saw.

Well, enjoy it and take it in because you deserve every minute of it. So you say you work on a little bit of everything, but talk me through like a typical day in training. Are you working out twice a day? Do you do strength and conditioning, road work? What's a normal day for you? Usually three sessions a day. Three sessions? Yeah.

That's how I feel. That's why I have that conditioning. I have my strength conditioning early in the morning. And what would that consist of? All types of things. Your resistance, your heavy lifts, your load work where you're going down on a certain count. As you get closer to the fight, your resistance bands, the speed work, the explosive power, your speed and agility work, part of that shrink

conditioning cycle in the morning. And then we go to our boxing in the afternoon, early afternoon, where you're doing your pad work, your sparring, your bag work, your game planning, your shadow boxing, everything that is involved to get to that level of the top. And then later at night, I'm running. I'm on the road. I'm doing my road work. I love the road work, especially at the end, because you put in the hard work to, you know, get up again

and say, okay, I've got to do my road work now. Even though I'm fit, I'm ready. Push a little bit more. And my trainers have to hold me back sometimes. They're like, don't do it. You're ready. But, you know know i know how my body feels and i know what what what it takes to get to that next level so so three three sessions

a day is the usual did you develop the schedule of three sessions a day um it's again trial and error a lot of trial and error so you know you as a young amateur you know you start off with one session a day and you see the professionals in the gym when you're watching them and idolize these guys. You say, okay, they're training twice a day. I've got to do two sessions a day. So you get that. And then as you get to the next level, the elite level,

you think, no, I need to do more work. I need to get better and better. You've got Manny Pacquiao as well. He puts in two, three a day. Two, three a day every day? Yeah, pretty much every day. When you do your strength and conditioning, do you work with a physical trainer?

Yeah, I've got a strength and conditioning coach, yeah. Yeah, Mirawani from Ethos Performance. They've got a couple of UFC guys that you would know. Shui, Bam Bam, Tuivasa. Oh, beautiful. Tosin Pedro. He's fighting next weekend. Yeah, yeah.

Or this weekend, coming up. I wish I could go. Yeah, I would have loved to be there, but I need to get home. My kids are missing dad and mom. I understand. We've'm just some good guys we've got a really good team out there the shrink conditioning is is very important a massive aspect of the game does that do you do different work when you're not in camp versus when you're in camp in terms of strength and conditioning i mean do you have specific stuff you do to ramp up for a fight yep I'm so now

obviously the fight is done right my goal is to get back and do heavier lifts build that more strength push my body to the next level we got everything all the data and we got everything from every past fight that I've been working with this team and we can see the figures continually go up now if them numbers and figures didn't go up in the next preparation i don't feel right because i'm always trying to get better and better every day so we'll put in the heavy strength work now to build that that power to build that that next level numbers and then as the camp progresses the date will get locked in then we start to pinpoint okay we, we're sparring on these certain dates. We need more speed here. We need more explosiveness in this part.

We maneuver everything as the fight gets locked in and as we go through camp. Is there any concern when you're doing the strength and conditioning that you might put on too much weight? Not really. No? No, I trust the team. And my body type never really blows out too much. I can't really put on too much mass amount of weight and muscle.

So I'm always very confident that no matter what, I will make the weight comfortably. Especially when you're doing three a day. Yeah, you can see it. And that's right. The strength conditioning is one aspect. But when you're boxing and you're losing so many calories and then you're running on the road and doing your 45-minute minute to one hour road work, you know, you're always going to be in that peak condition. Your body type is going to be very similar.

Do you have specific foods that you eat right post-workout, like to try to recover? Because when you're training three a day, one of the most important things is refueling your muscles before you give it a go again in a couple hours. I used to have obviously your protein shakes and all the good stuff to get back into you. But I took it out of my system, the protein. I thought, you know what, I don't need it. My body feels great. There was a time where I missed it for a few times. And I go, you know what, I feel good.

I feel better. So I took that out. I'd rather have the good food, the eggs. Real food. Real food. You know, The spinach, the broccoli, the veggies. I still put in my glutamine with my hydration because it's very important to get the lactic gases and keep that hydration up. But real food. My body's never looked better and I'm on real food. Yeah, I agree with you on the real food thing. I think the best thing about

protein shakes is when you're on the go and you need to get calories and you need protein. You could down a shake, but I really prefer real food too. And I think I prefer that athletes eat real food. Well, the thing is too, when you're a professional and you're working nonstop in the gym and this is your craft. I don't have to go to a job. I don't have other work. So you take the time. You use your time management. And I learned that from Manny Pacquiao too.

Time management is very important. The guy's a senator. He'll come straight from the Senate in his suit. Right to the gym. Straight into the gym. That's crazy. Hand wraps are on, into the rounds. That's crazy. So the are on, into the rounds. That's crazy.

So the time management is very important and making sure that you have the food, the prep, you finish your session, get the right food into you, have the vitamins

and everything that you take. Do you eat a lot of fruit? Do you eat fruit like pre-workout at all? I do have a fair bit of fruit. You know, your watermelons, your antioxidant,

your berries, you know, your blueberries, your strawberries, your raspberries, even coconut meat. I love the coconut meat, the good fats, the good stuff into you, your pineapple. Everything is got a formula to get to this position. And this is, again, all stuff that you tweaked over time. Yeah, I learned myself myself trial and error uh error um you know i'll try something so now i don't feel good with that don't need it this okay that's beautiful i need it my weight i see where my weight bounces too some certain things you're taking you know put into your system and you know the weight will fluctuate too high okay no don't need that now

when it comes to recovery when you're doing these kind of brutal workouts and you're doing something like that three times a day um do you do uh anything for recovery like in terms of like massage sauna ice baths yeah we do um our massages but the biggest thing I'm on Is three to four times a week I'm in the Epsom bath Hot bath, Epsom salts I know that the ice baths are a big thing But I just can't put myself in that ice Really?

It's just too cold Yeah, I just hate it I used to do it as a young kid As an amateur, I used to love it But I think because I got so hooked on the Epsom salt baths and the heat that my body body can't deal with the cold now really you know so that but again i do try to have the cold showers you know i started uh learning a little bit more about windhoff and then seeing the cold start with the cold showers and you start to get better and better with it so yeah but when you need to go into the plunge yeah yeah so that's

what he said look you guys start with the showers first and then you'll make your way so hopefully in another couple weeks i'll be able to get back in the in the cold baths it's interesting that you used to do it yeah it's crazy as an amateur yeah and i'll do it and um you know when i was in sydney we got the baths there in the gym you know this gym is unbelievable you know just boxing and they've set up actually a hot bath and a cold bath with an ice machine and everything. Pretty much for me. Oh, nice. And, you know, after a session, they got it set up.

Like, hey, it'll be easy. It'll be all right. No problem. But I hadn't done it for a while, you know, for a long time actually. So when I got in there, I was in there for about 30 seconds. And I'm like, hyperventilating. I've got to get out. I've got to actually get out.

You're a beast. What's wrong? Everyone's like, what's wrong like, I've got to get out. I've got to actually get out. You're a beast. What's wrong? Everyone's like, what's wrong with you? You fight all these guys. I said, I don't care about that. I go, I am getting out of this bath. I don't care. I go, I put my body for enough pain.

I go, this ain't going to do nothing. Get me out of here. I went home and had an Epsom bath. I don't know, man. I'm telling you, it helps you recover. I don't know man I'm telling you It helps you recover I know it sucks It sucks when you do it I do the cryotherapy as well

That's good Yeah I do that That there is no problem Three minutes I can do that I feel like I've done cryotherapy

And I've done the cold plunge And I think the cold plunge is superior I really do Yeah it is It is Yeah It's just like When you get to that

33, 34 degree temperature and you go neck deep yeah holy shit you're making me cold right now just thinking about it I'm thinking of that I think I'm traumatized

I'm thinking of that ice bath my favorite is sauna straight to ice bath back to sauna it's that's the best because you get to the sauna

to the point where you just can't be in there anymore like 20 minutes in I do like 185, like 20 minutes in at 185 degrees Fahrenheit, and then right into the cold plunge, freeze my dick off for like three minutes, and then back to the sauna. When you get back to the sauna, that 185 feels like nothing. Feels like nothing, yeah. Like nothing. Well, see, the old school, you know, in Russia and the Soviet Union, they all do that.

Yes. I've seen that firsthand. I actually did it as an amateur. We were in Russia fighting in the amateurs. And they took us to the mountains with the snow. And they had this little, you know, hut with a sauna in there. I said, wow, this is crazy. So we do the sauna.

And we run straight out into the snow and see the snow and do our angels in the snow and back in the sauna yeah they knew what they're doing yeah you know the first time I found out about that was um do you know Fedor Emelianenko is yes yeah so Fedor we used to watch him prepare in Russia and Fedor's arguably if not the greatest heavyweight of all time definitely in the argument of one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. There's probably three guys you can make that argument about, and Fedor's one of them. He might be the best.

But he would do, they would call it a banya in the Soviet Union or in Russia, and they'd do the hot bath and they'd do the cold plunge in the hot bath. And I remember thinking about that. I'm like, this guy, everything he does is old school, and yet he's dominating everybody. He does kettlebells for his workouts and conditioning. Yeah, there they are. Yeah, so they would, I mean, Russia's cold as fuck. Look at that.

They'd get in that freezing cold water, and then they would go sauna to that, back and forth. There's something about that. Oh, the sauna's back there? Yeah. There's something about that going back and forth that really just, it does something to you that makes you feel fantastic after workouts. It's just.

I think, yeah, with the way the body is, you know, I think from going to the cold and then the heat, it just relaxes the muscles, gets the lactic acids out. I think I need to introduce the cold back into it. I just love the epsom salts, the heat. Oh, I love that too. I swear the weight management is great by doing it but um you know if i add that in there as well you know what's phenomenal have you ever done a sensory deprivation tank i have i actually done two of them before i came to the u.s really and it was unbelievable that's

all epsom salts too so it's not just good for the brain just think and float and relax but it's amazing for your muscles because there's so much salt in there way more than a regular epsom bath i think 400 kilos i think there's a lot of salt when i was in there the first one i did you know they told me that your mind will wander and um you know i went in there and trying to relax and you know i could hear the music and then they turned the music off so you let your brain you know relax and then by the end I was like I can't just switch off I just want to switch off all of a sudden the music went back on to to say that there's 10 more minutes to go and just boom just switched off and all of a sudden it's like time so that was the first one I go okay this is great so then the second one you know I really felt it

I really switched off you know let them might wonder yeah and I think you it. I really switched off. Let them white wonder. And I think you envision. I was manifesting the belts winning these fights. I was seeing it. It was amazing. Yeah, that's the thing about it is it takes a while to get relaxed. But if you do it a bunch of times, then you become accustomed to it. That's right. But as far as a guy like you trying to envision winning titles and fighting,

I think it's a phenomenal tool. It's a phenomenal tool for anybody that is working on visualization because you're alone in the total silence, total darkness, and you're floating. You don't even feel anything. I'm very big on manifesting and visualizing it. Like my room in New York, it was overlooking Madison Square Garden. I could see it.

Oh, wow. And literally every night I'm just there looking, and I go, that's where I'm doing history. That's my history right there. I'm meant to be here. And literally before the fight, I'm there looking at it and I go, okay, that's the place. But another little trick that I do is, you know,

you've got my diary that I write every day. I'd write three things that, you know, what I'm doing it for, what it means most. And obviously every time, my kids, my kids. But, you know, you're writing for your legacy, for, you know, your country. All the little things that first thing in the morning, you're having your coffee, you write it down, it just sets me in a right path.

Yeah. Did you learn to do that? Is that something that was taught to you? I believe it was Sugar Ray Leonard that was doing it as well. I saw it saw it somewhere and i go you know what this was leading into uh my world total eliminator i said okay i'm gonna try that i'm gonna do that let me see if it works and just writing it down kicks off the day in in a good place you know but the visualizing and manifesting and seeing it before it actually happens from a young kid i feel like i've always had this this sixth sense and i could just see it really yeah so have you always been a kid that's been very focused on

very specific goals i have been yeah always from from a young kid i put my brain and my focus onto something i can achieve and i can do it you know when um when i was young you know with uh obviously my family there was no young kids around us. I was born and then my sister came many years later. There was no cousins. I was always hanging out with the older crowd and the parents and my parents' friends. So I think just from that young kid, that age, you become a little bit more mature and you realize that you can visualize things. And, yeah, I think something from there, you know, has transpired to where I am now as well.

When did you first think that you were going to become a boxer? Look, I fell into boxing by luck. It really was. It was by luck. It wasn't because my father was a fighter. You know, it was by luck. I was playing rugby, you know, back in Australia, back in Australia as a 10, 11-year-old from starting at age six. That's all I wanted to do in my life.

I wanted to be a footy player. But I was overweight. I was putting on a lot of weight. So in the off-season, my dad said, we've got to do something here. You're not going to be able to cut it next year. You're not going to make the A squad. I said, all right, because we live not far from the beach. He goes, we'll do nippers.

What's a nipper? So nippers is beach running. Why do you call it nippers? I don't know. The Aussie, all my Aussie fans and people watching will be saying, okay, nippers. Hell yeah, nippers. Nippers. You don't know what nippers are?

Come on, Joe. So I said, nippers. Oh, yeah, nippers. Nippers. You don't know what nippers are? Come on, Joe. So I said, no way. You're not going to see this big 11-year-old obese kid running down the beach, you know, the fat single never and no chance. He goes, what about boxing? You like the Rocky movies? I said, yeah, let's try it out. So to get to the gym, we went down to the gym,

the local community PCY,, they say, gym. Walking up to the stairs, the smell of the old school gym. You can smell the blood in there. Most kids turn around and say, no way. Especially being overweight and being bullied his whole life. But I walked in there. I felt at home. I go, wow, this is amazing.

Really? So let's do it. Right away? Right away. So I put the gloves on. My dad said, hey, wow, this is amazing. Really? So let's do it. Right away? Right away. So I put the gloves on. My dad said, hey, you're on your own. And that's the kind of little battles and little tricks that he would do. So you're on your own.

I'll be back. I'll see when I pick you up. I fell in love with the sport. Wow, right away. Right away. All of a sudden, I lost all this weight. I went down to, so from 135 pounds, I probably went went down to 120, maybe a little bit less, 118. So everything changed.

The bullying kind of stopped. My whole confidence grew. My footy got better. All of a sudden, instead of coming last in whatever we did, I was coming first. So all of a sudden, that passion for boxing, that real combat took over. So as I went back to the next year for rugby, I was playing really good rugby and I got picked for a representative team.

But at the same time, I was boxing. And I made the state championships, the team. And I still love both, but boxing was everything i wanted to do and i want to take that to the next level so um with the representative team they sat us down the coaches sat us down and you know said okay you'll be training monday wednesday friday and straight away i said okay monday wednesday friday is when i have boxing on that's not going to work so i sat in the car with my father on the way home,

had all the footy training gear, the rugby training gear, and he goes, how good is this? Something you want to do your whole life? He knew straight away. He could see my expression on my face. I said, yeah, but didn't you hear? He said, what? He knew already. He said, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, that's boxing.

I said, yeah, well, you're going to have to make a decision. He goes, remember I was telling you about the crossroads? I go, I know what it is now, the crossroads. He said, this is like 11, 12 years of age. So he goes, look, it's a weekend now. I'm going to give you the weekend to think about it. Come Monday after I finish work, I want to see what bag's going to be here, the boxing bag or the footy bag.

And we'll go where you want to go, where your heart is. He said, you make the decision. So I thought about it. I said, no, I'm going to be a fighter. bag and we'll go where you want to go where your heart is so you make the decision so i thought about it i said no i'm gonna be a fighter you know and my heart was there and come monday boxing bag boxing gloves let's go how did your rugby coach handle that look they were upset because they saw how dedicated i was and what a good player i was but they understood it because they knew that you know boxing was there and that's how i'd lost all that weight and become a good good player so they said look you know whatever he wants to do the the kid made

his decision we support him you know and obviously they'll be looking at this now saying well he did he went all the way and won the belts yeah what a crazy story that's it that is a crazy story so how old are you when you had your first amateur fight? Yeah, 11, 12. My first amateur fight. Right around then? Yeah, right around then. So they jumped you right in there?

Pretty much in there straight away. I lost all the weight and you want to have a fight? And again, funny story is I remember my coach saying, you want to have a fight? I said, okay, that'd be cool. So I went and told my dad when he picked me up in the car. He goes, the coach wants me to have a fight he said fight

he goes we didn't come here to fight we came here to lose weight and get better for rugby I said well I'm going to do it he goes alright I'm going to support you then

so I remember that first fight was I fought this really tall kid he was massive and it was like it was like I was doing

a 100 metre freestyle swimming race i was just throwing punches haymakers i bloodied him up i beat him i won the fight and i got hooked you know that that real combat you can't beat it yeah what was that like when you're i mean you don't have a whole family that was into it you just you're a young guy and you make this decision like what did it feel like once you won that first fight? Were you like, this is it? This is what I'm supposed to do?

This is it. This is unbelievable. You know, that feeling before a fight, especially in the amateurs, you're using the same gloves, you know, that we're using the tournament. So you're putting them on, you can see the blood and you can smell it and, you know, the sweat and everything, you know, you got everyone there ready to watch. Wow. It's pretty crazy.

But, you know, my everyone there ready to watch wow it's pretty crazy but you know my grandparents are old school too so trying to tell them that you know i'm fighting i'm boxing they're like no no no no no they can't even deal with me having an earring let alone all the tattoos and they're like no no no no boxing no no no way go get a job go work oh boy i said no no i'm gonna box you know and uh Are they still around? All of them except for my grandfather, yeah. And same with him. God bless him now.

He's old school. Make money. Go work. Did he realize, though? Eventually, he did. But even before this fight, when we spoke to him, before he passed away, leading to this fight, with all the dramas that we had, he said, just accept it just whatever they say just take it get the money you know for your family still that old school mentality make money for the family and that's that's what they did they came overseas

in the 60s from Greece you know didn't speak the language at all you know to uh give a better life for themselves and all of a sudden they they met their wives and their husbands and you know all of a sudden they have a family they raise a family and and they move on to you know me being here you know the next generation it's it really is an amazing story it is an amazing story so you got a 20 and 0 record right now and you started your professional career in 2013 is that what it was 18 years of age that's crazy right i mean 18 19 something not that long ago you know to think about it that uh you know a year and a half two years ago when i fought at msg when i beat mickey bay i only got paid like 20 grand you know to think and when i paid everybody else it's and worked out my training expenses and had my had my kids there and my wife you know with

me okay i lived off the sponsorships you know the smaller amount of sponsorships that was your first real world-class opponent yeah yeah it was and you know when his name popped up you know they said Mickey Bay I was already number three in the world at that stage but I wasn't tested yet properly on the American scene I jumped at it straight away I was so excited okay this is what I came here to the US for. This is the kind of guy, a veteran, a guy that's been there, a guy that knows the ins and outs of boxing, the little tricks, the smooth moves. That's what I wanted.

A lot of fighters will say, no, too risky. Let's suck up another guy. Let's get close to the rankings. Hopefully, we'll get a shot and we'll make some money and see how we're going. But I've always been about taking the hardest road the risk you know that's that's what i did in that fight as well you certainly did and that's uh it's a wake-up call to people too when they hear about that purse because a lot of people they think of boxing purses they think of the person that tyson fury gets or that you know floyd mayweather gets or

deontay wilder the reality is guys coming up even when you're headlining yeah even when you're the main event it's not a lot of money no it really isn't you know and um if you go out there thinking that it's just about the money you will fall over you don't chase the money it will eventually come again with this fight too I was originally set with Triller to get 2.1 million us all of a sudden the problems that happened and the issues you know it was a lot less now for for matrim but for me it was never about the money and people online and and friends were saying you're crazy man what are you doing because we kind of took a stance and said that no we want to fight we're sick of this game

these games and you know the sanctioning body went out and said that, no, this is enough. No more date changes. You guys are done. It's a lot of money to lose. It is. But I knew my vision. I said, it doesn't matter. What was the difference in the payday?

It was from 2.1 to 1.3. Wow. So it's a fair bit of money. Lost a million dollars. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, but again, It's never about that But Look what the glory did

And look where The position you're in now I mean now you're in a position To make a gigantic amount of money If they can pull off that Huge show In Australia Yeah

If you could talk somebody Into going to Australia And you do a stadium My goodness Unbelievable Woo It's gonna be big But again It's never been

about the money for the money sets up my family my kids for me it's it's uh you know that that glory the legacy you know yeah the battles i love the battles right and i love that that real combat and i get excited i want to fight i love to. When you started out your career, did you have a boxer that you emulated or that you wanted to be like or someone who you admired their career and wanted to resemble their style? I admired Roberto Duran. And I was so privileged to FaceTime with him

a couple of days ago. Oh, yeah? Mauricio Solomon from WBC president. Oh, man. I met him in Madison Square Garden once I was starstruck What a man

What a man He um Guess who's your favorite fighter? Okay Duran He's You know

He's a guy Duran in his prime Like the Ken Buchanan days Yeah People think his prime was his welterweight It was not No

It was his lightweight It was his lightweight And you know That WBC belt You know To see him on there And obviously I'm on there And you got Floyd on there The great lightweights Yeah You know When Maur there and obviously I'm on there and he got Floyd on there

the great lightweights yeah you know when Mauricio said okay I'm gonna FaceTime him I was like real

nervous it's Duran you know so um you know I spoke to him he was he's so um so happy to

to chat and you know he congratulated me which was amazing you know that's fantastic he's uh unbelievable

and I had my Duran moment in that fight as well because in round 12 when we both you know looked at each other and he didn't want to accept it Lopez you know I just I was waiting for some kind of acceptance and he didn't want it so I gave him that that shove that push like bang and then I'm going to celebrate it's like Duran did with Sugar Ray in the first fight yeah well Durant I think he called him a whore yeah yeah that's Durant for you yeah it's been crazy it really has been you know I've I've had obviously Durant I've faced him with Canelo you know he showed his he showed his uh

you know his love and support and you know what what I did in that fight that's beautiful you know I know Manny Pacquiao I'll be faceding with him as well. I'm sitting here with you. It's been crazy. Canelo's in a crazy position, man. He's going to move up to cruiserweight for his next fight. Unbelievable. Isn't that wild? He just loves the challenges.

Yeah, I think that's what gets him up. It must. I mean, he's truly one of the all-time greats already. But the fact that he went up to light heavyweight, knocked out Kovalev, and now he wants to go all the way up to cruiserweight. 190 fucking pounds. Yeah, he's going to fight Macabu.

And that guy's no joke. He's a big fella. Big, strong, knocked out a lot of guys. So this is a risk, but he loves it. Without risk, there's no reward. Well, I think he really truly has his mind set on being the greatest Mexican champion of all time And maybe even grit the greatest boxer of all time and I think he can do it

I think he's in that running Oh, you see like the Danny Jacobs fight and you see his head movement Yeah and you realize like how much he's taken from the one loss that he had to Floyd where he I mean that was a Fight where he realized like man There's levels to this shit, and there's some guys You just can't hit and what how amazing was that? transformation from him before that to afterwards because now his head movement and his

Defense is sensational and he's not a big big guy. No he's small Oh, how tall is he? Probably 5'8? Yeah 5'8. And now he's gonna go up to 190 guy No He's small How tall is he? He's probably 5'8 Yeah, 5'8 And now he's going to go up to 190 Was Cruiserweight 95? I think so, yeah That's wild, man Because you're talking about a guy who's probably 210

And cutting down to 95 He did say that he was not going to come in heavy at all No, but his opponent will That's right But he said he's going to try stay around that that um natural you know weight that he's at because he doesn't want to put on any more because it probably affect his speed and you know his movements well all he has to do is be over 175 right i mean that's cruiser weight is basically what there's nothing between 75 and cruiser right so one of the few weight

classes in boxing no i don't think so yeah it's weird it's a weird jump right in boxing. No, I don't think so, yeah. Yeah, it's a weird jump, right, in boxing. It is, and you know what? I'm trying to think how many divisions it is. I don't know if he's trying to get close to the great Manny Pacquiao. I don't think he can. I don't think he can. He'd have to go all the way up to heavyweight.

Heavy or super heavy, so. Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but boxing goes middleweight, 160, super middle, super 68, light heavy light heavyweight 75 but then there's a giant jump to cruiser where is the way actually they've just introduced another white class the bridge your weight Oh there's another way where's that so between cruiser and heavy yes I think so oh yeah but between light heavy and cruisers 20 pounds that's a big gap in boxing the fact that he's gonna make that leap

And the fact that he started off at 154. It's crazy. He fought Floyd at 52. It's crazy nuts nuts and it shows it shows the kind of fighter he is that the yeah, the risk is willing to take and You gotta applaud that even after a loss against Floyd. He's come back and he's beat all these guys You know, I'm incredible. No, And even after a loss against Floyd, he's come back and he's beat all these guys. You know, incredible. He's truly a great athlete and a great fighter. If he retired tomorrow, he's one of the all-time greats. Yes, yeah. He's in the Hall of Fame, one of the all-time greats.

Without a doubt. Without a doubt. And if you watch his knockout of Caleb Plant. Yeah. See, that was one he had to earn. Yeah, he did. He had to earn that one. I met Caleb Plant. Yeah. See, that was one he had to earn. Yeah, he did. He had to earn that one. I met Caleb two nights ago.

He was at the hotel in L.A. and a really nice guy, great guy. You know, he seemed disappointed because he goes, I was trying to do what you just done and win these belts. And I said, man, you gave so much heart and you gained so much respect. Yeah. Because, you know, a lot of people weren't giving him that chance

and to do what he did. You know, he didn't win the fight, but of people weren't giving him that chance. And to do what he did, he didn't win the fight, but you got that respect. You went so many rounds. He looked amazing. He looked very good. You boxed nice. And he's only had 21 fights, 22 fights. It was a learning experience for sure.

A learning experience for sure. But you look at Canelo's power is wild. What he did to Saunders, was wild Fractured that eye socket He fractured his whole face You think from one shot One shot Did you ever look at the diagram Of all the repair they had to do to his face

Have you ever seen that I did see it Yeah it was brutal It was crazy Broken everywhere Eye socket All the orbital bone was shattered Around the eye socket

The cheek The jaw I think from just one punch one one devastating shot like that that motherfucker can punch and and uh again billy joe was boxing nice he was close it was he looked very good but you know canela i feel like uh even in the caleb plan flight uh fight you know he's just doing his thing he's waiting for the moment he's so composed yeah you know a lot of guys try to rush a lot of guys they forget about that composure right in the fight game especially in boxing you've got 12 rounds you know you've got a lot of time 36 minutes yeah in them ropes a lot of time to to you know dissect your opponent and

break them down that's what he does does it does it so well he does it so well and he has that patience and confidence of a multi-division world champion Who's faced the best of the best so that when he gets into those championship rounds he gets into those later rounds? He knows that he's he's managed his energy so perfectly The Kovalev fights a good example that right because Kovalev looked pretty good early on the fight very nice But to see him knock out Kovalev, and I think this is just fucking, I know Kovalev is not the same Kovalev as fought Andre Ward the first time,

but if you see it. Still, though. Still. That was a brutal shot. And Kovalev was all over the shop. Wild. Put him down. He's a big guy.

I know. And crack him with one left hook and had him fucked. Unbelievable. It's crazy. Truly an all-time great and a guy that we're getting to witness and have the pleasure to witness right fucked. Unbelievable. It's crazy. Truly an all-time great and a guy that we're getting to witness and have the pleasure to witness right now.

So to be able to FaceTime with him and just hear his advice about keeping that dedication, don't lose sight of what you're doing and continue reigning for a long time was amazing. That is amazing. I'm sure Lopez didn't like seeing that

when I did post it because I know he was only a few weeks ago up there with all these belts yeah I'm gonna take the long ride of Canelo and he's well Lopez is a young guy what is he 24 24 yeah yeah he's gonna develop character from this not that he doesn't already have character but he's gonna develop more character from this and I think this loss would make him a better fighter 100% And that's what I told him to you know when that fought was done And you know I knew I'd won the fight. I said you bounce back you bounce back and I respect you know, but he's young

He's gonna learn and you know, I can't sit here and knock the guy us. I bled with a guy I swear to with a guy yeah, now a guy. We gave the world an unbelievable fight. Well, the beautiful thing about what you did is that he is a great fighter. And because he's a great fighter, it made your victory so amazing. If he wasn't a great fighter, it's not going to be that impressive. It was the fact that you were facing a guy who just beat Lomachenko, who is just a world-class fighter, who many people thought was the scariest guy in that

division and and you came out on top look straight after my my world title eliminator in London when I beat Lee Selby you know and another former champion a guy who's been around a long time straight away caught him out and like you said this guy was was posed as the scariest guy in the division the guy that no one wanted to fight. Unbelievable power, unbelievable boxing, had it all. And he does. He does have great attributes.

But I knew I saw something. And again, I go back to that sixth sense. Back in 2019, he was at a fight in Pechanga in California. And I was there as well. I got flown out to be at a world championship fight

and we met and the media got us to take a photo together I knew inside I'm going to fight this guy somewhere so when they tweeted the photo out I retweeted and wrote future mega fight

wow and I knew it I'm going to fight this guy even before that when I first saw him on the scene when he came out he had the stylish

fight gear making a lot of noise he was doing the the Fortnite kind of celebrations. There's this feeling that I'm going to fight him. I know I'm going to fight him. So I have that feeling. I get that sense. Do you think he's going to want a rematch?

I asked him straight after the fight. I said, come to Australia, 80,000. And he didn't want nothing to do with it i'm hearing they want nothing to do with it so why is that took a lot of shots in that fight you think that's what he felt at first hand so yeah i think they're gonna move up now i think he needs a long rest i think he needs some time the thing about it is i know he's big i know he's big for 140 or 135 and that you know 140 is probably better for him, but he's not the most shredded guy. Like when you look at him, he's got a lot of power.

And you've got to wonder how much of that is because he put a lot of weight on after the weigh-ins. But he has made 135 successfully in the past. I don't know what his diet and regimen and training routine is like, but it seems like if you want to chase the big money, I mean, it was such a close fight. If you wanted to chase the big money, I would imagine that they would take a break, take a breath, regroup,

and look at all the options on the table. The rematch is where the money's at. That's where the money's at. And that's where the legacy's at too. And I'm open. I'm open to everything. For me, I'm a fighter. Of course.

I'd love to have another battle with him. So really, it's up to him now as well because I heard some stuff that, you know, he doesn't want to box anymore at one point. So for me, he'll be hearing this. At 24? Really? He'll be hearing this, you know.

You're a talented kid. You've got the world at your feet. One loss doesn't define you. You come back, we do it again. You move up. You fight someone else at 135, you bounce back up. Whatever you do, you don't throw the towel in. It's too young, but he'll be back.

Did you really? You heard that from a credible source? Yeah, I did hear it, yeah. Really? Yeah, I did hear it. Interesting. Really? Yeah, I did hear it. Interesting. Man, this is such a great time for boxing. It is, especially at 135 too. Really, in all the weight classes.

I mean, look at Terrence Crawford. Yeah. You know, I mean, that Sean Porter fight. Holy shit. Unbelievable. Phenomenal. Both guys, even Sean. Both guys. Sean, he looked great.

He boxed well. He had a great game plan, And Crawford just adapts. You talk about adapting in a fight. Oh, my God, he's the best. That guy is, you know, that's adapting right there. Well, he is the best stance switcher since Marvin Hagler. I mean, he really is. He'll hit you from whatever side.

He can knock you out with either hand. It's such an advantage, too. To have that advantage to be able to fight southpaw or orthodox with equal fluidity because he's so smooth and he finds openings and when he switches up on guys you can see them make they have to calculate and now put it into the like okay southpaw okay orthodox he's never given the opponent a chance to read him right and once you can read a fighter see lopez i was i read him many many you know months before you know i knew straight away okay i see what he does i see the mistakes you know i could

read it now crawford he's a guy that he'll hit you from here then he switches and he's in he's out yeah you can't read a guy like that it's very hard to read you know and uh obviously you know me saying that i can't read him you know he's big so it means I'm not going to fight him because he's too big for me anyway. Yeah. But he's a good fighter, man. He's tremendous. For me, even going to the fights on the weekend, the Haney-Jojo Diaz fight, going to the Gervonta Davis fight with Isaac Cruz, as a fight fan, not only as a guy that I was scouting to see, okay, who might be the next guy. Just as a fight fan, seeing the fights, being there.

I live for that. I love it. That's beautiful. I was very impressed with Cruz as well. He fought well. He fought really well. He's tiny and he just comes. But that shell that he fights under, hard to pick it apart.

Especially when you've got him coming forward like that and he's throwing dangerous shots. He excited me. He didn't get the win, but, you know. Well, forward like that and he's throwing dangerous shots. Yeah. He excited me. He didn't get the win, but, you know. Well, both him and, but there's so many good fights. Yeah. I mean, God, this is like, it's such an incredible time for boxing.

Yeah. But in basically every division, you know. It's great fights, yeah. From the top down, from heavyweight down. It's a good time. Boxing is in a really good state.

Yeah. Really good position and we are starting to see it more and more, know the the best of fighting the best you know i think everyone is trying to become the undisputed champions in their divisions and you know what better way because then it solidifies there's the one champion there's the one champion yes there won't be uh all these different champions all over the shop it gives more credibility to boxing as well no i think so for sure and I think that you know that old expression as the heavyweights go so does boxing yeah and that's a perfect is a perfect example right now the heavyweight divisions on

fire yep because there's so much exciting activity in the heavyweight division you know I mean they're gonna do that who sick versus Joshua rematch which was what a fight that was huh huh? You know, and I said it, Usyk is an unbelievable boxer. Oh, my God, he's so good. I got the opportunity to fight on his, the co-main, when I won my world title eliminator. It just, he's not a big, big guy. No.

He's not massive, but the way he boxes, the footwork that he has, you know, that southpaw position is unbelievable. You know, and look look i love joshua too great fighter you know he's gonna have to really come with something special you know to win this rematch and again when is the rematch what's the schedule i think they're saying march i think that i'm here in march yeah do you think when when a guy gets so thoroughly outboxed like that and almost put away in the 12th do you think that's quick to come back from a fight like that it is but again, it shows

that the testament that Joshua has. You know what? Like the Ruiz fight. Straight back in there. Straight back on the horse. Yeah, but Ruiz didn't get back on the horse. That's the difference. Ruiz got in the kitchen. He enjoyed it too much. He's looking good now. He looks great now. But then

again, that's a wake-up call. Those wake-up calls for a guy like him are so important. See if you can find a recent picture of Andy Ruiz because he looks fucking incredible. Well, he's with the Canelo team now. Eddie Reynoso's got him going the way he's meant to be. But I'll tell you what, he got in trouble with Chris Areola because he did the same thing with Areola that Lopez tried to do with you. He tried to do with you.

He tried to just come at him, guns blazing. And Areola, you know, he's a hard-nosed veteran, a guy that's been there. And he'll take shots and he'll give them back. Areola's a warrior. Good fighter, man. Yeah, great fighter. And such a, I mean, you want to talk about a great Mexican standoff between those two guys. My God, that was classic mexican boxing match yeah you know i mean and that's what you know like if there is one nationality that's like synonymous with blood

and guts amazing fights it's mexican yeah they love it they love it oh my god you should have seen like um in la you know they were going crazy in ve Vegas and they kept coming up they loved the blood and the guts and you know the back and forth exchanges and the knock downs they love it and they idolize it

you know and I wish I wish more you know nationalities were like that you know in the fight game but that's one

one country that they really love their fight game and you know they got some tremendous you know champions oh so many champions I mean like arguably one of the greatest of all time Julio Cesar Chavez and then I think now They love their fight game, and they've got some tremendous champions. Oh, so many champions.

I mean, arguably one of the greatest of all time, Julio Cesar Chavez, and then I think now with Canelo moving into the position as, first of all, he's the number one pay-per-view draw right now, or right up there with Tyson Fury, and arguably not just the best that's active right now, pound for pound, but one of the best of all time. He is. He truly is. Here we go. Look how good he looks.

Look at him on the right. Look at him. I believe that was the Joshua rematch. Was that the rematch? I think. Yeah, he got a little heavy. He looks very good. But the amount of work that it takes to get down to that, if he had done that for that Joshua rematch and came in looking like that,

who the fuck knows what would have happened. And psychologically, too, if he came in looking like that. Oh, my God. Joshua would have been like, okay, this guy's serious. Right. When you see him coming in like the way he did. Yeah. Joshua already knows, all right, this guy's not taking this serious.

He's enjoyed it too much. Well, there's some guys who kind of like being fat and knocking out muscular guys. You know? Perfect example. Butterbean.

Back in the, yeah, Butterbean back in the day. You still see his stuff pop up everywhere. Yeah. Oh, people love,

fat people loved it when Butterbean won. Like, yes, one for us. Yeah, one for us. I mean,

look, Tyson Fury's not The leanest guy In the world either But the conditioning He has Yeah His conditioning Is elite

You know to be Knocked down Against Deontay Come up In that third fight Yeah You know it was A great fight

Not only to be Knocked down But to be knocked down The way he was Knocked down Yep Where he got hit In the head

And you see the The ripples Go down his whole body Straight down Yeah Cause it was such a tremendous shot has there ever been a guy who punches harder than deontay wilder i don't think so yeah it's wild right i think the uh the power he possesses that one punch power and he came out boxing nice

too he was popping the jab he looked good it's okay but straight away i go how quick is he gonna go back to what he knows best when he does get tagged that's what he did but devastating power and you know what he gave it they both gave a tremendous fight um you know i was on the edge of my seat he did he almost had him which is crazy you know when he put when he put fury down i thought and fury kind of looked to his corner and like i kind of said no i'm in trouble here yeah then he just rose you know in that first fight the way he rose like it was like the undertaker from the wwe it's unbelievable yeah and then you know the second fight he got dropped twice yeah just and still managed to pull it out and then stopped

dionte and the the the kale when he did stop him like holy brutal brutal they're talking about matching him up with ruiz. Deontay and Ruiz. That'd be a good fight. That's a great fight. I love that fight. Yeah, go either way. But I think Deontay's just got that pop. I just don't know how much has been taken out of him.

You know, when you go through them wars and them battles, especially coming from them losses too now, you lose yourself a lot. You know, they say inside them ropes, a fighter loses a bit of himself every time he goes in there, especially when you're in the hard fights. So it just depends how much is left in the tank for him. Yeah, and you think about the majority of his career,

it's just him knocking everybody out. And so psychologically, there's a hurdle to cross too because now it's two down. And one fight in between right where he knocked out um uh Louise uh Ortiz yeah yeah he went from the first fight which was a draw knocked out Ortiz and they went literally back to back yeah so but these two losses back to back like that they're hard to dig and they were also both stoppages, which is hard to deal with. Hard to come back by. And then like the first one,

the first stoppage loss, it was all those crazy excuses too. Like they thought egg weights and the gloves were on wrong and his weight suit was too heavy and somebody poisoned him. It's like... It reminds me of Tim Lopes.

Not quite as... No, not as bad. Lopes is not quite as bad. Not as bad. No. They really... Yeah, he really went with everything that he could find. Everything.

Poison. Yeah, the poison from his trainer. Yeah. Who's the guy that's been with him for his whole life. The suit that he came out with. I just don't understand why people just take it like a man. It is what it is. Even if you do have something wrong with you or an injury You know you make yourself look worse. I think when a fighter is as great as he is

It's hard to have someone around him that can tell him something and have him listen Someone who's really got his interest for it. Hey, man. Don't say shit You have a lot of look at me. Yes, man around a lot of them and that's the most important thing for me right now Is to continue keeping my strong core of people, my good people around me. I've got my kids. I'm a family man, away from everything. That's the most important thing in my life.

So you don't want to get distracted in the bright lights. You don't want to be out there doing stupid things. So I think by having my kids there, that keeps me in a position in a position where, you know, you keep your feet on the ground. You keep looking for more greatness. Like Canelo, you know, he has so much success, so much money, so many championship belts. Still does everything. Pacquiao as well. Yeah.

Floyd as well. Floyd when he was at his top. Floyd, top of his game. Yeah. So much money coming in. Rich as fuck, didn't care. Still grinds like he's got nothing. And that's the most important thing.

That really is the most important thing you know how do you i mean there is a time when a fighter becomes very famous where the hanger-ons and the the people that are parasites would try to come and hang out with you how do you avoid that shit i've got a good people around me my father um you know he's he's a solid guy so you know he can see him coming straight away if I don't see him. But I'm very sharp as well. You know, I can see someone that's trying to take advantage, you know, for their gain. Yeah. If these guys haven't been there from the start, through the trenches, the hard work that we've had to go through,

you know, because I've really had to earn every spot, you know, and every position I'm in right now. You know, they're not there for the right reason. So if I don't see him firsthand, my father will. Well, that's beautiful that you have that. That helps tremendously. Now, do you get approached by a lot of sponsors and a lot of companies that want you to represent them? And if you do, how do you manage your time when it comes to that stuff because look there's a lot more now coming yeah but you know my manager Peter Kahn you know he's very

sharp with that as well and you know we make sure that it makes the most sense you know you don't want to feel yourself the last thing I see is an athlete feel themselves with you know all these sponsorships and endorsements and it just looks tacky you pick the right brands ones that you know all these sponsorships and endorsements and it just looks tacky you pick the right brands ones that you know suit me as well what i believe in you know the the athlete that i am but um you know they deal with that obviously i'm involved in it as well and you know make sure it's right you know the deals are right you don't get sucked into anything stupid and uh you know you go from there well that's uh that's a healthy approach and it's

it's beautiful to see a young guy like yourself with so much success but has his brain totally straightened and tied down correctly and you know your mind is right and it's it's very important because you know this this fight game especially boxing is filled with sharks yeah chameleons change their skin real real quick yeah you know it's crazy you know even with with the next fight being in australia you know a few uh interviews have asked they go is that who pays the most money no not necessarily it's not about money it's about you know what uh does my promotional company ferocious promotion what are they going to be involved in do i get opportunities to have guys that that are me, you know, guys that are signed with me on the cards? You know,

so that there, because I didn't have that. I had to go for the hard road, the local circuit, literally selling my tickets, selling the tables, getting your $5 here, your $10 here, you know, for each table you sold or your ticket you sold to make it so if i can be able to change a talented kid that i've seen and that i have with me and put him on a card and give him the opportunities that's more than worth more than money you know so for me like like i said it's it's about being smart having the right right approach and uh you know changing the people around me the good people around me changing their lives as well So is that part of your goal it to try to elevate the boxing scene in your in your area as well? Definitely, that's why we have ferocious promotions my company We want to keep getting the good guys are young amateurs the the promising professionals and give them the right blueprint

You know a lot of like I said a lot of people in this game they want to try suck the fighter suck them dry and take everything from them and you know you see it all the time thomas you know time after time where fighters finish the sport they're left with nothing yeah got nothing you know so we put our lives on the line we go through hell and back you want to be able to leave this sport and be able to you know give a good road map for these young guys coming. Do you have a plan for when you exit the sport? Do you think you'll stay in boxing as a trainer or as a manager or anything like that? Definitely I'll be involved in boxing.

Maybe the commentary. I had my debut commentary on the weekend in Vegas. Yeah, you did. You did great. I got a lot of good feedback. Beautiful. I think the world said that we need that. We need real fighters actually doing the commentary, so that was great. I got a lot of good feedback. Beautiful. I think the world said that we need that. We need real fighters actually doing the commentary. So that was great.

I think that's true too. I think that helps a lot. It helps with the UFC for sure. It was fun. It was exciting for me to be there. Well, there's insight that a guy like you can provide. A guy who's a world champion that you're just not going to get from anybody else. Well, me and Sean Porter were just feeding off each other and back and forth with things

that we see and the aspect that we see in the fight game. So definitely the commentary is something I love to be involved in. You know, the promotional side of things, the managing side of things. And I love to be in the gym too. So I think the training side of things as well. Is Sean really going to retire? You know, you can never say yes or no with a with any fighter when i said they retired um he's been for a lot too in the fights he's had a lot of good good wins yeah some some some tough

victory um tough losses as well so you know maybe it is time it really depends how he feels i'd love to see him come back i think it was a bit premature as well when he said that such a good fight until he got caught yeah i thought that um you know you're doing so well against crawford who's top pound for pound you know why throw it in now you still got more to give but that's that's their decision did would you uh surprise the way his dad reacted i was i really was too i can't believe you said that yeah it's it just kind of put him on the spot and like sean was yeah just didn't know what was going on like well he handled it well he just he just handled it well

you know that's his dad that's why we think for people that don't know what he said his dad said he didn't prepare correctly yeah and then when you when you think about him retiring straight away you start to think was that possibly a reason that he know or maybe he really didn't prepare correctly and maybe his dad's right and maybe he's realizing that this is the truth nobody knows you better than your father

that's right yeah listen man you are a part of one of the most exciting eras of boxing I really I'm enjoying this

as a fan and I appreciate what you did in that fight it was truly sensational and I hope you enjoy every minute of this. You earned it. You are right now one of the top guys in boxing,

and it's beautiful to watch, man. I really appreciate it. We're just going to keep getting better and better, never lose sight of the goal and keep our feet on the ground and keep winning. The most important thing is winning, not only in the ring, but winning in life and keeping the right people around me. Well, George, you're a and keep winning. The most important thing is, is winning not only in the ring,

but winning in life and keeping the right people around me. Well, George, you're a fucking true champion. And, uh, I hope we get to do this again and good luck to you, sir.

This was an absolute pleasure. My pleasure. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you everybody. Bye. Thank you.