The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #145 with Terence Crawford

Episode Date: August 18, 2023

Joe sits down with Terence Crawford, a three-time World Boxing Organization Champion, two-time lineal champion, and undisputed champion with titles from the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization, and World Boxing Council. www.tbudcrawford.com

Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out! The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day! Terrence Crawford, what's it like to be the fucking man? Man, it's great. I feel like I've always been the man. I think you have been the man for a long time. But I think two weeks ago everybody realized it. Yeah, everybody give me my recognition now, and everybody gave me my flowers.

So it's a wonderful thing that I had to fight to, you know, get everybody approval. Well, it's tricky in boxing sometimes because sometimes it's difficult to make those matchups happen. And a dream matchup like that between two undefeated world champions and for you to dominate the way you did because a lot of people had that like a pick'em fight like a lot of people didn't know how to call it but you just fucking ran that fight you ran that fight that was amazing yeah you know that's a fight that we've been wanting for years and to finally secure the fight and perform the way that I performed it was it was a great moment for me and my career it was beautiful man I mean the just the way you controlled the way you switch things up the way you controlled the pace of the fight the defense

your defense was on point those hooks that you were landing in close were magnificent. It was a brilliant fight, man. I mean, I'm sure you appreciate it. I'm sure you watched it a bunch of times. But, man, that was like a real, because it was such a mainstream fight, such a huge fight where everybody was paying attention to it and talking about it, even casuals, that they got to see you perform that way. And, you know, now it's like there's no dispute. You're the number one pound for pound guy on earth yeah uh that's something that i gotta credit to my coaches you know because we drilled everything that you've seen fight night we drilled it time and time again

time and time again so it was it was it came natural and easy for me when when the fight came you know like i said only thing they kept saying uh how he's going to beat me is because he's bigger and he's stronger that was it you look stronger of course of course and i was just like how do you know he's stronger than me right he might be bigger than me but big don how do you know he's stronger than me? Right. He might be bigger than me, but big don't mean stronger. Well, he's just taller than you. You look more muscular than him too. But it was just the technique was what really stood out.

It's like you just were a master in there. It was a master class. That's something that they wasn't giving me credit for as well. How? That's the thing. It's like, how were they not? You know, I don't know what it is with me. They just always try to diminish my accomplishments

and, oh, well, who I was fighting. They say, oh, well, you wasn't fighting nobody. And this guy, Errol Spence, is the most fundamentally sound fighter in the game so that's why everybody was picking him but I was favorite in Vegas so Vegas must have had it right yeah well the wise people picked you as a favorite you know just just based on your accomplishments it's not like Errol Spence wasn't a great fighter. He's a great fighter. But it's so interesting when you watch a great fighter against what I believe is an all-time great. There's just levels upon levels upon levels upon levels.

And right now, you're at the top of the fucking mountain. Yes, yes, yes. And I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying it. Beautiful. You deserve it. You deserve it. You deserve it. That's a, when you planned for that fight, you knew that you were probably going to fight him, like, for the last few years.

It was something that was on the table. But not really. I was like, you know, I shifted gears and I shifted my mind off of Errol Spence because I didn't feel like the fight was going to happen. But once I left top rank and we started negotiating, I about to get the fight done, it wasn't lining up to what I wanted. So I decided to take another fight. And then I came back to the table and like, hey, listen, let's get this fight made. And at that point in time, things wasn't going how I would have liked it to go so i just hit up smith's like hey man listen man if if me and you're gonna fight me and you're gonna get this done because you know there's a lot of people that's blocking the fight how are they

blocking like what was the what was the hold which is business wise you know I just felt like I was worth X amount and they felt like I wasn't and they wanted to do the deal a certain way and I wanted to do a deal the fair way and Errol Spence seen it he was just he was he was agreeing with everything that I said he was like yeah we can do this we can do that and he probably felt like he gave up too much you you know, at the end when it was all said and done. But I felt like everything was fair. Was it in terms of, like, the purse split? Everything. Everything.

We talked about everything. Yeah. And so this fight had been discussed for, like, how many years now? Five. Five years. Wow. this fight had been discussed for like how many years now? Five. Five years. Wow. That's crazy that it takes that long for something like this to happen in boxing.

When I came to the welterweight division, I called out all the champions except Sean Porter. I called out all the champions. I went up the mall, you know, at that time. And I wasn't able to get in the ring with any of them. And at that point in time, they was calling Errol Spence the boogeyman. And my reply was, how is he the boogeyman when I'm chasing him? You know, I just wanted to prove to the world that I was better than what they say I was because given the fact that how great I looked against each opponent, they say, oh, well, he wasn't nothing or he was

this, he was that because how talented I am. Right. So they didn't want to give me no credit because I passed all my tests with flying colors. So it was great to get in the ring with Errol Spence Jr. and do the same thing, if not better, than I did for the past opponents that I faced. No, you were on fire. It's sort of the same thing that Roy Jones Jr. faced. Everybody's like, Roy hasn't beaten anybody.

Yes, he has. It's just he's so much better than everybody else that he was making everybody else look like there weren't any good but those were world championship caliber fighters and roy was just lighting them up right and that's that sometimes when a fighter eclipses everyone else and reaches the pinnacle that's the criticism they face until there's an undeniable moment, you know, and that was your undeniable moment. Like, everybody's got to shut the fuck up now. Yeah, yeah.

And that's what, you know, my feelings was. You know, a lot of people are like, man, you didn't look too happy. You know, after you won, I didn't see the excitement in you. I was like, man, I was happy. I was happy just I had to prove myself, you know, I didn't see the excitement in you. I was like, man, I was happy. I was happy just I had to prove myself, you know, to the world how great I knew I was. But at the same time, I was kind of disappointed at the same time that it took this long for me to get my recognition and for me to get a big marquee fight of this status at 35 years old. Yeah, especially after chasing it for five years.

Right, and I was chasing Manny Pacquiao for probably five years, probably before that. Yeah. So it's like I've been champion for nine years, going on 10 years in March. So I've been doing this game for a long time, you know, and I've been at the top since I beat Gamboa, and I've been looking for all the biggest challenges there is. And some of them I was able to capture,

and some of them went the other way. And I'm just blessed to be able to be the first man to be undisputed in a junior welterweight division the first man to be undisputed in a welterweight division in a four-barrel era the first man to be undisputed in two weight divisions so it's a blessing it's a blessing it's a a blessing. It's a huge blessing. It's an amazing accomplishment. You looked happy.

You were dancing with your mom. You were having a good time. Yeah, of course. I don't know why people thought you weren't happy. Because, you know, when you go in the back room, everybody want to see the excitement. Right. I was just like, I got that off my back. Yeah.

It was a sign of relief. Was there anything unusual about that fight? Like, is that exactly how you expected the exchanges to go? I'm sure you watched a ton of tape on him, right? Actually, I didn't. Really? I didn't because a lot of people always ask me, do I watch a lot of film on my opponents? And I always tell them no, because I have a different style. They're not going to fight me the same style or the same way that they fought their previous opponents. They just not, you know.

So I already knew how he fought. I just watched probably like two fights of his just to get a feel for what he liked to do, what he don't like, the things that, you know, I can capitalize on. And that's it. Like, the things that, you know, I can capitalize on. And that's it. Like, I don't watch too much film because I'm going to make my adjustments on the fly inside the ring. So, yeah, I don't watch too much film.

That's interesting. What is the general consensus on that, about watching film? Do most champions watch film? Is it just on an individual basis? No, some people like to watch film to where they feel as if they know what their opponent's going to do, when they're going to do it, because they got certain habits to identify when they're going to throw a punch or when they're going to back up. Certain things that you see as a top athlete, you start noticing,

okay, I noticed that he's doing this when he's doing this. He's doing that when he's doing this. And you pick up on that. And so you put it in your mind like, okay, we're going to prepare for this. When he do that, we're going to do this. So you try to capitalize on it. But me, I never was that type of person. try to capitalize on it but me i never was that type of person my i let my coaches they do the studying and then they come up with a plan and then they shoot me the plan the plan to win

and we just go from there when you switch because you're you're in my opinion the best ever at switching from orthodox to southpaw since marvin hagler you're the best ever like when you just when do you decide do you just feel it do you go out there southpaw sometimes and say i'm gonna fucking switch it up like how do you how do you make those those changes well i think i made the change to fight southpaw in the backdress room. Really? Yeah, because I was like, man, how should I come out? Because in my mind, I was just so filled with, like, the energy from the weigh-ins,

the press conference, the weight, the moment. So I was like, man, I just want to go out there. You know, everybody's saying I'm too small so I wanted to prove him wrong everybody was saying he's gonna walk me down so I was just like man you know they just don't know like I just had that chip on my shoulder like I just want to go go head on with the bull and just go fight him and it was like just box I was like just box and then I was remembering I was like he never fought. And then I was remembering, I was like, he never fought too many Southpaws before. And then on one of the occasions, he got hurt real bad by a hook.

So I was like, I'm coming out Southpaw and we're going to box just to start off. But at the same time, I'm going to get my respect out the gate. I'm not going to be doing all that moving. So the plan was never to move. And everybody, when you interview them, they was like, oh, Terrence got to be slippery. He can't stand in front of Spence. He can't do this. He got to get on his bicycle. I'm like, he ain't no Terminator.

I'm like, man, I'm going to be right there in front of him like I always do. You know, I'm going to make him miss and make him pay, and I'm going to fight my fight. So I feel like that was the key for the victory because he wasn't used to fighting southpaws. Do you feel as comfortable orthodox as southpaw? Do you feel like you're better in one stance, or is it just depending upon the opponent?

I think it's depending on the opponent. You know, I feel I'm equally as great in both stands. I'm very powerful in both stands. I hit just as hard with my left, probably even harder with my left than my right, you know, but I think it's the opponent. They were talking about it in the broadcast. They said that when you were a kid, you hurt your hand. And so that's why you started practicing southpaw.

Yeah, that's when I started actually practicing it. You know, that was something that when I had the cast on, I was like, man, I love the gym so much. I'm like, man, I'm not leaving the gym. Like, I'm going to practice with this left. And that's when I got the left stronger. Because at first, when I go southpaw, it was only, you know, my right, my right, my right. Then when my hand got messed up, just start working on the left and it started getting stronger and stronger and I start getting more accurate because at first just throw it just to be throwing it and then you know it just got to a point where they both my

left was actually way stronger than my right when it came back so I had to get my right back stronger that's great it's crazy that you have that option because that's such an amazing advantage to be able to fight just as comfortably from orthodox or southpaw oh yeah definitely definitely you know um I look at it like you can't go nowhere right like you trap like you move to your, I can go southpaw and cut you off. You move to your right, I can go orthodox and cut you off. And then it's great that I can pack a punch in both hands as well because a lot of people, when they switch, they give up something.

I think when I switch, I gain something in both stands that I probably don't have in other stands. So it's great for me. Did anybody ever try to discourage you from switching up that much? Of course. Did they? My coach, he used to get mad. Like, you need to focus on one stance and doing it right before you start switching.

You ain't even got the orthodox stance down, all the way. And then you trying to go south, I'm like, all right, all right. Then I go orthodox, and then in the fight, boom. I switch, then I switch back. He's like, stop switching. And then I win the fight like, what?

When did he stop telling you to stop switching? When I was winning winning he was like he was like all right since since i can't stop you from switching we're just gonna train that way so yeah if you do four rounds you're gonna do two rounds southpaw you're gonna do two rounds orthodox that's just how we started training well it's amazing how it turned out and for spence you know who always fights southpaw like to see you as a southpaw too like probably created a little bit of an adjustment for him yeah yeah especially given that he wasn't fighting too many southpaws in his whole career right that much it seemed like after you dropped him in the second right somewhere in like the

middle of the third you started to turn the heat up then you start closing the distance and you were like smothering him you know like somewhere in the third it seemed like you picked up the intensity is that when you felt like you started to get to him yeah yeah I felt like I was I was in control the whole fight you know the first round neither one of us really did anything. We was kind of just feeling each other out. The second round, he kind of started picking it up a little bit, and I caught him with them two shots.

I feel like that's what led me to get more control because I felt as if I caught him off guard. He wasn't expecting me to punch as hard as I did. So I could see on his face he was kind of like, oh. And then the rest, I was in control. Yeah, you were in control. It's an amazing performance. But now that you've accomplished this and now that you're the first man ever to be undisputed in two different weight classes,

what are the offers now? Are people coming? Because I hear all this talk about Jermell. I hear this talk about Canelo. Where are they at right now? Well, you know Canelo and Jamel is fighting I wanted to fight Jamel next since he was 154 pound undisputed champion but as you know they gonna strip him for his belt once the bell ring when he fight so your goal was to go up and become undisputed in three different weight classes. There you go. Wow. Something that never been done before.

Right. And, you know, it's greatness. Like I said, this is my era, and I'm taking it. Ain't nobody going to stop me. So now that I didn't shift gears because I know I wanted to fight Jamel, I know I wanted to fight Jamel, but if he lose to Canelo, I wouldn't. I always said, man, that's a big step. That's a big step. But for a person to go up three weight classes from 147 to 168 and to win and become undisputed, wow.

What can they say? They can't say nothing right now, but what can they say? Well, then you're in, like, the greatest of all time discussion. I'm already in them discussions. But I'm saying, what would they say, though? Three-time undisputed champion and and a smaller fighter that went up three weight divisions to conquer one of the the baddest man's besides itself that's been doing it for probably longer than me so you said 68 but you you mean 54 right no 68 you want to go up to 68? Yeah. So who would you fight at 68? Canelo?

Yeah, if he win or Charlo, the winner. Wow. That would be crazy. I want to be three-time undisputed. To jump up like that, 21 pounds? Yes. What do you walk around at? I don't know.

You don't know? I don't know. I'm telling you. You got to scale. I don't know. You know what I mean? How much time would you need to prepare for something like that would you gain weight would you do i'll have to i'll definitely have to gain weight yeah you know and i just believe in my my abilities you know uh canelo's not a big guy you know he's 5'8 right fought at 52 when he fought back yeahiao. Or when he fought Floyd, rather. He's big, like muscular-wise, but as far as, like, height, nah.

So, yeah, that wouldn't be nothing that, you know, we'd have to see. That would be insane. For you to go from 140 all the way up to 168. That would be dope. Woo! I think it can happen. I think that's, to be honest, I think that's the biggest fight in boxing. He beat Charlo, Terrence Crawford, Canelo.

That's the biggest fight in boxing, hands down. No other fight fighters could compare to that. You know, no disrespect to Charlo, but he's not a superstar. He's not, you know, on Canelo's level. Now, he got a chance. Don't get me wrong. Like, he's going to do well in that fight. And he got the tools to win.

You know, it's just about preparation and what type of fight he fight now Canelo and him are fighting at 68 and when are they fighting is that September yes September 30th I think so when would you like to get back in? Like what would be good for you? Like how much of a turnaround? Well, if I in September, it would probably be next year. But that would give me time to, you know. Bulk up. Yeah, get my body right. What kind of strength and conditioning routine do you do now?

Because how much, is it difficult for you to make 47 or is it pretty easy? No, it was a little difficult. Yeah? It was a little difficult. Yeah. I had to wear the little plastics and sinus suits this time. But, you know, I don't know what it is. I go up in weight and then the weight be going up on me.

Your body adapts. Yeah. Likes to eat. Likes to get get thick right yeah so it's cool though that's cool so when like a normal camp um what is your training routine consist of like do you do you do running do you do strength and conditioning workouts in the gym like what do you do as far as like physical preparation i preparation? I do it all. I run. I swim. Strength and condition. Plyometrics, all that.

You do swimming? Yes. A lot of people are doing swimming now. I've been doing that my whole career. Really? What do you like about swimming? I just think, you know, it helps on your breathing. It helps on your breathing, your endurance.

It's better on your joints, you know joints because we don't run every day. So, yeah, it helps tremendously. And do you lift weights? Yeah. But not heavy. We lift probably like 20 pounds, like something light. Just a lot of endurance work. Yeah.

Little quick twitch muscles. So if you have a fight where you're going to go up to 168 pounds, how much time do you think you need to get ready physically for that? I'm ready now. You're ready now? I'm the type of fighter that I just believe in myself, you know, and I don't think a lot of people think it's all about weight, but I think it's about the skills you know I got the power to make anybody respect me I don't care what what your

weight is if I catch you in the right spot at the right time you're gonna feel it you know and I just feel like it's called boxing for a reason I'm'm out. Thank you. Yeah Well, you showed that in that fight. I mean this the defense everything man. It was a master class That's what I love about boxing Like if I wanted to show someone a boxing match I would show a fight like that Like this is what I love about boxing like this man is right in front of that dude. He's rolling with every shot He's picking off every shot the other dude throws at him and he's countering with like split second timing yeah and that's hard to do that's hard to do and you got to be comfortable enough to have confidence that you got to take chances yeah like when when i when i dropped them with the uppercut and the hook, I got hit. The left hand, right?

Yeah. I got hit while I was throwing the uppercut, but I knew that going into it because I baited them in and set a trap. So in my mind, I'm going to take one to get this off and then come back with something else. And that's how I got the drop, the second drop. Yeah, that uppercut was genius. It was just inside, tight, boom. Perfect time.

How hard did Spence hit? He didn't hit that hard. But he never caught you that clean. That was probably the best shot he landed. No, he caught me a couple of times, but, you know, I was surprised at how hard he didn't hit. Really? I mean, given that everybody say, oh, he's a big puncher.

I think he's just a volume puncher. I think he just wears opponents down, just wear them down. I don't think he has a one-punch knockout. He has power, but it's not like, you know, boom, sleep. You know what I mean? I think it's like, bam, oh, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then he just wear you down. Right.

Yeah. That is a difference, right? Because if you look at his career, you never seen him, like, knock nobody out with one punch. You never see him, you know, dropping nobody with one punch. You already see him, like, wearing them down, wearing them down. That's why he go so hard to the body because he wants to wear you down.

Then once you get tired and once your body starts weakening, everything starts weakening. Those little punches that wasn't hurting start hurting. That was probably your most anticipated fight. What do you think was your most difficult fight. But what do you think was, like, your most difficult fight? I would think Gamboa. Really? I would say Gamboa.

Because the experience at the time, you know, you got to understand, I came from fighting six-round fights, you know, to a 10-round fight on HBO when I got the Bradis Prescott fight. So then I fight him. Then I fight another guy for interim, the NABO. And then I fight for a title eliminator in clean off. And then I fight Ricky Burns. And then I come back and fight Gamboa when I become champion. Gamboa was labeled the next Floyd Mayweather.

He was on the pound-for-pound list. Everybody had Gamboa at a high rating. He's an Olympic gold medal. He had the experience over me, and so I think I learned a lot in that fight. That's what made it you know hard because that was something that I never experienced in a fighter before so it was a great learning experience. That's one of the most interesting things about watching a very talented fighter is seeing how they respond to the next level of opposition and the next level of challenges.

Like you're saying, going up from six rounds to eight rounds to 10 to 12 and seeing the different caliber of competition. You know, when you look at, like, a boxer's career, it's interesting because when they're kind of at the end of the line in their late 30s, it's the time when they have the of at the end of the line in their late 30s, it's the time when they have the most experience. They know the most, but their body doesn't really perform as well anymore. There's this kind of balancing act.

And the guy who beat that better than anybody was Bernard Hopkins. Because Bernard was world class up until he was 50, which is so crazy. Like, how the fuck did he do that i think because his body was more preserved than when he was in jail and he didn't have all the wear and tear on his body you know my my guy steven nelson he's he's another one he's 35 years old and he's still moving like he's he's young because he never did no sports he started he started boxing at like 18 oh so uh no injuries yeah he he just had an injury about a few years ago he tore his achilles he was out for two years but he back like nothing happened that's a big one yeah achilles is a big jamal hill the u, the UFC light heavyweight champion, just tore his

Achilles. That's a rough one. Definitely. Jamal tore it playing basketball, which is crazy. He tore his sparring moving backwards. Really? Yes. He was just moving backwards. It wasn't nothing crazy. He was just moving backwards and it just popped.

He said he thought somebody hit him. He was just like he looked down like man he thought it was me at first i'm way on the bag i'm like what he's like man i fucked up i'm like what he was like man my achilles i'm like how you know he was like man i heard it pop it's all like everybody getting around him i'm like man you gotta go to the hospital let's go wow two years two years out the gym i mean out the ring that's a long one it's it's a crazy injury to come back from yeah because it's such a thick tendon when it pops it's just a disaster have you had any like significant injuries no injuries? No. That's amazing. Yes. So when you say, like, for Bernard, like, he preserved his body,

I know you're very disciplined. And I know that, like, do you ever take time, like, after a big fight like that where you go off the rails and eat pizza every day and go crazy? Or do you stay disciplined? Well, I don't eat beef or pork, but. You don't eat beef or pork? Or pork. Really? Yeah.

But my eating habits is not the best. You know, I still drink pop here and there. I still... I didn't lighten up on candy. I used to eat tons of candy, like, every day. Really? I used to eat tons of candy, but, you know... While you were fighting?

Yeah. In camp, too. I don't know. It was just something that... Listen, I'm going to do this fighting? Yeah, in camp too. I don't know. It was just something that, listen, I'm going to do this. I'm going to make weight. I'm going to get everything done. But I'm going to have my candy. What kind of candy?

I just liked it, you know, the Jolly Ranchers, the chewy ones. Just chewy candy. The Starbursts, the gummies. I used to just always eat those. But when you train it a lot, it's not bad to have a little extra sugar. Yeah. Like Floyd used to drink sodas after he trained. Yeah.

And everybody's like, why would he do that? But then I talked to a nutritionist, and he's like, it's actually after a very hard workout, like sparring and hitting the bag, it's actually a good way to replenish glucose. Yeah, that's probably why I always was drinking it and cutting weight. I don't know why. When I'm cutting weight, I'd be like, all right. Even though water, I mean, even though pop is going to make me more thirsty,

I'd be like, I need a Sprite. I need a Sprite, a cold Sprite. They'd be like, what? I'd be like, I just need a Sprite. How come you don't eat beef or pork? I don't eat beef. Pork is just, you know, bad for you. It's unhealthy.

You know, and I think when beef, I stopped eating beef like probably like seven years ago. Probably more than that. Really? Yeah. I had back problems, and I was like, man, my back was just hurting so bad, and I didn't know what it was. So I went to the hospital. I went to the emergency. And so they did the MRI and CAT scan and stuff like that on my back.

And I had backed up shit all up my back. What? Backed up shit. Really? That was what was hurting your back? All beef. So since I cut out the beef because they said beef is harder to digest and harder for your body to break down. So I stopped eating beef and I ain't never had none of them issues ever again.

That's crazy. I've never heard anything like that. Yeah. So where do you get your protein from? Chicken. Just chicken? Chicken, turkey. Eggs, fish?

Yeah, fish. All that. So chicken, turkey, fish. Yeah. That's crazy. I've never heard anybody have it. I eat mostly meat. Yeah.

I think that's the most of my diet is meat. You probably got a lot of shit in you. Nope. No. I bet you do. I bet you you do. I bet you you do. You might not do it, but you got a lot of shit. Maybe I should get an MRI.

Nah, maybe you should do a colon cleanse or something. Do you do colon cleanses? No. Do one and you're gonna be amazed. Really? I swear. I don't know about that. I don't think there's anything wrong. I did one. You know, i was doing one in this camp yeah and it was crazy like you know shit that come out of you you'd be like damn i

had so did you do like a colonic nah i just you know the client is rough just taking a hose up your ass yeah i ain't doing that what did you do what'd you you take? No, I just, you know, take, you know, just a little colon cleanse, dietary. Not like supplements or stuff like that. It's like fiber. Yeah, fiber that makes the shit come out. And it just, whoa. Yeah, I did that before camp and stuff, and I was like, dang. So if you own, do you have someone that prepares your meals?

Yes. Yeah? So you got like a meal prep company? I got a nutritionist. I got a chef, all that. And you're also, I saw on, are you a part of that snack thing too? Yeah. Yeah.

So that's, what that is, is that is that um that dude from balco yeah yeah so victor he was on the podcast back in the day so he's a guy that busted or he got busted for with barry bonds yeah the clear where they're giving him that undetectable steroids and now he's on the other side of it he's making sure that the whole sport is clean yeah and nobody knows better than him because he cheated for years yes and they and they hate it they hate it because you'll see a lot of people like oh man this dude was a cheater this dude was this this dude was that and then you know you can't get nothing past him well he was a cheater but you know just because a guy was a cheater. Look, first of all, that's the kind of guy you would want being involved in cheating and catching cheating. But he's trying to clean up the whole sport.

Yeah. Like, it's not like he like, all right, well, you know, I'm sponsoring you. You represent my brand. He's trying to clean up the whole sport. So, you know, he's like, why isn't it like more transparency? Yeah. Where is the transparency? Like, why isn't it like more transparency? Yeah. Where's the transparency?

Like, where's this? Where's that? Why can't the world know what's going on, you know, with the test that's going on? Yeah. The public should know, you know, if these fighters is clean or not. Right. Because every month there's fighters coming up positive for steroids or banned substance. Well, look at the Anthony Joshua, Dillian White fight.

It's canceled two weeks out. Huge heavyweight fight, and Dillian White pops. Yeah, and that's not the first time. No, he's popped before, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it's sad for Anthony Joshua to go through those things that I'm training for this fighter, and then he popped out, boom, I'm hit with it. Got to prepare for somebody else.

And them the worst ones when they come at the last minute and they ready. Because some people just train just waiting for that call. You never know. Also, him fighting Helanus after Deontay starched him. That's like because everyone's going to compare you, rather, because Deontay hits so hard, it doesn't even make sense. He hits so different than everybody else. Definitely. It doesn't make sense, man.

The Helanus fight, he was like moving back, and he went like that. Blah! And that dude just shut off. He blessed with dynamite in that right hand. Like nobody before. Nobody. Like nobody. Like nobody.

In the history of the heavyweight division, we have some giant punchers. Ernie Shavers, George Foreman, Mike Tyson. But I put Deontay at the top of the heap. Right. Hey, I don't know. I don't know, man, because those guys, you know what I mean? They was tough as snails back in the days. But I think Deontay Wilder, man, he hit you a couple of times with that right hand.

Yeah. If you ain't Tyson Fury, you going to sleep. Right. He's the only dude. He's the only dude. The first fight was bananas. Yes. When he catches him with that right hand and the left hook as he's going down,

then Deontay goes like this. And he thought it was over. And this motherfucker rises like the Undertaker. Yes. Just got to, I was like, there is no way. There's no way. And then he starts outboxing him. Like, how?

He beat him last, I mean, I thought he came back and won the rest of the round i think he did and then he took that strategy into the second fight he realized that deontay does not fight as well when you're going after him and so then he just dominates the second fight and dominates the third but in the third when he he got rocked once so hard you could watch the ripple the shock wave go down his body, and it was jiggling his fat, jiggling his back fat from the shot. It was just boom! I don't think there's another person in the heavyweight division that would have ate that shot like Tyson did.

I think I told everybody, both fighters won that fight, the first fight. both fighters won that fight, the first fight. I said because Tyson Fury, I don't know if he made the count, but any other fighter, you get dropped like that, they was going to call it off. Right. Because dude literally, boom, looked up, and it was just like any other fighter, they would have counted out.

And I feel like Tyson Fury won on points. Yeah. He was winning the fight fight he got up still winning second fight tyson fury hands down but the third fight deontay wilder could have made it a better interesting fight but he got tired he was working real well but he got tired but you know uh tyson fury smart he started putting that weight on him started laying on him you know i mean so no he's incredible that's the experience you know i mean so he's incredible yeah and he's such a character too such a fun dude yeah he's funny he's so funny he got so mad at me because i said john jones would fuck him up. In the octagon, yeah. Yeah, I said it in a fight, in a fight fight. It's like no man would beat me.

Lock me in a room with any man and I'm coming out alive. No, Jon, Jon, he's a dangerous dude, man. Y'all better leave him alone. Leave him alone. Yeah. Well, listen, I believe firmly that if Tyson Fury learned wrestling and learned Muay Thai when he was younger, just like Jon did, he would be a world champion. Yeah, but he ain't beating John.

He's not beating John now. No, no, no, no, no. No one's beating John. Even if he was to train when he was little, he's still not beating John. He'd have to be a great wrestler, too. The thing about John is he can do everything. Everything. He can do everything.

And he's the most, he has the highest octagon iq he's the best at like implementing his strategy and utilizing his reach and just figuring out how to get a hold of you he's the best he's gonna find a way to win yeah that's my guy he's amazing he's amazing but like when it comes to heavyweight boxers t Tyson Fury is one of my all-time greats. I have two favorite all-time fighters. Mike Tyson in his prime, which was just like a cultural phenomenon. When you would watch Mike Tyson fights back in the day, they were executions. You were just paying, and you were hoping it lasted a little. Because you're paying for the pay-per-view.

I hope he doesn't knock this guy out in 10 seconds. So you wanted to see something. And it was literally like two rounds one round it was amazing people forget like when you see him in his prime when he was bobbing and weaving and so I was talking to the guys last night at the comedy club and I was talking about the Marvis Frazier fight and that to me is the most terrifying version of Mike Tyson because Marvis Frazier really didn't have a chance. His father was propping him up. His father wanted him to fight Tyson because, you know, Joe Frazier would have wanted to fight Tyson when he was in his prime.

He's like, I'm going to get my son out there and do it. And Tyson just came out guns blazing. This was Tyson before he won the title. 24 wins, zero losses, 22 knockouts, and a heavyweight like nobody had ever seen before moved like a lightweight the way he was bobbing and weaving and coming in close he was so fast yeah but his punches were just ridiculous angles and accuracy i fucking love this fight yeah nobody nobody was like especially in the heavyweight division. No, it was a totally different thing.

This is it. You see him set up the uppercut. He pawed, pawed, pawed with that jab, and boom. It was incredible. In his prime, I feel like I would have loved to see him against any of the greats, any of the greats. Joe Lewis, Muhammad Ali, any of the greats, I would have loved to have seen Tyson in his prime against those guys. Yeah, if they could take a punch, then it would be interesting.

The punches come so fast. The thing about Tyson, too, is the speed. Yeah, that's what I said. They could take a punch. The speed was insane. Because he could hit. Tyson got hit a lot. Yeah.

It's just that he's willing to take a hit to get his powerful hit off. Well, he also had that neck that started at the top of his ears. His neck started up here, man. It was a crazy neck, man. He could take a punch better than anybody. Better than anybody. So what you think – let me ask you a question. Okay.

So what you think about the about the business uh side of mma and in boxing in what way and like you know the way of the fighters getting you know not getting what they deserve in mma and boxing well you know it's tricky right like this whole thing with you and spence like trying to negotiate a proper contract. You know, there's a lot of vultures. There's a lot of weasels. The one good thing about the UFC is that there's one organization that controls it.

The one bad thing about the UFC is that there's one organization that controls it. So you got good and bad. So, like, if I was a manager of a fighter, I would want fighters like like your career where you're tested and you're you're facing ever increasing challenges but it's calculated it's calculated and you you get lessons from each fight and then you build up to a point where you're ready to challenge for a title like Jon Jones fought for the title when he was 22

I mean it was a last-minute fight Rashad Evans got hurt and Jon Jones went in to fight Shogun Jon was just so fucking talented so above everybody else that he dominated that fight and walked away the world champion destroyed Shogun he opened up the fight with a flying knee 22 years old first title fight opens up with a flying knee 22 years old first title fight opens up with a flying knee who the fuck does that nobody does everybody would be nervous everybody but john's just so loose and creative in there but in mma a lot of times fighters get fights they're really not ready for right and they have i'm not talking about that aspect of

i'm talking about the that aspect of i'm talking about the business side of it well the business side it speaks to that as well because for a fighter to get to a point where they're undefeated and they have a big name then they start getting the big money and then they're the headline of the card and you know i think there's a lot of there's a lot of good that. There's a lot of good in preparing a fighter properly. Like you see a lot of fighters when they fight for a title, they might have like 16-1, 16-0. Like people like undefeated records.

It's very rare that a UFC fighter gets all the way to a title fight without some losses. Definitely. And I think that also speaks to the style differences, the wrestling, the kickbox, all the different things that you might face inside the octagon and having to prepare for that. That's one thing I like about MMA. You know, those guys, they still great fighters. They still get praise, you know, even though they probably got five losses. Yes. You know, one loss don't define how great they is you know um compared to boxing right you know uh look how the media and how people is bashing errol spence like he's not

great crazy you know i mean just because he lost to a all-time great fighter and myself you know uh that's all the fighters that i didn't fault you know once i fight them and you know i dismantle them they say oh well those guys are weak those guys not great fighters though those guys is tomato cans they washed up they bombs i'm like dang how can you disrespect this man and he didn't work his ass off to get to the level that he is undefeated even even be able to challenge me yeah you know i mean can i just be that good why why they got to be bums why they got to be tomato cans isn't that there's a lot of noise though there's a lot of people that their opinions are stupid yeah there's a lot of people their opinions suck but if you watch if you if you if you looked at my whole career

that's what was always said terrence crawford i haven't fought anybody terrence crawford you know uh only fought uh washed fighters terrence crawford this terrence crawford that but now after dispense they have to shut the fuck up that's what i said but don't listen to those people like listen to andre ward no they motivate to Andre Ward. No, they motivate me. You know what I'm saying? Oh, they do. They motivate me. Okay.

You're like David Goggins. Yeah, I want to see it. I want to hear it. I want to see it because, you know, that lights that fuel. And then I just grit my teeth and be like, er. Well, one of the most crazy stories about your career is your mom. Yeah. It's about how your mom just never gave you any praise. Yeah. Just like, nope, one of the most crazy stories about your career is your mom. It's about how your mom just never gave you any praise. It's like, nope, not good enough. She was tough. She was, she was

tough. You know what I mean? I love my mom to death. That's my, that's my heart. It's my girl, you know what I mean? But that was just her way of pushing me to be great. You know what I mean? And, um, she just knew that her son was was was so competitive she was just like all right let me see how competitive you is let me come here little kid you she would pay people to try to beat you up yeah no well we have gloves we have gloves and you know because i come from a uh my family was all into boxing my dad's side of the family My dad's side of the family, my mom's side of the family, so she was always tough. So she'll get the little kids in the neighborhood,

$5 if they can win. We'll be in the front yard, and, you know, I beat them all up. I beat them all up. I'd be like, now what? You give me the money. It's amazing how it works. I mean, it's not something, like, I think a psychologist would recommend for raising a child. Right.

But sometimes they're wrong. Yeah. And it depends on the person whether they can rise to that challenge. And obviously it made you great. Yeah, I think that's why I said, you know, I love to hear the doubters, the naysayers, because I think it's something in me from my past trauma with my mom. You know, me trying to trying to prove her wrong, you know, me fighting for her, you know, approval. So, you know, it goes back to when I was a kid, when, you know, she would say, oh, man, you ain't going to win it.

And I'd go out there and win. And I'd come back with the belt. And she'd take pictures with the belt. Look what my son got. Look what my son did. You know what I mean? But then, you know, when it's just me and her, you still ain't shit. You ain't going to win the next one.

You know what I mean? So I'd laugh and stuff like that. That's amazing. Yeah. So it was just, you know, my mom knew what she was doing for me at a young age. She was instilling, you know, mentally toughness because, you know, through anything that's going on in my life, I'm always focused. No matter what it is, it can be a loud room full of full of people it can be 50 people in a room and I could be fighting the next day and the average person be like man what is you

doing dude you got a big fight tomorrow like you need to be focusing you need to be resting you they need to be out the room you know I'll be sitting there I'll be like I'm good I'm not doing nothing. They just sitting here talking. What's wrong with that? Because I'm so locked in because once I'm focused on something, that's not going to distract me. And I think that comes from my upbringing as well.

Have you ever worked with a sports psychologist or anything? Nah. Nothing. But I used to have to see counselors and stuff like that when I was little. If you get in trouble? Huh? If you get in trouble. No, I used to get in trouble.

I used to have an anger problem. I used to be mad at the world. And I always tell people, I don't know why I was so mad. But then as I got older, I realized that, you know, my dad was gone. And I wanted my dad to be there. Yeah. And, like, my mom, like, everything, you know, I do wrong, I was getting whooping for. So it was like, that's all I know.

You say something I don't like, I'm whooping your ass. You do something I don't like, I'm whooping your ass. I got to whoop your ass. So it was just like everything that I was getting at home for getting in trouble, when I go out into the real world, I was, you know, doing the same thing that my mom was doing to me. When I get in trouble or say something or do something that she don't like, I was getting whooping for it. You know, you're not listening. So I'd be like, dude, shut up talking to me. And you still talking to me. You're not listening so if i'd be like dude shut up talking to me and you still

talking to me you're not listening now we gotta fight i gotta beat your ass because now now you're not listening now you can piss me off so you know i used to i used to get in trouble a lot i used to get in trouble a lot well it seems like with all great fighters they've overcome some serious problems when they're young yeah like every great fighter it's it's very rare that you have a great fighter that had that this like perfect upbringing where nothing never went wrong everything was fine got everything they wanted anything they needed you know it seems like every fighter has to come they have to overcome people downing them people dismissing them they have to overcome that oh definitely, from school to everywhere, you know.

Yeah. A lot of people, I don't think nobody but my family members thought that I was going to turn out to be the guy that I am today. Like when I see people that knew me when I was little, they just, you know, like they just want to cry. They just like, but i just can't believe how how of a man you grown into i would have never believed this would be you like you talk so well you ain't in trouble you you you doing things for the community i'm just i'm just

in disbelief like i'm just so proud of you and i just be like thank you because nobody thought that i would turn out to be who i am today you know uh and it just goes to the show that it don't matter how you start it always matter how you finish well it's also your composure you know you have this ability like you can talk shit in the middle of a fight to someone who's sitting ringside. Yeah. Like, it's kind of amazing. You're just always composed. Definitely. You know? I think it's because you've overcome all that shit.

But because your mind is centered. You know, it's even when we were talking about cars earlier when I was showing you the Barracuda. You're like, I don't drive any of my cars. I drive my truck. Yeah. Listen, all these cool cars you have, you just stay low key. Yeah. Stay low key and keep it together.

Yeah. Stay composed. I got to that's just me you know yeah i never i never want to be nothing other than myself like i remember my family members you know a couple of my friends they're like man you need to talk more shit you need to be like mayweather you need to do this you need to do that I'm like no I don't I said that's him that's that's not me right I mean you see Tank now you see all these fighters you know Broner them you see that's how you get the money that's how you get the money you gotta you gotta entertain you gotta show the money you gotta do this I'm gonna be myself and that's I thrived on that you know because when it's all said and done when when all the

money gone when all the fans done chatting your name now who you really is right now you got a search and find the real you but if the real you been there all along you're going to be happy. You ain't going to have to, you know, go through therapy. You ain't going to have to be buying friends. You ain't going to be having to stay in the sport to hear that chant again. So when you walk away from the sport, you're going to walk away from the sport as a man with your head high, and you're just going to wave. Yeah, that's beautiful. Yeah, definitely. Well, you have a rock-solid philosophy. I love that. a man with your hair high and you just gonna wave yeah that's beautiful yeah definitely well you

have a rock-solid philosophy i love that that's it's one of the things i really admire about andre ward andre ward olympic gold medalist two division world champion retires undefeated he's like i'm gone that's good all my faculty is completely intact and they even offered him a big money fight against canelo after he beat Kovalev. After he knocked out Kovalev, they offered money to Andre, a lot of money. And he's like, I think I better serve boxing as a commentator, which is amazing for a guy who's still in his physical prime. I mean, there's video footage of him working out, still in tip-top condition.

Looks fantastic. Yeah, he had a lot of injuries, though. Yeah, the shoulder. And the knee. The knee was big, but the shoulder means a one-armed fighter for most of his career, which is so incredible. He beat everybody with a left hand. Everybody.

Went through the whole Super 6 tournament. Great. Beat everybody with a left hand. Great. Yeah. And then finally got it fixed, and fuck Kovalev up in the rematch with a right hand. Right.

It's crazy. I always said I wanted to retire from boxing. I never wanted boxing to retire me. My goal was always to retire at 33. 33? 33. Is it because the fights didn't come? No, I just...

Like the Bill Spence fight? Even before that. But why did you decide to keep going? I don't know. It's just like my body was just like, man, you ain't done. You know what I mean? Even though, you know, I wanted to retire, it was just like, you're not done. Like, you got a lot to prove.

You got a lot to accomplish. You still in your prime. So it was like, all right, keep going because I wanted that mega fight. It's like, all right, keep going because I wanted that mega fight. I wanted that big fight to where it's like no denying who Terrence Crawford is, you know, or what he stood for or, you know, the family man he was. I wanted the people still to know who Terrence Crawford was. And I felt like there was people that knew who I was and that followed me, but it wasn't solidified worldwide yet.

But look, now even that it is, you still want the next challenge. Nah, I really don't have nothing to prove. I can walk away right now, and I constantly played it on that. You know, I do that every day. I wake up. Do I still want a box? Do I still want a box? Because I don't need a box because I've done great with my money.

I invested great with my money. I got a lot of great businesses. I got a lot of great things that I'm doing that generate money. So I don't need boxing. I'm doing this for legacy. So if it's not, that's why I said, if Charlo move up in weight and they strip him for his belt, there's no need for me and Charlo to fight because he's not undisputed.

You yelled at him from the ring. Of course. You're next. Of course. I've been saying that for years. I said, I'm going to whoop Spence, then I'm going to whoop you. And I meant it. But, yeah, if he's not undisputed, then, you know, that fight don't, you know, I don't know.

It's not interesting to me no more because I'm trying to make all time history. Right. You know, if the Canelo fight come to fruition, then that's a fight that I'd be willing to take just off the wrist. You know, to be one of the all-time greats that, you know, that's a fight. That's the one that gets you going. I can see it in your eyes. Yeah. Yeah.

That's a fight because it's a challenge. I love the challenges. And I love the people that I hear them now. You're too little. You know, Canelo going to break you. He's going to stop you. You come from 147, that weight too big, this and that. I can hear it now, and that just excites me to go in there

and just be like, okay, let me prove him wrong once again. That fight would be gigantic if Canelo gets through Jermell and then you guys fight that fight would be gigantic and it's crazy because like in the past interviews I was like man Canelo too big man it's weight classes for a reason I was like nah but in my mind my heart I don't think nobody too big. You know, especially in a fight. I'm a fighter. But like, I was thinking like, man,

it could happen. So you start really sitting down like, man, that fight maybe can happen. Okay, so now you start sizing them up. You be like, alright. He 5'8", I'm 5'8". My arm's longer than his.

He bigger than me, but I'm faster. So then you start doing the advantages. You know what I mean? Like, man, we right there. We right there, you know what I mean? So I was like, man. And it's not like he didn't go up and win as well. Yeah, yeah.

So that's why I was like, man, that's a fight. And it's the same kind of fighter, too, because that's why he went up and fought B-Vol. That's why he fought Kovalev. He won that challenge. For him to go up from junior middleweight all the way up to light heavyweight and win the title. Definitely.

But going up and becoming an undisputed against Canelo, whoo! Whoo! Come on, man. I'm flying in the sunset, man. Thank you, boxing gods. That would be it? That would be it. Yeah.

That's the only thing yet for me. I didn't accomplish everything there is to accomplish in the sport of boxing. You know, there's really nothing for me to accomplish in the sport of boxing. There's really nothing for me to accomplish right now. It's about the money now. It's about the money. I'm not going to sit here and say it's not, but the money and to beat Canelo, if that fight was ever to happen, come on, man.

Y'all better leave me alone. Y'all better leave me alone, man. Call me, you know what I mean, TBC, man. Yeah. Yeah, man, that's what I've been thinking about. I don't know why. You know, I was just like, man, the last few days, I was like, man, I don't know if it's God talking to me or what, but that's a fight that if he win, if Canelo win,

then, yeah, I'm going to try to pursue that. I love that. I love that mentality. I do. I love it. I love it because that's where it's at. That's what makes all-time greats. Yeah.

It's like you have to have that mountain to climb. But nobody went up. I don't think nobody went up three-way classes. Well, didn't Roy? Roy started 160. No, I'm saying at once. Right. You know what I mean?

From 147 to 168. No. The closest is that is when Canelo went up 68 to 75, starting at 54. No, not starting. I'm saying I started at 135. Right. That's true.

That's true. You know what I mean? I'm just saying, like, say if Canelo was the champion at 147 to go up 168. Right, right, right. Right in one jump. Yeah, in one jump. It's a big jump, too.

21 pounds. It's a lot of weight. It's a lot of weight. Yeah, that's exciting. I spar big guys, though. Do you? Yeah, I spar big guys. That's why I'm like, I'm starting thinking like, man,

I probably can be great. I probably can be great, you know what I mean? But, you know, it's different in the fight, but I believe in my skills and my ability, and I believe in my team. I believe we'll come up with something that, you know, will be suitable for me to be successful in that fight. That would probably be the biggest fight in boxing.

Definitely. That fight would be gigantic. It would. That would be a big one. I have to go to that one. That one happens. I got to go there live. You were supposed to go to this last one.

I couldn't. That was at the UFC. I wanted to go. It's crazy how they had it on the same day. Yeah, it sucked. But it was good because my fight was early. Then y'all fight was later on that night. I didn't.

Unfortunately, somebody spoiled it for me. Oh, they did? Yeah, they spoiled it for me. Oh, they did? Yeah, they spoiled it for me. Then I said, all right, let me watch the highlights. I just watched the highlights on my phone. I was like, oh, shit. Then I got home and watched the whole fight on the big screen. That's what's up.

I actually got Paramount Plus just for you. Yeah. So I could watch it. You couldn't watch it anywhere else after it was already aired. I appreciate it. It was magnificent, man. I love excellence. I love when someone just rises to the top of a shark-infested pool

because that's what boxing is. When you're at your level and when you can perform that way against a guy like Errol Spence, against a guy who's an undefeated elite champion, and for you to perform that way against a guy like Errol Spence, against a guy who's an undefeated, you know, elite champion, and for you to perform that way. This is what, to me, this is what boxing is all about. When one person shows that there are levels upon levels upon levels upon levels, you know, and then it puts you in this category where people go, okay, well, what other champions

can move around in weight classes or go up or come down like you know there's i know there's been a lot of discussion about different people from different weight classes coming up to you is there anything else that's interesting to you other than canelo or jamelle nah nothing no you just need like dragons to slay you know what i mean like at this point in your life you can't even fight a regular fighter yeah like i don't know like i get excited i don't know why i get excited when i talk about canelo like i used used to get excited about pacquiao really you know i used to get so excited like man i'm gonna be able to fight Pacquiao you know because that the one you think got away yeah it definitely did it definitely did I try I try my

eyes off what stopped that fight from they didn't want to fight it's too dangerous they didn't want to fight Freddie Roach said he didn't want to fight they hit Pacquiao handlers didn't want to fight. They, Pacquiao handlers didn't want to fight. You know, I believe Pacquiao, as a fighter, he wanted to fight, but they didn't want to fight for him. So, you know, it just got away. Looking back at, like, Floyd's career, like, him coming up in the era that he came up in, he had all them champions that he was able to fight. And that's what led him to be so great, you know,

because he fought the most champions, beat the most champions, you know, got the most money for beating the most champions. So it was just like, man, he had this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, back to back to guy, this guy, this guy. Back to back, the fight, one after one. You know, and when I was coming at the peak of my career, they all retired. You know what I mean? So it's like I can't get these guys' name on my resume. You know what I mean so it's just like you know now I'm the old

guy in the in the era you know that the young guys want to try to get a piece of to build a legacy and put names on a resume and it's just gonna keep history gonna keep repeating itself yeah there's always gonna be a new guy coming up and there's like right now you got boot tennis in your weight class definitely what do you think about him oh he's very very talented he's unproven but he's very talented yeah you know um the eye test tells it all you know know, he's got the it, you know, but we haven't seen him against any elite fighter. We've never seen him tested. So until then, you know, we're just going to keep saying, oh, boots, boots, boots,

until we meet that fighter that's going to test him. Is he the mandatory? Yeah, I probably got like three mandatories. Really? Oh, right. Four weight classes, four mandatory? Yeah. I probably got, like, three mandatories. Really? Oh, right. Four weight classes, four belts. Yeah. Is that a fight that you would be interested in?

Nah. It just don't make sense right now in my career, like I said. Especially money-wise. Don't know about you really, no boots, but us. Right. You know, I'm looking for bigger and better challenges like canelo you're looking for the big ones yeah the big fish yeah fish fry that definitely definitely them the them the guys i'm looking for you know why do you say fish fry because he called himself the big fish

oh you know arrow arrow said he was the big fish, and I said we was going to fry him. We was going to reel him in. We was going to put him on the bank. We was going to gut him. We was going to fillet him. Then we was going to fry him. And that's what happened. Yeah, and you did it.

Boxing is, this is a great time for boxing. There's so many stars coming up right now. And everybody fighting each other. Yeah. What did you think of the Lomachenko-Devin Haney fight? That was a great fight. I was actually ringside. You know, Devin showed a lot of heart, grit.

Canelo showed a lot of heart and grit. Lomachenko. I mean, yeah. I said Canelo. See, my mind. He's like, you're locked in. Yes. Lomachenko, he showed a lot of heart and grit. Lomachenko. I mean, yeah. I said Canelo. See, my mind. He's in your mind. You're locked in. Yes.

Lomachenko, he showed a lot of heart and grit. And, you know, they fought their ass off. You know, they fought their ass off. And the better man won that day. Did you think that the decision made sense? Man, listen, I'm not no judge. I tell people I'm not no judge. I tell people I'm not a judge. I can't, you know, tell a person that's been judging probably longer than I've been boxing, you know,

what he's basing his rounds on or why he give what round to who. We can argue all day, but that ain't going to change the results. Right. So I just don't get into it. I just hope that I never be on the end of that stick. Right. Yeah, that's what's unfortunate is that it was such a great fight, but so many people thought the decision wasn't right

that it sort of diminished the accomplishments of both fighters because Devin Haney fought a brilliant fight and so did Lomachenko I mean Lomachenko turned the clock back he looked incredible yeah both of them both of them put on a show you know um I was I was rooting for Devin the whole time you know um but both of them put a put a hell of a show on and you know uh gotta, I got to tip my hats off to them because, you know, they put it all on the line. Yeah, and, you know, that weight class is a fucking stacked weight class too. When Devin Haney beat Kambosis and beat him twice and just the way he did it, like the way he looked. Oh, I already knew that. You already knew that?

Definitely. Not taking nothing away from Kambosis. It's just levels. It's levels. Levels. It's the reason why people was avoiding Devin and Shakur. Right. Because those two boxing phenoms, if you're not on that level mentally,

you're not even going to compete with those two dudes. Right. It's such an interesting thing because a lot of people don't know. You know, the general public, when someone gets to like an elite level, they need some high-profile fight in order for people to realize. Because all the boxing fans realize. shakur is a great example it's not really a household name but he should be i mean he's a elite fighter he's so fucking good but he needs like a big high profile fight like gervonta did you know right nobody want to fight him yeah and i and i to fight him. Yeah. And I see why.

You know, I get it. But at the same time, you know, they going to have to see him sooner or later. No matter what, no matter how far they go, they going to have to see him sooner or later. So, you know, all these fighters, you know, he's calling out everybody. He's calling out the Pitbull. He's calling out Lomachenko. Yeah. He's calling out Devin. He's calling out, you know he's calling out everybody he's calling out the pit bull he's calling out loma chinko yeah he's calling out devin he's calling out you know tank he's calling out everybody yeah he want to fight everybody right now right you know and uh that's a dangerous man when you know how talented he is and he's motivated he's focused he. He's stay in the gym. He's a gym rat. He loves boxing to the core.

Like, yeah, that's a dangerous man right now because he got something on his mind that, you know, he want to accomplish. And he's still very young. Yeah. Very young and still getting better with every fight. Him versus Tank would be insane. Yeah. Tank is one of the most interesting fighters to watch because he's so different. His style is so different.

You know, he's so economical. Like, he puts pressure on guys without throwing too many punches and then starts to figure holes out. And the way he can explode and move in with one shot, my God. Yeah, he's very explosive. He's very explosive and you know man he'd be cracking them dudes he be put him to sleep just cracking people and he has so much confidence in his power so much confidence in his power that he doesn't give a fuck if he's giving away yeah he definitely be giving

away rounds but you know he just in his if he's giving away a couple rounds. Yeah, he'd definitely be giving away rounds, but, you know, he just, in his mind, he know it's a matter of time before I catch him. And that's the thing with Tank, you know, these fighters. You know, you got to be aware 15 rounds. I know you're going 12, but you got to think you're going three more because the slightest slip, and we've seen it time and time again. One slip, one mistake, and it's over. Yeah.

So hats off to Tank. He's a great, talented fighter. But again, he hasn't faced the top elite fighters in his division. So we want to see Tank against somebody his size

at the elite level. And I believe he'll do good because he's got the skills, the power, he's got that ring IQ to do good. but we haven't seen that yet yeah he's in he's also wild he's a wild fella so he's fun to watch you know he's just a crazy dude you know yeah coming from baltimore man i think that's just his upbringing as well you know product of his own environment yes yes sure. He's just so unique in his approach.

Like, you know, he doesn't fight like anybody else. Yeah. It's all right. I just get very frustrated when there's amazing fights that are on the table that don't get made. You know, like Usyk and Tyson Fury. I was like, I want to see. I know Usyk is small, right?

I know he's small for the weight class, but God damn, that dude's good. God damn, he's good. And the pace that he fights at for a heavyweight is insane. Definitely. I think that goes back to, you know, the business. You know, the business side, you know, Usyk is, you know, a great fighter and has accomplished great things in the sport of boxing and for him to get disrespected you know in the negotiations

because i'm pretty sure that's probably what it came down to uh is is it's not right well he was willing to accept 70-30, which is crazy. But he's like, I want this fight. This is a big fight. And he must realize also that 30% of a Tyson Fury fight is probably bigger than anything he's ever had before in his life. But I still honestly think he deserved more than that. I think so too. But I love the fact that he said yes, and then it still didn't happen. Right.

So, you know, who was behind the reason why it didn't happen? Yeah, I don't know. That's when you start asking those type of questions. Who do you think was behind it? I don't know. I can't say. I wasn't, you know, in the negotiations. But, you know, it should be some type of forum where you know these

fights should be mandatory to happen so you can clean up the sport of boxing it can only be one champion in one division like the UFC right you know I think we got too many titles I think we got too many sanctioned bodies I think you know we need to clean up the sport as a whole. I think the fights need, I mean, the fighters need, you know, pensions. We need 401Ks. We need a union. We need health insurance.

I think we need all that. You know, we put our life on the line to go out here and entertain, you know, the people. And once we're done entertaining, we leave home, you know, and we come home not the same fighter that we once was when we left, you know. And it's heartbreaking to see a lot of these old-time fighters, you know, that speaking impaired and, you know, can't enjoy the fruit of their labor or just flat-out broke. And they gave their life to the sport and doesn't have anything to show for it.

And I think that's wrong. I think, you know, we need to create something to where at least the fighters can live comfortable after the sport of boxing, given if something dramatic was to happen or you didn't put in a certain amount of years in a sport that you can pay in on your own to have you a 401K. So when you retire, you got some type of income coming in because when you're getting that much money so fast and so frequently, you're just spending. You're just spending because in your mind, I'm going to fight again and I'm going to get it again.

I'm going to fight again, then I'm going to get it again. But then you start living off of that, and then once you get to the end, until the end of your career, you're like, damn, I didn't spend millions and millions, and I got a couple of more fights. Now you're struggling, you know, because you got to pay taxes. If not, they come to take everything you got. And then, you know, you pay taxes, now you got not even half of that.

And now you're looking like, damn gotta make this stretch and then you ain't got no work ethic skills because you've been boxing your whole life you didn't go to college to get no uh curricular skills and other lanes so uh yeah i think we we need to create something to clean up the sport of boxing do you think it's possible to eliminate the sanctioning bodies i mean the only person that So, yeah, I think we need to create something to clean up the sport of boxing. Do you think it's possible to eliminate the sanctioning bodies? I mean, the only person that can kind of do it is a guy like you. Because, like, if you're a world champion in four different organizations, you're undisputed. There's no one that can say they're the welterweight champion of the world except for Terrence Crawford.

If you say, all these belts are bullshit like i'm the fucking champion whether it's the ring magazine belt or whatever you you sanction whatever you sanction do you think it's possible to do something like that i think it is i think i think anything is possible you know i think you know floyd i think canelo they showed us time and time again that it's not about the belts. When you get to a certain point in your career, you're bigger than the belts. Right. Coming up, everybody want to be a champion. But once you get your name out there and you become a megastar or star, the belts don't mean nothing. We paying for the belts.

How much do you have to pay? We got to pay like, what, 3%? 3%? 2%? 3%? That's crazy. Definitely. That's so crazy.

It's like I'm paying you to make me a belt. And do you have to pay 3% to each individual section? Wow. Some of them is different. Some of them is three. Some of them two. You know, so it's like i'm paying for you to come out here and watch me fight to to give me a belt that you know i mean i'm already paying for

like come on now i'm paying you you're not paying me i'm paying you so right the only one that really matters the ring belt because it's free. It's free. Why do I got to pay to be champion? Once you start thinking about that, like, dang, I'm paying all this money. And the ring magazine belt is as respected as any of them. Yeah. That's the number one guy in the division.

Yeah. That's how it should be. I don't think, you know, a champion should have to pay to be champion. No. And where is all the have to pay to be champion. No. And where is all the other money going to? Yeah. You know, especially when you get to these high-priced fights, you know, that 2% and 3% is turning into a lot of money. Yes.

So you're like, okay, so what are you doing with the money? Right. Where is the money going to? Where's the value? Yeah. Yeah. So the value is entirely in you definitely in you and your name that's people don't give a fuck about those three

letters at all at all they just know terrence crawford's the best and who he's fighting who cares like whatever it is that's the big fight it doesn't wboBO, WBC, IBF. Nobody gives a fuck. They don't. Nobody gives a fuck. They care about who you beat. Oh, you just beat the – nobody, you know what I mean, care about the belts. You know, yeah, it's cool to say, you know what I mean, he's an undisputed champion of the world, you know what I mean,

or he's a champion of the world. That's beautiful. You know what I mean? That's history. That's beautiful. You know what I mean? That's history. That's legacy. But at the end of the day, you know, it's all about the man's future. Yeah. You know, that money that we spending on them belts

and with them sanctioned bodies can go to our kids and our family. Yes. You know, so it's a lot of money that a lot of money that a lot of leeches yeah yeah um what do you think about like what's Floyd's doing what Floyd's doing is kind of crazy I love it it's amazing he's making more money than most boxers just fighting people have zero chance I love it I love it because it's entertainment yes you know um Ali did it Tyson did it. Like, why can't Floyd do it?

A lot of people. Well, Floyd's doing it better than anybody. Yeah, that's what I was about to say. A lot of people are getting mad because how well he's doing it. Yeah. But if I was in Floyd's position and I got the opportunity to do what Floyd is doing right now, travel the world, sparring. Yeah.

You know, I would do it. We spar for free. Right. You know, why not spar for some millions of dollars? It's not going on my record. I'm entertaining. I'm, you know, I'm getting a workout at the same time. Why not?

Right. No, I agree. I think it's amazing. I just love the fact that he's gamed the system yeah you know because of the system is you get to a certain point in time you're a champion make as much money as you possibly can you retire and then there's no more money and Floyd's like let me just box some people that have zero chance yeah and then now with what's going on like Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates like you can get paid insane amounts of money.

If you're Floyd, people just want to see you perform. Definitely. Not just if you're Floyd. You see Tyson Fury now went over there and got that back. Well, he's got to fight in Ghana. Yeah. That's happening in October. That is an interesting thing.

That's an interesting thing because you've got a guy in Francis Ngannou who was the heavyweight champ retired from the ufc left the ufc as the champ but has zero professional boxing fights he has no chance when i was at when i was doing a interview at the ufc gym they asked me about the fight i said you have no chance. Tyson Fury all day. You talking about one of the best heavyweights. Ever.

Ever. You know what I mean? And you think this guy with no boxing experience is going to come in there and just beat him? He don't hit harder than Deontay Wilder. No, nobody hits harder than Deontay. So what you think this guy going to do with them 10-ounce gloves on? Now with four ounces, six ounces, what he wear, he probably strong.

But add some more ounces on, you know, it's a different game. He's going to get tired. You know, it's going to be a different game. Yeah, he doesn't have the experience. And to go from – listen, I think that he could have a yeah he's he doesn't have the experience and to go from listen i think that he could have a he's also 36 you know he could have a career as a heavyweight boxer because he hit so fucking hard if they built him up and he starts fighting guys and you know different styles and and gets to the point where he's really got experience a few years down the line, he could fight world-class fighters.

I think he could fight good boxers if he learns those lessons. I don't know. But to do it at 36, that's what I'm saying. That's a little up there, you know. That's up there. It's going to take some years to develop him. A long time. To take him through them steps and get tested.

Yeah. You know, he walking right into the championship with nothing. That's kind of crazy. I commend him, though. Oh, well, he wants the bag. He's going to get a big one. I don't know what he's going to get paid, but it's going to be more money than he's ever made before.

Right. I believe him. Yeah. That's why all those MMA guys coming over to boxing. Trying to, you know, they see Conor McGregor. They're like, oh. Yeah. Made all that money?

Yeah. Let me oh. Yeah. Made all that money? Yeah. Let me try. Yeah. That was a fascinating fight, Conor versus Floyd. It was fascinating. Because Conor's a talented fighter, but to just jump right in against the best ever, like, it's just. Hey, he did what he had to do.

Yeah. Got that back. That's all it comes had to do. Yeah. Got that back. That's all it comes down to, you know, solidifying yourself and taking care of your family. Yeah. You know, that's why I say a lot of people, they look at a lot of these boxers that have a loss and then they just think they're not good or, you know, great. Man, them guys train their ass off. You know what these fighters go through in the MMA and boxing?

Man, fighters go through the most to just entertain and put food on the tables for their family and their children, take care of them, and they don't get the recognition and respect that they deserve. No. You know, you see all these other sports, they get praised. of them and they they don't get the recognition and respect that they deserve no you know you see all these uh other sports they get praised but boxing and mma is man that shit is hard it's like you versus one man like brutally like trying to kill each other you know for for some

money you know for people to be cheering And it's like you don't know. The fight is the easy part. You don't see the injuries I had to overcome in training camp. You don't see all the mornings I had to get up when I was tired. You don't see all the, you know, the hard other training that I had to do to get to right now. They see things right now. They don't see the years that I had to do just to get to this point.

You know, they don't see all the sacrifices I had to make to get to this point. They just see you right now. Right. You know, they could have been a fan of you from your last fight, but what about you before that last fight what about you the whole 10 plus years that you've been doing this sport as a professional what about that and it's just like man like i didn't work my ass off to get to this point right now and it's like this shit didn't come easy no like you might think it is because you just now noticing me and my career,

but this shit was hard. Like, who thinks getting punched in the face and the head, that's tough living. It's tough living, especially at a championship level. That's tough living. I think most people don't have any comprehension of the amount of sacrifice, the amount of just determination and will and discipline that you have to have. Yeah. It's hard, man. My kids, no.

No. No football, no boxing. Good for you. They hate it, but when you get to a point where you can make decisions on your own, I'm out of it. But I'd rather you keep wrestling, keep playing basketball. It's college tuition already

paid for, so y'all good. Think of something else. Go play soccer. Go play tennis or something. Go play baseball. Coming up in the hood, there's three things that the black community raise, basketball, football, boxers, wrestlers as well, but you can't make no money wrestling, especially UFC.

But, yeah, like, come on now. There's other sports that you can do golf they make a lot of money baseball they make a lot of money soccer they make a shit ton of money so it's like you know when they little they just be like I want to make a lot of money I want to be a basketball player well you're not going to six five you're gonna be four eleven no it's always the real real short yeah you know kids that's talking about they want to go to the to the uh nba and always always get mad when the people say you can be whatever you want to be no you can't that was a lie You cannot be whatever you want to be.

No matter what you say, how hard you train genetics is genetics. You know, football, you might be too small. Basketball, you might be too short. You can't be the president just because you want to be the president. Right. So don't tell this person you could be whatever you want to be. Then you grow up thinking, I want to be the president. Well, you can try. I'm not going to kill your dreams, but it's going to be hard for you to be the president. Yeah.

Well, at least the president doesn't rely too much on genetics. Yeah. Because we were talking about this last night that there's levels upon levels upon levels, and the truly elite have everything. They have talent. They have the mind for it. They have the genetics, and they have the training, and they have the discipline because some really talented people don't work as hard. We've all encountered that.

It's the Buster Douglas story, right? Super talented, just only really applied himself during the Tyson fight. hard definitely we've we've all encountered that's the buster douglas story right super talented just only really applied himself during the tyson fight you know in camp and look at look how he came out his mama died he was devastated heartbroken and decided he was going to win the fight for his mother trained like a demon and came out and outboxed tyson was hitting him with that jab left hook like what like who fucking expected that he looks so good he looked like an all-time great in that fight I remember watching that fight and watching the Tyson Holyfield fight and

my mom living room on the box TVs with the big backs and stuff. Yeah, man, I used to be like, man, dang, man, it was kind of sad watching Tyson lose his first fight. It was unbelievable. Even though I saw the fight after the result, I didn't see the fight when it happened. I saw it afterwards. I knew what happened, and I still couldn't believe it. I'm like, he's going to get up.

He's going to get up. He's going to win. He always wins. He's going to and I still couldn't believe it. I'm like, he's going to get up. He's going to get up. He's going to win. He always wins. He's going to win. You couldn't believe it. That's how revered Mike Tyson was. Everything was, like, silent. It's crazy.

Everybody was just like, what? And then, like, when Roy Jones Jr. got knocked out by Tarver. Yeah. Like, man, people was crying in my house. Like, we was at my coach house. People was crying. I was like, man. I was, like, heartbroken.

Like, you know, like when you go on a roller coaster, then you go down and your stomach sink in. Yeah. That's how I was like, oh, Roy. I know. Dang, man. Like, I couldn't believe it. I'm like, man.

I just knew Roy was going to win. I was like, man, he shouldn't have fought him again. I was like, he should have just took the win and didn't fight him again. Well, he had gone all the way up to heavyweight and all the way back down to light heavyweight. And I think that weight cut was brutal. But he still won, though. Yeah. He shouldn't have fought him again.

Right. I sound like a little kid. I know. Shouldn't have fought him again, man. And I'm cool as hell with Tarver, you know what I mean? Both of them. Tarver's a great fighter. You know what I mean?

But he shouldn't have fought him again. But when they were reading the instructions to him, and he said, you got any excuses tonight, i was like oh my god that was heavy yeah and he went and knocked him out it was legendary that was a rough one but for me the rougher one was glenn johnson yeah when glenn johnson knocked him out because he was stiff and that was right after the tarver knockout and he didn't look like he hit him that hard. I just think, you know, after that, Roy just couldn't take the punches no more. Right. Because it seemed like, you know, his body wasn't reacting the same way to the punches.

You know, every time he'd get hit with a clean shot, it was like rattling on him. Mm-hmm. You know, and I always tell people it's not the punch. It's your brain. You got to have that water. A lot of people be dehydrating themselves to the fact where, you know, they losing too much water in their brain. And then once they get hit, their brain is knocking against nothing.

It's your skull. hit, their brain is knocking against nothing. That's your skull. And then that snap, that's what knocks them out. Yeah, you see a lot of that in MMA. Guys cut a tremendous amount of weight in MMA.

Man, you know, I got friends that's in the MMA, and I've never seen somebody lose so much weight in one day just to make weight it's crazy it's like man I'm dudes losing like 12 pounds more I'm like how y'all losing so much weight in one day like nah y'all crazy yeah and they can't even use IVs yeah you guys can use IVs to rehydrate no when did they change that?

I ain't never knew that they changed anything. I think that was legal because you didn't know when Floyd fought Pacquiao, that was a thing, that he was using IVs or something like that. But, yeah, you can't use that stuff. Yeah, that was the way the fighters always recuperated they always took IVs and then USADA came along and apparently you can use a US you can use uh the IV to mask performance enhancing drugs that's why they outlawed it yeah I think that was the thing I think the weight cutting in MMA is they should ban it and I don't know how they could do it but y'all need more

weight classes that's the problem. Because when you're talking about lightweight, then you're going from, what is it, 155? 155 to 170. Yeah, 155 to 170. It's a giant jump. How about 185 to 205? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. 20 pounds. So it's like, man, we got to because we damn sure can't go up there.

Yeah. You're one of the only elite boxers that could wrestle yeah has anybody ever come to you and said terrence what do you think dip your toes in the mma water i don't get paid enough but if you did nope nope ain't anybody about to be kicking me. Hey, look, we can wrestle, we can fight, but them kicks? Yeah. No, I don't care what nobody. Man, them kicks is dangerous, bro. Especially them kicks in the leg. Did you see when Muhammad Ali was doing that exhibition with that kickboxer?

Minoki, yeah. Boy, tore him up. Tore Ali up, man. Yeah, now you respect that sport. I respect it. I respect it. We can fight and wrestle all day. I mean, them kicks and elbows.

Have you ever trained with any of that stuff? You ever try to train Muay Thai or? Nah. Nothing? I trained jujitsu a little bit. Oh, yeah? Yeah. But them kicks and elbows, nah, them dangerous.

Them dangerous. And they sneaky, too, because when you're not used to getting kicked, you know what I mean, you can think somebody about to punch you and they boom, boom, and you block. You don't block kicks like you block punches. Right. So you might be trying to parry something, and there you go. Ali versus Inoki.

And Inoki was lying on his back, which is even crazier, and with shoes on. Yeah, tearing Ali's legs up, man. Yeah, just kicking at his legs. It just, nobody, the way they fought was so crazy that he just dropped down to his back and was throwing kicks. No gloves. He had no gloves on, but I don't think he punched him. Look at that. For a leg lock.

Look at that. Yeah. Man, you got to be aware of everything. Very dangerous, too. Very dangerous because your legs can get torn apart your knees get ruined your toe kicking somebody your toe

your fingers your foot y'all go through a lot yeah man man y'all go through a lot in MMA dudes man

$5,000 just show up $5,000 to win $5,000 for a best in the show yeah you're like, hell no. Yeah. Well, that's the guys coming out. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I know. But I'm just saying, that's how it is in UFC, too. Yeah. They might get a little more money, but they be saying things like 20 million. I mean, not 20 million. 20,000. Yeah. 20,000, 20,000, 20,000.

So they fighting their ass off to get that bonus. Yeah, it's true. Fighting their ass off to get that bonus. I don't like the win bonus. Yeah. I do not like that at all. Why? Because, first of all, there's bad decisions.

Yeah. And when you have a bad decision and someone gets cut out. Like if a guy's making $50,000 and $50,000 and then there's a bad judgment call and you lose $50,000 because people are incompetent at their job, it happens all the time. So why don't they just change it to like boxing, like a flat purse? They should. I don't know. I'm not responsible. It's not my side of the game.

I'm just a commentator. Change it to a flat purse. 100%. Like boxers man win lose draw yeah we getting X amount that's on that contract yes that's it that's how it should be because it's not like anybody doesn't try to win yeah yeah because I think that they're gonna you know get their money either way they're gonna try to win man those be fighting ass Man, they be busted up.

All the way out here. Teeth in their mouthpiece. Them dudes like, come on. Man, you talking about gladiator warriors. That's what they is. Do you watch a lot of UFC?

Yeah. I'll be watching it. Who stands out for you? John Jones. Yeah. John Bones Jones. That's my guy. I like,

dang, man. It'd be hard to say his name. He just beat the dude that beat him. Israel. Israel. Yeah, yeah. I like Israel. Oh, he's amazing.

Israel, cool. That dude he beat, that Oh, he's amazing. Israel, cool. That dude, he beat. That beat him, and he just beat, man. That dude was a big dude, man. He's huge. Yeah. He big. That guy gots a lot of weight.

Yeah. Because he weighed in at 185 pounds, and then he fought at 225. Yeah. He was 225 when he got into the ring. Yeah. That's crazy. Then my guy that just beat, Cejudo. Aljamain. Aljamain. Yeah. That's crazy. Then my guy that just beat Cejuda. Aljamain.

Aljamain, yeah. He's fighting this weekend. I was just down there with him. When I was training, we was training twice together, before that fight and after he was doing physical therapy. We was supposed to be playing basketball. So if you're watching Aljo, you still got to get on that court with old boy now.

Yeah. Yeah, he's fighting this weekend against Joe O'Malley. It's a big fight. Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever go to those live? Yeah, I went to a few of them live. Yeah. Yeah, I went to a few of them live.

I think I went to the last one I went to was Amanda Nunez. Amanda, she was fighting... Dang, I forgot her name. But two guys from Omaha. Drew Dobert. Okay. And he fought John Jones, too. He from Omaha.

I forgot his name. You put Omaha on the map. Yeah. You really did. Like, people talk about Omaha now a lot. Smith. Anthony Smith. Oh, okay.

Yeah, Anthony Smith. Yeah, yeah. Drew Dober and Anthony Smith was fighting on the same car, so I went there to support them. And Amanda. I like Amanda. She's the GOAT. Yeah, she's amazing.

She had to retire because her legs are so damaged from kicking. She goes too much kicking ass. Like she got nerve damage in her legs. See? Yeah. It's never going to go away. Probably not, yeah. So.

You got to think, you're getting shins slammed into those nerves over and over again. Slammed into your calves. You ever been calf kicked? No, don't kick me. We're not about to do none of that don't don't kick me listen my legs are skinny we're not about to do it hey you kick me jump yeah do you think there's any boxers that would be in that would enter i mean the only person that's elite that ever fought in the MMA realm was James Toney. James Toney got choked out.

He don't got no wrestling background. He didn't. I don't think he even trained for it. I interviewed him before that fight. He was making up kick names. I think he trained it. I think he just boxed. You know, he's just hoping to catch him with a punch.

Yeah, nah. First thing they're going to do is shoot. First, they're going to fake the punch yeah nah first thing they gonna do is shoot first they gonna fake fake the uh the punch up top and then they gonna shoot if you don't know how to sprawl it's a wrap yeah it's a wrap see wrestling man i always say man i'm a boxer but i can wrestle if a wrestler grabs you I don't care what you know I don't care who you is

it's over with if you're not a wrestler right it's over with yeah and then you can do and nine times out of ten

a street fight you're gonna end up on the ground period so if you don't knock him out before he grab you

or in the mix of him trying to grab you, it's over with. Yeah. It's over with. I hope you're in shape. I will poke him in the eye, bite him, something. But, you know, wrestlers, they tough. Yeah.

So you might bite him. They might be like bite harder. Put you in a chokehold and then it's over with. Wrestling is such a tough tough sport and there's no accolades there's no glory there's no world championship where you're making millions of dollars it's just all for the the glory of winning that's all there is to it those are some of the toughest human beings alive. Yeah. Elite wrestlers, like you wanna talk about hard work. I done been through some of them.

Did you wrestle in high school? No, I wrestled in middle school. In middle school? I stopped in middle school. Because your boxing career started taking off? I actually got kicked out of school. Really? Yeah.

What happened? I was playing around with the kids, me and my friends. We had the little keys, so we was going through the hallways, and we was scratching each other's neck with the keys. So, like, just say if somebody right here in the middle of us, and you don't see me, and I go over here, and I scratch you on the neck with the key, and you just be like, ah!

And we just start dying. Like, that was the thing to do back then. And his little soft self went to the nurse. It was like, and then the nurse asked him what happened. He was just like, oh, me and my friend Terrence was playing around. He scratched me with a key. So they brought me to the office and expelled me because they said i was using the weapon wow i i got expelled for the half of the whole school year i had to go to an alternative

school wow yeah it was crazy but i was quitting wrestling anyway i ain't wrestling was tough man them dudes was kicking my ass. No. But I think there's something about your wrestling background that helps you in the clinch. Definitely, definitely. I still always mess around wrestling to this day. You know, yeah, wrestling gets you physically strong. It gets you, you know what I mean, your foundation first and foremost. Everything comes from your foundation. So if you got what I mean, your foundation first and foremost. Everything comes from your foundation.

So if you got a good base, good foundation, it's going to be hard to move for anybody. You know, that's why, you know, you see those sumo wrestlers, you know, their foundation, their base is just like, hmm. Right. And you can try your hardest to move them, and they just sitting there, and you're just like, man, how I'm not able to move this dude, and I'm pushing him. It's just they got that base and that foundation.

Yeah, there was a discussion. I forget what experts were talking about that, but they were factoring in your wrestling background, and they were saying that there's something about Terrence when he's in the clinch that's different than other people. It's because of your ability to manipulate bodies, where you can move people around. And then also, what you do, I think, better than anybody ever,

is you land punches in tight spaces, in tight spaces where you just find the chin. You're so good at those tight hooks. Practice. Yeah, man. You're so good at those tight hooks. Practice. Yeah, man. It's just very impressive to be able to pull that off on a guy like Errol Spence. Yeah, that's something that me and my coaches was working on, shortening up your shots.

Because if you're watching a few of my past fights, I kind of open up. I kind of throw my shots too wide, leave myself open. So that was something that was working on in camp. And I always told the reporters and people that interviewed me, it ain't about Spence. I don't got a changing thing up for Spence. Spence. I don't got to change anything up for Spence. I just got to make sure I'm prepared and I'm 110% ready for myself.

And all I got to do is be myself, and then I believe I'll beat anybody. Was there ever a time where you wondered or were you worried that you weren't going to get that big fight? As you're like 35 years old, you become 36 30 and then you you're in the position like arthur better be of who's 19 and 0 19 knockouts everyone's fucking terrified of the guy can't get a big fight just can't get that big marquee fight definitely i was like i told you i was in a process of thinking about retiring you know because, because I was just like, man, I'm not going to get that Spence fight, you know, but it's worth a shot, you know, to go back and try to see if we can land that fight. But I'm not about to get, you know, I'm not about to just take anything just for the fight right you know a lot of fans and a lot of people in the media they felt as if I should just take anything but they're not the

one fighting they're not the one that you know been doing this their whole life so for them to tell me just take this or just take that you know uh given if I was to put them in the same predicament that I'm in and all the accolades that I have, would they do the same thing or would they just take whatever somebody's just going to give them? You know, I had to stand for something to get to a point in my life where, you know, I can get everything that I want. You know, and I felt like me standing my ground and staying firm and true to myself and not switching up and not, you know, overdoing it led me to this moment right here.

One of the things that happens with some boxers is they leave a lot in the gym in sparring sessions. And that they just spar too hard. They have too many hard sparring sessions. How often do you spar? I spar Tuesday, Thursdayursday and saturdays some of them be hard you know i mean that's just how it is you can't you can't replace you know um i would say like tech sparring and like soft sparring from, you know, a comparison to get ready for a fight because you fight how you spar.

You spar how you fight. And if I'm in there just doing this, huh, huh, huh, huh, catch, catch, huh, huh, then when the fight come and everything is full blast, full speed, I'm not going to be able to keep up because i don't train that way right i can hit the bag i can hit the mitts all that i want but nothing's coming back right i'm not feeling that presence of a person pushing me hitting me holding me things like that so um sparring is very important and not saying that you have to you know go hard every single time you spar but there got to be days where you know that fighter is trying to put it on you because now you're

getting used to that now your body is getting in shape to withstand the rounds the time the you know the the uh the grappling the the hitting, all that. So you need that. How do you judge when you're doing too much hard sparring? Your body will tell you. I'm a firm believer in listening to my body. So I've been doing this a long time. My coaches, they've been doing this just as long or longer,

or BOMAC longer. Well, we all started, you know, this journey when I was 2008, when I turned pro. So they been around me since I was a kid, so they know when my body is breaking down or when I'm complaining about something, Bo would be like, all right, well, we're going to do this today. We're going to do this today. And I'd be like, man, what? He'd be like, we're going to do this today.

I'd be like, man, I don't want to do that, man. I want to work because as a fighter, I want to work hard every day. But it's up to your coaches to know when to pull back, when to take days off. Oh, no, you ain't working out today. Huh? You ain't working out today. Huh? You ain't working out today. You been working out hard, you know, today off. Or some days we were going in there, he be like, oh,

we're going to do four-round sparring. Like, what? Yeah, we're going to do four-round sparring. All right. Y'all got it. So things like that. So it's just a trust and an understanding that your coaches know you as good or better than you know you. Definitely. Definitely. You know, so they're going to tell me, you know, some days they're going to say, man, you ain't got no energy today. Did you eat? Some days I'll be like, no, I didn't eat before I came.

did you eat some days i'll be like no i didn't eat before i came i could tell you know or you're moving kind of slow you all right you know so it's very important that you be honest with your coaches as well because a lot of people you know they tend to keep certain things away from them and then when when things go left then the coaches is the blame when the coaches wasn't aware of everything that was going on with you so if you got you know injuries or you're not feeling well or you know something's not right or something's going on as a team you gotta let your team know because that's why they there and. And that's why they're able to pick up on certain things like, you know, you're overtraining or you're not, you know, getting enough rest. What time are you going to sleep at night?

You know, you need to put the phone down at this time and, you know, just all that. Do you monitor your resting heart rate, your heart rate variability? Do you do any of that stuff yeah i do all that yeah you know um in the mornings so um when i get up in the morning we put it on my finger then we monitor that and then it takes your blood oxygen uh your oxygen level uh your heart rate and all that stuff and so from from there you can say, okay, I'm a little tired or there I'm a little overworked. Not really. It's easier today.

Not really. You know, sometimes you can, I go off of that, but, you know, I just go off of how my body feels. You know, I just use that for just how much oxygen I'm taking in and the levels that I'm at. Just how much oxygen I'm taking in and the levels that I'm at. So once I start cutting weight, all right, that's what I've been at, this range. Once I start cutting weight, then I can compare the two.

And how far out do you start cutting weight? I probably cut weight probably like two weeks, two to three weeks. And so that's just a decrease in calories. Yeah. Is there anything else that goes along with that? Is it an increase in cardio or anything else? No, everything is the same. It's just, you know, decreasing the amount of food intake. You know, we start cutting the food probably like in portions.

Then, you know, we probably change up the times of the workouts and then when you get down to the day of the weigh-ins how much weight are you actually cutting none none none so when you weigh in that's natural yeah like the day of the weigh-ins i'm not cutting none that's beautiful i used to i used to have to cut like five pounds in the morning of the weigh-ins, I'm not cutting none. That's beautiful. I used to. I used to have to cut like five pounds in the morning of the weigh-ins. You know, that shit was tough. Did you feel that the next day? Nah, not really. Sometimes, but not really.

But it's better to not. Yeah, because I always, I just rest. Your resting is most important. Like, I just sit in the bed all day, especially when I was at 135. I didn't do nothing. I was cutting weight, cutting weight, cutting weight. 140, cutting weight, cutting weight. You know, but yeah, like, that shit tough.

Like, this last fight with Spence, it was tough. You know, but I try to make weight, you know, at least the night before so I can sleep in, sleep as long as possible until the weigh-ins and go from there. What do you do for recovery? Do you have anything specific that you do for recovery, massages, sauna, anything along those lines? I get massages.

I don't use a sauna. No? No, I don't use sauna. That's pretty much it. Normatec. Oh, those leg things? Yeah, those are great. Normatec, massage. I hate the cold plunge. I did it for the first time

this camp. And man, I tell y'all first time this camp. And, man, I tell y'all, I was freezing. I always thought my balls was going to be freezing, but my fucking fingers was cold. Yeah, fingers, toes. My toes wasn't cold. I was so cold I couldn't even feel my feet. I was in there like this.

I was trying to put my hands under my armpits, and I was just shaking like this. And I was just like, I'm about to get out. They was motivating me, and I was like, man, this is the hardest thing that I ever did because I'm anemic, so me and Cole don't. You're anemic? Yeah, I got to take iron pills. Really? Yeah. Interesting. Is that before you stopped Red Beat? I was little. Always? Yeah. Really got to take iron pills. Really? Yeah. Interesting. Is that before you stopped Red Beat?

I was little. Always? Yeah. Really? When I was little. Yeah. So I got to go from the cold, and then they put me in the hot, and then it felt like needles was shocking my body,

like needles was going through. I'm like, dang. You know what I mean? I felt good. Then they was like, all right, you got to go back in the cold plunge for one minute. No, it was two minutes, two minutes. I was like, dang. You know what I mean? I felt good. Then they was like, all right, you got to go back in the cold plunge for one minute. No, it was two minutes. Two minutes. I was like, what?

Like, come on. So I went up in there. And then I was like, all right, get out. You done. I said, I don't go back in the hot. They was like, no. I was like, oh, man. But I was cool that I did it.

Yeah. That it was something that I wouldn't do. And I did it for the first time. And I felt like I accomplished something. How did you feel after you got out? I felt it. Yeah. That is something that, you know, I wouldn't do. And I did it for the first time. And I felt like I accomplished something. How did you feel after you got out? I felt good. Yeah. I felt good.

But the crazy part about that is two days after that, I had got a cold. And I was like, I was messed up. And I was like, man, was it because of that? But found out that it was the air conditioner in the house. It was blowing right on my face. Oh. On my bed. I sleep with the cover over my head.

I don't know why. Really? Yeah, I've been doing that since I was a little kid. So we looked up, and sure enough, I was just like, man. And it was like on like 62. So, it was freezing in the house. I was just like, man. I turned off everything in the house.

It was all hot. Everybody kept trying to turn the air back on. Like, man, turn that off. Like, no. And it's 120 in Vegas I'm like yeah it's that turn it off I was like man I can't I ain't never experienced that ever in my life I never got sick doing fight week really ever so how sick did you get i was i was sick for one day i was like down like i was down but like

yeah how far from the fight was that a week oh shit week so i was down but i was just like man that one day I was hurting. But then, you know, my nutritionist, she gave me some vitamin C. My nutritionist, my chef, he gave me a whole bunch of oranges and melons and grapefruit. Big old bowl. You ain't eating no meat. This is what you're eating all day. I was like, what?

He was like, yeah, trust me. That's all I ate the whole day. The next day I felt better. I was like, oh, all right. We back to normal. Well, we wasn't all the way back to normal because my coach didn't let me work out. Yeah, it was good. How many days did you have to take off from that cold?

Just one and a half. Oh, we was good. How many days did you have to take off from that cold? Just one and a half. Oh, not that bad. Yeah. So that one day I didn't do nothing. Then the next day I didn't go to the gym. I didn't work out in the gym. And then a day or so later you're back in. Yeah.

Well, that's fortunate. That would have sucked if that happened a couple days out. Yeah. Yeah. And then fuck up a couple days out. Yeah. Yeah. And then fuck up your weight cut too. Yeah. I would have had to find a way. Isn't it crazy, though, when you think about all the things that have to come together so perfectly?

Peaking in your conditioning, peaking in your physical training, your technical training. Everything's got to come together. Everything. But when you've done this for so long, you know what you got to do to get there. You know, I think I peaked like twice during this camp. You know, I was working so hard. I was just like, man, I wanted this so bad. so bad it was like all right we got to pull you back all right and when they pull you back like for how long just a couple of days pull you back you know because you you're looking too sharp in the in the

gym you weigh you weigh above schedule so we got to pull you back. Working too hard, get you some rest. That's such a fascinating aspect of the training because it's just so on feel and knowing and just having an understanding of the athlete. Yeah, because you as the fighter, you want to feel good. You want to look sharp. You want to, you know, feel all those things. But your coaches on on the outside

they're like okay we still got like three four weeks you know and he's looking like this at this point in time when we want him like that at the tail end you know so pull them back a little bit it's just it's such a dance it's just like a perfectly orchestrated dance yeah everything has to line up have you ever had a fight where you peaked too early no never not that i know of no i was saying well listen terrence what you've done is amazing As a person As a person who's a boxing fan It's beautiful to see I love watching

I love excellence I love when someone is at the top The very top of the game Of the sport Of everything That's you right now man I hope you enjoy it Congratulations

It's an honor to talk to you I'm a giant fan man Thank you very much so I hope you enjoy it congratulations it's an honor to talk to you thank you I'm a giant fan man thank you very much appreciate it tell everybody your social media so they can hit you up you can reach me on

Twitter what they call it X now I don't know what that is at Terrence Crawford and then you can reach me on IG at T-Bug Crawford or Facebook Terrence Terrence Crawford, and then you can reach me on IG at T-Bug Crawford or Facebook, Terrence Crawford. You're the fucking man, bro.

Yes. Thank you very much. Appreciate you being here. All right. Bye, everybody. Bye. Bye. Bye.