The Joe Rogan Experience - JRE MMA Show #72 with Andy Ruiz

Episode Date: July 31, 2019

Joe is joined by Andy Ruiz, the first boxer of Mexican heritage to become World Heavyweight Champion.

And we're live. What's up? Heavyweight champion of the world. How's that feel, man? It's amazing, you know. It's a big blessing. I'm just happy. Does it seem real? It's still, yeah, of course, it's real. For the first few weeks, the first few days, I was pinching myself to see if it was a dream or nothing. But, you know, I'm just really blessed to be here. What an incredible situation right you got so like how many weeks out did you find out about the fight um I think it was like a month a month and two weeks wow month and two weeks I messaged Eddie Hearns I told him you know what

give me the opportunity and when you know your message back me and my girl were just all happy like whoa that was crazy wow and you were already in camp right so like it wasn't like you they caught you out of shape no it was um after my fight against alexander dimitrenko oh that's right how much time did you have off to recover um i just took like a week and a half off oh that's nice i went back to the gym and i was just ready and loose so it was it couldn't have happened in a perfect time. That's amazing. Do you like it like that where you just experienced a big fight,

so you're already kind of used to being in the ring, being on television, the whole moment of it all, and then, boom, it happens again right afterwards? Yeah, of course, you know, because I was already loose. I was already in fight mode, so especially from having the heavyweight champion title, you know, the opportunity to get that, it was amazing. It was an incredible fight, man. It was incredible. Yeah, thank you. It was really amazing.

What was amazing was when you got dropped, you kept your composure, you got up, and then he tried to move in for the kill. And then you started landing bombs on him and dropped him. And I remember jumping off the bed while I was watching. Oh, shit. It was wild, man. It was a wild fight. It was my first time getting dropped, and you know what? I don't feel I was super hurt, you know,

because when I got dropped, he hit me with a good right hand, and I took it like a champ. But I got up, man, and I just threw him bombs. You have fluid punches, man. I mean, it's really interesting to watch. You're so efficient. Like, the way you throw punches, you're not, like, grunting and fucking digging. Like, there's a lot of guys that you see, there's a tremendous amount of energy that's expended every time they throw punches.

But you, man, your punches just come in bunches. You just fire them off, man. The combinations that we've been working at the gym, Manny Robles. That's why I had a trainer who throws a lot of combinations that's good at working speed. So I think we click really good together. Well, it's such a big asset for heavyweights because most heavyweights, they throwing big bombs and they're looking for that one punch yep yeah and you you just pile them on man and you're throwing them at all these angles and especially when you get in tight with dudes you know like when you're in tight with dudes in these dog fights your punches are coming at all

these different angles and so fluid it's beautiful to watch man oh thank you man especially with these big guys i love fighting bigger guys you know some one time i fought a guy that was shorter than me and it it was kind of hard so imagine uh me pressuring bigger guys and throwing these combinations it works for me really good it does and you're the first ever mexican heavyweight champion of the world. Man, thanks to God. It's crazy, man. It's crazy. I mean, you are in the same league as Cain Velasquez, the first ever UFC heavyweight champion that was Mexican. Yeah.

I mean, that's just an incredible honor, man. Thanks, man. I appreciate that. The love you must be getting from all the Mexicans. Oh, my gosh. I can't even go to the store without taking so many pictures people are on lines they get off uh like say if i'm in a drive-through somewhere they get off of their car and try to take pictures but it's a blessing you know i really appreciate

all my fans all the supporters it's amazing man and you know what was really cool was uh the post fight press conference when you're talking about it when You're like, damn, we made it. And you're saying, we're set. Telling my mom. Yeah, you were telling your mom. That was beautiful. Yeah. And because a lot of people don't know that we're struggling a lot even before this fight.

And going through a lot of the stuff with top rank, with Bob Barron, of me not getting a lot of fights uh waiting waiting um because i had one more fight left with them so they didn't want to let me go so i had to pay my pay it off so thank god you did yeah everything turned around so quick sorry bob you fucked up yeah well there's a lot of dudes who were not interested in fighting you you know um i i'd seen it was one of those things where you were incredibly talented and incredibly skilled, but you didn't have the biggest name yet. So there wasn't like a lot of money in it yet. But there was a giant risk.

And a lot of the insiders were very, very aware of this. You know, guys who really follow boxing were very aware of this. And coming into that fight, like i talked to a lot of people that are like big boxing fans and they're like that dude is a live dog like that's a live dog like i mean for sure anthony joshua is a bad motherfucker he's a big giant muscular dude looks like a donnis but they were like andy ruiz is a live dog he could win that fucking because when they see me they're like oh look at this chubby kid man he he's gonna get tired really fast he's gonna get knocked out but the real people that know about boxing they they know the the skills that i have the movement yeah i could get a little bit more fit and um

more leaner you know get the the um like the extra fat turn it into muscle i love to do that you know but the thing is people love you because you're kind of chubby yeah because i i mean well it's also you you like you like hey you know people that like go to the beach don't want to take their shirt off they're like fuck man andy ruiz is kind of built like me and he's the champ of the world yeah give give these big guys confident it makes a big deal like you remember when butterbean well butterbean was obviously never a champ but you know people used to love butterbean because he was this big fat guy would fuck people up you know what i took a picture with uh butterbean when i was like like i think i was like five years old six years old in tijuana he fought over there and he was a big guy man big guy he was a man. That dude had some fucking power. He would starch people.

He really couldn't go past four or five rounds, but he would put a fucking beating on you for four rounds. You ever see when Johnny Knoxville from that crazy asshole decided to jackass? Yeah, he actually made him bleed or something on the head. He let him punch him for some crazy reason. He decided to try to box with Butterbean, and Butterbean just brained him. It was not good. Don't do that to people, man. No.

I'm going to sign a waiver. So you're sitting pretty right now, man. I mean, you're at the top of the heap. You're the champ, and you're the most popular champ right now because you're the guy who pulled off the giant upset over the olympic gold medalist the fucking the man anthony joshua you knock him out and like everyone is sitting there chomping at the bit there's wilder who's you know probably the greatest knockout artist in the history of the heavyweight division and then there's tyson fury and tyson fury and wilder

trying to figure it out and tyson Fury's now in a different organization. It's hard to make the matches work now. It's like, what happens next for you? You know, what's going to be next is the rematch against me and Anthony Joshua. We're still negotiating. But there's definitely going to be the rematch this year. Exciting fight. But, yeah, but Wilder, you you know uh wilder me and him are on

the same team i had a a little interview with him over there at the pacquiao fight and really cool dude he's very cool yeah he's really cool we respect each other and um but that'll be a good fight too you know between me and him i love that well i mean people knew who he was before but goddamn that tyson fury fight put him on the map what a crazy that was a really good fight i was there too i was like man i want to be in that position i want to be champion and kind of motivating me you know yeah there well you know and then his the fight with brazil afterwards where he flatlined him that one punch he's an interesting guy, man. He's so interesting. You know his story that he didn't even start boxing until he was like 20-something years old,

and he really started doing it because of his daughter because his daughter has medical issues. Got into the Olympic team, won a bronze medal a year and a half into boxing. That's crazy. Yeah, it's nuts, man. But he's blessed, you know? Yeah. Blessed.

Like you, man. Mm-hmm. I mean, it's got to be a crazy feeling now but like six months ago you're the struggling boxer you know trying to make ends meet you know working your way up very respected but you don't have that big name yet and then boom you get the opportunity of all opportunities i think that's what i need is just the opportunity and be hungry you know from having nothing to wanting to want uh something you know in life it it's a big motivation especially me i have five kids so damn how old are you i'm 29 wow five kids started early i know

mexican style yeah mexican style beautiful well man, your five kids are sitting pretty now, man. Yeah. That's beautiful. Thank you. So there's a rematch that is in negotiation now. How much can you tell us? That is going to be in December, sometime December. There's going to come out pretty soon, you know.

Can you say where it's going to be? I can't say. You already told me. I did tell you, but. I'm not telling anybody. No, don't tell nobody. Until the cameras are off. Yeah, but it's going to be this year.

It's going to be an exciting fight. Me and Anthony Joshua, rematch. But the word's going to come out soon. Word's going to be out. If anything, I'll message you and be like, oh, you already know, actually. You already know. Well, so now going into this rematch, is there anything that you're going to do differently? I mean, you know obviously now that he's well aware you're a big threat.

He's going to think about you. I mean, I'm sure he was aware you were a threat before. But when you stopped him and you became the first guy to beat him, I mean, that changes history. I think what we're going to do, we're getting a big house over there in Mexico, somewhere in the nowheres, you know. So we're going to have a close camp, you know, a close camp. So we're just going to be really focused for this fight.

We're not underestimating him or anything. You know, we just got to work hard and do it again So show people what I'm capable of now how much changes now that you're the champ Do you have do you change anything in your camp and as far as your strength and conditioning as far as? nutrition Long as we have all the team, you know the stuff that we need the nutrition is the chef Nutrition. As long as we have all the team, you know, the stuff that we need, the nutritionist, the chef, the coaches, you know, all the stuff that I need to win this fight, especially training.

You know, that's the main thing. Training is the main discipline and, you know, praying to God. Now, coming into the fight with Joshua the first time, did you have a nutritionist? Did you have a strength and conditioning coach? I did. I did have one um the plan was not to lose too much weight you know because the guy is really big you know i wanted to be heavy so i could carry his weight and you know it worked for my favor but i think the main thing that i'm going to do i might do a little bit of weight just to tighten up a little bit uh but just stay busy. That's the main thing.

Do you worry about, like, if it's not broke, don't fix it? Like, there have been guys before that have made changes in the way they prepare. And those changes, like, maybe fuck with their confidence. Or they didn't feel as good. They didn't perform the same way. No, I don't think we're going to be changing too much of that stuff. You know, as long as we're training, we have the good sparring. Just exactly what we did for the last fight. I think that's training we have the good sparring just just exactly what we did for the last fight i think that's what we're going to be doing just more intense now do

you have a guy that monitors your heart rate do they do they take like logs of like what your resting heart rate is when you get up in the morning and your heart rate variability and all that kind of shit no they don't they don't do that i'm kind of just old school you know old school you know work hard wake up run train, eat good for like four or five days, and we have our little cheat meals, you know. But, you know, just have a happy camp. You know, this is heavyweight camp, like I tell everybody. Yeah, heavyweight camp's nice.

No weight cutting. Now, what kind of food they have you eating? Right now I'm just eating light, like you know uh sandwiches uh sandwiches steaks yeah i just ate a sandwich before i came on so well the beautiful thing about being heavyweight is you don't have to worry about your weight but it's in terms of optimal performance like when your chef has you in camp oh when what kind of meals they feed you well everything chicken me uh i try not to eat too much meat you know it takes too long to digest i get constipated can't shit comfortable but um everything you know vegetables uh a lot of white rice they tell they tell me not to eat too much white rice but

i like white rice now do they have you taking supplements or anything like that you know well for this fight i wasn't taking a lot of supplements just multivitamins um something to get me through the the training um yeah basically and what kind of strength and conditioning shit they have you doing you running running sprinting um doing explosive stuff uh a lot of mid work a lot of mid work i think that's one of my favorite things at the gym sparring beating people up and doing mid work yeah of course right now you you had an extensive amateur career too man which is i think a lot of like how you're so well schooled you know what that can that help me a lot you know um i first started training when i was six years old and now i trained for a whole year and when i was seven years old. And I trained for a whole year.

And when I was seven years old, I had my first amateur fight. I was always this big, chubby kid where there wasn't people at my age at that weight. So I always had to fight bigger guys, older guys. So my first fight, I won, but they gave it to the other guy. At 12 years old, fighting a seven-year-old. You got robbed. Uh-huh. I got robbed a 7-year-old. You got robbed. I got robbed. I feel like I did.

You got robbed your first fight. And I have the video, too. Oh, you should put that shit online. Yeah. Let the internet decide. Wow. So your first fight at 7 years old. That's incredible, man.

There's no substitute for that. Guys who get into combat sports young, that's the guys who have what I was talking about that you possess before that sort of fluidity the efficiency to punches it's like you're you develop throwing punches i think it's all muscle memory type of you know a lot of mill work and just working hard man working hard and this is a sport that i love you know i've been doing this is the only thing that i know so thank god that it it paid off. Well, it's such an amazing story. I love a story like that. It's such a rocky story, such a Cinderella story. A Cinderella.

It's amazing. Well, yeah, everybody underestimated me. They're just waiting for me to get knocked down. And then when they see me get knocked down, they're like, oh. And it's crazy that the announcers were saying, oh, Anthony's a great finisher. Look at how he's going to finish him. And what do you know, I end up getting him with the hook. Yeah, it's crazy that the announcers were saying, oh, Anthony's a great finisher. Look at how he's going to finish him. And what do you know, end up getting him with the hook. Yeah, it was crazy.

How many times did you watch the fight? Probably like 30 times. 30 times. And I still got more to see, you know, because when he got me with the uppercut and the hook, I was kind of being in a lazy mode, you know. I think I need to put my gear up more and move the head more. Well, he's a big, powerful motherfucker, but he's an outside fighter. He likes to fight on the outside and drop big power punches.

And that's where it became apparent that, like, when you're in the dog fight, when you guys are in tight, you have that advantage of the fluidity and efficiency and your angles. I think it's the speed that i kind of messed them up you know and i'm not i'm not just a one two three fighter uh puncher you know i try to throw more than than one or two punches so no dude you know throw hailstorms yeah shit coming away from all kinds of angles it's awesome man so you're in this're in this amazing position now when you're headed into this fight. How long did it take to negotiate the rematch? I'm sure you had some sort of a contract clause, right?

Yeah, we had a contract clause. We've just been going back and forth with my team and their team. Because they were trying to get you to go to England. Yeah, but no. And you were like, I want to stay in America, but there's some, we can't say what's happening. I'd love to have it back over there at the Madison Square Garden. I'd love to run it back. How about the Staples Center?

The Staples Center, that's what I said, too, in one of the interviews. Or Vegas? Vegas would have been great, too. But wherever it is, it's going to be an amazing fight, an amazing venue. But tune in, the announcement is going to be in soon now is this uh going to be on the zone again on the zone beautiful um it's so nice you can just watch it on app yeah watch on your phone watch on a laptop and um when you see the rest of the heavyweight division i mean what a crazy exciting time for boxing boxing comes in these waves right

where like there's waves of awesome shit happening right now it's a hot wave canelo's hot you know man he just won the title at 40 years old you know triple g and canelo they're talking about having another fight it's so amazing right now it's like boxing is on fire it is you know and i'm just blessed being there in the top ten and having the unified heavyweight champions. But I'm willing to fight anybody. As soon as I win the rematch, I'm willing to fight Tyson Fury, Walder, or anybody. Listen, there's never been a time that I can recall where there's four legitimate heavyweight champions that everybody thinks of like look anthony joshua could have been the man you know tyson fury could

be the man wilder could be the man you could be the man who's the fucking man it's like no one knows it's not like during the tyson era it was like tyson and everybody else was just waiting to get murked. There's been times where there was a standout fighter. But when Joshua beat Klitschko, it was apparent that Joshua was the guy. But then as Wilder started piling up bodies, it's like, damn, maybe Wilder's the guy. And then Tyson Fury comes back. A lot of people had written Tyson Fury off after the Klitschko fight. They were like, you know, he kind of went crazy, almost committed suicide and all these mental health problems. And now he seems super happy and healthy.

And so it's this incredible, incredible time for boxing where you have like in terms of star power and in terms of like the public interest. I can't recall a time in my life where there's been four dudes who were at the top of the heap like this. Yeah. Tyson Fury's a good guy, too. You know, I love his personality, his energy. And you know what? If I want to see that fight again, Wilder and Fury, you know, I think that was a really good fight. I think it was really close.

If Wilder wouldn't have knocked him down in the last round, I think Tyson Fury was winning in my eyes. I think so, too. And I think you could make an argument that he still won, even though he got knocked down twice in the fight. Yeah, he got up. Yeah, you make a good argument that he still won the decision. I know a lot of people think he did, but I didn't have a problem with the decision just because— Of the action. Yeah.

And the way Wilder knocked him down in that final round like what the fuck how did he get up that was what was crazy like and when wilder like to his uh his thumb across his throat and he thought fuck it's over and he's shaking his hips like he thought it was over and then tyson fury just rises from the dead like a fucking zombie it's just it's crazy man in the heavyweight division you know it only takes one punch to change the whole game the whole the whole fight you know and that's the beauty of it it is the beauty of it now what is it like like getting accustomed to all this recognition now i know you got this new ice you got an ar hanging from your neck

spend a little of that heavyweight championship money jeweler yeah i mean dude you're i mean you your whole life is like shifted like what does that feel like it feels good you know just getting the stuff that i always wanted you know seeing a lot of famous uh people having nice stuff you know and uh thanks to god now i could just get it for myself and for my family for my kids my mom What kind of car are you driving now? I have a Rolls Royce outside. Dude, you stepped right up. You didn't even fuck around.

You didn't even try a BMW first. No, I already had that before. What were you driving before you won the title? I had a Porsche. I had a Porsche Panamera. Oh, those are nice. Yeah. But it's not a Rolls Royce.

No. Rolls Royce is a king car. You know what? The car that I love right now and I bought for my fiance, Julie, it's the new G-Wagons, the 2019. Yeah, man. It's so beautiful, man. Those are the shit.

Yeah, my wife has one of those. Yeah. They're the shit. She's lucky. Those are dope, man. It's a crazy car. They redesigned it. They made it so that the old ones, they had that old truck suspension with the live rear and front axles. And it was kind of bumpy and shit.

I love it, man. When you move it, when the car moves, the seats hug you. Yeah. That's a tank, too. Those doors weigh 1,000 pounds. It's crazy. When you shut those things, it's like a bank vault. You know?

Yeah. But there's something about a Rolls Royce, man. That's like a suitable car for a champ. You know? You run around in a Rolls Royce. That's my dream car, man. My dream car. I even had pictures.

Before I was even anything, I used to have pictures on my wall of all the cars that I wanted, a Lamborghini, a Rolls Royce. You know, just dreaming big. Right. And that's what I tell a lot of these kids man just dream big have have um write something that that you want in life and just keep keep praying for it you know keep wishing for it and it will come true you work hard yeah if you work hard some people just want to wish no yeah they got to work hard there's a lot of shit involved yeah do you use any sort of a sports psychologist or anything like that um no not

really no just motivation my kids uh um you know just a person that wants to do better is gonna do better right and so when you are preparing for a fight do you um do you ever have moments where you you know you you find yourself feeling down or you find yourself not yeah there's a mental place no there's a lot of times like that you know because i'm missing home i'm like man i want to go with my kids i want to go with my girl oh i'm i'm mad man i haven't i haven't fucked or nothing so i I'm fucking angry and stuff like that. That's what a lot of boxers go through because this is a lonely sport. This is a one-man sport, and you've got to do everything on your own. Not on your own, but when you go to the gym, you have your team,

but after the gym is what you do. I usually just rest, watch movies, try to go to show, find a show, just relax. Just chill out. Do you get regular massage or anything? Yep, I get massages from AR therapy from LA. He hooks it up like every, I probably, when I'm in camp, I'll get one like two, two times a week, three times. So basically it's normal stuff, normal strength conditioning food it's the grind of camp is something that boxers always complain about that's like the one thing is just the day in day

out just hard work constantly you know what sucks for for a lot of the fighters too is going in there and you know your coach wants to weigh you after training every fucking time. And you're like, man. And it's crazy. But, you know, just working hard, everything's going to pay off. What do they like to keep you at? Like what weight do they like to keep you at? I think like a 255, 250.

That's where you feel like you're at your best? I'm at my best at 255, 250. But I gained to, what did I weigh, like 267 for Joshua. Really? On purpose? Just because he's so big? Yeah. It kind of worked out a little bit.

It definitely worked out. Now, what did you do differently? Nothing. More quesadillas? No, it was good, just more portion, a little bit more portion. I was just happy through all this camp, you know. I was just focused, motivated. I kept telling everybody that I'm going to win, that I'm going to pull out the upset.

And, you know, just having those good vibes inside you and a fun camp, you know. It was fun. I enjoyed the camp a lot. The only thing that people worry about when someone finds success, you know obviously tyson is the best example of it because he's documented in his documentary and he talks about all the time was how things got out of control once he became famous things just went off the rails and he just lost his fucking mind how do you how do you prevent that from happening to andy ruiz i think just having the right people around you you know having the right people around you that want to do good

and want you to do good, you know, bring you good opportunities, you know, stuff like that. And, you know, I'm a family man. I'm always with my kids, with my fiancés. So that's one of the big blessings that I have. And if that would have happened, I think my dad will grab me by the throat like what the fuck are you doing he's always on me so well you seem like a real down-to-earth guy which helps a lot you know i mean that that really does it's the dudes that have feeling

like sometimes the ego is what gets you to the dance because you believe you are the the baddest motherfucker of all time but then once you are there and the challenge is met then there's no other challenges in front of you like with tyson and each fight is kind of like a done deal before it happens and you just start getting tigers and doing crazy shit you know recently with tigers yeah no i um then the main thing is just to remain humble, you know. I was praying for this opportunity for so long, so I'm still going to continue to keep praying and thanking God for all these big blessings that he gave me and, you know, just continue to work hard and enjoy my family to the fullest. And you've got a good crew of dudes with you, too.

You can tell. I know. You're saying that's the biggest entourage that I had. The biggest entourage everybody's ever brought in here here i never wrote with a lot of entourage you know really just with uh a few of my best friends you know friends close friends that were from high school and some of my cousins and that's awesome stuff like that just people who know you exactly know you from the beginning now um this newfound celebrity like are they giving you like there's other distractions that come your way

like movie type offers and television shit you know what I did my first commercial for Suero X it was in it's a Mexico brand

what is it? Suero X Suero X? what is it? Suero X it's a drink you know like like Pedialyte

oh okay but it's a Mexican version. And it was fun, man. It was really fun. I love doing commercials. Have you been to Mexico since you won? I have. Remember, I met the president of Mexico.

I went to Los Pinos, and that was amazing, man. Andres Lopez, he's the president for Mexico. Amazing guy. Is it wild being in Mexico as the the first ever mexican heavyweight champion it was super wild so many so many fans you know um little kids uh of um all types of sort of people coming my way and it's just crazy how how they react you know how they react they're screaming like it's crazy that was must be the the wildest thing about this is the shift in how people perceive you versus just a few months ago and now like you're the fucking man

it's weird right it's crazy does it mean what what what goes on in your head while all this has happened um that this is just the beginning you know this is just the beginning and you know i don't want to i don't want to lose the title so the main thing i just got to stay focused and get prepared for the rematch you know because there's more work to be done so and um you know i want to be the mexican rocky so i want to continue to keep winning and defending all my titles that's beautiful now joshua is the first fight and so this will take place in december and given if you win what would you like to who would you like to face next because it looks like it's going to be a while before they could sort out tyson fury and dionte wilder um because of contractual shit uh when i win and and see oscar i win uh for the rematch uh i would love to fight

tyson fury man tyson fury i know wilder uh walder's there too he has the belt that that i want you know because i want the wbc belt why do you want that belt because i'll be undisputed if i have that belt you know i have all the belts um in the heavyweight division, and I'll be the new king. So what do you have now? You have WBA. I have the WBA, WBO, IBO, and IBF. Damn. I know.

Damn. That's crazy. I should have brought them too, man. You should have. Do you have them laid out on your bed? No, they're actually in my dad's house. They're actually in my dad's house. Must be bizarre just looking at them, right?

They are, man. I was crying, man. Like I said, I was still pinching myself for weeks. I can only imagine. I would imagine it's going to last years before it really, really, really sinks in. So Tyson Fury seems to you to be like the best matchup after that. Tyson Fury, I think he's one of the biggest names out there you know um I like Dylan White so you know he was coming up but um he got caught up with what did he get what did he get caught with I don't know I think it was PD

or something some sort of performance enhancing I don't know why they do that why I know why I know why they want to win shit I You don't need it, man. Look at me. It doesn't look like a fight taking anything, you know? It's just all natural. Well, you're consistent, and even though you carry body fat, you're always in great shape. You know, you never have a problem with fatigue in your fights. I have a six-pack under my belly.

You know, it's in there somewhere. Yeah, I mean, that's deceptive. You know, there's quite a few i mean that's deceptive you know there's uh quite a few fighters like that that you look at them on the outside and you can get real confused you know but you have always been consistent like you had a consistent amateur career consistent professional career some fighters just like they maybe they just feel like they need something else you know they just don't feel like they're doing enough and they want it they want a shortcut you know it's usually it's usually a bad sign you know and in today's climate it's look there's there's vada testing and they're the best you know that was my first time getting

tested by vada and they're fucking strict man they go they they'll go look for you wherever you're at, at your house, at the gym, anywhere. They take blood out, piss out. I liked it. Yes. I think it's the best way. USADA is what works with the UFC. Very similar. Same sort of deal. They wake you up at 6 o'clock in the morning. Hey, buddy.

Time to find out what's up. They've caught a lot of people that way. They've caught a lot of people. It. They've caught a lot of people. And it's great. It cleans up the sport. I mean, this is a dangerous, dangerous sport. It is. And when people are taking things, there's a potential that they can hit you and they wouldn't be able to hit you without it.

And, I mean, this is something that we all want to avoid. We all want to avoid anything that could – I mean, it's already a dangerous enough sport. Exactly. We're already trying to kill each other and all that. Yeah. Yeah, so Dylan White is – I mean, how long have they suspended him for? I'm not sure. I've seen it on Instagram.

But, you know, things happen. But, you know, hopefully he gets clean. Or we don't know what really happened, you know. Maybe it was a team side that put something in it or we don't know yeah it could be we we catch this a lot with the ufc where guys buy a supplement at like a vitamin store and it's tainted or even like a diet one huh they they bend that too yeah yeah anything that has like a diuretic or things along those lines yeah it's uh it's a shame but you know if if they're not using vada testing and they get caught then they're just dumb because then then it means that's why that's why it's kind of scary

you know fighting over there at the uk we don't know what they're gonna be letting uh anthony joshua be taking or whatnot or i don't know you think he takes some shit i don't know tell you what he looks like he does he does it looks He looks perfect. He looks like it, but. Looks like what you would think a movie fighter would look like, you know? Like, he's just, he's built perfect. Like, he's got a perfect body. Like, you wouldn't want to change anything, you know? Like, if you're making a sculpture, you're like, damn, that's perfect.

Nailed it. Yeah. You know? But that, I don't know if that's natural. Mm-hmm. What do you think? I don't know. If he took something, you know, I don't know if that's natural. What do you think? I don't know. If he took something, you know, it didn't work.

If he doesn't use it for the next fight, I don't know. Who knows how the body's going to react or if he doesn't have it. Or maybe it reacted wrong when he wasn't using it when I fought him. That's possible. Who knows? That's definitely happened before. That's definitely happened before. That's definitely happened before. You know, you've seen fighters that look different because of stricter testing,

and then they don't perform the same way. They have, like, real problems. And then also it's confidence. If you know you've been cheating, and then all of a sudden they take away your secret weapon, and then you're like, I'm fine, I'm fine, but there's a little lingering doubt. Yeah. So you're worried about that if the fight takes place in the UK? You know, somewhat, but it's not going to be over there.

He's never tested positive before, right? He's never have, so. You just gave up the ghost. You said it's not going to be over there. So now people have narrowed it down. There's 197 countries. Now we know it's not going to be in England. No, it's not.

Okay, 196. 196. countries now we know it's not going to be in england no that's not okay 196 yeah it's uh in combat sports i mean it's always been a problem performance enhancing drugs yeah everybody's been using it uh a lot of champions you know from the heavyweight division too a lot of sure a lot of people yeah but i don't know i don't want to try it i don't want to get caught up well it's it's beautiful that you you haven't had it and you could take pride that everything that you've accomplished is from hard work and intelligence yeah you know it's true that so when you look at the landscape of boxing i mean right now uh what fights are exciting for you um i want to see the Pacquiao and what's his name?

Thurman? No. The guy that fought many, Mikey Garcia. Oh, Earl Spence? Earl Spence. Yes, Earl Spence Jr. I like him. He's a bad motherfucker. To shut down Garcia like that?

Garcia's a bad motherfucker. He was. I was over there in Vegas with him. He's a bad motherfucker. Yeah. To shut down Garcia like that. Garcia is a bad motherfucker. He was. I was over there in Vegas with him. That was funny. Well, when Garcia, look, I give it up to Garcia because after that fight, he's like, that guy's the truth. Yeah. That guy's the real deal.

He is. You know, that's beautiful when a guy doesn't make excuses and says, hey, man, that guy's, he's, everybody knew Errol Spence is a bad motherfucker, though. I mean, it was no surprise. I think once you have him fight like the really elite fighters I think that's when

all his talents is in a show oh sure yeah I mean it's such a great time for boxing but Errol Spence Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao

would be incredible yeah they're working on it is that what they're working on I thought they were working on a rematch with Thurman I don't think so no

who wants to see that Manny Pacquiao who wants to see that you don't want to see it I think Pacquman? I don't think so. No? I don't. Who wants to see that? Who wants to see that? You don't want to see it? I think Pacquiao beat his ass. You think so? Yeah. It was crazy when he

knocked him down in the first round. I was like, wow. I think he got too confident. I think Manny Pacquiao got too confident and he got hit with punches that he shouldn't have,

you know? And I don't know. I think Thurman was just surviving the whole time. But either way, he was connecting really good shots. He connected with good shots.

Yeah, he sure did. And he hits hard. The crazy thing is Manny is the oldest ever guy to win the welterweight title. 40 years old. He's won titles in how many different weight classes now? It's more than eight. Like 12. I don't know.

Something. But it's like more than eight different weight classes, which is nuts. Like who the fuck does that? And then maintains his power all the way through. He just takes care of himself. Amazing. White rice.

Something. Whatever he's doing in the Philippines. It's amazing. But yeah, that's a great fight. And then there's Mayweather who shows up at that fight and is talking shit. I think that would be a good fight too

against Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather. I'll watch it. Apparently, according to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Khabib Nurmagomedov is the UFC lightweight champion.

Oh, Khabib. Bad Russian motherfucker. He's saying that Floyd Mayweather's people have been trying to get him to box him. Wow. That's crazy.

Well, Floyd made with that easy money off Conor McGregor. That's crazy. I like Conor McGregor, too. I do, too. Mm-hmm. I mean, it was a crazy... Well, Floyd made that easy money off Conor McGregor. That's crazy. I like Conor McGregor, too. I do, too. I mean, it was a crazy—well, Floyd played that perfectly, too. He only gave Conor like six weeks to prepare.

He took the lion's share of the money but gave Conor a shitload. He made a lot of money off that fight. Yeah, Matt Weathers is a smart man. Like I said, having the right people with you and that give you good opportunities, those are the right people you want around you. Now, when you were coming up, who were you influenced by? Like, who were you a big fan of? Of Chavez, you know, all the Mexican fighters, Morales, Barrera.

I got to meet Barrera. It was my first time. It was a good honor. Over there at the Pacquiao fight. Barrera was my first time It was a good honor Over there at the Pacquiao fight You know, Mike Tyson You know, all the big guys

All the Mexican guys as well too Yeah, so you're 29 So when you were When you first started out Who was big? Fernando Vargas He was my favorite fighter, man Fernando Vargas

I hung out with Fernando on a plane once. Yeah. I used to have the same haircut as him. I painted my hair. That was crazy. Yeah, no. He was a bad motherfucker. He was a lot of fun to watch.

Didn't he? He had some reality show he was doing for a while, too, right? Yeah, he was doing it with him and his family. What is he doing now? Do you know? He's training fighters. Oh, is he? And his kids, too.

They're really talented. Where at? In Vegas. Oh, okay. Vegas, yeah. Nice, nice. him now do you know um he's training fighters and his kids too they're really talented um where at in vegas oh they're in vegas yeah nice nice really good people nice guys um oscar de la joya you're fan of his yeah oscar yeah this i mean there's so many great mexican fighters if you think about one country that produced amazing boxers i mean mexico might be the top of the heap i mean if you really stop and think about it i think um i think we're missing one champion i that produced amazing boxers. I mean, Mexico might be the top of the heap. I mean, if you really stop to think about it. I think we're missing one champion. I think we have champions in all the divisions except for one, I think.

Light heavyweight, maybe? Probably. Cruiserweight? Cruiserweight. I think so, but you know what? At least we got the first Mexican heavyweight champion. Yeah. How does it feel, man? Does it feel crazy?

It feels good, you know? Does it? Just by? Does it feel crazy? It feels good, you know? Does it? Just by saying I'm going to be in the records, you know? Hopefully nobody forgets my name, but, you know, there's always going to be the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world, especially for my kids, you know, for them to look up and be like, wow. Forever. Yeah, my daddy could kick your daddy's ass.

It would be number one. I mean, you're the first ever. There's no one ever can take that from you. That's it forever. That's a blessing, man. You're in the books. That's what I've been working for for so long, you know, my dad pushing me, embarrassing me with my friends.

How do you embarrass him? Just by kicking me out, by telling me, come on, we have to go train, get the fuck out of there. I don't know. It's crazy, man. My dad's always been there behind me. So I don't think I would have been in this position if he wasn't in the role of all this. Is your dad a boxer?

No, but his dad used to train fighters in Mexicali. Oh. A long time ago. I never got to meet him. And he never boxed himself? No. He was just in the streets. Did he train?

No. He would just see his dad train other guys. I didn't think he had the discipline. I think he was more like a hustler, basically. So what was his thought when you first started fighting? Well, he's the one who put me into it. Yeah, because the destroyer, I used to destroy everything, all the toys, my mom's stuff, everything. So I had so much energy as a little kid. He just took me to my first thing was karate.

I tried karate. I was six years old. Didn't like it. It took too long for action or whatnot. And he put me in the boxing. I was six years old. And what do you know? I fell in love with the sport.

So what do you mean by it took too long for action? I think we were practicing too much or something. Oh, like katas and shit like that? Yeah, I think so. And the first two weeks when I went to a boxing gym, they made me spar and they kicked the shit out of me, man. They beat me up. When you were seven? No, I was six and a half.

You remember? Because I trained a whole year. And so I trained. Right. They beat me up. They put were seven? No, I was six and a half. You remember? Because I trained a whole year. And so I trained. Right. They beat me up. They put me to spar my first time. And I was bleeding. And I told my dad, you know what?

I don't want to fight no more. He's like, what do you mean? You just got to keep training. And you're going to end up beating everyone up. And what do you know? A year later, I end up beating everyone up. So your nickname came from you fucking things up as a kid? From fucking things up.

Destro destroying things. I could never have a toy or even like the Game Boy or anything for like more than a week or something because I would end up breaking it. So did your parents give you that nickname? Yeah. That's hilarious. What a great nickname then. Because it seems like a tough guy nickname, but then when you find out it's because you were a little kid and you would break your toys, that makes it even better. Not just toys, but everything.

Glasses. I don't know. It was crazy. So it must be wild for your dad to see you come up from a six-year-old kid. And because of his pushing you and trying to keep you in there, that you eventually start excelling and winning amateur fight after amateur fight. He's really happy, man. He's really happy. Like I said, he's really happy.

He's really blessed. He's over here and over there just enjoying life as well. Now, when you were coming up, was there a fighter whose style you tried to emulate? Was there anyone that really stood out for you you know i spotted a lot of guys and they all of them tell me that i have a my own type of style you know they tell me that i have a calm different style than than everyone else and you know i kind of i like that well that is one of the beautiful things about boxing and all martial arts like there's a lot of people that don't like that term martial arts because they don't think it's really an art but it is an art i think it's harder man

shit from being in the ground and fighting up it's it's a lot of things you have to learn oh for mixed martial arts yeah but i mean even boxing is a martial art and what i mean is that like the way you knocked out joshua that beautiful. It was beautiful. For a person like me who loves boxing, it was art. You expressed yourself in art. I mean, that's no different than a badass movie or a rap song or a symphony. It's art. It's just art with your fists. I mean, I'm sure you saw that video that I posted up on my Instagram.

Who was the guy that made that video that video where he hits Joshua and Joshua's soul leaves his body Ray Rod oh and he goes on the airplane

that was a funny one that guy's amazing what is his what is it 5 for what we're gonna find out his Instagram and give him some props

cause 7 for 7 Ray Rod 7 for 7 put that up so we can watch that again this that guy is a goddamn genius because he didn't just do it with that he did it with dionte versus brazil he gave him uh thanos's uh power fist this guy does amazing uh anime this one's not on jamie oh the guy does uh amazing uh animation i mean i don't even know how the fuck he does something like that and what program, but this was my favorite.

Play this, Jamie. Here, boom. Look at that. When you see the soul just leave his body, a blue soul. He gets the roller bag. He's on the escalator He gets on the plane And little tweety birds

Are flying around his head That is hilarious man That guy is a god damn genius Rayrod747 Thanks a lot buddy No he's genius Really funny How many millions of

Views did that shit get Well I think You reposted it And it got a lot more views Than on his page His got like 736 735 000 but on mine there's millions yeah no it's crazy he's he does a lot of great shit in mma and in uh boxing there's been a lot of that right a lot of memes yeah i like that you know and

now they have my own one so it's it's amazing they have your own one what like the the memes that they put of me hitting uh anthony joshua you know stuff like that yeah having me there and looking at it i'm just like wow man that's crazy yeah wild right so you you didn't emulate anybody when you're coming up it's not like chavez or or barrera anybody that you you like tried to imitate their style or tyson yeah of course like tyson you know everybody wants to knock everybody out like tyson and um chavez always going to the body you know i'm one of the heavyweights i like to hit the body a lot you know get them tired um uh but like i said i think i have my own style you know know. I like my style.

Have you had the same trainer your entire life? No. I went through. I learned from a lot of different trainers. You know, my first real professional trainer was Freddie Roach. Oh, really? Yeah, that's when I met Manny Pacquiao. I love Freddie.

Freddie, me too. Such a great guy. Freddie helped me out through my whole professional career until my 10th or 12th fight. He had me, so I learned a lot from him. Why did you stop training with him? They sent me to Las Vegas. Top rank sent me over there. And then some guy, Jeff.

Who were you training with over there? Jeff, some guy, Jeff Grimoja. Some big guy was training me over there. Then we moved from there. We went to Abel Sanchez when I fought for the world title for the WBO against Joseph Parker. So you were up in Big Bear with Abel? I was in Big Bear for, I think, for like a month and a half for the fight. So the Joseph Parker fight was the only fight you've lost, and it was a close decision.

Exactly. What was your thoughts on that fight? You know, I trained myself for that fight. Really? A lot of people don't know the training camp that we had. Abel Sanchez had like eight different fighters fighting at that same time. So he was always fighting out. So he would just leave us a piece of paper and be like, you know what, you guys do this, do that.

And on our own, you know. That's crazy. So it kind of sucked. Why did he do that? He was obligated to go to the other himself too thin yeah that sucks i'm a fan of abel sanchez too he's a bad motherfucker yeah he sure is you know i appreciate everything that he's done for me so knowledgeable but for that fight um i think i needed the right trainer and moving with manny robles and estreta it was it was the best thing i could have done you you know, cuz those guys are really on me

just to two guys just pushing you and one telling you this one telling you that and It's just good, you know, it keeps you focused and So when Abel was training you and you're training by yourself You're up there in Big Bear and training by yourself. How were you going nuts? I was going Helen us man What the fuck am I doing up here? There's shit to do. There's one movie theater big bear and training by yourself how were you going nuts i was going hell in this man what the fuck am i doing up here there's shit to do there's like one movie theater i was going back and forth from my hometown you know because i live in imperial valley i live like that's like four hours right three hours from big bear and um i was just going back and forth and i wasn't really

focused for that fight you know so um a lot of people don't know that did you fight parker in the uk no i fought him in new zealand oh wow new zealand and his hometown too oh wow so i think if i would have been over here with manny robles i definitely would have won well it was a close fight it was a good it was a good fight what when you think about what what went wrong i mean this is it's always so important for a fighter to have to experience a loss because a loss sort of lets you know like hey man you don't want this feeling you know and and i didn't want to lose no more you know and that's when exactly that's when everything went down and me having problems with uh top rank and um they're not letting me go and

al hayman helping me out al hayman is the the man you know he's a man right now and he helped me out through through everything to get me out of the the situation and and giving me this opportunity so top rank did they make you train with abel like how did how did that set up yeah we ended up going over there with abel sanchez um you know it was a it was a good good idea at first but we didn't know it was going to be like that right because he's just got too many um too many fighters too many obligations and triple g want to believe in him as well right yeah triple g went with jacobs anthony jacobs or something like that um but uh but triple g is a

good fighter you know i seen him over there at the fights too so he's amazing we're good friends no he's amazing and you know i'm really interested to see his rematch if they try to do a rubber match he's strong man me and him wrestled over there big bear you're wrestling literally wrestling and this guy picked me up and she's he's strong dude those russians are a different kind of human they're strong they're built different they got different tendons or something something but he's strong no he is a bad motherfucker he's he's a really friendly guy too he's always smiling and shit he's humble he doesn't yeah i get along with him really good we're over there going crazy together

why were you wrestling um it was just some something that some some drill to warm up and and um grabbing our fist by i mean our hands like shaking our hands to get to get strength in our forearms and shaking your hands yeah it was like can can we do it it's like like going like that like oh just squeezing yeah we get like uh cramps right here really yeah his forearm Is fucking big too Oh I'm sure He's strong But why not like Do like a wrist roller Or something like that

We do that one too But I guess I don't know That's how Just their style Of doing it Picking each other up And

How weird Crazy shit So was Abel Sanchez Gone with him too Or did he Was he focusing on Triple G No

Triple G was in training At that time He had Different other fighters He had to go Oh okay So he was just in training at that time. He had different other fighters he had to go. Oh, okay. So he was just in camp. So then you left Abel Sanchez, and now you're training with?

With Manny Robles and Estreita at the Legends Boxing Gym in Norwalk. So that is where you feel like is your best fit. Yeah, that's comfortable right there. The gym is beautiful. Facility is really big. You have everything that you need. comfortable right there you know um the gym is beautiful facility is really big um you have everything that you need but for the um reese joshua too uh the training camp's going to be in the mountains somewhere private and you know so we'll go just focus and get ready for the so

you're gonna do it in mexico right i'm gonna do it in mexico nice um did you like training at altitude at big bear was that the first time you had trained at altitude? No, I went there a few times and, you know, I like it. You know, the first few weeks is hard, you know, it's really hard. You get tired fast and, but I did like it. But when you come back down to sea level, you feel the benefit? I feel the benefit, I can last more, you know, more oxygen in your body, your brain. Yeah, for sure. Now, when you go to Mexico, do you know what altitude you're going to be up up there? It's going to be high in altitude, too.

Because there's like a point of diminishing returns. People feel like once you get above like 6,000, 7,000, 8,000, the idea is that you can't work hard enough because there's just not enough air. Like they think that 5,000 is like the line there's there's a lot of weird there's there's you know people have had different philosophies when it comes to training at altitude and now many people feel like you should actually live at altitude but you should train at sea level because they think that you when you train at sea level you could put out more output you could do more work and then you go and live up at altitude so your body acclimates to the low oxygen and you develop more red blood cells that makes sense yeah so you thought about doing something like that or you're just gonna stay up there yeah

i'm just gonna stay out there just for a few months you know and a few months and come back down finish finish it up finish the camp for like a month and Go where I'm gonna fight that I can't say well you're in such a great position man, and you're only 29 years old So like your athletic prime particularly as a heavyweight is like you're like three or four years away from your prime Which is really crazy and that's a good thing. You know I'm still young I never had Big wars, you know, I never been hurt. Thanks to God, you know i'm still young i never had um big wars you know i never been hurt thanks to god you know and every fight that i have you know i always pray for me and and the guy that i'm fighting though because i want both of us to go with our families because i have two friends that have died from one from mexicali and one from costa rica that i know personally so it's scary man

it's really scary it most certainly is i mean there's no getting away from that man it's it's scary man it's really scary it most certainly is i mean there's no getting away from that man it's it's it's a fucking scary sport when you think about your career do you have long-term goals do you have like a day that you like a time where you want to get out of you know what i wanted to retire when i was 35 years old and um i said that on a piece of paper like i like i was telling everybody to if you want to if you want to go or something write it down and all that and i said i won't i wanted to retire when i'm 35 so we'll see why 35 i don't know i just had that number seems like a good number uh-huh what do you think you would do if you weren't boxing um do the houses my dad is a contractor so uh we we buy lots and we make houses from scratch, you know, and we sell them.

We resell them or we rent them out or make a lot of apartments, you know, condos for the people that can't really afford. What's that called? My dad does it. Low-income houses. Low-income houses, apartments like that in my hometown, you know. Well, that's beautiful. apartments like that in my hometown you know well that's beautiful um but for fighters the thrill of fighting is something that is impossible to recreate it's almost like for a regular person to experience what you experienced when you knocked out anthony joshua when joshua gets

counted off the referee waves his arms and you're like oh shit i started jumping like oh my god you did you went nuts man but i mean that feeling you you all of a sudden you're the heavyweight champion of the world that i mean if you could sell that that look at that look at you right there yeah man i felt like so many stuff um from my bag just came off, you know, because so much pressure, so much stuff that was going through my mind. I mean, everybody was stunned. The whole crowd was stunned. Everybody was. But the crowd was on your side.

It was really wild, man. When you were teeing off on him, man, the roars of the crowd. And when it was over, when the referee just shook his hand and waved it off, like, that high is what leads fighters back in the ring when they really shouldn't be they chase that dragon yeah and that's what i want to do you know make a statement that everything is possible you know all the fighters that that have low confidence or something in themselves you know anything is possible just work hard and you know the opportunity will come do you think you'll ever train fighters me no i think the only person i would train would probably be like my son or at first you know because it's not really

good to be training the son and well it depends what kind of relationship you guys have you know but um i think my son i'll be trained i'd rather be like a promoter or something like that. Do you think you'll do that? Do my own promotions. Like Oscar? I sure will. Yeah? Mm-hmm. That's in the works. ARJ promotions coming soon.

Really? You're already in? Oh, no shit. Wow. That's the plan. You know, first I want to focus on the fight and all that. I don't want to jump in conclusions of doing all kinds of other stuff. I want to focus on my fight.

And after that or when I want to retire, I want to get fighters from Mexico, give them the opportunity, and, you know, learn like Oscar De La Hoya. Beautiful. That's beautiful, man. Anything else? Anything else you want to tell people? You know, just to tune in. December. December, Anthony Joshua against Andy Ruiz.

Andy Ruiz versus Anthony Joshua you're the top billing now man you're the champ thank you but you know

just gotta work hard man work hard stay stay humble stay disciplined and just focus on the

rematch well Andy listen man you're a great guy and a great role model thank you I appreciate that I think for young kids to look up to a guy like you who's a really nice guy Just focus on the rematch. Well, Andy, listen, man. You're a great guy and a great role model. Thank you. I appreciate that. I think for young kids to look up to a guy like you who's a really nice guy who's also a bad motherfucker,

it makes them realize, hey, you don't have to be a dickhead. You don't have to be mean. You can be a real cool dude who even prays for his opponent and still be the baddest motherfucker on the planet. Congratulations to you, sir. Thank you, man. Appreciate it, man. Very much. And good luck to you in December.

Thanks for having me here. Thanks for coming on, bro. You're going to be there, man. I'm going to give you some tickets for you. Oh, Congratulations to you, sir. Thank you, man. Appreciate it, man. Very much. And good luck to you in December. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming on, You're going to be there, man. I'm going to give you some tickets for you. Oh shit. Yeah. Oh shit.

You're going to be there.