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Once-A-Week Podcast: Holding, Hurt or Flopping? · Big Dog Lukie Boxing Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Once a Week Podcast brought to you by you.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into this week's topics.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Also, more than likely, I'm going to do a live on Friday paywall podcast for the Substackers.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the podcast listeners, be sure to run it up.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: We like those numbers.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Analytics boys in the building.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoy the show, I'm not charging for it.
• 0:22
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• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: that you think is appropriate to this show.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, without further ado, let's get into the topics.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Lead topic this week is essentially Ben Whitaker and mental toughness.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking to a friend, I won't say who, probably a high-profile boxing guy.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe he isn't a high-profile boxing guy, but it's a person that I deeply respect.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And we were talking about how when a fighter gets cut or gets a black eye,
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: you really see kind of the mental makeup of that fighter.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And you can't really prep for it, if you get what I'm saying.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: You can say the words, we embrace dark places, and I'm ready for it.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not unlike going to war and a bomb goes off and then all of a sudden
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: the vehicle you're in, well, it gets uprooted.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now there's all this chaos, people yelling, debris, you're unsettled.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now how do you respond?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's fight or flight.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to say Ben Whitaker can't handle a cut,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: he can't handle adversity, but he can't handle focus in a fight.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Seems as though he wants to make what Teddy Atlas often talks about as the nonverbal agreement.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: He wants to kind of belittle and humiliate his opponents to the point where they fight a more...
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: A somber funeral pace, I'll call it.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then he wants to be able to dictate and control the action from that point on.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it leads to just kind of an unsatisfactory performance.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that what happens too is you get,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: obviously when you're at a certain level and match them with guys,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: When they first signed him,
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: I believe two, three fights ago, they matched him up with guys that got the script.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: They said, okay, you know, you're better than me.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'll let you do what you're doing.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: You make fun of me and then you land the big punch and then it's going to be too much.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And with Conor Wallace, it wasn't as much that Conor Wallace lacked talent.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's more so that on this given night, Connor Wallace wasn't going to get knocked out.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: He made the decision he wasn't getting knocked out.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And he also felt as though Whitaker was mentally fragile.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And the further he pushed him in the fight,
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: the I'm starting to wonder if Whitaker does all these antics
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: because deep down inside he doesn't want to get walked down.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So he's trying to do things to obscure from the fact that he doesn't like pressure,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: he doesn't like pressure fighters,
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: and he doesn't like it when people land hard punches on him,
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: which none of us do, and adversity hits.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like he's trying to...
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: We can manufacture and show us that he's a flashy fighter who's unfazed by
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: the moment, but possibly deep down inside he's very phased by the moment.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: The moment gets to him and that's fine.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's all fair and good.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually very reasonable for moments to get to us.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: But that being said,
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: it puts a big question mark because the issue
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: with Whitaker is obviously beats Connor Wallace,
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: but he limps to the finish line, 12th round, almost gets knocked out.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: He has the bull crap of an influencer fight or a crossover fight.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: But he has the pedigree of one of the best British fighters coming up as a hopeful.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So most people are going to look at his antics,
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: the over-the-top entrances,
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: the flashy personality,
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: the mockery of the opponent,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: the lack of humility,
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: and say, man,
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: this guy is classless,
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: and he didn't come up from the classic schooling, when he did.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's an Olympic silver medalist, and he holds a win over Iman Kitaf.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: He only lost to Arlen Lopez.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: He's very, very good.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's very tricky.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yet you can't teach character.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm starting to wonder how he handles at a certain point.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm starting to less wonder and just say inevitably,
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: someone's just going to be too tough for him.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And does he evolve?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I guess the big thing with Whitaker, it's not as much about toughness as it is maturity.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's fine to But you have to identify it and create up strategies to work through it.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And currently Whitaker's strategy is arrogance,
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: cockiness, try to embarrass the opponent, land a big punch.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when that doesn't work, well, I'm all out of options.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get to your other questions this week.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Big praise for my man Steve Wellings joining the podcast.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get Steve back.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to get him in an eight rounder.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry for the mic issues.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, at my other studio, we've had some mic issues.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: First question, I've only seen one person point out Wallace.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't catch that.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't watch it as much,
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: but I will say this was not a fight that I intently watched because
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: the drama was lacking.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then when the drama came,
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: it was almost like even if this were to happen and I don't doubt you,
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Wallace became the beloved figure in this because he's He still was showing heart
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: and resilience late in the fight,
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: and it almost felt like by whatever means necessary, try to do it.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Whitaker flopping reminds me of Troy Isley versus Javier Martinez and
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: of Edgar Berlanga versus Patrick McCrory.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Javier fouls Troy, Troy says okay, ref did nothing, and then refs his own fight.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Good call.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: You see the ref ignore the fouls, and only after...
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Does Whitaker flop?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the same general group of people that mock Whitaker are the same group of people
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: that praise Zach Parker for flopping all 10 rounds.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: So what happened to the concern after the boxers recently died?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: All gone and forgot because it's cool to laugh at Ben Whitaker.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Guess we need to wait for the next boxer to have a tragedy.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that this is the hard part, right?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Is boxing is a fluid sport.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Boxing is a sport where you can't replicate a fight.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Two sparring sessions will never be the same.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Two fights will never be the same.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And as much as we try to be objective,
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: there's going to be inherent bias coming into every fight based around
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: the feelings you have for a fighter and The love and appreciation they bring into
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: the sport and maybe even a class,
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: a class issue of like, is this guy out here too cocky or too arrogant or whatnot?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that I also think each ref refs, it's like baseball.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I know for a lot of British people that listen to this,
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: they won't know, but every umpire has a different strike zone, you know?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Every ref has a different strike zone.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Every ref has different things.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Even though they're the same set of rules,
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: they'll be different for different people just based on their own tendencies,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: what their traits are.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I also think whether it's right or wrong, there's a moral component to this stuff.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: There have been dirty fighters.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: One could say Ricky Hatton was a dirty fighter, but he was a beloved fighter.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: There have been fighters who are not as dirty
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: as Ricky Hatton who've been labeled dirty fighters.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: There is a moral component to boxing where when sometimes people get rough,
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: it depends on the fighter.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I like it that you bring this up because we have to address things
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: that seem like hypocrisy so when the tragedies occur, we aren't shocked.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: We can objectively look at it and try to make things better.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we're very astute conversation.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Some comments about my Aaron Bowen comments.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I went viral on X this weekend with a tweet where I said Bowen is decent.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: He could turn into a world level guy with the right fights.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Twitter X is not the place for subtlety.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think they understand what you were trying to say.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Also added, Bowen needs to adjust to the weight.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: He fought at 175 as an amateur.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: He drained himself to 160 to turn pro.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now he's at 168.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Once he adjusts to the weight and adapts his game, Bowen looked terrible in rounds one and two.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, to me, Bowen shows a lot of craft.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: He's just a young pro, and he took a loss, right, to a guy, Tom Cowling, I believe it was.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: It happens.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not as down on guys,
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: especially British-level guys,
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: but I was pretty impressed with just the bare-bones stuff he has.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: He could be a guy that loses to a top 15 guy.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of what I'm saying.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, everyone was just kind of poo-pooing.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: What do I know?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Bowen's going to be someone I'm watching right now,
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: especially with how people made fun of me.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you're like, I must be vindicated.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: If Andy Lee is telling the truth and Whitaker had COVID,
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: we need to look at the Shabazz Musad versus Jose San Martin,
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: the guy who knocked down Abdullah twice,
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: and Musad had COVID and etched out a narrow split decision victory.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what Musad did since then.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's true, but I think it also brings up another can of worms of...
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Should a guy that maybe just had COVID be fighting?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And what's the reason?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Is it to maintain the show, to keep the fight date, to give people options to fight?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's where my mind goes is why.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Those questions... Oh, it's time to ask questions.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Is Andy Lee a domestic level trainer?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Lee is showing bumps when Joe Parker tried to get back to championship level.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hamzat Shiraz goes to legitimate world level and Ben Whitaker goes to the world level.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Or is this just part of the process?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Joe Parker, Lee planned with Parker to gain weight, changed his fighting style.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Parker's lost to Fabio Wardley.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: We now know about Hamzat Shiraz, Ben Whitaker.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Whitaker has only fought In eight rounds,
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: three times, including the single time he pushed to 10 rounds.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And none of those fights was Whitaker pushed.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So is this match designed to give Whitaker 12 rounds?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And is it part of the legitimate training plan?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it just going to turn out like Joe Parker, Fabio Wardley?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this is continued.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: So let me read more about this.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Those questions were Ben Whitaker needs to remember what happened to Frazier Clark.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Clark and Whitaker were the two poorly developed prospects at Boxer.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're also forgetting what happened to Joe Cordina being hit after the break and
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: the rapid punches many after the break.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like a lot of prospects with under 10 fights or even less than 15 fights don't jab.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd say the jab is,
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking about this the other day,
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: it was broadcast,
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: it always talks about the jab,
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: but The jab is a great way,
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: in my opinion,
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: as a veteran to assess,
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: control the tempo of the fight, but not overly exert yourself.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the reason you don't see a lot of fighters fight with a jab
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: under 15 fights besides elite ones is They're looking to impress,
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: they're looking to set up shots, and they're looking to be tight.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: When you're not tight and tense,
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: the punches flow better, and when the punches flow better, the jab gets off.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I think there's a reason that you see more mature fights.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: As for Andy Lee,
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not ready to write him off, but we now have suspicions and we have to wonder.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is this just a moment in Andy Lee's coaching?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Was there too much praise going on at once?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do all coaches lose at a certain point?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: You get to a certain point and then you have adversities.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's happened to Robert Garcia at times.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: It happens to all.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I'd say is, We're too quick to throw around the word Kronk style.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And though Lee comes from the Emanuel Stewart and the Kronk style,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's much more a European style trainer.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And he trains much more to counterpunch and...
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: To kind of engage with guys.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the one thing I do notice is when his fighters get in trouble,
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: it's like they're patiently looking to counterpunch and push back on me.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you remember his fighting style, he'd catch guys and counterpunch and such.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that can be the issue.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Is I would say that currently some of his fighters show too much patience,
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: too much poise, and we might need a little bit more recklessness.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: But then this is the issue, right?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: The trainer can help with a game plan.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: They can definitely help with the conditioning.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: They can help you strategize and stay sharp.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, it's the fighter because we have this pattern.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: More so my concern would be what's the physical conditioning
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: if everyone's having this because that's more my conditioning because
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: the fight strategy stuff is ultimately going to be decided by the fighter
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: because once you get in the ring, you don't have a video game controller.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can't fight for these people.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Any coach that says my fighter, my fighter, they're a goofball, right?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: They're a goofball.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you use the word my fighter, typically that's a goofball statement, right?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I think what I would say is we need to start watching the conditioning
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: and maybe preparation for Andy Lee's fighters more so than maybe is he
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: a world-class trainer.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: It might be like...
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: What's the pattern that's emerging with these guys and why are they all coming up short?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is it just that he has a good group of guys and that even
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: if they didn't have Andy Lee, that this is as far as they would go?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Or is there something else to be determined?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, shots fired.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Soft, fat Dave Allen.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Manages Commonwealth Games silver medalist Paige Murney.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Also fat Paige Murney,
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: who likely missed weight coming in at 137 pounds versus a 133 pound opponent.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we don't know.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: They could have contracted that at a catch weight.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: She physically looked terrible, gassed out in four rounds, point deduction.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, for Murney, I saw this fight.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: I saw Allen in her corner.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: She just looks like a young pro that...
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: To be perfectly honest,
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: she looks like if she wants to be a competent, high-level pro, she needs more.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I noticed this fight.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: I actually watched this fight because I'm a sick, sick man.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: But it was unbelievable.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Rather unspectacular.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd also like to give her a little bit more benefit of a doubt to see where she goes.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Hamza Yudin has eight wins.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: And he just knocked out a guy who's barely...
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Who's been knocked down, knocked out, and clearly drained himself barely to make 112.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's not get carried away.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: I get what you're saying, right?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: It could be a great stylistic matchup.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: That said, the way you didn't look to me, he looked really good.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: We are forgetting Fawaz is nearly 40 years old.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fawaz has adopted his game before Fawaz would take the early rounds off and come
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: on strong in the mid rounds.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now Fawaz takes many breaks throughout each round.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Bilal Fawaz is basically the 150 pound bomber Baladi.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a really good fighter.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ibrahim, this is a super UK deep dive mailbag, so I love this.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: I watched Sonny Hardy...
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Outweight a 349-3 opponent, 131 pounds to 123, and fail to put him away.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: You have to think Queensberry's Nelson Burchall would beat Suleman at a British level.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to see a fight like that, but it's also because I'm a sick, sick human being.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that Suleman...
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Has some interesting athletic traits, but huge question marks.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's four British-level guys.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Match them up domestically because British boxing is almost a world onto its own.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the losses might matter, but the fans are great.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: So make those fights.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can emerge, you can get to those big fights.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that no one cares if you have a problem.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: It may be rude to demand that you say it.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's going back to me basically just saying I've been going
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: through something in my personal life.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I get it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's also and there was also like a thing about sometimes I joke around
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: and use the word criminal and that like, you know, whatever.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a context issue, too, is when I do the podcast.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: I joke around.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: I joke with my buddies on the podcast and the way I joke, I've learned through the years.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: I joke around and if you don't know me, I might be playing around.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if you take it literally, it might be viewed a bad way.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I should be better at that, but people say I play too much sometimes.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I play around, but I also want to give you the insight not to complain.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: But if I go to a dark place,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: at least like three,
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: four weeks ago, I thought something real sad was happening to someone I knew.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: And every now and then,
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: when you're going through something and you got your mind doing mental hurdles,
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want to give you as a listener a little heads up.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then I might go dark on you.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Your B-Day is when Nao Inouye made his pro debut.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let me check and see if this is true.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: My birthday, for those keeping track, is October 4th.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it is a national boxing holiday.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, October 2nd.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: So my birthday was a couple of days after.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: Be fun.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I could use AI and figure out which fights were with my birthday on it.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: We'll keep it going.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see, more questions.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: If there are fewer shows due to a global economic downturn alone,
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: why is there an increased record viewership in the billions for ice hockey,
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: basketball, American football, and football?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: I would say because there's a trust in the product.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: I would say the issue with boxing is people don't trust what's happening.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: They don't trust they're consistently getting the best product.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think to the point of that is even if they get the best product,
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: they feel as though the belts are meaningless.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they are, they aren't.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think now there's a little bit of validation with fighters dropping belts that almost confirm.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like they're consistently getting fights that aren't worth tuning in for.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I think the reason people aren't turning into boxing is there's a lack of trust
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: in the product presented that it's truly a world class product.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas hockey, basketball, baseball, American football and football in Europe.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: All have a system in place where the best will end up facing the best.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas boxing year after year,
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: it's a struggle to try to figure out how the best can face the best.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: The business of boxing is what makes boxing uninteresting.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm paraphrasing.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: it's just this weird cycle where week after week we're doing water cooler talk
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: about promoters or speculative fights.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this week is a great example.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: I wish we had a bigger fight week.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: I wish Wednesday there was a media workout and there was huge demand
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: for Lucas Boddy versus Floyd Schofield.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like a few years ago we probably would have had that.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Instead,
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: we're going to limp through the week and get to Thursday and get
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: a very quick press conference.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're going to make weight and we're going to be at the fight.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a fight of huge consequence.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is a fight that the winner could potentially end up fighting Gervonta Davis in
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: the future because of the WBA implications.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: If Davis were to come back and fight someone like a George Cambosis and wanted to go
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: after the WBA title, given his status.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, it's just kind of like a ho-hum affair.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that's kind of the somber side
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: of boxing is there's not enough fight cards,
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: there's not enough fight dates, there's not enough going on.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Look at this crap.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see, this looks like some film study junkie stuff.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let me make sure that I'm muted.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let me see.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: So let me read the question.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Look at this crap.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: After Haney knocks down Norman,
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Norman throws a single right, Haney ducks, then he frog hop jumps Norman.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: He holds, referee breaks, rinse and repeat for the next eight rounds.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, but Devin Haney is a pound for pound fighter.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: How is this different from what Whitaker did to Wallace?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Levels, Devin Haney shines.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's watch this.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think the one thing that I'm seeing right here is Devin's employing
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: the John Ruiz jab and grab strategy where it felt like Wallace was hanging on
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: for dear life.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the optics of a lack of a big punch landing for Norman and then
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: that being I mean, the clinch, whereas Haney is basically out-athleting Norman.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: He's fast feet, you know, he's setting him up, using the jab, and then he holds, resets.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'd say that the difference is,
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: more so,
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Haney's using the hold to offset and negate the action,
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: but it's not based around a punch that was game-changing normally.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: I would say that it looks like it was a tactic to stall the action and negate the fight.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas Whitaker gets criticism because he was doing it because it looked as
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: though he had to do it.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't look like Haney had to do it.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: It looked like Haney was doing it to just fight a calculated, boring fight.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you think wins between Dave Allen and Michael Zaroffa sparring?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going into a video right here.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Of the two in an IFL backroom.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's Dave Allen with his gloves on and Zarafa.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, obviously with the size difference, Dave Allen probably wins.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Dave Allen, to me, is a very, very scary puncher as a big guy.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say, Zarafa has...
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Is definitely the sharper of the two.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: He is much sharper than Dave Allen.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: You can just see it.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking to a guy about a fight today,
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: and it's like it takes years and years to just see what sharp is.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't even explain it,
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: but what sharp is to me is the ability to be in and out of range,
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: the ability to come back with punches, the ability to have snap on your punches.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: You just see that with Zaroffa, whereas Allen just looks like a big guy, you know?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: And...
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, I don't know.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Allen would win based on size, but I leave more
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: impressed from Zarafa.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, let's get out of that.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's not, let's see what this is.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not easy knocking out a guy in round 12.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: What is this in mention to you?
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: The Ishmael Davis, Josh Kelly fight where Davis almost stopped Kelly in the final round.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Davis to me is a guy I really, really like.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Kelly's always going to be a guy that's frustrating because it's like I thought
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: that he had more talent than Josh Taylor, which people at the time criticized.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now he's a world champion and that might be aging better than it was.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: It felt like for years that was a bad take, but maybe it's a good take.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: But Kelly excessively moves.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're an excessive mover...
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have moments where there's just really weird fights late in the fight.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's just what it is.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: More bullcrap.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: Zach Parker versus Joshua Boatze.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Parker dodges a punch and holds Boatze just like Whitaker did.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Parker did that for 10 rounds and the British say he won.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, but Barker was robbed.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Zach Parker really won the fight.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Let's watch this.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Let's watch what happens in this.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: So Boatsy's favorite fighter,
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: by the way,
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: is Joe Frazier,
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: and you see a little bit of the Frazier influence in this fight, by the way.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Boatsy's coming forward, really pressing the action, pretty impressive.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: Zach Parker,
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: for those that don't remember,
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: had this kind of built-up record in an Edgar Berlanga-like reputation over there,
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: and then John Ryder just absolutely did a demolition job on him.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I remember he was being rated as the number one guy.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, how is he number one contender over a lot of guys when he hasn't fought anybody?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's like up until that point, it's like, oh yeah, Marcus Morrison win.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: Totally gets you there.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: But it just kind of shows that there's a lot of groupthink in boxing.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: So watching the sixth round here, and basically Parker's gassed out.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this is kind of going to the opposite of the Haney thing.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not saying that there's a huge difference,
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: but the optics of this one is it's like a hybrid of the Haney and the Whitaker
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: where it looks like Parker is extremely gassed out and beat up.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he's trying to score points.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: He's trying to land blows.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then he can't sustain action for the whole time.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like he's going,
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: he's going, but he's kind of struggling to find his range and to cut the ring off.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: He seems to always be giving him outs.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then Parker's having moments because I think he feels as though he's
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: the physically stronger guy where he'll hold him.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: The big issue I'm seeing in this fight why I think some of
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: the fans probably favored Parker was the clean jabs that he's landing.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Those seem at least in the round I'm watching as the cleanest punches.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like the reason they're clinching though is both guys fall
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: into their punches and they end up falling into each other
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: and they just end up holding.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd say this form is a lot different because this was just them falling in.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Haney felt like a strategic game plan,
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: which the referee should have forced the hand of Haney if he's going to do that.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then with Whitaker, he was just trying to survive.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd say there are three different examples, at least to me.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's another YouTube clip here.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see what they want me to watch here.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now Boatze's going off on him.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Looks like he dropped him.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's ruled a slip.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't really pay that close of attention.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: He gets up.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Parker's beat up in this fight.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Boatze's range is a little off.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Parker is just really, really tired.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: He's squared up, and then at times he's holding excessively.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: The referee's not really getting in there,
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: but it feels like Parker's trying to do an ambush attack and Boatze's forcing
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: the action.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: I almost wonder what Boatze would have looked like if he went backwards in this fight.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Really ugly fight, to be honest.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really ugly one.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Iman Ketov was dropped by Mikhail Diallo.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: I remember that.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was earlier this year, if I remember.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was just a sloppy, stupid one.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: And let me explain why I think this happened, too.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Here's Ketov.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, he gets sent down with a right hand.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: This kind of reminds me of a worse version of Better Beave versus Callum Johnson
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: where punchers...
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking about being with a fighter where he doesn't quite punch through the target.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: He punches almost to the target,
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: but he's pulling back because he wants the speed and he doesn't want
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: to risk getting hit.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And those really, really, really good punchers...
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: They risk it all because they think they're gonna land
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: and it's gonna change something
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: and that's why really big punchers sometimes can get dropped
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: by feather fisted punchers because what happened here is Diallo beats him to
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: the punch.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really Ketoff loading up on the shot,
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: he gets beat and then the momentum of his power is really what he got hit with,
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: with a short shot and that sent him down.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's, hopefully that's interesting to someone.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Connor Wallace's highlights and knockout videos
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: from Themcicles really could be only two minutes and 33 seconds long.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Compare that to the video of Constantine Nanja, who is a shared opponent in Dylan Collin.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I missed this, or maybe I didn't.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it came later.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the thing with Wallace is he's physically tough.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: He comes forward.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: And he's a volume guy.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: He's a volume guy.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Boom, touch, touch.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: He's got that upright style, but he's going to take one to give one.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: He kind of reminds me of a Southpaw John Duddy, is who he reminds me of.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like he's a little bit better than people think, but he's not great.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let's look at Nanga.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: Nanga.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: Who's this guy?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Longer.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean,
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think the reason they're like, why is,
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: I guess they're saying like, why is the highlight reel package better for this guy?
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think one thing Wallace fought better people.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: So his highlights aren't as good.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like Nenga's in there with a nine and 14 guy,
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: basically in like a cafeteria,
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: the goal of any fighter I think that has some pedigree is to be in a fight building
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: where you can't pick up the chairs after the fight's over because that's not
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: the ideal.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, he's loading up and basically landing.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Big telling blows on guys that aren't good enough to be in there with him.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's also a more spectacular,
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: he's like an Instagram fighter in a good way in the sense
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: that you can really clip him and make some good highlights.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's fighting guys that are physically smaller than him and he's putting his will on them.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel like Wallace just doesn't document and highlights well because a lot
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: of what he does is slowly applies pressure,
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: breaks you down,
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: physicality, stuff that doesn't really translate all that well to stuff like that.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, keep it going.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Nanga throws for power.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: He sets up his power shots.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's a reason why Wallace was chosen to get the rounds in as opposed to Ninja.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: When Ninja fought Dylan Colin,
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: he said in a number of YouTube short comments that Colin told him he had dizzied him
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: by some Yeah, I mean, Nenga, the thing about him is he's a wild live cannon.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: He's coming in really to punch.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now here's video of Colin R.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Wallace versus Dylan Collin.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: This guy is a light heavyweight with 70% KO ratio and 63% KO ratio by all total matches.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: These are basically all against Journeyman,
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: yet we're hearing that Wallace is more like Kiro Rustin or Paolo Acuzo.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm aware Acuzo has a similar KO rate, but he also is a one-punch KO puncher.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wallace isn't.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, to me,
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Connor Wallace came into this fight,
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: and I wasn't very high on him, and I think Whitaker...
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: Underachieved,
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: but he's more like an accumulation guy who gets going late,
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: and he's better than he looks on tape,
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: and he can put his punches together,
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: but it's a slow and steady bed of nails on a wall that are inching closer to you,
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: and if you don't have a piece of plywood to stop the motor,
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: it can get rough in there.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Light difficult, it's difficult, it's...
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: At light heavyweight,
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: it's difficult to find a decent opposition to give you rounds without being a threat
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: to knock you out.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: But they found that in Connor Wallace.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in round 12, that's exactly what happened.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whitaker got the practice in with some of those rounds being under duress.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he got experienced of holding like Devin Haney and Zach Parker.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: But...
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: Whitaker really wasn't under the threat of being knocked out
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: because Connor Wallace isn't that guy.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's as if the British people don't watch or don't follow British boxing.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's round 12 nonsense happens all the time in British boxing.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, F this crap.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think an issue of this, too, is just the optics of Whitaker.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: Whitaker has all the talent and pretty arrogant,
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: and it feels like he's well in control,
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: and it felt like this might not have happened if he stepped on the gas in round four
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: after he kind of buzzed him in round three,
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: and it felt like this was a self-inflicted fight under duress,
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: at least to me, and I think that's why he's getting a lot of criticism, too.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's a film study of Luis Santana and Lucas Boddy from the 2017 Canadian Championships.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Santana's in a step-your-game-up fight against Demetri Asana,
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: the Wasp,
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: who's a really good fighter,
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: and Boddy is in a world title fight, and he's really, really good.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is just...
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is looking like a levels fight.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Santana is just physically smaller than Body, and he's just not as sharp.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: I just see that right away that Body's just a better, bigger fighter, able to control it.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is nine years ago.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Body's just sharper.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: He controlled the center of the ring.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: He pushed him back.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like he's hurting him.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Body's a real puncher, and without headgear, I mean, he's just wearing Santana out.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's wearing them out.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: Should be Body Wins.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: 113 views, we love that.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: And Body won.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: I know what I'm talking about, guys.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of fitting, too, right?
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: It looked like a guy who's going to have to learn on the job against
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: a future title contender, and that's what they are.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Argarko literally was set up for a final eliminator, and no UK promoter took him on.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's true.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a stylistic thing there, too, though, of that.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you think would win in a five-round match between Gleb Bakashi and Alysses Iglesias?
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: These are my dudes.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm watching a 2018 World Duel match between the two right now.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: But Gleb Bakashi was one of my favorite Olympians in 2021.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: I watched every Olympic match because I'm a 6'6 person.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd say Alysses Iglesias is probably my...
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: He's one of my favorite fighters that no one talks about in all of boxing, right?
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: Really enjoy watching him.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: What I remember about Bakashi is he's pretty dirty, he's pretty physical.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of someone that wants to hold and grab, he's the king of that.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: I've always felt like if there's a way to beat Iglesias, it's gonna be with pressure.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: Early on, Bakashi's having trouble getting to the inside.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Man, Iglesias is like,
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to jinx my dude because I enjoy watching him fight so much,
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: but it's like he has elements of Terrence Crawford.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Bakashi rocked Iglesias.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: He rocked him.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's holding on.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: He's holding on.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: In round three, he's holding on.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see how he adjusts.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: Gleb Bakashi.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: But then this is what good fighters do.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, he's hurt, but he's buying time.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to get out of this round.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: I guess the argument is...
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know who wins a five-round fight right now.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like Bakashi probably won it, but Iglesias came away with the victory.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very good fight,
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: but at the same time, it's like in 2018, They were basically at the same level.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: Iglesias now might be on the cusp of the pound-for-pound list,
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: and I view him as like an Archer-Betterby-level fighter,
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: and Bakashi is just not on the radar.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's not even a contender, at least to me.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is my feel spot.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Big Nasty versus Carter FA.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've wanted to do this, so let's do this.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: Big Nasty.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Film study unavailable here.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm familiar with Big Nasty, Big Equalizer, right hand, still learning his distance.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to sling him, and we're going to see how it goes.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let's look at Carter Efe.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's a guy I've heard is going to be really good.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's like a woman in there doing some social media posting.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is awesome.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: Who's the ring announcer?
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's a local guy.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's sick.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's like a woman in the ring.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, this is the definition of just a weird fight.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Big Nasty absolutely annihilate Conor F.A.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is Ben Whitaker,
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: Ben Whitaker-esque.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, this is a fight that needs to happen.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, this is just a, I don't even feel right talking about it.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a weird,
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: strange looking man who's playing to the crowd and just throwing weird,
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: strange punches, assuming they're going to land a huge consequence.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: I need to see him in the ring with Big Nasty.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you can wait 24 hours,
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you tape on Whitaker and Wallace so you can see
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: for yourself Wallace's magical power.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad I did it.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: Link to a X account.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: It says Ben Whitaker is hurt in the late rounds.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: Let me see this.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah,
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's also like the optics of like when you start Whittaker holds Wallace as
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: if he's Jessica McAllister.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: He holds Wallace and bends over.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: Whittaker only falls down after he established
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's maybe some truth to that,
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: but I also think that he got a concussion and he was out of it
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: and he just felt really freaking embarrassed because he's a very loud personality
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: and...
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_00: He is getting embarrassed on a big stage.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he was like, what do I do?
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: What do I do?
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's another part of me that feels that as well.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's your once a week podcast this week.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you guys for your submissions.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed it.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: And be sure to leave some comments so I can have another great show next week.