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Once-A-Week Podcast: Getting Ready For Benavidez-Morrell · Big Dog Lukie Boxing Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: The once a week podcast is back.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you to you.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Before I get into this week's questions,
• 0:08
  let me talk about some things that people have asked in the
• 0:11
  chat that I will answer now.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: So the first question I got this week, what is a trap fight?
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: You keep saying a trap fight, trap fight, trap fight.
• 0:22
  A trap fight is a fighter who could win a fight,
• 0:27
  but on paper,
• 0:28
  realistically,
• 0:30
  most people assume that they're going to lose and it's easy to
• 0:35
  look past that
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: fighter because there's big opportunities after that fight.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: So a trap fight would be,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I guess one would be,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: um,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Victor Ortiz,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Josecito Lopez,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Josecito might not have been a great guy or a great,
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: undefeated fighter.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: He was a good fighter, et cetera.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: You get in there with him, he beats Victor Ortiz.
• 1:03
  And now,
• 1:03
  you know,
• 1:04
  you've got a guy who just,
• 1:05
  you know,
• 1:07
  beat a player in the division.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't even think they rematched that fight, to be honest.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a little tidbit of boxing history.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: But a trap fight, traditionally, to me, is a fight in which...
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: There can be various circumstances,
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: but there's a level of naiveness maybe to the team where they,
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: oh,
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: this guy's record sucks.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to get through him.
• 1:32
  It's the type of fight where there's a big opportunity if they
• 1:36
  win the fight and
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: this guy is coming off a loss or has lost a big guys.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's what a trap fight is.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope I clarified that if
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: anyone wants me to go into further detail, et cetera, I will.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: The next one, Teofimo Lopez, very popular fighter.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people really like Teofimo Lopez.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I was around him early in his career.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And people ask, what was Teofimo like when you were around him?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of observations I had from Teofimo.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: First, really a kind person.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think that that's something that often gets
• 2:14
  overlooked with a lot of young fighters especially I think the
• 2:19
  big thing I'm sorry I'm yawning
• 2:26
  The big thing with Teofimo is he did a lot of growing up
• 2:32
  between when I knew him
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: and where he's at now.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not just like me saying like,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: oh yeah,
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: he was a little,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: it's like life came at him hard.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: He had his father who was a big,
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: strong presence in his life,
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: but there was going to be an element of,
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: he was just going to learn trial and error on his own.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like I always got that sense with Teofimo.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when I was around him, it was the naiveness.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was the naive portion of his career, the innocence.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So he was like,
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how old he was,
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: but for those that don't know,
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: he went to the Olympics,
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: but he went to the Olympics,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I believe,
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: for Honduras.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't qualify for the U.S.
• 3:15
  because of qualification standards,
• 3:18
  and they were upset with Balderos,
• 3:19
  etc.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then T.O.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: went on to kind of...
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: become the first fighter signed with top rank.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I believe in 2016 out of the Olympics,
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: he was the first guy,
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: and that's now nine years ago.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Crazy.
• 3:36
  And he was someone who had a friendship with Frank Stea,
• 3:41
  who I know very well.
• 3:43
  And Frank Stea at the time was going to a lot of the regional
• 3:47
  house shows,
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: a lot of the smaller level shows,
• 3:51
  So if there was a fight in,
• 3:52
  say,
• 3:52
  Fresno,
• 3:53
  he would drive to the show from Vegas.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Vegas to Fresno is five hours.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So Frank would drive from Fresno.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Or he'd drive to Fresno from Las Vegas.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe,
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: if memory serves me,
• 4:09
  they might carpool or Teofimo would carpool with his dad with
• 4:13
  someone else.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And they would end up at a lot of those shows.
• 4:17
  And then when I was at Los Angeles shows,
• 4:19
  they would end up at those shows.
• 4:21
  So I ended up seeing them a lot when they were kind of just
• 4:26
  getting going.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:28
  And what a lot of people won't remember is it was kind of a
• 4:31
  mixed bag on where he
• 4:33
  was going to land because he had a fight with William Silva
• 4:36
  that was not an
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: outstanding performance.
• 4:38
  There were a lot of people behind the scenes that I think were
• 4:41
  very critical.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say it was the William Silva fight.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: There was a fight early on that people were critical of.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: He got hit a little bit.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say he bled in the fight.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the turning point for Teofimo, it was on the Conlon card.
• 4:56
  It was a December card where he got like a first round knockout
• 5:00
  and it was sensational.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: It was before the Heisman game.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was in December.
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  And that's when the rocket ship kind of took off is he got a
• 5:07
  first round knockout.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: He kind of lived up to it because before...
• 5:12
  before he kind of started having these great performances on
• 5:16
  national tv he always
• 5:18
  kind of don't take it wrong but he kind of came off a little
• 5:23
  bit odd right because
• 5:26
  they were talking a big game but they hadn't accomplished that
• 5:29
  in the pro game but
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: they wanted to talk a huge game and
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it was him and his father talking a big game.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And at times it just was a little bit weird.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I was a misfit boxing media guy.
• 5:40
  And I think they were kind of misfits in where they sat in the organization.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: They were very early on,
• 5:47
  but people didn't know whether or not he was a top prospect or
• 5:51
  if he was just a guy
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: that would get figured out and get moved accordingly.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we kind of...
• 5:57
  matched in that way in the gym at that time he was extremely
• 6:02
  focused um he's always
• 6:05
  been a ball of energy so he'd always talk to you and stuff he'd
• 6:09
  always say things
• 6:10
  and he loved to perform you get the camera on you guys should
• 6:13
  go back and watch
• 6:14
  love talking he loved having fun he loves showing off is a big
• 6:18
  thing with teo he
• 6:19
  loves showing off he loves being a star he loves entertaining
• 6:23
  for other people for
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: better or for worse so
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: The last time I saw T.O.
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  SPEAKER_00: was probably Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder 2.
• 6:40
  I think I passed him in a lobby and he was going to do ESPN and
• 6:45
  he gave me a hug
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: and that was the last time I think I've seen him.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what's going on with Tio.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: It just feels like life hit him really hard.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think he came into boxing very naive.
• 6:58
  And I think that life in general has beat him up from
• 7:02
  relationships to the business of boxing.
• 7:06
  I hope I can reconnect with him because we have some stories
• 7:08
  that I can't even
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: remember right now.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you a good Tio story.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: So here's a story.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is probably what you want.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: It was Carson, California.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Andy Vence is fighting Eric DeLeon.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Main event, Oscar Valdez, Scott Quigg.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: ESPN fight.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: It ends up raining at the venue.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's an outdoor venue, but it ends up raining day of the fight.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it's this only the hardcore,
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: the hardcore fans go because it's a rainstorm for an outdoor venue.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Just not what you want.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Biggest fight of this guy, I know Andy Vence's career.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of that fight that can get him to the next level.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: He was going to get a world title shot,
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: and then Jamel Herring kind of took that opportunity for whatever reason.
• 7:53
  Herring got the opportunity and went and got the belt because
• 7:58
  there was one
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: vulnerable champion,
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  SPEAKER_00: which was Ito,
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: and it was either Andy or Herring were going to get the opportunity.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Herring ended up with the opportunity, went on a little run.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: So be it, Andy never got a world title shot.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the way things shake out.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we're there night before.
• 8:17
  I don't think Andy went with us because he didn't go with us
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  because we were at this hotel.
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  SPEAKER_00: I stayed in Carson,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I want to say they were staying at a hotel on Huntington Beach,
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  SPEAKER_00: and it was just a mess.
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  SPEAKER_00: There was a parking lot.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I actually was so stressed out, I lost my car in the parking garage.
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  SPEAKER_00: Baz,
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Basil,
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  had to walk me back to my car the same way I went because I
• 8:42
  couldn't figure out
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: where I parked my car.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was so bad.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Herb had just passed away.
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  SPEAKER_00: Andy's original manager, Herb Stone, had passed away.
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  SPEAKER_00: So things were very emotional for that fight, right?
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  And then DeLeon was a guy who was really a tough customer,
• 8:59
  high-level fighter.
• 9:01
  So it was a very serious fight,
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  and everyone knew the stakes and how serious it was,
• 9:05
  etc.
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  SPEAKER_00: Good fight.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: So somehow I get... And I'm positive this was...
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: This had to have been that week, but I might be missing the days up.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure it was this.
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  SPEAKER_00: We end up at Buffalo Wild Wings.
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  SPEAKER_00: And check comes, and Junior Lopez pays for the meal.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the next day, I'm going to buy a hat.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's Teofimo's hat.
• 9:37
  And I remember it was funny because the dad goes,
• 9:39
  come on,
• 9:40
  man,
• 9:40
  I bought you lunch.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, no, no, I'll buy you.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pay the money.
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  And it was funny because he was already expecting to have to
• 9:47
  haggle me down and
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: talk me into paying for it.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I always thought that was funny.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I remember...
• 9:54
  I was originally supposed to shoot the video the first time and
• 9:59
  I was texting with
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Tio probably through Instagram.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I had his phone number, but I don't think I did ever.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he kind of went dark on me.
• 10:07
  So I had to cancel my Southwest flight because I just didn't
• 10:10
  trust flying to Vegas
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: and not having contact.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember Tio coming up to me and being like,
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hey man,
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry about what,
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: like he was saying like an apology for it,
• 10:18
  which was really nice because a lot of people don't even
• 10:20
  acknowledge that shit.
• 10:22
  and then i'm like yeah it's all good like you know whatever and
• 10:25
  then i remember
• 10:26
  like me and teo he was used to being around me so he started
• 10:30
  joking shadow boxing
• 10:31
  with me because i think that like he knew me the most out of
• 10:35
  the people and uh it
• 10:39
  was just cool it's cool to see like a young kid early in his
• 10:44
  career there's tons of
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: cool stuff um
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Early on with Tio.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess from the outside looking in,
• 10:53
  it's just been hard as an observer seeing a young person that
• 10:56
  you saw that early on
• 10:57
  in their career go through difficulties and you're not a part
• 11:01
  of the journey.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not that I want to be a part of the journey,
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: but it's just difficult knowing the kid in that regard.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, transitioning over.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think of Jordan Fuentes?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've handled these already, but maybe I'll say that.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think of Jordan Fuentes?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I answered these on the results, but I'll hit it again.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: I like Fuentes.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: He's got big wins.
• 11:24
  He's a good amateur,
• 11:25
  but at the same time,
• 11:26
  it feels like something's missing.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure what it is.
• 11:29
  Grant Flores feels like an organic golden boy star in the vein
• 11:34
  of Ryan Garcia,
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Floyd Schofield,
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: and Virgil Ortiz.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: He's a guy to watch this year.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: New questions.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Did you watch the UK matchroom card?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Horrible Harry got sparked out by Kona Walker in the round 11.
• 11:49
  Domestic UK fighters are often not good to take a big lead
• 11:54
  through 12 rounds.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 11:56
  I just thought that was a fight where Kona Walker never lost
• 12:00
  focus and truly
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: believed in his power and created something miraculous.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to do my awards,
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: which will come out on Saturday,
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Fight Day,
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: which will be the best of January.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: We're bringing those back in audio format.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Get ready for that.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Kona Walker received an award for this month,
• 12:16
  and I think it's a fight that if you are subscribed to this
• 12:19
  newsletter and you
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: enjoy what I'm doing,
• 12:21
  you should see the Kona Walker fight because that's the type of
• 12:24
  fight I feel like
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: you should see.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, look, Dalton Smith is really good.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: The thing that people forget is he doesn't fight very often.
• 12:29
  So it's hard to give a guy a ton of credit if you're just not
• 12:31
  fighting as often as
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: other fighters.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: How do you think Inouye was affected mentally since December?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: I assume that's partially because you're saying the inactivity, etc.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Inouye is a true professional, so I don't think he's that affected.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time,
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think there are highs and lows,
• 13:09
  and it was a disappointing level of opposition given the type
• 13:12
  of opponents he's
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: been taking as a recent.
• 13:14
  uh did scotney versus motu have a head clash cut i thought that
• 13:18
  that was something
• 13:20
  weird like in the dubois fight due to how aggressive move two
• 13:23
  was i sadly only was
• 13:25
  able to watch highlights of this fight so i can't go into
• 13:27
  detail i just wanted to
• 13:29
  see how ellie scotney looked but i was unable i had to be at a
• 13:33
  birthday party lunch
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: so i couldn't do my 12 hour binge of boxing on that day
• 13:39
  Andy Cruz proved the moron kid was due to fighting outdoors or
• 13:46
  mid-afternoon to Los Angeles.
• 13:48
  I mean,
• 13:48
  Andy Cruz is just a young fighter who's extremely talented and
• 13:51
  great in catching rhythm.
• 13:52
  I think there's a ridiculous backlash to Andy Cruz just because
• 13:56
  I think a lot of
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: people want to be the smartest guy in the room and say,
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: oh,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Cuban guy is just not good.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Andy Cruz is really good.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: I thought Nelson would do better based than how he performed.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think you guys were wrong about Nelson.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: He has gas tank issues both now and when he was younger.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he does carry a lot of muscle, and he loads up on shots.
• 14:14
  I also just think that not having one of those capital G or
• 14:18
  capital C cut men in
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: his corner also really hurt him.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think that a guy like Baz,
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Stitch,
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Navarro,
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: they give you a little bit more of a time to work,
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that cut really,
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: really impacts him.
• 14:31
  What are the chances that Sergei Lipinitz will be the guy to
• 14:33
  catch Adam Azim?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'd say 30% to 40%.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 14:38
  we're all waiting for Adam Azim to get caught because he pulls
• 14:41
  straight back and
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: has some really,
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: really glaring flaws.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Lipinitz...
• 14:46
  Did perform well against Robbie Davies Jr.,
• 14:48
  but at the same time he got hit.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is a closer to a 50-50 fight.
• 14:53
  It's obviously not going to be the fight that most fans are
• 14:56
  watching on Saturday,
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: especially in the U.S.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: because of Benavidez and Murrell, but it's something to monitor.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't like how Sasaki was getting hit by his opponent.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: I heard Sasaki struggled versus Sake.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: He did struggle.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean,
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: this is a guy who's going to be exciting,
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: but he's just not going to make it to that next tier.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: I did watch the fight.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a...
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sasaki barely pulled it out.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's got some athletic traits,
• 15:24
  but he's more of that old school comma guy type fighter where
• 15:28
  he's going to take a
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: lot of punishment.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to be in fun fights.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's probably going to lose a decision.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Was it Lee or Kim?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: He asked Inouye to KO him before Inouye finally did in the fourth.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: His name was Kim.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: How do you see Yonel Hernandez?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: He's fighting on the Benavidez Murrell undercard.
• 15:48
  I mean,
• 15:49
  I've only seen him once and I don't have a clear and concise
• 15:53
  opinion on him.
• 15:55
  I'm sure he's very good because he's featured on this undercard
• 15:58
  and there's a lot
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: of hype around him.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: But that being said, I'm not entirely sure what to make of him.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that might be our questions for the week.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: That is our question so far.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to hit the pause button.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to wait until Wednesday.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: We might have more coming back as I release more content.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's see if I return.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: If not,
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: it's great talking to you once a week podcast,
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: or you might hear the tape deck open again.