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

00:00:01.000 Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out.

00:00:03.000 The Joe Rogan Experience.

00:00:06.000 Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day.

00:00:13.000 George, congratulations.

00:00:17.000 Thank you.

00:00:17.000 What does it feel like?

00:00:19.000 Yeah, look, it's been pretty crazy.

00:00:21.000 You know, obviously on top of the world right now.

00:00:23.000 Yeah.

00:00:24.000 Does it feel like you're living in a fog, like a dream?

00:00:27.000 A little bit, but I've had that vision, you know, for so long.

00:00:31.000 You know, I've manifested for so long and before this fight, even as a young amateur, I knew I'd be world champion.

00:00:38.000 I knew one day more time would come and, you know, it finally did.

00:00:42.000 Well, I was told about you a couple of years ago by my friend Vinnie Shorman, who's big in the Muay Thai world, and Liam Harrison is a Muay Thai world champion.

00:00:51.000 They were telling me how awesome you were years ago.

00:00:53.000 But until Saturday night of last week, the world, you know, they didn't know.

00:00:59.000 They're hard to see it.

00:01:00.000 Yeah, look, both great guys.

00:01:02.000 And I think it was 2018, I was in the wildcard gym sparring.

00:01:08.000 And I'm in the ring and I see these two guys and they're watching.

00:01:11.000 So I thought, you know, I'll put on a show for these guys.

00:01:14.000 And let's see, they might be someone that...

00:01:15.000 Can take me to the next level.

00:01:17.000 They might be promoters.

00:01:18.000 Who knows?

00:01:18.000 So I always want to put on a show.

00:01:20.000 And they couldn't believe it.

00:01:22.000 And then I knew that they'll come in on your show when I started speaking to them.

00:01:25.000 And when they dropped my name on you, I was like, wow, this is amazing.

00:01:28.000 Now I'm here with you.

00:01:30.000 Well, your performance against Teofimo was spectacular.

00:01:35.000 It was amazing.

00:01:36.000 And, I mean, it was a fight where...

00:01:39.000 How much of an underdog were you coming into that fight?

00:01:41.000 I was a huge underdog.

00:01:43.000 You know, seven to one underdog.

00:01:45.000 Wow.

00:01:45.000 You know, BetOnline.ag had me 7-1.

00:01:49.000 That just shows the adversity that you have to come through.

00:01:52.000 You can be a massive underdog, but no matter what, you get through it and you can win whatever you choose to do.

00:01:58.000 Well, you were undefeated coming into that fight, but you just hadn't faced the same level of opposition that he had.

00:02:05.000 And it didn't mean that you weren't capable of it.

00:02:07.000 You just hadn't had the opportunity before.

00:02:10.000 So it wasn't a 7-1 like they didn't think you had the skills.

00:02:14.000 It was 7-1 that you just hadn't had that moment in the sun before.

00:02:18.000 I think because...

00:02:19.000 That's right, I haven't had my moment yet leading into that fight, but...

00:02:25.000 He was coming off the big Lomachenko fight, the big win there, what he'd done in that fight, so impressive.

00:02:30.000 He knocked out Richard Comey as well, so the hype, the noise that he was making, this was just going to be a normal mandatory fight that took so long to make, and he was supposed to just do the business and move on to something bigger.

00:02:44.000 That hunger that I had, that tunnel vision to show who I am, to show how great I am, and I had to go through it all in that fight, from the cuts to being put down in round 10, but I knew that this is my greatness now, how good I can be and show the world and shock the world.

00:03:00.000 You definitely did shock the world.

00:03:02.000 It is a reoccurring theme in boxing and in all combat sports when someone takes an opponent lightly.

00:03:11.000 And they go in thinking they're just going to steamroll this guy, and then they get met with reality.

00:03:17.000 I mean, it's happened so many times in fighters' careers.

00:03:21.000 And then there's also the other reoccurring theme, a guy like yourself, who has his eyes on the prize, is completely focused, and people are counting them out, and then they rise to the occasion and become a superstar.

00:03:32.000 And that's what happened to you.

00:03:34.000 You see it many times and I feel that he didn't take me lightly because he's in great shape.

00:03:39.000 He was in unbelievable condition.

00:03:41.000 I felt as we led into the fight and we had that first press conference where we looked into each other's eyes and I saw a guy who it came too fast and he needed to be matched with someone that was not going to take a step backwards.

00:03:56.000 And the whole thing was this whole preparation.

00:03:59.000 I was never going to take one step backwards.

00:04:00.000 I never gave him that inch.

00:04:02.000 And even in the fight, I never gave him that inch.

00:04:04.000 I was always there to be dominant.

00:04:06.000 And I felt like he was a bully kind of character, you know, where he bullied Lomachenko, he bullied Komi.

00:04:12.000 Yeah.

00:04:12.000 He bullied all his past opponents.

00:04:15.000 But, you know, I've come from bullying.

00:04:17.000 I was an overweight kid at a young age.

00:04:19.000 I've been bullied all my life.

00:04:20.000 You were overweight?

00:04:21.000 I was overweight.

00:04:22.000 I used to be 135 pounds at like 10 years of age until I fell into boxing.

00:04:27.000 So, you know, I knew straight away.

00:04:29.000 I go, okay, I know how to stand up to this guy.

00:04:31.000 I know what I've got to do in this fight.

00:04:32.000 And he saw how serious I was.

00:04:34.000 So, you know, we stayed focused.

00:04:36.000 We kept the tunnel vision and we done the business.

00:04:39.000 Well, you did a beautiful job of boxing him as well.

00:04:42.000 I mean, you stayed in the pocket and cut angles.

00:04:45.000 You landed beautiful combinations.

00:04:47.000 That one right hand in the first round, though, really set the tone for that fight.

00:04:52.000 When you sat him down at the end of the first and dropped him, and it was a hard right hand.

00:04:59.000 I mean, it was a beautiful right hand. 0.96

00:05:00.000 And when you see his eyes roll back and he drops and he gets up and he's like, what the fuck just happened?

00:05:06.000 That was a giant wake-up call and it really set the tone for the rest of the fight.

00:05:10.000 Yeah, it did.

00:05:11.000 I went into that first round.

00:05:13.000 I knew he'd be very emotional.

00:05:14.000 I knew he took it so personal and leading up to the whole fight week when I kept getting asked, is this personal for you?

00:05:19.000 Because I knew it was so personal for him.

00:05:22.000 I said, no, this is business for me.

00:05:23.000 This is another fight.

00:05:25.000 This is what I love to do.

00:05:26.000 Doesn't matter who's in that side of the ring fighting against me.

00:05:30.000 And I knew I had to get his respect straight away. 0.89

00:05:33.000 He would come out crazy.

00:05:34.000 I stayed composed.

00:05:35.000 I landed some really good short shots on the inside in that first round.

00:05:39.000 And like the great customer I said to Muhammad Ali when he fought George Foreman, he goes, How am I going to beat this guy?

00:05:46.000 How can I beat this puncher?

00:05:47.000 And Cus goes, hit him with the right hand. 1.00

00:05:50.000 In the first round, hit him with your best right hand and show him that, hey, I can punch as well. 0.95

00:05:54.000 And I had that in my head.

00:05:56.000 I have the great book by Cus DeMoto and I have it highlighted.

00:06:00.000 And before I went to the arena, I went over it and showed it to just have it in my head.

00:06:04.000 What an amazing mind he had.

00:06:07.000 Custom model's mind for boxing, for the psychology of boxing, was just so incredible.

00:06:12.000 You know, and the fact that Mike Tyson found that man when he was 13 years old, it's almost like destiny, you know?

00:06:20.000 And you know what?

00:06:20.000 I believe that everything in life is destiny.

00:06:24.000 I look at my road to get to the championship.

00:06:28.000 It's just falling into place.

00:06:30.000 But with Destiny, you need to work hard.

00:06:32.000 You need to take it in your own hands as well.

00:06:35.000 But everything's meant to be.

00:06:36.000 And that right hand was meant to be.

00:06:38.000 And I said it to my team.

00:06:39.000 I go, you're watching the first round.

00:06:40.000 I'm going to catch him early.

00:06:41.000 I'm going to hurt him with something because I knew I was looking for that right hand.

00:06:44.000 And when he came out crazy and he was heavy on the front foot, he tried to fake the jab and I saw that front foot right there. 0.95

00:06:50.000 I knew his head wouldn't move.

00:06:52.000 I go, okay, here it is.

00:06:53.000 Here's that shot I've been dreaming about my whole life.

00:06:56.000 Bang! 1.00

00:06:57.000 I let it go like a lightning strike.

00:06:59.000 Let's take a look at it.

00:07:00.000 Jimmy, show me that punch because that was just so beautiful.

00:07:02.000 I screamed when I was at home and I watched it.

00:07:05.000 I yelled out.

00:07:06.000 I was by myself.

00:07:07.000 I was sitting in the living room.

00:07:08.000 Ah!

00:07:09.000 The whole world just jumped up.

00:07:11.000 Okay, now we've got to fight because I don't think many expected me to even stand a chance in the first round.

00:07:17.000 You know, they were so vocal about one round, one round, especially his dad.

00:07:20.000 Well, his dad made a huge bet.

00:07:23.000 Didn't he bet $100,000 that he was going to knock you out within two rounds?

00:07:26.000 Yeah, well, I want to find out the person he bet against because...

00:07:28.000 Here it is.

00:07:29.000 Take a look at this and take it in.

00:07:31.000 Nice, beautiful left hook.

00:07:33.000 Well, you were in front of him, but you weren't there.

00:07:35.000 That was what was beautiful about it.

00:07:37.000 Like your head movement, like right there, that angle.

00:07:40.000 God, it's just gorgeous box.

00:07:42.000 Here it is.

00:07:43.000 Right here, baby.

00:07:45.000 Bank!

00:07:45.000 Oh my goodness.

00:07:48.000 And I saw it in his eyes as soon as I land that shot and he got up. 0.99

00:07:51.000 He thought, what the fuck was that? 0.99

00:07:53.000 Yeah, you can see it right there. 0.99

00:07:54.000 He's like, whoa.

00:07:55.000 Yeah, now we're in a fight.

00:07:56.000 And then the fake smile.

00:07:57.000 And this shot I land here, bang!

00:07:59.000 I was a little bit off balance.

00:08:01.000 But that shot there was probably more devastating than the original shot.

00:08:05.000 And then I'm just going off.

00:08:06.000 I had to say it.

00:08:07.000 I said, you know, now I'm here.

00:08:09.000 One round.

00:08:10.000 Is that what you said to him?

00:08:11.000 Yes, I said.

00:08:11.000 One round.

00:08:12.000 Okay.

00:08:13.000 Now we're in a fight.

00:08:14.000 It was an amazing performance.

00:08:16.000 Why was it emotional for him?

00:08:18.000 What was about that?

00:08:20.000 He had this theory in his head and the people around him.

00:08:24.000 You know, someone told him that...

00:08:27.000 When he tested positive for COVID and we were in Miami, I was very upset, very disappointed.

00:08:32.000 I trained for four months in preparation.

00:08:34.000 Wasn't this fight rescheduled like five times?

00:08:37.000 Yeah.

00:08:38.000 Well, June 19th was the original date.

00:08:40.000 And four days out, he tested positive for COVID. So on the day that I found out, obviously I've been away from my kids, my family, I flew my pregnant wife out to be with me for that fight week.

00:08:51.000 She took a lot of sacrifices as well because the doctors were telling her not to go with the way the world is at the moment.

00:08:57.000 But that's the sacrifice we make.

00:08:59.000 And when I found out, I was devastated.

00:09:02.000 Literally wanted to cry because this is how much it meant to me.

00:09:04.000 And then I was obviously angry and upset.

00:09:07.000 So, that night when we were going back to our room, we had a dinner and went to the room.

00:09:13.000 On the way to the room, there was the bar and his team were having a good time and enjoying themselves.

00:09:19.000 Obviously, Lopez was not there.

00:09:21.000 And I found it strange.

00:09:22.000 I go, why are they enjoying themselves?

00:09:24.000 You know, their son just ruined the fight.

00:09:28.000 One of his team members tried to be a smartass and come up and try to take a photo and try to be, you know, try to aggravate me.

00:09:34.000 And I got my wife, they got my father with me, I got my team. 0.81

00:09:38.000 I said, look, just stay away.

00:09:39.000 It's not the time.

00:09:40.000 You know, I don't know, you guys might have COVID, you know, you're with Lopez all the time.

00:09:45.000 And they got a little bit more aggressive and tried to push the matter. 0.99

00:09:48.000 And I said, look, just get the fuck out of here. 0.99

00:09:50.000 I don't want to deal with it right now. 0.99

00:09:52.000 That's all it was.

00:09:53.000 And all of a sudden, someone's gone and told him that I've had a go at his mother, which I never even saw his mother.

00:09:58.000 I don't even know what she looks like.

00:10:00.000 And that just played.

00:10:01.000 I think they were trying to motivate him.

00:10:03.000 I think they were just trying to push him a little bit extra, make it more personal.

00:10:07.000 But it's the worst thing.

00:10:08.000 You don't want to take this, any combat sport, personal.

00:10:11.000 Because as soon as you do, everything is slow.

00:10:13.000 You lose your reactions.

00:10:15.000 You go in the headhunting.

00:10:16.000 And you can see it.

00:10:16.000 He was headhunting and, you know, perfect.

00:10:19.000 It felt perfect for me, what I was coming to do.

00:10:22.000 Well, you maintained that composure through the entire 12-round fight, too, which was incredible.

00:10:27.000 Like, your precision, your movement.

00:10:30.000 You never got lazy.

00:10:32.000 You never just stood in front of them.

00:10:33.000 And even when you got caught in the 10th, you still bounced back beautifully in the 11th.

00:10:39.000 I mean, you didn't adjust.

00:10:41.000 You didn't change anything.

00:10:43.000 You didn't, like, become hesitant.

00:10:44.000 Yeah.

00:10:45.000 And that's a testament to my conditioning and how hard I train and how prepared I am for every single fight.

00:10:50.000 And that's been my whole career.

00:10:52.000 You know, from my pro debut to winning the Undisputed Championship, I've prepared for every opponent, given them respect and prepared as a World Championship fight.

00:11:03.000 When I got put down in round 10, I was actually smiling.

00:11:06.000 I was enjoying the whole adversity because this is what makes fights like this great.

00:11:12.000 And you're okay.

00:11:12.000 Now you're going to show how great you are.

00:11:14.000 You're going to rise.

00:11:15.000 And that was a minute 45 in that round.

00:11:18.000 I think Lopez finishes any other lightweight in the world at that stage.

00:11:21.000 But not this lightweight.

00:11:24.000 I had that inside me.

00:11:26.000 And it's crazy.

00:11:29.000 How bad were you hurt by that right hand?

00:11:31.000 I wasn't badly hurt.

00:11:32.000 It was more like a flash knockdown, you know, kind of back of the year, cup of the year.

00:11:37.000 The equilibrium was a little bit out, but it's going to take a lot more than that shot to put me away.

00:11:43.000 I come back to the corner and the coaches were like, you're right, you're okay.

00:11:48.000 I go, yeah, I'm good.

00:11:49.000 I started smiling.

00:11:50.000 They go, you sure?

00:11:51.000 What are you smiling for?

00:11:52.000 I said, because I made the mistake there.

00:11:54.000 Now watch what I'm gonna do.

00:11:55.000 Watch how great I'm gonna be.

00:11:57.000 I think round 11 was the best round of the fight, literally.

00:12:00.000 Busted him up and then round 12 closed the show.

00:12:03.000 That cut that he had over his left eye was brutal.

00:12:06.000 It was.

00:12:06.000 It was from a punch.

00:12:07.000 Beautiful shot, spit him open. 1.00

00:12:09.000 My one was from a head clash.

00:12:12.000 They thought I couldn't punch.

00:12:14.000 They thought I didn't have the power.

00:12:16.000 Why do you think they thought that?

00:12:17.000 Is that just wishful thinking?

00:12:19.000 Did they just get overconfident?

00:12:21.000 I think because my last two fights when I fought Mickey Bay and Lee Selby, both former world champions, I didn't knock them out.

00:12:28.000 But these guys are veterans of the sport, guys that have been there before.

00:12:31.000 So they know how to move around the ring.

00:12:34.000 Much more experience than what I was at that stage and more experience than what Lopez has.

00:12:41.000 I just had to box nice with them guys.

00:12:43.000 You know, learn the tricks from the veterans.

00:12:45.000 But they felt the power as well.

00:12:47.000 So I knew what I possessed.

00:12:48.000 I knew what I had in the tank and in the bank.

00:12:52.000 And that's it.

00:12:53.000 Done my business against Lopez.

00:12:55.000 Having trained with Manny Pacquiao had to be a huge asset for you because even though Bay was probably your biggest name opponent up until then, how many rounds had you done with Manny?

00:13:10.000 250 rounds.

00:13:11.000 I have a three-world total campaign side.

00:13:14.000 So it started with the Jeff Horn fight?

00:13:16.000 It did, yeah.

00:13:18.000 When Jeff got, obviously, the fight with Manny Pacquiao, I was in Los Angeles.

00:13:22.000 And I was sparring.

00:13:24.000 He's ex-sparring partners, Jose Ramirez and Ray Beltran.

00:13:29.000 I was doing 5-5, and these guys are good fighters, former world champions.

00:13:34.000 And Freddie come over and goes, you know, Manny's got the Jeff Horn fight.

00:13:39.000 So yeah, I'm hearing about it.

00:13:40.000 He goes, well, you're sparring.

00:13:41.000 He's sparring partners.

00:13:43.000 How would you like to go against your countrymen and help Manny prepare?

00:13:47.000 I said, Freddy, I'm all in.

00:13:50.000 You know, I know he's my countryman, but this is an opportunity of a lifetime.

00:13:53.000 Manny's my idol.

00:13:54.000 You can't bounce that up.

00:13:55.000 So I had a fight a couple of weeks after the sparring sessions that I impressed and got the opportunity.

00:14:02.000 So I still had to win that fight against Kamil Bala in New Zealand.

00:14:07.000 And in between that fight, I got a really bad cut in my eye.

00:14:09.000 And the first thing that went to my head was, I got to sparring with Manny Pacquiao in a week and a half.

00:14:15.000 I go, now this cut might stop it.

00:14:17.000 So I wasn't even thinking about the opponent or thinking about the fight.

00:14:20.000 I knew I was going to win this fight by any means.

00:14:23.000 But I was thinking about my opportunity against Manny Pacquiao.

00:14:25.000 But, you know, we got there.

00:14:27.000 We got the stitches.

00:14:30.000 A week after the stitches came out, I was putting so much vitamin E cream and every bit of...

00:14:34.000 You know, theory that I could find on the internet to make sure it closed up good and wasn't going to give me an issue.

00:14:40.000 And I went into that first sparring session with Manny and it was okay with a cut.

00:14:44.000 Did you know Jeff Horn?

00:14:46.000 I did know Jeff, yeah.

00:14:47.000 We were in the Amateurs together.

00:14:48.000 How did he feel about you training with Manny?

00:14:50.000 Yeah, he wasn't happy at that stage, you know, but he's a good guy.

00:14:54.000 He's actually a good guy of the sport.

00:14:56.000 At that stage, he had come out and said, you know, why is he going against me?

00:15:01.000 He's a countryman.

00:15:01.000 Why couldn't he give me a phone call?

00:15:03.000 And me being me, you know, I turned around him being a school teacher and said, I've never asked for permission from a school teacher ever, so I'm gonna go do my thing with Pacquiao no matter what.

00:15:15.000 I think he's gotta understand that you had to.

00:15:17.000 And I think he does.

00:15:18.000 I think he does now.

00:15:20.000 He had to.

00:15:21.000 And to be able to have an opportunity like that to spar 250 rounds with one of the greatest of all time, I mean, he won world titles in what, eight divisions?

00:15:31.000 Eight divisions.

00:15:31.000 13 or 14 world titles.

00:15:33.000 Crazy.

00:15:33.000 It would never be done again.

00:15:34.000 Crazy.

00:15:35.000 And as much as you want to see records broken and, you know, I want to break records, that man is a one of one.

00:15:43.000 He's a one of one.

00:15:44.000 I mean, when he knocked down Thurman in that fight, I was like, this is crazy.

00:15:48.000 This guy's 40 years old, and still can crack, and still as fast as lightning.

00:15:54.000 Yeah, look, the power that he possesses, but it's not a thumping power, it's that explosive speed, that explosive power, the forework he gets in position, and all of a sudden he's landed three, four, five shots, and then he's angled off.

00:16:06.000 A lot like I did in my fight against Lopez.

00:16:08.000 A lot of that sparring paid off and it did shape me.

00:16:12.000 And I know he did put out a tweet as well saying that I hope the sparring we did helped you in this fight straight away.

00:16:19.000 That's amazing.

00:16:19.000 And I was so excited.

00:16:21.000 He's a legend of the sport.

00:16:22.000 He is a legend.

00:16:22.000 And he's such an unusual guy.

00:16:25.000 You know what's crazy about him is his calves.

00:16:27.000 Yeah.

00:16:27.000 Massive.

00:16:28.000 They're giant.

00:16:30.000 They're like a thigh.

00:16:31.000 And I know the reason why.

00:16:32.000 Because in General Santos, the mountains that he runs, and that steep hill, that's why they're so big.

00:16:39.000 Because he's always constantly running mountains.

00:16:42.000 And I was doing the mountain runs with him.

00:16:44.000 Yeah?

00:16:45.000 My calf started getting bigger and bigger.

00:16:47.000 But I understand, yeah, why his calves are huge.

00:16:50.000 But he's always bouncing.

00:16:51.000 He's always moving around.

00:16:52.000 He'll bounce for like 20-something rounds.

00:16:55.000 He'll do his pads and he's jumping up and down.

00:16:57.000 He really is an unbelievable person, unbelievable athlete and a legend of the sport.

00:17:03.000 I think as time progresses, people are really going to appreciate his greatness.

00:17:09.000 Yeah, and coming back from defeats too.

00:17:12.000 I mean, he's a guy that's had his downs.

00:17:14.000 He's had his ups and his downs.

00:17:17.000 He's always smiling and always friendly to people.

00:17:21.000 He's so admirable just as a human being.

00:17:24.000 And it shows too that...

00:17:26.000 Defeats, I love how the UFC is.

00:17:30.000 Losses are losses.

00:17:32.000 Boxing has this stereotype where the zero is so important.

00:17:36.000 I'm undefeated, but would you rather see the best fight than the best?

00:17:41.000 You're going to get competitive fights and great fights, but unfortunately in boxing, it's not like that.

00:17:46.000 Well, the biggest draw in the sport is Canelo, and Canelo's not undefeated.

00:17:50.000 That's right.

00:17:51.000 So it's one way of looking at it.

00:17:52.000 He lost to Floyd.

00:17:54.000 You know, Manny is also a world-class pool player.

00:17:58.000 Well, he's got the pool tables at his mansion in his house.

00:18:02.000 He's really good.

00:18:03.000 He plays like a professional.

00:18:05.000 And he loves his basketball.

00:18:07.000 Yeah, he's great at basketball, too.

00:18:08.000 Shooting threes, it's unbelievable.

00:18:10.000 Wow, he's a serious athlete.

00:18:11.000 Yeah.

00:18:12.000 Did training with him, did you make any changes to the way you approach fights or the way you prepare for fights after training with him?

00:18:20.000 I did.

00:18:20.000 I learned the one percenters, the extra bit to do the extra rounds.

00:18:24.000 You know, usually before the sparring with Manny Pacquiao.

00:18:29.000 You do your 8 rounds or your 10 rounds of pads and your sparring, but that's it.

00:18:34.000 You do your ab work and you finish.

00:18:35.000 With him, he does his pad work, he does his sparring, but then he's on the bag, he's on the shadow boxing, he's there doing the pad work.

00:18:44.000 So that extra rounds just builds that conditioning and that stamina.

00:18:48.000 And that's what I just found that push more rounds.

00:18:51.000 If your body can keep going, push more and more.

00:18:53.000 That's what I learned from him.

00:18:55.000 Is it a thing where you have to figure out what your body can do?

00:18:58.000 Because obviously overtraining is an issue with fighters too.

00:19:01.000 Have you ever had a fight where you felt like you overtrained for it?

00:19:03.000 Not as a professional.

00:19:05.000 In the amateurs, yes, as a young amateur coming up, I did feel certain times were overtrained.

00:19:11.000 But I think the reason is, as an amateur, you're fighting so constant.

00:19:14.000 You might have three fights in one week, and then you've got two fights the week after.

00:19:18.000 But in the professional ranks, I've always been very smart, got a good team around me, and I made sure that every preparation is pinpoint.

00:19:26.000 And a lot of people were thinking I was going to burn out for this fight and overtrain because it was such a long preparation, nearly 10 months.

00:19:34.000 But I said, look, I've got a good team.

00:19:37.000 I know what I'm doing.

00:19:37.000 I know how my body feels.

00:19:39.000 If I started to feel a little bit run down and burning out, I'd pull back.

00:19:44.000 But you're fighting for the biggest prize in boxing.

00:19:46.000 How can you put your foot off the pedal?

00:19:48.000 This is everything.

00:19:49.000 This is going to change my life.

00:19:50.000 Well, you did it perfectly as far as your preparation because you were in tip-top shape in the 12th round.

00:19:56.000 You never lost any steam, you never lost any endurance, and the way you bounced back from that knockdown in the 10th really showed what kind of conditioning you had.

00:20:06.000 And I think that the conditioning there, especially to bounce back after getting put down, it shows.

00:20:14.000 Because if I wasn't conditioned, I wouldn't be able to survive that round.

00:20:18.000 Yeah.

00:20:19.000 When you think of, like, preparation for fights, you know, and you see guys like Manny Pacquiao, you see guys like Floyd Mayweather, you see guys that are just always in peak condition, that extra edge that they have that seems to be,

00:20:36.000 I mean, that is, there's not one elite world-class fighter that you can say doesn't have that same kind of endurance and that same kind of discipline.

00:20:46.000 100%.

00:20:46.000 I think that elite level guys, you need to have it.

00:20:51.000 If you don't have that conditioning, I don't think you even get to that elite.

00:20:54.000 I think you need to have that from a young age, from early in your professional career, to be able to have that work ethic, that relentless drive, to have that conditioning.

00:21:03.000 The only guy I could think that wasn't like that is James Toney.

00:21:07.000 Yeah, but his defense too was unbelievable as well.

00:21:11.000 Amazing.

00:21:11.000 Defensively, you watch these guys and you think, wow, unbelievable.

00:21:15.000 But the conditioning there was a problem for him.

00:21:18.000 You look at the guys like Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, you know, all the greats that have that conditioning.

00:21:24.000 Muhammad Ali to do 15 round fights.

00:21:26.000 I was even telling the commission, can we move it to 15 rounds?

00:21:29.000 That's how, you know, conditioned I was for the fight.

00:21:32.000 Yeah.

00:21:33.000 Well, back then, you know, the 15-round fights, they weren't just 15-round fights.

00:21:37.000 They also weighed in the day of the fight, which is crazy.

00:21:40.000 And they would have probably fought three weeks before that as well.

00:21:44.000 That's real fighters.

00:21:45.000 That's real warriors.

00:21:46.000 Rob, you go back to the Sugar Ray Robinson days, and you've seen a hundred...

00:21:49.000 Yeah, a lot.

00:21:50.000 How many different fights did you have?

00:21:52.000 I think...

00:21:52.000 What was Robinson's record when he retired?

00:21:55.000 I think it was close to 200 fights.

00:21:56.000 200 fights.

00:21:57.000 Yeah, it's unbelievable.

00:21:58.000 I've only had 20, and to think how the preparations are, and what you put your body for, and how sore you are after a fight, especially a 12-round fight, to think these guys would fight, and then a week or a week and a half later, they're fighting again, that's real worrisome.

00:22:14.000 That's gladiatorial stuff.

00:22:16.000 It really is crazy, and that's one of the things that the old-timers always point to.

00:22:20.000 When you try to make a judgment call of who's the greatest of all time, they always point to Robinson.

00:22:26.000 Just the sheer amount.

00:22:27.000 I think he was something crazy like 90-0 before he lost his first fight.

00:22:34.000 201. He lost to Joey Archer in 65. That was his 201st fight.

00:22:41.000 That is crazy, man.

00:22:43.000 Three fights in three weeks, four weeks.

00:22:47.000 And he was 44. Crazy!

00:22:50.000 That there, just saying that is...

00:22:53.000 Unbelievable.

00:22:54.000 I mean, just unbelievable.

00:22:56.000 If you go way back, Jamie, I think it was close to his 100th fight before he had his first loss.

00:23:04.000 Yeah.

00:23:06.000 I think he lost to LaMotta...

00:23:10.000 Okay, what number was that?

00:23:12.000 So I guarantee these are all wins.

00:23:15.000 So the draw was, okay, 41. Okay, so it was 41 fights.

00:23:19.000 So that was LaMotta.

00:23:21.000 He lost to LaMotta.

00:23:22.000 And then he came back and beat him.

00:23:24.000 But just what a record that guy had.

00:23:26.000 Absolutely incredible to think that this great had over 200 fights and would fight every couple of weeks.

00:23:36.000 15-round fights, it's incredible.

00:23:40.000 That's real fighters back then.

00:23:41.000 I love that.

00:23:42.000 I love the history of our sport.

00:23:44.000 Yeah, they certainly were real fighters, but it's also not the best way for your body and your brain.

00:23:50.000 Yeah, because the punishment you take in a fight, you need to be able to recover.

00:23:56.000 You'd think that them fighting 201 fights, 202 fights that he had, and be fighting every couple of weeks, Right.

00:24:04.000 That body is taking a lot of punishment, that brain. 0.52

00:24:07.000 I know, it's crazy.

00:24:09.000 It's crazy to think of.

00:24:11.000 And the end of his life wasn't the best.

00:24:15.000 When you see guys like that that stay in too long, like Ali, like a lot of these guys, do you have it mapped out when you're going to exit the sport?

00:24:25.000 Yeah, look.

00:24:26.000 I've seen it time and time again.

00:24:28.000 Even the great Manny Pacquiao, my good friend, that last fight that he had, I wanted to cry watching it because I know how great he is.

00:24:35.000 I know what he's done.

00:24:36.000 To see that fight, just the shots weren't coming off, the footwork wasn't there, the feet were slow. 0.56

00:24:43.000 But don't you think that fight was kind of, the whole thing was fucked because of the last-minute change of opponents? 0.58

00:24:48.000 It was a difficult preparation because he prepared for Spence and all of a sudden Ugas. 0.99

00:24:53.000 Yeah.

00:24:54.000 Ugas is clever.

00:24:55.000 He's a very good fighter.

00:24:56.000 Very good fighter.

00:24:57.000 Cuban school, you know, that style that he has and he can brawl too.

00:25:01.000 He can fight.

00:25:02.000 So, you know, he got him at a good time as well.

00:25:05.000 Everything suited perfect for Ugas that night.

00:25:07.000 But when you see these other legends, you know, Roy Jones, Muhammad Ali, they go that extra step.

00:25:14.000 And it's hard for a fighter.

00:25:15.000 As much as you want to get out, you think about, okay, when can I get out?

00:25:20.000 Right.

00:25:20.000 Get as much as you can from the sport and win your championships and get out.

00:25:24.000 But we're fighters.

00:25:26.000 Like I said this weekend when I was at the Haney Diaz fight, I said, I feel good.

00:25:30.000 I feel like I'm fighting this week.

00:25:32.000 If someone pulls out, I'll fight.

00:25:33.000 That's the kind of worry and that battle mentality I have.

00:25:36.000 That's awesome.

00:25:38.000 How much weight do you cut?

00:25:41.000 Not much.

00:25:41.000 10 pounds.

00:25:42.000 So how many days do you need to do that and feel good?

00:25:46.000 Naturally, my body weight comes right low.

00:25:50.000 The day before the weigh-in, you know, a pound and a half, two pounds, a hot bath and I'm there.

00:25:55.000 Oh, nothing.

00:25:55.000 The weight is easy.

00:25:56.000 That's great.

00:25:57.000 But I feel good, you know, I've been told that you should go to 130 before I won these championships.

00:26:01.000 You could be champion at 130. I said, yeah, I can be champion at 130. I would be champion at 130, but what for?

00:26:08.000 You're champion at 135. I'm champion at 135 and I feel good at 135. I feel strong at 135. I've got that extra bounce, that energy.

00:26:15.000 I can eat throughout the weight cut.

00:26:18.000 Sometimes fighters want to sacrifice that weight division and lose that extra bit, but they lose themselves in the actual battle, in the fight.

00:26:28.000 The fight becomes the weight cut.

00:26:29.000 We've seen it time and time again.

00:26:31.000 Well, in the UFC it's a bigger problem because there's only eight weight classes. 0.57

00:26:35.000 The gaps between the weight classes are ridiculous.

00:26:38.000 I was looking at some photos of Conor McGregor when he was fighting at 45 and how skinny he was and even Khabib as well.

00:26:48.000 The brutal weight cuts.

00:26:50.000 It's incredible.

00:26:51.000 It's not good.

00:26:55.000 Conor never lost at 45, but also never missed weight.

00:27:01.000 He made weight every time he tried at 45, but it was a rough one.

00:27:05.000 When you would see him at the weigh-ins, he looked like a skeleton.

00:27:08.000 And that's when you see big issues in fights and problems start where You know, brain damage and fighters unfortunately pass away and we've seen in boxing because they lose all that weight.

00:27:20.000 They're so dehydrated in the brain where they don't hydrate properly as well.

00:27:26.000 And all of a sudden, you know, you see it in the fights, they take brutal shots and unfortunately things happen in the fight.

00:27:32.000 So, you know, I'd rather be feeling great, be hydrated.

00:27:35.000 You know, I know that I'm going to this fight, you know, that there's going to be no issues with that and, you know, I feel good.

00:27:42.000 No, I think that's the right approach to be healthy.

00:27:44.000 And if you look at boxing, I think the vast majority of deaths occur when guys have caught weight.

00:27:53.000 I don't think there's very many deaths at all in the heavyweight division.

00:27:56.000 I think the heavyweight division is unusual in that.

00:27:59.000 You get the biggest guys with the hardest punchers.

00:28:02.000 Hardest punchers, and yet you have the least amount of deaths because they're not cutting anywhere.

00:28:05.000 And it's scary, man.

00:28:06.000 It is really scary.

00:28:08.000 I've got three kids, and I've got a life away from boxing.

00:28:12.000 When you think of that, when you go in there, your life is on the line.

00:28:16.000 And all of a sudden, you're trying to make this weight.

00:28:19.000 You want to dehydrate yourself and put yourself at more risk.

00:28:23.000 I'd rather feel comfortable and feel good.

00:28:25.000 Well, it's that balancing act, right?

00:28:27.000 You're trying to figure out what's the best approach, to be bigger and have maybe a little bit more horsepower behind the punches, or to be healthy and then you have more gas tank, you can go longer, you can push a faster pace, you're lighter on your feet.

00:28:43.000 It's a great example, my fight with Lopez.

00:28:46.000 He was the bigger man.

00:28:48.000 How much do you think he cuts?

00:28:49.000 I think it cuts a fair bit.

00:28:51.000 Yeah, I think probably 10 pounds, you know, a couple days out from the fight.

00:28:56.000 Yeah.

00:28:57.000 But I know that he puts on a lot of size too.

00:28:59.000 He was way bigger than me in that fight.

00:29:02.000 He definitely looked bigger.

00:29:03.000 Yeah, he would have put a lot more on.

00:29:05.000 But again, it shows that, you know, it's not about the size of a fighter.

00:29:09.000 Right.

00:29:10.000 And the way I've always had that approach is it's about the size of the heart, you know, how much you want it, the willpower, what you're ready to go through.

00:29:16.000 And that's the way I took him to that fight.

00:29:18.000 Have you gone back and watched the fight?

00:29:21.000 No.

00:29:21.000 I have not watched the fight.

00:29:22.000 Interesting.

00:29:23.000 The reason being is when I get home, my friends and family, I want to sit down, have a watch party, and just relive the moment with them.

00:29:33.000 That's why I don't want to watch it.

00:29:34.000 I think that's what I'm trying to achieve.

00:29:36.000 People have been asking me, why have you not watched the fight?

00:29:38.000 I'm trying to achieve to sit back, take myself away from the fight, and just watch it with everyone like it's live.

00:29:45.000 That's what I'm trying to achieve with that.

00:29:47.000 Well, you're going to enjoy it.

00:29:49.000 I know, yeah.

00:29:50.000 Spoiler alert, it turns out good for you.

00:29:53.000 I hope so.

00:29:54.000 It does.

00:29:55.000 What's interesting about it, I wanted to talk to you about this, is the corner advice that he was getting.

00:30:00.000 Did you hear about any of that?

00:30:02.000 I have heard about that, but we knew that coming in.

00:30:05.000 I knew that, you know, the corner that he has, you know, I don't want to put anyone on the spot, but his father, you know, is...

00:30:14.000 When you're getting information, you've got to have trust in your corner.

00:30:19.000 My corner is unbelievable from my coaches, Javier Santino, Mick Ackerway, to my cup man, Mike Basil, to even my father was the fourth, Jimmy Cambosis, which I'll tell a funny story with that as well.

00:30:33.000 You want to have trust in your team because, again, you could be taking a lot of punishment.

00:30:37.000 And again, as much as you don't want to stop the fight, I expect my corner to have that trust and to throw in the towel or stop the fight.

00:30:45.000 Because we want to leave that ring and go back to our kids and family.

00:30:49.000 Now his corner, you know, they didn't do a right job.

00:30:53.000 His cut man took forever to get in the ring. 0.60

00:30:55.000 You know, his dad was giving the wrong information.

00:30:57.000 They had no game plan.

00:30:59.000 Yeah, the game plan was to take him out.

00:31:01.000 Yeah, and that's not a game plan.

00:31:03.000 We had a perfect game plan.

00:31:04.000 Round by round, we executed it round by round.

00:31:07.000 These guys had no game plan and that's on them.

00:31:10.000 I think after he beat Lomachenko, they had this idea that he was the next superstar and he was gonna steamroll you and steamroll everybody else and because he's such a heavy puncher and the way he fought like with that Super stiff jab with Lomachenko and like real aggressive and the fact that he was able to maintain that pace throughout the entire 12-round fight and Lomachenko I think it was in the 11th he put it on him a little he really got to him and Lopez survived that and then came back to win the 12th I

00:31:41.000 knew from that fight that the size difference between myself and Lomachenko, obviously I'm a lot bigger, but my speed, my explosive power, the way I move and get in positions and throw punches and combinations that are quite awkward shots, shots that you don't see.

00:31:55.000 I knew that I would have that advantage and I was never going to wait.

00:31:59.000 I was going to come in there like I did in round one, take the shots, be prepared to take shots and obviously land my shots as well and put him down and show what I'm about and get my respect.

00:32:10.000 But that's on them.

00:32:11.000 They made a big mistake there with the corner.

00:32:15.000 They did have a very good coach that they usually use, but they didn't have him for whatever reason.

00:32:21.000 I was talking to my friend Radio Rahim today.

00:32:24.000 We were talking.

00:32:25.000 He's a giant boxing fan.

00:32:27.000 You know Radio.

00:32:27.000 He does a lot of those interviews on YouTube.

00:32:30.000 He's a real expert.

00:32:31.000 A real good guy, too.

00:32:32.000 Great guy.

00:32:33.000 And we were talking and he said something I wholeheartedly agree with.

00:32:37.000 He said it's very rare that a father-son team works out in terms of trainer and boxer.

00:32:43.000 It's just very rare.

00:32:45.000 It's hard because, again, that emotion.

00:32:48.000 It's your father.

00:32:50.000 And obviously the sun, but it doesn't work out.

00:32:53.000 You see it time and time again.

00:32:54.000 My father, he was the fourth.

00:32:58.000 Even that, his job was to put the seat in the ring and get a bit of ice and that's it.

00:33:07.000 Everything went a little bit crazy when I started bleeding and the cup man was screaming at my father, wipe him up, wipe him up.

00:33:12.000 You know, and he's like, wait a minute, my job's only this when we went through the pre-fight plan.

00:33:17.000 So he was like, okay, let me find a tail and wipe him up.

00:33:20.000 But, you know, when you've got the head coach being your father, like they do, a lot of time it doesn't work.

00:33:26.000 You need someone to be able to, you know, that's the rules.

00:33:30.000 That's what you've got to do.

00:33:31.000 You've got to be able to, you know, respect, you know, the trainer.

00:33:36.000 And I don't think they had that.

00:33:37.000 Yeah, I don't think it's impossible.

00:33:39.000 I think it can be done with the right personalities.

00:33:42.000 But oftentimes, the problem is it seemed like in the Lopez corner, you know, his dad was so accustomed to Lopez just fucking everybody up that he thought that he was going to wake up eventually and catch you. 0.82

00:33:56.000 And catch me, yeah.

00:33:59.000 For certain fighters, it works.

00:34:03.000 But when you come against a guy that was prepared to die in that ring, as scary as it is, and as much as I trust my corner, I was honestly prepared to die in that ring.

00:34:12.000 I told my wife before we went to the arena that I'm prepared to die tonight.

00:34:17.000 If anything happens, everything's for the kids and yourself.

00:34:21.000 I'm here to win this fight by any means.

00:34:23.000 That's the kind of fighter.

00:34:25.000 And the shots that I took in that fight, I think he takes out any other lightweight in the world.

00:34:30.000 There were some big shots, but I just kept coming.

00:34:33.000 And I know for a fact, when he did put me down in round 10, and I got up and survived that round and finished that round strong as well, And this is like a Rocky IV movie.

00:34:43.000 He came back into that corner and he said it to his team and his corner men that this guy's made a steal.

00:34:49.000 I can't put a dent in him.

00:34:51.000 And I know psychologically that would have broken him as well.

00:34:53.000 That's why that round 11 was so successful.

00:34:56.000 That round 11 really showed what I was about.

00:34:59.000 It really did, and the fact that you came out as hard in round 11 as you had in round 1, and maybe even harder because you had something to prove.

00:35:08.000 You were letting them know that that knockdown is not how the rest of this fight is going to go.

00:35:15.000 A testament to myself and how hard I prepared for this fight.

00:35:18.000 I just want to show how great I am, especially in the last two rounds.

00:35:21.000 I've been put down and, again, in life you get put down.

00:35:24.000 Sometimes things don't go the way.

00:35:26.000 You expect them to go.

00:35:27.000 But you rise and you finish whatever you're trying to achieve with everything you have.

00:35:32.000 The thing is, too, that I lost my grandfather about two and a half months before the fight.

00:35:38.000 I had my baby as well, my son, on the same day.

00:35:42.000 And I know he was there with me, my grandfather.

00:35:45.000 So the day your grandfather died your son was born?

00:35:48.000 Yes.

00:35:48.000 My son was born and then six hours later my grandfather passed away.

00:35:53.000 George Cambosis.

00:35:55.000 When I got put down and I just got up, honestly I felt like he lifted me up.

00:36:02.000 I didn't even realize I'm up again.

00:36:03.000 I'm ready.

00:36:07.000 Even in the dressing room, the DAZN cameras came out and had the flashlight.

00:36:11.000 We had the Aussie flag and the Greek flag, and we had them tied up pretty tight.

00:36:16.000 Half of the Greek flag fell and it came down.

00:36:19.000 And all of a sudden I felt this touching presence on my shoulder.

00:36:22.000 I thought, okay.

00:36:23.000 I looked at my father and I go, he's here.

00:36:25.000 He goes, he is.

00:36:26.000 And I knew at that moment that I will not be beat.

00:36:29.000 I am winning this fight.

00:36:30.000 He's with me and I got the job done.

00:36:34.000 Now this, it originally was not with DAZN, right?

00:36:38.000 It was originally a trailer fight.

00:36:40.000 What happened with all that?

00:36:41.000 Look, everything was great until Lopez tested positive for COVID. And then everything went downwards.

00:36:49.000 You know, postponements, date changes, you know, venue changes.

00:36:53.000 As a fighter, and again, Lopez as well, we're preparing for a fight.

00:36:58.000 You can't expect the fighter to be making weight, to have the right sparring, the right preparation, and all of a sudden they said, okay, let's move it back again.

00:37:06.000 It just doesn't work that way.

00:37:07.000 They tried to move it back several weeks, right?

00:37:10.000 Yeah, originally we had five or six different dates.

00:37:13.000 Yeah.

00:37:14.000 So we had a certain date.

00:37:15.000 September 11th we heard.

00:37:16.000 Then we heard about October 4th.

00:37:19.000 Then they went to October 5th.

00:37:20.000 Then they went to October 16th.

00:37:24.000 Were they changing because they were looking for a new venue?

00:37:27.000 Was it like that there was competition?

00:37:29.000 There was something else on television that night?

00:37:32.000 Like why were they...

00:37:33.000 Doing that?

00:37:34.000 All of them.

00:37:35.000 Yeah, everything.

00:37:37.000 There was certain NFL games.

00:37:40.000 There was baseball games that clashed with the same night.

00:37:45.000 There was venues.

00:37:46.000 All of a sudden, they'll change and go to another venue.

00:37:48.000 So, look, that's on them.

00:37:50.000 They missed out.

00:37:52.000 It's a learning curve for them.

00:37:53.000 There's no disrespect.

00:37:55.000 It is what it is.

00:37:58.000 They would have seen the fight.

00:37:59.000 They would have seen a fight of the year, and they missed out on it.

00:38:02.000 Well, they got the fight of the year when it was supposed to happen.

00:38:06.000 Now, after the fight, it was crazy when he came over and said that he thought he won.

00:38:11.000 And that he thought he won 9-3 or 10-2.

00:38:16.000 Is that what he said?

00:38:16.000 Originally, he said 11-2.

00:38:19.000 Well, that doesn't make sense.

00:38:21.000 It doesn't make sense.

00:38:22.000 And honestly, I believe he was concussed.

00:38:24.000 I honestly believe he was concussed because not only he said 11-2, but then he said, I haven't been with my son for so long.

00:38:30.000 He was only born a couple days ago.

00:38:32.000 So nothing made sense.

00:38:33.000 I felt that he was concussed.

00:38:35.000 That's why I said, you're too illusional.

00:38:37.000 But I was so respectful.

00:38:39.000 And again, I got no anger to him.

00:38:41.000 I'm not here to put him down or trash him.

00:38:43.000 He's a young kid.

00:38:44.000 He lost all his belts.

00:38:45.000 He got beaten up.

00:38:48.000 Sometimes that happens when you get knocked down in the first round and you fight the rest of the fight almost on autopilot.

00:38:53.000 Yeah, concussed.

00:38:54.000 I mean, that right hand was so clean.

00:38:57.000 And when you watch his eyes roll back and he sits down, then he got up and he's fighting off, easily could have been concussed.

00:39:02.000 Well, the way he looked at me too and he thought, okay, what was that? 0.99

00:39:07.000 Shit, I'm in a fight now. 0.99

00:39:09.000 I said, okay, forget the first round now. 1.00

00:39:13.000 Let's go.

00:39:14.000 Now from round two, now I want to show you.

00:39:16.000 Well, what's interesting, though, is now they're talking about him moving up to 140 because the weight cut's too brutal.

00:39:22.000 So they're coming up with a reason for why he lost.

00:39:26.000 They're saying that.

00:39:27.000 And then on top of that, there's this new thing that they're saying, that he had an esophageal tear and that his lungs were filled up and his body cavity was filled up with air.

00:39:38.000 And they were saying that he went into the fight like that, but...

00:39:42.000 When you go through a brutal fight like the one you two went through and you hit him with, how many body shots did you hit him with?

00:39:50.000 A lot of body work.

00:39:51.000 A lot of body, and shots to the neck as well.

00:39:53.000 I mean, you hit him everywhere.

00:39:55.000 Everywhere.

00:39:55.000 So if you're hit, like, why would they assume that the tear was before the fight when you went through that brutal a fight?

00:40:03.000 It's so crazy.

00:40:04.000 Look, again, very delusional.

00:40:06.000 Yeah.

00:40:07.000 And there was nothing before the fall when he was screaming, you know, and the videos of him screaming at the poster of me saying, I'm going to eat you.

00:40:15.000 I'm going to rip you. 1.00

00:40:16.000 Okay, you look good there.

00:40:18.000 And leading up in the press conference, You're going to go to hospital, everything.

00:40:21.000 Okay.

00:40:22.000 And then after the fight, you thought you won 11 to 2. You know, you're there telling the world.

00:40:29.000 And then you still got enough energy to do your backflip.

00:40:33.000 Right.

00:40:33.000 He went around and done his backflip.

00:40:34.000 Yeah.

00:40:35.000 With a esophageal tear.

00:40:36.000 With a tear.

00:40:37.000 So, if there was something there...

00:40:40.000 You wouldn't be screaming.

00:40:42.000 You wouldn't be doing backflips.

00:40:43.000 It's so hard to tell.

00:40:45.000 Is the doctor exaggerating?

00:40:48.000 Is it something that he sustained during the fight?

00:40:51.000 Who knows?

00:40:52.000 I want to know who's the actual doctor.

00:40:55.000 It is what it is.

00:40:56.000 There's been a lot of excuses.

00:40:58.000 He didn't fight like a guy who was compromised, like his endurance was compromised.

00:41:03.000 No, because in round 10, he landed that shot.

00:41:06.000 He was still coming the whole night.

00:41:07.000 He was still throwing punches.

00:41:08.000 Yeah.

00:41:09.000 But when you're getting, you know, badly attacked and my shots are landing and the bodywork that I was landing, you know, and the placement of the shots, you're going to feel all types of ways.

00:41:21.000 Yeah.

00:41:22.000 All kinds of damage.

00:41:23.000 The funny thing is, Deontay Wilder, when he came out with his excuses, and they bashed him online about that.

00:41:33.000 They came out so vocal, doing the same thing.

00:41:36.000 But look, the champion that I am, I respect them.

00:41:39.000 All the best to whatever they do in the future.

00:41:42.000 If they want to give me my praise, respect me, so be it.

00:41:46.000 The kind of person I am, through a mutual person that we both know, I sent the video.

00:41:52.000 To him.

00:41:53.000 You know, wish him all the best.

00:41:55.000 You know, heal up with the cuts.

00:41:56.000 This was before anything had come out.

00:41:58.000 You know, I knew the face would be pretty damaged.

00:42:01.000 And just to keep going because you hear things that he doesn't want to fight no more.

00:42:05.000 So, you know, he's a talented kid.

00:42:07.000 You just beat Lomachenko.

00:42:08.000 You knocked out Richard Comey.

00:42:10.000 You beat all these guys.

00:42:11.000 Again, one loss doesn't define you.

00:42:13.000 So the kind of person I am, I reached out.

00:42:16.000 Did I receive anything back?

00:42:18.000 No.

00:42:20.000 What are you going to do?

00:42:21.000 With the thought of him moving up to 140 pounds, which is interesting, because post-fight, when there's a fight like that, it takes a while for the dust to settle, especially when he got hit with a lot of big shots and he's badly cut and battered.

00:42:38.000 When the dust settles, if he chooses to go up to 140, do you see yourself ever fighting at 140?

00:42:46.000 At this stage, there's so much unfinished business at 135. And because I make the weight so good, you know, there's no vision of 140 right now.

00:42:54.000 Yeah.

00:42:55.000 But once I take all these guys out, the Haneys, Javonte Davis, you know, Ryan, go see if he gets his act together and starts fighting, Lomachenko.

00:43:04.000 That's my plan, to take them all out.

00:43:06.000 And even in the next fight, there will be no tune-up fight.

00:43:08.000 He'll be straight in there again against a big, big name.

00:43:11.000 So...

00:43:12.000 Once we handle that business, then we'll look at moving up to 140. Did you watch Javante's fight?

00:43:18.000 I was there.

00:43:19.000 Oh, were you there?

00:43:20.000 Oh, okay.

00:43:20.000 And the crazy thing was, you know, before the fight, they showed the cameras and they were showing all the basketball players there.

00:43:27.000 And all of a sudden, they showed me and the applause that I got.

00:43:30.000 I couldn't believe it.

00:43:32.000 I thought, this is unbelievable.

00:43:33.000 This is crazy.

00:43:33.000 You're a star now, man.

00:43:35.000 It's growing.

00:43:36.000 But, you know, it's been that...

00:43:38.000 The way I looked at it was, you know, I was a rough-cut diamond.

00:43:42.000 I knew what I had.

00:43:43.000 My team knew what we had.

00:43:45.000 And it just had to keep polishing it and keep shining.

00:43:48.000 And now it's shining.

00:43:49.000 And the world can see it.

00:43:49.000 And they can see the person I am.

00:43:51.000 You know, I'm a confident fighter.

00:43:53.000 But outside of the ring, I am who I am.

00:43:56.000 Your performance was so good.

00:43:58.000 Thank you.

00:43:58.000 Now, when you see what happened with Lopez when he beat Lomachenko, it was kind of a similar thing, right?

00:44:05.000 Like, that made him.

00:44:06.000 That's what made his star rise.

00:44:09.000 And then you came along and...

00:44:12.000 Took the star.

00:44:12.000 Yeah, you took the star.

00:44:13.000 You ruined the party.

00:44:15.000 But what do you think is the big fight in that division?

00:44:19.000 Is it Gervante?

00:44:21.000 I think Haney or Tank.

00:44:25.000 They're the big names.

00:44:26.000 Either one.

00:44:27.000 Now.

00:44:29.000 They're all fighting.

00:44:30.000 It's really interesting because everyone's on kind of the same schedule.

00:44:32.000 Yeah, which is fantastic.

00:44:34.000 Everyone's fighting within a month.

00:44:35.000 We started it.

00:44:36.000 I started the big fight, you know, and I gave a fight of the year.

00:44:41.000 Then I was at the Haney fight, watching ringside, and we had our little chat as well after the fight with the cameras there, which was all respect, you know.

00:44:50.000 And then I was at the tank fight as well, and I know he walked past.

00:44:54.000 He could see me there with the...

00:44:56.000 The cameras and everyone trying to get interviews and he wants nothing to do with it.

00:45:01.000 We'll see now.

00:45:02.000 The balls in my court, I get to pick but also they need to present now.

00:45:08.000 Who wants to fight?

00:45:09.000 It's got to be presented now.

00:45:11.000 Did they get a medical analysis of Gervonta's hand?

00:45:15.000 I'm not sure yet.

00:45:17.000 Yeah, so that there is probably going to be an issue.

00:45:19.000 But I hope that the hand is okay.

00:45:22.000 Yeah, hopefully it's not a break.

00:45:23.000 Because if we do go with Tank, you know, I don't want no more excuses.

00:45:26.000 I'm sick of hearing excuses from these guys.

00:45:29.000 Yeah, well, that's to me, well, either way, Haney's amazing too.

00:45:33.000 It'd be a fantastic fighter.

00:45:34.000 They're great fighters.

00:45:36.000 Lope is a great fighter as well.

00:45:37.000 Yes, yes.

00:45:37.000 I'm so privileged to be the champion right now at this division.

00:45:43.000 135 pounds is the hottest division in the world.

00:45:45.000 It really is.

00:45:46.000 So to be ruling the emperor at the division.

00:45:48.000 The emperor.

00:45:49.000 Because you've got the four kings.

00:45:51.000 Yes.

00:45:51.000 We came out with a cool little thing that they can be the four kings, but the emperor in our ways are more.

00:45:57.000 I like it.

00:45:58.000 Now, when you look at that division, it's arguable that that's the most stacked division in boxing.

00:46:07.000 With Lomachenko, is he going to drop down to 130 or is he going to remain at 135?

00:46:13.000 Because he's the smallest guy in the division, right?

00:46:15.000 Yeah, he's the smallest guy.

00:46:17.000 Obviously, he's come from 126, 130. And I give him a lot of respect because he brought most of them belts to the Lopez fight.

00:46:25.000 Yeah.

00:46:25.000 So, you know, he does deserve a shot as well.

00:46:28.000 But as well, he did lose to Lopez.

00:46:30.000 He's fighting the mix.

00:46:32.000 He's in soon, right?

00:46:33.000 This weekend.

00:46:33.000 Oh, this weekend.

00:46:34.000 Against Richard Comey, who was the one that Lopez knocked out in round two to capture his first title.

00:46:39.000 Okay, so he's fighting another 135-pound fight.

00:46:42.000 Is it a 10-rounder or is it a 12-rounder?

00:46:46.000 I believe it's a 12-rounder non-title fight.

00:46:49.000 Because I know that he had talked after the Lopez fight about possibly going back down to 130. He was another one.

00:46:56.000 He thought he won that fight, which is crazy.

00:47:00.000 Lopez won that fight.

00:47:01.000 As much as the lead up, I was taking shots at Lopez and saying, oh, it's a close fight, you know, maybe a draw.

00:47:07.000 He was injured, whatever it was, but he did win the fight. 0.90

00:47:10.000 Yeah, I just, I mean, to deny that Lopez controlled most of the fight seems to me to be kind of silly.

00:47:17.000 And to hear from Lomachenko was kind of surprising.

00:47:20.000 I thought.

00:47:21.000 And again, too, he came out with, you know, the excuses, which it made him look worse because he put out the videos of the highlights and showed the world, look what I did, but the world saw.

00:47:31.000 Yeah.

00:47:31.000 See, I've always been that.

00:47:33.000 You lose.

00:47:34.000 Yeah.

00:47:34.000 If it comes one day, take it on the chin.

00:47:37.000 You beat me.

00:47:38.000 You know, take it like a man.

00:47:40.000 These guys, they can't accept it.

00:47:42.000 I want a fighter to come out of a fight and then put the highlights of his opponent punching him in the face. 1.00

00:47:46.000 Yeah, punch the shit out of him. 0.99

00:47:48.000 Nobody ever does that. 0.99

00:47:49.000 No.

00:47:50.000 We saw that part too, man.

00:47:51.000 Yeah, well, the world saw it, and that's why with Lopez coming out and saying, I won the fight, the whole world, whatever, saw it, blah, blah, blah.

00:47:58.000 I said, man, the whole world saw this.

00:48:01.000 The arena, your own fans are booing you now.

00:48:03.000 That's a crazy thing too, because when I walked inside that arena, I was getting booed like crazy.

00:48:09.000 Yeah, but that's the thing about Brooklyn, man.

00:48:11.000 If you're fighting your Brooklyn fighter, you're going to get booed.

00:48:15.000 But if you beat them, they're going to cheer you.

00:48:17.000 They're going to applaud.

00:48:17.000 They're going to cheer you.

00:48:18.000 You won them all.

00:48:19.000 And that's what I did.

00:48:19.000 I stood on that ring before I entered the ropes inside, and I just stared at them like a gladiator, like a Roman gladiator, like a Spartan warrior.

00:48:28.000 I could see him booing there, doing all types of stuff.

00:48:31.000 I said, okay, you boo me now, but I tell you, by the end of this fight, you're going to applaud.

00:48:36.000 And when that round 12 was done, I stood on the ropes, and I'm bleeding, and Eddie Hearns there clapping like you couldn't believe it, like a little kid.

00:48:44.000 And I'm wiping the blood off my face and I'm showing the crowd and say, this is for you guys.

00:48:48.000 They're going crazy.

00:48:51.000 I'm old school.

00:48:52.000 You talked about the difficulty in coming from Australia and getting over here and competing.

00:48:59.000 Do you think that you'll set up your next training camp here and bring everybody over in advance?

00:49:04.000 Would that make it easier if you're fighting here?

00:49:06.000 Or do you think you could lure somebody to Australia for a big money fight? 0.95

00:49:11.000 I mean, you'd probably sell out a fucking giant arena in Australia right now, right? 0.96

00:49:16.000 Australia is the plan. 0.98

00:49:18.000 You know, I think I've earned that.

00:49:19.000 I deserve that.

00:49:20.000 I've been on the race since 2017. Yeah, you need one at home, right?

00:49:24.000 I need one at home.

00:49:25.000 And look, you've got the beautiful Marvel Stadium.

00:49:27.000 They had Adesanya and Whittaker there.

00:49:29.000 Yeah.

00:49:30.000 You know, that there will be 70,000, 80,000 people.

00:49:32.000 They'll be packed to the rafters, you know.

00:49:35.000 Melbourne.

00:49:35.000 Melbourne is fantastic because there's 600,000 Greeks.

00:49:38.000 It's the second biggest Greek population outside of Athens.

00:49:42.000 Really?

00:49:42.000 So, me being such a proud Greek, they're going nuts back home.

00:49:47.000 They are smashing every plate they have.

00:49:49.000 You know, it's been crazy.

00:49:51.000 So that is the plan.

00:49:52.000 I know Heaney's up for it.

00:49:53.000 I know Lomachenko is up for it.

00:49:55.000 Tank, I don't know if he wants to come to Australia.

00:49:57.000 I don't even know if he can get into Australia, to be honest.

00:49:59.000 Why's that?

00:50:00.000 Well, he has a lot of certain charges on himself.

00:50:03.000 Oh, does he?

00:50:04.000 So I don't know if he can get in there, but we'll see.

00:50:07.000 Yeah.

00:50:08.000 Do you have a preference, the fight that you think would be the bigger fight?

00:50:12.000 All of them, yeah.

00:50:14.000 Two of them have had their fights.

00:50:17.000 They show a lot because I was looking for excitement, entertainment.

00:50:20.000 I feel like I put a lot of pressure.

00:50:22.000 My presence just being there.

00:50:24.000 I kind of feel bad for the Haney-Diaz fight work because when I rocked up into Vegas, it was all about me.

00:50:31.000 I kind of feel bad.

00:50:32.000 Even when they had their post-fight press conference, they wanted me in there.

00:50:35.000 I said, no, I'm not going in there because it's their time.

00:50:37.000 Let them enjoy their moment.

00:50:39.000 I watched that fight for the first time today in the gym.

00:50:42.000 It was a good fight.

00:50:43.000 He's very sharp, painy, he boxes very nice, but Diaz brought it too.

00:50:47.000 Diaz made him work.

00:50:48.000 Diaz is not a natural 135 pounder.

00:50:50.000 He's small.

00:50:51.000 So when you put someone like me, who's fast and strong and a lot bigger, it's a different story.

00:50:58.000 Well, it's an exciting matchup with either one of those three.

00:51:01.000 It really is.

00:51:02.000 The compelling thing about Lomachenko is Lomachenko's defeat to Lopez was kind of shocking to a lot of people.

00:51:09.000 And having you just beating Lopez, he has the opportunity to kind of get it back a little.

00:51:15.000 Get one back, yeah.

00:51:15.000 Yeah, if he could get you.

00:51:17.000 And also, he's a giant name.

00:51:19.000 Yeah, he really is.

00:51:20.000 And again, any one of these three guys in Australia at Marvel Stadium is going to be a sold-out attendance.

00:51:28.000 Yeah.

00:51:28.000 I'm excited.

00:51:29.000 It's a beautiful arena.

00:51:30.000 That arena is beautiful and the way it's set where it can be open for the undercard and the co-main and then on the main event to be closed.

00:51:40.000 I've already envisioned that.

00:51:41.000 And you hear all the sound even more because it echoes off the ceiling.

00:51:44.000 It's like a night time for the broadcaster in America.

00:51:47.000 Listen man, I'd love to go.

00:51:48.000 I've got to get you there.

00:51:49.000 We've got to get you there. 1.00

00:51:50.000 I'd love to go but that 16-hour flight can kiss my ass. 1.00

00:51:52.000 Yeah, it is hard. 1.00

00:51:53.000 And I got it tonight.

00:51:55.000 I'm flying back home tonight.

00:51:56.000 I've done it a bunch of times.

00:51:57.000 I did a bunch of UFC cards over there.

00:51:59.000 It's rough.

00:52:00.000 And you're just bewildered for weeks afterwards.

00:52:03.000 You're so confused.

00:52:04.000 And I wanted to talk to you about that.

00:52:06.000 What is that like when you do your preparation and then you come over here for a fight?

00:52:11.000 How much time do you have to give yourself?

00:52:14.000 Usually, in my last fights, I've been here for eight weeks, ten weeks.

00:52:19.000 At points, I'd bring my whole family, my kids over.

00:52:23.000 But for the start of this preparation, I was here for four months before he tested positive for COVID. I was here by myself.

00:52:30.000 And then my father and my Australian coach came over.

00:52:34.000 So we had the preparation here.

00:52:36.000 We were accustomed to the time difference.

00:52:37.000 Everything was perfect.

00:52:39.000 Then when he tested positive for COVID, I said, I don't know how long he's going to be until he's ready to get inside them ropes again.

00:52:45.000 It's going to take forever.

00:52:47.000 I can't just stop my life.

00:52:48.000 I've got to get back home.

00:52:49.000 I've got to go be with my kids.

00:52:50.000 I've got to be a father.

00:52:51.000 So we flew back home.

00:52:53.000 We've done that bloody quarantine for two weeks, which is not easy.

00:52:57.000 And then, you know, continued preparation in Australia.

00:53:01.000 Then I flew back two and a half weeks out.

00:53:04.000 That's not a lot.

00:53:05.000 So it wasn't a lot, but...

00:53:07.000 I knew because I've done this trip so many times that my body would be accustomed.

00:53:11.000 Is it harder to go back there or to come over here?

00:53:14.000 It's harder to go back.

00:53:15.000 They say that.

00:53:16.000 I've heard that.

00:53:17.000 Someone's trying to explain that to me and I don't understand it.

00:53:20.000 I found that coming here, because you don't lose any time, you literally leave 10 in the morning in Australia.

00:53:27.000 And by the time you get here, it's still the same day, 6 or 7 in the morning. 0.97

00:53:32.000 Which is fucking crazy. 0.95

00:53:33.000 It's unbelievable. 0.99

00:53:33.000 It's like I could train. 0.99

00:53:35.000 I could train.

00:53:36.000 I've thought about this.

00:53:37.000 How mad I am with my training.

00:53:39.000 I could train just before I get on that flight and I can get to LA and I can train again.

00:53:44.000 So that means I've done two sessions and lost no time.

00:53:47.000 It's unbelievable.

00:53:48.000 Yeah, that is crazy.

00:53:49.000 And when you do that, do you try to train the moment you land, just to try to kill a jet lag?

00:53:56.000 Straight away.

00:53:56.000 I need to train, I need to sweat.

00:53:58.000 I go to bed, I have a good sleep, and I'm up, I feel great.

00:54:02.000 That seems the only way to settle it, is a hard workout, right?

00:54:06.000 Yeah, you need to have the hard workout, and I've told guys coming over, because I've done it so many times, I said, as soon as you land, don't sleep.

00:54:13.000 As much as you want to sleep, do not sleep.

00:54:15.000 Just do a light session.

00:54:16.000 Just shut that box for three or four rounds.

00:54:19.000 Go for a little jog.

00:54:20.000 Just get something going.

00:54:21.000 Your body can start to tick over.

00:54:23.000 It's crazy how the body is to think that a small workout like that can get you set and help with the jet lag.

00:54:31.000 Yeah, there's something about the circadian rhythm, apparently, that gets reset by a brutal workout.

00:54:38.000 It's unbelievable.

00:54:38.000 Yeah, and they also say you should try to not eat on the flight, which I've never done.

00:54:43.000 Yeah, well, the plain food, yeah.

00:54:45.000 I don't touch that anyway, because that stuff is brutal.

00:54:49.000 Do you bring your own food?

00:54:51.000 I bring, yeah, small snacks and I hydrate a lot.

00:54:54.000 Yeah.

00:54:55.000 So, coming over, you know, I was hydrating with the stuff that I take non-stop.

00:55:01.000 You know, like I had maybe three, four liters on that flight.

00:55:05.000 Oh my God, you must be hanging every five minutes.

00:55:07.000 And I was up and down.

00:55:07.000 Once it hit, I was like, oh man.

00:55:10.000 My Australian coach is looking at me and goes, again?

00:55:12.000 Far out.

00:55:13.000 It was only like 10 minutes ago.

00:55:15.000 That's funny.

00:55:16.000 And the people in the painting, this guy, right?

00:55:18.000 Why does he keep going up and down to the toilet?

00:55:20.000 He's doing coke in the bathroom.

00:55:21.000 Doing something, yeah.

00:55:22.000 Are you very strict with your diet?

00:55:25.000 Very strict.

00:55:25.000 Yeah?

00:55:26.000 Very strict.

00:55:26.000 What's a normal meal like for you?

00:55:29.000 I have a high protein, so my chicken, my turkey, lean beef, and then I like my complex carbs, my sweet potato, my pumpkin, some brown rice, some quinoa, and then from there...

00:55:44.000 My salad, my veggies, and that's it, yeah.

00:55:47.000 Clean, super clean.

00:55:48.000 Do you have someone prepare meals for you?

00:55:50.000 Not really.

00:55:51.000 My wife, obviously, when we're at home together, but when I'm here, I'm doing most of it myself, and I enjoy it.

00:55:58.000 You know, I love the aspect of the nutrition, you know, eating right, getting the right fuel into your body, because a lot of fighters, they train unbelievable, but all of a sudden they stuff up on the nutrition.

00:56:09.000 They stuff up with The post weigh-in, the right meals.

00:56:14.000 Straight after the weigh-in, I had my hydration and I had a meal ready to go.

00:56:18.000 My turkey, my avocado, the good fats, the good protein.

00:56:22.000 I had to put all the good stuff back into me.

00:56:24.000 Now, have you worked with the nutrition to develop this meal plan?

00:56:29.000 Very early in my career, I think I was still an amateur.

00:56:33.000 I did get to a nutritionist, learn a couple facts, and then the rest was just my own study, trial and error.

00:56:39.000 You know, I'd sit there and, you know, I'd have a big sparring session, you know, on a certain date, and I'd work on things leading into that sparring session, see how I felt.

00:56:48.000 You can have a nutritionist, you can have a dietitian team, but it depends how your body feels.

00:56:54.000 It might work for you, it might not work for me.

00:56:58.000 I've come to a point where I know exactly what I've got to do to make the weight, to have the right energy.

00:57:03.000 But again, I'm always open to learn.

00:57:05.000 That's why I study so much on it, and I'm always open to learn more and more.

00:57:08.000 And how did you come to turkey and chicken?

00:57:12.000 Did you try seafood?

00:57:13.000 Do you eat meat, like red meat?

00:57:16.000 I do.

00:57:17.000 I eat red meat.

00:57:19.000 I just love turkey and chicken, the high protein about it.

00:57:22.000 It just sits good in my stomach.

00:57:24.000 But as well, a lot of prawns as well.

00:57:26.000 Probs?

00:57:27.000 Yeah, because they're high protein, low calorie.

00:57:31.000 So that there, I was having a fair bit leading into this fight and it was unbelievable with the weight.

00:57:36.000 Best I've ever felt, easiest I've ever made weight.

00:57:40.000 What's like the heaviest you ever get?

00:57:42.000 Probably 147. Oh, that's not bad at all.

00:57:46.000 I checked my weight two days ago and obviously I've been eating a little bit more now because I just had a big win.

00:57:51.000 I think I was like 140. I was like 144. Yeah, so like nine pounds.

00:57:55.000 Not bad.

00:57:56.000 It's crazy.

00:57:56.000 I could make the weight.

00:57:57.000 That's why I said to Eddie, if you want to put me on, pull one of these guys out.

00:58:01.000 You were really serious.

00:58:02.000 I was serious.

00:58:03.000 Because you got stitches.

00:58:04.000 I don't know about the stitches.

00:58:05.000 Let it open up.

00:58:06.000 Makes the fight even better.

00:58:07.000 It's hilarious.

00:58:08.000 Imagine if you actually did that.

00:58:10.000 Imagine if like someone's opponent fell out and you had to step in on that short of notice.

00:58:15.000 Imagine using the same fight shorts full of blood.

00:58:19.000 Lapers' blood, my blood, whoever I was going to fight their blood.

00:58:22.000 Boy, that would be a great story.

00:58:25.000 And also, maximize your time before you have to go back home.

00:58:28.000 Well, you might as well.

00:58:30.000 You've got that big trip, so if you can get two fights in, you can make the trip worth it.

00:58:34.000 Yeah, for sure.

00:58:36.000 Do you take any supplements, vitamins, anything like that?

00:58:39.000 A lot of vitamins, yeah.

00:58:41.000 My glutamine, my immune boosters, my vitamin Cs, my B12s, my zinc, fish oils, all the good stuff.

00:58:49.000 And have you learned this from nutritionists or is this trial and error as well?

00:58:53.000 Again, trial and error.

00:58:54.000 Maybe research online?

00:58:55.000 Research, trial and error.

00:58:57.000 Listen to other athletes.

00:58:58.000 Listen to other fighters.

00:59:01.000 See how it feels.

00:59:02.000 Introduce it.

00:59:03.000 If it doesn't feel good, take it out.

00:59:05.000 If it feels good, leave it.

00:59:06.000 Here you are now.

00:59:08.000 You've just come off this huge win.

00:59:10.000 When you're preparing for another fight, it's going to be a few months at least.

00:59:17.000 What do you do in the meantime?

00:59:19.000 Do you go back to work and work on technical aspects of your game?

00:59:23.000 Do you do strength and conditioning?

00:59:24.000 Do you do all the above?

00:59:26.000 What do you do in the downtime?

00:59:27.000 A bit of everything.

00:59:29.000 My whole theory and thing about it is, every day I'm going to get better and better.

00:59:35.000 I was in the gym this morning before we were here.

00:59:38.000 I love it.

00:59:39.000 I love training.

00:59:40.000 The big thing now is to continue my strength conditioning, get a little bit bigger, get a little bit stronger.

00:59:45.000 I have room and time to be able to get bigger.

00:59:48.000 I make the weight very easy, but still keep my speed, my explosive snap and power because that is a big factor in my game.

00:59:56.000 That's one thing I never want to lose.

00:59:59.000 Perfecting the punches a little bit more.

01:00:03.000 You know, work on that shot that I landed on Lopez in round one.

01:00:06.000 If I threw it maybe a little bit more with an angle, I might have put him to sleep at that moment.

01:00:11.000 So, we keep working.

01:00:12.000 There's so much more to do.

01:00:14.000 You know, in that fight, the world might have thought that they've seen the best of Kambosis, but, you know, for me, I feel like that was 15%. 0.98

01:00:22.000 There was so much more to go.

01:00:23.000 Yeah, honestly, there was moments in that fight where I said, come on, throw that shot, throw that shot, and they weren't coming off.

01:00:28.000 So, I know that there is a lot more, but...

01:00:31.000 Once I sit down and watch the fight, I'll be able to analyze it even more and game plan and get the notebook out and go through it all.

01:00:39.000 Start writing the mistakes.

01:00:40.000 It's interesting because that is the mentality that makes a true champion.

01:00:44.000 Someone who's never satisfied with their performance and always wants to do better.

01:00:47.000 It is.

01:00:48.000 I'm never content.

01:00:49.000 I just won the Undisputed Championship.

01:00:52.000 I had one celebration drink.

01:00:55.000 I have been so focused.

01:00:56.000 I've been in Vegas.

01:00:57.000 I've been in LA. I'm here now.

01:01:00.000 Not one celebration drink.

01:01:01.000 That's the kind of fighter I am and dedicated to this sport.

01:01:05.000 You got the Ring Magazine belt, which is by many people, they think that that's probably the most unbiased of the belts.

01:01:14.000 Because if you look at the regulatory bodies, they all have their own mandatory challengers, and there's a lot of shenanigans that go on with that.

01:01:23.000 So now you have the IBF, you have the WBO, and you have the Ring Magazine title?

01:01:29.000 I have...

01:01:29.000 I have the IBF, WBO, Ring Magazine, WBA super title which is the best WBA belt you can get and I also have the WBC franchise belt which to me is a super title as well.

01:01:43.000 I know Haney has a WBC belt and the way the WBC has set this up is You got a super champion, a guy who, you know, cannot have any mandatories, can be able to maneuver, you know, and have options to do what they want to do,

01:01:58.000 which I like, because the last thing you want to do is be caught up in a mandatory where it doesn't make sense.

01:02:04.000 You know, I can maneuver where I have to.

01:02:06.000 How did you get to become a super champion?

01:02:08.000 How does that work?

01:02:09.000 Well, Lopez was a super champion.

01:02:10.000 He had everything.

01:02:11.000 How does one become a super champion?

01:02:15.000 I think it's when you've defended the belt certain times, they elevate you to a point.

01:02:21.000 Seems odd, right?

01:02:22.000 It is.

01:02:23.000 You know, I'm old school.

01:02:24.000 I'm old school and I love all the belts.

01:02:27.000 They're my pride now.

01:02:29.000 They're like my kids now.

01:02:30.000 It's like I've got five new kids.

01:02:32.000 But I'm old school and if they can eventually just have one champion be recognized and that ring magazine does do that.

01:02:40.000 The ring magazine is...

01:02:41.000 You're the leading champion.

01:02:43.000 You're the number one in the division and that's what I am right now.

01:02:45.000 But I love all the belts too.

01:02:47.000 I respect that.

01:02:48.000 And it looks so cool to have all these beautiful belts.

01:02:50.000 Oh, yeah.

01:02:50.000 There's nothing better than watching a guy walk to the ring, just showered in belts when he wins.

01:02:55.000 You know, you're draping them all over you.

01:02:56.000 Everywhere, yeah.

01:02:57.000 The problem is now trying to get back home with all these belts.

01:03:00.000 It's like, it's a mission.

01:03:02.000 Do you have to check them? 1.00

01:03:04.000 I would never check those fucking things. 0.99

01:03:06.000 No, I'm taking them with me. 1.00

01:03:07.000 I'm boarding them with me.

01:03:08.000 And we get to the airport, and even yesterday, we get to the airport in LA, and as we're going through customs, they open them up, they check them.

01:03:17.000 Okay, okay, there's another one.

01:03:20.000 Check it.

01:03:20.000 Then the bag comes.

01:03:21.000 There's another one.

01:03:22.000 How many did you get?

01:03:23.000 A fair few.

01:03:26.000 That's part of my entourage now.

01:03:29.000 Yeah, for sure.

01:03:31.000 I've worked hard to get them.

01:03:33.000 Like I said, this is not the end.

01:03:35.000 This is going to be a long reign.

01:03:37.000 It's 15% of what the world saw.

01:03:40.000 Well, enjoy it and take it in because you deserve every minute of it.

01:03:44.000 So you say you work on a little bit of everything, but talk me through a typical day in training.

01:03:50.000 Are you working out twice a day?

01:03:53.000 Do you do strength and conditioning, road work?

01:03:56.000 What's a normal day for you?

01:03:58.000 Usually three sessions a day.

01:03:59.000 Three sessions?

01:04:00.000 Yeah, that's how I feel.

01:04:01.000 That's why I have that conditioning.

01:04:03.000 I have my strength conditioning early in the morning.

01:04:05.000 And what would that consist of?

01:04:07.000 All types of things.

01:04:08.000 Your resistance, your heavy lifts, your load work where you're going down on a certain count.

01:04:17.000 As you get closer to the fight, your resistance bands and the speed work, the explosive power.

01:04:23.000 Your speed and agility work, part of that shrink conditioning cycle in the morning.

01:04:28.000 And then we go to our boxing in the afternoon, early afternoon, where you're doing your pad work, your sparring, your bag work, your game planning, your shadow boxing, everything that is involved, you know, to get to that level of the top.

01:04:43.000 And then later at night, I'm running.

01:04:45.000 I'm on the road.

01:04:45.000 I'm doing my road work.

01:04:47.000 I love the roadwork, especially at the end, because you've put in the hard work to get up again and say, okay, I've got to do my roadwork now.

01:04:55.000 Even though I'm fit, I'm ready.

01:04:57.000 Push a little bit more.

01:04:59.000 And my trainers have to hold me back sometimes.

01:05:01.000 They're like, don't do it.

01:05:02.000 You're ready.

01:05:03.000 But I know how my body feels and I know what it takes to get to that next level.

01:05:09.000 Three sessions a day is the usual.

01:05:12.000 Did you develop this schedule of three sessions a day?

01:05:16.000 Again, trial and error.

01:05:17.000 A lot of trial and error.

01:05:20.000 As a young amateur, you start off with one session a day and you see the professionals in the gym when you're watching them and idolize these guys.

01:05:28.000 You know, you say, okay, they're training twice a day.

01:05:31.000 I've got to do two sessions a day.

01:05:33.000 So you get that.

01:05:34.000 And then as you get to the next level, the elite level, you think, no, I need to do more work.

01:05:38.000 I need to get better and better.

01:05:39.000 You know, Manny Pacquiao as well.

01:05:41.000 He puts in two, three a day.

01:05:43.000 Two, three a day every day?

01:05:44.000 Yeah, pretty much every day.

01:05:45.000 When you do your strength and conditioning, do you work with a physical trainer?

01:05:49.000 I've got a strength conditioning coach, yeah.

01:05:51.000 Yeah, Mirawani from Ethos Performance.

01:05:54.000 They've got a couple UFC guys that you would know.

01:05:57.000 Shui, Bam Bam, two of us.

01:05:58.000 Oh, beautiful.

01:05:59.000 To us and Pedro.

01:05:59.000 He's fighting next weekend?

01:06:00.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:06:00.000 Or this weekend, coming up.

01:06:01.000 I wish I could go.

01:06:02.000 Yeah, I would have loved to be there, but I need to get home.

01:06:04.000 Yeah, I get it.

01:06:05.000 I get it.

01:06:05.000 They're missing Dad and Mum, so...

01:06:07.000 We've got some good guys.

01:06:08.000 We've got a really good team out there.

01:06:09.000 The strength and conditioning is very important.

01:06:12.000 Massive aspect of the game.

01:06:14.000 Do you do different work when you're not in camp versus when you're in camp in terms of strength and conditioning?

01:06:20.000 Do you have specific stuff you do to ramp up for a fight?

01:06:26.000 Now, obviously, the fight is done.

01:06:28.000 My goal is to get back and do heavier lifts, build that more strength, push my body to the next level.

01:06:35.000 And we got all the data and we got everything from every past fight that I've been working with this team.

01:06:40.000 And we can see the figures continually go up.

01:06:43.000 Now, if them numbers and figures didn't go up in the next preparation, I don't feel right because I'm always trying to get better and better every day.

01:06:50.000 So we'll put in the heavy strength work now to build that power, to build that next level numbers.

01:06:56.000 And then as the camp progresses, the date will get locked in, then we start to pinpoint, okay, we're sparring on these certain dates.

01:07:04.000 We need more speed here.

01:07:06.000 We need more explosiveness in this part.

01:07:08.000 We maneuver everything as the fight gets locked in as we go through camp.

01:07:13.000 Is there any concern when you're doing the strength and conditioning that you might put on too much weight?

01:07:18.000 Not really.

01:07:19.000 No?

01:07:19.000 No, I trust the team and my body type never really blows out too much.

01:07:23.000 I can't really put on too much mass amount of weight and muscle.

01:07:29.000 So I'm always very confident that no matter what, I will make the weight comfortably.

01:07:34.000 Especially when you're doing three a day.

01:07:36.000 Yeah, you can see it.

01:07:36.000 That's right.

01:07:38.000 The strength conditioning is one aspect, but when you're boxing and you're losing so many calories and then you're running on the road doing your 45 minute to one hour road work, you're always going to be in that peak condition.

01:07:50.000 The body type is going to be very similar.

01:07:52.000 Do you have specific foods that you eat right post-workout to try to recover?

01:07:57.000 Because when you're training three a day, one of the most important things is refueling your muscles before you give it a go again in a couple hours.

01:08:03.000 I used to have obviously your protein shakes and all the good stuff to get back into you, but I took it out of my system, the protein.

01:08:10.000 I thought, you know what?

01:08:11.000 I don't need it.

01:08:12.000 My body feels great.

01:08:14.000 There was a time where I missed it for a few times and I go, you know what?

01:08:18.000 I feel good.

01:08:18.000 I feel better.

01:08:19.000 So I took that out.

01:08:20.000 I'd rather have the good food, the eggs, the spinach, the broccoli, the veggies.

01:08:28.000 I still put in my glutamine with my hydration because it's very important to get the lactic gases and keep the hydration up.

01:08:35.000 But real food, my body's never looked better and I'm on real food.

01:08:40.000 Yeah, I agree with you on the real food thing.

01:08:42.000 I think the best thing about protein shakes is when you're on the go and you need to get calories, and you need protein, and you could down a shake, but I really prefer real food too, and I think I prefer that athletes eat real food.

01:08:56.000 Well the thing is too, when you're a professional and you're working non-stop in the gym and this is your craft, I don't have to go to a job, I don't have other work.

01:09:08.000 So you take the time, you use your time management and I learned that from Manny Pacquiao too, time management is very important.

01:09:15.000 The quasi senator.

01:09:17.000 He'll come straight from the Senate in his suit.

01:09:20.000 Right to the gym.

01:09:21.000 Straight into the gym.

01:09:22.000 That's crazy.

01:09:22.000 Hand wraps are on, into the rounds.

01:09:24.000 That's crazy.

01:09:25.000 So the time management is very important and making sure that you have the food, the prep.

01:09:30.000 You finish your session, get the right food into you.

01:09:33.000 Have the vitamins and everything that you take.

01:09:36.000 Do you eat a lot of fruit?

01:09:37.000 Do you eat fruit pre-workout at all?

01:09:40.000 I do have a fair bit of fruit.

01:09:42.000 Your watermelons, your antioxidant, your berries, your blueberries, your strawberries, your raspberries, even coconut meat.

01:09:50.000 I love the coconut meat.

01:09:52.000 The good fats, the good stuff into you.

01:09:54.000 Your pineapple.

01:09:57.000 Everything is a formula to get to this position.

01:10:02.000 And this is again all stuff that you've tweaked over time.

01:10:04.000 Yeah, I learnt myself trial and error.

01:10:08.000 You know, I'll try something and say, no, I don't feel good with that.

01:10:12.000 Don't need it.

01:10:13.000 This, okay, that's beautiful.

01:10:14.000 I need it.

01:10:15.000 My weight, I see where my weight bounces too.

01:10:17.000 Some certain things you take and, you know, put into your system and, you know, the weight will fluctuate too high.

01:10:23.000 It's okay.

01:10:24.000 No, don't need that.

01:10:25.000 Now, when it comes to recovery, when you're doing these kind of brutal workouts and you're doing something like that three times a day, do you do anything for recovery, like in terms of massage, sauna, ice baths?

01:10:40.000 We do our massages, but the biggest thing I'm on is three to four times a week, I'm in the Epsom bath.

01:10:48.000 Hot bath, Epsom salts.

01:10:50.000 I know that, you know, the ice baths are a big thing.

01:10:53.000 But, you know, I just can't put myself in that ice.

01:10:57.000 Really?

01:10:57.000 It's just too cold.

01:10:58.000 Yeah, I just hate it.

01:10:59.000 I used to do it as a young kid.

01:11:01.000 As an amateur, I used to love it.

01:11:02.000 But I think because I got so hooked on the Epsom salt baths and the heat, that my body can't deal with the cold now.

01:11:08.000 Really?

01:11:09.000 You know, so that.

01:11:10.000 But again, I do try to have the cold showers.

01:11:12.000 You know, I started learning a little bit more about Wim Hof.

01:11:15.000 You know, seeing the cold, start with the cold showers and you start to get better and better with it.

01:11:19.000 Yeah, but Wim Hof would tell you you needed to go into the plunge.

01:11:22.000 Yeah, yeah.

01:11:22.000 So that's what you said.

01:11:24.000 Look, you guys start with the showers first and then you make your way.

01:11:27.000 So hopefully in another couple of weeks, I'll be able to get back in the cold baths.

01:11:31.000 It's interesting that you used to do it.

01:11:32.000 Yeah, it's crazy.

01:11:33.000 As an amateur, I'll do it.

01:11:35.000 And when I was in Sydney, we got the baths there in the gym.

01:11:39.000 This gym is unbelievable.

01:11:40.000 It's just boxing.

01:11:41.000 And they've set up actually a hot bath and a cold bath with an ice machine and everything pretty much for me.

01:11:47.000 Oh, nice.

01:11:48.000 And after a session, they got it set up.

01:11:52.000 Like, hey, it'll be easy.

01:11:53.000 It'll be all right.

01:11:54.000 No problem.

01:11:54.000 But I hadn't done it for a while, for a long time actually.

01:11:58.000 Yeah.

01:11:58.000 When I got in there, I was in there for about 30 seconds and I'm like, hyperventilating.

01:12:02.000 I go, I've got to get out.

01:12:03.000 I've got to actually get out. 0.99

01:12:05.000 You're a beast. 0.99

01:12:06.000 What's wrong? 1.00

01:12:06.000 Everyone's like, what's wrong with you? 1.00

01:12:07.000 You've fought all these guys.

01:12:09.000 I said, I don't care about that.

01:12:11.000 I go, I am getting out of this bath.

01:12:13.000 I don't care.

01:12:15.000 I go, I put my body for enough pain.

01:12:17.000 I go, this ain't going to do nothing.

01:12:19.000 Get me out of here.

01:12:20.000 I went home and had an Epson bath.

01:12:22.000 I don't know, man.

01:12:23.000 I'm telling you.

01:12:24.000 It helps you recover. 0.97

01:12:25.000 I know it sucks. 0.99

01:12:26.000 It sucks while you do it. 0.99

01:12:28.000 I do the cryotherapy as well. 0.98

01:12:29.000 That's good.

01:12:29.000 Yeah, I do that.

01:12:30.000 That there is no problem.

01:12:32.000 The three minutes, I can do that.

01:12:33.000 I feel like I've done cryotherapy and I've done the cold plunge and I think the cold plunge is superior.

01:12:40.000 I really do.

01:12:41.000 Yeah, it is. 0.99

01:12:42.000 It's just like when you get to that 33, 34 degree temperature and you go neck deep, holy shit. 0.97

01:12:49.000 You're making me cold right now just thinking about it. 0.97

01:12:52.000 I'm thinking of that.

01:12:53.000 I think I'm traumatized.

01:12:54.000 I'm thinking of that ice bath in the gym.

01:12:55.000 My favorite is sauna straight to ice baths, back to sauna.

01:12:59.000 That's the best because you get to the sauna to the point where you just can't be in there anymore.

01:13:04.000 Like 20 minutes in, I do like 185. 20 minutes in at 185 degrees Fahrenheit and then right into the cold plunge, freeze my dick off for like three minutes and then back to the sauna. 0.99

01:13:16.000 When you get back to the sauna, that 185 feels like nothing. 0.99

01:13:20.000 Like nothing.

01:13:20.000 The old school, you know, in Russia and the Soviet Union, they all do that.

01:13:25.000 I've seen that firsthand.

01:13:27.000 I actually did it as an amateur.

01:13:30.000 We were in Russia fighting in the amateurs and they took us to the mountains with the snow and they had this little, you know, hut with a sauna in there.

01:13:38.000 I said, wow, this is crazy.

01:13:40.000 So we did the sauna and we run straight out into the snow and do our angels in the snow and back in the sauna.

01:13:47.000 Yeah, they knew what they were doing, man.

01:13:49.000 You know, the first time I found out about that was, do you know who Fedor Emelianenko is?

01:13:54.000 Yes.

01:13:54.000 Yeah, so Fedor, we used to watch him prepare in Russia, and Fedor's arguably, if not the greatest heavyweight of all time, definitely in the argument of one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

01:14:06.000 He's probably three guys you could make that argument about, and Fedor's one of them.

01:14:09.000 He might be the best.

01:14:10.000 But he would do, they would call it a banya in the Soviet Union or in Russia.

01:14:16.000 And they'd do the hot bath and they'd do the cold plunge, the hot bath.

01:14:19.000 And I remember thinking about that.

01:14:21.000 I'm like, this guy, everything he does is old school and yet he's dominating everybody.

01:14:26.000 He does kettlebells for his workouts and conditioning.

01:14:29.000 Yeah, there they are. 0.99

01:14:31.000 Yeah, so they would, I mean, Russia's cold as fuck. 1.00

01:14:36.000 Look at that. 0.99

01:14:36.000 They'd get in that freezing cold water. 0.99

01:14:41.000 And then they would go sauna to that, back and forth.

01:14:45.000 There's something about that...

01:14:47.000 Oh, the song is back there?

01:14:49.000 Yeah.

01:14:50.000 There's something about that going back and forth that really just...

01:14:54.000 It does something to you that makes you feel fantastic after workouts.

01:14:59.000 It's just...

01:15:00.000 I think, yeah, with the way the body is, I think from going to the cold and then the heat, it just relaxes the muscles, gets the lactic acids out.

01:15:10.000 Yeah.

01:15:12.000 I think I need to introduce the cold.

01:15:13.000 Yeah, you gotta get in there, buddy.

01:15:15.000 I just love the Epsom salts, the heat.

01:15:18.000 Oh, I love that too.

01:15:19.000 I swear, the weight management is great by doing it, but if I add that in there as well.

01:15:26.000 You know what's phenomenal?

01:15:27.000 Have you ever done a sensory deprivation tank?

01:15:30.000 I have.

01:15:31.000 I actually done two of them before I came to the US. Really?

01:15:34.000 And it was unbelievable.

01:15:36.000 That's all Epsom salts too.

01:15:37.000 So it's not just good for the brain to think and float and relax, but it's amazing for your muscles because there's so much salt in there.

01:15:44.000 Way more than a regular Epsom bath.

01:15:45.000 I think 400 kilos.

01:15:47.000 There's a lot of salt in there.

01:15:49.000 The first one I did, you know, they told me that your mind will wander.

01:15:53.000 And, you know, I went in there and trying to relax and, you know, I could hear the music and then they turned the music off.

01:16:00.000 So you let your brain, you know, relax.

01:16:03.000 And then by the end, I was like, I can't just switch off.

01:16:06.000 I just want to switch off.

01:16:07.000 All of a sudden, the music went back on to say that there's 10 more minutes to go.

01:16:11.000 And just boom, just switched off.

01:16:14.000 And all of a sudden it's like, time.

01:16:15.000 So that was the first one.

01:16:17.000 I go, okay, this is great.

01:16:18.000 So then the second one, you know, I really felt it.

01:16:21.000 I really switched off, you know, let the might wonder.

01:16:23.000 And I think in vision, I was manifesting, you know, the belts winning this fight.

01:16:28.000 So I've seen it.

01:16:29.000 It was amazing.

01:16:31.000 Yeah, that's the thing about it is that it takes a while to get relaxed.

01:16:35.000 But if you do it a bunch of times, then you become accustomed to it.

01:16:38.000 But as far as a guy like you trying to envision winning titles and fighting, I think it's a phenomenal tool.

01:16:44.000 It's a phenomenal tool for anybody that is working on visualization because you're alone in the total silence, total darkness.

01:16:52.000 You're floating.

01:16:53.000 You don't even feel anything.

01:16:54.000 I'm very big on manifesting and visualizing it.

01:16:57.000 Like my room in New York, it was overlooking Madison Square Garden.

01:17:01.000 I could see it.

01:17:02.000 Oh, wow.

01:17:02.000 And literally every night I'm just there looking and I go, that's where I'm doing history.

01:17:06.000 That's my history right there.

01:17:07.000 I'm meant to be here.

01:17:08.000 And literally before the fight, I'm there looking at it and I go, okay, that's the place.

01:17:13.000 But another little trick that I do is, you know, you've got my diary that I write every day.

01:17:17.000 I'd write three things that, you know, What I'm doing it for, what it means most.

01:17:22.000 Obviously, every time, my kids, my kids, but, you know, you're writing for your legacy, for, you know, your country, all the little things that, first thing in the morning, you're having your coffee, you write it down, it just sets me in a right path.

01:17:38.000 Yeah.

01:17:38.000 Did you learn to do that?

01:17:40.000 Is that something that was taught to you?

01:17:41.000 I believe it was Sugar Ray Leonard that was doing it as well.

01:17:45.000 I saw it somewhere and I go, you know what?

01:17:47.000 This was leading into my well-taught eliminator.

01:17:50.000 I said, okay, I'm going to try that.

01:17:51.000 I'm going to do that.

01:17:52.000 Let me see if it works.

01:17:53.000 And just writing it down kicks off the day in a good place.

01:17:58.000 But the visualizing and manifesting and seeing it before it actually happens from a young kid, I feel like I've always had this sixth sense and I could just see it.

01:18:07.000 Really?

01:18:07.000 Yeah.

01:18:08.000 So have you always been a kid that's been very focused on very specific goals?

01:18:13.000 I have been, yeah, always from a young kid.

01:18:15.000 I put my brain and my focus onto something I can achieve and I can do it.

01:18:20.000 You know, when I was young, you know, with obviously my family, there was no young kids around us.

01:18:26.000 You know, I was born and then my sister came, you know, many years later.

01:18:31.000 There was no cousins.

01:18:32.000 I was always hanging out with the older crowd and the parents and my parents' friends.

01:18:39.000 So I think just from that young kid, that age, you become a little bit more mature and you realize that you can visualize things.

01:18:46.000 I think something from there has transpired to where I am now as well.

01:18:50.000 When did you first think that you were going to become a boxer?

01:18:56.000 Look, I fell into boxing by luck.

01:18:59.000 It really was.

01:18:59.000 It was by luck.

01:19:00.000 It wasn't because my father was a fighter.

01:19:03.000 You know, it was by luck.

01:19:04.000 I was playing rugby, you know, back in Australia, you know, as a 10, 11-year-old, you know, from starting at age 6. That's all I wanted to do in my life.

01:19:13.000 I wanted to be a footy player.

01:19:14.000 But I was overweight.

01:19:14.000 I was putting on a lot of weight.

01:19:16.000 So in the off-season, my dad said, we've got to do something here.

01:19:21.000 You're not going to be able to cut it next year.

01:19:23.000 You're not going to make the A squad.

01:19:24.000 I said, alright.

01:19:25.000 Because we live not far from the beach, we'll do nippers. 1.00

01:19:29.000 What's a nipper?

01:19:30.000 So nippers is beach running.

01:19:33.000 Why do you call it nippers?

01:19:34.000 I don't know.

01:19:37.000 All my Aussie fans and people watching will be saying, okay, nippers. 0.95

01:19:41.000 Hell yeah! 0.95

01:19:41.000 Nippers! 0.95

01:19:42.000 Nippers!

01:19:42.000 You don't know what nippers are?

01:19:43.000 Come on Joe!

01:19:46.000 So I said, no way, you're not going to see this big 11-year-old obese kid running down the beach, you know, the fat ziggler and no chance.

01:19:54.000 He goes, what about boxing?

01:19:55.000 You like the Rocky movies?

01:19:57.000 I said, yeah, let's try it out.

01:19:59.000 So to get to the gym, we went down to the gym, the local community, PCYC, they say, gym.

01:20:06.000 Walking up to the stairs, the smell of the old school gym.

01:20:10.000 You can smell the blood in there.

01:20:13.000 Most kids turn around and say, no way.

01:20:15.000 Especially being overweight and being bullied his whole life.

01:20:18.000 But I walked in there.

01:20:19.000 I thought at home, I go, wow, this is amazing.

01:20:22.000 Really?

01:20:22.000 So let's do it.

01:20:23.000 Right away?

01:20:24.000 Right away.

01:20:25.000 So I put the gloves on.

01:20:26.000 My dad said, hey, you're on your own.

01:20:28.000 And that's the kind of little battles and little tricks that he would do.

01:20:32.000 So you're on your own.

01:20:33.000 I'll be back.

01:20:34.000 I'll see when I pick you up.

01:20:36.000 I fell in love with the sport.

01:20:37.000 Wow, right away?

01:20:39.000 Right away.

01:20:39.000 All of a sudden, I lost all this weight.

01:20:41.000 You know, I went down to, say from 135 pounds, I probably went down to like 120, maybe a little bit less, 118. So, everything changed.

01:20:51.000 You know, the bullying kind of stopped.

01:20:53.000 You know, my whole confidence grew.

01:20:56.000 My footy got better.

01:20:57.000 All of a sudden, instead of coming last, you know, in whatever we did, I was coming first.

01:21:03.000 So all of a sudden, you know, that passion for boxing, that real combat took over.

01:21:08.000 So as I went back to the next year for rugby, you know, I was playing really good rugby and I got picked for a representative team.

01:21:15.000 But at the same time I was boxing and, you know, I made the state championships, the team, And I just, I still love both, but boxing was everything I wanted to do, and I wanted to take that to the next level.

01:21:28.000 So with the representative team, they sat us down, the coaches sat us down, and they said, okay, you'll be training Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

01:21:37.000 And straight away I said, okay, Monday, Wednesday, Friday is when I have boxing on.

01:21:41.000 That's not going to work.

01:21:42.000 So I sat in the car with my father on the way home, had all the footy training gear, the rugby training gear, and He goes, how good is this?

01:21:49.000 Something you want to do your whole life?

01:21:50.000 He knew straight away.

01:21:51.000 He could see my expression on my face.

01:21:53.000 I said, yeah, but didn't you hear?

01:21:55.000 I said, what?

01:21:56.000 He knew already.

01:21:57.000 He said, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, that's boxing.

01:21:59.000 I said, yeah, well, you're going to have to make a decision.

01:22:02.000 He goes, remember I was telling you about the crossroads?

01:22:04.000 I go, I know what it is now, the crossroads.

01:22:07.000 I said, this is like 11, 12 years of age.

01:22:10.000 So you guys, look, it's the weekend now.

01:22:12.000 I'm going to give you the weekend to think about it.

01:22:14.000 Come Monday, after I finish work, I want to see what bag's going to be here, the boxing bag or the footy bag, and we'll go where you want to go, where your heart is.

01:22:22.000 So you make the decision.

01:22:24.000 So I thought about it.

01:22:25.000 I said, no, I'm going to be a fighter.

01:22:28.000 You know, and my heart was there.

01:22:29.000 Come Monday, boxing bag, boxing gloves, let's go.

01:22:33.000 How did your rugby coach handle that?

01:22:36.000 Look, they were upset because they saw how dedicated I was and what a good player I was, but they understood it because they knew that boxing was there and that's how I'd lost all that weight and become a good player.

01:22:48.000 So they said, look, whatever he wants to do, the kid made his decision.

01:22:52.000 We support him.

01:22:54.000 Obviously, they'll be looking at this now saying, wow, he did.

01:22:57.000 He went all the way and won the belts.

01:22:59.000 What a crazy story.

01:23:00.000 That is a crazy story.

01:23:02.000 So how old were you when you had your first amateur fight?

01:23:05.000 Yeah, 11, 12. My first amateur fight.

01:23:08.000 Right around that?

01:23:08.000 Yeah, right around there.

01:23:09.000 So they jumped right in there.

01:23:10.000 Pretty much in there straight away.

01:23:11.000 I lost all the weight and you want to have a fight.

01:23:13.000 And again, funny stories.

01:23:15.000 I remember my coach saying, you want to have a fight?

01:23:19.000 I said, okay, that'd be cool.

01:23:20.000 So I went and told my dad when he picked me up in the car.

01:23:23.000 He goes, the coach wants me to have a fight.

01:23:25.000 He said, fight?

01:23:26.000 He goes, we didn't come here to fight.

01:23:27.000 We came here to lose weight and, you know, get better for rugby.

01:23:32.000 I said, well, I'm going to do it.

01:23:33.000 He goes, all right, I'm going to support you then.

01:23:35.000 So, I remember that first fight was, I fought this really tall kid.

01:23:40.000 He was massive.

01:23:41.000 And it was like I was doing a 100-meter freestyle swimming race.

01:23:46.000 I was just throwing punches, haymakers. 0.73

01:23:48.000 I bloodied him up.

01:23:49.000 I beat him.

01:23:49.000 I won the fight and I got hooked.

01:23:51.000 You know, that real combat, you can't beat it.

01:23:54.000 Yeah, what was that like when you're, I mean, you don't have a whole family that was into it.

01:23:59.000 You just, you're a young guy and you make this decision.

01:24:02.000 Like, what did it feel like once you won that first fight?

01:24:05.000 Were you like, this is it?

01:24:06.000 This is what I'm supposed to do?

01:24:07.000 Straight away, this is it.

01:24:08.000 This is unbelievable.

01:24:09.000 You know that feeling before a fight, especially in the amateurs, you're using the same gloves, you know, that we're used in the tournament.

01:24:15.000 So you're putting them on, you can see the blood and you can smell it and You know, the sweat and everything, you know, you got everyone there ready to watch.

01:24:23.000 Wow.

01:24:23.000 It's pretty crazy, but, you know, my grandparents are old school too, so I'm trying to tell them that, you know, I'm fighting, I'm boxing.

01:24:31.000 They're like, no, no, no, no, no.

01:24:33.000 They can't even deal with me having an earring, let alone all the tattoos.

01:24:37.000 And they're like, no, no, no, no, no boxing.

01:24:39.000 No, no, no, no way.

01:24:39.000 Go get a job.

01:24:40.000 Go work.

01:24:41.000 Oh, boy.

01:24:42.000 I said, no, no, I'm going to box, you know, and...

01:24:44.000 Are they still around?

01:24:45.000 All of them, except for my grandfather, yeah.

01:24:48.000 And same with him, you know, God bless him now.

01:24:50.000 He's old school.

01:24:53.000 Did he eventually realize, though?

01:24:55.000 Eventually he did, but even before this fight, when we spoke to him, you know, before he passed away, leading to this fight, with all the dramas that we had, he said, Just accept it, whatever they say, just take it, get the money, you know, for your family.

01:25:09.000 It's still that old-school mentality, make money for the family, and that's what they did.

01:25:12.000 They came overseas in the 60s from Greece, you know, didn't speak the language at all, you know, to give a better life for themselves, and all of a sudden, they met their wives and their husbands, and, you know, all of a sudden, they have a family, they raise a family, and they move on to me being here,

01:25:30.000 you know, the next generation.

01:25:31.000 It really is an amazing story.

01:25:33.000 It is an amazing story.

01:25:35.000 So you got a 20-0 record right now, and you started your professional career in 2013?

01:25:41.000 Is that what it was?

01:25:41.000 Yeah, 18 years of age.

01:25:42.000 That's crazy, right?

01:25:44.000 I mean, that's not that long ago.

01:25:47.000 You know, to think about it that a year and a half, two years ago, when I fought at MSG, when I beat Mickey Bay, I only got paid like 20 grand.

01:25:55.000 And when I paid everybody else and worked out my training expenses and had my kids there and my wife with me.

01:26:05.000 I lived off the sponsorships, the small amount of sponsorships.

01:26:09.000 That was your first real world-class opponent, right?

01:26:11.000 Yeah, it was.

01:26:12.000 And when his name popped up, You know, they said, Mickey Bay.

01:26:17.000 I was already number three in the world at that stage, but I wasn't tested yet properly on the American scene.

01:26:22.000 I jumped at it straight away.

01:26:23.000 I was so excited.

01:26:23.000 I go, this is what I came here to the U.S. for.

01:26:26.000 This is the kind of guy, a veteran, a guy that's been there, a guy that knows the ins and outs of boxing, the little tricks, you know, the smooth moves.

01:26:34.000 You know, that's what I wanted.

01:26:35.000 A lot of fighters said, nah, too risky.

01:26:38.000 Yeah.

01:26:38.000 Let's suck up another guy and let's get close to the rankings and hopefully we'll get a shot and we'll make some money and see how we're going.

01:26:44.000 But...

01:26:45.000 I've always been about taking the hardest road, the risk.

01:26:48.000 That's what I did in that fight as well.

01:26:50.000 You certainly did.

01:26:51.000 It's a wake-up call to people too when they hear about that purse. 0.54

01:26:56.000 Because a lot of people, they think of boxing purses, they think of the purse that Tyson Fury gets or that Floyd Mayweather gets or Deontay Wilder.

01:27:04.000 The reality is guys coming up, even when you're headlining, even when you're the main event, it's not a lot of money.

01:27:10.000 No, it really isn't.

01:27:11.000 If you go out there thinking that it's just about the money, you will fall over.

01:27:17.000 You don't chase the money, it will eventually come.

01:27:19.000 Again with this fight too.

01:27:21.000 I was originally set with Triller to get 2.1 million US. All of a sudden, the problems that happened and the issues, you know, it was a lot less now for Matrim.

01:27:31.000 But for me, it was never about the money. 0.96

01:27:33.000 And people online and friends were saying, you're crazy, man.

01:27:36.000 What are you doing? 0.85

01:27:37.000 Because we kind of took a stance and said that, no, we want to fight.

01:27:40.000 We're sick of these games.

01:27:42.000 And, you know, the sanctioning body went out and said that, no, this is enough.

01:27:47.000 No more date changes.

01:27:48.000 You guys are done.

01:27:50.000 You know, it's a lot of money to lose.

01:27:52.000 It is.

01:27:53.000 But I knew my vision.

01:27:54.000 I said, doesn't matter.

01:27:55.000 What was the difference in the payday?

01:27:57.000 It was from 2.1 to 1.3.

01:28:00.000 Wow.

01:28:00.000 So it's a fair bit of money, but...

01:28:02.000 Lost a million dollars.

01:28:03.000 Yeah, pretty much, yeah.

01:28:04.000 But again, it's never about that.

01:28:06.000 But look what the glory did and look where the position you're in now.

01:28:09.000 I mean, now you're in a position to make a gigantic amount of money.

01:28:12.000 If they can pull off that huge show in Australia, if you could talk somebody into going to Australia and you do a stadium, my goodness...

01:28:22.000 Unbelievable.

01:28:23.000 It's going to be big.

01:28:24.000 But again, it's never been about the money.

01:28:26.000 The money sets up my family, my kids.

01:28:29.000 For me, it's that glory, the legacy, the battles.

01:28:35.000 I love the battles.

01:28:36.000 I love that real combat.

01:28:38.000 I get excited.

01:28:39.000 I want to fight.

01:28:40.000 I love to fight.

01:28:42.000 When you started out your career, did you have a boxer that you emulated or that you wanted to be like or someone who you admired their career and wanted to resemble their style?

01:28:54.000 I admired, you know, Roberto Duran.

01:28:55.000 And I was so privileged to FaceTime with him a couple of days ago.

01:29:00.000 Oh yeah?

01:29:01.000 Mauricio Suleiman from WBC president.

01:29:04.000 I met him in Madison Square Garden once.

01:29:06.000 I was starstruck.

01:29:07.000 What a man.

01:29:07.000 I guess who's your favorite fighter?

01:29:10.000 Duran.

01:29:12.000 Duran and his prime, like the Ken Buchanan days.

01:29:15.000 People think his prime was as a welterweight.

01:29:17.000 It was not.

01:29:18.000 It was as a lightweight.

01:29:19.000 It's a lightweight.

01:29:19.000 And that WBC belt, you had to see him on there.

01:29:22.000 And obviously I'm on there.

01:29:23.000 And you got Floyd on there, the great lightweights.

01:29:27.000 When Mauricio said, okay, I'm going to FaceTime him.

01:29:30.000 I was like real nervous.

01:29:32.000 It's Duran!

01:29:33.000 So I spoke to him.

01:29:36.000 He was so happy to chat and he congratulated me, which was amazing.

01:29:41.000 That's fantastic.

01:29:42.000 He's unbelievable.

01:29:43.000 And I had my Duran moment in that fight as well because in round 12 when we both looked at each other, And he didn't want to accept it, Lopez.

01:29:53.000 I was waiting for some kind of acceptance, and he didn't want it.

01:29:56.000 So I gave him that shove, that push, like, bang, and then I'm going to celebrate.

01:30:01.000 Like Duran did with Sugar Ray in the first fight. 0.99

01:30:03.000 Yeah, well, Duran, I think he called him a whore. 0.97

01:30:06.000 Yeah, that's Duran for you. 0.99

01:30:08.000 It's been crazy.

01:30:09.000 It really has been.

01:30:11.000 I've had, obviously, Duran.

01:30:12.000 I've faced him with Canelo.

01:30:14.000 He showed his love and support and what I did in that fight.

01:30:20.000 Oh, that's beautiful.

01:30:21.000 I know Manny Pacquiao.

01:30:22.000 I'll be faced on with him as well.

01:30:23.000 I'm sitting here with you.

01:30:25.000 It's been crazy.

01:30:27.000 Canelo's in a crazy position, man.

01:30:29.000 He's going to move up to cruiserweight for his next fight.

01:30:32.000 Unbelievable.

01:30:33.000 Isn't that wild?

01:30:34.000 He just loves the challenges.

01:30:37.000 I think that's what gets him up.

01:30:38.000 It must.

01:30:39.000 I mean, he's truly one of the all-time greats already.

01:30:41.000 But the fact that he went up to light heavyweight, knocked out Kovalev, and now he wants to go all the way up to cruiserweight.

01:30:48.000 190 pounds.

01:30:49.000 Yeah, he's going to fight Makabu.

01:30:52.000 And that guy's no joke.

01:30:53.000 I had a look at him.

01:30:54.000 He's a big fella.

01:30:55.000 Big, strong...

01:30:56.000 Knocked out a lot of guys, so this is a risk, but he loves it.

01:31:01.000 Without risk, there's no reward.

01:31:03.000 Well, I think he really truly has his mind set on being the greatest Mexican champion of all time, and maybe even the greatest boxer of all time.

01:31:11.000 And I think he can do it.

01:31:13.000 I think he's in that running.

01:31:14.000 When you see the Danny Jacobs fight, and you see his head movement, and you realize how much he's taken from the one loss that he had to Floyd. 0.95

01:31:24.000 That was a fight where he realized, man, there's levels to this shit, and there's some guys you just can't hit.

01:31:30.000 And how amazing was that transformation from him before that to afterwards because now his head movement and his defense is sensational. 0.96

01:31:40.000 And he's not a big, big guy.

01:31:41.000 No.

01:31:42.000 He's small.

01:31:43.000 How tall is he?

01:31:44.000 He's probably 5'8".

01:31:45.000 Yeah, 5'8".

01:31:45.000 And now he's going to go up to 190. Was Cruiserweight 95?

01:31:49.000 I think so, yeah.

01:31:50.000 That's wild, man, because you're talking about a guy who's probably 210 and cutting down to 95. He did say that he was not going to come in heavy at all.

01:31:59.000 No, but his opponent will.

01:32:00.000 That's right.

01:32:01.000 But he said he's going to try to stay around that natural weight that he's at because he doesn't want to put on anymore because it'll probably affect his speed and his movements.

01:32:11.000 Well, all he has to do is be over 175, right?

01:32:13.000 That's right.

01:32:15.000 Cruiserweight is basically...

01:32:16.000 There's nothing between 75 and cruiser, right?

01:32:19.000 So one of the few weight classes in boxing.

01:32:21.000 No, I don't think so, yeah.

01:32:22.000 Yeah, it's a weird jump, right, in boxing?

01:32:25.000 It is, and you know what?

01:32:26.000 I'm trying to think how many divisions it is.

01:32:29.000 I don't know if he's trying to get close to the great Manny Pacquiao.

01:32:32.000 I don't think he can.

01:32:33.000 I don't think he can.

01:32:34.000 He'd have to go all the way up to heavyweight.

01:32:35.000 Heavy or super heavy, so...

01:32:37.000 Correct me if I'm wrong, but boxing goes middleweight 160, super 68, light heavyweight 75, but then there's a giant jump to cruiserweight.

01:32:47.000 Cruiserweight, actually, they've just introduced another weight class, the bridgerweight.

01:32:53.000 Oh, bridge your weight.

01:32:55.000 There's another one.

01:32:56.000 Where's that?

01:32:57.000 Between Cruiser and Heavy?

01:32:59.000 Yes, I think so.

01:33:00.000 But between Light Heavy and Cruiser, 20 pounds.

01:33:04.000 That's a big gap in boxing.

01:33:06.000 The fact that he's going to make that leap, and the fact that he started off at 154. It's crazy.

01:33:11.000 And he fought Floyd at 52. It's crazy.

01:33:13.000 Nuts! 0.70

01:33:14.000 Nuts! 0.70

01:33:14.000 And it shows the kind of fighter he is, the risk he's willing to take and you've got to applaud that. 0.70

01:33:21.000 Fantastic.

01:33:21.000 And even after a loss against Floyd, he's come back and he's beat all these guys.

01:33:25.000 You know, incredible.

01:33:27.000 He's truly a great athlete and a great fighter.

01:33:29.000 If he retired tomorrow, he's one of the all-time greats.

01:33:32.000 Yes, he's in the Hall of Fame, one of the all-time greats.

01:33:35.000 Without a doubt.

01:33:36.000 Without a doubt.

01:33:36.000 And if you watch his knockout of Caleb Plant, that was one he had to earn.

01:33:43.000 Yeah, he did.

01:33:44.000 He had to earn that one.

01:33:45.000 I met Caleb two nights ago.

01:33:47.000 He was at the hotel in LA and a really nice guy, great guy.

01:33:52.000 You know, he seemed disappointed because he goes, I was trying to do what you just done and win these belts.

01:33:57.000 And I said, man, you gave so much heart and you gained so much respect.

01:34:02.000 Because, you know, a lot of people weren't giving him that chance.

01:34:04.000 And to do what he did, you know, he didn't win the fight.

01:34:07.000 But, you know, you got that respect.

01:34:09.000 You went, you know, so many rounds.

01:34:11.000 He looked amazing.

01:34:12.000 He looked very good.

01:34:12.000 You boxed nice.

01:34:13.000 And he's only had 21 fights, 22 fights.

01:34:16.000 It was a learning experience for sure.

01:34:19.000 A learning experience for sure.

01:34:20.000 But you look at Canelo's power is wild.

01:34:23.000 What he did to Saunders, that was wild.

01:34:26.000 He fractured that eye socket.

01:34:27.000 He fractured his whole face.

01:34:28.000 You think from one shot.

01:34:29.000 One shot.

01:34:30.000 Did you ever look at the diagram of all the repair they had to do to his face?

01:34:34.000 Have you ever seen that?

01:34:34.000 Yeah, I did see it.

01:34:35.000 Yeah, it was brutal.

01:34:36.000 It's crazy.

01:34:37.000 It broke it.

01:34:37.000 Everywhere.

01:34:37.000 Eye socket, all the orbital bone was shattered around the eye socket, the cheek, the jaw.

01:34:44.000 I think from just one punch, one devastating shot like that. 1.00

01:34:47.000 That motherfucker can punch. 1.00

01:34:49.000 And again, Billy Joe was boxing nice. 1.00

01:34:51.000 He was close.

01:34:52.000 He looked very good.

01:34:53.000 But Canelo, I feel like, even in the Caleb Plant fight, he's just doing his thing.

01:34:58.000 He's waiting for the moment.

01:34:59.000 He's so composed.

01:35:01.000 A lot of guys try to rush.

01:35:02.000 A lot of guys, they forget about their composure.

01:35:05.000 In the fight game, especially in boxing, you've got 12 rounds.

01:35:09.000 You've got a lot of time, 36 minutes in them ropes.

01:35:14.000 A lot of time to dissect your opponent and break them down.

01:35:18.000 That's what he does.

01:35:19.000 He does it so well.

01:35:20.000 He does it so well and he has that patience and confidence of a multi-division world champion who's faced the best of the best so that when he gets into those championship rounds, he gets into those later rounds, he knows that he's managed his energy so perfectly.

01:35:37.000 The Kovalev fight's a good example of that, right?

01:35:39.000 Because Kovalev looked pretty good early on in the fight.

01:35:41.000 He's boxing very nice. 0.99

01:35:42.000 But to see him knock out Kovalev, and I think this is just fucking... 0.82

01:35:45.000 I know Kovalev is not the same Kovalev has fought Andre Ward the first time, but if you see... 0.94

01:35:51.000 Still, though.

01:35:51.000 Still?

01:35:51.000 Yeah, that was a brutal shot.

01:35:53.000 Landed clean, and Kovalev was all over the shop.

01:35:56.000 Wild!

01:35:56.000 Put him down, and he's a big guy.

01:35:58.000 I know, and crack him with one left hook and had him fucked. 1.00

01:36:01.000 Unbelievable. 1.00

01:36:01.000 It's crazy. 1.00

01:36:02.000 Truly an all-time great and a guy that we're getting to witness and have the pleasure to witness right now.

01:36:09.000 So to be able to FaceTime with him and just hear his advice about keeping that dedication, don't lose sight of what you're doing, and continue reigning for a long time was amazing.

01:36:21.000 That is amazing.

01:36:22.000 I'm sure Lopez didn't like seeing that when I did post it because I know he was...

01:36:26.000 Only a few weeks ago, up there with all his belts, trying to take the limelight of Canelo at his fight.

01:36:31.000 Well, Lopez is a young guy.

01:36:33.000 What is he, 24?

01:36:34.000 24, yeah.

01:36:35.000 He's going to develop character from this.

01:36:38.000 Not that he doesn't already have character, but he's going to develop more character from this.

01:36:42.000 And I think this loss will make him a better fighter.

01:36:45.000 100%.

01:36:45.000 And that's what I told him, too.

01:36:47.000 When that fight was done, I knew I'd won the fight.

01:36:51.000 I said, you'll bounce back, you'll bounce back, you know, respect, you know, but he's young, he's going to learn and, you know, I can't sit here and knock the guy.

01:36:59.000 I bled with the guy, I sweated with the guy.

01:37:01.000 You know, we gave, you know, the world an unbelievable fight.

01:37:05.000 Well, the beautiful thing about what you did is that he is a great fighter.

01:37:10.000 And because he's a great fighter, it made your victory so amazing.

01:37:14.000 If he wasn't a great fighter, it's not going to be that impressive.

01:37:17.000 It was the fact that you were facing a guy who just beat Lomachenko, who was just a world-class fighter who many people thought was the scariest guy in that division.

01:37:25.000 And you came out on top.

01:37:28.000 Look, straight after my world title eliminator in London when I beat Lee Selby, you know, another former champion, a guy who's been around a long time, straight away I called him out.

01:37:38.000 And like you said, this guy was posed as the scariest guy in the division, the guy that no one wanted to fight.

01:37:44.000 Unbelievable power, unbelievable boxing, had it all.

01:37:46.000 And he does, he does have great attributes.

01:37:49.000 But I knew, I saw something.

01:37:51.000 And again, I go back to that sixth sense.

01:37:54.000 Back in 2019, he was at a fight in Pechanga, in California.

01:38:01.000 And I was there as well.

01:38:03.000 I got flown out to be at a world championship fight.

01:38:05.000 And we met.

01:38:06.000 And the media got us to take a photo together.

01:38:08.000 I knew inside, I'm going to fight this guy somewhere.

01:38:11.000 So when they tweeted the photo out, I retweeted and wrote, future mega fight.

01:38:16.000 Wow.

01:38:17.000 Yeah, and I knew it.

01:38:17.000 I'm gonna fight this guy.

01:38:18.000 Even before that, when I first saw him on the scene, when he came out, he had the stylish fight gear and making a lot of noise.

01:38:24.000 He was doing the fortnight kind of celebrations.

01:38:29.000 There's this feeling that I'm gonna fight him.

01:38:31.000 I know I'm gonna fight him.

01:38:34.000 I have that feeling.

01:38:35.000 I get that sense.

01:38:37.000 Do you think he's gonna want a rematch?

01:38:39.000 I asked him straight after the fight.

01:38:41.000 I said, come to Australia, 80,000.

01:38:44.000 And he didn't want nothing to do with it.

01:38:45.000 I'm hearing they want nothing to do with it.

01:38:47.000 Why is that?

01:38:49.000 He took a lot of shots in that fight.

01:38:50.000 You think that's what it is?

01:38:51.000 He felt it firsthand.

01:38:52.000 I think they're going to move up now.

01:38:54.000 I think he needs a long rest.

01:38:55.000 I think he needs some time.

01:38:57.000 The thing about it is, I know he's big.

01:38:59.000 I know he's big for 140 or 135 and that 140 is probably better for him.

01:39:05.000 He's not the most shredded guy.

01:39:08.000 Like, when you look at him, he's got a lot of power.

01:39:10.000 And you gotta wonder how much of that is because he put a lot of weight on after the weigh-ins.

01:39:15.000 But, you know, he has made 135 successfully in the past.

01:39:19.000 I don't know what his diet and regimen and training routine is like, but it seems like if you want to chase the big money, I mean, it was such a close fight.

01:39:29.000 If you wanted to chase the big money, I would imagine that they would take a break, take a breath, regroup, and look at all the options on the table.

01:39:40.000 The rematch is where the money's at.

01:39:42.000 That's where the money's at.

01:39:43.000 And that's where the legacy's at, too.

01:39:45.000 And I'm open.

01:39:46.000 I'm open to everything.

01:39:47.000 For me, I'm a fighter.

01:39:48.000 I'd love to have another battle with him.

01:39:52.000 Really, it's up to him now as well because I heard some stuff that he doesn't want to box anymore at one point.

01:40:00.000 So for me, he'll be hearing this.

01:40:05.000 You're a talented kid.

01:40:07.000 You've got the world at your feet.

01:40:08.000 One loss doesn't define you.

01:40:09.000 You come back, we do it again, you move up.

01:40:12.000 You know, you fight someone else at 135, you bounce back up.

01:40:15.000 Whatever you do, you know, you don't throw the towel in.

01:40:17.000 You know, it's too young, but he'll be back.

01:40:20.000 Did you really, you heard that from a credible source?

01:40:22.000 Yeah, I did hear it, yeah.

01:40:23.000 Really?

01:40:23.000 Yeah, I did hear it.

01:40:25.000 Interesting.

01:40:26.000 Man, this is such a great time for boxing.

01:40:29.000 It is, especially at 135, too.

01:40:31.000 Really, in all the weight classes.

01:40:33.000 I mean, look at Terrence Crawford.

01:40:34.000 Yeah.

01:40:35.000 You know, I mean, that Sean Porter fight. 0.99

01:40:36.000 Holy shit. 0.99

01:40:37.000 Unbelievable. 1.00

01:40:38.000 Phenomenal.

01:40:38.000 Both guys.

01:40:39.000 Even Sean.

01:40:40.000 Both guys.

01:40:40.000 He looked incredible.

01:40:41.000 He looked great.

01:40:42.000 He boxed well.

01:40:43.000 He had a great game plan and Crawford just adapts.

01:40:46.000 Yeah.

01:40:46.000 You talk about adapting in a fight.

01:40:47.000 Oh my god, he's the best.

01:40:48.000 That guy's, you know, that's adapting right there.

01:40:51.000 Well, he is the best stance switcher since Marvin Hagrid.

01:40:56.000 Yeah.

01:40:57.000 I mean, he really is.

01:40:58.000 He'll hit you from whatever side. 0.58

01:40:59.000 He can knock you out with either hand.

01:41:01.000 It's such an advantage, too.

01:41:03.000 To have that advantage to be able to fight southpaw or orthodox with equal fluidity, because he's so smooth and he finds openings.

01:41:11.000 And when he switches up on guys, you can see them.

01:41:13.000 They have to calculate and now put it into the, like, okay, southpaw.

01:41:16.000 Okay, orthodox.

01:41:17.000 Well, he's never given the opponent a chance to read him.

01:41:20.000 Right.

01:41:20.000 And once you can read a fighter...

01:41:22.000 See, Lopez, I read him many, many, you know, months before.

01:41:27.000 You know, I knew straight away.

01:41:28.000 I see what he does.

01:41:29.000 I see the mistakes.

01:41:30.000 You know, I could read it.

01:41:32.000 Now, Crawford, he's a guy that he'll hit you from here, then he switches, then he's in, he's out.

01:41:36.000 You can't read a guy like that.

01:41:38.000 It's very hard to read.

01:41:39.000 And obviously, me saying that I can't read him, he's big, so it means I'm not going to fight him because he's too big for me anyway.

01:41:48.000 But he's a good fighter, man.

01:41:50.000 He's tremendous.

01:41:51.000 For me, even going to the fights on the weekend, the Haney-Jojo Diaz fight, going to the Javonte Davis fight with Isak Cruz, As a fight fan, not only as a guy that I was scouting to see who might be the next guy.

01:42:06.000 Just as a fight fan, seeing the fights, being there.

01:42:09.000 I live for that.

01:42:10.000 I love it.

01:42:10.000 That's beautiful.

01:42:11.000 I was very impressed with Cruz as well.

01:42:13.000 He fought well.

01:42:14.000 He fought really well.

01:42:15.000 He's tiny and he just comes.

01:42:17.000 But that shell that he fights under, hard to pick it apart.

01:42:20.000 Especially when you've got him coming forward like that.

01:42:22.000 He's throwing dangerous shots.

01:42:24.000 He excited me.

01:42:25.000 He didn't get the win, but...

01:42:27.000 There's so many good fights.

01:42:31.000 It's such an incredible time for boxing.

01:42:35.000 Basically every division.

01:42:38.000 From the top down, from heavyweight down.

01:42:40.000 It's a good time.

01:42:41.000 Boxing is in a really good state.

01:42:43.000 A really good position and we are starting to see it more and more.

01:42:46.000 The best are fighting the best.

01:42:48.000 I think everyone is trying to become the undisputed champions in their divisions and what better way because then it solidifies there's the one champion.

01:42:56.000 There's the one champion.

01:42:57.000 There won't be all these different champions all over the shop.

01:43:00.000 It gives more credibility to boxing as well.

01:43:02.000 No, I think so, for sure.

01:43:03.000 And I think that, you know that old expression, as the heavyweights go, so does boxing?

01:43:08.000 Yep.

01:43:09.000 And that's a perfect, this is a perfect example, because right now the heavyweight division's on fire.

01:43:13.000 Yep.

01:43:14.000 Because there's so much exciting activity in the heavyweight division.

01:43:17.000 You know, I mean, they're going to do that Usyk versus Joshua rematch, which was, what a fight that was, huh?

01:43:25.000 You know, and I said Usyk is an unbelievable boxer.

01:43:27.000 Oh my god, he's so good.

01:43:29.000 I got the opportunity to fight on the co-main when I won my World Tile Eliminator.

01:43:35.000 He's not a big, big guy.

01:43:36.000 No.

01:43:37.000 He's not massive, but the way he boxes, the footwork that he has, you know, that south pole position is unbelievable.

01:43:44.000 Look, I love Joshua too.

01:43:46.000 Great fighter.

01:43:47.000 You know, he's gonna have to really come with something special, you know, to win this rematch.

01:43:51.000 And again, all odds against him.

01:43:52.000 When is the rematch?

01:43:52.000 What's the schedule for?

01:43:53.000 I think they're saying March.

01:43:54.000 March.

01:43:54.000 I think I'm here in March, yeah.

01:43:55.000 Do you think when a guy gets so thoroughly outboxed like that and almost put away in the 12th, do you think that's quick to come back from a fight like that?

01:44:04.000 It is, but again, it shows that the testament that Joshua has.

01:44:08.000 Yes.

01:44:08.000 You know what?

01:44:09.000 Like the Ruiz fight.

01:44:10.000 Yeah, right, right, right.

01:44:11.000 Straight back on the horse.

01:44:12.000 Yeah, but Ruiz didn't get back on the horse.

01:44:14.000 That's the difference.

01:44:15.000 That's the problem, yeah.

01:44:15.000 Ruiz got in the kitchen.

01:44:17.000 He enjoyed it too much.

01:44:19.000 He's looking good now, but… Yeah, he looks great now.

01:44:21.000 But then again, right, that's a wake-up call, right?

01:44:24.000 And those wake-up calls for a guy like him are so important. 0.86

01:44:27.000 See if you can find a recent picture of Andy Ruiz, because he looks fucking incredible.

01:44:32.000 Well, he's with the Canelo team now. 0.72

01:44:33.000 Yes.

01:44:33.000 I love that.

01:44:36.000 Got him going the way he's meant to be.

01:44:38.000 But I'll tell you what, he got in trouble with Chris Areola, because he did the same thing with Areola that Lopez tried to do with you.

01:44:44.000 He tried to just come at him.

01:44:46.000 Guns blazing.

01:44:47.000 And Arreola, you know, he's a hard-nosed veteran, a guy that's been there.

01:44:51.000 And he'll take shots and he'll give them back.

01:44:53.000 Arreola's a warrior.

01:44:55.000 Yeah, good fighter. 0.70

01:44:56.000 Yeah, great fighter. 0.98

01:44:56.000 And such a, I mean, you want to talk about a great Mexican standoff between those two guys? 0.98

01:45:02.000 My God, that was classic Mexican boxing match. 1.00

01:45:06.000 You know, I mean, and that's what, you know, like, if there is one nationality that's, like, synonymous with...

01:45:13.000 Blood and guts, amazing fights.

01:45:15.000 They love it.

01:45:18.000 You should have seen in LA. They were going crazy in Vegas.

01:45:23.000 They kept coming up.

01:45:24.000 They loved the blood and the guts and the back and forth exchanges.

01:45:29.000 They loved it.

01:45:30.000 They idolize it.

01:45:31.000 Yeah, they do.

01:45:32.000 I wish more nationalities were like that in the fight game, but that's one country that they really love their fight game, and they've got some tremendous champions.

01:45:43.000 Oh, so many champions.

01:45:45.000 I mean, arguably one of the greatest of all time, Oleo Cesar Chavez, and then I think now with Canelo moving into the position, first of all, he's the number one pay-per-view draw right now, or right up there with Tyson Fury.

01:45:58.000 And arguably, not just the best that's active right now, pound for pound, but one of the best of all time.

01:46:05.000 He is.

01:46:06.000 He truly is.

01:46:07.000 Here we go.

01:46:08.000 Look how good he looks!

01:46:09.000 Look at him on the right!

01:46:11.000 Look at him!

01:46:12.000 I believe that was the Joshua rematch.

01:46:15.000 Was that the rematch?

01:46:15.000 I think.

01:46:17.000 He got a little heavy.

01:46:19.000 He looks very good. 0.97

01:46:22.000 But, you know, the amount of work that it takes to get down to that, if he had done that For that Joshua rematch and came in looking like that, who the fuck knows what would have happened? 0.82

01:46:32.000 And psychologically, too, if he came in looking like that, Joshua would be like, okay, this guy's serious. 0.82

01:46:37.000 Right.

01:46:37.000 When you see him coming in like the way he did, Joshua already knows, all right, this guy's not taking this serious.

01:46:43.000 He's enjoyed it too much.

01:46:45.000 Well, there's some guys who kind of like being fat and knocking out muscular guys.

01:46:50.000 Perfect example.

01:46:52.000 Butterbean.

01:46:52.000 Yeah, Butterbean back in the day, you still see stuff pop up everywhere.

01:46:56.000 Yeah.

01:46:56.000 Oh, fat people loved it when Butterbean won.

01:46:59.000 Like, yes, one for us.

01:47:00.000 Yeah, one for us.

01:47:02.000 I mean, look, Tyson Fury's not the leanest guy in the world either.

01:47:06.000 But the conditioning he has, his conditioning is elite.

01:47:10.000 To be knocked down against Deontay come up in that third fight, it was a great fight.

01:47:15.000 Not only to be knocked down, but to be knocked down the way he was knocked down.

01:47:19.000 Where he got hit in the head and you see the ripple go down his whole body.

01:47:24.000 Because it was such a tremendous shot.

01:47:27.000 Has there ever been a guy who punches harder than Deontay Wilder?

01:47:30.000 I don't think so.

01:47:31.000 Yeah.

01:47:31.000 It's wild, right?

01:47:32.000 I think the power he possesses, that one-punch power.

01:47:36.000 And he came out boxing nice, too.

01:47:38.000 He was popping the jab.

01:47:39.000 He looked good.

01:47:40.000 It's okay.

01:47:41.000 But straight away, I go, how quick is he going to go back to what he knows best when he does get tagged?

01:47:46.000 That's what he did.

01:47:47.000 Devastating power.

01:47:48.000 And you know what?

01:47:48.000 They both gave a tremendous fight.

01:47:51.000 I was on the edge of my seat.

01:47:52.000 He almost had him.

01:47:53.000 He did.

01:47:53.000 He almost had him, which is crazy.

01:47:55.000 When he put Fury down, Fury kind of looked to his corner and said, I'm in trouble here.

01:48:02.000 Then he just rose.

01:48:03.000 In that first fight, the way he rose was like The Undertaker from the WWE. It's unbelievable.

01:48:10.000 Yeah, and then, you know, the second fight he got dropped twice.

01:48:13.000 And still managed to pull it out and then stop Deontay. 0.98

01:48:17.000 And the KO when he did stop him, like, holy shit. 0.99

01:48:20.000 Brutal. 0.99

01:48:21.000 Brutal.

01:48:21.000 They're talking about matching him up with Ruiz.

01:48:24.000 Deontay and Ruiz.

01:48:25.000 That'd be a good fight.

01:48:25.000 That's a great fight.

01:48:26.000 I love that fight.

01:48:28.000 Yeah, go either way.

01:48:30.000 But I think Deontay's just got that pop.

01:48:31.000 I just don't know how much has been taken out of him.

01:48:34.000 You know, when you go through them wars and them battles, especially coming from them losses too now, You lose yourself a lot.

01:48:42.000 You know, they say inside them ropes, you know, a fighter loses a bit of himself every time he goes in there.

01:48:48.000 Especially when you're in the hard fights.

01:48:50.000 So, it just depends how much is left in the tank for him.

01:48:54.000 Yeah, and you think about the majority of his career, it's just him knocking everybody out.

01:48:59.000 And so psychologically, there's a hurdle to cross too, because now it's two down.

01:49:03.000 And one fight in between, right, where he knocked out Luis Ortiz.

01:49:11.000 Yeah, he went from the first fight, which was a draw, knocked out Ortiz, and they went literally back to back.

01:49:17.000 Yeah, but these two losses back-to-back like that, they're hard to dig.

01:49:22.000 And they were also both stoppages, which is hard to deal with.

01:49:25.000 Hard to come back, boy.

01:49:26.000 And then, like, the first one, the first stoppage loss, it was all those crazy excuses, too.

01:49:31.000 Like, they thought egg weights and the gloves were all wrong, and his weight suit was too heavy, and somebody poisoned him.

01:49:37.000 It reminds me of tape lipers.

01:49:40.000 Not quite as...

01:49:41.000 Lopez is not quite as bad.

01:49:43.000 Not as bad.

01:49:43.000 He really went with everything that he could find.

01:49:46.000 Everything.

01:49:47.000 Poison.

01:49:48.000 Yeah, the poison from his trainer, who's the guy that's been with him for his whole life.

01:49:54.000 The suit that he came out with.

01:49:58.000 I just don't understand why people just...

01:50:00.000 You take it like a man.

01:50:01.000 It is what it is.

01:50:02.000 Even if you do have something wrong with you or an injury, you make yourself look worse.

01:50:06.000 I think when a fighter is as great as he is, it's hard to have someone around him that can tell him something and have him listen.

01:50:15.000 Someone who's really got his interest for it. 1.00

01:50:16.000 Hey, man, don't say shit. 0.99

01:50:18.000 You have a lot of yes men around. 1.00

01:50:21.000 A lot of them.

01:50:22.000 And that's the most important thing for me right now is to continue keeping my strong core of people, my good people around me.

01:50:29.000 I've got my kids.

01:50:30.000 I'm a family man away from everything.

01:50:32.000 That's the most important thing in my life.

01:50:36.000 You don't want to get distracted in the bright lights. 1.00

01:50:38.000 You don't want to be out there doing stupid things. 1.00

01:50:40.000 I think by having my kids there, that keeps me in a position where you keep your feet on the ground. 1.00

01:50:47.000 You keep looking for more greatness.

01:50:49.000 Like Canelo.

01:50:49.000 He has so much success, so much money, so many championship belts.

01:50:53.000 Still does anything.

01:50:54.000 Pacquiao as well.

01:50:55.000 Floyd as well.

01:50:56.000 Floyd when he was at his top.

01:50:57.000 Floyd, top of his game.

01:50:58.000 So much money coming in.

01:51:00.000 Still grinds like he's got nothing.

01:51:02.000 That's the most important thing.

01:51:03.000 That really is the most important thing. 0.88

01:51:06.000 There is a time when a fighter becomes very famous where the hanger-ons and the people that are parasites will try to come and hang out with you. 0.99

01:51:16.000 How do you avoid that shit? 1.00

01:51:18.000 I've got good people around me. 1.00

01:51:19.000 My father, you know, he's a solid guy.

01:51:23.000 So, you know, he can see him coming straight away if I don't see him.

01:51:26.000 But I'm very sharp as well.

01:51:27.000 You know, I can see someone that's trying to take advantage, you know, for their gain.

01:51:33.000 If these guys haven't been there from the start, through the trenches, the hard work that we've had to go through, you know, because I've really had to earn every spot and every position I'm in right now.

01:51:44.000 They're not there for the right reason.

01:51:46.000 If I don't see them firsthand, my father will.

01:51:50.000 That's beautiful that you have that.

01:51:52.000 That helps tremendously.

01:51:54.000 Do you get approached by a lot of sponsors and a lot of companies that want you to represent them?

01:52:03.000 How do you manage your time when it comes to that stuff?

01:52:06.000 Look, there's a lot more now coming.

01:52:08.000 But my manager, Peter Kahn, he's very sharp with that as well.

01:52:13.000 We make sure that it makes the most sense.

01:52:16.000 You don't want to fill yourself.

01:52:17.000 The last thing you'll see is an athlete fill themselves with all these sponsorships and endorsements and it just looks tacky.

01:52:23.000 You pick the right brands, ones that suit me as well, what I believe in, the athlete that I am.

01:52:31.000 But they deal with that. 0.98

01:52:33.000 Obviously I'm involved in it as well and make sure it's right, the deals are right, you don't get sucked into anything stupid and you go from there. 0.96

01:52:42.000 Well, that's a healthy approach. 0.73

01:52:45.000 It's beautiful to see a young guy like yourself with so much success but has his brain totally straightened and tied down correctly and your mind is right.

01:52:56.000 It's very important because this fight game, especially boxing, is filled with sharks and chameleons, change their skin real quick.

01:53:04.000 It's crazy.

01:53:05.000 You know, even with the next fight being in Australia, you know, a few interviewers have asked, they go, is that who pays the most money?

01:53:14.000 No, not necessarily.

01:53:15.000 It's not about money.

01:53:16.000 It's about, you know, what does my promotional company, Ferocious Promotions, what are they going to be involved in?

01:53:23.000 Do I get opportunities to have guys that are with me, you know, guys that are signed with me on the cards?

01:53:30.000 You know, so that there, because I didn't have that.

01:53:32.000 I had to go through the hard road, the local circuit, you know, literally selling my tickets, selling the tables, getting your $5 here, your $10 here, you know, for each table you sold or your ticket you sold to make it.

01:53:44.000 So if I can be able to change a talented kid that I've seen and that I have with me and put him on a card and give him the opportunities, It's worth more than money.

01:53:55.000 For me, like I said, it's about being smart, having the right approach and changing the people around me, the good people around me, changing their lives as well.

01:54:04.000 So is that part of your goal, to try to elevate the boxing scene in your area as well?

01:54:09.000 Definitely.

01:54:09.000 That's why we have Ferocious Promotions, my company.

01:54:12.000 We want to keep getting the good guys, the young amateurs, the promising professionals, and give them the right blueprint. 0.98

01:54:18.000 Like I said, a lot of people in this game, they want to try to suck the fighter, suck them dry, and take everything from them. 0.87

01:54:26.000 You see it all the time, time after time, where fighters finish the sport and they're left with nothing. 0.98

01:54:33.000 We've got nothing.

01:54:35.000 We put our lives on the line.

01:54:36.000 We go through hell and back.

01:54:38.000 You want to be able to live this sport and be able to give a good roadmap for these young guys coming through.

01:54:44.000 Do you have a plan for when you exit the sport?

01:54:47.000 Do you think you'll stay in boxing as a trainer or as a manager or anything like that?

01:54:52.000 Definitely I've been involved in boxing.

01:54:55.000 Maybe the commentary.

01:54:56.000 I had my debut commentary on the weekend.

01:54:59.000 Yeah, you did.

01:54:59.000 You did great.

01:55:00.000 I got a lot of good feedback.

01:55:02.000 Beautiful.

01:55:03.000 I think the world said that we need that.

01:55:05.000 We need real fighters actually doing the commentary, so that was great.

01:55:08.000 I think that's true too.

01:55:09.000 I think that helps a lot.

01:55:10.000 It helps with the UFC for sure.

01:55:11.000 It was fun.

01:55:12.000 It was exciting for me to be there.

01:55:14.000 Well, there's insight that a guy like you can provide, you know, a guy who's a world champion that you're just not going to get from anybody else.

01:55:21.000 Well, me and Sean Porter, we're just feeding off each other and back and forth with things that we see and the aspect that we see in the fight game.

01:55:28.000 So definitely the commentary is something I love to be involved in.

01:55:31.000 You know, the promotional side of things, the managing side of things and I love to be in the gym too, so I think the training side of things as well.

01:55:39.000 Is Sean really going to retire?

01:55:42.000 You know, you can never say yes or no with any fighter when they say they're retired.

01:55:48.000 He's been for a lot too in the fights.

01:55:49.000 He's had a lot of good wins, some tough losses as well.

01:55:54.000 So, you know, maybe it is time.

01:55:57.000 It really depends how he feels.

01:55:58.000 I love to see him come back.

01:56:00.000 I think he was a bit premature as well.

01:56:02.000 It was such a good fight until he got caught.

01:56:04.000 I thought that you're doing so well against Crawford, who's top pound for pound.

01:56:10.000 Why throw it in now?

01:56:11.000 You've still got more to give.

01:56:13.000 But that's their decision.

01:56:16.000 Were you surprised the way his dad reacted to the fight?

01:56:19.000 I was.

01:56:19.000 I really was.

01:56:21.000 I can't believe you said that.

01:56:22.000 Yeah, it just kind of put him on the spot and Sean just didn't know what was going on.

01:56:27.000 Well, he handled it well.

01:56:28.000 He just handled it well.

01:56:30.000 That's his dad.

01:56:31.000 For people that don't know what he said, his dad said he didn't prepare correctly.

01:56:35.000 And then when you think about him retiring straight away, you start to think, was that possibly a reason?

01:56:41.000 Or maybe he really didn't prepare correctly.

01:56:45.000 And maybe his dad's right, and maybe he's realizing that this is the truth.

01:56:48.000 Nobody knows you better than your father.

01:56:50.000 That's right.

01:56:52.000 Listen, man, you are a part of one of the most exciting eras of boxing.

01:56:56.000 I'm enjoying this as a fan, and I appreciate what you did in that fight.

01:57:02.000 It was truly sensational, and I hope you enjoy every minute of this.

01:57:06.000 You earned it.

01:57:07.000 You are right now one of the top guys in boxing, and it's beautiful to watch, man.

01:57:13.000 I really appreciate it.

01:57:14.000 We're just going to keep getting better and better.

01:57:16.000 Never lose sight of the goal and keep our feet on the ground and keep winning.

01:57:22.000 The most important thing is winning not only in the ring but winning in life and keeping the right people around me. 0.82

01:57:28.000 Well, George, you're a fucking true champion and I hope we get to do this again and good luck to you, sir. 0.67

01:57:33.000 Thank you very much. 0.97

01:57:34.000 My pleasure.

01:57:35.000 Thank you so much.

01:57:36.000 Thank you, everybody.

01:57:37.000 Bye.

The Joe Rogan Experience - December 08, 2021

JRE MMA Show #116 with George Kambosos

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