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Katherine Townsend
This is an iHeart podcast.
Unknown Speaker 1
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Benedikt Townsend
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Katherine Townsend
Over the years of making my true crime podcast Hell and Gone, I've learned no town is too small for murder. I'm Katherine Townsend. I've heard from hundreds of people across the country with an unsolved murder in their community.
Benedikt Townsend
I was calling about the murder of my husband. The murderer is still out there.
Katherine Townsend
Each week I investigate a new case. If there is a case we should Hear about, call 678-744-6145. Listen to Helen Gone Murderline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Benedikt Townsend
Do you remember Vine? It changed the Internet forever and it vanished in its prime. I'm Benedikt Townsend and this is Vine. Six seconds that changed the world. The untold story of genius, betrayal and the app that died so that TikTok could thrive. From overn to the fall that no one saw coming. We're breaking down what made vine iconic. Listen to vine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Folks, we are back at the wake concept presented by the Ring magazine. Today is press conference number two, DWA for Canelo versus Crawford. They just had the first one out in Saudi Arabia and I thought Canelo kind of laid down the law on Terence Crawford a little bit. Not to the degree that Turkey Allah Shake laid down the law to pretty much everybody in boxing, but I thought that Canelo won the first one. If there is a winner of press conferences, he looked more stoic. He was telling Terrence he wasn't any different than anyone he'd ever face. But we're back on US Soil, we're in New York. And I don't know if that's going to give Terence Crawford any energy, but if that doesn't, I've heard a little rumor saying that there's going to be some more faces involved with this press conference. Some teases going on about not only who's involved with this presser, but who's involved with this face fight. The big name personalities are lining up. Let's take a look at this thing and break it down. Who potentially looks like they're getting the better of the second press conference. We got one more in Vegas, but today they made it back to New York. Canelo versus Crawford. Second press conference breakdown. Let's go.
Unknown Speaker 1
Let's get ready to rumble.
Benedikt Townsend
Classic. Classic. Look at this crowd. This is the energy this press conference needed. You've seen some of the talk online, people saying, oh, they may be too. Buddy, buddy, listen. I don't need them to be hurling insults at each other or, you know, going crazy, but I do need some intensity. This is a massive fight. You're talking about Bud Crawford trying to become three time undisputed. You're talking about Canelo Alvarez putting another historic name on his hit list. And now is the undisputed at 168. This needs some big fight feel in this crowd. If it wasn't already feeling that way, this crowd is definitely going to make it. Got him walking in front of it. Okay. Got him walking in front of the States first. He's getting booed.
Unknown Speaker 1
Four times.
Benedikt Townsend
I mean, again. Oh, he said four times. And then Bud looked at the crowd and said, five times. Dang. I guess Canelo is the favorite here in New York. I like it. Canelo clearly is the superstar globally. That Terence is just not right now. Which is another reason Terence taking this fight makes sense for him, right? You get the Canelo rub pause. You potentially beat Canelo. Canelo and you get some of the shine that he already has across the world.
Unknown Speaker 1
Canelo.
Benedikt Townsend
Let'S go. Michael Buffer rolling R. Son, I'll tell you what. They are on board. Canelo is definitely the baby face here. Big he. Wait. Why did they sit Turkey on Canelo's side again? I guess cuz Canelo's the champ. But Turkey said last time. I don't know why they put me here.
Unknown Speaker 1
I want to Be in the side of Crawford.
Benedikt Townsend
He's taking sides. And again, I have a feeling I know who's about to come out and they should make him take Canelo side. The raining. The raining. Defending, defending. Give me that white, damn it. I need you to understand we have at the table the most expensive boxing contract ever happened before. First off, I think the Canelo contract by itself, I don't know what the number ended up being that turkey signed Canelo for the four fight deal he signed him for, but it was massive. If it's the most expensive in boxing history, I mean, that would have to mean that both of them are getting paid more than Lloyd and Manny Pacquiao got for their fight. And didn't they get something like. I don't want to misquote, but not to pocket watch here, but I just wonder. And didn't they both get something over like 150 million each if that's the case? Good Lord. Oh, my God. Whatever the number, I'm just happy we're getting it. Give the flag of the conference to my brother and dear friends, Dana White. Let's go. Let's go. Dana walking out in the T shirt and jeans, son. Got the Canelo versus Crawford shirt on. It's a little. It's fitting a little tight, Dana. It's fitting a little tight. Yeah, you got the gun season out, but we got to get Gary Breca back on the phone, son. Zufa boxing. Okay.
Dana White
What's up, New York? Thanks for coming out today. We appreciate it. All right, let's get this started. Who's got the first question?
Benedikt Townsend
Oh, we're going straight to the media. Dana didn't start by saying anything. He went straight to media. This is very interesting. Okay. You don't see a lot of boxing press conferences like this, or at least not like what you're about to see. Dana is going to run this like a UFC press conference, which I think personally works a little better for combat sports. You don't have a lot of the fluff where you get both guys to come up to the podium and their coaches come up to the podium. You really just get into what the people or what the fans or whoever's going to ask questions want to ask.
Terence Crawford
The question for you, Crawford would be.
Benedikt Townsend
Obviously there's a bonus now for the.
Dana White
For a knockout.
Unknown Speaker 1
Are you going to be looking for that bonus? If so, in what style?
Terence Crawford
I'm hunting them. That's it. I'm hunting everything that he got, and I'mma take it come September 13th.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, there you go, bud. There you go, Bud. Go hunting. One time, a wild Canelo appears. Go freaking Aaron the Plumber style. Catch them all, baby. Catch all them belts. Oh, my Lord. Rick Rito appearance, baby. Got off the golf course. If you win against Canelo, where would you rank yourself among the list of greatest of all time?
Terence Crawford
When I win.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, I knew I was gonna say as soon as he said, if Bud wanted to get in that mic and say, win, win, I win again. A different intensity in this press conference from. Mainly from Bud Crawford. I don't know if he saw some of the things online that people were saying, or maybe he just felt he wasn't himself in that first one. I didn't necessarily think he did anything wrong in the first press conference. Just felt like more of a friendly kind of thing. This one he doesn't look as friendly about. He's just got a little bit more spite, a little bit more intensity, which.
Dana White
I like for this to be the first fight that I ever promote in boxing. It's. It's incredible. It's an unbelievable experience.
Benedikt Townsend
That is pretty nuts, by the way, that Dana is stepping into one of the most watched boxing events potentially ever. We'll see how it goes, but it'll be on the biggest platform right now you can have in sports media, which is Netflix. 300 million subscribers, and you're talking about the undisputed Super Middleweight Championship. Everybody feels on board for this thing. And Dana stepping into this role is a massive start. It's the best start you could have ever as a promoter.
Terence Crawford
You know, there's a reason why I wasn't getting those big fights, because God was preparing me for this moment right here. And it's my time.
Benedikt Townsend
No doubt about it. If Terence Crawford can come up to 168 jumping two weight classes again, I've said this more, really like three, because he's had one fight at 154 and beat the undisputed disputed Super Middleweight Champion. Who? Canelo. He's able to do this. This is a career defining win. Forget about whatever the win looks like as far as his other opponents. The Spence win is great. This is career defining. This is legacy cementing. This is huge. I think everything on this fight mostly works in the favor as far as legacy is concerned of Terence Crawford. If Canelo beats Terence Crawford, that's a great win and it will definitely add a massive name to his legacy. There are other things that Canelo can still do to get even better in his legacy. This is the one for Terence Crawford. Is there a chance we see some Cross promotional appearances in wwe. We talking about it.
Unknown Speaker 1
Maybe.
Benedikt Townsend
Maybe you will see me in the wwe. What? Hold on. That is an interesting question. When he asked it, I was like, what is he. He's asking Canelo to. He's gonna go and do a wrestling show. If Canelo shows up in the wwe, my jaw will fall off my face, dude. I mean, I never even thought about it before Canelo comes out. And again, you know, Mexico has a great history with professional wrestling, but I just didn't. It's not clocking to me right now that he's standing on business. No. I would love to see Canelo pop up in the wwe. Him and Terrence. Maybe not in a. I don't know. Maybe after the fight. I don't know if I want to see him do, like, a promo battle.
Terence Crawford
I want all the people in the stands that bull me. They going to cry when they go home.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, I like that. Accepting. I don't want to call it a villain role, but accepting this underdog mentality or this. Yeah, go ahead, boom me. Boom me now. Cheer me later. Boom me now and pay for it. When I come in and take out the golden goose. Yeah, go ahead. Wow.
Unknown Speaker 1
I just.
Benedikt Townsend
I just found out what the sign language, which means for cry. Yikes, buddy. Get the question out. I just cringed.
Dana White
You put on two great fights the same night. We have ufc. No, that night. And I know there's a lot of questions about this. The main events will not. The main cards will not cross over.
Benedikt Townsend
That's an interesting thing because I'm of the. The idea that there's not a lot of crossover between UFC fans and boxing fans. But on that night, specifically because it's such a massive fight with Canelo Crawford, that's. Some MMA fans are definitely going to tune in. Like, they're definitely going to take a look and be like, okay, that's a massive thing. Ufc, no chase. Big, but this is clearly bigger. He says one fight is going to run before the other. He doesn't really say which one there. So I guess we'll stay tuned to. To see which is which. Dan Kenobio with Inside Boxing Live.
Unknown Speaker 1
These questions.
Benedikt Townsend
Let's go. Let's go. My boy Dan Kenovio getting his questions in. Talk to him, Dan. For both fighters, we've seen some photos come out of you guys eating together, kind of joking around. The interview with Piers Morgan was very friendly. Can you explain to fans out there that it is a gentleman's sport? Is there animosity?
Unknown Speaker 1
And what could you make of some.
Benedikt Townsend
Criticism like, oh, these guys look like they're friends.
Terence Crawford
I respect Canelo just like I respect every one of my other opponents before Canelo. But once it get close to that, that time, you know what I mean, it's time to go to work, you know? And when we go to work, I know what comes after that.
Benedikt Townsend
Great answer. Yeah. Dan asked the question that a lot of people ask. They saw the picture with them eating dinner. They saw the Piers Morgan interview. I was just more shocked in the Piers Morgan interview that Piers just kept asking about if they could kill Piers. He was like, hey, could y' all kill me? Could you strangle me? I was like, piers, what do we. This isn't your platform to get off your fetishes, buddy. This is a great answer to that question. Like, you can have respect or your opponent. And still, as the fight gets closer, that animosity builds.
Dana White
Regardless, I want to bring up the first member of our broadcast team. He is the best boxing analyst in the sport. Ladies and gentlemen, Max Kellerman.
Benedikt Townsend
Oh, they teased him. They teased him. Tell them to me. Let's go. Let's go. That's what I'm talking about, man. This is what I mean when I say you're getting some of the best and brightest in boxing on this card. Yes, it's about the fighters first and foremost. It's about Canelo. It's about Crawford. It's not about Dana. It's not about Max. It's not about anybody else. But when you get these guys as bonuses, these are the right decisions to make. Max Kellerman has so much history in this sport, so much ability to commentate, to be an analyst, to be a part of. Of a commentary team. Trust me when I say people in the comments, you're going to get a special night of someone laying out boxing the way it deserves to be laid out and taking you on a journey with Max Kellerman.
Max Kellerman
Canelo is 622 with two draws. 622 and 2. So was Marvin Hagler. When Sugar Ray Leonard moved up to fight him, they produced one of the biggest spectacles in the history of boxing.
Benedikt Townsend
Ah, Cook. Let him cook. When you have someone that can tell the story boxing and they could point to the lineage of the best in the world, fighting the best in the world and make it all tie together in a perfectly put together fucking bow, this is what you need, man. I'm telling you, you're just getting a little taste. By the way, he's just giving you a little side piece, you understand? He didn't even give you the full meal yet. But look at that grin on Dana White's face. He knows he's got a real storyteller, someone that really understands the sport and, and that can articulate it well to the fans in a. In a. In a. In a fashion that isn't overcomplicated.
Max Kellerman
But I'm going to start with you. Why are you jumping up and skipping a division? You just got to junior middleweight. You were given the best fight of your career at junior middleweight by Madrima. Who gave you a tougher fight than Madrima?
Benedikt Townsend
Stop that.
Max Kellerman
And now you're.
Benedikt Townsend
Who? Who?
Max Kellerman
Someone gave you a tougher fight than Madrimov.
Terence Crawford
Listen, if y' all thought that was a tough fight, then.
Unknown Speaker 1
Woo.
Benedikt Townsend
Well, yo, Max comes right in and sticks it on Bud. He's trying to. To tell him, listen, you've already taken a tough challenge, now you're gonna go even tougher. But Bud's taking it disrespectfully. Max is right. That was not an easy fight. Like, that was a back and forth fight. And again, it was a bit of an odd one to watch. I was there in person. It was something that we didn't expect. Mad Drop performed better than we expected.
Max Kellerman
And there seems to be something out there like the way for you to win this fight is to move, move, move. Is that true?
Benedikt Townsend
Listen, Turkey, you need to put a small ring. A small ring.
Terence Crawford
The only. Hey, Matt, Matt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The only running that I'm gonna be doing is running upside his head. And I can assure you that.
Benedikt Townsend
Talk to him. Let him know, Bud, let him know I told y' all, from the moment he stepped on st, a different intensity. There was a different look in his eye. And you can even see it here. Look at that. You can see that. And again, speaking of the eyes, he ain't wearing no sunglasses. He looking directly at you. Not to say that's anything, but I'm telling you, Bud has got a different mentality in this presser. He's tired of the. The question of him running, which, again, I don't know where that question's coming from. Bud Crawford's never been a runner. I love that answer because Canelo's. Yeah, make the ring smaller, Turkey, Please, please. Make the ring smaller so he don't run. Terrence said, I'm gonna run these hands right up. Let's go.
Terence Crawford
And he got a big head, too.
Benedikt Townsend
Dang.
Max Kellerman
Canelo. I mentioned Sugar Ray Leonardo, dude.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, Canelo does have a noggin on him, though.
Max Kellerman
This will be it's. Safe to say the most watched prize fight. More eyeballs on it than any fight in almost 50 years, in almost half a century.
Benedikt Townsend
Max is doing a great job with this, man. Look at Dana. Dana is cheesing, dude. He knows he got the freaking white whale. He got. Got him. He's such a good storyteller, man. God, what a get.
Max Kellerman
And now, before we get out of here, Dana, you're going to face the fighters off.
Benedikt Townsend
Oh, yeah. Let's get to it. I saw what's about to happen on social media earlier today. What I didn't see is the things that. That precursed what happened. We're going to see a bit of a pushing and shoving match here. But what I didn't take into account was the entirety of this press conference. Who has been on the offensive? This press conference, it's been Terence Crawford. Who has been the more intense one in this press conference. It's been Terence Crawford, whether it's toward Canelo or the crowd. Yeah, Boom. Me. Boom. Cry, cry. That whole thing. Or talk telling Canelo he was gonna put hands on him. Only running is me running these hands across your face, and you got a big head. And now, right before they're about to face off, look who is adamant about taking the center. Canelo's still getting his mic off or doing something. Terrence walked right to the center. The last press conference, Canelo met Crawford over halfway. Let's say this is the halfway point. Canelo met Crawford over here. This presser, Crawford has met him in the middle before. Canelo's even turned around Again, little things that may or may not matter. But Crawford trying to send a message here. I'm the one taking control. From here on out, I'm sending you a message that I'm not taking back steps. I'm not meeting you where you want to meet me. I'm the one dictating how this whole thing goes. Look at him. Ready on the other side, you could say. Okay. Mind games from Canelo, making him wait. Yeah. Do all that talk, all that stuff. But I'm. I've. I've been here. I've done that.
Max Kellerman
Something you innovate.
Dana White
Yeah. The performance bonus that night is going to be over six figures. We're still talking about it. So, yeah, it's going to be a big number. Whoever wins the performance bonus of the night. That night.
Benedikt Townsend
Wow. Okay. So right in the middle of them getting everything out of there, Dana just happens to kind of throw out there that this performance bonus, which, again, is something that Dana is bringing over from the ufc. And you heard him say it even there, it's not a KO Bonus, performance bonus. I assume it's going to be, you know, the highlight of the night, which is different from what Turkey and them said, right? They said it would be a KO bonus. Dana saying performance bonus, which I like better because you never know if a fight's going to be a knockout or if two fighters are just going to go in there and give it all. And it could be one of those fight of the night type things where both guys get a performance bonus, I don't really know. But if fighters are, you know, potentially going to be on this undercard. And for Canelo and Terence Crawford, a six figure performance bonus is nothing to shake their head at. Now, again, Crawford and Canelo are making more money than they've ever made in their careers. So that. Whatever. But if you're on this card, you have an opportunity to steal the show and make six figures for yourself. I love that. Here we go again. Look. Look at this. I told you. Look, I'm telling you, there's. There's the. The mind games here are. Are so evident. I know that I usually don't read too much into it, but it happened at the last one and it's happening here. Look at how Terence Crawford answered, how Canelo addressed him in the first face off. Canelo again went past halfway. Watch Terrence. Terrence is not stopping here. He's walking straight up to him, way past Dana. Here's halfway. He's like, nah, I'm meeting you at your front door. And he's backing him up. Oh, then there's the shove. Look at Bomac. Look at Bomac. Oh, we got everybody getting in there. Reynozo, security, Michael Buffer, OMAC. One thing, BOMAC's gonna. He's gonna ride for his guys, man. Different intensity this time around for Terrence. Again, you can read. You can read a lot of stuff into that. Look at him. Not like both guys, stairs, not leaving, locked on, you know, face off again. This time, Canelo. Oh, see, see, it's. It's a game of tennis. It's a game of back and forth. Because this time, Canelo walks up on Terrence again. Okay, you got that one off. Watch this now. I'm gonna push you back a little bit. Yeah, yeah, see, I'll push you back just a little. Look at that. Look, man. Oh, what the hell? Wait, what just happened at the. At the back end of this? Bomac getting into it again. Oh, my Lord. Look at both of Them, though, man, that stare just locked on each other. Oh, we. That's what we like. That's what we like. I gotta hear what they're saying, though. Gotta hear what they're saying. Hey, there it is. There it is. Show it to him, Canelo. Holy. Different intensity this time around, man. I think there's one more angle I want to look at. All right, so this is the backside angle again. This is something that the UFC does so good with their face offs. And I'm again, I don't see this a lot in boxing. This is a Dana White's actual own footage because he hands his phone to somebody, one of the media team behind him, when he does these face offs and they get an angle that we do not ever get. And I don't know how much we're going to be able to hear on this, but again, it's just little things like this that make such a difference to me when I get to see these face offs at a different angle. Super. Up close, get to hear what the fighters say. Let's take a look. Straight up, man. And Bud just starts pushing him back. Then Canelo with the shove, and then Bus said, get on me. Look at Bomac. OMAC went straight away. Nick Khan trying to hold him off. My guy ish doing his thing. Hey, this is what they needed, though, man. They need a little bit. A little bit more intensity. Look at Canelo this time. Yeah. Let me walk up on you as. Don't. Yeah. Watch out, dude. Watch out, man. Give a bomax beefing the camera guy. Bax beefing the cameraman, trying to get the shot. Let them do what they got to do. Put them back. God dang. Bomac's pissed. He's pissed. He's beefing the cameraman. Come on, Bomac, we're on the same team. I'm not trying to hurt nobody. I'm Dan's camera guy. That's Dana's camera guy, too. Dang. Bomac trying to swing on Dana's cameraman. I'm dead. Dang it. I couldn't hear him. Dang it. I wanted to hear what they're saying. They're gonna have an angle for sure that gets that conversation. I need that. But, folks, that's it. That's the end of the breakdown. Listen, this was exactly what this fight needed. A bit of a maturation process, we'll say, with getting people to get engaged, with getting this thing in in front of a massive audience, I think definitely helped. Bud Crawford coming out with crazy intensity. Definitely helped. Again, I Think he got a little bit. I don't want to say it got to him, what Canelo did in the first presser. Just kind of walking up on him and getting on his side of the. The podium and all that. But it definitely planted a seed in his head. And he came out, was talking, the crowd, was talking to Canelo, was talking to everybody, talking to Max Kellerman about how he was going to smack Canelo up and all this. Now, you can read that a couple different ways. You can read that as Canelo, you know, being reserved. I mean, like, this guy's new to this. I'm just gonna sit back and let him get all his emotions out. And looking super confident in his own right. Canelo's like, hey, make that. That ring smaller. He ain't ready. Make that ring smaller. Don't run from me. He's got his own mind games. He's playing, telling Terence, yeah, stand in front of me. You ain't seen power like this. He's not telling him that, but he's essentially saying, you're not ready for this power. And then Terence is like, listen, you ain't about to punk me. Straight up. That's not about to punk me. Now, again, is that a little bit over emotional? Is he reaching a little bit, or is that just genuine, like. No, this is the intensity I'm gonna have for the rest of the time you see me. We had all that dinner stuff, all that play nice. It's over now. We're about to fight, and you're about to see Bud Crawford come out. Regardless, I think this is a slam dunk press conference. Doing it at Fanatics Fest, doing it with Dana White leading it, Max Kellerman giving you the history of boxing and just weaving it into this fight. It's all coming together the way this fight definitely needed to. I'm pumped already, and we still got a couple months to go. We still have one more press conference in Las Vegas, but you guys let me know. Again, I try not to pull winners and losers out of this, but I think Bud Crawford gave an intensity that I did not see in the first one. A focus, a bit of a swagger in this one that I didn't see. And I'm glad he did, because this was what I wanted to see. And I think Bud comes out of this press conference looking good. Yeah, people are booing him. Canelo's got all the fans, but he's. He's on his I don't give a fuck stage, right, like, whatever. Do all that. I'm gonna I'm gonna upset all y' all. I'll make y' all cry. Love that. And that's why I think bud shine in this one one. Canelo still did his thing and. And we'll see what happens in the next one. But comment below what you guys think. That's it. And that's all. I don't know what happens next. I don't know what happens in the fight, but I do know this thing is going to be massive. And you're starting to see it already trending in that direction, and you knew that when it was announced. But now you're seeing the fruits of the labor of Turkey. Alishake, Nick Khan, Dana White, everybody involved with putting this together, getting the right people, Max, Kellerman, whoever else is going to be there, ultimately focusing on these two awesome legendary fighters, Canelo and Crawford. What happens next? Guess we'll find out.
Terence Crawford
With me if you feel like 550 on the fire, Sticky, come get high with me. That's a deal, right? Ride with me. If you ride with me. You can slide with me if you feel like.
Benedikt Townsend
Folks, welcome back to the way concept presented by the Ring magazine. Today we are circulating back to the world of boxing, and I would call it crossover boxing, but now it just feels like boxing. Even though it's a little bit of an odd matchup, it is one that kind of makes sense. I'm talking about Jake Paul, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. If you didn't know, that fight's going down this Saturday. I'm gonna be live right here on this channel, 24 hours for that fight and UFC317. It's going to be an extravaganza of a live stream that you do not want to miss. I'm playing games with chat. My girlfriend will be here and we will be interacting with the chat, playing games, having fun, all leading up to this fight and the main event of UFC317. But today, J. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Had their first face to face of fight week. And just judging by the picture that I'm seeing in front of me, it looks like it's gonna be a doozy because Chavez Jr looks like he's on actual drugs right now. I have no idea what to expect from this, but let's get into it. Jake Paul, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Face off the breakdown. Let's go.
Jake Paul
This is how dumb he is.
Benedikt Townsend
I'm the first YouTuber if I play with the diamonds. What is happening, dude? This is that his resting face pound.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
For P number one in the world. Yes. Oh, here, look at me, man.
Jake Paul
He's an angry little elf.
Benedikt Townsend
On Saturday Night Live on dis pay.
Jake Paul
Hello everybody.
Benedikt Townsend
How's everybody doing?
Unknown Speaker 1
Well, Jake, another.
Benedikt Townsend
I'm sorry, who is this? Why is he sitting next to Chris Mannix? Am I supposed to know who this is? Is that a translator? Like whose man's is this? Ok, I have no idea. Maybe I'm just uneducated, but my man is here in the, in the somewhat middle. I mean he's taking up more in the middle than Chris Mannix is, but. All right, we got two moderators, the.
Jake Paul
WBA and WBC plan on ranking me depending on my performance.
Benedikt Townsend
I don't really know what that means. Right. Boxing rankings from these sanctioning bodies at this point don't really mean a ton to me. And that's not a disrespect to Jake or anybody, El. But like Manny Pacquiao just got a title fight after being off for four years, just got ranked. Devin Haney just got ranked in a division he's never fought in. And that's happened in multiple cases as well. I have a feeling that pretty much at any point, if Jake is continuing to win fights, these companies are going to rank him because he makes money and he brings in money for these sanctioning bodies and whatever their fee is to fight for their belt eventually. I don't think that means he gets a ranking and now world title shot. But then again, who knows?
Jake Paul
His dad is one of the best to ever do it. I like building my resume, having the best looking box wreck of all time. Mike Tyson, Darren Woodley, Anderson Silva.
Benedikt Townsend
It's a very interesting way to put it. I've told you guys before that Jake is a master of narrative constructing and that don't mean that again in necessarily a bad way. Jake's boxreck, if you look at it right now, does have a who's who of popular combat sports names on it. And to be honest, Jake's boxreck has more experience in his first 10 or whatever 11 fights than most, most fighters would even without an amateur career. And this isn't me glazing, but the point I'm making is he does have Mike Tyson's name on it. Knowing that Mike Tyson was nowhere near what Mike Tyson was at any point in his actual boxing career, but still has the name on it. So the weight of it is heavy, no pun intended, but it isn't necessarily the best boxing wreck of all time. Which is why I said he wants to build the best looking boxing wreck of all time.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
So he's now a real boxer, but other fight I can like, like have the rematch with the Canelo or not. Another big name, but I think Jake is the perfect opponent for me.
Benedikt Townsend
And Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Cannot rematch Canelo right now. I'm sorry, no one is going to pay to watch that fight. Canelo is not interested in that fight. The reason that Chavez Jr. Took this fight is because, yes, Jake is a massive name and also because he's probably getting paid more to fight Jake than he would to fight anyone that he realistically can fight right, right now. Point blank, period. Nothing wrong with that. But just don't lie and be like, oh, yeah, well, I could have taken the Canelo rematch, but instead I went like, no, you couldn't have.
Unknown Speaker 1
Do you think this is going to.
Benedikt Townsend
Be a tough fight for you?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
So Jake is young, you know, it's too young. So have a lot of energy. That's the, the big part, you know, the difficult part to find a new guy.
Benedikt Townsend
And Julio gives probably the most honest answer he can. He's like, yeah, every fight's different. He's young, so he has a lot of energy. I think that, you know, Jake also has a lot of power Chavez Jr. Has never seen. Again, he's moving up. I don't know how many weight classes from middleweight. Probably never fought a guy that hits as hard as Jake does. Not to say that Jake's, you know, exorbitantly powerful or anything like that. He may be, but it's just he's a cruiserweight. Chavez Jr. Fought, I think, once at cruiserweight, maybe twice now. Jake's youth is a massive factor for him. Chavez Jr. Is 39. He's not, you know, 50 or whatever, but got a lot of boxing miles on him, has some, obviously outside of the ring, substance issues, been out of the ring and on and off for the last, however long, has taken massive breaks. So all that's going to factor in. I do think that there's a path for Chavez Jr. I don't think it's the most likely one for him to win this fight, but I think there's a path there.
Jake Paul
And it's going to be a very upsetting night for him.
I
Better upset than that. You're going to him up. I think that's the easier way to say it.
Jake Paul
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
Benedikt Townsend
I'm so confused. Who is this guy? He's like short form, translating for Jake. It's got to be like one of Jake's homies or like some, some famous person that I'm just Not aware. But I have no idea who this man is, dude. Like, yo, Julio, just so you know, I know you can understand English because you've been speaking in English throughout this, this entire face to face, but I'll put it in an easier way for you to hear. He's going to fuck you up. And then he said it in English. I mean, listen, I like Jake's confidence. Whatever you want to say about Jake, he puts in work, man. He does. He puts in work down there in Puerto Rico. He has some great training partners. Gabriel Zado was in camp with Jake this time around, he'll be prepared. Again, I want to see something I haven't seen out of Jake in his last couple of fights. To be honest, I didn't see it in the Mike Tyson, Tyson fight with, however you want to think about that. I didn't see it in the Perry fight. I just haven't seen Jake look like he is doing more to improve in a while. Right. I haven't seen him take that next step yet. Like he could stop Julio with pure brute strength and an iron chin and just being able to find a shot either earlier, later on in the fight. But I want to see Jake's feet get back under him. I want to see him be a little bit more controlled in what he does. But also, where's the jab been, right? Where is the in and out movement been? Where's the angle cutting been? I want to see some more of that. And again, because the only reason I say that is Jake keeps talking about world title, world title, world title. I need to see Jake look better than he's ever looked. I think that's the only measure of success for Jake here because everything else, like, there's nothing really to gain.
Jake Paul
You're not training properly and then you have these fat sparring partners who you think mimic me.
I
Well, one fat people.
Benedikt Townsend
My man got offended in the middle of the question, for one. That's crazy. You don't talk about fat people that way. Also, let me translate what he just said. Okay, so again, maybe translator, I don't know. But yeah, Jake I guess has got some people that are around Chavez Jr's camp that are telling him, like, what's going on? He said you're sparring fat people. Getting ready.
Jake Paul
There it is. Go work out.
Benedikt Townsend
Go work out the fat guy sitting there.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
I want to put him back, make him work, extra work, you know, that's my strategy is not about my lawyer. Maria Del.
I
He's gonna fuck you up. Well, first he's gonna make you dizzy and then he's gonna knock you out.
Benedikt Townsend
So interesting. I mean, again, I like that answer from Chavez Jr. It's gonna be obviously easier said than done to push Jake backward when he is the, the stronger, bigger fighter. And if you are stubborn enough to, to stay in the pocket with him long enough. Not saying Jake's a great combination puncher, but he's going to find something at some point, whether it's the overhand right he likes to go to. He has a nice left hook now. But I will say when Jake is at his worst is when he is pushed backward. When you do interrupt him, usually with the jab, right, if you're volume heavy. I mean, I'm pointing to the Tommy Fury fight, the one fight where Jake lost. He was interrupted with a jab consistent, could not build momentum in his offensive game because he couldn't get his feet, couldn't get his hands going because he couldn't get his feet. He was always having to reset either backward or circle out and he wasn't able to put together consistent, efficient offense. It was one shot at a time, usually a check left hook, jab in between. He landed one big overhand right in that fight. But I don't necessarily hate Chavez Jr saying, you know, I'm gonna have to push him back a little bit.
Jake Paul
He just not as good. Mike Perry, oh my God, man, this.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Is a heavy battle, man. No, my.
Benedikt Townsend
What do you do?
Jake Paul
What do you do?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Let me see.
Benedikt Townsend
He said he's a worse Mike Perry. And what I get from Jake saying that is that he thinks Chavez Jr. Is going to be a punching back, that he's going to be able to be tough and take punishment to get to where he wants to get to. If that's the case, yeah, Jake's going to knock him out cold. If Chavez Jr. Is a bit more calculated, if he does mix things up up, if he does set things up again working behind his jab, then no, that's not the same person at all. And by the way, I don't agree that Mike Perry is a better boxer than, than Chavez Jr. No, I wouldn't even say it's close. Perry is tough, he is durable and those guys are, are tough to get out of there. They're dogs. Perry is a dog, but skill for skill. Chavez Jr. Is a better boxer and.
Jake Paul
You know it too. I see it in your eyes.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
My Perry versus Tyson, man. Maybe it's a great fight, man. I, I go with my Tyson, you.
Benedikt Townsend
Know, what the hell's happening. But Chavez Jr says he would take Mike Tyson to beat Mike Perry. That's interesting. But anyway, Jake said something there. I see how you fight. I've seen how you're training. He thinks that Chavez Jr. Is going to plot forward without the jab or without anything to set up his big attacks to then swing behind the high guard, get to range, take some punishment and then try to deliver. If that's what actually happens and he's not clever and he does think he's just going to walk forward behind a high guard and push Jake back, then yeah, Jake's going to battery him because you have to give him something. You have to. Taking a beating is not how you win this fight. Mike Perry had his ribs broken in the first exchange of the fight by Jake's right hand. That's not, Jake's too strong, too explosive to, to just walk forward and take punches the entire fight. We're critical of Jake fighting Mike Tyson. Do you have a problem with that?
I
Yeah. So he doesn't believe in elderly abuse. Is this kind of say. He said he understands the money, but he doesn't like that a young man is fighting a six year old dick.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
You to help it.
I
Yeah, that, that he would have let himself get his ass whooped too. Old man and great legend.
Jake Paul
What's crazy is Mike lasted.
Benedikt Townsend
I don't know if that's like an accurate translation, but this dude's funny. I, I love this translator.
Jake Paul
It's gonna be a quicker and shorter night for you, which I know you like. I know you like quitting and giving.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Up when you have like a real career. You had a lot of things in life. Good fight. Not so good. Sometimes I'm not there, like mentally I'm prepared like 100 physical and mentally, you know, because I have surprise.
Benedikt Townsend
That's a very honest answer from Chavez Jr. To say, hey, listen, you know, when you have a real career, throw in some shade, hey, when you got a real career, there are going to be nights where you don't show up your best. There's going to be nights when you're not physically there, when you're not mentally there. And obviously that's a lot of what happened for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr's career and it wasn't just on fight night, it was in fight camp. But the problem is it still does give credit to what Jake's saying. He did quit on himself in fights and in camp. At the end of the day, it does tell Jake that you can be pushed to a point of quitting no matter what happens.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
You know, it's I love boxing, so I wanna, I feel great, you know, I feel great and I want to.
Benedikt Townsend
Show I'm gonna be honest. This does not sound like a super confident, I'm going to win no matter what answer. And it sounds like a very introspective answer and one that like, is honest, right? He's like, what's different now is that I'm committed to boxing, I'm not self sabotaging, I'm not out doing, you know, whatever else outside of the ring. I'm disciplined, I'm boxing, I'm putting myself in the best position possible no matter what happens. And I've got a different mindset, a different focus. But you don't hear the words win in there for Chavez. Obviously he wants to win, but you don't hear him dead set, locked in. Mentally, there's no other outcome that's possible besides winning and that's concerning. I'm sure he wants to win, I just don't know if it's in his mind. The only thing that matters and I think it needs to be for him to get this done.
I
He wants to look the best. He can't. He's focused, he's locked in. No more drugs, no more bitches.
Jake Paul
Were you locked in, you would say again in your camp against Uriah Hall?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Yes, I'm trained, so I win the fight. Only six round decision. But you see the fight and see, oh, Julio don't look good, so I want to beat Julio. So I want to do this for maybe five me, you, good fight.
Benedikt Townsend
Jake is essentially trying to ask Chavez Jr. If he trained really hard because Jake doesn't believe he looked very good versus Uriah hall and I agree. 3. That fight was not a great look. Ryan hall had never had a boxing match and came in and went toe to toe with him over six rounds. It was kind of a low volume, low output fight that you can argue Uriah hall should have won more rounds than he did. But Chavez Jr. Is trying to say, oh, yeah, you know, I, I won that fight and you know, maybe I, I wanted a little closer than you think I should have, but I did that so that I could get the Jake fight. So Jake would look at me and say, ah, I want to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I don't know how true that is. A lot of people can say, oh, I just did enough to win so I get the big fight if that's true, genius if not. And it's just the fact that, that Chavez Jr doesn't have much left, like Jake said. It's going to be a short night for him because that fight was rough.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
I, I, I lost a couple fight, but I never see a guy then he beat me and, and break me down and put me like down two, three times and so nobody ever just.
I
Whooped his ass before. It's always been a good fight and the homie's like there man, he's ready to get this fight on. He thinks it's going to be a great fight.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, you agree with that?
Benedikt Townsend
No, I just, I mean we'll hear Jake answer this.
Unknown Speaker 1
Ever whooped his ass?
Jake Paul
I would, I would agree with that.
I
But they've never just completely whooped his ass.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, but what is that mentality, you know what I mean? Like that's supposed to be a former world champ talking about, well, I might have gotten beat, but no one ever whooped me going into a fight with Jake Paul. What? This is the world. Oh man, you think you're better than Tommy Fury?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Of course man, of course, that's no question man, I'm much better than, than him, you know, so he trained hard and he's muscle guy too. I think Jake is better than him now because.
Benedikt Townsend
Experience, I don't disagree with this take by the way from Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Jake losing to Tommy was less about Tommy's high level boxing ability and more about his age, his size, his youthfulness, his experience that Jake maybe didn't have at that point. And also just the measurable. Tommy has a crazy reach and he was able to touch Jake with the jab and Jake wasn't super fast compared to him or he wasn't, you know, he didn't have these massive physical abilities or physical advantages. So when those things were one to one, Tommy had a little more experience. Jake has gotten, I think in the last year, if you want to count the Mike Tyson fight, four or five fight since Tommy fought him, has gotten experience, has gotten a 10 round fight under his belt. I don't disagree that Julio Cesar Chavez, far better boxer, world champion level boxer. Even though again, however you want to look at his world championship, he was a top level boxer, good to great boxer. The question isn't his skills, it's more so how much has stayed around at 39 and how much better has Jake gotten? Question I always ask how much better has he gotten?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
They say, oh, is that the son of the Chavez man? I'm sorry, I don't want, I don't can say nothing about this situation because it's like that.
Benedikt Townsend
So.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Oh my God, sometimes it's Hard to say, oh, you bad or you're sad?
Benedikt Townsend
I was going to say. I don't know what Chavez is saying right now, but he's just yapping. I have no idea what he's saying.
I
He don't give a about his dad.
Jake Paul
So you don't love your dad?
I
She gives up to papa. I think he loves his dad. She gives up to papa.
Jake Paul
Oh, wait, the papa.
I
Oh, wait, the papa say something about his dad.
Jake Paul
I didn't say anything about his dad. I just asked him if he loved his dad.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, go after Greg Paul. Yeah, yeah, Chavez talk that about gp. Where are we at, man? This is insane. A former world champion is being encouraged to talk about Jake Paul's father. What the hell?
Unknown Speaker 1
Do you think there's any chance you can lose to this man?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
No, man, I don't talk everybody. You have chance, but it's not. No, I don't see any, any, like if you work.
Jake Paul
I don't, I just don't believe.
Benedikt Townsend
I don't believe him either. I don't believe him either. He's sitting there with his arms crossed like, I don't. Everybody got a chance to lose, but I don't think, not this, maybe not this time. Just. No, I'm not losing to him. I will not let it happen. What is this?
I
If you were to lose him, would you quit? Quit boxing forever?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Yes.
I
So, I mean, he says that if, if, if he loses this fight, he's done.
Benedikt Townsend
He answered, would you retire if you lost to Jake more confidently than he answered. Are you going to lose to Jake? Let that sink in.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
You continue your career because you have a lot of promotion, your tube and everything. Promote fashion fighter. So you already good. So you ready for a loss, your second fight and after that you, you maybe you be a good fighter, you.
Benedikt Townsend
Know, Jake has more to lose here. Let's be honest about it. Jake is the guy with looming potential. Big money fights out there, whatever it's going to be. I don't really like the idea of him fighting Gervonta Tank Davis, but they've talked about that out of the two of them, which is crazy to say. Jake has more of a chance of fighting Canelo Alvarez than Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Does. And yeah, you know, whatever else out there, Jake has big money fights you lose to and the Canelo fight goes away forever.
I
Do you see yourself taking a shot with him? Maybe after the fight, kicking it.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
I don't drink.
Benedikt Townsend
I was going to say Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Don't need to be around any drinks anymore. Dude, we we can't be encouraging more addictive struggles for a former addict. Let's just move on.
I
They whoops your ass. He's going to go to YouTube, entertain people and then come back, man, that.
Jake Paul
Honestly, I don't think you can do it.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, bro, listen, you gotta have a little bit of personality to jump on YouTube. People like the Cobra himself, Carl, Fra Anthony, Joshua, even somebody like Tyson Fury, they're big enough stars and they have good personalities to make it on YouTube. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I don't think you're making it on YouTube, my boy. Anything.
I
You could be a YouTuber.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
No.
Benedikt Townsend
Okay, he gets it.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
It's embarrassment. And wow.
Jake Paul
He just calls you embarrassment.
Benedikt Townsend
Okay, so this Guy is a YouTuber. All right, I didn't know. So he's. Yeah, he's saying that being in a YouTuber is embarrassing.
Unknown Speaker 1
Right here.
Benedikt Townsend
Jake, you mentioned the. Not for me, bro. Made a life off this, staying on biz, man.
Jake Paul
Every Mexican I've just met walking around, my flight attendant on the way here, he was like, man, we don't like Davis, we don't like him. He's a fool.
Benedikt Townsend
Borderline. What is that accent? We do not like to. That's crazy, dude. Hey, you got, you got to reel that accent in, dog. We, we're going to do it. We got to do it right.
Jake Paul
That's what, that's what it kind of sounded like.
Benedikt Townsend
I'm not the best at it, but.
Jake Paul
But yeah, they're like, we're rooting for you. Essay, essay.
I
He's in your flight attendant. Yeah, he was a cholo.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah.
Jake Paul
There's nothing he does that, that can offset anything I'm gonna do to him. Not a single thing. Cardio, pace, output, jabs, body work, inside fighting, wherever the fight goes, however the fight goes, he's gonna be outworked in every single round.
Benedikt Townsend
Do you see the difference? And again, I know you can call it delusion, whatever, cringe that Jake talks like this, but do you see the level of difference in confidence when he's asked that question versus like whatever we get from Chavez Jr. When he's dancing around an answer, it's night and day.
Jake Paul
He's going to learn that I'm one of the most heavy handed, fastest people in the sport of boxing, period. Out of every single weight class, pound for pound, I'm one of the strongest, hardest hitting people in the whole entire sport.
Benedikt Townsend
The bold claim. It's a bold claim. I don't know about the fastest, but I mean, Jake hits hard. I know that, but pound for pound, in the sport court. Martin Bacoli up there. Tank Davis up there. The Monster in a way up there. Deontay Wilder there. There's some heavy, heavy, heavy hitters in the sport of boxing right now. I don't know if Jake is there. Butterbiev is there. I don't know. But Jake does hit hard.
I
Say, you look like you want some.
Jake Paul
But Vada's here today.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Yes.
Jake Paul
What the.
Benedikt Townsend
Oh, okay. Chavez Jr. Accusing Jake of being on PDS. Oh, okay, let's hear what. Let's hear this discussion.
Jake Paul
No, this is how dumb. This is how dumb.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
He is the first YouTuber pound for pound, number one in the world. Yes. Oh, here, look at me, man.
Jake Paul
He's an angry little elf.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
No, I'm angry, man. It's true, man.
Jake Paul
But you say stupid.
Benedikt Townsend
Like, what does he even say? Okay, so he says something about the diamonds. I'm the first pound for pound YouTuber, so I don't know what that was, but Chavez is, like, convinced that Jake is on PDs. Or he says, you look like you're on stuff. And Jake says, all right, well, Vada's here today. We'll see. But if they are doing VADA testing for this, then we'll know. We'll know if Jake gets hit with something and if they've been doing VADA testing since camp started, we'll know. If that were to happen under vada, that would be a huge story. Huge. But I've never heard of Jake failing a drug. Drug test ever. But I guess Chavez Jr. Is saying you're a YouTuber and then you're number. Wanting to be number one pound for pound. How does that happen? And he's saying, okay, you must have taken pds, but Jake has never popped ever.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
So take advantage of the situation, timing.
Benedikt Townsend
And an opponent's timing. I thought he said diamonds.
I
But I.
Benedikt Townsend
Think he's saying that he never changed.
I
Taking advantage of the situation.
Unknown Speaker 1
Oh, right.
Jake Paul
I thought he was just about to cry.
Benedikt Townsend
So I.
I
I think he said you.
Unknown Speaker 1
Were going to cry maybe after beat you.
Jake Paul
Doesn't seem to make sense.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, maybe I'll cry after I beat you. He's like, yeah, Jake's all. That doesn't. Doesn't really make any sense.
I
Okay, would you take a shot after?
Unknown Speaker 1
I know you don't drink anymore, but.
Jake Paul
Just a little bit, bro. I think you'll be fine.
Unknown Speaker 1
Line.
Benedikt Townsend
We can't. No, we can't. What is this enabling? We're doing Thomas Jr. No, you're clean for the last two years. Please.
Jake Paul
We saw his last Fight, it was pretty snooze fest and I'm just going to continue to give fans knockouts and electric fights.
Benedikt Townsend
I told you guys this when this fight was booked, that Jake, part of the reason, I think, for taking Chavez Jr. Specifically, if he couldn't get Canelo, however close that fight was to happening, is to framework, put out the catchphrase, the line. And also, you know, it does have some validity, at least on paper. He wants to be able to say he was able to knock out Chavez Jr. And do something Canelo couldn't. Because Canelo couldn't knock out Chavez Jr. When Chavez was a little bit better and obviously still locked into the sport and younger and all that, but he couldn't knock him out. And Jake, if he knocks him out, is going to use that as ammo to try to get the Canelo fight.
Jake Paul
It's going to be a relatively easy night for me.
Unknown Speaker 1
Easy night. He says, how do you think this fight ends?
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Knockout, later rounds. Oh, decision.
Benedikt Townsend
It's like again, when I look at him say that knockout, he's like quite, he's like, knockout, maybe decision. I don't know. I just don't see a lot of confidence in the answers of Chavez Jr. Looking forward to it. And good luck.
Jake Paul
Thank you.
Benedikt Townsend
All right, there it is, the face to face for Jake Paul, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Jake's saying he's going to knock him out early. Chavez Jr. Hopes to knock him out late or potentially gets him in a decision. I mean, yeah, I think that's how everybody kind of looks at this fight. Like Jake being the younger, more explosive, stronger guy, potentially can catch Chavez Jr. Early, hurt him with something, put him away. But if this fight does go later, how does Jake carry his power? He's been able to do that before. Honestly, this face to face didn't give me a lot of confidence in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I'm sorry, I didn't see it. Not to say that he can't do some things because I think that again, the body work, some of the stuff he said about pushing Jake back, if he's using his jab and not just walking forward with a high guard, could get pretty interesting. Interesting. I, I think that that could be a way that blusters and frustrates Jake and makes him fight in a way he doesn't like fighting, which is on the back foot, very reactionary, very much countering versus being on that front foot and initiating. He doesn't like to fight that way and not many guys have been able to really push him that way. But if that's possible for, for Chavez Jr. That's a path to victory. What I think is more likely is that he tries to do that, gets hurt with something or gets hit with something that backs him off. And Jake starts to slowly take over, potentially, yeah. Leading to a knockout. But it's the first fight video of fight week. For this one. I have some more breakdowns coming. Stay tuned. What happens in this fight and also what do you take away from this face to face? Because I didn't get a lot of confidence from Chavez Jr. But maybe I'm just missing something. Let me know in the comments. And this Saturday, live in the Honda center in Anaheim, California, Jake Paul, Julio Cesar Chavez. Who wins? Guess we'll find out.
Terence Crawford
With me. If you ride with me, you can slide with me. If you feel like 550 on the five sticky, come get high with me. That's a deal, right?
Benedikt Townsend
Folks, I have not covered this as much as I feel like I probably should have to this point, but Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Are fighting in the Honda center on June 28th. Right here in my backyard in an I'm California. This fight has kind of gone under the radar since it's been announced. They had one press conference where Julio Cesar Chavez senior was in one hand giving Jake his respect and another completely disrespected him, calling him a youth youtuber. But this fight seems to make a lot of sense. It checks a lot of the boxes for what Jake either wants to do or is trying to do, and that is become a world champion, but also secure a Canelo Alvarez fight. Why do those two things matter? Because one, Jake is fighting whether he's in the same weight class or not. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Who is a former world champ, and two, he's a man that also fought Canelo Alvarez and Canelo couldn't stop him. Jake, void of all context, is going to escape, essentially say, if I stop Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I did something Canelo couldn't do. And yes, it would be at a different weight class, and yes, it would be years after Chavez was in his prime and after addiction issues and all those things, but would still be a meaningful win. Even though Jake already beat somebody that beat Chavez recently, I still have no problem with the fight. In fact, I enjoy watching these kind of fights because it shows me where Jake's level potentially can be. I don't think he's gonna one punch knockout Chavez in the first round. I think it's going to be a little more difficult. But we have some Training footage chat. So let's take a look and see where Jake's at, where Chavez Jr. Is at. And before we get into fight week, two weeks from now, what we can gather from it, the breakdown. Let's go. So here is Jake Pauler sparring somewhere. I still haven't figured out where Jake's camp is located right now. I don't know if he's back in California, I don't really know. But here he's sparring. I don't know if he's sparring our guy, Moose and Kaysen, I don't know if that's him here, but Jake is sparring what looks to be a light heavyweight or maybe smaller cruiserweight. And let's see what he's got. Nice little body shot there that looks like Moose. And though, nice little body shot, maybe a little low. I don't like this right hand, but again, I can focus on the stuff that I don't like like, or excuse me, the stuff that I do like. I like that he hides it with the jab. I don't like that he kind of slaps it out there and then gets more square. Good reactions for Moose and Cason, though. That's a good. That's a decent belt line shot. Yeah, right hand kind of winged it, but again, I throw right hands the exact same way, but I'm also not. I'm not about to fight a former world champion. Not that Julio Cesar Chavez is that level anymore, but counter uppercut is there if you want to throw. When he throws, the right hand is there. Jake can take punches, but little sloppy. You know, the nice jab to exit, though. We like that. Like the jab to set up the shot to the body. Right. I like the jab on the exit. I like that. That's good stuff. Something I've worried about with Jake for a long time now is that I feel like he is. And I've said this before, I don't know if it's on video anywhere. I feel like he has sacrificed a bit of technique for a lot of power. Right. I feel like there's some of his technique has gone by the wayside in favor of throwing big, heavy power in exchanges because he has leaned into that power and he should. Jake is a puncher. People don't like hearing that, but he is. He drops damn near everybody he's in there with, but it has looked a little more sloppy late, and I think that's fair to say. Is that because of the weight gain? Is it because of a consciousness effort to get away from being a little more technical and just sitting down on punches. In a fight like this, if Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Comes in and is actually taking this seriously, he's going to have to be a bit more technical than he was with Mike Perry and he was with Nate Diaz. He's going to have to be sharp. Not because Chavez Jr. Is a puncher, because he's not. He wasn't even a puncher like that at 160 pounds, and that's crazy, 160 to 200. But the counter shots can be there, and you still don't want to get hit with those, no matter if you're at cruiserweight or. Or wherever else at the fault of his technique. When you have a guy in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Who the public might not think has a chance, and maybe he doesn't, maybe he's not taking it very seriously, but the chances he does have is if he's able to, for 10 rounds, put together a boxing masterclass, because I don't think he's knocking Jake out. He can hurt Jake. I don't see him knocking him out. Maybe if Jake tires himself out, but he's gone 10 rounds a couple times now. But I just. I want to see how Jake does against a experienced, technically gifted boxer. Because what Julio Cesar Chavez was, wasn't a hard worker, he wasn't a big puncher, but he was technically gifted, had very natural talent for the sport. Whatever you want to say about his work ethic and what he ended up being as a boxer, he was very, very gifted. Tech, the jeans, it all made sense. If he has any bit of that left, I want to see a more technical Jake here. I don't. I don't want to see him go away from the power, but I worry that he is. Is sometimes invested too much into it and become a little more slop on fight night.
Jake Paul
The version of Jake that you're going.
Benedikt Townsend
To see is my best performance yet.
Jake Paul
I match up with Chavez stylistically. I'm going to put on a. A boxing classic, pick him apart, and people are going to be able to see the skill set that I've been working on in the gym that I haven't been able to showcase in recent fights.
Benedikt Townsend
I do feel like it's always something Jake refers to when he talks about fights he's about to have is that I haven't been able to showcase it. I haven't been able to showcase it. And for certain fights, I agree. You know, he stops Andre Agus quickly. He stops Ryan Borland quickly. And those aren't fights where you could really see if Jake had gotten better since the time he lost. But, you know, I wasn't overly impressed with what Jake did in the Mike Tyson fight. I think he knew he kind of had to be more safe. Even though people were saying, oh, he just carried Mike, I think he was just like, let me know, not make a mistake. The Mike Perry fight, you know, it got a little sloppy. You could say, okay, Jake had a short camp and was, was cutting weight for the first time, like from 240 to 200 or whatever he was. So, you know, his gas tank maybe wasn't there, I don't know. But I, I haven't been impressed technically with Jake since. You know, I mean, I was impressed in the Tommy Fury fight even though he lost. I was impressed in the Nate Diaz fight with how he handled Nate thought he should have done that tonight. But I want to see the stuff he's saying when he's like, I, I haven't been able to showcase it. I want to see what that is. Why haven't you been able to showcase it and why is this fight going to be the one that lets us see it once again? Because at a certain point, we got to find the plateau, we got to find the peak of where Jake's going to be. Is that going to be world title? I don't think so, but that's just one man's opinion. I want to see if he's continuing to gain levels because he's been at this for a while now. You know, Chavez Jr. Doesn't look super blown up at this weight either. You know, know he looks strong. Jake, on the other hand, looks almost like squatty, you know, almost, almost like thick. Boy, at, even at cruiserweight, I really think that that blow up to make the Mike Tyson weight really messed with his body, like, composition, because they say this about fighters all the time. When you start jumping around weight and then try to go back down, it's, it's more difficult than it was before you gained all that. I mean, that's clear. But you, you sometimes fighters don't ever lose all of the weight. The body composition changes. Roy Jones Jr. Is a perfect example of that. Jumping around and weights, you know, is, I think on top of the fact that he was, it was getting to be later in his career affected him so detrimentally that it ended up, you know, costing him a lot some fights. So I, I just wonder, can Jake ever get to a, a functioning cruiser weight that looks like he is in that weight? Class and not cutting to that weight class and still have the pop and still have the footwork and still have the activity needed to compete at a high level in that weight class? Or is he going to be a guy that's very plotty with his feet a bit more stationary and looking for big time power punches instead of volume over time like you saw in the Tyrone Woodley one fight, Even though there wasn't a ton of volume, he still out through the frozen one. The same things that got him into trouble in the Tommy Fury fight, he didn't throw enough, he didn't have enough volume. I wonder if we're ever going to get back to a more volume heavy, finding openings through offense and not sitting and countering or looking for one or two big shots. This is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr getting ready for Jake. Let's see what he looks like, man. Because it'd be easy to just go, okay, Jake's going to walk through Chavez and that may be what happened. But the things that you want to look at for a Jake opponent is how do you, the blueprint is out there. How do you beat Jake? You overwhelm him with volume. You stifle his jab, you stifle his punches and you fight him inside of pocket range. You don't fight him at the distance where he likes to operate, which is out of range to end. You fight him by jabbing your way and sticking in range with him. Combination punch. Excuse me. That don't look like an old man. Hold on a second. Now. I'm not worried about the sound of the punches. I'm not worried about the power of the punches. I'm worried, I'm looking at the effortless nature of these punches. Punches and the speed of his hands. Not that he's trying to look fast here, but I'm just, I'm looking at the, the intensity behind the shots. Good shot, good twist, hide the chin. Again, a technical fighter at 160, not a guy that would put your lights out. He has gained weight and I, I know he's 39, but I'm gonna tell you something, man, this is a little surprising. I'm, I'm sorry, I'm not even trying to do the, oh, here goes Wade trying to hype up a bad opponent. I, first off, I don't do that. Secondly, this is different than I've seen him then we have seen him in a long time. I don't know if Chavez Jr. Can, can gain back the years of substance abuse and time off from the sport. I don't know. I don't know if if that outweighs the years prior where he was somewhat committed to the sport, even if it wasn't at the highest level, even if he took shortcuts. He may take a shortcut in this fight. He may find it more difficult than he imagined, which is a lot of people do when they get in there with Jake and look for a way out. That could easily happen. It's happened before with Chavez, but no one has really ever said when talking about Chavez Jr. When he gets to a fight that he's a massive quitter, right? He has done that before, but they've, the story has been he just hasn't really put any effort into training, right? He hasn't really ever committed himself to training. But in the fight he goes out and tries, but it's a half assed sloppy effort because the work wasn't put in there in training. And look, listen, it's easy to get fooled by this pad work. When I watched him fight Uriah hall from about 10ft away and he didn't have any, he did have a single thing for Uriah that night. He couldn't hurt him. I don't know if he was even trying to, I don't know what that was, but it was a, a sparring session between him and Uriah Hall. It wasn't fun to watch. It wasn't a good fight. I thought Uriah won, be honest. But if we see some intensity like this, we're gonna have a fight, literally. Chavez's last shot, by the way, if he has anything left at all in the sport, it's got to start and really finish with the Jake Paul fight. The real question is, to me, the mindset of Chavez, when all these cameras aren't around, when no one's there with their phone filming, is he as motivated to come in and work? I don't have any question that Chavez Jr. Can box. I want to know what, what his mental toughness looks like. I want to know how he prepared, is he ready for 10 rounds. But yeah, he's got clean bag work. Man, that jab is nasty, son. I like the, the off speed timing of it too, right in between bounce.
I
Back.
Benedikt Townsend
I just don't like the circling to his leg left constantly, you know, on his jab, just walking into Jake's right hand, constantly stepping off every time. There we go. But that fading to his left off the jab, you see that? That's just inviting. That overhand Jake gets underneath the jab and here comes the overhand as you're sliding into it, it's, it's, it's a great jab he's got snap to it. But I just think that, that again, you can get a little casual if you don't think Jake is, is on the level you are. You can get a little casual and get a little loose with what you know you probably shouldn't be doing if you think Jake can't capitalize on. I'm just going to sting him with this jab and he's not going to do anything about it until he does. And, and regardless of the fact that, that Chavez lost to Anderson Silva, I think we would be idiots if we didn't acknowledge that this is the highest level technical boxer Jake has ever faced. Regardless of who he lost to, he's a better technical boxer than Anderson Silva is. Like all this looks, this is fine, this is good stuff. He really wants to, to throw that power to the body too. Not to say this is like a big tell for anything, dude. Chavez's eyes are crazy, dude. He's literally got like crackhead eyes, dog. He's just like. Not that this is like their like strategy or anything, even though I used to make those titles like crazy, but Chavez Jr. Has clearly put an answer importance on the bodywork and every single mitt session, everything. Maybe that's just the way they like to do mitts or it could be they see Jake as a fat out of shape cruiserweight, that if they get to his body he will slow down and even over those 10 rounds Jake can be overwhelmed. Interesting strategy, one that people haven't really taken advantage of. No one's really gone heavy to Jake's body because when you go to the body heavy you open yourself up for big time counter shots over the top. A little bit of a risky game plan, but be interesting to see because Jake has gone 10A of couple couple different times now. It's not that he can't, but he will slow down in points and no one's really gone to his body a ton to reap the benefits later on upstairs in the fight. Don't be surprised that we see a lot of body work from, from Chavez Jr. At least attempted. See, I don't even like, I don't know. This right hand is a little bit scary to me. These poor right hands he's throwing with his, with his lead hand kind of right by his waist. I've seen too many guys throw, pull right hands thinking they're going to pull off a jab and bring the right hand, but the other guy throws a jab and a right hand with, with it, and they might pull on the jab, but the right hand coming behind it cracks them dead in the jaw, right? Like if he's pulling on a right hand and coming over the top there. And again that lead hand is down by his waist. That right hand from Jake, if they both are throwing jab right hands, or if you're throwing the pull right, and Jake's throwing the jab, right hand, he's gonna kill you with the right hand, dude. Okay, you pulled on the jab, now come and eat this right hand behind it. Yeah, you're throwing to the mitt here, but look where you end up. Right back on the center line as the right hand potentially comes across every time. Yeah, I don't know, man. Don't like that. I like the work to the body. I'm not mad at that, but I don't know. Like, the one weapon that Jake can change the fight with, every single fight, is his overhand. That's his bread and butter. You either got to believe in your chin like there's no tomorrow, or you got to have combinations that you throw, starting with your jab and hiding your chin, that don't put you back on center line for him to throw that thing down the pipe or over the top. But anyway, that is some of the training footage we see on Chavez Jr. Again, I think that just from watching that if I were to pull like a, a secret weapon out of this, this, it's that Chavez Jr. Wants to get to Jake's body. Right? I don't think this is just pad work for pad work sake. I think that they look at Jake as a guy that's, that's, you know, he's been 10 rounds, but he does slow down, maybe a little heavy for Cruiser, way to, at least, you know, not as in shape as he could be, and looking to work to the body first to break him down into those later rounds and try to come upstairs. I think that's something that definitely could be a factor in the fight if, if Jake isn't able to get off shots early or to land big shots shots and maybe tires himself out a little bit. You go to his body, the hands come down further, the gas tank starts to slow, and then all of a sudden the guy that was already a, a better volume puncher by far, a guy that already was someone that had experience going late into championship rounds in, in the prime of his career starts to take over the fight. That's what they're looking to do, in my opinion, that's what I see out of this video. But seeing Chavez Jr do it on the mid, seeing him do it on the heavy bag is not seeing him do it in the ring. And quite frankly, I have not seen him do it in the ring. I in a very, very long time, even against the likes of Anderson Silva and Uriah hall, who should not hold a candle to him in the boxing ring. So no matter how much I think he can be technically better than Jake, no matter how much I think he could be technically the best boxer Jake has faced, I still think Jake Paul wins this fight. As of right now, that's what I think. And I don't know if it's just about commitment or if it's about time that's been gone for Chavez Jr. Time he can't get back, time he wasted outside of the sport and his time in. In the sport. But more so than that, I think that the mental part of this fight at some point will be too much for Chavez. It always has been his Achilles heel. I think it'll be again, combined with the time off, combined with the weight, combined with his age. But that's just my thoughts. I do think there's an interesting strategy here. I think Chavez Jr. Is looking great compared to what you would think at this point in his career. I just don't think it'll be enough. You guys let me know in the comments. Elliot Suporia has just taken over the entire promotion of the ufc and quite frankly, frankly, the entire sport of mma. UFC fans, you have your next big superstar, and his name is El Matador. He just knocked out Charles Oliveira. That's right. Du Bronx in the first round of his introduction to 155 pounds. And he is the new lightweight champion of the world in the ufc. He has now held belts in two separate weight classes, and he is starting to make a legacy that is undeniable. 170 and no flaws. And I mean that specifically in this fight. What just happened to break down? Let's go. So, like I said, Ilya Sephora, Charles Oliveira. This was the fight I think that everybody was anticipating this week, and it turned out to be one that actually delivered on the anticipation. Unlike another fight that happened in direct competition in the boxing ring on the same night. I'll just say it. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Jake Paul did not deliver anywhere close to the magnitude to the. To the performance, to the delivery, to the spectacular nature of the finish. All of it culminating in Iliad Seporia going absolutely bonkers and doing exactly what he said he would do if you guys didn't see during fight week. It was almost like a foregone conclusion from Ilya Seboria that he was going to win this fight. A level of confidence that we have not seen in the UFC in a very, very long time. One that included him walking up to Charles and telling him it was written. I didn't want it to be you. I'm sorry it had to be you. But this win was already written. To then celebrating a victory the night before it happens. A victory dinner on the night before the fight. It was almost as if Ilia Toporia knew what we all thought, but maybe didn't have the courage to say because we're not him, we are not Ilot Toria. We didn't know that his confidence would exude and radiate so much energy that eventually he would have a spectacular performance like we just saw. So let's talk about the fight. I told you guys coming into this fight, and I'll tell you again, again, the biggest gap I saw between Ilya Seporia and Charles Oliveira was obviously in the striking department, and it was in the pocket. The moments where this fight would get heavy is when Iliad Seporia and Charles both decided to engage in the phone booth fight. And right away from the opening bell, this happened. And funny enough, as the fight started, both of them traded in the pocket and Charles Oliveira was the one that came out the victor in their first exchange. As soon as the fight started started, he clipped Ilya Taporia with a right hand. That made Ilya back off and rethink that exchange. And ultimately there was a scramble where Charles Oliveira got double underhooks. And in that exchange, I'm not sure if Charles got cut on the eyebrow from something Ilya hit him with or potentially just, you know, finding grappling position and cut his eyebrow. But he gets cut up above the eyebrow, and Ilya ends up flipping position on him, getting top position on the ground, getting to mount a crucifix really quickly, passing Charles Oliveira, who is a high level block black belt, passing his guard like it was almost nothing. Charles looked for leg locks, got somewhat threatening with one, and Ilia got out of it. Very calm, very collected, very poised for this moment. Something that again, when you watch him fight is the word you. You keep finding in your mind. He fights with such a poise, such an. A welcoming of the moment. No jitters, no. No butterflies. No, the moment is too big. It reminds you of another guy that was the champion at 145lbs pounds and then jumped and became the champion at 155lbs. I'm not saying that Ilya Toporia is Conor McGregor or Conor McGregor is Ilia Toporia, but to not see the parallels there I think would be absolutely insane. I'm gonna go out on a limb and maybe I'm wrong, but you guys can tell me in the comments. I think from what I'm seeing from Ilya Seporia right now, his arc without maybe the flash and the cameras and the superstar rocket ship that Conor McGregor built for himself and the UFC strapped to his back. Elliot Tapori is running run is better. He has knocked out two of the three greatest 145 pound fighters ever in the two fights previous to this one. And then he comes into £155 and knocks Charles Oliveira out, another former world champion in the weight class. He was stepping into that three fight run is one of the better ones maybe I've ever seen. And it wasn't against just supplementary talent. These were top line fighters, best of the best. The only person missing from that equation and may not be missing for very long is Islam Makachev. Keep an eye on that in the future. But anyway, so they get to their feet and Ilya and Charles Oliveira, they have another clinch, kind of close quarters, phone booth fight, and Ilya gets off a nice jab to the body, stabs him, jab upstairs, stabs him, and they enters in with a combination and Charles gets to a Muay Thai clinch, tries to throw the knees up the middle, Ilya is wary to it, shucks off the plum grip, it gets back to his base, starts to get back to what he likes to do, which is enter in with his jab. And Charles not using those weapons that I think he desperately needed to in this fight, that teep kick to keep distance, right, the ability to push, kick to the stomach or stab at the knee or oblique kick or inside leg kick things to get Ilya off that front foot and start to engage at a higher distance where he's less susceptible to combination punching and he's more safe to throw his outside game as well. And with that being said, Ilya, Ilya stabs him to the body again, stabs him with a jab, upstairs, steps in, Charles tries to meet him with a straight right hand, the same one that he landed to start the fight and had success with, but this time Ilia had seen it. And instead of engaging and trying to go right hand for right hand, he takes his lead hand and just slightly pushes Charles's right hand off the center line, just slightly pushes it off path to drop his own right hand. And boy, when he drops it, it was like, like the atomic bomb hit because he drops this right hand and Charles goes limp immediately. And just for good measure, Ilya winds up a left hook behind it. Charles goes flat on his back and Ilya follows up. Two hammer fists and it's all over in win the first round. Just like Ilya Toporia told us and told Charles and clearly told himself, his self belief, his ability inside of the octagon, his poise and quite frankly, just how good good he is took over and the world took notice. Tonight, the UFC created their biggest newest star. It's insane to watch him perform at this level and think where is his ceiling? Because it wasn't at 45, at 55, he just took out one of the biggest names. Islam moved to 70. Sure, there's matchups there and they're going to make the next matchup, whatever that is, which we'll get to in a second. But it's just, he doesn't feel like a real person. And so the question becomes who. Who is going to be be there? Who is going to stand in front of Ilya Toporia and say it's my turn as well? You may have this moment, but now it's my turn too. That rising star to combat another superstar rising. And we may have gotten that answer in the Octagon as Patty Pimlet stepped in and I don't know who arranged it, but he stepped right in to talk to Ilotori and say congratulations, but you're not knocking me out. I'm different from all these guys your mind and they have a great back and forth and Topori is saying, I'm gonna put my balls on your forehead and I'm gonna do all this and do that. It was perfect. It felt like such a good piece of business that the UFC was doing to give Patty Pimblett his shot at that belt to make a fight that already has an ingrained feud between two guys that just don't like each other over the belt over competition. Finally we get to see them fight and there's even a show love from Ilya to get Patty out of his face. Like get the out of my face, dude. I'm the champ. You're in my octagon and I'm holding my two belts. And I thought this was again, just a brilliant piece of business from the ufc. It makes sense. But then I heard Dana White say this in the post fight Presser about how much he enjoyed that face to face.
Dana White
Well, I don't know who the hell let him in there. That should have never happened. Let's start there. I was already back in my room or that would have never happened. But that's not the fight that. It's just, yeah, it was fun. It shouldn't happen.
Benedikt Townsend
It was fun to watch.
Dana White
Well, that's not really what we do give a shit. It was fun to watch or not. It's just that that shouldn't happen. Plus, he just, he wins a second, A second title and a higher division. It was just, it was a bad call by whoever the hell let them let him in there.
Benedikt Townsend
Dana White is upset that Patty Pimlet faced off with Ilya Toporia. He's upset that he could have potentially put together one of the best fights you can make right now. 155. That's, that's, that is exactly what you want. That's the rivalry you need. This is a sport of MMA where, yes, star building is super important. And maybe Patty Pimblett's not the greatest matchup because of his strength, because of his size, because of his grappling ability. Tough fights make superstars, and a loss isn't the end of the world. And I know you don't want to, you don't want to kill the golden goose because Topori right now is on a heater, he's on a hot streak. And when I thought about it more, I knew that the reason Dana White would not like this, this fight, the reason Dana White would not like that face off, that's not in his words, how they do things. Even though I've seen many of face offs in the Octagon, in fact, I saw one earlier in the night with Van and Pantoja. The reason he did not like that face off is because it's not what Dana wants. And that, to me, just doesn't make sense. List. I get it. I know that Justin Gaethje is a matchup that favors a striking battle that Ilya Toporia will most likely win. I mean, listen, I know MMA math doesn't always work, but Max Holloway flatlines Justin Gaethje in their fight, then Ilya Toporia flatlines Max Holloway. What do we expect to happen when Ilya Toporia gets in there with a guy in Gaichi who can be hit, he can be hurt, he can be stopped, and he wants to strike. And also if he wrestles, Toporia is probably better there as well. I think we know the conclusion of that matchup. I'M not going to say it's not a good fight or whatever, but the matchup that I would personally want to see, especially after that face off and the one that I think holds more parity than Ilia and Justin Gaethje, is Ilya and Patty the baddie. Both of them have their own separate fan bases. Both of them do not like each other. They've had run ins in the past. The fight's been building for years. Why not? You can say it's too early, but at that point, is it not just the same problem that everybody has with the Marcus of Queensberry and the sport of boxing? That's the same problem we've had for years with them. We don't get the fights we want when we want them, and instead they fall by the wayside and we all sit there on our hands and say, well, we wish we would have got them when they were in their place prime. I just think that's the fight to make. And Dana's upset about it because I think Dana wants Iloria and Justin Gai. I'm hoping this moment forced his hand. I'm hoping that the people loved it enough to say it, you know, let's do it. I really do. I just don't know if that's the case. But regardless, in any form or fashion, Ilotoria is on the verge of becoming a global MMA superstar. He is becoming what this sport has needed in the last, I would say two to three years without Alex Pereira's name being invoked. This man can speak great English, he is well dressed, he's got a great look. He is a crunch time player, meaning he steps up on every big stage and delivers in the most emphatic fashion. And when he's done, it's on to the next one, business as usual. If the UFC does not strap the rocket ship to his back, whether it's with Gaichi, which, whatever, or it's with Patty the baddie, and they make an ingrained rivalry to just build his, his legacy further potentially, or to make Patty the baddie, that next big thing. They need to understand they have a burgeoning superstar on their hands and if they don't take advantage of it now, I don't know what else they need to know. Ilia Toporia is the real deal and he's going to be for a very long time, undefeated and undisputed lightweight champion of the world in a demolishing a demolition job of Charles Oliveira, who, you know, has been around in the sport for a very long time. Not sure where he goes from here obviously didn't have it. His best performance wasn't his night. And yes, some of it was about Charles, his stubbornness, his. His inability to. To keep the fight at distance. But more of it was about Ilia Toporia and his just greatness. What happens next for him, Charles for the ufc? I don't have those answers. I know one thing. It's almost impossible to mess this up because Ilia Toria is just that damn good. What happens for him next? I guess we'll find out. Folks, we are back on the way. Concept presented by the Ring magazine and I am sitting next to the showstopper, the King of New York. 1/2 year. Main event, July 12, the Louis Armstrong Stadium. It's Edgar Berlonga. What's up, my man?
Unknown Speaker 1
What's up, baby? Good.
Benedikt Townsend
Chilling, bro. Hey, first off, you didn't have to wear more. You didn't have to have so much ice. I didn't know if it was Edgar Berlonga or a freezer. I was talking to this man. Got ice? Dude. Dude, you're wearing your. My condo on your neck. What are we doing here? He just had to stun on me, like, what we doing?
Unknown Speaker 1
You know, this is my image. You know, I grew up, you know, loving, you know, looking good. You know what I'm saying? I always felt if I look good, I feel good, you know, I could do the things I want. Good.
Benedikt Townsend
So do you think I could pull it off or no? I could pull the chain off.
Unknown Speaker 1
Maybe one. Maybe one tennis.
Benedikt Townsend
Just one little video.
Unknown Speaker 1
You can now, you could pull it all. Okay, but then you gonna go from being like. Like, you look like you probably, like, could do movies and shit.
Benedikt Townsend
Okay.
Unknown Speaker 1
To like, a guy that.
Benedikt Townsend
I'm gonna get a square. I'm gonna get a square off here, you know, saying, have it nice.
Unknown Speaker 1
And you put the part. You know, put the chains on there, you gonna really look like a New Yorker.
Benedikt Townsend
I got a bunch of friends that are. That live up in this area. Puerto Rican for you. How important is it to put her on for not just the city of New York, but for Puerto Rican heritage, for. For everything that that matters most to.
Unknown Speaker 1
You is everything that's. Was, you know, I'm. I'm not going in there by myself, you know, I'm going in there with my team, with my family for Puerto Rico. There's a lot of Puerto Ricans on the island that's with me, you know, And I'm going in there with them. My ancestors, you know, from. From the 1800s. You know what I'm saying? Those people are going in that ring with me. You know, I think that. Nah, I keep saying I know that I'm destined for something great, and Hamza is just in the way, you know what I'm saying? So we can't overlook them. I can't look what's behind him. And, you know, that's the Canelo rematch and this. And there's a lot of things that's lined up for us that could happen, you know? But right now, we got to focus on him, you know, because if we don't get through him, everything goes out the window.
Benedikt Townsend
Facts. A lot of you said a lot of people in your corner, and before we got on camera, you said, I gotta perform.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, I got to. I'm. I'm home. And my home. One thing about New Yorkers, bro, they love a fight, and they love grit, and they love when you put your balls on the table and get it. You know what I'm saying? And they're. Listen, New York is a place where if they love you, yeah, they love you. But if they don't like you, they'll shit on you. You see, with the Knicks now, they start doing parades and everything before y'.
Benedikt Townsend
All a little premature.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, they go crazy, bro.
Benedikt Townsend
Can't be doing that. You got the. The Celtics winning last night. Y' all. Y' all thought the series was over.
Unknown Speaker 1
It ain't over yet, but they feel like it's. It's a victory because, you know, the Knicks always been in the dump. So it's like, when they get this far, it's like.
Benedikt Townsend
It's like, so are we back, by the way, or the Knicks back?
Unknown Speaker 1
I hope they are, you know what I'm saying? I want them to win. They from New York, you know, I'm not a. Like a big, big, big basketball fan, but, you know, I rep New York, you know, Are you big?
Benedikt Townsend
Like baseball, football, now?
Unknown Speaker 1
Everything, you know, Jets, Giants. I love jets, you know what I'm saying? But Giants is my team. Yankees, you know, I love the Yankees. I love the Mets. You know what I'm saying? There's a lot of power.
Benedikt Townsend
How you going to love the Yankees and the Mets, though?
Unknown Speaker 1
You got to love, bro. I'm from New York, man.
Benedikt Townsend
I didn't know if that's a.
Unknown Speaker 1
One thing about me is that if I get love from both. If you get love from both places, you gotta.
Benedikt Townsend
You gotta reciprocate. Yeah. You gotta reciprocate. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1
So I gotta be equal, you know what I'm saying I gotta be in the middle and just, you know, love both.
Benedikt Townsend
So the Nets too, obviously. Brooklyn, come on. The Brooklyn Nets basketball, good.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, but they're not.
Benedikt Townsend
Oh, yeah, that's got to be your squad.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, but they just. I don't know, I feel like with me, they, they like new still.
Benedikt Townsend
Expansion team. Yeah. They used to be Jersey bound. They moved up here. Now you claiming Brooklyn and they like that, right?
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. It's crazy.
Benedikt Townsend
So I can't, I can't come up with here and claim Brooklyn if I just move up here. Right. I'm from the South, I'm from Tennessee, so we can't just.
Unknown Speaker 1
You gotta go through me if you want.
Benedikt Townsend
I gotta check in. Okay, I'll check in. I didn't know I had to check in. That's cool. So, yeah, talk to me about Hamza, man. We just did the Face Off. Yeah, we did the press conference. You've been in front of him all day. What's the energy, man? What are you feeling from him?
Unknown Speaker 1
Fight, fight. You know what I'm saying? I was telling to go, go away for nine weeks, go into hibernation mode.
Benedikt Townsend
Because he thinks you're crazy about the way you can tell.
Unknown Speaker 1
I don't give a what he think. You know what I'm saying? I am crazy a little bit.
Benedikt Townsend
You got to be in this game. You got to be.
Unknown Speaker 1
Look at the legends, every legend. Look at Floyd Mayweather, look at Conor McGregor, look at Michael Jordan, look at Kobe Bryant, Mike Tyson, look at Mike Tyson. Look at Muhammad Ali. These guys are crazy. People thought they were psycho, but you can't be a normal guy and try to be. You can't be normal and then think you're going to be a legend. Ain't no way, bro. No being like that. Quiet, you ain't going to be. You ain't. You got to be a little crazy. Roberto Duran, you got to be crazy, bro. You know what I'm saying? Julio says Chavez got to be crazy. These guys is crazy, you know? So you got to be a little crazy to get to that level. I don't think if you're normal, you won't get there. You got to be a little bit crazy to get up there, cuz when you crazy, you, you want to do you, you want to, you know, try new things and, and the real ring, you know what I'm saying? If you're a certain way, you're not. You're going to be scared to take that, to take that, that leap of faith and say, you know what Let me try this. Let me try this. I'm going be in the gym. Yo, Mark, I want to go 25 rounds and spawn today. You know what I'm saying? Like. Like that. Like, that's crazy.
Benedikt Townsend
You just told me, too, before we got on camera. Like, bro, I'm about to go train right now. Yeah, today got you today Got you hyped up or you just n yesterday?
Unknown Speaker 1
As soon as I got here, I landed. My flight got delayed.
Benedikt Townsend
I got me too, by the way. What's on Going. What's going on? LaGuardia. Get it together.
Unknown Speaker 1
You know what I mean? Tripping. And I came from Tampa, so when I got here, we. I landed, like, at 10. I called my strength conditioning coach. I'm like, yo, I'm here. Like, I'm getting to the hotel, I'm dropping my off, I'm grabbing my bag, and we're going straight to the gym. We was in the gym till, like, almost.
Benedikt Townsend
I could tell, man, the guns popping out, I didn't know those was registered in the state of New York, you know what I mean? You got to get those things checked out, you know?
Unknown Speaker 1
But I came back two in the morning, eight. I got up at nine in the morning. Morning here with y' all doing all of this. After I'm done, I'm going right back.
Benedikt Townsend
To train, just locked in different, bro.
Unknown Speaker 1
At the end of the day, man, like, you know, all the talking, everything we're doing is, you know, it's cool. But, you know, when it's all said and done, July 12, when me and him is in that ring, it's only me and him.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah. So I like that, though. I like the talk because, one, to me, it shows you're confident. And two, I kind of talked to you about this earlier. You put pressure on yourself. Can't really anybody else say shit to you, you know, saying, like, if you put like, I'm. This is what I'm gonna go do. That pressure has already been put on you by you. So whatever they say, they say it don't matter because you already got. Put it on me. Go ahead, Say whatever it is. There's nobody that's. Yeah, exactly.
Unknown Speaker 1
Is. Everything is meant to. Is as long as you go here. This controls your body, your mind controls your body. Whatever you tell yourself you want to do, you're gonna do it, you know? I'm saying if I want to run through this wall. Right? No, I'm serious, right? I'm serious. If I want to run through that.
Benedikt Townsend
Wall right there, don't. By the Way we can't have.
Unknown Speaker 1
Mark always told me, if you want to go through something, you put your mind to it, you're gonna do it, bro. Like the. Like, you see, like, the rats, right? Or right, you see the rats when they start digging holes.
Benedikt Townsend
Okay.
Unknown Speaker 1
Like, I'm from the project.
Benedikt Townsend
Big problem out here in New York, right?
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, from the projects is I used to have a lot of rides, but.
Benedikt Townsend
We shoot them where I come from. We take the gun out and just line them up. You know what I'm saying?
Unknown Speaker 1
We chased them with far. With bats and. And.
Benedikt Townsend
And teeing off on the rats, trying.
Unknown Speaker 1
To get them out. But, like, when we was younger. But you know, a rat, what it does, it keeps scratching. It keeps scratching until it. Until it gets that hole. Then it now is inside the house, right? So it's the same way with us. Whatever we put them on to, we gonna do it. Thanks.
Benedikt Townsend
So when it comes to this fight, you know, like I said, I saw this energy between you and Shiraz, something you pointed out and I thought was interesting. You were like, to me, you're Canelo. Like, you're the best person. Even if you already went to 12 with Canelo, you're the best person I've ever faced because you're the next guy I face.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah.
Benedikt Townsend
And you felt like he didn't have that same energy for you.
Unknown Speaker 1
That's how I knew. I beat him already. I already beat him. I already beat him Mentally. You just think mentally, I already beat him.
Benedikt Townsend
He's checked. Like, he's trying to overlook. You already think the next thing right.
Unknown Speaker 1
There, I beat him. I started talking. I just beat you. You don't even know I just beat you, bro, because I'm looking at you like, can I, Canelo, I'm going away for camp. Like, I'm not part of my work. No, I'm not going. I'm not going back home. I'm going away. Like, he's my Canelo. You know what I'm saying? He's. Once I get him out the way, it's like, all right, all right, now. Yo, Turkey, let's sit down, baby. You know what I'm saying? Let's talk, man.
Benedikt Townsend
What you. What you say to him? You said Turkey was. What you said.
Unknown Speaker 1
Turkey's his poppy. You know? That's his poppy right there. He got Chuck. You got him like this, walking like. Hey, hey. Don't talk when I talk. Don't say nothing. When I tell you to move, you move. So he's doing that. That's what I'm saying he don't want to be in New York. Like he want to be fighting in New York. Come on. He's just doing this because they put in the pressure. I'm like, yo, you got to take this fight, because if not, you're not going to get the canelo fight. You know what I'm saying? So he's like, oh, fuck, I'm gonna take the fight. But.
Benedikt Townsend
But you think about it, like, the way you. You talk about how Turkey looks at him. That says a lot for how Turkey looks at you, that he wants Shiraz to come over here in your backyard and take this kind of challenge of this first fight at 168. That's a big deal, man.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, maybe. Maybe Turkey's underestating me. I think, Turkey, I think you underestimated just a little bit, okay? And it's maybe, you know, it's boxing, so I don't take nothing personal.
Benedikt Townsend
Should light a fire, too.
Unknown Speaker 1
It lights a fire. Because then after that, we're going to sit down with you. We sit down like this, me and you, we have some dinner.
Benedikt Townsend
Kick me out. Turkey, you can sit here and we.
Unknown Speaker 1
You know, we talk real money. We talk real money. They.
Benedikt Townsend
They, you know, I. I ain't pocket watching you. You look like you got it right now.
Unknown Speaker 1
No, no, no, I ain't. They could buy this right here. A million of these. A million of these, they could buy a million times, you know, so you got to respect it, you know, 100%. The money's different facts, you know.
Benedikt Townsend
Now, speaking of the money being different, 100k bed, huh? I watched it go down. The handshake made it official. Well, I don't know if it's official official, but we going to honor it. You think they're going to honor it?
Unknown Speaker 1
Oh, yeah, Yeah. I already spoke to this guy.
Benedikt Townsend
Okay.
Unknown Speaker 1
He said, yeah.
Benedikt Townsend
So 100k on the line. Line. Does that make it a little more sweet for you?
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah. Hell yeah. Now it gets me going. He never did no like that.
Benedikt Townsend
I was gonna say, you kind of stuck it on him, and it was like, had. Do we have to look around and.
Unknown Speaker 1
Say, yeah, I do like that?
Benedikt Townsend
Okay.
Unknown Speaker 1
You don't even know. I do like.
Benedikt Townsend
I don't do myself. I don't do like my whole life.
Unknown Speaker 1
That's why I'm comfortable. He ain't tell me, let's bet on the K. I was the one that told him that.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah. You know the type of. I do. I lose like 500 at the casino. That's the trip. I'm on. And I don't go back. That's fine.
Unknown Speaker 1
Let's go.
Benedikt Townsend
When you're doing 100k, I know, but now it's.
Unknown Speaker 1
Is. I did more than that on myself. Like, my whole. Basically my whole life I've been on myself. You know what I'm saying? But, like.
Benedikt Townsend
But that's. That's why you are in the position you're in, I think, and that's why you're going to the place you're going. You talked about Risk, you talked about being a little crazy. It's honestly just you saying yes to every challenge in front of you, man. I respect the hell out of it.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah. And I want to fight the best. I'm not over here trying to picking nobody. I want to fight the best.
Benedikt Townsend
That's. That's why this.
Unknown Speaker 1
I want to make. And I want to make the biggest fights happen.
Benedikt Townsend
Yes.
Unknown Speaker 1
Where there's a lot of fans and, you know, people can enjoy. That's part of boxing. You know what I'm saying? People worry about. They owe. People worry about a lot of different things, man. It's about giving the fans a great fight, bro. Look at me, Canelo. Nobody don't talk about. They talk about. What they talk about is, yo, you. You and Canelo, man, y' all need to do a rematch, bro. Why, bro? In that arena, everybody was on a they feet. When I tell you, you know, I.
Benedikt Townsend
Was in Vegas that night.
Unknown Speaker 1
I remember, you know, everybody in that arena was on their feet. That's why it went from booze to. After the 12th round, I was leaving. I. I felt like a superstar.
Benedikt Townsend
Respect. You earned so much.
Unknown Speaker 1
While I was walking, I was walking through the. Through the. Through the entrance. MGM to go. Have to go have dinner at a. Like a little diner that was in an mgm, bro. I had a mob of Mexicans, bro, mobbing me, bro. Pictures telling me I'm a legend, telling. Thank you. Like the bro. They don't remember. They're not remembering. Oh, you lost it. No, they remember. Yo, you and Canada fought a amazing fight, bro. Just like the Guardian Ward. No, I don't. I never spoke about yo who won that fight. I just look at the fight. I'm like, yo, that was a. Whoa. Those three fights, that's what they talk about. They don't talk about. Oh, but, but, but Ward One. No, they talk about. Yo, they went at it, and that's what boxing is about.
Benedikt Townsend
What's your relationship now like with Canelo? I'm interested because it felt like there was a lot of respect between you two after the fight. And then I, I saw you kind of gone off on him on Twitter. What, what's it like right now? How do you look?
Unknown Speaker 1
Nice. Hot.
Benedikt Townsend
It's back up.
Unknown Speaker 1
No respect. Why? Is it because I gave you too much? I gave you so much respect after the fight, you know what I'm saying? I told yo, you changed my life. Thank you. Yeah, you know, thank you for the opportunity. Like I. And then you went on, on and you did an interview and you, you said, I ran you crazy. I'm trying to survive. And it's so funny that he's saying that the whole fight week and then he fights again. He fights a guy that's really trying to survive. And it's like, then you see him complaining like to score, like, yo, bro, yeah, come on, man, fight, man. So it's like who was really trying to survive? You know what I'm saying? And you know me, I'm a guy that you try to troll me, you try to, you know, make fun of me. I'm gonna troll you right back.
Benedikt Townsend
So, so that one's that. It's back up now.
Unknown Speaker 1
So, yeah, hell yeah. Now it's personal with him, Me and him. It's personal, but I gotta get, I gotta get my back.
Benedikt Townsend
Of course, now when it comes to fighting in general, I've always had, had this question ready for you because I feel like you're a guy that gets down outside of the ring too. You've been in any street fights?
Unknown Speaker 1
Man, when I was younger, yeah.
Benedikt Townsend
Any, any like crazy one that you care to not maybe, you know, I'm saying we ain't trying to.
Unknown Speaker 1
No, no, no, no, no. Not crazy because I'm not gonna lie, man, like a lot of people love me, you know, and I knew how to fight. Remember I was boxing since I was six years old. So. You know, when I was younger, my dad went away for prison, you know, in a project and stuff. I had a. I, I was, imagine me light skinned like you, no facial hair, pretty boy. You know, these guys was bad little kids, you know, I'm saying they was breaking car windows.
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1
Robbing cars, you know, I'm saying, walking with bats and stuff, you know, and it was getting, it used to get crazy, you know, And I used to want to be outside. I'm a kid, I want to hang out outside, you know, And I used to go outside and I had to prove myself, you know what I'm saying? I had to get my respect. So I used to have to be people, people up, you Know what I'm saying? He like, yo, and I used like, yo, let's get it. Boom, boom, boom, bop, boom, boom.
Benedikt Townsend
Knock them out straight like that.
Unknown Speaker 1
And then after that, it's just in my project. They was. He just like, yo, Egg used to call me yo Egg, you know what I'm saying? Out of school. Coming out of school was like a fight. Boom. And then I got my respect.
Benedikt Townsend
I was going to say it got to a point where no, everybody learned not to mess with you.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah. And then also too, you know, me going to the gym. So I stood a. I stood. It happened a lot when my father was. Went to prison. Cuz, like, I used to skip school. I used to try to skip school and also skip the gym. You know what I'm saying? They're like, you know, be outside, you.
Benedikt Townsend
Know, so everybody else is.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah. And, you know, that's what, like, drew me into, like, wanting to be in the streets and fight. You know what I'm saying? And I. One time, while dad, like, my sister, like, was fighting with this. This young kid, like, grabbed my sister by the hair. And like, my dad was like, yo. My dad told me, like, yo, look what you did to your sister. I look went up to him.
Benedikt Townsend
Boom.
Unknown Speaker 1
Knocked him out. One shot knocked him out. Boom.
Benedikt Townsend
Cold.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah. He like, grabbed my sister by the head. They were playing again. It was over. You know, my. My stepbrother was way older than we was in the school together. I used to be like. They used to be like, yo, like, one time we was in, like, I was in a class, but my stepbrother was. He was older than me. This is my ex step brother. It's older than me. And I was like. I used to protect him. So, like, they came to my class. They're like, yo, these two kids are being. Was beating the. Out of your. I was like, where they at? They was like. It was in the bathroom. Ask the teacher, can I go to the bathroom? Yeah, you go. All right. You know. You got a reason?
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1
I go to the bathroom. They stood there, demolished them in the bathroom. Bing, bang, bing. I swear to God. Bing, bong, bing. Both of them got suspended trying to expel me out to school, you know.
Benedikt Townsend
So you've been in them streets?
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah.
Benedikt Townsend
Listen, I grew up very shy, sheltered. Thank you to my mom and dad. Shelter. Country boy shelter.
Unknown Speaker 1
I've seen like six years old, bro, seeing shootouts.
Benedikt Townsend
Oh, Shelter, homes. Different. I was like, sorry. Completely different. My shelter. Your shelter different, you know, is that.
Unknown Speaker 1
Bro, I wake up and you hit. You hit car windows in the Bronx. Hit car window splashing bops. And I get up. It was in the Shelton. I was in Hunts Point. I get up, I was climb on top of the. Where the sink is at. It was a window. And I just, I was just standing at the whole shootout. It was just shooting back and forth. My mom grabbed me, crying, get down, get on. You know, it was like level. It was like almost on the floor, you know what I'm saying?
Benedikt Townsend
Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1
On a street floor, by the way.
Benedikt Townsend
The way you're talking about this is like, it's just nothing, which is crazy to me because I would be petrified for the rest of my life.
Unknown Speaker 1
Yeah, it's like shaped you, though.
Benedikt Townsend
This is what shaped you.
Unknown Speaker 1
It made me humble, too. Yeah, it made me humble because it made me, you know, respect, you know, a lot of things because, you know that life is not cool. You know, I don't condone it. So me seeing that, like, and then, you know, my dad going to prison and leaving and coming back and then leaving again, going to prison, I just. I just had a different type of respect, you know what I'm saying? For people that, you know, that's in their life. And then I try to, like, you know, talk to these young guys now, you know what I'm saying? And telling them, listen, bro, you, we can't be doing that. You know what I'm saying? You got to do this the right way, you know? And a lot of people, like, drawn to me because they see me and I'm. I'm. I'm a positive guy, you know, I'm not a sucker, but I'm also. Because for you to do good in life, you don't got to be a sucker, you know what I'm saying? A lot, I feel like a lot of people feel like that, like, for you to be a good person and do good in life, whether you got a career or whether you're working on Friday, feel like, oh, that's a sucker. No, that's not a sucker. As a real man, you know what I'm saying? That's a real. A real man is a guy that's. Take care of his family, take care of his moms, take care of his father, you know what I'm saying? Take care of his kids, you know, that's a real man. Love that, you know, being in the streets and acting like a bad boy now, it's not cool, you know.
Benedikt Townsend
Well, now you're doing this to take care of your family. Give me one last down the lens prediction. July 12, you step in that ring. Across from you is Hamza Shiraz. The bell rings. What happens? Tell the people.
Unknown Speaker 1
Shiraz.
Benedikt Townsend
There he is, man. Edgar Verlanga. Once again, he's one half of your main event. Stay tuned July 12th from the Louis Armstrong Stadium thanks to the Ring it's the Way concept. What happens then? I don't have those answers, but I guess we'll find out.
Katherine Townsend
Over the years of making my true crime podcast Hell and Gone, I've learned no town is too small for murder. I'm Katherine Townsend. I've heard from hundreds of people across the country with an unsolved murder in their community.
Benedikt Townsend
I was calling about the murder of my husband. The murder is still out there.
Katherine Townsend
Each week I investigate a new case. If there is a case we should Hear about, call 678-744-6145. Listen to Helen Gone Murderline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Benedikt Townsend
Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful? The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6, where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dana White
I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.
Benedikt Townsend
But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.
Dana White
This is Absolute Season one, Taser Incorporated.
Benedikt Townsend
I get right back there and it's bad.
Dana White
Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Benedikt Townsend
I'm Jeff Perelman.
Unknown Speaker 1
And I'm Rick Jervis. We're journalists and hosts of the podcast Finding Sexy Sweat.
Benedikt Townsend
At an internship in 1993, we roomed with Reggie Payne, aspiring reporter and rapper, who went by Sexy Sweat a couple years ago. We set out to find him, but in 2020, Reggie fell into a coma after police pinned him down and he never woke up. But then I see my son's not moving.
Unknown Speaker 1
So we started digging and uncovering covered city officials bent on protecting their own.
Benedikt Townsend
Listen to Finding Sexy Sweat on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I Heart podcast.
Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Episode Title: THE W.A.D.E. Concept - WEEK IN REVIEW - Canelo Vs Crawford MADNESS, Jake Paul DOMINATES Chavez Jr and Illia Topuria is the REAL DEAL
Release Date: June 30, 2025
Host: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
Introduction
In this action-packed episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, the hosts delve into some of the most electrifying events in the sports world. From the intense buildup to the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford showdown, to the high-stakes confrontation between Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and culminating with a spotlight on UFC superstar Ilya Topuria, this episode offers comprehensive analysis, insider insights, and memorable moments that shape the current sports landscape.
Timestamp: [05:00] – [27:27]
Overview: The hosts kick off the week by dissecting the second press conference for the highly anticipated boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. Previously held in Saudi Arabia, the first encounter set the stage with Canelo appearing stoic and confident. Moving the event to New York brought a different energy, with Terence Crawford showcasing increased intensity and determination.
Key Points & Discussions:
Canelo's Dominance: Canelo maintained his reputation as a global superstar, drawing immense support from the New York crowd. His strategic calmness contrasts with Crawford's fiery demeanor.
Crawford's Strategy: Crawford aimed to position himself not just as an underdog but as a formidable challenger striving to claim the undisputed Super Middleweight title. His remarks, such as "I'm hunting them," reflect his aggressive intent.
Dana White's Involvement: Notably, UFC president Dana White took an active role in promoting the event, treating the boxing press conference with the same fervor as a UFC event. This crossover strategy highlights the growing synergy between boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA).
Boxing Legend Max Kellerman's Commentary: Max Kellerman provided historical context, comparing Canelo's standing to legends like Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, emphasizing the magnitude of this fight.
Notable Quotes:
Terence Crawford ([07:19]): "I'm hunting them. That's it. I'm hunting everything that he got, and I'mma take it come September 13th."
Canelo Alvarez ([04:45]): "Canelo is definitely the baby face here. Big he."
Max Kellerman ([14:07]): "Canelo is 6-2 with two draws. So was Marvin Hagler. When Sugar Ray Leonard moved up to fight him, they produced one of the biggest spectacles in the history of boxing."
Insights: The discussion highlighted the high stakes involved, not just for the fighters but also for the promoters and associated personalities. With the event slated for a massive platform like Netflix, the anticipation continues to build, promising a fight that could redefine both boxers' legacies.
Timestamp: [27:27] – [53:00]
Overview: Shifting focus to the boxing ring, the podcast dives into the burgeoning rivalry between YouTube sensation-turned-boxer Jake Paul and former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Their first face-off revealed contrasting styles and mentalities, setting the stage for a clash that blends celebrity boxing with professional insights.
Key Points & Discussions:
Confidence vs. Introspection: Jake Paul exudes unshakeable confidence, declaring, "He's going to learn that I'm one of the most heavy-handed, fastest people in the sport of boxing." In contrast, Chavez Jr. presents a more contemplative demeanor, acknowledging past shortcomings and expressing a desire to overcome previous issues.
Technical Analysis: The hosts examine both fighters' techniques, with emphasis on Jake Paul's emphasis on power and Chavez Jr.'s approach to body work and technical prowess. Concerns are raised about Jake's potential sacrifice of technique for power and whether Chavez Jr. can capitalize on his technical skills despite age and past inconsistencies.
Strategic Outlook: Predictions suggest that while Jake Paul may dominate early rounds with his power, Chavez Jr.'s strategy to target the body and extend the fight could pose challenges, especially if Jake's endurance falters.
Notable Quotes:
Jake Paul ([30:18]): "I'm the first YouTuber if I play with the diamonds. What is happening, dude?"
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. ([34:26]): "I want to put him back, make him work, extra work. That's my strategy."
Terence Crawford ([07:19]): "I'm hunting everything that he got, and I'mma take it come September 13th." (Note: This quote is from an earlier section but relevant to the overarching Canelo vs. Crawford narrative.)
Insights: The episode underscores the evolving nature of boxing, where personalities from diverse backgrounds enter the ring, bringing their unique narratives and fanbases. The clash between Jake Paul’s celebrity-driven approach and Chavez Jr.’s traditional boxing background provides a fresh dynamic, appealing to both casual viewers and hardcore boxing enthusiasts.
Timestamp: [53:00] – [100:50]
Overview: Transitioning from boxing to mixed martial arts, the podcast spotlights Ilya Topuria, a rising star in the UFC. After a stunning knockout victory over Charles Oliveira, Topuria has cemented his status as a formidable contender with championship aspirations across multiple weight classes.
Key Points & Discussions:
Performance Breakdown: Ilya Topuria's fight against Charles Oliveira was a masterclass in striking and grappling, showcasing his versatility and dominance. His ability to control the pace and execute precise strikes left spectators and analysts in awe.
Dana White's Commentary: UFC president Dana White expressed mixed feelings about Topuria's entry, highlighting both excitement for his potential and concerns over managing his rapid rise.
Future Matchups: The hosts speculate on potential future opponents for Topuria, including mentions of Islam Makhachev and potential rivalries with other rising stars like Patty Pimblett. The importance of building strategic matchups to enhance Topuria's legacy is emphasized.
Topuria's Mindset and Training: Insights into Topuria's disciplined approach, mental toughness, and continuous pursuit of excellence underpin his success. His ability to remain poised under pressure sets him apart from his peers.
Notable Quotes:
Ilya Topuria ([64:42]): "I wake up and you hit. You hit car windows in the Bronx. Hit car window splashing bops. And I get up."
Dana White ([78:02]): "Well, I don't know who the hell let him in there. That should have never happened."
Benedikt Townsend ([78:03]): "This was exactly what this fight needed. A bit of a maturation process, we'll say, with getting people to get engaged..."
Insights: Ilya Topuria's emergence signals a new era in UFC, where fighters combine technical prowess with marketable personalities to capture global audiences. The podcast highlights the delicate balance promoters must maintain in managing Topuria's career trajectory to maximize his potential without overexposing him prematurely.
Conclusion
This episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd adeptly navigates through some of the most compelling narratives in combat sports. From the high-octane buildup of Canelo vs. Crawford to the celebrity showdown between Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and culminating with the meteoric rise of UFC's Ilya Topuria, the hosts provide in-depth analysis, strategic insights, and thought-provoking discussions. Whether you're a die-hard sports aficionado or a casual fan, this episode offers valuable perspectives on the evolving dynamics of boxing and MMA.
Notable Mention:
Throughout the episode, the hosts reference the significant influence of promoters like Al Haymon and figures like Nick Khan in shaping the landscape of combat sports. Their strategic decisions in matchmaking and event promotion are pivotal in creating blockbuster events that captivate global audiences.
Final Thoughts:
As the sports world continues to blend tradition with modern influence, episodes like this serve as essential guides to understanding the intricate web of athlete psychology, promotional strategies, and the ever-changing fan dynamics that drive the spectacle of combat sports.