Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good
night, wherever you are in the world. This is
French Box and I'm your host, Matt. Flying solo
today. Ezra is not in the building today. So,
ladies, I apologize. The heartthrob is not here.
He had to take care of some family business.
But I'm here. I'm here. So, you know, Trap Basquiat,
you can stay. You know, I guess, whatever you
decide to pop in. But yeah, Ezra's not here today.
A lot of stuff I wanted to get into today. Today
is a big fight day. Rolly Romero versus Tiafema
Lopez for the WBA Welterweight Championship.
Tonight, live on PBC Pay -Per -View. It's going
to be available on DAZN and Amazon Prime. It's
going to be very, very interesting tonight. So
I really wanted to get into that. I also wanted
to talk about the heavyweight situation with
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Is this fight
going to happen? Is it going to happen in the
U .S.? What's the latest with that? I wanted
to talk about that. And, of course, we will go
through the news and the notes of the day. But
I wanted to introduce... The producer of Bunch
Boxes, the master marionette himself, Mr. No
Days Off, Huey P. What's going on, Huey? Doing
good, man. Doing good. Just getting ready for
the day we got ahead of us. You know, good main
event, good main event. But we'll see what else
we got in store. And also some of the news we
got on that Tyson Fury Joshua undercard seemed
kind of interesting. Very, very interesting.
And you know what? Listen, I love Roley. That's
my guy. But I love to meet more, man. I got to
start with the heavyweights today, man. I got
to start with this Anthony Joshua Tyson Fury
fiasco. So the very latest is that, hey, everyone
is all in. Everyone wants to fight. But they
really, really want to move the fight to New
York. Anthony Joshua's holding up the fight from
going to New York. Eddie Hearn sent some conditions
on which the fight could take place in New York.
And by the way, just so the people are aware,
Eddie Hearn said this from the beginning. Eddie
Hearn said, hey, the only way the fight could
happen outside of the UK. It's if we sign off
on it to happen outside the UK, because the contract
says it has to take place in the UK. So Eddie
Hearn is 100 % right about what's going on. He's
been right from the beginning. He told the truth
from the beginning. So let's not be mad at Eddie
Hearn, okay? But basically, Boxerstein released
the article that they claim. contains the addendums
that Eddie Hearn put out there. That Eddie Hearn
wants to be paid in full for some Dodge Championship.
He wants to have a certain number of fights on
the card. He wants to kick out Zufa from having
anything to do with the card. He wants to do
this. He wants to do that. Eddie Hearn says,
hey, that's bullshit. I said nothing of the sort.
We did send some addendums out. None of these
addendums that they printed out was on there.
And Eddie Hearn thinks that somebody, the powers
that be, the guys that are in charge are trying
to put out false information publicly to make
Eddie Hearn look bad. And to force Joshua to
basically sign a contract that he's not comfortable
with. I wonder who said that to me just last
week. It's plain to see that, first of all, that
I know, I know. Everyone loves Turkey Al -Sheikh.
I know we all love Turkey Al -Sheikh. But let's
be honest. This guy doesn't know what the fuck
he's doing. And no one wants to say it, but I
will say it because people are scared to say
it. Turkey Al -Sheikh don't know what the fuck
he is doing. You have a fight. Between the two
biggest British stars since Lennox Lewis, okay?
Two of the biggest British stars of all time
meeting against each other. And people are clamoring
and have been clamoring to see this fight. All
you got to do is open up the stadium doors at
Wembley, let 100 ,000 fans in, broadcast it anywhere
you want, put it on pay -per -view, and a million
people will buy it, 100 ,000 people will watch
it, and buy tickets, and away you go. This was
such an easy fight to not only make, but to make
bank off of. Any idiot could have done this.
But for some reason, Turkey Al -Sheikh has decided,
I'm going to take this very easy fight, and I'm
going to... increase the level of difficulty
in making money for this fight. And I just don't
get it. He's like, you know what? This is too
easy. This is way too easy. We're going to make
money way too easily. My dumb ass want to see
just how much I can fuck this up and still try
to make some money. Honestly, and I hate to do
this. This reminds me of a special friend that
I have. Okay? I'm not going to put her name out
there, but once you listen to Bunch Box, she's
going to know I'm talking about her once I describe
the scenario. I have this friend who is single,
by the way, fellas. And she's hot. Sexy girl.
You know, she's all right. I have this friend
who she will go out on a date with a guy. She
likes the guy. But for some reason, because she
likes the guy, she's on a date. She will purposely
sabotage everything pertaining to the guy. Oh.
I'm going to cancel. I'm going to cancel. I'm
going to do this. I'm going to do that. I'm not
interested in this guy. And then a week later,
she'll be like, so do you think the guy still
likes me? Hey, do you think he's going to contact
me? Well, if he really wanted me, he would have
contacted me. I'll be like, bitch. You did everything
possible to let this nigga know that you are
not interested. But now because he took your
head, you want him back. And you want a relationship.
And you wonder why it's not working out for you.
And she would do this like this has been going
on. Y 'all might think I'm joking. This has been
going on for about 10 years. And she does it
every time. And she wonders why it doesn't work
out. I just, I don't get it. This is Turquoise
Chic. Turquoise Chic said, you know what? I got
Ryan Garcia. Brody Romero. Devin Haney. I got
all these guys on the same card. What I'm going
to do, I'm going to put this at Madison Square
Garden. I'm not going to put this in Las Vegas.
I'm not going to put this at the Staples Center.
You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to put
this in Times Square. And block it off so nobody
can see it. Nah. But I'm going to do it anyway.
Hey, you know what I want to do? I want to take
a fight. And I want to go to prison. That people
are trying to escape from. Have a fight there.
Are you serious? Hey, you know what? Alexander
Usyk. I want you to have this big crossover fight
against the kickboxer. But. Let's do it in front
of the pyramids in Egypt. Where nobody is going
to fucking go. Who's the big fight? Let's go
to Saudi Arabia. You know what, man? As dumb
as all those other ones are, I actually like
this part in America, because I'll tell you why.
I'm even thinking about stepping into that territory
that I would never step into to watch that fight.
My problem is you're for the people. You're not
selfish enough. Sometimes that gets to me. I
know you're for the people and I know you're
saying it's not about us, but it's about me.
I want to be there. American money hits different,
man. I don't know what to tell you. Bro, bro,
this fight is about the British boxing fan. Little
known fact about me. I know you guys heard this
every time. More than the Al Bundy four touchdowns
in one game thing. But I used to run a British
boxing group. Okay. Called Boxing Updates. where
we had over 200 ,000 members of boxing fans talking
boxing every week, watching me do lives every
week, chatting and arguing about boxing every
week. And you know who was the biggest star of
that group? Anthony fucking Joshua. Okay? Anthony
fucking Joshua. And then it became Tyson Fury.
And these guys have been clamoring for an Anthony
Joshua Tyson Fury fight for years. And now that
the fight is finally here, they're going to put
it in America? And that makes sense? So you're
telling me that America, who doesn't give a shit
about this fight. Yes, we do. America cares about
this fight, man. We don't. We don't. Yes, we
do. We don't care as much as them. The American
boxing fan might care, but America doesn't care
the way the UK cares. They're not selling out
Madison Square Garden. I hope they catch up.
Hey, listen, these guys can travel. I've seen
them in Las Vegas all the time. But why? Here's
what you don't understand about the British boxing
fan. Because, you know, with all due respect,
Mike, you never ran a British boxing group with
200 ,000 members like me. Here's what you don't
understand about the British boxing fan. The
British boxing fan does not like... when you
spit in their face. And that's what this will
be if they do it in America. So I guarantee you,
I guarantee you, if they put this in America,
the majority of British boxing fans will not
travel to see this. A lot of them are going to
take it a step further and boycott this event.
I guarantee it. The British boxers that I talk
to every day, because I'm boots on the ground
with the Brits. They are very unhappy. They are
very unhappy, Mike. They will watch, man. How
many times have I heard people say I'm done with
boxing? Yada, yada, yada. I'm telling you, man.
We'll see. We will see. When we watch boxing,
I know that you got to be some kind of addict
to boxing when you're doing it because it treats
you miserably sometimes. And boxing has given
you plenty of reasons to walk away. You know
what I mean? And so even if this is done to the
British, you know, hey, man, they're still going
to tune in. They're still going to watch. It's
something they want to see. And they might fly
out. Enjoy the good old New York City. Which
is one of the top American cities in the world.
Yeah, New York City in the fucking winter. Yeah,
good luck. Real joy. A real joy. New York City
in the fucking winter. I've seen it in the movies.
It looks amazing. Will the Christmas tree be
up, Matt? They can take pictures. Yes, the Christmas
tree will be up. See? It will be amazing. Come
on. I'm going to be honest with you. I hope this
fight doesn't happen. You are the worst. I hope
it happens. I hope it doesn't happen in New York.
I hope it doesn't happen. Go a step further.
Bring it to Las Vegas. Go a step further. Bring
it to Las Vegas. I hope what happens is that
Anthony Joshua stands his ground and say, you
know what? This fight is either happening in
the UK Or it's not happening at all. They both,
and when I say both, I mean Anthony Joshua, Eddie
Hearn. Because Tyson Fury, listen, Tyson Fury,
he'll just do whatever the money tells him to
do. This guy has no fucking backbone, no moral
compass. But Anthony Joshua does. Is he a Brit?
Well, Tyson Fury? Yeah. He's a Brit, but he's
a different kind of Brit. Okay. He's a different
kind of Brit. He's respectfully. You know what?
I won't get into the history. The fact that you
had to say respectfully, don't say it, man. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. I'm trying to clean it up. I'm trying
to clean it up. And Ezra Steed, come on, Matt.
This is a family show. Yeah. Hey, we know what
Tyson Fury is. That's all I'm gonna say. That's
all I'm gonna say. Hey. In fact, if he were to
give you a hug, you better check and make sure
your wallet's not missing. That's all I'm going
to say, Mike. My thing is this, right? Anthony
Joshua needs to stand up for the British people
and say it's happening here or it's not happening.
If he does that, you know what happens? There's
a duck. No, it's not a duck. No cave. First of
all, Why do they even need Turkey to put this
fight on? The problem is, man, is these fighters
have been screwed over so much by promoters that
now they're like, I'll just take the money up
front. To me, this is not a fight that needs
to be subsidized. It doesn't, but they end up
not seeing their money somehow, some way. Yeah,
yeah, hey, funny enough. One of the things that
Boxer C was saying was that they need to pay
Anthony Joshua the rest of his money from his
fight against Prager. So, Turkey, what's going
on, brother? You're not paying your bills? The
hell's going on here? You're supposed to be the
man with all the fucking money. So if we're to
believe this bullshit, you ain't picking these
motherfuckers like you're supposed to. Hey, man,
he's got him on Friday. Yeah, yeah, exactly,
right? But I just think this fight should not
happen. It just shouldn't. I'm done with this
fight. Like, for me, the last straw is screwing
over the British boxing fans. Because I love
the Brits, man. Everyone knows I am. Mr. UK,
we can't have this. We cannot have this. But
it is what it is, man. But Mike, since you're
here, Mike, ultimately, do you think we're going
to get this fight? And if so, where is it going
to be? You know, man, when it comes to boxing,
I usually trust your judgment. So ultimately,
it should be in home somewhere over there. Like
you say, Wembley Stadium. They might not. When
have they ever got it right? So even when you're
like, yeah, here's where they should have it.
They probably won't have it there either. But
they might have it over there somewhere closer
for them to get there. You know, so I would love
it here. I would love it in Las Vegas. I would
go see that fight. I think many people would
go see that fight. I think we're underestimating
their star power. Even the people's travel power.
Plenty of times I've seen foreigners travel to
see their fighters come in packs. If it was up
to you, I'd do that shit in Northern California.
Any chance it happens in neither and it's a Riyadh
fight. Oh my god, bro. That would be fucking
hilarious. That would be fucking hilarious. I'm
gonna say no. Because if we're talking about
maximizing money, you ain't making no fucking
money in Riyadh. Isn't Riyadh getting bombed
on right now? I haven't been paying too much
attention to the news. I can't comment on that.
We're a boxing show. Yeah. Hey, now's not the
time to go to fucking Saudi Arabia. That's all
I got to say. Because these motherfuckers ain't
playing right now. This homeless straight shit
that's going on with Iran. Hey, it's dangerous
out there right now. So I wouldn't even fuck
around and travel out there. So I doubt they're
going to go to Riyadh. No, that makes sense.
That makes sense. I do think there's a more likely
chance this happens in the UK, though, just to
kind of put a bow on that. We've heard Turkey
have ideas. You mentioned a few of them. Alcatraz
didn't work. Times Square did work. He's like
70 -30 on these crazy ideas actually working.
Yeah, I don't think there was wrong with Turkey.
It's like he just yells random things and said,
you know what, let's do it. I don't get it. You
know what it is? He got bad advisors from the
get -go. Does he have advisors? Or did he just
say shit and everyone's scared to fucking disagree?
Exactly. That's the problem. The people he got
didn't have backbones to be like, hey, you're
crazy. That's not a good idea. He needs to hire
you, Matt. Like, hey. He would have had his head
cut off by now. What do you mean? It's like,
let's not go to top square. Let's not go to top
square and block everyone from seeing the fight.
Let's not have Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney on
the same card, but they're not fighting each
other. It made no fucking sense. Bro, they had
Rolly Romero, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney. and Tia
Fimo Lopez on the same card. And only Rowley
and Ryan will fight each other. Guess what? We're
getting Rowley versus Tio tonight. Like, dang.
Hey, you could have did that. You could have
did Devin -Ryan rematch and Rowley versus Tio
on the same fucking card. Put that shit in Madison
Square Garden and sell some goddamn tickets.
Jesus. Oh, man. All right, we got some stuff
from the audience on this. First, Basquiat NYC
wants to know, where's Ezra? Bro, Ezra's not
here. If you want to leave, leave. Scrolling
up a little bit, we had BrickSquad also saying
he's deadass disappointed in Ezra. And then I
don't know about this nickname, but he asked
if you could fire him. Can you fire the Mexican
monster? Is he talking about David Benavidez?
I don't know if he's talking about him because
the very next comment, like I said, was that
he's dead ass disappointed in Ezra. So I think
he's referring to Ezra. Listen, listen, listen,
listen. Don't ever call Ezra the Mexican monster.
Okay? Please. Maybe call him the Mexican teddy
bear, but not the Mexican monster. What's next
on the agenda, Matt? Well, I want to move to
the Cruiserweight division since we're talking
about the Mexican monster. And I want to talk
about this David Benavidez situation. So David
Benavidez is very likely to fight Michael C.
Slack next, basically, because C. Slack is likely
to get elevated to the WBC champion. They're
probably going to strip Michaelian if Michaelian
decides to try to go through with the Jao Opataya
fight. And I got to tell you that. I got to tell
you something. I think it's very stupid for Noel
Michaelian to declare he's going to fight Jao
Opataya. And here's why. He's going to end up
getting stripped. That fight is not going to
end up happening. Bro, I'm telling you, Don King
is going to get a successful injunction in order
to block that fight from happening. So he's really
wasting his time. Bro, I understand that nobody
wants to be under contract with Don King. But
the fact of the matter is, you're under contract.
You signed a contract with Don King. It's probably
an old school bad boy P. Diddy deal where you
can't get out of it. My brother, just fight the
contract out. That's it. You're screwing up your
career. And there's this whole thing with David
Benavidez. Oh, he's taking the easy way to the
bottom. No, no, no. He's fighting whoever has
the fucking belts. He doesn't care. This is the
cruiserweight fucking division. The cruiserweight
division sucks. It fucking sucks. There's no
star power. So to me, if David's going to be
a cruiserweight, then it doesn't matter who he
fights. Because it's David versus anybody. David
Benavidez is the star. David Benavidez is the
one that people are going to pay to see. So it
doesn't fucking matter who he fights. They all
suck. None of them bring anything to the table,
including John Opataya. David Benavidez is not
going to sell an extra ticket if you change his
opponent at Cruiserweight. He's just not. There's
not a Cruiserweight that means anything in the
U .S. to where it matters who David fights. It
really doesn't. So Jao Pataya, you're thinking
that you matter because Zufa is gassing you up,
putting the battery in your back. Well, Jao Pataya,
you can't ever sell a ticket. That's why Eddie
Hearn got rid of your ass. You can't sell a ticket,
brother. Yeah. Yeah. But how much does that matter?
No, no, I understand that. But as far as like
his standing in the sport and how people view
him, and that can lead to more crossover success,
having more critical claim and being considered
and actually show, you know, from people seeing
who you've beaten in the ring, not necessarily
just your performances against the names that
you have already, that you're like, that's a
top quality opponent that people would feel like,
okay, he's the real deal. Now he might, he actually
is really proven one of the best fighters in
the world. Maybe. Maybe, maybe. I think my favorite
comment on this topic is from Trill. But Ja Opataya
has a country behind him, some random boxing
fan. And that's so true. For some reason, boxing
fans automatically think just because you're
a foreigner, that means your country's behind
you and they're going to support you. Better
be even and fucking Bavall can't sell a fucking
ticket. Okay? John Mattia can't sell a fucking
ticket. Like, some guys, they just don't hit.
They just don't fucking hit. And it is what it
is. Speaking of B -Ball, let's go to the light
heavyweight division where Demetri B -Ball and
Callum Smith could not reach an agreement for
their mandatory WBO bout. So now it's going to
Perth bid August 27th this week. And it's going
to be live streamed on the WBO YouTube. Is this
fight going to happen? That's the real fucking
question. And then it goes to Brisbane. So you
think we're going to end up with the trilogy?
I don't know if we're going to end up with it,
but I think that's the only fight either of those
two actually want to take on next. I don't know.
I'll be honest. I'm ready for B -Ball to retire.
Let's get the fuck out of here. Like, Demetri
B -Ball is one of the worst things that ever
happened to boxing. He's given the sport Absolutely
nothing. But he's taken everything from the sport.
He was gifted a Penelope Alvarez fight. Did nothing
with it. He was subsidized for the trilogy. Couldn't
even keep his word and make it happen in a timely
fashion. And now he's holding up a division where
He could have fought David Benavidez. Both guys
were free last year. They could have fought last
year. But when it was time for David Benavidez
mandatory to come up, he was like, you know what?
I'm dropping that belt. But Michael Eifert, I'll
fight you. And people were just okay with it.
I'm not okay with it. I'm done with Dimitri Bivol.
He's not good for boxing. He's not even entertaining.
He has no redeeming qualities. He's not a good
person. It's just, who cares? So I'm done. I'm
done. 168 got nothing going on. 160 might have
something going on because... Allegedly, reportedly,
supposedly, Virgil Ortiz is moving up to 160
pounds. Now, it was reported by the boxing source
that they were looking at a fight with him and
Jamel Charlo. And then they said that was fake
news. But then... boxing scene comes on and says,
yeah, they're looking at Jamal Charlo. And then
10 minutes later, boxing scene says, oh, Jamal
Charlo just called us. He said, that's not happening.
He's fighting Tim Zhu. So no one knows what the
fuck is going on with Virgil Ortiz. Okay? The
only thing that people seem to agree on across
the board, is that he is moving up to 160 pounds.
But I do want to keep in mind to everybody, he
himself has not officially announced that, nor
has his people. But if he does move up to 160,
that immediately makes the division more interesting.
I said last week that 160 is not as bad as people
think. I just said I was crazy for that. But
I think 160 has some talent, but they just need
to start fighting each other. And Tim Zhu just
decided to move up to 160. Apparently, Jamel
Charlo is decided to move up to 160. And now
Virgil Ortiz is decided to move up to 160. So
you got Charlo, Zhu, Ortiz, Lara, Yoel Hernandez,
who we'll see tonight. Carlos Adames, Aaron McKenna,
Denzel Bentley, Troy Isley, who fought and won
last week. And we have Amari Jones, who might
be the best of the bunch. 160. Very, very interesting.
Let's make them fight each other. Nothing going
on. At 154. I'm going to skip 147 for now because
we'll come back to that. 140, nothing going on.
135, apparently Andy Cruz is interested in a
fight with William Zepeda. Hey, Andy Cruz, good
luck getting that fight, buddy. Good luck getting
any meaningful fight. He left Matchroom. He left
Eddie Hearn. So who's going to be backing him
now? Who's going to be subsidizing his fights?
Andy Cruz could sell out a family picnic in Cuba.
And somehow, we're going to put a lot of money
behind him. I don't think so, buddy. If I'm Andy
Cruz, bro. Take your ass to Zufa Boxing where
you can get subsidized over there and you can
fight at the apex. Okay? Maybe they can do an
Andy Cruz versus Ryan Valenzuela fight. That
I would love. 130. Navarrete versus Oshaki Forster
seems to be ready to go. I cannot wait. The fans
cannot wait. Mike, Huey, who are you favoring
in that fight? I think I'm favoring Oshaki Foster
in that fight. I just think style -wise, he has
enough to give Navarrete problems and kind of
negate some of the pressure that he's going to
try to give. You don't sound confident. I'm not
completely confident. Nav's dimensions and his
style, I think, could give Shaq a lot of problems.
I don't think, I think there's a path to victory
for Nav in that fight. And I do think if it goes
to a decision, Nav's style is more appealing
to judges. Matt, you know, I got a little vaquero.
His angles, I think he's going to come for some
places that Shaq is not used to seeing. these
punches come from. And I think he's going to
catch them here and there. With that being said,
though, he's going to leave himself open to get
hit. So we'll see what Shaggy Foster can bring
back, you know. Now let me ask you a question,
to be honest. Is this Mike the boxing guy pick?
Or is this Miguel Raraza pick? Never underestimate
Miguel, okay? Never underestimate Miguel. Okay,
Andy Miguel. Okay, and listen, I like Oshaki
Foster. I feel the winner might be the fighter
of the year. Oh, that's a great point. The winner
might be fighter of the year. That's a great
point. I haven't thought about that, but you're
absolutely right. I hadn't thought about it in
terms of NAV. For shock, I agree, but you might
be right about NAV, too. Bro, Sugar Nunez and
Oshaki Foster? Yeah. That's a very strong year.
That is a very strong year. Now, the one thing
that may or may not get in the way of the fight,
the WBO did order Navarrete to rematch with Charlie
Suarez, who really beat him, if we're being honest.
But Navarrete is hoping that they will bypass
this and let him take on Oshaki Foster. If you
are the WBO, Do you allow the mandatory or do
you force Navarrete to drop the belt in order
to have this unification? I'm not going to call
it a shakedown, but, you know, everybody wants
to make sure they get their piece. So figure
that out. And they think they should allow it.
I think they should allow him to fight O'Shaughnessy
Foster. Yeah, I think unification should always
supersede any sort of mandatory or anything like
that. So I think they should do what they can
to allow that fight to happen. I do also want
to bring in another guest here right now, founder
of the Cornerstool Substack, Cliff Rold. Rold,
what do you got to add on any of the topics that
you were listening to before? I don't know how
long you were waiting for a mic. Oh, I was just
there for a second. I was just going to ask Matt,
isn't there still a possibility that Suarez gets
shifted to Lomachenko in the fall if Lomachenko
comes back? I don't think so. I don't see Samson
Lukowicz doing that. I really don't. People forget
that Charlie Suarez signed with Samson Lukowicz.
I think what's more likely is he'll do the same
thing with Charlie Suarez that he did with Frank
Sanchez, where you're going to have to pay us
a substantial amount of money to step aside.
And you need to guarantee us that you'll fight
us next. Because according to Chris Mannix, Frank
Sanchez got a million dollars to step aside to
allow Moses Hatama to fight for the heavyweight
belt. So I think that's what we'll see here.
Cooler heads will prevail. Don't end up stepping
aside. He'll probably sit on a shelf or fight
a bunch of who shot John. while he waits for
a real tight opportunity. But I don't think fighting
Lomachenko makes sense. Why would he do that?
He's going to fight against someone who's been
campaigning at 135 for like five to seven years.
So he's going to give up the size advantage.
And he squatters Lomachenko like the same age.
So it's not that we can say Yufa's on his side.
Charlie Suarez is like 37, 38 years old. Like,
Charlie Suarez, to me, he is a guy who is the
quintessential work your way up the rankings,
become a mandatory, get your one title opportunity,
and ride off to the sunset kind of guy. So I
don't think it's happening. And I don't think
Lomachenko's coming back. Yeah, I wonder about
that myself. Yeah, I don't think he's coming
back. I think that was one of those, respectfully
to your colleague, one of those Mike Carpenter
reports that, you know, he was just putting shit
out there that he might have thought was happening,
but he couldn't really pin it down, but he wanted
to be first on it, so he just threw it out there.
I don't think it's happening. I truly don't.
I would agree on the other proposition, though.
Depending on what else anybody puts on the schedule,
the winner of Foster and Navarrete is the frontrunner
for fighter of the year. I don't know what that
says for the year, but they would be the frontrunner
at this point. We know what it says for the year.
It's been a shit year. Oh, I know what it says
for the year. Like, listen, if we're being honest,
it hasn't been a great year. It hasn't been a
great year. Like, this year has been so disappointing
that Naoya Inoue is only going to fight one time
this year. Think about that. Of all the stars
in boxing, Naoya Inoue has been the most consistent
with a hectic schedule. And he's only going to
fight one time this year. So that just tells
you where we're at with boxing. It just tells
you where we're at, man. Now, since you're here,
Cliff, and you are one of the brightest minds
in boxing, we're going to get to Roley versus
T .O. tonight. I want you to preview Roley versus
T .O. because You wrote a lot of stuff on this
fight. And I think it's very interesting, the
stats and stakes for tonight's fight. So what's
your thoughts on this matchup? So I think it's
an interesting matchup. And this is the way I
wrote the intro for the piece. It's a rare fight
where you have two fighters who you don't really
know what you're getting from fight to fight.
Like, who are they really? Is Raleigh Romero
the guy that needed a little bit of help to get
by Jackson Martinez and Ismael Barroso? Is he
the guy that when he stepped up his competition
to Cruz and Tank, got run out of the ring? Is
he the guy that absolutely punked Ryan Garcia
last year? Same thing with Teal, right? Is he
the guy who can beat a Lomachenko and a Taylor?
Or is he the guy who... You know, need a little
luck with the judges to get by Martin and get
by Jermaine Ortiz, who managed to be the one
guy that George Cambosos could beat who had a
pulse, right? Like, what do you really have with
these two guys? But one thing I would say is
you have two guys who are offensively talented,
and they're both inconsistent, and that could
make for a really good fight. I just think that
Teofimo Lopez is a natural counterpuncher. And
Raleigh Romero only knows how to fight one way.
And T .O. is sharper, straighter, more athletic,
and quicker than Raleigh Romero. I think this
is the kind of fight that you give a guy like
Teofimo Lopez to make him look good. But, I mean,
after the Ryan Garcia fight, you can't always
count on Raleigh following the script. And Raleigh
can hit hard. I mean, if he catches you, he can
hit you. I do expect Lopez to stop Raleigh Romero
tonight. I just think he's going to hit him too
many times. Isaac Cruz is a come -forward guy,
but he's not a killer puncher. And he eventually
just stopped Raleigh Romero because he was too
easy to hit. I think Lopez could find the same
thing tonight, counter -punching off his back
foot. But I expect an entertaining fight, and
I give Romero credit for continuing to fight
anybody. He doesn't really, he doesn't duck the
smoke. I mean, he's not the reason that there's
not a unification fight with Devin Haney right
now. No, you're absolutely right. But here's
the thing about Roley, right? I think he lost
to Pitbull Cruz, obviously. But I thought he
fought well against Pitbull. I thought that he
actually boxed and moved well against Pitbull.
until Pitbull caught up to him. Is Teofimo Lopez
going to be the type of fighter that's going
to be aggressive in that manner? I don't think
so. I don't think Teo's a walk -em -down kind
of guy. I think Teo is a sharp counter -puncher
who wants you to lead. We've only seen Teo take
the lead against Lomachenko. Is he going to take
the lead against Roley? And if he does take the
lead against Roley, is he going to be able to
avoid counters? Because we talk about Roley being
easy to hit. Tio Fimo ain't exactly hard to find
either. You know? And I'm also wondering, does
Tio's power translate to 147? And is it going
to be a respectable kind of power? Because I
kind of feel like at 140, his power wasn't respectable.
Because I feel like guys weren't afraid of it.
Guys felt like they could do what they wanted
in the ring, I guess. Like, to me, Roley Romero
has game plan change in power. Where you might
have thought you wanted to do this, but he hits
you and you're like, oh, you know what? Maybe
we should do this. T .O. hasn't shown game plan
change in power since he moved up from 135. So
I'm wondering if he just had a major size advantage
at 135 and he's more ordinary than extraordinary
above that weight class. And that could very
well be the case. I mean, one thing that gives
me pause is we've seen Raleigh struggle with
a lesser a lesser caliber of opponent than what
makes Teofimo Lopez struggle. Jackson Martinez,
I know it was early in his career, Raleigh was
still learning, but Ismael Barroso was piecing
him up and he was slow as molasses. Teofimo Lopez
does not struggle with that level of fighter.
And I know Ryan Garcia is a good win on paper,
but I do wonder, you know, we haven't really
seen Raleigh. even be super competitive. I mean,
he had some decent rounds against Tank, but Tank
was basically just measuring him. Cruz walked
him down. I think that this fight will tell us
a lot more about whether Raleigh Romero has improved
or whether the Garcia fight was a little bit
of a tempest in the tea kettle. I'm still not
fully told that Raleigh Romero is a... I'm still
not fully sold that Raleigh Romero is a good
professional prize fighter. I mean, he's okay,
but I'm not sold that he's actually all that
good. So let me ask you about that. For most
of his career, Raleigh Romero trained with Bullet
Cromwell. And then before the Manuel Jaimes fight,
he switched to Ishmael Salas. Now, to my eye,
this is just to me. He looks like a completely
different fighter under Silas than with Bullet
Cromwell. He actually looks like he sinks in
there. Like he's trying to implement a game plan.
He's jabbing. He's jabbing to the stomach consistently.
His jab has dramatically improved. Yeah. So,
are we sure that this new and improved role that
I see is just... On that level. Of a Ryan Garcia.
And maybe that wasn't an anomaly. And maybe it's
just who he is. Well I'm not even. One I'm not
sure that Ryan Garcia's level. Is all that high
anyways right. Like I think he's an extremely
suspect fighter as well. I think all of this
group. Outside of you know. Outside of maybe
Shakur Stevenson. Like what makes them all interesting.
Is that they are incomplete fighters. Um, it's
not their fault that the press got carried away
with labeling them early in their careers as
more than they really were. Right. Like these
are all heavily flawed fighters. Haney, um, even
tank to a certain degree has, has flaws. Um,
uh, that's what makes them interesting. I'm not
sure. And that's why I find the fight interesting.
Um, like I, as I said to you last night when
we were chatting a little bit, um, I mean, if
Raleigh wins, I think that's great. Um, I am
not a, I'm not a big proponent of Tiafimo Lopez.
Um, I find it hard to, uh, I find it hard to
not want to see lose people who, uh, when they
are in desperate need of attention or want to
throw temper tantrums that they resort to slurs
on the internet and stuff like that. Like, I
think it speaks to poor character. Um, and, uh,
and you know, I think it would be great. I'm
just not sold that, that he is, that he is quite
at that level of talent. Um, I hope I, I'd be
interested to be proven wrong on that one. Um,
but I mean, just based on the body of evidence,
I still think. Lopez has a deeper tool bag than
Raleigh Romero, but Raleigh Romero hit you a
right hand and all hell breaks loose. So you
never know. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now
I'm assuming based upon your analysis that you
are favoring Tiafema Lopez to win tonight. I
like Lopez by stoppage late in the fight. Yes.
Hey man. Hey, If you guys respect what Cliff
is saying, there's money on the floor with that
Lopez stoppage. There's money on the floor with
that Lopez stoppage, guys. If you're going to
go there, Matt, I do have to caveat, because
I always tell people this, never bet. I know
a lot of people like to gamble on boxing. I would
never bet on a sport where you can watch something
for 12 rounds and see clearly what happened,
and then they steal your money anyways. I can't
imagine if you bet against Amanda Serrano last
night how you were feeling when you heard 116
-112. I couldn't believe it, Rold. I couldn't
believe it. I couldn't believe it. I was like,
wait. You couldn't believe it? Bullshit. You've
been watching boxing long enough. You could smell
it coming from a mile away. Boxing is boxing.
It's why I advise people don't bet on this sport.
The house is not going to give you back your
money. when they rip you off. Imagine if you
bet on Pernell Whitaker to beat Chavez back in
the day. You went home empty -handed with a moral
victory and pissed. Oh, I'm convinced. I don't
think... I'm not unconvinced that one of the
things that has hurt boxing more than anything
over the years is the amount of money people
have lost to shitty decisions. Yeah, I wouldn't
be surprised. But... If I put my mortgage on...
If I put my mortgage on the line and heard Lennox
Lewis got a draw with Evander Holyfield in the
first fight, I'd quit watching this motherfucker.
But if you guys want to gamble on a sport and
you want to listen to Rhodes, TFU by knockout
is plus 450. Money on the floor, guys. Money
on the floor. And if you got Roley winning, he's
plus 240. But if you guys want to know my sure
bet, I think someone will get knocked down. And
that itself is plus 125. So to me, that's the
best bet of the night. Just better knock down
at plus 125. And you ain't even got to worry
about who wins the fight. That's what I would
do. Now, Cliff, in the co -feature. We got Yoel
Hernandez versus Francisco Varone. We've heard
so much about Yoel Hernandez really being the
best guy at 160. He hasn't exactly shown it with
his caliber of opponent. Where do you side with
Yoel Hernandez? He might be the most well -schooled
of the guys that are coming up in the division.
He might be the guy. I mean, right now, I'm trying
to figure out how to say this politely. Being
the best middleweight in the world is kind of
like winning the ugliest dog in the world contest.
Middleweight is just, I mean, you might be the
best in the division, but that still doesn't
say how good of a fighter you are. Unfortunately,
middleweight is waiting for either a rise in
weight from guys at 154. or they need to go to
168 I mean I think Adamas has proven to be a
really good fighter um he clearly beat Hamza
Shiraz and got the business um and Arislandi
Lara is still a good fighter when we see him
um but it's just it's it's it's a division full
of opportunity it's waiting for somebody to to
declare themselves the guy I think Hernandez
is as good as anybody um but I don't look at
it the same as I do at like super middleweight
where you have Iglesias and you have a potential
star on your hands because they have a style
that people are going to want to watch. So, you
know, we'll see. Hernandez is going to have to
step up his competition. But, you know, I can
see down the road a year or two from now where
he would be an appealing opponent for a Boots
Ennis or a Virgil Ortiz coming up in weight or
a Sebastian Pandora coming up in weight. You
know, like, you just have to figure out your
spot at middleweight until somebody shows up
that people want to see you fight. Well, supposedly,
Virgil is on his way. Zoo says he's here. Jamel
is supposedly on his way. I kind of feel like
middleweight is interesting. They just need to
fight each other. Why is it so hard for these
guys to just face off against one another and
let the chips fall where they may? Because there's
no money in it. Like you could put two of the
middleweight champions in the world together,
two of the middleweight champions in the ring
together right now, and there's no real money
in it because nobody knows who any of them are.
I mean, Aaron McKenna did a decent, did an okay
crowd in Ireland, but they weren't falling out
of the rafters for him. Adamas is not a guy who
brings fans. I mean, one of the number one reasons
we don't see unification sometimes for long periods
of time is there's no market for the unification
fights to happen. Right. Like it's and it's one
of the sad parts of boxing. You know, like it's
it's lack of structure requires somebody to be
able to bring something to the table. Otherwise,
you know, you can just sit and defend your belt
for a while and wait for something to come along.
I think that's why they're not fighting, because
it doesn't pay to fight each other at all. Like
it barely pays to fight, not each other. Like
it's just there's not a lot of interesting things
in the middleweight division. It needs a spark.
Um, I think Virgil Ortiz coming to middleweight
would be the best thing that could happen to
it. If Jermel Charlo, uh, can come back, shake
some rust off. Like, I think he could create
some interest. Um, you know, but I mean, he hasn't
fought in three years. We don't know what we
have there. Um, so, you know, I do think there
are things that could be interesting. I just,
you know, it's not just that the champs need
to fight each other. Like you need something
to give it a spark to make people want to see
a fight. There's nothing that makes anybody want
to see anything right now. Yeah, I agree. I really
need to see a good performance out of Yoel Hernandez
tonight, man. Matt, you still with us? You cut
off there. I don't think he dropped his phone
at all. Yeah, it's tough at 160. It's like there's
just not a great fighter there. But Ortiz does
bring something I definitely want to see. I'm
curious, too, how he'll adjust to that weight
now that he can kind of be at full strength and
not be killing himself. But they've still got
to fight each other. Yeah, you just need a spark.
And then you could get to something like Ortiz
and Ennis at 160, which is where I think that
fight will ultimately end up, is at 160 down
the road. Yeah, my bad, guys. My phone reset.
I got caught watching a Big Lex video, and yeah,
my phone reset automatically. I don't know why.
I was doing too much at once. But yeah, I agree.
We're few in 160 years. But do you have any interest
in this Gary Antonio -Russell -Victor -Centillion
fight today, Cliff? That could be an interesting
fight. I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing... I mean,
look, Russell is unlikely to get himself, even
though now he's fighting at 122. He's not going
to get into the sweepstakes for Inouye. But...
You know, if he can get a decent win, he could
put himself in line for a guy like Nakatani,
for a guy like Bam Rodriguez, whether Bam is
coming off of a win over Inouye next year or
he never fights him or he's coming off a loss.
Like, there are some names that he can make some
money with. Santillan, same thing. But, you know,
I've followed the Russell brothers since Gary
was at the Olympics. So it would be interesting
to see if he could get himself a payday out of
the back end of his career. Yeah, yeah. I agree.
I agree. I can't wait for this card tonight.
Really, because of the main event. This is one
of those main events where literally anything
can happen. It's a fun fight. Definitely is.
Definitely is. Mike. Is Mike still with us? I
am with you. What are your picks for tonight's
card? The main event, man, something tells me,
bro, he's winning tonight. I just really feel
he's a better fighter than what people think,
and I keep telling people it ain't 2023 no more.
You know, the stuff that people want to point
to me bad about it and the stuff that Tito's
done good, really good, that's all in the past.
New division, I really expect. I really expect
Roller to be focused, super focused. And he's
going to do the game plan that they gave to him.
Whether it's a winning game plan, who knows?
But I expect TLC to canvas tonight. Yeah, we
have our guy, Zay Media, down there covering
the fight on behalf of Bunch Boxing Shots and
Zay Media. And he says that Ishmael Salas is
really pissed. Because he doesn't like how people
are clowning him and clowning Roley. He says,
I'm not no clown, basically. Like, we're here
to fight and we're here to win. So, I think he's
going to give Roley the ultimate game plan. It's
just a matter of Roley executing it. And to me,
at least in the last two fights, Roley has shown
the discipline to execute a game plan. So, I'm
just very interested. And conversely, He looks
like he's unraveling. Bro, like, please, like,
you know, sometimes what's best for your son,
and this is speaking for my father, is to literally
step back and watch them grow and let them go
with professionals and people who really know
what they're doing. You know, so it's been tough.
As a father to do that. But you got to do what's
in best interest of your kid. You can only train
your kids so far. No matter how much you love
the sport. No matter how much you know the sport.
There's just somebody that's better out than
you. And it's best to hand them off to the next
person. Whether it's in education, sports, or
whatever, Matt. But I can see it being real tough
why he doesn't want to let go. Yeah, they both
need professional help. And I ain't talking about
boxing. Exactly. So, you know, yeah, I can only
imagine. I've never seen him ever take accountability
for anything that goes wrong for Tito. It's always
been put on Tito. You know, though, what's wrong
with you, bro? Like, what kind of advice is that?
Like, so. You're going to hate yourself, bro.
Exactly. Like, that's just, I see that stuff
and I think amateur hour. And I really do. And
so I just would advise, you know, if I could,
like, I think I tweeted this. I can only imagine
what Teal would have been with the proper care
and the proper training, you know, once he got
to this level. You know, it's kind of interesting.
You have Rolly Romero who recognized he needed
something different. and he left Bullet Cromwell,
even though it kind of ruined that relationship.
And then you have T .O., who probably needs something
different, probably recognizes it, but still
won't pull the trigger on it. Yeah. Very, very
interesting. Very interesting. We'll see. Also,
in the Walter Waite division, you have... He
shot Davis, supposedly is supposed to be announcing
his fight. Funny enough, he made a post that
he was announcing his fight this week. This week
came and went, no fight. Devin Haney, still looking
for a fight. What the fuck is going on at 147,
man? I just know that people are no longer in
charge of their career. And so they may say they
are. They may think they can make any calls.
But either that or they're cowards, these people,
man. Because I just don't understand. They want
everything easy or they don't want it at all.
I really don't get it. I don't get it at all
either, man. They should be fighting. But you
know what? Salute to Rolly Romero, who continues.
to fight anybody they present to him. He says
he don't give a fuck. Let's fight. If it makes
dollars, it makes sense. So I like that from
Roley, man. I'm really looking forward to tonight's
event. If I'm giving it an Ezra report card,
I'm giving it an A -plus just on the main event
alone. I do think that even though... We do have
some fights that don't look sexy on paper. I
think they're going to be good fights. Like,
I do think the Antonio Russell -Centilion fight
is going to be good. And I think Yoel Hernandez
really needs a big performance, man. He really
needs a big performance. Varong, interesting
character. He did lose to Brandon McCann and
Adams, if I'm not mistaken. but he also beat
Roy Medea recently. He's number four. I don't
think he's really four to 160. Yeah, I don't
think he's four to 160. So since the move, I
don't know, man. Marco Romero, who is a prospect
I've been watching for about two years, he's
on this card. I find that to be pretty interesting.
Jordan, the Iceman Roach, who's Lamar Roach's
little brother, is going to be on this card.
It's a lot of interesting things going on with
this card tonight. If you guys like boxing and
you want to see who's got now or who's got next,
this is a great card for you. It's a great card.
If you're just looking for the sexy names, you're
not going to get that. But if you're looking
to see who might be the guys in boxing, of the
future, this is a great card. We may be having
a friend of the show, J .R. Bell from the Boxing
Source, joining shortly to add on this. I sent
him the link, so if he does, we'll get back to
it. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Matt,
apparently this fight is for the winners, too.
People don't want to see T .U. anymore, really.
They think the loser has to go away. So... A
loser leaves town match? Loser leaves town match,
you know. I don't, you know... What is it about
Roley that people don't fuck with? I think people
just hate that people could be that, still have
good success without not being polished all the
way around with Roley. Obviously, he's still
learning another job. He started fighting a little
bit later. But there's a lot of boxing snobs
that... It only can be done one way, and that's
the only way you can have success. And I think
he's had a successful career so far, whether
people like that or not. And, you know, obviously
people don't, you know, so. It kind of reminds
me of the backlash against Deontay Wilder. Hey,
he's not conventional when it comes to boxing,
so we hate him. It kind of feels that way to
Roley, man. Like, I understand he. It's not always
pretty and it's not conventional. But, bro, you
have a guy that's willing to get in the ring
with anybody. And a guy who really puts his best
foot forward every single time. You would think
that people would respect that. I don't get it
at all. Joining us now is friend of the show,
founder of the Boxing Source, host of the longest
running boxing show on YouTube, J .R. Bell, J
.B .Z. How you doing today? Yeah, what's going
on, Brunch Boxing? What's going on, everybody?
J .B .Z. What up? After you get into what you
get into, I got to talk to you, man, because
you have started a big controversy in the boxing
world. So we'll get to that. But first, give
us your analysis on tonight's event. All right.
We have the fight card that is at the T -Mobile
Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, of course, headlined
by the WBA welterweight title fight between Rolando
Rodri Romero and Teofimo Lopez. That particular
fight made an event. It's a really intriguing
fight with two guys that, you know, not that
many fight fans kind of. gravitate towards in
a sense, but it's something where you could have
two styles that could, you know, really give
you some intrigue. The thing with Rolly Romero,
as mentioned, you know, with being with Ismael
Silas, that's kind of changed his game a little
bit since, you know, with him being with Bullet
Cromwell, he's kind of implemented a game plan
of sorts. And we saw that last year when he defeated
Ryan Garcia. I want to see like how that's going
to be implemented against Teofimo Lopez. And
it's like you were saying, and what we saw, you
know, over the course of this fight week is that
Ismael Salas is almost like being overlooked
and kind of, you know, being, I would say, quote,
quote, verbally bullied there. You saw that in
the press conference and you see them like go
off in a sense about that. I think he's going
to, you know, try to get Rolly to. implement
a game plan and stick with this game plan. And
then we're going to see what's going to go on
with Teofimo Lopez if he ends up being behind
early in this particular fight. And if that,
you know, we're going to see there over in his
corner, what happened to your power, bro? If
we're going to see something like that again,
you know, I know that the odds makers are favoring
Teofimo Lopez for this fight. But for me, it's
still like up in the air as far as like what
he can do. especially if he has to take the lead
in this fight and be the aggressor. So for me,
I'm leaning towards Rolly Romero to take it by
decision on that. For you, Winley Hernandez.
Francisco Varone, you got Francisco Varone that's
had a couple of fights there on Pro Box. You've
kind of seen this story with the number of the
Pro Box fighters that have had some success and
be able to go up to these fights either on top
rank or PBC. But you're going up against one
of the better fighters there in the middleweight
division, probably within the top four at middleweight
there with Yohane Hernandez. But, you know, as
you were saying, you know, I expect a big performance
from Yohane Hernandez. And, you know, for him
to show that Verone shouldn't really be in the
ring with him. So I expect the early stoppage
victory for Yohane Hernandez on that. Your guy,
Gary Antonio Russell. He's back tonight. Is he
going to finally live up to that potential? We
got to see. I haven't seen much of his opponent
that he has here coming up. And for Gary Antonio
Russell, he's been in a couple of fights that
have been round six and eight rounders. One of
them on Pro Box was pretty much around eight
rounds. I've got to see how he'll show up against
what he has in front of him. I know that this
is an opportunity to get within that top area
there within 122. So he would want to have a
good performance there. So he has that that's
in front of him. And for Gary Russell Jr. to
see if he could guide his middle brother there
to a world championship. I'm favoring this, but
you still got to see because, again, Antonio
hasn't really been in the ring in a 10 -round
or a 12 -round fight in some time now. So that's
the thing I got to look at for that one. Yeah,
yeah. Someone who bricks you up, I want to talk
about Carlos Utrilla, who was the 2025 Boxing
Scene Prospect of the Year. And he also won the
WBC Grand Prix at Junior Welterweight. Have you
seen much of Utrecht? And if so, what are your
thoughts on him as a prospect? No, I haven't
seen much from Utrecht as a prospect. And, you
know, they did have that recent signing there,
you know, for him. And with, you know, with...
the uh marco romero el tabrón so this is like
you know the first you know fights that they're
featuring these two fighters um you know i'd
like to see you know what lucha could do here
um like i said 14 and 11 wins by knockout um
so this is going to be something because he's
going to be put right into uh the spotlight here
being the opener on the pay -per -view uh presentation
uh there but Like I was just mentioning there,
getting that win over undefeated Tursunov kind
of put him a little bit more in the spotlight
here. Bro, who gives a shit about that fucking
fight? You know what it is? This one really pisses
me off. Like, people see these Eurasian names
and they automatically assume you must be good.
Who gives a fuck? Who gives a fuck about this
Uzbek? Bro, who the fuck does Uzbek ever beat?
That a win over him was a big win. Come on, dog.
We gotta stop that. Hey, we gotta start supporting
our own fighters. the way y 'all motherfuckers
support these Eurasians. Like, you got people
who, as soon as they see somebody's from a fucking
Eurasian country. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. As
soon as they see that, they automatically overrate
them. Can we stop overrating our own fighters,
please? Goddamn. That shit drives me crazy. But,
yeah, for my official picks, just to put it on
wax, because we're going to put it out there.
I'm taking Rolando, Rolly Romero, and I am taking
him by stoppage, okay? I'm taking Rolly by stoppage,
and my confidence level for that one is a four,
all right? In the co -feature, I'm taking Yoel
Hernandez by stoppage, and my confidence level
for that one is a five. And then Gary Antonio
Russell versus Victor Santillan. I'm taking Gary
Antonio Russell by decision. And my confidence
level for that one is a five. I think he shows
out tonight. Okay. So a four, a five, and a five.
For those who are wondering where's Ezra, Ezra
did submit his official picks. Ezra will be going
head to head against me. He is taking Tiafema
Lopez by decision. And his confidence is a three
on that one. He's taken Yoeli Hernandez by stoppage.
His confidence is a five. And then he's taking
Gary Antonio Russell by decision. And his confidence
is a three. If you want to know who's winning
the picks contest between me and Ezra. I'm kicking
his fucking ass, so you really don't have to
really wonder. Like, I have a wide lead. So hopefully,
for Ezra's sake, he can cut into the lead a little
bit today. Now, JBZ, you became one of the biggest
boxing stories in the boxing media over the last
week when... On your show, The Box and Source,
my guy, Joseph Heron, Oral Week Radio, dropped
a little nugget on your show. That little nugget
was that there are discussions for Virgil Ortiz
to fight Jermel Charlo, according to Robert Garcia.
who is, hey, you know what? I won't say anything.
I'm going to let you talk. Preserve your comments,
I guess. Yeah, I'll preserve my comments. Now,
from what I heard, that fight was 100 % on the
table. All of a sudden, you had boxing media
guys like Francisco Salazar and of that ilk.
Yep. Trying to call you the boxing source. Fake
news. I got to tell you, I did not appreciate
that. And then you had guys who were trying to
call you fake news. The same day, all of a sudden,
they all have Virgil Ortiz stories. And then
all of a sudden, boxing scene comes out and says,
oh, you know what? There is legs to Virgil Ortiz
versus Jamal Charlo. And then 10 minutes later,
they say, oh, Jamal Charlo just called us. He's
fighting Tim Zhu. What the hell is going on with
that situation? Well, you know, for those that
are not familiar, on last Sunday, or Sunday,
it had Joseph Heron drop a couple of nuggets
in reference to two fighters that are... within
Robert Garcia's camp in this first one here with
Virgil Ortiz Jr. They said that they were looking
to have Virgil Ortiz Jr. fight Jamel Charlo at
160 and they were trying to angle it to be at
the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Now, what is interesting about this, as Matt
mentioned, or at least with the boxing scene,
is that they put out something in reference of
Virgil Ortiz and that Charlo was a potential
opponent, but they weren't the only ones that
posted something like that. Earlier on the weekend,
folks from the ring posted a similar thing. They
just didn't say who the opponent was going to
be. And they said that, hey, they were speaking
with Virgil Ortiz's manager. But when that was
told to Joseph Heron by Robert Garcia and I posted
it on X, people just went absolutely nuts. But
it kind of says something about media in general
when it comes to news, particularly of a certain
level, is that they don't like it when they don't
get. the news or they don't have the opportunity
to break the news. That was a clear example right
there. Whether they get something that has some
legs or if it's something that's been put out
there and eventually it doesn't happen, if it
breaks, then they want to be the ones on it,
especially if they're working full -time with
Boston. With this, hey, That's something that
was told, and it was told to Brother Joseph,
and he's been in boxing for over 30 years. Just
so we're clear, he spoke to Robert Garcia directly.
Yes, and that clip is also posted on the ex account.
He posted that particular clip where he talked
about Robert Garcia telling him about Virgil
Ortiz Jr. and Jesse Bam Rodriguez. He talked
about Bam Rodriguez first and then the thing
with Virgil Ortiz. Okay. So with that being said,
that's one. And then two, me being in the game
for almost 10 years. And like I said, I'm not
here full time, but again, I'm not going on here.
being like, who was the dude that was just posting
everything and got traction on it, whether it
was true or not? Who was that guy? Oh, you're
talking about... Oh, shoot. You're talking about
Greg Leone. Oh, whoa. Not Greg Leone. You don't
remember the Boxing Talk website where he would
put the fake interviews? Oh, no, no, no. I'm
talking about the one that was on X that was
like posting, almost like posting other people's
stories or posting stuff that... Talking about
Michael Benson? Yes, Michael Benson. I'm not
somebody like that. Folks know my track record.
Folks know that I've been in a bunch of these
events and everything like that. I don't play
that stuff as far as throwing out stories and
seeing if something sticks. I don't do that.
We don't do necessarily satire over here. So
with that thing there with Virgil Ortiz Jr. and
Jamel Charlo, if that's what was told to Brother
Joseph, then he tells me that that's what it
is. And I see that as not a bad fight at all,
especially at 160 pounds and something for Virgil
Ortiz Jr. to make an impact here for his first
fight of 2026. Why not? Yeah. Honestly, I was
just a little annoyed at Francisco Salazar, who
is a boxing reporter, trying to quote tweet you,
almost like to debunk you or some shit like that.
That just really ticked me off. I thought it
was tasteless. Because let me tell you something,
all right? Whether or not... Robert Garcia proves
to be a reliable source I have zero doubt in
my mind that he said it okay and I have my own
experience with Robert Garcia which I'm gonna
expose right now okay who this Robert Garcia
guy okay when Shakur Stevenson was supposed to
fight William Zepeda the first time, back when
it went to purse bid for the WBC belt. And Raymond
Moritaya, who was also Robert Garcia's fighter,
was supposed to be next up. I was asking the
question, hey, is... When was the painter going
to make a decision? Or is this going to fall
to Raymond Marataya? And I'm talking to Robert
Garcia about it, literally through text, telling
him the situation. And he is tweeting out my
text messages to him about the very situation
on X. Oh, my God. And then. I guess he was contacted
by someone and deleted all the tweets and then
said that it wasn't him that was tweeting. When
I know for a fact it was him that it was him
tweeting because he was repeating word for word
everything that I was telling him in the moment.
Word for word, bar for bar. Bar for bar. So for
me, Respectfully, and Robert Lafayette, I'm sure
he's a great guy. I'm sure he's a great guy.
But for me, when it comes to anything with boxing
news and rumors and stuff, bro, this motherfucker
will double talk. For me, I have no doubt that
he said it. Somebody probably told him, hey,
this is not out there. You shouldn't say that.
And now he's like, let me clarify. I didn't say
that. I'm saying he's an option, but also this,
this, and this. And I personally don't like that
a reporter like Francisco Salazar decided to
make it look like you were fake news when anybody
with any modicum of honesty in the boxing media.
knows that Robert Garcia be on some bullshit.
And I'm just going to leave it at that. So for
all you boxing fans, for all you boxing fans
that's out there trying to come at my guy, just
know who you're talking about. Okay? I know a
lot of you guys don't know who's who in boxing
and who's reliable, who's this, who's that. Well,
I'm here to tell you. that it gets no more reliable
than the boxing source. You know, being who I've
been over the past 10 years plus in, you know,
my reputation and things like that, you know,
Brother Matt is not, you know, hasn't been the
only person that I've brought into the boxing
media space. Okay. So that's for, you know, some
folks to kind of like note. Especially that I
brought in multiple people that look like me
into the boxing media space. And I think that
some of these other media members that aren't
like me don't like that I bring people that look
like me in the media space. Because for a good
amount of time in boxing media, it's been just
them. Hey, I'm going to tell you right now, that
definitely had to change. Absolutely. Absolutely.
But you know what? I'm going to probably text
Francisco Salazar and just say, hey, Francisco,
fuck you. Just make it a gif, Matt. Make it a
gif. Yeah, I don't like shit like that. Listen,
because they be trying to do that to me sometimes.
I don't like that. That shit be pissing me off.
Dan Rayfield. Son of a bitch. But anyway. Yeah,
I just wanted to get into that, man. I don't
really got any other news to talk about. I see
Brick Squad said that I'd be hyping up Abel Mendoza,
Cordell Booker. Yeah, because they're American.
You're goddamn right, motherfucker. Why don't
you try it? Hype up some Americans, buddy. USA!
USA! Hype up some fucking Americans. Stop hyping
up these fucking Eurasians. Jay Beasley, before
we close out the show today, why don't you tell
the people where they can find you and what you
got coming this week? You got, of course, the
channel The Boxing Source, the website TheBoxingSource
.net, so you can look up The Boxing Source on
social media. We'll have The Boxing Source podcast
on Sunday coming up at 7 .30 p .m. Eastern time.
Next week, I'm working on seeing if I can get
in contact with Brother Jalil Hackett, see if
I can catch up with him. I think there's supposed
to be something going on there with Christine
Rock next week. So I got to look more into that
because she has another fight coming up. Oh,
man. Shout out to Sean Rock. And listen, shout
out to Big Lex, man. Shout out to Big Lex, who
is not the little one. And she beat the hell
out of Taheski last week, Krishan Rock's sister.
All right? That Clarissa Shields event was one
of the biggest boxing events of the year. It
was crazy. It was crazy. It really was crazy.
So shout out to her. Shout out to Clarissa Shields,
man. Speaking of that, I gotta catch up with
Troy Osley. Thank you. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, yeah. I gotta catch up with Troy Osley,
too. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see what's going
on. But shout out to Clarissa Shields, who is,
once again, unified middleweight champion. She's
gonna go find disputers, so all you women that
have been talking shit, All you women that want
to fight her, Tammy Tibble, hey, listen, Clarissa
Shields, she ain't the type of person to wait
for long. All right? She come right at you. So
if you think you're ready to take that test,
it's going to be a very, very interesting time
in women's boxing. Before we get out of here,
Last night, MVP had another card out at Pechanga
Casinos on TikTok. Did you watch any of the card
yesterday, JBZ? Watched it on YouTube. Watched
it on YouTube. They did feature it on TikTok,
but there had been a few comments about one of
the people that was announcing on TikTok. I only
spent one minute on TikTok and went right back
on YouTube. Come on, Sophie Rayne. Yeah, I guess
so, man. I ain't gonna hold you. Sophie Rayne
fine as shit. Sophie Rayne fine as shit. I'm
sorry, but I couldn't take one minute of that.
Hey, man. After that card, I did some Googles.
You get some Googles? Because I heard she got
OnlyFans. Oh, no. So I did some Googles to see
what kind of content she posted. Hey, come on,
man. Hey, man. Hey, man. Hey, man. You know what?
This is the time where Ezra would say this is
a family show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, shout out
to Sophie Ray, man. Hey, TBC, get a hold of her,
please. No. Hey, come on, man. You had Sophie
Ray commentating, and you had your girl right
here, Roxy, on the fight card. Oh, my God. I
could imagine you was. Oh, man. And Jocelyn Camarillo.
Oh, man. Okay. Hey, you know what? Hey. We'll
be back tonight with the post -fight edition
of Bunch Boxing before this turns into something
else. Yeah. All right. Shout -out to the listeners,
Trill, Brick Squad. Shout -out to Mike for joining
us today. Shout -out to Jay Beasley for joining
us, Grit, Sibby, Basquiat, yo bitch ass. Yeah,
shout out to Ezra for not joining the show today.
Go check out what Cliff writes at his sub stack,
The Cornerstool. Yes, absolutely. Shout out to
Cliff Rold. And we got a couple of articles about
the main event at theboxingsource .net. So y
'all check it out. Yeah, absolutely, man. But
this has been another edition of Brunch Boxing.
Here's our host, Ezra Boxing. He is our COO of
the Mexican Alhambra, Mike. He is our super producer,
Huey P. I am Matt. We are Brunch Boxing, and
we are out.