#121 - Roy Jones Jr. - The County Line

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Roy Jones Jr in the motherfucking house how we doing
baby, I'm doing good but alwaysgood.
Hey, it's good to have you onhere on the county line.
County line congregation gonnabe very excited to see that you
came to have a sit down with me.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
How you being I'm good, but I can't complain.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
So you got quite the livestock array.
Where did that come from?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, as a kid, you know, I had animals all the time
and I like all types of animals.
But what people feel to realizeis that boxing led me to look
for animals.
That fault and when I look foranimals, that fault is because
whatever I learned in boxing Icould use whatever God gave
these animals that fault to helpeven take my boxing knowledge

(00:49):
to another level.
So I became obsessed with thegame because I realized that
they fault and the good ones,the ones that are right, will
fight even to the death.
And I felt like if you're afighter, then you should be
willing to fight to the death.
If you're not willing to diefor something, then you
shouldn't be alive and our lifeis willing, is worth dying for.
So I became very close with thegang roosters and I've had them

(01:12):
around in my whole life becauseI watched them and I studied
them growing up, and so I justkeep them because I love them
and I understand them.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
So you had roosters around the house when you were
growing up as a kid.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
All the time, yes, roosters, I had pigs, I had cows
, I had horses.
I don't do the horses too much.
A friend of mine does have afew horses in my yard but I
don't really do horses no morebecause they're so high
maintenance and I'm going toomuch for them.
But I try to keep a fewchickens here and there just,
and I eat the eggs, and you knowso, and I eat some of the young
chickens and you know it's justgood for everything.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, which animal that you've studied throughout
your life has contributed mostto your fighting style?

Speaker 2 (01:53):
The gang roosters.
That's what I told you.
That's why I studied them somuch, because studying gang
roosters tells you how to like.
You watch them grow up and youwatch them when they become
somebody, when they start toknow that they are somebody.
They have a different walkabout them.
They have a different respectabout them.
They have a different demandingof respect about them.
And when you learn that growingup, it teaches you how you

(02:15):
should behave as you're comingup through the ranks and as
you're getting to be a force,because I watched them my whole
life.
So it's like, although I had adaddy that was very tough on me,
the gang roosters showed mestill and there was guys who
have still let me know that tobe the head rooster one day, you
got to always carry yourselfwith a confidence and a aroma

(02:37):
about yourself that everybodyelse feels and respects.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
So, to this day, you have many chickens, roosters.
What have you, if you had topick another animal that you've
looked at throughout your lifeand studied the way they fight
in combat?
What would be the second mostimportant animal that you've
studied?
One of the animal I studied isa shark and sharks.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
People don't understand that sharks are very
different, but they're smart andit's like a shark teaches you a
beautiful thing about life,because although a shark is more
powerful than a seal, a sharkdoesn't just run.
You grab a seal and take himdown.
No, he hits that seal and roomshim.
Then he gets away from him andlets him bleed out and get weak,
because that seal is stillcapable of stretching his eyes

(03:20):
out.
He grows teeth back again, heheals with his cuts now, but he
don't get another set ofeyeballs.
If he loses his eyeballs, it'sover.
So even though he's way morepowerful than a seal, he still
hit that seal.
Good, then he let him bleed outto get weak before he goes back
and eats him, because if hegoes too early he himself may be
damaged for life.
And that teaches you the samething.

(03:41):
In boxing, a wounded man is avery dangerous man.
If you and I had a friend namedsmoke ganna, he was fighting
Kevin Kelly, he had Kevin allbanged up, but he should.
If he knew anything about theshark, he would have stayed off
with Kevin, let the eye weardown a little more.
Then he would have got him.
You understand me.
Same thing happened in the lastmarquette peck out fight.

(04:04):
Peck out had marquette's allbanged up.
All he had to do was stay awayfrom marquette's two rounds and
keep boxing.
Let that eye sweat up some more, then bleed out some more.
They would have had to stop thefight.
But instead he thought, since Igot a hurt, I'm gonna jump in
here and kill him.
If you know what that sharkdoes, you know that's not a
smart idea.
If god taught that sharkbecause that shark didn't learn
from us god gave him everythinghe got.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
So if god put in that shark, don't attack that
wounded seal until he's weakenough that he can't cause you
harm then you know, don't attacka wounded man until he's weak
enough that he can't cause youharm so, if you would have, if
you're in the ring and you knowyou've got an opponent wounded,
right, do you prolong theultimate knockout attempt to let

(04:48):
him get weaker, or do you go infor the kill, such as who you
were describing earlier?
If he would have known aboutthe shark, he would have allowed
it to to prolong a little bitmore.
How do you approach thatsituation?
I?

Speaker 2 (04:59):
assess the situation.
Is he ready for the kill?
Is he ready for the eat or ishe ready for the kill, or do I
need to wait a little longer?
So in a lot of cases I get themthey're back off and watch them
, wait and see.
Can I get them again?
If I can get them again, cool.
If I can't, I just wait becausehe ain't ready yet.
You know what's the other ones?
I get ready.
I know.
When he's ready to be eaten Igo in for the kill.

(05:21):
But until then I'm verycautious and, you know, very
protecting of myself, because Iknow every lick he throws from
that point forward it's going tobe like his last lick, so it's
going to have everything on it.
So if he hits you at that point, you're going to be hit harder
than normal because he knowslife is leaving him, he knows
his chances are dwindling away.

(05:43):
His only chance is if he canland one shot.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
So you got to know that going in so when you look
at an opponent and you get himwounded, so to speak, you see
that he's ailing in some sense.
It sounds like it's a case bycase basis.
It's not always.
It's depending upon the preyhow bad.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
He's hurt.
Yeah, you understand.
If you hit him in the rightplace and he's wanted for good,
you can go eat him, you can gotake him out of there.
But if he's not that wounded,then you gotta be very cautious
as to how you, how you approachhim, because he still can harm
you though he's wounded, andhe'll harm you even more because
if he's wounded he thinks everylick is his last.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
He got to try to get you out of that lick yeah, a lot
of times in in life in generaland I'm sure this applies to
boxing too the most dangerousman is the one who has nothing
to lose of course it applies toeverything.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
That's why I studied the animal so much, because they
have life nature's, nature'sway.
They fight nature's way.
You understand me.
So when you study that man,don't teach that God had to give
him that.
You understand me.
So you understand that what Godgave the animals, then you
learn how to use that to your,to the best of your ability and
to your advantage doesn't that?

Speaker 1 (06:56):
um, it's so interesting that when we look at
fighting and combat sports, itlooks effortless, especially for
those such as myself who arenot very astute in boxing and
the techniques and the styles.
But, watching some of yourhighlights and some of your
matches leading up to this, thisconversation, what I noticed

(07:20):
the most and what stood out themost to me about your fighting
is that it appeared to me thatmany times your next punch was
unpredictable, of course, andthat's because if they can
predict you, then they know whatyou're going to throw, they can
prepare for it.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
The best thing about fighting that, the best thing
about sports, the best thingabout any competition,
competition, is the element ofsurprise.
If you can surprise a person,then you get them out because
they're not ready for it.
If you can't surprise them,then they ready for you not
going to do much.
But if you can surprise themthat's why teams blitz they try

(08:00):
to catch the team unready for it, then blitz them.
If you shock them, it blitz canwork because you catch them not
ready for it.
Element of surprise um, youknow, if you, if you can
surprise them with somethingthat they're not expecting, you
probably can get them out yeah,it seemed very evident that that
was baked, that that is bakedinto your style.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
You hit them with the , the, the famous left hook, but
then you'd catch them with theright they don't know what's
coming out.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
That don't know what's coming out.
They think that's it.
So I set them up for that.
Make them think that's it.
But that's not it.
That's just a prelude to makeyou think it's okay to relax now
because you survived the hook.
You know it's the right hand,it's the overhand right, it's
the overcut, it's another hook.
It's a whole lot that comesafter that and that's the one
thing I have a hard timeteaching my fighters.
You can't go in for the kidwith what he's expecting.
It's always the one that he'snot expecting.

(08:45):
The one he's not expectingusually comes shortly, either
one, two or three punches afterthe one that he expects.
Then he'll relax.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
If you catch him relaxed, you got a better chance
to get him out if I were gonnawalk into the gym and say, roy
Jones Jr, I'm here to box.
I've never boxed in my life,but I want, I want you to train
me.
What is building block numberone when coaching or teaching
the supportive boxing from theground level?

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Being a block the most will assess who and what
you are Looking at.
You.
You're tall, you're rangy, soyou're gonna be outside fighter.
So we gotta find something thatfights like a prayer mantis,
that fights out on the end ofhis punches.
So I'll probably tell you rightaway go take a look at a prayer
mantis online.
Prayer mantis fight out therebecause they're a long arm,

(09:35):
they're a long, skinny animal,but they fight with range.
They handle stuff out therebefore it gets in here, right.
So if you study that prayermantis, then you understand a
lot about how you're gonna haveto fight.
Because you're tall.
A prayer mantis is long and hefights off his leg, but he
fights out in front of him.
You gotta fight out in front ofhim.
You can't fight in here becauseyou're not short for that and
there are some people that do it.

(09:55):
But that's to me.
Against the DNA.
I don't like to teach againstthe DNA, because the DNA is what
God already gave you.
Now sometimes you can surprisepeople for a little while, but
for the long haul it won't work.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
So determine what the physical build is and then play
to those strengths.
That's your first thing, yeah.
And then we come in and westart training.
As far as technique goes, I'venever boxed a day in my life,
right?
Where would you start me off?

Speaker 2 (10:22):
You start out teaching them just the stance,
the proper stance, the properway to move your feet, and then
you start out with a jab andlearning the stance and the
proper way to move your feet.
Both of those are key becauseyour stance is your balance.
Moving your feet is moving yourweapons around.

(10:43):
Your feet can't move, yourweapons can't move.
So it's very important not tomove your feet, because your
weapons, they can't go bythemselves.
You gotta get them on a jobbefore they can work.
And your feet are what get theweapons on the job.
Not many people teach that.
They teach them to hit the bag,hit the hand mitts.
They teach them everythingabout these, but these are
secondary, because if thosecan't get you to the job, what

(11:05):
can you do?
Starts with the feet.
It has to.
So you think about a tank.
A tank is shoot all around,right, but the tank gotta be to
move to the job where the actionis before.
It doesn't need good to go allaround.
If it can't get to where theaction is.
It's not gonna do no good to goall around cause the action
over there and instead you cango around, but if you can't
reach the action, it does you nogood.
So that tank gotta have tracks.

(11:27):
That takes it to the action.
That's what your feet are.
They take these to the action.
They bring the guns to thefight.
Where's Bud Crawford's footwork?
In your mind it's pretty upthere.
I give him about eight.
He got very good footwork andthe good thing about him is he
do a left handed or a righthanded, and that says a lot.
He can move his feet aroundleft handed.

(11:47):
He can move his feet aroundright handed.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Your stance, though I was noticing you were primarily
left handed.
Is that correct?
Right handed, your right handed?
Yes, okay, so that makes moresense now, cause I was looking
at your stance this morning andyour left foot, in the
particular fight that I waswatching, was up for the most
part, and you were giving them.
That's the orthodox stance.
Okay, and that's what kind ofthrew me off Cause when I'm

(12:09):
thinking about my frame ofreference, is baseball or
football right, a right handedthrower?

Speaker 2 (12:15):
steps with his left foot Exactly Well, right handed
punches puts his left foot infront.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Yes, same thing.
Yes, but I saw you giving theleft hook.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
I had an exceptional left hook because my right hand
stayed hurt so much as Namathiaand you use your jab so much
more.
Try to sit right up.
My left became stronger.
Then I used to have to dependon my left for power because my
knuckles hurt so much on myright.
My left became not just myuseful tool, but it became my
power tool as well.
So now my left hand is probablymore dominant than my right.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
Wow, so you.
In the ring.
Necessity, what is it?
Necessity is the mother ofinvention, yep.
So you had to play away from oryou had to strengthen what was
not your dominant hand.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, it's just my dominant, my weak hand to become
just as powerful as my dominanthand.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
At what point in your career did you have to lean on?
Start leaning on that left handwhen I was about 14 years old.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
I heard them spar once and stayed hurt from that
point till I got about reallyabout 22, 23, maybe 24 years old
Yep.
I heard I hit a guy and it gotmy knuckle.
I couldn't go no further thanthat and it stayed like that for
years and if I would get hitlike that I had to put it down.
I couldn't let you touch it.
If you just caught my hand, Ihit you with a shot and did me
like that, I was gonna take aneight count.

(13:31):
That's how bad it hurt.
Yep, and stayed like that foryears.
I wanted to do Olympics likethat.
I won my first World Title likethat.
I even beat James Tony likethat In 89, was your knuckle
like that.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yes, of course.
When you went to South Korea,88, yes, 88.
Of course.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Of course.
What happened there?
It paid the judges off.
The judges robbed me.
Simple as that.
Simple as that.
They had a vendetta against theUnited States team for
something in 1984 Olympics,something you didn't even have
nothing to do with, which we'rein Los Angeles.
I still to this day don't knowwhat it exactly was, but they go
with to get us back and Ibecame the victim.

(14:09):
But God knew who to put it onbecause I was the youngest on
the team.
But God knew what that would doto me because I was raised up
right here in Pensacola, florida, right.
We used to go to a place calledSierra Land, alabama.
In Sierra Land they were greenand white.
If that white wasn't red at theend of that fight and he

(14:29):
wouldn't look like he was aboutdead, you lost.
Okay, how bad you beat him.
If that white wasn't red and helooked like he was almost dead,
you lost.
So that taught me how to dealwith that controversy early and
God knew it was like peopledon't understand how strong and
how mighty and how strong God'swords are.
God will prepare you for what'sto come.

(14:50):
Sierra Land, alabama, preparedme for soul career, because in
Sierra Land, if you didn'talmost kill him, you lost.
Okay, I bet you beat him If youdidn't almost kill him.
He from Sierra Land, you lost.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Has your faith in God always been that strong and
that devout?

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yep, it just kind of grew on me.
I think I was about 10 yearsold.
You know, once I got about 10,I started realizing, and I knew
it already.
But when I got 10, it came moreto fruition.
Because, as a 10 year old, whenI first started boxing, we had
a heavyweight named Ox Roy Clark.
Roy Clark could hit the heavybag and bust it right on the
spot.
He was that strong of a puncher.

(15:31):
Well, one day some JehovahWitnesses came to our house and
my dad let him speak to us alland to my surprise, roy Clark Ox
that is, was the only one thatdidn't believe in God.
And I was shocked because I hadnever heard of a person that
didn't believe in God.
So they left.
We went on that weekend, went tothe Sunshine State Games and

(15:52):
the Sunshine State Games we wereall afraid because it's
competition, we're gonna havetwo, three fights at a time.
None of us were really superexperienced.
We thought Roy Clark Ox,because he could bust a bag, he
had no problems because he canbust a heavy bag with one punch.
That's how strong he was.
But he didn't believe in God.
When we got there, everybodywon, except who?

(16:16):
Ox, the one that didn't believein God.
That showed me that no power onthis earth is stronger than the
power of God.
You understand me and from thatpoint that just enhanced my
belief because I believedalready, but it just enhanced my
belief from my knowledge of whoGod was.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Roy Jones Jr could live anywhere in the world,
anywhere he wanted to.
Why come back to where you wereraised?

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Because as a kid, several times in my life people
would say you can't make it innothing.
Being from Pensacola, florida,it's too small.
I wanted to prove to peoplethat it's not about where you
are, it's about what you believein.
If you believe in God first,then believe in yourself.
Nothing is impossible.

(17:01):
And to let that message beknown after every fight, I would
always say Pensacola in thehouse.
Why?
Because I want you all to knowI didn't have to move.
When God is with you, who canbe against you?
That's right and that's whatthe facts were.
So I stayed here to prove thatpoint.
But it also kept me grounded asto who I really am, the things

(17:22):
I do today I deal when I was alittle kid the roofers, the
goats, the sheep, the peacocks,the turkeys, everything I do now
.
Just pray a little to ourfather advancement of what I did
as a kid, because that's justwho I am.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
You mentioned your father being tough on you.
It sounds like he was veryinstrumental in getting you
involved in boxing.
Is that something that heintroduced you to or that you
found on your own as a child?

Speaker 2 (17:55):
No, he kind of introduced me to it.
He was watching Muhammad Alionce and I found that he was so
entertained by Muhammad Ali andwhat I saw Muhammad Ali doing
was out thinking his guys makingthem mad and he was saying come
hit it, love or hit it and beatthem because he was love or hit
it.
And I realized because I was abig time agitator as a kid, so I
realized that if somebody teachme how to throw my hands, I can

(18:17):
do that, not knowing that mydad was a boxer at the time.
So I kept begging my dad to box, and begging my dad to box, and
begging my dad to box.
And, by the way, I was a hellof a football player as a
minimite before I started boxingright.
But finally when I got 10, mydad started training me for
boxing me and a few more guys.
Lo and behold, I didn't find outuntil I got 13 that my dad

(18:39):
actually used to box.
My dad actually had foughtMarvin Hagler.
I had no clue.
Wow, yeah, I had no clue.
So I don't think he wanted meto know much about his career
because he didn't go as far ashe wanted to.
He wanted to go with it.
But I think he learned all thedo's and don'ts while he was
trying to box, so he made surehe still to me all the don'ts.
You know what I'm saying?

(18:59):
He just did it.
Sometimes, as a parent, theycan become a bit overbearing and
you lose grips with the factthat one day this kid that
you're teaching is gonna be agrown man too, and you got to
respect him as a grown man orit's gonna be a problem, and I
think he never taught himselfthat.
So that's why we came up with aproblem and to this day we
still don't wanna talk.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
Oh, you and your dad don't speak anymore.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Two lions.
When the lion grows up and getto be grown and leaves the nets,
he ain't coming back.
If he come back, it's comingback to kill or die.
I understand that.
I understand that I have a andthose other things that I
learned from the animals,because when I was a kid I used
to go squirrel hunt with my dad.
We would kill squirrelssometime and I killed him to eat
them, but we would kill him andsome of them would have a penis

(19:43):
but no balls, no testicles.
Now I be like why they don'thave testicles?
And my own dad, who was agenius genius had a lot of
things too taught me thatsquirrels have nests right.
One squirrel ruled in aboutfrom five to 25 females in the
area.
Every time a female has babieshe bites the balls out of all

(20:04):
the males so that he won't haveno competition come up and none
of his kids would grow up and beas competition.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
He bites the balls out of his offspring.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Out of his own brain.
So that taught me that while mydad can physically bite my
balls out, but he's basicallytrying to mentally take them out
, and if he mentally takes yourballs out, how you gonna be able
to watch him?
It's not gonna happen.
So what you taught me wheninfused with God's knowledge

(20:31):
taught me what you really wastrying to do to me and it made
me understand.
So it was like I get referenceto the squirrel At that age.
When I got older, I also had toget reference to the lion,
because when the lion gets oldenough to leave, he can't come
back.
And that's how I felt when Ileft.
I said I got to leave.
I knew at 13, I was gonna leaveone day and I knew once I left

(20:51):
I couldn't come back.
And that's what happened.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
There's a writer from Mississippi.
He's now deceased.
He goes by the name, went bythe name of Willie Morris and he
had a very, very strongrelationship with his father,
which I do as well, and he wrotea quote one time.
It's a question, basically anopen-ended question, asking the

(21:14):
world can a man, can a boy,really be a man while his father
is still on earth?
What would your response tothat be?

Speaker 2 (21:24):
He can if his father respects him as an adult male
right.
He can.
And number two, he can if heassumes responsibility and
understands what the definitionof a man is and assesses the
situation, because there aresome men that know how to allow
their son to be men, Like I knowhow to allow my son to be a man

(21:45):
because of what I was raised in.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Right.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
You understand me, so you can be a man while your
father's on earth.
Yes, but you just gotta knowwhen it comes time to cut the
cord and to say, okay, that'syour area, that's my area, you
understand me.
And if he don't accept that,then you gotta become like that
lamb.
You gotta leave and get yourown area and claim your stake,
and don't nobody come on thearea and claim to be the man but

(22:08):
you.
And that's what I had to do.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
Did you see yourself being an all time grade at, say,
age 14?

Speaker 2 (22:15):
No, I didn't.
But I knew I was gonna be amonster and I also knew that I
wasn't gonna be able to do itwith my dad in my corner.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
As a coach.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
So at what point did y'all part ways, when I got
about 20, 20, about 20, I think?
And he was still coaching youat that time.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
So when you came into your ownas a man, y'all just butted
heads and there was not enoughReal estate for both of us
Correct.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
What happened, though , was, you know, people don't
understand how deep my storygoes, but God would show me
things to give me indicationsearly on that let me know that
it wasn't gonna work right.
So I had a few guys that boxedwith me that were a little bit
older than me.
Every time these guys got up toaround 17, 18, then my dad

(23:02):
would butt heads and they wouldleave.
My dad had trained actuallyfour world champions Vince
Phillips left John the Army,became world champion.
Arthur Williams left MoodaVegas became world champion.
Roy Jones separated completely,became world champion.
Then Roy Jones, during it, tooktheir smoke gamer, put him

(23:26):
under his wing and also made hima world champion.
But my dad, it was the beginningfor all of us.
So he's a hell of a man when itcomes to knowing the sport of
boxing and training fighters.
It's just that most peopledon't understand that he's so
dominant that when it gets totime for you to be a man, he
don't want to back up and letyou be a man, because his
dominance about him will notallow that.

(23:48):
So that's why, with the gangroosters, I could understand,
because when a gang rooster getsa certain age once him and his
dad is turned like this and hegets turned on or that age where
he think now he want a woman,he really either kill his dad or
be killed by his dad.
Same thing.
And I had to have thatpersonality and that attitude.
If God didn't give me thesegang roosters, it would have

(24:08):
been really hard for me tounderstand that.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
It'd been hard to compartmentalize and put that
into perspective.
Of course, does it irk you nowthat you and your father don't
speak?

Speaker 2 (24:18):
No, it doesn't irk me because I understand.
You know it's like I just sitthere and get you three
different scenarios of why wedon't speak Right.
So, quite naturally, I fullyunderstand why we don't.
It's a lion and a lamb.
I'm not gonna be no cub, nomore.
I can't go out to be in a cub,I'm a lamb.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
So all of these four different world champions,
obviously including yourself,were from this area.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Everyone of them was Fennifilla from Pensacola
Florida, otter Ween fromPensacola Florida, dxmorganic
from Pensacola Florida.
Roy Jones Jr still is inPensacola Florida.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
So did y'all have similar fighting styles?
Obviously different physiques,different DNA, different makeups
, but did your dad's influenceas a coach shine through in the
performance of those four?

Speaker 2 (25:04):
world champions.
Of course, we all had verysimilar basic beginnings.
You could build anything off ofour basics.
Fennifilla built a straightright hand on the basics and
that straight right hand tookhim to victory.
Fennifilla was the first personto beat the one of the best
Russian fighters of all time,kostasou.
Well, he beat Kostasou at 140.

(25:28):
He was one of the first peopleto beat.
He was the absolute firstperson to beat Kostasou pro.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Wow, so it's in the water.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
down here it's in the water, but it's also in my
dad's teaching.
He teaches a very good basicbackground.
If you learn the basics from mydad's school of basics, you can
add almost anything you wannaadd on to it, and that's what
people don't understand.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
That's amazing.
Your dad fought Marvin Hagler.
Yep, I've watched one fightthat I have watched.
Roy is Marvin Hagler, and Iforget who.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Tom Herns yes, I already know Shhh Best one round
fight of all time man that iswild, I wish.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
I mean I know greatness can't be remade, but I
wish there was more shit likethat.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, that was a real fight.
Honestly, we get that quiteoften.
We just don't get it amongstthe top names no more and really
we don't really get it towardsamongst the top names anymore
because a lot of the top nameshave become afraid to fight each
other, because once you buildup and build up, you lose.
It throws you to the past.
You know what I'm saying.
Like to Earl Spencer's demise,he got up and got to the top and

(26:39):
fought 10-inch Crawford, butnow a lot of people don't want
to see him fight no more becausewhat happened to him was a car
accident and how he looked inthe fight, and it's really not
fair because he did good in twofights before that fight.
So it's not really safe to saythat he shouldn't fight no more.
We don't know that yet for afact.
Now, if he wouldn't have gothis brain checked a neurological

(27:01):
checkup and it didn't look good, maybe we could say he
shouldn't fight no more.
But until he does that, why dowe have the right to say he
can't fight no more?
Right, he had a wreck.
Yeah, he took a lot out of thewreck.
Took a lot out of him.
Yes, but he can't even be twotop-notch fighters after it.
So because they lost to thebest and actually found the best
guy fighting today, does thatmean he shouldn't fight, no more

(27:24):
?

Speaker 1 (27:24):
Aside from that particular scenario has TV and
pay-per-view.
The way all that's structuredand the way it's evolving is
that contributing to the toptier fighters not getting in the
ring with one another as oftenas they used to.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
No, it's a lot.
It has a lot to do with thattoo, but it's like you know.
I don't wanna blame Floyd,because Floyd did a smart way,
which was his way, but when hedid that way it made everybody
try to be smart like him.
But only he could do that, onlyhe could pull that off.
Everybody can't pull that offand everybody think that they
can pull off a floor.
Pull off, no, you can't.

(27:58):
So it's like they try to playit safe and stay undefeated.
But that works for him.
That don't work for anybodyelse.
Right, he the only person thatcould pull that off.
Nobody else can pull that offlike he did.
You understand me, because thepublic won't accept it.
He got a pass and he took fulladvantage of that pass.
But anybody else, that's notgonna work.
That's why you don't see nobodyout there really command and

(28:21):
respect, except people likeTyson Fury, who went ahead and
fought Wilder three times.
Canelo, who went ahead andfought Triple G two times,
fought B-Vall.
No fault of all If you didn'tfight them all.
You don't get that kind ofrespect anymore.
You understand me, because theyunderstood and they let him go
with that.
But they're not gonna letnobody else go with that, do you
think, deontay?

Speaker 1 (28:39):
Wilder is as crisp as he could be.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
No, not at all.
I think, Wilder, if he had alittle bit more technique and
didn't just depend on that righthand, he'd be a real problem.
But because he's he brought upthat way, he got so far with
just that right hand.
It's like for him it felt likeif it ain't broke, why fix it
Right?
You understand me, but it wasbroke against Tyson Fury because
Tyson Fury realized only thingI got to worry about is the
right hand.
If I get past the right hand, Igot him and that's what

(29:03):
happened.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, tyson Deontay Wilder is one of my favorite
boxers to watch of all time,primarily because I was of age
when he was boxing and goingthrough his prime.
Does he have anything?

Speaker 2 (29:16):
left.
Of course he got something left.
The last thing to lose is you.
The last thing to leave is yourpower, and he's a definitely
one of the best power punches ofall time.
Are the feet the first thing toleave?
No, the legs.
Not the feet, the legs, thelegs first thing to leave.
Power is the last thing toleave.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
Power in the punch itself.
Yep, how do you?
How do you fend off?
And you've been through this.
Obviously you get on up in yourcareer.
And when did you startrecognizing your legs leaving?

Speaker 2 (29:45):
When I came down from heavyweight back to late
heavyweight, I put on 25 poundsof muscle and I took off 25
pounds of muscle.
And when I took the 25 poundsof muscle off, my body was never
the same.
And I want to fight off pureheart.
I beat Todd the first time offpure heart because I had no
energy.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Whenever.
You forgive my ignorance onpreparation and boxing matches,
but whenever you set a date andyou've got a match set, first of
all, how long out do youtypically know that?
And then, what does traininglook like leading up to that
fight?

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Most people like to do six to eight weeks of
training.
Uh-huh, if you are, if youaren't training at all in the
between times, you should do 10weeks.
But if you're training already,you kind of act like I used to
stay.
I could get rid of six weeks.
Some guys like eight weeksbecause they train or they train
like I trained.
I played basketball.
I did so much that six weeks Iwas ready to go.
You cut it back on, right,right.
So the first two weeks of mytraining camp was getting back

(30:44):
in the habit of dieting andeating the right kind of foods
and cutting out the junk foods.
So the first two weeks,obviously my weight dropped,
probably about eight to 10pounds, just off the fat.
That's everything.
In the second two weeks I honedin on getting in shape with
sparring and I ran the wholetime.
But getting in shape withsparring, getting in fight shape
, because I start sparring thefirst two weeks, but the second

(31:04):
two weeks starts to get reallyintense and more of what you
want to see when you come fighttime.
The last two weeks you spottedthe last, the week before the
last week, like it's the weekweek five, the last week of
sparring, and that's just tomake sure I'm sharp and on point
with all my moves and sparring.
And week six is all aboutmaking weight, making weight and

(31:24):
holding it on peak.
But once again, here's whatpeople don't understand.
Rooster's go through the sameprocess.
We prepare Rooster for a match.
He go to say, go through thesame process as a box.
Adieu, it's just a.
Hears is a three week process,mine was a six week process.
But I learned so much frompreparing the roosters because

(31:48):
you watch your rooster come fromjust a normal rooster to a
sharp killer in a matter ofthree weeks and you learn how
important things like wristmoisture, timing, speed you just
learn a lot of different thingsand how important it is to be
able to bring that guy to a peakso he peaks right at the time

(32:11):
of that fight.
You don't want to peak the daybefore and he didn't, but not
peak the day after.
You want to peak right at thattime.
And I learned so much fromteaching the roosters how to do
that that we use those sametactics on myself.
So in that six week period yougot to come up, up, up, up, up,

(32:31):
up, up, up, up.
You got to come up, up, up, up,up a week six.
You want to get right there.
Week six For that fight dayright there.
You want to be right there.
If you hear you're not going towin or you're going to struggle
.
If you're over here it's goingto be even harder.
But if you get right there atweek six, you got yourself
something.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
I would imagine at the peak of your career you had
that dialed in pretty well, Ofcourse.
I mean, you could probably doit in your sleep, do it like
clockwork In my sleep because Iknew what to do Right.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
I knew how to rest, I knew when the rest.
I knew everything because Ilearned it from working with my
animals.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
Wow, so the fight in the roosters.
Their prep time is half ofyears.
Did you learn anything from theintensity in which they prepare
?
And fight with their mentality.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yes, the ones that were back in and, like I said,
illegal now, so I don't do itnow but back when it was legal,
the ones that were super intenseall the time, were the ones
that performed the best.
Now sometimes you get one thatwould be a little laid back.
He'd be a little laid back,become night the daytime, when
it's time for the action to behe sure.

(33:48):
You have a few like that, butpeople are like that too.
Then sometimes you have somethat never seem like they got
right, but on that night theywere a whole different animal.
So and you got people like thattoo.
So it's like that taught me notto expect all my boxes to look
the same through that peakingprocess.
Some of it looked like theywere beaters, but they may not

(34:12):
be.
Some of it looked like theycan't beat themselves, but
they're trying to be the best ofall.
So you got to be able to knowthat different personalities are
going to bring about differentthings.
Just because he don't lookright ahead, don't matter.
You just bring him a point thatyou're supposed to and see what
happens.
What happens on fight night.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
Got to see, when the lights come on, how they react.
That's the biggest thing.
Do you watch?

Speaker 2 (34:32):
college football yes, who's your team?
I don't have a team, I just useto support local guys.
If I see local guys, like whenI am, it was at Florida.
I supported Florida.
When Brooks was at FloridaState.
I supported Florida State whenTrent Richardson was at Alabama.
I support Alabama.
My daughter goes to Alabamaright now so I kind of watch
Alabama Roll tide and I likeNick.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
Saban.
I like Nick Saban too.
Yeah, I also like Dion Sanders.
What do you do with that?

Speaker 2 (34:58):
color, because he's showing that it's not about who
you are.
Well, yeah, it's about theopportunity.
You get the opportunity.
You can do anything anybodyelse can do, but without the
opportunity, no, you can't.
You know his son never got thatopportunity had he not got that
job.
But look what his sons aredoing now.
Both of them they showing youthat they are top, they come
from top, Not predatory.
Look at their dad.
They belong.

(35:18):
You feel the data, the data hasplayed for some of the best
coaches in color football and ina field football.
How can he not know?
They got the DNA, they got itfrom him and he got the
knowledge because he's learnedover the years.
Look what he's done.
He's played for all kind ofcoaches.
He's a Hall of Fame himself.
How can he not teach it?

Speaker 1 (35:35):
I think what he's doing and mixing his flamboyance
and swagger and style withdiscipline and accountability
and and Gamesmanship.
He's given those kids a very,very, very ripe environment for
growth, fun, learning, potentialfulfillment and then, not to

(36:02):
mention, all the stars he'sbringing to the game.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
He permitted he promoting self confidence yes,
discipline.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Hard work ethic and what you can be if you just
believe in God and believe inyourself.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
That's exactly right.
Yeah, I do think Dion isrubbing some people the wrong
way and I really don'tunderstand why.
Because, dion, if one listensto Dion, just listen to a press
conference, look past Dion'sflashy smile, look past his his

(36:36):
drip, because he's going to haveall the style right and focus
on the content of the wordscoming out of his mouth, and
it's not going to be a whole lotdifferent than what Nick Saban
preaches.
It's just delivered in adifferent way.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
This is what you're going to do.
What you feel to realize isyou're going to realize one day,
no matter what you do, somebodygoing to hate it, somebody
going to watch this interviewthat me and you doing right now
and have something negative tosay about it.
You can't worry about those.
You worry about the one thatgot the positive messages out of
what we're doing.
You worry about the one to getthe positive messages and see

(37:10):
the light behind what Dion isdoing.
You can't worry about thenegative.
It's going to be negative andeverything.
If you are a Christian, youbelieve in Jesus Christ, well,
jesus Christ will tell you thatif they did what they did to him
and he was perfect, imaginewhat they're going to do to us.
You understand what I'm goingfrom I do.
If you're Muslim, youunderstand the same thing.
Your goal is to serve God.

(37:32):
You're not trying to be Godbecause you're not perfect, but
if you pray over there, thatextra repentance that makes you
perfect in God's eyes, youunderstand me.
So we aren't here to be perfectand believe you meet.
Even if we think we are or wetry to be, somebody's going to
find something wrong with us.
It's human nature.
You understand me and miseryloves company.

(37:55):
So there are people that aremiserable, that look around and
try to find who else they canpick at, to talk about or try to
make miserable.
You understand me.
If you listen to them, you willbecome miserable too, but if
you're smart, you look at themand laugh because I'm sorry that
you're not having a good day,I'm sorry that your life is not
going where it is.
You want it to go, but my ideais something happens.

(38:17):
So I can't be mad at you and Iunderstand your anger, but it is
what it is.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Do you attribute your recognition of that to your
Christian faith?

Speaker 2 (38:28):
To all my faith, my faith in God.
First, I have Christian faith,but I do understand what the
Muslim believe in too, so Iunderstand it all.
It's just like for me.
We know we got one God andeverything else that was in here
he sent and they say Jesus wasEmmanuel God among us.
But that could be true.

(38:48):
They say Jesus was the son ofGod.
That could be true.
The Muslim sometimes would sayhe was the prophet.
That could be true.
The fact of the matter is he'scoming back to get us.
If you don't believe in that, Idon't care what religion you
are.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
In my opinion, Europe the Muslim faith is, it gets a
bad, bad route much because ofthe terrorism that's taking
place in our country throughout,you know, past 20, 25 years and
even longer, some say.
But it does get missed thatthere are very devout and very

(39:24):
peaceful Muslims, by far in themajority, as opposed to the
terrorists that also representthat faith.
What they don't realize is thatthey are not, they represent
that faith.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
What they don't realize is that terrorists can
come in any kind of shape orform or religion.
You understand me.
It's not just that the Muslimbelieve.
Beliefs are a little bitdifferent and in some cases
stronger than most.
Because what people don'tunderstand is that the Muslims
see the same God that we see.
They pray to the same God thatwe pray to.
They just don't think thatJesus was the son of God.

(39:54):
They think Jesus was a prophet.
It don't matter, because theystill believe that Jesus is
coming back for us.
Jesus is going to come back andredeem our lives.
Oh, I didn't recognize that I dobelieve that there was nobody
recognized because they don'ttalk to him, but I talked to him
enough to understand that.
They also believe that Jesus iscoming back to redeem.
They just see Jesus.
The only difference to me andthe Muslim and the Christians is
that the Christians think Jesuswas the son of God, which could

(40:16):
be true.
The Muslim thinks he was aprophet, but they all agree that
he's coming back to redeem us.
That's the case.
Like I said, the only problem Ihave is if we know for a fact
that Jesus is coming back to getus, then if he's a prophet, why
isn't he the strongest prophet?
That's the only thing I say,because he won't come back for
us.
He got to be the best prophetof all.
If he, like the Christians,think he's the son of God, well,

(40:37):
all of us pretty much thinkthat we're the sons of God.
So you understand me.
So it's a, but you can't getcaught up in all that because,
no matter what it was, if he'sthe son of God, god sent him.
If he was a prophet, god senthim.
No matter what happens, godsent him and he's going to send
him back.
If you understand and believethose two things, to me it don't

(40:57):
matter.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
Right, right, right, and so long as it leads one to
treat others with respect anddignity and compassion, I mean,
I don't care if anybody, ifsomebody believes in this
microphone right here, but if itallows them and incentivizes
them to be the best version ofthemselves and treat people as

(41:20):
they would want to be treated,then it's all good and hood.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
That's what I'm trying to say.
I don't think we have problemwith some people.
When you give them power, theytry to take what they want or
they believe in and force it onyou.
That's the only thing I have aproblem with.
Don't force it on me, but youcan do what you want to do.
I don't care, because I didn'tmake you God.
Yeah, you got to ask him, notme.
But don't force what you thinkis right on me, because that's
not fair.
What if I don't think that'sright?

(41:44):
Now?
You're bullying me and that'snot fair either.
But if that's what you think,I'm cool with that.
You can think what you want tothink.
I'm fine.
You can be whatever religionyou want to be.
I'm fine with that.
Last but not least, though, thisis what people also don't
realize about Muslims.
The Koran and the Old Testamentare almost identical, except

(42:04):
that the Koran has never beenchanged.
The Bible has been rewritten,maybe 600 times.
Really, anytime you rewritesomething, you get a different
version of it.
Almost no doubt the Koran hasnever been rewritten.
So what's the real deal?
They call it the oldest, truestreligion Because the Koran has
never been rewritten.

(42:25):
The Bible has been rewritten atleast 600 times.
How much to put it in and howmuch to let out.
There are also books of theBible that have been left out on
purpose, that we know.
We don't know what they are.
We don't know what they are,but we know that some books of
the Bible have been left out onpurpose.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
That peaks my interest and makes me wonder.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
It makes all of us wonder if you got any sense.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
It should make everybody wonder, because if they're willing to
leave parts out of the Bible,and if me, you write a paragraph
, if I write it, you write it,then he write it.
By the time that person readsthem three paragraphs, they're
going to look at all three ofour paragraphs in different ways
.
So if they had to go write it,they're going to go write it the

(43:04):
way they see it.
You understand what I'm comingfrom?
Yes, sir, and if you reread it600 times, how can it be its
original context?
It can't be, because it's beenrewritten 600 times.
So would you really believe insomething that's been rewritten
600 times, or would you ratherbelieve in something that's only

(43:25):
been written once?
It's a hard choice.
It was not a really hard choice, but for me, I still stay in
the middle, because I feel likeGod is only going to allow so
much to happen and he going toguide us and show us right from
wrong, and he going to give itto us in our hearts every day.
And the fact that the Muslimpray five times a day I like

(43:47):
that too, because that meansthat every day, no matter where
they go to church or not, theystill pray into God five times a
day.
You understand me.
So if you stay that close toGod, he got to communicate with
you and if you have arelationship with God, you know
it's like just two weeks ago Iwent to Marrakech In Morocco.

(44:07):
I'm not a miracle.
Yeah, marco, right, somethingwas telling me not to get on a
plane and go.
When I got there, I told thepeople that got me.
I said listen, I'm here fory'all, but I'm telling y'all
this last time.
I'm going to do this becauseGod was telling me not to come
on this trip.
This is what you mean.
I just got too much that washappening.
Too much is going on.
Anytime that happens to me.
That's an indication that Godonly come here.

(44:29):
The day I left, earthquake cameand killed over 2000 people
right there in Morocco where Iwas.
That's not God talking to you.
You understand me, do youunderstand it?
Yes, that's how real it is.
That's how much I believe inwhat God puts on me.
So if you don't have that kindof faith, then something wrong.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
So you were in Morocco when the earthquake
occurred.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
Left the day I left the day that it occurred I was
in flight coming back here.
When I was between I went toParis and from Paris to LA I was
between Paris and LA I got aText on my phone that Morocco
had just had a massiveearthquake.
They had killed over I thinkthey said over 300 people.
At first they didn't went up toa thousand, they didn't went up

(45:15):
to 2000.
Now I think it might be at 2800.
I'm not sure, but this happenedthe day that I left.
But now I told the people whenI got there, that wasn't
supposed to be there, becauseGod was showing me signs that I
shouldn't come.
Now I saw exactly what he wastrying to keep me from.
You understand me, that's deep.
That's deep when you tellsomebody, when you get there,

(45:38):
that God said don't come.
So I want to come and show youall this time that I'm free of
what I say.
But I'll never do this againbecause in my opinion he told me
not to come Soon as I leave, Iquit here.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
He reinforced what you, what he had already been
telling you, you understand me,you got to know why take the
interview with the countycouncil, why take the interview
with the county line and thisyoung man from the middle of
rural Mississippi who you don'tknow?

Speaker 2 (46:07):
Well, you never know in what forms that God will
speak to you or speak to people.
You never know what God'smessage might come from.
You never know who God may havea message for, and maybe
somebody in your audience thatGod wants to hear this message,
maybe you want to hear thismessage.
You might tell me something orask me something.
I need to hear who know?

(46:28):
So when you have friends and Ihave a lot of friends all over
the world and you are really atrue friend of a friend, and one
of your friends out of the bluetells you hey, I got a guy that
wants to do an interview withyou, or he's a good guy, good
friend of mine, but really meana lot to him If I have time, and
him being my friend, why wouldI not do that?

Speaker 1 (46:52):
Prior to coming here, I was told Roy Jones Jr ain't
got no ego.
He ain't got no ego and thathas been proven to be correct
based off of what you've told mein the past 46 minutes.
You know I definitely speak formyself and the county line
congregation, the audiencelistening to this.

(47:13):
It's very commendable.
A person of your stature andall of the accomplishments and
accolades that you've got, it's,I would say, probably very rare
to have someone so down toearth that has been up so high.

(47:33):
What do you attribute?

Speaker 2 (47:36):
to having no ego, my faith in God.
Just like God give it, god willtake it the way.
So if you get too big for yourown self, bad things are gonna
happen.
Even if bad things don't happen, though, you may miss God's
word, you understand.
That's why I don't drink orsmoke, because if you're high
and you're braided, whatever,how can you hear what God tells

(47:58):
you?
You understand me.
So I feel like in my right mind, if God bring me a message, I
can catch it.
In my wrong mind I can't.
You feel me.
So I try to stay in my own mind, because if he tells me
something, or if he showed mesomething, or if he wants me to
see something, I want to be ableto see it.
You feel me Right.
I mean, if Noah was drunk,would Noah have known to build
an ark?
If Noah was high, would Noahhave known to build an ark?

(48:21):
He may have thought he washallucinating, who knows?
But because Noah wasn't, hebuilt the ark.

Speaker 1 (48:27):
And look what happened with the ark.
How do you check yourself?
How do you check your ego?
Because you have to through asmuch success as you've had.
There has to have been a pointin your career where maybe you
didn't even recognize it, butyou started to get the big head.
Have you ever felt that and ifso, how did you check it?

Speaker 2 (48:48):
I never thought I ever had the big head, because I
know that every day is ablessing from God, every second
is a blessing from God.
Every blessing in life is ablessing from God.
He didn't have to give me noneof that.
He didn't have to allow me tobecome world champ.
He didn't have to allow me tomake the Olympic team.
He didn't have to allow me tobecome a headway champ to the

(49:10):
world.
He didn't have to allow me tobe nothing.
I'm everything because heallowed me to be.
Thanks, you understand me.
Now, if I can't thank him everyday and talk to him on a daily
basis and ask him am I doing theright things?
And try to look for hisguidance, then my head probably
getting too big.
If you forget about who God is,your head probably getting too

(49:30):
big.
But as long as you remember whoGod is, that should keep you in
line, because you know that youain't doing this.
It's not you doing this, hedoing this.
You're just an instrument.
He playing this music throughyou.
Be happy, be grateful that he'susing you as an instrument.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
So what's his ultimate mission for Roy?

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Jones Jr.
Who knows?
I have no clue what theultimate is because you're
always doing something elsethrough me to surprise me, so I
never know.
Like I never thought I wouldhave a rap song that got over
200 million views, I got a rapsong that's got over 200 million
views on it Roy Jones the boxer.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
I smoke, I drink no can't be touched.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
Can't be touched.
Can you believe it?
How?
Whoever had a song?
Whoever thought Roy Jones Jrwould have a song that high?
As I smoke, I drink.
Everybody knew that song.
You understand me, I mean, it'sjust like it's so amazing.
I was in the matrix Roy JonesJr, the boxer in the matrix man.
So much happened that it's justunbelievable.

(50:28):
I went to the Olympics at 156pounds.
I became the halfway championof the world.
That ain't never happenedbefore, never.
My first national tournament Iwon as a bannermost 119 at 15
years old.
I ain't never thought I wouldbe nothing close to a
heavyweight.
A lot of guys if I had weightslight heavyweights or

(50:49):
heavyweights when they 15 to 16year old.
I seen a guy a few weeks backup in New York.
He was 16 years old.
He already 300 pounds and canfight.
He's destined to be aheavyweight champion of the
world one day, but he alreadyhave weight.
He over 300 pounds at 16.

Speaker 1 (51:08):
And he can't go to lightweight, you feel me.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
I never thought I'd be on heavyweight.
I was my first nationaltournament bannermost 119.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
What's heavyweight Over 200?
Yes, 200 plus.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Yes, I never thought I'd see those days.
Not no boxing ring.
That's how great God is If youjust believe, he'll take you to
places you don't know you can goto.
So if I sit and tell you whatmy overall destiny is, I don't
know.
Who knows what he might dothrough me, I don't know.
But I just hope he keeps usingme and keep playing his music
through me, because I love it.
I'm glad that he chose me to doit through him.

(51:40):
So I'm just a happy camper.
If you ever get too arrogantand too hard, he's going to take
that away.
He'll stop using you and I knowthat.
So why would I get arrogant ona big hit when I know that?
Uh-uh, that's what he puts youhere for Very wise, very wise.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
How did you mention the rap song Mm-hmm?
And you've got body headbangers, body head In this bitch
.
You're very tied.
You're tied closely, primarilybecause of that album.
Two New Orleans rap.
Did that happen spontaneouslyor was that?

(52:17):
Did you know those guys priorto to happen on that album?
Another blessing from God,another blessing from God.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
So I had an artist named Hardripper Hardripper from
New Jersey.
To me, hardripper was the coachof the band.
To me, hardripper was theco-dust lyricist of all the
artists I had, right, but hisbeats were a little different
and we could never get togetherand I guess we never could make

(52:45):
the balance match.
You understand me, because heliked what he liked, I like what
I like, and it's just always alittle different.
You like that downside shit.
I assume I like the downsidebeats, me too.
You understand, you put thedownside beats with his up north
lyrics.
You go have a killer.
That's like Lil Wayne, exactly.
But we couldn't.
We could never come together onthat right.
So then I got an artist fromNew Orleans.
Mr Magic came to me and he waslike, look, I got this song that

(53:09):
I think could be a hit.
So he didn't hear it.
I said man, we remix that song.
That's going to be the hottestsong of the summer.
That was I Smoke, I Drink.
But before that, though, we hadhad a few songs that we were
doing pretty good.
Then Hard's I wrote down a lotof stuff about my career, and
Hard's helped me make that.
Y'all must have forgot.

(53:29):
That was a big song, youunderstand me.
So Hard did his thing.
But, just like I said, withbeats he was like most.
Most musical guys are so geniusthat they don't relate to the
public.
Well, you understand me.
So it's like some do, somedon't.
Some think so deep into it thatyou can't read, you can't reach

(53:51):
where they max can go Right,and most artists are like that.
Just a matter of who can getthe combination right and who
can't.
Because I promise you I don'tthink no rapper, word for word,
writing down lyrics, can do anybetter than what Hard's can.
But Mr Magic was a differenttype of artist.
He's the artist that can makesomething that the streets wants

(54:12):
to hear.
He didn't want to come with theI Smoke, I Drink.
He can make what the club wantto hear.
He can make it for the DownSouth Club and he understood and
recognized the beats.
So the song that did the mostfor us, which was Can Be Touched
.
He helped come over to hook onMr Magic's D Right, but I picked
the beat, you understand me,and that's why I think what was

(54:34):
missing was Hoss.
I don't think he trusted meenough to pick the beats because
he's from up north.
He always chose different typeof beats, but those beats won't
get it down here and reallybeats are worldwide, because for
the song to go and have over200 million views, not only did
it work here, the world had tolike, and you understand me.
So I have a reputation forpicking beats, you understand.

(54:55):
So I just think the New Orleansrappers understand and respect
my reputation for picking beatsand that's why I worked.
So me and Mr Maddy had a hellof a career together.
May rest in peace.
He died and he and his wifeboth died in the car crash and
it was very tragic for me.
I was actually in the midst ofmaking another album right then,
you know.
So, Lord, my whole.

(55:16):
After that I had another guycome along, esam Bullitt, from
New Orleans.
Esam Bullitt now is almost thetracks with me here, and he's
another one who he's lyricallyinclined, but he trusts my
choice of beats.
And because he trusts my choiceof beats, I think we get to go
a little bit further, because Ihave a track record for now,
picking hot beats.

(55:37):
So when we get the knowledgeand gift that they got put with
the gift that I have, which ismy knowledge of beats and the
fact that I like to.
I like inspiring music.
It works for us.
So that we got a.
Y'all must have forgot part two.
That's hot.
We gotta do a big.
That's hot.
But now we got.
Never turn my back, that's hot.

(55:58):
You understand me If you warmin the tank.
That are hot.
So you've got a label.
Oh yeah, body Head's in themiddle, that's my label.

Speaker 1 (56:06):
And you've got Esam Bullitt on that label.
Yep, is he the only one at thistime?
He's the only one right now.
Yeah, what's in the future?

Speaker 2 (56:14):
for Body Head Bangers .
We working on completing thealbum right now.
My favorite song on the albumis called Dark Side.
Dark Side hasn't come out yetbut to me Dark Side is my kind
of rap music.
You understand me and I onlyknow how to put out what I would
listen to, because I'm not thekind of guy that wanna talk

(56:35):
about smoking and even I smoke.
I drink my verse.
They had to do with smoking.
They said we ain't gotta smokeor drink.
You know what I'm saying.
So I don't promote balance.
I don't promote killing.
I don't promote all thecraziness.
I just kinda you gotta throw alivid in there cause it's rap
music.
But I really promote what I do.

(56:57):
I wanna produce music that makeyou wanna get up and go do
something.
If it ain't that, I reallydon't wanna deal with it.
So I look for beats that makeyou wanna get up and go do
something.
It's so bad that I'm not reallyan artist like that, but it's
like for me to write to a beat.
It's gonna make me feel likeI'm about to go fight somebody.
If I don't feel like that, Iain't gonna be able to write to
it.
But when I got that feeling,now I can write tonight to come
to me what I wanna say or thingsI wanna get out there, because

(57:21):
when that beat make me go now Ican do something.
If it ain't that, I ain't gonnado it.

Speaker 1 (57:26):
So the beat comes first and then the lyrics.
For me, that's the way I worktoo.
That's the way I work too, isI'll have, and I'll have
somebody send me.
I've got a homeboy in mind andI'll have him run down beats,
because I don't like picking mybeats, I like to hear the beat
spontaneously, just like it wassupposed to come to me and it
wasn't sold out by me.

(57:46):
And then if it makes me feel,if it strikes a chord, it moves
you, right, then I'll go.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
Then I'll go.
That's how I was.
I don't know what I can write.
If it moved me, I can write too, if not.
And sometimes I come withconcepts and I tell Bullet what
the concept is and what I'mthinking of, how we should do it
.
And if it ain't the right kindof beat, he can do it.
Because he can write toanything, because he's telling
his musicians what he does.
I'm gonna box him, I ain'tgonna write to anything, but if
it get me going I'll write to it.
What did you?

Speaker 1 (58:12):
listen to coming up, what inspired you early on, hip
hop wise or just music ingeneral.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
Well, to be honest with you, man, the first thing
that inspired me was UTFO.
Oh, you probably not familiarwith.
UTFO, then R&D, mc, r&d MC,curtis Blow, the Breaks
Sugarhead Gang.
Those guys all inspired me as akid.
So as I got older I startedlistening and I learned about
Scarface, scarface with rap,scarface with rap, about things

(58:40):
that I was going through aboutthat time.
So he kind of was in my age, inmy gap, that was saying things
that I believed in or I couldrelate to because I was going
through it at the same time.
So he became my voice of reason, that I could put his music on
and I could feel like I'mtalking about my own life, you
understand me, and that made himbecome my favorite.

(59:01):
To me, the way he puts hiswords together, the way he puts
the lyrics together, the way hesays things, is very unique and
different than most people sayit.

Speaker 1 (59:10):
He is underrated in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
But now let me give you one more thing.
He is also one of those artiststhat now he picks good beats a
lot of time too and his beatsbecause he always says so much
and I'm the kind of person thatloves what he says.
So I listened to what he saysbefore the beat, but I felt like
if I was picking his beats hewould be on the same level as
some of his other artists are,because his beats are like how

(59:36):
they're so deep into their beatsthat normal ears don't catch
those beats.
You understand me, I do, butyou got to sell it to the normal
ear, to sell a lot of records,right?
I feel like if I was pickinghis beats, the artist would have
, because he says stuff that is,I mean, he says so many cold
lines that just he always be myfavorite.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
He'll always be my favorite.
He's one of my favorite, whichhe was a little before my time,
but that doesn't mean that Ican't recognize the greatness.
He's definitely the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:07):
I don't even know if Lil Wayne could be considered
Southern anymore, as much as heis global, but Scarface is top
two or three of Southern rappersof all time To me he number one
Southern rapper, but to me henumber one all of it, because
his music inspires me to go dowhat I do, because there's a
constant way he says it, what hesaid, the way he literally puts

(01:00:29):
things in order.
I mean just it does it for me.
He always gonna get my vote.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
Rap a lot of records.

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
Love Rap.
A Lot of Records, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
Is that word?
Scarface got his Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
Jay Prance.

Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
Jay Prance, you talk about a business man.

Speaker 2 (01:00:41):
Yep, he does live with everything.
Now he in boxing Got boxinglike Shakira Stevenson, he doing
his thing, that big baby hedoing his thing.
He had Andre Ward, I mean, hecame in, took over boxing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Yeah, I heard Jay Prance also listening to you on
Joe Rogan.
I liked that Joe Rogan got JayPrance to come on.
Of course that was when hefirst moved to Texas and it was
a little out of Rogan's lane,you know.
But Jay Prance, like youmentioned, is involved in boxing
.
But I mean, I listened to JayPrance's audio book probably

(01:01:16):
four or five years ago andincredible, incredible life and
the odds that he overcame isincredible, incredible human
being.
Yep, I mean when you look at himstarting out as a automobile
dealer in Houston and thenworking his way up and having
his hand in so many different.

Speaker 2 (01:01:34):
So many different things.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
It's even been rumored that, and it may be true
, that he discovered Drake.
I don't know how true that is.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
I think it is true.
I'm not sure about thinking itis.
I think I knew he had somethingto do with it because the first
I ever heard of Drake wasthrough him Drake's a cold
motherfucker.
He better believe it, man.
You better believe it, youbetter believe it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
So I'm a good rapper, doesn't I?
Oh man?
I mean, it's a.
The game has been elevated.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
Only thing is nowadays it's harder to get the
substance wrap that we used tohave, because so much is going
on, but I guess it is.
There's substance what's goingon in there time now.
It's not what we used to, soour substance was different from
their substance and that's whatwe had to make the change at,
but it's really still.
We'll get rappers out there.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
Well, I think where we, the substance is still there
.
And I'll speak to Crip, bigCrip out of Mississippi Boosie,
he's still giving hard lines,you know he's still rapping.
Of course he's not just aboutthe hook.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
He's not just about getting the plays.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
He's still rapping and so I looked at those guys.
But just, the environment'schanged with social media.

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
That's what I said.
That's what I said Now is thesubstance is different from what
our substance was, but that'stheir substance today.

Speaker 1 (01:02:45):
Roy Jones Jr, I appreciate you taking the time
out of your day and inviting ushere to your home to do this
recording, and I look forward todoing it again.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
Thank you, brother, I appreciate it I'm trying to
Jack Pickering for looking outfor us here.
Absolutely, you love, so Thankyou, jack, jack Pickering.

Speaker 1 (01:03:02):
We need to get him on .
How does dad chip on?
Oh, nice, nice, roy Jones Jr,anything you want to say before
we?

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
sign off.
So I'm gonna say God bless youall.
Hope you all enjoyed theinterview.
Keep God first and all that youdo and have compassion for
others.
Peace, body hit, body hitbangers Hello.

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#121 - Roy Jones Jr.

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