Bridgett Riley: Stories From Boxing & Kickboxing Hall of Famer, Hollywood Stuntwoman & Cancer Victor

Martial Arts Legends Magazine labeled her the Greatest Woman Fighter of All Tiime. I just know her as my high-school classmate. Bridgett Riley is in the Boxing Hall of Fame, the Kickboxing Hall of Fame and the Black Belt Hall of Fame.

Bridgett, a multi-time world champion fighter, shares her awe-inspiring journey from Oakville High School to the world stage. Her transition from fighting opponents to battling cancer, and her adventures as a Hollywood stuntwoman, are nothing short of cinematic.

In this jaw-dropping episode, we stitch together a mosaic of personal battles, from the rigors of stunt work to the unspoken hardships of cancer treatment. We traverse the demanding lifestyle changes and hear of the unseen burdens shouldered by families. Diving into Hollywood's stunt scene, we reveal the risks and rewards that come with the territory, and then pivot to the strategies that set the stage for a meeting with none other than Don King.

Every story shared is a tribute to passion, advocacy, and the incredible resilience that defines the human experience. Join us as we celebrate these narratives of triumph, and be inspired by the courage that courses through every challenge faced.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Fuzzy Mike.
The interview series, thepodcast, whatever Kevin wants to
call it, it's Fuzzy Mike.
Hello and welcome to the FuzzyMike.
I have long said that women areinfinitely tougher than men.
Tupper does not mean stronger.
The old joke is that women arethe ones that give birth,

(00:22):
because if men gave birth, thehuman species would cease to
exist because we couldn't handlethe pain.
So true, and yes, I know, thereare some men who are tougher
than some women and there aresome women who are stronger than
some men.
Those are specific cases.

(00:43):
I'm talking in a general sensehere, and here's an example of
how my wife is tougher than I am.
She gets these debilitatingmigraines.
They're officially calledhemiplegic migraines and they're
characterized by motor weaknessaffecting only one side of the
body.
There's often impairment invision, speech or sensation.

(01:06):
When she gets one of these whatI call grand maul migraines,
her left side goes numb and shecan't talk.
If they didn't cause her somuch pain, I wouldn't mind her
getting them more frequently.
I mean the peace and quiet, butthese are devastating to her.
Now I get migraines too.
I get them over my right eyeand they make me nauseous.

(01:29):
I even dry heave when I have abad one With me.
However, I can still talk and Idon't go numb when I get one.
I'm in bed for 24 hours minimum.
When my wife gets one of herbad ones, she lays down until
her speech and mobility comesback.
She'll have a throbbingheadache for three or more days

(01:49):
after, but within a matter ofhours she's up taking care of
the dogs.
I know, I know what you'reasking.
Why would she need to take careof the dogs?
Can't I take care of the dogsand let her sleep off her
migraine?
I'd like to, I really would.
But our one dog is on so manymedications that you basically

(02:12):
need to be a registered nurse toadminister all of them and at
the correct times.
She knows which meds to giveand what time he's supposed to
get them.
In stark terms, she's an expert.
I'm a novice.
When a pro is on site, youdon't put an amateur in the game
.
Yeah, I could learn, but Irecently downloaded an animation

(02:37):
software program.
I watched a YouTube tutorial.
It was literally step by step.
I still couldn't figure out howto do it.
My lack of animationcomprehension only killed a
stick figure.
I screw up the meds.
I kill one of our sons With theother dog.
Well, he likes to eat poo, andwhen he does eat poo he

(03:01):
typically throws up, and theysay the breed is a smart one.
Poo and vomit are two things Idon't even do individually.
Combine them.
Well, let me give you a story.
I came home from work once andthere was poo vomit greeting me
when I opened the door.
This was in Houston, in thesummer.

(03:21):
It was over 100 degrees.
I sat outside for two hourswaiting for my wife to get home
from her hair appointmentbecause I couldn't stand the
smell.
I've tried to clean it upbefore once and I ended up with
watery eyes and a batch of myown vomit added into the mix.
Yes, I'm a weak man with aneven weaker stomach.

(03:45):
I have other examples of mywife's superior fortitude.
I think you get the idea.
Now.
This is my favorite recentexample of women being tougher
than men.
My wife and I created apediatric cancer nonprofit
called Snowdrop Foundation.
Our biggest fundraiser happensevery December in the form of a
55 hour foot race called theSnowdrop Ultra 55.

(04:09):
Solo runners and relay teams of10 run a nearly three-quarter
of a mile loop for 55 hours.
Whoever runs the most mileswins Now the majority of our
solo runners are out there totry to run 100 miles.
100 miles in 55 hours that'sless than two miles per hour.

(04:30):
Sounds easy, right?
Well, we have about a 40%attrition rate.
In the last 11 years we've heldthe race.
Only six out of 10 runners makeit to 100 miles In 2022,.
We had a racer get to 97.35miles before something happened
that kept her from reaching 100miles.

(04:51):
Sarah vowed to come back andget that elusive 100 mile finish
and just this past December shewas back to try again With four
hours to go in the race, aftershe'd been at it for 50 hours.
The race timing director ranthe numbers and we had to tell
Sarah that if she didn't pick upher pace, she was projected to

(05:12):
run 99.74 miles in 55 hours.
After 50 hours of moving, sarahwas bent over at the waist at
about a 60 degree angle.
She was leaning at about a 45degree angle on her right side.
She was shuffling as fast asshe could, but not as fast as

(05:32):
she needed to get the miles shedesperately wanted.
We gave Sarah the dishearteningnews as she passed the start
finish line you're on pace tonot make it.
It pained us to tell her thisbecause at this point, she was
giving it everything she had andit wasn't going to be enough.
Several men had already droppedfrom the race, realizing that

(05:54):
100 miles was out of reach forthem.
Some of our racers that werestill on the course heard about
Sarah projecting to be short andthey rallied around her Curtis
and LaWan on her left side, andLydia and childhood cancer
survivor Reno on her right side.
Sarah placed her right arm onReno's shoulder and for the next
three plus hours the five ofthem walked the course at a

(06:16):
faster pace than Sarah wasshuffling on her own.
With every completed lap, weencouraged Sarah to keep going,
telling her that she was doingamazing.
When every muscle in her bodywas betraying her and the
shoulder she was leaning on wasthe only thing keeping her
upright, she somehow managed tomove her legs just a little
faster and soon her lap timestarted to improve.

(06:40):
Her pain got worse, her bendgot more pronounced, but she was
starting to make up the timeshe needed to get the 100 miles.
Watching her suffer but nevergive up and continually getting
stronger with every step, well,it just reinforced my belief in
the toughness of women.
Sarah went on to finish her 100miles.

(07:03):
She did it with 29 minutes and37 seconds to spare 54 hours, 30
minutes, 37 seconds.
She came in 38th place overall,but on that day she was the
toughest of all.
In the news, a former Texascongresswoman has been accused

(07:26):
of downloading other people'sfood pictures and passing them
off as her own on social mediaFood pictures.
How badly do you needvalidation in your life that you
claim other people's foodpictures as your own?
And what is this world comingto when we can't trust a
politician?

(07:46):
At least when I was claimingJohn Holmes' pictures as my own,
I mean when a friend was You'reso stupid.
You're stupid.
A Georgia man suffered fromsevere burns after attempting to
open a bag of chips with alighter because he was unable to
do it with his hands.
Am I the only one who wants toknow how the hell he got the

(08:08):
lighter to work?
Have you ever tried to igniteone of those big lighters?
You need the finger strength ofArnold Schwarzenegger to get
that to work.
In those triggering nighters.
You ever gotten one of those toproduce a flame in less than 10
squeezes?
Look what I have created.
I have made fire.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
I have made fire.
I have made fire.
I have made fire.
I have made fire, I have madefire, I have made fire.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Finally, alabama is scheduled, on January 25th, to
be the first state to put inplace an inmate to death using
nitrogen hypoxia.
Alabama has botched four lethalinjections since 2018.
Let's see Botched fourexecutions and now a method
that's never been tried.

(08:49):
No thanks, I'll just killmyself.
I got this.
I got this.
My guest today is as tough asthey come.
She's in four halls of fame asa world champion kickboxer.
She's in the kickboxing hall offame.
She's a world champion boxerwho's in the boxing hall of fame
.
She's in the black belt hall offame and she's also in our high

(09:09):
school alumni hall of fame.
Yup, she's a former classmateof mine who grew up in the
subdivision behind my house.
Yeah, I know I've got somebadass high school friends.
Bridget Riley is a Hollywoodstunt woman and a victor in her
biggest fight ever A cancersurvivor.
Hi, buddy, hi, how are you?

Speaker 2 (09:29):
I'm good.
How are you doing?
I'm good, how are you doing?

Speaker 1 (09:33):
I'm so excited to be talking with you.
This is going to be so great.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
Thank you so much for doing this.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Thank you for doing it.
How's Bob doing?

Speaker 2 (09:45):
He's good.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
How long have you guys been married?

Speaker 2 (09:47):
2009.
, 2009.
, so 2009.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
So you guys didn't get married right out of high
school then.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
No, he married somebody else who was in my
class and like right out of highschool and they had kids.
And I took off.
I tried New York, I went to LAand all these years later I was
on a dare to be on Facebookbecause I couldn't stand social
media.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Oh, me either yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
I hated it.
Especially after my space I waslike no, I don't need another
way for people to cheat on me,so I hated it.
So I went on there on a dareand he happened to be on there
and, yeah, he started talking tome.
How cool is that.
Yep.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
Super cool.
Yeah, I can't stand.
That's one of the reasons why Iretired from radio as early as
I did.
I hate social media, can'tstand it.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
I have to be on there now, and the more people told
me you have to be on there ifyou want to stay working as a
stunt woman, the more I didn'twant to be on there.
It's the same with the iPhonethe more people are like you got
to get an iPhone.
I'm like, I like my Blackberry.
I tapped out yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
Well, it's the same thing with me.
I have to be on because of thepodcast and you know other
things that I'm working on, butpeople just can get so nasty.
It's unbelievable how bravepeople get behind a computer.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Oh, they're real tough back there.
I'm like why don't you meet meoutside?

Speaker 1 (11:20):
That's not anything I would recommend after watching
some of the highlight videos.
Holy crap, ridge, you were thissweet, beautiful dance girl,
cheerleader girl in high school,and then you get this killer
left hook and you sit down inyour punches and you're almost
killing girls.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Hell Me likey.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
I did not know that about you, that you did martial
arts throughout high school.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
I did.
I started well, I was a gymnast.
And so freshman and sophomoreyear I was still doing
gymnastics and the more Istarted going to Patrick's
karate tournament and Patrick'skarate tournaments, the more I
was like I want to do that, Iwant some of that.
And that's when I made thedecision.

(12:05):
It was like, like the end ofsophomore year I jumped into
karate and I mean, I ate, drank,slept it Like I lived at the
dojo, like you couldn't get meout of there, you know.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
There couldn't have been a lot of girls, a lot of
women doing it back then.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Not as many as the guys.
You know, I was always fightingthe boys, the guys, and I loved
that because I really thinkthat's what made me tough.
And then, when I say I faced agirl, I was just like I just
walked right through.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
So would they go full force on you?

Speaker 2 (12:39):
No, not complete, not everybody.
Like when I sparred my brotherI would whisper, don't hit me so
hard, and he's like shut up,shut up.
But yeah, they had to pull backa little bit.
But it was different coming upin karate than it is today and
it's definitely different thanwhen I transferred in a

(13:02):
kickboxing.
And then it was totallydifferent when I transferred
into boxing because my wholeteam in boxing and in LA they
were all men and they were allMexican and they were all world
champions.
So it would be like me fightingJohnny Tapia in his prime.

(13:22):
He would have put it on me andthat's why women shouldn't be
fighting men.
And all this jump going onright now you have got to be
kidding me.
Wait till somebody dies.
I hate to say that but it's notgoing to be good and it's wrong
.
A man, I can whip a lessexperienced guy and I have, and

(13:42):
I kind of liked it.
But you put somebody at aworld-class level.
There's no comparison.
He's still going to have aman's strength, a man's bone
density, and it's just not equal.
It's not right.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
Before you came on.
That's what I was talking about.
I was talking about I have longsaid women are infinitely
tougher than men, stronger, notso, but there's always
exceptions to the rule.
There are men who are tougherthan some women.
There are some women who arestronger than the weakest man.
But yeah, you're talking abouttransgender.
You're talking abouttransgender athletes now being

(14:20):
accepted in mixed martial arts,former men now claiming to be
women, fighting against women.
And you're right, it's adangerous slope.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
I'm 1000% against it and that just I can't believe.
I mean, I'm just like it's justa matter of time.
You know, watching the circusand all these other sports, I'm
like it's just a matter of time.
And there was a really goodfighter back in the day and she

(14:52):
wanted to take on a guy and shegot her rear end just handed to
her and I was like, oh, that'swhat you get.
You know why don't you stay inyour lane and just shut up and
let's get together and moveforward?
You know, as women we were, youknow we were trying to man.
I used a pound on doors, youknow, trying to get.
My hardest fight was outsidethe ring.
I'm just like, put me in thatring, man, I can do this too.

(15:14):
I will put butts in the seats,trust me.
Just put me in there, you know.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Well, you were one of the pioneers of the sport.
I mean, when you first started,in the early 90s, women's
boxing was not that popular, itwas not that prevalent.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
No, it wasn't happening.
It would be so hard to get meopponents because I'm like you,
better get three behind thatfirst one because they would
just drop out or fall out or and.
And it was so hard becausethere were so few women that a

(15:50):
lot of times I would give upweight.
I mean, it was the Wild West,especially back in kickboxing.
I would, I would get on thatscale with weights in my pockets
.
You know I'd be fighting girlsthere out and I was just like
bring it because you were like118.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
I think you fought at 118.
Is that correct?

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah, my, my.
I fought at 118, my world titlewas at 118 and then I dropped
in.
Well, in boxing I dropped downto 115.
I was just coming in strongerand these girls out.
You know you weigh in the daybefore, so by the time you get
in the ring they're like 10, 12,15 pounds heavier.
I'm like your three weightdivisions, and so my team is

(16:27):
like we're gonna drop you down alittle bit more so you come
more at the top.
You know it's like wrestling.
You want to, you want to bestrong and you know you got to
make that weight.
I mean.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
No, I've spent.
I've spent a lot of time aroundcombat sports, so I know how
the Rehydration goes.
I know how the the eating goesafter you weigh in.
I mean, I remember when I wasin strike force, mma was in
Houston and I got to take TimKennedy around Before the
weigh-in and the dude was justso Dehydrated and just like, so

(16:59):
like his skin was so tight, andthen afterwards it was like man,
what can I do?
What can I do?
And I can't imagine that, whatthat did to your body.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
It couldn't be good.
I mean it definitely couldn'tbe good, and I and I did so many
Unhealthy things too, becauseyou really learn how to be a
binge eater, because after yousuffer and sacrifice, you know
after words you want to eateverything not nailed down.
I mean I would fly back from LAto St Louis.
I'm like I want emails, I needrich and Charlie's.

(17:29):
Let's go to Giannino's.
I mean I want a white cast, Ineed everything.
And I Was like get out of myway, and that pizza's mine.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
Yeah, you know, that's one thing that that I,
because I watched your OHS Hallof Fame induction and by the way
, that was all you, thank you.
No, it wasn't all me, it was, itwas all you.
I Look what they came to mewhen they first started the Hall
of Fame.
They asked me if I wanted to bein it and then they said do you

(18:01):
know anybody that you thinkneeds to be in it?
You were the number one that Iput on there because, yeah, I
didn't know at the time that yougot in based on your community
service.
Okay, I mean, that's why I'm in.
I'm not in because I didanything spectacular in the
world of sports or entertainmentor anything, but.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yes, you did.
Congratulations, by the way.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
Oh, thank you and congratulations to you too.
But I said you know this, and Iflat out told him.
I said this is not a real Hallof Fame if you're not in it, if
Todd Newton's not in it and ifJason Daniel Lee isn't in it.
Okay, Jason still has.
Jason still has to get in.
You know I can't believe.

(18:45):
Yeah.
So for those of you that didn'tgrow up in Oakville and didn't
go to Oakville High School,jason Daniel Lee is a
award-winning performer onBroadway and he is a recording
superstar and he's just.
He was incredible, he isincredible.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Amazing, and that is a hard world like that, that
genre, whoa.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
I can't even imagine.
Well, you in radio same thingit was only thing I ever wanted
to do, bridge was was beingradio.
When you, when you work for 22months for absolutely no pay and
you're putting in 90 hours aweek to do it, you know that's a
passion and you get, you gotpaid dick.
When you first started out inboxing it was like 400 bucks a

(19:31):
fight, right.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
It was almost like I paid them.
Let me in that ring and tryingto sell tickets and you know,
get my hustle on and yeah, Imean I made hardly nothing but I
didn't care and I like I'll dothis for free.
Put me in that ring and you'reabsolutely right.
When you do love, love, love it, you know there's, there's
nothing gonna stop yeah well,that's what I.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
When I go and speak at high school job fairs and
stuff, I always tell the kidsI'm like, don't take a job for
the money, take a job for thepassion, and if you'll work a
job for free, you have foundyour calling.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
It's, it's absolutely true.
It's great advice.
Yes.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
I lived it no there isn't.
And do you because you do a lot, do you still do a lot of work
with, with underprivileged kids?
I know you did that in LA.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
I did that in LA, not so much over here in Naples,
florida, but I am speaking nowfor the American Cancer Society
and I'm an advocate and I'msharing the story and you know
I'm talking not so much to kidsbut, you know, just to the
masses and just to educate.
But yeah, I still have a heartfor the, for the kids, and that

(20:40):
was the neat thing we did in LA.
My management, my managers werewonderful.
They worked with communitiesand schools and I mean, we were
going everywhere.
We were going into juvie andyou know, I'm seeing all these
young gangbanger Girls and I wasscared.
I was like, uh, what, what are?
How am I gonna get their ear?
Why on earth would they want tolisten to this white girl from

(21:03):
the midway, you know.
And my trainer you know,they're all.
I was surrounded by Mexicans.
Benny the jet, eukita's sister,was my mentor, trainer, my
everything, and her husbandmanaged me and she's like, and
Mika, you got a lot to say.
You just, you get up there andyou just share your heart.
And I was like, uh, I don'tknow, man, it was intimidating,

(21:23):
I bet.
And we put on a little show andonce I started hitting the
focus, myths and crack.
You know bang, bang, justcracking the pads.
These girls were just like thatwhite girl can get down.
Yeah, you know, it's like it'sa man, you, you made a couple
wrong moves, but you can makesome right ones.
Now you can turn that thingaround and shift your

(21:43):
perspective and you know,anything can happen.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
If you put in the work.
Exactly if you put in the workyou said you do a lot of work
with the American Cancer Society.
We are gonna talk about thegreatest battle of your life and
I know it didn't happen in thering and we're gonna get to that
because, as you know, I have asoft spot for pediatric cancer
patients and you and I have kindof that symbiotic relationship

(22:09):
with connection to cancer.
But we are talking about yourfighting career first.
Then we're going to talk aboutyour stuntwoman career.
How many world championshipsdid you win?
Was it three in boxing and fivein kickboxing?

Speaker 2 (22:21):
five in kickboxing and one in boxing the ifba, and
that was in.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
That was in your first professional fight, right.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
My well, my very first fight was my pro debut.
So I never had an amateur fight.
So never done, never, never.
I didn't.
And that's a learning ground,you know, like that's your
college, that's where you reallyget in there and learn.
But back then there weren'tenough females in the amateurs.
So my trainer was like, if youwant to do this, you got to go
pro right off the bat.

(22:50):
I'm like put me in that ring,man, I'm right.
And so that was my pro debut.
And I beat the US champion fromKansas City and she grabbed the
mic.
I mean, she, she, she was sonice to me before the fight
because she had like a 12 in 1Record and I'm zero is zero, do
say you know.
And she's looking at me like,oh my god, this poor little

(23:13):
thing, I'm just gonna clean herup, I'm gonna mop up the floor
with her and I put it, I took itto her and it was, it was a
good fight.
And they said I won.
And she grabbed the mic and shesaid this is a hometown
decision.
I, I got robbed and I demand arematch.
And in my hometown I said doneso.

(23:35):
One month later we went toKansas City and I, man.
I busted her nose, I cut her.
She was bleeding, they stoppedit, so I got the tko.
So then after that I had acouple more fights and then I
went for a real title fight waytoo soon, way too soon.
But when you're a fighter, youwant to fight.
So I took it and I got my mybutt kicked and it broke my

(23:58):
heart more than anything.
So that's what made me go to LA, because my, my, my dad and my
brother were like shoving Blackbelt magazines in front of me
and you know, like, look, if youwant to be on this cover,
that's where you need to go.
And you go to the jet center inLA, in Van Nuys, california,

(24:18):
and you need to be with thosepeople.
And I was just like I'm there,I'm there.
So it was a minute before I wona world title in kickboxing.
It was a process, but I had theUS title.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, did you travel all over the world for
kickboxing?

Speaker 2 (24:34):
Little, a little bit like yeah, um, we went to.
Yeah, we went to some places,but I fought a lot in LA.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, what's your favorite place you've ever been?

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Hmm, montreal, I loved, I loved fighting there.
It was gorgeous.
It was beautiful.
You know, when fighting, youcan't eat, you can't drink, you
can't party, you can't donothing.
So I was like I need to comeback here.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Right.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
That place was amazing.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
And you spent some time in Australia.
I know with the power rangers.
Mind more from power rangers,right.

Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, we shot.
We shot that there, so I wasthere for a couple months.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Was that really?
Was that really your first rolein Hollywood?

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Well, I did a low budget film before I, before I
moved to LA so technically I wasstill living in Oakville and it
was a kickboxing promoter, daleApollo cook, from Tulsa,
oklahoma, and I thought I foughthis girl and I beat her and he
was just like, hey, man, youreally cares?
Mad at blah, blah, blah.
And he was doing all thesebudget films Not to knock it In

(25:40):
the Philippines.
And he's like you want to come?
And I'm like you know this waspre sex trafficking.
I didn't think anything, youknow.
I'm like, yeah, I'm gone, let'sgo.
I go, but I don't really knowhow to act at all.
He goes Don't worry, you'll getit.
And, um, that was my first film, but I learned so much.
I learned a lot.
And then cut to.
Now I'm in LA.
I was like I suck at acting,this will never happen again.

(26:03):
And there was a castingdirector watching me train at
the jet center and he goes youshould, you should, come on this
audition.
I go uh, no, I'm here to, I'mhere to be the world champion,
you're in my way.
And he goes well, you can makea lot more money and have more
time to train.
And so I go, let's go.
So that's how it all happened.
That was my first role and um,I got an Acting part on the

(26:28):
Power Rangers, so that was thatwas how it all started.
I didn't even mean to happen.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
No, but it worked out really really well, didn't it?
It did so.
Um, you talk about a low budgetfilm when you're starting out
in boxing, uh, and then youeventually make what I consider
the show, working for don kingand fighting on the undercard of
Lennox Lewis of andre holyfieldin madison square garden.

(26:54):
How does that Like when you'rein minor league baseball?
You're traveling on a bus andyou're not really eating very
good, and when you make it tothe major leagues, everything is
exponentially better.
How does that compare in boxing?

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Well, boxing for women is a whole different
animal.
So I mean, I, you know, I wentfrom, I was pro all the time.
Like I said, my pro debut um,never had an amateur fight.
The money wasn't there, uh, butI just wanted to fight and I
had good people, I had a greatteam, I had great management and
, you know, in LA it was so hot,it was so happening.

(27:29):
I mean, you had, uh, mickeyrourke and freddie roach started
outlaw boxing gym and mytrainers.
What was so great about them isthey took me all around.
I went to all the hot gyms,boxing gyms but they're not even
advertised, like you have toknow where they are.
But they were awesome.
It's like rocky, you know.
And, um, we went all around andpeople were seeing that I fight

(27:54):
, and so they were like, yeah,we want to put you on, we want
to start putting you on thecards, and so I just started
getting on all these shows.
And Then Rick Coolis, with theevent entertainment, came in and
he was the first to do like anall-female show.
So we made history.
And and recita, and I got cut inmy fight.

(28:15):
And Marty bankins, who's like a, you know, famous referee he
didn't even give my corner achance to work on the cut.
I'm like, look, if I were adude you could you fix it up.
I didn't, you know, you'refighting like I don't care, get
this blood on my face.
I got to go and I was so bumand it was so hard because you
know they had.
It was hard, I think, for somepeople to accept women getting

(28:39):
hit like that, you know, and I'mlike I'm like a couple to give
a couple right, and so we had towork on move your head, get
your head out of the way.
You know, bob, and we baby, youknow, just like, yeah, and I
need, I need to keep some ofthose brain cells, but it um the
money.
It's not like it is today inMMA right.

(29:00):
Even I fought for a sugaryLeonard.
I fought for De La Jolla.
When I fought for Don King, themoney was a lot better, but
it's still nothing.
Nothing compared to what themen make, and back then it just
wasn't there yet.
I don't care, I still did itbut what about the dressing room
?

Speaker 1 (29:15):
and what about the, the, the atmosphere and the
energy?

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Oh, it's the best.
I mean, it's like such a rushand I love every part, every
aspect.
I love the way in, I love the,the press conferences.
I loved, you know, resting andgetting amped and Warming up in
the, in the locker room, and andso much goes on.
Mentally, like, fighters arealways like no, I'm not nervous.

(29:41):
I'm like then you're, you'relying, you're lying or you're in
the wrong sport, because Iremember I almost get sick.
I was so nervous and, you know,just trying to calm that thing
down, and it was like, and Ididn't want anybody to know
because I'm like what a punk,you know, but I was, honestly,
every time I thought I wasTerrified, I was like, why am I

(30:05):
doing this?
And then I have to talk to my.
I belong here, I deserve this.
I've worked hard.
No one works harder than me,you know.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
And so was it?
Was it nerves, or was itanxiety, or was it self-doubt,
or all of the above?

Speaker 2 (30:19):
all the above, yeah, and you know you're getting
judged and you're performing infront of a whole audience, and
then you got somebody at theother side of that ring coming
in there to knock you outunconscious, if they can.
So there's a lot going on.
But I'll tell you what, as soonand I love the music and
walking up to the ring and thestare down as soon as that bell

(30:41):
rings, all of it's gone and it'sall it's just on.
It's like you know.
So I don't know, that was myprocess.
I would go through this wholething and I'd get in there and
and then Afterwards, there's,there's nothing like it.
Nothing else made me feel morealive than being in that ring.
And Afterwards, I mean, youknow you have to come down from

(31:03):
that high.
It is the ultimate high.
And then you know that I'm like, okay, let's win the next one.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
How long does it take for Okay, because the
adrenaline obviously is justsky-high, like you just said.
But how long does it take forthe soreness to set in and how
long does it take to get to getrid of it?

Speaker 2 (31:28):
You mean like the soreness after the fight
absolutely it depends who I'mfighting, it depends how, how
you know, because some people Iwould just knock out really
quick and then Some people.
I could hit them with a bat andthey're not going down.
I'm like, wow, this is weird.
It's a weird place to go whenyou're used to curtain curtain
girls where now, like my, youknow, my rec cross is doing not,

(31:50):
not even phasing her.
So, depending on all thevariables, like how tough this
opponent is, how long the fight,is it a 10-round fight?
I've gone 12 rounds inkickboxing, 10 in boxing, so it
just depends.
Sometimes I mean I was my headlike they kept me up all night

(32:10):
Like I'm sure I've had so manyconcussions.
It's not good.
It's not good.
It's not good.
And thank God I was veryprotected and I believe God
protected me throughout myentire career because when I got
into the Hall of Fame, the bigone in boxing, I Saw some of my

(32:31):
Friends and they're not doing sowell, you know, there's
definite consequences and I'mjust so grateful that I was
protected, like God, really, bythe grace of God, I believe I
was just Whoo protected and some, because sometimes you know,
like in Rocky, when you see thatyou know and they're in, that
you know Rocky's in the showerafter he thought I've been

(32:53):
Derego and you know, you see, Ihad that I had headaches.
I had I Felt my balance was off, my equilibrium was off.
I thought I just didn't feelright and it took a little while
to get that back together, youknow.
And and then like, well,kickboxing is totally different

(33:14):
than boxing.
Like kickboxing my legssometimes my legs I had bruises
from leg kicks On my thighswhere I just looked like I got
out of a car accident, like whathappened to you, like Welts,
and bruises all over.
You know, but I loved it.
I'm like black eyes.
I'm like, ooh, look at that,you know, because People would
be like where's some sunglasses.

(33:35):
I'm like, huh, that's mybragging rights, you know like I
had to honor.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
I didn't know that you were a fighter until I
turned on ESPN 2 one day, andhere you are defending a title
against Aisha Lawson, which was,which was the women's fight of
the year.
That year and the first roundwas just amazing for your, for
her, not so much for you.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
What happened that was crazy.
That girl was from Liverpooland in the the interview before
she was like saying this won'tgo past four, like she was
certain she's gonna knock me out, and I was just like that's
scary, you know, and it waslying, and that first round I

(34:22):
walked right into her punch.
I mean it was, she just timedit.
Kudos to her man.
She dropped me and, yeah,richard steel was the referee,
so there was controversy.
He had an early stop, it's.
Remember you caught all thatcrap.
I don't know if it was apernell Whitaker, it was a.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
It was a Meldred Taylor, meldred Taylor.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, and so there was all that controversy behind
him and he should have stoppedthe fight.
He easily could have stoppedthe fight and nobody would have
said anything because I Was hurt.
I don't remember getting up.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
There were 52 seconds left in the first round when
you went down and this harkensback to earlier what you were
talking about In your fight inBrasita when Marty Denkin was
the referee.
He stopped it too early.
Al Bernstein, who was thecommentator after the fight when
you won in the ninth round,said a lot of credit Goes to
Bridget Riley, but some creditgoes to Richard steel for not

(35:17):
stopping that fight in the firstround when Normal people
probably would have said a womandoesn't need to be taking this
kind of abuse.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Yeah, I was hurt, I better you were.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
You didn't know where you were.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
I was on queer street and, honestly, I don't remember
, I have no memory of it, likeI've lost that time.
I, when I was down, all Iremember was I got up and I went
like this and he goes okay, youcan continue and there was a
lot of, like you said, there wasa lot of the round left and he

(35:51):
is my favorite referee, by theway.
I always am like Thank you fornot stopping that fight.
And I remember I threw a punchand I almost fell over.
I had no Balance.
I was falling around that ringand I was just trying to run
around like my corn is like move, you know, get on your bicycle.
I'm like I didn't even hearthem, like I didn't know where I

(36:12):
was.
And I remember the bell rang andI I had no idea where my corner
was.
I was still hurt, like I had no, and I was just like uh, and
Lily came out and got me and Iremember when she sat me down in
that corner, I Wanted and Iknew there was a camera.
I I knew that camera was righton me but I wanted to scream

(36:37):
what happened?
Like how, how did this happen?
I, I'm gonna lose my worldtitle after one round in my
first title, world title defense, and everybody's seen it and I
couldn't say all that.
You just you got to keep ittogether, you know, and she's
just like me.
Hot, you're fine, you're gonnaget back into this fight, you're
okay, you're all right.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Once she told me I'm all right, I went Okay, I'm okay
, it's a trip what actuallyhappened in the corner Was that
the ringside position comes overand says, are you okay?
And you're like yeah.
He says you know who I am andyou're like, well, I'm terrible

(37:21):
with names.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
I'm not really good with names and he goes you're
all right, you're all right.
So yeah, that was crazy.

Speaker 1 (37:35):
In the first round real honest moment.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
I was just like oh crap.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
It was funny, though it was funny, uh.
So yeah, you go down to thefirst round.
Second round was uh, was washers as well, and I think in the
third round you started to turnthings around and by the sixth
round she was done, you know.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
I'm better.
And then the fifth two, like Ihad her up against the ropes and
I remember I just let go and Iwas like I hit that girl so many
times she thought she wassurrounded.
I was like they're not stoppingit.
And then, you know, then I waslike, just even climbing back
into that fight I felt like, wow, this is good.

(38:14):
But then I was like I need tomake her pay.
And then I was like, okay, I'mtagging her, I'm hurting her.
And now I was like, and now Ineed to knock her out.
It was such a cool Like.
I'm like I gotta, I gotta gether, I gotta get her.
And she just wouldn't go downtill the ninth.

Speaker 1 (38:28):
But it's a championship fight.
It goes 10 rounds, but youstopped her in the ninth.
But one thing that really wasinteresting to me in the ninth
round was she hit you with anelbow.
Do you remember that?

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Yeah, and I've been hurt with elbows and I I mean
it's like it's like a knife man.
So when we tie elbows and like,um, one of my kickboxing fights
, my head swelled.
It looked like an alien on myhead, um, from all these illegal
elbows.
So, yeah, I can't stand when Iget hit, head butted with corn
rolls and when I get elbowed,but I was okay.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
So did.
Did you realize that she hadhit you with an elbow and did
that piss you off and becauseyou knocked her out like 30
seconds later?

Speaker 2 (39:12):
I don't remember.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
Okay, well, it was one.
It in in even the the male profighters that you trained with
your left hand was devastating.
The left hook is just I mean,in the way you sat down on your
punches in all of your fights,number one left hand, far
superior than all of youropponents.
The way you sat down in yourpunches.

(39:34):
But the thing that reallyseparated you in the loss in
fight was your conditioning.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
Yeah, that's why, you won.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
What was a typical workout for you?

Speaker 2 (39:42):
Wow.
So we would get up at like 5 30in the morning and, um, we
would run, our team would run,and we have so many Amazing
parks out in our leg.
We'd go Up to the mountain oneweek.
We'd go on the beach and dosand running, um, sprinting, a
lot of running, and then in thegym and so that.
So it was two days.
So then we rest and then goback to the gym and just

(40:06):
everything you can imagineshadow boxing, jumping rope,
hitting focus pads, hitting thebags, all the different bags,
speed bag sparring.
And I was on a team we sparreda lot, we sparred a lot and a
lot of people thought my team,my, my trainer, was Javier
Capetillo.
Well, first it was Let me goback Gabriel Gonzalez, who had a

(40:27):
world champion son, speedyRoger Gonzalez, who was amazing
and one of my sparring partners.
Once we um and we moved awayfrom Gabriel and so we went with
Javier Capetillo and he got inall that trouble when His fire,
his, they said he packed hisfist up oh.

(40:47):
Wow, sugar, shame moseley.
I'm like he never did that tomine.
But, um, javier Capetillo, hewas and he passed away.
Um, so sad.
I I loved him, he was amazing,but he's he.
We worked so freaking hard andwe we sparred a lot.
So we were known as a team.
As far as maybe too much.
A lot of people are like You'regetting a lot of head damage

(41:09):
just in the the training.
But but that's how we workedand we just worked so hard and
sometimes we'd go to, uh, hewould take us to weight lifting
gyms and we would do like supersetting and just for strength
it's not a whole lot.
We weren't trying to makemuscles, we were just trying to
do exercises, clump together tomake us a little bit stronger.
But, um, yeah, we, uh, wetrained hard.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
When did you know that you didn't mind getting hit
?

Speaker 2 (41:37):
in karate.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
Really.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
I didn't care.
In, karate was a game of tag,it's a who's first, you know.
And I was just like some ofthese girls.
They'd hit me and there'd belike calling time break and call
for point.
I'm like I'm not done, I'm justabout to hit her.
So that's when I knew like Isee some of these girls and I

(42:02):
talked to them and they're like,ooh, I don't know if I really
want to get hit.
I'm like, well, you're in thewrong sport, you can't think
that way.
You can't even give it a secondthought, like I never thought
about it.
I just wanted to do the hitting, you know.
And if I took a couple on theway in, cool, let's go Like
Arturo Gotti.
He was one of my that guy, youknow, until he got cut or, you

(42:23):
know, dropped, he wasn't in thefight, you know.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah, the three fights that he had with Mickey
Ward are infamous, justlegendary.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
Forget about it.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Yeah, forget about it exactly.
So you're walking into the ring.
You know you're gonna get hitright.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Okay, how does that equate to stunt work?
Do stunt people always get hurt?
Is it just minimize the hurt?

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Not always.
It's not every job is equal.
Sometimes it's ND stunts.
We're just running out of theway, getting out of the way of
cars, like in a Transformermovie although I did get run
over by a motorcycleaccidentally, but I was okay,
but I was so stupid.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
How did that happen?
How does that happen?

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Sometimes, sometimes on these big budget films,
there's a lot of chefs in thekitchen and you'll have your
stunt coordinator, your fightcoordinator, you know you'll
have special effects.
You'll have the director andyou will have, like Michael Bay
and thank God he wasn't on thatset Like there's a couple of

(43:34):
different sets his first unit,second unit, there's third unit
on his movies.
And so glad he wasn't there tosee that.
I'm not even kidding you.
Right before we were lining theshot up, it was a big shot like
crashes, cars, motorcycles,we're running stunt people
everywhere.
Three people who were, you know,my superiors, gave me three

(43:57):
different directions and I wasjust like and it was everybody
rush, come on, come on, come on,we're losing the way, get your
places, you know, and that'swhen mistakes happen, that's
when people get hurt and it's sostupid.
But I was, you know, you don'twanna say anything, you're just,
I'm just a stunt person and Ijust need to shut up and hit my

(44:23):
mark and go on action.
But I was like uh-oh, and Itold my friend I don't know what
I'm supposed to be doing.
I had three differentdirections and someone just said
just pick one.
And I picked the wrong one andI got in the line of not guy on
his motorcycle and he ran meover.
I literally was like frickingyark.

(44:45):
I mean I just I was okay.
And everybody was like, oh myGod, are you all right?
And I'm so embarrassed.
I'm like I'm fine Because youradrenaline is running.
You know, your adrenaline isrunning and I think it saves us,
you know, because I've donesome car hits falling out of
cars really sucks.
Yeah, I've done some big girlstunts, ratchets, you know, to

(45:08):
the flat back and it's gnarly.
Most of the time you'redefinitely gonna get, you're
gonna get a little hurt.
I just don't like to breakthings.
I worked, I worked a show and Ibroke my rib and I didn't wanna
tell them.
The coordinator was like canyou not?
Are you all right?
You know it's just a broken rib.
I'm like yeah, I'm fine, Icould hardly.

(45:29):
I just didn't want it topuncture my lung.

Speaker 1 (45:32):
I'm like yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
I have an eight Advil and I finished the day, but
it's a broken rib what.
There's nothing they can do.
So yeah, I mean there's peoplethat have died.
I'm like I don't wanna die forthis industry.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
You know, and I'm like you know.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
Look at all the legend.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
Probably the greatest stunt man in the history of
Hollywood.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Legend.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
I love how you know all the stuff.
You know a lot.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
Boxing Hall of Fame.
Kickboxing Hall of Fame.
Black belt Hall of Fame.
Oakville Senior High SchoolHall of Fame.
Does anyone mean more than theother?

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Well, oakville was really special, because that's
my heart and that's where I'mfrom, and I always felt like I
was kind of a nerd in highschool, and I think it was good,
though, cause it motivated me.
I'm like I wanna be somebody,you know, and I did, I really
did, and that was very specialand just to get to go home and,

(46:34):
you know, I wish my mom couldhave seen it.
She would have and she'd saythat yeah would have.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:40):
And, but I would have to say the Boxing Hall of Fame,
because I mean I sat.
I sat right next to Pazienza,you know, vinnie.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Pazienza.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
Yeah, I mean like weird, the Pazmanian Devil.
Yeah, and he was a hoot and,like Rafael and Gabriel Ruelas,
they were inducted, I mean, buteverybody was inducted in this
class and I just felt like Ican't believe I'm sitting here.
I just I couldn't believe it.
I was pinching myself, I'm justlike I don't know how is this

(47:17):
happening?

Speaker 1 (47:19):
So what do you have?
One, what is your?
I made it moment.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
What, my what.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
Your, I made it.
Moment, Look Ma, look Dad, Imade it.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
In which thing?
Fighting or entertainmentindustry?

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Both.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
I felt like I really made it when I fought on Bunny
the Jet Yukita's retirementfight in Las Vegas at the Mirage
and that was a big one forkickboxing.
That's when I was like wow, andthere was a lot of celebrities.
That wasn't super starstruckbut I still was like I think, I

(47:58):
think I'm doing it, I think I'mhere.
And then in boxing, medicineregard, and that was pretty,
that was amazing, that wasamazing, wow.
But my pro debut in boxing Ifought Yvonne Trevino the first
time and that was in Arizona andit was Roger Mayweather was on

(48:19):
the card and Michael Carvajaland Michael Carvajal was one of
my all time favorites becausehe's a little guy who threw
punches and bunches and I justloved him and he was the
headliner on the card that I waslike, oh, this is awesome.
I was so excited.
I was like, oh, my gosh.
So, yeah, a couple of times andthen, I guess, right off the

(48:42):
bat in the entertainmentindustry because, well, not
right off the bat, becausenobody knew what the Power
Rangers was at first, you knowwhat I mean?
I remember calling my mom likehey, mom, I booked it, I booked
this gig.
And I was telling her and I'mlike, hey, yeah, it's this
footage from Japan.
And like I don't know, thesewhite people are in these suits.

(49:04):
And she's like that's nicehoney.
I checked in about six monthswhen that thing took off.
My mom was like I'm the PowerRanger Pictures, no stat.
And I was just like, huh, wow,see about that.

Speaker 1 (49:21):
How proud were your parents and your brother with
what you did.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
So proud.
My dad so proud.
And as soon as I took off forLA, it was like the beginning of
93.
My dad, not so far after that,was diagnosed with lung cancer
and he kept telling me honey,there's nothing you can do, just

(49:49):
stay out there, keep followingyour dreams.
Because it was really happeningfor me and I was like no dad, I
got to come home.
I got to come home.
I got mom and Patrick are here,I'm going to go through
treatment, I need you to staythere.
And so he was more proud thananybody.
And my mom, my mom, would gonuts.
She got nervous and she was aparamedic and she, you know, but

(50:11):
when she would see me bleedingby, you know, blood coming like
a sprinkler, she's like.
You know.
It was hard on her to see meget really hurt, but she loved
it.
And the whole entertainmentindustry she's my biggest fan.
I mean, they were, you know.
My dad passed away and then mymom passed away in 2021.

(50:36):
And both of them died of stagefour lung cancer and that was
that's rough, your mom passedaway a year after you were in
remission or cleared of noevidence of disease.
That as soon as I rang the bellit was like, let me say she got

(50:56):
that diagnosis and she hadkidney cancer, bilateral,
bilateral kidney say that fivetimes fast bilateral kidney
cancer five years before she wasdiagnosed with lung cancer beat
, it went into remission NED andfive years later, almost on the
money, it metastasized to herlung and she had like a tumor on

(51:20):
her neck and oh, but I wasthere for her because we were
all in Florida and you know, boband me made the move from LA to
Florida, which was a big move,and I was just like I don't know
, like I can't ever leave LA.
And now I'm like, thank God, Idid my gosh.
It's skid row everywhere there.
I can't even park on the car tomeet her without five people

(51:41):
living here.
I mean, it's sad and it's likewhat do you, what do you do
about that?
But don't even get me startedon the process.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
Well, also living in Florida, you get to keep more of
your paycheck.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
Yeah, yeah, I like that.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
I bet you do, I bet everybody does.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
I really like that and it was great because I drove
my mom around, I was part ofher caregiving team and my
stepdad is wonderful.
Like I have, my mom struck ittwice right with my dad and then
my stepdad and I just adore him.
He's wonderful and you know, itwas really really really hard

(52:15):
to, you know, see my mom gothere.
It was much harder than when Iwent through it.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
Yeah, I got that.
I watched an interview that youdid well with the American
Cancer Society and you weretalking about how you beat your
cancer and then you get yourmom's diagnosis and the emotion
that you had talking about yourown battle was a lot less than
the emotion you had talkingabout your mom's battle.
And you know, I see that withthe parents of the children that

(52:41):
we help.
It's like you know I don't knowhow many times I've heard this,
but it's.
Any parent will say I wish thatI had the cancer and the kid
didn't have the cancer and Imean it's.
You showed it too.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
The hardest thing I ever had to go through.
I mean, that was my girl,that's my best friend, I needed
it.
And then COVID was going.
So I'm like sometimes theywouldn't let me go up in there,
but I say, mommy, I'm in theparking lot, I'm right here, I'm
just I'm right here, I'm righthere.
And then you're going through,I'm here with you, you know,

(53:18):
just, I'm just right, I got asclose as I could.
You know they wouldn't let mein there and I just, you know, I
, just I, I walk through it andI'm like God.
I mean, I have a lot ofquestions, but I have to keep my
faith in God that his ways arenot my ways.
I don't understand the thingsand one day we will.
Well, one day I'll have allthose answers and then, till

(53:39):
then, I miss her.
I would tell anything excitinghappening, mommy, and it's a big
void, but it's also I knowwhere she's at.
I know that, I know that, Iknow that I know and I have
incredible faith in God and Idon't understand why did I get
the golden ticket?

(54:00):
Why didn't she?
I have friends going throughcancer right now and I call it
my halo and I pray for them andI'm here for them, like we talk,
we email, and I just feel likethat's part of my mission to
share and to just.
You can bounce anything off me,you can vent.
I know what you're feeling andit's OK to be scared.

(54:22):
It's OK, you have permission tobe scared.
These tough, tough women that Iknow are just like they're
prayer warriors.
They're tough and it's justlike sometimes you just have to
cry.
You just have to just volcrocodile tears and feel your
feelings and be OK and ask why.

(54:44):
And we try to be so positive.
But sometimes it's just OK togo ahead and have a little mini
breakdown and God knows I've hadtons of them and I just pick
myself back up and that nextscan is right around the corner,
so that albatross is alwayssitting right here and I'm just
like I don't want to keepthinking about it.
It's so mental.

(55:05):
I'm like God.
I thought fighting was mental,but facing cancer is on a whole
other level and so many peoplewell-meaning people they want to
.
Oh ee, have you checked thestatistics and the percentage in
the five-year thing?
I'm like zip it.

(55:26):
I stiff, arm them Like I can'tcontinue.
Thank you, I love you.
I can't continue thisconversation.
That's not my story and don'tspeak that over me.
And, with all due respect, Ilove you but no, thank you, and
I went into my bubble.
You have to just try to keepthis as positive as you can.
But, boy, sometimes three inthe morning, I don't even have

(55:48):
to look at the clock, it's 3 AM.
I'm up and I have to justbreathe and work on breathing
and just stay ahead of it andhopefully I do believe in
getting scans, I do believe indoing my blood work and all of
this alternative natural.
Now, I did all the science andso I had all my people telling

(56:10):
me oh, you need to go allnatural, you need to do, you
know, chispy cancer.
You need to do that.
You need to turn down chemo,radiation That'll kill you
before the cancer.
And I'm just getting pounded,man, and I just it's
overwhelming because you don'tknow and it's your one life and
I'm like I'm going to do thechemo, I'm going to do the

(56:32):
surgery, I'm going to do theradiation, I'm going to do
everything I can in juice andgreen and go organic and get rid
of all my candles and, you know, get air filters.
And there's only so much youcan control.
And I became that person.
I am a nut.
I mean I used to have like 500candles.
You know I was candle girl andthose things are toxic and you

(56:54):
don't want to breathe that, butwe're good Get up.

Speaker 1 (56:59):
We were talking about food.
Food is horrible for you.
It's all the preservatives andstuff.
Listen, I gave up sugar.
I had to give up sugar and whenI gave up sugar actually helped
my mental health Totally.
Yeah, it's poison, it's poison.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
It's complete poison.
And it's so weird because I ateso bad.
I ate bacon.
I mean I would eat bacon on aset.
I just want a whole plate ofbacon and I would eat red meat.
You know, and I had, you know,colorectal cancer and I read all
this stuff.
I eliminated that.
I just got rid of that and Imade so many changes.

(57:36):
And you know, food is medicine.
It really really is what we'reputting in.
Everything we put in.
We need to go.
What is that doing?
And it's hard because I mean Iwould binge, I would eat all the
junk, all the french fries,fast food.
I mean, you know, I only ategood, like a couple weeks before

(57:58):
my fight, and that was just tomake weight, and I'm like, oh,
as soon as I get out of here,man, you know what I mean.
So this changed everything.
My whole world turned upsidedown.
I mean I have these big greendrinks.
You know I do the cold pressorganic three-time strain.
You know kale, all my juices,carrots.

Speaker 1 (58:21):
But it's so expensive to eat good, I pound them.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
You know, oh my god, it's so cheap if I just want to
drive through McDonald's.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
If I try to live you're going to, it's like a car
payment.
Because I'm a day shopper, Icook now, which is nothing short
of a miracle.
My stove in Hollywood literallywas for storage.
Like Bob got there and he waslike where this is a while ago,
right?
So he's like where's youryellow pages?
I'm like in the oven.
And he said what it's in theoven?

(58:52):
He told me something like Ifound stacks of paper and yellow
pages, white pages.
He goes I take it, you don'treally use this thing.
I go.
No, I go out to eat.
I go out to eat and that allchanged.
Like me, cooking now is amiracle, but I know what's going
in the food, you know, and itreally matters.

(59:13):
Do I still eat out?
Yes, do I still have cheat days?
Yes, but I try to go moreorganic or do like an apple pie,
like we have food in thoughtout here.
Everything in that store isorganic.
You don't have to look if it'sorganic, it's all organic.
But I'm like sometimesdifferent things are at
different stores.
It's become like my job.

(59:35):
It really is a full time jobTaking my supplements, doing the
juicing, doing the turmeric andthe ginger root and juicing
orange.
It's like a full time job.
And then I'm trying to do wholefoods and chop everything up
and cook and then after I try towalk an hour a day and it's

(59:57):
just like I don't have time foranything.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Yeah right, your battle with cancer.
How tough was it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:04):
It was pretty rough.
Yeah, it was pretty rough.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
Says the Hall of Famer in kickboxing, boxing and
black belt yeah, it was prettytough.
I've seen what people gothrough in cancer treatment.
It looks harder than prettytough.
Yeah, it was rough I don't knowif I could honestly Bridget.
I don't know if I could do it.
I don't know what I've seen.
I don't think I could do it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
Well, I hope you don't ever have to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
Well, same here.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
But I believe you could if you had to, because
really, at the end of the day,what's your option, what's your
choice?
My mom looked at me and Iremember and she looked at me.
We were in the line to get herinto chemo, her first chemo, and
she looked at me.
She goes, she had tears in hereyes and she's like I don't know
if I can do this, honey, Idon't know if I can go in there.
And I just said, mom, it's notas bad as it looks and you can

(01:00:54):
do this and we're gonna do this,we're gonna get you through it.
Now she lost all her hair.
We took her to a salon and theyshaved it.
She sat there and she was justit was like me going into the
ring.
She had a game face on.
She's just like take it off.
I was so proud of her.
She had no fear, like she and Iknow she was terrified and I

(01:01:18):
just was like looking at her andI mean I was just like and I
could have just started fallingbecause that would have been
good for her, though.
No, I brought champagne.
I'm like we're celebrating mom.
This is.
You know you're gonna look sogreat because she's so cute.
She has the perfect head, likea good guy to fight loss.
My head is so ugly and her headwas so cute.

(01:01:44):
I go, mom, you have the perfecthead for this and I, you know,
I said there was a film I amlegend, right With Denzel and
they all a lot of the sun.
People shaved their heads.
I'm like, if we can do this fora film of make believe movie,

(01:02:04):
we got this in life, It'll goback.
And then we got all these coolwigs.
Like we went shopping for wigsand I go mom, do you know how
many dancers and how many timesI'm always in wigs?
You're like an honorary stuntgirl, so let's embrace it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
Well, I think one of the reasons why maybe mom had a
round head and yours wasn't shewasn't getting punched for a
living.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
I'm falling on it that too.

Speaker 1 (01:02:28):
That too.
I want to continue talkingabout boxing and we're gonna get
to your storied Hollywoodcareer in a moment.
But how did you and Don Kinghook up?

Speaker 2 (01:02:37):
Okay, gosh, that's a good question.
Well, once I saw ChristieMartin bust out, I was like you
know, cause my whole team, wewere always watching fights
together at their home with foodand partying and watching the
fights.
And when I saw her on thatundercard of Mike Tyson, I went,
that should be me and I hadthat.

(01:02:59):
I mean, I was a little pit bull.
I mean, I was just a Tasmaniandevil, I was a.
I was a I want to get some ofthat back today.
You know, but I was.
I was like we got to.
We got to do this.
We got to, we got to meet DonKing.
So I knew he was doing a showand I had been invited to come
and check it out and my wholemission was to get in front of

(01:03:21):
Don King and, and we did that,blinky, blinky my manager,
blinky Rodriguez, who was agreat, great fighter in his day,
also went.
We went to Vegas, we sought himout and Blinky it's not like we
had a set meeting, but I alsohad some behind the scenes
people that were, that were forme and I mean it takes a village

(01:03:45):
and a couple guys that werevery connected.
They believed in me, they putin a good word, vouch for me,
and then finally he goes okay,I'll take a minute.
And he talked to me and he musthave seen my heart and Blinky's
a real good talker and Don Kingwas like, okay, yeah, and.

(01:04:05):
And so that's what started theball rolling.
And then we had some meetingsand negotiations.
You know, it was a process.
It was a process, you know.
But he finally said, yeah,let's sign you.
And he was not going to supportmy world title, the IFBA.
So I knew, if I wanted to signwith Don King, that I had to let

(01:04:26):
that go.
So nobody beat me for my worldtitle, I let it go.
I won the world title.
But then I wanted to, but Ijust wanted bigger and I knew
the way to go.
I have to get with a Bob Barumor a Don King, like.
I just knew that's what I needto do.
I already fought for Tengus.
Those guys are great, we all.
You know we're all around eachother.

(01:04:47):
In LA I got inducted withRoberto Duran.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Oh, my God.

Speaker 2 (01:04:55):
Right, I'm like I'm not worthy.
I'm not worthy Cause I wouldsee him, he would bounce into
the gyms, cause also, one of myother great, great trainers was
Freddie Roach and I got to trainwith Manny Pacquiao.

Speaker 1 (01:05:10):
I was going to say you must have been with Manny
Pacquiao.
Then cause Freddie and Mannyare inseparable.

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
Yeah, so that that was awesome and that was when he
had a wild card in Hollywood.
It was, it was great.
I mean, that was great.
And Freddie, freddie's amazingand I've known Freddie forever
and when it's like you know he,he battles Parkinson's.

Speaker 1 (01:05:31):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
But the second he gets the myths and he starts
it's like gone, it's, it's atrip and I love the whole rock
study and the whole movementhelping Parkinson's.
I train.
I have a client I trained whohas Parkinson's and I do a house
call.
I go to his house and we set upin the gym, in the garage and I

(01:05:56):
work with him and he his heart.
I mean, that's where my heartis Like.
I want to help people.
I'm going to work with girls.
I want to help girls getconfidence and girls who are
getting bullied.
I want to teach them how tofight and how to feel good about
themselves, and I really thinkwe are in a culture where women
should know how to fight.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
It's interesting that you say that you you want to
develop self-esteem for thesegirls, Cause I'm looking at a
quote right here where it saysthe silk specter outfit was
horrifying to me.
There was a little room to hideanything.
I am just so self-conscious andI have a few self-esteem issues
that I'm working on.
Do you still?

Speaker 2 (01:06:36):
Yeah, I have my own insecurities, and especially as
a stunt woman, we're, you know,doubling a superhero.
That was a Zach Snyder, youknow, who did 300 and he's an
amazing director and he didWatchmen, and so that outfit
they had to do a full body cast,like I've been casted, like my

(01:06:59):
head, where they, you know,you're breathing out of straws.
It's very scary and I used tobe claustrophobic but I had to
get over that.
I had to get over that,especially with the Power Ranger
helmet for the movie Cause themovie, when they put that thing
on, it snapped and you were likeyou're in there and it had two
little holes.
You could hardly breathe andyou couldn't see diddly squat.

(01:07:20):
We had like windex where it wascrazy.
So I had to get overclaustrophobia.

Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
How do you get over claustrophobia Cause I have it
bad.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
So did I.
I mean bad, I wasn't going toget the job if I didn't get over
it.
So I had, I just had to facethat fear and I was.
I was terrified.
I was like I'll never be one ofthe most people that where they
pour the, you know the goop onyou, you know and I've done it
now like four times you have togo to a place, cause the one

(01:07:50):
thing when they start coveringyou up, okay, and as soon as the
eyes are covered, okay, I'mokay.
I'm just trying to sit there andrelax, because I was in the
same place where they did therock dwayne and he flipped out,
he freaked out, he had to comeback, gather himself, his wife
had to hold his hand.
I mean, it's free, you knowit's free and they were telling

(01:08:12):
me all that story.
So I'm sitting there and I'mjust like breathing and.
But the second they cover theears is when now you feel like
it's like everybody's voice gotreally it's creepy.
And then they, when they coveryour mouth, then you feel like I
might die and I know I'mgetting closer by how you doing.

(01:08:35):
You know you have to keep doingthe.
You know, thumbs up, I'm like,you know, I'm like, and you have
to go to your happy place.
It was like my mom sitting therehaving them shave her head.
I, you know I would have to goto that place.
I had to face that fear, so.
But they did a whole body cast.
That was weird, like I had myarms out by Christ right On this

(01:08:57):
thing and the whole body andthey don't.
They didn't tell me, like assoon as as it's hardening around
my rib cage, I can't expandthat much now because it's
hardening and I'm like, and I'mlike you don't have to take a
big, big, big breath, takelittle breaths.

(01:09:18):
And I had to.
I almost flipped out on thatone, but I kept it together.
They're like, you're almostdone, are you okay?
I'm like, give me out of here.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
How long did it take?

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
But that I don't even remember it.
It wasn't that bad.
Like an hour for the head, itwas like 20 minutes, like they
got it down.
You know it's good becausepeople panic.
You know you freaked out alittle bit and you know.
But that outfit on Watchmen Imean the stunt coordinator is

(01:09:47):
like first of all, bridget, youneed to cut some more weight.
You're constantly told that andhe's like turn around he goes
yeah, you got to drop someweight and so I was like
starving.
I'm like I'm no stranger tocutting weight.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
I was going to say you gave that.
That career was over.
You know I'm done cuttingweight man.

Speaker 2 (01:10:06):
Here we go again.
I'm like it, it, it.
I'd be my whole life as agymnast.
They wait us.
As a cheerleader, they wait us,as you know, fighter, they wait
us.
And and now I'm like frickinghell.
You know cause most of theseactresses are so skinny, like
you know, like the ones I alwaysend up like why can't I, why
can't I double a bigger girl.
Who is doubling the anorexicsdoubles it Like Eliza Duskin, a

(01:10:31):
dow house.
She's like a, a double zero.
I'm like I didn't even knowthat existed.
You know, and so, yeah, it's myweight.
You know, it was like a yo-yo.

Speaker 1 (01:10:43):
Well, you, you, you have doubled for a lot of big
name actresses and actors inHollywood and I want to talk
about that, because we've barelytalked about your time in
Hollywood.
We've really talked about yourbiggest battle with cancer and
your mom's battle with cancer,and we've talked about boxing.
Can you join me again next weekand we'll talk about Hollywood?

Speaker 2 (01:11:05):
I would love to.
I would love that.

Speaker 1 (01:11:08):
Yeah, that would be awesome because I've got so many
questions about some of theroles you've had and you know,
being a coordinator, being anactual stunt person, and it's
just fascinating to me because Icould never do something like
that, because you said there's alot of fear involved.

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
Yes, but you know, you, just you.
You, you're going to feel thatfear.
You're, there's something wrong.
If you don't, you shouldn't bedoing it.
If you're not, I mean you'regoing to feel that fear.
It's just walking through thefear, that's it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:38):
Well, we're going to find out next week how you walk
through that fear and all thetimes that you did.
Bridget Riley, thank you somuch for joining me this week,
and we'll hook up again nextweek, buddy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
That sounds great, thank you, I'm so proud of you
and, yeah, thank you for havingme.
It's such a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:11:51):
That's going to be an excellent conversation next
week.
If you enjoyed this episode ofthe Fuzzy Mike and you'd like to
help support the podcast,please subscribe and leave a
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Doing so well.
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Please share the Fuzzy Mikewith your friends.
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(01:12:11):
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The Fuzzy Mike is hosted andproduced by Kevin Klein.
Production elements by ZachSheesh.
At the Radio Farm.
Social media director is TrishKlein.
Next Tuesday we continue ourconversation with Bridget Riley

(01:12:34):
and we dive into her work as aHollywood stuntwoman.
Don't want to miss this one.
That's it for the Fuzzy Mike.
Thank you.
The Fuzzy Mike with Kevin Klein.