October 16, 2024 • 24 mins
This week's episode features three guests as we begin with former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu followed by middleweight prospect Da'Velle Smith and finally super lightweight prospect Joshua James Pagan. The two prospects will be in action this Friday on DAZN live from Puerto Rico and Tszyu will be fighting for the IBF title this Saturday on Prime Video.
Looking to bet on boxing this weekend? Head over to my dedicated page at signupexpert.com/fightsATW to sign up to some of boxing’s best sportsbooks.
Looking to bet on boxing this upcoming weekend?Head over to my dedicated page at signupexpert.com/fightsATW to sign up to some of boxing’s best sportsbooks.
Looking to bet on boxing this weekend? Head over to my dedicated page at signupexpert.com/fightsATW to sign up to some of boxing’s best sportsbooks.
Looking to bet on boxing this upcoming weekend?Head over to my dedicated page at signupexpert.com/fightsATW to sign up to some of boxing’s best sportsbooks.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Worldwide, every weight class. It's low is he in? Uh huh,
Whiskey fight uh huh. It's the Boxing Rush Shower shown
coasted by Abraham Gunzalet's know what you came forth? Yes,
indeed this way you come to get your info. Listen
out all the shows throwing it out. It's the Box
(00:22):
and Rush Showers Show. Let's go win the ring. We
throw hands hock, the gun held POWs and the little
critical comments every year necessary of every up opinions, we
heavy on to win it. This podcast is to break
down the paper dude for boxing Curvis, you'll let this
man through the drive rights a frist sight that the
prize right hands taped up and gloves todd sight they made.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
All right?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Thank you for tuning into the Boxing Rush Hour Show.
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in the description below. All right, Tim, how's it going good?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Very well?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Because seeing you again, you're a guy and I'm going
to say this, uh, because I truly believe this. You're
a guy that's like an ambassador for the term activity
matters because you want to be in that ring as
much as possible. How hard was it to not allow
yourself to get caught up in the fact that you
only fighting for the second time this year?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Year?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah, it's you know, usually twice. He's not too bad actually,
but three times a year would have been ideal. It
still could be ideal.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
It's never saying ever, but yeah, I think activity matters.
That's where growth happens, consistency. So yeah, that's that's I'm
all about growth and that's what I want.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, all right, And then I saw you know, going
to Thailand getting some work in with your dad. Appeared
to be a special moment for you and him. Did
you catch your your father have having any like proud
dad moments where it made you feel good as well inside?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, I'm sure it did.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
He will be attendant if us. It'll be good. First
time seeing him, the second time seeing him at that
fight since my first fight.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
But yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
It was a cool experience. And to be picking his
brain and but just connecting as our father and son
more importantly.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, that wow.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And then I'm gonna ask you this, what was more
impressive seeing your father train at fifty five or seeing
him shadow boxing crocs?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
You know what, They're both pretty impressive.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Man.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
No matter what.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I saw him wearing crocs, I was like Jesus the
sky here. All right, you have a shot at the
IBF title on October nineteenth against bak Aram more.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
TeV more z Lev.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
However you say it, does this feel like it will
be the type of fight that fans are accustomed to
seeing when they see a Timzu fight, meeting all action,
come forward type of fight.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Is that what you're kind of expecting?
Speaker 4 (03:47):
That's what I'm bringing, man, said, expect that from me.
I'm gonna bring the hate, you know, I'm gonna here
to tip tip tap, we're here. We're here to punch
on you know.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Yeah, And and what's the lasting impression that you want
to leave with the fans going to the Cariba Royale
and Orlando, Florida, Because that's that's become a like a
nice little fight town over there, and they're really into
their fights there, and so what's the lasting impression you
want to leave with those fans at the end of
(04:19):
the night it's.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Like, wow, we experienced this, you know, like everyone that
came out of my last fight was like, wow, what
was that? You know, I want people to be sort
of speechless.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And then once that happens, what message you want to
send to the rest of the division that's going to
be watching, because you know they're going to be.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Watching the champ is back. Yeah, and you know.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Jamel Charles's gonna be watching too, oh man. And then lastly, Tim,
you fight in Orlando, this is gonna be kind of
like the first time you're doing this. I know, you know,
Vegas would have been ideal, but you're going to Florida.
(05:09):
Any anything that you look forward to fighting on the
East Coast this time around for for a title fight,
that's so significant.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Yeah, it's just like for me, it's it's just important
to travel and fight around different parts of the world.
I think it's so cool, you know. I like, we're
in this sport for such a short period of time.
We get to travel the world and and and and
say say everything. So yeah, I'm very keen to say Orlando,
Florida and fight there because the fans apparently are a
(05:38):
big boxing lovers, and and and and that's what it's
all about.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
All right, Well, listen, Tim, I appreciate your time and
I wish you the best of luck on on Saturday.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning into
the Boxing Shower Show. My next guest is middleweight Prospect
coming up. He's gonna be on a show next Friday
on the Zone in Puerto Rico, Live from Puerto Rico.
(06:05):
Develle Smith nine and oh seven KOs twenty four year old.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
What's going on? How you doing?
Speaker 7 (06:13):
I'm doing great in camp. At the end of the camp,
just ready to fly out and do my thing.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
All right, And so.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Not too many people you know, may may or may
not know about you, right, so I just want to
get a quick understanding of who you are growing up
and what that looked like from from where you're from.
Speaker 7 (06:38):
I'm from Inkster, Michigan, born and raised, but I thought
out of Detroit, Michigan my entire life. So I'm a
Detroit firer and growing up. My childhood was straight boxing,
get out of school, straight to the gym, come home,
take a shower, go to bed, repeat from eight to
fifteen years old. I don't have a huge amateur background.
(07:03):
I thought maybe a couple of tournaments in the year,
nothing major, but a lot of experience from a lot
of great fighters, being in the ring with them pretty much.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Yeah, And how was it growing up in the part
of Michigan that you grew up. You know, maybe folks
don't necessarily know what it's like there. Everybody has their
own background, So what was it like growing up there?
Speaker 7 (07:31):
I grew up in the ghetto, simple as that. I mean,
all of them are pretty much the same. You know,
you got a lot of bs going on around you.
But me personally, I was busy. I was a busy kid.
I was in the gym, I was traveling, I had
tournaments to go to, I had championships, and I wasn't
focused on what was going on outside of the gym
at all. You know, I wasn't a normal kid. I
(07:53):
couldn't go hang out with my friends and play basketball
and eat junk food and you know, have fun. Was
I was focused from a very young age, and I
knew what I wanted.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And so when did boxing become real for you? So
you said you started at eight years old.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Obviously at eight you didn't necessarily know exactly what you wanted.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
You had to been directed or put in that direction.
How did all that come about?
Speaker 7 (08:21):
M just being around a lot of really good fighters
when I first started boxing, first really good fighter I
was around was Eric da Leone, and I wanted to
be just like this guy. I mean, he was amazing.
He would go to every gym and smash every opponent,
and he would do it in style. And at that time,
I think he won one or two Golden Gloves already.
(08:43):
He was only sixteen, seventeen years old. This dude was
my idol. I was trying to be just like him.
I ended up training with the same coach as he
as he had, and I wanted to be really good
like Eric. So from there I start taking the sports series.
I was losing a lot. At first, I really really
wanted to win, so I just went harder. I locked
(09:03):
in even more, and I won my first tournament ring side.
And then I was nine when I won that. And
after I got that first belt, I knew what I
want to do for the rest of my life for
as long as I could do it. Wanted to be
WBC champions since I was nine years old. That's all
I could think of to this.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Day, all right.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And then being a pro now three years or so,
what have you learned that you may not have known
coming into the pro ranks?
Speaker 7 (09:34):
Initially finances, I thought you turned pro and boxing instantly rich.
That's not the case, man.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
You know.
Speaker 7 (09:49):
Another thing, just levels, levels, man, It's definitely levels to this.
I came in thinking I could just get in there
with the best fighters the champion just dominate, And that's
definitely not the case. You know his level, Citi. You
gotta get in there, you gotta put the work in
and uh yeah, really those two.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
And then you know I've seen that that you you've
been repping, uh the iconic crunk colors on your trunks,
they've been worn. Those colors been worn by some of
boxing's best fighters. Has that part sunk in a little
bit in for you knowing that there's some legends out
there that rep those same colors at one point in
(10:34):
their careers.
Speaker 7 (10:35):
Yes, most most definitely it's an honor to wear those
colors in a fight if feel was really good. In fact,
I was just talking to a fighter from Detroit and
he was really big name drop or nothing, but he
was like, man, He's like, you're lucky you had them trunks.
So he's like, I ain't never get to wear those trunks.
And I'm like, man, you didn't. I'm like, dang.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
So yeah.
Speaker 7 (10:55):
Just things like that, it really makes you notice and appreciate, know,
wearing those colors. You know, the greatest fighters from around
here put those on, so I feel like I'm one
of them at this point.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
That's what's up.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Now you're fighting in Puerto Rico on the zone, both
big opportunities to show off your talents, one to the
crowd there and the streaming platform that's worldwide.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Does that does that add.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Any pressure on you on coming on the on the eighteenth?
Speaker 7 (11:25):
No, no pressure. I just go in there and I
focus on what I'm doing, and uh, I train hard
and everything is just going to come to a simple
as that. I don't I don't worry about all the talk,
all the media. Of course they play a huge part,
but I got a tunnel vision. I'm focused on one thing.
That's being a champion one day.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
And being a profiler, Like how have you been handling
being like a family man with a little one and
keeping the disciplines of a profiler, because that's not easy,
especially for a young fighter coming out right.
Speaker 7 (11:55):
I do things like bring my family to campsel with me.
Sometimes I bring my family to the gym with me
just so they could see the hard work that I'm
putting in. And it definitely translates to home, just watching
boxing at home. My son he one years old, he'll
watch a whole twelve round boxing fight with me, with
his boxing gloves on, throwing punches. It's a beautiful thing
(12:19):
just to be able to, you know, have support from
my fiance and from my family to you know, keep
me going in his boxing world all right.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And then you're you're fighting a guy with a ton
of experience. What will fans be saying.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
About you when they leave the arena come next Friday?
Speaker 7 (12:43):
You gonna say, man, I had the Phil Smith. He
can box, he got long arms, and he got a
lot of power. Did you see the way he moved
his feet? Oh my god, he has everything. He's going
to be a champion one day, it's all right.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And then lastly, the midway division is open, not really
too much noise going on there. What's your fans expect
from you next year going into a division that is
seemingly wide open for anyone to get in there and
do that thing.
Speaker 7 (13:17):
A lot of big fights, That's what I'm looking forward to,
a lot of big fights to where I can really
put all of my skills on display. And I know
I'm fighting journeyman now, so I can't really really really
really show that everything that I could do. But and
then big fights you will see the real me, like
and I'm in the face of adversity, I get better
(13:39):
and better and better.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
So all right, well listen, thanks sure, all right, well listen, Deville.
I appreciate your time, and I wish you the best
of luck and Puerto Rico next Friday.
Speaker 7 (13:50):
Thank you and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
All right, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in
to the Boxing Rush Hour Show.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
My next guest.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
He's a super lightweight prospect, Joshua James Pagang goes by JJ.
Pagang ten and oh four KOs, twenty four years old
out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He's going to be main
eventing now on Friday, October eighteenth in San Juan, Puerto
Rico at the Coca Cola Music Hall. Alive on the zone,
(14:23):
Joshua or do you want me to call you JJ?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Either way? How you doing.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Whatever you want?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
J got Okay, let's go with JJ.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Then it makes a little bit easier, all right, JJ. Listen,
I appreciate you coming on. I know you gotta fight
coming up in less than a week. For those that
may not be familiar with you, give us a little
bit of a bioblast of you, the person growing up
in Grand Rapids, Michigan and what that was like.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Yeah, okay, uh, you know, I grew up you know,
just always with an interest in boxing, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
First, we always used to gather our family at the
house to watch the big fights.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
I always had a good childhood. Ah. We just all
loved boxing. We loved watching the sport.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
The first big fight that I watched was Mago versus
de la Hoya when I was seven years old. So
like just watching that fight, that really, uh, that really
got me into it.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
You know. So that was the only sport that I
did when I went to going being in middle school
all the way to high school. Like, I didn't do
any other sports.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
I didn't do any other activities, no partying, no drinking,
no drugs. I always had a straight I just had
a vision, you know, and with the guide into my
dad and my mom and my siblings, you know, I
got to where I am now.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
So I'm very grateful for him.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, And I was gonna ask that because I know
that I think I heard something about you. Your father
was a fighter as well, So did that have heavy
influences as a young kid coming up to maybe do
that as well because he was a fighter too.
Speaker 6 (16:20):
For sure, I always wanted to be like my dad.
I looked up you know, I always I look up
to him so much. So knowing that he used to box,
and just just knowing that he used to do that,
it made me very interested in that point on. And
then just watching the middle of the versus de la
Hoya fight that night, that's what really glued me in
(16:41):
That's what really.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Did no turn back to that?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And was there ever a point during that time, like,
you know, you started at that age, and then was
there ever a point in that journey while going through
the amateurs where you know, maybe you might have lost
a little bit of interest, but then it, you know,
at one point it really likes stuck to you, like,
this is what I want to do, period, I don't
want to do anything else.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
What point was that for you? If there was?
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Yeah, I lost my first three fights as an amateur,
so I started off following three, so I didn't know
what the future helped me. I was like, I don't
know if I should do this anymore, you know, so
I just stuck with it though.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
I went back to the.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
Gym, I kept training and I kept studying, watching all
the you know, the legends of the sport started winning fights,
and that that's what really kept me going.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
You know, it really drew me in. So I was
like this, this is what I want to do.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
And who is wh is JJ Pecan outside of the
ring For those that are interested in knowing getting a
little bit of a peak of who you are JJ
the person?
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I mean, I'm a nerd, you know, I played. I
like love video games, I love movies. I just of
you know, I love watching sports. I just I'm a homebody,
you know.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
I go to the gym, come home, I'm playing my
game or just just relaxing, you know. So just very
very simple person. You know, I'm not I'm not out
here partying. I'm not out here doing all kinds of stuff,
you know. I'm just I just like being home and
just playing my game. That that's my idea of a
good time, you know.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
All right, And then you fought five times last year,
but this year it was only this is only your
second fight. Just kind of curious on what changed from
last year to this year that reduced the number of
fights that you've had.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
Yeah, so you know, the beginning of the year, I
was supposed to fight in February. That fight fell through,
like the week of the fight, you know, so I
was just like, okay, saying the gym, keep training. Then
I ended up getting just a slight injury, sayanica in
(19:01):
my back, so I had to take some time off
of that, ended up fighting May got cut obviously, and
then I was gonna fight in.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
July again, but the cut didn't really heal up fully
like I wanted it to.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
So no, now we're now we're here about to fight
October eighteenth.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yeah, and I want and I wanted to get that
point out because you know, sometimes folks they just don't
know like the inner workings and what happens, like real
real life stuff happens.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You know, injuries happen, cuts happened, and that can.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Delay, uh, you know, someone's activity level. So I wanted
to make sure that you.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Know, people understood that.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
I appreciate you being honest about that training camp for
this fight specifically, where did you have it and did
you add anything new to this camp specifically whether personnel,
whether you know, exercises or whatever the case may be,
did you add anything to it?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
And where did you mostly have your camp?
Speaker 6 (19:59):
I mean, knowing that we're fighting a ten rounder, you know,
we stepped everything up.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
We adjusted our training.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
We we got more on the schedule, knowing exactly what
days to train, what days to take it lighter, just
because that's very important. You have to know when to
rest your body, when to listen to your body and everything,
especially when the rounds get higher and stuff. So we
spent our camp, we went to Vegas, Uh, we spent
(20:28):
a couple of weeks in Vegas, came back trained mostly
in ground rapids, and then since Sunday we've been here
in Puerto Rico, just closing out the camp in the
last couple of days of sparing in and just now
we're just tapering down and you know, getting the weight
down and which hasn't been too hard because it's.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
Really hot over here in Puerto Rico. But yes, it's
been a great camp though, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
And then your your father is your head trainer, correct.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
Yeah, my father and I have another coach named Steve the.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Issue, Okay. And then so how has that been?
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Because you know, the father son relationship in boxing, that
that can be either really really good or it can
be you know, so so because you know, there's no
divide between you know, the father the trainer and then
you know the father the father, right, and so yeah,
how has that been for you guys so far?
Speaker 5 (21:25):
It's been great. Honestly.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
We know when to turn out, turn on the box,
and then turn it off. You know, we've been doing
this for over eleven years.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Have been by my side, you know.
Speaker 6 (21:37):
And what makes him such a great coach too, is
he's willing to learn from everybody, because you know, there's
a lot of coaches out there there they don't want
their son working with somebody else, or you know, they're
just very stuck in their waist. But my dad is
the complete opposite of that. We love going to a
different places. We love learning from different people, you know,
(21:58):
no matter the coach or the fighter, you know.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
So that's where we really thrive. Where is our openness
to learn new things, you know. So we have a
great relationship.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
All right, that's what's up. All right.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
So you're main inventing in Puerto Rico on Friday. It's
at the Coca Cola Music Hall. It's a big deal because,
if I'm not mistaken, your father's from Puerto Rico and
you have family there, correct, So.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
What is what does this mean to you?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Being able to do that is at such an early
part of your career, where your main eventing somewhere where
your family roots are from.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
It means the world to me.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
You know, I'm gonna have a lot of family here
on Fight Nite watch, you know, rooting me on and everything.
And you know, I wish my grandfather was alive to
watch it, because he's been my supporter since day one.
You know, he passed away four years ago, but he said,
no matter what happened, just keep training hard, keep following
your dream.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Know you're gonna You're gonna do something with it.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
So I know he's watching down, watching down on me
right now, and he's very proud of me.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
So you know, it means a lot. It's very personal
to me.
Speaker 6 (23:11):
I'm out there representing my family and my grandfather most importantly.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
All right, that's that's awesome man. Lastly, what should people
expect on October eighteenth? And what is your twenty twenty
five vision?
Speaker 6 (23:26):
You can expect a great performance, uh, the best version
of myself, you know, mentally, focused, physically, you know, I'm
just just an all around great performance.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
And I'm looking forward to it a lot.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
And my vision for twenty twenty five is to just
stay active, keep keep progressing, keep fighting the you know,
the tough fights and building that experience and you know,
just going from there.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
All right, Well, listen, Jaja, I appreciate your time and
I wish you the best of luck in Port of
WECo on Friday the eighteenth.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
Thank you for having me Avery, I appreciate it, all right.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Salas it's the box of usselves, so
Speaker 5 (24:12):
M
Worldwide, every weight class. It's low is he in? Uh huh,
Whiskey fight uh huh. It's the Boxing Rush Shower shown
coasted by Abraham Gunzalet's know what you came forth? Yes,
indeed this way you come to get your info. Listen
out all the shows throwing it out. It's the Box
(00:22):
and Rush Showers Show. Let's go win the ring. We
throw hands hock, the gun held POWs and the little
critical comments every year necessary of every up opinions, we
heavy on to win it. This podcast is to break
down the paper dude for boxing Curvis, you'll let this
man through the drive rights a frist sight that the
prize right hands taped up and gloves todd sight they made.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
All right?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Thank you for tuning into the Boxing Rush Hour Show.
I have some exciting news. I'm thrilled to announce my
partnership with Bett Stamp and sign Up Expert, opening up
an incredible opportunity for you to join some of my.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Favorite sports books.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
With the packs boxing schedule coming up, there's no better
time than now to get started. Head over to my
dedicated page at sign upexpert dot com slash fights atw.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
To explore selection of sportsbooks tailor to your region, each
with unique offerings.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
If you're ready to take your sports betting to the
next level and show some love for my brand, I
highly recommend signing up for your next sports book through
my sign up expert link. You can easily find it
in the description below. All right, Tim, how's it going good?
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Very well?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Because seeing you again, you're a guy and I'm going
to say this, uh, because I truly believe this. You're
a guy that's like an ambassador for the term activity
matters because you want to be in that ring as
much as possible. How hard was it to not allow
yourself to get caught up in the fact that you
only fighting for the second time this year?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Year?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah, it's you know, usually twice. He's not too bad actually,
but three times a year would have been ideal. It
still could be ideal.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
It's never saying ever, but yeah, I think activity matters.
That's where growth happens, consistency. So yeah, that's that's I'm
all about growth and that's what I want.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, all right, And then I saw you know, going
to Thailand getting some work in with your dad. Appeared
to be a special moment for you and him. Did
you catch your your father have having any like proud
dad moments where it made you feel good as well inside?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, I'm sure it did.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
He will be attendant if us. It'll be good. First
time seeing him, the second time seeing him at that
fight since my first fight.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
But yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
It was a cool experience. And to be picking his
brain and but just connecting as our father and son
more importantly.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, that wow.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And then I'm gonna ask you this, what was more
impressive seeing your father train at fifty five or seeing
him shadow boxing crocs?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
You know what, They're both pretty impressive.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Man.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
No matter what.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I saw him wearing crocs, I was like Jesus the
sky here. All right, you have a shot at the
IBF title on October nineteenth against bak Aram more.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
TeV more z Lev.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
However you say it, does this feel like it will
be the type of fight that fans are accustomed to
seeing when they see a Timzu fight, meeting all action,
come forward type of fight.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Is that what you're kind of expecting?
Speaker 4 (03:47):
That's what I'm bringing, man, said, expect that from me.
I'm gonna bring the hate, you know, I'm gonna here
to tip tip tap, we're here. We're here to punch
on you know.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Yeah, And and what's the lasting impression that you want
to leave with the fans going to the Cariba Royale
and Orlando, Florida, Because that's that's become a like a
nice little fight town over there, and they're really into
their fights there, and so what's the lasting impression you
want to leave with those fans at the end of
(04:19):
the night it's.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Like, wow, we experienced this, you know, like everyone that
came out of my last fight was like, wow, what
was that? You know, I want people to be sort
of speechless.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And then once that happens, what message you want to
send to the rest of the division that's going to
be watching, because you know they're going to be.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Watching the champ is back. Yeah, and you know.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Jamel Charles's gonna be watching too, oh man. And then lastly, Tim,
you fight in Orlando, this is gonna be kind of
like the first time you're doing this. I know, you know,
Vegas would have been ideal, but you're going to Florida.
(05:09):
Any anything that you look forward to fighting on the
East Coast this time around for for a title fight,
that's so significant.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Yeah, it's just like for me, it's it's just important
to travel and fight around different parts of the world.
I think it's so cool, you know. I like, we're
in this sport for such a short period of time.
We get to travel the world and and and and
say say everything. So yeah, I'm very keen to say Orlando,
Florida and fight there because the fans apparently are a
(05:38):
big boxing lovers, and and and and that's what it's
all about.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
All right, Well, listen, Tim, I appreciate your time and
I wish you the best of luck on on Saturday.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning into
the Boxing Shower Show. My next guest is middleweight Prospect
coming up. He's gonna be on a show next Friday
on the Zone in Puerto Rico, Live from Puerto Rico.
(06:05):
Develle Smith nine and oh seven KOs twenty four year old.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
What's going on? How you doing?
Speaker 7 (06:13):
I'm doing great in camp. At the end of the camp,
just ready to fly out and do my thing.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
All right, And so.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Not too many people you know, may may or may
not know about you, right, so I just want to
get a quick understanding of who you are growing up
and what that looked like from from where you're from.
Speaker 7 (06:38):
I'm from Inkster, Michigan, born and raised, but I thought
out of Detroit, Michigan my entire life. So I'm a
Detroit firer and growing up. My childhood was straight boxing,
get out of school, straight to the gym, come home,
take a shower, go to bed, repeat from eight to
fifteen years old. I don't have a huge amateur background.
(07:03):
I thought maybe a couple of tournaments in the year,
nothing major, but a lot of experience from a lot
of great fighters, being in the ring with them pretty much.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Yeah, And how was it growing up in the part
of Michigan that you grew up. You know, maybe folks
don't necessarily know what it's like there. Everybody has their
own background, So what was it like growing up there?
Speaker 7 (07:31):
I grew up in the ghetto, simple as that. I mean,
all of them are pretty much the same. You know,
you got a lot of bs going on around you.
But me personally, I was busy. I was a busy kid.
I was in the gym, I was traveling, I had
tournaments to go to, I had championships, and I wasn't
focused on what was going on outside of the gym
at all. You know, I wasn't a normal kid. I
(07:53):
couldn't go hang out with my friends and play basketball
and eat junk food and you know, have fun. Was
I was focused from a very young age, and I
knew what I wanted.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And so when did boxing become real for you? So
you said you started at eight years old.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Obviously at eight you didn't necessarily know exactly what you wanted.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
You had to been directed or put in that direction.
How did all that come about?
Speaker 7 (08:21):
M just being around a lot of really good fighters
when I first started boxing, first really good fighter I
was around was Eric da Leone, and I wanted to
be just like this guy. I mean, he was amazing.
He would go to every gym and smash every opponent,
and he would do it in style. And at that time,
I think he won one or two Golden Gloves already.
(08:43):
He was only sixteen, seventeen years old. This dude was
my idol. I was trying to be just like him.
I ended up training with the same coach as he
as he had, and I wanted to be really good
like Eric. So from there I start taking the sports series.
I was losing a lot. At first, I really really
wanted to win, so I just went harder. I locked
(09:03):
in even more, and I won my first tournament ring side.
And then I was nine when I won that. And
after I got that first belt, I knew what I
want to do for the rest of my life for
as long as I could do it. Wanted to be
WBC champions since I was nine years old. That's all
I could think of to this.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Day, all right.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
And then being a pro now three years or so,
what have you learned that you may not have known
coming into the pro ranks?
Speaker 7 (09:34):
Initially finances, I thought you turned pro and boxing instantly rich.
That's not the case, man.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
You know.
Speaker 7 (09:49):
Another thing, just levels, levels, man, It's definitely levels to this.
I came in thinking I could just get in there
with the best fighters the champion just dominate, And that's
definitely not the case. You know his level, Citi. You
gotta get in there, you gotta put the work in
and uh yeah, really those two.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
And then you know I've seen that that you you've
been repping, uh the iconic crunk colors on your trunks,
they've been worn. Those colors been worn by some of
boxing's best fighters. Has that part sunk in a little
bit in for you knowing that there's some legends out
there that rep those same colors at one point in
(10:34):
their careers.
Speaker 7 (10:35):
Yes, most most definitely it's an honor to wear those
colors in a fight if feel was really good. In fact,
I was just talking to a fighter from Detroit and
he was really big name drop or nothing, but he
was like, man, He's like, you're lucky you had them trunks.
So he's like, I ain't never get to wear those trunks.
And I'm like, man, you didn't. I'm like, dang.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
So yeah.
Speaker 7 (10:55):
Just things like that, it really makes you notice and appreciate, know,
wearing those colors. You know, the greatest fighters from around
here put those on, so I feel like I'm one
of them at this point.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
That's what's up.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Now you're fighting in Puerto Rico on the zone, both
big opportunities to show off your talents, one to the
crowd there and the streaming platform that's worldwide.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Does that does that add.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Any pressure on you on coming on the on the eighteenth?
Speaker 7 (11:25):
No, no pressure. I just go in there and I
focus on what I'm doing, and uh, I train hard
and everything is just going to come to a simple
as that. I don't I don't worry about all the talk,
all the media. Of course they play a huge part,
but I got a tunnel vision. I'm focused on one thing.
That's being a champion one day.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
And being a profiler, Like how have you been handling
being like a family man with a little one and
keeping the disciplines of a profiler, because that's not easy,
especially for a young fighter coming out right.
Speaker 7 (11:55):
I do things like bring my family to campsel with me.
Sometimes I bring my family to the gym with me
just so they could see the hard work that I'm
putting in. And it definitely translates to home, just watching
boxing at home. My son he one years old, he'll
watch a whole twelve round boxing fight with me, with
his boxing gloves on, throwing punches. It's a beautiful thing
(12:19):
just to be able to, you know, have support from
my fiance and from my family to you know, keep
me going in his boxing world all right.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And then you're you're fighting a guy with a ton
of experience. What will fans be saying.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
About you when they leave the arena come next Friday?
Speaker 7 (12:43):
You gonna say, man, I had the Phil Smith. He
can box, he got long arms, and he got a
lot of power. Did you see the way he moved
his feet? Oh my god, he has everything. He's going
to be a champion one day, it's all right.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And then lastly, the midway division is open, not really
too much noise going on there. What's your fans expect
from you next year going into a division that is
seemingly wide open for anyone to get in there and
do that thing.
Speaker 7 (13:17):
A lot of big fights, That's what I'm looking forward to,
a lot of big fights to where I can really
put all of my skills on display. And I know
I'm fighting journeyman now, so I can't really really really
really show that everything that I could do. But and
then big fights you will see the real me, like
and I'm in the face of adversity, I get better
(13:39):
and better and better.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
So all right, well listen, thanks sure, all right, well listen, Deville.
I appreciate your time, and I wish you the best
of luck and Puerto Rico next Friday.
Speaker 7 (13:50):
Thank you and thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
All right, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in
to the Boxing Rush Hour Show.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
My next guest.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
He's a super lightweight prospect, Joshua James Pagang goes by JJ.
Pagang ten and oh four KOs, twenty four years old
out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He's going to be main
eventing now on Friday, October eighteenth in San Juan, Puerto
Rico at the Coca Cola Music Hall. Alive on the zone,
(14:23):
Joshua or do you want me to call you JJ?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Either way? How you doing.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Whatever you want?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
J got Okay, let's go with JJ.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Then it makes a little bit easier, all right, JJ. Listen,
I appreciate you coming on. I know you gotta fight
coming up in less than a week. For those that
may not be familiar with you, give us a little
bit of a bioblast of you, the person growing up
in Grand Rapids, Michigan and what that was like.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Yeah, okay, uh, you know, I grew up you know,
just always with an interest in boxing, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
First, we always used to gather our family at the
house to watch the big fights.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
I always had a good childhood. Ah. We just all
loved boxing. We loved watching the sport.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
The first big fight that I watched was Mago versus
de la Hoya when I was seven years old. So
like just watching that fight, that really, uh, that really
got me into it.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
You know. So that was the only sport that I
did when I went to going being in middle school
all the way to high school. Like, I didn't do
any other sports.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
I didn't do any other activities, no partying, no drinking,
no drugs. I always had a straight I just had
a vision, you know, and with the guide into my
dad and my mom and my siblings, you know, I
got to where I am now.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
So I'm very grateful for him.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, And I was gonna ask that because I know
that I think I heard something about you. Your father
was a fighter as well, So did that have heavy
influences as a young kid coming up to maybe do
that as well because he was a fighter too.
Speaker 6 (16:20):
For sure, I always wanted to be like my dad.
I looked up you know, I always I look up
to him so much. So knowing that he used to box,
and just just knowing that he used to do that,
it made me very interested in that point on. And
then just watching the middle of the versus de la
Hoya fight that night, that's what really glued me in
(16:41):
That's what really.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Did no turn back to that?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And was there ever a point during that time, like,
you know, you started at that age, and then was
there ever a point in that journey while going through
the amateurs where you know, maybe you might have lost
a little bit of interest, but then it, you know,
at one point it really likes stuck to you, like,
this is what I want to do, period, I don't
want to do anything else.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
What point was that for you? If there was?
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Yeah, I lost my first three fights as an amateur,
so I started off following three, so I didn't know
what the future helped me. I was like, I don't
know if I should do this anymore, you know, so
I just stuck with it though.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
I went back to the.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
Gym, I kept training and I kept studying, watching all
the you know, the legends of the sport started winning fights,
and that that's what really kept me going.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
You know, it really drew me in. So I was
like this, this is what I want to do.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
And who is wh is JJ Pecan outside of the
ring For those that are interested in knowing getting a
little bit of a peak of who you are JJ
the person?
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I mean, I'm a nerd, you know, I played. I
like love video games, I love movies. I just of
you know, I love watching sports. I just I'm a homebody,
you know.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
I go to the gym, come home, I'm playing my
game or just just relaxing, you know. So just very
very simple person. You know, I'm not I'm not out
here partying. I'm not out here doing all kinds of stuff,
you know. I'm just I just like being home and
just playing my game. That that's my idea of a
good time, you know.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
All right, And then you fought five times last year,
but this year it was only this is only your
second fight. Just kind of curious on what changed from
last year to this year that reduced the number of
fights that you've had.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
Yeah, so you know, the beginning of the year, I
was supposed to fight in February. That fight fell through,
like the week of the fight, you know, so I
was just like, okay, saying the gym, keep training. Then
I ended up getting just a slight injury, sayanica in
(19:01):
my back, so I had to take some time off
of that, ended up fighting May got cut obviously, and
then I was gonna fight in.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
July again, but the cut didn't really heal up fully
like I wanted it to.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
So no, now we're now we're here about to fight
October eighteenth.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Yeah, and I want and I wanted to get that
point out because you know, sometimes folks they just don't
know like the inner workings and what happens, like real
real life stuff happens.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You know, injuries happen, cuts happened, and that can.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Delay, uh, you know, someone's activity level. So I wanted
to make sure that you.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Know, people understood that.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
I appreciate you being honest about that training camp for
this fight specifically, where did you have it and did
you add anything new to this camp specifically whether personnel,
whether you know, exercises or whatever the case may be,
did you add anything to it?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
And where did you mostly have your camp?
Speaker 6 (19:59):
I mean, knowing that we're fighting a ten rounder, you know,
we stepped everything up.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
We adjusted our training.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
We we got more on the schedule, knowing exactly what
days to train, what days to take it lighter, just
because that's very important. You have to know when to
rest your body, when to listen to your body and everything,
especially when the rounds get higher and stuff. So we
spent our camp, we went to Vegas, Uh, we spent
(20:28):
a couple of weeks in Vegas, came back trained mostly
in ground rapids, and then since Sunday we've been here
in Puerto Rico, just closing out the camp in the
last couple of days of sparing in and just now
we're just tapering down and you know, getting the weight
down and which hasn't been too hard because it's.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
Really hot over here in Puerto Rico. But yes, it's
been a great camp though, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
And then your your father is your head trainer, correct.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
Yeah, my father and I have another coach named Steve the.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Issue, Okay. And then so how has that been?
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Because you know, the father son relationship in boxing, that
that can be either really really good or it can
be you know, so so because you know, there's no
divide between you know, the father the trainer and then
you know the father the father, right, and so yeah,
how has that been for you guys so far?
Speaker 5 (21:25):
It's been great. Honestly.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
We know when to turn out, turn on the box,
and then turn it off. You know, we've been doing
this for over eleven years.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Have been by my side, you know.
Speaker 6 (21:37):
And what makes him such a great coach too, is
he's willing to learn from everybody, because you know, there's
a lot of coaches out there there they don't want
their son working with somebody else, or you know, they're
just very stuck in their waist. But my dad is
the complete opposite of that. We love going to a
different places. We love learning from different people, you know,
(21:58):
no matter the coach or the fighter, you know.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
So that's where we really thrive. Where is our openness
to learn new things, you know. So we have a
great relationship.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
All right, that's what's up. All right.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
So you're main inventing in Puerto Rico on Friday. It's
at the Coca Cola Music Hall. It's a big deal because,
if I'm not mistaken, your father's from Puerto Rico and
you have family there, correct, So.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
What is what does this mean to you?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Being able to do that is at such an early
part of your career, where your main eventing somewhere where
your family roots are from.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
It means the world to me.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
You know, I'm gonna have a lot of family here
on Fight Nite watch, you know, rooting me on and everything.
And you know, I wish my grandfather was alive to
watch it, because he's been my supporter since day one.
You know, he passed away four years ago, but he said,
no matter what happened, just keep training hard, keep following
your dream.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Know you're gonna You're gonna do something with it.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
So I know he's watching down, watching down on me
right now, and he's very proud of me.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
So you know, it means a lot. It's very personal
to me.
Speaker 6 (23:11):
I'm out there representing my family and my grandfather most importantly.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
All right, that's that's awesome man. Lastly, what should people
expect on October eighteenth? And what is your twenty twenty
five vision?
Speaker 6 (23:26):
You can expect a great performance, uh, the best version
of myself, you know, mentally, focused, physically, you know, I'm
just just an all around great performance.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
And I'm looking forward to it a lot.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
And my vision for twenty twenty five is to just
stay active, keep keep progressing, keep fighting the you know,
the tough fights and building that experience and you know,
just going from there.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
All right, Well, listen, Jaja, I appreciate your time and
I wish you the best of luck in Port of
WECo on Friday the eighteenth.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
Thank you for having me Avery, I appreciate it, all right.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Salas it's the box of usselves, so
Speaker 5 (24:12):
M
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