Ep 109: President of Sheer Sports & Former Matchmaker Robert Diaz

This week's guest at the #boxingrushhourshow is none other than Robert Diaz, President of Sheer Sports and former longtime matchmaker at Golden Boy. We discuss #TankRoach , what it means to try to find a late replacement like the #StevensonSchofield situation, fighters he's working with and some of the real life things he went through during the time he was away from the sport and more.

Looking to bet on the fights 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 upcoming weekend?Head over to my dedicated page at signupexpert.com/fightsATW to sign up to some of boxing’s best sportsbooks.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Worldwide, every weight class.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's low is he in?

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Uh huh, Whiskey fight uh huh. It's the Boxing Rush
Shower shown coasted by Abraham Gunzalet's know what you came forth? Yes,
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(00:29):
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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.

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Speaker 4 (01:35):
All Right, ladies and.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Gentlemen, thanks for tuning in to the Boxing Rush Hour
show Fights atw dot com, Fights around the world.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
I have a special guest this week.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
He was a long time matchmaker over at Golden Boy
executive over there, now president of Sheer Sports unless he
unless something has changed in the last couple of months.
But more importantly, this guy is a great a guy.
And I'll get into it here in a little bit
on why I feel that way. But here he is,

(02:08):
mister Robert Diaz.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
How you doing, Robert, I'm very pleased and honored to
be here. Thank you so much for that introduction. I
better follow up hard with that, but thank you, Abraham.
I appreciate the time.

Speaker 5 (02:18):
Brother.

Speaker 4 (02:19):
No, No, you're welcome.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
And the reason why I call you a great a
guy is because young Abe coming up underneath Mike Woods
in New York fights.

Speaker 4 (02:29):
You know, still learning the ropes. You know, you gave me.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
The time of day quite a few times and and
gave me the opportunity to talk to you and.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
And discuss some things.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
And that followed along to my days of pro box
and ring and fancide and all that. So I just
want to tell you, you know, I appreciate you just
for being a real one.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
Thank you very much. Look, we all start somewhere.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
We don't. We don't were not born into a great
position or into the top. We all have to start somewhere,
and I'll never forget where I started. I'm a fan
first and foremost.

Speaker 5 (03:05):
I'm a fan.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
I love boxing. My dad instilled it in me. But
I got these opportunities.

Speaker 5 (03:12):
It helped me grow. There's places and times where I
couldn't believe it.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
I mean, you know you touched on being a matchmak
Greg Golden Boy, having worked with some of the greatest
fighters and working under Oscar for many years and Bernard
still you know, even though it's in the past, it's
still sometimes I'm like, I was very fortunate and I'll
never forget where I came from and to no matter who,

(03:38):
it is always be able to give back because that
person today that's starting is a Hall of Famer tomorrow.
You never know. And you know, I learned that a
lot from some of the fighters that I that I
worked with, Miguel Cotto, just always giving back and giving
the young fighters advice and giving the young you learn

(03:59):
from the box how to apply it to life in general.
And there's bad days, there's good days, good rounds, bad rounds,
there's stabbing in the back, there's there's thrice from your
own team. You see it all the time. You hear
about that's life in general. So you take all that
that you learn and apply it. And I mean to

(04:22):
be honest, I always hear, you know, DM, people that
I don't even know say, I never expect you're gonna
get back to me.

Speaker 5 (04:30):
If it's gonna take me a couple of minutes to to.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Like, no problem, it's some advice and this and that
and come back and what's it gonna take, you know,
a few minutes of my time, No problem if it
could help somebody else out.

Speaker 5 (04:43):
So I'm all for that. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Yeah, no, I appreciate it, man, And look, you touched
on it here. But I want to kind of just
lightly talk about something it's been about what two years
since you left Golden Boy, right about two years and
then you took some time off, came act.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
You know, you're you've been advising folks sheer sports.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
But looking back, more importantly, what what you've done after
everything that happened afterwards.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
Do you now look back at that and feel like.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Maybe you know the space that you were in, you
overwelcomed your stay a little bit because they were bigger
and better things awaiting you, or do you think that.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
The time was still right for that for those things
to happen when they happened.

Speaker 5 (05:28):
I think.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean, I'm a real believer in God's times are perfect.
Skimps I did fifteen years a Golden Boy. Fourteen and
a half were amazing. Fourteen and a half were I
mean again, dream come true to have worked with it.
The names of Kotto Hopkins, Hattan, Brera Morales, Marquez mostly

(05:58):
and Wilder Jacobs, you know, Spence, all those kids that
went through ab Nermades and I'll never forget Malisiorea, the
old throwback type fighter. You know, but you can't change
that because that's learning from them, working for them, seeing
them grow and become champions. Randi Cavairo Lamont Roach Junior,

(06:22):
who I still am.

Speaker 5 (06:24):
Went together and working together.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
Teach you give you the experience to where I am today.
If I wouldn't have gone through those fifteen years rough, good, tough, beautiful,
I wouldn't be as valuable as I am with the
knowledge to the younger fighters of today.

Speaker 5 (06:44):
So I think the time was perfect. The time was there.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
I did take some time off because something that the
listeners the fans need to know is there's no glory.

Speaker 5 (06:58):
There's no glory in matchmaking.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
And it's not that a matchmaker and you could talk
to all the matchmakers out there. The real matchmakers are
not looking for glory. They love what they do. It's
a special small breed because not everybody can do it.
It seems easy because as a fan, it's very simple
to say, oh my god, this is a no brainer.

(07:21):
This guy should fight that guy. It's the best fight
out there. Knowing how to present it to the manager,
to the trainer, to the father, to the wife, to
the husband. There's an art behind it, but once you
get it done, you sit back and enjoy. But there's
no glory to it because if something goes wrong, fighter

(07:41):
a that's supposed to win loses. Matchmaker's fault, trainer's fault,
conditioning fault. It's not the fighter's fault because he was
out later or didn't do the running. But it's the
matchmaker's fault. And when they win, of course, they're the
ones stepping in the ring, they're the ones putting up
their lives. Everybody else gets the trainer. The manager gets

(08:02):
all the glory and everything. But that's when you personally know,
or another matchmaker knows. It comes over, it says, he
props to you that that's where the fulfilled. Or you
hear the fans leaving the arena saying, man, what a
great fight. That's the fulfillment right there. Or you see
your kid that you grabbed for you met at four
rounds when they raise his hand and say, and you

(08:25):
world champion, your job seems fulfilled. That chapter is closed.
So after a few months, well the first few months
was like, all right, I'm off on vacation. Man, it's
been fifteen years. I'm after to go enjoy life right now.
After a few months of enjoying and traveling and doing

(08:47):
a lot more with the family because you are away
from the family a lot, then it's like, now what
now what there was There was a void. There, there
was that space of like, okay, now what I'm gonna do?
You know, I love boxing. I'm definitely going to stick
in boxing. There was a lot of messages. There was
a lot of calls media, what's going on? What happened?

(09:11):
Obviously some wanted to get the scoop and wright stories
and add clicks and like oh no, no, no, let me see,
let me see, let me see. What do I want
to do. There was opportunities from small promoters to big promoters,
and it lingered in my mind a little bit of saying, okay,

(09:32):
continue where you left off. But then I guess the
old age, the a little bit more wiser and everything
I said, do I really want to continue? And and
there was with a promoter that you know, at the

(09:53):
time of Golden Boy's peak, HBO, we had dates with
the Levisa, we had dates with the Lemundo, we had
dates with Fox, we had dating I mean, there was
so many people don't understand to do one show a month,
it's crazy. One show a month is crazy because as
soon as this show's over, you're already need to be

(10:16):
promoting that next show. A couple of weeks even before
this one's over and getting ready to get on the
road again. So but we had signs where we had
three shows in one weekend and we had to split up.

Speaker 5 (10:30):
But to do three shows in.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
One weekend, regardless that I'm working one, there's still probably
about twenty five fights, fifty fighters that have to be
put together over a period of time. So at the beginning,
it was new, it was learning, it was great. There
was stress, of course, but that's what you signed up for.

(10:54):
Fifteen years later, getting older, that's when you say, you
know what, I want to work smarter, not harder. So
I still want to be in boxing. What am I
gonna do? Do I really want to go into a
promotional company that's really busy every weekend, every like two
three shows a month.

Speaker 5 (11:12):
Nah, that's not what I want.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
And then little by little I started getting calls from
a lot of the fighters that I worked with that
had been retired.

Speaker 5 (11:21):
I want to come back, I want.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Some I said, no, no more, Look let's go into training,
Go here, go there. But then there was summer, right,
show me, show me, show me, And you know the
couple that stand out and was Jorgelli Nadies. I had
worked with him for many years. I mean we traveled
all over the world and had a great run. But
he was coming off three losses in a row. He
had lost them Haini, and then on his own after

(11:46):
his release from Golden Boy, he went to Russia twice
and lost. I'm very close to him to this day
and I was like, no, hold it, hit, it's over man.
Three losses in a row. One was a stoppage. You know,
it's one thing to lose to Devin Haney, I said,
a young, very talented. He was a champion at the time.
And I said, but it's another thing to go to

(12:06):
Russia and lose. And I'm not taking away from them.
They maybe comes tomorrow champions, but they were like unknown
in the small stage and regardless of what the financials were,
once the money's gone, that sticks to you. So it
was like, yes, do and he said no, I want
to give it one more time. And I said, well,
show me trade. And I'm when I say that, I've

(12:30):
said it to the other two. You say it with
the hope that after a couple months of training they
come back and say, you know what, it's not there anymore.
And then it's like okay, But I started seeing the
old hold here again, motivated and training. And this kid
you see him anytime, even today, you see him work

(12:52):
and it's beauty watching them in the gym, hitting the pads,
hitting there, you know, sparring. And we went to to
fight Captrol. We went to fight Capture in Liverpool and
came up short. But it was like, okay, you went
out how you wanted to go out in a big event,
tap fighter. Now we call it a day, and he did.

(13:13):
Ronnie Rios calls me, Bablo says, gone, calls me. So
I started getting calls. Share Sports a few months later
calls me and says, hey, what do you think? And
I said, you know what, I think, that's the direction
I want to be and I want to be. I've
always even at matchmaking, you have a one on one

(13:34):
relationship and bond with the fighters because you're the one
matching them. You have to see how what the strengths,
what the weakness is. I always had a good relationship
from the Danny Garcias to the Wilders, to the Jacobs
to this day Jacobs, when I see him, I hug
and there's so much love for them. So the bond

(13:54):
is always Yes, I love boxing, But why do I
love boxing because.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
Of these athletes?

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Oh, it only made sense that you know what, you
know the promotional side very well. Now now you can
bring it to this side and the managing side, and
don't be the manager that you despised when you were
on the promotional side though. You know kids, mis mans man,
no be the one that works for your fighter but

(14:23):
works with the promoter. Meet halfway. Everybody's happy and let's
try to create champions. So it was a no brainer.
I had met the people at Shaer Sports can Share,
the owner Lyle Green, who I had more of the
relationship during the matching of many fighters that were under
the Golden Boy banner that were managed by them, and

(14:45):
they always fought for the fighters, were always good for
the fighters and real good people that financially don't live
off boxing. So when they gave me the opportunity and said, look,
you know boxing and you know challenge, let's work together,
and I said great, great, And with that on top,

(15:07):
it's like they gave me the freedom. They said, look,
there's certain fighters that are not look king for management.
Lamont Roach is self manager, is managed by his father,
doing a great job. Look where we're at but that
I can be a part of the team and advise
and and here we are a couple of weeks away,
less than a couple of weeks away from the biggest

(15:27):
fight of his career and a great opportunity. So I've
been very fortunate. I again with the older age, it's
the work smarter, not harder. It's given me the opportunity
to work on my pace at my time. Basically now
I go to a lot of the fights, go to

(15:49):
the conventions and tell my wife, let's go, Let's go
to the convention. We went to Puerto Rico, Hamburg and
Orlando last year to three other four conventions, and we
made them vacations. So I'm happy. I'm enjoying and I'm
hoping to have those big nights. And like anything in boxing,
it's a sport of you win some, you lose some.

(16:11):
And just because of the experience, I know that, and
you're gonna win some, you're gonna lose some. In a
couple of weeks, we'll win some and then in a
couple you know, after that, we may lose some. But
you take some. You you know, you it's part of
the game. And just to be able to give these
fighters the most you can financially and explain to them that,

(16:36):
try to take care of your money, try to invest,
try not to spoil, you know, spend it in want
and have the relationship even after retirement. To me, it's
not okay onto the next. To me, it's a bond.
It's a relationship. And I'm always here in case you
need to talk. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
No, I appreciate that. Man, that's some real talk. And
you know, and keeping in that during that time that
you were away.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
And even when you got started again, what did you
learn about yourself because you had a moment to I'm
sure to do some reflection just personally, like what did
you learn about yourself during that time away where you
were able to spend it with your family and really
kind of like hone in on what you want to
do for the next ten to fifteen years.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Thank you, Thank you. That's an amazing, great question. I
appreciate that one because you always have a vision of
where you want to go and where you're doing and
what you're doing it for. And during the fifteen years
I was living, breathing, sleeping, Everything was my job and

(17:49):
nothing wrong with that. But don't neglect and I learned this.
Don't neglect what's most important. Health. Family, I think that's
really important. Job's always going to be there, regardless of
where it is. If it's not here, it's there, it's there.

(18:13):
But don't neglect what's most important. And I think I
appreciate that a little more now. And it also takes
sometimes a big wake up.

Speaker 5 (18:26):
I've had in the past, some battles.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
At a very young age, I had a major car
accident in Tijuana where I ran off the road sixty
feet into the air. No, not one of those tails,
but reality broke both my legs. Didn't think I was
never in danger of losing my life when they found

(18:51):
me just broken apart. They didn't think I was going
to walk again. Obviously I walked years later a battle
with cancer. Didn't think I was gonna make it, got through,
and then in twenty three, just when you think, and

(19:15):
I guess it goes back to you know, you hear
these stories of the firemen and the policeman and anybody
who retires.

Speaker 5 (19:24):
After thirty years in work.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Then they go retire and they're fishing, enjoying life now
and boom they have a heart attack, and you can
never understand it like, what the heck why now that
they were enjoying life, So you work all your life
to retire to now go and fish and hunt and
travel the seventh season.

Speaker 5 (19:45):
To have a heart attack and die.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
I mean, it makes no sense, right, but I guess
when it happened to me where I was like, Wow,
I'm not a stressful I'm giving myself more time. I'm
eating healthy. Shit that was Miami riding a bike a
couple of days before in the sun. It's just like
a com vacation, and it's like and it happens right

(20:07):
when you feel the healthiest. I guess the adrenaline keeps
you going and doesn't give you time to like shut down.
And once you don't have that adrenaline at that point pace,
your body's so used to it that it now figures,
oh I can breathe and boom it hates you. So

(20:28):
that reality was like, Okay, why am I getting so
many chances? You know you hear this person or that part.
And I had what it's called a widow maker, and
shit when the name tells you right there, when the
doctor came and said, you know how you feeling, and
Dad already did the procedure, and I was in my room.

(20:53):
How do you feel and I feel I said, I
don't feel anything.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
I don't I mean what I felt earlier, it's gone now.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
He goes, okay, well, just to let you know you
had a massive heart attack. We call it the widow Maker,
and obviously the name says it all. And I said, okay.
He said, you know, I looked it up, googled it up.
A very small percentage make it through. I was very fortunate.
But then I started thinking, why, Why the car accident,

(21:22):
why the cancer, Why you can go before the car accident,
the streets and in San Francisco, growing up in a
gang infested surrounding. Why am I so fortunate? So I said, okay,
my time's not over again, and now it's a time

(21:42):
to not for me, it's it's it's something that again
first my family and then got to give back. And
I'm very, very grateful for that opportunity to say, all right,
this is yes, I lived from boxing, I worked from
me and this and that. But it's really a motivation

(22:03):
to say I want to give back. I want to
see these young men fulfill their dreams. I want to
see them become champions. I want to see them become
somebody as a role model. And that's something that I
tell them use this tool.

Speaker 5 (22:16):
You know, Joel.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Riete, a young man that we signed that Sheer Sports
who's making a lot of raves, opened up his gym,
he's already doing a foundation's already and his kids. Twenty
one years old and doing so much more for his
community and for his people and making a difference. That
that's when you sit back and say, yes, this is

(22:38):
the way to do it, not just the fame and
glory for personal but also to give back. So it's fulfilling.
It's fulfilling, and that's that is really something that I
want to continue doing and always have. You know, I
talked to James Jason Quigley a lot and I tell
him you you.

Speaker 5 (22:59):
And he's part of Sheer Sports.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
He was a fighter for Sheer Sports, Goldimoor fighter and
now works with Cheersports and the management management. And I
tell him you could be the older brother for a
lot of these young men because you stepped in the ring.
You know what it is to cut weight, you know
what it is to get fall and get up, and
you have a bond with them. And he has that

(23:24):
personality where because of his experience, he can lead the
way for many young fighters.

Speaker 5 (23:29):
So I'm very happy where I'm at right now.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
It's it's it's been different but the same because I'm
still involved in the sport that I love, and now
in a different facet of more one on one with them.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah, And speaking of one on one, and you touched
on it, and I'm going to get back to Joel
here in a second.

Speaker 4 (23:47):
I want to talk more about him.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know, you're working with WBA super felloweight champion who
was moving up to lightweight, Lamont Roach. He's fighting March
first at the Barkley Center, going to be on PPV,
dot com, uh and Prime Video pay per view as well.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Before we even get to talking about that, I just
have one very important question for you.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
How deep in your closet did you have to dig
to get the heavy clothing out to go to New
York next week?

Speaker 2 (24:22):
You know, in southern California we're so spoiled, but but
it's always handy because we're traveling.

Speaker 5 (24:30):
So I was in Hamburg in December.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
So it's there's a this this room right here is
a bedroom, but it's turned into an office but in
the closet here it's all the heavy coats and everything,
so it's always within a hand, you know, an armful
way to pull it. But I still have a pack,
but I will be doing that. I saw last weekend

(24:57):
at the top ranked card. I saw good Friends is
outside doing the report heavy and I'm like, oh, man,
it's cold. I talked to Lamont earlier senior, and I said, hey,
you're back home. Yeah, yeah, it's cold. He said, yeah,
it's cold because they did camp in Florida. And I'm like, okay, okay,
I'm preparing myself because I don't mind the heat. I mean,

(25:19):
that's why I spend half the year in Florida. I
love the heat. I love the humidity. I hate the cold.
But I'll be uh, I'll be all covered up next week.
But I'm looking forward to it. Man, I'm looking forward
to it. It's it's it has look. I know a
lot of people are killing on it and and being

(25:40):
negative on it, but look, boxing is about opportunities. Boxing
is That's what's the beauty of boxing. Expect the unexpected
and as long as you believe. And I've known the
Moon since early on his pro debut and This is
a young man who's worked really hard, has been given anything,

(26:01):
never turned down, fight spot, all the different styles, had
the the the defeat, which I'll tell you when I
really learned his character. We were in Puerto Rico and
he was fighting Orlando or Landito Cruz. He drops or Landito,

(26:22):
they don't call it a knockdown, a mistake. Later we
saw the video and it was a clear knockdown. But
at the end of the night he won the fight,
but the outcome the judges called him a draw. I
could see you being upset because you know you won
the fight and the draw doesn't look good on the record.

(26:44):
But I remember walking into the dress room after the
fight and seeing him not upset, but so.

Speaker 5 (26:53):
Like I mean, there was tears in.

Speaker 2 (26:56):
His eyes of how you know, it bothered him. And
that's when I knew, man, he's taking it really hard.
And obviously we talk, we'll consolidated and you know, give
him some advice everything. But I said, look, we'll do
it again. Don't worry, we'll get the rematch and you'll
make it good. But I saw how much of a
competitor he is now add experience becoming a world champion, more.

Speaker 5 (27:22):
Of that you know, once you win.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
A world title, you get it to another level because.

Speaker 5 (27:28):
Now you've like a world champion. Now you train like
a world champion.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
And knowing each other, the rivalry between how close they are,
the area.

Speaker 5 (27:43):
I see his belief.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
And now when you have a fighter that's not just
going for the opportunity, going for the payday, going, I mean,
that's all great, and you have to that's how you
take care of your family. But when you believe and
it's really there, that's a dangerous fighter. And Lamont has
the talent. Lamont believes. Lamont has the experience. Now he's

(28:09):
tasted defeat, he's tasted victory at the high level. It's
it's gonna be a fight. It's gonna be a fight.
They know each other. I don't, I don't doubt, I don't. Uh,
don't blame all the but Tank's tank is a beast.
To me, Tank is a mini Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson

(28:31):
was a beast. But Mike Tyson had to share the
ring with Buster Douglas and and Evander Holyfield that believed, believed,
and that's the difference.

Speaker 5 (28:41):
Come made first March.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
First. Look, I'm not saying, oh go put the house. No,
but don't knock it till you try it. After the fight,
talked to me, this is a fight and and most importantly,
Tank and his team know it. The fans don't have
to know it, but Tank and his team know. So
it's gonna be a hell of fight. And that I

(29:03):
could assure the fans it's going to be a hell
of fight.

Speaker 4 (29:06):
Yeah, and and listen, I think that it is.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
You know, it plays into your specialty, right, styles make
fights right, and so what I'm kind of curious on
the beginning of it, like how did how did the
fight get made?

Speaker 4 (29:26):
Was it something that Lamont pushed or was it brought
to him?

Speaker 3 (29:29):
And then you guys disgusted and then you know, he
got motivated once he knew that.

Speaker 4 (29:33):
That was gonna happen, Like, how did it all go down?

Speaker 5 (29:36):
Well, the Mont.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
Won the world title against a PBC fighter on a
PBC card, Uhis Garcia, Lois the kubas uh and I
and the Monk's father put that fight. It was a
mandatory I had gone up, Hector, Hector, I'm sorry, Hector Garcia.

Speaker 5 (29:58):
I had got up and fought Tank very similar.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
After the fight, Luis and team came in and you know,
congratulated Lamont and everybody, and then he mentioned to me,
a let's talk.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
Let's talk.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
Look, there's there's some other opportunities and and maybe there's
a possibility even a tank fight. And I said, okay,
let's stop. We'll be in touch. Obviously, it was really
important for Lamont to do a homecoming, to go back home.

Speaker 5 (30:30):
He hadn't fought at home.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
In years before being a world champion, fought maybe once
or twice, but being he wanted to go back and
give it to his fans and say I brought the
title back home.

Speaker 5 (30:44):
Did his first defense.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
Communication for many different promoters, but they all wanted to
take that title.

Speaker 5 (30:53):
They all wanted in the first fight.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
You know, the homecoming sounds good and all, but let's
do a unification or let's do this. Let's and wasn't
shying away, but he was really the sacrifice money to
take something back home and say thank you to my fans.

Speaker 5 (31:08):
He's always had a good following.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
I mean, he fought in Puerto Rico, he fought in Ganguon,
he fought in New York.

Speaker 5 (31:14):
He's fought a couple of times, and there's a.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Lot of people that go to his fights, so it
was important to him. So after the first defense, then
they was notifight that we had a mandatory with a
kid from Russia. Then comes the call from Luisa Coulaz
again and says, hey, would you guys be interested in

(31:37):
the tank fight? So Lamont had both and you know,
a lot of people it must be a money thing.

Speaker 5 (31:43):
It must be.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
Of course, money is important, but the money is with
people that know out there. The Moneys were very similar,
but it was a no brainer. He said, I want
tank Man. Nobody knows and no disrespect. He's the hell
of a fighter. The Russian champion is an Intern World champion,
but everybody knows tank. Plus, hey there's history. Let's go

(32:09):
let's repeat history, let's go run it back. So it
was it made more sense now a lot of people saying, oh,
you got another little guy coming up. Let's not forget that.
For the Martin fight, Tank weigh one thirty three. He
was two pounds under. He's not a big guy. Lamont's

(32:29):
fought is higher than one thirty five. So in fact,
it didn't surprise me. But at the first press conference,
Aman was the bigger guy physically. The bigger guy and
not heavy bigger, I mean body structure. He's the bigger guy.
So I really believe. Look it's five pounds difference. Those

(32:52):
are gonna be five pounds that his body is gonna say,
oh man, welcome, you know, ying Benido. So it's sometimes
a body is gonna you know, who's to say, maybe
stays at one five, especially after becoming and you and
you okay ah.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
And I know that you've visited him in a training
camp or have seen the most spoken to him. Have
you noticed anything different about him, maybe just his aura
or his approach or just anything different about him.

Speaker 5 (33:27):
He knows what it means. He knows how he could
change his life.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
I see obviously I'm more mature from from years ago
when I met him, But I see if a man
on a mission, I really do. I'm not I'm not
part of the promotion, you know, I'm not trying to
promote this and go buy and this and no, no,
I see a man on a mission. And again it

(33:56):
goes back to he believes. And you know in Mexico,
the world champions or the top fighters can go out
and lose. To their point, Manny Paciel beat Edic Morales.
Manny Paciel beat Barrena Manipaciel beat at market. Well when

(34:20):
they fight each other, Okay, I can't be second place
in Mexico, not here. So that's what brings out that
extra fire, because yeah, he can be Eric. Eric and
Manny had a great relationship. Brenna and Manny have a
great relationship. But to this day Eric and Brenda don't

(34:40):
have that great relationship.

Speaker 5 (34:42):
So I see that here as well.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
You know, after the fight, the hugs and this in respect,
but both of them want to be that guy at
the end of the day, you know.

Speaker 5 (34:57):
So when you add the belief that t.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
And then there's a pride, I see a mature, hungry,
young reaper.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
And and and for people that don't understand because I've
lived there for for some years as well, the DMV area,
the DC Maryland Virginia area, like there is like no
kidding rivalries within that piece of map there of the US,
Like it gets really serious in there. And I mean
you've seen it with the Russells and Javonta and and

(35:32):
you know, and so it's it's a serious thing, and
it's territorial and and I can I can see what
you're saying.

Speaker 4 (35:39):
You know.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
I know that to be true and know that you're
not just saying it just to say it, because I've
lived there and I know that it could be very
territory over there.

Speaker 5 (35:49):
Plus, this is a.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
Kid that's seen all of the styles, so it's very
different going into a fight where it's too soon. It's
not the right time. It's the right time. Again, God's
times are perfect. This is the right time. He's mature,
he's hungry, he's never really made that. You know, the

(36:10):
kind of persons and money that can come from a
win from here and where it can take him.

Speaker 5 (36:18):
And his family.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
So I'm excited. I'm happy for him. He deserves it,
and I believe that regardless of the outcome, we're going
to have a hell of a fight because it's a
real fight.

Speaker 5 (36:29):
It's a real fight.

Speaker 3 (36:30):
Yeah, I was gonna ask you that you just mentioned
it on March first, what do we expect and you're
saying it's a real fight.

Speaker 4 (36:36):
Lament's coming in there, He's coming for it all and
people should watch that just for that.

Speaker 5 (36:42):
Really.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
Absolutely, see in any other sport, if you follow your team,
you're not gonna say forty nine ers today. I'm not
going to tune in because they're playing the Rams, and
the Rams are one in ten. That's probably more reason
to watch them. Because today we're gonna break some records

(37:05):
and get some you know. And boxing is the only
sport where we always were never happy. The fans are
never happy, or they're always killing it. Before I remember,
they would write and man, this fight's harp with all.
Do say it after the fight, you know, because if
it is, then.

Speaker 5 (37:23):
I'll eat it up.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Of course, I'll take all liked tomatoes, you know, because
I deserve it. But don't kill it before you try it,
you know, don't knock it before you try it, because
you never know.

Speaker 5 (37:36):
You never know. And and some of these fights turn
out to be barn burners.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
And I really believe the intensity that night it's gonna
be because you're gonna have you're gonna have Baltimore and
DC in the house, and it's gonna be. It's gonna
be electrifying. It's gonna be you're gonna feel it. You're
gonna know when you walk in, like okay, security a
higher nerd because this is a real fight.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
Oh yeah. They will be burning up that ninety five
North and going up.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
To New York for that.

Speaker 4 (38:07):
Trust me, all right, So listen, ladies and gentlemen, you're
listening in.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
You're watching this on YouTube March first pay per view
Javonte Davis versus Lamont Roach Junior.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
Check it out.

Speaker 3 (38:22):
Robert Diaz is telling you it's gonna be It's gonna
be one to watch, So we'll definitely take your word
for it. I want to just move on real quick
to some of the other things that you got going on,
and I want to mention Joelle id At.

Speaker 4 (38:37):
He's twenty one Walter Waight Division.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
He's six and oho six KOs. He just won this
past weekend. What was it initially that caught your eye
about him that led to you guys signing him over
a sear?

Speaker 2 (38:55):
You know, first first, his credentials, you know, his credentials
for themselves. I mean, this is a young man that
won seventeen nationals, over two hundred amateur fights. His work rate,
I saw him as far and it's like he was
faring a professional, I mean a solid professional, one of

(39:16):
the top guys right now in the division that's coming
up on a very big fight. Without naming his name,
because I don't like to compare the sparrings and anything.
But this is before he goes pro. And it wasn't
a sparring session. It was a sixth round fight and
a tremendous respect for the young man that he was sparring.

Speaker 5 (39:39):
But o hell.

Speaker 2 (39:42):
I mean, if you would be watching and didn't ask
who's the pro and who's the amateur or who's the
pro debut, you would think Hoid was the pro. So
that obviously made you a believer. And then you get
to meet the person and and hear his reasons. And

(40:06):
because I've been on the promotional side, you hear so
many why you want to be. You know, I want
the fancy cars, and I want the jewelry and I
want okay, yeah, you deserve it after, you know, when
you get there. But he's very I mean I remember
seeing a I think we were on a video call
one day and he says, you remember when I said

(40:29):
I live in the gym. I said yeah, yeah, yeah.
He goes, well, let me show you what I meant.
I literally live in the gym. So he opens the
door to his room and the next room is the gym.
I mean, I've never seen that before. It's the gym
was built in a big room next to his bedroom.

Speaker 5 (40:45):
So it was like whoa.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
So he says, that's why I live in the gym, man.

Speaker 5 (40:48):
And it's like okay.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
And then only six fights in the game and already
opened up his own gym, already giving back to the
community charity. So it's like, wow, it makes you very
proud to just be a little bit part of that
process because you see, when you give back this early,

(41:13):
it's only I mean reality that you're going to get
it back tenfold. So I really believe this young man
has you know, you hear it all the time, and
it's sort of like somewhat takes away from the real
meaning of it. Oh, he's a multiple world champion. That's
a lot of weight to carry because just become a

(41:36):
world champion it's hard enough, maybe easier now than it
was years ago. But to say I have the next
guy who's a multiple world champion. Let's remember back in
the era of the great we feed the Woman's Alexis
at Away, even Chravis to win three world titles in

(41:58):
different divisions was that was the max. So now to say,
you know, no, knock on Rowlie. Rowley's won two divisions already,
you know, so to say, Now, a lot of managers,
you hear trainers all, this guy's a multiple world champion.
But in the case of the way he works the
talent he has. You know, he goes out there, he

(42:21):
throws a lot of punches, not looking just for the knockout,
but he's getting the knockout because he throws in the
right combinations. He's body up, you know, a variety of punches.
He swarms you and just to show you, look, he's
ready for eight rounds. Recently, he was offered for this

(42:42):
particular fight a fighter, an opponent that was twelve and zer,
very risky at this point in his career. He was
five and zero against a twelve and zer. But we
took it, you know, as a team. We talked and
it's like, okay, let's go, but let's make it a
night rounder. Then they the.

Speaker 5 (43:00):
Twelve to zero wasn't available or turned it down after.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
But he only fought the last opponent because that was
the only thing that was presented at the time with
the short notice, and it was either that or don't fight.

Speaker 5 (43:13):
But in order for him to grow, we.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
Understand that he has to go into that next chapter,
which is the eight rounders get those type of opponents
that are not just there to show up, but there
to progress him, there, to teach him, there to show
his quality, because the better the opponent's going to be,
because he is a solid fighter, the better he's going

(43:35):
to show and show his versatility. So we want those
type of opponents, you know, the thirteen and three or
ten and two or those type of guys that are
also coming to fight. So I think that's next what
we're going to see in this young man, and that's
what's going to take him to that next level.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
And I was going to ask you that because I
was like, man, you know that level of opponent he
faced on Saturday. I think he's already like past that
already he needs to get to the to the next level.
And when do you think when do you think we'll
see him back in the ring or what what would
when would you want him to get back there?

Speaker 2 (44:11):
He you remember when he fought his pro debut, he
was back in the ring like a week later or so,
knowing he's back in the gym already getting ready. But
I think his next day it will probably be around
early early April.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
Early April, Okay, all right, and then what about some
of the other fighters that you that you're working with.
If you want to just let people know some of
the other guys, they should be looking out for sure.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
We signed a two brothers from Texas, from the Valley,
the Brothers. I'm really really happy with that signing. Great, great,
hard working kids. They recently fought a couple of weeks
ago in San Diego. They're trained and run by Eddie
Renosol under Sheer Sports and it Xavior who's seven and

(45:02):
zero and Ray Bocanegra who's two and no. Very hard working,
very young. But you see even talking to Eddie, he
tells me, man, they're like sponges. They learn quick, they're quiet,
they work hard, very powerful. They're going places and with

(45:26):
Eddie's guidance, I have all the confidence in the world.
Have a young lady, former world interim world champion knocking
on the door for a mandatory position or fight the
winner of the next world title fight between the champion
and her mandatory and that's Adelaida Cobra Luiz. She's known

(45:48):
very well in the area of La This is a girl,
that a lady that I am very proud when I
heard her story you know, tremendous amateur. We basically hangs
the gloves up as she is pregnant to deliver her

(46:09):
first child, and then comes the second and then third child,
and then raisis them. So she's gone from boxing for
about ten years, I believe, and once the kids were
old enough to you know, go to school on their
own and come back and then take care of each other,
and she decides, you know what, give it another run,

(46:30):
and she becomes a world champion. So that just shows
man what women and how hard and how tough.

Speaker 5 (46:37):
Women could be.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
Not only could they birth the child, but you know,
can give it up like George Forman did it for
many years and then come back her card and win
the world title. So I'm a big fan of Adelaida.
She could fight as well, and I can't wait to
see her back in the ring. Raquel Miller, she's the
mandatory to franchon the cruise a world champion on this

(47:00):
you the world champion, are unified world champion that I
go back with who I'm a big fan of.

Speaker 5 (47:06):
But now we have to work out and hopefully get
this fight done soon.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
And a couple of girls from Mexico, Jessica and edi Plata,
We asked me for help. Juadlvaltista, Kenya Enriquez. So these
are all former current or knocking on the door to
the mandatory. So I've been getting a lot of calls
and it's like it makes me proud man, because it's

(47:32):
like they're reaching out to me and saying, can you
give me some help?

Speaker 5 (47:35):
Can you advise me to this?

Speaker 2 (47:37):
And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I got a young man
out of a stala Mexico. He came up right before
William Seppetta starts in the amateurs. He had started like
a few months before then they came up together. He
stayed amateur, very rare in Mexico.

Speaker 5 (47:55):
Do you hear this?

Speaker 2 (47:55):
But fourteen time national champion over two hundred and fifty
amateurs and he's a super midway. So William Sapeta's dad
calls me and says, hey, would you be interested in
working this with this young man. I've known him since
this young man and a little kid, and he came
up with William. Obviously I had known William, I had

(48:16):
signed William. I see his work ethic and I said,
is he like William? He goes yeah, except these a
bigger weight class. Oh, what weight class, super middleweight. I said,
let's go. Let's go.

Speaker 5 (48:27):
So he's three and oh he did his third fight.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
He did three fights last all two fights last year
he debuted, and then one fight in January.

Speaker 5 (48:36):
His third fight was an eight rounder.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
We're gonna move fast track because he has the experience,
because he has.

Speaker 5 (48:47):
Because of his age and his experience.

Speaker 2 (48:49):
He was just in camp with Benavidez, and he was
in camp before that with Bungia and then also from
Brooklyn Junior Yon and Junior Yon, and he asked me
for advice. Can I help add it to the team
and help him and his father, And I said, yeah,
let's go. And he's had three or four fights in

(49:10):
the last about a little over a year. He's now
number ten in the world in the super middleweight division
and he has a WBA title, So obviously he's moving
up and very close to getting that break getting into
those big fights. And look, he has the Amatesha pedigree
as well as well as he's twenty one and zero

(49:31):
with a draw. So things are moving in that in
the right direction for him, and I'm hoping that within
the next twelve months he's knocking on that door. Why
not look by Berlina. You need a dance partner, wor
a better place than New York.

Speaker 4 (49:46):
Yeahy, you heard it here first. And listen.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
You know one thing that I do appreciate from you
is that you know, even it doesn't matter who the
fighter is, you know, if you're with them, you're with them.

Speaker 4 (50:02):
And I definitely appreciate that because I had seen you.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
There was a guy I can't remember his name, he's
fighting Callum Walsh, and we were at the Wildcard Gym
doing the media day and you was right there.

Speaker 4 (50:14):
You was there with him.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
You were, you know, helping out how you could, trying
to get him the best situation with the pictures and
everything else. So you know, I definitely respect that because
you know, there's some folks that they make it to
a certain place and they get on their high horse
and they feel like they're too good for that.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
I'll tell you because that's a young well a young
man in boxing, but on that extra time in because
he started boxing late.

Speaker 5 (50:41):
It's Carlos Ortiz.

Speaker 2 (50:42):
Yeah, he's Massa's older brother. He started boxing late, but
he's been a kid that worked really hard to get
in shape. It's about thirty five years old thirty six
years old, didn't have an amateur background. I think he
had like three amateur fights, and but he works hard
and then every once in a while he'll call me like, hey,

(51:04):
give me a big fight. And I put him in
against Blair Cobbs, I put him in against a Lessons Roach.
I put him in as I think he might have
even fought a Virgil or Master Virgil. So he's been
in tough fights. It's not never been easy. When he
crosses the borders and he called me and I want
to give it another good fight, you know, give me

(51:24):
a fight. So obviously Callum's coming up. He's doing a
hell of a thing, I mean, knocking people out. So
I'm like, okay, what do you think of this fight? Yeah,
let's do it. You know, it's an opportunity, okay, the title.
I was there with.

Speaker 5 (51:39):
Him for media day.

Speaker 2 (51:42):
I didn't make it to the fight. I didn't make
it to the fight. This is this is gonna be
his first. The fight was.

Speaker 4 (51:53):
I believe it was.

Speaker 2 (51:54):
It was.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
You know, it was out here in California, the sums
seen so.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
It's about two hour I guess three hour drive. And
it was a Friday and Wednesday, I'm working out. I've
been doing five miles in the morning. At night, I
was doing my weights. I remember getting in the in
the sauna and after I came out, I said to myself,

(52:23):
it's crazy they weaving because I said to myself, damn,
I haven't.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
Felt this good in years. I had been eating.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
Healthy, I had been relaxed, I had my wife was
in Florida.

Speaker 5 (52:37):
I was here.

Speaker 2 (52:40):
No straight, I wasn't going out. It just almost like
in camp mode. And the next morning was going to
be the way in day. And I wake up early.
I'm not going to the way in because I'm just
going to go on fight night to the fight. But

(53:00):
I had an early wake up. I had a lot
of things to do, and I I wake up normal.
I woke up at six in the morning other day
and as I'm brushing my teeth, toothbrush falls. And again
last night, I've never felt this good. I should have

(53:21):
been doing this for years. I felt man, I felt strong,
I felt good, I felt healthy.

Speaker 5 (53:28):
And I'm like, that's weird. I sit on the edge
of the bed. I call my wife. I'm like, hey,
what do you my hand?

Speaker 2 (53:35):
My hand?

Speaker 5 (53:35):
She goes, oh, maybe you slept on it. You know,
it's numb.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
And with this second Sabraham, I'm like like stuttering and
I'm like, oh man, and she.

Speaker 5 (53:48):
Goes, what what's wrong? I said, Man, I think I'm
having a stroke.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
I had never had it, but but it's like that's
what I'm thinking. It is my hand, my mind speak.
So I'm like, I'm out of here. I hang up,
I jump in the car and I drive. You know,
that was my first instinct because nobody's here, and I'm like,
I'm not call nine to one. What if it takes
too long, I don't know. I jump in the car,

(54:11):
get to the hospital. They run tests, they do everything.
They let me out the next day. But it's now
like what happened. Yeah, they said, hey, it's not a stroke,
but you had like a little brockege and this and that, so,
you know, relaxing, I'm like, dude, I was working out,
I was doing five miles a day, I was eating healthy.

(54:35):
What happened. So it's like your body's not used to
healthy leaving it's like go back to the uritos and
the tacos and theas man. So it's like, you know,
it's like what the heck. So that's the only reason
I didn't make the fight. In fact, it was an
issue at the weigh and there was an issue at
the way in, and I'm in the hospital and I'm

(54:55):
getting called, hey, we need another backup. They told me
that I needed to have two the gloves because it
was a title, and I'm texting because it's like I
don't want to get on the phone and top I'm
in the hospital and I'm like, no, no, no, tell him.
Tom Losser knows. Tom told me just one pair is enough.
It's not a world title, it's a regional title. Well,

(55:16):
the commission is the commission that so I had to
call a store have somebody pick them up. They sent
them over, but.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
Had I not done that, and that moment shut off
the phone.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
You're in the hospital, right, But wait a minute, I
got to make sure that shit is handled over there
because they're gonna.

Speaker 5 (55:37):
Make them use other gloves.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
And then that takes away his age where he thinks,
oh man, and then I don't want it to come
back and say, well I lost because I didn't have
my gloves, my raised gloves or something. So you know,
you already have a young bull in front of you
you need as much as ammunition. Whether it's just here
to believe goes back to I believe I can do it.

Speaker 4 (55:59):
Yeah, yeah, all right, and listen.

Speaker 3 (56:02):
I just like lastly and I was gonna ask you
something at the end here, but what are some of
your personal goals for this year?

Speaker 2 (56:14):
To see the end of to see another New Year's
That's that's one of the top ones. Now.

Speaker 5 (56:18):
Now every day is like, okay, it's a blessing.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
Now. See when when you're young, you don't think about,
oh yeah, what can happen?

Speaker 5 (56:28):
You know, you you just oh, you take it for granted.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
As you get older and you go through these episodes
that you're like, okay, I got another one, another one.
You know. A family member of mine tells me, man,
you're a You're a cat. You have so many lives,
and it's like, okay, I don't want to find out
if I have nine. Just let's keep it at this now,
no more of these scares or these rounds.

Speaker 5 (56:55):
But I'd love to see some of these girls that.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
Work so hard and and and are underpaid in boxing.
And I'm not saying oh to overnight, say okay, they
they deserve the millions and stuff like that. But to
see uh Adelaida become a world champion again, neddie Platta
to become a world champion again, Kenny and Ricaz to
get her opportunity and become a world champion, that would

(57:24):
be fulfill it. I mean, obviously Junior Ryona to get
his big opportunity to a big fight, to show to
the world just who he is.

Speaker 5 (57:34):
And and to see these young prospects.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
I mean, we just signed that cheer sports Federico Pacheco,
a Mexican heavyweight. Uh and not only a Mexican heavyweight,
a big Mexican heavyweight, so you know it's very young,
the brother of Diego Pacheco.

Speaker 5 (57:51):
I think it's going to be so exciting.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Because look, reality is, yes, Mexicans are getting bigger and
bigger and bigger. Look at the Mungia fighting in a
bigger way. But historically we don't. We've never seen anything
south of the middleweights. And just to see a young
man with the drive that that Eco has, that's that's

(58:19):
that's what I love about boxing. When you have a
young man that is at the beginning, and I say
he's at the beginning because he's he has seven fights,
three or four or five years from now see him
as one of the top guys in the division.

Speaker 5 (58:36):
That's when you.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Sit back and say, hey, job well done, you know,
because you see the transformation. And I've seen it so
many times with I've always said in previous interviews podcasts
that one of the most fulfilling they see in father
and son embrace when they say and you because it's
not one dream, it's two dreams come true. But it's

(58:59):
not something that happened in an accoump. It's something that
happened when when when father and son put on that
first pair of gloves.

Speaker 5 (59:09):
And he would come on, he who come on?

Speaker 2 (59:11):
You know, when he's two three years old, and that
dream has carried around all these years, but you have
part of that at the end where it's and you
happened to me and Monaco with Brandy Calaiero in Vegas.

Speaker 5 (59:23):
With Lemon Danny Garcia and his dad.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
I mean, I've seen it so many times, and I
think that's what's been like those most cherished moments when
you see that father and son combination. And and in
a couple of weeks, will revive, will relive that one.

Speaker 4 (59:40):
More time, Okay, all right?

Speaker 3 (59:42):
And and Lastly, you know this is kind of recent news,
but it looks like Floyd Schofield had to pull out
of the fight because of an illness. I guess the
commission made the call a scenario like that, and you're
you're dealing with for cour Stevens and world champion everything else,
it's Tuesday before the fight. As a mask maker, like

(01:00:06):
what do you do at that instance, like you're scrambling
around trying to salvage the fight or even like from
your experience at this point of the week, is it
even worth trying to go down that road because there's
risk on shakurs in as well taking a last minute opponent.

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
Yes, all hands on deck. It's happened. It's part of boxing.
It's unfortunate on the side of Shakur that's been ready
getting training but prepared.

Speaker 5 (01:00:35):
Same thing for Schofield.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
He didn't do a camp just to say I'm gonna
pull out or fly out there and say I'm gonna
pull out. So you know, you got to find out
more into it what happened. It is from one part
of the world to another time. It climate, time, food,
there's a lot of different things. But again, experience, once

(01:00:59):
you've been out there and bring your and I'm not
saying it was food or anything, but bring your own food,
bring your own water back.

Speaker 5 (01:01:05):
I mean, you never know where you're going, so bring
what you're used to.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
Again, I don't know all the circumstances, just what I've
read that it's off. But now it's fix. Chakur is
ready to fight, and I don't know him personally. I'm
just the mentality of a fighter is I don't care
who is. Just get me a replacement because I didn't
just spend two months in camp or whatever it was

(01:01:30):
getting ready. I'm ready to fight. So now the promotion
is running around making calls, seeing what they can. Obviously,
you try, you have a lot of obstacles. It's not
just repairing a fight. But if you're going to make
it a title defense has to be somebody in the ranking. Now,
if it's somebody in the ranking, most of the time

(01:01:51):
has a promoter. Is that promoter willing to work or
is it going to be difficult or is the manager
or the father or somebody. I've had it done. It's
it's happened in two occasions where I can I mean
the right here is one Eric Morales who was going
to fight Lucas Matisse, and Lucas Matisse gets sick. Pablo

(01:02:16):
Sais Agano had just fought a couple of weeks before
in Mexico and he was going to attend his first
fight in the US to go as a fan and
watch the fight. I call management and say, hey, got
an emergency. You got an opportunity I had signed Kano.
I was very close to the trainer who had been

(01:02:38):
Barretta's trainer, Rudy Perez, and I said to the manager,
will you fight Morales. It's almost like will you fight
your core. You're you're you're going to the highest level.
And the first reaction, no, you're crazy. You know what
talks to us.

Speaker 5 (01:03:00):
Said, no, you're crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
Go to the trainer.

Speaker 5 (01:03:03):
He knows Morale is better than anybody.

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
He faced them three times with Berrera, No you're crazy,
and then my last shot was like, well, can you
please ask the fighter he's the one stepping in the rain,
and Kano said, hell, yes, I'll take that fight.

Speaker 5 (01:03:17):
Obviously, it got Kanda known to the rest of the world.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
That day. I remember going to Rudy and telling him
stop the fight. At the end of the tenth round,
Kano had showed who he was, but he was badly
cut and started at that point just getting beat up.
And then Jojo Diaz. The day of it was a
big fight. It must have been a Canello fight. Jojo
Diaz was on the undercard, and the day of their arrivals,

(01:03:44):
which is a Tuesday, his opponent doesn't show.

Speaker 5 (01:03:47):
Up, and that drew suspicion. Okay, where's the opponent?

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
Is he here? Oh? Yeah, he's at the gym training,
And then I get a call from somebody at the gym,
not from his team, saying, hey, bro, this guy is heavy.
And then little by little he hurt his back is
what I got back told, and he's pulling out of
the fight. So now it's Tuesday night or Wednesday morning
and the fight Saturday. It's a pay per view card,

(01:04:13):
and I had to make some calls and we brought in.
We were able to find an opponent. But right now
the difficulty is going to be fighting.

Speaker 5 (01:04:23):
If it's a World side of fight.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
They're going to fight somebody that's in the ranking, unless
there's a special permit to if it's somebody right below
the ranking because of the situation, or do they turn
it into a ten round fight and get anybody just
to fill in the spots.

Speaker 5 (01:04:37):
Sukur could fight, but I know for a fact that
all hands are on debt. There's calls everywhere.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
Most likely, if I had to bet, it's going to
be somebody closer to the time zone in the UK,
closer flight less, you know, and plus match rooms in
charge of that fight. So with their connections in the UK,
they could probably find and an opponent. But the matchmaking

(01:05:04):
is important right now because it's just if it's not
a big fight, don't.

Speaker 5 (01:05:08):
Take a big risk.

Speaker 2 (01:05:09):
Just get them active, keep them active, get the win,
and move on to the next fight.

Speaker 4 (01:05:14):
Got you, got you, hey, listen, Robert, That's about it.
I took a lot of your time and I do
appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (01:05:22):
I will wish you the best of luck with Nonnie Lamont,
but with everyone else that you're working with for the
rest of the year and beyond. Again, thank you and
for your time, and I guess I'll see you soon,
whether at a gym or at a fight or something.

Speaker 5 (01:05:39):
Look forward to Abraham. Thank you so much for the opportunity,
and remember you deserve so enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
Thank you, Robert.

Speaker 4 (01:05:47):
I appreciate it,