Roy Jones: Why Benavidez Should Fight Usyk Next, Not Jai Opetaia

0:00 What up, support word Jones Jr.

0:01 I'm hanging out with my man Andre Ward.

0:04 We two Hall of Famers are bringing y'all a show called a Hall of Game.

0:09 A show where we discuss boxing, sports, life, and entertainment from our view.

0:15 How much better necking you get?

0:17 Me and Roy don't always agree.

0:19 But one thing you will get is a Hall of Fame with the game.

0:27 And we back for another episode of the Hall of Game.

0:29 I want to welcome my co-host Roy Jones Jr.

0:32 from the great state of Florida.

0:34 Roy, how you doing this morning coming off

0:35 of a a big huge fight weekend this past Saturday.

0:40 Doing very good, man.

0:41 So glad to see that we finally have a new Cinco de Mayo carrier.

0:45 I think I've been stepped in as the new Cinco de Mayo man

0:49 and looking forward to his run as the Cinco de Mayo representative now.

0:55 Yeah, because Floyd Mayweather, who is obviously not Mexican,

0:59 has held that holiday down for a very,

1:01 very long time and was a genius by doing it.

1:05 You know, he had a lot of great Mexican champions and you know,

1:08 counterparts in his weight class.

1:10 So he he held that hostage for a long

1:12 time and then when Floyd retired or stepped aside,

1:15 then Canelo Alvarez took it over.

1:18 So yes, David Benavidez looks to be the new face of this holiday

1:22 and he put on a tremendous performance in his first fight at cruiserweight.

1:28 We had him on last week.

1:29 We had Gilberto Ramirez in two weeks before the fight.

1:33 And this is David Benavidez's first fight at cruiserweight

1:37 and there were some questions about how would he look,

1:40 how would he feel, and even though David Benavidez is a naturally bigger guy,

1:45 he walks around very heavy.

1:46 We talked about that.

1:47 You just don't know until you see it.

1:49 So I want to get into just the overall night before we get into the main event.

1:54 Roy, it was a lot of great action-packed fights.

1:57 Wasn't a lot of boxing going on in that arena in T-Mobile Arena Saturday night.

2:02 What was your favorite fighter your favorite moments outside of the main event?

2:06 My favorite fight was Jose Sanchez versus Jorge Chavez.

2:10 This fight these two dudes they did what Mexicans really do.

2:15 They left it all in the ring.

2:17 They went toe-to-toe basically.

2:19 I mean they they started the night off right.

2:21 They were before the Duarte fight.

2:24 If you missed that fight, you need to go back on TV and watch it because

2:28 this is the definition of two great Mexican fighters going toe-to-toe.

2:32 These dudes fought like Mexican fighters fight.

2:35 And I think Sanchez knocked him out with 30 seconds left in the last round.

2:40 He caught him and knocked him out.

2:41 Knocked him out.

2:42 30 seconds left in round 10.

2:44 At 2:30 of round 10, he knocked him out.

2:47 And at that point, you wasn't sure who was going to get knocked out.

2:50 But you knew somebody was liable to because they left it

2:53 all They gave the fans what the fans really paid for.

2:56 So if you missed that fight, I mean David did still get David delivered, yes.

3:01 But these guys right here,

3:02 they showed you what the night was supposed to look like.

3:04 Yeah, it was a back-and-forth type of fight all night long until,

3:07 you know, until it wasn't.

3:08 And you know, with them kind of fights,

3:11 people don't realize it's like taking a a old block

3:14 or just just a a block and just chipping away at it.

3:17 Each round, each punch, each combination.

3:20 And it's a mental thing in that kind of fight.

3:23 It's a physical thing, what type of shape you in, right?

3:26 It is is is It's a lot going on in that type of affair.

3:30 It's a lot of moments for a fighter to check out and or just

3:34 get beat out where the fight just gets beat out of them.

3:36 And that's what we saw in that fight and that that last,

3:39 you know, punch landed and, you know,

3:42 we just we saw the outcome, but those fights are very very fun to watch.

3:47 And I say this all the time, you know,

3:50 casuals and hardcore sometimes we try to We try to, you know,

3:53 we try to I'm going to say we, they try to pit styles against each other.

3:58 In other words, nobody wants to see this and everybody wants to see this.

4:01 And I think if you're a lover of the sport,

4:03 I think it's okay to have a particular fight style that you like,

4:08 uh, a particular fight that you like to see,

4:10 but if you really love the sport, you love it all.

4:13 I wasn't trained to take two punches and give one.

4:16 I just was, that wasn't what what time it was.

4:18 I would get the dirtiest look that my coach and my father could possibly

4:22 give me if I got hit with the same punch two times in a row.

4:25 If I got hit with a two or three piece,

4:26 I would come back to the corner in sparring.

4:28 I ain't talking about a fight.

4:29 Man, what's up with you?

4:30 You all right?

4:31 But but but that being said,

4:32 I can still appreciate what we saw on Saturday night

4:35 because I know what it takes to get down like that.

4:39 Not in sparring, but in a real situation.

4:42 Jaime Munguia in the co-main event defeated Armando Resendiz.

4:47 That too was a good fight.

4:49 Uh, Jaime Munguia did what he was supposed to do.

4:52 You know, your your fighter Kevin Newman, I ain't going to get into the details,

4:55 but but you know, he was watching very very closely.

4:57 Yeah, he was.

4:58 And uh, he was looking at Jaime.

5:00 Like I told him though,

5:01 don't underestimate Jaime because Jaime is a really good fighter.

5:04 Jaime gets really big for the weight class.

5:06 Jaime was a former WBO uh, champion at 154.

5:09 Yes, he was.

5:10 Jaime is not an easy ride.

5:11 So, it's a fair it's a very good fight for him,

5:13 a very good fight for Newman because Jaime going to test him.

5:16 He going to find out how bad you want it.

5:18 So, when you looking for Jaime,

5:20 know what you looking for for real and everything because he not laying down.

5:23 So, you better know what you asking for and I'm glad that Jaime won.

5:26 It's a great opportunity for both of them

5:28 and I'm looking forward to that fight if it happens.

5:30 Uh, so yeah, he he was looking at him closely

5:32 and I think he saw what he needed to see, but you know, it is what it is.

5:37 I feel that the Duarte fight could have gone either way.

5:39 I really thought the other guy edged Duarte out,

5:43 but it was a very very close fight.

5:44 They both put on a good performance,

5:47 but I did think the other guy really outworked Duarte this time.

5:51 But Duarte got got the nod, so we're going to go with that, but I think

5:55 he outworked him and really should have got the decision.

5:58 That's the only fight I thought that was a bad decision that night.

6:01 All right, but okay, we're going to stay here for just a second.

6:03 How do you and this is for the viewers.

6:06 How do you like this close fight conversation?

6:09 Right?

6:10 Like my fight with Kovalev, close fight.

6:12 People going to be arguing about this stuff probably long after I'm gone.

6:15 And any other close fight that has happened in the sport of boxing, right?

6:19 You said, I saw it this way.

6:21 I thought Duarte got edged a little bit and this is the reason why.

6:25 But in a close fight like that, is it really a robbery?

6:27 Is it Can Can Can Can a fight that close really be considered a bad

6:30 decision even though you saw it or the judges saw it slightly a different way?

6:34 I didn't call it a robbery.

6:35 I said it could have gone either way.

6:36 All right, but I'm saying that's what

6:37 people will say anytime it's a close fight,

6:39 but I'm saying I'm using how you described it,

6:42 but I'm saying people will call that a robbery.

6:44 Can you call it that?

6:45 You could.

6:45 You could call it a robbery because if you go back and look at the numbers,

6:47 this guy really I thought he I thought he outworked Duarte.

6:50 I know he outworked Duarte if you go back and look at the numbers,

6:52 but I didn't really pay that close attention.

6:54 That's why I don't really like to call it a robbery cuz sometimes I

6:57 look at what I'm seeing and I see the momentum shift about round four,

7:00 about round five, and I see a guy run on and run on and run on from that point.

7:04 Then to me, he dominated the last six rounds.

7:07 I thought he probably won the fight, but Yeah,

7:09 but it could have been it could have been difficult.

7:11 I may have missed something.

7:11 That's why I didn't say he got robbed.

7:14 I just say I thought it could have went either way,

7:15 but I thought the other guy really deserved the victory, I thought.

7:18 But I may have missed something.

7:19 That's why I said it that way.

7:21 Um in the full ride of things,

7:24 it's like Duarte knows that he didn't really convincingly win that fight,

7:27 I should say, because you could tell by the way he was acting, too.

7:30 And the other guy really felt like he convincingly won the fight.

7:33 You could tell by the pace by the facials at the end of the fight.

7:36 Most of the time, guys know when they really

7:38 won a fight or when it was edged out.

7:41 That And then, the other thing, one judge gave it to the other guy.

7:44 One judge gave it to Duarte pretty decent.

7:48 Then, the last judge had it basically four rounds I mean,

7:52 I basically had it six rounds, I think,

7:54 to four for Duarte, and that's impossible.

7:57 So, I just didn't like the last score.

7:59 I thought the last score really shouldn't have been that wide

8:01 too because when you see it's when you see it that wide,

8:04 that mean y'all were meaning for the other guy to win.

8:06 That's why I think it was a robbery.

8:07 A lot of times the judges are watching two separate fights.

8:09 You see them scorecards.

8:10 You have 116-112 one way, eight rounds of 40.

8:12 You have 116-112 another way.

8:15 And I'm like, "Brother,

8:16 it it don't work like that." Like like y'all can be a round or two off,

8:19 but you can't be four rounds, five rounds, six rounds off.

8:23 So, the judging and the scoring,

8:25 we got to come and do we got to sit down probably

8:27 in the war room and really break down how to score a fight.

8:30 I mean, we may have to sit down and break down some

8:32 close fights including my fight with with Kovalev one because you know,

8:37 it's something that that fans don't understand.

8:39 It's called swing rounds, meaning it's a round that can go either type of way.

8:41 If you judging a fight, you got your pen up and you're like,

8:44 "I I I I I man, he did that one thing at the end, landed that one shot.

8:47 I'm going to give it to him." That's a round you can't it's a argument.

8:50 That can go either way.

8:51 So, I just think we got to we got to come back and educate a little bit.

8:54 That's what we here to do, right?

8:56 We don't know everything, but we know a lot.

8:57 We've been in this thing a long time.

8:58 Just to help people that watch this sport

9:03 just become wiser and smarter about how this game

9:05 is is is is talked about and how

9:08 it's looked at because just because your guy lost,

9:12 just because you was bragging at work at the water cooler talking about,

9:16 "Man, I'm telling you, man, I'd I'd bet anything.

9:17 I'm a And your guy lost, don't mean your guy got robbed.

9:20 We got to look at it the right way.

9:22 So, we going to come back and talk about that thing."

9:24 But I'm going to say this too about that facial expression.

9:26 Some of my critics say that about

9:27 my fight with Kovalev about you look surprised.

9:30 And it's like, "Well, hold on.

9:31 When I go back and look at that, number one,

9:33 I had the scorecard whispered in my ear before they said it, right?

9:37 But I know boxing.

9:38 It be times I'm up eight rounds to four and I

9:41 still don't know if I won cuz I just This is boxing.

9:44 I don't know what they looking at, how

9:46 they feeling about me on any particular night.

9:48 You know what I'm saying?

9:48 I don't know I don't know these judges like that, how they feel about me.

9:51 So, but but my thing was can I not look so excited

9:55 and happy that I just won the biggest fight of my life?

9:58 Did it have to be because I because I got a robbery win?

10:01 So, the facial expression, man, I get you, but man,

10:04 they've been just reading me on that since 2016.

10:07 Yeah, I can believe that, too, but like I said,

10:09 this guy Neither one of these guys were my guy.

10:11 I didn't care for who I didn't really care who won the fight,

10:14 but I did I did honestly think the other guy edged it out.

10:16 And I do understand, like you say, I didn't have my opinion.

10:20 I don't know how many swing rounds it could have been.

10:21 It could have been more swing rounds than I thought.

10:23 So, I can't say the judges necessarily robbed him,

10:26 but I know that I didn't think it was six to four or eight to two by no means.

10:31 So, one judge had it so far apart that I was like,

10:35 it couldn't be that many points apart.

10:38 Yeah.

10:39 No.

10:39 Scoring a fight and judging a fight

10:40 and talking about a decision in a particular fight, especially a close one,

10:44 is like is like the the pound-for-pound

10:47 conversation or the all-time great conversation.

10:49 You going to get a fight, it's going to be a argument,

10:52 and it's going to be a lot of disagreeing,

10:53 and nobody's going to be willing to budge.

10:56 But I want to get into another pound-for-pound discussion with David Benavidez.

11:01 He put on a pound-for-pound performance against Zurdo Ramirez.

11:05 And for me, it looked the way I thought it was going to look.

11:09 I'm going to always have questions, okay, how does this look?

11:12 How's he going to look at the weight?

11:13 These are These are legitimate questions that should be raised before a fight.

11:17 And David Benavidez, I don't want to say he had a slow start, but you know,

11:22 he took his time in the first round or two,

11:24 and then he started letting off them clips.

11:26 And what I mean by that is them not two and three,

11:29 but four or five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 punch combinations.

11:34 And for Zurdo Ramirez,

11:35 you got one guy that got a V6 and you have another guy that has a V8.

11:39 And we knew that going into the fight.

11:40 You just wonder if the V6 can have enough gas in the tank to wear down the V8.

11:45 Is the V8 going to get out there too fast, too early, and start to wear down?

11:49 And maybe it's the perfect storm where the weight

11:52 maybe maybe you're not carrying it as well.

11:54 Maybe I'm been at the weight Zurdo was at the cruiserweight limit a lot longer.

11:58 Maybe maybe that favors me.

11:59 And maybe it can offset you having a V8.

12:02 Benavidez with your speed, your quickness,

12:05 and the clips that you get off, and me having a V6.

12:07 But that just wasn't the case.

12:08 When Benavidez started to make up his mind

12:11 that he wanted to let those punches go, man, they started landing heavy.

12:14 I think David Benavidez landed a right hand.

12:17 I think in the first round.

12:19 Bow.

12:20 Flush in the face.

12:21 That's a bad sign.

12:22 You get hit with a flush shot Yep.

12:24 early in the fight like that, and you don't respond.

12:27 of the pipe.

12:28 Come on, brother.

12:28 Like that that is a tall tale sign that is giving

12:33 you a picture of what the night is going to be, and that's what it did.

12:36 Yeah.

12:36 That gave you a picture of what the night was going to be,

12:38 but honestly speaking,

12:39 200 rounds of sparring gave you a picture of what the night was going to be.

12:41 That, too.

12:42 If I had sparred with a light heavyweight,

12:43 and I had sparred a light heavyweight for for 200 rounds,

12:47 I already knew if I could beat him or not because he's bigger than me for one.

12:50 I'm younger than him.

12:51 So I already knew if I could beat him or not.

12:53 Cuz like when I sparred,

12:54 I could tell you when I sparred that one round with Johnson,

12:56 I already knew I could beat him.

12:57 I'm not going to teach him no more, but I wasn't a young kid.

13:00 I wasn't young like that.

13:01 And he wasn't that much older than me that we

13:03 were not going to fight, so I knew it.

13:04 Same thing these guys knew.

13:06 Now, had uh he not been with my dad, and he had his own coaches,

13:10 I might have sparred with him a little bit more,

13:11 but since he with my dad trying to train,

13:13 but now you're not going to teach him how to beat me right in my face.

13:15 Are you crazy?

13:16 So I was like, "No, I backed off

13:18 of that." But I knew that had he sparred 200 rounds,

13:21 and David Benavidez wants to fight him, David won won most of them rounds.

13:25 And David also said that when we had him, he's hurt Ramirez and Spinks before,

13:29 but Ramirez has never hurt him." That told me that was my goal here right there.

13:33 I knew right then that fight was over with.

13:34 So, it's like not to take nothing away from David,

13:36 but David knew what he was getting into.

13:38 Ramirez may have not known, but David definitely knew.

13:41 So, You know, I take my hat off to Zurdo Ramirez because he's always been tough.

13:44 He's always been got championship level toughness, you know.

13:48 It looked like he his nose might have gotten

13:50 broken in that in that early part of that round.

13:52 And again, that's that's there's as a human

13:55 your first mind a lot of times is self-preservation.

13:57 Man, my nose broke.

13:58 But then, that other person, if you have it,

14:00 cuz everybody don't have that other voice voice in it.

14:03 Right?

14:03 Some people, the first thought is, "Man, my nose broke.

14:06 Man, I" and they look for that exit, they find it,

14:08 and that neon exit light is is shining bright.

14:11 Now, all of a sudden, everything you said before the fight,

14:14 all the training and all the sacrifice, that goes out the window.

14:17 Now, you just trying to preserve yourself and get

14:19 out of here with the least amount of damage.

14:21 That's not Zurdo Ramirez.

14:22 Zurdo Ramirez had every opportunity to check out because of the nose.

14:26 And then, you know, um when the eye started to swell.

14:30 And he just didn't.

14:31 There was a difference in physicality,

14:32 there was a difference in the type of engines these guys had.

14:36 They both are championship pedigree, toughness, mental toughness, fortitude.

14:41 And I'mma always respect that.

14:43 You know, we not casuals in this thing where Got to.

14:45 you know, we we clown the loser and praise the winner.

14:48 You know, we going to praise the winner

14:49 and give him his respect because he deserves it.

14:52 Um but we going to also see those intangibles

14:56 that we saw from Zurdo Ramirez and shout him out,

14:58 too, because, you know, he deserves respect as well.

15:00 And he didn't have to take that fight.

15:01 He knew what he was up against, a monster.

15:03 He didn't have to take that.

15:04 So, for him to take that says a lot as well, yep.

15:07 Yeah, and he's in a position in his career where,

15:09 you know, he really had to take that fight.

15:11 You see what I'm saying?

15:12 Cuz it ain't no whole bunch of other opportunities

15:14 for that kind of money on that kind of stage.

15:16 So, even though he knew he was up against it,

15:20 he obviously he felt he was going to win and I I just respect the way he stepped

15:24 to Benavidez even though Benavidez did what Benavidez does

15:28 and that's going to be a hard out for anybody, Roy.

15:31 Cruiserweight, I don't know about the light heavyweight situation.

15:34 You know how I feel about guys going up and going down.

15:36 You've experienced it.

15:37 It's a very, very tough thing.

15:39 Now, Benavidez didn't put on didn't go up as high as you.

15:43 Let me see, 85, 95, too well, he did go up,

15:46 but he walks around at that weight and you put on muscle.

15:48 It was different than you just walking around

15:51 at a weight and then scaling down much

15:53 less than you would as opposed to building

15:56 yourself up to a weight that you never been.

15:58 So, I don't but I still don't

16:00 know about the light heavyweight situation for Benavidez.

16:03 Roy, with this win from Benavidez, he moved his record to 32 and 0 and he

16:07 becomes the first three-division champion in the super middleweight,

16:11 light heavyweight division and the cruiserweight division.

16:15 The question now for David Benavidez is what's next?

16:19 And Canelo Alvarez was in the building supporting his stablemate

16:23 Jaime Munguia and I guess Benavidez just had to do it.

16:27 He had to mention Canelo.

16:28 He feels a way and that Canelo hasn't fought him throughout the years.

16:32 He's been calling for Canelo for many, many years.

16:35 And it's hard to say that a man who's put

16:37 in as many professional rounds as Canelo Alvarez is scared of another man,

16:41 but I do think that Canelo Alvarez has made a very

16:43 conscious decision throughout the years

16:45 to avoid Benavidez from a stylistic standpoint.

16:48 Now, if you call that a duck, you call that being scared,

16:51 you know, that's your business, but but strategically,

16:54 he made that business decision to say,

16:56 I I don't need to be in the ring with this dude.

16:58 And Benavidez feels a certain type of way about that.

17:00 So, I think he just had to get that off his chest

17:02 after putting on a performance that he just put on with Ramirez,

17:05 but that's not a fight that's going to happen.

17:07 No, it's not.

17:08 It shouldn't happen.

17:09 Especially with with Benavidez going up in weight,

17:11 but the question is is what is going to happen?

17:15 There's you know, Benavidez has said,

17:16 I can go back down to light heavy or I can fight at cruiserweight.

17:20 You know, he's constantly called out Dmitry Bivol.

17:23 That's a light heavyweight fight or Jai

17:26 Opetaia at cruiserweight or the other cruiserweight champion.

17:29 Well, Jai got stripped but he's still a name.

17:32 He's still the top name or one

17:34 of the top names in the cruiserweight division and Noel

17:37 Mikaelian is also another name and Benavidez said

17:40 I don't want to fight for the super title.

17:42 He said, "But if we can make a deal,

17:45 then I'm willing to fight Jai and I think a deal can be made." I I really do.

17:48 At the end of the day it's about

17:49 this money and it's about these big matchups being made.

17:52 What do you think should be next for David Benavidez?

17:55 I like him and Jai.

17:56 I think that's a great fight.

17:57 It will test both of them.

17:58 Uh Jai is new and coming.

17:59 Benavidez has not had a nobody apparently that really wanted to try

18:03 to step up and test him yet that was of his caliber.

18:06 Um we knew that Ramirez was good,

18:08 but 200 rounds of sparring, he knows you're not his caliber.

18:13 I think Patai Yeah, I think Patai will be the first guy

18:17 to challenge him that really has the size enough to really be a challenge.

18:22 And I think he'll be the first challenge for Benavidez as well

18:24 because he'll be coming down in weight just like Benavidez does.

18:27 And the beautiful thing for Benavidez was that when I saw him at the weigh-in,

18:31 when I saw the picture of his face after the weigh-in,

18:34 he looked like a guy that pulled down to make 200.

18:39 That's crazy.

18:40 That's crazy.

18:40 He makes 68.

18:42 He makes 75 and he pulled down to make 200.

18:46 I was the guy who had never been up to 200

18:48 before in my life when I fought for a heavyweight title.

18:50 I couldn't make 195.

18:52 I couldn't make 190.

18:53 Really I just I was just fat.

18:54 So it was like it was crazy to see that he made 200,

18:58 but he pulled down to make 200.

19:00 This guy is scary, man.

19:02 This guy could be the next guy that was once super middleweight

19:04 champ that could become heavyweight champ because if Canelo don't fight him,

19:09 he got to focus on the cruiserweights, but after he beats the cruiserweights,

19:11 he may a real try to hit weight division.

19:13 You know, I think him and Usyk would be a really good fight right now.

19:16 I really do.

19:18 That's the fight there that I'm hearing that Turki wants to make this year.

19:22 is That's a really good fight.

19:25 Oleksandr Usyk and David Benavidez.

19:27 At what weight?

19:28 I don't know.

19:28 That is a really good fight.

19:29 But it's going to have to be at at at at at got to be heavyweight cuz cuz Yeah,

19:33 Usyk can't come back down.

19:35 He can't come back Makes no sense.

19:37 Makes no sense if you're not fighting for a heavyweight title.

19:39 You want to shoot middleweight, you get the cruiser, and you got light heavy,

19:42 light heavy, and you got the top four weight classes.

19:45 That's a chance to make more history.

19:46 It's a huge risk for both fighters, but Benavidez uh you know,

19:50 obviously Usyk has a has a major advantage just being at the weight,

19:53 and he ain't just no sloppy heavyweight that that Benavidez can punch on.

19:56 He he got skill with that with that size.

19:59 Uh that man, that's a generational wealth type of payday that night.

20:03 Yep, I agree.

20:04 And I like the fight with Jai.

20:06 I think that I think the Jai Opetaia fight at cruiserweight

20:09 is the fight for That's the fight that I want to see.

20:11 Jai has been the man at that weight class for a very long time.

20:14 And now you got a new player in the division with a hot

20:16 name and whose stock and whose star star power is only rising.

20:21 That's the fight I believe that needs to be made at the cruiserweight division.

20:24 Would love to see Bivol,

20:25 but for some reason the light heavyweight division just is

20:28 not as appealing to me right now for David Benavidez.

20:32 And I and again, I'm not sure that that's the right weight for him

20:34 to fight being that he's fought this weight and looked the way that he did.

20:38 I think it's cruiserweight or maybe go up and fight Oleksandr Usyk.

20:41 Since everybody's making these business decisions, Dre,

20:44 and everybody's doing things things the business way, right?

20:48 It is not smart for David Benavidez to give Jai Opetaia

20:52 a a shot at his name right now because he's hot right now.

20:56 You go up and fight Usyk while you're hot, and it makes sense.

20:59 You can always come back down and fight Opetaia if you want to.

21:02 You know what I'm saying?

21:02 If you lost to Usyk, Opetaia fight still there.

21:05 If you lose to Opetaia, the Usyk fight gone.

21:07 So, be smart about this thing.

21:09 Go take Usyk while the iron is hot.

21:11 If you beat Usyk, you will never have

21:13 to see Beterbiev unless he want to come to heavyweight.

21:15 But, if you go fight Beterbiev and lose,

21:17 you don't even get a chance to see Usyk.

21:19 And you don't get a chance to make history.

21:20 That's crazy.

21:21 You're on a rail right now to do something that nobody ever done before.

21:24 I went middleweight, super middleweight, light heavy, heavy.

21:28 Cuz I was doing what Beterbiev said what I thought what Beterbiev did.

21:31 I didn't get stopped at cruiser cuz it was nobody there

21:33 for me to stop at, and I really didn't care for weight class.

21:35 Now, he can go super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiser, heavy.

21:40 Go for the Hey, go Like they say,

21:42 go for the whole thing if you're going to go for it.

21:43 Don't waste time with these other guys yet.

21:45 If you While you're on this roll, go see Usyk.

21:48 Don't play with something Why would you play

21:50 with a guy who's just as dangerous as Usyk, not as known as Usyk,

21:55 not going to bring you as much money as Usyk,

21:58 when you can just go straight to Usyk?

21:59 That's kind of crazy.

22:00 That's how we miss That's how boxing misses out on big fights.

22:03 They go make these other small fights that they think are safe,

22:06 okay fights, and then they those small fights destroy the big ones.

22:10 That's why we to this day we still have never

22:12 gotten a chance to see Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua.

22:17 Every time it gets close,

22:18 they put him in another fight, and something bad happens.

22:21 Let's not do that.

22:22 Let's know from boxing that in a boxing

22:24 ring with those 10-oz gloves on, anything can happen.

22:28 Forget If If If Canelo not fighting you, forget about everybody else.

22:32 Go straight to Usyk.

22:33 Don't play with nobody else.

22:35 All right?

22:35 Anything else can taint the Usyk fight.

22:37 The Usyk fight is one of the biggest fights of this decade right now.

22:41 Take it while it's hot.

22:42 Don't play with him, and don't let him play with you.

22:44 And that's my words to David Benavidez because I know he listens to me.

22:47 He looks up to me.

22:48 Thinks a lot of me.

22:49 I'mma tell him it's okay to say no Beterbiev.

22:52 You haven't proven yourself right now.

22:54 I want somebody who's proven like I am.

22:56 I want Usyk.

22:57 That's what he should do.

22:58 Without a question.

23:00 Listen, Opetai has proven himself, but he's not the name.

23:03 He's not the name as an Usyk, not as big money.

23:06 he Who's he Who's he beat?

23:07 We're going to do that another day.

23:09 He's been at the weight class at that cruiserweight weight class.

23:12 You know it's not a lot of big name.

23:13 It's not a lot of big names at that cruiserweight weight class.

23:16 Am I Am I Am I making that up?

23:18 Has it historically been big names at the at the cruiserweight weight class?

23:21 That's That's That's That's why I skipped him.

23:23 Right right right.

23:23 So, I'm just saying I can't say that a man has won a title,

23:26 defended his title as long as he had I can't say that he has a proven himself.

23:30 I'm not going to say that.

23:31 The namesake is different.

23:33 Yeah, I understand.

23:34 Yeah, okay.

23:35 Yeah, so the the money the money is different, right?

23:37 So, I'm with that.

23:38 I like that decision.

23:39 I believe that's going to be the decision that's on the table.

23:42 So, it's going to be very very interesting to see what happens next,

23:44 but that is that's a play right there.

23:47 That That That is the play right there.

23:49 yourself, that And when I say prove yourself,

23:52 the world don't know you like that yet.

23:53 That's why I say prove yourself.

23:55 I'm not saying he's not good enough.

23:56 I'm not saying he's not good enough to do it.

23:57 The world don't know him like that yet.

23:59 So, he hasn't proven himself where the world knows him.

24:01 The world knows Benavidez.

24:02 The world knows who Usyk is.

24:04 A lot of people in boxing because the cruiserweight division

24:06 has always been kind of lackluster for as names go.

24:10 They don't know who the cruiserweight champions are.

24:11 Yeah, I know I only know Opetai and and I know Ramirez,

24:14 but I don't know the other cruiserweight champs.

24:16 And I am in boxing.

24:17 So, if you don't have a name like that, then you're not really proving yourself.

24:21 I respect it.

24:22 What's up, folks?

24:22 It's Baraka Boxing Bully and we teamed up with DraftKings Sportsbook.

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24:30 You're 23 years old, undefeated, unified champion, and what do you do?

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24:36 but the guy that the fans want to see you fight.

24:39 Boots Ennis.

24:40 Shout out to Xander Zayas for taking on the toughest fight in the division,

24:45 if not the craziest thing that a 23-year-old man can do.

24:50 This is a tough fight for both guys.

24:51 First of all, Xander Zayas is a big

24:54 154-pounder and he knows how to apply pressure.

24:57 He also knows how to box.

24:59 Oh my god, you got this guy from Philly.

25:01 He is ridiculous.

25:03 Ennis, he can do everything.

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25:11 Listen, we got two guys in their prime.

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25:46 What up, fight fans?

25:47 This your boy Arc.

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27:14 And we going to move on on that note

27:16 to the to the other monster in the in the boxing world

27:19 and the other monster that fought on Saturday night in Tokyo

27:23 at the Tokyo Dome with a sold-out crowd of 55,000 people.

27:27 If you remember correctly, you are a historian in this sport.

27:31 That's the same arena that Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas in in 1990.

27:37 Roy, you remember 1990?

27:39 It was a Sunday.

27:40 It was 40,000 people in attendance.

27:43 And Mike Tyson, as the world knows,

27:45 was was knocked out by Buster Douglas in the 10th round.

27:48 But, Inoue and Junto Nakatani, they not only broke the live gate record, Roy,

27:53 at 55,000 people in the arena,

27:57 they also broke Japan's combat sports pay-per-view buys record.

28:00 This was a big fight over there.

28:02 Inoue, who is I don't know where you have him on your list,

28:07 1 2 3, he's top two top three in the world.

28:11 He has dominated for a very long time.

28:14 He has a very unique style, especially from coming over there.

28:16 He's got a lot of flavor with his game.

28:19 He's got quickness.

28:20 He's got a crazy first step.

28:22 He's got power.

28:23 And he's just an all-around complete fighter.

28:27 And this was a big fight over there.

28:29 Two countrymen fighting in front of that type of crowd on that type of stage.

28:33 And it was a slow fight initially, and it started to pick up when you

28:38 started to see glimpses and and moments and rounds

28:42 of what we're used to seeing from Inoue

28:44 as he defended his undisputed junior featherweight title.

28:46 And then there were moments where Nakatani

28:49 would catch Inoue slipping, so to speak.

28:51 And that's one of the flaws,

28:53 the very few flaws that I see in Inoue is that he can be hit at times.

28:58 His offense typically is his defense.

29:01 You don't see Inoue doing a lot of special effects defensively.

29:05 He's athletic, he's young, he's still very spry, so he can get out of the way,

29:10 he can pull away, even if it's not a technically sound defensive move.

29:14 But most of the time, that offense,

29:17 that firepower, them clips that he's letting off,

29:20 that's what's keeping guys with their hands at home,

29:23 where they don't want to punch, so he doesn't have to be defensively sound.

29:26 But he had some big moments against Nakatani.

29:28 When Nakatani was landing some clean shots, but it just wasn't enough.

29:32 Every time Nakatani would try to surge,

29:34 every time Nakatani would try to have a moment, Naoya Inoue showed why he's one

29:38 of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world.

29:40 He would step on the gas, create some separation, and put Nakatani in his place.

29:45 I like that.

29:46 I like the fact that he accepted that challenge

29:48 when they're both right there where they're supposed to be.

29:51 He didn't wait, he didn't run from it.

29:52 He said, "I got a countryman that's come up

29:54 and prove that he's capable of being a formidable foe." So,

29:58 he took that on head-on.

29:59 You got to love that about Inoue.

30:01 That's why I put him on my pound-for-pound list.

30:03 And uh the guy the the cruiserweight guy we're talking about,

30:06 he's going to be there soon, too, because he's also that kind of fighter.

30:09 He takes on whatever they send him head-to-head.

30:11 He just ain't got nobody that they sent him yet.

30:13 So, I think he's going to be on the pound-for-pound

30:14 top list soon as well, cuz he's that good.

30:17 But right now, the world already knew it.

30:19 That's what I mean when I say you got to prove yourself.

30:21 So, but Nakatani put up a great fight.

30:24 Not many people last 12 rounds with Inoue like that.

30:26 So, I mean, he put up a great fight.

30:28 I mean, he gave it his all.

30:29 He found out that he found out the difference in there are levels,

30:33 and he found out the difference in the levels.

30:35 But he did come up and show that he's a guy that's going to be worthy,

30:38 and a guy that's going to be something to deal with in the future as well.

30:41 So, that was a great fight, great fight for Japan,

30:44 probably the biggest, best fight they're ever going to have there.

30:46 Uh to break Mike Tyson's record says a lot

30:49 cuz Mike fought him when Mike was still hot,

30:51 and he only got 40,000, and they got 55,000.

30:54 That's 15 more thousand people because it's a in-home battle.

30:58 That was a big thing.

30:59 So, congrats go out to both guys.

31:01 And it was a tough lesson for Nakatani.

31:03 He had a left orbital bone fracture.

31:04 You know, sometimes that that's the cost you got to pay

31:07 to learn them lessons in the school of hard knocks, in the sport of boxing.

31:12 Some other news in the boxing world that got a lot of people excited.

31:16 I saw some people had concerns.

31:18 Errol Spence, you know, fighter that you're very,

31:20 very close to, fighter that you have,

31:23 you know, talked to off and on for, you know, some time.

31:26 He's finally returning to the ring.

31:29 This the first time that the boxing world has heard

31:30 from Errol Spence in a fight context since July 29,

31:34 2023 against his fight with Terence Crawford

31:37 where he was stopped in the ninth round,

31:39 devastating loss, a loss that many people didn't see coming,

31:42 especially like that.

31:43 And Errol Spence is back, Roy.

31:46 And this is a quote from Errol.

31:47 He said, "I'm grateful to be back.

31:49 I took some time away to live in the moment, travel,

31:51 be with my family, and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

31:54 And the people that that matter most,

31:57 now I'm locked back in." And he's facing Tim Tszyu in his home country.

32:03 So, Roy, how do you feel about the return of Errol Spence?

32:06 Uh I'm so glad to have him back to see that he's back in boxing.

32:09 The boxing world is glad to see that he came back.

32:11 We all want to see him make a comeback.

32:13 We don't ever want to see a guy go out bad

32:15 and not try to come back because that's what boxers do.

32:18 Uh I know he took a lot of things into consideration.

32:21 He even told me when I spoke to a few people about it,

32:23 and that was a good thing,

32:24 but I'm glad he made the conscience decision to return.

32:29 And I think it's a smart return because it's also against a guy

32:32 who was on the way up there who made it to the top,

32:34 but had some struggles, and now he's on the incline trying to get back up too.

32:38 So, it's two guys trying to get back up.

32:40 I think it's a great situation.

32:42 But, the biggest thing I got to say that I love

32:45 about Errol Spence is that Errol don't want no easy fights.

32:48 Errol don't want to fight guys that are nobody.

32:50 Errol wants to fight somebody.

32:52 no tune-up.

32:54 He don't want no tune-up.

32:55 He wants challenges.

32:55 You understand me?

32:56 He wants challenges.

32:58 And for him to challenge a person like Tim Tszyu when

33:00 Tim Tszyu have been regularly fighting for the last 3 years,

33:03 he been not doing much.

33:05 That says a lot about Errol,

33:06 but that tells you exactly how much fight is still left in Errol.

33:09 Errol is a guy who's always coming to the party to dance.

33:13 He don't have time to play no games.

33:15 And you got to love that about Errol.

33:16 He's always been that guy, even in the amateurs, you know?

33:20 And I've always had respect for Errol

33:21 Spence because he's a real fighter, you know?

33:24 He's not a guy that talks a lot, but he brings a big stick to the battle.

33:28 And you know when you deal with Errol Spence,

33:30 you got to bring your lunch pail because he's

33:32 going to bring it and he's nothing to play with.

33:34 Obviously, being 36 years of age,

33:36 being off as long as he has, hasn't had the tune-up fights.

33:39 And by the way, I need my tune-ups.

33:41 Give me my tune-ups cuz boxing is hard.

33:44 I need my tune-up cuz I need to sharpen my tools.

33:47 I want to make another paycheck before I

33:49 make the big paycheck, but that's just me.

33:52 I need my tune-ups, but I respect

33:53 this brother because he's not with the tune-ups.

33:56 And you got to know who you are.

33:58 If Errol knows that I can't really get up for that guy,

34:02 then I can only get up for these type of guys.

34:04 You got to You got to know yourself.

34:06 And Errol Spence knows himself.

34:08 So, the respect is always going to be there for him.

34:11 And we will unpack this fight as we get closer because it's not until July 25th,

34:16 but I'm excited to see him back.

34:19 I I'm excited to see him talking his talk.

34:22 I would have just as much respect for him if

34:24 he walked away and was able to sort of deal with them voices that we got to deal

34:28 with as fighters and overcome that to say, "Nah, I'm good.

34:33 I've done enough, but I equally respect him for taking

34:36 this chance and taking this risk because it's a big risk.

34:38 But oh boy, if he can pull it off, if he can come back and look

34:43 anything close like himself psychologically, mentally,

34:46 physically, it's going to be a beautiful thing

34:48 in the sport because when Errol Spence is boxing, boxing is in a better place.

34:52 So, Errol, welcome back, brother.

34:54 We excited to see you uh not long from now.

34:56 And Tim Tszyu, very, very dangerous.

34:59 He's had some rough moments his last couple fights,

35:01 but he can still punch and he's still dangerous.

35:04 He's going to have his feet on home soil.

35:06 So, he's going to be comfortable in that ring against Errol Spence.

35:08 But we'll see if Errol Spence can make him uncomfortable in his own country.

35:12 Roy Jones, before we get out of here, we going to get into our non-boxing take

35:15 and just and just highlight for a second

35:18 the brawl that happened in between the New

35:20 York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks last Thursday.

35:24 Now, when this scuffle happened, it's more of a scuffle than a fight,

35:28 the score was 72 to 22.

35:32 Say it again.

35:33 The score of the game was 72 New York Knicks, 22 Atlanta Hawks in the A.

35:41 It was in Atlanta.

35:42 And during a free throw, frustrations boiled over between the Knicks' Mitchell

35:47 Robinson and the Atlanta Hawks' Dyson Daniels.

35:52 Now, those that know me know I'm a sore winner and I'm a sore loser.

35:56 So, when I'm up, I'mma let you know about it.

35:59 When I'm down, I'm not going to be happy about it.

36:02 And I can't say that I wouldn't have done what Dyson Daniels did as he

36:08 was waiting for that free throw to be shot and sort of, you know,

36:11 give a little something extra, you know,

36:13 to Mitchell Robinson because if I'm down by 50 in the playoffs, I'mma be upset.

36:19 And I'm not sure I'mma be able to compose myself, Roy.

36:21 So, did you watch that?

36:23 What were you thinking?

36:24 And and how did that game get out of hand like that?

36:27 72-22 and you know, it was an NBA level type of scuffle.

36:31 You know, a lot of a lot of hold me back,

36:33 hold me back, but tensions did boil over.

36:36 Yeah, I didn't watch the I didn't watch the game.

36:38 When I turned the game was such a blowout

36:41 lopsided victory, I really had to turn back away from it.

36:43 But I can tell you like this, D'Angelo has got to do his homework.

36:46 Mitchell Robinson is from Pensacola, Florida.

36:48 You can't hit nobody from Pensacola and think they ain't coming back at you.

36:51 Hey, bro, this what we do.

36:53 You feel me?

36:54 You hit somebody from Pensacola, you better know,

36:55 you better You better have your mind right.

36:57 You understand me?

36:58 They That's the hometown of Roy Jones Jr.

37:00 You hit him and he don't come back, he can't come back here.

37:03 So he got to come back.

37:04 You understand?

37:05 This just what it is.

37:06 I mean, he's You hit him like that he coming.

37:09 Exactly.

37:10 He You already know he coming.

37:11 Because I mean, and I do understand.

37:13 It's like nobody wants to be a loser and nobody I mean,

37:16 we all want to win, but nobody don't want to be a loser.

37:19 Then you don't want to be humiliated.

37:21 That's what That's what That's what that

37:22 So the humiliation The humiliation The humiliation is what caused the anger.

37:26 You understand me?

37:26 They let him jump out too fast on them and this isn't the playoffs.

37:29 And that humiliation would cause the But we saw the Yeah, at home.

37:32 We saw the same thing with the Joker's team when they played Minnesota.

37:36 Same thing.

37:37 Kind of They they they weren't willing

37:39 to just give everything to Minnesota like that.

37:41 So it started a brawl too because when you get in a playoff,

37:44 bro, that lose That loss means that that fourth loss means you going home.

37:48 Nobody wants to accept that.

37:50 But then when you say humiliating loss that adds even more of flavor to it.

37:54 Oh, no, bro.

37:54 That's kind of hard to Like you said,

37:56 at D'Angelo's point it's hard not to hit him at that point because you're angry.

38:00 If you care.

38:01 Now if you don't care, it's different and that's bad if you don't care

38:04 because now we we question what are you doing?

38:07 You know, it's like every year sometimes

38:09 we see Anthony Edwards lose and be smiling.

38:11 We like, "What What the hell wrong with him?" You understand me?

38:14 We We We really not used to that.

38:16 You feel me?

38:16 So we like, "We want you to be pissed off if you lose.

38:19 We want you to be as invested as we are as fans.

38:22 You feel me?

38:23 So, that's that's all that Canelo was at.

38:25 Tyson was that's good to see too because you want

38:27 your guy to be that in that that indulge in losing.

38:31 You want him to be like he needed to feel a he needed to feel a way.

38:33 Yeah, he needs to feel a way.

38:35 I I know you were a competitor in a boxing ring and on a basketball court.

38:39 But what type of loser was Roy Jones?

38:41 Anytime it wasn't going your way on the basketball court, how would you respond?

38:44 Same way.

38:44 I just did not like losing at all.

38:46 I don't like losing at nothing.

38:47 That's why I don't do stuff like golf and certain things to where in sports I

38:50 won't go near them because I know I'm going to lose and I don't like losing.

38:53 No, I don't like I don't like losing.

38:55 You know what I mean?

38:55 So, it's like I mean I've just it's just it's just in me.

38:59 You know, people don't know that.

39:00 People people think it's easy or that I just you know, play it cool.

39:04 But no, they don't understand that.

39:05 It's like every day it's like I I mean I'm just not that dude.

39:10 I I won't talk about it because I get crazy, but I'm just not that dude.

39:13 I don't like losing at all.

39:15 So, you understand what what happened on that court.

39:17 You understand that loud and clear.

39:19 understand.

39:19 Totally understand.

39:20 Totally.

39:21 Well, man that's a wrap for us today, Roy.

39:23 Great boxing weekend, some great fights, a lot of conversation,

39:27 it's a lot of great things coming up ahead.

39:29 Man, I've been hearing for the last 10 15 years that boxing was dying.

39:35 But the reports of boxing's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

39:40 We are still here and we are still alive and well and there's more money,

39:46 there's more opportunity in the sport than there ever has been.

39:49 If my knees, my back, and my shoulders would allow it,

39:52 I would be coming to get some of that money, too.

39:55 But I got to sit and just talk about the sport

39:57 and we going to keep doing that on the Hall of Game.

40:00 Roy, appreciate you, brother.

40:01 See you next time.

40:02 Thank you, brother.

40:02 You, too.

40:06 Ho ho ho.

40:09 Ho ho ho.

40:13 Ho ho ho.

40:17 Ho ho ho.

40:22 Hey.

40:24 Hey.

40:26 Hey.