Benavidez Should Fight Usyk Next, Errol Spence Returns vs Tszyu & Inoue Breaks Tyson's Record

0:00 What up?

0:00 It's your boy Roy Jones.

0:02 I'm hanging out with my man Andre Ward.

0:04 We two Hall of Famers to bring y'all a show called the Hall of Game.

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

0:15 How much better that can you get?

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

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

0:26 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 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 Uh I think Benvid stepped in as a new Cinco de Mayo man

0:49 and uh 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,

1:02 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 time.

1:12 And then when Floyd retired or stepped aside, then Canelo Alvarez took it over.

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

1:23 and he put on a tremendous performance in his first fight at cruiserweight.

1:27 Uh we had him on last week.

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

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

1:37 And there were some questions about how would he look, how would he feel?

1:41 And even though David Benvdz is a naturally bigger guy,

1:45 he walks around very heavy.

1:46 We talked about that.

1:48 You just don't know until you see it.

1:49 So, I want to get into just the overall night before we get

1:53 into the main event where there 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 fight or 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 ringo.

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 um Dortier 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.

2:36 And I think Sanchez knocked him out with 30 seconds left in the last round.

2:40 He caught him and knocked it out.

2:41 Knocked him out.

2:42 30 seconds left in round 10.

2:44 at 2:30 around 10 he knocked him out

2:47 and at that point you wasn't sure who was gonna

2:49 get knocked out but you knew somebody was liable

2:51 to because they left it all they gave the fans

2:55 what the fans really paid for so if you

2:56 missed that fight I mean David still gave David

3:00 delivered yes but these guys right here they showed

3:03 you what the night was supposed to look like

3:04 yeah it's a back and forth type of fight all night long

3:07 until you know till it wasn't and you know them kind of fights

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

3:15 just a a block and just chipping away at it each round,

3:18 each punch, each combination.

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

3:23 It's a physical thing.

3:24 What type of shape you in, right?

3:26 It it's it's it's 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 for the fight just gets beat out of them.

3:36 And that's what we saw in that fight.

3:38 And that that last, you know,

3:39 punch landed and, you know, we just we saw the outcome.

3:43 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 don't 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, man.

4:29 What's up with you?

4:30 You all right?

4:31 But but but that being said,

4:33 I can still appreciate what we saw on Saturday night

4:36 because I know what it takes to get down like that.

4:39 not in sparring but in a real situation.

4:42 Haime Mugia in the co-main event defeated Armando Rosendez.

4:48 That too was a good fight.

4:49 Haime Mugia did what he was supposed to do.

4:52 You know your your fighter Kevin Newman.

4:53 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 Haime like I told him

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

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

5:06 Hame was a former WBO champion 154 is not an easy ride.

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

5:13 A very good fight for Newman because Haime going to test him.

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

5:18 So when you're looking for Hime know what you're

5:20 looking for for real now because he's not laying down.

5:23 So you better know what you're asking for.

5:24 And I'm glad that Haime 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.

5:34 But, you know, it is what it is.

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

5:40 I really thought the other guy edged Dorte out,

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

5:45 They both put on a good performance,

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

5:51 But Dorte got got the nod, so we're going to go with that.

5:54 But I think he outworked him and really should have got this decision.

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

6:01 How Okay, we gonna stay here for just a second.

6:03 How do you, this is for the viewers,

6:06 how do you like this close fight conversation, 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 Dorte got edged a little bit and this is the reason

6:24 why." But in a close fight like that, is it really a robbery?

6:27 Is it 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.

6:37 Right.

6:37 But I'm saying that's what 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 you could call it a robbery because

6:46 if you go back and look at the numbers,

6:48 this guy really to me I thought he outworked Dorte.

6:50 I know he outworked Dorte 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

6:55 a robbery cuz sometimes I look at what I'm seeing

6:58 and I see the momentum shift about round four about

7:00 round five and I see a guy run on and run

7:02 on and run on from that point then to me

7:05 he dominated the last six rounds I thought he probably

7:08 won the fight but yeah but it could have been

7:10 it could have been definitely could have been something I missed.

7:12 That's why I didn't say he got robbed.

7:14 I just said I thought he could have went either

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

7:18 I thought 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 Dwarte 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 face 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 that did the other thing.

7:42 One judge gave it to the other guy, one judge gave it to Dwarte.

7:47 Pretty decent.

7:48 Then the last judge had it basically four rounds.

7:52 I mean it basically had it six rounds

7:54 I think to four for Dorte and that's impossible.

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

7:59 I thought the last score really should have

8:01 been a lot closer to because when you see it when you see it that wide that mean

8:04 y'all wasn't 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 score cards.

8:10 You had 116 112 one way rounds of 40.

8:12 He had 116 112 another way.

8:15 And I'm like, "Brother, it it don't work like that." Like, like,

8:18 "Y'all can be a round or two off,

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

8:23 the judging and the scoring, we got to come and do we got to sit down probably

8:27 on the ward room and really break down how to score a fight.

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

8:33 including my fight with with Kovalev uh one because,

8:37 you know, 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.

8:42 If you judging a fight, you got your pen up and you're like, I man,

8:45 he did that one thing at the end,

8:46 landed that one shot, I'm going to give it to him.

8:48 That's around.

8:49 You can't, it's an argument that can go either way.

8:52 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.

8:59 Just to help

9:01 people that watch this sport just become wiser and smarter about how

9:05 this game is is is is talked about and how it's looked at.

9:08 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 bet anything I'mma and your guy lost,

9:19 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 my fight with Kovalev

9:29 about you look surprised and it's like, well, hold on.

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

9:34 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

9:42 still don't know if I won cuz I 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.

9:49 I don't know these judges like that.

9:50 How they feel about me?

9:52 So, but but my thing was,

9:53 can I not look excited 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.

10:03 BUT MAN, they've been misreading me on that since 2016.

10:07 Yeah, I can believe that too.

10:08 But like I said, 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.

10:17 And I do understand, like you say, I didn't have my pen.

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

10:22 It could have been more swing rounds than I thought.

10:24 So, I can't say the judge necessarily robbed him,

10:26 but I know that I didn't think it was six

10:28 to uh four or eight to two by no means.

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

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

10:38 Yeah.

10:38 Yeah.

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 it's like the the pound

10:46 pound conversation or the alltime great conversation.

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

10:52 a lot of disagreeing and nobody's going to be willing to butt.

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

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

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

11:09 I'm going have questions.

11:10 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.

11:18 And David Benvdz, I don't want to say he had a slow start, but you know,

11:22 he took his time in the first round

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

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

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

11:34 And for Zerto 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?

11:47 too early and start to wear down and maybe it's the perfect

11:51 storm where the weight maybe maybe you're not carrying it as well.

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

11:58 Maybe maybe that favors me and maybe it can

12:00 offset you having a V8 Benvdz with your speed,

12:04 your quickness and the clips that you get off and me having a V6.

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

12:08 When Benvdz started to make up his mind that he wanted to let those punches go,

12:13 man, they started landing heavy.

12:14 I think David Benvitz landed a right hand I think in the first round.

12:19 Bow flush in the face.

12:21 That's a bad sign.

12:22 You get hit with a flush shot.

12:25 Yep.

12:24 Early in the fight like that and you don't respond down the pipe.

12:28 Come on, brother.

12:28 Like it that that is a tall tail sign that is giving you

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

12:36 Yeah, that gave you a picture 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.

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

12:44 when I had spar a light heavyweight for for 200 rounds,

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

12:51 I'm younger than him.

12:52 So, I already know if I can beat him or not.

12:53 Like when I spot, like I told you, when I sp that one round,

12:55 Rich Johnson, I already knew I could beat him.

12:57 I'm not going to teach him no more,

12:58 but I wasn't a young kid and I wasn't young like that.

13:01 And he wasn't that much older than me that we were not going to fight.

13:04 So, I knew it.

13:04 Same thing these guys knew.

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

13:10 I might have sparring a little bit more.

13:11 But since he with my dad trying to train like, "No,

13:14 you're not going to teach him how to beat me right here in my face.

13:16 Are you crazy?" So, I was like, "No,

13:17 I backed off of that." But I knew that had they

13:20 sparred 200 rounds and David Ben Vidz wants to fight him.

13:24 David won most of them rounds and David also

13:26 said when we had he's hurt Ramirez in sparring before,

13:29 but Ramirez has never hurt him.

13:31 That told me that was my go-ahead 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 Zoto Ramirez because he's always been tough.

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

13:47 You know, it looked like he his nose might have

13:50 gotten 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 because everybody don't have that other voice in them, right?

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

14:06 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 train 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 Zordo Ramirez.

14:22 Zordo Ramirez had every opportunity to check out because of the nose and then,

14:27 you know, um, when the eyes started to swell and he just didn't.

14:31 There was a difference in physicality.

14:33 there was a difference in the type of engines these guys had.

14:36 They both are championship pedigree, toughness,

14:40 mental toughness, fortitude, and I'm going respect that.

14:43 You know, we're not casuals in this thing where,

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

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

14:50 and give him his respect because he deserves it.

14:53 Um, but we going to also see those intangibles that we

14:56 saw from Zoto Ramirez and shout him out too because,

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

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

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

15:03 He didn't take that.

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

15:06 Yep.

15:07 Yeah.

15:07 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 a 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.

15:22 And I just respect the way he stepped

15:24 to Benvdz even though Benvdz did what Benvitz does.

15:28 And that's going to be a hard out for anybody.

15:31 Roy cruiserweight.

15:32 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, Benvdz didn't put on didn't go up as high as you.

15:43 Let me see.

15:44 85 95.

15:45 Well, he did go up, but he walks around at that weight and you put on muscle.

15:48 It was different than you just walking around

15:50 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 I still don't

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

16:03 Roy with this win from Benvdz he moved his record to 32 and0 and he becomes

16:07 the first three division champion in the super

16:10 middleweight light heavyweight division and the cruiser rate division.

16:15 The question now for David Benvdz is what's

16:18 next and Canelo Alvarez was in the building

16:21 supporting his stablemate Haime Mongia and I guess Benvitz 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.

16:42 But I do think that Canelo Alvarez has made a very

16:44 conscious decision throughout the years

16:45 to avoid Benvitz from a stylistic standpoint.

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

16:49 you call that being scared, you know, that's your business.

16:52 But but strategically he made that business decision to say I

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

16:58 And Benvitz 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 with Ramirez.

17:06 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 Benvitz going up and weight.

17:12 But the question is is what is going to happen?

17:15 There's you know Benvitas said I can go back

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

17:20 you know, he's constantly called out Dmitri Bivval.

17:24 That's a light heavyweight fight or Gio

17:27 Paya at cruiserweight or the other cruiserweight champion.

17:30 Well, Jai got stripped, but he's still a name.

17:32 He's still the top name or one of the top names in the cruiserweight division.

17:36 And Noel Mlayan is also another name.

17:39 And Benvita said, "I don't want to fight for the Zufa title." He said,

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

17:45 then I'm willing to fight J." And I think a deal can be made.

17:48 I I really do.

17:48 But at the end of the day,

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

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

17:55 I like him and J.

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

17:57 It test both of them.

17:58 Uh J's knew him coming.

17:59 Benz 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 So I think Pat Yeah, I think Pat will be the first guy to challenge him

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

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

18:24 because he'll be coming down the wait just like Benvdz does.

18:28 And the beautiful thing for Benvitz was that when I saw him at the weighin,

18:31 when I saw the picture of his face after the weighin,

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

18:39 That's crazy.

18:39 That's crazy.

18:40 He makes 68.

18:42 He makes 75.

18:44 He pulled down to make 200.

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

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

18:50 I couldn't make 195.

18:52 I couldn't make 190.

18:53 Realize 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's scary, man.

19:02 This guy could be the next guy that was

19:04 once super middleweight champ that could become heavyweight champ.

19:06 Because if Canelo don't fight him, he got to focus on the cruiserweights.

19:10 But after he beats the cruise, he may well try the heavyweight 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 that that I'm hearing that Turkey wants to make this year is

19:23 that's a really good fight.

19:25 Alexander Usyk and David Benvitz.

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 got to be heavyweight cuz cuz Yeah.

19:33 Usyk can't come back down.

19:35 Makes no sense if you fight for heavyweight.

19:36 Makes no sense.

19:37 Makes no sense.

19:37 If you're not fight for the heavyweight title,

19:39 you won the super middleweight, you get the cruiser,

19:41 and you got light heavy, not 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 Benvitz um you know,

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

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

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

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

20:04 Yep.

20:04 I agree.

20:05 And I like the fight with Jai.

20:06 I think that I think the J open tire fight at cruiserweight is the fight for me.

20:10 That's the fight that I want to see.

20:11 J 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 name

20:18 and whose stock and whose star star power is only rising.

20:22 That's the fight I believe that needs to be made at the cruiserweight division.

20:24 would love to see Bivvall,

20:25 but for some reason the light heavyweight division just is not as appealing

20:29 to me right now uh for Ben to be and I and again

20:33 I'm not sure that that's the right way for him to fight

20:35 being that he's fought this weight and look the way that he did.

20:38 I think it's cruiser way or maybe go up and fight Alexander Usyk.

20:42 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 Benitz,

20:51 to give Jatai 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 Patai if you want to.

21:02 You understand?

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

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

21:07 So be smart about this thing.

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

21:11 You beat Usyk, you don't never want to see

21:13 Patai unless he want to come to heavyweight.

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

21:17 you don't get a chance to see Usyk and you don't get a chance to make history.

21:20 That's crazy.

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

21:25 I went middleweight, super middleweight, light heavy,

21:27 heavy cuz I was doing what Bob the well I thought Bob the Simmons did.

21:31 I didn't stop at Cruiser because there was nobody there for me

21:33 to stop it and I really didn't care for the weight class.

21:36 Now he can go super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiser heavy.

21:40 Go for the Hey, go like I say, go for the whole thing if you gonna go for it.

21:44 Don't waste time with these other guys yet.

21:46 If you while you on this role, go see Usyk.

21:48 Don't play with second.

21:50 Why would you play with a guy who's just as dangerous as Usyk,

21:53 not as known as Usyk, not going to bring you as much money

21:57 as Usyk when you can just go straight to Usyk?

21:59 That's kind of crazy.

22:00 That's how we miss.

22:01 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 those small fights destroy the big ones.

22:10 That's why to this day,

22:11 we still have never 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 gloves on, anything can happen.

22:28 For if if Canelo not fighting you, forget about everybody else.

22:32 Go straight to Usyk.

22:34 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.

22:43 And don't let him play with you.

22:44 And that's my words today.

22:46 Ben is because I know he listens to me.

22:48 He looks up to me.

22:48 He thinks a lot of me.

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

22:52 Patai, you haven't proven yourself right now.

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

22:56 I want us.

22:57 That's what he should do.

22:58 Do without a question.

22:59 Listen, Opai has proven himself, but he's not the name.

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

23:04 Not as big money.

23:05 So, who's he beat?

23:07 We going to do that.

23:08 Who's he really?

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 cruis weight class.

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

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

23:21 Well, that's that's that that's that's why I skipped.

23:23 Right.

23:23 Right.

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

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

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

23:31 But the namesake is different.

23:33 Yeah.

23:34 Long ass.

23:34 Yeah.

23:35 Okay.

23:35 Yeah.

23:35 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 when I say prove yourself that and when I say

23:51 prove yourself the world don't know you like that yet.

23:53 That's why you 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 Ben is the world knows who Usyi is.

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

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

24:09 They don't know who the cruiserweight champions are.

24:11 Yeah.

24:12 I only know Patai and now and I knew Ramirez,

24:14 but I don't know the other cruiserweight champs and I am in boxing.

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

24:21 I respect it.

24:22 What's up, folks?

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

24:26 It's the ultimate destination on betting

24:28 on the big fights coming your way this year.

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

24:34 You go get the guy who's not a champion,

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

24:40 Boots in his.

24:40 Shout out to Xander Zas 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 Zas is a big

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

24:58 He also knows how to box.

24:59 Oh my god.

25:00 You got this guy from Philly.

25:02 He is ridiculous in his.

25:04 He can do everything.

25:05 He can box from the right-handed stance.

25:07 He can box from the left-handed stance.

25:08 He can box going forward, box back and up.

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

25:13 They're both undefeated.

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25:46 What up, fight fans?

25:47 It's your boy A.

25:48 And listen, for those who know me, you guys know how much I love coffee.

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27:06 Get going, keep going.

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 was a soldout 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 Bro, you remember 1990?

27:40 It was a Sunday.

27:41 was 40,000 people in attendance and Mike Tyson as the world

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

27:47 round but in a way and Janu Nakatani they not

27:52 only broke the live gate record Roy at 55,000 people

27:56 in the arena they also broke Japan's combat sports pay-per-view

28:00 buyers record this was a big fight over there noway who

28:04 is I don't know where you have him on your list

28:07 one two three he's top two top three in the world.

28:12 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 this game.

28:19 He's got quickness.

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

28:22 He's got power.

28:23 And he's just an allaround complete fighter.

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

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

28:33 And it was a slow fight initially.

28:36 and it started to pick up and you

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

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

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

28:46 And then there were moments where Nakatani

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

28:52 And that's one of the flaws,

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

28:58 His offense typically is his defense.

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

29:06 He's athletic.

29:07 He's young.

29:08 He's still very spry.

29:09 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

29:22 at home where they don't want to punch.

29:24 So, he doesn't have to be defensively sound, but he has some big moments against

29:28 Nakatani where Nakatani would landed some clean shots,

29:31 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, Noyo Inway 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.

29:51 He didn't run from it.

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

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

29:58 he took that on head on.

30:00 You got to love that about anyway.

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

30:03 And uh the guy the the cruise weight guy,

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

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

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

30:13 So I think he's going to be on the power

30:14 pound title list soon as well cuz he's that good.

30:17 But right now the world already know it.

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

30:21 So but Nakatan put up a great fight and not

30:24 many people last 12 rounds with anyway like that.

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

30:28 I mean he gave it his all.

30:30 He found a day that he found out the difference in there

30:32 are levels 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 worth

30:38 it 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.

30:42 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 because Mike fought there

30:50 when Mike was still hot and he only got 40,000 and they got 55,000.

30:54 That's 15 more,000 people because it's a inh 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.

31:05 You know, sometimes that that's the cost you got to pay to learn

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

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

31:16 I saw some people had concerns.

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

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

31:23 you know, talked to, uh, 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, be with my family,

31:52 and enjoy the fruits of my labor and the people that that matter most.

31:57 Now I'm locked back in and he's facing Tim Zoo 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.

32:12 We all want to see him make a comeback.

32:13 We don't never 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 he spoke to a few

32:22 people about it 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 has some struggles and now he's on the incline trying to get back up too.

32:39 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 Earl Spence is that Earl don't want no easy fights.

32:48 Earl don't want to fight guys that are nobody fight no tune up.

32:54 No tune.

32:55 No challenges.

32:56 You understand me?

32:56 He wants challenges.

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

33:00 Tim Zoo has been regularly fighting for the last three years,

33:03 he been not doing much.

33:05 That says a lot about Earl.

33:06 But that tells you exactly how much fight is still left in Earl.

33:09 Earl is a guy who 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 Earl.

33:17 He's always been that guy, even in the amateurs, you know,

33:20 and I've always had respect for Errol Spence because he's a real fighter.

33:24 You know, he's not a guy that talks a lot,

33:26 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 going to bring it.

33:32 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 tuneup fights.

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

33:41 Give me my tuneups cuz boxing is hard.

33:44 I need my tuneup cuz I need to sharpen my tools.

33:47 I want to make another paycheck before I make the big paycheck.

33:51 But that's just me.

33:52 I need my tuneups.

33:53 But I respect this brother because he's not with the tuneups.

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 gota 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.

34:17 But I'm excited to see him back.

34:20 I I'm excited to see him talk this 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, "No, 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, 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 Ro Jones, before we get out of here,

35:14 we going to get into our nonboxing take 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.

35:29 The score was 72-2.

35:32 Say it again.

35:33 The score of the game was 72 New York Knicks.

35:38 22 Atlanta Hawks in the A.

35:41 It was in Atlanta.

35:43 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.

36:00 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,

36:12 you know, to Mitchell Robinson because if I'm down by 50 in the playoffs,

36:17 I'm going to be upset and I'm not sure

36:20 I'm going to be able to compose myself, Roy.

36:22 So, did you watch that?

36:23 What were you thinking?

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

36:27 7222 and you know it was an NBA level type of scuffle you know

36:32 a lot of lot of hold me back hold me back but tensions did boil low.

36:37 Yeah I didn't watch the I didn't watch the game why I turned the game was such a

36:41 blowout victory already I just turned back away from it but I

36:43 can tell you like this uh Daniel got to do his homework.

36:46 Mitchell Robinson is from Pensacola Florida.

36:48 You can't hit nobody from Pensacola and think

36:50 they ain't coming back at your head bro.

36:52 That's what we do.

36:53 You feel me?

36:54 You hear somebody from Pensacola, you better know.

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

36:57 You understand me?

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

37:01 You hear him and he don't come back, he can't come back here.

37:03 So, he got to come back.

37:05 You understand?

37:05 This just what it is.

37:06 I mean, you hit him like that.

37:09 He coming.

37:10 Exactly.

37:10 He You already know he coming because I mean,

37:12 and I do understand it's like nobody wants to be a loser and nobody I mean,

37:16 we all want to win, but nobody want to be a loser.

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

37:21 That was bad.

37:22 So the hum humility the humility is what caused the anger.

37:26 You understand?

37:26 They let them jump out too fast on them and this is

37:28 in the playoffs and the humility is what caused it.

37:31 But we saw it yeah at home.

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

37:36 Same thing kind of they they they wasn't

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

37:41 So they started LeBron too because when you get that playoff bro

37:44 that lose that loss mean that that fourth loss means you going home.

37:48 Nobody wants to accept that.

37:50 But then when it's a humiliating loss, that adds even more flavor to it.

37:54 Oh, nah, bro.

37:55 It's kind of hard to, like you say, at Dyson Daniel's point,

37:58 it's hard not to hit him at that point because you're angry if you care.

38:01 Now, if you don't care, it's different.

38:03 And that's bad if you don't care because now we question what are you doing?

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

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

38:11 We like what what the hell wrong with him?

38:13 You understand me?

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

38:16 You feel me?

38:17 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 it kind of was that Dyson was.

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

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

38:31 You want him he needed he need to feel he need to feel away.

38:33 Yeah.

38:34 He needs to feel away.

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 a 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, certain sports.

38:50 I 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'm just it's just it's just in me.

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

39:00 People think it's easy or that I just 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 don'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 happened on that court.

39:17 You understand that up loud and clear.

39:19 Totally 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.

39:25 Some great fights, a lot of conversations.

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.

39:36 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.

40:03 You, too.

40:06 Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.