Speaker 1: The volume. It's Boxing with Chris Mannox presented by FanDuel.
Speaker 1: Football season underway. Basketball is right around the corner and
Speaker 1: there is no better place to get in on that
Speaker 1: action than Fan Duel. The app is safe, secure and
Speaker 1: easy to use. FanDuel always has exclusive offers. When you win,
Speaker 1: you'll get paid fast. Fandulize a lot of ways to play,
Speaker 1: like the spread, money line, over under his team totals,
Speaker 1: player props, and so much more. Jump into the action
Speaker 1: at any time during the game with live betting, combine
Speaker 1: multiple bets from the same game in a same game
Speaker 1: parlay and try out the same game parlay plus. So
Speaker 1: use the promo code Boxing and download the Fan Duel
Speaker 1: app today to make every moment more during this football
Speaker 1: season and get ready, NBA season is right around the corner.
Speaker 1: This is boxing with Chris Manning. Somebody punch him in
Speaker 1: the face. Canty Joshua is a composed and ferocious fisher.
Speaker 1: What's this heavy way? Posted by s I is Chris Mannix.
Speaker 1: That was my moments now with interviews, analysis and everything
Speaker 1: going on in the world of boxing. When you have talent,
Speaker 1: you are given another chance. Here's Chris Mannix and we
Speaker 1: are back Boxing with Chris Mannox, part of the Volume
Speaker 1: Sports podcast network. This is not an emergency podcast, but
Speaker 1: it kind of feels like an emergency podcast. That's because
Speaker 1: the boxing landscape shifted on Wednesday of this week. Before Wednesday,
Speaker 1: the biggest storyline in boxing was Connor Ben versus Chris
Speaker 1: you Bank Jr. A family feud taken to the next generation.
Speaker 1: Two rivals facing off with history behind them. You've got
Speaker 1: the son of Nigel Ben the son of Chris you
Speaker 1: Bank Jr. Two fighters that fought two excellent fights in
Speaker 1: the early ninety nineties. They were set to square off
Speaker 1: on Saturday as that rivalry passed on to another generation.
Speaker 1: It was supposed to be a huge event. Oh two
Speaker 1: Arena in London was sold out. Eddie Hearn, the promoter,
Speaker 1: was talking about the fight doing over a million pay
Speaker 1: per view buys. Everyone was excited about it. We were
Speaker 1: going to talk about it, break it down from every angle.
Speaker 1: And then on Wednesday everything changed. Connor Ben he tested
Speaker 1: positive for clomaphine, which is a banned substance known to
Speaker 1: increase testosterone levels in men. On Thursday, you had the
Speaker 1: British Boxing Board of Control announcing that they would not
Speaker 1: sanction this fight, that they would in fact prohibit this
Speaker 1: fight from happening, and then late on Thursday you had
Speaker 1: the news that this fight was going to be postponed.
Speaker 1: So now it is a totally different story. It is
Speaker 1: all about Connor Ben, what happened and the future of
Speaker 1: Connor Ben. So I want to bring in a couple
Speaker 1: of guys that I'm sure we'll have unique perspectives on this.
Speaker 1: Audio Ladipo is a long time broadcaster, part of the
Speaker 1: Zone broadcast team over in the UK as well. He's
Speaker 1: had his boots on the ground all week long. I've
Speaker 1: been covering this event and the subsequent fallout backwards and forwards.
Speaker 1: He joins me. Sergio Mora forward Junia middleweight champion to
Speaker 1: ZONN broadcaster, good friend of the podcast, he is here
Speaker 1: as well, and Audio, I want to start with you.
Speaker 1: You've been there all week long. You've watched this whole
Speaker 1: uh fiasco unfold over the last couple of days. Take
Speaker 1: us inside what's been going on over in the UK
Speaker 1: this week. It's been um, it's been crazy, It really
Speaker 1: has been. It's it's the mood has changed. It started
Speaker 1: as a surprise, the mont of you, just because they
Speaker 1: build up for the last month has been fantastic, right,
Speaker 1: It's really captured the public's imagination. I think as as
Speaker 1: a sports, boxing always seems to struggle against I guess
Speaker 1: in America, you know American football and basketball and baseball,
Speaker 1: and over here it struggles to compete against football soccer.
Speaker 1: So when it does compete, you jump on the bandwagon.
Speaker 1: And a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon
Speaker 1: just because of obviously the name and you guys will
Speaker 1: understand the history between the fathers, and everyone's been really excited.
Speaker 1: So it started as a surprise, like what this must
Speaker 1: be a joke? Two anger, how has this happened until
Speaker 1: I guess where we are today, which is just disappointment,
Speaker 1: like disappointment that the fights now off, which I think
Speaker 1: is right, and I guess we'll touch on that, but
Speaker 1: also disappointment for the undercard fighters and Surgio will understand this.
Speaker 1: Guys that are not going to get paid. Guys and girls, sorry,
Speaker 1: they're not going to get paid, that have spent thousands
Speaker 1: on camps and I guess contractually, and I spoke to
Speaker 1: a few of them, if they don't weigh in, they
Speaker 1: don't get paid. Um, these are these are guys and
Speaker 1: girls that don't have big sponsors that sort of live
Speaker 1: paycheck to paycheck when it comes to boxing, and there
Speaker 1: extremely upset um I to pursue Banks promoted Kellie Soland
Speaker 1: today and he was as angry as you can be
Speaker 1: if I'm honest to view, just because this fight generates
Speaker 1: a lot of money for them. Not only does it
Speaker 1: generate a lot of money, generates a lot of interest
Speaker 1: and that's what they're trying to do with Christy Bean Junior.
Speaker 1: So everyone's upset. There's a number of different broadcasters who have,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of committed to the fight and they're
Speaker 1: very upset. And again everyone's just angry here, Chris, because
Speaker 1: this is the fight we were looking forward to in
Speaker 1: terms of sort of the magnitude of it. It sold
Speaker 1: out the O two Arena, which the twenty thousand seat
Speaker 1: seat to arena here in minutes gone, tickets gone, big
Speaker 1: name superstars from the water of Entertainment were going to
Speaker 1: be ringside. This was it. This was the zones first
Speaker 1: pay per view event in the UK with Mattrium. Obviously
Speaker 1: they've done the care so I want, but with mattrim
Speaker 1: So everything was all systems go. And for it to
Speaker 1: be pulled two days before that, it's just a disappointment
Speaker 1: for everyone. Sergery, what was your reaction to Carter Ben's
Speaker 1: part of test? It was terrible. I was disappointed because
Speaker 1: I think the world of Connor. Then we talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, how how great of a star. You know,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be the potential. He has his recent knockout victories. Uh,
Speaker 1: every every performance is getting better and better and better.
Speaker 1: And uh, he has the looks, and he has the ability,
Speaker 1: he has the charisma, which is something you can't teach,
Speaker 1: and he just looks good on camera, and he looks
Speaker 1: good knocking guys out. But this is just a bad
Speaker 1: look on him and his reputation because you can't just
Speaker 1: dust this off. The thing about cheating is, you know,
Speaker 1: it's always going to be that that scarlet letter. It's
Speaker 1: always gonna be branded that your name is always going
Speaker 1: to be attached to it. No matter how great you
Speaker 1: become from here on, there's always gonna be critics. I say, yeah,
Speaker 1: but he tested you know, positive for so and so
Speaker 1: in two thousand twenty two. Uh, there's always gonna be
Speaker 1: a suspicion. So, just like when any criminal does anything wrong,
Speaker 1: it's always gonna have that record. It's always gonna be
Speaker 1: on his record, so he's gonna have that blemish, And
Speaker 1: sadly to say, no matter where Connor Benning goes from here,
Speaker 1: whether he donates money, whether he comes back and does
Speaker 1: VOTA testing for all his tests and apologizes to the fan,
Speaker 1: this is all he can do. But he's still going
Speaker 1: to have that stigma of, man, you cheated, You cheated
Speaker 1: us on a big night where it should have been
Speaker 1: historic and we just didn't get it. And the closer
Speaker 1: gets to the fight, like Adio was talking about, the
Speaker 1: worst it hurts. I've been there before. I have two
Speaker 1: championship fights canceled the week of the fight and it
Speaker 1: tears you up. Man x, I can't even imagine what
Speaker 1: the undercard UH fighters are doing a feeling as well,
Speaker 1: especially if they have a travel abroad. It's a disaster
Speaker 1: for everybody, all because of a lie, All because a
Speaker 1: fighter decided to take a shortcut, and in boxing there
Speaker 1: is no fucking shortcuts. Man, I can cuss here, so
Speaker 1: I'm piste off. I want to unpack something with you,
Speaker 1: because this was a positive test that was reported in
Speaker 1: the Daily Mail that came out on Wednesday over in
Speaker 1: the UK, but this was not a test that was
Speaker 1: reported in real time. It didn't happen this week. It
Speaker 1: happened according to Kellie Serlind, the co promoter of this event,
Speaker 1: in late August or early September, and after it happened,
Speaker 1: the two sides were notified by VADA, which is required
Speaker 1: to notify both sides whether there is a positive test. UM.
Speaker 1: So it strikes me that if The Daily Mail doesn't
Speaker 1: report this, that this fight would be happening on Saturday,
Speaker 1: because both sides we're told about the test, both sides
Speaker 1: discussed it, they elected to move forward with the christ
Speaker 1: You Bank Jr. Said he would continue on with the fight. Um.
Speaker 1: It just seems like if the Daily Mail doesn't report
Speaker 1: this story, then the fight happens and maybe we never
Speaker 1: find out about the positive test of Connor Ben. Is
Speaker 1: that how you interpret this? Yeah? Absolutely, And look, I
Speaker 1: mean for someone that sort of works on the broadcast,
Speaker 1: I feel like my position and it's been very difficult
Speaker 1: in the last couple of days because look, obviously we
Speaker 1: all worked for the Zoe and I I report on
Speaker 1: the fights for Matt from and I've been in a
Speaker 1: different position where I'm like, one second, okay, let's understand
Speaker 1: this and unpack it. Chris You Banks Senior, Connor's sorry,
Speaker 1: Christi Bank's dad has been sort of away from this event,
Speaker 1: and every time I spoke to see Christi Mank Jr.
Speaker 1: Said like, where's your father? What's what's going on? Because
Speaker 1: Nigel ben has been with Connor Benning camp and he's like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, my dad is not really wanted to get
Speaker 1: involved in A couple of days ago, um, CHRISI Bank
Speaker 1: Senior spoke to a former fight called Spencer Fearing that
Speaker 1: works for another broadcast, and he said, boycott the event.
Speaker 1: And I was like, what's going on? Like boycott the event?
Speaker 1: And I initially thought he was talking about the weight cut.
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, look, you know, I get it.
Speaker 1: The weight cuts are tough cut, but come on, let's
Speaker 1: calm down a bit. He clearly knew about this from
Speaker 1: a month ago, and he was clearly not wanting to
Speaker 1: be a part of what he called a circus act,
Speaker 1: and he's not been wanting to be a part of
Speaker 1: it for a month for whatever reason. He couldn't explain why,
Speaker 1: whether that be an n DA or whatever, but it
Speaker 1: was obviously about this, so they've clearly known about this,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what has really angered a lot
Speaker 1: of people. I mean, they've gone on TV to try
Speaker 1: and promote it, they've done a red carpet event. Well
Speaker 1: all whilst they've been doing all this, behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: there's been a fell drug tist and I think, look,
Speaker 1: Eddie is one of the greatest speakers in the world.
Speaker 1: I think Eddie uh Kelly from Westernan Boxing, Connor and
Speaker 1: Chris are going to have to answer a lot of
Speaker 1: tough questions now that we know about this, in the
Speaker 1: next couple of days, because I think personally that's and
Speaker 1: you know, now I know that we're allowed to swell.
Speaker 1: I think that's a fucking disgrace. And I think I
Speaker 1: think it's a disgrace that voter of flagged someone and
Speaker 1: everyone should trying to sweep this under the carpet. And
Speaker 1: I think the boxing and we we all cover the sport,
Speaker 1: it's it's you know, we always try to defend the sport,
Speaker 1: but this is indefensible. Someone has popped for something and
Speaker 1: you guys just trying to continue an event. And I
Speaker 1: get it, it's a big money event and everyone wants
Speaker 1: to get paid, but to continue like nothing has happened,
Speaker 1: and for the Daily Mail paper to come and report it.
Speaker 1: If it didn't. If the Daily Mail didn't report this,
Speaker 1: we would have a fight on Saturday and no one
Speaker 1: would have known that a fighter have test depositive for
Speaker 1: something that's on the badness Sergio, this is not the
Speaker 1: first time that a promoter has tried to plow ahead
Speaker 1: with an event after a positive test. I was in
Speaker 1: New York back in two thousand and twelve when Danny
Speaker 1: Garcia fought Eric Morales after Morales tested positive for a
Speaker 1: band substance. Or recently we had Oscar Valdez is title
Speaker 1: defense UH that went ahead against Ropes and can say
Speaker 1: so after Veldez tested positive for a band sub So
Speaker 1: this this happens, um But as a fighter, do you
Speaker 1: have a problem with a promoter kind of pushing ahead
Speaker 1: with an event like this? Because what Connor Ben took
Speaker 1: is a p D. It is a performance enhancer. This
Speaker 1: drug for men, is a testosterone booster for women. It
Speaker 1: is a fertility drug for men. It has no medical application,
Speaker 1: and repeat that it has no medical application. It is
Speaker 1: a testosterone booster that bodybuilders have used in the past
Speaker 1: that some M M A stars have used in the past,
Speaker 1: So he was taking something to give him an extra
Speaker 1: benefit going into this fight. So, as a fighter, how
Speaker 1: do you feel about a promoter trying to go forward
Speaker 1: with an event like this after a positive test. Well,
Speaker 1: it's a slippery slope. He romantics, because look, I can
Speaker 1: only speak as a fighter. I can tell you how
Speaker 1: a fighter feels. Now you're talking about you know, these
Speaker 1: are different shoes to feel. I don't know how a
Speaker 1: promoter supposed to feel. He his job. I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: to that. A promoter, you gotta understand, you know, he
Speaker 1: needs to do whatever it takes to save the show.
Speaker 1: You know, they have their own you know, struggles, and
Speaker 1: they have their own morals and own scruples, but they
Speaker 1: gotta put on a show and they're they're don't have
Speaker 1: bad reputations like dog King had a bad reputation for
Speaker 1: a long time, Bob Baram. Everyone has a lot of
Speaker 1: bad things to say about a lot of promoters, but
Speaker 1: they have a job to do and that's put on
Speaker 1: the show no matter what, as long as it all
Speaker 1: clears with the commission. So I get what they're doing.
Speaker 1: As a fighter, I can tell you right now, if
Speaker 1: I was the opponent, if Al was Chris you Banks
Speaker 1: the opponent, I would still want to fight. I didn't
Speaker 1: want to throw away at camp and all the money
Speaker 1: I spent in the camp with the sparring partners, all
Speaker 1: the time that I that I sacrifice with my family,
Speaker 1: get down to a weight that I'm not comfortable in.
Speaker 1: All these things aren't gonna go out the window just
Speaker 1: because of a phild dug test. I would have said,
Speaker 1: fuck it, bring it on, let's go. It would have
Speaker 1: been similar to like when all did from on the
Speaker 1: Bargains Now the wargat pop Pop Positive and Ascaria Poetic
Speaker 1: Justice beat the ship out of him. Not only did
Speaker 1: he beat the hell out of a drug user and
Speaker 1: a cheap but he beat the hell out of him
Speaker 1: knowing that that that he was all ripped up. We've
Speaker 1: never seen from on the Bargains that ripped He looked
Speaker 1: like Honor Men looks on his Instagram videos. But it
Speaker 1: as a fighter, I can tell you all it all
Speaker 1: comes down to what type of person you're dealing with.
Speaker 1: If it would have been me, I would have said,
Speaker 1: I don't care, man, let's go, just you know, give
Speaker 1: me of your purse. Let's get it on somehow, some way.
Speaker 1: Let let the show go on, because you know it's
Speaker 1: still still a big fight. A lot of people are
Speaker 1: gonna be disappointed. Yes, I'm I'm bending my morals, but
Speaker 1: I'm still gonna get the chance to kick the ship
Speaker 1: out of this cheater, So you know, it could be
Speaker 1: poetic justice and I can still get paid. I get
Speaker 1: that perspective. I respect that perspective. As a fighter, you
Speaker 1: want to get paid for the work you put in.
Speaker 1: You do two months of a hard camp. Of course,
Speaker 1: you want to find a way to make the fight happens.
Speaker 1: You get that money into your pocket. But Ada, a
Speaker 1: promoter has got to be more responsible, doesn't he. A
Speaker 1: promoter has to be looking out for the health of
Speaker 1: these fighters. I mean, Connor Ben isn't just beating guys.
Speaker 1: He's beating guys viciously. The Chris Algery knockout, the Chris
Speaker 1: van here to knock out. Can you imagine if this
Speaker 1: fight went forward and Connor Ben badly hurt Chris, you
Speaker 1: bank like, did something to him that had long a
Speaker 1: long term effect, and then it was reported after the
Speaker 1: fact that they knew that Connor Bennett tested positive for
Speaker 1: a band substance. That's the kind of thing that people
Speaker 1: could go to jail for. It's that serious. So promoters
Speaker 1: like it just feel is like a big risk for
Speaker 1: them to take. I know there's a lot of money
Speaker 1: on the line. I know there's a lot of steak,
Speaker 1: but when you have a guy that tests positive or
Speaker 1: something like this, it just feels like too big a
Speaker 1: risk to move forward with with an event. Yeah it is.
Speaker 1: And and this this is why it needs to be
Speaker 1: out the hands of the promoters and the fighters um
Speaker 1: because the promoters that surgeoys said, they're in it for
Speaker 1: and and look some might say rightly so to make
Speaker 1: it as much money as possible for a the broadcasters
Speaker 1: themselves and the fighters for the fighters like Surgerys said,
Speaker 1: you've had a in Chris you Bank's case, a two
Speaker 1: month camp. You want to get paid, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean we're hearing a fee of around maybe three and
Speaker 1: a half million pounds for Christian Bating Junior. I want
Speaker 1: that money. I want that money. I signed on the
Speaker 1: dotted line pay me because I've done everything I could do.
Speaker 1: This is where the governing body, so the British Boxing
Speaker 1: would have Control need to take sort of step in
Speaker 1: and say, okay, look, we have found that there was
Speaker 1: an adverse finding. We're calling this off so we're not
Speaker 1: leaving it to the hands of Eddie Hearn Mattrium to
Speaker 1: Zone was Simon boxing the fighters. We're doing it as
Speaker 1: the governing body and we're saying no. And they didn't.
Speaker 1: Obviously they have subsequently. This is only a couple of
Speaker 1: days ago, but they would have known about that adverse
Speaker 1: finding when we Siman and Mattrium found out, which we're
Speaker 1: hearing now is about a month ago. They should have
Speaker 1: been the ones that kind of put their foot forward
Speaker 1: and said, okay, look the fights off because you're right,
Speaker 1: the promoters aren't going to do it, and I in
Speaker 1: in the horrible world, I understand why, and the fighters
Speaker 1: aren't going to do it. The fighters just want to fight.
Speaker 1: I mean we've you know, Surgery spoke about the situation
Speaker 1: with Argus and Oscar Delois. He also remember the Antonio
Speaker 1: margherity O shame Mosey thing when they found him to
Speaker 1: applaster Paris in his hands. But they still went ahead
Speaker 1: because fighters want to fight. So British Boxing Board of
Speaker 1: Control needed to step in and just handle this situation better,
Speaker 1: and they didn't. It was they handed it awfully and
Speaker 1: they they they need to be kind of held up
Speaker 1: in court as well, if you like, because the way
Speaker 1: in which they've dealt with this situation the last sort
Speaker 1: of month now has been ridiculous. Ad I want to
Speaker 1: follow up on something, uh. You mentioned that Connor Ben
Speaker 1: is going to have to answer some tough questions over
Speaker 1: the next few weeks. The toughest, or at least the
Speaker 1: most significant one, is how this substance got into his system.
Speaker 1: What I found interesting this week is that you did
Speaker 1: not hear an explanation from either Eddie Hearn or Connor Bent.
Speaker 1: And that's interesting because again, this was a test result
Speaker 1: that they have known about for several weeks now, and
Speaker 1: you would think that over the course of a few
Speaker 1: weeks they would have tried to find out what it was,
Speaker 1: or at least have come up with something that might
Speaker 1: be believable in the events something like this happened. But
Speaker 1: you didn't get that, and Connor Ben is going to
Speaker 1: have to explain it because this is a serious substance.
Speaker 1: To my knowledge, and I admit I'm not a nutritionist
Speaker 1: or a doctor whatever, but my Internet research and what
Speaker 1: I'm reading from other experts suggests that this is the
Speaker 1: kind of substance that only gets into your system in
Speaker 1: some kind of pill form. So the usual excuses, the
Speaker 1: tainted meat, the tainted herbal t the lace supplement, all
Speaker 1: the things that you often hear from fighters who test
Speaker 1: positive for banned substance. It's gonna be tough to sell
Speaker 1: that if you're Connor Ben, and that's gonna be something
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to to to sell to the public.
Speaker 1: If he's going to restore his reputation, He's gonna have
Speaker 1: to come up with something believable, isn't he Yeah, And
Speaker 1: you know, you know what's scary is that you mentioned
Speaker 1: a few sort of statements he could through out there.
Speaker 1: He's not used any of those. And I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: and I said this, I'm a I'm a big fan
Speaker 1: of kind of Ben. I think surgery Moore mentioned at
Speaker 1: the top, like, I'm a big fan of his dad,
Speaker 1: and just almost because of that, I'm a big fan
Speaker 1: of kind of Ben. I've had him here in my studio,
Speaker 1: I've spoke to him sort of outside of boxing on
Speaker 1: numerous occasions, and it's been difficult for me, But I
Speaker 1: said kind of Ben needs to come out and say something,
Speaker 1: not a written statement which is obviously written by a
Speaker 1: lawyer from the He needs to come out and saying
Speaker 1: how that got into his system needs to whether or
Speaker 1: not we believe it or understand it, he needs to
Speaker 1: do it. The idea of just sort of going home,
Speaker 1: shutting the door and closing the curtains isn't gonna work
Speaker 1: here because a lot of people have spent a lot
Speaker 1: of money, not just buying tickets what you're gonna get
Speaker 1: a refund for, but traveling abroad to watch this fight.
Speaker 1: I know people that have booked hotels. They're not getting
Speaker 1: that money back. There's fans of kind of Bend that
Speaker 1: have brought his merchandise. You need to come out and
Speaker 1: say what's going on. The idea of just sort of
Speaker 1: hiding and that's kind of what he's doing here, hiding
Speaker 1: behind social media isn't gonna work. You've spent a long
Speaker 1: time building up this fantastic reputation and becoming this new
Speaker 1: star of boxing. That's all crumbling beneath you right now
Speaker 1: unless you come out and say something. And I think
Speaker 1: sometimes silence is the worst thing. The fact you're not
Speaker 1: saying anything, almost as a sign of guilt. The fact
Speaker 1: that you can't think of something to say is a problem.
Speaker 1: And I know you. You mentioned Eddie and this isn't
Speaker 1: an Eddie Heard issue. Eddie herns the promoter that there's
Speaker 1: Connor Ben's got his own team. I've sort of been
Speaker 1: to all of Connor Ben's fights and there's a team
Speaker 1: of about twenty that were Connor Bent tracks suits. Someone
Speaker 1: from that team has got to say something. It's all
Speaker 1: well and good when Connor is winning and you're wearing
Speaker 1: the nice Connor Bend bling tracksuits. Now what about Now,
Speaker 1: now there's a problem one of you in that team.
Speaker 1: You have to come out and say something. If you don't, then,
Speaker 1: as a SURGEO said, your name is in the mud.
Speaker 1: Your name is in the mud forever. I mean, the
Speaker 1: big star in boxing Canello still struggles start to kind
Speaker 1: of find these way of that Colum brutual issue three
Speaker 1: years ago, so two years ago, it doesn't escape you.
Speaker 1: And Connor is not as big as as as Cannello.
Speaker 1: So unless Connor releases the statement in the next and
Speaker 1: I'm talking to video statement, not a stupid Twitter statement.
Speaker 1: Unless he releases them for your hours. There's gonna be
Speaker 1: big problems. I had big, big problems. Two things I
Speaker 1: want to touch on that. Hold hold on, Chris, two
Speaker 1: things I don't want to touch on that. I mean,
Speaker 1: as always, you articularly nailed it on the money and
Speaker 1: the blutter. However, you say that Cannello was founded with
Speaker 1: in that tainted meat. Slight traces of that is still allowed,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, in in the PD testing, but slight
Speaker 1: testing of this drug. This, this fertility drug that's not allowed.
Speaker 1: So you know you can actually maybe you know, not
Speaker 1: sweeping under the rug, but explain a slight trace of something,
Speaker 1: but this you cannot. That's one and and and and too. Yes,
Speaker 1: I agree with you. He has to come out and
Speaker 1: say something. Wouldn't it be something amazing if he can
Speaker 1: be the first athlete in any sport to come on
Speaker 1: and say yeah, I did it, not hide behind anything.
Speaker 1: Say you know what, I attempted to cheat. I'm a
Speaker 1: young man, I'm ambitious, I want the world or something stupid.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine you know, all the hater he would get,
Speaker 1: of course, but then all the respect you would you
Speaker 1: get my respect? He would get my respect. And he said,
Speaker 1: you know what, this this kid, this young man manned
Speaker 1: up and admitted something that ninety nine point nine d
Speaker 1: percent of fighters and athletes have never done. Not one
Speaker 1: fighter has ever come on and said, you know what, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I try to cheat. Connor Ben could do the first
Speaker 1: and I think he can mend up and get some
Speaker 1: kind of dignity back that he can actually do that.
Speaker 1: But he won't. But serchio, do you believe that he
Speaker 1: would get his dignity back? I mean, look, I grew
Speaker 1: up in Boston and I can remember back in two
Speaker 1: thousand seven when Rodney Harrison was playing for the Patriots
Speaker 1: and Rodney Harrison admitted to taking human growth hormone because
Speaker 1: he wanted to accelerate the healing process in his leg
Speaker 1: yet a leg issue that he was going through when
Speaker 1: he took a four game suspension for it, but he
Speaker 1: said it was worth it because he was trying to
Speaker 1: heal his body. This was going to give him the
Speaker 1: best shot to do it. That's one that's where admission
Speaker 1: makes some sense. But in boxing like this is serious,
Speaker 1: this is life or death stuff. If connor Ben comes
Speaker 1: out and says, yeah, I took it to give me
Speaker 1: an edge, I don't think people are going to be
Speaker 1: in a rush to forgive him. I don't think he's
Speaker 1: gonna gain any of his dignity back. It might even
Speaker 1: make people angrier because he should be admitted to taking
Speaker 1: something that could be used. It could be weaponized really
Speaker 1: in a way. Uh. The other thing when it comes
Speaker 1: to Connor Ben is, look, if this is in his
Speaker 1: system now, it's probably not the first time he's taken it.
Speaker 1: I'm not basing that on any inside information. I just
Speaker 1: know that in general, the first time you are caught
Speaker 1: doing something wrong is most often not the first time
Speaker 1: you have done something wrong. So while I agree with
Speaker 1: you in some circumstances, just saying you took drugs, whether
Speaker 1: Rodney Harrison or Andy Pettitt or any of these like
Speaker 1: baseball players or other athletes that have taken drugs, that
Speaker 1: it's generally worked out for them. But in boxing it
Speaker 1: just feels a little bit different. If it was any
Speaker 1: other p D, I would I would think manning up
Speaker 1: and being honest would would would actually clear the table.
Speaker 1: But it was a fertility drug. Men don't take that
Speaker 1: unless they're trying to do something that you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know much of that's it. Yeah, you know, you
Speaker 1: know the biggest problem is sorry, of course you said.
Speaker 1: I think the biggest problem why I don't think people
Speaker 1: will forgive him if the man's up is because you
Speaker 1: try to drain Chris. You Maine Junior down to a
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty seven pounds, so that's one thing. You
Speaker 1: then try to install a rehydration clause, which is another thing,
Speaker 1: and then on top of that you've now obviously been
Speaker 1: found guilty for taking a performance and nser and drug.
Speaker 1: I mean, is it not enough to drain Chris you
Speaker 1: mate Jr? Is it not enough to put a rehydration
Speaker 1: clause in? Is that not enough? I mean, this is
Speaker 1: the sport that we love, but we also all three
Speaker 1: of us understand the dangers of this sport. Is it
Speaker 1: not enough to do those two things? But then you
Speaker 1: want to add almost a bit more on top. It's
Speaker 1: going to be very very difficult, especially over here in
Speaker 1: the UK. I don't know what it's like in the States,
Speaker 1: but over here in the UK it's very very difficult.
Speaker 1: There was a sprinter, cale Dwayne Chambers that we loved
Speaker 1: over here. He got caught and he got a four
Speaker 1: year band every time he ran on track after that
Speaker 1: four year band. He was booed like it never goes away.
Speaker 1: It didn't go away. Connor Ben is one hundred times
Speaker 1: more famous than that guy because of his name value.
Speaker 1: It's going to be incredibly difficult to recover from this
Speaker 1: unless by some miraculous statement or video or something. He
Speaker 1: explained how it got any system and then it's up
Speaker 1: for us to decide whether or not we believe him
Speaker 1: or not. But again the silent daddie, I'm sorry interrupt,
Speaker 1: How can you how can a man, a young man
Speaker 1: have fertility drugs? I know it has a boostes to
Speaker 1: start from, but fertility is not for men. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm not a doctor, but how do you How does
Speaker 1: a young man explain the only way he can explain?
Speaker 1: And look, this is not me trying to find an
Speaker 1: excuse for Connor Ben, but I mean a lot of
Speaker 1: people are spoken about the the new and I don't
Speaker 1: know if you had one, Surgey, but the new strength
Speaker 1: and conditions that are now part of the sport of boxing.
Speaker 1: Before you as a trainer and then used to go
Speaker 1: and do your road work and then train yourself, there's
Speaker 1: this new click of strength and condition and coaches that
Speaker 1: seemed to offer you whatever, like, hey, take that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. Sometimes the boxes do the own due
Speaker 1: diligence as to what they're taken. You almost leave you
Speaker 1: trust the guys with absolutely. I've been part of that,
Speaker 1: especially at the end of my career. And I wish
Speaker 1: I could say their names because people will know who
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. But at the end of my career, Uh,
Speaker 1: those were offered to me, and I just didn't want
Speaker 1: to risk everything that I accomplished for one or two
Speaker 1: fights and one or two pay days. But I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna say I didn't think about it. But it's just
Speaker 1: not worth it, man. And those guys are scumbags, you know,
Speaker 1: they're all they're all intelligent scumbags or weasels, and they
Speaker 1: know how to you know, you know, use chemistry and
Speaker 1: hide it and bring it out of your system and
Speaker 1: and all that other stuff. It's not worth it, man,
Speaker 1: at it is not worth it. And if for some reason,
Speaker 1: Connor Ben or some of his team told him that
Speaker 1: it would, you know, maybe rationalized and told him that
Speaker 1: it would make it out of the system or or
Speaker 1: or maybe say that you can get away with it whatever,
Speaker 1: he still shouldn't have done it. Man. The only thing
Speaker 1: a fighters should do is run, train, eat well, drink
Speaker 1: water and and that's it. Man. You don't need to
Speaker 1: put all this other stuff in your system. For two
Speaker 1: hundred years, man, fighters have been fighting without this all
Speaker 1: this science. Why do we need it all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Why do we need all these chemistry? It's mano a mano.
Speaker 1: It's trained the best. You can drink your water, take vitamins,
Speaker 1: simple one a day. That's all I took for twenty years.
Speaker 1: You don't need everything else, man, Everything in boxing is
Speaker 1: here here, And of course you know, yeah, yeah. I
Speaker 1: also think it is insane that so many of these
Speaker 1: nutritionists and sports scientists are disgraced drug sheets um people
Speaker 1: like Victor Conti, who was at the center of the
Speaker 1: Balco Barry Bonds scandal in the late nineties, in early
Speaker 1: two thousand's, people like Memo Heredia, whoever admitted that he
Speaker 1: was involved in doping uh years ago. Like these people
Speaker 1: are now nutritionists in boxing. And it's bizarre because the
Speaker 1: idea they could infiltrate other sports like football or baseball
Speaker 1: or hockey on a regular basis is just it's nuts.
Speaker 1: But here they are in the sport of boxing, which
Speaker 1: is as always, uh the wild West up. I want
Speaker 1: to finish with you what has this done to Connor
Speaker 1: Ben's reputation in the UK? What we're was the perception
Speaker 1: of him before all this and what is the perception
Speaker 1: of him now? Well, we looked at him as that
Speaker 1: next star before, right, I mean, we understand that we're
Speaker 1: coming to an end with sort of our heavyweight stars, Tyson,
Speaker 1: fury A, j These are guys that went into the
Speaker 1: thirties and you know, we're looking for that next guy
Speaker 1: that can feel stadiums eventually maybe go to America and
Speaker 1: cause some problems over there. And he just seemed to
Speaker 1: have it. Oh, he has the look in his last
Speaker 1: few performances, he has the knockout victories. He speaks so
Speaker 1: well on the mic, and that was it. That was
Speaker 1: our star right away was looking for. You guys have
Speaker 1: got Javonte and Ryan Garcia. He's our version of that,
Speaker 1: someone that understands the new age of social media. He's
Speaker 1: got a YouTube channel. He literally ticks every single box
Speaker 1: in terms of what we want our boxing star to
Speaker 1: look like. Right now, his names in the mud. I mean,
Speaker 1: I can't imagine what he's going through. And look, whether
Speaker 1: or not I should feel so for him is another question.
Speaker 1: But I can't imagine what he's going through. Looking on
Speaker 1: social media right now, people are genuinely angry, and it's
Speaker 1: the wrong people. And what I mean by that it's
Speaker 1: people that have got a million Twitter followers and they're
Speaker 1: saying stuff and then everyone's jumping on board. I mean,
Speaker 1: I work for a radio station called Talk Sport and
Speaker 1: they've absolutely destroyed him over here, and it's gonna take
Speaker 1: it's It's literally I almost feel like it's an impossible
Speaker 1: job to mend it. And I hope it's not because
Speaker 1: I don't want his career at what is to be
Speaker 1: over now. It's gonna take a wall for people to
Speaker 1: forgive him because we were looking forward to this one.
Speaker 1: This was our fire, this was almost our super Bowl
Speaker 1: within and it's now done and it's difficult. You can
Speaker 1: you guys imagine over there You're super Bowl being ended.
Speaker 1: It's difficult for our super Bowl to kind of go
Speaker 1: like this. So people are angry, people disappointed. I want
Speaker 1: to say people move on quickly, but not from this.
Speaker 1: They won't move on quickly from this at AOL. So
Speaker 1: good luck to his team trying to repair the damage
Speaker 1: because it's gonna take a while. Sergio, I'll give you
Speaker 1: the last word of this. How does Connor ben move forward?
Speaker 1: How does he reclaim his reputation? Is it about going
Speaker 1: into year round testing? Is it about going into like
Speaker 1: weakly blood testing, Uh, turning into the most transparent athlete
Speaker 1: when it comes to drug testing in boxing history. How
Speaker 1: in your mind does he move forward? I think the
Speaker 1: last word added just summed it up perfectly. He summed
Speaker 1: it up perfectly. Um my advice, admit what you did,
Speaker 1: Admit what you did, ask for the public's apology, and
Speaker 1: and and and and just say that you'll do better.
Speaker 1: We're all human, we all mess up. We all try
Speaker 1: to get an advantage somehow, some way, but you know legally,
Speaker 1: but in a in a blood sport and a dangerous sport.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, you can't take shortcuts. So you just either
Speaker 1: got a man up or find another job to do. Man,
Speaker 1: Because as at A so eloquently put it, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be very hard. And he let he disappointed a lot
Speaker 1: of people that put all their faith and trust and
Speaker 1: him being the next superstar, and he just shot those
Speaker 1: dreams down. And it just spirits. You know, fans, it
Speaker 1: takes away, It just leaves a bad taste in their mouth.
Speaker 1: And then when they see your face, or they see
Speaker 1: your posts, or they see your next fight, or they
Speaker 1: they just don't like it anymore. So I would say,
Speaker 1: man up, admit what you did, say you're human, and
Speaker 1: move on. What is the damage control look like for
Speaker 1: counter Bend, Well, I think they started already, right. I
Speaker 1: know that obviously felt VADA testing, but over here we
Speaker 1: have UK, which is UK anti doping. Um. Since obviously
Speaker 1: this VADA test had been felled and again we're led
Speaker 1: to believe it was about a month ago. He's done
Speaker 1: a lot of UK anti dope in tests and it's
Speaker 1: come about all negatives. So they've already started the damage controls.
Speaker 1: So I think it's a case of year round sort
Speaker 1: of random UK testing, maybe doing and signing up to
Speaker 1: VARDA again. Um. And that's the only way, honestly, it's
Speaker 1: the only way. I mean, Eddie and Kelly made sure
Speaker 1: sort of making sure that I knew that it had
Speaker 1: been postponed this event as opposed to it being canceled.
Speaker 1: So they are looking at putting this event on again
Speaker 1: very soon. There's no two ways about it, whether or
Speaker 1: not the public are gonna like it as another thing.
Speaker 1: But they made sure in their statements and I think
Speaker 1: everyone can read their statements online at this event has
Speaker 1: been postponed, not canceled. So I think they're already starting
Speaker 1: their damage control full year round, random you cat testing
Speaker 1: and then we move forward. I think it's a bit
Speaker 1: too soon to do what they're trying to do. But
Speaker 1: these are promoters and I'm just a guy that works
Speaker 1: for the broadcaster. Yeah, in this new wage, the event
Speaker 1: might be uh postponed or canceled, but his reputation, it's
Speaker 1: probably canceled, you know, especially now that social media and
Speaker 1: everything travels around the world so fast. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: very hard man, as you put it, very hard for
Speaker 1: him to get. And that's why I know times going
Speaker 1: to Skuy's apologies, but that's why he needs to release
Speaker 1: a statement and explain how and why. The longer he waits,
Speaker 1: Chris Sergio, the worst it gets. I mean, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: guilty of that myself sometimes and just shutting the curtains.
Speaker 1: This isn't a shot in the curtain moment. This is
Speaker 1: literally opening the curtain and explaining what happened. If he
Speaker 1: continues to hide behind statements, then I guess the bigger
Speaker 1: the problem gets. Yeah, it's a tough week for boxing.
Speaker 1: It's a tough week for cornor Ben. It's a tough
Speaker 1: for boxing fans who are once again talking about something
Speaker 1: that doesn't have anything to do with what happens in
Speaker 1: the ring. And for Connor Ben, I think we all
Speaker 1: agree he's got a lot of work to do if
Speaker 1: he's going to reclaim the respect of boxing fans, of
Speaker 1: his peers and make people believe that, as he says,
Speaker 1: he is a clean athlete. Addiol Adipo broadcaster over in
Speaker 1: the UK with The Zone, Sergio Mora, former Junia middleweight champion,
Speaker 1: to ZONN broadcaster Fellas appreciate the time and perspective as always,
Speaker 1: Jas guys, cheer when we come back my conversation with
Speaker 1: Chris al Jerry. All Right, So the big news this week,
Speaker 1: of course Connor Ben testing positive for a band substance.
Speaker 1: Canceling or postponing, I guess is the more accurate word.
Speaker 1: His upcoming fights against Chris you Bank Jr. Ben has
Speaker 1: been a rising prospect for several years now, and he's
Speaker 1: beat some notable names in that time. One of them
Speaker 1: Chris alt Jerry, former forty pound champion who lost to
Speaker 1: Connor Ben last December. And I wanted to bring Chris
Speaker 1: to the show because I'm curious how opponents of Connor
Speaker 1: Ben are feeling in this moment after the news broke
Speaker 1: that he tested positive for this bands up. So Chris,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining me. Man. Um, let's let's start there. Um.
Speaker 1: You know when you heard about the positive test, what
Speaker 1: was your reaction? So, Um, I woke up to it
Speaker 1: yesterday morning. You know, I've been a full twenty four
Speaker 1: hours or thirty hours past when I first actually heard
Speaker 1: about it, um, And honestly, my very first thought was
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised. You know, I had heard mutterings when
Speaker 1: I was getting ready fight him. I had mutings around
Speaker 1: that fight week from people who are in over over
Speaker 1: across the seas, and then I had heard it post
Speaker 1: you know. So, but I always give fighters and competitors
Speaker 1: the benefit of the doubt. If I don't know for
Speaker 1: sure that I'm never gonna mention that I'm never gonna
Speaker 1: call anybody, even if I suspect them or not. But
Speaker 1: now now that it comes to to light, um, you
Speaker 1: know it makes you think, and you know it sucks.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't want to think about other fighters
Speaker 1: that way. I don't want to think about situations that
Speaker 1: happened the past. But you know, it's hard not to.
Speaker 1: It's it's impossible not to. Yeah, I mean when you
Speaker 1: look at this situation, you said you're not surprised, So
Speaker 1: you did have concerns about Connor Ben going into your fight. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know that. I know there's a lot of hype
Speaker 1: around him. Um, I knew who was a young fighter.
Speaker 1: I knew I was his first big step up fight,
Speaker 1: and you know there's a lot on his shoulders in
Speaker 1: order to perform, you know, perform the way that it
Speaker 1: needs to. But I mean that the writing was on
Speaker 1: the wall. If you look at his body, the way
Speaker 1: it's changed from even the Corndos fight to my fight,
Speaker 1: you know, which are only four months apart. You know,
Speaker 1: the differences was was visible. And that's hard to do,
Speaker 1: you know, in in such a short period of time,
Speaker 1: when you've been trying at a high level for for
Speaker 1: a while. Um, you know that's one thing. But again
Speaker 1: it's yeah, you never know, like everyone's body is different.
Speaker 1: But now it's just it just makes you rethink everything
Speaker 1: that you thought leading up to it and what you
Speaker 1: had heard. Um. Yeah, and I had heard from from
Speaker 1: multiple sources that that you know that he was not
Speaker 1: a clean a clean fighter. Um you know. So now
Speaker 1: again it's just it's this this comes to light now
Speaker 1: and just it just makes you think, Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: were you were stopped in that fight, and it was
Speaker 1: a scary knockout the way, Um you were knocked out.
Speaker 1: As you look back on that knockout now, I mean
Speaker 1: do you think that, Look, I was stopped by a
Speaker 1: guy that was taking something like what do you how
Speaker 1: do you feel about that knockout? Now? Well, even leading
Speaker 1: up to the fight, like, I've never seen anything on
Speaker 1: video watching him, I've never seen that kind of power.
Speaker 1: Never expected that, didn't didn't wasn't worried about that kind
Speaker 1: of thing happening. Lest I'm always worried about a fight.
Speaker 1: Any punchkin can ENTI fight at any time. Um, And
Speaker 1: whether it was or it wasn't, you know, I wasn't
Speaker 1: worried about that. I didn't. I didn't see that kind
Speaker 1: of power in him. I didn't. I didn't listen. I've
Speaker 1: been bring Manu Pat yea, I what Errol sp and
Speaker 1: so I've been Ruslan Rovannikov, you know, really really scary
Speaker 1: punchers and the kind of guys who have, um, you know,
Speaker 1: done a lot of damage in the ring. And I
Speaker 1: just didn't I didn't see that. I didn't. I didn't
Speaker 1: think that that was even an option. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: so when it came out of nowhere, I mean I
Speaker 1: was obviously I was surprised. Um, you know, I didn't
Speaker 1: expect it, and but I just I wasn't expecting that
Speaker 1: kind of thing even going into the fight. You know,
Speaker 1: when you when you signed for a fight, you look
Speaker 1: at your opponent, you look at how you're going to
Speaker 1: stand up, you look at the things you need to
Speaker 1: work on. You know. I have always been an analyst,
Speaker 1: you know, I analyzed the fighters getting ready for my
Speaker 1: own fights, and now I analyze fighters as a broadcaster,
Speaker 1: So I know what I'm looking at. I never saw
Speaker 1: that kind of power, especially one punch shot like that, Um,
Speaker 1: even in the fight before Gronado's and Gronaus is a
Speaker 1: great chance he's a super tough guy. I'm literally taking
Speaker 1: nothing away from him. He didn't show that kind of
Speaker 1: explosiveness and one one punch power at all. What was
Speaker 1: the drug testing like for your fight? We pissed on
Speaker 1: a cup after the fight. That was it. So no
Speaker 1: advanced testing for for your fight with Connor Ben No,
Speaker 1: no Vada, nothing of that. And listen, I'm I mean,
Speaker 1: I am a one of the wbc h randomly tested
Speaker 1: Vada athletes a year round. You can test me at anytime,
Speaker 1: but honestly, how often does that really happen? Not much.
Speaker 1: It's expensive to do, um because if they just show
Speaker 1: up where you're at, and it's very very rare. So um, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: there was, there was. There was no advanced testing other
Speaker 1: than the General Commission. Piano Cup. I know you've worked
Speaker 1: with Eddie Hearn in the past. He has um suggested
Speaker 1: that the fight should have been allowed to go forward because, Uh,
Speaker 1: the u k a D tests did not pop Connor Bend,
Speaker 1: and they have jurisdiction when it comes to this type
Speaker 1: of stuff, and it was Vada that that pop Bend.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about that, about the fact that
Speaker 1: it was Vada not the uk D that nailed him.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter to you, No, it doesn't matter. I mean,
Speaker 1: if anything, I mean, I think a third party tester
Speaker 1: who doesn't really matter in terms of if the fight
Speaker 1: happens or not. It's probably better. Um, you know, we
Speaker 1: all use Vada. We all have at the highest level.
Speaker 1: You know, when I fought Many Packat, we use Vado.
Speaker 1: When I fac World Tide, we use Vada. So why
Speaker 1: would Voda not matter now? Um? Because the fight's happening
Speaker 1: over there, Like because you guys don't believe in Vada.
Speaker 1: Like what does VADA have to stand to win or
Speaker 1: gain by by turning off such a huge fight or
Speaker 1: shutting down such a big fight that I don't know.
Speaker 1: If failed test the failed test drug is a drug.
Speaker 1: It's it's either or you are. It's like being pregnant.
Speaker 1: Either pregnant or you're not. There's no stunny pregnant. So
Speaker 1: you failed test, fail test. Yeah, you know it says
Speaker 1: something too that. I mean, if you you really can't
Speaker 1: say that, you know, you're saying the uk D tests
Speaker 1: are not as good. That's Vadas. Like if Vada was
Speaker 1: the one that that caught him, then the VODA tests
Speaker 1: are the gold standard. And that's just the way it goes.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know, I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: the protocols of of either testing UM organization. UM. But
Speaker 1: I do understand the way that testing and drugs work,
Speaker 1: and you know, the guys who are developing these drugs,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's constantly turning over, they're constantly getting better.
Speaker 1: It's technology. It's just the way it is. UM. And
Speaker 1: there's a lot more money and making better drugs than
Speaker 1: there is for making better tests that can that can
Speaker 1: figure out those drugs. So UM, you know, one could
Speaker 1: just be a day ahead of the other. It doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that one is UM isn't good, or is is whatever,
Speaker 1: but obsolete, its obsolete. If you're day late, you're or monthly,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. UM. So you know, I can't really
Speaker 1: speak to their protocols, but obviously it's one's catching something
Speaker 1: that is there and one is not. There's there's an issue.
Speaker 1: So what should the punishment be for something like this? UM?
Speaker 1: It sure sounds like despite's gonna be rescheduled sooner rather
Speaker 1: than later. It may just be a matter of months,
Speaker 1: a couple of months before we see us you bank
Speaker 1: and counter bend in the ring. If you could sort
Speaker 1: of be boxing commissioner for a day, UM, what should
Speaker 1: the punishment be for Connor Ben for something like this,
Speaker 1: a minimum a year minimum. And honestly, the argument for
Speaker 1: life is legit because depending on what you're doing, in
Speaker 1: terms of what kind of androwgen's kind of what kind
Speaker 1: of pets you're taking, what kind of pds you're taking,
Speaker 1: the physiological effect might never go away. You're getting an
Speaker 1: advantage for life in some instances. The tissue that you develop,
Speaker 1: the physiological changes that happen are real and they don't
Speaker 1: go away because you stopped taking them. So again, looking
Speaker 1: at what the specific drug that you're getting you're getting
Speaker 1: napped for, should matter. But I don't think people are
Speaker 1: looking at it that closely, you know, for all intents
Speaker 1: of purpose, I think it's gonna get pushed back three
Speaker 1: months and then they're gonna fight again. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: no big deal because this is boxing. It's the wild
Speaker 1: Gold West. We let this kind of stuff happen all
Speaker 1: the time. And this is why a lot of people
Speaker 1: question boxing and why you know, there's there's always the
Speaker 1: question markt always the black eye of boxing. But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: if you really look at a physiologically from a sports
Speaker 1: sports um physiology and sports medicine and sports science standpoint,
Speaker 1: life bands are are legitimate. You know what surprises me,
Speaker 1: Chris is that you know this. They've Connor Benn his
Speaker 1: team have known about this test for weeks now. They
Speaker 1: had to know or had at least think at some
Speaker 1: point this was going to go public, and as we
Speaker 1: record this, there still has not been any kind of
Speaker 1: excuse floated. No herbal t excuse, no laced meat, no
Speaker 1: supplement that was tainted by this fertility drug. And that
Speaker 1: to me just tells they don't have one, Like they
Speaker 1: don't have anything that anyone would buy in the public,
Speaker 1: which is a big problem. Like Connor Ben is out
Speaker 1: there on social media saying, I'm a clean athlete. Well,
Speaker 1: in my mind, explain how this got in your system.
Speaker 1: Then give me something I'll believe because you've had weeks
Speaker 1: and come up with nothing. Yeah. Well, in terms of
Speaker 1: the excuse, there won't be one because it's lied to
Speaker 1: you die. There's no reason for them to come out
Speaker 1: and say, oh, you know, like we didn't do this,
Speaker 1: that we messed up. That's never gonna happen again. Now
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do that. They're gonna they're gonna they're
Speaker 1: gonna deny it. Deny it, deny it, um, you know,
Speaker 1: because there's no upside, and and saying that you tried,
Speaker 1: you tried to do it and you got caught. Um,
Speaker 1: saying you made a mistake and I think got caught. Yeah. There.
Speaker 1: You know, there's people in the public could potentially be like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: you know he did me. It's okay, you know, he
Speaker 1: didn't mean to do it. It happened. But I don't
Speaker 1: believe any of that, you know, I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: believe in any of that. As a as a professional athlete,
Speaker 1: a high level guy, someone was a team around him,
Speaker 1: was looking after everything you're doing. And Connor is not
Speaker 1: a dumb guy. He's he he knows exactly the stakes
Speaker 1: of what's going on, and he's he's very I have
Speaker 1: talked to him about this personally prior to us fighting,
Speaker 1: about how much he's aware of his nutrition in his body.
Speaker 1: He's a kind of prizes, especially with the drug that
Speaker 1: he popped for. There's no excuse, and that's why there
Speaker 1: will not be one. You were gracious in defeat after
Speaker 1: your fight with Connor. Ben. You guys shared a moment
Speaker 1: the ring that was captured on camera. I'm sure you
Speaker 1: talked after that. How do you feel about Connor Ben
Speaker 1: now in the in the wake of this test, I
Speaker 1: pretty Ben to win this fight. I've been saying that
Speaker 1: I thought he was gonna go out there. I was
Speaker 1: rooting for the underdog. I wanted him to win. Um,
Speaker 1: that's that's that's that's all gone. Now, that's that's this is. Listen,
Speaker 1: whether he was or he wasn't when he fought me,
Speaker 1: we'll never know. That will never come to life. The
Speaker 1: question will always be there, but it will never be
Speaker 1: known yes or no. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I don't like cheaters, especially in this sport, and it
Speaker 1: means a lot to me. This sport means everything to me.
Speaker 1: So anyone who's willing to put the lives of their
Speaker 1: opponents on on the line that way, I can't. I
Speaker 1: can't respect that. Do you think there's any come I mean,
Speaker 1: he's going to continue with his career right like this
Speaker 1: fight might only be pushed a couple of months up.
Speaker 1: And we have seen guys, whether it's John Pascal, Jarrell Miller.
Speaker 1: I mean, you even go back to the Klitch goes,
Speaker 1: I mean Vladimir klitsch Gold the Olympics back in the day, Like, guys,
Speaker 1: get past this? Is this the kind of thing you
Speaker 1: expect Connor Ben to be able to get past? And
Speaker 1: if you were advising him, not that you'd want to
Speaker 1: on how to get past this, Like what would you
Speaker 1: say to him, um, in terms of moving his career forward. Listen,
Speaker 1: he's young and he has a long life and career
Speaker 1: ahead of him. Um. But a lot of it's can
Speaker 1: depend on what he does in his career because listen,
Speaker 1: winners win and winners get away with a lot. Money
Speaker 1: talks in this sport. If you can keep winning, if
Speaker 1: you can keep being the man, if you can, if
Speaker 1: he he ends up fighting, you bank and he wins,
Speaker 1: and then he wins another big fight, and then he
Speaker 1: becomes this kind of champion, that kind of champion. These
Speaker 1: things will full to the wayside of back back backpack
Speaker 1: back back, but if there's any hiccup along the way,
Speaker 1: this will never be forgotten. So unfortunately, this is it.
Speaker 1: I am being as candid as possible. It's unfortunately the
Speaker 1: way that the sport is. But that's that's that is
Speaker 1: the truth. Winners win and the money and the money talks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: always does, Chris. I appreciate your time, man, I know
Speaker 1: this must have been on your mind right away when
Speaker 1: this immediately popped up. Thanks for joining me. Yeah, yeah, anytime, anytime,
Speaker 1: Maxx said, always appreciate your time and when we come back.
Speaker 1: Undisputed lightweight Champion Devon Haney All right, Devin Haney is
Speaker 1: the undisputed hundred and thirty five pound champion. He is
Speaker 1: back in Australia where on October he will defend his
Speaker 1: titles against George Campbosis Jr. In a rematch of the
Speaker 1: fight where Devon won his belts. Devon kind enough to
Speaker 1: join me from Australia where he's eating right now, so
Speaker 1: apparently waits not an issue at the moment for you. Devon.
Speaker 1: Oh wait, it's not an issue. You know. I'm ready
Speaker 1: to go, so I want to get into your fight
Speaker 1: and being in Australia. But obviously the big news this
Speaker 1: week is Connor Band testing positive for a band substance.
Speaker 1: That fight against Christi Bank Jr. Now postponed for the
Speaker 1: foreseeable future. You're an athlete that takes takes your drug
Speaker 1: testing very seriously. Been enrolled in Vada for some time now. Um,
Speaker 1: what was your reaction when you first heard that Connor
Speaker 1: band At tested positive. Um, I knew when I seen
Speaker 1: that it was a it was a fertility. It was
Speaker 1: like something for a fertility. I knew that it was
Speaker 1: you know too Booset's test toss around. So, um, we
Speaker 1: all know that. You know, I'm close with with Victor
Speaker 1: Conti and stank so um that's when I hit Victor.
Speaker 1: Could you was it was it intentional or was it? What?
Speaker 1: Do you what do you think it was? He said intentional?
Speaker 1: And I do feel like, you know, he was cheating,
Speaker 1: But I don't know is what it is? What? What?
Speaker 1: What can we do? I mean, this this is boxing,
Speaker 1: happens and in all sports. But um, he got a
Speaker 1: cart you know you you mentioned what can we do?
Speaker 1: What should boxing do? What should happen to a fighter
Speaker 1: the test positively? I was talking to Chris al Jerry
Speaker 1: before uh you came on and look, Chris was understandably upset,
Speaker 1: like he got knocked out by Connor Ben in December
Speaker 1: of two thousand twenty one. Um, like, what should the
Speaker 1: punishment be in your mind for fighters that test positive? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I'm not the board, I'm
Speaker 1: not the commission. I can't really say but you know,
Speaker 1: I just I don't. I don't expect it. I don't
Speaker 1: think that is it's fair, especially because you know, you
Speaker 1: the brain isn't you know, made to be punched. It
Speaker 1: isn't it made to be hit. So you know, we
Speaker 1: were going there and we put our lives on the live. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, the least you could do is, you know,
Speaker 1: we put it on a you know, fair playing field.
Speaker 1: You know, mono the mono. Um, I don't know, I
Speaker 1: just don't. I just don't respect cheating and the sport
Speaker 1: of boxing at all. You know, I don't expect cheating
Speaker 1: at all. But you know, in basketball, football, baseball, it's different.
Speaker 1: You know, you hit a home run, it's no harm
Speaker 1: to know nobody. You you you you tackle somebody, it's
Speaker 1: not as bad, but you know you when you punch
Speaker 1: somebody in the head, it's it's it's serious. Would you
Speaker 1: at this point in your career, would you ever fight
Speaker 1: anybody that wouldn't be enrolled in advanced testing? No? No, personally, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I take I take the testing serious. Um.
Speaker 1: Many times I have, you know, put my own money
Speaker 1: up for for the test and to make sure that
Speaker 1: it was done. When the promoters wouldn't do it. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I I'm it's it's it's no way because
Speaker 1: I know that cheating does happen, and it can't happen,
Speaker 1: and you know, just it's just just to protect myself.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be you know, fighting on a fair
Speaker 1: plane field. Yeah, that's the one sport where it should
Speaker 1: be taken definitely seriously, as seriously as it ever isn't
Speaker 1: any other sport. Um, let's talk about your fight fift
Speaker 1: You're back in Australia. You are now becoming like a
Speaker 1: resident down there after two trips in the last six months.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about being back in Australia preparing
Speaker 1: for this rematch? Um? I feel great, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: um mentally, physically, you know, I got my full team
Speaker 1: with me. Um. You know, I came here already, so
Speaker 1: I knew what to expect, you know, Um, and I
Speaker 1: just can't wait. I'm excited for the fight. You know,
Speaker 1: you spent some time in the previous months Devon in
Speaker 1: interviews saying it wasn't a sure thing that you'd be
Speaker 1: back in Australia. It wasn't a sure thing that you'd
Speaker 1: be facing campbos Is in this rematch kind of take
Speaker 1: me inside your thinking over the last few months, Like
Speaker 1: what were you kind of contemplating doing and what was
Speaker 1: it that got you back to Australia. I mean, truthfully,
Speaker 1: I wanted more money. I mean, that was it. I
Speaker 1: just wanted more money, as that was the only thing.
Speaker 1: So you do all along you'd be back. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: I just wanted my like. I respect that. I respect.
Speaker 1: Did you get more money? No? I mean that contract
Speaker 1: was pretty iron clad, right, Like that was a tough
Speaker 1: contract to get some wiggle room in. Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 1: I mean, although I would say I have heard some
Speaker 1: of the numbers floated around for your purse for this fight.
Speaker 1: It sounds like you're getting a pretty good pay day
Speaker 1: for this fight. Yeah, but it's never too much. Again,
Speaker 1: I respect. You always gotta ask for more, you go.
Speaker 1: It's just you never take the first offer. You gotta
Speaker 1: ask for more, you damn right, in any profession, you
Speaker 1: never take the first offer. Um. So, so as you
Speaker 1: prepare for this fight, what are you expecting from camp Boss?
Speaker 1: Are you expecting some kind of big adjustment? Do you
Speaker 1: think he's capable of a big adjustment? What's kind of
Speaker 1: your expectation? Um? I mean, it's no secret what are's
Speaker 1: gonna bring to the table. We all know that he's gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, try to be more aggressive, you know, try
Speaker 1: to make the fight dirty and you know it as possible. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's it's no secret you boxed brilliantly
Speaker 1: in that first fight made it look easy. I mean,
Speaker 1: did that first fight go as you expected it to go? Um,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say necessarily when completely as expected. I knew
Speaker 1: that I would handicapped him of his best attributes, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know that's what how That's how the fight happened.
Speaker 1: That's how that fight played out, Um, with me handicapping him.
Speaker 1: But um, you know despite our handicappine, but it will
Speaker 1: be a little different in what ways? Would it be different?
Speaker 1: You gotta see you gotta tune in on the fifteen.
Speaker 1: I will show ever the salesman. Um. You know you
Speaker 1: were motivated to get those titles. You wanted to be
Speaker 1: undisputed champion so badly. Um. Have you had the same
Speaker 1: motivation during this training camp as anything been different about
Speaker 1: this camp? Yeah? I mean the motive motivation. Um, obviously
Speaker 1: it's not you know, as you know as much as
Speaker 1: you know the first fight. Um, you know, he hasn't
Speaker 1: given me, you know, much motivation obviously, you know he's
Speaker 1: going quiet. Um and he's just you know, nowhere to
Speaker 1: be found. But that's all part of his you know,
Speaker 1: strategy or whatever the case may be. But um, it
Speaker 1: is what it is. Um. At the end of the day,
Speaker 1: this is history. This is you know, putting me you know,
Speaker 1: closer to being one of the greats of the sports.
Speaker 1: So uh. You know, when when when someone doesn't give
Speaker 1: you the motivation that you're looking for, you know, you
Speaker 1: get it somewhere else you thrive or somehow, and that's
Speaker 1: how that's how the greats do it. So um, it
Speaker 1: is what it is. Now, what do you what do
Speaker 1: you make of that? Him going quiet the way he has.
Speaker 1: We haven't heard anything from George really in months besides
Speaker 1: some social media posts. He talked a lot of ship
Speaker 1: in the build up to the first fight. What do
Speaker 1: you make of him kind of going quiet? Yeah, he
Speaker 1: talked a lot of ship. Um, you know he and
Speaker 1: then he got some humble pie. So now you know
Speaker 1: he's he's on quiet, and you know he's seen that
Speaker 1: the ship talking you know, wasn't really him. It wasn't
Speaker 1: really you know, he couldn't back it up. So now
Speaker 1: he's gonna quiet. I mean, what what what quick? Can
Speaker 1: you think about it? I mean I don't really know
Speaker 1: what's really saying or think about it. It's boxing, so
Speaker 1: everybody talks about the future, and people look at your future,
Speaker 1: whether it's Loma Chenko shakor Stevenson. Massive fights in three
Speaker 1: that you could potentially have. Um at one, is there
Speaker 1: any danger for you in overlooking George campboss in this fight? Um?
Speaker 1: I will not overlook you know, George Campus So I
Speaker 1: will not you know, look past him. You know, he
Speaker 1: is a live body. He was the guy with the belts.
Speaker 1: But the fight before this, so uh, you know, my
Speaker 1: my percent focuses on him, and uh without without you know,
Speaker 1: beating him, I don't get those big fights. So my
Speaker 1: main focus is beating him and then what what's what's
Speaker 1: we'll talk about, you know what's next. I know how
Speaker 1: hard it was for you to leave that he hearn
Speaker 1: to kind of go out on your own here in
Speaker 1: a way, work a top rank, work with lou Debella.
Speaker 1: But you wanted this opportunity, and now it seems like Devin,
Speaker 1: you're on the cusp of getting everything you you wanted.
Speaker 1: You're not only getting all the titles, but you've got
Speaker 1: the chance to have those mega fights that you've been
Speaker 1: calling for for years. I mean, is that Does it
Speaker 1: feel that way? Does it feel like this is the
Speaker 1: time you're kind of finally getting everything you wanted? Yeah?
Speaker 1: It was. It was destined everything, you know, as you know,
Speaker 1: it's falling into place, fall into my hands. But you know,
Speaker 1: I thank God for it. I think I laugh for you. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I've been working so hard, you know, sacrificing
Speaker 1: for so long, and you know, not getting the fights
Speaker 1: that that I wanted. But um, now it's finally time
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm excited for it. All right, last question
Speaker 1: for you. I was watching with amusement as you and
Speaker 1: the folks over at Ring Magazine we're going back and
Speaker 1: forth about your place in the pound for pound ranking.
Speaker 1: So I'll ask you this, Where does Devin Haney think
Speaker 1: Devin Haney belongs on the pound for pound list? You
Speaker 1: didn't have me pound for pound rankings either, I did not.
Speaker 1: I did not. I'll I'll tell you why. But I
Speaker 1: want to hear where you where you land think you
Speaker 1: belong in that list. Um, I don't know. I can't
Speaker 1: say exactly, but I've definitely deserved to be on the list.
Speaker 1: I definitely deserve to be on the list. But why
Speaker 1: are you to have me on your list? Well, it's
Speaker 1: it's I don't look at titles when I make that
Speaker 1: list ever, like it's just like I always look at resumes.
Speaker 1: Why I have Canelo still higher than most people do.
Speaker 1: It's why I have higher than most people do. You
Speaker 1: are unquestionably a pound for pound talent, and by this
Speaker 1: time next year, I think you can make the argument
Speaker 1: you should be number one in the pound for pound
Speaker 1: rankings because I'm assuming if you beat Cambosis, if you
Speaker 1: beat Lomachenko, if you beat you, of course, Stevenson, that
Speaker 1: is a number one guy type of resume, at the
Speaker 1: very least a top five. So the only reason I
Speaker 1: don't have you in the top ten is resume. I'm
Speaker 1: twenty three years old, undisputed. Just beat the man, will
Speaker 1: beat the man, will beat the man who you had
Speaker 1: on your fucking list. You have MoMA on your list, right,
Speaker 1: I do, But again that's resume. But he lost, so
Speaker 1: lost it don't matter resume, So so you lost it,
Speaker 1: don't matter. You just say, Okay, he could fight ten people.
Speaker 1: If you lose peat five locifive, then he doesn't matter
Speaker 1: because he beat five five lose the top of guys. Well, no,
Speaker 1: not five, but like Cannello has got two losses, but
Speaker 1: they were two elite guys, So I don't I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna penalize him that much for a lot of guys
Speaker 1: with the guy but but but but Cannello lost the Floyd.
Speaker 1: Floyd lose after Canello lost the Big Ball, the Big
Speaker 1: Ball lose, lose after No Loma lost, not yet, Teo, Okay,
Speaker 1: but you're projecting you you, you're trying to project some ship.
Speaker 1: He lost the tl TiO lost gamebo s scamest the
Speaker 1: lost to me right, look or a plus for eight.
Speaker 1: But Loma's got Loma's resume at one thirty and one
Speaker 1: thirty five. Put him on that list to me, like
Speaker 1: he's he's probably better guys. You you you, your list
Speaker 1: will consistent with the way he did three years ago
Speaker 1: rather than what he's doing today. But I still think
Speaker 1: he's that guy from three years ago, and like, if
Speaker 1: you get these next couple of fights, you'll have a
Speaker 1: better resume. I think it's a subjective list. It's a
Speaker 1: subjective list. You don't Yeah, you don't know. If I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what if he if he looks if he
Speaker 1: looks like ship against Jamaine Ortiz, I'll take him off
Speaker 1: the list. Like if he looks bad in that fight,
Speaker 1: like that will be the most comple of him fighting.
Speaker 1: It looked like shit against torn was broken. No, I
Speaker 1: never said, I never give him that out. I don't
Speaker 1: give him that guy out. He didn't look good in
Speaker 1: that fight, but he's had. Look, you're gonna get your
Speaker 1: It's inevitable that you're on that list. It's just you
Speaker 1: just started to get the medium level fights with with Eddie,
Speaker 1: when you had Lenaries and you had Jojo, those were
Speaker 1: good fights. Now you beat Camposa's a better win, and
Speaker 1: the next year you got everything. If you're not on
Speaker 1: the list next year in the top five, I'll be
Speaker 1: shocked because you'll go into those fights as a favorite
Speaker 1: or against both guys. All right, we'll never agree, but look,
Speaker 1: I always love watching you. Man. You're a great fighter.
Speaker 1: I want to see I agree. I will be, I
Speaker 1: will be. I will be number one on them. I
Speaker 1: believe that. All right, Devin, good luck on October Man,
Speaker 1: we're watching on ESPN rematch with George Campbosas Jr. To
Speaker 1: be a lot of fun. Man, good luck, Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 1: Always good talking to you. And when we come back.
Speaker 1: This week's picks brought to you by FanDuel. Football season
Speaker 1: is underway, so now it is the perfect time to
Speaker 1: download FanDuel America's number one sports book because right now
Speaker 1: new customers get a no sweat first bet up to
Speaker 1: one thousand dollars. That's free bets back. If your first
Speaker 1: bet doesn't win, just sign up with the promo code Boxing.
Speaker 1: I have been gambling with fan Duel for some time now.
Speaker 1: I'm based part time in New York, which is now
Speaker 1: a great state to bet with online gambling. Massive Schusetts,
Speaker 1: where I'm also based, gambling is coming that way as well.
Speaker 1: So it was a boxing betting in h New York.
Speaker 1: And when it gets the mass Chusetts, make some football
Speaker 1: bets because I love to bet the Patriots, specially when
Speaker 1: Mac Jones gets back on the field. FanDuel has tons
Speaker 1: of betting options for each game. You can bind your
Speaker 1: bets for a chance and a bigger payout with the
Speaker 1: same game parlay with live betting. You'll get updated odds
Speaker 1: on games that have already started, and with fan Duel's
Speaker 1: new Live s GPS, you can create one even after kickoff.
Speaker 1: The app is safe, secure, and super easy to use.
Speaker 1: Get paid your winnings fast, So sign up today with
Speaker 1: promo code boxing for your first no sweat first bet.
Speaker 1: Make every moment more this season with Vanduel official sports
Speaker 1: book partner of the NFL. Time now for this week's pecks,
Speaker 1: brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. No
Speaker 1: ben you Bank junior fight this weekend, but there is
Speaker 1: a pretty good one on Saturday on Showtime. Sebastian Fundura,
Speaker 1: the huge junior middleweight contender six ft six hut pounder,
Speaker 1: is an interim champion AT He's gonna take on Carlos
Speaker 1: Ocampo in Southern California. Fuendora comes into this fight as
Speaker 1: a huge favorite minus according to fan Duel. I think
Speaker 1: that's a safe bet if you want to park some
Speaker 1: money there. Fendora is really coming into his own over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. He's coming off is best
Speaker 1: win to date, a just brutal beating of ericson Lubin
Speaker 1: So I think he's peaking right now as a fighter,
Speaker 1: or at least getting close to it. Ocampo solid, but
Speaker 1: I don't give him much of a chance at winless fight.
Speaker 1: If you want to try to win a little bit
Speaker 1: of money, you bet on the method of victory. Here.
Speaker 1: Sebastian Vandora by Ko or Ti Ko is at minus
Speaker 1: two twenty again not great odds. But Fandora, if you
Speaker 1: watch him of late, he is really growing into his power.
Speaker 1: He is uh determined going into fights to make them entertaining.
Speaker 1: He is looking for knockouts. I think he's gonna get
Speaker 1: one against Carlos Ocampos. So take Sebashian Fedora to win.
Speaker 1: That was the easy one. Take him to win by knockout.
Speaker 1: That's the one you have a chance to win some
Speaker 1: money for. Those are my picks, brought to you by FanDuel.
Speaker 1: That's it for this week's episode. My thanks to Sergio Mora,
Speaker 1: Addio Ladipo, Chris Algieri and Devin Haney for joined the show.
Speaker 1: As always, subscribe, rate review this podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify,
Speaker 1: wherever you download podcast, and I'll see you next week.