WEBVTT - Andre Ward: ‘I Knew Going Into Kovalev 2 That Was My Last Fight’ | Virgil Hunter Part 2 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.960 It was crazy because I'm praying for my mother to 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.680 get free from an active crack addiction, but I'm two 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:08.680 blocks down serving somebody else's monther. 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.400 Those were not tough times. They were times that I 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.120 realized it was all part of the journey. When I 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.759 look back, I marveled how everything turned out. 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.200 Man, I'm gonna get back to the pro game. You know. 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.200 I started in two thousand and four December Staple Center. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.360 Had my first pro fight, second fight against Kenny Costs, 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:28.480 got buzzed. 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:30.240 Then maybe three or four. 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.159 Fights after that, you know, got dropped in Portland, Oregon 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:38.680 under Carter Floyd Mayweather, Shamba Mitchell against Donell Boone. What 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:40.479 are you thinking at that time? Did you think I 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:41.760 didn't have a chance at that time? 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:45.760 No, because when Kenny car said you didn't see the punch. 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.760 I didn't see the one of them punches, and it was. 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:52.720 You were over your feet and you didn't have your 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.280 eyes on where they should have been. Darnell Boone, it 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.280 was a mistake, an amateur, a mistake where when the 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.960 ref tell you to break, you drop your hands and 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.040 you step back, and the pros you can't do that, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:05.960 So he told you to break and he fired up. 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:06.880 Beculsen't he caught you? 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:11.000 But you got up and you you actually had him hurt. 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:12.720 So no, I never worried about that at all. 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:15.280 I got up. 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.280 If you stayed down, oh man, we got a problem, right, 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.280 got a problem. But that was both of those were 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.880 on the money punches and you took him, but you 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.240 came back within seconds and they never landed another punch. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:29.880 You know. I had to shake off that. You know. 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.319 The knock on me was he got an amateur style. 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:34.679 He don't hit hard and he can't take a punch. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.399 After I got dropped against Boom, I. 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:40.480 Had to shake that off for years. You know. I 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:41.679 had to shake that off for years. 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:45.200 And it's like hbo was like, man, you know, we we'll, we'll, we'll, 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:45.679 we'll put. 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.080 Him on the air. But if we got one more, 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:48.520 one more slip up, that's it. 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:51.800 I went from one sixty to one sixty eight tournament 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.400 called the Super Six, and I remember we kept hearing 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.960 about this tournament, the top six super middleweights in the world, 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.280 and me and Derail was the young guys coming up up. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:02.520 Carl Frod was established, he was a champion. 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.080 Arthur Abraham was a champion in one sixty but they 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:06.400 figured he was gonna do the same thing on one 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.480 sixty eight. You had Jermaine Taylor that that was teetering, 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:11.360 and then you had the big dog, Nicol Kessler. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:13.560 So I'm hearing it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen. 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:15.320 Ain't no way all these promoters gonna get together and 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.239 put they fighters in this tournament that's gonna last for 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.480 two years. So Jay telling me I'm in Mexico, he like, bro, 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:21.520 enjoy your vacation. 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:23.640 I'm like, you sure, because I'm hearing it's gonna happen. 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.160 In a week long story short, the first press conference 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.720 to kick off the Super six happened in New York. 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.600 Ward ain't there, And I'm like Jay, he like what 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:37.400 looked like it happened? And then you called. You was like, man, hey, 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.400 you need to get on the plane right now. And 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.079 I'm like, man, verse, I mean, ja said man, Jay, Man, 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.440 look man, you had that tone of your voice. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.400 Look, man, you need to get on the plane. 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.040 Right now because they you're not gonna be a part 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:51.919 of this tournament and it's gonna lock you out of 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.760 this Super I mean out the sixty eight pound championship. 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.200 Of getting the title, it ain't gonna be a good look. Man. 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.680 I get I packed the family up, drive tos in. 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.000 They're gonna fly back to the Bay. I got a 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:04.000 double ear infection. 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.640 I'm sick. Unpacked the bag, packed the bag, got on 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:07.359 a red. 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:10.239 Eye of Germany to the second stop for the Super 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.640 six to announce it the next day. Man and I 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:16.040 remember calling you after the press conference. I was like, Man, 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.680 I said, they don't think the American's gonna do nothing. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.240 He was like, what what's the vibe? Like what you? 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:20.360 What? 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:20.480 You? 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:22.120 I said, Man, They just they got us here as 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.000 like a placeholder. They just you know, I'm the gold medaler. 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.760 So that's that's good window dressing. The rails, you know, 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.760 flashy and the and then you got Jermaine Taylor. But 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.239 they they really about the Europeans, and you was like, 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:34.720 we're gonna We're gonna show them. 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.040 So I ended up getting. 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.640 The toughest fighter the first the first round of the 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.680 tournament in two thousand and nine against Michel Kesler at 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:43.080 the House. 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.640 That was that was no other way I would take it. Right. 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:49.040 It's just like when you fallow back and rink. Why though, 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:50.880 why you guys want me to take the rough route? 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:53.120 Well I didn't. I didn't ask for him. That's what 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.920 they presented, that's who they offered. So I didn't ask 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:57.560 for him, but I I had. 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.200 But you always say, just like, it's gotta be that. Wait, 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:01.600 why my role gotta be rugged? 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.640 Because that's to stimulate your mind for the owners that 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.520 you hear for a reason, that you're doing this for 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:07.760 a reason, and it. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.840 Sets the tone. It it sets the tone. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:12.800 So that's why you were there. 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:14.800 You were not there to be waited on later on 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:16.800 in your second or third fight to set the tone. 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:19.000 I'm gonna set the tone in the very first fight. 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.840 So anybody who didn't have their mind on me or 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.119 it looked at me as a thread or anything like that, 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:25.599 now they know I'm a threat. 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:28.240 Now they know. So I got you here. 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.600 Now I got you here because I'll easily. I did it. 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.560 You know how violently I did it, how uncompromising I 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.640 did it. So now they know this is what you 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:42.040 gotta face, right, this is what you gotta face. So 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.600 that was that was a blessing in disguise. But I 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.160 always knew we would win the tournament. I just didn't 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.359 see nobody there that could do it. 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.120 Outside of a lucky punch or something. 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.760 That set the tone. But it's like God always be 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:55.720 doing that with me, you know. 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:57.240 It's like even as an amateur, we used to have 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:00.720 his book called, you know, the USA Boxing Book, all rankings, 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:01.760 and then certain guys. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:03.040 That get a cover story and a feature. 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.160 It's like I was number one since two thousand and one, 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.839 never got a cover store, never was highlighted as a 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:08.960 premier athlete. 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.120 But after I want to. 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.680 Gold medal, the last USA Boxing book that I that 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:16.840 I was ever a part of all you, I was 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.479 on the cover and God was like, see right, same 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.400 thing with the super six, the last man standing. 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:24.440 What is the word say? The end of a thing 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:26.000 is better than the beginning. 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:27.719 Or even even my pro career. 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:29.880 A lot of people had a lot to say, had 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.960 went through, went through what professional athletes go through, injuries, lawsuits, 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.120 you know, fighting for myself as a businessman is that, 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.960 you know, But when it's all said and done. 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:42.599 People said, oh, you never want to dispute it. 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.840 I didn't have to be undisputed because every weight class 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.480 I touched, I finished that weight class being the best 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.000 I had a ring magazine. Bell I was recognized as 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.640 the best fighter at one hundred and sixty eight. Went 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.480 Um did the same thing at once seventy five and 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:02.880 first ballot Hall of Fame. Like, God, he don't always 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:04.560 do that, But a lot of times it's like they 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:05.160 don't see it. 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:07.479 They don't see it, they don't see it, and it's like, oh, man. 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:09.840 Look how about that kid war And it's like, but 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.760 the journey and everything that I gained, it's powerful. 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:14.000 Man. 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.440 I don't always like that route, but for whatever reason, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:19.000 a lot of times that's the route that I take. 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:21.880 That when it's all said and done, it's gonna be 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:23.799 clear when it doest settles. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.279 Well, you remember when you were a young kid and 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:28.880 I told you about getting out the game before the 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:33.240 game retired. You to save your money, to invest your money, 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.279 don't scander your money. Don't get caught off in trinkets 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:38.960 and gadgets and chains and jewelry and things like that, 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.000 big rams on your car. You're a family man, right, 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.240 You're not in the street or anything like that. So 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:48.839 for you to materialize into the men that you are today, 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:52.320 you did it your way. You had an exit strategy, 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.840 you had an exit plan, and you did it your way. 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:59.440 But at the same time, if I always say this, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:01.520 God hadn't have given you the little. 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:02.360 Thorns in your body. 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:07.200 If you never had this knee issue, if you never 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:11.880 had that shoulder issue, right, you might have kept going. Yeah, 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:16.080 you see, but you had enough to know. I'm tired 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.040 of going through this. I've hit the top. I've made 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.360 it to the pinnacle, so now I can let it go. 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:24.960 I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. And in spite of what other 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.360 people say, Oh, he ducked Bevo, he dug me the bell. 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.640 Wait a minute, I beat the boogeyman of the light 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:33.000 heavyweight division at that time. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.480 Be the Bell wasn't a boogieman. Bill wasn't a dood man. 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:38.679 Them dudes was ranked like six. 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.800 Yeah, Cobe left was the boogeyman of the division. 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:43.640 He was right there. If he'd beat me, he'd have 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:44.400 been number one. 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.400 You don't fight number one and duck four and five. 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:49.960 I went straight to the top, So I don't have 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:52.040 to pay attention to all of that. I don't have 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.040 to listen to all of that because I accomplished what 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:54.880 I need to accomplish. 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:56.000 Because in the fickle fight. 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.000 World is always gonna be somebody else for you to fight, 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.280 according to the fans, because they don't like you. 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:01.400 They want to see you get deep. 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.160 Then they left and then made you left on top. 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.920 They can't stand you to leave it on top. So 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:12.120 that that was the only fight that I wish I 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.320 could have saw you and Derrel because both of you 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:15.480 guys deserved each other. 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:17.320 Both of you guys deserved each. 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.720 Other, and it would not only been a great fight 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.840 for the tournament, it would have been a great fight 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.040 when the tournament was over. 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:25.160 You guys could have saw each other at least two times. 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.600 But it's crazy, though, because we were on a collision 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.400 course in the Super six tournament. But you and Bumper 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.720 his grandfather, y'all were convinced we wasn't gonna fight. Y'all 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.400 kept saying Bumper like, man, I ain't gonna fight our boys, 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:38.880 and you was like, man, we ain't gonna let it happen. 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.320 And I'm like, Verge, my mind already shifted. I'm like, Verge, 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.520 we gonna fight you Like nah, Man, it ain't gonna happen. 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:49.800 My mind already shifted like and it didn't end up happening. 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.679 If he would have, if Durrell would have beat Arthur Abraham, 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:53.640 you know it would have happened. 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:54.480 It just wasn't meant to be. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:59.000 But it's crazy because I got like me and Drrel 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.520 like we came up together. We we was cool friends. 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.400 We weren't like best friends, but we was cool. But 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.920 when I saw that heat it was possible that me 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:14.760 and him may fight, my mind just shifts, like so 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.920 even when he thought Arthur Abraham, It's like I got 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:20.640 two things going on, Like I went to the Joe 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:22.720 Louis Arena as. 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.960 A friend and rooted for him, right, I'm rooting for you, bruh. 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.240 But at the same time, my other mind is is 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:33.600 I'm reading you too, because everything gonna be on the 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:35.600 line if you win this fight, if you beat Offthor Abraham, 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.200 everything gonna be on the line. It don't matter how 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:40.600 how long we've been knowing each other, it don't matter 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:44.960 how close my godfather is with your grandfather. You finish 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.600 try to hurt me, and I gotta try to stop 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:48.280 you from doing that. 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:52.760 So I can remember even pulling up like the day 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:53.280 before the fight. 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:54.920 A couple days before the fight, I was in Detroit 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.760 and I'm like, Bro, how you feeling. Bro, Man, I'm nervous, man, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:09:59.800 and I'm nervous, and I'm. 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:04.840 Looking at and it's like you a brother in the game. 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:07.120 Man, We're about to risk at all sort the other 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.280 my other mind is like, oh, you nervous, And I'm 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.480 processing and I'm reading how he dealing with that moment. 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.320 I have to think like this, I can't be in 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.320 a place if we're not gonna fight or this is 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.480 my butt. We're not friends right now, Bro. If you 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.040 win this fight tonight, it's up. It's going down. 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:24.400 So I had to. 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.480 I'm talking to him, but I'm also reading man, I'm nervous, man. 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.080 A lot of people are gonna be here. And I'm like, 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:33.120 oh yeah, And I'm just watching it and I'm reading it, 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:34.440 and I'm watching him when i'm reading it. 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:35.960 Because I had to. 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.160 That was a sad situation because he really fought that night. 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.400 He shows a lot of skill that night. The reel 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.280 did he showed that he was a player in the 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:48.559 division and things like that. But after it happened. The 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.520 reason why I knew it wasn't gonna happen because Bumper 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.040 was telling me it wasn't gonna happen because he wasn't 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.640 recovering from the head injury. 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.560 But y'all was saying it wasn't gonna happen even before 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.880 the Abraham fight. I remember y'all was talking a lot. 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:01.840 He was like, Man, we ain't gonna let that happen. 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:02.000 Man. 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.520 Then I said, verb, it's on the contract. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.920 If we if if if he wins, we fighting. No, 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:10.520 I don't think so. And I was like, vers, I can't, 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:10.880 I can't. 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.880 I little Bumper was telling me, we ain't no matter what, 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:15.240 we just we're not gonna fight. 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:16.480 That's what he told me. 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:19.560 I never told him my side of it, but he 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:23.040 told me, and you know, I salute Bumper because he 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:24.680 cared about Yeah, he didn't. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:25.800 Want anyone to see. He didn't want to see that. 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:27.960 I didn't want to see it. I want. 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.720 I think from a boxing standpoint, it would have been 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.480 a tremendous match up. Because I sparred with Dre d 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.000 it's hard to deal with, yeah, you know, but but 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:37.559 but deep damn, I didn't want to see that fight. 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:38.559 I didn't want to fight. 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.360 Now, a lot of people didn't want to see that fight, 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.199 you know, because at least in the championship. 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:45.440 But it would have been a great fight. It would 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.120 have been a great fight. It'd have been a great fight. 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.240 Yeah, the real one by this qualification. 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.320 Yeah, the real one by this qualification. Right. But he 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:53.880 couldn't continue, right, He. 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.280 Didn't continue to tournament anymore because he was having head 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:57.000 issues and. 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.440 It shook up his career. Man. It was I remember being. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:01.280 In the locker room and seeing him crying, and I 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:02.760 was like, bro, it was it was crazy. 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.520 And Anthony Dowel was trying to you know, Detroit. 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:07.839 Like Oakland when they feel like you do something wrong 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.160 with one of their guys. They were trying to get 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:10.599 in the ring, and I was just like, bro, this 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:11.199 is crazy. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:13.000 Yeah, you know, I hate that. 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:18.200 It was a sad situation, uncalled for. You know, it 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.000 was just a desperation moved by Abraham. He knew he 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:21.920 was behind. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:26.160 And he just let it go. That's frustration, you know, 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:27.000 that's frustration. 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:29.800 Like I hadn't lost in. 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:32.640 A long time, man, And like you know, when I 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:34.960 became champion, even before that, you know, I used to 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.360 say stuff like, man, it would have been good for 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:38.600 you to have an early loss. You get that, get 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:40.319 that monkey off your back? Why would you say stuff 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:40.840 like that. 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.840 Just to keep you mentally stimulated. I was stimulated enough 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:45.840 trying to just and just to see what you comeback 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:46.200 would be. 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:47.760 I hate it when you said that. 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.079 I know sometimes you got to say stuff that really 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:54.319 strike a nerve. I used to tell you in the 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:58.160 dress room. Then you caught me a headcase. Yeah, when 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:01.840 you when you when you have so much perfection in 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.280 what you do, when you put so much perfection in it, 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.760 then it involves your head. You can't think straight sometimes 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.720 because you're on this perfection drive. You're on the perfection trail, 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.320 so you can't get out. You can't rationalize nothing, you 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:19.240 can't ingest nothing that calms you down because you're always 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:25.520 on this trail. So the competitiveness overrules relaxation sometimes, right, 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.960 Competitiveness makes you say things. You get angry and mad 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.360 in here and everything like that. And I didn't mind 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.480 you being mad, right because I know the biggers of training, 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.160 the rigors are training, what it takes to do it, 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:40.120 the sacrifices it takes. 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.079 So yeah, you're gonna be angry, but. 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.280 It's not going to minimize me. It's not gonna take 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:49.040 away what I feel I need to say, because I'm 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.600 not in need to kiss you. I'm not here for that, 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.720 right and I'm not afraid to not do it right, 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.080 I'm not afraid too. So when you mad, I'm kind 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.720 of happy, right cause the frustration comes out in there 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:05.160 and you're actually releasing, You're actually venting things like that. 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:09.400 So I understood that from being around kids for thirty years. 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.559 You know, understood that. So you know, when I was 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.439 at the probation department, kids would be mad about something, 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:17.560 but it would actually be a release for them. After 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:21.200 that anger subsides and the adrenaline subsidence, you're in a 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:21.920 relaxed state. 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.000 Why I used to hate when you and you said 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:25.600 right in the middle of training again, man, it would 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.000 have been good for you to have a loss early, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:28.560 to get that get that pressure off you. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.880 I'm like, what, Well, I'm a mean day. 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.040 I'm trying to keep this thing going and not lose. 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.920 Well, I'm trying to put things in your mind that 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.240 you're gonna hear in the crowd. Also, when you're fighting, 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:42.360 you're gonna have haters in the crowd. Yah, you this, 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.160 you asked you that you gotta be able to take 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.720 that right. So the first place it starts is in 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:47.280 the gym. 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:48.240 Right. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.200 If you can't take it in the gym, you're not 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:51.640 gonna take it in the arena. 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:51.960 Right. 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:53.680 All it takes is one person to throw you off 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:54.040 your game. 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.560 You a bomb? Warr you ever done this? Man? You 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:57.120 a fake? 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.760 And and if you can, if you entertain that, it 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.240 could take your focus off of what you're doing, you know. 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:04.920 Being retired, and I've been able to reflect and kind 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.240 of think, you know, just look back at my career 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.040 and how we did things, and it's like, I know, 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:15.000 the school you came from where fighters was more gotta isolate, 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.400 you gotta stay away, you can't handlebody around you, don't, 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.120 you know that kind of thing. And it's like, I 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:24.600 think it's definitely a benefit to that, you know, eliminate distractions. 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:26.120 But at the same time, it's like, I wasn't the 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:27.680 type of dude that got distracted easy. 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:28.560 I wasn't a. 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.720 Type of fighter that like, you know, you look up, 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.360 where is it, I'm in a night club in the 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.320 middle of that. It just wasn't my thing, you know, 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:37.600 I really wanted to win and you know, all of 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.680 that kind of stuff. Do you think, looking back on it, 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:42.720 we could have eased up on that a little bit. 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:44.360 We had the mindset. 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:47.360 Like keep all the media out, We don't want nobody here, 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.240 like y'all only come when we have to have you here. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.480 Like do you think that, looking back on it, we 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.040 could have did something different with maybe been more inviting 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.960 to the media, or maybe because that was some of 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.600 the pressure too, was you know, like I got to 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:03.920 the point where and I blame you for this. 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:06.440 I didn't even wrong my wife around me in training. 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.400 Camp because that's what I was conditioned to do as 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:10.640 a kid. Hey man, you gotta get away, hey man, 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.880 you gotta get your mind ready for war. And a 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:14.920 lot of that was true. All that was true, but 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.160 it's like you start feeling weird about being around your 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.840 family even in camp, because I'm not sleeping in the 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.480 same bed with my wife, I don't have that softness 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:27.480 around me, like I'm in that I'm in a house 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:28.680 with another one of my. 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.000 Trainers, and I'm grinding you. 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.960 Would you have done some of that different or do 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:35.400 would you have still kept it the same? 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:40.080 Well to say say something about that, if you were 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:45.440