0:00

This is the BBC. This

0:03

podcast is supported by advertising outside

0:05

the UK. This

0:10

is Five Life Boxing. So

0:13

the way we usually do our business here is we

0:15

do a bonus pod when there's a fight at the

0:17

weekend, when it's a big fight, when

0:19

it's a good fight. Well, there is a big fight and

0:22

there is a great fight taking place in Las Vegas. Sol

0:24

Canelo Alvarez continues his remarkable

0:26

career. But there's also a

0:28

press conference to officially announce

0:32

something outdoors at Sir Lourdes Park, June

0:34

the 15th, Crystal Palace,

0:36

South London, and Chris

0:38

Billam Smith defending his WBO Cruiserweight

0:41

title against local fighter Richard Reactport.

0:43

It's a rematch. He's got

0:45

something special about it. Oh,

0:47

did I forget to mention, I also

0:49

speak to Oscar de la Hoya. That's

0:52

why we're doing a bonus pod. I'm

0:54

Steve Bunce and this is Five Life Boxing.

0:59

I love the Cruiserweight since Sammy

1:01

Rieson became the first British Cruiserweight champion all those

1:03

years ago, and Jonny Nelson

1:05

seemed to fight for a Cruiserweight World title all over

1:07

the world. That seems to be hundreds of years ago.

1:11

I've always had a soft spot for the cruisers. They're

1:13

a little bit lost, really, if you don't mind me

1:15

saying so. Well, the present 12,

1:17

top 12, I like them a lot. In

1:19

fact, the present top 12 have won about

1:21

170 times. They've knocked out or

1:23

stopped most of those men they've beaten. They've suffered just nine

1:26

defeats between them, and

1:28

four of those defeats, by the way,

1:30

were against Joi Oppetey, Artubo Turbiev and

1:32

Joseph Parker. I think they're

1:34

an incredibly talented group. Who's number one? I'm

1:37

not quite sure. Some might argue, some might

1:39

say that Chris Billam Smith, who's

1:41

defending his WBO title, is the number one.

1:44

Others might say that Lawrence O'Couley, the former champion,

1:46

had a bad night against Chris Billam Smith, and

1:48

he still should be considered the number one, even

1:51

though he's moving up in weight. Some might say

1:54

that Richard Reactport, who holds a points decision

1:56

over Chris Billam Smith, is the number one.

1:58

See what I'm saying? I like I like

2:01

a division where there's a bit of debate

2:03

now. I called up with Richard react pass

2:05

sat down with him and

2:07

Before we go any further. I have

2:09

to warn you. There's no swearing here.

2:12

There's no outlandish claims It's just a

2:14

boxer an unbeaten dedicated boxer talking to

2:16

me about a dream world title fight

2:18

I'm still pinching myself. I've said it

2:21

on a month about five interviews so

2:23

far But it's it's unbelievable that it's

2:25

happening and for a world title, you

2:28

know It's it's for one like for one

2:30

thing you can have a fight at

2:32

a stadium for you know This one on the

2:34

card. Yeah, yeah on the card and stuff and

2:36

that's that's good enough That would have been really

2:38

happy about that to do it

2:40

as a as a headline and for the world title It's

2:44

surreal. Yeah, just say you know, it's one of those

2:46

flights you have to pinch yourself I

2:48

think we're in a business this last 10 years

2:51

where there's thousands of boxers have to pinch themselves

2:53

They can't believe the flights they're in because that's

2:55

just the way the business is going You're just

2:57

adding your name to it. Yeah, exactly. And it's

2:59

just I'm just going with the flow and

3:02

I feel like if i'm achieving things

3:04

like this now Just imagine what

3:07

i'm gonna achieve in the next let's say three

3:09

to five years Because you're still like as an

3:11

expression I use you're still like a boxing baby

3:13

in some ways, you know You're not an old

3:15

34 or 33. You're

3:17

not an old man at 34. You're not you're not

3:19

battle hardened. You haven't had 37

3:22

really hard fights and you've scraped through seven years

3:24

and nine years ago. You're still Unbelievably

3:27

fresh. Yeah, is that a fair comment?

3:29

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, I

3:31

don't I hardly take shots um

3:33

having been in proper

3:36

grueling grueling fights and

3:38

and most of my fights i've i've won

3:40

with a knockout, you know probably

3:42

within the first six rounds, so i've

3:45

I would say i'm blessed and and chris billam

3:47

smith probably isn't as fresh as you I know

3:50

that you you know You've had you thought him

3:52

before but chris has been in harder fights and

3:54

I think he's had a harder He's had a

3:56

harder ring light now that could be to his

3:58

advantage if it's tough afterward nine or

4:00

10 rounds, but it could be to a

4:02

disadvantage if it's not tough after nine or

4:04

10 rounds. Yeah, exactly. And we

4:06

did the gloves off. How was that, by

4:08

the way? It's going to be very

4:10

entertaining, to say the least. Who won

4:13

the gloves off? You've got to tell me. I'm going to ask

4:15

you one. I'll ask Chris the same question. Who won? Who won

4:17

the gloves off? I won. There's a winner all over

4:19

the place. I won. I won. I'll

4:21

check that with Chris Billy Smith. Well, you know what you can go by. But

4:24

one of the things I did say to him

4:26

is he's deteriorated over

4:29

time. And he

4:31

got all defensive straight away. The

4:34

truth is, boxing is wearing tear on

4:36

the body. We all deteriorate. You

4:38

can't deny that. Yeah, you can't stop it.

4:41

And I've seen him deteriorate over

4:43

time. And in his

4:45

mind, he doesn't. But you know what?

4:47

I feel like that's just a cliche thing

4:49

with boxers. They always think, oh, this is

4:51

the best. It's the best show

4:54

I've ever been in. They always say in interviews.

4:57

Sometimes when you get to a certain

4:59

place and other people can see certain things, you

5:02

don't want to accept it, which is why you

5:04

live with that delusion. But I

5:07

see certain things in CBS. You can see

5:09

that it's taken a toll. It's

5:12

taken a toll. When you're preparing yourself for

5:14

longer fights, 10 round fights, and in this

5:16

case, a 12 round championship fight,

5:18

what do you use as your gauge for

5:20

preparation? So do you just say, well, I'm

5:22

going to do 70 rounds of sparring or

5:24

80 rounds of sparring, and I'm going to

5:26

hit all of these targets with stuff I

5:28

do in the gym? Or is this not

5:30

necessarily new ground for you, but you're going

5:32

into it very fresh? Well,

5:35

I have a great team. And the

5:38

thing that I'm happy about is all I need to do is

5:40

just show up. And I have

5:43

full trust in my team. You'll

5:45

be prepared. Loughborough University. Joel

5:48

Simpson and Rich Ellis,

5:50

they're pretty much the pioneers of this

5:53

whole boxing institution.

5:56

They call it the Center of Excellence. And

5:59

they... They've given me

6:01

all the tools that I need for

6:03

me to maintain and compete at a

6:05

high level, at elite level. And

6:08

some of the things that we do, which I'm

6:10

not going to go into right

6:12

now, is it

6:14

shows why people are at

6:17

the top and why people will

6:19

need to do more if they

6:21

want to compete at that level. And

6:24

it actually gets really dangerous when

6:26

it gets there, because if you're not doing the

6:28

things that I'm doing, you're

6:31

not only going to be able to compete with

6:33

me, but you're actually going to be hurt. So

6:36

you're in a blessed situation in that sense,

6:38

that you're not getting up every day, leaving

6:40

your mum's house or your house, getting on

6:42

a tube or getting an Uber to a

6:44

gym somewhere in East London, coming out from

6:46

that gym, waiting for an

6:48

Uber in the rain, going back to your

6:51

mum's, your mum's forgotten what your

6:53

diet really is, because your face looks a bit

6:55

slim. She does, by the way, so she's decided

6:57

to add something to your diet. I mean, there's

6:59

nothing wrong with your mum adding something to your

7:02

diet, by the point I'm trying to make you. You're blessed

7:04

in the sense that you don't have to worry about that.

7:06

You're up there and these people do it for you. They

7:08

do the worrying for you. Exactly. They

7:10

do all the worrying for me. And all I need to do is

7:12

go in there and show up and practice

7:15

and keep my mind focused on the

7:18

goal at hand, focused on improving myself as

7:20

a fire. And Chris

7:22

Billensmith, when you obviously know him, you shared rounds

7:24

with him, you've been around him, you know, he

7:26

is. You're also not a kind of

7:28

guy that needs to

7:30

create any sort of fake rivalry. The rivalry is

7:33

naturally there. He's the world champion. You've already beaten

7:35

him and you feel it should be yours. That's

7:37

rivalry enough. You don't have to throw any tables

7:39

or anything, do you? Yes, I don't have to

7:42

throw no tables. I

7:45

don't have to throw a smash anybody's face

7:47

with a glass bowl. And

7:50

I'm not like that anyway. I'm completely opposite. It's impossible to

7:52

dislike him. I mean, you've got to dislike him, but he's

7:54

a nice guy. Yeah,

8:00

it's very difficult to dislike and it's purely competition. We don't need to

8:02

act, we

8:08

don't need to just

8:11

create some crazy scenes for

8:13

social media rills and stuff like that.

8:15

We just need to just go in

8:18

there and do what we normally do,

8:20

which is fight. And the Cruiserweight division,

8:22

I mean the Cruiserweight division in

8:24

South London is pretty good to be perfect on. But

8:26

the Cruiserweight division in Britain is a great division. I

8:29

sort of did a little bit of looking and I

8:31

think there's about 12 of you that I would classify,

8:33

including Akoli. I know Akoli is going up and including

8:35

a bottom chivon clerk who maybe needs a test, but

8:37

he's still in that group of U12. And

8:40

it's basically a group that

8:42

could all be, one

8:44

could be number two, one could be number three, one

8:46

could be number one. It's a real mix-up group. So

8:48

there's a bit of an unofficial title at stake when

8:50

you and Bill and Smith get in the ring. So

8:53

you've got the WBO title here, that's terrific, bragging rights

8:55

and all of that and the money that comes with

8:57

it. But there's also the sort of the crown as

8:59

the sort of unofficial number one in Britain. Yeah,

9:02

of course. I think

9:05

I've always wanted to be number one. I remember

9:07

coming in in those rankings on

9:09

Boxwreck and I'm like 60. Yeah, it's

9:11

great. How long till I get to, you

9:18

know, top 10? Because that's what that was the goal.

9:20

And how long was it? No, I'm in top 10

9:22

actually, top 20. I

9:25

do 12. I've got this figure on 12. I

9:27

always go for 12. Oh 12. It's kind of

9:29

manageable. Yeah, it makes sense. So

9:31

obviously seeing my name come up and move

9:33

up the ranks and now I think I'm probably

9:35

two because of CBS having the

9:37

world title. I believe

9:39

I'm number one, you know, because I've got the W

9:41

over him as well in the past. But

9:45

at the same time, it's true, there are

9:47

stalemate fights and there's fights that, you know,

9:49

I also need to have to clear

9:51

people's minds and think, you know, just to confirm and

9:53

clarify like, yeah, I am the number one, you know,

9:55

for you to be number one, you need to fight

9:57

the best, right? Absolutely. It's a concept to be ranked.

10:00

You need to prove it. Exactly. So I

10:03

guess time will tell. We'll see how things go

10:05

in the future and if we can make these

10:07

fights happen. But I'm willing and

10:09

I'm willing to I'm willing to prove

10:11

myself. So that's Richard Reactport. Now it's

10:13

time to sit down with the champion,

10:16

Chris Billam Smith. It's special,

10:18

you know, it's special to be fighting another

10:20

football stadium as

10:22

a football fan, another Premier League club ticked off.

10:25

Not sure we'll get through all 20 stadiums in my career.

10:28

But yeah, well, I'm a little girl. But

10:30

no, it's it's great. It's another great opportunity

10:32

for me. Back to

10:35

my my roots, really, to South London.

10:37

I think my parents are from just down the

10:39

road. Yeah, yeah, they're from Streatham. So yeah,

10:41

you know, I could have could have

10:43

been a Crystal Palace fan. But no,

10:46

thankfully, this season I'm a Bournemouth fan

10:49

with the we're doing all right. So yeah,

10:51

no, it's it's this. It's

10:53

a great fight and another great opportunity. And

10:55

sharing a ring, defending your title against a

10:57

man that you know, you

11:00

did 10 rounds with him before. It's

11:03

a bit of a nuisance, really, because the two of you are so

11:05

nice. There's no chance of any sort of

11:07

stupid rivalry or silly stuff. You just like both. You

11:09

know, you're known as a gentleman. And if you didn't

11:11

have that nickname, you might have it as well. You

11:13

might be much stolen it. Yeah, you

11:15

know, we have a we have a bit of back

11:18

and forth, which is all good

11:20

fun. Yeah, stuff to enjoy. But no, look, I

11:22

think when you share 10 rounds with someone, regardless

11:25

of what level or what stage you

11:27

have a respect in there, even if

11:30

you don't like the person, you know, they'll

11:32

have respect. It's not it's not. But I don't like Richard.

11:34

It's just there's always a respect there

11:36

anyway. So yeah, you're always going

11:38

to have that when you share the ring

11:41

with someone. And yeah, do you change closer

11:43

to a fight? Chris,

11:45

do you get less

11:47

gentlemanly, less Chris like maybe the way do

11:49

you get a little bit edgier? You know,

11:51

do you just do you sense it as

11:54

it's coming, like as you're getting closer to the first bell?

11:57

Yeah, I think so. I think my wife. I'd

12:00

probably answer that a bit better.

12:02

And they always do, the partners

12:04

know, the partners know the exact

12:06

moment, the exact weight even. Yeah,

12:09

there's a reason I don't let her in the changing room

12:11

on fight night. I don't want to see that

12:13

version of me to be honest with you. I

12:15

let her in after the fight because I'm back

12:18

to my normal self. But on fight night I'm

12:20

not a nice person. And you can't be. The

12:22

gentleman's ring

12:24

moniker, the nickname, but I like it because it's ironic. Because

12:26

it's one thing you can't be in a boxing ring and

12:28

it's one thing I'm definitely not. And

12:31

at what point before a fight, you know,

12:33

because this is what your third world title

12:35

fight now. So you know, you've been in

12:37

and you've been 12 rounders before for other

12:39

titles. But at what point in the build

12:41

up is it six weeks out, four weeks

12:43

out, eight weeks out when you can

12:45

sense yourself changing? Is

12:48

there a point when you stop being, you

12:50

know, Chris the dad, Chris the husband and

12:52

you become Chris the focus fighter? Could you

12:54

sense that? Is there actually a point? I

12:58

think, to be honest, it's just when I'm in camp.

13:00

So like I drive up on a Sunday night with

13:02

Lee Cutler and we

13:05

have a good laugh, but once I'm in the boxing

13:07

gym, I'm very easy, very good at flipping

13:09

that switch. So

13:11

during the spar, I'll be, you

13:13

know, spiteful, horrible, what I'm like in the ring. And

13:15

then out of the spar, I'm very respectful to whoever

13:18

I've been sparring. So that's the way it's got to

13:20

be. It's how it's the only way you can

13:23

have success in this sport and

13:25

carry some, you know, integrity with

13:27

it. It's, you know, a sport

13:30

probably lacking integrity in a lot of ways.

13:33

But and to be honest, the sport itself,

13:35

and when you're in the ring, you can't

13:38

really have that integrity. It's not made for

13:41

that. It's made. It's a brutal sport. But

13:44

I'm just very good at flipping that switch between that

13:46

brutality and that integrity. Do you think you get enough

13:49

respect, Chris? You know, and I mean

13:51

this in a nice way. Do you think you

13:53

get enough respect as Chris Billensmith, the world

13:55

champion? Not really, probably

13:57

not in that sense, but.

14:00

That's okay, I don't mind that, but when people

14:02

get in the ring with me, then within

14:05

two rounds I've heard everyone's respect. Anyone who

14:07

I spar... You get the respect after the

14:09

fight. Yeah, after the fight or after the

14:11

spar, there's

14:13

that respect and

14:16

it doesn't really bother me on the outside world. People

14:19

looking in the outside because I've

14:21

seen people when Naira and

14:24

Uwe boxed on Boxing Day, giving

14:26

him grief online and he's a what? I'm a long way

14:28

off his ability and off being his stardom and I'm never

14:30

going to be the fighter

14:44

that he is. If

14:46

he can't get it right, I'm not ever going to be able to get it

14:48

right. I take everything

14:50

with a pinch of salt when it comes

14:52

to praise and criticism and

14:54

then just listen to the people with

14:56

my team around me. Absolutely, just take what

14:59

you need and disregard the West. Is

15:04

the rematch something you've

15:06

always wanted? I

15:13

know you don't go to bed at night and the

15:15

last thing you see in your head is Richard Reactpaw's

15:17

face, but is it something you've always wanted? For

15:22

the right reason, I always say it would

15:24

never define me and I think I've proved that since

15:26

if Richard had been beaten in his last fight or

15:28

a fight before and he never got to this

15:31

level, it would never define me. It's not how you

15:33

start, it's how you finish like they say. But

15:37

I'm really glad it's happening. I'm glad he hasn't been beaten. I'm

15:39

glad it's for a world title. I was

15:41

hoping it was going to be for a unification a

15:43

few years back when we spoke about it. The

15:46

night he boxed Gavaski, I

15:49

was hoping that he'd go

15:51

on to win a world title and I would too. I

15:53

went on 1-1 and now he's my mandatory.

15:58

It's great it's happening. and it's great that he's

16:00

undefeated and it's great that my only losses is to him

16:03

when I get to avenge it. I've got to ask you

16:05

this, I know you've had to head to head, face

16:07

to face, whatever you want to call it, around the round

16:09

table, I'm assuming with Johnny Nelson. I've

16:11

got to ask him, who won it? Because

16:14

there's always a winner. Chris, there's always a

16:16

winner, there's always a loser. There's got to be one,

16:18

I'm sorry. If there was a winner, it was definitely

16:20

me. That's interesting you should say that.

16:22

It was... I

16:25

mean, yeah, I mean, that

16:27

stuff's all fun and games. But,

16:29

you know, all that matters is the

16:31

winner on Fight Night. But it was

16:34

good fun yesterday. It was a long

16:36

old day of filming and promos and

16:38

then that went on for ages and

16:41

Richard come out with some sort of Edgar Allan

16:43

Poe B-Tech version

16:45

of Edgar Allan Poe poetry, as per

16:47

usual. But it's

16:49

all fun and games. As

16:51

I said, when we started this interview, it's really hard

16:54

to dislike even with you two. I

16:57

just couldn't even imagine it. It's an absolute pleasure to talk to you.

16:59

Thanks so much for your time. Thank you. Cheers to your time. Nice

17:01

one, Steve. So Chris Bill and

17:03

Smith and Richard React Paul, they'll be

17:05

in the ring. They had a fight on June 15th,

17:08

hopefully. I'd like to see a sellout. It'd be great

17:10

if there were 35,000, 40,000 people in Sellers Park. Why

17:12

ever not? It was a nice cheap ticket. Shane

17:15

McRiggin has joined me. Shane, another stadium fight, another World Tired

17:17

of Fight for the gentleman, Chris Bill and Smith. The kid

17:19

who was, and I mean this in the nicest way, he

17:22

seemed to always be the sort of back of the gym.

17:24

There was always a couple of people in front of him.

17:26

You know, good fighters in front of him and he was

17:28

not, he was a bad fighter. He was just that they

17:30

all seemed to be really good fighters and now, now he's

17:33

a world champion. Yeah, exactly. I

17:35

mean, it's a testament to the hard work

17:37

he's put in over the years. He's a

17:39

fantastically likeable person and very,

17:41

very hard worker. And,

17:44

you know, he deserves this opportunity.

17:46

He's going obviously into the Lions,

17:48

then into somebody else's backyard. But

17:51

that's what true champions do. They go and defend their belt. And

17:55

looking forward to it. It's obviously a rematch. So is

17:57

he looking forward to it? Yeah. Yeah, but it's a

17:59

rematch that he's. know that he's lost in the first

18:01

one and it was it was there

18:03

wasn't much in the fight. Reak Bohad

18:06

even he had a slightly a

18:09

bit more experience than Chris but they were both

18:11

lacking a hell of a lot experience but I

18:13

just feel like of late

18:15

form they're both on

18:17

great form but Chris has been taking the hard acid

18:19

test he's been putting himself out there in

18:22

challenging 50-50 fights that nobody wants to take

18:24

and he's been winning those and that I

18:26

believe is going to be one of the

18:28

main factors. That's a great 18

18:30

months that Chris Billam Smith's had since the Isaac

18:33

Chamberlain fight down in Bournemouth in the heat of

18:35

the summer you went massive when we had all

18:37

the doors open and then all the way through

18:39

to where we are now those four or five

18:41

fights or whatever it is that they're fights that

18:43

make a man they're fights that make a fight

18:45

a man or woman. Yeah and they

18:47

make it and they've made him a headline

18:49

yeah because he's been in every single one

18:51

of them you know unfortunately for myself watching

18:54

as a friend and also as trainer they've

18:58

all been hard fighting. I've been hard fighting. He's

19:02

made every single one of them a hard fight but that's

19:04

why I love him that's why the fans are starting to

19:06

really get behind him because and I genuinely believe

19:09

there'll be a lot of people traveling up to come and see him because

19:12

he's never an adult he's never an adult fight even

19:14

with you know Lawrence the Coley where he's had his

19:16

moments where he's been in dull fights he's still made

19:19

that exciting. And I

19:21

asked Chris this because I'm sort of keen

19:23

on when a fighter switches because he's known as

19:25

a gentleman everyone loves him you know I've seen

19:28

him on fight night or close to fight night

19:30

and he becomes a different person. Do you notice

19:32

that switch? Do you think do you know when

19:34

it's coming like two weeks before three weeks before

19:36

once he gets closer to the weight or does

19:38

it just happen? No I'll tell you what

19:40

there was a fight when he boxed in York Hall against

19:43

Robin Dupree and he

19:46

was so relaxed and he was just

19:48

himself into coming to the change rooms

19:50

and he really underperformed and

19:52

I gave him a massive dressing down after that. His

19:55

fights previously before that were a lot of

19:57

the time on like George Groves is undercard

19:59

or like down in Bournemouth where he

20:01

had like something to get up for. Bit

20:03

of a reason. This was just a nothing-key

20:05

fight in his head, quite far down on

20:07

the card in York Hall where he just

20:09

wasn't excited about it. And he really, really

20:11

underperformed. And I said to him like, those

20:14

are the ones that you're going to slip up. And

20:16

if you don't learn to switch on and have that

20:18

nasty streak about you, and

20:21

that goes for training that every day, even

20:23

in the gym, you've still got to

20:25

be nice. That's that streak. And the thing

20:28

about boxing is it's like a fight-or-flight mentality

20:30

the whole time. That's why a lot

20:32

of fighters struggle once they've retired from boxing

20:34

because they're still in that

20:36

mentality. But you have to learn to just train

20:38

it all the time. You can see it's something

20:40

like Ricky Hatton used to be very, very nice

20:42

outside the ring. Nasty as anything

20:45

inside it. My dad was like it. And

20:48

you can't let that kindness

20:51

and empathy filter

20:53

into your boxing. We

20:55

used to work with Josh Taylor, who in Fight

20:57

Week was one of the most unbearable, unpleasant human

20:59

beings in the world during the last, I don't

21:02

know if it was the last two weeks, but

21:04

certainly it was like the last eight weeks. But

21:07

that's what he needed. That's what he needed. That's what he

21:09

needed. He needed to harness that. That's

21:12

why I believe I got the best results with that

21:14

kid is because I harnessed it.

21:17

You train the beast. I remember speaking to Louis

21:19

de Couvas Sr., whose manager used to

21:21

look after Robert Duran. And he said he

21:23

was just... He was just a angry

21:27

man. He was just angry. And he used to just... I

21:30

mean, I can't even repeat the story that he said, but

21:32

it was like he used to try and make himself feel

21:34

like a caged animal the whole way through training camp. And

21:38

not wash and things like that. I knew he

21:40

would say not wash. It's a favorite story. Yeah,

21:42

that was his mentality. I needed to get into

21:45

that mentality. And

21:47

if you've got a fight like that, you harness that.

21:49

You let it happen. I'm sure training

21:52

Mike Tyson in training Chris Phillips-Smith would

21:54

be very, very different. Absolutely. You got

21:56

to understand that mentality. Can you imagine

21:58

training Tyson first time around? When

22:00

he was being influenced and he was going

22:02

off the rails, but he was still brilliant

22:04

in the gym. Can you imagine being in

22:06

his trainer? I mean, with all your skill

22:08

set, all the stuff that you've learned over

22:10

the last, say, 10, 15 years looking after

22:12

fires, how would you deal with a Tyson?

22:14

I mean, I think

22:17

that Tyson I'm talking about as well. You've got

22:19

a guy that can punch with either hand and

22:21

had the speed of a middleweight, and

22:23

he was just phenomenally aggressive. And it

22:25

was off the rails. What you

22:27

couldn't have done with him is, exactly, he's completely

22:30

nuts. What you couldn't have done with him is

22:32

try and create

22:34

some form of like normality into him and

22:36

slow him down and try and get him

22:38

to pace himself because that ferocity was what

22:41

made him so successful. I

22:43

tell you, there might be a series in

22:46

this how good trainers would have worked with

22:48

fighters of the past because

22:50

we know how easy it was to work with

22:52

Marvin Hagler. Once

22:54

you were with Hagler, you were with Hagler, and he just did

22:56

everything and he worked along. It was simple. But

22:58

I'm thinking more about guys like Nassim Hamid, who

23:01

might not show up at a gym till two o'clock, or Tyson,

23:03

who you know was just off the rails and being

23:05

medicated as well. I tell you, that might put it

23:08

on the back burner. That's a nice series, that. We

23:11

could have some fun with that. That's

23:13

quite interesting. This weekend,

23:15

just for one more second, Salkin

23:18

Laravares continues his ridiculous

23:20

career, really. Six of the odd fights, still only 33

23:22

years of age. You know the stats

23:24

and facts and all of that stuff. I guess

23:27

Jaime Munguia. Is

23:30

there a point, Jane, when you think that in

23:32

one fight, this relatively young man

23:34

will become an old man? Or can he just keep on

23:36

going forever? Because he's been defying people for about six or

23:38

seven years. I know he's

23:40

lost a couple, but he's still, he's like

23:42

a freak of nature. I feel

23:45

like when you've got the raw ingredients that

23:48

he does, he's got a phenomenal chin. His

23:50

chin has allowed him to really master the

23:52

art of head movement. If you're slightly fragile,

23:54

you can't ever be brave enough to stand

23:56

in the pocket when you're in sparring sessions

23:59

to learn how to do it. to move your head. He

24:02

carries not crazy power but

24:04

enough power to get people's respect and I

24:06

don't think he doesn't rely on it.

24:08

So he's got

24:10

a favorable style to go into

24:13

another three, four years I

24:15

generally, maybe five years. If

24:17

you look at someone like Mayweather, he was adapted

24:20

his style. He didn't rely on speed. If you

24:22

look at someone like Shane

24:24

Moseley or something like his best years were when

24:26

he was at his athletic prime. Roy

24:29

Jones and Hopkins as a prime example, when

24:31

Roy Jones turned over he was phenomenal but

24:33

his style was just all reflexes. And then

24:36

if you look at Hopkins he was so

24:39

much more technically sound and

24:42

he relied on timing and distance control not

24:45

speed and athleticism and that

24:47

favoured him into being the oldest world champion.

24:49

He beat Archie Moore. He'd be really good

24:51

at 44, really good at 44, really good

24:54

at 48. Exactly. At a

24:56

weight that he wasn't even natural at all.

24:59

By the way, yeah. Two weight divisions above.

25:01

So yeah, I

25:03

think Canelo is going to put on a

25:05

great showcase. He's a monkey, he's perfect for

25:07

him. He's slow, he's one paced,

25:10

he's heavy handed but that

25:12

doesn't phase him. So

25:15

it's an ideal fight and I think

25:17

I'm all for it. I'm all for

25:19

letting him continue his career because he's

25:21

great for boxing, he sells out arenas,

25:23

he draws attention. The big events. He's

25:25

likeable. He holds, what he's starting

25:27

to shout out a little bit. I saw

25:30

a little clipper in calling out a fan the other

25:32

day. Sometimes they're full of work. He gets irritable.

25:34

He doesn't need to do that because for

25:38

the two people that are shouting negative

25:40

comments, there's 10,000 that are shouting positive

25:43

and he's a great role

25:45

model. So that was Shane McRiggin and it's always a

25:47

pleasure to sit down with Shane. And by the way,

25:49

I think that idea asking great

25:52

modern trainers to go back in history

25:54

and train great fighters for fights of the past.

25:56

I like that idea. I think that's a bit

25:59

of a challenge. That's kind of, you know, we

26:01

have fantasy fights, that's regular. So that's kind of

26:03

like fantasy trainer. Oh boy, that's good. Well, it's

26:05

got some legs that one, as they say in

26:07

the trade. Anyway, when we

26:09

come back from the break, it'll be

26:11

Oscar de la Hoya on, well, Oscar de

26:13

la Hoya, a little bit of Canelo Alvarez

26:15

thrown in there, a little bit of Eddie

26:17

Hurn thrown in there, and a little bit

26:19

of The World Hates Me, but I

26:22

don't care thrown in there. Oscar de la Hoya,

26:24

hey, I've always got time for big Oscar. See

26:26

you in a second. So this

26:29

weekend in Las Vegas, about 20 odd

26:31

thousand people will be inside the T-Mobile

26:33

to watch Sol Canelo Alvarez defend all

26:36

four of his super middleweight belts. It

26:38

will be Sol's 64th fight. He's 160,

26:40

he's lost two, and he's drawn two.

26:43

He's only 33 years of age. You

26:45

know the story. Turned pro at 15, had all

26:48

of those fights by the time he was 18,

26:50

won his first world title when he was 20.

26:53

World title fight after world title

26:55

fight after world title fight. And

26:57

he likes fighting unbeaten men. And he's

27:00

got an unbeaten man, another Mexican on

27:02

Saturday, Jaime Mongea, 43 and 0 for

27:04

the four

27:07

belts. Now I

27:09

spoke to Oscar de la Hoya, and Oscar

27:11

de la Hoya no longer promotes Sol Canelo

27:13

Alvarez, but he did promote some of these

27:15

really big fights. But he does promote and

27:17

look after Mongea. And it was one of

27:19

the things that Oscar and I talked about.

27:21

Trust me, there were plenty of other things

27:24

that Oscar and I talked about. Here

27:26

I am with Oscar de la Hoya,

27:28

and this is why we bring you

27:30

bonus pods. I'm so motivated right now.

27:33

I'm so just loving what

27:36

I'm seeing out of the

27:38

fighters and boxing. It's thriving

27:40

right now. And so, you know, and

27:42

it's kudos to everyone who's making it

27:44

happen. You know, kudos to the

27:46

zone, kudos to Eddie Herndon

27:48

in the UK, kudos to all

27:52

the fighters who are willing now to

27:54

step up. My plan

27:56

is to make sure that boxing continues to thrive and

27:58

continue to be a part of the continues to

28:00

grow and the only way possible

28:02

to do that is by making the fights

28:04

that the people want to see. Canelo

28:07

Munguia, Ryan Garcia, Devin

28:09

Haney, Vergortez, I mean it's been

28:11

a good run. No, it's

28:13

easier said than done when you say making

28:15

the fights that people want to see. We

28:18

know that that's what we want to see.

28:20

We know that's what happens. But sometimes it's

28:22

hard convincing all of the people involved. We

28:24

just happen to be on a good run.

28:26

Do you think we could end up having

28:28

the most phenomenal next year or two or

28:31

three years, Oscar? Is that your gut feeling?

28:33

Yeah, I believe so. I

28:36

strongly feel that it

28:38

starts off with a fighter. Being

28:42

an ex-fighter myself and now being a promoter,

28:45

I can understand fighters not wanting

28:48

to make fights because

28:50

of the economical impact it's going to

28:52

have on them. If

28:54

fighters want to make the most money possible, when

28:57

you have a star who's taking the bulk of

28:59

the money, then

29:01

there's no money left over to pay your opponent.

29:05

If it's going to be a champion, if

29:07

it's going to be a unification, fighters

29:09

have to be fair. Fighters

29:13

have to know that

29:15

all the monies that are in the pot, they

29:18

have to share with their opponent, they have to

29:20

share with their teams, they have to share in

29:22

order to make these big fights happen. It's

29:26

happening. I think fighters are getting

29:28

it. I think promoters are getting

29:30

it. I've called for

29:32

this for a very long time and hopefully we

29:35

can continue to build off this

29:38

momentum and make sure that

29:40

boxing continues to thrive. What

29:43

changed the landscape, Oscar? What allowed you

29:45

to be so excited once again? Because

29:47

there have been some times in the

29:50

last five or six or seven years

29:52

when perhaps you've drifted, you've not seemed

29:54

to have the enthusiasm you had when

29:56

you started and certainly when you were

29:58

a boxer. Yeah,

30:00

personal problems. That's it. That was

30:02

basically it. I

30:05

was at a point of my life, probably

30:07

the lowest point of my life, where

30:11

I took a

30:13

wrong turn for

30:15

the worst. But luckily, they

30:18

say in boxing, you can get up off the

30:21

canvas and fight hard

30:23

and become champion. And that's exactly what

30:25

I did. I got myself off the

30:28

canvas and I'm here motivated

30:30

than ever. I mean, you have

30:32

no idea the things we

30:34

are going to do, the things we are

30:36

planning for boxing. In Las Vegas

30:38

alone, the idea of putting

30:42

the plan together of building an apex

30:44

for Las Vegas, a

30:47

hub for boxing, for

30:49

international boxing, a one-stop

30:52

shop. It's exciting. And

30:55

we have great partners that we've identified.

30:57

And so hopefully, we can start building

30:59

very soon. But I

31:02

have all these great ideas for the sport because

31:04

I love the sport. I was a fighter myself

31:06

inside the ring. I saw many of

31:08

your fights. I saw many of your fights. Don't worry.

31:11

Yeah, I think there's any other promoter out there that

31:13

can say that. And so it's

31:15

a whole different dynamic when I talk

31:17

to the fighters, when I understand the

31:19

fighters, when they connect with me. I

31:22

have all these plans for the sport,

31:24

for the beautiful sport that gave me the life

31:26

that I have now. So tell me,

31:28

you say you plan something, some sort of

31:30

center, an apex center, a hub. Are you

31:33

talking about a new build or

31:35

are you talking about maybe just using

31:37

different buildings, but creating a Las

31:40

Vegas boxing club? Well,

31:43

look, boxing, Las Vegas,

31:45

obviously go hand in hand.

31:49

Las Vegas is the mecca of boxing. And

31:52

I think it's lost its luster

31:54

over the years. And

31:57

so I want to bring boxing back to

31:59

Las Vegas. and make

32:02

boxing and Las Vegas a pair,

32:04

a unit. I

32:09

wanna make sure that we have a home

32:11

for boxing. And now that I moved

32:14

here to Las Vegas, I'm

32:17

at work every single day, chipping away

32:20

and making sure that we get the

32:22

fight fans, the best fights. But in

32:25

order to do that, we have to make

32:28

sure that the fighters are on board. And

32:31

Oscar, have you been inspired by

32:34

what's been happening in Saudi Arabia and

32:36

what's gonna happen in early

32:38

August in Los Angeles, the whole way that

32:40

suddenly Victor rivals, Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn,

32:43

now they're working together, they're fighters are fighting

32:45

each other. And now they're coming to America

32:47

using all sorts of different people. Have you

32:49

been inspired by what's happening there? Cause it's

32:51

only been nine months. If I was talking

32:54

to you last August, we would have nothing

32:56

to talk about with Saudi Arabia. It's been

32:58

nine months, it's been incredible. I've

33:02

been inspired all my life by

33:06

the fights we've been putting on over the years.

33:08

I mean, I started promoting 22 years

33:11

ago here in the US. I

33:13

promoted Mayweather and Pacquiao and

33:15

Canelo and Ryan Garcia, all the

33:17

very best. But

33:20

what the Excellency is doing is incredible.

33:25

And I commend him and I love

33:28

it. And it's great for boxing. And

33:30

now that your Excellency is coming to the

33:33

US, to

33:36

Los Angeles and we have

33:38

Virgil Ortiz versus Zu, it's

33:41

gonna be incredible, it's gonna be great.

33:43

And it couldn't have happened without

33:46

Turkey. So yeah, I

33:48

commend him a thousand percent. And he

33:50

has the vision, he has, obviously

33:52

they have the resources, but

33:55

it's very important that we have

33:57

a master plan in place to

33:59

connect. Continue with

34:01

with with this momentum. What's taking place

34:03

in the sport today? Yeah,

34:06

because it could be the most amazing year

34:08

Let's talk a little bit about Saturday It's

34:10

in your new home city last Vegas sold

34:12

can I borrow as a fighter that you

34:14

know very well from years ago Against

34:16

your your man your man. Let me ask you a question update

34:20

of the two fights Ryan Garcia Devin

34:22

Heine and Solar so

34:24

couldn't our virus this weekend

34:26

again again again Jamie which

34:28

one of them is the

34:30

bigger underdog Which

34:32

one of them would have been the bigger underdog

34:34

right right on Mongea. I Think

34:37

Ryan was the bigger underdog. Yeah, I

34:39

strongly feel that because of all but

34:41

everything taking place Outside

34:43

the ring with Ryan, you know I

34:46

think people I think a lot of people and

34:48

the and the and the and the betting lines

34:50

were were basically You

34:53

know forgetting about Ryan Garcia winning this

34:55

fight and he shocked the world I

34:58

think I think people now realize

35:02

That Canelo is getting older That

35:05

Canelo, I'm not sure how old he is 34

35:07

35 33

35:10

I believe think he's still only 33.

35:12

Yes. Yeah and and then

35:14

boxing in boxing when you have that many

35:16

fights He's an old 33 Just

35:20

like I was when I was 33 years

35:22

old I was an old 33, but I

35:25

strongly feel that right now is the perfect time

35:28

For Mongea to take advantage of all

35:30

the injuries that Canelo Alvarez has of

35:34

the age That he is

35:36

of all the wars that he's been in

35:39

I think I think Jaime Mongea

35:41

being younger being fresh being strong

35:43

having a good game plan His

35:46

output is about a hundred punches more

35:48

than Canelo every single round So that's

35:50

gonna be key and I think his

35:52

footwork is gonna be is gonna be

35:54

is gonna be The one

35:56

thing that can take Canelo off his game plan

36:00

So with this fight obviously it's a very

36:02

big weekend for Mexicans are not a huge

36:04

you play. Be happy. You're clearly excited for

36:07

what's up with the last couple of weeks.

36:09

or even a good sign the silk I

36:11

got a console yourself on Saturday. I had

36:14

to be able to control your emotions. It's

36:16

going be incredible and. I.

36:18

Never. I never even saw my emotions

36:21

when I'm at a time I when

36:23

I see acts and I spent of

36:25

myself and start throwing punches. I love

36:27

the sport so much. I love when

36:30

when we make big fights happen and

36:32

be no that's what it's all about.

36:34

Continued to make the big fights happen

36:37

like this Saturday and so doing he

36:39

was asked us he told them about

36:41

how you bought seeds against didn't seem

36:44

zoom on that bill Went when when

36:46

when Turkey's gonna be promoted in Los

36:48

Angeles. As he sat down and you'd

36:50

second said he said no you in any

36:52

have a bit of banter on social media

36:54

of your sensitivity of you chassis different words

36:56

are you talking to these people to but

36:59

you wouldn't have to do in the past.

37:02

Ah, I'm yeah, I'll talk to them

37:04

when we can do business and but

37:06

I don't. I don't see any raiders.

37:09

I. Don't see any fighters and on

37:11

their roster except for Boots and is

37:13

that Etti have a defined I don't

37:15

see any fighter in his roster that

37:17

he can face. Or. Any

37:20

Golden Boy fighters so when he's ready, when

37:22

he when he builds up or a champion

37:24

that can create a big mega fight that

37:26

we can talk. But. Other than

37:29

that, I'm I'm I'm I'm busy

37:31

with my business and I'm busy

37:33

building are you know the next

37:35

generation of fighters and the and

37:37

and that's it. And as

37:39

Oscar let me ask you this a know

37:41

what's coming to the and as of our

37:43

time to given a really appreciate your time

37:45

if you had to put a number on

37:48

it, how many offers and how many, how

37:50

much interest if you had for Ryan Garcia

37:52

going forward, just how many promoters and managers

37:54

and slices of reached out to his. Arm.

37:58

Yam. i mean i get i get called every

38:00

single day. But

38:03

right now, everybody knows that Ryan

38:05

Garcia is on vacation. Ryan Garcia,

38:07

he's on a tour promoting his

38:10

win. A victory tour. Yeah, a

38:12

victory tour. But once I

38:14

start making the calls, I'll be connecting with

38:16

everyone. Everyone

38:19

from 140 pounds to 160 pounds. And

38:21

I'm talking about Crawford, I'm talking about

38:23

Pit Bull, I'm talking about the

38:26

very best out there, Teofemu Lopez. Ryan

38:28

wants these big fights. And

38:31

finally, Oscar, when you were

38:33

boxing, I just missed you at the Olympics.

38:35

I went in 96, not 92, but

38:38

I saw plenty of your professional fights. I came out

38:40

to Las Vegas. Do you think

38:42

that sometimes, and I'll be careful how I

38:44

word this, do you think that sometimes people

38:46

forget, and I don't want to embarrass you,

38:48

just how good you were, just

38:51

how massive your fights were, and how

38:53

you genuinely did stop the city. And

38:55

when you landed in Las Vegas, when

38:58

Oscar De La Hoya was fighting, the first thing

39:00

the cab drivers asked you at the airport was,

39:02

are you here for the fight? Something they barely

39:04

ever say. Now, it's the truth. Do

39:07

you sometimes feel that you need to remind people of that,

39:09

Oscar? No, look,

39:11

I'll tell you exactly what it is. I mean,

39:14

I'm probably the most hated

39:16

celebrity in the world. And

39:21

that's actually a compliment to myself. I

39:23

strongly feel that boxing is a very unique

39:26

sport. And there's

39:28

millions and millions of fans around the

39:30

world. And the

39:35

fact that I'm on the good side,

39:37

the fact that I promote Ryan Garcia,

39:39

I have success in the

39:41

past with Canelo and Mayweather and Pacquiao, the

39:43

fact that I have a pretty face, it's

39:47

like people attack me so,

39:49

so much. And I

39:51

know who wants to take me down. I

39:54

know they want to crumble the empire. I

39:56

know all that. It's okay. But guess what?

39:58

It motivates me. He just wants

40:00

me, I get to the next level

40:03

and you know what, when I'm good,

40:05

when I'm focused, when

40:07

I'm determined, oh you better watch

40:09

out. So that's a

40:11

new look, a new sounding Oscar

40:13

de la Hoya. More

40:15

from Oscar hopefully in the coming months. I hope he shows

40:18

up in London, it'd be great to sit down with him,

40:20

do something in depth. Before I leave

40:22

you, I've got to tell you about what I consider

40:24

to be the story of the week. I'm going to

40:26

whisper that because a lot of people say, Buncy, it's

40:28

amateur boxing, how can it be the story of the

40:30

week? Well I'll tell you how it can be the

40:32

story of the week, it's really simple. It

40:34

was announced a few days ago that a

40:36

woman called Amy Broadhurst, who used to box

40:39

for the Islington Boxing Club in North London,

40:41

but was born in Ireland and

40:43

won the European and the World Amateur

40:46

title for Ireland and obviously won a

40:48

Commonwealth Games gold medal a couple

40:50

of years ago. It

40:53

was announced earlier this week that

40:55

Amy has defected. She's

40:57

not going to fight for Ireland in the last

40:59

Olympic qualifier, in fact she wasn't picked for it,

41:01

which is why she's defected. She's going to fight

41:04

for Great Britain. She'll be going at the end

41:06

of May out to Bangkok for

41:08

the last Olympic qualifier. And

41:10

Shona Whitwill, who's had two bites at

41:12

the cherry so to speak, she has

41:14

not been selected. Amy has been selected

41:17

above her. Well it seems

41:19

cruel, it might be cruel, but it's

41:21

not vindictive. It's just

41:23

strictly business, which might sound fairly

41:25

heartless and fairly cold and if

41:28

you're Shona Whitwill and her family and

41:30

friends you're probably disgusted at me for

41:32

saying it, but it's just the reality.

41:34

Amy Broadhurst is available, she's

41:36

the number one in the world arguably at the weight, but

41:38

is she? And this is where the

41:40

real story happens, because the number one in the world is

41:43

the reigning gold medalist from

41:45

Waitford, Ireland. Amy Broadhurst is

41:47

great rival, Kelly Harrington, so

41:50

she'll obviously be at the

41:52

Olympics in Paris and so

41:54

will be Beatrice Ferreira, who

41:56

last weekend won a world title in just

41:58

I think a fifth fight. but

42:00

she lost it to Harrington in the

42:02

Olympic final in Tokyo a few years

42:05

ago. She'll also be in

42:07

Paris. So if Amy Broadhurst qualifies

42:09

it will be Harrington, Ferreira and

42:12

Broadhurst. What a lineup. That's why I get

42:14

excited about it. Well you know I get

42:17

excited about most things. So thanks

42:19

obviously to everybody that gave me some time. Richard

42:21

React, Pockwist, Bill and Smith, Shane

42:23

MacGriggin and earlier in the week

42:25

Oscar de la Hoya. Thank you

42:27

for listening. A bonus pod. Now

42:29

next week we'll be down in

42:31

Cardiff previewing Jessica McCaskill against Lauren

42:33

Price. What a fantastic fight that

42:35

is. Of course Lauren being the

42:38

Olympic gold medalist. A reigning gold

42:40

medalist and that's at the start

42:42

of a truly remarkable few weeks

42:44

of boxing. Not just on Fire of Life

42:47

but worldwide. Lauren Price and McCaskill

42:50

Saturday the 11th. The

42:52

following Saturday in

42:54

Riyadh Alexander Usyk against

42:56

Tyson Fury. Then the following

42:58

Saturday in Leeds the

43:01

rematch. Cattrell and Taylor.

43:04

Three weekends, 16 days

43:06

I calculate and three incredible

43:09

fights. I've been

43:11

Steve Bunce and this has been a very

43:13

special bonus edition of

43:15

5 Live Boxing.