JRE MMA Show #72 with Andy Ruiz

00:00and we're live what's up heavyweight champion of the world how's that feel man it's amazing you know it's a big blessing just happy does it seem real it's still yeah of course it's real uh for the first few weeks the first few days I was pinching myself see if it was a dream or nothing but you know I'm just really blessed to be here what an incredible situation right you got so So how many weeks out did you find out about the fight? I think it was like a month, a month and two weeks. Wow. A month and two weeks. I messaged Eddie Hearns. I told him, you know what, give me the opportunity. And what do you know? He messaged back. Me and my girl were just all happy, like, whoa. It was crazy. Wow. And you were already in camp, right? Mm-hmm. So it wasn't like they called you out of shape? No, it was after my fight against Alexander Dimitrenko. Oh, that's right.

00:54How much time did you have off to recover? Um, I just took like a week and a half off. Oh, that's nice. And I went back to the gym and I was just ready and loose. So it was, it couldn't have happened in a perfect time. That's amazing. Um, do you like it like that where you just experienced a big fight? So you're already kind of used to the, the being in the ring, being on television, the whole moment of it all. And then boom, it happens again right afterwards. Yeah, of course, you know, cause I I was already loose. I was already in fight mode. So especially from having the heavyweight champion title, you know, the opportunity to get that. It was amazing. It was an incredible fight, man. It was incredible. Yeah, thank you. It was really amazing. What was amazing was when you got dropped, you kept your composure, you got up, and then he tried to move in for the kill.

01:42And then you started landing bombs on him and dropped him. And I remember jumping off the bed while I was watching. Oh, shit. It was wild. man it was a wild fight it was my first time getting dropped and you know what um I don't feel I was super hurt you know because I when I got dropped he hit me with a good right hand and I took it like a champ but I got up man and I just throwing bombs you have fluid punches man I mean it's it's really interesting to watch you're so efficient like the way you throw punches You're not like grunting and fucking digging like there's a lot of guys that you see there's a Tremendous amount of energy that's expended every time they throw punches, but you man your punches just come in bunches They just fire my nation's the combinations that would be working at the gym Manny Robles

02:33That's why I had a trainer who throws a lot of combinations as good at working speed So I think we click really good together Well, it's such a big asset for heavyweights because most heavyweights, they're throwing big bombs and they're looking for that one punch. Yep. Yeah. And you, you just pile them on, man. And you're throwing them at all these angles. And especially when you get in tight with dudes, you know, like when you're in tight with dudes in these dogfights, your punches are coming at all these different angles. It's so fluid. It's beautiful to watch, man. Thank you, man, especially with these big guys. I love fighting bigger guys. You know, one time I fought a guy that was shorter than me, and it was kind of hard. So imagine me pressuring bigger guys and throwing these combinations. It works for me really good.

03:18It does, and you're the first ever Mexican heavyweight champion of the world. Man, thanks to God. It's crazy, man. I mean, you are in the same league as Cain Velasquez, the first ever UFC heavyweight champion that was Mexican. Yeah. I mean, that's just an incredible honor, man. Thanks, man. I appreciate that. The love you must be getting. From all the Mexicans. Oh, my gosh. I can't even go to the store without taking so many pictures. People are on the lines. They get off. Like, say, if I'm in a drive-thru somewhere, they get off of their car and try to take pictures. But it's a blessing, you know. I really appreciate all my fans, all the supporters. It's amazing, man. And, you know, what was really cool was the post-fight press conference when you were talking about it. You were like, damn, you know, we made it. And you were saying, we're set. Telling my mom.

04:09Yeah, you were telling your mom. That was beautiful. Yeah. Because a lot of people don't know that we're struggling a lot even before this fight, you know. And going through a lot of the stuff with Top Rank, with Bob Barron, of me not getting a lot of fights, waiting waiting um because I had one more fight left with them so they didn't want to let me go so I had to pay my pay it off so thank god you did yeah everything turned around so quick sorry bob you fucked up yeah well there's a lot of dudes who were not interested in fighting you you know um I I'd seen this it was one of those things where you were incredibly talented and incredibly skilled but you didn't have the biggest name yet so there wasn't like a lot of money in it yet but there was a giant risk and a lot of the insiders were very very aware of this you know

04:59guys who really follow boxing were very aware of this and coming into that fight like I talked to a lot of people that are like big boxing fans and they're like that dude is a live dog like that's a live dog like I mean for sure anthony joshua is a bad motherfucker he's a big giant muscular dude looks like adonis but they were like andy ruiz is a live dog he could win that fucking It's because when they see me, they're like, oh, look at this chubby kid, man. He's going to get tired really fast. He's going to get knocked out. But the real people that know about boxing, they know the skills that I have, the movement. Yeah, I could get a little bit more fit and more leaner, you know, get the extra fat, turn it into muscle. I love to do that, you know. But the thing is, people love you because you're kind of chubby. Yeah, because I'm me.

05:46Well, it's also you like, hey, people that go to the beach and don't want to take their shirt off, you're like, fuck, man. Andy Ruiz is kind of built like me. Shit. And he's the champ of the world. Yeah. Give these big guys confidence. It makes a big deal. You remember when Butterbean? Well, Butterbean was obviously never a champ, but people used to love Butterbean because he was this big fat guy who would fuck people up. You know what? I took a picture with Butterbean when I was like five years old, six years old, in tijuana he fought over there and he was a big guy man big guy he was a tank man that that dude had some fucking power yeah he would starch people you know I mean he really couldn't go past four or five rounds but he would put a fucking beating on you for four rounds you ever see when johnny

06:33knoxville from uh that that crazy asshole decided to yeah he actually made him bleed or something oh god well he let him punch him for some crazy reason he decided to try to box with Butterbean Butterbean just brained him It was not good Don't do that to people man No I'm gonna sign a waiver So You're sitting pretty right now man I mean you're at the top of the heap You're the champ And you're You're the most popular champ Right now Because you're the guy Who pulled off the giant upset Over the Olympic gold medalist The fucking The man Anthony Joshua You knock him out And like Everyone is Sitting there Chomping at the bit There's Wilder who's probably the greatest knockout artist in the history of the heavyweight division. And then there's Tyson Fury and Tyson Fury and Wilder trying to figure it out. And Tyson Fury's now in a different organization.

07:25It's hard to make the matches work now. It's like, what happens next for you? You know, what's going to be next is the rematch against me and Anthony Joshua. We're still negotiating. But there's definitely going to be the rematch this year. Exciting fight. but yeah but uh wilder you know uh wilder me and him are on the same team I had a a little interview with him over there at the pacquiao fight and really cool dude he's very cool yeah he's really cool we respect each other and um but that'll be a good fight too you know between me and him I love that well I mean people knew who he was before but goddamn that tyson fury fight put him on the map what a crazy that was a really good fight I was there too I was like man I want to be in that position. I want to be champion. It kind of motivated me, you know, being there.

08:17Well, you know, and then the fight with Brazil afterwards where he flatlined that one punch. He's an interesting guy, man. He's so interesting. You know his story that he didn't even start boxing until he was like 20-something years old. And he really started doing it because of his daughter, because his daughter has medical issues. Got into the Olympic team, won a bronze medal a year and a half into boxing. That's crazy. Yeah, it's nuts, man. But he's blessed, you know. Yeah. Blessed. Like you, man. Mm-hmm. I mean, it's got to be a crazy feeling now. Like six months ago, you're the struggling boxer, you know, trying to make ends meet, you know, working your way up, very respected, but you don't have that big name yet. And then, boom, you get the opportunity of all opportunities. I think that's what I need is just the opportunity and be hungry, you know.

09:05from having nothing to wanting to want uh something you know in life it it's a big motivation especially me I have five kids so damn I'm 29 wow five kids started early I know mexican style yeah mexican style beautiful well hey man your five kids are sitting pretty now man yeah that's beautiful thank you so you uh there's a rematch that is in negotiation now how much can you tell us um that it's gonna be in december sometime december uh um uh there's gonna be isn't it come out pretty soon you know I don't want to say it'll be I can't say it told me I did tell you but I'm not telling anybody no don't tell nobody cameras are off yeah um but it's gonna be this year it's gonna be an exciting fight me and anthony joshua rematch uh but um the the words going to come out soon where's it going to be at if anything I'll message you and be like oh you

10:04already know actually already know well um so now going into this rematch is there anything that you're going to do differently I mean um you know obviously now that he's well aware you're a big threat you know he's going to think about you I'm sure he was aware you were a threat before but when you stopped him you became the first guy to beat him I mean that that I mean that changes history. I think what we're going to do, we're getting a big house over there in Mexico, somewhere in the nowheres, you know, so we're going to have a close camp, you know, a close camp. So we're just going to be really focused for this fight. We're not underestimating him or anything. You know, we just got to work hard and do it again. So show people what I'm capable of now how much changes now that you're the the champ do you have um do you change anything in

10:56your camp as far as your strength and conditioning as far as uh nutrition or um long as we have all the team you know the stuff that we need the nutrition is the chef uh the um the coaches you know the all the all the stuff that I need to to win this fight especially training you know that that's the main thing training is the same discipline and and um you know praying to god Now, coming into the fight with Joshua the first time Did you have a nutritionist? Did you have a strength and conditioning coach? I did, I did have one The plan was not to lose too much weight, you know Because the guy is really big, you know I wanted to be heavy so I could carry his weight And, you know, it worked for my favor But I think the main thing that I'm going to do I might do a little bit of weight just to tighten up a little bit But just stay busy, that's the main thing

11:45Do you worry about, like, if it's not broke, don't fix it? Like, there have been guys before that have made changes in the way they prepare, and those changes, like, maybe fuck with their confidence, or they didn't feel as good, they didn't perform the same way? No, I don't think we're going to be changing too much of that stuff, you know? As long as we're training, we have the good sparring. Just exactly what we did for the last fight, I think that's what we're going to be doing. Just more intense. Now, do you have a guy that monitors your heart rate? Do they take logs of what your resting heart rate is when you get up in the morning and your heart rate variability and all that kind of shit? No, they don't do that. I'm kind of just old school. Old school. We work hard, wake up, run, train, eat good for like four or five days, and we have our little cheat meals.

12:31But just have a happy camp. This is heavyweight camp like it's everybody. Yeah, heavyweight camp's nice. No weight cutting. Now, what kind of food do they have you eating? Right now, I'm just eating light, you know, sandwiches, steaks. Yeah, I just ate a sandwich before I came on. Well, the beautiful thing about being heavyweight is you don't have to worry about your weight. But it's in terms of optimal performance. Like when your chef has you in camp, what kind of meals they feed you? Well, everything, chicken, meat. I try not to eat too much meat, you know. It takes too long to digest. I get constipated, can't shed, comfortable. But everything, you know vegetables a lot of white rice They tell they tell me not to eat too much white rice, but I like white rice now

13:19Do they have you taking supplements or anything like that? You know what for this fight? I wasn't taking a lot of supplements just multivitamins something to get me through the the training Yeah, basically and what kind of strength conditioning should they have you doing you running running sprain Doing explosive stuff A lot of mid-work, a lot of mid-work. I think that's one of my favorite things at the gym, sparring, beating people up, and doing mid-work. Yeah, of course, right? Now, you had an extensive amateur career, too, man, which is, I think, a lot of how you're so well-schooled. You know what? That helped me a lot. I first started training when I was six years old, and I trained for a whole year. And when I was seven years old, I had my first amateur fight. But I was always this big, chubby kid where there wasn't people at my age at that weight.

14:15So I always had to fight bigger guys and older guys. So my first fight, I won, but they gave it to the other guy at 12 years old fighting a 7-year-old. You got robbed. I got robbed. I feel I did. You robbed your first fight. And I have the video, too. Oh, you just put that shit online. Yeah. Let the internet decide. Wow. So your first fight at 7 years old. That's incredible, man. That's there's no substitute for that guys who get into combat sports young That's the guys who have what I was talking about that you possess before that sort of fluidity The efficiency to punches. It's like you're you develop throwing punches. I think it's all muscle memory it's happened, you know, um a lot of male work and Just working hard man working hard and this is a sport that I love and I've been doing this is the only thing that I know So thank god that it paid off Well, it's such an amazing story.

15:06I love a story like that. It's such a Rocky story, such a Cinderella story. A Cinderella. It's amazing. Well, yeah, everybody underestimated me. They're just waiting for me to get knocked down. And then when they see me getting knocked down, they're like, oh. And it's crazy that the announcers were saying, oh, Anthony's a great finisher. Look at how he's going to finish him. And what do you know, end up getting him with the hook. Yeah, it was crazy. How many times you watched the fight? um probably like 30 times 30 times and I still got more more to see you know because when he got me with the uppercut and the hook um I was kind of I was kind of being on a lazy mode you know I think I need to put my gear up more and move ahead more well he's a big powerful motherfucker but he's an outside fighter he likes to fight on the outside and drop big power punches and that's

15:55where it became apparent that like when you're in the dog fight when you guys are in tight you have that advantage of the fluidity and efficiency and I think I think it's the speed that I kind of messed them up you know and I'm not I'm not just a one two three fighter uh puncher you know I try to throw more than than one or two punches so no dude you know throw hail storms yeah shit coming away from all kinds of angles it's awesome man so you're in this amazing position now um when you're you're headed into this fight how long did it take to negotiate the rematch I'm sure you had some sort of a contract clause, right? Yeah, we had a contract clause. We've just been going back and forth with my team and their team. They were trying to get you to go to England. Yeah, but no. And you were like, I want to say in America, but we can't say what's happening. I'd love to have it back over there

16:45at the Madison Square Garden. I'd love to run it back. How about the Staples Center? The Staples Center, that's what I said too in one of the interviews. Or Vegas. Vegas would have been great too. yeah right but wherever it is it's gonna be an amazing fight an amazing venue so but tune in is there the announcement is gonna be in soon now is this uh gonna be on the zone again on the zone beautiful um it's so nice you could just watch it on app yeah watch on your phone watch on a laptop and um when you see the rest of the heavyweight division I mean what a crazy exciting time for boxing boxing comes in these waves right where like there's waves of awesome shit happening right now is a hot wave canelo's hot you know manny just won the title at 40 years old you know triple g and canelo they're talking about having another fight it's so amazing right

17:37now it's like boxing is on fire it is you know and I'm just blessed being there and in the top 10 you know and having the the unified heavyweight champions but you know I'm willing to fight anybody as soon as I um win the the rematch I'm willing to fight tyson fury wilder or anybody you know that's all listen there's never been a time that I can recall where there's four legitimate heavyweight champions that everybody thinks of like look anthony joshua could have been the man you know tyson fury could be the man wilder could be the man you could be the man who's the fucking man it's like no one knows it's not like during the tyson era it was like tyson and everybody else was just just waiting to get murked yeah you know like there's been times where there was a standout fighter but when you when joshua beat klitschko it was apparent that joshua was the guy but then

18:35as wilder started piling up bodies it's like damn maybe wilder's the guy and then tyson fury comes back you know like a lot of people had written tyson fury off after the klitschko fight they were like you know he kind of went crazy almost committed suicide and all these mental health problems and now he seems super happy and healthy and so it's this incredible incredible time for boxing where you have like in terms of star power and in terms of like the public interest I can't recall a time in my life where there's been four dudes who were at the top of the heap like this Yeah Tyson Fury's a good guy too You know I love his personality His energy And you know what If I If I want to see that fight again Wilder and Fury You know I think that was a really good fight I think it was really close If Wilder wouldn't have Knocked him down In the last round I think Tyson Fury was winning

19:26In my eyes I think so too And I think You could make an argument That he still won Even though he got knocked down Twice in the fight Yeah It's still You make a good argument That he still won the decision I know a lot of people think he did but I didn't have a problem with the decision just because of the action yeah and the way wilder knocked him down in that final round like what the fuck how did he get up that was what was crazy like and when wilder like threw his uh his thumb across his throat he thought fuck it's over and he's shaking his hips like he thought it was and then tyson fury just rises from the dead like a fucking zombie it's just it's crazy man in the heavyweight division you know and it only It takes one punch to change the whole game, the whole fight, you know, and that's the beauty of it. It is the beauty of it.

20:13Now, what is it like getting accustomed to all this recognition? Now I know you got this new ice. You got an AR hanging from your neck. Spending a little of that heavyweight championship money. I owe a jeweler. Yeah, I mean, dude, your whole life is like shifted. What does that feel like? It feels good, you know, just getting the stuff that I always wanted, you know, seeing a lot of famous people having nice stuff, you know, and thanks to God now I could just get it for myself and for my family, for my kids, my mom. What kind of car are you driving now? I have a Rolls Royce outside. Dude, you stepped right up. You didn't even fuck around. You didn't even try a BMW first. No, I already had that before. What were you driving before you won the title? I had a Porsche. I had a Porsche Panamera. Oh, those are nice. Yeah. But it's not a Rolls Royce.

21:04No, rose-royce is a king car. You know what the the car that I love right now and I bought for my for my fiancee, Julie It's the new g-wagons at 2019. Yeah, so beautiful Yeah, my wife has one of those. Yeah, they're the shit. She's lucky. Those are dope man. It's a crazy car It's they they redesigned it they made it so that the old ones they had like that old truck Suspension with the live rear and front axles and it was kind of bumpy and shit. I love it, man when you move it when the car moves the like the seats hug you yeah that's a tank too yeah those doors weigh a thousand pounds it's crazy when you shut those things like a bank vault you know yeah but there's something about a rolls royce man that's like a suitable car for a champ you know you run around that's my dream car man my dream car I even had pictures before I was even

21:54any nothing I used to have pictures on my on my on my wall of all the cars that I wanted a Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, you know, just dreaming big. And that's what I tell a lot of these kids, man. Just dream big. Write something that you want in life and just keep praying for it, you know. Keep wishing for it. And it will come true. You work hard. Yeah, if you work hard. Some people just want to wish. No, yeah. They got to work hard. There's a lot of shit involved. Yeah. Do you use any sort of a sports psychologist or anything like that? No, not really. No, just motivation. my kids uh um you know just a person that wants to do better is gonna do better right and so when you are preparing for a fight do you um do you ever have moments where you you know you find yourself feeling down or you find yourself not yeah there's a mental place no there's a lot of

22:51times like that you know because I'm missing home I'm like man I want to go with my kids I want to go with my girl oh I'm I'm mad man I haven't I haven't fucked or nothing so I'm fucking angry and um you know stuff like that that's what a lot of boxers go through you know because this is a lonely sport you know this is a one-man sport and you know you got to do everything on your own and not on your own but when you go to the gym you have your team but you just after the gym is is what you do you know I usually just rest watch movies um try to go to show find a show just relax just chill out do you uh get regular massage or anything yep I get massages um from ar therapy from la uh he hooks it up like every I probably when I'm in camp I'll get one like two two times a week three times so basically it's normal stuff just normal strength conditioning food

23:45It's the grind of camp is something that boxers always complain about. It's like the one thing is just the day in, day out, just hard work constantly. You know what sucks for a lot of the fighters, too, is going in there and, you know, your coach wants to weigh you after training every fucking time. And you're like, man, and it's crazy. But, you know, just working hard, it's everything's going to pay off. What do they like to keep you at? Like what weight do they like to keep you at? I think like at 255, 250. That's where you feel like you're your best? I'm at my best at 255, 250. But I gained to, what did I weigh? Like 267 for Joshua. Really? On purpose? Just because he's so big? Yeah. It kind of worked out a little bit. It definitely worked out. Now, what did you do differently? Nothing. More quesadillas? No, it was good. Just more portion, you know, a little bit more portion.

24:42and I was just happy through all this camp. I was just focused, motivated. I kept telling everybody that I'm going to win, that I'm going to pull out the upset, and just having those good vibes inside you and a fun camp. It was fun. I enjoyed the camp a lot. The only thing that people worry about when someone finds success, and obviously Tyson is the best example of it because he's documented in his documentary and he talks about it all the time, was how things got out of control once he became famous. Things just went off the rails, and he just lost his fucking mind. How do you prevent that from happening to Andy Ruiz? I think just having the right people around you, you know, having the right people around you that want to do good and want you to do good, you know, bring you good opportunities, you know, stuff like that. And, you know, I'm a family man.

25:35I'm always with my kids, with my fiancés, So that's one of the big blessings that I have. And if that would have happened, I think my dad will grab me by the throat like, what the fuck are you doing? He's always on me. Well, you seem like a real down-to-earth guy, which helps a lot. I mean, that really does. It's the dudes that have feelings. Like sometimes the ego is what gets you to the dance because you believe you are the baddest motherfucker of all time. But then once you are there and the challenge is met, then there's no other challenges in front of you, like with Tyson. And each fight is kind of like a done deal before it happens. And you just start getting tigers and doing crazy shit, you know. Wrestling with tigers. No, I think the main thing is just remain humble, you know.

26:23I was praying for this opportunity for so long, so I'm still going to continue to keep praying and thanking God for all these big blessings that he gave me. And, you know, just continue to work hard and enjoy my family to the fullest. And you got a good crew of dudes with you, too. You could tell. I know. You're saying that's the biggest entourage that I had. The biggest entourage everybody's ever brought in here. I never rode with a lot of entourage. Really? Just with a few of my best friends. You know, friends, close friends that were from high school and some of my cousins. That's awesome. Stuff like that. Just family. People who know you. Exactly. Who actually know you from the beginning. Now, this newfound celebrity, like, are they giving you, like, there's other distractions that come your way, like movie-type offers and television shit. You know what?

27:10I did my first commercial for Sweato X. It was in, it's a Mexico brand. What is it? Sweato X. Sweato X? What is it? It's a drink, you know, like Pedialyte, but it's a Mexican version. And it was fun, man. It was really fun. I love doing commercials. Have you been to Mexico since you won? I have. Remember, I met the president of Mexico. I went to Los Pinos, and that was amazing, man. Andres Lopez, he's the president for Mexico. Amazing guy. Is it wild being in Mexico as the first ever Mexican heavyweight champion? It was super wild. so many so many fans you know um little kids uh of um all types of sort of people coming my way and it's just crazy how how they react you know how they react they're screaming like it's crazy that must be the the wildest thing about this is the shift in how people perceive

28:07you versus just a few months ago and now like you're the fucking man it's weird right it's crazy What goes on in your head while all this is happening? This is just the beginning. This is just the beginning. And I don't want to lose the title. So the main thing, I just got to stay focused and get prepared for the rematch because there's more work to be done. And I want to be the Mexican Rockies. So I want to continue to keep winning and defending all my titles. That's beautiful. Now, Joshua is the first fight. And so this will take place in December. And given if you win, what would you like to, who would you like to face next? Because it looks like it's going to be a while before they could sort out Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. Because of contractual shit. When I win and Siosuke, I win for the rematch. I would love to fight Tyson Fury, man. Tyson Fury. I know Wilder's there too.

29:11He has the belt that I want, you know, because I want the WBC belt. Why do you want that belt? Because I'll be undisputed if I have that belt. I have all the belts in the heavyweight division, and I'll be the new king. So what do you have now? You have WBA? I have the WBA, WBO, IBO, and IBF. Damn. I know. Damn. That's crazy. I should have brought them too, man. You should have. Do you have them laid out on your bed? No, they're actually at my dad's house. They're actually at my dad's house. Must be bizarre just looking at them, right? They are. man. I was crying, man. Like I said, I was still pinching myself for weeks. I can only imagine. I would imagine it's going to last years before it really, really, really sinks in. So Tyson Fury seems to you to be like the best matchup after that. Tyson Fury, I think he's one of the biggest

30:06names out there, you know. I like Dylan White, so, you know, he was coming up, but he got caught up. He pissed off. He did. What did he get caught with? I don't know. I think it was PD or something. Some sort of performance-enhancing drug. I don't know why they do that. Why? I know why. They want to win. Shit. You don't need it, man. Look at me. It doesn't look like a fight taking anything. It's just all natural. Well, you're consistent, and even though you carry body fat, you're always in great shape. You never have a problem with fatigue in your fights. I have a six-pack under my belly. It's in there somewhere. Yeah, I mean, that's deceptive. you know there's uh quite a few fighters like that that you look at them on the outside and you can get real confused you know but you have always been consistent like you had a consistent

30:53amateur career consistent professional career some fighters just like they maybe they just feel like they need something else you know they just don't feel like they're doing enough and they want it they want a shortcut you know it's usually it's usually a bad sign you know and in today's climate it's look there's there's vada testing and they're the best you know that was my first time getting tested by vada and they're fucking strict man they go they they'll go look for you wherever you're at at your house at the gym anywhere and um they take blood out piss out I liked it yes um I think it's the best way and usada is what works with the ufc very similar same sort of deal they wake you up six o'clock in the morning hey buddy yeah time to find out what's up you know and they've caught a lot of people that way they caught a lot of people it's great it cleans up the sport

31:46you know I mean this uh this is a dangerous dangerous sport and when people are taking things they there's a potential that they can hit you when they wouldn't be able to hit you without it and I mean this is uh something that we all want to avoid we all want to avoid anything that could pretend I mean it's already a dangerous enough sport exactly we're already trying to kill each other and all that yeah yeah so dylan white is I mean what how long they suspended him for um I'm not sure I've seen it on instagram but you know things happen but you know hopefully he gets clean and or we we don't know what really happened you know maybe it was a team side that put something in it or we don't know yeah it could be we we catch this a lot with the ufc where guys buy a supplement at like a vitamin store and it's tainted or even like a diet one They bend that too.

32:37Yeah, anything that has a diuretic or things along those lines. Yeah, it's a shame. But if they're not using Vata testing and they get caught, then they're just dumb. Because then it means... That's why it's kind of scary, fighting over there at the UK. We don't know what they're going to be letting Anthony Joshua be taking or whatnot. I don't know. Do you think he takes some shit? I don't know. Tell you what, he looks like he does. He does. It looks like it, but... It looks like what you would think a movie fighter would look like. You know? He's built perfect. He's got a perfect body. You wouldn't want to change anything. If you're making a sculpture, you're like, damn. It's perfect. I nailed it. I don't know if that's natural. What do you think? I don't know. If he took something, it didn't work. If he doesn't use it for the next fight, I don't know.

33:33who knows how the body's gonna react or if he doesn't have it so or maybe um it reacted wrong when he wasn't using it when I fought him or that's possible who knows that's definitely happened before that's definitely happened before you know you've seen fighters that look different because of stricter testing and then they don't perform the same way they have like real power and then also it's confidence if you know you've been cheating and then all of a sudden they take away your secret weapon and then you just you're like I'm fine I'm fine but you in there's a little lingering doubt yeah so you worried about that if a fight if the fight takes place in the uk uh you know somewhat but it's not going to be over there so he's never tested positive before right he's never have so you just gave up the ghost you said it's

34:16not going to be over there so now it's people narrowed it down there's 197 countries now we know it's not going to be in england no it's not okay 196 yeah it's uh in combat sports I mean it's always been a problem performance enhancing drugs yeah everybody's been using it a lot of champions you know from the heavyweight division too a lot of sure a lot of people yeah but I don't know I don't want to try it I don't want to get caught up well it's it's beautiful that you you haven't had it and you could take pride that everything that you've accomplished is from hard work and intelligence. Yeah, I'm sure of that. So when you look at the landscape of boxing, I mean, right now, what fights are exciting for you? I want to see the Pacquiao and what's his name? Thurman? No. The guy that fought Manny, Mikey Garcia. Oh, Earl Spence? Earl Spence. Yeah, Earl Spence Jr. I like him, too.

35:20He's a bad motherfucker. Yeah. Woo. Yeah. To shut down Garcia like that, Garcia's a bad motherfucker. He was. I was over there in Vegas with him. That was funny. Well, when Garcia, look, I give it up to Garcia because after that fight, he's like, that guy's the truth. Yeah. That guy's the real deal. Yeah. And, you know, that's beautiful when a guy doesn't make excuses and says, hey, man, that guy's, he's, everybody knew Errol Spence is a bad motherfucker, though. Yeah. I mean, it was no surprise. I think once you have him fight the really elite fighters, I think that's when all his talents is in a show. Oh, sure. Yeah. I mean, it's such a great time for boxing. But Earl Spence Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao would be incredible. Yeah, they're working on it. Is that what they're working on? I thought they were working on a rematch with Thurman. I don't think so. No? Who wants to see that?

36:05Manny Pacquiao. Who wants to see that? You don't want to see it? I think Pacquiao beat his ass. You think so? Yeah. It was crazy when he knocked him down the first round. I was like, wow. I think he got too confident. I think Manny Pacquiao got too confident. He got hit with punches that he shouldn't have, you know. And I don't know. I think Thurman was just surviving the whole time. But either way, he was connecting really good shots. He connected with good shots. Yeah, he sure did. And he hits hard. The crazy thing is Manny is the oldest ever guy to win the welterweight title. 40 years old. He's won titles in how many different weight classes now? It's more than eight. Like 12. I don't know. something but it's like eight more than eight different weight classes which is nuts like who the fuck does that and then maintains his power all the way through he just takes care of himself

36:49you know amazing I am white rice it's something whatever he's doing the philippines so it's amazing but um yeah that's a great fight um and then there's mayweather who shows up at that fight and talking shit and I think that would be a good fight too against manny pacquion mayweather I'll watch it apparently according to Khabib Nurmagomedov Khabib Nurmagomedov is the UFC lightweight champion bad Russian motherfucker he's he's saying that that Floyd Mayweather's people have been trying to get him to box him that's crazy while Floyd made with that easy money off Conor McGregor that's crazy I like Conor McGregor too I do too I mean it was a a crazy well Floyd played that perfectly too he only gave Conor like six weeks to prepare you know he He took the lion's share of the money but gave Conor a shitload. He made a lot of money off that fight. Yeah, Metweather's smart, man.

37:41Like I said, having the right people with you and that gives you good opportunities. Those are the right people you want around you. Now, when you were coming up, who were you influenced by? Like, who were you a big fan of? Of Chavez, you know, all the Mexican fighters, Morales, Barrera. I got to meet Barrera. It was my first time. That was a good honor over there at the Pacquiao fight. You know, Mike Tyson, you know, all the big guys, all the Mexican guys as well, too. Yeah. So you're 29. So when you were first starting out, who was big? Fernando Vargas. He was my favorite fighter, man. Fernando Vargas. I hung out with Fernando on a plane once. I used to have the same haircut as him. I painted my hair. That was crazy. Yeah, no, he was a bad motherfucker. He was a lot of fun to watch Didn't he he had some reality show he was doing yeah doing it with him and his family

38:39What is he doing now? Do you know? Um, he's training fighters. Oh, and then his kids too. They're really talented We're at in Vegas. Oh Yeah, nice nice really good people nice guys Um Oscar De La Hoya you a fan of his yeah, I'll show you Yeah, there's I mean there's so many great Mexican fighters If you think about one country that produced amazing boxers, I mean, Mexico might be the top of the heap. I mean, if you really stop and think about it. I think we're missing one champion. I think we have champions in all the divisions except for one, I think. Light heavyweight, maybe? Probably. Cruiserweight? Cruiserweight. I think so, but you know what? At least we got the first Mexican heavyweight champion. Yeah. How does it feel, man? It feels good, you know? Is it? Just by saying I'm going to be in the Rikers, you know.

39:30Hopefully nobody forgets my name, but, you know, there's always going to be the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world. Especially for my kids, you know, for them to look up and be like, wow. Forever. Yeah, my daddy can kick your daddy's ass. It would be number one. I mean, you're the first ever. There's no one ever can take that from you. That's it, forever. That's a blessing, man. You're in the books. That's what I've been working for for so long, you know. My dad pushing me, embarrassing me with my friends. How do you embarrass him? Just by kicking me out, by telling me, come on, we have to go train, get the fuck out of there. I don't know. It's crazy, man. My dad's always been there behind me. So I don't think I would have been in this position if he wasn't in the role of all this. Is your dad a boxer? No, but his dad used to train fighters in Mexicali a long time ago.

40:19I never got to meet him. And he never boxed himself? No. He was just in the streets. Did he train? No, he'll just see his dad training other guys. I didn't think he had the discipline. I think he was more like a hustler, basically. So what was his thought when you first started fighting? Well, he's the one who put me into it. Really? Yeah, because the destroyer, I used to destroy everything, all the toys, my mom's stuff, everything. So I had so much energy as a little kid. He just took me to my first thing was karate. I tried karate. I was six years old. Didn't like it. It took too long for action or whatnot. And he put me into boxing. I was six years old. And what do you know? I fell in love with the sport. So what do you mean by it took too long for action? I think we were practicing too much or something. Oh, like katas and shit like that? Yeah, I think so. Kicking in the air.

41:14And the first two weeks when I went to a boxing gym, they made me spar and they kicked the shit out of me, man. They beat me up. When you were seven? No, I was six and a half. If you remember, because I trained a whole year until I trained. Right. They beat me up. They put me to spar my first time, and I was bleeding. And I told my dad, you know what? I don't want to fight no more. He's like, what do you mean? You just got to keep training, and you're going to end up beating everyone up. And what do you know? A year later, I end up beating everyone up. So your nickname came from you fucking things up as a kid? From fucking things up, destroying things. I could never have a toy or even like the Game Boy or anything for like more than a week or something because I would end up breaking it. So did your parents give you that nickname? Yeah. That's hilarious. What a great nickname then.

42:01Because it seems like a tough guy nickname. But then when you find out it's because you were a little kid and you would break your toys. That makes it even better. Not just toys, but everything. Glasses. I don't know. It was crazy. So it must be wild for your dad to see you come up from a six-year-old kid and you know because of his Pushing you and trying to keep you in there that you eventually start excelling and winning amateur fight after amateur fight And then he's really happy man. He's really happy and Like I said, he's really happy. He's really blessed He's over here and over there just enjoying life as well now when you were coming up to was there a fighter whose style? you tried to emulate was there anyone that like really stood out for you you know I started a lot of guys and they all of them tell me that I have a my own type of style you know they tell me that

42:52I have a calm different style than than everyone else and you know I kind of I like that well that is one of the beautiful things about boxing and all martial arts like there's a lot of people that don't like that term martial arts because they don't think it's really an art but it is an art I think it's harder, man. Shit. From being in the ground and fighting up, it's a lot of things you have to learn. Oh, for mixed martial arts? Yeah. But I mean, even boxing is a martial art. And what I mean is that, like, the way you knocked out Joshua, that was beautiful. It was beautiful. For a person like me, who loves boxing, it was art. Like, you expressed yourself in art. I mean, that's no different than a badass movie or a rap song or a symphony. It's art. it's just art with your fists and you know I mean you saw I'm sure you saw that video that I posted up on my Instagram who was the guy

43:45that made that video that video where he hits Joshua when Josh's soul leaves his body Rayrod oh and he goes on the airplane that was a funny man that guy's amazing what is his what is it 5-4-what we're gonna find out is it Instagram and give him some props because 747 Rayrod's 747 put that up so we can watch that again that guy is a god damn genius because he didn't just do it with that he did it with Deontay versus Brazil he gave him Thanos's power fist this guy does amazing uh anime this one's not on Jamie oh the guy does uh amazing uh animation I mean I don't even know how the fuck he does something like that and what program, but this was my favorite. Play this, Jamie. Here, boom! Look at that! When you see the soul just leaves his body, a blue soul, he gets the roller bag, he's on the escalator, he gets on the plane, and look at the Tweety Birds are flying around his head.

44:49That is hilarious, man. That guy is a goddamn genius. Ray Rod 747. Thanks a lot, buddy. No, he's genius. He's really funny. How many millions of views did that shit get? Well, I think you reposted it and it got a lot more views than on his page. His got like 735,000, but on mine it was millions. Yeah. No, it's crazy. He does a lot of great shit in MMA and in boxing. There's been a lot of that, right? A lot of memes. Yeah. I like that, you know. And now they have my own one, so it's amazing. They have your own one what? Like the memes that they put above me hitting Anthony Joshua, you know, stuff like that. Yeah. Having me there and looking at it, I'm just like, wow, man, that's crazy. Yeah, wild, right? So you didn't emulate anybody when you were coming up? Is it not like Chavez or Barrera or anybody that you tried to imitate their style or Tyson? Yeah, of course, like Tyson.

45:48Everybody wants to knock everybody out like Tyson. and Chavez, always going to the body. I'm one of the heavyweights. I like to hit the body a lot, get them tired. But like I said, I think I have my own style. I like my style. Have you had the same trainer your entire life? No, I went through. I learned from a lot of different trainers. My first real professional trainer was Freddie Roach. That's when I met. Oh, really? Yeah, that's when I met Manny Pacquiao. I love Freddie. Freddie, me too. Such a great guy. Freddie helped me out through my whole professional career until like the my 10th or 12th fight and he had me so I learned a lot from him Why did you stop training with him? They sent me to Las Vegas top rank sent me over there and then So we train over there Jeff some guys Jeff Grimoja

46:41Some big guy was training me over there and then we moved from there when we went to Abel Sanchez when I fought for the for the world title for the wbo so you were up in up in big bear abel I was in big bear for I think for like a month and a half for the joseph parker fight was the only fight you've lost and it was a close decision exactly what's your what was your thoughts on that fight um you know I trained myself for that fight a lot of really a lot of people don't know the the training camp that we had abel sanchez had like eight different fighters fighting at that same time so he was always flying out so he'll just leave us a piece of paper and be like you know what you guys do this do that and on our own you know so that's crazy it kind of sucked why did he do that uh he was obligation to to go to

47:27spread himself too thin yeah that sucks I'm a fan of abel sanchez too he's a bad motherfucker yeah he sure is you know I appreciate everything that he's done for me so knowledgeable but for that fight um I think I needed the right trainer and moving with many robles and estrell it was It was the best thing I could have done, you know, because those guys are really on me just to two guys just pushing you and One telling you this one telling you that and it's just good, you know, it keeps you focused and So when abel was training you and you're training by yourself You're up there in big bear and training by yourself. How were you going nuts? I was going hella nuts, man What the fuck am I doing up here? There's shit to do this one movie theater I was going back and forth from my hometown, you know, because I live in imperial valley I lived like three hours from Big Bear.

48:17And I was just going back and forth. And I wasn't really focused for that fight. So a lot of people don't know that. Did you fight Parker in the UK? No, I fought him in New Zealand. Oh, wow. And his hometown, too. Oh, wow. So I think if I would have been over here with Manny Robles, I definitely would have won. Well, it was a close fight. It was a good fight. When you think about what went wrong, I mean, it's always so important for a fighter to experience a loss because a loss sort of lets you know, like, hey, man, you don't want this feeling. You know, and I didn't want to lose no more. That's when everything went down and me having problems with top rank and then not letting me go and Al Heyman helping me out. Al Heyman is the man, you know, he's the man right now, And he helped me out through everything to get me out of the situation and giving me this opportunity.

49:15So top rank, did they make you train with Abel? How did that set up? Yeah, we ended up going over there with Abel Sanchez. It was a good idea at first, but we didn't know it was going to be like that. Right, because he's just got too many finers, too many obligations. And Triple G wound up leaving him as well, right? Yeah, Triple G went with Jacobs, Anthony Jacobs or something like that. But Triple G is a good fighter. I've seen him over there at the fights, too. He's amazing. We're good friends. No, he's amazing. I'm really interested to see his rematch, if they try to do a rubber match. He's strong, man. Me and him wrestled over there in Big Bear. You're wrestling? Literally wrestling, and this guy picked me up. Jeez, he's strong. Dude, those Russians are a different kind of human. Yeah, they're strong, man. They're built different. They got different tendons or something.

50:08Something, but he's strong. No, he is a bad motherfucker. He's a really friendly guy, too. He's always smiling and shit. He's humble. I get along with him really good. We're over there going crazy together. Why were you wrestling? It was just something that, some drill to warm up and grabbing our fists by, I mean, our hands like shaking our hands to get to get strength in our forearms and shaking your hands yeah it was like can can we do it it's like like going like that like oh just squeezing yeah we get like uh cramps right here really yeah his forearm is fucking big too oh I'm sure wrong but why not like do like a wrist roll we do that one too but I guess I don't know that's how just their style of doing it picking each other up and how weird is this shit so was abel sanchez gone with him too or was he focusing on Triple G? No, Triple G was in training at that time.

51:02He had different other fighters he had to go. Oh, okay. So he was just in camp. So then you left Abel Sanchez and now you're training with? With Manny Robles and Estreita at the Legends Boxing Gym in Norwalk. So that is where you feel like is your best fit. Yeah, that's comfortable right there. The gym is beautiful. Facility is really big. You have everything that you need. But for the Reese Joshua 2, the training camp is going to be in the mountains somewhere private. And, you know, so we could just focus and get ready for the next fight. So you're going to do it in Mexico, right? I'm going to do it in Mexico. Nice. Did you like training at altitude at Big Bear? Was that the first time you had trained at altitude? No, I went there a few times. And, you know, I like it. You know, the first few weeks is hard. You know, it's really hard. You get tired fast. But I did like it

51:56But when you come back down to sea level You feel the benefit? I feel the benefit I could last more More oxygen in your body Your brain Yeah for sure Now when you go to Mexico Do you know what altitude you're going to be up up there? It's going to be high in altitude too Because there's like a point of diminishing returns People feel like once you get above like 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 The idea is that you can't work hard enough Because there's just not enough air Like they think that 5,000 is like the perfect line. There's a lot of weird, you know, people have had different philosophies when it comes to training at altitude. And now many people feel like you should actually live at altitude, but you should train at sea level. Because they think that when you train at sea level, you could put out more output, you could do more work,

52:43and then you go and live up at altitude so your body acclimates to the low oxygen and you develop more red blood cells. That makes sense. Yeah. So have you thought about doing something like that? Or are you just going to stay up there? Yeah, I'm just going to stay up there just for a few months, you know. And a few months and come back down, finish it up, finish the camp for like a month and go where I'm going to fight. But I can't say. Well, you're in such a great position, man. Thank you. And you're only 29 years old. So like your athletic prime, particularly as a heavyweight, is like you're like three or four years away from your prime, which is really crazy. And that's a good thing. You know, I'm still young. I never had big wars. You know, I never been hurt, thanks to God, you know.

53:26And every fight that I have, you know, I always pray for me and the guy that I'm fighting, you know, because I want both of us to go with our families because I have two friends that have died from, one from Mexicali and one from Costa Rica that I know personally. So it's scary, man. It's really scary. It most certainly is. I mean, there's no getting away from that, man. It's a fucking scary sport. When you think about your career, do you have long-term goals? Do you have like a day, like a time where you want to get out of the sport? You know what? I wanted to retire when I was 35 years old. And I said that on a piece of paper, like I was telling everybody, if you want a goal or something, write it down and all that. And I said I wanted to retire when I'm 35, so we'll see. Why 35? I don't know. I just had that number. Seems like a good number. Uh-huh.

54:15What do you think you would do if you weren't boxing? Do the houses my dad is the contractor. So we buy lots and we make houses from scratch, you know, and we sell them we resell them or we rent them out and or make a Lot of apartments, you know condos for the people that can't really afford What was that called my dad does it low-income house low-income houses Apartments like that in my hometown, you know, well, that's beautiful um, but for fighters the thrill of fighting is something that is impossible to recreate it's almost like for a regular person to experience what you experienced when you knocked out anthony joshua when joshua gets counted off the referee waves his arms and you're like oh shit I started jumping like oh my god you did you went nuts man but I mean that feeling you you all of a sudden you're the heavyweight

55:11champion of the world that I mean if you could sell that that look at that look at you right there man I felt like so many stuff um from my bag just came off you know because so much pressure so much oh yeah man stuff that was going through my mind I mean everybody was stunned the whole crowd was stunned everybody was and but the crowd was on your side it was really wild man when you were teeing off on him and the roars the crowd and when it was over when the referee just shook his hand and waved it off like that high is what leads fighters back in the ring when they really shouldn't be they chase that dragon yeah and that's what I want to do you know make a statement that everything is possible you know all the fighters that that have low confidence or something in themselves you know anything is possible just work hard and you know the

56:01opportunity will come do you think you'll ever train fighters me no I think the only person I would train would probably be like my son or at first you know because it's not really good to be training the son and well it depends what kind of relationship you guys have you know but um I think my son I'll be trained I'd rather be like a promoter or something like that do you think you'll do that like oscar I sure will yeah that's so in the works arj promotion oh so you're already soon really you're already oh no shit wow that's where that's the plan you know first I want to focus on the fight and all that I don't want to jump in conclusions of doing all kinds of other stuff I want to focus on my fight and um after that or when I want to retire I want to get fighters from mexico give them the opportunity and um you know learn learn like oscar laloya beautiful

56:53that's beautiful man anything else anything else you want to tell people um you know just to tune in uh december in december anthony joshua against andy reese or and or andy reese versus anthony joshua uh-huh you're the top billing now man you're the champ thank you but um you know uh just gotta work hard man work hard stay stay humble stay disciplined and just focus on the on the rematch well andy listen man you're a great guy and a great role model thank you know I appreciate that. I think for young kids to look up to a guy like you who's a really nice guy who's also a bad motherfucker, it makes them realize, hey, you don't have to be a dickhead. You don't have to be mean. You could be a real cool dude who even prays for his opponent and still be the baddest motherfucker on the planet. Congratulations to you, sir. Thank you, man. Appreciate it, man, very much.

57:44And good luck to you in December. Thanks for having me here. Thanks for coming up, bro. You're going to be there, man. I'm going to give you some tickets for you. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. You're going to be there.