0:01

Welcome back to another episode of The Art Award

0:03

Man in Philly. I'm with another world

0:05

champion, four time world champion

0:07

to be exact. He just moved up February

0:09

first to the featherweight division to

0:12

dominate Brandon Figueroa to capture

0:14

the WBC featherweight title. I

0:17

believe his best performance yet. He's

0:19

one of the great personalities in the sport. He's always

0:21

smiling, but he'll put hands on

0:23

you in real life. I want to welcome to the show

0:25

man my brother Steven. Cool voice

0:28

step folks, it's good man. How you doing, brother?

0:30

I'm fine, man.

0:31

How you doing after the last win February

0:33

first? You proved a lot of people wrong. Why

0:35

are you feeling about that?

0:37

I feel good. You know, I take things one

0:39

day at a time. Now I'm not overlooking

0:41

anything, so I just

0:43

feel good overall.

0:44

Is that the fight you had in mind? That the way that

0:46

played out?

0:47

Uh? Yeah? But I felt

0:49

like I thought he would like engage

0:52

more and like bring bring it to me ahead

0:54

of time, like from the Rown one.

0:56

But he tried you with Leddy, he tried.

0:59

He was trying to bring it. Man. You was

1:01

clicking all the boxes, bro and beautiful

1:04

performance.

1:05

Bro Yo, it was a performance.

1:07

Yeah.

1:07

Yeah, it's a good night.

1:09

It's a good Night's always good night. You get that hand rang

1:11

and get that check, take that hardware

1:13

home the beautiful knight. Yeah, kissed

1:16

the family man. Take me back, man.

1:18

First of all, you got clear something up from me? So I sent

1:21

you a voice me mooe. I'm doing some research online

1:23

and uh, the internet got you turf hoopping man.

1:26

We call it turf popping. So what

1:29

what what article will say? You from West

1:31

Philly? Other artists? Are you're from North Philly? Please clear

1:33

that before we get started. Where

1:35

are you from?

1:36

All right? I got I have to break it

1:38

down like this. So before

1:40

I moved the West, I was living the North like

1:44

my whole you know what I'm saying. Coming up. I

1:46

think I moved the West when I was like seven or so,

1:49

and then my dad came home when I was ten.

1:51

After that, I moved right back to North and went to school with Waiam

1:53

D. Kelly out there. I stayed out there. I was commuting

1:56

back and forth. So my whole family, my dad, my

1:58

mom, my aunts, everybody, we all from

2:00

North. But since I felt

2:02

like I was like raised in West and I

2:04

say more, I say, I say what okay,

2:07

push out to the north.

2:08

Though, yeah I heard the West

2:10

ain't nothing. Ain't no joke.

2:12

They got a little bit more wilder just around this time.

2:14

Yeah yeah, man,

2:17

you started off. Man, you know your

2:20

life wasn't easy, and we're gonna get into it. But

2:22

man, you were born with a hole in your back. Bro from

2:27

what I read, probably because of your mother's drug

2:29

use, and I know you were self conscious about it when you were younger

2:31

and stuff like that. How did you process that when you realize

2:33

what what you was dealing with.

2:35

At first, I didn't care, Like when you're

2:37

a kid, you hear that you like, I feel like an alien,

2:40

Like I felt that creative. At first. I

2:42

was going around school telling people I got scratching bit by

2:44

a tiger and they was believe me. So

2:48

but as I feel like as I

2:50

got older, then I started really thinking,

2:52

like, this is probably why I'm a little fed up in

2:54

the head. Sometimes I'm not

2:56

really fed up, but you start wondering

2:59

like why are you the habits the way they are and

3:01

things like that. So I feel like at

3:03

that when I hit a certain age, you

3:05

know, I had a lot of rage and me and stuff like that, a lot

3:08

of anger. But I also was raised around

3:10

those things too, so I didn't know where

3:12

it came from.

3:12

When you started figuring out where that came from, did

3:15

you you started building up to build up any resentment

3:17

for your mother?

3:18

Yeah? Yeah,

3:20

I did. Plus it was like how we

3:22

was raised. So I'll

3:25

be lying up I said, I did, I did.

3:27

How did you? You know a lot of times we grow up we don't have like

3:30

formal outlets to deal with that stuff,

3:32

right, Like we may or may not

3:35

believe in God, but we

3:37

may not. We also don't know how to walk it out sometimes

3:39

or we're not getting counseled. And

3:42

for a lot of families, you're not talking about stuff.

3:44

Who shut up?

3:45

The way it was was?

3:47

You know what I'm saying, That's how it is. So how

3:50

how have you dealt with that that throughout the years? How

3:52

did you deal with it then? Like being able to you know, stuff

3:54

with your mother and your father.

3:56

I dealt with it music. I love music, So

3:59

when I was coming up, I didn't. I had all three

4:01

sisters, mothers, my following around,

4:04

aunts, my cousins was a majority of

4:06

females. I never was like around a lot of men,

4:09

so like when they would play house, I'm playing house with them

4:11

and stuff like that. But it came to a point where it was

4:13

like, when things start

4:15

not going my way far as them just being females

4:17

just being annoying to me, I had to like

4:20

my outlet was my imagination. And

4:22

I feel like that's what turned my boxing up

4:25

at a young age when I did start because I had

4:27

a crazy imagination. You know, I use your imagination

4:29

then you can, you know, take yourself anywhere.

4:31

You just gotta outthink it. And I feel like

4:33

that's what it was for me. That was my outlet,

4:36

my music and my imagination. And then once

4:38

I hit a certain age, I just disconnected

4:41

myself away from them because I didn't you know, I wanted better.

4:43

I didn't want to be around that anymore.

4:45

Was you a bad kid?

4:47

I was a good kid, but you know how you know, you look

4:49

like.

4:50

You was mischievous. I'm gonna give you that, But

4:52

you look you looked like you was doing

4:54

a little stuff you shouldn't have been doing. Yeah,

4:58

I could have been. Was you Was you a ladies man in

5:00

school? Oh?

5:01

Yeah? Fe must always loved me, Yeah,

5:03

always handle myself though

5:09

I know how to handle myself. Then you get used

5:11

to like your mom, friends or the teachers,

5:13

Oh you were so handsome, You're gonna be this

5:15

when you grow up.

5:16

I'm like, yeah, man, Pops wasn't around for

5:18

the first ten years of your life, Like,

5:20

when did you start realizing that love? My dad ain't

5:22

here.

5:23

I knew this that at a young age. I remember one time

5:25

I was crying because I wanted my

5:27

pop and I forgot around how they was.

5:29

It was Thanksgiving to something, and

5:32

you know, my mom Christians, so she celebrate

5:34

all those things. So that's how I grew up. I grew up

5:36

in the Christian household. But my father,

5:38

you know, always instilled that I was Muslim.

5:41

Even when he was locked up.

5:42

He was telling you that really, But

5:45

when I went to church, I played, I played the drums all

5:47

those things for with my with my aunt

5:50

because they on the church. But

5:53

the bad To be back on topic, I

5:56

feel like I

5:58

always noticed he was going. But

6:01

it was like when things got a little rough, that's when

6:03

I would like look

6:05

for that person to come

6:08

help me fix this problem mistake as a young

6:10

kid, and so I had

6:12

to go by myself. I

6:14

talked to myself. I never answered

6:17

myself, but I would talk to myself, you know, you talk to yourself

6:19

in the head. You's just like, man, I'm

6:21

crying, I'm punching walls, I'm

6:23

doing stuff. Yeah, put a hole on my wall before.

6:27

Yeah, so I think we are probably did yeah.

6:30

Yeah, so you searching for it.

6:32

You chose to be a Muslim, Yeah,

6:35

tell me about that, Like what was it about

6:38

that versus the way your mother raised you?

6:40

Because my mom never like really took me

6:42

to church and things like that. I had to run away

6:45

from my mom for her

6:47

to send me with my father's sister,

6:50

which is my aunt, and then I start going to church

6:52

with them. I was in all like every

6:54

Saturday, what do they call it the Sabbath

6:56

or something like that. I was. I was doing all those type of things.

6:59

So that's how that came about. But when my father

7:01

came home, you know, I

7:03

always took to my father, so it's like, I

7:05

can't wait to my dad came. My dad came home, he pick you got

7:07

me in box, and then after that he was at the

7:09

mod center thing. So you know, I was trying to he was trying to

7:11

get me back on course. Of the religion thing

7:14

I had took classes and stuff like that.

7:16

You feel like that helps you though, just in terms of life,

7:18

things you've dealt with in the past. The piece you you

7:20

know, do you feel like it gives you peace?

7:21

Real my father.

7:23

Nor your faith being a Muslim?

7:25

Can you say you feel peace being.

7:27

I feel like I can. I feel like I can. But then I also

7:29

have my uh my girl

7:31

who's Christian, so you know, she

7:33

gives me insight from you

7:36

know, the Christian way

7:38

as well. But it's like I understand

7:40

that way because that's how I was raised. You know what

7:42

I'm saying. You can't but you can't fight

7:44

how you was raised. You could try to better it,

7:47

but you you know, sometimes you may still

7:50

pull some things from where you where

7:52

you you know, how you was raised, where you from, So

7:54

that I feel like, I don't know, man.

7:56

It's interesting

7:59

you your girl, your girl is a Christian. Yeah,

8:02

so she'd be talking to you.

8:03

Yeah all the time. She sent me some

8:05

stuff to read. I mean watch

8:07

before I came here.

8:09

Yeah, said Christian.

8:14

That's that's interesting though, That's

8:16

that's real. That's interesting. How's your relationship

8:19

with Pops? Now?

8:20

Oh, yeah, that's my dog.

8:21

It's good.

8:22

I never had an issue with him. Yeah, he's a peaceful

8:24

person. Things like that. I wish he was a

8:26

lot more. How

8:29

can I say it? Hands on with

8:31

with things, I can say that I wish he

8:34

would it was

8:36

a lot more aware of the people he was

8:38

around, like came back home

8:40

and people he was around, things like that.

8:43

But he's still in your life.

8:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah he

8:47

did.

8:47

Y'all ever have a chance to like unpack, like just

8:49

hey, man Son, this is what happened. Man. You know, I apologize

8:52

for being gone. Did he ever have that moment with you?

8:54

I'm not fully sure. I feel like we

8:57

say little things, but not really like you

8:59

said, we having this. We never had this. And

9:01

I feel like that got a lot to do

9:03

with me too, because because he wasn't around, I

9:05

wasn't comfortable opening up, Like I don't

9:08

just be comfortable opening up to him.

9:10

But it's crazy because I could open up to a stranger because

9:12

I won't get judged by a stranger, but but family

9:14

and friends tend to judge you a lot. Yeah,

9:17

so I always wanted

9:20

that, But it's like when you know how it is when you get around

9:22

something that you say you want but then make you uncomfortable a

9:24

little bit. And that's how it was for me.

9:26

But I love my pop though, and

9:29

I always look at it like this. If my pop

9:31

was away the first ten years of my life and

9:35

he was in and out of like communicating

9:38

with me for the time he was home, and

9:42

I still love him, I knew my kids gonna love me

9:44

because I'm always like

9:47

I was just dropped my kids, both of my kids off

9:49

the school. I had my nephew with us all week last

9:52

night. Outstanding father, bro,

9:54

that's what.

9:56

I gotta shake. Care father. We need

9:58

more of those in the world. Man. So

10:01

you know your mother, she's doing the best she can

10:04

raising you and your sister. Right, your sister,

10:06

my older sister, your older sister. She pretty much played

10:08

a mother role, right.

10:09

She had to at a young age because.

10:11

Mom she dealing with an active drug

10:13

addiction. It's crazy. It took me back to my childhood

10:16

because I seen a quote from your sister saying that y'all

10:18

told be playing cards or spades or whatever, your

10:20

mama just dip and lead and

10:22

then come back like nothing happened. She was like, I know what she

10:24

was doing.

10:25

You can see it.

10:26

You can see it whole demeanor.

10:28

Chain. I was in the basement one time, and

10:30

you know my mom is like the person where you know she like

10:33

when we say speak of like being from north, Like anybody

10:36

come in the house. We got men in

10:38

the house, but nobody's like sexually

10:41

active, like being sexually active when they come in the house. But they

10:43

just running and out like it's like a

10:46

block. Mom, and anybody could come up

10:48

and chill in the house, whatever the case may be. And

10:50

I'm like I forgot how what I was, but I was, you know, I always

10:52

been a small guy. Like I was four nine in ninth

10:54

grade, so I'm smallst

10:57

so I don't know how old I was. But in the basement, Mom

11:00

had this guy come over like he used to be chilled,

11:02

but we know him like he's from run the hood and everything. And

11:06

he had a plate and it was under

11:08

the you know how you got the little sofas that pull

11:10

out until bed. It was one of them in the basement.

11:13

You and I got skates. I played in the basement by

11:15

myself, skating and everything

11:17

by myself. But it wasn't like a fixed basement like

11:19

when you got the sheet rock all walled and everything

11:22

and I went under the couch.

11:25

I don't know if something fell under there. What made me going through there.

11:27

I think I was just being curious. It was a plate

11:29

full of like crack and stuff with uh

11:32

trying to what's it called? Rais

11:35

nice little bag. So I

11:38

wasn't fully a weird what it was, but I

11:40

knew what it was, but it was like before

11:42

I actually played in. I just grabbed it and I took it

11:44

upstairs to my mom, like gave it cause I used to see

11:46

like the little cut up straws and stuff on

11:49

the table, and I used

11:52

to like I remember the habits. I remember like the

11:56

like the things that she would do, like this one hand,

11:59

and it used to be like beer on the table,

12:02

they play cards, they do all those type of things.

12:05

Eyes real glassy and then she but

12:07

that's the time, ye, But that's the time where she would be the

12:09

nicest when she was

12:12

because it was like you were under a substance,

12:14

so it kind of suppresses everything

12:17

else. But then when they get off, it's like

12:19

it's angers read you know what I'm saying. But that's

12:21

the time where she was the nicest, and I feel like that's

12:23

the time where I could ask her for anything, because.

12:26

He was using it to your advantage. Man.

12:30

It's it's that's heavy.

12:32

Man.

12:32

Just even hearing you talk, it just brings me back,

12:35

you know, you man, you don't

12:37

forget that at all.

12:38

That stay with you, even.

12:40

The lives they talk. You know, I'm doing this

12:42

because it is I ain't forgot that. I

12:44

remember some stuff. I don't know how I remember this, but

12:47

it's like, you know, I guess it's a form of trauma,

12:49

you know what I'm saying. We don't know what to be trauma, but it's a form of

12:52

trauma because the kids shouldn't be seeing that. And it's

12:54

real heavy, and it's something in your

12:56

spirit that knows it's the same. Right. You can't articulate

12:58

it, but you know, I guess it's just that we just

13:00

you know, got to overcome.

13:02

Man. But outside the

13:05

house, how was you navigating North

13:07

Philly West Philly with

13:09

everything that was going on? Because

13:12

it ain't all bad in.

13:13

The hood, No, it's not, you know, but

13:16

I still felt alone because

13:19

my sisters can't relate to me, like none

13:21

of them really could relate to me. My mindset

13:23

was always different than them. And it's and it's like

13:25

it's self explanatory because like the position I'm

13:28

in right now, with all the respecting position

13:30

that they're in. So it's like, you

13:33

know how it is when you just I don't know, you feel like you're

13:35

the one. That's how I always felt coming

13:37

up, So commuting back and forth, I used to catch the It

13:40

was at the fifteen on Gerard

13:42

at ten years old, go all the way to North

13:45

Philly, twenty eight in Oxford, walk

13:47

all the way down like twenty something, oh

13:51

twentieth in Gerard, and I walked twentieth in Oxford,

13:54

go to school by myself and everything. Nobody

13:56

like my father wasn't there to meet me at

13:58

the bus stop. I had to do it on my own. Sometimes I

14:00

had to ride my bike across that bridge. The bridge.

14:03

I remember times I would had to walk from

14:05

North Philly to West Philly a lot,

14:07

you know, but that's just I don't know. But things

14:10

wasn't always bad. It was good in the hood. You know,

14:13

friends, it was fun, but

14:15

you do have your time.

14:16

We just got the other stuff going on too.

14:18

You had those times, you always had them.

14:20

I read when you said that at a certain point the drug dealer,

14:23

that that picture started to become something

14:25

that you was like, Man, I think I might want to do this. What

14:27

age were you when you started feeling like that.

14:29

I think I was like thirteen, fourteen, thirteen,

14:32

fourteen, fifteen sixteen.

14:34

What was it about the drug dealer?

14:35

It was easy money? The money, It

14:38

was easy money. And like I said,

14:41

is everybody run the hood?

14:42

Do it?

14:43

You know? We are influenced by

14:46

the ones around us. So I

14:48

was always around a lot of guys that

14:51

did those things, and a lot of them that I

14:53

called my homie coming up,

14:55

even though they were a little ordered me or killed not

14:58

none of them in jail, and they all just dead.

15:01

Talking about that mirror put

15:03

all them faces on there. Man,

15:06

you dealt with a lot of losses

15:10

that's not on the mirror.

15:12

Yeah.

15:13

I haven't lost a lot of friends street

15:15

violence. I've lost a few. How

15:19

do you? How have you dealt with that throughout the years.

15:22

When I was I was a little bit more younger. I

15:25

remember the first time Rail

15:28

got killed and dirt bike bron

15:30

you know, he's always he had the hood on smash for the

15:32

bikes. Remember the first time, and

15:35

I actually it was over somebody's house and I just kept

15:37

crying I woke up in the middle of the night and just

15:39

cried. That was different

15:42

for me, you know what I'm saying, Like that was like he

15:44

was like Superman

15:46

to us in the hood, Like nobody can beat

15:49

him six or four something

15:51

like that, big black bull strong,

15:53

knocking people out, don't even fight, you

15:56

know what I'm saying. And then if it got down to it,

15:58

he'll do that too, you know what I'm saying. So it's

16:00

like he was like and then he but he looked out for everybody. It

16:02

was a genuine person. He wasn't a mean person. He looked

16:04

out for everybody, always having

16:06

fun. So when that happened, it was just like that

16:09

took a piece of my neighborhood. Yeah,

16:12

it took money.

16:13

He died on the bike.

16:14

Nah, he got killed.

16:15

So he got killed.

16:16

And then his best friend, who was a

16:18

meatball. We all

16:20

grew up around each other. He wound

16:23

up getting killed like a year or two after him.

16:25

You know, sometime when when people have a lot of death around

16:28

him, you know, especially when you're young, you can start to feel

16:30

like it's coming for you next. You ever felt like that.

16:32

I feel like that's why I had my first son.

16:35

I believe I told why he did before, Like I

16:37

just felt like I needed to leave

16:40

something here before anything could happen. And

16:42

I wasn't at that time. I would even end the streets. But

16:44

it's just you around it.

16:45

I mean, you're traveling through the streets, so it.

16:47

Was like things anything could have happened. I feel

16:49

like that's the real reason why I had my first

16:52

son. And it's crazy because death

16:54

works so crazy. When Rel

16:56

died, he had a dog named Geez.

17:00

He's a bite everybody like, he'll

17:02

just sick him on him and Jesus just go.

17:04

But if you say stop, Jesus stop, Jeez

17:07

walked from Southwest to West

17:09

Philly on the block on the corner of my mind block on Filing

17:11

Street and laid there and

17:14

then I remember the next like a day or something

17:16

after. I'm not sure the dog died,

17:19

like a couple of days after he died got

17:21

killed. That's how crazy I'll be finel

17:23

like what the world is? Dog

17:26

wasn't sick or anything, not to my knowledge.

17:31

And Pop's got to be hearing some of this stuff that's going

17:33

on.

17:33

Don't hear everything?

17:34

Right? What is he saying to you when you're losing

17:36

friends, we know what your mom got going on? What is

17:38

he saying to you?

17:39

I feel like it was just like a I want

17:41

to say the wrong thing, but I feel like it was just like a you

17:43

know, keep your head up, keep doing, keep doing what you're doing. He always

17:46

to keep doing what you're doing. You're doing the great job, sending

17:48

proudly. You just keep doing what you're doing. Block

17:50

the outside noise and things like that. You

17:53

know, those things stick with me. I hear those

17:55

things. But sometimes you still need that

17:58

person to still day to day. Yeah,

18:00

like even give you a hug, grab you or some

18:02

time or tick you somewhere. Yeah, we

18:05

men and everything, but you know

18:07

we still need that affection. Like

18:10

I give that to my sons and I see how

18:13

they react off it. So I imagine like if I had

18:15

that, Like how would I how would I be? You

18:17

know what I'm saying.

18:17

I was gonna ask you about that. Are you doing everything that you didn't

18:20

get?

18:20

Oh?

18:20

Yeah to them?

18:21

And with the yeah, I

18:23

play with my I play with my son. I never played with

18:25

my pop. Like we probably

18:28

took me to the courts a couple of times, but it was

18:30

always like my my two boy cousins,

18:32

well, three couple uncles

18:35

and stuff like that. But you know, I'm small,

18:37

so I couldn't really do nothing with them, so I would

18:39

just sit back and just watch.

18:41

Bro. You're breaking them generational curses, Bro, yeah

18:43

a lot. You changing them patterns. Man, that's

18:46

powerful. Yeah, so

18:48

pops get out. Finally, you were twelve

18:50

years old. Yep, that's when he

18:53

I.

18:53

Think it was twelve, twelve year ten or

18:55

twelve. I think I was ten. I started boxing at

18:57

twelve.

18:57

Yeah or okay, so that's when

18:59

it. But that's when the whole concept

19:01

of the boxing started taking place. He said, man, you want

19:03

a box?

19:04

Yeah. He actually took me to the Maas

19:07

on a friday. Hemza was there.

19:09

You know, I used to live with Hemsa as a kid. I

19:12

knew them since I was baby. Mohammad, yeah,

19:14

I knew them since I was a baby. So you

19:17

know, they met up outside

19:19

after it was over, started talking.

19:21

You know, he catching up with him. Anju he's still just coming

19:23

home himself, so he catching up with him and things like

19:25

that. What y'all doing? He said, No, we trained

19:27

kids this same and the third I remember that like it was yesterday.

19:30

Then he pulled the picture off the show, a picture of Tay

19:34

somebody that used to box with us. Uh

19:37

and it was PJ. They

19:39

called him, they called him corn Chip. It was PJ.

19:42

And he's actually doing twenty to forty right now.

19:44

Yeah, twenty to forty. Yeah

19:47

yeah, football.

19:49

Numbers, bro, Yeah that's crazy Jersey

19:51

numbers, right man. And then he showed

19:53

me the picture of them. They was all cut up. I'm

19:56

sure. I'm a little guy. Never had the truth

19:58

from my mom, never pit me in any sport, It's none of that. So

20:02

I was just out here. It

20:07

wasn't even small. I don't know. I

20:10

don't know what it was, Bro. I

20:12

wanted to I wanted and then you got all your friends

20:14

and everybody on the block got trophies to say they

20:16

did something. My dad got. As

20:18

soon as I got into it, I

20:20

feel like I didn't want to let up. I

20:23

don't want it to be the best.

20:24

How long did it take before it started being fun? Like?

20:26

Oh I could do this?

20:27

It was fun instantly I

20:29

challenged myself. And then when

20:31

I'll be I'm seeing who I like, I skinned a room

20:34

when I want to do something, I'm scanning the room like

20:36

I'm watching who in there. I'm seeing what they're doing,

20:39

and I know I could do it better. I'm going now, sure I

20:41

could do it better. I'm keep phitting and working. I

20:43

won my first tournament. Like these guys

20:45

have been on the team, been on the on it for

20:47

years. Never won a tournament my

20:50

first year. I want a tournament. Street won

20:52

the ringside. I wanted silver gloves, you

20:54

know rings I was in August. Silver gloves come back around

20:56

like.

20:57

The Mexicansas still at that time.

20:59

Yeah, that's went

21:01

to I turned up out there.

21:04

I want both of them turners.

21:05

You want a silver glove, I only want it once.

21:07

It was supposed to be twice.

21:09

The silver gloves.

21:09

Yeah, well

21:11

that stuff in my mama.

21:12

That's all you want to do with that. Just get get them gloves

21:15

and get that. Get that, get them gloves and get y'all.

21:17

Y'all had the jacket. I ain't

21:19

that corny behind

21:21

hoodie?

21:21

Yeah, silver

21:24

coat.

21:24

Yeah, I'm expecting me to get one

21:26

because you know I got MS and I'm telling what all in my ear,

21:29

Yo, they give all these hot behind jackets. I'm

21:31

sitting there looking like that. I want a jacket. I

21:33

didn't get a jacket. It

21:36

was a hoodie, bro. The hoodie wasn't even

21:38

I would have hooded the school though. That

21:40

was one of the moments. You were the hoodie in school. Yeah,

21:44

talking about what.

21:45

You feel like boxing gave you at that time, but

21:47

you was missing peace.

21:48

Uh give me peace. It gave me like

21:52

a brotherhood. I never had my brother so give

21:54

me that. Uh, discipline,

21:57

give me. It definitely taught me. Discipline, taught me how to just

22:00

look at that person when they're talking crazy, just because I know

22:02

what I can do to you right now. You don't even know what I can do

22:04

to you right now, and so

22:06

it gave me that, you know what I'm saying. It's the

22:08

same with in the streets, like when you have you don't

22:11

even know what I so you just be more calm, like you're

22:13

not. You're not quick to you know, look to fight

22:15

or do anything because you know what you can do. So it

22:18

gave me that sense of security within myself, knowing

22:20

that I could protect myself, my friends

22:22

or whoever around me. And that's what I was doing too.

22:25

It's crazy. I was. I

22:27

was talking to the fellas today just talking about the

22:30

nationals and how you know you

22:32

go to the Nationals and you know, you got the Philly

22:34

cast, you got DC cast, you got Detroit

22:36

cast. You know there's people from all over the country and

22:38

everybody got everybody got their little

22:41

thing, you know what I'm saying. So I knew back in the day with

22:43

with with Niles and you

22:45

know the Concrete Jungle, you know, rock

22:48

and Tiger really was rocking. I think Tiger's a little

22:50

bit older. But the twins, so I never seen Tiger,

22:52

but I've seen really.

22:53

Twins though, right, they.

22:56

Look identical.

22:58

Yeah, they just some muscle.

23:00

Nah, So we had so

23:03

it was who else was it?

23:06

Really?

23:06

It was a whole squad right, Like they came

23:08

in there. Most of them had koofies

23:11

on, but they just you just I'm

23:13

a young kid in California. I'm like, man, these dudes, they

23:15

like it's crazy. They seem militant. You

23:17

got the Detroit Cats saying

23:19

what they saying, and you got to cast them down south. So we

23:21

know who's who. How would you

23:23

describe a Philly fighter? Like,

23:26

who is a Philly fire? I say, what's a Philly fighter?

23:29

I know about the toughness, but it.

23:30

Ain't just that we're smart, bro, were

23:32

rugged though, We're smart.

23:33

Y'all don't get credit for being smart. I think now

23:35

you are more because

23:37

of fighters like yourself and Bard

23:40

going from execution or to be hot swing,

23:43

different different elements of the game.

23:44

That we're smart fighters, bro very intelligent

23:46

fighters. But sometimes we could let that

23:49

that toughness get the best of us. And

23:51

that's the only thing, like sometimes you really got you can you

23:54

need that person to save you from you. You

23:56

need that person because like on my come up

23:58

in my career, I was taking I don't

24:00

give because I knew I could beat these guys like

24:02

I knew I could beat them. So that

24:04

that right there explains a Philly fire like

24:08

versatile. We could fight any style. We're

24:11

not scared of nothing, and

24:13

we're smart as hell. Like

24:15

brother and I used to always say that, like what type of fire

24:18

are you? So I'm like, I'm

24:20

slick, I'm a smart fighter, I'm fast.

24:22

It same third and he stop me. You're

24:25

intelligent fighter first and ever

24:27

since then, anytimes somebody asks me what

24:29

type of fight you are, I'm an intelligent fighter. Take

24:32

my way out out of things.

24:34

What I told you, I'll send you the day before your fight, your last

24:36

fight. What I tell you when I sen you in the gym, I

24:39

said, bro, be smart smart. I said, it's

24:41

smart, bro, you can get to the gonna

24:43

get to that it happened.

24:45

You just gotta be smart for do it the right way, man,

24:47

make it easy on yourself.

24:49

That's first. It's crazy

24:51

because in the program, it's almost like they want to

24:53

finish you out that position to tell you nobody wants

24:55

to see that, nobody cares about that.

24:58

It's like, look, bro, that's that's what we that's the off

25:00

I'm cut from. Like I'm personally

25:02

cut from a cloth. Where you got

25:05

Jimmy Vergess old trainer, right,

25:07

Charlie Smith his these old school trainers,

25:10

right, they got dudes gunslinging.

25:12

Mean, you going from city to city trying

25:15

to trying to make a living, and I gotta I gotta stay

25:17

safe so I can keep making money. My

25:20

My main goal is the trainers to get you home safe

25:22

to your family. That's the cloth

25:25

that my coach is cut from. We're

25:27

gonna entertain you, but it's gonna be on our turn, all

25:29

right. So it's just crazy hearing these

25:32

people that this is born, that's born.

25:34

It's like, brother, you know what's crazy. I ain't had

25:36

nobody personally tell me that, like, nobody

25:39

want to see that because my next question, whatever you

25:41

get and

25:44

I get in there with you.

25:47

It's like your last fight right there was boring. But I'm like,

25:49

I'm yelling at the TV, like what.

25:50

Is y'all

25:54

I heard?

25:55

But you know you know why they was boring?

25:56

Right?

25:57

Yeah?

26:00

God was with it.

26:01

I already knew that. I already that I

26:03

heard like a boot like one time other

26:06

than that, and I think when he when they did it, a lot

26:08

of you know, I'm sitting there like what I'm fighting?

26:10

I couldn't believe it, but I was so mad. I'm like

26:12

this and it was a good scrap, like he wasn't

26:15

doing figure roy Man. Credit to him, he

26:17

wasn't doing what he wanted to do. But y'all was rumbling. It

26:19

just was on your terms, And I'm like, it's action

26:22

in the ring. What y'all talking about? What's

26:24

y'all talking? What more? Y'all want for you

26:26

to stand in there and let him hit you. That's what they want, like.

26:29

Say I'm gonna drop a jewel. I never had this, and then

26:31

I never said this in an interview. The first fight that

26:34

me pissed blood, bro pete blood. My first

26:36

fight with Brandon figure, I was in the

26:38

shower, yeah, but he was sitting me on my hips

26:40

and everything. It took me looked though, it took

26:42

me like three four No,

26:44

la, I swear to God three to four months to get for my

26:46

hip and me to walk to get right. Yep.

26:50

Like when I after I like the next morning,

26:53

I couldn't get out of beer. I had to roll out and

26:55

I was sitting there here, But that night I had pete

26:57

blood came out like Cranbridge. I ain't was

27:00

at first I stopped. I'm like, damn,

27:02

he got you.

27:06

Nobody got time for that every fight just

27:09

so you can say I'm a warrior, just so you

27:11

can have a good headline about me. Come

27:13

on, we ain't doing that. We ain't

27:15

doing it because that stuff gonna happen

27:17

anyway. Sometimes sometimes gonna happen

27:19

anyway, even if I'm doing it on my turn, just

27:22

like that sometimes. But that stuff got to be minimal.

27:24

So when this thing all say and done, we got a conversation.

27:27

You understand me, understand you becausey'all

27:29

ain't gonna be around.

27:30

And we can talk street because that's the thing

27:32

too, man.

27:33

One thing I noticed is I

27:36

be in these rooms right, Hall

27:39

of Fame whatever,

27:41

where it's older fighters, and

27:44

unfortunately a lot of them, they're dealing with stuff,

27:46

and it's like they kind of shuffle in the room and it's like

27:48

you get around all the chap, the chap, and they

27:50

patched you on the back. And as soon

27:53

as he leaves, I see everybody

27:55

whispering about it. And he doesn't look good man,

27:57

he's man, you can barely understand him. I

28:00

would be noticing this stuff at twelve years old, thirteen

28:02

years old, fourteen years old, I'll be talking to Verge about

28:05

it, like damn vere while they're doing it. Ye, that

28:07

happened to me, he said, Baby, this

28:09

is the way it is, he said, But you're gonna be different. So

28:12

when I now fast forward to being a pro fighting

28:14

big fights, this is what I'm raised

28:17

on. I'm raised on. Now we're getting home to your wife and

28:19

kids, and we're gonna make this as easy as possible, so

28:21

we're not trying to hear all that. You

28:23

remember the first time I seen yeah Nationals

28:26

where yeah yeahpok in

28:28

Washington, brother, the middle of nowhere, Eastern Washington.

28:32

I gotta take a little credit for your career, BRO, just

28:35

a week bit because I had a list. I

28:37

had a piece of paper, right, all

28:39

the people that would standouts. I

28:41

had you on that list. I said, Oh yeah, I like

28:43

him. I think you wanted that year, right. You

28:46

didn't win in twet thirteen for

28:48

real? Who who you fuck?

28:50

I don't know I fought.

28:51

I think I thought you want that one?

28:52

Did I'm twenty twelve thirteen?

28:55

I think I lost in like the finals, one of

28:57

them Jones to a Mexican. I'm

29:00

sitting there like I'm boxing them. He just

29:03

his name was like Eduardo or something like that. I

29:06

be looking at like, I look at it now, like

29:08

Bro, y'all not even doing with your careers

29:10

and boxing y'all could have just was

29:13

a highby. I could have won that. I

29:16

really look at it like that. But I don't know why they like

29:18

Bro. I feel like I won

29:20

that fight. Bro. And he's from Chicago, he's

29:23

with kingdomselves.

29:25

I can see it. BRO, you have something.

29:27

You had something.

29:28

I was boxing him. You had something,

29:31

and I knew I had to because he kept coming. Like

29:33

the style I got the

29:36

style I have. We us type of fighters.

29:38

The boxers have problems with guys

29:40

who can press the forward like

29:42

press the issue and banging box. I don't

29:44

know more So that's why I can say that, like

29:46

whoever else got pround that, y'all gonna have to figure that

29:48

out. Because this is you know what I'm saying, This, this sport

29:51

is every man for themselves, like we're the only ones in there,

29:53

and so I can give you advice. I get all the young boys advice.

29:55

I look out for all the young boys. Somebody got a trip

29:57

going on, they reach out to me, I look out for him because

30:00

I've done it. You know what I'm saying. I've been in that position

30:02

where nobody did that

30:04

to us, like nobody did it fus. Nobody looked

30:06

out for us, gave us sweatsuits and stuff like that when they

30:08

select a few, like select a few people

30:10

that are along with Himza. Then we

30:12

had a guy, uh, a young

30:15

boy named Nate and his step pop

30:18

and his little brother Pooter. They see

30:20

they ice decked us out with the head

30:23

gears that with our name on it as a young age, and

30:25

nobody else did that for us though, give

30:27

we had the cups and everything gears. They come out

30:29

what I'm saying, but

30:32

now that's what I do for the kids, for

30:34

the youth.

30:35

Yeah, y'all got a lot of gyms still

30:37

out in Philly, like the fight saying what you think.

30:39

I don't know. I feel like they's still divided.

30:42

But you know, everybody got their own little section,

30:44

they own teams.

30:45

But there's a lot of gyms though, like people, they're still

30:47

rumbling.

30:48

I think. So I'll be out of the loop with some

30:50

some things like they so

30:53

it takes for like somebody like wanted

30:55

them to be fighting for me to know a fight going on,

30:57

or somebody Danny Garcia,

31:00

y'all you they got the amateur fights, or he have a pro am

31:02

car on his on his shoes.

31:04

Man, you you turn pro at twenty fourteen

31:07

at nineteen years old, Why didn't you stay around for

31:09

a sixteen game?

31:12

Because I'm wasn't trying to stay around for two more

31:14

years.

31:15

So you a gold medal was never like really your plan?

31:17

Nah?

31:18

Really it wasn't big. That's the good. Gold

31:20

medal stuff was big back then. Now

31:23

that stuff is. That stuff is a business

31:26

for them other countries, it's a business.

31:28

The United States is not really big on those type

31:30

of things. And I was trying to make

31:32

money not for myself but for my family

31:35

and everything. And then once I got the money, it was like, I see

31:37

how my family and everybody was acting. So it's

31:39

like it's different. Yeah, hey, how

31:41

you think it's gonna be like you're gonna get on, You're gonna

31:43

take care of everybody, because then you

31:45

start looking like that when I'm gonna be able to take care of myself.

31:49

So how you do?

31:49

How you deal with that?

31:50

Now? I say no. Now,

31:53

it took me a while, but now just

31:56

I realized you can't save everybody, and

31:59

I encourage every young fighter did not have

32:01

that survival's guilt. Don't

32:03

feel guilty because you the one that made that what it is. That's

32:07

all the boys down. You feel guilty because you the one

32:09

that made it.

32:09

And the manipulation you can't

32:11

get. You can't give me. I just gave you some last

32:14

month. I just bought.

32:15

I do that when I deal with that all the time, bro, And

32:18

nobody can't say Nobody can't say nothing about

32:20

me when it comes to me looking out for my family,

32:22

bro, and my family is the one that news like what

32:24

I do. I didn't dropped off bread plenty

32:26

times fifty thou twenty five thousand,

32:29

five thousand, ten thousand. I still do it to

32:31

this day. It may not be the big

32:33

amount, but it's I still do it to this day. Like that's three

32:36

my caship history. I had one hundred twenty three,

32:38

one hundred forty three thousand dollars

32:40

worth in cash apsus work.

32:44

Yeah, I got it on my phone.

32:46

Bro. That's that's that's tuition. That's

32:49

you know what I'm saying.

32:50

But then you look at like nobody got nothing to show for. Where's

32:52

all this money go on saying I'm paying for people to year

32:56

come back when it don't work out.

32:57

That's a rental mortgage, is house

32:59

mortgage, is tuition,

33:02

all kind of stuff.

33:02

People don't notice it until it study till

33:04

it all stops and they see what the hell you've been doing

33:06

for.

33:07

But you know, sometimes you gotta say no, son, you can

33:09

let what's really there come to the surface,

33:12

and then you realize, Man, I probably saved myself two

33:14

three hundred thousand dollars and a

33:17

whole lot of it ain't all fake because it's certain people. Man,

33:19

you want to take care. I'll make sure my mom are good. I want to make sure

33:21

you know my siblings they good if they're doing

33:23

the right thing. I can't. I'm not just throwing

33:25

money at you. I literally have to fight

33:27

to make this money. And I gotta fight another

33:29

man. Take my shirt off, take the roll and put

33:31

the small gloves on, and go to water to make this money.

33:33

It ain't even just that par it's the leading up to

33:35

it.

33:36

That's how my brain would think and the training

33:38

kick. I gotta fight you. I gotta

33:40

fight somebody three days a week.

33:42

That's what go crazy. Bro.

33:43

This how new retirement was close to me because I start doing

33:45

the man, I'm like, bro, I gotta when you're young.

33:47

But you just listen to

33:49

me. I'm telling telling

33:52

myself stuff like I'm like, bro,

33:55

the average person go to a job, like

33:57

they can't say family, goodbout. They go to the job and they just

33:59

go do whatever they do. Bro, my

34:02

job, I got a pack of gym

34:04

bag walk in the gym

34:06

and go fight two or three people that I'm paying

34:08

to fight me small partners. And

34:10

I got Verge over here talking about.

34:12

Yeah, you're knock you down.

34:13

It's a bounty on his head. I'm like this

34:17

week deal with three days a week. For

34:20

eight weeks, that stuff start

34:22

getting less and less interesting to me.

34:24

Do I feel like this

34:26

camp? Though? Like leading up, I

34:30

wanted to.

34:31

You had to get some get back though I missed it.

34:33

I missed it, yep. And

34:35

it's crazy because I do a little wild here

34:38

and there. My bad person, but I do

34:40

wild stuff here and there. I started

34:42

making a wait like a month out when I knew

34:44

I should.

34:44

Have did it ahead of time, Bro, just to feel like you're

34:46

ready, Yeah.

34:47

Just so I could lock in. Because I knew it was gonna be hard

34:49

for me to lock in, so I had to force myself to

34:51

lock in in my own way that I know how.

34:54

Nobody else would understand it but me, because

34:56

it'd be hard for me to lock in. So

34:59

when I locked, Bro, I think I lost like twenty

35:01

five pounds that month. Yeah,

35:04

when I was at around that time, that same day that I

35:06

saw you. It was at the day before the wards.

35:09

I lost nine pounds in

35:12

a day. That day I lost nine pounds,

35:14

and like two days before that I had lost eleven.

35:18

But I only had games listen. I had I

35:20

had it. I had listening.

35:21

That's twenty pounds or two days, Bro, I had.

35:23

It, I had everything mapped out. No,

35:26

that was part of the play. No, but look

35:28

I had everything map though. So like the press

35:30

conference the day before the wars,

35:32

all that, I think, I was like one

35:35

thirty two or something. Man.

35:40

So I'm adding, I'm like the mon I lose this. I

35:42

go to gym after this little press conference. Man,

35:44

they had us in there talking for hours. Now, mind

35:46

you were in Vegas desert,

35:49

Bro, my mouth is dry. I had to drink

35:51

nothing, but I kept drinking wile I get to the I get

35:53

back. That's what I'm saying. I'm like one thirty six

35:55

thirty nine. I'm like, damn

36:00

and still and look that

36:02

that morning of the weigh in

36:06

and that night before the way I was chewing

36:08

gum. I had to keep spitting.

36:09

Bro.

36:10

When I when I when I, when I made the weight, I

36:12

had to hop on the scale like literally four

36:15

it was four times. I had four times,

36:17

right, I had. I want to scale four times naked

36:20

to make it to the point where you know how you

36:22

like this? When I'm doing last time, I was like, man,

36:25

whatever, listen,

36:28

man,

36:31

Bro, I was chewing gum and spending so much

36:33

I make this way crazy. I couldn't taste

36:35

my food when it was something to eat. To the point I was I

36:37

didn't even eat all my my breakfast. I had to keep pushing

36:40

aside because I couldn't taste nothing. My taste

36:42

buss was messed up.

36:43

You lost twenty pounds the week of a fight.

36:45

Yeah, and still and still and still

36:47

look good.

36:48

That's crazy.

36:49

But I said, I can't do that anymore.

36:50

That's crazy. Again, I

36:53

lose maybe four or five, and

36:56

I'll be thinking that's crazy. I'll be like, Bro, I got because

36:58

I could. I'm like, with a five pounds won't come from.

37:00

And that's how I was thinking. I was stressed at first

37:02

time. I'm like, no, God got me, bro, I'm

37:05

gonna be cool.

37:06

You wild boy for that?

37:07

Bro?

37:08

No, I no, you wire a boy for that

37:10

twenty pounds of crazy. But

37:12

your body held.

37:13

Up though it did. It did, And you know how it is

37:15

when you be when you go through something you like,

37:17

people ain't gonna believe me. Like I'll

37:19

be starting putting things on footage now, like you gotta

37:22

have fuage. You gotta have footage, like people

37:24

wouldn't believe some of the stuff they go down.

37:27

So, man, you three years into your professional career. You want

37:29

an Ibo super bandam Way title. How did

37:32

it feel or to finally get that that that that

37:34

WBO title. Ib O

37:36

is a world title, but it ain't as

37:38

prestigious as the b O B A I,

37:40

B F and the WBC. What that

37:42

feel like?

37:44

It felt good, but I feel like a part of it

37:46

was a little took away because Angel leo on them and

37:48

give me the belt in the ring after.

37:50

Yeah, so I had my still had my interup

37:52

the Continental Dawn, my

37:55

International. It was one of the jones. Yeah. So you

37:57

know how when they pick that around you, they didn't do that.

38:01

Yeah, the people

38:03

don't know they lost.

38:04

They took the belt.

38:05

And because he was a champion, people

38:07

don't know when you tell him how I.

38:09

Get certain traditions. Yeah, what I'm saying, they give

38:11

you the belt when you win, when you're going

38:13

to back, you know, you take a picture whatever, after

38:15

a little while, take that belt. You give it

38:17

this might or you could take it back to the

38:20

person you beat for it.

38:21

If it's vacant, you get it right away. If it's you

38:23

lifted off of a champion, a respectful thing to do it say

38:26

let him celebrate with it. Take it back to the

38:28

locker room, like you said, you'll get it. Then you get

38:30

your sitting the mail, which is.

38:31

Crazy, like three weeks right, two men.

38:35

Along, but they taking them, they taking

38:38

them fees that night.

38:39

Yeah, like y'all gotta have something on deck and

38:42

then if it, don't worry, do y'all just use that for somebody

38:44

else.

38:45

I'm calling the WBC like every week, like

38:48

can I get my bells coming? It's coming. It

38:50

came in a box with wrapping paper

38:53

like bubble wraps. I was

38:55

like, bro, that ain't no presentation or nothing a

38:57

WBC credit. When I want to w

39:00

be titled. They had me in Mexico, they did a prison but

39:02

some of the other belts they didn't do it.

39:05

That's the reality of it. Thought. But

39:07

you won that title, man, and it's like, what does

39:10

it feel like to come back here though? This is this is this is

39:12

a fight city like and

39:14

for people to see you crown as a world champion, there

39:16

was it different.

39:18

Yeah. I loved it. I enjoyed

39:20

every moment of it. I ain't gonna lie. I enjoyed every moment.

39:22

It felt good. It was like a dream comes true and

39:25

it was like, damn, that's what we worked for. But then you still had

39:27

that one person in my ear saying, but it's

39:29

just like you gotta get

39:31

you gotta get more, Like it's not where you

39:34

just but they said that when I had the IB while

39:36

he said what I had the I b O like it's

39:39

it's a nice belt, but no, we gotta keep

39:41

going, stay right there. So

39:44

when you when you had me, you'd be like, damn, so I gotta

39:46

get more. All right, cool Now where

39:48

I'm I'm like, I'm

39:51

gonna go up here and get this one. Then I'm gonna go

39:53

up again, and then I'm gonna go get that one. Then

39:55

I'm a campaign a little bit, then I'm gonna get another one.

39:57

Now I'm just like, that's what you're thinking.

39:58

I know I can do it, because I know I can do it's easy

40:01

now, like you, I don't think none of them guys

40:03

and my way class can beat me. No, they ain't been

40:05

through what I've been through. I don't. I don't listen

40:08

to the media. And when

40:10

I say the medium to about like the not the pet

40:12

the interviewers and stuff I'm talking about, like the

40:15

social media experts, and I don't

40:17

listen. They had me losing. They

40:19

had me getting knocked out plenty times after my

40:21

after my first law, like you can't

40:23

make not one mistake in they eye. They

40:25

be bigging you up the first the first law,

40:28

they say you get hit, hit

40:31

what he's doing? But then oh he can't

40:33

he got a chance? We fighting. What you supposed

40:35

to happen is a fight, bro, That's what people

40:38

be losing me like, it's a fight. What

40:40

do you think is supposed to happen? It

40:43

can go either way. We didn't see plenty

40:45

times where a person been winning to fight, get hit one

40:47

time, then the whole john over.

40:49

You come with the territory. Most of the people

40:51

don't know if fish hook from a left hook, and they

40:53

trying to tell you how to fight exactly what

40:55

you need to do. I ain't say, but you

40:57

got weighing a little bit more respectfully if I've

40:59

done and what I'm doing. Maybe asks a question

41:02

like, man, how did you feel and you got here? Man? You think it was over?

41:04

Type of business man is cool? Boys to like

41:06

you be giving in the negotiations, so he be fighting

41:08

hard?

41:10

What do you mean by that?

41:11

I mean like if they come here side, man, I want you to fight this dude,

41:13

for two million dollars, you just gonna jump at the tour.

41:15

You're gonna say, man, I really thought I was supposed to

41:17

get too far.

41:18

No, I got people negotiate that

41:20

for me.

41:21

Hands on with that, go

41:24

back to that. Yeah, so what type of business

41:26

man is you?

41:27

All? I'm the one where it's like when they come with

41:29

the offer, first of all, I'm gonna see who they who

41:32

the who the guy is. Like if it's like

41:34

a hard fight, then I'm like, nah,

41:36

bro y'all bugging like come on, they

41:38

gonna have the reason, but he already on it, like

41:42

like no, we're not accepting nothing less than that, Like no,

41:44

nothing less than this, Like that's the and you still deserve

41:46

more. And that's

41:48

the type of business man. That's what it comes down to.

41:51

Like I feel like I take my

41:53

say so and bring it to my team. Then we all just come

41:55

with a playing but I still have like

41:58

I get the final I get the final say so.

42:01

But they make me feel comfortable like no,

42:03

school, look you do this band bang that. I be

42:05

like I'm rock out with y'all because

42:08

you know, you had to have a strong team. You gotta believe me, your team

42:10

I'm saying, if you don't, then you're just out here

42:12

feeling for yourself.

42:13

I don't know what's next, but you know yesterday's

42:16

pribace ain't today's price. So that

42:18

what you just did. Whatever they coming

42:20

with next, they gotta come correct, right,

42:23

I'm just making sure the games still work like that?

42:26

Why God correct y'all?

42:30

Mm hmm, they gotta go correct. Yeah,

42:32

you know what I'm saying.

42:34

What about how you spend? Because I know you like designer.

42:36

I ain't trying to pocket watch you. But then you know the

42:38

designer ain't cheat. So how you deal

42:40

with the money outside of how you how you deal with

42:42

the money or you got it? You got it? You deal with the money?

42:45

Good?

42:46

Yeah?

42:46

I paid my taxes, Okay, I

42:48

paid my I got my man Lou back there. And

42:50

why the ones that have been staying on me? I

42:55

spend money though, Yeah, I know how to spend

42:57

some money. Y'all know I spend money.

42:59

I be lying up, I said, I did I know how

43:01

to spend some money. I love clothes.

43:04

I see, yeah.

43:04

I love it?

43:06

Yeah stuff you be wearing a cheap need at all?

43:09

Like that book bag? Got over that. That's eighteen thousand

43:11

dollars book back.

43:12

That's crazy. That's

43:15

crazy. Better

43:17

you keep doing that, you're gonna be fighting two fifty.

43:21

I slew there, okay.

43:22

Okay, I slew down a lot, Brokay,

43:24

Can we talk about what you what you I mean, give me

43:27

specific, but like what you want to do next? What's next?

43:29

Because you just pretty much called out your whole division. I

43:32

said, none of them dudes can deal with me. So what you

43:34

want next?

43:35

Why? What

43:37

I want next? I

43:39

want to have a belt?

43:42

Yeah yeah, mm hmm. Trying

43:44

to unify. They're trying to go and dispute

43:46

it.

43:47

I'm trying to go up, trying

43:49

to.

43:49

Go up and wait like

43:55

right now, mm hmm. Okay,

43:59

So you one fight at feather Away

44:01

and that's it. I had two fels, okay, So and

44:04

you ain't trying to come back down belt both

44:06

of them. You're not trying to come campaign at

44:08

thirty and twenty six, Yeah, I do both.

44:11

They had it had to make sense at twenty six.

44:13

Though, because twenty six

44:15

it didn't sound like it was easy to make exactly.

44:19

So I had to because I had to hop on the ball ahead

44:22

of time. But

44:25

yeah, I felt my body at one thirty

44:28

a lot more, but I'm four pounds. It's crazy,

44:30

bro, I'm four pounds. Make it major difference life

44:32

and death?

44:34

Yeah, life and death. So that's differencetween

44:36

eat and drinking, and I drink.

44:38

Bro one, I feel comfortable.

44:41

So get back to the career.

44:43

In twenty twenty two, you you defended

44:45

against Daniel Ramon and then when

44:48

did the inn a Way fights start being discussed?

44:50

I think they've been. The media

44:53

been like saying stuff about it before that, but

44:55

I right after that was

44:57

like, that's when they start paying the on

45:00

the gas with it, like your team everyone

45:02

no, not not my team, but like everyone like

45:05

calling for the fight, and if you know, you got the whole

45:07

world calling for the fight, the media, then Japanese

45:09

fans, then you know PBC

45:12

all I'm going to automatically no, and then his team

45:14

going to know like all right, so this gonna

45:17

make some money, like let's put this together. But

45:20

it came to a point where I'm like, yo, like I don't want

45:22

to stay at twenty two because that was

45:25

getting rough for me to make especially after

45:27

the branding fight that joone was rough. But

45:29

then I still wind up doing it again for

45:32

Daniel Roman and I made the way perfect

45:34

that time. So I

45:36

mind you. I fought one time that year, I fought

45:39

Danie Romint. Then another year come back around.

45:41

I had to wait for any way to come up. And

45:43

I'm still sitting there like, yo, I don't think I could. I reached

45:45

out to people and people see everything, like you, I

45:48

don't think I could make this weight, bro, like, And

45:50

then he got injured and they pushed it back three more

45:52

months. I'm like, I still was like you. I don't

45:54

think like y'all know what i'mnna have to go through to make this weight.

45:59

I wound up doing it and

46:01

I went out there. Bro. We had to buy

46:03

We bought a treadmill and put

46:05

it in one of the hotel rooms, and

46:08

we bought heaters and put heaters in there,

46:10

and I had to use it. I use the sauna a month.

46:12

I had to use that sauna every day through

46:15

everything I did.

46:15

How long was you out there?

46:17

I was only out there for like two and a half weeks.

46:19

Two and a half week, two weeks.

46:20

You felt like that was enough time? No, it wasn't.

46:22

It wasn't. I thought it would be

46:24

though. There were eighteen nineteen like I was a little

46:27

younger. So when you're young, you feel like you can

46:29

do whatever.

46:31

You are trying to reflect on that. What's

46:33

your take away from that fight with work? What didn't work?

46:35

You know I should have I should have trusted

46:38

my body and went up and stop letting

46:40

the fans engage you and what

46:42

they want you to do.

46:43

You think it was more to wait than anything.

46:44

I feel like it was more because when I got in there, I couldn't

46:46

let nothing of if I wanted to let let anything

46:48

off. Like I wasn't

46:51

scared. I wasn't nervous when I was in

46:53

there, like people already know, I'm

46:55

not scared of a scary fighter. But

46:58

everything was like delayed off. I couldn't

47:00

really get my groove. It's

47:03

the point I'm just in there, like I'm now at that point,

47:05

I'm trying to fight. I want him to engage me, to

47:07

fight, but he already had his game plan. He wasn't gonna

47:09

do this. He was being smart, which

47:11

you know what I'm saying, You gotta take your head off him for somebody

47:13

that's being smart. I wanted him to engage, like

47:16

to just rumble me at that point because I couldn't

47:19

box at them like you know how you stepped back moving.

47:21

I couldn't do none of that really, So I'm just

47:23

sitting there like this, like stepping

47:26

taking small steps to him to show like come

47:28

on, let's fight. He adn't go for

47:30

that. He ain't go for that.

47:32

What you think is his greatest asset?

47:34

Uh? His ring i Q was good.

47:37

He had a good better than the power.

47:39

It was the I'm me

47:41

pit that back. It wasn't it just ring. It wasn't a ring Q.

47:43

It was the It

47:45

was the movements, the distance

47:49

and how he do things. The

47:51

power was cool, but the power

47:54

didn't hurt me up until

47:56

that time, you know what I'm saying. Like, when

47:58

I felt the power, that's what made me more. And that gage

48:00

form like oh it ain't what everybody was. It just

48:02

felt like pressure, like you know pressure, just keep

48:05

it just felt like pressure. But it was that shot

48:07

that I didn't see that that that did the job.

48:09

You know what I'm saying. Well,

48:12

he a good fighter, though.

48:13

Man, that was a tough loss for you obviously. Hell

48:15

yeah, And you struggle for a little bit

48:17

after that fight. Person, how did you work through

48:19

that and how did you get over? Then you may

48:22

not be over.

48:24

No, I'm over there because I don't

48:26

give an f for nobody.

48:27

So when somebody bring it up, you don't feel no type of word. No.

48:30

I even was making jokes round like damn, I

48:32

got to stopped like I was making jokes like spot

48:34

where he had to like, yo, come on, man, chill. But

48:36

that's how I had to loosen myself up to get

48:39

to prepare myself for the stuff that everybody

48:41

was gonna say. I had to crack jokes on my damnself. Well,

48:44

uh, it was hard at first getting

48:47

over it, because then you see how the whole

48:49

world turn turn about that, talk

48:52

about that, talk about the media

48:54

everybody. Then it'll be certain people that I'll see

48:56

outside when I was champion, Yo,

48:58

bro third, then now you ain't

49:00

schelling them where they just turn it back.

49:03

The phone stopped bringing as much.

49:04

Hell yeah, then I had Then it's crazy.

49:06

I have this.

49:07

One time my son, my oldest son, came to me

49:09

like, da you lost Why how you lose that? So

49:12

now it's looking like he said that, yeah,

49:15

if I felt some way about it, you don't feel

49:17

that. Yeah, I feel way about it, but

49:20

I ain't let it like really get to me because I'm like, he don't

49:22

understand, like at all. He didn't

49:25

understand it because then he had his

49:27

friends coming to him, like, yo, your dad and I got knocked

49:29

out. So I had explain, bro, I ain't

49:31

getting knocked out. I got stopped, but I didn't

49:33

get But

49:37

if somebody said you got not the I c R. But

49:39

I didn't get knocked out. I was up and

49:41

he got me down. The rep just hug

49:43

me.

49:43

And I should

49:46

be thinking about that in training camp, going to

49:48

school on Sunday. I mean after

49:50

the weekend. I used to think about that.

49:52

How they did gonna be And then now I'm

49:54

already thinking because I went back. I was in

49:56

one of my apartments at the time. It ain't that I couldn't buy

49:58

a house, just that I had other

50:00

stuff going on. So I

50:02

go back to the apartment. Then you got everybody that's

50:04

there that's you are

50:07

and like that. I'm like, y'all ain't got to

50:09

do that. But they don't know how, you know what I'm saying, They

50:11

don't know that. So I was just dealing

50:13

with a lot family mom issues

50:15

of getting on that behalf Like

50:18

I feel like that's the one that really I

50:20

forgave her for it, you know, shout out to my mom, but I forgive

50:22

you for everything you did and everything we've been through.

50:25

You're not a bad person. She is a good person at

50:27

heart, but she just do f up things, as

50:29

you know. So it was my

50:33

sisters had called me, like when

50:35

I got back. That was a long flight

50:37

back from losing a long flight,

50:40

but like twenty something hours, I'm

50:43

just sitting there crying and everything. So

50:47

I'm in Houston at the time that I had a crier

50:49

about this. I'm in Houston at the time. Man, you

50:51

know that my sister and I was crying about it. Whatever the case

50:54

may be. Then they're like, Mommy

50:56

called us right like in the midst of it

50:58

happening, Like I wasn't out, Like

51:01

I wasn't the fight wasn't over yet. But in the midst

51:03

of me getting dropped the first time,

51:05

she called my sisters and said, damn, they

51:07

go to my house. Yeah,

51:10

so that one cut me deep because like,

51:12

damn, you know what I'm saying. I cried about that,

51:15

and plenty times I felt like I hated

51:17

her, but I know I didn't.

51:19

Yeah, it is that's something

51:22

to say, because you know, I look

51:24

at it like I always wanted

51:26

that relationship with my mom, Like I'm

51:28

watching all my so I used to always lean

51:31

onto my peers, like my friends and stuff

51:33

like that because I see how their relationship is with their family.

51:36

I never had a relationship like that my family.

51:38

All they did was are you fight one another? And my dad used

51:40

always said why argue so much? Like y'all hate one

51:42

another? But that's how we was raised.

51:45

So when that happened, that jone took a peace out

51:47

of me. Yeah, I just don't took a piece of it. I'm like,

51:49

damn, you supposed to be like I'm supposed to be a come to my

51:51

mom and crying my mom? Shoot her? You know you

51:54

feel like that somebody that can nurture

51:56

me. You know what I'm saying, even as a grown man, we still need

51:58

those things, not to that as

52:00

a kid, but you know we still need that shoulder.

52:03

That woman that's whatever. That's that's the rule that the wife

52:05

take on.

52:05

Now at that point, But did

52:08

you did you address it with her when you got back?

52:11

Uh?

52:12

Still to this day, no, I ain't.

52:14

She she apologized for it because she knew why. Because

52:16

she knew why I wasn't talking to her

52:18

and things like that. But she

52:21

said, yeah, she said, damn niggle my house

52:24

and my head. I'm like, damn, the

52:26

fight wasn't even over yet. You counted

52:28

me out before they even did this, you

52:32

know what I'm saying. So I

52:34

bet, well, we we go through things in this sport,

52:36

bro, But people don't see these things. People don't know these

52:38

things at all. And just

52:41

and just reflecting on being out Japan, I had

52:43

an amazing experience out there. They

52:45

love yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah. I

52:48

had like I ran three three

52:50

times a day just to make that weight with

52:54

that song on in that room. I was in that room.

52:56

I was just like I lived in that room.

52:57

Bro.

52:59

I came outside like two times and I was to

53:01

go to the blinds store and

53:03

another store, and that was it.

53:07

I'm going through. Don't

53:09

do that.

53:10

Yeah, I'm going to bother something.

53:12

Come on three three times a day. Yeah.

53:14

I had to make the way hard

53:17

to want to fight like that.

53:17

Bro.

53:19

Hey, if I said, if I said that, people knew

53:21

all the then all he making these Bro,

53:25

that's why you gotta have this stuff on film. And I got this stuff

53:27

on film. Yeah

53:30

on film. M hm, Yeah,

53:33

it's hard.

53:34

Bro man, you got a new addition to the team,

53:36

Bozie, and this man, tell me, tell me how that messed

53:38

with your team and how that worked out last game.

53:40

It was good for me. It was like that, like I said to while

53:42

he is like the best of both worlds for me, because you know, they got

53:45

two different training styles, two different point of views

53:47

on the game. And you know, Bozie has

53:49

like a regiment with him that we do. It's

53:51

like a it's muscle it works muscle memory.

53:53

So just off of you throwing something right now, I could block,

53:56

come and come right back off off of mess muscle

53:58

memory. Where while he he liked

54:00

to have a game plan, then I also have hems

54:02

of Muhammad on my side, who who weighs

54:05

in on these things, and

54:07

that's like he still got a voice, Yeah, hell

54:10

yeah, that's and he's like my

54:12

my safe heating, like my comfortable spot from

54:14

when I was a kid. That was my first trainer and

54:16

my only trainer, and he knows I came up exactly.

54:18

So it's like all three of them was like

54:20

the best of both worlds for me. And

54:23

then they all had different perspectives to come, bring bring

54:25

it, bring it together and

54:27

let's work some.

54:28

Men in the Brandon Figure World fight. Man, you didn't just

54:30

go viral.

54:31

For your performance.

54:33

You had a cold cold kid on bro. Tell

54:35

me about the kid and tell me what happened after that.

54:37

The fights. The fight set came up with man Shoe

54:39

surgeon. You know, anytime we got to fight coming

54:41

up? He hit me up, yo, what you what you're thinking of? I'm

54:44

coming up with some crazy ideas. Came up with the Marginella.

54:46

John came up with the easy concept when

54:49

I was out Japan, so it was

54:51

like this time. He asked me, yo, what y'all like?

54:53

What you want to do? I sent him a

54:55

couple pieces like tops.

54:58

He he went back sent me some different

55:01

ones along with jean shorts.

55:04

So when he sent the Genie shirts, I

55:07

looked at him and I'm just I'm

55:09

like, how would I wear this in the street? I

55:11

look, that's how I look at my fist, Like I would

55:13

have to want to wear this outside in order for me to put that on

55:16

the ring. And I'm like, what would I wear

55:18

with some gens? I wear some butters with them Jones,

55:20

just like the Hour, but with some

55:23

timbers. Let me get some butter. I said, I'm like, yo,

55:27

they hit the fiery movies. They hit the fiery

55:29

movies, and after that, I ain't hear nothing else

55:32

and I just let them do them. So I'm here

55:34

him like, yo, I'm about to really pull this off. But

55:36

I'm like, I got style anyway. I don't

55:38

care what nobody say, and

55:41

mindule, I already lost, so I really don't give an

55:43

f when nobody got to say about my fight style,

55:45

my fight fit, none of that. So when they when

55:47

the they pulled him, uh, they pulled him

55:49

out, the suitcakes, everything I tried them, I'm like, damn,

55:51

he was nice. But I told it. I'm like, yo,

55:54

yeah, well my fight figured me nice. They had the little

55:56

car heart. You know what I'm saying.

55:59

You said, Huh, I was nervous for what because

56:03

they I was telling my wife, she was like,

56:05

he got on. They

56:07

looked like teams, but they looked

56:10

they look they look kind of

56:12

like it was heavy because they

56:16

Yeah, I told her that I knew that. I knew that they was

56:18

boxing shoes, but they looked like, bro, damn,

56:21

how how did they feel? I mean,

56:23

they look like good and it

56:26

was good. It's crazy.

56:28

The bottom of it was like the made out of like

56:30

an actual boxing the wrestling boots

56:32

that I wear.

56:33

Okay, that's the yeah, the soul.

56:36

I was thinking, like, Bro, he didn't do

56:38

too much tonight.

56:39

Hell no, I wouldn't worry about none

56:41

of that. I was a period. If THEMS was

56:43

heavy, that that was a period right there.

56:45

If if needs be, you have some backup. Yeah.

56:47

Yeah, you always had that, that back

56:50

up, especially when you're fighting a guy like him

56:53

dirty.

56:54

So that thing when Viral did, did it? Did

56:56

it reach some higher

56:58

up? Yeah? There might be something going

57:00

on maybe in the future. Possibly, we'll

57:03

see see, I'll check that. It's

57:06

my last one for you.

57:06

Bro, my mama.

57:07

Most fighting you want to do? Bro h,

57:10

how much more fighting you want to do?

57:15

Well? The way how things going now?

57:19

I got a couple more years in me, A

57:21

couple more couple I'm thirty a couple

57:23

two. I'll be thirty one in July, So

57:26

I got a couple more. Mind, I can go as

57:28

long as I want, but I got a couple more because

57:31

sometimes I've been doing this since I was twelve. You get

57:33

tired of it, you know what I'm saying. I'm

57:35

branching off into like movies and stuff

57:37

like that. I want to act. I want to My

57:39

style was nice, So I want to model

57:42

some things, some brands and stuff like that. I want to start.

57:44

You still got the rest of one. No, it's

57:48

a tough business. Huh.

57:49

Yeah, I want to move it.

57:50

You still want to do a start of it?

57:51

Yeah, the startup? Notice

57:53

when you want things to be better than what it was.

57:55

I was just starting people looking good.

57:57

It is good. It is good.

58:00

That's a whoyt to go to if you still had it over.

58:01

Yeah, man, damn, you know what I'm saying. But

58:03

I got other things in the in the works. Man.

58:07

I can't say this though when

58:10

people start calling me out after my fight, that

58:12

fight that with Brandon, I felt good

58:14

and shifted. Yeah I missed.

58:16

I'm like, damn, I missed when people used to calling me out for

58:19

that good year. I'm like, dam anybody calling the boy

58:21

saying that I got the velop see

58:23

what I want to join? People? Are you you?

58:26

I won't fight. I'm like, We're back on. I'm

58:29

bag right, need to big man.

58:31

I appreciate you, good brother, man. Appreciate you coming on me

58:33

and sharing your story and you know, talking

58:35

about the heart the hard spaces, bro. That's why I love

58:37

this this podcast, in these conversations because

58:40

we'renna get to the box and we're gonna get to the extras and os. But

58:42

that life stuff and you being able

58:44

to articulate the good, the bad, the ugly. It's

58:46

the beautiful thing, man, and a lot of people need to hear.

58:48

Bro. I appreciate you. Man. You're gonna tap in

58:50

with you again, you know, for your next fight, Bro,

58:53

And I appreciate you taking.

58:54

The time for sure.

58:55

Man. Man, that's it, Man, we got another dope

58:58

conversation and interview in Philly.

59:00

Man, we we we we tear Philly

59:02

up right now. Man, I appreciate you all tuning in and I hope you

59:04

all enjoyed it. Peak brother, thank

59:07

you, No, it's good, Hm.