0:00
You're building stars, you're building
0:01
guys. All of a sudden with one phone
0:03
call, they get offered a big check over
0:05
in Saudi and they're gone,
0:08
you know, and you know that's happened,
0:10
you know, Shakur, you know, is, you
0:13
know, doing business out there. There's
0:15
other guys, David Benvdas is doing a
0:17
fight out there. So, it does throw some
0:19
uncertainty, you know, from a fan
0:22
Yeah, sure. like they're throwing money
0:24
and making fights happen, but at the
0:25
same time it it creates uncertainty for
0:28
the promoter because all of a sudden you
0:29
had a star like Shakur or David Benvidas
0:32
and then they get offered four or five
0:35
times what they usually make by the
0:37
Saudis and they're gone which no one can
0:40
Like it's a it's a it's a tough
0:42
provision. You got to take what you can
0:44
get when you can get it.
0:46
But then that just is a challenge for
0:48
the promoter business.
0:50
Uhhuh. Because does championship boxing
0:52
still exist? Like the belts, holding
0:54
having a belt, does that even like make
0:56
sense? Like, can you have a WBC, WBO and
1:00
not make the money that these guys are
1:02
making that a even champions?
1:05
I mean, look, the the reality is
1:08
everyone sort of has said there's too
1:10
many belts. There's too many belts, you
1:12
know, but then new people come into the
1:13
sport and what's the first thing they
1:15
do? They start creating their own belt.
1:17
I want to do my own belt. None of the
1:18
other ones are legitimate. you know
1:20
this, you know, I don't trust those
1:22
guys. I'm going to do my own belt. So
1:24
now we're we're headed toward having
1:26
more belts rather than others. And and
1:28
by the way, I don't think it's
1:30
necessarily a bad thing. I I have
1:32
nothing but respect for champions, but
1:34
the reality is there's a lot of guys who
1:36
don't have belts and don't have
1:37
champions, which are the biggest
1:39
stylists in the sport.
1:40
You know, there was times when Oscar De
1:42
Hoy didn't always have a belt. It didn't
1:45
You know, it didn't matter. Now, having
1:48
said that, you can't tell a fighter that
1:50
because that's that's their legacy.
1:52
That's history. But at at the same time,
1:55
you know, yeah, you can you can look at
1:57
it and we can get to like the celebrity
1:59
fights and all that stuff. It it's it's
2:02
different, but yeah, the reality is no
2:05
one really knows what a belt is worth
2:07
right now because if anything, there's
2:09
becoming more and more of them.
2:10
So, the rank fight is like because you
2:11
know, you got the top 10 ranked
2:12
fighters. So the ranking is off then
2:15
also because usually the rank is
2:16
supposed to move around like you know
2:17
far as like the number one ranked
2:19
contender supposed to fight you know the
2:21
you know top five that doesn't exist
2:23
because of that right to me.
2:25
Well well part of it and and that's
2:26
another situation the rankings and you
2:29
know not to get too deep into it but the
2:31
the rankings some of them are now
2:33
controlled by the same people promoting
2:39
is that not corruption?
2:40
Yeah they do that in radio. Yeah.
2:43
So, you know, so it used to be like,
2:46
hey, that's your path. If you could move
2:48
up the rankings and even if you had a
2:50
small promoter, you didn't have a lot of
2:52
power. If you got to the number one
2:53
position, you know, you'd have a good
2:55
shot at getting that championship fight.
2:57
At least there was a process there. If
2:59
you're now your promoter or the promoter
3:01
of your organization controls the
3:04
then the question is, okay, are they
3:06
going to rank the people who are best
3:08
for their business? Are they ranking the
3:10
people who are the best, most skilled
3:12
boxers who depend that?
3:14
So, you know, there's always, you know,
3:16
there's always this thing about the best
3:18
throwing the best. The best fight the
3:19
best in the UFC. Do they fight in
3:21
boxing? Well, it's easy to say that,
3:22
hey, the UFC always has one versus two,
3:26
which they don't, but let's just assume
3:27
that for a minute. Well, when you
3:29
control the rankings and you can put one
3:32
and two together, then you can say, "Oh,
3:33
look, one and two are together." Well,
3:35
you just made those guys one and two a
3:37
couple weeks ago. Mhm.
3:38
So, it's it's in your own control to say
3:41
the best are fighting the best. And
3:42
sometimes you look at those rankings, a
3:44
lot of those rankings, they're rankings
3:46
about who is best as a marketer.
3:50
Who is a best seller of pay-per-views,
3:52
who's a best seller of tickets, as
3:54
opposed to who really deserves it from a
3:55
skill perspective. Steve Espinosa is
3:57
here. I'm going to go to the phone call.
4:01
We going to go to song, but when we come
4:03
back, Steve, I'm about to put you to
4:05
work, man. And you're about to co-host
4:08
Because we got the three division uh
4:11
champ of the world. What is it? Light
4:13
wait featherweight, super featherweight,
4:15
and lightweight champ.
4:16
The one and only Shakur Stevens in this.
4:18
I want to bring him in.
4:20
Where is he from? Sway.
4:21
He's from planet Earth. All right.
4:23
Oh, the hate Jersey in the in the
4:26
building. We going to bring and you can
4:28
help us interview him. Is that all
4:29
right? Absolutely. All right. Shakor be
