Podcast: A deep dive on Garcia-Benavidez card & the Paul-Rahman cancellation
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Welcome to the Fight Freaks Unite recap podcast coming off the weekend. The most notable card was the Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Showtime on Saturday night that included Danny Garcia’s return in a one-sided win over Jose Benavidez Jr., heavyweight Ali Eren Demirezen’s decision over Adam Kownacki in a slugfest and junior welterweight contender Gary Antuanne Russell’s controversial sixth-round knockout of Rances Barthelemy that marred an otherwise competitive and exciting fight. There was also the news that the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. Showtime PPV card was canceled.
Here’s what we discussed on this episode (in order):
We dissected Garcia’s return from a 19-month layoff and move up to junior middleweight for a sharp performance in a decision over Benavidez. Part of the discussion was about the putrid 114-114 scorecard from judge Waleska Roldan. We also got into Garcia’s breakdown in the ring after the fight as he opened up about the mental health challenges he dealt with during his time away from the ring, his interest in a rematch with Keith Thurman and thoughts on other possible future opponents.
Then we got into Demirezen’s career-best win and a career-crippling loss by Kownacki, who has dropped three in a row, as well as the controversy of Russell’s TKO against Barthelemy. Should it have been stopped? Why aren’t referees and judges made available to media to answer for their actions? Should there be a rematch?
Finally, we went deep into what the heck happened with Paul-Rahman being canceled on Saturday night, one week before fight night. We break it all down and give our views on what really happened and who is to blame.
Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!
We will be bringing you the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.
Garcia photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime
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Always a good talk on the Podcast with RaF and his sidekick .......
Usually you can count on getting the straight dope from Raf its not that the guy thinks he knows everything about boxing but he is aware of the facts, and is not affaid to keep the the talk on track and running smooth. The pod is honest and not full of opinions or arguments and a whole lotta nothing that you can get out there in pod land. I am not a friend of Raffy so this is not a cheap trick to get you hooked on the pod but it is a good ....... I may not agree with everything that is said on the pods but I don't have to ..........