Podcast: 'Boots' Ennis interview; recaps galore, including Shakur
Plus: Foster robbed; Zepeda by KO; Diaz beats Masvidal; Mosley retires Jacobs; Fisher crushes Babic; Martinez unifies; Canelo update; Ryan Garcia's racism; anniversaries; Emanuel Steward appreciation
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It was a busy weekend with five cards to discuss and we went over all of them, including Shakur Stevenson’s title defense; O’Shaquie Foster being badly robbed of his world title; and Fernando Martinez unifying junior bantamweight belts against Kazuto Ioka. There is also my interview with Jaron “Boots” Ennis ahead of Saturday’s title defense; news of the week; and more.
Here is what’s on the show (in order):
Recap of Stevenson’s rout of Artem Harutyunyan to retain the WBC lightweight title as he heads into free agency and what could be next.
Recaps of wins by up-and-coming lightweights Keyshawn Davis and Abdullah Mason in excellent performances on the undercard.
Recap of Foster losing the WBC junior lightweight title to Robson Conceicao in yet another case of heinous scoring.
Recap of lightweight contender William Zepeda’s demolition of Giovanni Cabrera.
Recap of the action-packed boxing match between UFC rivals Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal; Shane Mosley Jr.’s rout of Daniel Jacobs in the co-feature; lightweight prospect Curmel Moton’s knockout win; and lightweight prospect Amado Vargas’ knockout of Sean Garcia, Ryan’s brother.
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Recap of heavyweight Johnny Fisher smashing Alen Babic in the first round, as I predicted.
Recap of Martinez’s entertaining decision over Ioka to unify the IBF and WBA junior bantamweight titles on the road in Japan.
My interview with Ennis, who makes his first IBF welterweight title defense against David Avanesyan on Saturday. We covered several topics: having the fight at home in Philadelphia; being upgraded from interim status and not getting Terence Crawford to make his mandatory against him; what he expects from Avanesyan; his decision to sign with Matchroom Boxing; future goals; and more.
My reporting that Canelo Alvarez is deciding between two possible opponents for his fall fight, Edgar Berlanga or Chris Eubank Jr.
Thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s disgusting racist social media posts, livestream comments and half-ass apology.
Ringside memories on the 13th anniversary of a scoring debacle that was so severe New Jersey suspended all three judges for preposterously awarding Paul Williams a majority decision over Erislandy Lara.
Memories on the 17th anniversary of the coming out party for surefire Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire, who drilled Vic Darchinyan with a massive left hook to win his first world title at flyweight.
An appreciation for my friend Emanuel Steward on what would have been the great man’s 80th birthday.
Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!
We bring you the preview each Friday and the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.
Ennis photo: Andrew Maclean/Matchroom Boxing
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My thoughts are simple. Top Rank offered him $3million a fight for 5 fights against subpar opposition. He should have taken it. He’s not worth more than TRank’s offer which is really fair. From what I saw in his last 2 fights he is not capable of beating Tank, a fight he wants……and if the fight was made it would have to be a 70/30 split in Tank’s favor. Would it be an interesting fight? Yes. Would it draw well for the money Shakur thinks he can make? I don’t think so. Any other opinions leave them here and let me know where I may be wrong. Keep punching. 🥊