Star trainer Derrick James exclusive interview on the Fight Freaks Unite podcast
His fighters, undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and three-belt welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr., both have had recent big victories
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Trainer Derrick James has been one of the best in boxing for the past several years. He is the only trainer who currently trains two unified world champions, undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and three-belt unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr.
They are both coming off significant wins. Spence unified three 147-pound belts by 10th-round knockout of Yordenis Ugas in April and Charlo unified all four 154-pound belts by 10th-round knockout of Brian Castano in their rematch last month to become undisputed champion.
Derrick and I discussed both fights, with his thought on both of their performances, and what might be up next for each. We talked about the prospect of Spence against Terence Crawford for the undisputed welterweight title, a fight that is being negotiated, as well as possible Charlo fights against mandatory challengers Tim Tszyu or Sebastian Fundora.
We also talked about the lack of a trainer of the year award on his resume and his work with the outstanding lightweight up-and-comer Frank Martin and more.
Please give it a listen, subscribe to the podcast and enjoy!
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime
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Lets hope the recent craze of boxers fighting to unify titles and ultimately to become the ultimate in boxing an undisputed world champion. If this can become the norm again it will have a healthy effect on the sport in the long term and hopefully reverse the damage caused by decades of greedy sanctioning bodies interested primarily in short term financial gain rather than for the good of the sport itself.
Great conversation, Dan. Happy to chip in and get Derrick a solid land line or headset for the next one : )