Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: One of my biggest inspirations would be Muhammad Ali. I mean, he was great, and he gave us all to boxing super dedicated. But he used it more as like a tool to reach the people. And that's something that I had goals of doing also. Not just using boxing for my personal game, but to use it to spread a good message and to help others in the community.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Land of the real, home of the brave stares in the house of the community.
One for the game.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: On the Tcast, we're learning how to expect the unexpected, and this guest is absolutely no exception. He likes spending his downtime with his daughter and fiance. If he goes out with friends at all, it's a couple dudes that he's known for his entire life. He spends time going on long 1012, 15 miles runs. No music in his ears, just the pitter patter of the trail that he's running. But this guy is a killer. In two weeks, he's fighting for a world title. Please help me. Welcome to the Tcast. The kid, Mr. Edward Vasquez. Usually a jab is just something that you're originally taught to just set something.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Yep, yep.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: But I realized you could also be knocked out from exactly.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: It could be a power punch.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: If you oh, my gosh. If you're really not ready and somebody's really leveraged, then but that's how the setup works. When you get it hit, it's not just coming at you. So I had a great appreciation for that once I started doing more strict boxing and not involving so many other things. But I really got to apply all of that stuff in police work, too, so I think it's great. That's fascinating.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Did you mention Paul Yala? Paul Yala is actually at my gym this morning. I was sparring one of his fighters, one of his younger fighters. He's just helping me get ready for my fight.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: Fantastic. So how many guys do you have to go through to do that? Are you going through just practice rounds? Are you going 80%? How do you work with other boxers?
[00:02:06] Speaker A: So when we're in Vegas these past couple of weeks, those are more of the harder rounds. So I'd say that's more like 80, 90% of full on sparring. But when we come back to the city, we kind of use guys that they're good fighters, but we kind of use them to kind of give us a certain look, and we're not trying to knock them out or hurt them or anything like that. We're just trying to get a certain look and work on certain things. Okay.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: Stylistically.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, stylistically. Exactly. So if a guy's a mover, if a guy that we're fighting is a mover, then we'll look for people around the city that are movers. Or if a guy's a power puncher, we look for a guy that's a power puncher. And so we branch out and try to reach out to different resources and see who has the right guy for us.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: Is that how it's done on every level? Is that a typical way of going about it?
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
A lot of times people won't leave outside of their gym or even outside of their city. But I've noticed from how long I've been boxing that when you leave, that's when you get really good work. And not only that, I feel like when I was in Vegas, a lot of the fighters, it's not that they don't respect you. It's just like when you're here in the city, sometimes people know who you are, and they kind of come into the sparring kind of like holding back or like I don't know, they kind of just respect you. They don't want to get hit by a certain shot or something. And when I was in Vegas, it's more like they don't care.
[00:03:45] Speaker C: Nobody cares who you are.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Exactly. So it's always good to get out and find those kind of guys because at the end of the day, when I go fight for this world title, that's what it's going to be like. The guy's not going to care about me.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Right. You're picking from everybody in the world. How are you going to get that good? By working with everybody in Fort Worth. That makes no sense, right?
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Yeah, and it's kind of hard to find good sparring partners that will be there every single we spar three times a week, so that will be there consecutively Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
A lot of times we just have to use our own teammates, which is good too. But I like to, like I said, branch out and get different looks.
It's definitely a task for my managers and from my trainer to always be on the search for different sparrings.
[00:04:32] Speaker C: And you say you've been doing this for a long time, but you're a young cat.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: Yeah, 21 years.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: As young as you are?
[00:04:40] Speaker A: I'm 28, so I've been fighting since I was seven years old.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: Oh my gosh. So how does that start? Did you grow up here?
[00:04:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I grew up in south side of Fort Worth and being from Hispanic heritage, it's kind of just something that you just do. And some of my earliest memories are sitting around with my family watching like Oscar de La Hoya fight or like Fernando Vargas Trinidad, the really good fighters from the early ninety s and early 2000s. Those are some of my earliest memories when we'd all get together. And I had a few cousins that were fighters also and so it was kind of like wouldn't say it's like a family. I mean, it is a family thing because we were all kind of involved in it and that's when we got together.
[00:05:28] Speaker C: But you're fans, moreover, in the beginning, right?
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Exactly. So we're more so fans than anything.
I have three brothers, they played baseball and I played baseball too for like three years and we would always box. We'd always put on the gloves, and I fight with my brothers. And I just always told my dad, hey, for my 7th birthday, can I join a boxing gym? And I had probably been training since I was, like, five years old. My dad always took me running with him.
He'd let me run for 30 minutes, and then he'd run the rest of the time, but it just always was a goal of mine. And then seven years old is when he took me to sign up at a boxing gym. And here we are now.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: So did you box on the same side of town? Did you go over the north side or it was south.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I was in the south side, off of Hemp Hill. It was called Round One Boxing club. Okay. Off of Hempill and macart.
[00:06:22] Speaker C: Were there plenty of other kids your age that you could work with?
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Yeah, actually, around that time, I'd say that was probably like 2002, 2003. Boxing was like really there was a lot of people in the gym all the time and from all different walks of life.
Also, some of my earliest memories, I remember coming home from school, and every day I'd do my homework, clean my room, and then I'd run to the gym. And my dad would follow me in the car or he would run behind me.
[00:06:54] Speaker C: Oh, you run to the gym? Run.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I'd run to the gym. And that was kind of just part of my training, and I did that for many years. So that's why when people now they see me running, I run eight to 10 miles every single day, and people are like, Dude, you're crazy. And I'm like, I've been doing this I've been running like this since I was a little kid. But, yeah, man, there was always a lot of kids in the gym.
[00:07:18] Speaker C: I'll probably end up bouncing back and forth. So forgive me, but when you talk about road work, that sounds like old school road work. Oh, yeah, because the old school guys would go and run 1012 miles, and some of the newer school guys are doing more of the hit type training. They're sprinting. And do you incorporate any of that?
[00:07:39] Speaker A: I always say, don't try to reinvent the will.
I just keep it old school. And to me, it's not rocket science. I feel like the strength and conditioning part of boxing is almost like the last thing you should be worried about. Like, what you should be worried about is getting the right amount of reps in the gym and doing correcting your form and coming up with the right game plan. So I try not to do too much, like, high intensity training like that. I'll hit, like I said, eight to 10 miles a day. I'll do my ABS, I'll jump rope, and then I'm doing 25 rounds on the bag at the gym and doing some MIT work. And some sparring. But I just try to keep it strictly boxing, and then when I get out of to keep it simple. Okay.
[00:08:30] Speaker C: And I think the amount of work that goes into that at the level that you're at is underappreciated, because you make it sound like that's no big deal. Do you run in one session? Two sessions.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: How do you I run one session. So I do my boxing in the morning, and then I do my running in the evening, and then I finish off the day. Also, with a little bit of boxing, we're not working on so much like hit and mitts or anything in the evening. It's more so just kind of I call it like a shakeout after the run, we kind of just shake out on the bag or shadow boxing or something like that. Kind of going over what I learned throughout the day.
[00:09:07] Speaker C: Fantastic.
The level of discipline is pretty unique there. Do you find that other people that you've worked or come up watching, do you think one of the things that distinguishes you is that work ethic, or do you think there's something to having a certain degree of natural talent combined with an amazing workout?
[00:09:30] Speaker A: I always say that I'm not sure if I was born to be a boxer. I'm not the most skilled fighter. But, yeah, to me, it's all about the discipline and the grind every single day. And that's what set me apart from most fighters for my entire life.
I've come up with a lot of guys who are way talented, way better than me, and I've seen a lot of guys along the way that they were way more talented than me and had better amateur backgrounds than me. But they start to taper off at a certain point just because they lack the discipline.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: Especially at an early age.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Right? Yeah.
[00:10:10] Speaker C: Like a lot of different sports, you get these kids that are great at football or baseball or whatever, but when they're in 9th grade, if they're not particularly interested anymore, they see chicks or whatever.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. And then especially when you turn pro, it's like a lot of times in boxing, people get the misconception that when you first turn pro, that you're making a lot of money. And that's not true. You're not making a lot of money in the very beginning of boxing. So a lot of times when people turn pro, you have to work a nine to five and still train, or you have to give up the nine to five and put all your eggs in one basket.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: And how do you do that? Sponsorships or how might somebody pull that off?
[00:10:51] Speaker A: Sponsorships or just I always say being ready and training every single day. And when that call comes in for a fight, you take that fight and then you save that money or reinvest it into whatever your training regimen is and then continue to do that. But you can't do that if you're not in the gym all the time and ready to go and answer the phone and ready to take the fight. So that's the issue that I see all the time, is there's guys that are really good, but boxing is a sport for the poor, and so it's a poor man's sport. And so they come in and they really don't have any financials behind them, so they have to go work a nine to five. And before you know it, they're coming into the gym just three times a.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: Week, catch 22, because they got to feed themselves and their family or whatever.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, it's not their fault, but you have control of that. The end of the day, are you going to make an excuse or are you going to make it happen?
[00:11:50] Speaker C: So there's a lot of hustle to it, not necessarily in the physical aspect, but you got to be a hustler, right?
[00:11:57] Speaker A: Absolutely, man. Yeah. And that changed, I think, for me.
Probably about 19 years old, one year out of high school, I told myself, you know what? Something here has got to give. Like, I had 90 amateur fights, and I was just looking to go pro, but I didn't have anything either. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to train 365 days. Like, literally every single day, and I'm going to document it and post it on social media, and I'm going to show people what I'm doing. I'm going to travel just with whatever I have and see if I can make it happen. And after 365 days, man, boom. It just started happening. I got signed to Roy Jones Jr. Promotion, and it just started happening one fight after the next. And then before you know it, I was fighting.
I think on my 6th or 7th fight was an ESPN fight. And then after that, I fought for my first title on the undercard of Mike Tyson versus Roy Jones. And so it just started happening really fast for only the only catalyst to that know, just putting in the work every single day. That was literally and I had to make a sacrifice. I was going to California. Luckily, my girlfriend was going to college in California. And so when I went out to Would, I would just stay with her and I would go to gyms. And it was so went to I don't know if you know what Wild Card Gym is. It's where Manny Pacquiao trained. Okay, so that's like, what it's mostly known for. A lot of world class fighters train there. And so I walk in, I'm like, hey, I'm looking for some sparring. And they're like, Are you looking to learn how to fight or what? I was like, no, I'm a fighter. I've been fighting my whole life. I'm just looking for an opportunity.
And they're like, oh, yeah, actually we'll pay you to spar here. I was like, oh, well, you guys will pay me to spar here. Cool. And so they paid, know, three times a week to spar, and then they referred me other places and all this stuff I was putting on social media. And then I got another opportunity to go to Philadelphia to spar out there and have training camp out there for a little while. And like I said, all this was I didn't have anything at the time.
[00:14:15] Speaker C: So you're creating your opportunities, but you're also prepared when you get them, which is absolutely.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: Yeah, man. For me, I was just going all in.
I told my family, hey, it's kind of risky, but I'm just going to go all in. And I was born with world champions and up and coming fighters, and I was getting my ass whooped. I didn't care.
[00:14:35] Speaker C: Well, any good fighter has gotten their ass whooped, right?
[00:14:39] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:14:40] Speaker C: I say that to a lot of people, but obviously you have so much more experience than anyone like myself. But it only makes sense that you're going to learn how to overcome things that you don't know by losing, and that makes you learn. Right. Even the greatest fighters have all lost something, right?
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Absolutely, man.
In order to know what the next level is like, you have to get your ass whooped versus these top guys and then realize, hey, something needs to change or need to dedicate yourself a little bit more. And that's definitely what it did for me.
[00:15:13] Speaker C: So as much as you did, putting yourself out there is the pretty smart thing, plus the hustle.
And then you got that opportunity to actually earn some money to kind of keep you afloat again. How did someone like RJJ hear about you? Was that through your social media stuff.
[00:15:30] Speaker A: Or did that opportunity?
Yeah, I guess it was through social media. And then when I came back home from Philadelphia, so I was training at a gym here, reyes Boxing Club, for 14 years. And I kind of hit the road because there was nothing really it's not that I had outgrown them, it's just I had a vision of making this happen, and it just wasn't and like.
[00:16:01] Speaker C: You said, need you need new people to compete with in order to step out of your yes, sir environment.
[00:16:08] Speaker A: So that's why I hit the know. I went to California. I went to Philadelphia, back to California, and then when I decided to come back home, I changed gyms. And when I met my new coach, coach Ray Ray, he was like, hey, well, I have an opportunity for you on RJJ card, and if you beat this guy, they said they'll sign you. And the guy was pretty good, and I think he was like three and o or four. And I think I was one and o. And I was like, hey, you know what? Hell yeah, I'll take it, right?
[00:16:40] Speaker C: Why wouldn't you? I mean, you got to give it a shot.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Exactly. And I was ready. I had been training my ass off and getting a bunch of good work, and so I took that opportunity. They're like, we need you to sell a certain amount of tickets and beat this guy. And I was like, I'm a ticket seller. So I sold tickets.
I blew that limit out of the water, and I went and beat the guy, and I signed with RJJ. Wow. And then that lasted for a little while before that whole situation kind of didn't work out. They weren't giving me the fights or as many fights as I wanted in the certain amount of time that they had promised. And so I asked for early release from that, and getting released from that was almost like just like a blessing in disguise. Like, things started rolling after that. I guess people saw that I was, like, a free agent and that they didn't have to go through anybody to get to me. And so my phone started ringing off.
[00:17:39] Speaker C: And it came from a name.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: Exactly.
And so the phone started ring, and I'm the kind of guy that I don't second guess fights. If you call me and you say, hey, this guy wants to fight you, hey, let's do it. If everything lines up perfectly. I've never turned down fights, man. I'm always there.
[00:18:01] Speaker C: Well, you look forward to the day where you can, right? Because that's when you can afford to say, no. I'm actually taking a little rest, and I'll start my training later. I can afford to not have to.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Hopefully that'll come after this fight. But once again, on this upcoming fight, November 4, this would be not my first fight at 130 pounds, but I've been campaigning at 126 pounds for a while now, and they just kind of called me and said, hey, do you want to go up and fight the 130 pound champion? And I'm like, yeah, come on, let's do it. So once again, man, like I said, I don't turn down fights.
[00:18:35] Speaker C: So how difficult is it to actually do that? Because that's percentage wise, that's putting on a lot of weight when you're at your leanest. Exactly right. So what do you do in order to put weight on like that?
[00:18:47] Speaker A: Well, actually, it kind of worked out coincidentally, it worked out perfectly, because, like I said, I've been at 126 for a while now, and actually, on my last fight that I just had, I wasn't able to make the 126 limit. I came in two pounds over. And so my next move was to either I had told my management, I either want to go up 230 pounds, or if I do get a fight at 126, I need to have at least a six to eight week notice because I don't want to compromise my health.
[00:19:20] Speaker C: It'll take that long.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: Exactly. It'll take me eight weeks to get down to the weight. And so it worked out, I had plans of moving up to 130 pounds anyway. I felt like I was kind of outgrowing 126, but I'm ranked number ten in the world at 126 pounds. So if the opportunity comes about and they gave me the right amount of time, I'm going back down to 126. Really? Oh, yeah, absolutely.
[00:19:45] Speaker C: You're not going to just love this 130, no matter how it turns.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: 130 pound world title. And if they want me to defend it versus one of the 130 pounders, that's cool, too. But I'm also still ranked number ten in the world at 126. So anytime you're ranked in the top 15, you're literally one phone call away from the world title, because the number one guy never wants to fight number two or number three unless he's mandated to, but he has to fight somebody in the top 15. And so I'm always just one phone call away. And so if they give me that call, man, I'm here.
[00:20:21] Speaker C: That'd be great.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: I'll take it. Oh, yeah.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: So where do you fight on this November 4?
[00:20:28] Speaker A: It'll be in Monte Carlo. Monaco? At the Monte Carlo Casino. So I'm super excited, man.
[00:20:34] Speaker C: You have to go travel somewhere cool, too.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's always been my dream to fight for a world title, and I've always envisioned myself fighting for a world title, but never, ever in a million years did I ever think they would be in Monaco, like, of all places. Monaco like what?
[00:20:50] Speaker C: That's pretty cool.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:20:52] Speaker C: Bonus.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: It's pretty cool because it'll be my first world title fight, and I feel like it's going to help that it's at the Monte Carlo Casino because it'll only be in front of 300 fans. It's not like a big stadium fight.
It's kind of like a black tie private event. And they sold out tickets already, I think, on the first day.
[00:21:15] Speaker C: High dollar black tie type thing.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. They say it's just a whole bunch of millionaires and billionaires in the building, and so I think that's going to help me a whole lot.
[00:21:23] Speaker C: There's your sponsor.
[00:21:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I know, right? Exactly.
I'm excited about it, man. I get to take my family with me and my mom and my dad. Of course. None of us have ever been to that side of the world, and so, like I said, it's almost like a dream come true. But more than that, because I never dreamed of fighting out there.
[00:21:45] Speaker C: So stylistically, how much is that influenced by your culture, the styles?
[00:21:53] Speaker A: It's almost everything, man.
Down to the walkout music, down to my ring attire, down to how I fight.
Being from a Mexican background, that's everything to me and to my tenacity, people know me as the guy that's like I told you, that's not going to turn down fights. And when the fight is going on, I'm action packed. People love to watch me fight because I'm all action, and that definitely has 100% credit to my heritage and where my roots come from, man. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:22:34] Speaker C: And you're from the South Side, which is actually kind of a diverse neighborhood, black and Hispanic a lot, right?
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:22:40] Speaker C: I don't know exactly where on the South Side do you find any unity or is there some segregation when it comes to the boxing world? Because I know those styles are different, too.
But I guess what I'm getting at is we try to find things here that are kind of unifying. And I think boxing is a sport that unifies, for sure, but it depends on the circumstance. Because if you've got two guys in the same neighborhood and you have guys from different cultures, you can almost pay me a million dollars and I'll pick out who's voting for who, you know what I mean?
[00:23:16] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:23:17] Speaker C: But at the same time, if you have you from the South Side, then everyone on the South Side would watch you and be a fan of you if you play the West Side, whatever.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:23:29] Speaker C: So do you have any experiences where you've kind of found that it is unifying, not necessarily just the Hispanic community, but you've been able to bring other people?
[00:23:39] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
When I had my first main event here, and it was in Dallas, it was, I think, in 2021, oh, man, I brought everyone together. I even had a rapper walk me out to my fight.
I guess when it comes down to boxing, if you ever been to a boxing gym, man, it's almost like race and culture or profession doesn't even exist. Everyone's like it's like brotherhood. So yeah, man, I definitely can see how it brings all classes and all colors and people together. Absolutely.
[00:24:18] Speaker C: I think it's beautiful you even mentioned it before, that it's kind of a poor man's sport, and that seems a shame, but I guess it could apply to any sport where somebody's an amateur and really struggling to get somewhere because nobody gets paid until you get to the in teens level anyway. Right, but I just found that fascinating because I've been fans of all kinds of fighters throughout my lifetime also, and as divisive as race can always be, boxing to me has always seemed like a unifying thing, more so I just wanted to ask you if that was your same experience.
[00:24:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, a prime example is me going to fight in front of millionaires and billionaires in Monaco. That's the ultimate signifier of unification. Of course, they're not there to root me on. I don't even think they're there to root that guy on. I think they just want to see us literally batter each other. They're just there for the violence, which is cool with me. I'm all about that.
[00:25:16] Speaker C: There could be something a little twisted about it, but it's not really I mean, it's a legit fight, too.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: It's not like absolutely.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: They're really paying for blood. This is the legitimate fight, a title fight, for Evan's sake.
Who is one of your bigger inspirations?
Whether it be in life or boxing? Either one.
[00:25:36] Speaker A: I mean, definitely, I guess in life would be my father.
He's my biggest inspiration. He works so hard and never has any excuse, and I guess that's where I get that from. I don't use any work, just, you know, pure work ethic. But in boxing, one of my biggest inspirations would be Muhammad Ali.
He used boxing.
He was great, and he gave us all to boxing, super dedicated. But he used it more as like a tool to reach the people. And that's something that I have goals of doing also. Not just using boxing for my personal game, but to use it to spread good message and to help others in the community.
[00:26:24] Speaker C: Well, that's beautiful. What would you like to do? How would you leverage it? Even if you don't have a plan, what types of causes do you want to know?
[00:26:33] Speaker A: Well, coming from where I come from, south side of Fort Worth, I feel like there's just not a lot of outlet for young kids nowadays. It's just on the phone, social media, or out on the street. There's tons of bad influences. And so one of my biggest goals is to maybe one day open, like a recreational center or a boxing gym. I say recreational center because I don't want it just to be just solely boxing. Just somewhere where people can have outlets and resources to different things. But even, like, managing fighters, because I know there's a lot of talent here in the DFW, but there's not enough, I guess, direction. Like, people are really good, but they're not sure what to do with it. And for a while, I was one of those guys you don't need just.
[00:27:27] Speaker C: Boxing coaches or sport coach. You need life coaches.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Right, exactly.
[00:27:30] Speaker C: These are kids that could potentially be out in the street most of the days and turn to gangs or whatever. Otherwise, unless they have an adult to give them in a good example.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: Right, exactly. And then in the boxing game, man, it's shark infested waters. And if you don't have someone who's been down that road or has basic knowledge in it, or not even basic knowledge has real knowledge in boxing, then it could be ugly for you. So I have aspirations of being able to help the up and coming fighters and just training fighters. I'm a trainer now. Like, when I'm not in training camp, I train young kids, I train adults. But I love passing on the knowledge that I've learned over the 21 years of fighting.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: That's beautiful.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah, man. That's one of my biggest goals. And me and my fiance and my daughter.
My daughter just did, like, a St. Jude fundraiser, and this is her third year of doing, and she loves giving back and actually pushing for that. And so we have goals of. Giving back to different charities that need it and just helping people in need. I feel like that's something that is not talked about or done enough, and I feel like I could use my platform for that. Even if it's just reaching ten people or 100 people.
[00:29:01] Speaker C: Oh, for sure, man, even just one. As long as they'll pass it on, we got it all solved.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:07] Speaker C: So what if you were challenged to mentor, let's call it mentorship, right? Or coaching, whatever? The vast majority of people that you're going to coach have a potential to fall off, but fewer chance to actually make it in boxing.
How would you teach someone to take boxing and apply it elsewhere? Where else could you apply? In other words, the skills that you learn in boxing. Where else in life would you build up?
[00:29:35] Speaker A: It would be the tenacity and the discipline of you could take what you do, or I guess not what you do literally, like hitting the bag and stuff, but what you do in boxing, like the dedication it takes and apply that to any job or any craft or whatever it is that you're after.
If you're able to show up to the gym every day and you're willing to put in the work and go through the pain and sacrifices, you can do that, like I said, in any other job. And so I think if you're able to take those lessons and apply it to anywhere else, you'll see the same kind of benefits.
[00:30:16] Speaker C: So a lot of it's the discipline you think like it would be in a lot of sports. Although I dare say boxing takes a little bit more discipline than a lot of the other sports. And I don't mean that as a knock on any of their sports. I just think people underappreciate how much work it takes to get to a certain level in most professional sports anyway, especially boxing. But I think that's great because again, I think the discipline is pretty extraordinary.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:43] Speaker C: So this will be a weird question. I don't mean this to be necessarily a bad tinge or to reign on the parade, but what are your thoughts on brain injury stuff as you go forward too? Because especially when you're talking about kids and everything, I think it's great. So I'm not trying to implicate anybody, but have you had any consideration for the length of your career or protecting yourself? How would you recommend people protect themselves?
[00:31:09] Speaker A: Yeah, and that goes back to being disciplined.
If you don't have the right amount of discipline in boxing, then yeah, you are going to take some ass whoopings and get hit in the head more than you normally should. And so my best advice would be to the young guys is, like I always tell the fighters that come into the gym, the young kids that want me to train them and stuff, I always say, hey, look, my job is to convince you to not be a fighter. Your job is to convince me to be a fighter. And what I mean by that is I don't want you to fight. I like that you're here, but before I put you in the ring to even spar, you got to show me that you are in here and actually training your ass off. Not only just training because anybody can run and hit the bag or do all the drills and stuff, but are you actually taking it in and actually learning how to protect yourself and move your head and work on your defense? I think that's how you could teach fighters to not it's almost like an.
[00:32:12] Speaker C: Old school football coach that says you're off the team and you have to be the one that refuses to leave because you're exactly.
[00:32:18] Speaker A: Because you're like, no, I will work for it, or whatever.
I think that's what brain injuries I feel like it's not just a part of boxing, it's part of plenty of other sports. But sure, I do see how it is a danger, but hey, man, if you're going to be a part of boxing, that's a part of a risk. That's a gamble you take, man.
[00:32:43] Speaker C: Well, and I think especially the things that you aspire to do in terms of mentoring and coaching, which I really admire you for, versus jail or death, I think it's a great option, especially if they will learn some kind of discipline and carry that into life. I think you could really turn them into successful people. That's awesome.
What is the greatest lesson that you took from your childhood now? I know most of your childhood is southside and boxing or whatever. Was there a particular lesson that you took from having all that discipline at such a young age?
[00:33:20] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the greatest lessons I took from where I grew up is seeing how well, first off, my dad having us, not just me, but my brothers having us in sports and dedicated and going to practice every day and studying our sports and things like that. I feel like the biggest lesson out of that is just, hey, if you're after something, it's going to lead to whether it be being a famous fighter or whatever, it's going to lead to something good. It's better than just being out in the street. Because of where I come from, I also saw a lot of people fall victim to the streets, either prison or their dad. So I saw a lot of that growing up also. And even till this day, childhood friends, I see that they had potential, but they fell victim to the streets. And now you start to see them just fall off one by one, and it's a sad thing to see. So I guess one of my biggest lessons that I learned from my childhood is no matter what you're going after, just have a direction and direction is more important than speed, because a lot of times people want to move fast somewhere, but they're not really sure where they're going. And so my dad always made sure to keep us on track and just there's no shortcuts. Exactly.
[00:34:44] Speaker C: There's a lot of work to get somewhere. Having patience is important. Do you think your father and having your father in the position that he was in was a key to keeping you from getting into the streets? Was it super easy to decide if you wanted to to go get out in the streets and hood rat?
[00:35:03] Speaker A: It wasn't easy. I think my dad definitely takes all the credit for that, man, because he wasn't crazy strict on us, but he always made sure to let us know that, hey, if you don't do this, this is what could happen, or, just look over there, that could happen. And so he always gave us good examples and always definitely gave us good advice. And yeah, he takes all the credit for that, man. Absolutely.
[00:35:33] Speaker C: So one of the things that I usually ask most of the people is, you mentioned that you had a rapper that walked you into the ring. So what kind of music do you listen to? And do you listen to music one way and train with a different kind of music, or do you listen to training music all the time?
[00:35:51] Speaker A: I'm not very much of a music guy. I had that rapper walk me out because it was just, like, fitting. It was just fitting for the moment and attitude. Yeah. And I happened to have friends that have different connections, and so I was like, you know what? He was well known around here, and so I was like, yeah, let's bring this guy out. But I listen to a wide variety of music, man. I'm not really much of a music guy either.
When I'm in the gym, fills up, to me, it'd be dead silent. Really? Yeah, just dead silent. The sounds of Bags and us.
[00:36:29] Speaker C: That's cool.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: Yeah, conversating. But I don't really have a music.
[00:36:34] Speaker C: So is there usually music going on in the gym?
[00:36:37] Speaker A: Yeah, and it's usually Mexican music. Mexican music, I guess.
[00:36:40] Speaker C: Tejano?
[00:36:41] Speaker A: Yeah, tejano or something like that. And that's kind of what I walk out to. I always let my dad I let my dad pick my walkout music besides the rapper. He was like, oh, why'd you do that? Or whatever. But I always let my dad pick out the music for me just because, like I said, I'm not much of a music guy. But every time I've been I mean, since I was a kid, every time I've been into boxing in a boxing gym, no matter where I go, usually it's Mexican music playing.
I guess that does have something to do with the aura of boxing and being in a boxing.
[00:37:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I know in Indian baseball, they got now their intro music when they come out the bat and everybody has their vibe. But I noticed, too, as me being a music guy, when I get older, a lot of times I listen to different things or silence is actually fantastic also. It really is just not having something.
[00:37:33] Speaker A: In your head during my weight cut, though, during my weight cut week, whenever it's like you don't even want to be around me during weight cut week. It's just like one of those things where I'm such on edge.
I listen to reggae and something that just kind of mellows me out and just kind of just relax and it's not so hype. So I guess that would be like one of my go to would be reggae whenever the time is right that I need to chill out and zone in. Interesting. That's definitely one of my go to. I'm not much of like a hype kind of guy. I like to keep it cool as a gym.
[00:38:11] Speaker C: I just assume most people listen to jams that just get them all fired up or whatever. But I can appreciate silence, too, because.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: I think in boxing, you don't want to get going. You kind of want to chill out a little bit before you start fighting or sparring or whatever it is.
I always tell the fighters, like, hey, it's always the junk driver that survives because he's the one that's most relaxed. And so when you're going into the ring, you kind of need to chill out and relax before you get knocked out. Yeah.
[00:38:45] Speaker C: Which is the other amazing aspect of boxing. And I'm going to ask you this next thing, which I think is one of the more fascinating things about you, and tell me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that you're an introvert.
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Absolutely, man.
You don't see me out. I'm not around a whole lot of people a lot. And it's not so much an introvert, it's just I don't bring new people into my circle. I don't like to be around a.
[00:39:16] Speaker C: Bunch of people at once.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Yeah, a bunch of people at once are just like false influences or how do you say it? People that say they're there to support.
[00:39:28] Speaker C: You, but really ulterior motives.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: Exactly.
So I just kind of keep to myself and to my family, my daughter and my girl and my immediate family, and that's pretty much it.
I have the same two or three friends that I grew up with, and you always see me with them. But yeah, man, it's kind of weird because I'm always doing podcasts or interviews, and what I do, I'm always like I fight in front of thousands of people. So it's kind of weird to be different, to be an introvert.
[00:40:01] Speaker C: I'm trying to square up. My kid's an introvert, too, and he's fascinated with comedians. I'm like, okay, so you like being terrified. I don't understand.
And how do you actually do you just compartmentalize it? Are you completely in your head before a fight. How do you do?
[00:40:20] Speaker A: You know, I guess you could say I go from being Edward to when it's time to fight, like a couple days before the fight, I could turn into being the Kid, which is what they call me in the ring. So I just have to kind of switch persona, and when it's time to lock in and do my job, then I go in and do my job.
[00:40:43] Speaker C: It's almost disassociation you're almost like a caricature. I mean, you're obviously yourself, but you're kind of a character.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not a fighter.
That's what I do. But I'm not in real life. You're not a violent guy or I don't like being around that kind of stuff, so I'm not a fighter.
But when it comes down to it, I'm all about it.
[00:41:08] Speaker C: To compete.
[00:41:09] Speaker A: Exactly. And then when it comes down to talking to fans and meeting new people and coming on shows like this, I'm all about it. I love it. I love what I do. So there's a time and a place for it. And for the most part, though yeah, you just catch me at home just kind of just chilling and relaxing, man, I love it, what I do.
[00:41:28] Speaker C: Well, I think that's admirable. And that's a great explanation. That actually makes sense too. I know a lot of people are forced to do that, even if it's a small public speaking engagement or whatever it is that they're made to think about how so and so would do it, and then it kind of portrayed themselves as so and so. And you have your own alternate persona that you can be, which is even better than trying to be somebody else.
[00:41:54] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:41:54] Speaker C: I think that's magnificent.
[00:41:55] Speaker A: There's a lot of good and bad to it.
My fiance, sometimes when it comes down to fight week or even to fight camp, she's kind of like, hey, remember you have two girls.
And she has to snap me back into reality because sometimes I go cold, I guess, because I'm just literally thinking about hyper focused. Yeah, hyper focused and just thinking about almost like just survival.
I'm watching film all day, and my coach is telling me to stay disciplined, stay focused, study film.
For 21 years now, that's all I've been focused on. And so sometimes I let that persona take over. But even at home yeah, I have to.
[00:42:42] Speaker C: What's a short period of time, though, right? Just before a fight, or is it?
[00:42:47] Speaker A: Yeah, just before a fight. Typically it's just before a fight, and we go into camp sometimes for training camp for eight weeks at a time. And so those couple or those two months can be tough on my family and the people around me because I'm not who I normally am. I'm just kind of just understood.
[00:43:09] Speaker C: I think that's reasonable, and everybody should know that about you.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:43:13] Speaker C: Most people I have friends that are like that too. It's like, oh, I can tell by the way you said hello, I'm not going to ask you this complicated question around. Talk to you about it later. So this might not even apply, but do you have a life outside of boxing? Obviously, you say you have a daughter and fiance, so you spend a lot of time with them. Do you have any other hobbies or anything that you're interested in beyond boxing when you're not prepping for a fight?
[00:43:35] Speaker A: Yeah, not so much. I'm a long distance runner, and so whenever I'm not in training camp, I'm still training, but, yeah, I run for my free time, for fun. That's what I do. I'll find a trail and I'll run 1020 miles if I can.
[00:43:55] Speaker C: And again, no music, so it's just quiet there, too.
[00:43:58] Speaker A: No music, man, that's serene. Usually I'll take a buddy with me and my budy that I've had since Pre K, and he picked up running with me also, and we'll go find somewhere. We try to find new trails all the time and find a trail and we just hit it. And that's kind of what I do for fun, man. I mean, honestly, I don't really I guess I'm a boring guy.
[00:44:17] Speaker C: That's not boring, that's very cool.
[00:44:19] Speaker A: Other than that, anything that my daughter is interested in doing and that my fiance is interested in doing, we like to travel.
Anytime we're not in training camp, we try to go on a vacation somewhere.
[00:44:33] Speaker C: Like Monte Carlo, something like that, right?
[00:44:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Actually, after this fight, for my birthday, she bought us a trip to so, yeah, so we're going to go out to Switzerland for a little bit.
I'm super excited about that, but, yeah, that's pretty much it, man. Other than boxing, I'm just really just like a family guy and yeah, that's pretty much it.
[00:44:54] Speaker C: Well, it's admirable, and you're an old soul, but a young cat. Obviously, if you were an old guy like me, you wouldn't be able to box anymore, but I'm proud to know you and I appreciate you spending time, man, and I wish you all the luck, but you don't need luck, right?
[00:45:09] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right, man.
[00:45:11] Speaker C: Regardless of what happens, man, I look forward to following you along the path. And if you ever need anything from me, man, holler.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: I really appreciate it, man.
[00:45:17] Speaker C: Thank you, man.
[00:45:18] Speaker A: Good to meet you.
[00:45:21] Speaker B: What it takes what you going to do? What you're going to do successor other than second grade rules a confident faith to make you do make you do what they want when they won't pay the fool a diplomatic face is the one to see you through don't let those figures take you off your game, Adjust. A lot of them lose sit here in the front seat, baby, ain't that sweet? Take a little honey from the money, be but don't pay the fool a political magical potion a missing piece at the end of the game a slow roll, see the truth of motion I never found a 63 like I shine a truth lies between the right line if you gonna call me back, what can.
