NO HOLDS BARRED

(Photo of Floyd Mayweather Sr., Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and Freddie Roach by Esther Lin/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague and correspondent Keisha Morrisey.

She will be traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao mega-fight this Saturday, May 2.

We spoke with her by phone Wednesday.

While the unbeaten Mayweather, at 47-0, goes into this fight the favorite, it is far from a given that he will win this long-awaited battle.

"I'm expecting the unexpected," she said. "Actually I'm a bit nervous. I have butterflies in my stomach, because I think that you have two great fighters here. Manny Pacquiao was really great in the beginning of his career when he first started in boxing. And then he took the loss to [Juan Manuel] Marquez, which was really unexpected to everyone. Sometimes things happen in boxing, so you just never know."

She added, "Floyd is training really hard. Manny has always been a one-sided fighter. So I think that again, anything could happen, but I'm really expecting the unexpected."

We discussed possible scenarios for this fight, including the rendering of a controversial verdict which would set the stage for a lucrative rematch.

While she did not offer a prediction about who will win this fight, she did say, "Something is just not going to be right."

We also discussed her long history of correctly predicting fights through the years including many upsets, the importance of proper training for fighters, the role of trainers Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Freddie Roach in this fight, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Keisha Morrisey, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with investigative journalist, academic, and expert on match-fixing in international football, Declan Hill.

In April 2015, he was appointed Senior Fellow in anti-corruption in sports at the University of Brighton in Sussex, England.

We spoke with Declan Hill by phone Tuesday.

The escalating number of crises and scandals in world sport have led many to call for fundamental change in its structure and governance. Another result has been the emergence of an open battle between the lords of world sport, something which is usually reserved for behind-closed-doors intrigue.

Most notably, last week Marius Vizer, the president of both SportAccord (the international federation of both Olympic and non-Olympic federations) and the International Judo Federation, spoke at the SportAccord convention and issued a public flogging of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its president, Thomas Bach.

Vizer accused the IOC of, among other things, blocking SportAccord from organizing its own multi-sport events, not addressing the interests of the international federations, and preparing to launch an Olympic TV channel without a proper business plan. He bemoaned the poor financial state of many athletes around the world while the IOC rakes in millions and millions of dollars, noting that "athletes are lacking the necessary basic elements -- food, medication, equipment, preparation facilities and possibility to participate to competitions." And he said, "the IOC system is expired, outdated, wrong, unfair and not at all transparent. The Olympic Games belong to all of us and we need real reforms."

This was met not only with a rebuke from Bach, but also the issuing of a statement of "strong support" for the IOC by most of the summer Olympic sport federations -- which largely depend on their funding from the IOC -- and the severing or suspension of their ties with SportAccord. The one exception: the International Judo Federation.

While round one of this public fight may have gone to Bach and the IOC, it is clear that both sides got a bit bloodied by it and it is far from over.

Declan Hill explained the essence of Vizer's speech as saying to the IOC, "Basically, you're not sharing the pie. We want the pie. You're not sharing it. And you're putting a blockage on other multi-sports tournaments."

We discussed this battle and what it means for world sport, including the combat sports.

Declan Hill has also done extensive investigatory work into the mechanisms of match-fixing and its relation to illegal gambling rings.

"This one issue will kill off sport," he said. "I have been in Asia. I've worked, I've traveled in the sports world of Asia, and it is an elephant's graveyard of sports that have been killed off by this questionable integrity."

He stressed: "People simply will not watch a sport that they think is fixed. It surpasses doping. It surpasses any other ethical issue. People want to watch a sport. They don't want to watch theater. And really, the response of sports officials to this current generation, this current threat to the sporting world, has been lackluster at best."

The question of whether or not the verdict in the May 2 mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be fair or fixed has been a topic of worldwide commentary and speculation. We discussed that and possible scenarios in this highly anticipated fight.

We also discussed his experiences training in boxing in Cuba; the allegations of attempted match-fixing in international wrestling; why there has been "very, very, very little" progress in the fight to reform world sport; why fans should let sponsors of corrupt sports organizations know that they will not purchase anything from them; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: boxing, Declan Hill, Eddie Goldman, International Olympic Committee, IOC, judo, Marius Vizer, match-fixing, No Holds Barred, SportAccord, Thomas Bach, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rose Gracie.

The next event she will be involved in running is the Gracie Regionals Chicago 2015.

It will take place Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, in conjunction with The FitExpo Chicago, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, Illinois 60018.

This will be a submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition, with both gi and no-gi tournaments.

Saturday, May 2, will have the gi tournaments for both kids and then teens and adults. Sunday, May 3, will have the no-gi tournaments, also for both kids and then teens and adults.

We spoke with Rose Gracie by phone Thursday.

Noting that there are more and more submission-only grappling tournaments being held since she started running events under these rules three years ago, she said, "When I started this whole thing, my goal was for people to be able to follow these rules and do these events everywhere. So I'm very happy to see and it gives me really great joy and fulfillment to know that they're doing this."

She added, "It's going on its own. The machine is running. The car is turned on and it's going. So I don't think there's any stopping to it and it's getting bigger."

The submission-only format is catching on so much that "people really love these rules" and more such events are planned for this year, including in San Jose and Anaheim, California, as well as elsewhere, she said.

We also discussed how working with the FitExpo "adds value" to both events; eventual plans to establish a non-profit federation for submission-only grappling that will "give back to the athletes"; the importance of getting more kids involved in these events; the need to improve the school system; plans for women's superfights; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Chicago, Eddie Goldman, education, FitExpo, grappling, No Holds Barred, Regionals, Rose Gracie, submission only

(Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman plays the media conference call recorded Wednesday, April 22, featuring Floyd Mayweather. The unbeaten Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) faces Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) in a welterweight title unification mega-fight Saturday, May 2, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. This fight, boxing's most anticipated in years, will be shown live in the U.S. on pay-per-view and televised all around the world, and is expected to shatter all records for revenue and viewership for any pay-per-view event.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: boxing, conference call, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, media, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with veteran boxing journalist Michael Marley.

Marley, who currently writes for the Examiner.com, also tried to speak by asking a question on Monday's media conference call featuring Manny Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach, and promoter Bob Arum, to publicize the May 2 Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-fight. But just minutes into the call, and after apparent confusion and general disorganization on it, Arum abruptly ended the call, and only right after the call's operator announced that the first question would be from Michael Marley. Arum interrupted the operator with an expletive, and said they should "reorganize" and that the call should be rescheduled. So the call was stopped prematurely.

We spoke with Michael Marley by phone Monday shortly after this abbreviated conference call, which we also play on this show.

"I wasn't looking to make a scene or anything. I just had a question I have in mind which I think is a valid question," he said.

"I wanted to ask Manny Pacquiao how he could believe or think or say that he can knock out or stop Mayweather, because the fact is that, all due respect to Pacquiao, a great champion, he'll be fighting one of the greatest defensive fighters ever. And that's coupled with the fact that Manny hasn't knocked anybody out since November 14th of 2009, when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round."

We went on to discuss what might happen in the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight and why he expects that this will be the first of what will become a trilogy of fights.

We also discussed the reduction of free access for the media to cover and interview fighters compared with the past, how this has only hurt boxing, his many years of experience in working with promoter Don King and in the media, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Bob Arum, boxing, conference call, Don King, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, media, Michael Marley, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling legend Ricardo Liborio, who is the co-founder and head instructor of American Top Team.

Our main topic was the 2015 ADCC North America Trials.

This event will be held Saturday, May 9, at Monarch High School, 5050 Wiles Road, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073, not far from the headquarters of American Top Team. The winners in each weight class at the 2015 ADCC North America Trials will earn a spot in the 2015 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, which will be held August 28-30 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship is the most important and prestigious grappling tournament in the world, and as always will feature competition in no-gi grappling.

The 2015 ADCC North America Trials also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/ADCC-North-America/1412328512417071.

We spoke with Ricardo Liborio by phone Saturday.

"We just had one month to prepare for these trials, for the qualifiers for the ADCC in Sao Paulo, Brazil," he said. The winners will be "flown in and all expenses in terms of lodging and food going to Brazil" will be paid, he noted.

"You're really actually competing in a world championships. It is just an amazing opportunity for all North Americans," which for this event includes all citizens of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, he said.

"I think this is incredible. This is an amazing opportunity," he added.

We also discussed his own upcoming match at the ADCC Worlds where he will face another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling legend, Zé Mario Sperry. "I'm happier that I'm doing this," he said, noting the many benefits of returning to training for competition after a hiatus of many years and the needed "lifestyle changes" he has undertaken.

Another key issue we discussed was grappling for the visually impaired. This has become a major focus of his work, as his daughter, Bella, is blind.

"One of the biggest missions" of his life is to work to improve the quality of life for the visually impaired, he said. He thus is working to expand opportunities in various styles of grappling for visually impaired people.

There is "nothing more custom-made for the visually impaired than grappling and jiu-jitsu," he said.

We thus discussed how he is doing that, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: ADCC, BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, No Holds Barred, North America Trials, Ricardo Liborio, visually impaired

(Photo by Keisha Morrisey)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman replays an interview with Roger Mayweather from February 28, 2012, about the place of his nephew, Floyd Mayweather Jr., in boxing history. This classic interview took place at the prefight press conference at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, for the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto light middleweight title fight, which was held May 5, 2012, in Las Vegas, and won by Mayweather by unanimous decision.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, No Holds Barred, Roger Mayweather

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Dan Kanagie of the North American Catch Wrestling Association.

Our focus was the 2015 Virginia Shooter's Challenge / Virginia King Of Catch Wrestling tournament.

This event takes place Saturday, April 25, at Amherst County High School, 139 Lancer Lane, Amherst, Virginia 24521.

We spoke with Dan Kanagie by phone Friday.

"Jake Shannon [of Scientific Wrestling] and I were talking about how things are going with the tournaments, and we're expanding and there's more interest in more places," he said.

They agreed that it had become time for more tournaments to be held on "the regional and more of the state level." Thus, the Virginia Shooter's Challenge, now in its second year, would also be a Virginia King Of Catch Wrestling tournament. The Liberty Bell Classic, which mainly focuses on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey area, would continue as a King of Catch event, with possible new tournaments in New York, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

We also discussed the rules for this event, where matches can only be won by pin or submission, with all submissions legal including chokes; plans for an East Coast vs. West Coast championship; the growing evidence for the potential for catch wrestling to re-emerge as a popular and real style of professional wrestling; the continuing growth of catch wrestling in 2015; why the catch wrestling organizations must work together to help the sport itself; why the creation of a democratic governing body for catch wrestling is 'inevitable"; why such an organization must listen to the wrestlers and not be bureaucratic like so many other sports organizations; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Dan Kanagie, Eddie Goldman, King of Catch Wrestling, No Holds Barred, Virginia Shooter's Challenge

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Britni de la Cretaz. She is involved with the movement to oppose Boston hosting the 2024 Olympics, and is a member of NoBoston2024.

NoBoston2024 describes itself as "a place for concerned citizens who are opposed to hosting the Olympics in Boston to express their views, share what they’ve learned, and find like-minded people. It is not an organization. No one can speak for NoBoston2024. Each person speaks for themselves."

We spoke with Britni de la Cretaz by phone Wednesday.

The movement against Boston hosting the 2024 Olympics has been growing. This was evidenced by a March poll by radio station WBUR which showed that 52 percent of the people polled in the Boston area were opposed to it, while only 36 percent supported it. A similar poll taken just two months earlier in January had a 51-33 majority supporting the Boston Olympics. These numbers are even more stunning considering the fact that Boston is one of the sports capitals of the U.S., and is home to a large number of serious sports fans.

"I love that you're making the distinction between sports fans and the Olympics, because that's actually been a really important part of what's going on in Boston," said Britni de la Cretaz.

Many members of the official Olympic bid group, Boston 2024, "have tried to make those of who are opposed to the bid seem like we hate sports," she said. In fact, the opposition to the 2024 Boston Olympics agrees with the bid organizers about the positive role sports can have, especially with young people.

"We wholeheartedly agree with that. I'm a huge sports fan myself, and I love watching the Olympics on TV. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I want my city to host the Olympics," she said.

She noted "the general reasons to oppose the Olympics that almost every city that has opposed them so far has, and they range from economic reasons to security reasons and safety reasons and all of these other things that we can talk more about."

Boston, she added, has its own reasons as well.

"In Boston, in particular, there has also been this really anti-democratic way that the bid has been presented to us, that it's almost been done behind the backs of the people that live here. And so a lot of the objections to the bid are coming from people who are feeling really betrayed and left out of the process of what's happening to our city in general," she said.

We discussed how the local politicians and the bid organizers have tried to conceal that public money will be used to fund a Boston Olympics; how the city is in crisis following a very bad winter which saw the public transportation system shut down and many closings of schools, homeless shelters, and other vital services; how the doubletalk from these politicians and bid organizers has only fueled opposition to the bid; the negative experiences of many cities which have already hosted the Olympics; how the U.S. Olympic Committee, which chose Boston as the U.S. bid city, has shown bad leadership; why the bid has little chance of succeeding; what people are doing and can do to oppose this bid; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Boston, Britni de la Cretaz NoBoston2024, Eddie Goldman, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympics, U.S. Olympic Committee, USOC

(Photo credit: Amanda Kwok / PBC on CBS)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell, who is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard.

The Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series made its debut on CBS in the U.S. on Saturday, April 4, headlined by a fight from Quebec City's Pepsi Coliseum featuring WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (26-1, 21 KOs) winning a 12-round unanimous decision over Sakio Bika (32-7-3, 21 KOs). This followed PBC cards on March 7 on NBC and March 13 on Spike TV, with many more scheduled in the coming weeks and months.

To discuss these, as well as the May 2 mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas and other upcoming bouts, we spoke with Charles Farrell by phone Sunday.

Regarding the progress of the PBC in its first month of televised cards, he said, "I certainly think that putting them on NBC, CBS, even Spike, opens up the door for a lot of potentially interesting things." While there has been "some but not great success" in the quality and presentation of these cards, there are still numerous problems.

"The one thing that you can't do is you can't necessarily guarantee that you're going to get great fights. And yesterday they had a problem," referring to the Stevenson-Bika fight.

Part of it was "not very good matchmaking" pitting Stevenson against Bika, who has never been knocked out and is known as an awkward and sometimes dirty fighter.

"Adonis Stevenson underperformed in a way that they didn't expect and probably was hard to predict, and he didn't do what he needed to do," he said.

Commentary, much of it ill-informed, is already filling up the sports media about the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. But already there has been some open speculation about one possible scenario in this fight: that the fight goes all 12 rounds, that the unbeaten Mayweather (47-0) deserves to win a clear-cut decision, and that he is robbed of it, thus ensuring an incredibly lucrative rematch.

With high stakes betting taking place on this fight and all the money involved, "The logic is to rob Mayweather," he said. We discussed this scenario as well as several others for this bout.

In addition, we discussed many upcoming fights including this coming Saturday's Garcia-Peterson and Quillin-Lee fights on NBC; why Stevenson must next fight the undefeated Sergey Kovalev; the corporate feel of the PBC cards; problems with the announcers on them; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Adonis Stevenson, boxing, CBS, Charles Farrell, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, NBC, No Holds Barred, PBC, Sakio Bika