NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Ernesto Aguilar.

He is a writer and the program director of Pacifica radio station KPFT in Houston, Texas, and serves on the board of directors of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, the oldest community radio network in the United States.

This past week, an article he wrote for the Guardian of the U.K. was published, called "Ronda Rousey makes $3m a year but most UFC fighters don't get what they deserve".

We spoke with Ernesto Aguilar by phone Friday.

"I've been a follower of mixed martial arts for a long time, and I think from the time I started to watch, I began to have some questions about it," he said.

"I grew up as a boxing fan here in Texas. Houston has been a big fight town for many, many years. George Foreman is of course from here, and so I've always been a fan of combat sports. And when I got into MMA, I was curious about what the outcomes and the futures for fighters were. It was something that's always been in the back of my mind. And thinking about the sponsorship deal and just some of the fallout of that, seeing the issues that so many mixed martial arts fighters are facing, not just post-career, but during their careers and having to figure out ways to make ends meet, and also just realizing frankly that when these deals end up happening, as we saw with the Eddie Alvarez contract a few years back, and that was a pretty lucrative contract, these contracts seem to tend to favor the promoters."

All these types of conditions have led to a brewing MMA fighter rebellion. This is seen in many ways, including numerous fighters filing class-action lawsuits against Zuffa's anti-competitive practices, and a torrent of public statements and interviews by fighters condemning UFC's new multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with Reebok as robbing the fighters of thousands and thousands of dollars of sponsorship money which up until now they have relied upon to a great degree as income, especially with the small percentage of overall revenue going to the fighters, a percentage which is far less than in other comparable sports, and even less than the historically corrupt sport of professional boxing. This Reebok ripoff has been a turning point in this incipient fighter rebellion, and there is now open talk of fighters banding together to form some type of union or association.

"You brought up this thing about class struggle, and about fighters getting organized," Ernesto Aguilar said. "This also is going to require, I guess in my opinion, that fans more actively push promoters to see the benefits of fighters being organized as well."

While fighters may rightly have a fear of retaliation from the promoters for trying to protect their long-term interests and organizing, fans do not.

"We as fans need to be pushing that envelope, pushing promoters to more actively step up and provide the labor protections that they should. And if they're not willing to, we need to ask representatives and politicians to get involved," he said.

We discussed the legal fiction that these MMA fighters under exclusive contracts are individual contractors; how there are comparisons between this fighter rebellion and the grape boycott and strike activities of farm workers organized by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers union; why the UFC-Reebok deal is "a very bad deal for fighters"; the issue of traumatic brain injury in combat sports and how a relatively more dangerous style of fighting has been emphasized by MMA promoters than in the past; the role of many members of the media as shills for promoters; and much, much more.

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

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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: Eddie Goldman, Ernesto Aguilar, fighter, Houston, inequity, KPFT, labor, MMA, No Holds Barred, Reebok, UFC, Zuffa

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with MMA fighter Fallon Fox.

The first openly transgender MMA fighter, she is the subject, along with openly gay college basketball player Terrence Lamar Clemens, of a new documentary "Game Face".

Directed by Michiel Thomas, this film documents the inspiring coming out stories of these athletes.

We spoke with Fallon Fox by phone Thursday.

"'Game Face' is a documentary about LGBTQ athletes, what happens to them before they come out and during the process of when they come out as LGBTQ athletes in sports," she said.

"We have been filming for about a year and a half, almost two years with production to get this project complete. So I'm very happy that it's coming to full fruition as of late. So It's making its tour around film festivals, so people can check it out there as it makes its tour around those festivals. And you can also catch it whenever we find a distributor and put it out for the mass public."

We also discussed why acceptance and understanding of transgender people and athletes are growing, why she is currently not signed by any MMA promotion despite her 5-1 pro record, why fight promoters who refuse to sign her will be judged badly by history, the prospects for her getting signed to fight, her many other activities including writing, and much more.

"Game Face" is an important and worthy documentary which is both enlightening and moving, and is heartily recommended to be seen.

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 PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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: athletes, Eddie Goldman, Fallon Fox, Game Face, homophobia, LGBT, MMA, No Holds Barred, sports, Terrence Lamar Clemens, trans, transgender, transphobia

(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/WSOF)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the world's top-ranked MMA fighter in the women's 115-pound division, American Top Team fighter Jessica Aguilar.

A surprising announcement was made this past Monday by World Series of Fighting (WSOF), where she had been women's strawweight champion and had not lost a fight, that she was being released from the final fight of her contract "so that she can ideally pursue competition where it is strongest in her weight division."

Now a free agent, we spoke with Jessica Aguilar by phone Thursday about her plans.

Calling the WSOF people "awesome" and indicating that this was an amicable parting, she said that in her stay there, "It was hard to find opponents." While they still did find her opponents, and she had won all three fights in WSOF, she has not been booked since November and had no fight planned there.

"I just wanted to fight top-level opponents at my weight class," she said. "The ultimate goal is to be the best fighter out there at 115 pounds, and for me to continue proving that, I believe that I have to step up," to which, she added, WSOF management agreed.

"Now I'm a free agent," she said.

"I plan on becoming a UFC champion, because the talent there of athletes they have, the top females in my division. So that's my plan, Eddie."

She did note that as we spoke, she had not signed with any MMA organization, and could also pursue other options.

We also discussed why her focus on signing with a new organization has meant that she cannot participate in the upcoming 2015 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships, August 28-30 in Sao Paulo, Brazil; her many community activities, including plans for this year's LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Pride events in June; 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 PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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: American Top Team, Eddie Goldman, Jessica Aguilar, LGBT, MMA, No Holds Barred, UFC, WSOF

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Mike Martelle, the owner and head instructor of the Grizzly Gym.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

At the end of June, Mike Martelle will once again be traveling to Guatemala City, Guatemala, to host the annual Let's Shoot catch wrestling tournament and conduct a seminar. The tournament will take place Sunday, June 28, at the Salon Municipal (Municipal Auditorium) in the San Lucas neighborhood in Guatemala City.

"You might recall that last year's catch wrestling tournament in Guatemala City, we did the math afterward and realized that it had actually had the largest turnout of any catch wrestling event of the modern era, which was something we're very proud of and we're continuing to build up," he said.

"This year we're hoping to be even bigger than the last."

This year's event, Let's Shoot 2015, also features a catch wrestling rules tournament, and with a very special name.

"We're calling it the Mayan World Championships, given that it's located deep in the heart of what used to be the Mayan world," he said.

The event is also "subtitled" the Billy Two Rivers International Championship, in honor of the 80th birthday of Billy Two Rivers, the retired pro wrestler, catch wrestler, and actor, who was also a leader of the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, just outside Montreal.

We discussed more on the format of the tournament, which is an open event where victory is attained by pin or submission in two out of three falls, and all submissions are legal.

In addition, we discussed the need for more catch wrestling tournaments, the importance of events like the July 18 North American Catch Wrestling Championships in Montreal, the positive steps of more and more catch wrestling organizations around the world working together, 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 PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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: Billy Two Rivers, catch wrestling, Eddie Goldman, Grizzly Gym, Guatemala, Let's Shoot, Mayan World Championships, Mike Martelle, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with catch wrestler Josh Barnett.

We spoke with him by phone Monday.

This is a very busy time for Josh Barnett, as a movie in which he is co-starring has just been released. Named "Absolution", this is an action film featuring Steven Seagal, Byron Mann, Adina Stetcu, Massimo Dobrovic, and Vinnie Jones. Josh Barnett played a "bad guy" named Colt, which he said thus far has been "the biggest role I've had" in film.

In the combat sports world, he has been busy as well. On May 9, at the Metamoris 6 grappling event, he successfully defended his heavyweight title by submitting Ryron Gracie with a toehold.

While some see antipathy between catch wrestling and jiu-jitsu, Josh Barnett expressed nothing but respect for jiu-jitsu and the Gracie family, noting that he has "always gotten along with all the Gracies."

He explained: "Yes, I am a catch wrestler. I love catch-as-catch-can wrestling. I think it's the best. I love it as a sport, and as an art form, as a wrestling style. It is what I practice what I preach, and I preach it loudly.

"But, it's not to be contrary to jiu-jitsu. That's the thing. It's not in spite of or to counteract or to diminish jiu-jitsu. I do it because it's what I love, not because I have a need for a rivalry or to put down what anybody else does. That kind of concept of a war with jiu-jitsu is really by somebody's creation on their own merit, not on my statements."

We also discussed why more people from the broader wrestling community should become involved with catch wrestling, his upcoming activities in UFC including a reality show and a September 26 fight with Roy Nelson, more film projects, his work with the California Catch Wrestling Association, 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 PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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: Absolution, BJJ, catch wrestling, Eddie Goldman, film, Gracie, jiu-jitsu, Josh Barnett, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the May 23 Andre Dirrell vs. James DeGale fight, and comments on the May 16 HBO Boxing telecast.

On Saturday, May 23, Andre Dirrell of the U.S. (24-1, 16 KOs) takes on James DeGale of the U.K. (20-1, 14 KOs) at Boston University's Agganis Arena in a fight for the vacant IBF super middleweight belt. This fight, part of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series, will be shown live Saturday afternoon in the U.S. on NBC, and live Saturday night in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

Both Dirrell, a 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, and DeGale, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, will be trying to capture their first world title. DeGale will also try to become the first British Olympic gold medalist to win a pro world title.

We spoke with both Andre Dirrell and James DeGale on a media conference call Thursday.

On Saturday, May 16, HBO telecast two title fights showcasing undefeated star fighters. Middleweight champ Gennady "GGG" Golovkin of Kazakhstan (33-0, 30 KOs) scored his 20th straight stoppage by dispatching overmatched and light-hitting challenger Willie Monroe Jr. of the U.S. (19-2, 6 KOs) by sixth-round TKO. Another star making his long overdue HBO debut was flyweight champ Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez of Nicaragua, who upped his record to 43-0 with 37 KOs by dominating and stopping the tough former 108-pound champion Edgar Sosa of Mexico (51-9, 30 KOs) with a second-round TKO.

While the HBO card was undoubtedly entertaining to fight fans, we discuss how HBO is primarily showcasing the best fighters signed to that network, instead of primarily having the best fight the best in each weight class. We also contrast this to the past few PBC cards, as well as this coming Saturday's Dirrell-DeGale fight, which should be competitive and intriguing.

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 PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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: Andre Dirrell, boxing, Chocolatito, Eddie Goldman, Edgar Sosa, Gennady Golovkin, GGG, HBO, James DeGale, No Holds Barred, PBC, Roman Gonzalez, Willie Monroe

(Photo of Omar Figueroa and Ricky Burns by Esther Lin/PBC on CBS, photo of Canelo Alvarez and James Kirkland by Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the Friday, May 29, Premier Boxing Champions card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, by speaking with Amir Khan, Chris Algieri, and Paulie Malignaggi.

On that card, Amir Khan (30-3, 19 KOs) will face Chris Algieri (20-1, 8 KOs) and Paulie Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) will take on Danny O'Connor (25-2, 9 KOs) in welterweight bouts. These fights will be televised live in the U.S. on Spike TV.

We spoke with Amir Khan, Chris Algieri, and Paulie Malignaggi on a media conference call Wednesday.

This past weekend there were several televised fights, and we review Saturday's action on the PBC on CBS card and the HBO card later that evening.

On the PBC on CBS card, which took place at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, Omar Figueroa of Texas (25-0-1, 18 KOs) got a close and controversial unanimous decision over Ricky Burns of Scotland (37-5-1, 11 KOs), in a super lightweight fight. Also on that show, the U.K.'s Jamie McDonnell (25-2-1, 12 KOs) defended his WBA bantamweight belt by winning a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19 KOs), who is from Japan but trains in Mexico.

On the HBO card, which took place at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, and as many expected, super welterweight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) knocked out James Kirkland of Texas (32-2, 28 KOs) in the third round of a slugfest.

We compare the PBC on CBS card to the Canelo-Kirkland fight on HBO, discuss more of the fallout over Pacquiao's claim he was injured during his fight with Floyd Mayweather, rip the mainstream and most of the boxing media for not properly discussing this issue and dealing with doping in boxing, 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: Amir Khan, boxing, Canelo Alvarez, CBS, Chris Algieri, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, HBO, James Kirkland, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred, Omar Figueroa, Paulie Malignaggi, PBC, Ricky Burns

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with trainer and fight manager Chris Baldwin.

Based in Los Angeles, she is the head trainer at Baldwin Rocks Fitness.

She was also in Las Vegas to watch the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2, won by Mayweather by a clear-cut unanimous decision, and had a lot to say about it.

We spoke with Chris Baldwin by phone Wednesday.

For the first few rounds, she said, "Floyd came out and did what people thought he wasn't going to do. He stood in front of Manny and shot jabs at him. He pretty much controlled the center of the ring. And Manny for some odd reason wasn't his normal typical, bouncy, let-me-throw-a-thousand-punches-in-a-fight."

Pacquiao's uncharacteristic lack of effective offense, however, was likely not due to a shoulder injury which after the fight he blamed for his performance, she argued.

"Not once did I hear Manny complain about his shoulder. Not once did I hear [trainer] Freddie [Roach] ask Manny about his shoulder. So that to me was kind of an indication that maybe there wasn't really an injury and that they're just saying this stuff now," she said.

"They make themselves look bad to even say one, you're a sore loser, you didn't congratulate Floyd that he beat you fair and square, I thought. You said you won the fight. And now the excuse is, 'I have this shoulder injury.'"

And, she noted, "Now your integrity is shot. You have no honor. Everything is done for the love of money. To me, it's just a sad, pathetic case."

She also knows quite a bit about Pacquiao and Roach, as for two years she had trained fighters at Roach's Wild Card Gym, and when Pacquiao was training there as well.

We discussed why this fight should have been postponed had Pacquiao really had a serious shoulder injury, her experiences training fighters, how her "passion is boxing", domestic violence and combat sports, the issues of concussions and head trauma, her varied martial arts background, police murders and brutality against Black people, 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: Baldwin Rocks Fitness, boxing, Chris Baldwin, debacle, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Coach George Hero, the legendary coach and founder of the Midwood High School wrestling team in Brooklyn, New York.

On Friday, May 8, Midwood High School will be the scene of this year's edition of what has now become an annual tradition, MidwoodMania VI: Monsters on the Mat.

The event runs from 3:30pm to 6:30pm, at the Campus Road Gymnasium of Midwood High School, 2839 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, New York 11210, right across the street from Brooklyn College.

There will be ten wrestling matches featuring alumni, wrestlers, and coaches from Midwood High School and other schools and colleges, competing in American folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Among the innovative matches at MidwoodMania will be folkstyle tag team matches. Coach Hero, now 57, will be teaming with Midwood alumnus Jake Pawlowski against a team of NYU wrestlers, Jon Guarino and Jay Jazikoff.

But this will be a very special MidwoodMania, as Coach Hero, after 32 years of teaching and serving as the Director of Social Science Research since 1984, has announced that he will be retiring as a teacher at the end of this school year.

We spoke with Coach Hero by phone Tuesday.

"It's hard to believe this is number six already. We started this back in 2010, and it's been an annual event ever since," he said.

"It's going to be once again alumni, the older guys, including myself, wrestling. But again, it's kind of bittersweet, because this is my last year. I'll be retiring. I'll probably still be wrestling in one form or another. But this is my last year at Midwood. 32 years has been quite a long run. And it's always hard when you're sort of bowing out and other people are taking over."

While Coach Hero will be retiring from teaching, and possibly from coaching as well, he has plans which will keep him quite busy. He intends to travel, to do research and write more books, and also to be involved in wrestling. One of his ideas is to expand the concept of MidwoodMania beyond Midwood High and establish a league for recreational wrestlers who have already finished their high school and college careers.

We also discussed more on why he is retiring now, the need for a real pro wrestling league, the importance of marketing and exposure to build the popularity of wrestling, the depiction of wrestling in film and the media, 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: Brooklyn, Coach George Hero, Eddie Goldman, Midwood High School, MidwoodMania, No Holds Barred, retirement, wrestling

(Photo of Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao by Esther Lin/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell.

He is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard.

We spoke with him by phone Sunday.

Our kickoff, of course, was Saturday's mega-fight, where Floyd Mayweather outpointed and outboxed Manny Pacquiao to win a deserved unanimous decision by scores of 118-110 and 116-112 twice. Mayweather, now the holder of three major welterweight belts, increases his record to 48-0 with 26 KOs, while Pacquiao falls to 57-6-2 with 38 KOs.

Besides evaluating Mayweather's successful neutralizing of Pacquiao's offense and his greater accuracy and volume of punches landed in this fight, we discussed the art of boxing and how Mayweather's performance measured up in this category.

While Charles Farrell said he is "a real advocate of art in boxing," he added that Mayweather "fell short of art" while having a "highly efficient performance." He also said his favorite fighter today is the super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba, whom he called a "supreme artist."

We refuted those who claimed that this fight showed that "boxing is dead" because it was not a bloody brawl with multiple knockdowns ending in one fighter sprawled on the mat.

This fight was a prime example of what Charles Farrell calls the "Black code of fighting". He explained this in depth in his recent pre-fight article "Why Floyd Mayweather Is The Last Of A Kind".

Black code fighting is, he said, "a style that Black fighters developed starting around the turn of the twentieth century. It hit its heyday probably from the 1930s right through the 1950s. And this is a style that Black fighters developed among themselves to keep themselves healthy, to not get hurt, to be able to stay busy because they had to fight a lot to make a living. So it was a style based on efficiency, tremendous defensive skill, the ability to set traps, to lure people into situations where they couldn't do their work. It's a very subtle style."

In it, "You don't do much."

And he said, "In many ways, Floyd Mayweather is just about the last of a long line of fighters who are really proficient at it. And what we saw last night was a good example of that style of fighting."

We also discussed Pacquiao's post-fight excuses about having an injury; his absurd claim that he won the fight; how the many technical problems with the pay-per-view telecast along with the emergence of many streaming video apps will further weaken boxing's pay-per-view model; what may be next for Mayweather in what he says will be the final fight of his career; 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.

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