NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the ballooning series of scandals and crises in world sport and the combat sports, including doping in pro and amateur boxing, the state-sponsored doping program in Russia, the Rio Olympics debacle, the Minnesota wrestling Xanax scandal, and more. Highlighted is the need to combat not only each instance of corruption and the structures which allow and profit from such outrages, but also the common win-at-all-cost amoral attitudes which are prevalent in world sport today.

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

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: amorality, boxing, corruption, doping, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Povetkin, Rio, Russia, sport, sports, world, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Bob Carson, the host of Carson's Corner.

This is another in a series of discussions celebrating the tenth anniversary of this No Holds Barred podcast, which began in March 2006. These interviews will focus both on the legacy and issues raised over the years on this show, as well as contemporary issues and the future of the combat sports and martial arts.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

While we both have been covering mixed martial arts for a long time, the direction it has gone in is not what we expected when we first started. MMA is closer to pro "wrestling" than anything else, with the exception that its fights are usually real.

"I cover it for a love of the athlete, a love of the fighter," he said. "But the sport has really dissolved into a spectacle."

On top of that, there is heightened awareness of the dangers of head trauma and brain injuries in MMA, as striking is given precedence over grappling by promoters and networks. As a result, the future of MMA is far from secure.

"You can sort of liken it to smoking in America. Now it's almost become socially unacceptable to smoke," he said, with MMA in danger of declining in a similar fashion.

We discussed numerous issues facing MMA and other sports, including how the so-called MMA "media" covers it; comparisons of the structure of MMA and boxing and their treatment of fighters; the absurd talk of a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor; how world sport is in crisis, including the mounting Olympic corruption and doping scandals; how MMA fans should ask what they are watching and why; the lack of art in today's MMA; what a possible sale of UFC might or might not mean; the role of grappling and wrestling events of various styles; 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 available at Google Play Music.

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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Bob Carson, boxing, Carson's Corner, Eddie Goldman, MMA, No Holds Barred, spectacle, UFC

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with catch wrestler and wrestling coach Luis Ojeda.

In 2014, he became the American heavyweight catch wrestling champion.

In his next match, he will be wrestling in the main event of the third show hosted by Legit Pro Wrestling (LPW).

His opponent, in a match which will be for the International Heavyweight Championship, will be Chris Crossan, who holds the LPW British heavyweight title.

LPW 3 will take place Sunday, June 12, at new Middlesbrough Sports Village in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, U.K.

We spoke with Luis Ojeda by phone Thursday.

"It's a really exciting time for me," he said. He had already planned a vacation with his family in the U.K. in June, but decided to include a stop on the mat to compete in Legit Pro Wrestling. He was originally slated to face Chris Crossan two years earlier in Los Angeles, but since that match did not happen then, he now has the opportunity finally to wrestle him.

"I'm going to be in England anyways," he said.

"I contacted Chris Crossan. He's the man over there. I give him a lot of props for being able to put it together, put a match together. He got a venue. I'm honored to be a part of Legit Pro Wrestling."

While this will be a catch wrestling match, the rules, known as the "warrior rules", will be different from those used in other events. This match will have three five-minute rounds. Points will be awarded for pins or submissions, with the wrestler with the most points at the end of the match winning. Pins or submissions will not automatically end the match, but result in it being restarted. Thus, the match will go the full 15 minutes, "no matter what," he said.

We also discussed his coaching wrestling at San Ysidro High School in San Diego, plans to teach a combatives class, 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 available at Google Play Music.

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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: catch, Chris Crossan, Eddie Goldman, Legit Pro Wrestling, LPW, Luis Ojeda, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with boxers Anthony Joshua and Dominic Breazeale, and Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Showtime Sports, and Eddie Hearn, President of Matchroom Sports, about the June 25 Joshua-Breazeale fight and the future of boxing and the heavyweight division.

The fight between the IBF champ Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) and the challenger Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) headlines a card at The O2 in London, which will be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K. and on Showtime in the U.S.

While both fighters are thus far unbeaten as pros, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Joshua is a big favorite in this fight. Joshua is viewed by many as the heir apparent to the title of world heavyweight champion, and as the next major international superstar in boxing.

We spoke with them on a media conference call Wednesday.

With all the hype and prognostications about his future, Anthony Joshua is trying to stay focused on one thing: boxing.

"I only see great things if I stay locked away in the gym," he said.

For his part, Dominic Breazeale is not intimidated by the hoopla surrounding his opponent.

"It's great," he said. "All the distractions are on Anthony. It's something he's got to deal with."

And we discussed when Anthony Joshua might fight in America, his new deal with Showtime, and more.

(Photos by Lawrence Lustig.)

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

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, Dominic Breazeale, Eddie Goldman, Eddie Hearn, heavyweight, No Holds Barred, Showtime, Sky Sports, Stephen Espinoza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Chris Crossan of Legit Pro Wrestling (LPW).

Our subject in this, the second part of our discussion recorded by Skype this past Thursday, is the upcoming third event for LPW.

LPW 3 will take place Sunday, June 12, at new Middlesbrough Sports Village in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, U.K.

The main event will feature Chris Crossan himself, who holds the LPW British heavyweight title, against Luis Ojeda, who in 2014 became the American heavyweight catch wrestling champion. This match will be contested for the International Heavyweight Championship. More matches on this card will be announced shortly.

"The show's June the 12th, a Sunday. It's going to run for three hours, 4 till 7. So this is all for families. We want it family-oriented. It's going to be a great day out, and I'm really excited that I've got a great opponent for this event," he said.

"I'll be wrestling Luis Ojeda from the U.S. As you know, Luis has won a lot in catch wrestling. He's King of Catch USA Heavyweight Champion. We were scheduled to have a match. It will be almost two years to the day I flew out to America, and I didn't realize I wasn't wrestling him until I got there," he said.

"The day after I was given a different match. But two years later we've managed to get our heads together, and we've arranged it, so we're going to finally get to have a match. I'm really looking forward to it."

We discussed the rules for this match, which will have three five-minute rounds. Points will be awarded for pins or submissions, with the wrestler with the most points winning. These rules are designed to speed up the action on the mat and make it "more of a sprint," he said. If the points are even at the end of the match, it is a draw, as there will be no judges.

Also, we discussed the need to teach catch wrestling to children. Towards this end, on May 2, an eight-week spring course for the Legit Pro Wrestling School has started. More information is here.

We also discussed how his own wrestling skills have improved over the past few years, the need for a democratically-run international federation for catch wrestling, how catch wrestling is "a working class sport", 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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: catch, Chris Crossan, Eddie Goldman, Legit Pro Wrestling, LPW, Luis Ojeda, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Chris Crossan of Legit Pro Wrestling.

Besides his involvement with wrestling and martial arts, Chris is a former boxer and closely follows the world of boxing. This week, he covered the press conference held Wednesday, April 27, in the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, for the July 9 rematch between world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and former champion Wladimir Klitschko, which will be held at the Manchester Arena as well. Fury won the heavyweight belts with an upset unanimous and lopsided decision over Klitschko on November 28, 2015, in Düsseldorf, Germany.

We spoke with Chris Crossan by Skype Thursday.

Fury defeated Klitschko and ended his 11-plus year unbeaten streak with an unconventional and sporadic attack. This seemed to confuse and even freeze Klitschko at times. In addition, in the buildup to that fight, Fury spewed a stream of bold, outrageous, and insulting barbs at Klitschko. Fury's buildup to the rematch seems to signal a continuation of that approach.

"The atmosphere was electric, and Tyson was on form. Yeah, he was out getting to Klitschko's head again, and I really think that he did, judging by Klitschko," he said.

"He even got Klitschko to swear, and he just seemed to be way ahead when it came to the psychological games, as always, just like I believe he was last time leading up to the bout."

We discussed some of the reasons why Klitschko seemed unable or unwilling to throw many right hands in his first fight with Fury; Fury's continuing antics, theatrics, and controversial comments; accusations by reporters at this press conference that the officials in Fury-Klitschko 1 in Germany tried to "cheat" in Klitschko's favor by padding the ring and other measures; the potential for unbeaten IBF champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua to dominate the heavyweight division; and much more.

We also will be posting a follow-up interview with Chris Crossan previewing the upcoming Legit Pro Wrestling 3 card on June 12 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in the U.K.

Plus, we open with commentary on Saturday's fights between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz, James DeGale and Rogelio Medina, and Badou Jack and Lucian Bute.

(Photo of Fury-Klitschko 2 press conference by Chris Crossan.)

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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Andre Berto, Badou Jack, boxing, Chris Crossan, Eddie Goldman, James DeGale, Lucian Bute, No Holds Barred, Rogelio Medina, Tyson Fury, Victor Ortiz, Wladimir Klitschko