NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents Friday's conference call featuring Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Showtime Sports, and Ken Hershman, President, HBO Sports.

It was just announced Friday evening that what will easily be the biggest fight in decades, Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, has been signed and will take place May 2. Similar to the 2002 Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight, this will be a joint pay-per-view by Showtime and HBO.

Many more details need to be announced and in fact settled, but this fight, a welterweight title fight, has now been signed and is official. On this hastily-announced conference call, both Showtime's Espinoza and HBO's Hershman discussed some of what has been agreed upon and what remains to be done, including announcements of who will be the commentators for the joint telecast.

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.

Payleg.com, which gives you the tools to develop a full-time income by building a home-based business. Teaching success in the home-based business industry since 1988, Payleg.com is available in 190 countries. For more information, go to Payleg.com.

Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to TakedownRadio.com.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, HBO, Ken Hershman, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred, Showtime, Stephen Espinoza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman returns after an unplanned hiatus due to a major computer problem, but that is all repaired now and we are back bigger, faster, stronger, and more No Holds Barred than ever.

We start by catching up on some recent developments in mixed martial arts, most notably the signing of the top heavyweight and pound-for-pound fighter in that sport, Fedor Emelianenko, with Strikeforce. We explain why he made the correct choice for him, and why this is also a good move for the sport. We counter the double standard many fans and supposed members of the media have taken to Fedor, as opposed to their attitudes to Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar.

This past week, Fedor Emelianenko and Vadim Finkelchtein, the president of M-1 Global, of which Fedor is also part, participated in a media conference call to discuss this historic signing with Strikeforce. We had a chance to ask questions of both men, and you can hear that unedited on this edition of No Holds Barred.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

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

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

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 http://americantopteam.com/.

Gracie Magazine, with news, commentaries, analysis, and photographs from around the world, from the masters of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling. Gracie Magazine is published in English and Portuguese, and is also online at GracieMag.com.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Brock Lesnar, Eddie Goldman, Fedor Emelianenko, Ken Hershman, M-1 Global, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, Randy Couture, Scott Coker, Showtime, Strikeforce, UFC, Vadim Finkelchtein, Zuffa

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews one of the most innovative and welcome developments in boxing, the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a round-robin, six-fighter tournament in the super middleweight division featuring the best fighters in the world at that weight.

Competing in this tournament are the unbeaten WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) of England, the WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) of Denmark, the former undisputed middleweight world champion Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs) of Little Rock, Ark., the now-former and still-unbeaten IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs) of Germany, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and unbeaten WBC number one contender Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) of Oakland, Calif., and the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and unbeaten WBC number two contender Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) of Flint, Mich.

The winner of this tournament is certain to be regarded as the true super middleweight champion of the world.

The opening round will have three fights, beginning this fall, on dates and at locations to be announced. Carl Froch will face Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler will face Andre Ward, and Arthur Abraham will face Jermain Taylor.

At the kickoff news conference at Madison Square Garden in New York this Monday for this history-making event, we had a chance to speak with fighters Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, and Andre Dirrell about this tournament and their fights. We also spoke with promoters Lou DiBella and Dan Goossen, with boxing writer and television analyst Steve Farhood, and with Ken Hershman, senior vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, which is the key force behind this tournament and will televise it in the U.S.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

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

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

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 http://americantopteam.com/.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Andre Dirrell, Arthur Abraham, boxing, Carl Froch, Dan Goossen, Eddie Goldman, Jermain Taylor, Ken Hershman, Lou DiBella, Mikkel Kessler, No Holds Barred, Showtime, Steve Farhood, World Boxing Classic

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses a wide variety of topics linked together by emphasizing that the average people (i.e., most of us) need a warrior culture.

In what is to become yet another controversial commentary, discussed are what the U.S. government believes is its greatest threat, why that assessment by the government is actually a threat to (most of) you, why you thus need a warrior culture, and how the combat sports are related to developing that culture. We discuss some battles going on involving the use of the Internet right now, and how some in the combat sports are using the Internet in a positive way, including the North American Fight Association (NAFA) and the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Facebook discussion group.

We also tie in the need to support all the combat sports, and hear comments from Ken Hershman of Showtime and the legendary mixed martial arts fighter Frank Shamrock about boxing and mixed martial arts. And we hear comments from Miguel Cotto and the legendary trainer and cutman Miguel Diaz about Cotto's return to action Feb. 21 in Madison Square Garden against Michael Jennings, his first fight since suffering his first pro loss to the controversial Antonio Margarito in July 2008.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

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

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

Labels: Abu Dhabi Combat Club, ADCC, BJJ, boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Dennis Blair, Eddie Goldman, Frank Shamrock, Ken Hershman, Miguel Cotto, Miguel Diaz, MMA, NAFA, No Holds Barred, UFC, warrior culture

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman previews the next major boxing show at Madison Square Garden in New York, which takes place this Saturday, October 6.

This card is headlined by the first title defense by the newly-crowned WBC interim heavyweight champion, Samuel Peter (28-1, 22 KOs), who faces challenger Jameel McCline (38-7-3, 23 KOs). This fight will be shown live in the US on Showtime.

Peter hopes to use this fight as a showcase for his claim that he is the best heavyweight boxer in the world. McCline, a late replacement for regular WBC champ Oleg Maskaev, who pulled out claiming a back injury, hopes to derail these plans and pull an upset.

At the prefight news conference at the Garden Wednesday, we spoke with both principals, Samuel Peter and Jameel McCline. We also spoke with heavyweight Kevin McBride (34-5-1, 29 KOs), who fights the unpredictable Andrew Golota (39-6-1, 32 KOs) on this card, and McBride's new trainer, Buddy McGirt.

We spoke with Dino Duva, Peter's promoter, to clarify the history of why and how his fighter was named the WBC interim champion. We also discuss their plans for Sam Peter to try to unify the various heavyweight titles. We also spoke with veteran boxing official Joe Dwyer, now a member of the Board of Governors of the WBC, to explain that body's actions in this situation.

And we spoke with promoter Don King, who co-promotes Peter, and Ken Hershman, senior vice president and general manager, sports and event programming at Showtime. We discussed this fight and the future of the heavyweight division. We also discussed with Ken Hershman Showtime's boxing, mixed martial arts, and entertainment programming.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here or here and just press the play button on the player.

You can also listen to it through this blog and my MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player.

Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

If you want to leave a comment on the show, you can do so on this blog.

The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Art of War, the undisputed arena fighting championship, promoted by SUN Sports and Entertainment, producing world class mixed martial arts events. For more information, check out their web site, ArtOfWarLive.com.

IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. You can also catch IFL Battleground on MyNetworkTV. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: boxing, Buddy McGirt, Dino Duva, Don King, Eddie Goldman, Jameel McCline, Joe Dwyer, Ken Hershman, Kevin McBride, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, Samuel Peter, Showtime, UFC