NO HOLDS BARRED

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Pacquiao-Thurman vs. Whyte-Rivas

Labels: boxing, Dillian Whyte, Eddie Goldman, heavyweight, Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred, Oscar Rivas, Patreon, pay-per-view, welterweight

My first piece for Hannibal Boxing is up:
The Long Con: Manny Pacquiao and Adrien Broner.

Labels: Adrien Broner, Eddie Goldman, Hannibal Boxing, Long Con, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred, pay-per-view

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the raging controversy about the Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao fight, which took place July 2 in Brisbane, Australia. The fight was telecast on pay-per-view in Australia and New Zealand and shown in many countries, including as a debut of the new Top Rank series on ESPN in the U.S.

The controversies over the scoring of the fight and Horn's being awarded a unanimous decision, the idiotic and rude screaming of commentators Teddy Atlas and Stephen A. Smith on ESPN, the scoring controversies on Friday's PBC on Bounce TV card, and the Pacquiao-Horn fight and ESPN telecast overall leaving many people with a rotten taste, as well as much more about Pacquiao, are discussed.

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The 2017 Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Saturday, July 15, 2017, 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 (CWA) and co-sponsored by City of Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, Sprout Living (official protein powder of the CWA), and Ultima Replenisher (official electrolyte drink of the CWA), the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

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Labels: Australia, boxing, Brisbane, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, Jeff Horn, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred

(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

(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.

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: Black Code, boxing, Charles Farrell, Eddie Goldman, fighting, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, 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

(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

(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

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 return of boxing to network TV in the U.S. and the announcement that the long-awaited mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will take place May 2 have sparked much interest and discussion about the state of boxing.

Saturday's debut PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) on NBC show featured an exciting decision victory by Keith Thurman over Robert Guerrero and a not-so-exciting decision victory by Adrien Broner over John Molina Jr.

According to the Nielsen Ratings, the PBC on NBC telecast averaged 3.4 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched professional boxing broadcast in 17 years (Oscar De La Hoya’s Fight Night on FOX, 5.9 million, Mon., March 23, 1998). Viewership increased every half hour through the telecast and peaked at 4.2 million from 10:30-11 p.m. ET during the final six rounds of the Keith Thurman-Robert Guerrero fight. The PBC on NBC also led NBC to a Saturday primetime victory among adults 18-49, with a 1.08 rating in that demographic. Also, according to NBC Sports, more than 575,000 minutes (576,435) of PBC on NBC coverage was live streamed via NBC Sports Live Extra to desktops, tablets and mobile devices. The show thus has to be considered a ratings success.

We spoke with Charles Farrell by phone Sunday.

"I do think the idea of making competitive fights is a very good idea. I think star-building is a very good idea," he said.

"There's probably interest in trying to resurrect Adrien Broner. I dont think that that happened, and I think maybe they have to think about what to do with Adrien Broner at this point."

He continued, "But they probably did pretty well by Keith Thurman. And my guess is that people who were watching who were casual fans will be inclined to watch the next one. So you give it a passing grade, and I would say at this point we sort of have to wait and see."

As for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, where Mayweather puts his 47-0 record on the line, we discussed potential outcomes, including one possibility that the fight will end in a highly controversial and disputed decision, thus leading to much antipathy for boxing but also a highly lucrative rematch.

We also discussed the announcing and overall production of the debut PBC on NBC show, the need to present boxing "as boxing" on TV, the decision loss by Chinese fighter Zou Shiming to IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand in Macao in China, why boxing seems to rebound after each period of decline, 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.

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: Adrien Broner, boxing, Charles Farrell, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, John Molina, Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, NBC, No Holds Barred, PBC, Robert Guerrero

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

Labels: Bob Arum, boxing, Eddie Goldman, John Perretti, Manny Pacquiao, MMA, No Holds Barred, Roger Clark, Timothy Bradley

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Joey Reynolds, Manny Pacquiao, Ron Scott Stevens

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with the noted boxing writer and historian and former fighter, Frank Lotierzo, about the dominant 12th-round TKO victory by Manny Pacquiao over Miguel Cotto November 14 in Las Vegas.

In an in-depth discussion, we analyze the fight itself, the brilliant use of boxing technique by Manny Pacquiao, the place of Pacquiao in boxing history, the potential for a fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year, how the careers of Pacquiao and Mayweather compare, and much more. This is another meaty discussion for fight fans and aficionados, and you do not want to miss it, right here on 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:

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

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/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

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

Labels: Eddie Goldman, Frank Lotierzo, Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents a preview of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight title fight, which takes place Saturday, November 14, in Las Vegas, and will be televised around the world, including on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S.

This is a different kind of preview, however, from that offered almost everywhere else, in that we do not limit ourselves to the question of which fighter stands the best chance of winning this fight in the ring.

We open by noting the damage suffered by the sport of boxing as a whole by placing such major fights on pay-per-view. We play an excerpt of a media conference call held prior to the November 7 Fedor Emelianenko-Brett Rogers mixed martial arts fight, which was telecast live in the U.S. on CBS and was viewed in 5.46 million households, with Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. He opined why boxing is no longer on network television in the U.S., and why MMA is.

We next play an excerpt from the November 8 edition of The Boxing Truth Radio, hosted by Ricardo Lois and John Chavez, where Eddie Goldman explained the global economic, political, and social factors which work in Pacquiao's favor. This type of analysis is essential to understanding the historical context in which this fight is taking place, and also what factors other than who deserves to win might play a role in the outcome of the fight.

In the longest segment on this edition of No Holds Barred, we discuss this fight with our correspondent, the award-winning boxing writer Charles Farrell. He is of the opinion that Cotto has the best chance of legitimately winning this fight. Cotto, he argues, unlike Pacquiao, is a true welterweight whose power and size should have him prevail. He also dismisses Pacquiao's dominant wins over Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya as victories over shot fighters, which the 28-year-old Cotto is far from being.

We discuss these views, as well as the opposing arguments which favor Pacquiao, regarding both his skills and power as a fighter and the advantages he has with the boxing establishment. While Charles is fairly certain that Cotto will win, Eddie is not, so various possible scenarios for this fight are outlined.

We also discuss what possible fights lie ahead for both men, including the likelihood of the winner facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and these next fights taking place in a major league baseball stadium. And we explain why we have no problem with people watching this fight for free online, even on so-called pirate streams. But we all agree that whichever fighter wins Saturday night, the real winner will be promoter Bob Arum, who promotes both men.

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:

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

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/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

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

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by discussing why upcoming fights like Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto, and the Showtime super middleweight tournament certainly do feature worthy matchups, they still are far from enough for boxing to shed its designation as the "red light district of sports". With highly controversial decisions happening seemingly every week, such as in the August 22 Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz fight in Texas and the John McDermott-Tyson Fury fight in England September 13, perhaps that designation should be modernized so that boxing would become known as the "spam of sports".

There is some movement, however, to attempt to reverse the decline of boxing, particularly in the U.S. While what role in all this the newly-formed Boxing Promoters Association will play remains to be seen, their second meeting, held September 14 in New York, did mark a step forward in at least one respect. A special presentation was made by Paul Johnson, head of the Boxers Organizing Committee, which has been seeking to form a union for boxers for several years. He stated that such a union and the establishment of collective bargaining in boxing would not only provide much-needed security, insurance, etc., for the fighters, but would also help build the credibility of the sport, and thus improve its marketability.

Right after that meeting, we spoke with Paul Johnson about what the goals of the Boxers Organizing Committee are, how his presentation was received by the boxing promoters he addressed, what the election of Rich Trumka as president of the AFL-CIO at their convention this week might mean for boxers, what the fans can do to assist this process, and more.

At the news conference last Thursday, September 10, at Yankee Stadium for the November14 Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight in Las Vegas, we joined several members of the media is speaking with Freddie Roach, who trains Pacquiao. We discussed what strategy Pacquiao is likely to use in this fight, why he believes that Cotto is such a dangerous opponent for Pacquiao, why this will be the toughest fight of Pacquiao's career, the issue of fighters drinking their own urine, the effect of fighting Cotto at a catch weight of 145 pounds, why they will begin their training for this fight in the Philippines, and much more.

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.

You can also order tickets for the 2009 ADCC World Championship, which will be held September 25-27 in Barcelona, Spain, through Ticketmaster.

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/.

MMA WORLD EXPO, an event designed for the mixed martial arts community offering hands-on instruction from professional trainers and athletes, educational sessions with the who's who of the MMA world, and an exhibit hall filled with the industry's top suppliers and services. MMA WORLD EXPO takes place Saturday, October 24th, and Sunday, October 25th, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both 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: Boxers Organizing Committee, boxing, boxing promoters, Eddie Goldman, Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, No Holds Barred, Paul Johnson, union

Eddie Goldman of No Holds Barred and videographer, musician, and teacher Ian Carpenter were guests on the nationally-syndicated "Joey Reynolds Show" late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, May 4/5. Eddie Goldman is also the boxing correspondent for the "Joey Reynolds Show".

We had another fast-paced and lively discussion with Joey covering numerous topics. We discussed and critiqued the new documentary film on Mike Tyson, and the "One World Champion" video produced by Eddie and Ian. Ian spoke about his own background. Also among the topics we touched on were the movie business; why so much media today is so short; the Art of War Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event coming up May 23 in Beijing, China; boxer John Duddy; the wonderful Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight of May 2; boxing and martial arts; the continuing appeal of Muhammad Ali; and, of course, roller derby.

You can play or download this here.

The "Joey Reynolds Show" is a national radio broadcast in New York on WOR 710 AM and on 100 other stations via the WOR Network. The show airs live beginning at midnight ET and runs to 5 AM ET. For more information on the "Joey Reynolds Show", go here.

For more information on show producer Myra Chanin, go to http://motherwonderful.com/.

Labels: Art of War, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Ian Carpenter, Joey Reynolds, John Duddy, Manny Pacquiao, martial arts, media, Mike Tyson, mixed martial arts, MMA, Muhammad Ali, Ricky Hatton, WOR

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with boxing writer, historian, and former boxer Frank Lotierzo about the crushing second-round knockout victory by Manny Pacquiao over Ricky Hatton Saturday night, May 2, in Las Vegas.

In a lengthy and pointed interview, we discuss the Pacquiao-Hatton fight itself, the historical significance of Pacquiao's victory, whether Pacquiao can be considered an all-time great, the return to boxing of Floyd Mayweather Jr., the July 18 Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight, a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown, what fights of note are coming up in the next few months, and much more about the always intriguing and often perplexing world of boxing.

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.

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.

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

Fair Deal for Atlantic City Dealers, a campaign organized by an alliance of casino workers and unions in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to fight for justice in the gaming industry and achieve a fair deal for all casino workers.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Frank Lotierzo, Freddie Roach, Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, No Holds Barred, Ricky Hatton

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman focuses on the top fighters in boxing in the UK today. We compare where the careers of Joe Calzaghe, Junior Witter, Amir Khan, Ricky Hatton, David Haye, and Carl Froch were one year ago with where they are today. And we comment on the thrilling come-from-behind 12th-round TKO victory Carl Froch scored over Jermain Taylor this past Saturday night, April 25.

Ricky Hatton, of course, will be facing Manny Pacquiao, regarded by most as the current pound-for-pound king, this coming Saturday night, May 2, in Las Vegas. This fight will take place at 140 pounds, where Hatton is presently regarded as the best fighter in the world. We spoke with a confident Ricky Hatton on a media conference call this past week to get his take on this fight.

David Haye, the former cruiserweight champion who relinquished his belts in that division to move up to heavyweight, will get his wish for a crack at a heavyweight title when he faces the top fighter in that weight class, Wladimir Klitschko, June 20 in Germany. David Haye was in New York this past week for a news conference, and we caught up with him there for some very poignant comments.

It is free to listen to or download SecondsOut Radio, but you must register to gain access to it. Just click here, and listen, learn, and enjoy.

Labels: Amir Khan, boxing, British boxing, Carl Froch, David Haye, Eddie Goldman, Jermain Taylor, Joe Calzaghe, Junior Witter, Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton, SecondsOut Radio, Wladimir Klitschko