NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the Lara-Foreman and DeGale-Jack fights coming up this weekend, and discusses why the Premier Boxing Champion, the PBC, is by far America's number one boxing TV series.

On Friday, January 13, WBA 154-pound champ Erislandy Lara (23-2-2, 13 KOs) takes on Yuri Foreman (34-2, 10 KOs), and Anthony Dirrell (29-1-1, 23 KOs) fights Norbert Nemesapati (24-4, 17 KOs). This PBC card takes place at the Hialeah Park Racing and Casino in Miami, Florida, and will be shown live in the U.S. on Spike TV. Also on the card, two undefeated welterweights with identical 13-0 records, Miguel Cruz and Alex Martin, face each other in a bout that may be shown on TV.

On Saturday, January 14, IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale (23-1, 14 KOs) faces WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs) in a title unification bout. The co-feature has two unbeaten fighters fighting each others, IBF junior lightweight champion Jose Pedraza (22-0, 12 KOs) and Gervonta Davis (16-0, 15 KOs). This card will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will be shown live in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

We spoke with James DeGale and Badou Jack on a recent media conference call.

We open with a discussion about why boxing is a primarily TV sport, and how all the shills, propagandists, nitwits, incompetents, and zombies writing in boxing's multitude of fake news sites have missed or failed to report one of the top boxing stories in the U.S. for 2016: the PBC is by far America's number one boxing TV series.

Here, based on compiling TV ratings from Nielsen, are the most-watched boxing shows in the U.S. for 2016:

1 - Errol Spence Jr. vs. Leonard Bundu, Aug. 21, 2016, PBC on NBC: average 4.8 million viewers, peak of 6.34 million.

2 - Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter, June 25, 2016, Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS presented by Premier Boxing Champions: averaged 3.1 million viewers, peaked at 3.94 million viewers.

3 - Danny Garcia vs. Robert Guerrero, Jan. 23, 2016, PBC on Fox: ave. 2.1 million, main event peaked at 3.5 million viewers.

4 - Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz, April 30, 2016, PBC on Fox: 1.6 million viewers.

5 (tie) - Gennady Golovkin vs. Dominic Wade, April 23, 2016, HBO: 1,325,000 viewers. (Note also that Wade is a PBC boxer and is managed by Al Haymon.)

5 (tie) - Joe Smith Jr. vs. Andrzej Fonfara, June 18, 2016, PBC on NBC: 1.32 million.

And for 2017, the PBC has said, beginning with this January 13 card, they will have more shows than in either of their first two seasons.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not 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 sponsored by:

The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to TheBoxingTribune.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

USA Combat Wrestling, the official U.S. governing body for combat wrestling and U.S. delegate of the International Combat Wrestling Federation (FICW), which was founded by the legendary wrestler Noriaki Kiguchi of Japan. For more information, go to CombatWrestling.us.

Labels: Badou Jack, Eddie Goldman, Erislandy Lara, James DeGale, No Holds Barred, PBC, Premier Boxing Champions, Showtime, Spike, television, TV, Yuri Foreman

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman had the pleasure of speaking with one of the most knowledgeable people alive in the sport of boxing, the legendary matchmaker Johnny Bos.

Right after the marathon of televised fights on Saturday, December 13, we had a lengthy discussion by telephone about the fights themselves and also numerous pressing issues in boxing. We began with the Yuri Foreman-James Moore junior middleweight fight, won by Foreman by a lopsided ten-round unanimous decision (Johnny is Yuri's matchmaker). We also analyzed the Kendall Holt-Demetrius Hopkins, James Toney-Fres Oquendo, Wladimir Klitschko-Hasim Rahman, and Shawn Estrada-Shaun Spaid fights, as well as the Tomasz Adamek-Steve Cunningham and Joseph Agbeko-William Gonzalez fights from Thursday, December 11.

Interspersed in our discussion were commentaries on why boxing is killing itself today, why young fighters are not being developed properly, how boxing is more "crooked" today than in the past, which major promoter has a history of putting on the best and most competitive cards, the many obstacles Johnny is trying to overcome to continue working in boxing, and more.

Johnny is a one-of-a-kind personality and a genuine throwback to the glory days of boxing, so this interview should stimulate some very lively and absolutely necessary discussion about the fate of the sport and business of boxing.

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

Labels: boxing, Demetrius Hopkins, Eddie Goldman, Fres Oquendo, Hasim Rahman, James Moore, James Toney, Johnny Bos, Kendall Holt, SecondsOut Radio, Shawn Estrada, Wladimir Klitschko, Yuri Foreman

SecondsOut Radio with Eddie Goldman

On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie
Goldman begins by speaking with unbeaten junior middleweight Yuri Foreman (24-0, 8 KOs) of Brooklyn, N.Y. He next fights Thursday, April 3, against veteran Saul Roman (28-4, 24 KOs) at the Aviator Sports Arena in Brooklyn, N.Y. This card will be televised live in the U.S. on Versus.

Next, we turn our attention to the issues of the media, the Internet, and boxing. We speak with Jacqui Snow, a moderator of the very popular MySpace Boxing Forum, which has over seven thousand members. We discuss the importance of the Internet in general and MySpace in particular for boxing, and how the pay-per-view business model being used by many television networks such as HBO is being outstripped by the growth of technology.

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

Labels: Aviator Sports Arena, boxing, Brooklyn, Eddie Goldman, HBO, Jacqui Snow, MySpace, MySpace Boxing Forum, pay-per-view, Saul Roman, SecondsOut Radio, Versus, Yuri Foreman

NO HOLDS BARRED: Kelly Pavlik, Ross Greenburg, Bob Arum, Ozell Nelson, Tim Kennedy, Jason Miller, Yuri Foreman, Joshua Clottey, Monte Barrett, Sergio Martinez, Ozzie Smith

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman presents an interview marathon.

At a news conference in New York Tuesday, Dec. 11, we spoke with middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs). He has a rematch at 166 pounds with the man he defeated this past September, Jermain Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs), Feb. 16, 2008, in Las Vegas. We also spoke with Pavlik's promoter, Bob Arum, about the successful year boxing has had in 2007, and Taylor's trainer, Ozell Nelson, about what changes their team plans to make in this rematch with Pavlik and about Taylor's engaging manner.

We also spoke at this news conference with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. We got the latest, as if Tuesday afternoon, as to what he expects the number of buys for last Saturday's Mayweather-Hatton pay-per-view. And we spoke with him about what plans HBO might have for televising mixed martial arts events.

On a media teleconference call also Tuesday, we spoke with mixed martial arts fighters Tim Kennedy and Jason "Mayhem" Miller. These two middleweights fight this coming Sat., Dec. 15, on the HDNet Fights card at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Miller and Kennedy first fought each other in February 2003 in an Extreme Challenge tournament, with Kennedy winning a decision.

This past Thursday, Dec. 6, there was a boxing card at the Utopia Paradise Theater in the Bronx, NY. After their fights, we spoke with the new NABF junior middleweight titleholder Yuri Foreman (24-0, 8 KOs), who took a split decision over Andrey Tsurkan (25-3, 16 KOs) to win that belt. We spoke with junior middleweight Sergio Martinez (41-1-1, 21 KO’s), who won his bout by a fourth-round TKO over Russell Jordan. We spoke with heavyweight Monte Barrett (32-6, 18 KOs), who avenged a second-round stoppage by veteran Cliff Couser (26-14, 14 KOs) over him in July by stopping Couser in the second round on this card. We spoke with welterweight contender Joshua Clottey, who has as eliminator fight with the unbeaten Shamone Alvarez Dec. 20 in Las Vegas and was at this card. And we spoke with baseball legend Ozzie Smith who was ringside enjoying the fights about why he likes boxing.

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

You can also download it by scrolling down that page and clicking on the download link (right-click to save it).

You can also listen to it through the player on this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED 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: Bob Arum, boxing, Eddie Goldman, HBO, Jason Miller, Joshua Clottey, Kelly Pavlik, Monte Barrett, No Holds Barred, Ozell Nelson, Ozzie Smith, Ross Greenburg, Sergio Martinez, Tim Kennedy, Yuri Foreman

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman previews two important boxing cards coming up in the next several days, and takes on the issue of comparing boxing and mixed martial arts. We also answer some compelling e-mails.

We begin by speaking with boxing promoter Lou DiBella about the decline of boxing in the U.S. and the relationship – or non-relationship – of that decline to the growth of mixed martial arts. His commentary is explosive and controversial about both these sports.

DiBella is joining forces with Bob Arum's Top Rank and Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing to co-promote a show Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Utopia Paradise Theater in the Bronx, NY. Headlining that card will be a fight between NABF 154-pound titleholder Andrey Tsurkan (25-2, 16 KOs), born in Ukraine and living in the Bronx, and undefeated challenger Yuri Foreman (23-0, 8 KOs), born in Belarus and living in Brooklyn. The winner improves his chances at getting a shot at the WBC title in that weight, presently held by Vernon Forrest. This fight will be televised live in the U.S. on Versus.

We spoke with both Andrey Tsurkan and Yuri Foreman as well as Lou DiBella at a New York news conference Wednesday.

This coming Saturday, December 1, Vernon Forrest will be co-featured on a major card at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, and televised live in the U.S. on Showtime.

On that show, former world light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (25-4, 18 KOs) takes on journeyman Danny Santiago (29-3-1, 19 KOs); WBC super welterweight champion Vernon Forrest (39-2, 28 KOs) faces former IBF world welterweight champion Michele Piccirillo (48-3, 30 KOs); and IBF flyweight champion Nonito Donaire (18-1, 11 KOs) fights veteran Luis Maldonado (37-1-1, 28 KOs).

We spoke with Antonio Tarver, Vernon Forrest, and Nonito Donaire at a New York news conference Tuesday to get their takes on these fights.

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

You can also listen to it through this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED 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: Andrey Tsurkan, Antonio Tarver, BJJ, boxing, Eddie Goldman, jiu-jitsu, Lou DiBella, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, Nonito Donaire, UFC, ultimate fighting, Vernon Forrest, Yuri Foreman