We're almost there, big fight coming up on Sunday, taking on who a lot of people think is the face of Zufa boxing at the moment, Jaya Pataya.
What has this whole experience been like kind of being an opponent of the face of Zufa boxing?
You know what, it's another guy.
I call it the unlucky lottery.
The, the better you, you perform and the more you win, the higher you go, you get to fight another bigger , stronger, harder punching guy, you know what I mean?
And they all, they all want to kill you, so.
You know, as far as guys is another guy, um, very talented guy.
I mean, I don't know him from a can of pain, so this is, it's an obstacle, you know what I mean?
I can't, I can't give you much detail about him because it's not about him in my world, you know what I mean?
It's like in his world it's not about me, so it's a, it's a pleasure to be here.
Like I've said multiple times, opportunity of a lifetime.
Why would I not?
I was checking on your Instagram, and yeah, it seems like you have a very scientific approach to the sport.
I found it very interesting.
You have all these different facts about how you train.
How important is it, is it for you as a fighter to kind of promote your brand and your social media?
You know what?
Social media comes hand in hand.
Um, it's not always been my favorite thing, but You know, just because of the way boxing is going now, you have to do it, it's gotta be done, so.
It's OK for me to just put a little bit of how I really feel out there, I might as well.
You mentioned Jai is just another guy.
When you're preparing for fights, do you watch a lot of tape on your opponents, or do you let your team kind of handle the tape study?
Uh, my team watches, um, With him, I have, you know, I've watched a little bit more, um, cause I, I realized, you know, what, what, what type of fight this is.
I realized what's in front of us, so, yeah, but I've definitely done my homework .
But yeah, I mean, it's just another guy, another style, you know, um, you can't give any emotion to this kind of stuff, you know, because it's They all, they all wanna do damage.
That's kind of where I'm at with that.
It's just, it's just another guy I gotta get through.
I noticed a post on your Instagram, you mentioned, uh, you talked about influencer boxing, and you, you seem to be, I, I wasn't clear, do you feel that like Jake Paul and Misfits is a necessary evil to put more eyes on the sport, or do you wish that maybe some of that stuff didn't exist?
You know what, I go back and forth on it, but at the end of the day, he does put a lot of eyes on the sport.
Um, can't take that from him, and he's living the life of a fighter, you know, he's training, he's working, he's studying, he's Doing everything, so.
You know, at first I was like, man, what, what is this?
But You don't have to come from nothing and be, you know, brought up hard to be a boxer and doing all this kind of stuff.
So you put in the work, you live the life, you're a boxer, you have fights, uh, many of his fights, uh, And we call them cherry-picking, but at the end of the day, they were, they were somebody somewhere, so.
You know, it's, it's, it's fighting is fighting, man.
What do you make of some of these older guys like Mike Tyson's supposedly fighting Floyd, they just announced Floyd versus Manny at the sphere in Las Vegas.
Do you feel like these guys should still be competing at that age?
I don't, I, I personally don't mind.
Floyd and Pacquiao, you know, I, I'll, I'm, I'm actually excited for that one.
I saw the Mike Tyson thing.
I didn't, I didn't know if that was real or not, or a gimmick or, yeah, yeah, that, I, I'm, I'm actually happy to see that.
Yeah, I'm actually interested in that one.
Mike Tyson, Floyd, I'm not.
Come on, man, I'm not interested in that.
Jay has a lot of hype behind him, and you are kind of being viewed as the underdog in this fight, in the betting markets and in the public.
Do you pay any attention to that stuff or use it as motivation when you're heading into a fight with a guy like Jai?
Obviously, I don't like it, but at the end of the day, it is what it is.
The man earned his strap.
You know what I mean?
Um.
It's not like it's him saying it, you know.
So , like I said, we're just guys, you know, in his world, I'm just a guy.
In my world, he's just a guy and this is, this is the job.
So obviously, yeah, the, the, the comment section is rough.
I don't appreciate that, but you know what, it's all fuel, man.
It's, it's more reason to do what I need to do.
This is about my future.
This ain't about comments, this ain't about Um, Ja, this ain't about anything except for my legacy, what's in front of me.
I'm training for months to do it.
I gotta go out there and do it.
Has this been the hardest training camp of your career?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
This is hands down, absolutely.
It's not even always the physical.
That's what makes it.
The physicals we're used to that is the, it's, man, we've had some um situations in training camp, so any chance we'll ever see you train and maybe uh doing some cross training, uh, throwing some kicks or doing some grappling?
No.
To.
If anything, maybe later, later, later, super later, later, later, later, later, later, uh, some bare knuckle, but, uh, nah, nah, nah, I'm gonna keep my feet on the ground, brother.
Fair enough, man.
It was a pleasure talking to you.
Good luck Sunday night.
Uh, looking forward to seeing you fight.