E4 - Marco Garcia - Chicago Boxing Sensation

Marco Garcia, 2023 Welterweight  Chicago Golden Glove Champion. Tune in to hear about his boxing career, his recent fights in the golden gloves, and just general life experiences. 

Fun episode, gets goofy and off the cuff half way in, but Marco is a great guest.

Transcript

Unknown: Hello and welcome to episode four of Next up, Chicago. Today, we have a special guest. They're all special, obviously. But today we have Marco Garcia. The man is an amateur boxer at the moment. The man grew up in Chicago, as you could have probably assumed. And the man has a lot of stories. The man has a lot of experience. And I think it'll be interesting to get into his mind, kind of like understand his drive for boxing, his general views on Chicago and the like. The man has a A1 record. He's been an amateur boxer for the last year and a half, so pretty solid record. No knockouts yet will win on those. But man is the technician. He is trained by Fly Garcia. Mike the fly, baby. Mike the fly. The man was a dog back in the day, and now he's an excellent trainer. And. Yeah. And then before we start this, I am Phil. I am recording this with Marco after watching the Bears and Dan lackluster performance, to say the least. And we suck like we were doing well and then just fucking suck. Like, I don't have problems of being a Chicagoan, right? Like, we just have a shitty football team every year, up 28 and seven below it in the fourth quarter. Yeah. All choked. But anyway, man Marco Garcia, welcome to. Next up, Chicago. Say, listen by yourself. Introduce yourself to the listeners. What up, Farooq? Thank you for having me here. What's up, people? Marco Garcia, 24 years old, born and raised here in Chicago. I am the 2023 Chicago Golden Gloves champion, £147 division. And yes, started this boxing journey. Fighting was about a year and a half ago, but when I decided to start boxing is probably around like 2 to 3 years ago. Well, I was in college and ever since then we've been doing what we can to make the most out of it. And so the Golden Gloves was recently, right? It was only a few months ago. The Golden Gloves was, I think 4 to 5 months ago. Okay. And you won your what is the what is your weight class called welterweight. So £147. Yeah. So you want how many people do you have to beat to win that thing? I went through four people. So the way it works is like I like to explain. It's like the March Madness of boxing. So it's single round elimination. You show up each week, you fight. If you keep winning, you go on to the next week, fight again, go on to the next week, fight again up until the championship. And then depending on how many people are in your weight class, it depends like how many opponents you have and how many rounds you have to get through. And so how many how many rounds are there? You know, in a fight we have three, two minute rounds, which doesn't sound like much. So all amateur boxing is three two minute rounds. And like I said, doesn't sound like much. But since the fight is so short, it's only 6 minutes in total. It pushes the pace of the fight a lot more. So it's a lot more of a fast paced fight where it's not as much like technical, like you see in professional boxing where they're like picking their shots and it's more of a chess match. This is more like you get in there and just like, boom, you get straight to it. It goes off a point system like punches landed, like who's being the aggressor. So an average boxing, it's all about just like fast paced fight and like getting in there and just like getting straight to work. And so you mow down four people. It's very impressive. So if you're ever out and about at night and like you're partying, you might want to have more go in your corner, that's for sure. I'm a lover, not a fighter in the streets. He's a lover, though. The fighters, just a side job. Right. But so tell me about the four opponents. Like, how would you rank them? Did it get harder and harder or is there like, you know, you fought to be like those are some good matches. And then the third match, you like all this to describe? How the hell did he get here? It's hilarious to say that because it actually kind of went down similar to that. The first guy I fought was a southpaw by nature, but he switched off a little bit so he would go between southpaw orthodox for those that those that don't know southpaw is when the fighter stands with their right hand in front of them instead of their left. And the tricky thing about fighting a southpaws, if you're an orthodox fighter, it's a different look for you. So you're getting punches coming at you from a very different angle, so you're not really used to that. Luckily, I had experienced sparring with a decent amount of southpaws, so I wasn't too worried about that. And the kid I fought in the first round was a heavy hitter, had a lot of power in his hands, but he wasn't really putting together combinations. It was kind of just like one punch at a time. And I'm I consider myself pretty slick boxer. I move well. So I basically was just moving, waiting for him to throw a punch and then boom would come back with three or four. So that fight he hit the hardest. But it wasn't tourist fighter. This is the first round fight. So it was on southpaw. Yeah, first round. So it wasn't too hard of a fight, but he was the hardest hit or I'd faced the round after that I fought a Filipino kid. So this is now the quarterfinals. And he's actually the oldest person. I thought he was like 33, I think, and he was an aggressive fighter but didn't have any power behind his punches. So I wasn't really worried that he was hitting me. It was more so just the like he was scoring points, but like his punches didn't have any effect on me. So that almost kind of fucked me up a little bit because it made me a lot more relaxed when I was in there, as opposed to like being more on top of my game since I knew I wasn't getting hurt. I was a little bit too relaxed starting off the fight. But then I realized like, I needed to kick it up a notch because he was scoring some points. So then there I would say he pushed me physically in terms of like the pace I had to fight it the most out of anybody that I fought in the tournament. That was a good fight. And then the semifinals was by far the easiest fight. That one, I was a little curious as to how the guy who I fought made it there. He was a orthodox fighter around the same height as me, long arms. I had watched him fight the round before in the quarterfinals, and I saw that he really wasn't that skilled. His feet were kind of all over the place. He jumped in a lot. And so when that fight, when I found out that I was fighting him, I was like pretty confident that I was going to go to the championship. So I knew I was going to beat him. Oh, okay. Yeah. That was like one of the first times that I felt in the ring. I could do whatever I wanted with a person in there. He wasn't really able to hit me. I was dodging, weaving, slipping everything, moving around, controlling the pace of the fight like I engaged when I wanted to. Like if I was moving. I didn't want to engage. Like I just took away his arsenal with my footwork. So it was like the first time that I felt like I could really do like whatever I wanted with a person. It was like really cool, honestly. And yeah, so that I kind of just, like, cruised to a victory in that one. And then I had the championship. And the funny thing about the championship is the kid that I fought fights out of the same gym as me. So me and him knew each other and you had sparred with him before. So I had sparred with him before. And when we had sparred, this was like months before the Golden Gloves, almost like half a year before the Golden Gloves. And he was getting ready for a fight and I hadn't been in training for a while. I like just got back to sparring and he got the better of me in the sparring southpaw. But like with a typical Mexican style of just coming forward, heavy shots. So it was in the back of my mind. Like ever since that day we sparred. I was like, I'm going to have to fight him eventually, especially if it's in the Golden Gloves, because like, I know the pace he fights, I know the style he fights. It's hard for people to beat, especially if they don't know him and they're just coming into it, like not knowing their opponent. So it was always in the back of my mind from the day we sparred, like, I'm going to have to fight him eventually. And me and him actually had seen each other on the first day of the Golden Gloves tournament. And like we said, what's up? And were they talking? We're like, hey, like, we'll clear everybody out. There's just be me and you in the championship, the love coming down to that. So the plus side to knowing how he fought was that when I was training, I was able to visualize it. I know the pace that he fights at very high pace, so I know that I had to come in peak condition physically and I had to come set the tone to fight an aggressive fight with him. So that was nice. Being able to like have that intention behind my training of knowing like what I wanted to do. And also me and him are friends on social media and I saw that like after the quarterfinals, you have a two and a half week break before the championship. I saw that he was out drinking and everything like that. So that mentally kind of helped me because like I knew I wasn't doing any of that. So like mentally that gave me a little bit of an edge up too, because I was like, All right, like he's sitting here going out, like having drinks. He probably thinks this is going to be easy. Fight for him. He's going to take home the championship. Little do you know. So when it comes down to the day of and the nice thing about the tournament is as you advance through it, you get to get a little bit more comfortable because like you way in the day, you fight the people that are way in your ear or the officials and the judges. So you see them every single week, so able to enjoy the experience a little bit more because there's not as much nerves behind it. You're able to kind of like relax a little bit, you know, the process are able to enjoy it. So yeah, by the time we got to the championship, I was just having fun with it. And yeah, the fight started and I knew I wanted to hit him in the body because I knew I had to slow him down. Like I said, typical Mexican style. He's got a very aggressive pace where he's just coming forward. He pushes the pace of the fight. So in my mind, like my whole thing going into it was like as soon as he gives me like one body shot, I got to take it and I had to be aggressive and push him back because majority of his opponents that had watched him fight, they kind of just like went in there and like once he started getting aggressive, they kind of just like bowed down and let him take control of the fight. So I had to go in there, establish my jab and, like, try to push him back and let him know, like, I'm not no slouch. So yeah, towards the end of round one, maybe like the last minute, I see him bring his hands up real. And I was like, perfect. That's my opening. Came in with a double jabbed. Just keep the space from him straight, right hand down to the body. Oh, my God. I instantly heard him just go. Oh! And then his hands came down. And from there, I knew I took the life out of him. And then, yeah, I kind of, like, changed the tide for the fight, and I was able to slow him down, just push him back from there. And then I won that one by unanimous decision. And he came to my corner after the fight and told me he was like, that right hand of the body you hit me with, like, I still can't feel my legs after that. Oh, my God. So, yeah, that was cool too. That's cool to know that like that hard work that I put in paid off that, you know, it's crazy because the way you just described it, right? Like I'm envisioning like that movie Southpaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, really quiet. Like he's in the ring and the lights are behind him. Like he's in the flow. Right? And then I'm like, reminded, I'm like, Damn, this is a six minute fight. This is nuts. Like, you guys are balls to the wall, just get the most hits and just go crazy. Like, that's interesting because yeah, like, a professional is like 12 rounds, right? Like, that's crazy. Mm. That's like a marathon of fighting, right? Whereas you guys like there's like a sprint, right? Professional, you got 12, three minute around. So it's a lot more methodical of a fight. It's a lot more pace where they're moving around, they're setting up shots that they want. But yeah, an amateur is do you literally just get out there? And I don't it's not like a street fight, but almost like a street fight where you just get out there and just let the hands fly. Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, with this boxing, right, like there is a serious amount of discipline. Like I'm sure that a lot of people are aware, like of cutting, making weight and just like the level of discipline and motivation, right? To get to that day at a certain way, to get to that day mentally prepared. Like you said, you saw the your opponent, he was out drinking like a week before. And mentally, that gave you an edge because you're like, well, I'm not doing that. Like, I'm here locked in. So just so you guys know, right, Marko fights at 147, but when he's chilling, right? Like after a fight gets a little bit of a reprieve, the man put on £10, you know, and so then he's going to help you turn a healthy turn. Not a bad time, but like, you know, you got to drop that again. What is how do you go into that? How do you stay motivated and disciplined enough to attain that goal? Because it's like, you know, I mean, I'm a normal guy. I just work out. But I'm not out here like going to the sauna, like eating this, eating that, working out eight times a day. Like how do you do it? And the biggest thing is it just comes down to calorie restriction like everybody always asked me when it comes to like, oh, like, do you cut out carbs Do this, do that as like, no, you got to eat whatever you want. But as long as you're in a calorie deficit. So it's basically just like knowing your body and knowing what number you have to hit to be able to lose the weight in like that amount of time. Honestly, going into the tournament, I was a little bit nervous because that whole week I like wasn't really that close to like making weight. So when we went to go weigh in for the first round of the tournament, I they didn't know if I was going to be able to make weight or not. And if you don't make weight because for amateurs, we weigh in the day that we fight, you have an hour to lose the weight and if you don't lose it, you don't fight. So I was like checking my weight at home before I went to the weigh ins and like, I had not touched like 47 once on the scale. So I was like really sweating it. And then when we got there and I weighed it and I was 147 on the dot, so if I would have been like one 47.1, I wouldn't have been able to fight. Is that. Yeah, it's that strict. Wow. Yeah, that's insane. Yeah. So that's where it plays in like all that discipline because you're like, you know, I didn't come this far, and I didn't sacrifice all this just to be, like, turned away at the scales. So it's like, you know, that kind of gives you that extra motivation, like when you're hungry at night sometimes to be like, you know what? Like, I could just eat after the fight, you know, you didn't come this far. It's only come this far. Come on, come on. Well, so that's great. Like, I mean, you've only been a year and a half. You've been killing it so far. You have an eight one record. You just won a Walter Way Golden Glove Championship. Right. How do you where do you see this going? You know, like we talked a little about this before, but, you know, where do you envision your boxing taking you? Do you see yourself going forward like a career? Do you see this as like a just a thing that you're doing now and seeing where it goes? Like, how do you feel about that? When I first started, the game plan was always like to go professional and make money out of it. Because I decided to start boxing when I was a freshman in college. My dad was a professional boxer back then. It's always been around boxing, but I never boxed myself, so my parents never wanted me to do it and I never had the discipline or like knew the extent of the discipline you needed to do it. But once I got to my freshman year of college, I started thinking like, what do I realistically I want to do with my life? And nothing sounded too appealing other than boxing, cause like I always wanted to try boxing. I had, like, watched a documentary on Netflix called Counterpunch, which was about like the amateur boxing system in the United States, and like why the United States doesn't win many gold medals. Because we have guys that go professional. They'd rather make money than. Go win a gold medal. All right. So after watching that, I was like, you know, like, I wouldn't mind if this was just, like, my life. You know, you go to the gym, workout train, and I was like, I'd rather, like, beat my body up physically than, like, beat my mind up, like mentally. And they have to go work a job that would just, like, drain me and like I didn't want to have to do. Mhm. So that's why I decided that I wanted to go to boxing so I could like turn professional and make some money out of it. And then as the journey continued with boxing, it turned to less of just like about the money and more just about enjoying the time. And now, wherever the journey boxing takes me just like being okay with that. One of the things I always say is like, I never want to get old and look back on boxing and think like what could have been. So I kind of want to like run this up like as far as I can do as much as I can in the sport. And then like once that's all said and done, I could sleep happy at night, like knowing there's no lingering questions, like what could have been like I did everything I was able to in the sport. And so if that takes me professional, I can make a lot of money out of it. That would be awesome. If not, you know, whatever happens happens. You could become a trainer that the boxing is going to be that too. Because currently I am a personal trainer and I train people in boxing along with strength and conditioning and that's fun. But yeah, I think if the boxing didn't work out, it would be cool to train people more specifically towards fighting because a lot of the clients I have right now are white collar people that just like do the boxing for fun, but it is cool getting to hang around the gym. You see a lot of like the younger guys there that like look up to you, especially when you're fighting and you're winning. They think it's really cool. Mm hmm. So it's just like being able to help them and give them tips here and there. Like, puts that in your mind, like, oh, it would be cool to, like, you know, train some fighters because especially once you've done it yourself, you have a lot of experience and knowledge you could pass down to them. So yeah, maybe so. Obviously like two extremes, right? There's you training for the Golden Gloves and this whole culture and like, you know, the gym and like there's like a community of people who are getting after it for real. For real. And then you go to forming a fitness club, right? FFC That's what it's called, you know. FFC Gold Coast. Ask for Marco Garcia. You train the shit out of you. How is that really? What type of people do you train like? I'm just so fascinated. Like, what does that look like? Because you said you have like 15, 17 clients. Yeah, it's it's pretty interesting, especially at the gym that I work at specifically since it's over in Gold Coast, you get a lot of people that have like lived in the area for a while. So you kind of got like some older money around there. And then also you got a lot of people that like just moved to Chicago, graduated college, living Gold Coast, now working. You're like 9 to 5 office jobs and like they're making decent money for themselves at their age. So they sign up for like a nicer gym. It was like one that I work at. And for me personally, the clients I work with, like the clients I work with, it's a pretty wide spectrum. I think the youngest client I have is my age. She is 24 and she's in medical school right now. So obviously like her parents are paying for that. But outside of that, I have like a wide variety. I have a girl that's like 27. She works at Deloitte, makes good money for her age, works for me like three times a week. And then like on the other end of the spectrum, I have a lady that just turned 81. Her name's 181. That's my girl, Ellen. Okay, let's talk more about Ellen. I'm curious. 81, she's out here throwing hands as be a wonderful woman every Wednesday. 8 a.m. I girl? Ellen is there. We get the gloves on, we get to it. So yeah, she had box with the previous boxing trainer FC before I was there. And it's funny because she actually they had a lot of reserves about training with me because I was so young when I started there. I was 22, so she didn't know if I'd be able to like, you know, instruct her properly and like especially somebody of her age enough. Like I was mature enough to handle that. But little did she know I'd become her favorite. She and she not only works on me, she works with two other trainers at the gym, she does strength training with them. She's like, keep her body moving well and whatnot. So yeah, she had a lot of reserves about working with me, but then like once we started working together, we started was just like having a good time. I talked to her like she's one of my friends my age. Like, I fuck around with her a lot. I keep her young, I think like she enjoys that. You keep her young, she matures you. It's a symbiotic type of relationship there, right? People helping people. And then also, like I in terms of training her as a client, I don't treat her like a old lady that's just there to, like, do some patty cake around them. It's like I actually teach her how to move. One of the things I taught her was like how to punch going forwards and backwards, like while you're stepping. She was really nervous about that because like, especially for older people walking backwards, they're just like walking in general. Balance is something that's really big for them, right? Especially as you get older, you don't have as much durability. So if you go down, it's pretty dangerous. So one of the things that she works on with her trainers a lot is like her balance and being able to walk going forwards and backwards. So she was a little nervous when I told her, Now we're going to punch going backwards. But now she's out there and. Gliding across the floor after we've been doing it for a while. And so she mainly just, you know, like hits the bag works with you guys like slightly. It's not like she's out here, right? She's not getting ready for any fights. I, I tried to get in there in your league. Senior Welterweight Championship for Allen. Unfortunately, no, unfortunately. I told her we'll get her in there, but she's against a B.S.. She just has to mess with me. Just keep her moving. And it's good for her memory, too, because it's like you have to think about the combinations and everything like that. So it keeps her brain sharp. Fuck, yeah. You know, my mom, um, she's a dental assistant, and she, like, always talks to me about, like, her clients. They're like, in their eighties and nineties, and, like, they're like, sure, they have, like, their shit together. Like, they're still driving. Like, I hear shit about that, like, age, and I'm like, okay, like, cause I don't know, I feel like in this culture, right? We, uh, there's a lot of ageism. So, like, as you get older, people are like, oh, like, what are you, like, decrepit? Or I'm getting old. Shit hurts, right? I don't, I don't really like I get it. You get old sugars, but it's also like how you take care of yourself, right? So like look at she's out here box in 81 working her brain, working on her balance, punching backwards, all that stuff. Right. Just makes me feel optimistic. I'm like, okay, I hope with this guy named Al my gym, he's like, 68. Okay. Oh, no, no. And he is running. He's running full court with us, like us youngbloods, you know, like we're all 25, 30, like one guy's dunking and Al is just talking. She's like, Give me the fucking ball. Like, just throwing up threes. He's pretty good. Like, I'm not going to lie. I like holding his own for old man in a young man's game. This man, you know, like I look up to him when I hope cause I'm like, I want to be that dude who's, like, 50 given people buckets. Like, Yeah, that would just be wonderful. So yeah, man, I don't know, man, because I was talking about that, right? Like sometimes you meet people that are older than you or whatever and they're like, Oh shit. Like, you're this much younger than me. And you're like, Yeah, it's like, I don't really see an issue. And then some people are like, Oh, like, it's so weird. You're younger and it's like, it's only weird if you really just think about it, you know what I mean? But like, if you like, you don't go in being like that person's this age, like, I don't know, right? I feel like especially once you hit your twenties, age doesn't really matter that much. I was talking to one of my coworkers about it cause he's about to be 30. We're talking about a movie that came out in late 2012, and I was like, Yeah, I was like 12. When that movie came out. He was like, Bro is like this crazy. I was like a senior in high school. Now, me and him, we're like best friends. We're like, you imagine like 18 year old, you like hanging out with 12 year old me? That looks so weird. But then we were talking for like, you know, like once in your twenties age doesn't really matter anymore past. Like, nobody really looks at ed like it's not really a thing we're just on, like, evil playing even playing field. No. Yeah. I mean, like, you know, like friendships and connections. Like, I think you can have connections with a vast array of people. So like for my case, right, I have a college professor, we're friends now. We like do a lot of research together, a lot of work together. And he's like in the sixties and like we're buds. Like, we get like dinner once, once every few months. Just catch up, like, shoot the shit. He talks about his shit. I talk about my shit. Like, I don't know, it's kind of fun, like, you know, ageism. Fuck that shit. I don't know. This is like a little tangible ageism, but yeah, man, let's go for Elena, bro. Like, there's definitely one place I like to be, but I don't know. FFC is kind of pricey, so I don't think you'll be seeing me there a little bit anytime soon. If I don't get the free membership, I don't know if I'll be there either. So because you work there, you get a membership too. So yeah, when you work there, you get a free membership. And it's cool because like especially in Chicago, there's so many offices around the Chicagoland area. So it's like when you get that membership, you have access to all of them. So no matter where you're at, you've got one just pretty cool. Nice. Okay. So I want to ask you a little bit on Chicago, because a city on the Chicago based podcast, you grew up here. So, you know, shoot the shit. Tell me a little. How do you feel about growing up in Chicago? I know you grew up by like Whitney Young, right? So that's like Taylor Street, Little Italy. These guys are like born and bred over there. Like if you meet his friend group, they're all like like, well, we're Taylor Street, right. And die type shit. Yeah. Straight out of, like, Goodfellas but yeah, like, they're out here playing like they're like Italian mobsters and shit, but they're great people because of a lot of neighborhood pride, that's for sure. You know, growing up in Chicago, I wouldn't trade it in for the world. So I didn't realize, like when I was younger, they're not everywhere as a city. I didn't realize that like suburbs were a thing and everything like that until I got to like the age of like starting to look for colleges to go to and everything like that. And I started like traveling around and realizing I was like, Oh, like some people don't have like a skyline. Like they don't have a downtown, like pretty fucking shitty, just cornfields and shit. Yeah. Yeah. So that was when I really started to appreciate coming from Chicago because before I was like, I always love Chicago, but I was like, I lived here my whole life. Like, I'm ready to experience something different. But now whenever I do experience something different, I'm like, Chicago's better. Like, Fuck this, we've got everything you need. We've got a beach, we've got seasons, you know, changes up a little bit. Like you fuck with the winter, you know? But I. Low key thing that the winter like obviously makes people appreciate the summer more, which is why our summers are so poppin. Oh, you know what I'm saying? Summers? Yeah. When the weather's warm, like everybody's out there doing something. You know, if it's a nice day out, like the streets are going to be filled and there's just like something cool by, like, see in the streets filled that makes you want to, like, get out of the day and just go live life. That's true. And now, you know, weather is getting a little colder. I feel like after Halloween, people start kind of hibernating. Right. Especially in this city. So get out there while you still can go meet people. Go have fun. But people are still you know, you go to sleep. People are always out doing God knows what. So I was a little old time. You always find some people out there, man, that is a beautiful thing about Chicago. There's a very good, like, nightlife, good social circles that you can find. Like I take French classes, right? Like fine little community there. Like, one thing I really like about the city is it's very accessible to find, like, a niche and find a community and just go do whatever the hell you want. Uh, so, like growing up in Chicago, right? You went to Whitney Young, you shut out dolphins. Shout out dolphins. I know your people are like, man, how many Whitney Young people are you going to interview? And it's like, honestly, be ready. Like, I'm going through the Rolodex, I'm going through the contacts, but they're all good people. They're all doing cool shit, you know? I'm Greg Franklin. Do you remember? Yeah. He's on The Amazing Race right now. I mean, my brother saw that. Oh, he's on The Amazing Race. That is so cool. We're sitting on the couch and he was like, Wait, this is Greg Franklin. And we were looking at it. I was like, Oh, and I like, could I like because I was walking home downtown, right? And they have like at the CBS station and a big TV and I literally like Greg Franklin and his brother John like fucking like 30 feet tall in front of me. I'm like, that's what the hell like, oh no, man. It's just The Amazing Race. Like, how do you even get on the fucking Amazing Race? Know I've been trying to get on reality T.V. for too long. All right, take me. Oh, okay. Let's hear it. We're, uh. What are we talking like? Competition shows? Are we talking dating shows? Are we talking like, big brother? MTV live in a house type show. So I my brother hates it, but I'm really into reality TV. He's into reality TV too much. I make him dip his toes. But the challenge is like one of my go to binges. I love watching the challenge. So it's like reality TV, I mean, a competition based reality TV. And there is like a combination of like athleticism plus like you have to have good brain to. They do a lot of puzzle solving, stuff like that. So I've always thought like I could do pretty good on their greatest is puzzles but I was like, you know, if it was a partner season, I got paired up somebody that was smart, you could kill it. And then me and my brother always mess around about like putting in an audition tape for me on Too Hot to handle because I. I had a glow in my twenties that looks good. But the funny part was one day my brother was at work and he was telling me I saw this thing pop up on my phone for like a reality TV show. Like, you put people on there for like you put in an audition tape for them. And the reality show was about like people finding it was like a reality dating show about people who are asexual. And my brother loves to joke that I'm asexual. His go to line when we're out the bars is like when we did like two girls have like, oh, this is my brother Marco. He's asexual though because when I'm in training camp for fights, I can't be like sleeping around. I can't be going out. So there'll be like months on end where I go and I'm practicing semen retention and so he can asexual during those months. Why the fuck do you have to say semen retention? You could just say abstaining. Zero retention sounds cool, but yeah. So he was like sitting at work at his like school job and he was like, I was seriously considering like sending in an audition tape for you on this video. What was the sexual show called? I forget what the name of the show was called, but yeah, it was just like asexual finding love. You'll be terrible at this. I know, because I'm not so sure about because they they just like I love the fact that he was so adamant about, like, actually wanting to put in an audition tape for me. That was hilarious. I could see you on a trash dating show, okay? Because I just watched a match, and I was like, they have all types of people, right? So like, for me, right? Like, I'm kind of like nerdy, techie, more low key, right? There's like a guy named Nick and I'm like, Damn, if I was on that show, I would kind of be like, Nick. And I'm like, Nicole's with Savannah for a little bit right there. Yeah, but I'm like, I want to be Nick, you know? But then there was like, okay, like, Francesca's always stirring the pot with her. I'm like, Bro, I love how she stirs the pot. There. There is that dude. He was like the light skinned dude. I think his name is Dice. No, Dom, bro. So, Dom, I don't have. Did you wash perfectly? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Spoiler alert to anyone that didn't watch it. Dom wins this event, all right? No, he was a Georgian. He was with Georgia. He was with Georgia. She was though. You could you could do it. I couldn't do it. I don't have. The patience for. It's like too much of a game. I don't think anybody is on those shows like trying to find love. Right. Like they know what they're doing. There's all this publicity to get the name out there a little bit more. Yeah, you could be on, like, too too hot to handle. You can work that, right? You could work that for sure. I don't know. Have you seen the mole? It's like puzzles and like strength based and activity based. So I know about it because Don those on perfect match. I even looked into him. I was I saw he was on the mole. I never watched it. You would if you want to do, like a puzzle slash challenge. Reality show. I think that's it. Like next to, like, Amazing Race, right? Like, I feel like those are the ones that would be up that alley. Something where you can win some money. Yeah, I don't know. I would do like. I would do, like, deal or no deal. Like you remember deal or no deal back in the day. My grandma still watches that when I come home. I would I would focus on deal or no deal or like Jeopardy or like some shit like that. I could do, like, trivia shit. I'm like, All right, give me that. But I'm not very good at trivia, so I wouldn't I wouldn't do too well. I definitely wouldn't do Fear Factor. No. You think the show was real? Yeah. I don't know. I teetered back and forth sometimes when if that reality TV show is real. But I trust on I think Fear Factor was real obviously tested. So like they knew that these people weren't going to die, but they got close to it was pretty scary. She went down there. I don't know if I'd be able to do that. Yeah. Mean, it's crazy how, like, reality T.V. has changed. Like, that was like, a thing. And now it's like all dating shows, basically. Basically all dating shows basically. But on the reality T.V. shows changing, I recently went down a rabbit hole of watching like old seasons of the challenge. I kind of miss the era of like when there wasn't really social media, when reality shows were coming out. So nobody cared about their image. They were just wild out on reality T.V. a lot more. Now I feel like everybody's very methodical about like their brand when they go on reality T.V. So they're trying to like, you know, they're not being their authentic selves. They're out there like trying to sell a brand or like trying to appeal to the people so they get a callback. But like back when there was no social media, like, people were wild on T.V.. Like, they were really just crazy shit. Yeah, they were going crazy for sure. Are you. Are you going to build a brand, bro? Like around boxing? How's that going? Yeah, I've been saying for the past year and a half that I am. I'm just really lazy when it comes to social media, which is why I would joke that my brother is my social media coordinator because I don't pose any of like my own like stories or anything like that. Like he will always post whatever is like a story of me, like boxing or you're doing anything. He'll edit the video, put the music in the background and like he'll throw it up. Mhm. So he's got like access to my Instagram which is a double edged sword in and of itself because it's like then he could throw my stuff up, but then sometimes I'll see him like opening my DMS with people and shit like or I'll get a text and be like, Hey, who's this girl? Is DMing you? I'm like, Motherfucker, stay on the road. Hey, man, if you're hearing this joke, stay the fuck out your brother's DMS, bro. What do you do? Or be selective about it? At least like a response I don't see as an unseen message. Oh, how, baby? What are you doing, man? But yeah, I definitely do want to start building more of a brand. I just need to get better about it because I think I do have a good brand of build, especially in boxing is easy become marketable if you're on the better looking side. Guys like Ryan Garcia, if any of the fans are familiar with him, he's built himself an incredible brand just off of like his looks and his personality. So that does help because I'm like in terms of like once you go professional, like they really you start getting more money as like you're a bigger attraction, worse off for like ticket sales. How many tickets you sell? Like do you have a fan base behind you? So I have thought about like what would I do to build my brand more? Would you kind of like because obviously, right, like the biggest, most loud mouth fighters are the ones like we get the most attention you'll get Patti the bad you Conor McGregor look at Jon Jones right like the like the motherfuckers that are allowed us they're usually the ones getting the most appeal but you have to back it up. You, you're a good fighter and you're only growing. So like, I imagine you'd back it up, but would you take that route? Would you be like the the rah rah motherfucker in the room? I don't think my dad would let me take that route. My dad's like very old school and like traditional. So I don't think he's never been like the biggest fans. Like whenever he sees guys like Conor McGregor and all them talking shit, he's like, I know that like, dude, they're doing it to drive like ticket sales and everything, but like they only do that like just be humble So I don't know. Yeah, I don't think that it really is me either. Like unless somebody is talking shit to me, like I'll talk shit back to you, but it won't be like it'll be a more like a funny way I'll just clown you. But yeah, I don't think I would ever be like the big mouth in the room or anything like that. I don't think I have that in me. You were always kind of like more the low key one, right? You're always the low key one for sure. Yeah. That's a little brother syndrome right there. My brother used to talk for me back in the day, so I my got you asking for yourself. Fighting for yourself now. I got the mic in my hands. Exactly, man. And that's more power to you. Yeah. I don't know. I have a older sister, right? So, like, I feel you. I'm like, Oh, my older sister, like telling me, shit, do this, that. I'm like, Oh, yeah, okay, get sis. You know, how goes I get it if I can get it. Anyone has siblings, you guys also get it. But yeah, man, it's exciting. I mean, I don't know, like, I follow UFC more, you know, I'm not really like I don't always follow the boxers, but I'm from Kyrgyzstan, right? Uzbekistan. I know we produce talent. I know we produce wrestling talent. We produce boxing talent and produce UFC talent. So I'm very proud of that. There's that one woman in the UFC. What is her fucking name? She is from Kyrgyzstan. I don't know her name because I say I don't watch UFC them or blanking on her name. But yeah, man, whoever you are shouts out to you though. Shouts out to you, man. So what would you be like? Actually, yeah. You'd be like, would you want to like kind of like because you're a generational boxer, you know, you're your father was a dog, was his record. So he was 26, you know, with 19 knockouts. Oh, my God. Yeah. So he he did some good work in there back in the day. How long did he fight for? Um, that is a great question. I know he went pro at the age of 24 and then he retired in 1997. What year he was born? I don't know. So he was somewhere in his thirties when he retired. He was in his early thirties. He retired early because he had arthritis in his hands, so his hands were kind of fox. And then he had my brother at the time, so it was just like there was a lot of things where it's like he did majority of what he wanted to do in the sport. So he was like, you know, no point to like making it harder on myself here. Like he had a lot of stuff going on. He had my brother, he had a restaurant and shortly after he opened a gym. So it was just like a lot of stuff going on. But he still owned a gym. No, I wish. So the reason he lost his gym was, is his partner was embezzling money from him. Oh, Jesus. Yeah. So in 2012, we lost the gym. Me and my brother are still going to go find that fucker and get our money back. But yeah, that was shitty. That was a tough loss cause it was a cool gym. It was ahead of its time, I would say. Why? Why would you say it was ahead of its time? It did a lot of like not only having fighters in there, but it also had a lot of like appeal to like the white collar person where it's like you're not coming to become a fighter, you're just coming to get a good workout in and learn how to box a little bit. They had a lot of like women coming in there, so like it was getting really popular with women and like, you know, the law of attraction, the more like attractive women that are in there, the more guys are going to come in there. It was a good space. So they were like really ahead of the times, like with what they were doing with their group classes and like tailoring to their white collar crowd. And then they also had some big names behind them in terms of like professionals. Back when my dad was training like Andrei Arlovski from the UFC, so like Andre was there and then he was also training David Diaz, who fought Manny Pacquiao. So like they had a lot of like Kendall Gill was also there. Kendall Gill When Kendall made the transition from the NBA to boxing, my dad was his trainer. So it's like you had some pretty high level, like almost celebrity fighters in there. And then they had a good mix of like the white collar stuff and then they had amateur to the lower level pros. So the gym kind of had everything you needed. It was a cool atmosphere, was a big space, so they were ahead of their time there. It's interesting. And he had a restaurant too. He had a restaurant too. It was back in Little Italy. It was called La Vida. He opened that restaurant with one of our family friends and one of our cousins, and I think they got rid of the restaurant a little bit before 2012, a couple of years before that, just because it was getting too hard for all parties involved. So they decided to just, uh. Yeah. And then a good no closed up shop. Yeah, it was like Italian food. Yeah. It was time for some of the best clams you'll ever have in your life. Came out of there. Right there, baby. Clams are awesome. And so big clams. I was just in Brussels, so I had a lot of mussels. Oh, Brussels mussels and Brussels mussels and Brussels. So I fill you on the shellfish, the show it heart. Yeah. Yeah. Brussels is pretty cool. Really? Yeah. How long were you out there for? I was like ten days. I want to ask you. Everyday was pretty cool, but, uh, the beer's really good. I know, like, you're strict and shit, but, like, when you let loose, you know when you let loose. Man, that beer is really good. It's, like, really strong. It's like 10%, but it tastes like 5%. You know, you're like, Oh, this is nice. And then next thing you know, it's more like a citrusy taste of the hops. Yeah, they got all types of shit, so I highly recommend taking a tour out of Brussels or Amsterdam for anyone. Brussels for mussels and beer and Brussels for mussels and beer. I didn't catch any boxing out there. I got pickpocketed, but no boxing happened. There wasn't a fucking slick with it. Got down there, slick with it. But I was also stupid. I was a little drunk, I was at a jazz club dancing and then like I was like, okay, let me smoke a cigaret, smoke cig, start talking to people. And then next thing you know, I get pickpocketed. Holy fuck. Did you realize it? Like there in the moment? No, I realized in the cab. Oh, so stupid. Luckily I know a little French, so I got home made in one piece. But could it be dangerous? And where are you? Like earlier you were like, Oh, yeah, like I've been in a lot of places, but Chicago was like, number one for you. Where have you been? Were somewhere that rivals Chicago for you and your list man. Um, so in terms of like within the United States, I have family in Dallas, so I go to Dallas, Texas a lot. I wouldn't say that Dallas rivals Chicago, but Dallas gives me something that Chicago can't. It's a little bit slower pace of a lifestyle, a little bit more of that, like suburbia. But has it makes it like a little bit of a city in there. And like Dallas, I like to go to to they get an escape from Chicago, especially when the winter starts to hit. Like I haven't traveled in a while. I've been training and everything. Dallas is a nice place to go because the weather's always warm out there. I got a lot of family out there. Again, it's a very active lifestyle. Like we got to workout classes, we go on walks together and it's like a little laid back type of lifestyle out there. I was over to Greece. I fucking loved Greece. We're in Greece. You go, man. We went all over the place. We started off in Athens for three days and then from Athens we got on a yacht and we were just island hopping. Basically, we went to Minos, Santorini, Paros Naxos fell in love out there in Naxos. The women in Greece. You fell in love in Naxos? Oh, yeah. Small town shopgirl. Beautiful. She had great lips, nice black brown hair, beautiful eyes. Oh, see, the problem with traveling is like those. Those like little affairs. Those little international affairs are like, hot and heavy and passionate, but very short, very short lived. Yeah. So, I don't know. I've had I've had my experience of that. I'm like, God damn it, this is a dangerous it's like too easy, you know, because, like, I feel like when you're traveling and you're a foreigner and therefore and you're foreign to them, there's like an extra connection because there's, like, more mystery, there's more intrigue, right? Especially coming from America, because it's like, now we're exotic when we go out there. Uh, exotic. I feel exotic when I go out there. But yeah, definitely the mystery and the intrigue like it all just pulls you and you get lost in it. Very lustful. It can be that way. Especially, I guess, when you meet a beautiful Greek shop girl on the fucking island. It very easy to get pulled in. Yeah, mine. Mine was in Turkey, and I was like, Yeah, that was crazy. I love out in Turkey for a little while. Love for a night. Is it love or is it what is it called? Oh, my God. I can wear lust. No, not lust. There's another word for it. There's love. And then there's like, you know, like that high school crush feeling. Okay? You do remember, like, your first crush ever? Like you I'll never forget. Or, you know, you never forget that butterflies in your stomach, that little flutter thing, whatever that feeling is, I feel like that shit is magnified when you meet someone abroad and you like have the two totally different worlds. Because there's like part of you is like, ooh, be cool to merge these worlds, but like most of you is like, well, this is not going to work. And we're just kind of going with the flow here and we know it's not going to work, but we're going with the flow here You know, it's like, you know, it's going to hit a wall, right? Which builds it up even more because, you know, like there's a time limit on it. Yeah, man. Oh, it's tough, but I highly recommend Istanbul or Antalya. I've heard good things about Istanbul and Istanbul is crazy. So many people has a ton of cats. It's like the cat, one of the cat capitals of the fucking world or some shit like that. Greece was like that too last night. Stray cats out there. Yeah, that's weird. Oh, and don't fuck with cats. Are you a dog person? Yeah. I can never get behind cats is like a little too mischievous for me. They got their own agendas. They come and go as they please. I don't trust them. I kind of like that. You know, they're lucky. I was cat sitting for like a week. I'm allergic as fuck two cats. So I like Zyrtec all day. But it was nice, you know? Cat called me up. I really don't do anything to do. Like to take care of it. Like with a dog, you know, there's, like, all this extra shit I'm trying to figure out, like, I want a pet, but I'm like, well, I'm allergic to cats. A dog is a lot of work. Like, I like traveling, so I'm like, what the fuck? Like, mom's like, get some fish. So, like, what the hell am I going to call the fish? She's like, Well, you know, if you look at fish, it's like calming, it's relaxing. And I'm like, in my head, I'm like, the only thing I'm thinking about is, like, down this vicious, stuck in, like, a tank for the rest of his life, going left and right. I'm like, That's fucked up. I was going to say sushi, but yeah, that's you said, yeah, like I was thinking of sushi. This goldfish would be good on some rice. Yeah, I guess that is the appeal to cats. It's so much easier. Low maintenance, you don't really have to do much. And then, like, some cats do like to cuddle up and, like, be affectionate so I can see what people fuck with them. Yeah, I don't know, like cats I could get. I don't know. I have a negative history of cats very allergic to them, but I still fuck with like, I love animals in general. I just can't. Um, I got to. I have plants right in their house cause, like, I love my lady, like, our plants, you know, they're nice, but, like, they don't call you, they don't talk to you. So it's like, shit. What do I like? What do I consider my playing on the couch at the end of the night? Yeah, like, what do I get? That, like, is happy to see me when I get home. There's low maintenance shit. Like, where is that thing that exists? Tell me. Like significant other as well then. One's a tough one to find. Yeah, that one. Yeah. Love is international affairs. Uh, foreign love, domestic love. Any love is complicated. Relationships are complicated. It's a fickle thing, especially nowadays, man. It's just crazy. Yeah. The dating pool is definitely different than it used to be nowadays, especially with, like, social media apps and everything. Like, I feel like Instagram is a dating app now. Yeah, you got to really come correct on there. It's weird, man. Like, I don't know. I've never, like, I can never tell. Okay. I've had like a few girls, like, hit me up in my DMS, like, and just follow me. I can never tell if they're bots. I just kind of like, don't. There's always that hope. Where is that profile? Picture is cute, but the account looks really sus. Your following ratios are off. I was like, I don't know if this is real or not. Yeah, like. Like, oh, what is going on here? I don't know. I can't because I'm very gullible, so I have to be very careful. Like I'm very good. Like, if you tell me. Oh, like I just went to like Greece and back like last weekend and believe you, you know, you could say whatever you want. You could be like, Oh, I just made like $1,000,000 off like crypto and I really think I believe you. So I have to be careful on the Instagram. But yeah, man, dating is tough in this world for sure. I don't know if boxing's easier. Oh no. It does not make it any easier. Honestly. Uh, sometimes. Uh, to a certain extent. After when I was in the championships for the Golden Gloves, uh, I think it was WGN was doing a piece on the Golden Globes and they asked to interview me and my dad because my dad had won the Golden Globes four times while I was in the championships for the Golden Gloves. So, you know, the father son duo, they had to interview me. And so then I had a couple of people text me afterwards that I saw it on the news and then like my cousin was watching it, put a picture up on Instagram, threw it up on a story, I posted it on my story. So then after that, like after they saw me on like the news and like starting to get some like recognition for boxing because your mom was coming out the woodworks honestly, like out of nowhere. But then also it's like, you know, it's cool. We hang out, we'll have a good time. But then like my always like parting line to them is like, hey, like, you know, I had a good time, but you'll probably not hear from me for another couple of months because when I have a fight coming up, I am just like locked in, like we said, practicing that semen retention, abstinence. Yeah, yeah. Same retention. So I'm basically just like a hermit. I go to work, go to the gym, go back to work, go home. So it's like I'm not really like looking to pursue any women when I'm doing that or anything like that. So it does make it tough because it's like, say, there is a girl that I have like a nice connection with and we talk for a little while. They sometimes are just like, Yeah, I can't do that whole like you're only available sometimes. Like that's just not working for me. And I was like, I can understand that. But it's also like I, I'm going to never choose to like put a lady before my boxing career right now because it's like, you know, these women could come and go, but like, I got to stay focused on my boxing career because my window is only so big here. Time was that they put all my attention towards that. You know, it's interesting because I'm not an athlete at all, so I don't have to think about like my window of opportunity to like, do this and that. I kind of have like a similar eye view as like my twenties. Like I'm probably going to be the most innovative I'll be and I'll learn the most. I will learn probably in life in my twenties or so. I'm like, okay, I have to maximize what I do now so that when I'm 30 shit happens. But it's not like, okay, like when I'm 30, we're closing the door on this career that I have. That's always interesting to me, right? Because they always, like we say, like athletes are like, oh, why are you complaining this and that? You make millions of dollars and it's like, well, it's not a reason to complain. Like, that's a lot of pressure all the time. You're always against the clock, right? You're always thinking about father time, right? So I don't know, like, we got to we got to be a little nicer to these people. Like, you always got to say the right things, and, like, you have to always be on your best. Like, even after a fight, right? Like, oh, what went wrong? You can't just be pissed. You can't be like, oh, like, well, I missed this and this father hit me with this. I like that you skipped like. Well, I sucked, right? You just have to hold a certain level of professionalism. I think that makes it worse. Sometimes we're like, Well, you're getting paid millions of dollars to do this where it's like, Yeah, they're getting paid really good. So it's like, Do you really have that much room to complain? But I get it. Like, everybody is human. Like when you're upset or like there's certain things where it's like contractually like a team doesn't want you doing something because it's a bad look for their franchise or whatever. It can get kind of annoying, whereas like you can't live your life. So I can see that. No, I feel you are so like, how did you win money from the Golden Globes? No, it was nothing. So. Yeah. And. You're boxing, you're not allowed to get paid. So the biggest differences between like professional boxing and amateur boxing and amateur boxing, you're not getting paid. The rounds are only 2 minutes as opposed to 3 minutes. And then we were headgear and we were tank tops. Whenever girls come to see me fight for the first time, their first question is Why did you guys have t shirts on every single time without fail? So those are like the three biggest differences in like professional versus amateur. You're not making money. We wear headgear and it's two men around, so three minute rounds. How long do you think you have to compete in the amateurs before making the next jump? That's a good question. I personally like when I first started, I was trying to put like a time label on everything like I had by the time I'm like 24, I want to be professional already, like have this, have that like have done this. But now it's kind of like as I've been able to just like get deeper into the process and just enjoy it more, kind of just like whenever whatever happens, it happens. I'm not looking to like have a certain amount of like fights before I go professional. It's just kind of like whenever me and my team. So, like. Like me and my father feel that it's time and, like, we've gained as much experience as we can, then I'll do that. So it's your choice to, like, go into the pros. It's not like someone goes, Hey, we want you to go into to the pros. Yeah. So that's the thing about boxing. It's not like any other sport where you have to, like, get drafted by somebody. So in boxing, you can make the choice to turn professional, whatever you want. But the thing about it is like the more accolades you have as an amateur, that's going to equate to like the bigger name you have, like, which equals like more money you can get. And like I was saying, when you're first starting off, a lot of the money that you're getting is based off of like your ticket sales. So it's like, are you in the competition? Are you bringing in tickets? Like that all goes into like determining how much money you get paid. So it's like you're not just getting paid pennies when you first start out and you're doing it. Mhm. So yeah, I mean I would say I've accumulated a pretty good fan base so far where like I know if I had to like sell tickets for a fight like I could sell tickets, but now it's just mainly about like gathering as much experience as I can in the ring, cause it's like, you know, you never want to be learning on the job as a professional. A lot of guys like Rush their amateur career, and then once they go professional, they're still not really professionals. Like they have the title of a professional boxer. They don't have the experience as one. So they're kind of just like learning like slow. And then that comes in to where like, say you do all right for yourself and then you try to take a step up and you get a pretty big payday. We're going to get a good fight here. If you perform well there and you win that fight, then you're set. That's to skyrocket into like becoming a mainstream name. If you lose that fight kind of back down to the bottom of the barrel and you got to scrape your way back up from down. Yeah, fuck, dude, it's a tough sport. It is. The one shitty thing about it is that it's like, you know, you're not getting paid a salary or anything like any other sport. So it's like you getting paid is dependent on like how active you are boxing. There's no season where there's like an off season. There's like a in season. Like boxing happens year round. You got to keep your safe. You got to keep yourself in shape on weight year round. It's all about like you to stay as active as you want to be. So it's like there's a lot of accountability in it where it's like you could take yourself as far as you want to go, as long as like you commit to the process. And that's the hard part is like staying committed to all that. But you're a generational boxer, you know, you got Mike, the fly behind you in your corner. I think that would be great branding like a father son, legacy type boxing career, you know what I mean? Like, because I feel like that would have more clout because then you have like fly flies clout and then your clout and then becomes more clout, you know? Right. I, I'm not gonna lie. It has helped me so far and especially in Chicago, especially the boxing scene in Chicago, we have a decent amount of like good professionals, like a lot of talent coming out of Chicago, but nobody's really burst on that scene out of Chicago recently. So it's like if you could get a household name out of there, like, I feel like that would just help a lot cause it's like, you know, I'm in boxing right now. Like, the big places for boxing is like Texas, California, you know, obviously Mexico, places like that. So it's like if you could get Chicago back on the map for boxing, too, I feel like that would be pretty sweet. Where we ever like a big time spot for boxing way back in the day was like when boxing when like Chicago was really on boxing's maps. But as of recent, like, I can't remember the last champion to come out of Chicago. So yeah, it's been it's taken a little bit of a dove recently. It was like, I would say, because there's not as many promoters here in Chicago. So these fighters are getting as many chances to be seen. There's not as much buzz around like Chicago fighters. So that's like boxing has become very much like a business. So you got to learn how to like work the business and whatnot. Well, hopefully you're the next champion that comes out of Chicago. From your mouth to God's ears. That's the game plan. Knock on wood, baby. Like. That's what we're hoping for. When is, uh. Do you have the next fight scheduled? So hopefully I'll be back in the ring within the next, like, month. I wanted to do a couple of fights in October, twice in November. Take the summer off so I can eat whatever I want, relax and go from there. It's just like straight back to the grind because we have the Golden Gloves coming up again in March. So this year it's like if I win the Golden Gloves this year, you go on to nationals, you fight everybody that won in your weight class around the nation. If you win that one huge accolade, you have to. It's just great for experience because then you're getting outside of just like the talent in Chicago, right? So you get some more experience around like guys from other cities and everything like that. And then if you win the Nationals, you go on to compete for a spot on the Olympic team. So whoa, that would be something that like even if I didn't make the Olympic team just getting that experience of like fighting guys from other countries or just they could store all that in the database and just like have more experience under their belt. That would be awesome. Dude. The Olympics. Yeah. I mean, it seems like you there's a clear path and trajectory towards that and you're in one you're going to have fights here coming up, you know, so it seems like, you know, knock on wood, everything goes well. So, yeah, that's fucking exciting, dude. Where do you know where these fights are going to be by chance? No, especially with amateur fights are all over the Chicagoland area, somewhere out in the suburbs. Others take place in the city. It's kind of just like whenever it's happening, your gym will know about it. And then they let you know if you're ready. You fight. If not, you know. Yeah, it's kind of funny. One was out in like Aurora was like an Aurora country club. Cause, like, for amateur boxing, the events are usually for like charity events or like the base, like the boxing match around an event. It's like something entertaining for the people. And it was funny because you just had like all these fighters, just like in one room and then like it was like for a country club. So obviously like majority of the guys there were white and like my stepdad is black. So it was funny. He was telling me he was like, So y'all had all the colored people in the back, like just performing for the white guys. And I was like, Yeah, it's pretty funny when you put it like that. Yes. Yeah, yeah. I, I had an interview with Matt Harvey. He's a journalist a few days ago, and we were talking a lot about like the way that, you know, we portray race in this country and how, like, these narratives and these stereotypes like propagate like kind of the inequality, you know? So, yeah, you guys don't know his stepdad. His stepdad is an incredible person, very successful man, is a cool guy. Fuck with them. He's a dog for sure. So man knows what's up, man. I mean, fuck. I didn't want to get on this racial point. I just. My bad. No, it's all good. I've just been reading this book called A Different Mirror, and it's like, all about, like the racial, like, workings and the dynamics of how we got to this point. And it's a very top of mind. I'm like, Fuck yeah. But if you weren't boxing, what would you be doing, man? That's a good question. I think about that often. Sometimes I'm like, you know, there's days where like, I think about is boxing, like, do I want to continue to do this? Because it's a lot of strain on the body, right? And like I miss out on things sometimes, whereas like just small things, which doesn't seem like that big, like not being able to go to dinner with like the family just cause like, I don't want to sit there and watch everybody else eat when I can't. That's fair. Yeah. So sometimes I sit there and I think, like, do I really want to continue to do this? Because, like, if I do go professional, it's like, you know, we just get even more locked in. Um, at the best, I got like a good, like 10 to 12 years out of my career. So it's like, do I want to commit that for the next ten, 12 years? Like, if I don't, what would I do? So I don't know. The personal training I do right now, it's okay. Just because I get to interact with a lot of cool people such as like Ellen. So it's like nice because I'm interacting with people. I get to essentially make my own schedule with that, but I've thought like leaning into like the food industry would be pretty cool too. As you know, me and my brother work with Dustin. Dustin is a chef out of Chicago and he knows his own private dinner events and so me and my brother help him with that. So it's been kind of cool, like getting to do that and just seeing like the different avenues you can go with that cause it doesn't have to be like where you went to culinary school and then you went to like working in a kitchen like Dustin's completely self-taught. He's a phenomenal chef and like, he really, like, paved his own way and like the food industry, too, where he's, like, become his own boss and he does like what he wants to do. So being in the food industry is pretty cool. I figured like if I never, if I wasn't boxing, like, maybe I would lean into that a little bit more because that also gives that like. Almost. Not really. You're making your own schedule, but like Dustin's his own boss. He's like, works when he wants to. He doesn't have to show up to an office. It's like little bit more of that. Like, I'm on my time and I'm like, doing my stuff. And this I'm a 9 to 5 guy, so, like, laying around that. I know, I know. But it'd be nice to have my own schedule for sure. But no complaints. Life is pretty good on my end, so. Well, bro, you know, we've talked about your boxing. We talked about your time in Chicago. It talks about your potential as a reality TV star. We've talked about international love, which I did not expect to go there, but, you know, it's fun. And I hope to anyone that listen can relate and have a good chuckle out of it because yeah, it is funny, right? Like funny how life works. Like you meet people circumstantially or you're like, right now you're boxing, but you don't know what you're going to do six years from now. Right now I'm doing this. I don't know what's going to happen. I could one day, like, meet someone or like get an opportunity to fucking live somewhere else, you know? So it's I think it's really beautiful to highlight, like how everybody lives differently, but everybody's doing something and making something, making their own thing. And before we wrap this up, is there anything you want to leave and say? Final words, followers who? Well, no, I would guess I would just say, like, you know, not to be like super douchey, but if there is something that you want to do out there, I would say it's better. Like go out there and try it and like one day be sitting up at night, like when you're old and thinking like what could have been. So I was like, just like I try not to think about like the future too much and change, like live in the moment because you never know like when it's going to be gone. One of the big things for me, like when I'm at the gym and I don't feel like being there, boxing is like, I can only do this for so much longer. These people that are here at the gym with me, like we've got an expiration date, like in ten years I probably won't be here with these same people of boxing. So I just enjoy the moment living it. And so like I'm doing what I like to do. So yeah, do what you wanna do. That's beautiful to live in the moment. Yeah. Well, with that, thank you for being a wonderful guest. Thank you for having me. Yeah. And like and subscribe to the pod. Next up, Chicago. We'll figure out the next guests. We still got to figure that one out, but I hope you enjoyed this episode. And Marco Garcia catch them on the amateur circuit. I will leave some links and stuff in the show notes if you're interested in Marco and learning more about him. But yeah. Till next time. P.S..