🥊 Brian Norman Jr EXCLUSIVE! Haney Lessons, Errol Beats Tszyu? New Trainer & Big Moves 🔥

🥊 On this episode of The Last Stand with Brian Custer, rising welterweight star Brian Norman Jr. joins the show for a must-watch interview!

🔥 Brian opens up about what he learned from sharing the ring with Devin Haney and how that experience sharpened him for the next chapter of his career.

👊 He also talks about training alongside Errol Spence Jr. and why he believes Spence defeats Tim Tszyu in a future showdown.

🎯 Brian discusses his move from being trained by his father to respected coach Ronnie Shields, a major career transition ahead of his expected return in May.  

🚨 Plus, he reveals his business side—launching his own promotional company and signing dangerous contender Edwin De Los Santos as one of the first fighters under the banner.  

📅 Premiere: Monday, April 13, 2026 at 9AM Eastern
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#Boxing #BrianNormanJr #BrianCuster #TheLastStand #ErrolSpence #TimTszyu #DevinHaney #RonnieShields

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You're watching The Last Stand with Brian Custer. That's right. It is the last stand. I'm Brian Custer. We bring you the biggest names in the sport. Joining me today, well, I'll talk you, tell you what, it's a guy who's making his debut on the last stand. He is the former WBO welterweight champion of the world. You know him as the assassin. Brian Norman Jr. joins the program. B? Welcome to the last stand. How are you? Was it B Hair Tang Cruz Richard? Everything's great, my man. It's great to finally have you on. I got word that Brian Norman Jr. is coming back to the ring May 2nd. Is that the case? And if you're coming back on May 2nd against whom?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Uh no, it's not May 2nd. It's actually at a later date. It is in May, though. May September.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

So we'll be back in in May. And I can't tell you the opponent just yet, but it should be an announcement real soon. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Now, are we talking uh somebody at 147? We talking what kind of person?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Um, I was thinking about going up the heavyweight. It's a guy named Ethne Joshua. He's trying to make a comeback as well. And you know, we can get busy. But no, but I'm still at 147, dog. Still at 147.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Okay, I like it. You're funny, bro. So, my understanding though is when you do come back, you got some changes. I understand you got a new trainer. Uh, it's not gonna be your father. Uh, I've been told Ronnie Shields.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Oh, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Tell me why not your father? Why the change? Why Ronnie Shields?

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Um, I just feel like it was the perfect time. That's all it was. Um, me and Pops, we had you know a sit-down, a conversation. And I just felt like, you know, come not working with a legendary coach being Ronnie Shields, of course. He got plenty of great fighters in the past and still got great fighters still to this day. So um, not even just the coaching, but the fighters in the gym as well. You got Vito, Melaneki, Justin Paul, uh, my boy David. It's it's a whole bunch of guys here um that I could just build and learn from.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

How painful, how uh uh difficult was that conversation with the father?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Uh it really wasn't that difficult, you know. When we two grown men, it's just a conversation, no business is big, we just talk. Just how many of you talking right now? Wasn't nothing to us.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah. Was there any uh disappointment when you saw me, let's say, maybe clips or interviews of your father where he had talked about, ah, yeah, he did this. Well, if he would have listened to me, he could have done this. Was that painful for you at all?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Or disappointment? I would have said, of course, that was um it did hit me a little bit, but I it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Got it. Uh now we saw since you're in Houston, man, we saw video of you running with Errol Spence Jr. I know my man, man. Yeah, I saw my guy EJ uh has been working out with Ronnie Shields. I know he's gonna be back uh there. Tell us how does EJ look? Uh how's he is he getting back in fighting shape, so to speak?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Um, I would say he was just coming to, you know, see if he wanted to work with Ronnie Shields because I don't know if they are real deal, you know, messing with each other. But no, the boy on point, the boy is short. Um also, like you know, he's one of my favorite fighters. We had went on a run together, so I ran the five miles with him. And on the way halfway through, you know, we started talking. And no matter what, to me, Boston is 90% mental. So we were talking back and forth, he was telling me pretty much with his head at. And like mentally, he is definitely there and he's definitely ready. And whoever he's fighting is damn trouble.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

And what was those talks like? Like, was it more about hey, this is the advice I want to give you since I I was I was dominating this division at one point, or is it more of hey, you know, I'm feeling myself now, I think my body's right. I'm I think I'm ready to get back in the ring.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Now he'll more so just give me tips, because you know, he uh he's 36 years old now, and I'm two years younger than him. So he's more so just telling me, you know, things that he wish he would have did, uh, what he would have thought about things, you know. So uh he'll just helping me out with a whole lot of things that I personally needed to talk to him about anyway. So everything he spoke about, it was it hit me deep. So no, I appreciate him for that.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Uh we had Tim Zoo on the last stand, and boy, you know, obviously he had this fight with Nerja, but he said he is ready for the summer to fight Errol Spence because he said this is the fight that he's been wanting, a big mega fight like that to show people that he is back. Give me your thoughts. What do you think about an Errol Spence, Tim Zoo fight? How do you think that thing's gonna play out?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

I think it's gonna be a great fight, but I feel like the program we got going on over here is gonna be entirely too much for Tim.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Even though EJ's been away for three three years, we just saw Keith Thurman and that inactivity. Sometimes it plays a part in these kinds of fights. Tell me why you think uh EJ is ready to take on a challenge like Tim Zoo.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Because of his work ethic, simple as that. Um, when he came into the gym, he was still his main thing was to outwork everyone. So you ought to know I'm watching that now. I gotta outwork him. But it's just like he's 36 years old. Like you said, he took three years off. He's supposed to be the you know, the older guy, the the old cat who can't, you know, the car wreck, everything happened to him. So he's supposed to be off of his game, but no, he's still pushing the pace and not even just pushing it, but looking sharp while doing it. So no, that break that he took, and then like the conversation we were having, he needed that break to begin with. And now he got a bigger reason to do everything you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

And and based off of what you've you've seen out of him, what do you think? You know, one of the things that Tim Zoo said is, you know, I think they're underestimating me. I've been active, he hasn't. That's why I'm gonna make a statement against Errol Spence. Give me your your your your thinking on that, on what Tim Zoo is thinking about this fight.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Oh my salute him for thinking that, you know, like you know, he's had different things of that nature, but as I supposed to think, but like I said before, it's all about where you're headed at and how your mentality is in the game. And I feel like Spence, you know, been here plenty of times before. We all know he should have been moved up in weight classes anyway. So I feel like everything that he's doing is actually a benefit to Spence. Got it.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Um, listen, you I remember when you made your first title defense. Uh, I want to say you knocked out Jen Sasaki.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

That I was actually my second title defense.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Yeah, yes. Yeah, the second you you I mean you really exploded on the national scene. Don't get me wrong, people already knew who you were, but it was like now all of even the casuals knew with them because of the knockout. Uh what was that like for you at that time when you got that knockout? And it was like, whoa, is this guy like the biggest puncher we've seen in quite a while at 147?

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Um, no, it was still a surprising thing, but believe it or not, is I I couldn't feel it like how y'all feel it. It's like, you know, I'm actually doing the act or whatever, so it's like, okay, I'm still I'm still in fight mode. I still gotta make sure, you know, everything on point. So uh I believe it or not, it still hasn't hit me until I won that knockout of the year award. And let me tell you something, when I got on that stage, but I was I was nervous, man. I was nervous, I was trying to find my words, I was trying to find myself, and I ain't gonna, I kept writing a speech in my head of everything I need to say. I went off script wholehearted. I just said, uh say God. Appreciate y'all. That's all I could do, but no, like after after I won that award, that's when everything started hitting me for real. And at that standpoint, it was like, dang, like I'm real deal, stamped into history forever. Yes, like you can't take that away forever. My name is stamped into the books.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

And here's the interesting too: the the thing about this sport is when something like that happens to you, sometimes it's a blessing, sometimes it's a curse. Uh, it's a blessing, obviously, because you a lot that comes with it, but then you start hearing, man, he's the biggest puncher that we've seen in a long time at 147. He's the biggest puncher at 147. And then it becomes a curse when sometimes people start to believe in the hype and they let other little things slip. You know, maybe it's some of the other fundamental things. Did any of that happen to you where it was just like, hey, I know I'm gonna win this fight because it only takes one shot. I got I got the magic hand. Whether it's my right hand or it's that left hook, I'm the biggest puncher at 147.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Oh, absolutely. It can cloud your brain and cloud your judgment on just everything as a whole, because you feel like no matter what, I got that equalizer, you can shoot Deontay Wilder. What do you say? Yes, you gotta be perfect for 12 rounds. I gotta be perfect for one second. So it's more so that thought process, and like even if you are trying, you know, for example, I love actually throwing combinations. That's my whole thing. I love combinations, I love going off of that. But when everybody around you saying you're a knockout punch, you this and you that is you're like, you know, after a while, it does get to your head.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

And so now that leads me to the fight you have. You have this big fight now with Devin Haney. Um, talk to me about the lead up to because this was again the first time I think the casual boxing fans got a chance to see Brian Norman in build up to the fight, the press conferences, things that Bill and Devin were probably for the most part used to. What was that like for you leading up to that fight?

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Now, believe it or not, I actually enjoyed it. So, like I was just being myself the whole time. Everything was everything was cool. I will say, closer to the fight, that's when I started going sideways, and then that's when uh that rear dead got to me, though. I hit hard, I'm a heavy puncher, I do this and I do that. So yeah, but before that, believe it or not, it was to you. I was having fun, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Well, what about when let talk take me then to uh let's say the walkout? Because I even remember right before uh the fight, I think it was maybe Bill and he was trying to mess with your dad and the in the press conference and all that stuff type of stuff the way in, but like the walkout to the fight when you're walking out and you're looking at everybody and you're like, Whoa, okay, here we go. This is this is it, this is big time here. What was that like for you?

SPEAKER_00 11:05

So actually, it was the opposite. Um, it was more so I was fighting out of emotion, I was fighting out of anger pretty much. Um, it was Bill and Dale said this, all of this stuff going on. So um, I gotta go out there, I gotta kill Devin Haney. I gotta, you know, that's that's my whole mind frame was that. So when I came walking up, if you go look at, but I ain't look at nobody. I pretty much ran into the ring like a WWE fighter. I was like the ultimate warrior of somebody. So now I just went straight into the ring and I was just ready to start the bell and get into it. But you know, um, I will say that's not the right mind frame to have. Once again, just take it all in and be yourself. You don't gotta fight out of emotion.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Devin drops you early. So probably the first time you've had adversity in your career. What was that like? What was can you remember what was going through your mind at that point?

SPEAKER_00 11:54

To get back, simple as that. It's just okay, cool, that comes with the territory, it is what it is. You got me. But guess what? Now it's time for me to get mine back. That's all that was the only thing going in my mind, friend. Like not setting it up for anything, just I gotta get you back.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Yeah. After you you you take the loss, first professional loss, and after so much success, how is that dealing with your first loss?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I love it. It's a challenge. It's uh it shows you you still got something to work on, it's still room for growth, it's still it's still things out there that you knew you can improve on. So I love it. I appreciate that wholeheartedly. So um it didn't put a stop on anything, a damn anything. It just said, okay, cool, be right back. That's all.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Do you believe Brian Norman gave birth to Debo Haney? Because all Bill Haman of Bill Haney tells us when he came on the last stand was Debo took on Brian Norman, the biggest puncher, and it was Debo who stepped to him, it dropped to him, and now it is Debo who rules this division. Do you believe you gave birth to Debo Haney?

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Uh absolutely, I believe, you know, that snapped it to the game. Because, you know, I'm the big bad wolf, the big puncher, the big everything. You know, of course, credit to dude. He won the fight. So hey, that snapped it.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Um biggest uh lesson I think you took, did you take from that fight?

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Uh always be yourself and take your time. Simple as that. Always be yourself.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Interesting. That's really good. Um, now uh I I know you've probably seen this interview, but your father recently did an interview and said he has gotten word that Devin Haney, he says, has been microdosing when he's not fighting. Did you see that interview? Do you believe that as well?

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Uh yes, I did see the interview, and I don't believe in rumors, I believe in facts. So we don't have nothing on that. So that's on that. That's on that's on them.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Yeah. Uh Haney is supposedly getting ready to fight Roley. They're trying to work that out. What would you think about that fight? Uh, Haney versus Roley, and how do you how would you see that fight play out?

SPEAKER_00 14:24

I believe every fight with Roley is gonna be a funny one because you don't know how it can go. Who thought Roley would have beat Ryan Garcia? You know, who thought Role would have had trouble against, I forgot that old guy name Barroso. Yeah, Barroso. Who thought would have had trouble with him? So it's like every fight that Roley got, we don't know what's gonna happen. We really don't, and like even the fight with him at Tank, he was arguably winning the fight, but then he got caught slipping, so it's like we don't we really don't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Yeah, interesting, interesting. Um, I I see you also you you've started your own promotional company. Uh, I like this throwback promotions. I hear you've signed a fighter. Tell us about why you did it, tell us about the fighter.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

So, so, so okay, it is throwback boss of promotions, key word throwback. Now, it's a whole bunch of fighters back in the past that we really don't know about or care about simply because they didn't have the popularity behind it, they didn't have the chance to show you their skills or their gifts. So, my whole platform, all I'm trying to do is give people the alley you to show what you truly are and what you are made of. Give those underground fighters a chance to just simply show the world what you got. So, uh, I did sign Edwin De los Santos, and he does have a fight coming up real soon, also. So, first fight of the down pay. We're gonna see how that go.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

I like it. I like it. Now, are you promoting your own fights too now going forward as well? Uh co-promotion. I like it. I like it. Um, if that's if that's the case, uh now obviously you you say you got a fight coming up on the 16th, but I'm sure there are other big fights. You've had the Haney fight, there are other big fights. So, as your promoter, give me, let's say, two fights out there that you say Brian Norman's got to be in the ring with these guys before I hang him it up.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

You gotta have two heavy punches, which is Brian Norman and Roland Romero. And then you gotta run it back versus D. Bo Dev. So those will be the two right there.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

How do you think the the fight with Haney will play out differently?

SPEAKER_00 16:35

It'll be a whole lot different, like a whole lot different. I can I can really go out there and be myself and show y'all what I actually fight fight like. Actually, my next fight, y'all, y'all gonna get a slight demonstration.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

What is let me ask you this what is Ronnie Shields added to your toolbox that maybe you it wasn't there, or what has he refined there?

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Sure, believe it or not, the main thing is patience. Like, um, I'm I keep saying this. I came into the gym the first day, so my whole mind frame is hard work, more, more, more, more, more. So I went in the first day. I'm shadow boxing. The first round, I'm going out there, probably throwing 300 punches, no exaggeration. He pulled me to the side, he said, do me a favor. All that you're doing, don't do that no more. So he just calmed everything down, and now it's like more so you're doing everything with a purpose, not just throwing punches just to you know get in shape, you know, just to outwork the opponent, anything like that. So now just taking your time and actually making making everything count. You don't gotta go gas yourself and do a hundred miles today when you got all week. No matter what, you're only doing 12 rounds. So uh he just he just changed my frame of mind pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Have you have you had the opportunity to to visit with Jramal Charlot and and and get any work with him uh since you've been there?

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Oh, I haven't worked with him like sparring-wise, but nah, I've just been to the gym with him as well. And like just watching him and talking to him, also, you know, just picking up all games. Like I said, it's bigger than just Ronnie. Like, literally the whole gym, even people coming to the gym for sparring, everybody wants to be at their very, very best. So it's like you're just picking up so much just by watching and just being around that kind of energy.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Um have you sparred with Arrow, or is it just worked out? No, just workout. That's just worked out. That's just work out. Uh, let me ask you this are you still the biggest puncher at 147?

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Uh, we shall see. That's y'all judgment, not mine. I like it. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Uh, and I think it's interesting. You said Rolly and Devin are the two biggest, two of the biggest fights you think you you still need to have at 147. I I know Ryan Garcia is there. Any interest in in in th anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Absolutely. I'm still at 147. So ain't nobody up here at this weight last. Of course, I'm down for it. Yeah. How long do you anticipate seeing yourself at 147? But I can't really say. You know, I'm just taking it fight by fight. Um, not really struggling to make weight at all. Um, so right now I'm cool. I can't get another 10 years, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Um, how how much are you enjoying this change? And I'm talking about everything, you know, new environment for you. You know, it's not the ATL anymore, it's Texas, new trainer, uh, being around different fighters. How you how how much are you enjoying this?

SPEAKER_00 19:33

I did I this, I'm enjoying it to the utmost. I needed this. Um is it's like everything is the same but slightly different. Atlanta and Houston, you know, they pretty much cousins. So the boxes scene, like I said, I'm I'm over there at Ronnie Shields, Jim. You got everybody coming in, everybody already there. Plus, you got the legendary Ronnie Shields. Me and him be talking all the time, pretty much. He's telling me all these old stories about Pennell, Mark, Breland, and uh Holyfield, uh a whole bunch of guys, and then boom, I go on to I'm going to a trail at five in the morning on a Saturday at that. I think the whole trail packed up with people running. So, like it's just the whole community, everybody bought it, body, pretty much. Everybody just on their money, on their hustle. So it's like, I respect the city. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

I like it. All right. So before we get you out of here, I just want to get the Brian Norman takes on different things. So, um, Rolly Romero. If even if Haney and uh Rolly can't make it happen, what would be Brian Norman's uh message to Rolly Romero, especially if they would have a future fight?

SPEAKER_00 20:43

So that's my dog. We don't talk a few times already, man. You already know we can run this thing.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

I like it. I like it. Uh Devin Haney, what what would be the message? You again, because we had Bill on here and he's already had his his list of bad motors motorcycles, as he said, that they that they put on their top 10 D Bowl list. What would be the message to Bill and Devin Haney?

SPEAKER_00 21:08

I like to call myself the god of war, not the god of battle. So let's run this thing again.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Like it. Uh, what would be the message then to Tim Zoo since you've seen Errol and uh he believes that this is the perfect, perfect big name for him and getting him at the right time.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

What would be the message to Tim Zoo? Well, you better be ready, but my boy coming to get you, but you finna get a town stomped on my bad. H town stomped on, but you finna get Eve Beach, you finna get I just played. I just play now salute to you, man. Y'all both go and get this little truck down.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

I like it. You you you got the promoter thing down, bro. You got the promoter thing down. I like it. And and I like it, it seems as if you're in a good space because you know how it is in in boxing. Sometimes the father-son thing, when it doesn't work out the way you you want it, it just things can go awry. But it seems like you're in a really good place. Because you know, sometimes when fathers and sons break up in this in this sport, things can go awry. But it seems like you're in a really good place, place of peace.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm in control. Like to be real with you. That's how I feel. I feel like I'm in control of everything that's going on, what I feel like doing next, anything. So I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

That's fantastic. Look, I've been wanting to do this for a long time. It's been great to have you on. I can't wait to see you fight here, Nay. My guy. Best of luck on the promotional company. And uh we're looking forward to seeing the big puncher back at 147. We appreciate the time. Absolutely. That's what we do here on The Last End. We bring you the biggest names in the sport, like Brian Norman Jr. Thanks for watching, everybody. We'll see you again next week. That's right. I am Brian Custer. This is The Last End. We certainly appreciate your support. Not only listening, watching the show, make sure you go to YouTube, subscribe to the channel, hit that like button, and don't forget to hit the notification bell as well because you don't want to miss the next episode of The Last In. You can also listen to the podcast. You can download it, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Podcast Attic, Deezer, or whatever platform you get your podcast on, you can hear The Last Stan. We certainly appreciate the support. Don't forget, download, share it with your friends, and just listen to The Last Stan.