Richardson Hitchins Gives HONEST VIEW on Gervonta Davis 👀 | Mr. Verzace Podcast | Ep. 28

Watch the latest episode of Mr Verzace podcast with Richardson Hitchins.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome back to the Mr. Versace Podcast. I'm your host, Mr. Versace himself, Rick Reno, and joining me today is one of the rising stars of the sport, undefeated former world champion Richardson Hitchens. He is back in the ring July the 26th, live and exclusive on Paramount Plus, making his Zuffa boxing debut against Ricardo Salas at the theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City. How does it feel to finally few weeks away to be back in the ring?

SPEAKER_00 0:47

It feels good. I think this is like the longest layoff of my career. So just be able to go back into the ring with a new promotional deal, a new weight class. I'm excited. I just want to see how I'm going to feel. I feel like the fans are going to see a different version of me, a better version of me. And yeah, it's time to get it on. Do you know much about Solaz? Have you watched a couple of his fights? No, I don't know much about Silas. He was one of the guys that the fight wasn't, I wasn't originally supposed to fight him. I was supposed to, I was in talks with fighting Elvis Rodriguez. You know, Elvis is more of a commercially known name in the States. And one day I go on Twitter and I see uh, I don't know if it was Salas, people that put out something, or somebody put something out saying I turned down the Silas fight, and the fans started just going at me. Oh, I'm scared, I'm scared. He I don't want to fight a Mexican pressure fighter, I'm scared. And uh I called Keith right away in real time. I called my manager and I said, make the fight happen. And um, we uh canceled out the Elvis Rodriguez fight and made the Silas fight happen.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Now you were matching for a minute. What ultimately led to your decision to go to Zufa? Because I you probably could have gone to any promoter if you really wanted to.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah. Um, you know, I had uh deals from you know different people. I had uh deals from the zone, the network, it's from the network itself. Golden Boy, we we spoke to top rank was reaching out. Um uh and I also was in talks about signing back with Eddie, but it didn't get to happen. And uh to be honest, Zufa gave me an offer I couldn't couldn't refuse. A lot of zeros. And um they see my career the way I see it for myself. You know, being in them in a meeting with Dana White and Nick Khan, I kind of uh was vocal and transparent about how I never really got to get promoted, how I wanted to get promoted. You know, uh you see a lot of fighters like Shakur Stevenson when they was on a come up, they would be fighting a lot in the East Coast Prudential Center. Boots Ennis is always in the East Coast, Philly, Atlantic City. And I feel like when I was with different promoters, they had me all around the United States, but never really home or around the Tri-State area to build my name. So uh Zufa uh gave me the word to help me build my name, especially around my home area and eventually around the world.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

So was that like your major bone of contention when you departed match room? Because I I remember there was like a lot of tension at the end when you announced your free agency, live on the air. Yeah, Eddie got really pissed off. Him and him and your manager Keith Connolly started going back and forth. And then I know at some point it seems like cooler heads prevailed. You guys tried to, you know, reconcile, but I guess it just didn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Yeah, like you said, we try to reconcile, we spoke, we sat down, we um we were in agreement, and uh things kind of got weird. I was supposed to fight originally January 31st, Jermaine Ortiz on the on the Shakur Stevenson and Tio Fimo co-main event, and out of nowhere, I was just canceled out. That never really happened to me in my career. It was weird to me, and um, from there, uh the next month I was supposed to schedule to fight Oscar Dorte. That fight didn't end up happening, and then um Zufa, like I said, they gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse, and um that's what I went with.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

You're making the move at 147. Was that more of a business decision because you were calling a lot of guys out, they weren't stepping up to the table to fight you, or was it more because the weight was getting harder or a combination of the two?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

I I would say it's a combination of the two, but it's more leaning because the weight is just was harder. I've been at 140 since I was maybe 16 years old, you know. At 15, I was fighting 138. And then when I went up to the at 16, I went to the senior division.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

And I started fighting at 141. So from from the amateurs, I've been fighting 141. I'm about to be 29, so that's over a decade of holding the same weight class. And um the weight started getting hard a few years ago, but with the IBF rehydration clause on top of that, I just was zapped of just a lot of potential and my abilities and just my conditioning. And um I just couldn't do it no more. I couldn't, I couldn't fight. Um, my last fight, I did want to go out there and compete. I wanted to, you know, not even make the 140 weight in period and just coming over it, get the belt stripped. But um obviously I couldn't go out there and uh fight, and um, it was a hard decision to make. Not just not making a fight, but losing out a huge payday, you know. Like, so uh I always think about that, like, damn, I'm I'm dollar short right now from just like losing out money on camp and not going into the not being able to go into the ring and fight. But um I think I feel like things happen for a reason. At 147, um, I'm gonna be a lot stronger, a lot faster, just a lot more confident in myself and just my condition and my ability.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yeah, I remember when I got the call about that because it was the the day of the fight, and I got a call because it was a ring event, and uh someone had called me, I think, from Sela and said, you know, uh Hitchens is out of the fight. I said, What do you mean he's out of the fight? Fuck, fuck, fight, fights uh later today. I think they're like, no, he's out, he feels ill. And I knew right away it had to have been the IBF, the rehydration and everything that went along with it. Uh, are you surprised they that the other sanctioning bodies don't have that rule? Are you surprised that the IBF still sticks to that? Because there's a lot of guys who've fallen out because of that second day.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

I already wanted to call out way before the day of the fight.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

But my manager was, you know, basically saying, see how you feel, see how you feel, you know. We can't just pull out like that, see how you feel. And I just couldn't do it. Um, the first time I heard of the IBF was in 2022 for Yomar Alamo for the Continental IBF belt. And I got actually got a vlog on it on YouTube, and you could see like my reaction when Keith came up to me and was like, you can't gain more than 10 pounds. Then I was like the first time me actually making weight, and then before the fight, it still felt like I'm making weight the day of the fight because I had to hold it until the day of the fight. Like my mouth was still parched, I'm still dried up, I didn't get the fluid up. And um, I could tell like even in that fight, my energy was off. And then um, I came back two fights after that. I fought Bowser, I fought um Zapeta, and there wasn't no IBF rehydration clause. I felt tremendous. Then I came back again and fought uh a fighter named Gustavo Lemos. And again, I had the same back and forth with my manager in the room. Like, I'm not doing this IBF, I'm either I'm gonna pull out or I'm not making a weight. And at that time, my back was against the wall because my manager was basically saying, you're not a world champion, you're not marketable. So if you pull out this fight, which is an IBF world title eliminator, you're gonna get cut because Eddie's not gonna know what to do with you, and that's just the reality of it. So I had to go into the ring, not being 100% me. And um, you know, all glory to God, I got the victory. But I knew my days was numbered with the IBF. And um I I I didn't want to say so much 140, but the IBF, it was just like a very like it was an obstacle for me, a huge obstacle, and I couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

After everything happened, there was a lot of talk from Duarte and his side, because you guys are going back and forth all week, even before then. Is that still something in your mind of somewhere down the line, I want to shut this guy's mouth?

SPEAKER_00 8:12

I want to make that fight happen so, so bad. Like so bad. I swear. Like, um, it's and it's like again, is I'm at a new weight class. He's at 140 still um trying to compete to get a belt there. And I think he just moved up to 135. I mean, from from 135 to 140. So he's more comfortable at 140. Um, but uh, like I said, it's a fight I want to make happen, but like the it's it's complicated because you got a lot of guys that's superstars at 147. So in the bit in the business aspect, it makes sense to chase some of the big names at 147, and the majority of the big names are at 147, but I feel like uh Dorte is a name that the fans is always gonna try to like bully me with. Oh, you pulled out the Dorte fight. You were scared of Dorte. So um eventually I want to be able to make that fight happen.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

And of course, he and his team are amping up. He's like, oh yeah, we we faced off that last time. I saw fear in his eyes. I knew I had a feeling he wasn't gonna come to the fight the next day.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Yeah, I don't know what he seen. Um, I mean, listen, it just looked like it's it made it look like it makes sense. You know, I I obviously I pulled out the fight and it just they're gonna run with the narrative, but um Dorte know for a fact what he was in for that night. And um anybody could see you can anybody can see that I wasn't in the best shape, you know, uh even days before the fight, like I said, I was it was not even the IBF rehydration clause. Making 140 was a huge challenge. And I I questioned different things. I don't know whether because it was the winter time. Remember, it was like February in Vegas, it was it was cold, the weight wasn't coming off really. I don't know what it was, but it was a lot to even make the weight, and making the weight, like I was like messed up before the weighing. It was just a lot of things that went along with the fight. So, um, like I said, I'm at a new new class, I'm competing at a new weight class, and I'm just excited.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

You know, in your last fight, another hometown fight, you had a showcase performance with Cambosis. What's different about that time when you were fighting at home and this time that you're fighting at home?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

I just feel like it's nothing different. I'm just in a new weight class. Uh it's new narratives about me. You know, at that time I was the guy that everybody loved, the guy that, you know, I just brung the world championship back to New York City. I was, you know, came off a great performance. I and boxing is so fickle because I was getting bashed for uh for the Lemos fight. And I came back, I'm I dominated Leon Peryl, and then every the whole boxing fans was just like comparing me to all the best and saying I'm better than this guy, I'm better than that guy. So I think just this time, it's a lot of um more uh haters that's preying on my down for a lot of people just trying to say, oh, he's not that good. He's a regular fighter, he's scared, da-da-da. So uh I let them talk and I'll just go out there and do what I've been doing my career. And there's the reason why I'm undefeated and still here at the top of the sport.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Now I remember when we had the Teo and Shakur press conference, you and uh, I mean, I I saw it pop off at you and Keyshaw, and you guys went to fate face to face, some heated words were exchanged. What were you two guys saying to each other?

SPEAKER_00 11:11

He was just asking me if we're gonna fight. Like I said, uh I don't shy away from nobody. I was just telling him like what it was, like we can make it happen, we can make it happen whenever you want to make it happen. Or he was just saying, Oh uh I was saying something I'll come back to Norfolk, and then he was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh he was it was just a lot of bickering, to be honest. I really don't remember what it I really don't remember the exact specific verbat verbatim, what he was saying, but I remember just a lot of back and forth. And uh at that time we was in talks of talking, but um the fight didn't get made.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Um Yeah, I remember I remember getting a uh a call about it because it was gonna be on a ring show as the co-feature. And I remember getting a call, and uh some of the higher-ups were asking me, you know, what do you think about the fight? I said that's an awesome fight. You know, it hit Chin Kisha, that's an awesome fight. And then I remember hearing like, nah, it just couldn't get it over the line.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Yeah, yeah, it was it was it was off a few hundred thousand dollars. They could have if they wanted to make the fight happen, I feel like they could have uh made the fight happen. But um looking back at it now, uh, I feel like Keyshawn would have been in a coming into that fight in um he would have had the upper hand, just like I said, with the weight with the 140 rehydration clause, me fighting at 140, and him coming up from 135, 140, he would have been much more comfortable. And when he seen me, the first thing he said, he was like, I'm not gonna lie, you big, you super big. And then he was he ran, and then he uh said, Oh, size don't matter though. But you could you could obviously tell, like I was growing out to 140 weight class, and yeah, I was a lot much more bigger. And um, ironically, now he's just moved up to weight class and he's saying he's he's too big for 140. So um, yeah, looking back at it, I just feel like it wasn't the right time to make the fight happen.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Now, the one guy I know you've been calling for, you've been calling for some time, is Devin Haney. He's got the WBO World strap. And coincidentally, it seems like Keyshawn's being put in line by the sanctioning body to get in line for Haney. And Haney seems to be calling out Shakur, but I it doesn't look like that fight's gonna happen, at least not right now. It just Where do you see yourself fitting into that mix? A lot of big names, a lot of money to be made there.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

I feel like Haney, uh, he don't want to fight me, period. Um he's tweeted, I think like a week before I fought I was supposed to fight Dorte. I want I don't want Richardson Hitchens to lose. I want to be the one to beat him up or shut him up or whatever the case is. He was in my DMs. We was talking, conversating about something. And the next day I had woke up, I was like, pussy, don't DM me till you're ready to send a contract. Like basically, don't, don't, I ain't on this friendly shit. Like, we now about to send a contract. And um I want to fight him so bad, so, so bad. And um I call him and his daddy all types of words on national television. And he, if he was a uh, if he was uh, if he was really a real thoroughbred, he would have sent the contract or they would have reached out to make the fight happen. Um I'm at 147 now, and after this fight, uh in a few weeks, I feel like there's no reason that he shouldn't be calling my name or trying to make the fight happen. And um if it if I can't make the fight happen, I'm gonna have the other guys. Roley, Tio, uh Ryan, O'Connor Ben is at 147, all these guys. So any one of these guys could get it.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

I know uh Roley Romero, who you know well. Uh Roley had said about Devin, because at one point they were supposed to fight. That didn't get over the line early this year. And Roley said something along the lines of I don't know whether you agree or disagree, that Devin says a lot of stuff on the internet, but off the internet, he's a soft-spoken, nice guy. Yeah, I mean that it's he kind of tried to say it's it's all in act, all this internet stuff.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yeah, I feel like Devin is, I mean, he's a cool, he's cool, I guess. You know, I just feel like um they're smoking mirrors with him, you know. They like when they try to hype him up to say, oh, he beat the best, he's such and such. You know, he Devin got a lot of real fans. Like, he don't got fans, he got stands. Like, it's like a Devin Haney cult, you know, like a like a fraternity of whatever they got of Devin Haney fans. So like you can't even speak crazy on his name. Like when they see this interview, they gonna come, they're gonna come get on me on Twitter. That's gonna be bad. But I just feel like smoke and mirrors, like the guys he fought is good. I do respect him a lot for the um Lomachenko win. Yeah, I feel like he dig deep, but um, other than that, I feel like all the guys he fought from Brian Norman to Regis Program to George Gambosis was all C-class, C C-class fighters. I feel like George was George was what I told him he was. Regis is what what he he is, he's out of the sport. And Brian Norman is a super green fighter that just had a held had a WBO belt, and Devin went to the for the week as champion at the time.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

If Devin and Shakur were to happen, how do you think that fight matches up?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

I mean, I'm a robber Shakur, you know. I feel like Shakur's one of the best in the sport, um, hands down. And uh I just feel like Devin's size and uh his boxing ability could give Shakur trouble, but uh there's a good fight, but um I'm gonna I'm gonna have to lean it towards Shakur.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Another guy I know you were very vocal about trying to get in the ring was Tio. And now there's talk of Tio and Roley, and it's a bit of an interesting match, you know, when you think about it with the two of them.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah, it is, and they got history. I I think they're like fake friends or something. So, I mean, I feel like it's a good fight, you know. Um I'm just excited to see it. Roley have been out the yeah out the ring for some time now, they're over over a year. Over a year now. So um Yeah, since the Times Square show. Yeah, so uh I think it's a great fight. Um, I think I'll give it an S to Teo because in the sparring videos they had when it was like younger, Tio was kind of like putting it on Roley. So um we'll see. I just feel like Tio's kind of small for 147. You know, I feel like he's a real, real small guy. So we'll see how he matches up at 147. But if I could get the opportunity, if he beats Role, once, which I do believe he will beat Roley, I that's the fight to make happen. I still feel like even um him losing a guy like Shakur Stevenson, that's you know still Shakur is a guy that's difficult for anybody to fight. So I feel like with me and him, it would be exciting fighting uh uh it's an unfinished business. We've been we were supposed to do it at 140, it ain't happening at 140. Let's make it happen at 47.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yeah, I can't remember which press conference it was. Might have even been the Times Square press conference where you and Tia were going at it more than anyone else at the press conference. I think you were like in the audience. Oh, yeah, yeah. And you and him were like going hard at each other.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the fight I want. You know, and at the time we I was he was champion at 140, I was championing at 140. And I felt like uh it was a big fight to make happen, a unification fight. You know, Shakur kind of stole a fight from under me. And um, I'm not gonna say he stole a fight, it was words that I think, you know, Turkey said he wouldn't even do business with Tio unless it was, you know, with a Shakur, unless it was him and Shakur getting into the ring. So I can't say that, you know, the fight was stolen under me, but at the time it was a fight that made a lot of sense. And even right now, it still makes a lot of sense. I feel like I bring a lot of star power, a lot of mark, I have a lot of like market value with my name, my charisma being from New York, and Tio has a big fan base, a big name, and he's also claims he's from New York. So this will be a big fight in the in a in the big apple.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

I mean, you got so much stuff going on in your weight class, it's crazy. Another fight later in the year, it's not over the line yet, but they're trying to put it over the line. Ryan Garcia and Connor Ben. Great fight.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

I think it's a 50-50 fight. You never know with Ryan. With Ryan, I just feel like uh Ryan is talented, but he's limited. And I feel like Connor Ben is um just rugged and um very game. Also talented too, but limited also. So it's just about what which guy is gonna show up, you know, uh, who could get caught that night. Both guys got power. So uh I think it's a great fight, and I'm excited to see that too.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Yeah, it seems to be a lot of variables in that fight. Like you said, you don't know which Ryan will show up. It'll be the Ryan that we saw with Barrios last time out, or will it be the Ryan with Role, where Ryan was a massive favorite in that fight. And then with Connor, you know, I think people weren't as impressed with his last performance with Regis. I think people thought like he'd get Regis out of there pretty easily. And, you know, it was a somewhat competitive fight. And you know, he looked the one thing I I'll say about that fight was at a catch weight, and Connor looked like he really squeezed down to make the catch weight. So I'm interested to see how well he can make 147.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah, me too. It looked like he was very, very like depleted. Yeah. So yeah, that's interesting. That's a that's a real interesting thing you said right there. So we have to see.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Now, if you had your way, uh, provided everything goes well in this upcoming fight, who out of that mix of guys would you want? And you'd go to Zurfa, go to go to Keith and say, you know what, I want that guy next.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Teo Fimo, Devin Haney, Karna Ben. Um I'm right uh I can't I can't think of too many other names at 140 with real, you know, that's like a real big name, but I want to be in a big fight. I want to be in the fights where everybody's tweeting about it, everybody's everybody's expecting me to lose. And um I go out there and show my greatness and show who I am. Uh yeah, so I'm excited to just fight any one of them guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Well, the big name at 140, who's the missing link, who everybody wants, is tank. Everybody wants. You know what? I I think I every fight I keep hearing him mentioned about. I mean, he's fought at 140. Yeah. Um, he fought Barrios at 140.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

I don't think he's at 140 because he posted his weight, I think, recently, and it's at 147. So I think he's kind of too small for 140, walking around 147, and and they haven't fight fought in close to two years. So I think that once he gets in the gym, once he gets a rhythm, he should be closer to 135 pounder.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Because all the guys that seem to be targeting him are in your way class. I know Devin wants him. Well, Shakur's at 140, but Shakur, I know he'll, you know, he'll he's willing to go up a couple of pounds to fight a a big name at 147, or he'll just stay where he is at 140.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yeah, I think Shakur's too small for 147. I think he's even too small for 140, honestly. So, um, but he's just a great fighter, so uh I don't know. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Speaking of weight classes, you know, big fight with uh Jeron Ennis and Xander Zayas, and some people had said after the fight, based on how it went. That they felt that Ennis might be too small for middleweight.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

For 160?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Uh, yeah, but with that power and that speed, he got 160 might be too small for him. You know, I feel like he has like a mixture of power and speed that's like very dynamic and weird. You know, he can punch with both hands. So um, yeah, I yesterday he did look like a small 154-pounder in the ring with Zaez, but Zaez uh he kind of looked too big for the weight. And he looked like he rehydrated very big. His speed was in there. He looked like he looked three steps, two steps behind uh Ennis. And um I feel like Ennis could match up at 160, but you know, Ennis is just a guy that he likes to be in a firefight. He likes to be in that 50-50 type zone and just duke it out. And I think at certain weight classes he can't do that because some guys will capitalize off that.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

I don't know if that would be the best approach if he was in the ring with a guy like a Virgil Ortiz, who hits a lot harder than Zias.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

And a lot fast and explosive.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

So Or Sebastian Fandora.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Yeah, I don't really watch Fandora like that, but they say he's the guy to give a guy like Boots big trouble.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Early on when Mendoza knocked him out, he wasn't he was fighting on the inside. Now that he's starting to use his height, guys like 6'7, and now he's starting to use his reach. Yeah. Where he's got a significant reach over everybody, he seems to really be a tough character to beat.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Yeah, I mean, hey, like I said, Boots is a special talent. It's hard to go against somebody like Boots. So uh we'll see. Especially with that power. I feel like Boots's power is the reason why he's has that allure about him, has that hype about him, because he has devastating power in both hands, and um, you can't never count a guy a guy like that out, especially when uh he fighting guys that's gonna sit that is gonna oblige to fight with him.

SPEAKER_01 23:58

So You know, I remember the first time I I heard your name was back in the Mayweather Promotions days. I think Leonard Ellerby mentioned you to me, and he said, uh, you know, you gotta really watch out for this kid. When you look back, how was your time when you were at Mayweather Promotions?

SPEAKER_00 24:16

My time at Mayweather Promotion, it was frustrating. It started getting frustrating, honestly. Um the beginning, it was all sweet. I was fine at home, Barkley Center from like, I want to say one and oh, from one from my pro debut to I want to say 10-0. That's when it started getting tricky. Once I started getting on TV, I felt like I wasn't making the money that I was wanted to be making. I wasn't having the activity I was supposed to be making, and um I was supposed to be having, and um eventually I just asked uh, you know, Leonard LB, can you release me? And then um when I went on with Eddie, my career took off. So uh I could never take nothing away from Floyd and Leonard because without them, my career had never been started. They gave me an opportunity when really no other promoters were trying to give me no opportunity, really when top rank and um other promoters wasn't trying to sign me. And um one of the guys, I don't know, is it is Todd the Buff work with um top rank?

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Top rank, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

I think it was him. He had seen me. He's like every day, I think it was him, but uh every day he says his worst decision in life was not signing me. He always regret that. And um, and at that time, you know, I was I was overlooked, you know, nobody wanted to give me the opportunity, but I was just a kid that just was super driven, super passionate about box, and um maybe the promotion got me, gave me that head start. But um at a point it was it was just no longer the place for me.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Being that you were a guy who was around Floyd and that whole scene over there, is it uh kind of pull at the heartstrings of what's going on with Floyd now when read the headlines where if you believe everything you're reading, he's kind of blown through his money and lawsuits everywhere, and he's forced to do all these exhibition fights in Greece and here and there. Or was it something where, from what you saw, it's something that maybe it's not the biggest surprise to you that that's how it played out. Um because you had to have seen some serious spending going on, you know, while you were there.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Nah, I was honestly, I never really got to be around Floyd. When I was around Floyd, man, well, the um it was really during the pandemic. That's when he was nobody could really move around, nobody could really travel. So he was in a gym often, and that's when I I got to hang out with him, go to his house, talk boxing with him, be in a gym with him, hit the pads with him. And um, he was really about boxing. So um I really wasn't around Floyd too much, but just looking from the outside, looking in, you know, that's not something that's like inevitable because you know, Floyd is a guy that he loves to be around a lot of people. So it's a lot of a lot of hotel flights, hotel flights, transportation, people to feed. You know, he's into he's into the flashy life. Um it's horrifying speaking on a Floyd whether going broke or having real money issues because like Floyd is like my hero. I think like he's black excellence to the T. You know, he he's a he's a he's a man that made it from nothing to it made it to the highest point of life. So uh if that's true to hear he's having like real financial issues, it's kind of like, damn, like it could happen to anybody. So um just made me want to grind harder and be smarter.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

You know, when you look at stuff like that, I always see it as a case of, you know, once everything comes to an end. And at some point for every fighter, everything comes to an end, as far as in-ring. You know, some fighters can't walk away from either the ring or they can't walk away from the lifestyle, or a combination of both. And I think with him, it was keeping up that lifestyle. The private jets, like you said, going around, you have a crew of like 20 people, hotels, food, cars, salaries, uh, multiple houses all over the place. Maybe you stay in one house, the other six are empty all year. Uh, and that's why I think you have to have, you know, smart people behind you, like you have Keith who can steer you and sometimes tell you how it really is. And I don't know how many, you know, I don't know what his crew is telling him how it really is. I know Leonard's not there anymore now. Uh he's suing the guy that I guess he brought to replace Leonard, said he stole all his money. So I I don't know what went on there, but it it it's definitely like a cautionary tale, I would think, for every top fighter. You know, like with him, he made more money probably than any fighter in history. So it's a cautionary tale of like, like you said, it could happen to anybody if you don't want manage your money.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Yeah. I feel like he just fell victim to the to the character that he made. Like he made this The Money Mayweather. The money may weather, which it was, it made him a lot of money, but he had a you gotta hold up to that. And I think for as long he he became so big and so famous to anything he'd do wherever he goes it's like what's this? What you mean? Uh but the bill's a million? You sure it's just a million dollars? All right, okay. Like he's probably that. So I don't know. Like I said, uh Floyd, um, he's definitely one of like somebody I looked up to, idolizing in the ring and um in the sport of boxing. So hopefully that that situation he could he could get sorted. And I feel like uh, you know, it's Floyd, so hopefully he's able to bounce back.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Speaking of Floyd is one of the guys you idolized, who were some of the other guys when you were an amateur or coming up that you looked at and you were like, I really like that guy, you pattern some things, whether it's how you conduct yourself in the ring, outside the ring.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

Um, coming up in the sport, honestly, the first guy I looked up, looked up to besides Floyd was Javante Davis. You know, that was the first guy, even though he's gonna try to use this against me, but I'm just a realist, you know. Uh coming up, I never really seen anybody close that was like in real time in my space come from nothing and blow up. You know, I s I remember him being, I remember the first time he was getting for ready for his first world championship versus Bedraza. And uh me and Shakur was helping him out. He didn't have no money to pay us for sparring or nothing, but you know, me and Shakur, like I said, we're thoroughbred, so we don't need money to spar competition. We'll go give you work for free and help you out. And I remember him just sleeping in like, in like a mattress, like an airbed on the floor. He was like explaining the situation, like I'm messed up, I need to win this fight. I think he was only fighting for like 50,000 or 75,000 for the Prajaza fight. And then from there, I just see him take off, and you know, me and him had become friends, and um, that was some something I was looking up to, and I was like, all right, if he could do it, I could do it, you know. Seeing him touch his first million, see him take his first jet, buy his first Roger Royce. I was there for these experiences, and even walking into his first mansion, like, oh wow, like you living like this, like this is how this is how this is the money you get off boxing, and this it was like a feudal and a chip on my shoulder to make me want to do certain things, make me want to keep going harder and um change my family of life to want to get that that watch, to want to get my mom that house, to want to get myself that house. So um I want to say that I was probably the only person I really kind of like was like, all right, yeah, I'm I'm I'm I like that. I'm I I like what you're doing, and I want to follow them in footsteps.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

So it sounds like the two of you got pretty friendly when you were simultaneously on the Mayweather promotions.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Yeah, yeah. We was, you know, cool. You said it was somebody that uh somebody that um we both boxed. We both, we both, I mean, we both love to sport a box and we both love to do a lot of things outside of the sport of box and hang out, party, and you know, just move around and have fun. So uh, yeah, it was cool.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Well, I mean, with Javante, it could be like another, almost like a cautionary tale that, you know, what you do in the ring is one thing, you gotta also watch yourself outside the ring.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Because he's always been probably one of the most talented guys out there, but it seems like every time he's starting to get hot again, it's something outside the ring that derails his career or stalls him out, and you just never know when he's gonna fight again.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Yeah, I just think that's just a mental thing with him, you know. I think that he's just a kid that just probably just real emotional and just uh don't know how to control his um his anger, his emotions. So that leads him to make the wrong decisions in life. And um, you know, uh he's gonna he's getting older in age, so hopefully with age come more wisdom and he makes better decisions, especially in uh this part of his career, which you know he said he don't want to be in boxing too long, so this is probably the back end of his career. So um, like I said, I don't wish bad on no man. Um, so all I got all I all I can do is worry about me and worry about what I got going on.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

I I can't remember, you could correct me. Uh, which one of you left Mayweather Promotions first?

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Like towards the back end of Mayweather Promotions, I remember him already being like his self-made name. I I I think up to like 2019, he wasn't really dealing with uh Floyd like that. I think it said Floyd Mayweather Promotions, but Al was the one that really took over his career. And I remember even one time hearing a conversation with him and Al Heyman, and Al was like the guy, you know, that that guy was the guy that was taking care of him that kind of like told Floyd, you know, take a step back, you know, I'm gonna take care of him. So I don't know how long he's with Mayor Promotions, but I had uh left in 2022. But as long as I can remember, I don't remember him really dealing with like Floyd. I always see Leonard, so I don't know, maybe up to maybe probably after me left, but I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

Is that like how you guys lost touch?

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Is when he went his own way or nah, we just we just uh stopped being friends just from personal issues, issues he had, animosity he had with me outside of uh just you know, just in his own. He just started having issues with me and feeling a type of way about me.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

So it's just kind of is it because he saw you as this guy could be a potential opponent or I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

I think he always mentions Shakur. You know, him and Shakur is like the guy that the for everybody wants to see in uh the world know that me and Shakur have been friends since I was 12 years old. You know, Shakur is somebody that I love dearly, just deep and then just boxing. Um, so I feel like it was only always weird animosity because whenever like Shakur's name would come up, I'm always gonna take up for Shakur. I'm always gonna speak. I'm never gonna like go against. So I don't know, maybe it was stem for that, or maybe it's stem from any other problems he felt like he had built up with me. But when we were friends, he's never addressed any issue. I was like, I didn't like the I don't like this, so you did this to me.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

It was never really, like I said, so you two have never like probably have have you run into him in the last couple of years, like anything where you two spoke?

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Nah, yeah. I mean, yeah, we spoke. He be writing me a lot of the time on Instagram and uh fake numbers saying he's gonna do this to me and do that to me when he sees me. So we speak, but as far as I see him, nah.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

You you seem like you got uh a lot a lot of guys coming at you with DMs, but they're not putting pen to paper.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

I said, I said, bro, we we don't need to fight. Uh we don't need we don't need to, we I'm making, listen, I'm making a lot of money now. I'm in a position to where I could change my family life. I'm not even trying to get into no street beef or none of that, especially with actors, boxers, whatever these guys want to call themselves. You feel me? Like, if you want to fight, send me a contract. And I done told him that. I done text him, text him back with them fake numbers he done wrote me. I done, I done DM'd him, send a contract if he if he has any uh real problems. So uh maybe he'll do it or maybe he won't. But like I said, um I don't think I can do is worry about me and worry about myself. Uh I wish him and whatever he got going on the best.

SPEAKER_01 35:59

In closing, put your promoter's hat on for me and map out what you'd like to see for yourself in the next 12 months.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

To be honest, uh I just want to be in a big fight in the next 12 months, another championship fight. Hopefully it could be unification. I mean, a unified fight. Yeah. So hopefully I could get, you know, maybe one of the champions end up having two belts and I could go out there and compete for the belt. Um, but I just want to be a world champion and I want to be in a big fight. I want one of the big names, the Devin Haney's, the Teofimo Lopez, um, Ryan Garcia, Carnaban, Rolly Romero. Just a name that, you know, the general public know, and um just make that happen, you know? So right now, I'm fighting Ricardo Salas. If I can't get a big name, I'm I'm trying to get right back in the ring before the year's over to make up for lost times. And like I said, in another year I want to be in a big fight.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

And you heard it right there from Richardson Hitchens. Remember, he's back in the ring July the 26th. Ricardo Salas. He makes his Zuffa boxing debut, the theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, live and exclusive on Paramount Plus.