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Unbreakable: Jessie Vargas on Championship Fights, Life Lessons & Legacy.

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Two-time world boxing champion Jessie Vargas joins us on the Vegas Circle Podcast to share his extraordinary transition from the boxing ring to the poker table. Jessie’s journey is a tapestry of passion, resilience, and surprising twists, from his early days in Los Angeles to settling in the vibrant city of Las Vegas. With an amusing tale of his poker adventures alongside DJ Steve Aoki and the unexpected strategies that led to his defeat in a celebrity game, Jesse reveals the lighter side of the competitive world.

Jessie walks us through the crucial beginning of his boxing career, where his father's encouragement and a documentary about Julio Cesar Chavez ignited his drive to become a champion. Starting young was key, as Jessie explains the advantages it gave him in developing the skills and mentality needed for success in the ring. Signing with Mayweather Promotions at just 19, he faced the challenges of boxing promotions and learned the delicate dance of balancing ego and humility while climbing up the ranks. Jessie also shares the camaraderie he found sparring with legends like Floyd Mayweather, and the memorable moments of facing icons like Manny Pacquiao.

In addition to his boxing insights, Jessie offers invaluable financial advice for young fighters, emphasizing the importance of smart investments and personal branding. As he discusses the future, Jessie reflects on his commitment to community support, especially through boxing and youth initiatives. With an eye on a potential return to the ring, he remains focused on personal growth and education, all while enjoying the rich culinary scene of Las Vegas. Join us for a captivating conversation filled with lessons from the past and aspirations for the future, as Jessie Vargas continues to inspire both inside and outside of the ring.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Vegas Circle Podcast with your hosts, paki and Chris. We are people who are passionate about business, success and culture, and this is our platform to showcase people in our city who make it happen. On today's podcast, we're going to be diving deep into what it really takes to be a two-time world champion. What's behind the scenes with the boxing business? So welcome to the circle, mr Jesse Vargas man. So good to finally have you in the circle brother.

Speaker 2:

Thank you Pucky, thank you Chris. It's a pleasure to be here. Yeah, man, I mean pleasure to be here Non-stop.

Speaker 1:

Yeah you've been non-stop man, so we ran into each poker. Yeah, how'd that turn out for you man it was.

Speaker 2:

It was good, a good learning experience. I mean, I didn't play his top five nor top 20, unfortunately, but it was one of my first times playing poker. It was a good time. Yeah and uh, actually my first time that I played poker was with uh, a friend of mine he's a big dj in town, steve aoki okay, and I actually won that poker tournament with you, yeah, a bunch of friends, it was one of my first times playing.

Speaker 2:

It's actually my second time, but okay, first time for a large pot and uh, it went well. So when I thought, hey, why not? And then the celebrity, uh, poker, came in, yeah, I thought, hey, maybe I'll get just as lucky. But yeah no, I think it was just the first time.

Speaker 1:

Luck yeah them guys are the real deal too, man, I was watching the tables. I don't know, I don't even know how to play poker but, yeah, they, they were playing serious man.

Speaker 3:

Did you go with the strategy or anything, or you're kind of just like let me go, just have some fun.

Speaker 2:

You know what I was doing really well, and then this girl captivated my attention and from that point on. I was talking with her in the meantime that I was playing and she actually took my chips. That's funny.

Speaker 1:

That's probably her strategy, she distracted me and boom all my luck transferred over to her.

Speaker 2:

It was done Because I doubled up easy. The minute I got there, like within the first 10 minutes, I doubled up my stack, so I took somebody else out of the game almost. And then I mean, I was balling, yeah, I was feeling good about myself and I don't know, I started talking to a girl hey, so where are you from? She was saying like Idaho, or something like that. I know all right, cool. And next couple moves I lost one and I lost another one. She had double aces. I only had like two pair and those double aces I think she had like a three. She had three aces and a pair, so couldn't beat that. Yes, yeah, it was.

Speaker 1:

She got me with a big pot there yeah, yeah, it was no joke, man, seeing everybody in there. Man, it was good to see all the different personalities and athletes and the whole nine man, so it's good stuff, man. Yeah, it's amazing what's happening in Vegas right now, man.

Speaker 2:

I know you grew up originally in Los Angeles, right, and then you moved to Vegas. Is that what I'm understanding? Yeah, so I was been in town, and whenever they say where you're from, honestly I just say Las Vegas yeah. I've been here all my life and it's been good. I love this city. I've seen it expand. I've seen it grow.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

All my friends are from here. I have friends all around the world.

Speaker 1:

But I mean, this is where I grew up, for sure, man, because boxing is is no joke, man, it's. It's not for the, for the week at all, man, um one on one sport is no, yeah, it's no joke, man. When did you actually get in? Like, when was your first kind of first time putting the mitts on.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know what? My dad wanted me to be involved with an after-school activity. That's when, um, he gave me a few options. I started with soccer. Okay, um, I decided that they just run too much and I said it's fun, but I don't want to do the training. So I told my dad I was fine. I finished the season and then I transferred over.

Speaker 2:

I was watching john khan van dam at that time okay and I thought yo, I want to learn taekwondo, I want to learn how to fight. So, and that's when I came into taekwondo, because my father introduced me to the sport I I advanced to about I think it was orange belt okay, and then I left it, it was just.

Speaker 1:

I wasn't enjoying it.

Speaker 2:

And then my father took me into boxing and he bought me a biography within a week of me being in boxing and it was on Julio Cesar Chavez, on his history, the whole documentary how he started, why he started and how his success came. And I thought, wow, that's what I want. I want what he has, I want the world title. I want the world title, I want the money, I want the fame. And that's when it started and I set my mind on the prize. I thought I put my goal there. I said, all right, I want to become world champion. So I'm going to become world champion. And I started at the Richard Steele Boxing Gym.

Speaker 2:

It was called Nevada Partners at that time, which is still here now, which is not a box gym anymore. I think it's like a culinary of arts where they teach that type of profession, but during my time frame I was eight years old going back to your question.

Speaker 2:

So I was eight when I first laced them up and I mean it was all on patience, it was all learning the proper technique. I remember very well it was still fascinating because I knew it was working to something right, even though the jab was slow. And then I had to just get the technique down. First I was okay with it because it just seemed so cool in slow motion. I was like this is definitely going to work. So then I stayed consistent and, yeah, I mean, one step led to another. I wanted to become state champion, national champion, and then from there state, regional and national champion. I did them all and then afterwards I said, well, I want to be world champion. The mind was always on becoming world champion, but it was one step at a time.

Speaker 3:

How important was it for you? Not that you look back on it then. You did start young, at eight. Now, looking back on it, how much of your success do you contribute to the consistency of doing it at such a young age and having that same goal in mind? Or do you think, like it's, if you would have started five years later, do you think you would have had that same kind of level of?

Speaker 2:

success. I think the younger I mean, in my opinion, the younger I was, the easier I was able to grasp it right. Um, I think anyone, the sooner you get in, the younger you are to to record it mentally, I think, the easier it will get. And thankfully for me it was easy because I could only imagine if I were to move in, say when I was 13 or 15 I'm mainly 15, 15 the punches start to hurt a little bit more. I bet right, I mean when, when, when, when you get that thump on the top of your forehead, you're like, oh okay, that's a good punch. You know what I mean when you're eight, nine, what I recall is just, you know, I mean not so much feeling the punches, but it was just knowing that you were getting hit right or the nose. Actually, no, when you got hit nose, that one stung, that one did stand when I was, when I was uh younger, when I was eight, nine, so I try not to get hit there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure, yeah and um. So I guess let's see. I mean, I would assume that when you're the punches, if you're just being presented to it or introduced to the sport, they're going to bother you and that's all you're thinking about. So it's difficult to calculate everything because you're thinking about the pain coming and the punches going the opposite direction, right? So the punches you're throwing, I would assume, would be more difficult in the sport of boxing. But anything you do, I think that it's just about repetition.

Speaker 3:

The longer you do. I think that it's just about repetition the longer you do it, the better you get at it. That kind of makes sense. So because you started younger, you were able to learn a different facet of the game, versus just being like a fighter right, because if I'm 15, if most likely I'm trying to do it, maybe I have some anger, I'm trying to let loose, or something like that versus doing it young now you're, you get the chance to learn the basics and kind of create that muscle memory before you start feeling that, exactly Very interesting to think about.

Speaker 1:

When did you actually turn pro? Like what age?

Speaker 2:

I turned professional at the age of 19 years old. Okay, yeah, so.

Speaker 1:

I had just came from, so about 11 years in, you were about okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I came out of the national Olympic team in Mexico, came over here, signed with Mayweather Promotions a nice contract and then you know, I remember that it was a special moment for me for my parents.

Speaker 2:

Overall for my parents, I think I mean for me as well, but they always invested so much time in me. They helped me out, and me and my siblings, sure, they always wanted to give us options and they knew that what I wanted to do, so they always supported me doing it Okay, and I would assume that not only did it pay off for me, but it paid off for them, because it was all worth it.

Speaker 2:

It was a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of money. And they sent me out to Mexico for a year and they paid for everything, maybe with the promotions, or your parents, my parents. Oh, that's beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they paid for everything. That's awesome.

Speaker 2:

They would always take me. There wasn't one day that I missed a gym, because they were always there on time. They were always there to take me, so I would assume that they feel fulfilled as well.

Speaker 3:

It's all because of them, for that many years right, and, like you said, it's not an easy thing. You get hit, you get knocked down, you get, you know, beat up. It's exhausting. I'm assuming it's like there's a lot happening Like you know what kind of how. You know I've been a handful of fights and I'm like I don't want to be in no more. But like being in as many as you've been into like how do you handle that part?

Speaker 2:

That's the thing about me, man. When I was a kid, I was always very competitive, so I didn't like to lose, yep. So I made sure to always be in the game. And being in the game, that was the difference between a winner's mentality and a loser's mentality. It's just like coming to win. Things aren't going my way. Well, I'm going to find a way to turn it, and you find a way to turn it, like the next round or next minute.

Speaker 2:

So there may have been bad days, but within those bad days, there were still things that I was overcoming at the moment. So it just brought me right back into it. So it was still competitive, although I didn't like it and I would be angry for a week if I had one bad day. My parents would be mad at me as well. But overall, I mean it's about the consistency. It's about being able to take in the hard shots. Not the hard shots, but the hard moments in life, right, where it's that moment of learning something new, or the moment where you got to, like, understand a different aspect of the game, or you just learn something new, you know. So it's a balance of numerous things.

Speaker 1:

For sure, but overall it's mentality.

Speaker 2:

If you don't have the right mentality, you won't be successful in that, and you won't be successful in many other elite sports or just careers in general. That's the mentality you have. It's in many other elite sports or just careers in general. That's the mentality you have. Is that competitive instinct?

Speaker 1:

You know you were talking about like consistency, right, and Crystal was kind of tabbing on that as, like you know, I've got children, right, and you're always talking to them about hard work and things. But for people who don't really understand getting to be a world champion like yourself, right that you've done that twice. How much are you training, like before you went to be, you know, 19 years old? Like how many fights do you think you probably had in the ring before you? Literally, you know, signed with Mayweather Promotions About?

Speaker 2:

100 fights About 100 fights, yeah 100 fights. I'm sorry, 140 fights, 140 fights.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, 140 fights.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, have had like 12. I mean nationals where the rest of the states regional nationals.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that experience had a lot to do with it. Yeah, it's serious. That's a lot of fights, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but before then going back to your question, I mean I was there on a daily basis from Monday to Friday. I was in the gym. Saturdays I was either running or in the gym as well, right, or help my parents in their small business that they had, as long as they had the proper age for it. But yeah, I mean I was in the gym. I mean when other kids were out playing with their friends, I was in the gym. You know, I tried that once for like three, four months I just got into high school, and actually twice I tried it in middle school when I was 11, for about a week and I saw that it was not the right decision to take. So I kept my way, meaning hanging out with my friends and leaving the gym for a little bit, even for a week. I saw that it wasn't really catching my attention. I didn't like it.

Speaker 1:

Couldn't keep your focus.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I felt like it was going downhill instead of uphill. And that's at 11. I'm like, what am I doing? Like I thought it to myself right. Like I mean I was with my boy, with my boys here kind of gangsters, I mean I'm gonna end up fighting them. So let me just stick in the gym like I knew myself, like I was always. I was. It was always about respect, because my father taught it to me. Whenever I saw someone that was disrespectful, I made it be clear. I made it be so, going back to the moment that I opened up some time for friends.

Speaker 2:

When I was 14, in high school freshman, I hung out with them a little more often than I used to out of school. So, and sometimes I'd go to the gym tired because I was hanging out with my friends all day, right, or the next day I'd be exhausted. And then in that timeframe I actually had a fight. I had a regional fight. I had already became state champion. Now we were going for regional champions and again I had invested a lot of time with my buddies. So I was hanging out with them Just right after school. I'd hang out with them. That's what it was. I had my little lowrider bike with them because we had a little lowrider bike crew. So I thought that was cool. But then the regional comes and I'm training, I'm hanging out with my friends and um, I ended up fighting that night and man I I didn't take a beating, but that was one of the hardest fights of my career in general and it was because I mean I wasn't focused.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean I got tired in the second half of the second round. There was three rounds, uh, involved in that fight, right. So first round I beat him up. Dude, this guy was on the level, on my level. Second round I'm beating him up in the first part of it. Second part of the second round oh my god, I'm gassed. So now I'm like defending myself, like, oh man, this guy's strong. Third round comes in and again I'm exhausted, right, and it's not looking good for me. I mean, the fight ended up finishing. He won the fight.

Speaker 1:

And.

Speaker 2:

I agree, he did win the fight, without a doubt, and I felt so embarrassed because the guy wasn't on my level and he was giving the decision. He beat me that night. I thought it was embarrassing so I said, all right, that's enough of this, I'm not hanging out with my buddies anymore. And then I went back into the gym. I came back to the state championship, won it, regional championship won it. National champion won it. Did it again a second time for the PAL national championship as well. So it was two back-to-back national championships that I won because of the anger that I got from that fight.

Speaker 1:

From being embarrassed and not being focused. Yeah, humiliated to me.

Speaker 2:

That's what it was. That's what it was. That's a competitive instinct, right? You think to yourself this should not be happening to me. I will not allow it anymore. So, then you learn, right, that's like good times, bad times, right, that bad time brought out better times in the future. And that's just the way life is. It's not always going to be great, right, but if you fight hard, you'll be able to come out on top at the end. There's still going to be bumps along the road.

Speaker 1:

Sure.

Speaker 2:

But you know, I keep my mind strong on that because every time I've had bad times, it's not about giving up. I didn't give up. I just thought to myself, whether it was in boxing or in life, I'm thinking no, no, no, no. This isn't me, this isn't my lifestyle, this isn't what I want. So how do I get what I want?

Speaker 1:

and then that's when I push forward. Age man, that's yeah you have some wisdom, because do that at a young age it's tough because most people get sidetracked so fast. You know what I mean it's easy to get sidetracked.

Speaker 3:

You're right, learning how to navigate those big moments. To seem hard because, like that's when your first time being that big stage right like therefore competing for something that's really going to elevate you, and yeah, I think that's the learn that, young I can imagine, helped you tremendously throughout your rest of your career.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, well, I mean it was tough, though I mean I had to go through some things to to get an understanding of it right sure of course my dad was there, my mother was there every step of the way, so they, they were able to inform me and guide me.

Speaker 2:

um, as a kid, you don't listen that much to your parents, right? That's the only bad part about it. So some of the things would kind of just, you know, come in and go out the other ear, but other things would stick. And then, along with my point of view as well, as a kid, I thought you know what? Because it's a lot. I mean, it's not just me saying, oh, I want to do the right thing.

Speaker 1:

It's me being humiliated'm saying yeah, it's a difference, yeah, it's a difference.

Speaker 2:

I didn't see it as me being wise. I mean, I just had to wake up because it's either you wake up or you stay. You know you dig yourself deeper. Yeah, that's real, that's not what I was going to do. I don't, I don't. That's not my lifestyle man. I hate, I hate that. Yeah, you know how you execute.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk a little bit about signing a contract. The boxing business I'm hearing is crazy. I mean, you know really what's behind the curtain, but signing like your first contract, is it that bad? Or is it set up for the right person and you have to renegotiate later in life, like you hear the music stories and things like that. I always say the first contract is horrible, but what was it like for you at 19 years, at 19 years old?

Speaker 2:

I mean, I've heard bad stories right about other friends of mine or other fighters, you know, signing bad contracts. But thankfully, with me, man, I mean I've done really well when it came to that. You know, I had good guidance with my parents, sure, I think, with the exception of one contract. But at the end of the day I signed it and I got paid. Um, I got kind of tied up a little more than I should have with that one, not that I should have, that's not even the way to put it. I got tied up when I should have not been tied up. Okay, right, but there's ways around it. You know you find yourself in. I shouldn't speak too much of it, but it can be tricky, is the way to put it. If you don't have the proper representation in the middle of you signing the contract, it can get tricky.

Speaker 2:

Thankfully, my first contract was with Floyd Mayweather, mayweather Promotions. It was amazing. We had a great partnership. It's more than a partnership. They were my promoters and that's what it was. But I loved working under them. They paid me well. I loved working under them. They paid me well as long as Floyd was there. I felt well taken care of in the fights that I wanted. Not that I wanted, but because I always wanted the biggest fights possible. I remember Floyd was like, hey, you want Eric Morales. I was like, yeah, I want Eric Morales. This was 2011, when, I think, he had a fallout, his opponent had fallen out and then he was looking for another, another one, a late replacement, and I was fighting on the same night. Anyways, it was on the victor ortiz versus floyd mayweather fight.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I remember that yeah so and I told I told floyd, yeah, floyd, give me that fight, man, I want it please. I was only like 22, but still, man, I was hungry, you know. And um, uh, he worked for it. He tried, yeah, unfortunately, um later on er Eric tells me that he had chosen on Kano Because not that he had backed out. I mean, eric has tremendous heart, but he told me he was like, hey, they told me about you.

Speaker 2:

But then I just said no no, no, give me this guy right here, and that's when his last name was Kano.

Speaker 1:

Forget his first name.

Speaker 2:

But he ended up beating him for the WBC world title and I ended up beating Josecito Lopez that night. So, yeah, that was just like one of my stories that I've never shared with Floyd Because we had such great communication. That's what's up, and I was always very happy to be part of Mayweather Promotions. I was looking forward to being the very first world champion from Mayweather Promotion. Yeah, because we would have done it in a shorter time span than Golden Boy did. I think Golden Boy had Ivor Nermades as his first world champion in like four years from beginning to the moment he became world champion. So from signing all the way to— that took him four years, I believe. So Wow, yeah, so it was pretty quick. Still, wow. I mean I think Mike did it a little sooner, but still pretty quick for a young world champion. So I told him you know I hope we can beat that record. Unfortunately it wasn't able to happen, but you know we made it happen regardless.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but you had some big fights, man. I mean, you fought from Pacquiao to Broner to what Timothy Bradley yeah, what was one of the toughest fights that you have fought, besides the one you were talking about when you were younger, but between maybe, let's say, pacquiao or anybody else that you can add on that card?

Speaker 2:

I'd say Pacquiao man, because he was just so hard to estimate. Okay, With his footwork, his lateral movements, his speed, you had to identify exactly what was his next move and it wasn't easy. So, yeah, I would say Manny Pacquiao. And other than that man, probably like my ex-girlfriend.

Speaker 1:

She hit hard, bro, did you ever spar with Floyd?

Speaker 2:

No, no, no.

Speaker 1:

I wanted to, but I never called it, though.

Speaker 2:

I would never disrespect Floyd that way. I figured the respect was solid.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly I wanted to because you want to test yourself 100%.

Speaker 2:

But then again you think to yourself man, I'm not going to ask Floyd if I can spar him. That's like calling him out like I want to spar you, what's up. So I never wanted to disrespect him and I never asked for it.

Speaker 1:

People don't do that, though in the box to play Mike, michael Jordan or Kobe, I would do, I would want to test it, I bet.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean we all do, but you can't do that in boxing. You could, you could, or is it?

Speaker 1:

because you would Floyd, you know, with Mayweather Promotions.

Speaker 2:

I mean, he was my boss, Fair enough, Fair enough yeah fair enough, dillard Hoyer's right there and he's one of the top guys and hey, what's up? Hey, you need some work let's get it right, it's different yeah, yeah, cause it's just competitive instinct that we wanna see who's better, and if he's better, it's alright, I'll work the next day. You know that will help me improve and to work the next day to get better.

Speaker 3:

So that's just the way talent works, yeah, but how do you balance that? You touched on a little bit there like the ego versus humbleness, right? I feel like that's such a fine line in competitive sports where you want to be an asshole all the time, but you also know you're that guy, right. So how do you balance that? A little bit in boxing.

Speaker 2:

That's actually a good question. I know you've been asked, but going back to that one, I'm going to tell you he was like my big bro, boss, when it came to floyd mayweather, floyd, okay, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I was like I would never disrespect him like that. You know, you ever look at your big bro, you're like, oh, I ain't gonna, I ain't gonna call him out. It was like that. Yeah, and then going with your question, man, it's, it's, it's being humble, because it just depends that's mainly on on different characters, right? Different people, different personalities. Me I was that guy. Everybody knew in the gym or anywhere, like I came.

Speaker 1:

I came with the heat.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you don't play, yeah so whenever I had like sparring sessions or whatever the case was, I didn't have to say anything because that's how I preferred it. I preferred just to always do my thing inside the ring, be respectful outside of the ring, but everybody knew what I was coming with. And then you got other guys like AB. Right, he's just real loud, you know, that's just his style, right?

Speaker 1:

AJ is hilarious, I'm sorry. Yeah, he's hilarious, 100% yeah.

Speaker 2:

As a matter of fact, I'll probably call him right now.

Speaker 1:

Put him on there. I'll call him out. Put him on there, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I've been trying to tell him we was gonna say, yeah, it was a draw, yeah, it was a draw, so we'd get another one. Um, but anyways, yeah, so you got different characters right. I mean, ab is like that, floyd he's more on the you know calm, serious, outside of the ring and then, like a few minutes before stepping in the ring, is the a unit. Hopefully floyd doesn't. Uh, like I hate this, but he'll be like uh, I don't know who, say some funny thing.

Speaker 3:

Oh, the one was to get the ass whoop next you see what I'm saying, like little subtle, little comments, yeah, yeah and he would.

Speaker 2:

He would get back in the ring and do what he had to do with him, right, uh, which I really admired, but it was always very serious. Yeah, same with me, though I mean, in the beginning I was like that, until I had a trainer that he's like Jesse, stop being so mean. Like, be nice to these guys. These guys are here to help you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And then that's when I kind of like transferred over a little bit Like, hey, how you doing.

Speaker 1:

You know yeah.

Speaker 2:

Which is a wrong decision to make All right. Okay, because dog once work time, yeah. And then that's when I learned, because I was young when he told me that. So I tried listening right to my peer, to my elders, but yo, I'm like, no, I'm not. Now that I'm older I'm like that's not the game. Yo, this isn't the sport that I'm in. I'm not here to be nice. Yeah, you're, I'll be outside. Yeah, I'm a fighter I'll be nice to you in the streets the minute we're inside the gym.

Speaker 2:

It's business, it's all business yeah, or even like just a quick pound, that's all I do. Like it was so hard for me to listen to that dude even though I did and honestly I feel like it made me a little soft because once I got into the ring it felt different. When prior, when I was 21, 22, 23, 24, I was, I was walking up to, even to the boxing gym, I'm ready to fight. And then I get inside the ring, I'm going up those steps, I'm ready to fight, like why am I gonna be nice, I can hold a whole different, a whole conversation on this subject. Right, I'm not gonna get into it. But yeah, you get the point. Right, you get the gist of it. How do you like?

Speaker 1:

keep your so, like, for example, adrian broner, versus like a pacquiao, pacquiao, so respectful, very quiet. You know you probably can't get mad at pacquiao to get in the ring right, because he's such a nice, respectful guy. I don't know what he says in the ring, but but, adrian, like how do you keep your mind a lot like lose it? You know what I mean to go off and take. I know you have to be controlled, and is that that's boxing?

Speaker 2:

yeah, you have to be controlled. Yeah, I mean, again, the competitive instinct comes, comes in, right. So when, uh, when I fall Pacquiao, I mean, yeah, he's smiling, but I know what he's there to do and I'm like, all right, well, I'm going to do it better, just get it, you know, and it's different. So that's the mentality. I mean. It changes because you see me here, I'm talking to you nicely, but once you got, and then you talk to me, then it's different. You're not going to get too many words from me, right? Yeah, it's just a different mentality, right? The aggression is different, the view, the perspective is different. So, yeah, I mean, you see me a couple days before the fight. I'm just like, yeah, I'm ready to fight and what I mean, this is what I'm going to do, and this is what I'm going to do. But then how are playing simple, straight, right down the middle or whatever. The case is right.

Speaker 3:

So my response would be different you feel like, leading up to a fight, you get triggered a little more easily, like in the regular world? Most definitely, yeah. You're just building it up, I bet.

Speaker 2:

Most definitely yeah that's the best way to put it. Yeah, things change.

Speaker 1:

That was interesting so who's your GOAT? I'm assuming I think I know who it is, but who would be your top fighters that you respect? Dead alive, currently fighting.

Speaker 2:

Man. Honestly, for me it's hard to rate them. They're all great in their own right Robert Duran, sugar Ray Leonard, julio Cesar Chavez, floyd Mayweather, oscar De La Hoya I think Oscar De La Hoya was great. I mean, muhammad Ali was way before my time so I haven't really looked into him. James Toney I know he was pretty good.

Speaker 1:

A lot of people don't know about him, man but he was pretty legit. Didn't James go to UFC for a little bit too?

Speaker 2:

He tried it, I believe.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I remember that he tried it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but the UFC is a whole different ballpark, I know.

Speaker 1:

It's different.

Speaker 2:

It's like playing rugby and football. They're both throwing balls around, but it's a different sport.

Speaker 1:

You know what I mean? Yeah, and are you still training now, like when we were talking before? So you've got a fight coming up soon, or who will? Be, your next opponent.

Speaker 2:

I'm still training, although I can't use my right hand right now. I had an injury.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah, so I'm problem to practice the left. Yeah, it's hard right now. What happened to your hand?

Speaker 2:

I just injured it, man, I was on a flight, man, and you know rare scenario. Yeah, just a long story.

Speaker 1:

Say less, say less, but you're on the road to recovery and you still want to fight. Yes, awesome man.

Speaker 2:

I mean, don't think I hit a wall or anything like that. Yeah, I got you One thing. I'll tell you what. This is something that I should touch up on. You know a lot of people will think that boxers are aggressive. Yo, we fight for a living.

Speaker 1:

Like when we're outside of. Every time I ran into you you calm as hell. Yeah, yeah, I try to be right. Common collective just like yo.

Speaker 2:

My profession is about being aggressive. Let me, let me save that for when it's paying me money, sure?

Speaker 3:

that's a good point. You know what I mean. A lot of people think like I mean I have an anitry.

Speaker 2:

I mean some people might, I may have hit the wall or something you know, I think they watch too many karate movies or something like that. You know I mean eyes. You know we as fighters, like you see any fighter out in the street. They're cool man, they're walking with confidence Like hey, what's up. You see, Caleb playing what's up, you know, and Charlo, charlo's just a little loud but he's still cool.

Speaker 1:

I've actually ran into Caleb. Caleb cool as hell too yeah. But I know that he said something about his wife or something crazy, or that he was pulling what that is. I'm not sure what they say, but there was already beef beforehand which is different.

Speaker 2:

You see, when you got two fighters and there's already something that's been said or even misconstrued right, we're sensitive to little things like that which is because it's fighter on fighter is different, you know, especially when you're in the same division, it's like that competitive instinct. You see what I'm saying, but yo you're in the street just talking, somebody's trying to, you know, test you. Like, man, get out my face man. Yeah, like you don't know what I can do to you. Yeah, like literally that's the first thing that comes to your mind. Like why am I gonna get aggressive for them?

Speaker 3:

plus, they don't pay us because really you have to be, to be a fighter you kind of you have to be in control of your emotions, like you can't overreact recklessly, because that you would be a terrible fighter if you did that. Because you wouldn't be able to compose yourself in the ring.

Speaker 2:

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, that's something that no one points out.

Speaker 1:

You know who I enjoy watching honestly is Javante Davis. Yeah, what's your take on Javante man?

Speaker 2:

I really like him, man. I think he's one of the most talented athletes right now in the game. Yeah, I mean, he's a big punching power. I think that's his really. I mean one of his perks, one of his special attributes that he has like little mini Mike Tyson For real. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Very exciting too.

Speaker 2:

Very exciting because you never know I mean they say don't blink, right, you never know when it could end with fighters like that, just in boxing in general. So I think he's very talented, although I think leo santa cruz was giving him the fight of his life, bro. You know, it was competitive, it was good, yeah, but again, giovante has that one punch power that knock you out if he catches you right, and that's exactly what happened. You know, um, leo santa cruz had the experience, right, he had, I could say he had the chin, like like uh, what I mean by that is like he had it until it was that one punch that just, that was not even 100% power, 200% power.

Speaker 2:

The reason why I say 200 is because, all right, leo Santa Cruz made the mistake of doing the same move three times. That's like me teaching a kid all right, slip my right hand, okay, you do it once. All right, he slipped it. All right, okay, you do it once. All right, he slipped in. All right, you do it again. You already got everything lined up perfectly. Do it again. All right, you just gave it to him, right, then he loaded it up. I think that's probably one of the best load ups. When it comes to punches, yeah, the, the most powerful punches, because you were able to load up with everything you had.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's it everything you had.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean I mean he could even jumped up with that punch if he wanted to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, how do you feel about, like, the MMA? I know we touched a little bit about MMA. Do you feel like and I know this is controversial, right, but you always hear people saying that boxing is kind of becoming boring, supposedly, and MMA is taking over. But what's your take on that? Do you feel like boxing is still here to stay and basically MMA is not taking over, or what's your take on?

Speaker 2:

it. I think MMA is doing really well. Yeah, yeah, I mean they're bringing in tons of fans to the stadiums.

Speaker 1:

I mean they're going to have one big event at the Sphere, of course, yeah, 100% at the Sphere. Yeah, yeah, which should be good.

Speaker 2:

But overall, I mean boxing is boxing right? Boxing is one of the first combat sports that has ever existed existed. It's never, it's not going to go anywhere. You know, I mean it will evolve, it will get. I I mean it's evolving now with the new youtubers, right, I mean jake paul and all them, that's.

Speaker 2:

That's a whole different audience that we're attracted to the sport of boxing, which is only going to help expand the sport. But overall, boxing ain't going anywhere and I assure you that. Right, if I, if I could, if, uh, boxing had a stock market, I'd invest in boxing for sure, because it's only going to go up, I assure you. I mean, there's always going to be new fighters, always going to be, you know, new, because it's like the old generation is into it. The new generation is like still learning it. Right, they're like picking between UFC and boxing, but it's two different sports. They're all going to understand that eventually.

Speaker 2:

Again, I'll come back to that analogy Rugby, football Completely different, two different sports. You put a rugby player in the football field, the football player is going to run circles around him, sure. Same thing you put him in rugby, well, most likely football will get the hang of rugby quickly. Yeah, it's like if you put a boxer in a UFC game, I mean we only have one chance. Let's get him from the outside or we better knock him out, right, that's our best shot. You put a UFC fighter in a boxer ring, he has no chance of at nothing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for sure you know, that's just the way I see it.

Speaker 2:

I mean we've been doing it since we're, I mean, eight years old, like it's Eight years old, nine, I mean Floyd, I think did it when he was five. Yeah, for real. He probably had diapers. He was doing it For real, but what I'm saying is, like you know, Javante, I don't know what age, but I assume at least 12.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Right, maybe 14 at the most. So still 14 years to 24, you know, that's 10 years deep UFC. It seems like a lot of maybe when they're teenagers or 20s. That's what I've realized because there's so many different techniques. So you got wrestlers and now the wrestler needs to transfer over to a different type of technique that they use in that as well, because it's like what? Five, six different techniques in it. Yeah, I mean, it's a lot to handle.

Speaker 3:

For sure.

Speaker 2:

So you got to learn everything.

Speaker 3:

Because they're very different, right, you can be fans of both, you don't have to pick one or the other people can like basketball I mean, uh, boxing, and they can like ufc. They'll make this comparison. It's like it's not fair. It's not at all like a real fair comparison.

Speaker 2:

I agree. I mean I like both as well. I'm a fan of ufc, I'm a fan of boxing, of course. I mean I'm gonna pick every day of the week. I'm gonna pick boxing over over, uh, ufc, but uh, yeah, ufc, but yeah, that's just my point of view. Just because I like the stand-up right. I like seeing guys like, alright, they set things up, they'll set up a one-two, or they'll set up a feint, come back with a hook right over the top. I'm like, oh, that is nice.

Speaker 1:

That's something to admire right.

Speaker 2:

When it comes to UFC, it's just like what's coming A foot, a foot to face. And then the worst thing about it, man, in my point of view, is like when I see him grappling and I'm like, oh dang, that's it, and then that's it, it's just over. I'm like I see him being on the. You know, I like him being standing up fighting like chuck liddell. I used to love when he used to fight rap age jackson knocking cats out yeah, it was different.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's still cool now. It's just a little different. You got to appreciate it in a different way so would you fight an mma fighter?

Speaker 1:

was that something? If it was a big payday, would you do that. Why not?

Speaker 2:

yeah, it'd be fun. Yeah, for sure. Good time, yeah, do you ever?

Speaker 3:

practice like regular fighting outside of boxing. Like you ever, just for the fun of it, like go start trying to grapple somebody or something?

Speaker 2:

honestly, my thing is boxing yeah yeah, yeah, I mean, that's what I really enjoy to do and I want to continue to perfect and strengthen. Yeah, I want to get stronger in my punches. Um, you know, I want to get better. Make sure I'm just as fast or faster things of that sort, right, sure yeah I mean I'm completely content with whatever I accomplished so far.

Speaker 2:

I feel like there's much more, though for sure, I feel like there's a lot more to accomplish, and that's the reason why I want to come back. It's not so much for the money, although I mean. I mean I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm going to pick a meal over $500 every day of the week, 100%, but you know, I'm in it, more importantly, just to show my fans that I believe that there's more. There's a lot more for me to give, and I feel certain of it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I look forward to coming back and doing it properly.

Speaker 1:

Let me see you come back. Man, that'd be good, man, that'd be really good, thank you.

Speaker 2:

Tell you what? I'll tell you something now. I feel like the reason why I haven't reached my full potential or my peak is because I haven't really I've half-assed it in a way.

Speaker 1:

I don't think I would ever thought you would say that yeah, same thing ever believe it or not?

Speaker 3:

yeah, really, yeah, like I wasn't year round.

Speaker 2:

I wasn't in the gym year round. Um, you know, as soon as I can do that, cut off like say hey, is it cool if I just do six weeks camp? All right, cool, you know. So I'd always like find ways to count corners, and my father called me out on it all the time but. I wouldn't believe him. I was like no, dad, I'm pretty dedicated, yeah, but uh, I I found ways to minimize, like uh, the workload I guess.

Speaker 1:

Is that right? Okay, I wouldn't expect you to say that at all. Is that a good feeling, especially being a world champion?

Speaker 2:

I would not expect you to say that yeah, yeah, I'm kind of upset at myself for that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, just backtracking real quick just because you brought that up. What is a day like with with tramp well, I'm sorry, with camp you're doing six weeks. You're all day, whether whatever it is running, cardio boxing, I mean, you're literally your whole day is is set up like that you have no off time, you don't have a life man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's hard, bro, it's hard. So, yeah, it's just training. You wake up, you run, or if you do the the uh strength and conditioning in the evening time, you do it at night time and then you just come back and rest so say, I'll give you just an idea of it. So some would do it in the morning. I prefer evening time to do strength and conditioning, so I'll wake up, I'll do boxing in the afternoon and the evening I'll do strength and conditioning. Sometimes I'll switch the times around for both. I'll do strength and condition early and then boxing in the evening.

Speaker 2:

But the second part, the most, the second most important part of like becoming a world champion or being at optimum level, is giving your body rest, sufficient rest. Because if you don't give sufficient rest, that's where you tend to mess up, because you're not giving yourself like um, you're not performing at optimum level anymore because you didn't get the rest as the bond seat that the body requires. And that's where I'm at fault, for I was always like really hyper, like I. I get really frustrated when I, when I'm just sitting in one room, I feel like I'm caged up, got you. So that's where my tiny flaws, because they weren't big flaws, they were tiny. That's why I still became world champion, but they were little flaws that make a big difference got you yeah, error.

Speaker 2:

You give yourself a little room for error, man, and you're going to pay a price for it.

Speaker 1:

So I got to ask you this with Floyd, right, he don't drink at all. No, nothing, no. And he looks like he's always ready to fight. He seems like he's never fell off. As far as weight, as far as the whole nine, his structure is the same. It seems like in camp, but outside of camp. You've seen that in the flesh 100%.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agree to all that because I mean, that's the thing about Floyd, that's why he reached the pinnacle of boxing, because I mean, his room for error was so small because he knew what he wanted to do and he knew what it took, and no one took him off that he was selfish, like no, no, no, I need my rest. I ain't drinking, you know. I may go out with you, I'll have a good time, but I get my nine hours of sleep, you know. I don't know how many hours that, I don't know, but I just assume he'd wake up late. I assume he's got his nine, ten hours of sleep. He's ready to go gym time. And he was consistent. I mean, although he says he retired for a certain time frame, I'm not sure if I believe that he completely retired, as in stopped training.

Speaker 1:

No, he's still sharp as hell. That's what I'm saying Super sharp yeah.

Speaker 2:

So that makes me think that he always stayed dedicated. Yeah, I mean listen. The smaller room for error that you leave yourself, the higher chances and probabilities of being successful, and that's why he is as successful as he is. No drinking, no partying like I mean he did have a good time with his friends, like quarter skating. I mean I went to some of the parties, but he never drank. That's what's up. Yeah, so it's different. Yeah, he knew what was essential for him yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I know your parents have been big right. They've been in've been in your life with us being you know the circle. What's probably the biggest lesson that you've learned, whether it's boxing or just in life in general, or also who's speaking in your life and keeping you on the right path, the way you've been able to kind of keep yourself clean.

Speaker 2:

My parents did a great job of it. I give them all the credit so they take it all for sure. And then, other than that, yeah, I mean every now and then, you know certain things that maybe I didn't listen to, but I ended up learning the hard way, sure, yeah. So, as I said earlier, right hanging out with friends, you know that didn't really benefit me?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for sure. And with business advice man, specifically boxing advice man, what would you tell a young fighter right now that before they sign in their contract or you know they're willing they wanted to go pro, what would you share with them? What's, what's the first things they do or the right perspective to have before signing that contract?

Speaker 2:

first thing to do, I'd say get yourself a notebook and know what's what's important in different areas. Right, business. Two notebooks, one how to how to accomplish your goal is to become a world champion and stick to it. What to stay away from, what, what maybe? Uh, what can I say is what temptations are going to be out there and know how to avoid them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah you gotta add the pros and cons and then, from what you've heard and other people kind of know exactly how to you know, stay away from those mistakes. For sure. Um, learn from others or from others' experiences. I'd say stay dedicated. Overall. Number one thing stay dedicated, stay focused, keep your eye on the prize. There's room for entertainment, there will always be room for entertainment, but there isn't going to be that much time for you to accomplish your short-term goal and long-term goal. So make sure you're focused on that. Number one. Let's see. When it comes to business, make sure you look over the contract. Have somebody that can guide you through that contract.

Speaker 1:

Make sure that it's someone you can trust.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, legal representation. I would say every dollar you make in boxing, or at least 80% of it, invest it in something or think of somewhere you can invest it. You don't need that much to live off of. Early on, all you got to do is train and eat.

Speaker 1:

You know what I mean. You got no time.

Speaker 2:

You don't got to wear a Bearberry bro. You don't got to wear a Versace. Just train, work, work, work. Of course you got to. I guess in a way, you kind of have to do it for social media reasons.

Speaker 2:

Your personal brand yeah for sure, make your own personal brand. But if I were to do it, if I were to go back, I invested my money, thankfully. But instead of investing 30% of it, I'd invest 85% of it and then live off of the investments of it and then live off of the investments, whatever the investment is giving you, live off of that and say that's what I'm going to live off of, because that money is going to be, is going to be worth so much more when you decide to retire. Yeah, and honestly, yeah, I mean know exactly what you're spending, right, so keep track of your balance sheet. Um, know what you're spending on a weekly basis. Write it down, why. Because this is going to take you a long way If you're able to just have a notebook, have two notebooks your balance sheet, how much you're spending, your expenses, your income it's only a one set income.

Speaker 2:

In the beginning it's like a big fight. All right, cool. What am I going to spend this on? Then you write it down and then you're going to understand where the money's going and how fast it's going. Because you make it fast, you lose it just as fast 100. So keep track of that. That will help you balance your income, balance your expenses and help you invest in something that that, uh, can be productive in the in the long term. But get yourself someone that maybe just get just it's hard man. I wish I can say more, but if you can, if you can get a little bit of guidance from somebody as well that you can really trust, which is hard, very much so hard everybody wants something, yeah, 100% yeah, man, even the mentors sometimes want money, bro.

Speaker 1:

So you know what I'm learning, kind of getting coaching from a distance. You kind of see certain things. There might be things you can bump off to you know what?

Speaker 1:

I mean that's literally how I've been. I've had mentors all my life and you're right, they're expensive, but I feel like you can just you can learn off certain things. You know what I mean and, yeah, I've always used it kind of like as a shopping cart method where I just take what works for me and my household. You know what I mean and what's gonna get me to the next level. That's the best way to put it.

Speaker 2:

I think you know just getting information right. Right. Retrieve information from everything online right now YouTube. Go to YouTube. Figure out how to manage your expenses. You know things like that I think are very important. You know, looking to like get information on what investments to get into. Thankfully, I had my father to help me out with that. He was investing early on and he shared some information with me. As a matter of fact, I'm going to tell you about the first time that I actually had a lucrative paycheck. It was in 2011. It was six figures and I thought to myself I'm just living right, I'm going to get a bigger paycheck. But I had recently had a girlfriend. I remember I was spending money I was taking her out to. Finally, I was going out, taking my little break, going out to nice dinners, going out to the Aria. She's the one that introduced me to the Aria. Actually, I'd never been there before the.

Speaker 2:

Aria Casino. She wanted to go to this restaurant, this restaurant. I was like, hey, let's go, I'll take you, I'm selling good.

Speaker 2:

Until that, first three weeks a month I get my credit card statement. It says $15,000. A little less, I think, than $15,000. What In one month? No, my dad's right. I got to invest this quickly, 100%. And yeah, I said, all right, dad. So you said invest, invest in what? And then that's when I sat down and spoke to him, but because of the importance of that scenario, right Me realizing how fast my money was going In 2011,.

Speaker 1:

You said in 2011, 2011 yeah, it was depleted.

Speaker 2:

So I was like yo, alright dad. So what were you saying here, here, here, alright, cool. And then it went from there. I started like saving up.

Speaker 1:

You're lucky. At 20 something years old you were able to get that. And if you were putting money away?

Speaker 3:

at 2011. You're doing good now, 100%, yeah, yeah, man, my father my father.

Speaker 2:

I mean, again, I didn't invest that much but say, with the money that I made, I definitely invested at least I shouldn't even say that but yeah, just a certain percentage, right, I wish I would have invested more, 100%, right. But my father was always there to guide me and, thankfully, I mean, I don't really got to depend on fighting right now if I don't want to Good for you, man, which is the way my father wanted me to be. He was like, hey, I want to good for you, which is the way my father wanted me to be. Like, I just want you to when you don't fight, I don't want you worried about money. And he told me that early. He told me that at 16, right, I remember I was going to stop boxing.

Speaker 2:

As a matter of fact, I was going to quit at the age of 16 and my dad had a conversation with me and I was like I told him dad, you know what? I think? I'm gonna stop because I want to make some money. Um, you know, there's a couple of jobs I can get. I don't want to continue asking you for money, right, cause I want to take out my girlfriend to the movies.

Speaker 2:

I want to take her out here. I want to take her out, I want to go eat. And my dad, he had like one of the most important talks with me. He says, jesse, listen, he says so you're really good at what you do and I become a world champion. You have a high possibility of becoming a world champion. So do you want to continue this career? Or because, if you don't, you're going to have to be, you're going to have to get a job following orders from someone else, right, and doing whatever it is that they say, and you can't say anything against it or about it, anything to give them the contrary, you're going to do whatever they say for the rest of your life. For sure you could just make money and live off of your investments if you do it right, and you won't ever have anyone telling you what to do.

Speaker 1:

I'm so happy your father's, I mean, because we didn't even get a chance to touch on that but like 78% of athletes broke within three years. Man, and that's excellent that your dad was teaching you that at 16 years old. It was bad.

Speaker 2:

My mother and my father, both of them would always my dad gave it more of an emphasis right, my mother, she was always there. She was always reminding me like, hey, you know, manage your money properly. She came in more, like when once I was making the money, sure, I mean, she was always there. I'm sorry she was money, sure, uh, I mean she was always there, I'm sorry she was always there. But like she was like more like you know, the, the maternal, the mom, she's like all right, you know, are you okay? You want something to eat? How are you feeling? And then my dad was like tough, like you know, he's always like, hey, get your, get it straight, get it right. And then, uh, when the time came, he was able just to make things clear to me, right for me to understand. And, yeah, it was, it was, uh, blessing.

Speaker 1:

I mean, my father just did an amazing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my parents did an amazing job. That's why I said whenever it comes to my success, I give them all the credit.

Speaker 3:

Man, they seem great. Definitely we should meet them.

Speaker 2:

Give me some parenting advice. Yeah, straight up, man.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's great, I'm going to so we always talk about food, man, I know you talk a little bit about Aria, but we always ask our guests about favorite restaurants. What's your favorite restaurant in Vegas specifically? Maybe when you're not in training camp you can have a little fun, man. But what's a good restaurant? Maybe hole in the wall or fine dining that you like let's see, there's a lot of great restaurants in Vegas. That's the thing, man. Yeah, I'm a big foodie, so I love it for sure but El Dorado, cantina El Dorado.

Speaker 2:

Cantina is great great tacos and the lobster tacos.

Speaker 1:

Right there are out of this world, and they're 24 hours too. Yeah, they are delicious.

Speaker 2:

You have two different locations. You have one in Summerlin, that's the one by my house. Okay, then you got one to downtown. Yeah, um, for tacos I go there okay um, let's see you.

Speaker 1:

Second person that said that cj watson said that too at the el dorado cantina. It's good man, I'm telling you I like that any time of day.

Speaker 2:

Their brunch is pretty good too, yeah, um, let's see you got mijo is okay, it's inside durango, that's that new spot, yep casino yep new casino in town it's pretty good.

Speaker 1:

I was surprised, it's pretty good. Yeah, casino, new casino in town it's pretty good. I was surprised by the food. It's pretty good. Yeah, ambiance is beautiful. It is yeah for sure.

Speaker 2:

Nico is okay inside Durango.

Speaker 1:

Durango has good restaurants the steakhouse at Nico, yeah, okay, I'm gonna say out of the strip at Durango yeah, you have Carbone, which is amazing.

Speaker 2:

Italian food, amazing italian food, delicious, man, um, sdk's, the ambiance, sdk is great. If you come out to vegas, you want to party a little bit, all right, have a nice dinner, or just you know. It kind of gets you going before you. It's like the pre-party before, uh, before the actual party, sdk, is always popping. Yeah, that's the way to put it uh, zuma is great sushi. Yeah, amazing sushi.

Speaker 1:

Man, you're hitting on a bunch of them, man, you gave us a list of them. Yeah, you hit on all the ones that I like. Yeah, man, they're great man.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, catch is cool with like very. You know different menu because you got like from Asian fusion to steaks.

Speaker 1:

We just went to Cathedral. I didn't realize becoming literally like the Mecca for everything right now, for food, for culture. I mean, it's always been the boxing hub. Boxing capital of the world 100% UFC headquarters is here, so it's just too much going on, man, I love seeing what's happening with Vegas.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, man, I love it as well. What's next for?

Speaker 1:

you man. You jumped in. Didn't you put your hat in for politics for a little while, right? Is that still a focus?

Speaker 2:

or is it?

Speaker 1:

something else that you want to do. You know what man I?

Speaker 2:

had high hopes Okay.

Speaker 1:

Because you want to be a congressman right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I had high hopes. I was hoping that I could represent my community to a certain extent. Sure, but you know what? It's not for me.

Speaker 1:

Politics is no joke man. As much as I try, it's no joke man, it's not for me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean you always want to be helpful, but I think there's other ways to be helpful as well. Sure, you know, you get to listen in to everyone's point of view and everyone's perspective, and that's the type of man that I am. Right, I want to listen to everyone's perspective and then, you know, get a little bit here. I mean, I've been helping, trying to find ways to help the community since I was 24. So since I was a world champion even before, actually, okay, yeah, and helping out just the youth in boxing gyms.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, helping out with equipment yeah.

Speaker 2:

Equipment, advising and setting up new gyms as well. Okay, Right, and in troubled areas, but so I was always trying to be. I was always in that direction. Yeah, but so I was always trying to be. I was always in that direction. Right now, I'm like you know what, let me just step out a little bit. They would just get more knowledge in different areas and that way, when they do come back and just try to be more helpful, I'm just more informed. That's what's up.

Speaker 1:

I think that's what it takes.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, right now I'm just listen, I'm relaxing. Yeah, you see me like I'm in Cancun because I'm chilling. I'm a boxing commentator as well. I'm not doing that right now.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah, I forgot, you did commentating yeah.

Speaker 2:

I first started in 2014. Yeah, yeah, and you know, ever since then they kept hiring me. But right now, I'm just like you know what? Let me just chill. Sometimes you just got to sit back, relax and gaining knowledge in different areas. So I want to get my business degree, okay. So that's, that's my main objective. Awesome, in the meantime, that I'm going to have this injury, okay, and then, after I recover from the injury, then I'll be back in the ring, but the doctors haven't told me, you know, when I'm cleared, it's still very painful, unfortunately, Okay, but you know, hopefully you know I'm optimistic.

Speaker 1:

Get you back in there. Man Keep tabs on you man, thank you. What's your social handles, man, or anything that you forgot to leave us out on?

Speaker 2:

No just thank you for your support. Thank you for tuning in to the Vegas Circle. Appreciate you. Make sure to come out here. If you're looking for a place to visit, stop by Las Vegas. You're going to have a good time For sure. Great food.

Speaker 1:

It's a great place to to visit and follow me on social media. Jesse vargas underscore it's the man, man.

Speaker 2:

So I appreciate you, man check us out thevegascirclecom.

Speaker 1:

Appreciate your time, brother. Thank you man. My pleasure man. Yeah, that's good man.