TheBoxingBar.com's podcast

“El Magnifico” Israel Vazquez recently passed away. Vazquez was an action-packed type fighter who never disappointed when it came to fight time. He had come on our podcast several months back. During the interview we discussed his life and career as usual. In this interview, he also explains his illness and all the symptoms leading up to the diagnosis in detail. In closing the interview, I asked him how he wants to be remembered to his fans. It was emotional hearing his response at the time, and listening to it today. Rest in peace, Israel. This interview was done in Spanish.

It was great to have Orlando Canizales of Laredo, Texas on TheBoxingBar podcast. Canizales was inducted into The International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009. Orlando’s older brother, Gaby, was also a former bantamweight champion. Orlando holds the record with the most defenses in this weight class at sixteen. It was great listening to him tell his story. Check out the interview!

Dr. Randy Roberts is a very well-respected historian on many subjects including boxing. You might remember him from documentaries like “Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise & Fall of Jack Johnson”, “Joe Louis: America’s Hero … Betrayed”, or different episodes of ESPN’s Sports Century. He is a distinguished Professor at Purdue University, who at times, teaches a class on boxing history. He has written almost a hundred books in his career on a variety of historical topics and has received many awards for all his achievements. A few minutes after the interview, Dr. Roberts sent me an e-mail to tell me he had a great time and he would always be happy to come back on. It was a great honor to have him on. Check out this interview!

“The Pittsburgh Kid” Paul Spadafora was a very slick boxer. “Spaddy” came on TheBoxingBar podcast to say, “hello” to the boxing fans and to talk about his life as a boxer. He discusses the ups and down in his colorful life and career in a brutally honest way. Just like when he was in the ring, Paul didn’t hold back. It was a great honor to have him on the podcast. I’d like to thank his wife, Nadine, for making this interview possible. Check it out...

It was great chatting it up with Buffalo’s “Baby” Joe Mesi recently on TheBoxingBar podcast. The former top heavyweight contender came on to talk about his boxing career. He had a great run as an amateur almost making the 1996 USA Olympic team. As a pro, “Baby Joe” got so popular that people thought of him as Buffalo’s third franchise after their two professional sports teams. Mesi left the sport as an undefeated fighter with a record of 36-0. I never quite knew exactly why he had left the sport. He came on to explain it in detail! Since his retirement, Mesi became a politician in New York and is an award-winning salesman of medical implants spending a lot of time in operating rooms with neurosurgeons. It was a real pleasure for Ricky and I having Joe Mesi on to interview. Check it out!

Joel Diaz has been one of the best boxing trainers for many years. Joel is the older brother of Julio “The Kidd” Diaz and Antonio “Tono”, both had stellar boxing careers. In the early 90’s, Joel had a tremendous amateur resume but was not able to represent the United States since he was not a citizen. His professional career was cut short due to a detached retina. After a few years of struggling to find out what he was going to do with his life, he took his mom’s advice to help guide his brothers in their path in boxing. Diaz has guided a couple of his fighters to defeat two of the biggest name fighters in this era, Manny Pacquiao and “Canelo” Alvarez. Due to a late start for this interview, we were only able to cover his childhood through his boxing career. He agreed to do a “Part 2” anytime to cover his training career. I can’t wait for it! This story of his upbringing will explain to you exactly who and why he is, who he is. Cheers to “The Coach from Coachella” Joel Diaz!

“The Bulldog” Scotty Olsen was a very tough boxer during his era. The Canadian boxer represented his country in the ’88 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea in which he defeated “The Pocket Rocket” Wayne McCullough, but lost to American silver medalist Michael Carbajal. He fought many of the best fighters during his career. It was a pleasure having him on to interview on TheBoxingBar podcast! Listen to him talk about his career …

Clarence “Bones” Adams was one tough guy! Whether he won or lost he always proved that he was a game fighter. Many remember him in his bouts with guys like Orlando Canizales, Paulie Ayala, Nestor Garza, and Kevin Kelley. Today, “Bones" trains pro and amateur fighters. It was a true honor to have him come visit us on TheBoxingBar podcast.

Junior “Poison” Jones was on TheBoxingBar podcast recently. Jones fought many of the top fighters during his time like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Orlando Canizales, Kennedy McKinney, Tom “Boom Boom” Johnson, and Tracy Harris Patterson to name some. He was a tremendous puncher that was very fun to watch. Thank you, Mr. Jones, for coming on to talk to us!

Augie “Kid Vegas” Sanchez came on TheBoxingBar podcast. As a pro, he had a fan friendly style with teriffic punching power and he had a stellar amateur career. Sanchez is also remembered as the last guy to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the amateurs, not counting his controversial loss in the 1996 Olympics. Today, Sanchez still trains pro and amateur fighters in the Las Vegas area. Check out this interview with “Kid Vegas”!

Most of my all-time favorite boxers are punchers. Many weeks back, we had “The Knock-Out King” Randall Bailey on TheBoxingBar podcast to talk about his life and career. Ricky and I had a blast talking to him about all of his top fights and listening to his stories. Check out our interview with Randall Bailey!

For many years I followed Stephen DeBro online to read updates of a project he was working on. The project was a documentary called “18 & Grand: The Olympic Auditorium Story” about the historic venue in Los Angeles. “The Olympic” was the Madison Square Garden of the West Coast. It was built in 1925, and held some of the biggest and most memorable events in the city’s history during its heyday. The film was released in 2021. DeBro came on TheBoxingBar podcast to talk about this film and the exhibition that ends this Sunday May 19th at La Cultura de Artes in Los Angeles. Check out the interview, and go check out the exhibition before it is over. Links to all information including the film and related events is on TheBoxingBar.com! All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

In January, I had Houston’s “Sweet” Reggie Johnson on TheBoxingBar podcast. The former Middleweight and Light-heavyweight champion had a stellar career and faced many of the best fighters in those weight classes that included James Toney, Roy Jones Jr., Steve Collins, William Guthrie, Julio Gonzalez, and Antonio Tarver to name a few. As an amateur, Johnson was eliminated in the Olympic trials by the eventual 1984 gold medalist Frank Tate of Detroit. Congratulations Mr. Reggie Johnson on this achievement! Check out our interview … All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

 Adam “Bomb” Flores was a Ventura County heavyweight prospect back in the 1990’s. It was rare but exciting to see a Latino heavyweight when the city of Oxnard had just started to make some noise in the boxing world. I first saw Flores on an undercard fight in Oxnard which featured the debut of the city’s 1996 Olympian “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas that was televised on the popular “Tuesday Night Fights” series on March 25, 1997 on the USA channel. Since ending his career in 2000, Flores has managed, coached, and mentored local fighters in Ventura County. He has also done some acting appearing in the 1998 film “Snake Eyes” starring Nicholas Cage and Gary Sinise. We talk about all this and more. Check this interview out! All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

Rocky came on recently to talk about his standout amateur and professional boxing career. The 2000 USA silver medalist would take on many of the best fighters in his time as a professional. In this interview Juarez shares some great memories and stories with us. All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

This Saturday February 24, 2024 - Teresa Tapia Promotions will be hosting an amateur boxing event at The Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico starting at 2:00pm. Nicco, son of Johnny "Mi Vida Loca" Tapia, will be in action. Nicco and his mother, Teresa, came on TheBoxingBar podcast to talk about the event. Check it out! All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

Alvaro “Yaqui” Lopez was one of the most popular and best light-heavyweights during his time. Although he never won a world title, he fought everyone during one of the best eras of the light-heavyweight division in history. Listen how “Yaqui” made his way into boxing after arriving from Mexico and representing his city of Stockton, CA. (This interview is partially in English but mostly in Spanish.) All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

Jesse James Leija was one of the best boxers during his time in the sport. He was a very tough fighter that had a very fan friendly style that made his fights fun to watch. He had a stellar resume and a lot of great memories he shares in this interview with us. All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html  

This is our third interview with top boxing trainer, Robert Garcia. In this interview we talked about the current state of boxing, everything he has going on at the moment, and what awaits him in 2024. Also, check out our last two interviews with this former champion. In our first interview in 2013, we discussed his Trainer of the Year honor he had just received. We discussed his start as a trainer. In our second interview we spoke about his life growing up in Oxnard, CA and his whole professional boxing career. All interviews on TheBoxingBar podcast : https://www.theboxingbar.com/interview-page.html