No Holds Barred: Andre Ward, Sullivan Barrera, Abel Sanchez

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the March 26 fight between Andre Ward and Sullivan Barrera.

Still one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, the 32-year-old Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) will face a fellow undefeated fighter, the 34-year-old Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs), who is originally from Cuba. This light heavyweight fight takes place Saturday, March 26, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, which is Ward's hometown. It will be televised live in the U.S. on HBO and live in the U.K. on BoxNation.

The winner is in line to get a title shot later this year against the consensus best light heavyweight in boxing today, the WBA/IBF/WBO champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs).

We spoke with Andre Ward and Sullivan Barrera, as well as Abel Sanchez, who trains Barrera, on recent media conference calls.

Ward promised that he is "prepared for war." Barrera, unbeaten like Ward but not as well known or having faced a fighter of Ward's caliber, said that up until now "I haven't had the opportunity" to demonstrate that he is a great boxer.

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No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

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No Holds Barred: Andre Ward, Paul Smith, Shawn Porter, Errol Spence Jr.; Plus Bob Mayeri on Wilder-Molina

(Photograph of Deontay Wilder and Eric Molina by Bob Mayeri)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews this Saturday's Andre Ward-Paul Smith, Shawn Porter-Adrien Broner, and Errol Spence Jr.-Roberto Garcia fights, and reviews with our correspondent Bob Mayeri this past Saturday's Deontay Wilder-Eric Molina fight.

The 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward, with a spotless record of 27-0 and 14 KOs, and still holding a super middleweight title, will be returning to the ring after an absence of 19 months, due to injuries and legal battles. His opponent in what he refuses to call a tune-up fight is British fighter and TV commentator Paul Smith (35-5, 20 KOs), who is coming off two consecutive close losses to slugger Arthur Abraham. This fight will take place at a catch weight of 172 pounds.

The Andre Ward-Paul Smith fight headlines a Throne Boxing card, presented by Roc Nation Sports, this Saturday, June 20, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. It will be televised live in the U.S. on BET and streamed globally on Tidal.com at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT, as well as shown in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

Earlier the same day, former world champion Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16 KOs) will face another former world champion, Adrien Broner (30-1, 22 KOs), in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions on NBC (PBC on NBC) card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This fight, also at a catch weight, will be at a limit of 144 pounds. The co-feature will have unbeaten prospect Errol Spence Jr. (16-0, 13 KOs) facing veteran Roberto Garcia (37-3, 23 KOs) in a ten-round welterweight bout.

The PBC on NBC telecast, this Saturday, June 20, begins in the U.S. at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT, and will also be shown in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

We spoke with Andre Ward, Paul Smith, Shawn Porter, and Errol Spence Jr. on Monday's media conference calls.

In his comments, Andre Ward discussed what needs to happen for him to become a mega-star like Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Paul Smith explained why he is inspired to do his best in this fight, even though the card is aimed at showcasing the return of Andre Ward.

Shawn Porter discussed what he has learned in his career and why he believes he will defeat Adrien Broner. Broner no-showed the conference call. Also, Errol Spence Jr. discussed why Roberto Garcia is the most experienced and one of the toughest fighters he will face. Garcia was unavailable for the conference call.

In addition, we spoke about the ninth-round knockout win by WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) over journeyman Eric Molina (23-3, 17 KOs) this past Saturday, June 13, in Birmingham, Alabama, with Bob Mayeri, who was covering and photographing that fight live in the Bartow Arena. We also discussed what might be next for Wilder, how he might fare against the top heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko, and what might be learned by those running the sport of wrestling from the promotion of this fight.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

No Holds Barred: Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and Boxing Governance

(Photo by: Tom Casino / Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Super Six World Boxing Classic finalists Andre Ward and Carl Froch, and discusses why the bad governance in boxing made this super middleweight tournament necessary.

On Saturday, December 17, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) will face WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) in the finals of the two-year-long Super Six World Boxing Classic. This fight will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports. The winner will earn the right to be called the best super middleweight in the world.

We spoke with both Andre Ward and Carl Froch at the kickoff news conference in August for this fight, which had originally been scheduled for October 29 but had to be postponed after Ward suffered a cut during training. We discussed what to expect in this fight, as well as the need for a boxers' union. We also previewed this fight with New York TV host Kristal Hart, whose show airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

In addition, we open with a commentary on why it took an American television network, Showtime, to organize a tournament of the top fighters in the world in this division, when legitimate sports regularly have competitions pitting the best against the best.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

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The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

No Holds Barred: Andre Ward-Allan Green Preview, Al Bernstein

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the Andre Ward-Allan Green super middleweight fight scheduled for this Saturday, June 19, and speaks with one of the best boxing announcers in the world, Al Bernstein.

WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) will both defend his title and continue his quest to win the Super Six World Boxing Classic when he takes on Allan Green (29-1, 20 KOs). Ward won his first fight in this tournament with an 11th-round technical decision over Mikkel Kessler, from whom he captured that WBA belt. Green is making his debut in the tournament, replacing Jermain Taylor, who withdrew after being brutally knocked out by Arthur Abraham in the first round of fights.

The Andre Ward-Allan Green fight will take place Saturday, June 19, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. It will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime.

On a recent media conference call, we got comments from both Andre Ward and Allan Green about how they view this fight and what to expect in it.

We also explain why this tournament is one of the best things happening now in the beleaguered and declining sport of boxing.

On Monday, June 14, there was a media roundtable in New York with the veteran boxing broadcaster Al Bernstein to celebrate his 30 years in boxing. At its conclusion, we had a chance to sit down for a lengthy interview with him, which lasted about 30 minutes.

We spoke about how he got into boxing, the role of the broadcaster, the influence of the legendary announcer Don Dunphy, boxing and mixed martial arts, what changes he would like to see in boxing, some of the many absurd conspiracy theories in boxing, the Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament, whose fights he has been calling for Showtime, his latest boxing venture on the Internet, and more. This is a rare chance to hear the thoughts of someone most people just see and hear analyzing fights, commenting on his own career and life, and the sport in which he has become one of the most universally respected broadcasters.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

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