No Holds Barred: Chris Crossan on Fury-Klitschko 2, Weekend Boxing Review

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Chris Crossan of Legit Pro Wrestling.

Besides his involvement with wrestling and martial arts, Chris is a former boxer and closely follows the world of boxing. This week, he covered the press conference held Wednesday, April 27, in the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, for the July 9 rematch between world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and former champion Wladimir Klitschko, which will be held at the Manchester Arena as well. Fury won the heavyweight belts with an upset unanimous and lopsided decision over Klitschko on November 28, 2015, in Düsseldorf, Germany.

We spoke with Chris Crossan by Skype Thursday.

Fury defeated Klitschko and ended his 11-plus year unbeaten streak with an unconventional and sporadic attack. This seemed to confuse and even freeze Klitschko at times. In addition, in the buildup to that fight, Fury spewed a stream of bold, outrageous, and insulting barbs at Klitschko. Fury's buildup to the rematch seems to signal a continuation of that approach.

"The atmosphere was electric, and Tyson was on form. Yeah, he was out getting to Klitschko's head again, and I really think that he did, judging by Klitschko," he said.

"He even got Klitschko to swear, and he just seemed to be way ahead when it came to the psychological games, as always, just like I believe he was last time leading up to the bout."

We discussed some of the reasons why Klitschko seemed unable or unwilling to throw many right hands in his first fight with Fury; Fury's continuing antics, theatrics, and controversial comments; accusations by reporters at this press conference that the officials in Fury-Klitschko 1 in Germany tried to "cheat" in Klitschko's favor by padding the ring and other measures; the potential for unbeaten IBF champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua to dominate the heavyweight division; and much more.

We also will be posting a follow-up interview with Chris Crossan previewing the upcoming Legit Pro Wrestling 3 card on June 12 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in the U.K.

Plus, we open with commentary on Saturday's fights between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz, James DeGale and Rogelio Medina, and Badou Jack and Lucian Bute.

(Photo of Fury-Klitschko 2 press conference by Chris Crossan.)

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.

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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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

No Holds Barred: James DeGale, Badou Jack, Lucian Bute, Chocolatito, McWilliams Arroyo

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the April 30 fights between James DeGale and Rogelio Medina, and Badou Jack and Lucian Bute, as well as the April 23 fight between Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez and McWilliams Arroyo.

On Saturday, April 30, there will be a super middleweight doubleheader involving separate fights by two titleholders, all in preparation for a showdown and title unification between the victors.

WBC champion Badou Jack (20-1-1, 12 KOs) will face former IBF champion Lucian Bute (32-3, 25 KOs), while current IBF champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist James DeGale (22-1, 14 KOs) will fight mandatory challenger Rogelio Medina (36-6, 30 KOs). This will take place at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. and be shown live in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

This coming week, on Saturday. April 23, boxing consensus pound-for-pound best, the WBC flyweight champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs), will face 2008 Olympian McWilliams Arroyo (16-2, 14 KOs). This fight is the co-feature to the Gennady Golovkin-Dominic Wade middleweight title main event, but is actually more anticipated than that fight by many who know boxing. These fights take place at the Forum in Inglewood, California, and will be televised live in the U.S. on HBO and in the U.K. on BoxNation.

We spoke this week with James DeGale, Badou Jack, Lucian Bute, Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, and McWilliams Arroyo on media conference calls about these fights and their plans.

(Photo of Badou Jack and Lucian Bute from Stephanie Trapp/Mayweather Promotions. Photo of James Degale from Lawrence Lustig/Matchroom Boxing. Photo of Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez from Ed Mulholland/K2 Promotions. Photo of McWilliams Arroyo from PR Best Boxing Promotions.)

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 here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

No Holds Barred: Badou Jack, George Groves, Peter Quillin, Michael Zerafa, Why Mayweather-Berto Haters Are Wrong

(McDonnell-Kameda photo from Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions, Mayweather-Berto photo from Esther Lin/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with boxers Badou Jack, George Groves, Peter Quillin, and Michael Zerafa, discusses this past Sunday's PBC on CBS show, and explains why the haters of the upcoming September 12 Mayweather-Berto card are wrong, wrong, wrong.

On that September 12 card, a co-feature will have WBC super middleweight champ Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12 KOs), originally from Sweden, in the first defense of his belt against British challenger George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs). This will be shown in the U.S. on Showtime pay-per-view and in the U.K. on BoxNation, as well in many other countries and in some movie theaters, and take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On a PBC on NBC free-to-air show on the afternoon of September 12, Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin (31-0-1, 22 KOs), now based in Brooklyn, takes on Michael Zerafa (17-1, 9 KOs) of Australia in a ten-round middleweight fight. This fight is basically a stay-busy bout for Quillin, as a fight with WBA middleweight champ Danny Jacobs, also of Brooklyn, is tentatively planned for later this year. Also on that card, IBF super welterweight champion Cornelius "K-9" Bundrage (34-5, 19 KOs) of Detroit will defend his title against the undefeated Jermall Charlo (21-0, 16 KOs) of Houston. This card takes place at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

We spoke with Badou Jack, George Groves, Peter Quillin, and Michael Zerafa on recent media conference calls.

This past Sunday, September 6, the PBC on CBS show featured a main event where Anthony Dirrell (28-1-1, 22 KOs) of Flint, Michigan, shut out veteran Marco Antonio Rubio (59-8-1, 51 KOs) of Mexico over ten rounds. The co-feature, which was actually a better and more important fight, had WBA bantamweight champ Jamie McDonnell (27-2, 12 KOs) of the U.K. win a clear but somewhat controversial unanimous decision over Tomoki Kameda (31-2, 19 KOs), originally from Japan and now based in Mexico. This card took place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

We discuss this PBC on CBS card, analyze the rankings of the fighters on the September 12 Mayweather-Berto pay-per-view undercard, reiterate why the Mayweather-Berto fight and the accompanying fights should be interesting and worthwhile to watch, analyze the culture of negativity in boxing, and much more.

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.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.