Errol Spence’s Return to the Ring After Accident & Talks Sparring Floyd Mayweather

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find Ahead of his April 16th Showtime Pay Per View fight against Yordenis Ugas at AT&T stadium, Errol Spence sits down with The Pivot to talk his revival in life and the journey he overcame to get back in the ring. The 32 year old undefeated welterweight champion invited Ryan, Fred and Channing to his Dallas gym a week before his boxing comeback. After suffering a bad car accident where Spence was ejected from the vehicle and thrown in the middle of the road- the young champion wasn’t sure if he would ever step in the ring again, especially at a high level. After spending months in the hospital suffering severe injuries to his body and head, Spence worked tirelessly in therapy and rehabilitation to find himself back in the ring. It was a wake up call for me said the young fighter, I was surrounding myself with the wrong people and worried about the wrong things. Spence said getting a second chance in life helped him reconnect with family and his first love, boxing. With the opportunity of a lifetime on the line, Spence was set to fight Manny Pacquiao, for what would have been the fighter’s biggest match up and pay day of his career this far, only to be forced to back out days before the bout when he discovered having a torn retina. “The entire time I was trying to figure out how I could still fight and determine if it was worth it to only have one working eye the rest of my life…that’s how much it meant to me,” Spence emotionally explained when Ryan asked about that moment. With family and fatherhood his number one priority, proving himself to be the best in the sport is still at the forefront of Spence’s mind heading into Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior like beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:30Channing Crowder?

  Man, we talked, that motherfucker turned around, and he got in his seat. And I was like, "Bro, leave that [__] alone, I'm sorry." Because you know if a [__] know what he doing. That [__] walked up, like, he got his [__] going, and it was four [__] bigger than him. And that [__] walked up on us, and I was like, "Yeah, never mind." "Bro, come on, come on, come on." Yeah, he wanted to fight. He was like, "Kickin' and everything." Yeah, yeah. "You wanna fight?" "I ain't gonna fight a [__] that wanna fight."

• 1:16Ryan Clark?

  Man, welcome to The Pivot. This is gonna be a great show, because we got a guy who's made one of the biggest pivots, more than pretty much anybody who's been on our show. Obviously, we all know, Channing, Fred, but we got Errol Spence, the champ. You know, a lot of people think the pound-for-pound best. I want y'all to lock in, subscribe to The Pivot, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube. We wanna keep giving you great shows, and so we love your support. I mean, let's get to it, man. We in Dallas, you know what I'm saying?

• 1:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, we up.

• 1:46Ryan Clark?

  You're fighting at AT&T. That's gonna make it a bigger deal for people around here. You seem to be like Dallas's, Dallas's own. But, man, let's take it back before that. You in Dallas. Like, we play, they play football here, bro. Cedar Hill, DeSoto, all these schools. Man, how you end up being a boxer?

• 2:03Speaker 03

  Football was my first love, that's why. That's, you know, I fell in love with the Cowboys. And then, actually, my dad got me into boxing, probably like my ninth grade year. It was the summertime. You know, summertime, you got a lot of idle time on your hands. He didn't wanna be hanging out with my friends, you know, doing all much and nothing. That's how you get in trouble. Hang with your friends, you bored, you know, y'all just start doing stuff. So he was like, "I'm gonna take you to a boxing gym." And I was like, I already know how to box. Cause a lot of my friends would be outside, like in the front yard, in the gloves and still hang slap boxing and doing other different things, you know.

• 2:39Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 2:40Speaker 03

  You gotta get ready for the other people that might come to the neighborhood or whatever. So we slap box, you know, things like that. Then my dad seen me, he was like, you know, you got a little something. And he was like, I'm gonna take you to the boxing gym, just, you know, so you had something to do. Couple of my friends went with me, you know, so we went to boxing gym, went to a couple. He seen one that he like, we there for probably a couple of weeks. A lot of my friends dropped out, they like, it's super hot. They gotta run in three miles, they gotta train in, in the sun, hot, no A C, none of that. So a lot of my friends left and I was like, I was, I wanted to be hanging out with them. Cause it's summertime, I'm like, man, I'm in the gym, like, I wanna go with them.

• 3:25Speaker 03

  And I was like, I don't wanna box no more. And my dad was like, why you don't wanna box? He was like, cause your friends? I was like, nah, I just don't wanna do it. I mean, that was the reason, cause of my friends, like, I just don't wanna do it. He was like, nah, he was like, I'm not letting you quit this, cause you quitting this, you're quitting anything. As soon as it get hard. So he was like, you gonna stay in it. So he stayed in me and I just shot out, man. That's where I'm at now.

• 3:50Channing Crowder?

  When did you know? When did you know you could be Errol Spence? Like, like you knew you was gonna be like a worldwide name? What, what, at what point did you know that?

• 3:59Speaker 03

  Probably like, three years in, yeah, like two, three years in, like, I started like watching it on YouTube and just been watching it. Man, every fight came on, I'm, I'm tuning in, watching, just falling in love with the sport. And with me, it wasn't just watching boxing, like I was watching the feet sometimes. Like I watched a whole boxing match, just the feet and see how they move or, see how a dude react when he get hit with a hard shot and see how, how he react or how he maneuver when he get caught with a shot or, you know, see the different combinations, like the legends, like Roy Leonard and Tommy Hearns and all these dudes were throwing and things like that.

• 4:41Speaker 03

  And I was just falling in love with the craft of it and just, just anything that I could, I could research or I could look at, I was, I was on it and I just became a student of the game, man. Then I think like three years in, I actually beat the national champion. Javonte Starks.

• 5:02Speaker 03

  I be him and I was like, oh yes, I own that. I think it's on now.

• 5:08Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, that type of passion has obviously landed you here. What type of pressures do you feel?

• 5:13Speaker 03

  Ah, man, it's a lot of pressure. It's pressure with, I say friends, you know, especially family, you know, just everybody wanting something, everybody needing some, you know, just expectations of, you know, everybody, especially coming out the Olympics like,

• 5:31Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 5:31Speaker 03

  you know, I am the best guy coming out of the Olympic team, everybody saying that, you know, the fastest one to win a world title and things like that. So it was just so much pressure to, you know, to exceed what everybody was saying about me and, you know, everything that was in the newspaper and magazines and things like that. So for me, it was like seeing those expectations and I gotta do it. I gotta train, I gotta run, I gotta. So I was 24/7, I was, you know, everything was boxing, everything was boxing 24/7. So that was a lot of pressure. It was just pressure all around me from everybody, friends too.

• 6:08Ryan Clark?

  You mentioned the pressure, but, you know, hearing you talk about your dad, I think sometimes, you know, those are narratives in black communities and for black men that I think people have kind of salted the perception, you know? So, so many times we have conversations with different people, look, my father's here, you know, and, you know, he's been able to guide me, but I know something that's near and dear to you or your kids as well, you know? We got to watch the All Access and you bring your kids to the gym and you want to keep them around you. Was it your upbringing and being close to your father that makes you like that with your kids?

• 6:41Speaker 03

  Definitely, I think that's, that's embedded in me from my dad, just him always been around. Like even my friends, my friends, you know, a lot of my friends then had their dad around. So everybody called my dad Pops, all my friends, like, Pops, Pops, like, that's his name. Everybody called him Pops and, you know, he just, you know, always taught us a game. We'll be hanging out 13, 14 and he'll, you know, sit us out there and tell us about women

• 7:09Speaker 03

  and what we were running to and things like that. I wish I'd listened.

• 7:15Speaker 03

  He got me out of a few situations. But he was just, you know, basically my confidant. Like even to this day, man, he's just a strong presence. Like sometime when I'm hitting the bag or I'm sparring, I may, I just glance over at him. And he's just natural. I want to see, I want to look and see if he watching me or not. And I work hard or I know if he got, you know, disprove on his face or he not satisfied with something, things like that. And even though like sometimes he'll tell me something and he may advocate me and I'll be like, man, I don't care. But in my head, it's still messing with me. Yeah, it's like, all right, the next day, tomorrow, I'mma, I'mma do a lot better.

• 8:00Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 8:00Speaker 03

  So it's just that their presence of, of having a father figure, man, having somebody that, you know, that's like my Superman, you know. Regardless, I don't care, you know. He always provided, he always took care of us and, you know, he always in our best interest. He never told me anything or the wrong thing to do. So, so for me, it's always, I want to prove him right. I want to prove myself right, but I always want to satisfy him. Even to this day, having three kids, grown, everything else, you know, money, whatever, you know, still aiming to satisfy him at the end of the day.

• 8:37Channing Crowder?

  We talked, we talked about a number of times, like us being successful athletes.

• 8:41Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:41Channing Crowder?

  And then push, like how far did, you know what I'm saying? Like would you have been here if your daddy had pushed you? When you wanted to quit, ninth grade boxing when it was too damn hot? Because it's hot as fucking hell right now.

• 8:53Channing Crowder?

  You know what I'm saying? Like, how, how far is too far when you, when you know what it takes to succeed? You know what it takes to get to that level like we all do? But then you have a kid and you're on like that middle ground of really pushing too hard or knowing, explaining to them what it takes to make it?

• 9:10Speaker 03

  Um, I think it's, it's both. Uh, with, I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my, for my dad. No, I wouldn't be boxing. I wouldn't even be in Texas, you know what I'm saying? If it wasn't for my dad. So, you know, but I think, you know, it's, it's middle ground to it, you know? It's even keel to everything. And with a lot of people, you know, they might. Overly push they son and sometimes it might push him too great. You know what I'm saying, but sometimes, you know, you can push your son away from the sport. Or you could just push him away from everything. He's just, you know. Go crazy or something.

• 9:46Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I see what you're talking about.

• 9:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, go crazy or something, but you know, my dad was a guy, you know. Like, he, he pushed me towards it, but he didn't just overly push me where I'm gonna resist from. Cause you know what type of person I am, so. He ain't gonna push too hard, cause I'm gonna have a little bit pushed back. So, he would just push me and tell me, tell me why and explain to me why. And things like that, like even like with me choosing a manager. You know, Al Hayman, you know, he the one that got me with him. Even choosing my coach Derrick James, he got me with him too. And he basically told me why I need to work with them and things like that and we not going for.

• 10:27Speaker 03

  You know, the long, the short run, we going for the long run, this is long distance, we going for longevity. And, uh, you know, he basically guided me through my whole career. And you know, without him, I wouldn't be here. And that's what I'm trying to instill into my kids, that's why I'm trying to be around my kids. It's always like someone older than them telling their kids, you know, how training camp was or. Man, how this fight was, or man, your dad was this in training camp or this and that. But with me, you know, my kids gonna be able to tell the story because they been in training camp with me. They be around me 24/7, you know, they around me while I'm eating in training camp and.

• 11:06Speaker 03

  Oh daddy gotta go run, or daddy gotta go do this, or they around me when I'm running around the track, you know, with me, so. They gonna be able to tell the story, they don't have to listen to somebody else who was there to tell the story, they can tell the story theyself.

• 11:20Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, and I think that's the beautiful thing though, uh, obviously we all play ball. You know, to, to have an opportunity to be as great as you are in the prime of your career and your kids get to see it. My son was a locker room baby. You know, he stayed in the locker room, he was always there, he broke us down. On Saturdays, you know, for walkthroughs and now you get to share, I get to share those moments with him. You know, and, and talk through those things, but when, when you're making. That rise through the ranks and it was extremely quick for you. And I think people started right away saying, okay, he's the one, he's gonna be the, the, the next big thing. When you're knocking folks out, when you are showing that you're everything they believed you could be, was it hard? Or how did you stay humble and continue to be hungry?

• 12:05Speaker 03

  I stay humble. That's just my, you know, my natural, that's just my, you know, my natural personality. But, you know, I feel like, you know, everybody get led astray a little bit. It did get to a point where I was trying to wander. I wandered off, you know? I wandered off. You know, you get to that age, you know, making all this money, you think you know everything, you know? People want to hang out with you. You know what I'm saying? You that guy, you know what I'm saying? So, um, you know, I did wander off a little bit, you know, got led astray a little bit. Started hanging out with other people and, you know, I ain't gonna lie, me and Adrian Bron and everybody, you know, we, you know, kicking it tough, hanging out, having fun, and this and that.

• 12:50Speaker 03

  But, yeah, I realized, you know, what's going on, you know? And I was like, man, like, if I keep going this route, you know, I'm gonna lose. And for me, I always worked hard, though. I might party, have fun, do this and that, but I'm always gonna work hard in the gym and just, you know, give it my all and, you know, go all out. And I think that's what separated me from a lot of people. Because I had the talent, but I had the skills too. And I had the discipline when it was time to get in the gym, work hard. But a lot of people don't realize that. You gotta have discipline when you're not in training camp. That's the biggest factor. When you're not in training camp, have a discipline.

• 13:32Speaker 03

  Because you want to be basically not in tip-top shape, but you want to be in subwooze shape when you get in the gym, when it's time for training camp. And for me, I wasn't in that type of shape. I probably get to like, I probably like 180, 185, and I was probably in 147. So, me, I'd be running in the morning with a sauna suit. And then putting on a hot, taking a hot bath, you know, trying to lose weight. Running at night and going to the gym, you know what I'm saying, trying to kill myself to make the weight.

• 14:05Channing Crowder?

  Lose forty?

• 14:06Speaker 03

  Yeah, lose like forty pounds.

• 14:07Ryan Clark?

  What happened, what happened that you started to kind of stray and wander like that though? You know, somebody, somebody who had always been disciplined.

• 14:15Channing Crowder?

  I answered that, I, I. Answer for you, bro, the money, cuz they, my first check was five hundred eighty-eight thousand dollars. When they gave me that, that was after taxes, that was paper check, that was go to the Wells Fargo. And the girl behind, the girl behind the glass.

• 14:29Ryan Clark?

  Eyes big, huh?

• 14:30Channing Crowder?

  She went and she, and then she looked, and she looked up at me and started smiling. She, she was begging to. Yeah, that's me, but like, wh- what, when was that moment, like, the money changes things. Like, what was that first check that, eh, you know what I'm saying? Answer your question, I, I think it was that first check, am I wrong?

• 14:47Speaker 03

  It wasn't necessarily the first check, but you started getting, you, you really, you started getting paid. Cuz like, I've been like, you know, going out and doing things like that, but it wasn't to the level when, it really the layoffs. Because for me, I was fighting, like, when I first started, I was fighting like seven, eight times a year. Like, I stayed fighting, like, even amateurs, I stayed fighting. But when you fighting three times a year, you know, that's a long split. You know what I'm saying? I got three, four months to figure out what I'm gonna do. And like you said, with all this money. I got three, four months to figure out what I'm gonna do with all this money. So, three, four months of doing nothing, then it's eight week training camp.

• 15:31Speaker 03

  And it's be back to three, four months doing nothing. So, it was like, what you gonna do, do for them three, four months? And for me, you know, I chose, you know, dang, I'll have fun, you know, and do whatever I do. I mean, I wish that, and I ain't gonna say I wish, cuz I feel like everything happened for a reason. I wish I would've just knew that, you know, it's, it's a thin line between things to balance with everything. You know, and I really didn't, I really didn't balance things out. I was just, you know, going over the top and then when it's training camp, I lock it all over here. Instead of just, okay, take it easy and then go in.

• 16:08Fred Taylor?

  Was that morning on October the tenth, twenty nineteen, was that the one moment that opened your eyes on everything?

• 16:14Speaker 03

  Yeah, cuz I don't remember anything, I don't remember anything, probably three weeks. Like after the crash, and then three weeks on, I don't remember nothing. I don't remember anything. Like my, like everything is wiped out. I crashed and got flown thirty feet in the air and landed on solid concrete. So, you know, for me, yeah, it was a wake call. Like, man, like, the most important thing, you gave me perspective. It really made me sit down. It made me sit down and realize that, hey, man, like.

• 16:47Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 17:16Speaker 03

  You know, out and outside distractions, things like that is not important. What's important is, you know, it's family and, you know, people that's close to you and things like that. Because when it's over, that's all you got. You ain't gonna have anybody else, nothing. So, you know, it made me put a lot of things in perspective and realize that, you know, I'm out here playing, we basically borrowed time.

• 17:39Channing Crowder?

  Right.

• 17:40Speaker 03

  So.

• 17:40Channing Crowder?

  At any point, did you think it was over?

• 17:43Speaker 03

  A little bit I did. I mean, because I was like one ninety. And then, I can't see young, like, probably a month and a half after my accident. And I hitting the bags and my shoulder was hurting, you know, tendons hit back. Everything was hurting. And, you know, I had to go to Cleveland Clinic to get checked out, you know, to make sure everything was good and things like that. But, you know, everything was hurting. I was like, man, I don't know if I can, you know, keep doing this. But, um, you know, they assured me that, you know, I could if I wanted to, it was all about, you know, basically my willpower, my mind. And I started watching a lot of Eric Thomas and things like that. And just, you know, getting pumped about that and let that, let that influence me and get in my mind and listen to rap music,

• 18:28Speaker 03

  things like that. I was listening to Eric Thomas and Les Brown and, you know, and just getting out of affirmations and things in my mind. And he was just pushing me to strive and keep going.

• 18:39Fred Taylor?

  In this sport, I know in boxing, you have to be extremely resilient. You know, you gotta be able to take a hit, knock down, get back up, keep it coming. So with that accident, do you feel like you can accomplish anything in this sport now, considering, you know, God spared you, your life's a blessing?

• 18:55Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, definitely. I feel like, really made me feel like nobody could stop me. Because I feel like if I can be driving how fast out, they said I was driving, and I land on solid concrete, you know, getting thrown in the air, I feel like, you know, who can hurt me?

• 19:13Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 19:13Speaker 03

  I feel like who can hurt me in concrete, you know, couldn't break anything in my body. So I feel like a man definitely can't break me.

• 19:21Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 19:22Speaker 03

  So it just made me feel unstoppable, especially going through what I went through, you know, during the whole process of getting back to it. And then, you know, coming straight out the gate and fighting a guy like Danny Garcia, you know, who's the X World Champion, and, you know, in Mortal Way class and things like that. I was like, man, none of these dudes can beat me.

• 19:40Channing Crowder?

  What happened that night? Like you said, you hit on it, you say you don't remember afterwards, them three months was...

• 19:45Fred Taylor?

  What leads up to it?

• 19:46Channing Crowder?

  What leads up? Yeah, that's what I'm saying, like, that pivotal moment in your, in your life, like, what happened that night? You was chilling with the boys, you jumped in Ferrari, you hit it, like?

• 19:54Speaker 03

  I actually was leaving Field City. It's like, you know, a famous gas station with tacos. And I seen on the security camera, like, I'm eating, I'm eating tacos or whatever, sitting in my car chilling. And then I get in the car, my partner get in the car with me. And I'm like, where are you going? He's like, hey, uh, I'm going home. He want me to take him home.

• 20:17Speaker 03

  I'm like nah.

• 20:18Ryan Clark?

  Too far, bro.

• 20:19Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:20Ryan Clark?

  Grab your Uber, bro.

• 20:21Speaker 03

  So he got, he get out the car. Thank God he get out the car. He get out the car. And they said, I just made that turn, cause my, uh, my high rise is like, probably like 10 minutes away. And they said, I, I just made that turn. And then they don't know what happened. They just see, my, my probably seen a whole bunch of smoke. And then they were driving on the same, on lane as me, so I thank God that they seen the smoke and stopped because they would have ran me over if they had kept driving. So they was like, I seen the smoke and they just seen me just, just laying out.

• 20:53Fred Taylor?

  You watched it on surveillance tape. You say you were just chilling.

• 20:56Speaker 03

  Yeah, I was just chilling eating tacos.

• 20:57Fred Taylor?

  How long did it take you to actually watch the accident itself?

• 21:01Speaker 03

  It took me a couple of months.

• 21:03Fred Taylor?

  What was that like?

• 21:03Speaker 03

  It was harder at first to watch and then, you know, I kept slowing it down just to see, you know, if I see myself.

• 21:11Fred Taylor?

  Being ejected.

• 21:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, being ejected or in the smoke or anything like that, but it was hard watching it first. It took me a while to watch the, watch it. Cause I didn't want to watch it at first and then, you know, I finally just, I was like, I'mma watch it and just watched it.

• 21:25Ryan Clark?

  So now you have this sort of feeling of invincibility. No man can hurt you. You beat Danny Garcia, uh, one of the best in the world. Uh, watched on All Access. You said you did that because you wanted to show people that you was the same fighter you were before the accident. Then you probably get the opportunity of a lifetime. You're gonna get to fight Manny Pacquiao. And, uh, you have a detached retina. And from what I've read though, you were actually, were you actually considering fighting with the detached retina?

• 21:56Speaker 03

  I was considering. I was trying to fight with detached retina.

• 21:59Ryan Clark?

  Why?

• 22:01Ryan Clark?

  Why would you do that?

• 22:04Ryan Clark?

  He got swag. He said, me one eye is better than him with two eyes. That, that, that can't be, that can't be worth it.

• 22:11Speaker 03

  It was heated a moment. I've been training probably for like 10 weeks for that fight. And this the week of the fight and you telling me I can't fight? I'm like, man, I done lost all this weight. I'm training. I'm, I'm working hard. I'm 100% focused. You know, I got a dietitian now. I never had a dietitian in my life, you know, and now you saying that I can't fight because of detached retina. I was like, what if, um, you know, I sign off whatever you need to sign off on, you know, make sure you in the clear 100%? And, uh, you just let me fight this one time.

• 22:47Fred Taylor?

  Just one time.

• 22:48Speaker 03

  Just one time you let me fight even though it probably be the last time. I like you just let me fight this one time and you know, I go get the surgery. He was like, man, I'm tell you, I can't do that. And if you do take this fight, it's more than likely you gonna come out there fighting one eye. Then, you know, at that time I wanted it, but you know, now I look back at it and I'm like, nah, like, you know, that wasn't it. That wasn't the right thing to do.

• 23:17Ryan Clark?

  At that time, was it coming from the accident and continuing to want to prove that you were the same fighter? Or was it a thing that you like, man, this Manny Pacquiao, it's a huge fight. It could be worth my eye to get into this fight.

• 23:32Speaker 03

  Um, it was just heat of the moment.

• 23:34Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 23:35Speaker 03

  It was just heat of the moment. It was, you know, it was basically fight week.

• 23:40Speaker 03

  And you know, I already go, I really didn't care.

• 23:42Channing Crowder?

  That thought of it, like, do you, do y'all think about that? Because playing ball, like, they always, any, anytime you play ball, you go out there, you can break your neck. Be your last play. That's what they say. Every play could be your last play.

• 23:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:53Channing Crowder?

  But boxing, like, every time one of these big motherfuckers hit you, like, you don't know what's gonna happen. Do you think about that? Do boxers think about that?

• 24:01Speaker 03

  Nah, nah. I feel like most boxers shouldn't think like that. Or, you know, I feel like the top boxers don't think like that. They don't think he catch me, he gonna knock me out or he gonna put me to sleep. No, that's like saying, you know, man, if he hit me, he gonna break my neck or something like that. So, you know, for me, it was never about that. It was just about, you know, going out there, proving I'm the best fighter in the world or proving I can beat that person. But I never thought a boxer gonna knock me out.

• 24:32Channing Crowder?

  That thought though, that thought of like, anybody that walks up on me, in the world, I could take their ass.

• 24:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure.

• 24:40Channing Crowder?

  You gotta feel that way to box?

• 24:42Speaker 03

  You don't have to feel that way, because there's a lot of, you know, boxers that don't feel that way.

• 24:46Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 24:46Speaker 03

  It's a lot of boxers that fight real good, like, fight scary, but they fight. They're like, yeah, they'll beat you. Yeah, they'll beat you. But I feel that way.

• 24:57Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 24:57Speaker 03

  You know, I feel that way. It don't matter who it is. That's even, you know, even dude 6'6". You know, I just feel like, you know what I'm saying? Mano a mano, I'm Superman.

• 25:07Ryan Clark?

  Hey, that's what, hey, that's what we were talking about though, because you said every time you fight a big person, like one of these big boxers, they can hit you. This dude ain't big. No. And so, you know what I'm talking, you like, you know, we out in the club, you know, you having a good time. This aerospace, this is offseason, he probably like 175 then though, you know what I mean? He step on my shoe, I might feel, I might feel some type of way. That might be one. And, you know, like he said, he woke up a little bit, like a few days later, I might, I'm probably wake up a few days later. You know what I'm saying, if I buck on it, you know what I'm saying, you know, now I know if somebody hit sidestep on the Jays, oh nah, dog, it's good, man, you want to eat a drink?

• 25:41Ryan Clark?

  You good, big homie. Yeah, you good, you good, big homie.

• 25:44Fred Taylor?

  By the time you step in the ring, April 16th against Ugas, it would be 918 days since your last fight. How do you stay ready? How do you stay prepared? A lot of tape, what, what's involved in the process?

• 25:55Speaker 03

  For me, it's staying in the gym. Yeah, it's been 918 days, but since I got cleared for my eye surgery, I was in the gym working. Like even when I did have my eye surgery and I couldn't do nothing, because I didn't know a lot of things that you do involve your eye, like when you lift weights, push-ups, anything, you know, that strain on your eye. So I had a bubble in my eye, so I couldn't do nothing, all I could do was walk. So basically, I just, I just kept walking, I walked like, some days I walked an 8-10 miles. You know what I'm saying, just making sure that I stay on it, because I was like, you know, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, I got another chance, so, you know what I'm saying, I'm giving my all this time, so I just stayed walking and I've been training every day,

• 26:39Speaker 03

  you know, with my coach, and just, you know, focus on the task at hand. Even got to the point now where, you know, it got to the point where I wouldn't even watch a boxing at all, like on YouTube, none of that, like it got to the point where I wouldn't, I wouldn't watch none of the fighters I used to watch, none of that, like now. I'm all the time I'm watching, you know, Terry Norris or Ray Leonard or Floyd or, you know, Chad Dawson, something like that. You know, I'm watching it now. So it got back to the point where, you know, I'm back studying boxing. I'm back, you know, making it implemented 24/7 into my, you know, regimen instead of, oh, sometimes or nah, I'm not gonna do it at all.

• 27:20Speaker 03

  So, you know, I feel like that's one of the main factors that it's embedded in me now all the way. So when it comes, it's not gonna be in the ring or us, anything like that. Because I've been in the gym and I've been working.

• 27:34Fred Taylor?

  Who set the schedule, Derek?

• 27:35Speaker 03

  Nah, basically, I set the schedule just how I feel. If we train at 12 and I don't feel like training at 12, we're gonna train at 2. We're gonna train at 3. You know, I feel like you should work off your body and how you feel. Like, I'm not gonna just overly push myself. If I want to run in the morning, I run in the morning. If I don't want to run in the morning, I run at night. You know, so I go to, you know, how my body feels.

• 28:00Ryan Clark?

  So you mentioned, you know, watching all of these great boxers and one of those boxers was Floyd. And I listened to you earlier speak about your work in the gym. That even if you was hanging out or doing something, the work in the gym stayed pure. And we've got to hang around and we had him on the show, you know, before. And listening to you talk, I kind of get that same type of feeling. That no matter what's going on, when it comes to my business, right? Because you are a business. When it comes to my business, I'm always gonna handle that and take care of that. Is that something you learned from Floyd or from people like Floyd? Is there any relationship there where you look at him that that's someone you would love to be in the ring?

• 28:41Speaker 03

  I mean, I've always been a hard worker, but, you know, just seeing, you know, his motto is hard work dedication. As much as he may, you know, do other things, or you may see him ride his woman in cars and things like that, you know. A lot of people forget that do a workhorse, anybody talks to him like, "Floyd worked hard, he one of the harder workers I ever seen." I feel like just being in his training camp, because I'd never been around a professional boxer. And I had just turned professional, I was like 2-0 at the time. And I got invited to his training camp to spar with him and things like that. That he was getting ready for Robert Guro. Just being there with him and just, you know, I'm just watching, I'm like a sponge, I'm soaking up everything.

• 29:24Speaker 03

  You know, just to bring it back home and implement in my game, especially when I get to that top level. So this is my first time seeing how Floyd trained at a 12-round fight. And he's training like, like he dead broke, like he need a pair of drawers or something like that.

• 29:41Speaker 03

  You know what I'm saying, like he trained hard. And, you know, that's the most thing I got of him, and that's what I respected out of it. It don't matter what was going on, he was gonna get his work in regardless. Or he gonna get his work in before anything else that was going on.

• 29:56Channing Crowder?

  And boxing Floyd at 2-0, because now you at 27-0?

• 29:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:00Channing Crowder?

  But at 2-0, like when you got in there with Floyd, because Floyd our boy, we was with him up last week when I was hanging out in Miami. Like when you, when he started throwing, was you like, "Oh, shit." Like, it was different, you know what I'm saying, like this man fit 50-0, you know, like if you 2-0, he 50-0. Like when he started throwing, were you like, "Damn, this shit different."

• 30:20Speaker 03

  I ain't gonna lie to you, I don't like that, for real. So it was like, I was in the gym, I was chilling. But once I got in there, everybody started hitting on the, hitting on the mats. Like they call it the doghouse, everybody hitting on the mats. So that just triggered like a, something in my head, like just a competitive instinct in my head was like, "Oh, it's on now." We went like 5, 7 minutes, one round, things like that, we going at it. So I get out the ring, he look out the ring, he say, "You a aye for a bitch." And I ain't hear him at first. I say, I say, what? He say, you high for a bitch. I say, I say, man, I say, what? I say, man, you gotta be messed up. I say, man, push that shit back on.

• 31:03Speaker 03

  I say, matter of fact, turn off the clock. I say, we go to somebody's drop. And then we get in there a spot for like eight, nine more minutes. We get in there a spot and then he was like, all right, that's enough. But I think I respect, at that time, I think I respect. He was like, all right, this, this kid ain't no pushover. Like, he don't care, you know, who I am. Cause everybody just was like, man, just a fool, man, chill. That's how he talk, like, that's how he talks. Yeah, he not about to talk to me like that.

• 31:30Fred Taylor?

  You made the champ tap out then?

• 31:31Speaker 03

  Huh?

• 31:32Fred Taylor?

  And he say, all right, that's enough. Let's get to it.

• 31:34Speaker 03

  I didn't make him tap out. Nah, but I think I respect though.

• 31:38Fred Taylor?

  That's love.

• 31:39Speaker 03

  Like, he respects me. He was like, yeah, he a dog, he like that for real.

• 31:43Fred Taylor?

  So what, what's your mindset like? I mean, I saw something that talks about horsing. You know, your farm and you saying it's therapeutic. As a matter of fact, I think you have a special horse, a white one, named Ferrari. How did that, you know, you got it on the anniversary of your accident?

• 32:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, on my accident.

• 32:01Fred Taylor?

  Talk about that a little bit.

• 32:03Speaker 03

  And she white too. My Ferrari was white. Oh, but, you know, I feel like, yeah, horses are therapeutic. I feel, and I did research on it and, you know, it states that they're all therapeutic. A lot of people that, you know, go through traumatic experiences and things like that, ride horses and have farm animals and stuff just to cope with it. And, you know, coming straight out of my accident, like, I ain't never driven horses. I ain't never touched a chicken, goat, none of that, like, no ranch. I'm a city boy and no.

• 32:37Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 32:37Speaker 03

  No ranch, none of that. And I was looking for something basically to get away from. I was trying to get away from, you know, the city life, you know? Cause I was in high rise. I'm right there in the middle of everything that's, that's going on. So I was trying to get away from it. So I'm a zillow looking at different places and I see the ranch and I tell my mom like, that's, that's what I want. Like, she like, you sure? I like, yeah, that's, that's what I want. So I go out there, I get it. And then my friend already, he trained dogs. He already had horses and he used to always tell me to get into the horse thing. Man, I'm not into no horse. I ain't never even touched a horse. Like, I'm not messing anything that's bigger than me.

• 33:19Speaker 03

  Like nah, man, like actually I rode his horse. I went out in the pasture with the horses, me and the horse.

• 33:27Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccesstoenter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 33:56Speaker 03

  It was just a different feeling like I felt, you know what I'm saying? More open and I was just more chill. You know, just thinking about different things and you know, I just fell in love with the horse. And then I ended up getting me a horse. They ended up giving me like six more horses. And now I got a horse now, but I only ride his name Moon. You know, he do competition and things like that and he work some bread doing his thing. So, you know, it's a dope feeling. I got chickens now that I hang out, you know, chill with the chickens. Yeah, it helped me a lot.

• 34:26Channing Crowder?

  It's a chicken, a horse. It's, it's a, bro, you have, you have old McDonald, you old McDonald. You know what I'm saying? Like, like, how did that help you? Like.

• 34:35Speaker 03

  Man, I can't even explain it. Just mentally, I guess, taking care of something and just, I really don't know, man. Yeah, I just can't even explain it.

• 34:43Channing Crowder?

  It's therapeutic to wake up and give a chicken some goddamn corn.

• 34:45Speaker 03

  I'm not even gonna say the chickens. It's, it's the horse really, but I mean, it's just after taking care of the chickens and taking care of the goats. And you know, basically it give me something to do with my time.

• 34:55Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 34:56Speaker 03

  My kids gotta go to school, things like that. So I can't hang out with the kids 24/7. But having the horses, having things, the other things to take care of and you know, having to buy hay and doing this. And you know, fixing stuff in the barn and run away the wild coyotes and you know, and the cows. And you know, your horse just had a baby and things like that. It give me a lot of different things to do with my time instead of waking up in the morning. I got four, five months to doing nothing. What I'm gonna do today?

• 35:27Fred Taylor?

  But you could have named the white one Ghost. You could have named it anything, but you named it Ferrari. It's a constant reminder. Like what was the thought into that?

• 35:35Speaker 03

  I'm always gonna be reminded of the crash and I wanna be reminded of the crash. Because I feel like it definitely was a lesson. You know, it's definitely a lesson, you know what I'm saying, for my kids and things like that. And it molded me into the man I am today. You know what I'm saying, it made me more, you know, so tired, it made me more chill. And ma- I've been chill, but it made me more, you know, be with my family more and just realize that, you know, a lot of things that I thought was important or anybody think was important, but I was still, you know, indulging in those things are not important as, you know, having the core strength and being, you know, with my family and boxing and things like that.

• 36:15Channing Crowder?

  I gotta ask, man, because even, even being with Flo, we talked about this with Flo too, talking about sex before a fight. Like, how long? And they, these boys talking about something, and if we, we talking to somebody, and they were talking about the whole week of the ga- a week before the game, they weren't having no sex. I was hitting something the night before the game. If I give me a nap, bro, hit something, get a nap, I'm ready to go. Really, bro, I, yeah, I played, I played, I played a good, good amount of time and played well, but yeah, I, that, that whole thing. What's your regimen sex-wise? Because I, boxers are ridiculous with that. Y'all got structure.

• 36:46Speaker 03

  We different, because football players, all that, y'all got time maps.

• 36:50Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 36:50Speaker 03

  Y'all got time maps, halftime, all that, you know, y'all got time to recoup.

• 36:55Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 36:55Speaker 03

  You know what I'm saying? Well, boxers, once you get in there, you in there. The only person that can stop the fight is the ref, your coach, or yourself, or your opponent beating on you. So, so, you know, it's different. So, I mean, that always been the motto, like, don't have sex before a fight and things like that.

• 37:14Channing Crowder?

  But how far?

• 37:15Speaker 03

  Like me, like this fight, it's been like three, four weeks.

• 37:20Channing Crowder?

  You ain't hit nothing in a month?

• 37:21Speaker 03

  Yeah, probably like, yeah, five months, yeah.

• 37:24Channing Crowder?

  I beat my meat this morning.

• 37:30Channing Crowder?

  Damn, that's crazy. But it, you, you think it really be something, or is it just psy- is, is it physical or psychological that you just ain't do it?

• 37:38Speaker 03

  I mean, I feel like if it's psychological, then, you know, it's gonna transfer to physical. So, I feel like sometimes it had happened, you know? Like, when I was amateur, like, it has happened before where, like, mentally or even a sport, like, I did something, then, like, my leg was just gone. I'm like, man, I'm like, I'm not gonna do that again ever again. Like I said, it's too late, ain't no timeouts. And that bell rang, man, so you want to make sure everything is on point. Because, once you get in there, there's no timeouts at all. So if it is a chance, you're not trying to take that chance, because it ain't no going back. Ain't no rewinding.

• 38:16Ryan Clark?

  You're getting knocked out for hitting, so, man, it ain't worth that. And I think that's what's crazy, though. You mentioned there's no rewinding. We've had an opportunity to talk a lot about your story, but the guy you're fighting, who took your place against Manny Pacquiao, your Dennis Ugas. He has a crazy story, too. He's tried to defect from Cuba multiple times. He's been caught, and he's been detained, and those different things. So this is going to be two men who have had a ton of adversity to get to this point. But, bro, you fighting that Jerry's World, April 16th, Showtime. It's going to be stars all around, and everybody's coming to see you. I don't know a person that lives in Texas, period, who, when you fight, I don't see some sort of post, I don't see something on their story.

• 39:00Ryan Clark?

  What is that going to be like for you, getting to fight a dude that kind of stole a little bit of your glow? Right? When you got injured, you're in your hometown with all those people to support you.

• 39:10Speaker 03

  I mean, I feel like that's motivation for me. I feel like the Showtime thing, it showed me a lot, too, because, you know, what happened to him was a long time ago. And, you know, he on there showing his watches, and, you know, he got the American dream now. So, you know, is he still hungry as he used to be? You know what I'm saying? I'm fresh, my ass ain't my eye injuries.

• 39:33Speaker 03

  If I pay that, I ain't giving Pacquiao, so, you know what I'm saying? It's a lot more grit and hunger with mine, because I got the Pacquiao tune away from me. You know, I got a lot of time tune away from me, too, off my injuries. For me, it's about catching back up, so, you know, I'm in a rush. So I'm totally focused, and I'm hungry, and I'm, you know, dedicated.

• 39:56Fred Taylor?

  You're back home, AT&T Stadium, in front of the family, the world, you know, and everything's bigger in Texas. Your preparation, does that change knowing that you're gonna be at home? And how do you manage your adrenaline? Because if I'm at home, like, I can get overly hyped. You know, you don't wanna gas out, right? So how does your preparation change, or does it change? And how do you manage that adrenaline?

• 40:21Speaker 03

  That happened to a lot of boxers. A lot of boxers lose at home, you know, I think, because of too much pressure. But for me, it's more motivation than anything. Like, I'm motivated. Like, when I'm making that ring entrance and I'm seeing family, close friends, people I ain't seen in a long time, you know, everybody's there just to watch me fight. You know, everybody's worrying, you know, Saturday's best, you know, just to see me fighting, their time, their money, dropping their kids off at the granny's house, you know, just to watch me fight, you know? That's motivating to me. I can't let these people down. You know, I gotta show them, and I gotta give them their money's worth, because they ordering this on pay-per-view. So for me, it's like, oh, I'm about to show out.

• 41:03Fred Taylor?

  You about to shut the city down.

• 41:05Speaker 03

  I'm about to show out for real.

• 41:06Channing Crowder?

  We was, like I said, we was with Floyd, and I asked him the same question. I was like, when do you know, when you in a match, you feeling your dude out? He was explaining to us, like, you know, you feel dudes out, whatever, see what they got, see what you're doing. Average, when do you know, in 27 fights? When do you know, I got this, my?

• 41:25Speaker 03

  When I hit him, and he do something funny.

• 41:29Channing Crowder?

  What's something funny?

• 41:30Speaker 03

  Like, just, I don't know, certain boxers, they, I can see, like, certain bodies, you're still a certain uncomfortable movement when I touch you, and you, you look a little uncomfortable. I'm like, oh, yeah. Or, or if you hit me, and you don't, like, I'm like, oh, I got him, or, oh, he ain't even hitting like that, he in trouble. Like, I'm gonna let, I'm gonna let something go. You know what I'm saying? So, at that point, I know I got him, and either he touched me, and I'm like, ah. Or if he throws something, I see it, or he looking, or his body gestures, he all startled or kinda shook a little bit. I'm like, oh yeah, he in trouble now. Wait till I catch him.

• 42:13Channing Crowder?

  Did that take a round, three rounds? Like, when, when, at what point in the fight is it, like, do you know? Cause it's crazy, like, I'm, I'm a street fighter, cause I'ma jump in there with them. I'ma jump in there with them here in a second. Yeah. But, you know, in a street fight, you just throw one, you know the police coming soon, like, you, you got about, you got about a minute. Yeah. But what point in professionally fighting another man, do you see it? Round one, round two, round three, round four, like, when do you know you, I'm better than him?

• 42:40Speaker 03

  Um, I see it first round. First round, I know, either first round, I like, oh, this is gonna be an easy night. Or it's like, man, this shit gonna be long.

• 42:52Speaker 03

  Like, you be like, oh yeah, I'm gonna have to work for this one. Like, he, he gonna, he gonna work. Like, yeah, no, like, you touch him, and he'll throw about three back, you like, yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be a long night for me, man.

• 43:03Channing Crowder?

  They must be training, they must be training like me.

• 43:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, better buckle up, this is a good night.

• 43:07Fred Taylor?

  So when you guys go in, I'm sure you, Derrick, your camp, you have your game plan, right?

• 43:12Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 43:12Fred Taylor?

  How disciplined do you have to be to not, you see something, you're like, this is different, right? How disciplined do you have to be to take that chance and go off script?

• 43:22Speaker 03

  I tell Derrick, I be like, you know, I see something, he be like, all right. Or he'll ask me, you know, what I see or things like that, or, you know, me and Derrick, I already know, like, we've been training for a long time, so he already know how I'm feeling, um, you know, if I see something, or if I'm going on script, things like that. So he wouldn't just be like, are you doing the wrong thing, or you doing this, doing that? He'll let me go off script, cause you know, I'm smart enough to make adjustments and, and make different changes in our, in our game plan. You know, you gotta be like a Ferrari or Lambo, you know, you gotta have different gears. You can't have the same thing over and over. If you had the same thing over and over, he might, he might get an acclimated to your style,

• 44:04Speaker 03

  and then switch it up on you. So you gotta have different game plans, just, you don't know how he's gonna come.

• 44:10Ryan Clark?

  I got two questions to wrap it. When we look back at the legacy or the life of Errol Spence, there's going to be one chapter written about everything that happened before October 10th, 2019. That was undefeated, that was a great fighter, could be considered pound for pound best in the world. When we look at the second chapter, which is everything that happens after, where does that take us?

• 44:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, I never thought about it, but I feel like, you know, it take people saying, man,

• 44:47Speaker 03

  no matter what happened, you know, through all his situations, you know, all his trials and errors, you know, things that happened in his life, you know, he always stayed focused, you know, he always stayed close to his family, even though it got hard, you know, it made, it drew him closer to his kids and his loved ones more than anything. He always been focused, never been deterred or anything like that. And, you know, he always stayed strong and, you know, he always battled adversity. And, you know, even if I don't win against adversity every, every time I tried and I gave him my all. So, you know, for me, I feel like, you know, people gonna still say, you know, say I'm one of the best fighters in the world.

• 45:31Speaker 03

  And they gonna say I'm a great. First is all about money. I didn't understand that until, until a few years ago. It's all about money and then it's all about legacy at the end of the day.

• 45:42Channing Crowder?

  Do you look at it like that? Do you look at your, at your life as pre-accident, post-accident? Because a lot of people do.

• 45:48Speaker 03

  A little bit. I feel like my mind frame and things I was doing and things like that. And it changed a lot because I feel like I was going a little bit off script and I was, you know, getting deterred and, you know, saying making that, you know, wrong turn. And I feel like the crash was a blessing. Like, it's all about looking at things in perspective. A lot of people don't look at things in perspective. It's not, because it's bad, you know, it might be a little bit good in there. And I feel like the crash really, you know, helped save my career and my life because it put me back on the right track. It like bumped my head. Hey, get back on the right track, man. You, you swaying, you swaying a little bit and give me back on the horse.

• 46:30Speaker 03

  So, it got me more, you know, closer to my family and, you know, it was a time where, you know, I wasn't talking to my sisters like that and... You know, I wasn't talking family like that at all, you know, and now, you know, they coming over for dinner sometimes and, you know, they come over the house, I come over to their house and things like that, so it kinda drew me back closer to, you know, my core.

• 46:57Ryan Clark?

  Well, this the final question. What about Bud? We ever gonna see it?

• 47:02Speaker 03

  Oh, definitely. I feel like, definitely, I feel like, like I've been telling people, I'm getting a third belt with Ugas. This is the third belt. It's only one more belt to get. So, so I mean, the proof is in the pudding, you know, every belt I got, I done took from somebody. So this is my third belt I'm gonna go get, so.

• 47:25Ryan Clark?

  It's only one more?

• 47:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's only one more, and I'm not moving up till I get that fourth belt.

• 47:29Ryan Clark?

  Well, y'all heard it here first, man.

• 47:32Speaker 03

  Okay, April 16th on Showtime, Peppermint View, I'm putting on a great fight, a great one-sided fight performance in front of my hometown fans. I'm putting on a show. I want everybody to tune in. This is the lead-up to the biggest fight in the world that y'all really wanna see.

• 47:50Ryan Clark?

  There's one more belt to get after this one. Man, we appreciate you, my dog. Man, this is the one people wanna see more.

• 47:58Fred Taylor?

  I give you respect, dog.

• 47:59Speaker 03

  Appreciate them.

• 48:00Fred Taylor?

  For sure.

• 48:01Ryan Clark?

  All love, baby.

• 48:02Fred Taylor?

  Man, big fan, real.