Boxing with Chris MannixChris is joined by the best cut-man in the business; Jacob "Stitch" Duran to talk about how he got into combat sports when growing up he wanted to be a baseball player, what his coming out moment as a cut-man was, and what it's been like being in seven movies and being called an actor. #Volume #Herd
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All right. There are few better named people in sports than the man that is my guest on this week's show, Jacob Stitch Duran, long time boxing mixed martial arts cutman, star of the Rocky movies. Got the privilege to work with him ever so briefly in the most recent Creed movie. H He is everywhere at every fight, one of the most visible guys in the sport, with an incredible story to Bootstitch. Good to see him, man. I've been wanting to do something like this for a while because you have two ebooks out there. I've read them both, and you just have a great story. So let me ask you this first. Give me the origin story of Stitch.
Well it's it's a long story. Well no, what what an introduction? Thank you. I've had plenty of pretty bad I've stoad of the recording anyway. Yeah, you know what I've had. I'm blessed to do what I do. You know, I started off as a as a farm worker, born and raised in a migrant camp in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is the agrotre agro cultural capital of the world. As a matter of fact, my birth certificate for the address it's CPC number twelve, California, the Packing Company. So don't get much lower than that, right. But to be where I'm at now, you know, talking to you, to me, it's a it's an accomplishment, and every day I just, you know, thank God to have the privilege to do the things that I've been doing. I mean I've been you're talking about Creed three. I've been in seven movies, three with Rocky how many people you know, I've done three moves with stallone. I have how many guys. You know I've done three moves of Michael B. Jordan I have. You know, I'm towing them by Natos with Herolds and Ocean's eleven casts. It blows my mind because I'm always that little Chikano that grew up as a farm worker. See everything's possible.
So you grow up as a farm worker. Tell me about the journey to get to this point. No, it's a long story, but yeah, that's what that's a podcast are for. I want to hear.
Yeah, it's and I love telling it. But baseball was my dream. You know. I always played every year we played baseball, and I played varsity ball all four years. But we didn't have a JV. So I was easy to do. You know. I always wanted to be a pro. And I walked down to Mercet College, which is a JC by Panada's nine miles away. But I didn't have a car, so I would go to school with friends and after school they would leave and I'd stay in our practice and then have to hitchhik home. And you know, I went to the recruiter, joined the Air Force and nineteen seventy two, and in nineteen seventy four, they stationed me in a place called Thailand. I didn't know what Thailand was. I was that naive as a young guy. But I always said if I went to the Orient, I'd want to study the martial arts. That was during the Brucelera and so I saw my first Muay Thai fight, and that whole year I just stayed in the martial arts. And I got back to the States. I got into boxing to prove my hands, and moved to Fairfield, California, from Oakland and opened up a school kickboxing was just a credit card ask the American School Kickboxing. So I trained kids adults, but I also had some top of the line fighters. Dennis selection one of them. He was the brother Thord John Claude van Damen the movie Kickboxer. So from there, but three twenty eight years ago, I wanted to follow my dreams and I put it for a job transfer with RJ. Renals tobacco company was with him for all those years, and I moved to Vegas and here I am. My first coming out fight was Raoul Marcus when he fought Keith Mullins. He ended up with five cuts, something like seventy stitches and kept them in the game, and you know, Chuck Boda comes up to me and says, man, you know where'd you come from? So that was good. So I had a great career and here I am, you know, just loving life.
So how when does it get into your When do you start to thinking I'd like to be a cut man? Like when does that dream? When does that dream form?
It happened during when I had my school kickboxing. As I got into boxing, amateur boxing, I started training amateur fighters and as a matter of fact, I just spoke to my first world champion, Chapel Vodkas he's fifty five years old now and that King's Gym in Oakland. And but from there I had my school kickboxing, so I was already wrapping hands, you know, not so much working cuts. But when I had my school kickboxing, guys use apples and knees and all that, and I learned that had to learn that trade to just work everything. I promoted the fights, I managed the fighters, and you know, so I did every aspect. But being a cutman kind of floated to the top, you know, and I think, you know what, I'm gonna move to Vegas because that's where all the big boys are at right the boxing capital of the world. And yeah, R J. Reynolds called me and I put in for a transfer and they gave me one week. I said, man, I can't do it in one week, and they get I talked to him into two weeks. I swear to God, I transferred my school to a student. I put my house on the market and I sold it. Sure, I lost a lot of money. Put my family in a U haul and drove nine hours to Las Vegas and called my mom. I said, mom, got a new number. Literally took a twenty five dollars thousand dollars year cutting pay. So it was a sacrifice and I rolled the dice and it came out. Okay, it's the last time I gambled.
How I think a lot of people look at cut men and wonder how you get into it?
Is there?
Do you train for it? Like your first experience cutting to doing cuts? Like what was your preparation?
Like, you know, that's a that's an excellent question. And I was just talking to Sergio a Strong about cupman. You know they come to me for advice now through you know the experience that I have. But Marvis Fraser was fighting bone Crustier Smith, Richmond, California. Right, I was making the transition from a trainer to a cupman, and I was at the fights and I saw this one guy that did a good job on cuts. So I went up to him and I said, Hey, you know, I'm trying to luby a cupman. Can he tell me what you did? He says, fuck you. He says, I'm taking this to my grave and you got to learn like me, and he walked away. Right, Chris, I've done this interview hundreds of times, never mentioned his name, but that wasn't important. The point is I never wanted to be like this man. So you know, my whole goal has always been to teach, and you know, unfortunately there's nothing that we can learn from outside of experience and the But you know, I talked to a lot of the doctors here in Las Vegas and they're the best of the best, and I practiced what you know, they wanted me to do and all that, and so yeah, wrapping hands, you know, I practice on myself and wrapped a ton of free aends just to get where I'm at.
The when you first get started, was it ever overwhelming for you in these early fights. You know, whether it's some guy was badly cut and you're in there and like holy shit, like this is a serious thing here.
No, no, no, I I've you know, the one number one thing for being a good cut man, to keep being a composure. But keep in mind, I was already working major fights in kickboxing, so I knew how to control my adrenaline level and then being a cut man, yeah my whole focus. Yeah, does my adrenaline shoot up to the top, Yes it does, but then that's uh, well, like last I did the fight Saturday, Uh, and Bernardo Gy got cut. Bernardo asked me about it, piece of cake. Right After a while, you just learned to keep a composure, know what you have to do through proper applications.
When does it become your career? When do you become this is this is my life. At what point does that happen?
Well? You know, good question, man. I like that. When I moved there, I Cornelius Mosa Edwards told me before I moved here, we were going to England working with Artseuano, a boxer, and I had just met Boza Edwards and I told him I wanted to move Las Vegas. He says, and I tell young kids all the time, he says, you need three things. You need a job, a place to stay in a car, and I always kept that in mind. So I worked with Trepco, which was a wholesaler that sold groceries to the source and to the point where I was, I was traveling so much that they said, you know what, maybe you should just be doing that full time. And so I left Trump go and they were great about it. And so at that moment, that's when life. I got a lot of calls and everything that every call that I've gone to this day, everything that has happened to me to this day, I've never asked for one job. I swear. I just proud to Connell. And you know, I had a chance to work with Floyd the years before before Raphae because I walk into Top Rank and he's going he's as probable with his hands. So he's going through a wrap session with uh this guy, and I'm looking at it and it's too tight. I get tee right off the bat. So Floyd and James Prince walk into the dressing room and they're coming out cutting it off. And at that point I could have said, hey, Fund I'll wrap your hands. I knew I would have got the job, but I did out of respect to the cut man, and then if I had came on board, and I'm glad he got the assignment because it was well deserved. But you know, those opportunities, I just I couldn't kiss nobody's ass, not my job.
What is more challenging doing the rap right or fixing a cut?
Fixing the cut?
You know?
The the rap is basically you know, because I do so many new guys.
I only asked that because there's so much talk nowadays about how guys are wrapping their hands.
For you, I'll answer that for your education is number one, right, Uh shuit, I forgot the question. You got me so excited about about wrapping the hands and so, but wrapping the hands, Yes, there was talks about stacking, all right, so let's get into that subject first. I I've wrapped thousands that Hans bro thousands, thousands. When Triple G fock Gannelo the first time, Tom Laufer called me, and we're part of the critical team, right, Triple G and all that, and we're friends. So he asked me because I guess a or they followed the complaint that Vanella was stacking God's tape. God's tape. So Tom asked me what I thought about it, and I says, bullshit. I said, the only reason you wrap a fighter's hands is so they don't break them. So, going fast forward, Bob Bennett, the head of the athletic commission here, called me with the same question. Told him the same thing. So I met with him in one of the gyms. I wrapped his hands conventional way and I wrapped him stacking, and there's no difference. Well, the next day he brought on a hand specialist, and because they wanted that second fight, of course economics right. Well I did the same thing and he didn't feel that much of a difference. So now it's approved here in Nevada. But the point with stacking is, I know with Fuller the coaches saying, well, it turns into a cast. Man. You know how many guys have wrapped hands, and they said, damn, it feels like a cast that's what you want to create. The role book says, as long as you keep one inch, you got to keep the tape one inch away from the knuckles going backwards. And these are the points of injuries that you got to protect metal carpoals, the thumb, the wrist, and as long as the gauze is the same for the knuckles, what's the problem. You tie your shoes different than me, right, so there's no difference. But education, as I say, none of us have to be certified to be called professionals. I understand that. And there's a lot of faults in what guys are doing. And you know our town, Sergio Estrada, one of the questions always one of the advice I give these young fighters. I said, look, if you're looking for a cut man, and if you put the swab in his mouth or his ear and no gloves, look for another cupman. And then also ask him a very simple question. The adrenaline Chori won one thousand that we use. What is the mechanical function to that? A lot of guys and I asked him just to you know, play the dumb part. It's all it's a coagulant. Well, if they tell you it's a coagulant, get another cupman. It's a vessel constructor. So when you put it on the cut, it closes up the blood vessels. Right, So as you see me, when I work on a cut, always pinch at first to get whatever blood is within those little vessels. Then I'll put the swab with adrelline on it and it soaks into the veins and it closes them up. So education, bro, there's you know, we need a lot of that.
So basically, all the controversy out there about handwrap, whether it's in a way or canelo, you think it's kind of much ado about nothing.
Yeah, and and the guy asked me today what I thought about it, and I said, on the mechanical part, there's yeah, there's Now it's more psychological than anything else. But it really you shouldn't learn how to wrap a proper hand because, like I said, nothing, and believe it or not, the knuckles of all four points are the least to get damaged because they have their own natural shock absorbers, right, plus you got the padding and all that. So education, bro, the.
You're at the perception in some cases becomes the reality when you have people go on TV and say that's illegal, that's that'sus. Then they're on social media saying it's like a snowball effect where if a guy is wrapping hands in the way using in a way, as the example is wrapped hands, like you're gonna have a swath of people that wrongly believe he's a cheater and will brand him as such from heretofore, which is crazy, And.
That's education, you know. I mean, I can't say it any simpler than that, because I saw the video. I was in Japan, right, I work with Robesti the fight before, but I'm watching it in the TV on how he starts to stack, and it makes so much sense, you know, because now keep in mind, if you use that whole role of gauze to wrap around the fighter's hands, the one you have, it's thickness, right, And so the point is when you wrap the hands is you apply, you tighten it up as you go. Well, the way they're doing it with gauze so it doesn't stick to the skin. And by the way I wrap my hands with tape on the skin feels horrible, so don't do it. But the way the father did, he put you know, gods enough to put the tape where he wouldn't stick to the skin. But as you do that and you continue, then you minimize the padding, you see what I'm saying, So you get more of an adhesive, a tighter fit because you don't have that much cushion to tighten up. When I rap hands, I'll start from one side and I'll wrap and I'll tighten it as I go down.
So, as a cut man, what was the first really high profile moment for you, Like a moment where you had a cut you needed to be fixed, You knew it. There was just if you didn't do your job right, the outcome could be changed.
My coming out fight was I just come to Vegas not long right, Robald Marcus when he fought Keith Mullins and Ral was the IVF middleweight champion. I think he ended up with five cuts right off the bat, right, and I kept them in the game. And Chuck Bodak comes up to me and really the first one who he said, hey man, you did a great job. People didn't know the experience that they didn't eve know who I was. I just moved to Vegas. But I had a lot of work as a cut man. In kickboxing, cuts were pretty pretty common, right, So that was my coming out part of Roald Marcus say something like seventy stitches that I mean, he was guys here on each eyebrow, on the nose and underneath his cheek. He was all ripped up man.
So I asked you at the beginning, but I don't know if we got there. Like the nickname stitch.
Who gave it to you?
Where to come from?
Good question? When I had my school kickboxing, like I said, I worked with Dennis Electual at that time was the greatest athlete I ever met. They retired his number in high school for baseball and football. Great athlete was under speed kickboxing champ and all that. Well. His faring partner Dave Rooney, because we used to work together. I was working the preliminary fight with him and he ended up with a cut, and I was already learning to be a cut man, and I saw what guys did by getting tape and cutting little strips and making butterfly. So, knowing what I know now, the cut was nothing, but I butterflied it. And he says, I don't have to go to the hospital. You saved me, Stitches. I'm gonna call you Stitch. So I don't think Dave Rooney. Last thing I heard about Dave is he moved to Alaska as a fisherman. One of these boats out there. I don't think he knows how much he changed my whole life. It's funny because they're filming a documentary outside of my book of my life, based on the book, where they interviewed Michael B. Jordan's right. So they send me one of the clips and Michael, I'm rapping his hands and there's my third movie with him, and I'm rapping his hands and I say, Michael, do you know my real name? He said, A Stitch. I said, no, no, no, do you know my real name? He says, I don't, and he yells out, hey, anybody knows Stitch's real name. People don't know my name, you know, it's Jacob for those who don't know.
Yeah, I mean when you were called that, called Stitch, Like, how quickly did you imbred, like spread like introduced yourself business cards like.
Yeah, yeah, I always included you know, one of the things I consider myself a savant marketing. Of course, you gotta you know that name with just ideal. But it got to the point now where it's just Stitch Tourette instead of Jacob Stistererette. Right, my business card just says Jacob's sisterette, you know. So yeah, it's it's a mind blow everywhere I go. I mean coming back from Japan, you know, you know, you travel a lot. When customs a stitch what's up? And the guys at t s A guys are saying, Amen, just out of the blue, Amen, I'm still mad at the USC. Let you go. It's crazy, you know.
So that's part of your story too, Leaven. The UFC, I mean, what happened there? And you know, do you still feel a certain way about it to this day?
Yeah, you know. I I knew Dana before the UFC, and and thank god when they bought the UFC, I was doing a K one at the Ballagio and he asked for my card. Then called him the next day and says, we bought the UFC. Would like to be a cut man? Of course, great opportunity, So Leon Tams and myself and so I became kind of the primary cut man for these guys, wrapping hands and what have you not. And and I worked on sponsors. We worked on sponsors, fighters and me being in marketing watches, I got a ton of watches because my hands are always on TV. And so I was making my I need the UFC to make my money. I was sponsors right well, same with the fighters. Fighters making fifty one hundred grand a fighter, free money. So they go to the Rebok deal and they take sponsors away from everybody with no options. Right, So they met all the cupman together. They brought us in and told us the same thing. And every time I got a sponsor, I tried to negotiate for you, for you, the cutman, the other cupman, and you know, not as much as me, but something is something. And the guy I tried to negotiate for at least an increase in pay, and they said not, you know, we ain't got it. So I did an interview with John Nashville Bloodyalbu dot com never met him. He says, would you be interested in doing an interview of the Rebok deal affected the Cupman? Well, I grew up as a farmerk right, I tell you right. My parents fought for the rights with Caesar Chavis. And I thought, man, if I don't speak up, you know that's not my nature. And so the article is very politically correct, I know, because I work corporate America. Right. But this shit went viral and my wife and ire at Costco and I get a call from my friends and Mark Ratner one of them, and they asked if I could talk, and I said, well, give me an hour. So I get home and the only thing Mark Ratner said is a because of the interview you did about Rebok, the UFC is not gonna use you no more so, kind of a little slap in the face. And I know Mark felt bad saying it, you know, because we're friends. But I said, all right, Mark, you do me a favorite. You tell Dan And I said, he ain't got no balls that he should have called me personally. Right. So I'm getting tons of messages Chris. First one I respond to. I said, want you to let want you to know that you're the first one I want to let you know that the UFC let me go for speaking out about the Rebunk deal. And I got to find another job that went viral. I did like fifty seven interviews that week, had camera crews going to my house. It's the biggest thing in MNA, you know. And then the dust is settling, and I'm getting means to support job offers everywhere made me cry. It was that bad. It was that energy field, and I get the dust is settling. A couple of weeks later, USC has their first big fight on Fox TV, and uh, they're asking Dana what about Stitch and Rand is he ever coming back? Now? Stitch and Nerve be back and this and that, and then he blows it at the end and says, probably the stupidest comment he ever made in his life, Stitch and I were never friends. Bro. That still blows up in his face. You know, so I did the right thing. You know. I'm glad and and uh, life has been good.
No regrets about doing that interview and everything that came from.
It, not once. In fact, I'm proud of myself. There was one Brazilian coach when we're doing top rank fights at the Bubble, Louis Duty. I haven't seen him in eight years, since the years he let me go, And during lunch he comes up to me. He says, Steech, all the competiess have gone throughout the whole world. Still do Wesley Snipe say, man Us, did you wrong? But this one here he comes up to me and says, Steech, we the coaches, the fighters, we thank you for speaking up because we couldn't. Bro. I could die with that quote, you know, part of a legacy that I did what I had to do you know? And and so it's been good.
So you get calls, never ask for jobs. What is your schedule like every year?
Well, let me see, I gotta go forty five shows a year. Easy, Yeah, you know, I just did. I was in Oklahoma Saturday. Sunday morning, I had a three o'clock lobby call to go to Tokyo. Get there Monday, I do the fight with Robessi Ramirez that defended his title on Tuesday. And I got home yesterday and I'm here talking to you, and I got to show tomorrow with Top Rank, and then Sunday I go to Dallas. I'm working with Nate Deals for Jake Paul. And the week after that I'll be in Phoenix with Top Rank. And then the week after that I think in Tulsa. I got stuff up till September twenty second.
So you live out of a backpack in a lot of ways as short as I can.
You know, in the States, I'll leave Thursday, get there, you know, in time for the weigh ins and the fight Saturday, then go home and then the rest of my time I spend with my family. But you know, my wife and family have all been supportive because you know I'm following my dreams and I had to bring them with me.
How much prep do you do for whatever fighter you're working with? I mean we see, like historically we see guys have cuts, they some guys don't have cuts, some guys caught in certain areas. How much research do you do on the guys you work for research?
I don't you know it cuts, the cuts is gonna happen. I always prepare for worst case scenario though, right, So I good question. So every time, even though I know the answer, I go through all my supplies. I always have enough gauze and tape for five fighters, even though I'm working with one. Right, I always have enough supplies for five fighters. I make sure I have my medicine, my vasoline, my sandwich bags for the ice packs. I make sure all that is in line. And I always iron my outfits just because I got you know, some guys do crazy things. I always iron my stuff. But that's the preparation. And when I sit down with these young fighters, I'll say, look, my whole job. I'll tell the coach and the team just give me the right side, give me their face, and you guys do everything else. And I tell that young kid. You know, psychology is a big thing. Is that. I want you to walk out as handsome as you walk in. You know. Vladimir kritsko o God, I wish I can. I when he fought Anthony Joshua, I gotta tell you this story. I didn't see him till Friday. At the way. It's because my daughter Carla has just gotten married in Crete. So I got there Thursday night and I see him and we're talking, me and him in Italy about the game plan, and finally at the end, I put my hand on his shoulder. I said, Vladimir, don't worry about nothing tomorrow. I'm gonna take care of you like you're my son. And I leave because I know they can't sleep at night. Right, Chris in front of ninety thousand crazy brids, which is like one hundred and fifty thousand somewhere else right, I'm putting the final Vassilene on him before Michael Buffer does the announcements, and I'm six inches away from him. He says, you could call me son. I give me chills. I knew I got into him, and yeah, he called me daddy, daddy. But then I asked him months later I saw him in Germany and I said, Vladimir that moment why he says, Stitch, there's very few people I trusted my life. You are one of them, you know. Vitally, as I'm saying goodbye to him, he puts his hand on my shoulder and I got a great picture of it. He says, Stitch, you've been with us for so many years. I love you. You are my brother. You are always welcome to my house. Since saying huh, I gotta let you listen to this message that Vladimir sent me. When I did the Creed movie, Michael always used me an advisory and he says, who should give away the WBC belt? So I explained to him Dose Suliman and all that. So I saw Maris show once Earl Spence fought Ugas, and I gave him the story. He says, well, let's take a picture and let's send it to the brothers, right, And Vladimir responded with this, I want to let you listen to it. It just it made me cry. Bro what.
My two fairit men, especially stage with whom I spent so much time talking and he actually saved my career on a lot of different stages.
If Stitsch wouldn't be in my corner, I would not make the record for twelve years big a champion. So that's so great to see you both.
And Stitch is the man.
That's great.
Insane, insane, Oh come on, man, that's that's and you know, and to do it because they're right in the heat of the battle, right for him to, for me to, I've taken them out of that moment of war into a moment of pleasure that meant everything to me. I got chills, and every time I let somebody hear it, I get chills. Remarkable.
When when a fight get stopped because of a cut, how much does that bother you?
Well, there's been times when I've suggested it. You know, I understand it. For performance wise, no, not at all. You know, for the fighter, you know, not too much, I must say, because if a fight is stopped, if it stopped properly, right then I could understand that because we got to protect these fighters and they could always come back for another day. If the fight is stopped for no a parent reason, that's a little bit of a different story. But it doesn't fall on my hands as much anymore because people know my credibility. So if they're gonna stop a fight, they're gonna have to be cover their bases pretty good. You know. Like while even the referee in the fights I did in Oklahoma, this kid is getting beat up and as a referee, Mark a Thousand comes towards to talk to him. He looks at me and I kind of give him a little nod of no, and he talked to the guy. He said, look, man, do you want to continue the guy I said nothing. He stopped the fight. But it's, you know, protecting these guys.
When you think back at all the fights you've done. You mentioned Marquez early on. What was the hardest cut, the hard you've had to work to keep a cut closed?
Yeah? This one, uh, this is an mma Jahuran Jonathan Gulett from Canada. Jaehuran took a knee from Jonathan Goulette. You know that big vein we have right between the eyes, Well, he popped that vein and that's when you do that, that's you're not gonna stop it right there. I've never seen so much blood in my life in a fight. It was so much blood that made me nauseated, right and when the doctor came and asked me what I thought, is no problem? I could stop it right, I'm cleaning them up and all that. Well, I put the final mixture of vasselin with a dryandic chloride as a topical. It bled right through it, just like a busted uh so but uh yeah, so that one right there, you know, was was kind of tough to work with and and uh he lost. But that Matt is at Randic of Tours Gym, So so that was that was pretty bad.
Were you working with Vitaly for the Lennox Lewis fight.
No, but told me if you would have been with me, I would have won that fight.
Do you think you could have closed that?
Yeah? Well you know what that No? Yeah, the one on top, yes, control it. But the one that was the problem was the one in the mouth. The people forget about that. That one he bled so much that you start who just sees the child mal detainer scenary where you get all this blood goes into your throat. That one was bad. And uh but yeah, I've worked on those cuts plenty of types.
When you when I when you go into a fight, what's the area that is your biggest challenge? Like if you if a guy gets cut. What part of the face the guy gets cut? Him like, man, I'm don't have to do my work.
Yeah yeah, right air from him right there. But that one that vane in the middle, boy, you know, you don't want to pop that one, you know. And and and that's a good question because when you have multiple cuts, then you got to go with the priorities. The ones on the cheekbone, on the nose. Uh, those are the priorities. The one on the nose. I did when when the when Terrace Crawford fought I was a guy from Australia when he fought him in Vegas. I came in as a Jeff Horny, jefforn as an analyst for ESPN and Jeff horn got a cut on his nose. I said, man, those type of cuts you can't stop because there's nothing but cardleage there. I said, that's uh, that's what we say. It better you working on it than me. So you don't want those kinds of cuts. You just they make a cut man look bad.
Yeah, has the It's like any other kind of medicine. I'm sure the technology changes over the years, their new tricks, the trade. I mean, how much is have you evolved as a cutman since the beginning.
Yeah, I've been through every scenario, you know, I've been through broken bones. I've been through. But the stuff you use, well, yeah, it's the Everything is based on the Athletic Commission number one. There's three items that are authorized before now here in the adam pretty much everywhere. Adrenaline cro I won one thousand vessel constricted that's what I'm one. Aviatine and thrombin are coagulants. And now I introduced a gosspad called quick Aid that's one hundred percent natural and doesn't require prescription. And what it does you put it on the cut and it dehydrates it. All these companies always send me stuff to try, and that one works the best. And you know, to get a prescription for the medications we use is almost impossible, and they're expensive. Bottle of adrenaline that was like three hundred bucks. This this gospad quick aid and you get that. A cutment cupman for higher supplies dot Com water meters by the way he does, he has it. That's everybody should have it because it doesn't require skills. All you do is put it on the cut and leave it there for the duration of the round and it'll dry up that blood.
And those are the other than that, there's not a lot of new science to it is that applicate.
Everything's based on application. Literally everything is based on how you do it and when you do it and saving seconds. You know, and you look at fights. I always study fights, and you know, if you get to the fighter within seven eight seconds, that's good because you get basically have forty minute, forty second, forty five second maybe fifty right, And like say, if a fighter cutting and the bell rings and he's at the other side of the ring, I'll go meet him over there and I'll be applying pressures. I take him to his corner and sit him down. So you kind of you're working on seconds.
When you go into a fight. Do you hope to be busy or not busy?
Bernardo asked me on the ESPN fights, Combosa's got cut. I said, what do you think? It's a piece of cake. I love this stuff. You know, I'm waiting for cuts. You know, I don't mind. I don't mind the anticipation and but just to work. And I saw the tapes because I was in Tokyo. I saw him this morning and you know. I know people look at the applications. The applications that I that I applied were applications that work at its highest level.
So when you think back at all the years you've been doing it, what are your favorite memories of this job?
God, I got tons bro We could sit here for hours and I could tell you stories with just about every fighter I've worked with, but working with the Klitschals was like tremendous. That's a great experience. I in nineteen December the twelfth, nineteen ninety two, Vitelli says night, I said ninety one. He says night too. When the Soviet UNI first broke, we took a team of professional boxers and kickboxers to Kiev, Ukraine to fight them, and I had a Mark Longo, a kickboxer at that time. That was a great journey, you know. And then now to find out that I started working with them when they started training in Vegas, and then they did Ocean's eleven with LENNYX. Sluis when the casino were well. I was Vladimir's cupman in the movie right. And from there I see a manager Stuart at an HBO fight. He's walking into the arena and I'm watching people walk in and he looks at me, says, Stitch, I want to talk to you about Vladimir rubbing his eyebrow. And I look at my buddy, Steve, I said, did you see what I saw? Well, the next day he called me, says, Vladimir wanted the guy that was a cupman in the movie to be his cupman for the fights, and that was me, you know. So that's how we got started on that. Working with Emmanuel Stewart was unbelievable, you know, I unbelievable just to say I did eight years with him in the trenches, with not only him, but Jonathan Banks and and and other fighters that he had. You know, he just a master of what he did.
Who are the craziest guys you've worked with?
Uh?
Not?
Actually?
You know what did you get to work with Tyson?
No? I didn't. I know. I did patch for Mike. So I'll tell you this story. So I tell you so, Mike Tyson had just I think he had just left Teddy Atlas and Panama Lewis was with him. So I used to do pats because I was a trainer. When I went to Vegas, I didn't come to be a trainer because I had an eight to five job with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco company. Uh So I came as a as a comment, but I could do pats and I was very very good at that. Panama Lewis brought me in to do pads for Sultan and uh T Moore bruckamoff the Russian guys, and you know, so Johnny Tappey, I did past for him and all these guys, and so Panama called me to do pads with Mike, and I would have been glad just do one day at work. I did two days, two weeks of work with him, and that was good. This guy took a picture of us, and that's some bitch wanted to so out to me for fifty bucks. Man, I'll tell you knowing now, but anyway I did that. So yes, So anyway, this one guy goes and tells Mike that Black out of work with Black and Mexican's out of work on Mexican. And I approached them in front of Panama. I'm chewing them out big time, and Panama, being as loud as he is, didn't say it work. You know. So that was a pleasure, you know, So I got to do two weeks of work with Blake and you know, I send you a piece on this film that I did twenty three years ago, Bro, and it blows my mind. We were gonna do a video. Well, I did an interview on how I wanted to do videos and the wrapping hands, simple things. You know. Educate with this young kid, John Bart, and I said, just graduating from the American Film Institute. Twenty three year old kid contacted me and said, hey, man, I'll be glad to help you. That was during the weekend when David Ewis fought Lennox Lewis. Bro. I interviewed so many people on the ills of boxing, and we put a little film together called Boxer's Nightmare. Well, we never did nothing with it. Right. Well, he odd about four months ago on Phetanah and Meth and they lived in Denver and I hand seeing this film and that. But I looked at it and I'm thinking, oh shit, man, everybody hears Hall of Famers and every issue that pertains to boxing. We addressed it with simple solutions and at I looked at it and I thought, wow, man, now it affects MMA, dementia, pigialistica contracts, good time, everything, Everything that is hurting boxing now is now spilling over into MMA. And you know, I've been gone from MMA for eight years. And then those guys didn't have dementia, punch drunks and slurg speech and all that. The guy fast forward guys I run into. I could see the pattern of change. You know. I just spent Joey Torres. Do you remember Joey Torres. He's a young he's a young guy that killed his manager and spent forty for forty years in prison. Well, he picked me up at the airport yesterday. We spent time together, and his life that he went through was insane, you know, and I'm thinking, wow, man, just a lot of crazy things.
So you think you'll ever retire from this job?
Now? You know? It's in getting up and down the ring. People ask me about that. It's I'll stop that when the mechanics starts slowing down. It's not fair to you know. But no, I'll continue on the health and safety education. I'll take the smart way of working on this type of stuff. And now I gotta die in this ring, bro, you know, might die in my bed, but it's it's that's my ring. You know, now it's not even a job picking tomatoes, picking peaches, picking pigs, picking cotton. You know, all that was a job. This is this is a piece of cake. It's a pleasure. Every time I look, I thank God. It blows my mind, you know, to do the things that I'm doing, and and at what level I'm doing it at it's crazy, and people stop me all over the world. You know, I'm on the plane coming back from Tokyo and hey man, I started they showing Creed three on the movie the plane. Hey man, you're that guy hunt. They're coming up to be you. No, it's it blows my mind.
Oh if you whenever you want to stop doing cuts, you can just stay in the movies and keep doing that over.
The You know, I've been in seven movies, bro, and I've never I'm not in an actor and I've gotten I mean, I did Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas, Played to the Bone my first one, right, I was, I was. I wanted to be with Antonio Banderas, and my Chuck Boda got in front of me, so I ended up with Woody Harrelson, right, But in the movie Played Played to the Bone, Woody gets cut and you got the best cut man in the business, and chuck saying, damn, man, you got the cut man. You know I did that, and you know I mean with three were Rocky, I did Baboa and with Antonio Tarbor and one two three, I did Uh Here Comes to Boom with Kevin James, some Iyatt, Henry Winkler mm A movie, And yeah, it blows my mind. I just got a pension plan from SAG. Really, I didn't even know I had it coming.
They sent me, They.
Sent me a check. I didn't know nothing about that. I every time they asked me to be a SAG member, I said, no, no, I'm not an actor. I'm not an actor. But in creed to the production paid for it. I said, man, you're an actor. You know, had my own trailer and all that. So yeah, it's it's I told you, it's a black mind blower. I'm always at lou Chicano growing up as a farmer. You know, it just shit happens.
No question, Stitch.
I love it.
I'm glad we got the chance to catch up. I appreciate your time. I love hearing these stories. I could hear a million more. I appreciate you taking this time.
Man, it's a pleasure to thank you. You know, when I told my wife Chris Panix call me, and she's in Mexico right now. I got an interview with Chris Pantics. That's big time. See that stuff like this.
That's what blows my mind hearing the stand.
But but you know, I tell people, you know, it had to happen to somebody. I just happened to be that somebody's way. I look at it. I love it. Man.
Well, good luck at these upcoming fights.
Thank you,
