TIM TSZYU & ANDREI MIKHAILOVICH – Boxers on the brink

Published Jun 19, 2024, 5:14 AM

In a two guest episode Tim Tszyu gives Ben Damon his first detailed chat since withdrawing from the Vergil Ortiz Jr fight and the colourful Andrei Mikhailovich discusses his upcoming world title shot with Janibek Alimkhanuly.

This is the Main Event Boxing podcast and is your host Ben Damon. Hello and welcome to a two guest episode of the Main Event Boxing Podcast. Firstly, I'm going to chat to Tim Zoo about the crazy and disappointing year he's had so far. He gives an update on his recovery from that gruesome cart which he sustained against Sebastian Fondora, and his plan for the rest of twenty twenty four where he wants to have two fights after that. Upcoming middleweight world title contender Andre Mikhaylovich, the Russian born KIWI, has one of the most fascinating backstories in boxing and can be a very colorful and entertaining interview subject, as he proves in this episode. And in July he gets his world title shot when he takes on the IBF and WBO champion jannebec alim Hanula in Las Vegas in a fight you can watch live on Fox Sports on Sunday, July fourteen. Thanks for finding us, Please rate, review, and share this episode. This is the Main Event Boxing Podcast. Well, it's been a frustrating year for Australia's Tim Zoo, who lost his world title in agonizing circumstances in Las Vegas and then had to withdraw from his big fight against Virgil Ortiz.

Tim Zoo joins me.

Now, Tim, how do you look back on how twenty twenty four has been for you so far?

It's been a roller coast of this so that ups and downs, but I guess I'm staying positive.

Take us back to Las Vegas. You've had a good amount of time to reflect on what happened against Sebastian Fundora. What do you look at when you think back to that fight and everything that happened, the savage cut, all the decisions that were made around it.

How do you look back on it.

I didn't lose the fight.

I felt like, you know, thinking back to it, given the circumstances that I was put through, that I've put myself through.

You know, there was a hard fought fight.

The better man on the night, but again it was lessons learned and next time I'll be even better.

Was there a moment in the fight where you remember just thinking I can't deal with this blood, I can't see what's happening. I probably shouldn't be here. Or were you just trying to get through moment by moment man.

In all honesty, as soon as it happened, it was my first sort of reaction was I was in a bit of a I guess a state of shock.

I remember just going down like that, and I just saw this fountain of blood just rushing through, and I was like, this can't continue on.

But at the same time, in my head, I was like, the way I felt in front of him and the way I dominated him, I was like, I got this in the bag. So it was it was a mixed, mixed top of emotions where the next round, I can I come in and it's more like I can't go with my game plan, I can't do this and that, and I'm more focused about stopping this this blood and then getting rid of it all over all over my eyes.

So that sort of rattled me.

But again that's that's an experience where you have to just sort of just be able to adapt and stick to the game plan.

In hindsight, we understand why you had that chance in round three to go and take him out because she looked so good in the first two rounds. But looking back to you go, oh gee, maybe they should have pulled me out after round three. Maybe we should have just gone home with the belt and that would have been the night. Obviously you would have kept going, you were a warrior. But do you think you should have been pulled out?

Nah? No, Look, if my coach pulled me out, I would have had the ships. Let's just say that due to the fact that I knew what I could have done, and I still believe it was it was my mistake. I still believe that if I just eliminated that distraction, I could have got him out.

It's a serious wound, steal the sky you've got on top of your head. How's it feeling, and how's it traveling in the moment, because I think you've still got to get clear and start you to start sparring again. Yeah.

Yeah, it's just still a bit of raw. In all honesty.

This, I don't think the skin has completely come come closed like that together.

Yet. As soon as I came back from Thailand, I was pumped.

Man. I went and did a little bit of a training camp in Thailand, and I was I was just super psyched. And and then yeah, seen the doctor and and saying that I can't spy.

It sort of gave me the shits.

Did you know that that was on the cards. Was it seeping or was it just not looking right the cat?

No, Like for me, it doesn't bother me, you know, man like I'll fight for anything.

It doesn't really bother me.

But again, professional advice and apparently these doctors know what they're talking about.

How frustrating was that, though?

Because she had this big fight in August against Virgil Orates on this big card, a chance to make everything right for the year, and then you had to pull out of that fight.

How did that feel?

Oh? Look, it was.

Gonna be the This would have been the fight, you know, this is the fight that all the fans wanted to fight that I wanted, you know. So the fact that I was delaying it, not delaying it, but going away from it, it's something that I've never done. So it was frustrating. But then again, when one thing happens, you know, another thing can pop by. So hopefully, fingers crossed, something good happens in the next month or so.

Yeah, So you've got to pass another test to you for doctors to allow you to SPA at some point soon? Do you do you know when that is and when is the earliest that you could possibly be in the ring.

Not sure, not sure. I think there's still another what.

Three weeks of no no head contact at all, so maybe even I think it was I forgot the date exactly when they were telling me that I can start sparring.

But yeah, again, nothing's on the date.

I've got no date. It's a weird feeling to be in this position because I'm always active, I'm always looking for fight. It's always got that next project, that next task, that next victim, and unfortunately right now I don't have anything.

Yeah, I think you've got to wait till sometime in July to get that test and hopefully get back to sparring. Who do you want to fight next then, because there's a lot happening while you're out of the ring. But I'm sure there are names, and there's obvious the interest from you. There's a lot of conversation happening around you. But what would you like to come back to?

Oh?

Look, the ultimate goal for me is obviously the Belts, obviously the biggest names. But I would love to fight what's his name from the winner of Fundora the suspense. It's another mega fight right there, you know, and whoever's up there the fight that the fans want to see you like, I'm always up for a cracking fight.

Well, it looks like Sebastian Fundora and Erold Spence will fight in October, so I'm sure you want to fight around that same time, don't you when you come back, So there's going to have to be someone in between. Would you like to fight on that show or would you rather fight back here in Australia?

What's your preference?

Man? I'm easy. I'd love to fight in America.

But at the same time, if we can bring it down home, down under here, why not.

There's another world champion in the division in back from murders alive. He's got the IBF world title. That's a fight that seems to make some level of sense, doesn't it.

Yeah, if if it's possible, if they can make it happen, another belt, you know is I can never complain about that.

What do you think happens in the Fundora and Spence fight?

Uh?

Look, in my opinion, Fundora's tour.

And he used it to his advantage against me.

I don't think he's the best fighter.

He's got physical attributes that work well for him, but as a as a as a box of skill wise, I think Erol Spence having comin, so you think Spencer Spence er Errol Spence is again, he's in his own little I don't know. I don't know what capacity he's in. You know, he's he hasn't been the same ever since the car crash. In my opinion, I don't think he's ever recovered from that.

Have you got any advice for Erol Spence? I know he's not your best mate, but just to avoid the elbows is that the key?

Yeah, just don't go for the elbows and you should be sweet.

What about the fight between Terrence Crawford and Israel Madramov. You were meant to be a part of that show, Unfortunately you're now not. But they are fighting for a WBA title in your division.

What do you think happens there?

Look, I think it's a big fight for Crawford to move up another weight division.

But Ma Mademir of his name joke, he's awkward.

He's got a bigger amateur pedigree, so you know he's going to bring something that I think Crawford has made.

I don't know, it hasn't seen maybe before we'll see. We'll see. It's an interesting fight. As well.

So you've been asked for two tips and you've given us nothing. Between Fundora and Spence and Crawford and Maderam of you don't know who's going to win either fight.

Oh, if i'm picking, I'm picking Spence and I'm picked King Crawford.

And then you'd like the winner ideally, So you'd like to fight what Errol Spence next if you had your choice out of everything that pans out. Is that the fight that you want down the road Spence with the Belts? Or are you still going to Crawford.

Yeah, I'd love to fight Spence first.

Because of the bad blood that sort of existed between the pet No.

I think that there's a Stylistically, I think it's a great matchup.

How was it training with your father and being reunited with your father in Thailand for that camp before you knew that your fight was off.

It was good. It was good.

It was a good, good time spent. He definitely tried to push me overboard a couple of times. I was coming back home from training and head spinning and I'm like, right, whatever, I want to push through, you know, I want to see see how far I can get.

But it was good fun and then it was good to see that.

Did you have to try and show no weakness? Was that the key in training with him? Were you trying to prove to him that you're a man now?

No?

No, no, no proving He he just used to say, oh I could do this for an hour, I could do this.

I was like, all right, I know where he is. Let me prove that I can do it as well.

So everything that he said that he used to be able to do, I had to do it as well.

I don't know if he was talking shit or not, but who knows.

He didn't have your standing on your head for particularly long periods of time and damaging that cut any further?

Did he a key back in the day?

Actually I did that once. I'm not sure if.

Tim good to catch up with you. It's been a little while, but do you have a message for all of Australia that was so excited about this big fight in the boxing world really, that were so pumped to see Tim Zoo Virgil Ortiz, Do you want to have something to say to people about what's coming up and what they've got to look forward to with you?

Yeah, I think I'll be back sooner. Other than later. I'm still aiming for two fights this year.

And when you take two steps back, you're going to take another ten steps forward. So expect a big end of a year for me.

And do you think you've grown as a person or as a fighter out of all this experience, out of all this disappointment and frustration. Because I know your father in particular, he looks at his losses and what they gave him. It's not really a loss in a way, what you had against Fondora, But do you think it may help in the long run.

To a certain extent, you know, like I didn't come out as a loser. That's what I felt, you know, like I felt like I was the better man, but I wasn't able to, I guess, prove it to the exact point.

So I'm not a loser.

I'm still a winner and I will get my throne back once for all again.

All right, team, we look forward to seeing you back in the ring, mate, and.

We'll see soon.

Thank you.

That is Tim Zoo.

We look forward to seeing him back in the ring as soon as possible. Charismatic KeyWe Andre Mikaylovich has his world title shot. In fact, he's fighting for two world titles in July in Las Vegas, and I'm very pleased to say that. Andre joins me now for a chat from his training base in Aubury on the New South Wales Victorian border. Andre, great to be talking to you. How you're feeling so close to what is clearly the biggest fight of your life.

First of all, hey, Van, nails are going. It's good to see your beautiful face again. And I'm feeling, like you know, I'm feeling amazing as usual. I'm not gonna stay that I'm not fortunate to be here in Aubrey. I think it's a fantastic players and I think you know, when you're gonna fight for a world title, you might as well do all the one.

Percentage to the best of your abilities.

So finding a new sense for a new home for time being and Aubrey and you know, dotting the eyes and crossing the t's is really bored. So it's fantastic being here working with Mark Jensen, and we've got a lot of good sparing partners here and everything, so I'm a happy duck man.

Yeah, tell us about this super camp you've got going on there and some of the names that have come along to spa with you and help your preparation and clearly help theirs as well.

What is going on there in Aubrey.

Well, we got Paulocuso here at the moment, we got Wade Rain coming, we got Taj Thing coming as well, ki Ki's coming, KICKI Latore Sorry is coming. We've got Shanel Dargan here, Isaac obviously is here, and Mark Jensen and Leo the Lion, which is Mark's fighter as well. So I got I've got an amazing team around me working for the one goal of me winning a world title.

And it's real honor sharing camp with everybody. I'm really really enjoying it now.

This fight against Gannabeck Alan Hanula, it has been around for a little while.

We've known about it, it's been talked about.

There's been the possibility that you were having a world title eliminated and this will opportunity came up. How have you felt watching Janna Beck having a look back at what he's done so far as a professional, because he's considered a bit of a boogeyman in the division, but he's someone that you're very keen to face.

I think boxing is about perspective. If you look at someone like a boogieman, he'll be a boogeyman.

If you look at him like a man of two arms, two legs, you'll be a man of two arms, two legs.

I have that most respective for him as a champion.

You know, he's obviously got the WBO and IVF titles, and I think in a wonderful image career, and he's got a solid brokerer developing as well. So he's just like me. He's training his job as to be a professional fighter. My job is to be a professional fighter.

So fire. He's got two of the Infinity zones.

But you know my job as iron Man is to click them off the famous So it's all good man, That's just what I do.

Is that the nickname you got to go within the lead up to this fight? Iron Man? Are you happy with that?

Iron Man?

I'm just Andrew mckailevich. Bro I'm just happy with me. I'm happy at my own skin. I don't need to be anything I'm not. I'm okay with who I am. Whether you admire me, love me, hate me, it doesn't bother me. You know, I don't have to. I think commentary from other people kill characters, so I don't remember me dying yet, so I guess my character is still here.

In this part of the world. We all know about you. We've really enjoyed your journey. Obviously, your boxing has been brilliant, and we've seen you in some fantastic fights, some great performances.

You've gone viral at times.

But around the world they don't know much about you, and you will have seen well you may not have that. Once this fight was announced, a lot of people were saying.

Who's this guy? How do you feel about that?

About the fact that this section of the boxing world that you're about to enter, they don't know you and they might underrate you.

To be honest, I'm a wholehearted opinion. I really don't give a fuck. I don't know if I'm not to swear or not, But like, to be honest, I don't read comments, I don't read articles.

I have no idea.

I've got no sense of pulse of the boxing community. Sometimes on YouTube I've got YouTube Premium, sometimes the occasional boxing c will come up and I watch that. But man, like I'm too busy, Like I don't I worry about myself first and foremost. You know, if I'm in a race, do you think I'm worried about the guy running next to me?

Or I'm all worried about myself.

I don't really worry about what they say or this say, or this or that. I'm Andrew Man and I'm happy to be me, and you know I am the dark horse of this division. I feel one d percent. I feel, you know, everyone's led down their beds and I'm an.

Underdog at the moment.

But when I win, the guy that'spend their money on me is going to be a lot richer. So I'm comfortable with people not knowing who I am, because when I went thirteen from July, everyone's going to I want to know who I am, and then I'm going to not want anyone to know who i am. So no matter how you have it, you always want something else. So it is what it is mean.

Do you think it helps you the fact that you are coming from a bit of obscurity. Do you think that he might underestimate you, he might not consider you to be a realistic chance of beating him. We've seen so many magnificent upsets over recent years for Australian boxes, for international boxers. Do you do you place yourself in that game an Australian boxer. Well, you're welcome to be an Australian boxer. I was talking about some of those that we've seen from Australian boxers. But Andre, we're happy to claim you. Do you want to do you want to join? Do you want to be a part of the Australian boxing movement?

You know what's interesting is I've always felt it hard to represent the flag full commitment.

I am a Russian that was born in Russia. You know, I have a then I entered your.

Zealand and that so it's very hard for me. Is that I really say which country I represent? But to be honest, I'm happy representing myself with my own flag, which is right here.

Okay, for those who were just listening to this, he just held up his hands. That is the Andre Mkaylovich flag. Please tell us, and I know we've discussed this before, but you do have one of the most remarkable backstories in world boxing, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of international boxing types tuning in to have a watch or a listen to this. Can you just share with them your incredible life that you've experienced so far that has brought you to this point where are you're about to fight for a unified world title.

So I think you're going to want me to touch on the fact that I've adopted and they come from orphanage in Russia, and that mean my twinter adopted and that led to a lot of trauma in my life, a lot of therapy and a lot of counseling. I got into lots of fights because of it, and it's been a real hard time along with the bullied and everything. You want me to say that all of that accummulated at this one moment, which is going to make mental a megasar.

Is that what you're going to say?

Well, no, I don't want you to say that.

I want you to just tell us about your journey because it is an incredible one under you have to admit, and I know that you might be sick of talking about it to some extent, but to have come from a Russian orphanage, to be adopted into New Zealand, and then to have had those difficult formative years where you had struggles with substance abuse and alcohol as a young man, and then to have emerged on the other side, is not only a world title contender, but also a father and someone who is as confident in your skin as we are seeing that you are today.

It's it's quite a journey, you have to admit.

I think.

I think there's a lot to be said about my life. You know, people wonder. I'll ask Histion recently when you when you finished up with your boxing, what do you want to be remembered as. I just want to be remembered as Andrew Mkainovitch. I think my name stands for itself. I think it's hard to talk about my life because this is my life we're talking about. It's not like we're talking about a fictional character.

You know.

And the more I talk about my life, the more people get to dissect it. So it's it's something that's my life is personal. I sometimes I honestly regret saying that I was from russiroom adopted in that because it makes me into this bohemios bohemian RAFs city boy likes you know, It makes me into that poor child, you know that's fighting from nothing and yet to some extent I am.

But it's also a part of me that.

Is actually relatively private and a pilgrimage I haven't actually gone on yet, so you know, I think that my life and journey has been pretty awesome.

But it's also my life.

We're talking about hair, it's not it's not something else's life, and it's something that you know, I still have my demons tuess day. There are still things I'm still struggling to deal with and trying to get over in terms of, like, you know, character developing and all that.

But it's all good. I think. Meanwhile, my book has read one day.

I think, you know, I hope children and I hope the youth of tomorrow really draw from, you know, something I've done. But that's not for me to say. I think that's for the people that come after me to say.

Do you think that those things that you just touched on and what you've been through do they help you in your boxing? It's a sport that that takes a lot of character, and clearly you've developed plenty.

I think if I think I'm good at boxing, and I am, you know, I'm relatively humble, I'm I think I'm pretty good at boxing. I think there's two factors that play a huge part. One I think you need to have that thick Russian skin. You need to come from a plan like the land of the ice and cold. I think that develops character, you know, living in that sort of environment. And I may even lived there for eighteen months, but that's in my DNA. And I also think being adopted gave me a sense of you know, being adopted is not the best thing in the world. It's tough for any child or foster child or anything out there. I completely understand it. But one thing you need to understand that you have this beautiful blank canvas. You don't you're not in debt to your parent like yeah, something that you are, But you have this blank canvas when you get to to create whoever you want to be, whether it's you want to be such and such a pain as such and such a builder, such and such as a musician, you can be anything you want.

You're not.

Your core efics and values aren't predetermined on who your parents are, something that you can really make it into your own. I don't know if that quite makes sense, But you have this blank canvas and it's really up to you to be the artist and color and the life of the light of your life.

I guess we've spoken previously about how close you are to your parents in New Zealand and obviously your brother. What's the reaction and the response being like to this old title shop because they all know how long you've been building towards this moment.

I think, well, there's like two sides. It's double like a double edged sword.

One.

I have a rule in my house is we don't talk about boxing. So in fact, I none of my friends talking about about boxing. It's the one thing we don't talk about because I think in life, when you start to get pretty good at something, people want to talk to you about it. And I think, you know, when you've been talked to about the what same thing over and over again for years, it gets a little bit like, you know, it's really flattering also to say that, but it's like, imagine Ben, you've had a hard day at Foxtowl and you've worked your bum off and you've gone interview after interview, and then old Maate goes, so, how was it interviewing such and such today? And you get that same conversation over and over again. But one thing I will say is I know I can feel there's a sense of excitement around what I'm doing, and I feel there's a sense of pride within my family when that is my mom and dad and everybody, and also a pride which comes with my pitch boxing family too. I think we've all worked really hard to get here, and really on the fact that the parent my parents Fuller massel I live in New Zealand.

They did an amazing job raising me.

And I learned a lot of my dad's discipline, and I learned a lot of my mom's like.

Color.

You know, my mom's a very colorful, awesome person, So I got the best of both words.

Really, there's an edge to you at the moment, Andre.

Is that because we're so deep into this camp and because this big fight is coming up? Or is this the person you're going to take to the United States? Is this the version they're going to see? Because sometimes in fight week you're quite colorful and quite entertaining and quite.

Loose and having fun.

There's an edge to me.

Yeah, there seems to be an edge to you at the moment.

Yeah, your edge, bro.

And for those just listening, he just flexed his left bicep for us, and you are looking in fantastic Nick, Andre but is that fair to say there is there is a certain edge to you at the moment.

I think more of a focus and nassiness.

I think, you know, this is my life's work, and this is the accumulation of like eleven hard years of black eyes, blood noses, hiding's, beatdowns and wins and losses. So if anything, it's I think it's a hyper focus. I think that's all it is.

Yeah, I like it's important.

You have to be focused, like no matter what's happened before now, and nothing matters up until this point. If I if I don't do what I'm going to say I do in this fight, then it was all a kind of for nothing. So I need to really make sure that I do my due diligence. That I say professional twenty four seven, and professionalism means resting well, eating well, spiring well, training well, running well, talking well. You know, being professional is really important to me. And I also think I haven't been in the media a lot over the last like I've only had two fights in like two years or something like that, So I think you guys kind of forgot what the Prodigal Son was about.

Now I haven't forgotten Andreia I'm enjoyed talking to you again. It's always interesting and we often see different sides to you. But is there a part of you as well? Think that's preparing to go to the US. You're about to go to Las Vegas. There'll be a lot of media interest in this fight. It's a big top rank event, it'll be going around the world. Are you sort of stealing yourself for that process?

If there's little city ever built for me to fight, and I'll probably Vegas if you think about how I perform and maneuver in that, I think Vegas is just like, yeah, of course I was meant to fight there.

And I think when.

You're talking to me like I'm just me twenty four seven, there isn't many like facetsal sides to me. It's just my I don't know if it's like my biggest I don't know if the customers right. I don't know if the right word is. But I am very like if I feel a certain way, that's.

How I am there.

If I'm overly excited or happy, that's how I'm going to be. If I'm in a shitty mood or in a shitty mood. It's something that I've had to learn to deal with. You know, if I'm a focus on focus, if I'm sad, I'm sad and I just am that that's very hard for me to like break their mold. So I guess today you're just catching the real focus vision of me. And that's what it is. But uh, in terms of fighting in Vegas and that, I think it's going to be like any other fight week and I'm not going to oversinceestionalize it. I'm just gonna go from the Airbnb to like the media airbnb to training airbnb to this airbnb to fight. It's it's just going to be like, to be honest, you know, if you've been to Aubury, You've been everywhere. I think Vegas is just another city. It's like I don't even know where the Aubrey was, Bro, I know it was person was And you know that doesn't really matter.

Bro.

It's the environment's important, but it's fucked you to like take what you can get out of it. And yeah, I think it's exciting I'm going to Vegas, but this is what I do. This is what I've been training for years for and yeah, I'm just living my dream.

Really, the temperature in Aubury might be a little bit different to Las Vegas, say.

For degrees here and I got my top off. How's that for nity?

You're also drinking coke before you had a.

I've given you, I'm giving you up.

Is something that's common to these there, he goes, he's sculling it his coke.

Now is that because my.

Food at all? Did you see that I cooked out myself? No? You just look at my coke.

That's coke zero and that's got two calories per like every liters. So me having a glass of coke at about twelve o'clock, a couple one o'clock, a couple holes before I train, I.

Don't think that's going to hurt me. I think what's going to hurt me is the fact.

That people say I'm drinking coke when it's making them a big deal, when it's just a couple of coke.

You know, did you ever be here last night? Did I complain about that?

Absolutely not?

What else is planned for the rest of this little trip in Aubury?

Have you got? Is there sparring today tomorrow? What have you got going?

Yeah?

I got spyring tonight. I got what's first? I got spirrying tonight, Friday, Saturday, Sunday off. Then I got a lot of partner workings. Fine, next week, this is ours, this is our big block of was fine. Well, we're over here, so I think that's good and I'm very trained.

This morning.

I've done my hells and send pads this morning, so I've just had a bit of time out this afternoon to do my own thing.

And cook and clean a little bit and do the washing and chill out. What's Jack Reacher. So it's been all good. It's actually been relatively relaxing.

Obviously I missed my kids more than anything, but they understand that daddy's trying to win the world over here, so it's all good.

They do understand.

Well, you explain to your well, I told my son I was fighting for the world title, and he goes, does that mean I get a gold chain and Lamborghini.

I was like, I mean one's getting a Lamborghini. It's me, thanks, I want to buy a Lamborghini.

I'd actually buy a house first, because that's a said that's appreciates.

I think Lamborghini's appreciates.

I want to buy a lambert maybe very yeah, maybe someone Yeah, you can't say too much that sponsor.

No, no, that's that's that's fine. Anything else you want to give us. Andre It's been quite a journey even this interview.

What what what us? We got for us?

I just want to say, I'm going to look directly into this camera.

I just want to say to all the people in Australia and New Zealand around the world, I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate the support, the love, the hate, the disregard, the discuss that, whatever you feel towards me, because at the end of the day, whether you completely like me, you completely disagree with me, it doesn't matter, because one thing that I can tell about all you is is nobody will sit on the fence with me. You're either going to really appreciate me or really unappreciate me. You understand. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay. I'm completely okay with that. And mind you, if you were to comment on me, I probably wouldn't see it anyway, so it doesn't really affect me. It may make you feel pretty good if you've got stuff to say about me, but it's like a whisper in the wind to me, the wind blows and I do my things, so you know it is.

What it is. I trained hard. I back myself. You know, people go, oh my god, Danny Mack, this is such a hard fight.

How are you going to passibly down to ask? You know what, man, the fight of life is harder than thirty six winutes in a ring against a man of two arms and two legs. So for anybody fighting anything out there, bro, just know that what you're doing is amicable, it's respectable, and it's tough. And yes, I'm may be in this awesome privileged position and that does come through hard work. And for anybody out there that wants to like follow their dreams and stuff like that, as long as you can, like as long as you could back yourself. And I'll say back yourself, because that's the most important thing in the world. You got to back yourself, no matter what, one hundred percent, I wasn't meant to be anything in life, right usually seeing me at like fourteen thirteen and fifteen, bro, I was the bottom of the class where I was anes So I wasn't an English class. I was in this class that was English for speaking for a different air, Bro. They thought I was sah tired. They put me in a class because they didn't think I could speak English, could you know?

And now I was like, and they did that.

I wasn't the last man's class, bro, could you believe this? And then I became an engineer. I became a professional box saying I can talk color good too. So like, don't listen to anybody. You're going to have people that say, ah, do this, do that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, take it all on board. Take it on the board. You don't have to take it all on board, bro, take on the parts that you like. You may have ten people tell you ten different things. You know, Gareth, Steve, Margaret, Johnny, Timmy, Michael, David, Ben.

John and Liam.

They may all say different stuff, but David is the one that you like the most. To Just listen to him and give take his piece. Just be you man one hundred percent of the time, and no matter what, doesn't matter what happens in life, because we're all going to fucking die one day, so you might as well make the most of it.

Way. Yeah, honestly, I'm just saying this from the bottom of my heart.

Just live your life, have fun, and don't take just so seriously, you know, I see these people in these corporate as jobs right now.

I was there, so this is all professional. I need to get my cappuccino. Make sure I get that double shot. Decap the is like, who cares?

Bro Like, just have fun. If you do anything in life, have fun, enjoy it. Enjoy everything you do. Enjoy the fact that I'm here because I may be here today and gone tomorrow.

That's all I got to say for myself.

Fantastic.

I think that's the sort of energy you should take to loss by. I guess I think you're going to become a star over there, Andre Man.

I already am a star. You guys just can't see it because there's daytime.

Everyone has an opinion on your fight, and I know you're disregarding everyone else's, But what's your opinion what happens in this big fight when you fight for these two world titles?

Well, I think.

I think, undoubtedly in the bottom of my heart and the bottom of my soul, that this fight came at the right time for me. I think if you'd given me this fight a year earlier, I wouldn't have been ready. If you've given to me six months earlier, I wouldn't have been ready. I've been for enough trials and should be through life to get to this point to understand that, Okay, I'm ready for this. You know I got I got given this fight, this amazing opportunity by the my no limit.

And you know, it.

Wasn't a sense of the first feeling I felt wasn't a sense of like holy shit.

I was more of a sense of like, yeah, I'm mommy to be here. That's what I felt. It wasn't like this.

I was looking at the bottom of a river from the top of a cliff and looking down like four hundred meters. It felt like I was looking at it like a point five meter jump into a swimming pool. I was just like, ah, sweet, this is like what I meant to do. I felt like, you know, a duck to water. It felt like an eagle in the air. It just felt like, oh, finally I can actually do what I was always vincit. It feels like a big part of my journey obviously, But no, I felt great, and I feel I'm notably I'm going to win, and I think a lot of you guys are going to be surprised with what happens.

I already know that, Like people now, my gosh, he's so good. Yeah, but you know, just wait, just wait and see. That's all I'll say.

All right, we will wait and see. We cannot wait though for this fight. It's been great watching your journey so far on Ray. But this is the big moment and you've got plenty of people in your corner. I like the edge that you've got to you. I think it's going to serve you well, sneaking under the radar and taking this version over there to Las Vegas.

So the very best of luck to you, mate.

Thank you, goodbye Ben, Goodbye Fox South, bye bye.

Well.

That is the always entertaining Andre Mikhaylovich. He will fight against yannebek alan Hanula for two of the titles in the middleweight division in a fight that you.

Can see live on Fox Sports. I'm Ben, Damon. I'll see you at the fight.