Why Xander Zayas Is Fighting His Former Sparring Partner & Bruce Carrington’s MSG Dream

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2:39Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. What up? This is your boy, Roy Jones Jr. I'm hanging out with my man, Andre Ward. We two Hall of Famers will bring you all a show called the Hall of Game. A show where we discuss boxing, sports, life, and entertainment from our view.

3:09How much better than that can you get? Me and Roy don't always agree. the one thing you will get is a hall of fame worth the game welcome back to another episode of the hall of game where i'm excited to have young xander zayez on the show today he's a wbo junior middleweight champion who's already he ain't even been a world champion for a year and he's unifying against abaz barrow former sparring partner, two guys that frequent South Florida, and they're getting ready to fight for a whole lot of money, and they're doing it in San Juan, Puerto Rico. There's a lot of weight on Xander Zayas to carry that flag for Puerto Rico to defend and try to win another world title.

3:54Excited to have him on the show today. But I want to welcome to the show a young man, Xander Zayas, who is not a prospect anymore. He's not a contender anymore. He's a full-fledged world champion. Xander, thank you for coming on the Hall of Game. I want to welcome the WBO junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas, who has a title unification about January 31st against the WBA champion Abbas Barrow for a junior middleweight unification. Thank you for coming on, brother, and taking some time with us. And thank you guys for having me. It's a pleasure to be sitting here in front of two legends and being able to have a conversation with you guys.

4:33I'm just just excited for for the future holds and just being here so thank you guys man brother i've i've seen you grow up when i first started calling your fights on espn you were still in high school and i've just sat back and i've watched you and you've had the professionalism and the work ethic and the focus from the very beginning and it was very very surprising because you don't see that from a lot of young guys but i've seen you mature into a into a man and now a champion but you have a unification i mean you haven't even gotten used to having your wbo title and you're already unifying in the junior middleweight division against abbas borrow who's a former sparring partner a guy that you know very well i want you to talk about that but then it's also in san juan puerto rico and in puerto rico as you know there's there's rafters there of great great names former champions and former legends how How are you feeling as this fight is about two weeks away as you're getting ready to headline?

5:31Andre, I'm excited. I'm excited. It's everything that I've been asking for. Obviously, we know the task at hand. Abbas Barrao is not going to go into that fight thinking, oh, I'm just going to be a B-side and lose. He's coming to win. I mean, he's a champion. He's also defending his title for the first time. So I know there's a lot on the line, not just for me, but for him. So as a team, we are we put in the world. We put in every single shift coming into into this camp and and throughout the camp that two weeks out, I can tell you there's no questions to be asked. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to become unified world champion at 154 pounds and showcase what I've been saying and who I've been saying I am.

6:15So I'm excited. I'm really happy for for for everything and how everything is unfolding. and just ready to put on a show January 31st. Does it feel any different to you? I know it felt different for me being the hunter, being the one that's going to try to become a world champion. But once you get that strap, even though your opponent is a champion as well, does it feel different now having something that somebody else wants and being hunted? Andre, in a way, it doesn't. It doesn't. I'm still continuing to hunt. I'm still continuing to prove myself right every time. man, you know, that's my main goal.

6:54I don't have to prove nobody wrong. I just have to prove myself right. Everything that I say, everything that I set myself to, just accomplish it. And that makes me the hunter every single time because it's me against me now. I don't need to prove anything to nobody. I don't need to go in there doing something that I haven't done before. I've been doing this since I'm five years old. I got to continue to prove myself right. and that makes me the hunter every time in. Now, I got to ask you about Baro, right? This is why I didn't like guys in or around my weight class coming to spar with me because in the back of my mind, I said, I may see him one day and it may be for all the marbles.

7:39He's going to have a title, I'm going to have a title, or maybe I got a title, he's trying to get my title. How do you feel fighting a guy on this stage who knows a lot about you? He's been around you. y 'all spend time together and you guys have shared the ring for many many rounds well it's in a way it's it's part of the sport right because there's only certain people that you can bring into sparring that can imitate or that can um give you kind of a look of an opponent that you're preparing for and and and at the time that we were getting prepared for certain opponents he was the guy that we needed in camp and and in the back of our head it was like we knew that at some point we will meet actually actually so when he won his his title in in august or september i step into the ring and the first thing he tells me is i remember you told me that we were going to meet at the top so here we are and i'm like hopefully we can make it happen and obviously you know we made it happen now we're fighting in two weeks but but in the back of our head both of us we we kind of knew it was it was a sparring session but a little bit more to it you know it was kind of proving a point to each other like hey you're not ready for me this is what i'm gonna bring to the table so it was it was exciting smart sessions for sure zander how you doing brother i'm doing amazing roy thank you thank you for taking your time and and and it's a pleasure for me to be sitting here and have a conversation thank you but i didn't know much about you until spoma called me and said hey i'm fighting this guy zander zayas can you train me i said of course i can but I didn't really know much about Zander's eyes.

9:15And when I looked, I said, oh, my gosh, you're really fighting a tough guy. You understand me? So this is very hard for your first training camp with me because there's a lot to deal with here, you know. And for me, just to see you taking on fights like that, because at that time, Spoma was undefeated too, but you didn't care. You want to fight the best. You want to prove that you're the best. And again, I love to see guys with this much ambition going forward early in their careers. So what you fighting the guy you fighting now, you know he knows you. You know him. You showed him what you are.

9:43he showed you what he is but for you two guys to meet at the top like y 'all said has to be a dream come true right for sure this is a big dream for both of us and and again outside of the ring he's a gentleman outside of the ring he's a great guy um i got a lot of respect for him and his team and he's a great person but instead of that ring his business and and January 31st i gotta go in there and take care of business because it's my dream against his dreams. And again, it's about proving myself right every time in. So again, just excited because I know some things about him the same way he knows some things about me.

10:20But I also feel that every camp is different. Every preparation is different. Whatever I was preparing for when he was my sparring partner, it's not going to be the same thing I will be preparing for when I'm fighting him and the same way around so i feel like i'm gonna see a lot of things that are very similar and and then some things that are completely different going into the fight so i'm expecting that i'm expecting the best version of abbas you know a tough um fighter that is going to come forward is going to try to put pressure and and and to be honest i feel like that's the only way that he could have a chance against me he's not a better fighter he's not a better boxer than me and and and i'm polished you know i know how to adjust i think you know everybody have seen it throughout my career so again generally 31st i have a big task but i'm focused on on becoming unified i watched it firsthand because you really made some beautiful adjustments against my fighter when you fought him that time so i know that you're great at adjusting how soon will you be looking to try to unify for the whole division to get those other two belts roy being honest with you right now the only focus on my head is is Abbas Barrao January 31st right there's a lot of big names in the division there's a lot of big fights to be made in the division but none of that will matter if I don't do my job January 31st none of that not none of these names right now is bigger than Abbas Barrao and and why is because he has he has what I want he has the WBA belt he has the He wants to take the chance for me to rewriting history again.

11:59He wants to take the chance for me from making my dreams come true. So right now, that's the biggest name in the division for me and the only name that I'm worried about. That's awesome. That's awesome. Glad to hear that. Looking forward to a great fight from you. You've been showing nothing but the best of growth as you've been going. You've taken on the right fights. And I just can't wait to see what else you do in this division. Thank you, Roy. Xander, tell me about the switch, man. Tell me about the switch. You a nice guy. You always smile, even in training camp. I didn't smile that much in training camp.

12:28I got a little mean in training camp. But that's another story for another day. But you always smiling. But you're in a business that is very, very dangerous. You can lose your life. Guys are coming to hurt you and you have to do your job as well. What is the switch? How do you go from being Xander's eyes? Hello. Reaching out, shaking hands, kissing babies to all of a sudden trying to knock somebody out. What's that process? Andre, it's like you said, it's business. Outside of the ring, there's no need for me to be mean. There's no need for me to to try to create an animosity with nobody. At the end, we got to fight.

13:05At the end, we got to step into that ring and see who's the best. You and me, your team won't be won't be there to help you. Your your your dad, your cousins, none of that will matter. So outside of the ring, I'm going to smile at you and I'm going to say hi to you and I'm going to take pictures with all of the fans because that's what it's all about. You know, people sometimes don't understand that. Some fighters don't understand that. And they think it's always got to be business. And I like to be relaxed. I like to just be myself. But when when it's time to to to step into the ring, it's time to take care of business.

13:37He's not my friend. I don't know him. He's trying to take away everything from me and my family. So now I got to take care of him, you know. I know you locked in, but are you hearing anything about what's going on in Puerto Rico, the excitement, what the people are saying, how tickets are selling? Are you hearing anything? You've got to be hearing something. Yes, yes. So tickets are going very, very well. I feel like we're going to have a sold-out arena January 31st. Actually, the biggest festivities to what they say close out the Christmas festivities in Puerto Rico are happening this coming up weekend.

14:13And they're going to have like a costume-made person of me out there. So I know a lot of people is going to be excited for that. That's a surprise, though. A lot of people don't know. And being honest, it's a lot of buzz. A lot of people is texting me and calling me and telling me how good the tickets are going and how are they excited to go into the fight. So I feel like it's going to be a very, very good event, not just for me, but for the public. are you hearing about any legends, any legends that's going to be there from Puerto Rico? Before the fight, before the fight I had the chance to meet with Tito and Tito told me that he wanted to go.

14:57He's easy to get because he's there in Puerto Rico. So I, for my understanding, he is going. I'm not sure yet, but I'm pretty, you know, I'm pretty certain that it's going to be a lot of like, Amanda Serrano told me she was going to be there. I know, again, hopefully Dito is there, hopefully Cotto. So a lot of these guys hopefully are there. This past weekend, like every other Sunday, you were on the court with the guys playing ball. Just a pickup game, living out your hoot dreams. No triple doubles, but a mean set of threes. In between buckets, one of the homies mentioned, he closed on a new grid.

15:35This is big. And while everyone's asking about the housewarming and making plans to celebrate, you're asking the real question. Like, has he spoke to his State Farm agent yet about coverage? See, home ownership is one thing, but the right coverage is the real game changer. Even more than your last hot streak, it's how you protect your legacy. Dropping buckets and bars on the court, a State Farm agent can more than assist you with finding the right coverage for your new place. If you have a claim, your local agent can help you file it. Yep, that's right. over the phone, in person, online, or on the app.

16:13They're ready to help you. And they don't drop the ball, if you know what I mean. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20 % year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work.

16:46It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the S &P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities. Completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC-registered advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool.

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18:37You can even choose whether to use AI or click and edit things yourself until your website actually feels like you. Try it for free at Wix.com slash Harmony. That's Wix.com slash Harmony. You said it's easy to tune in because you're not my friend. You don't know them, right? But this time, it ain't your friend maybe, but you do know him. so is it going to be harder to tune in because this time is different not at all it's the same mentality he's not my friend and I don't know him I had the chance to spar but it's not somebody that I'm going to call at 8pm when something is wrong and I need some help or I need somebody to talk to in that sense he's not my friend like that he's your associate he's just an associate he's an associate that helped me to take care of some business before now they getting ready to take care of some business yeah i like it i like it i'm gonna let you i'm gonna let you go after this one you know sometimes when i hear you talk and you on your south florida stuff i don't hear you roll the r as much when you say i hear you more like puerto rico but then when you in Puerto Rico, I hear that Puerto Rico.

19:55I hear you roll that thing. Do you go back and forth, man? When you're in Puerto Rico, man, that thing sounds a little bit different. No, being honest, I feel like certain names, like Puerto Rico. For example, me being Puerto Rican, I have to say the right way. You got to roll the whole, yeah. Then, you know, some words in English, I can pronounce them in English, but there's some stuff that I got to pronounce how it is meant to be. So, yeah, no, that's why I say every time I speak, and even if I'm speaking English, French, whatever language I'm speaking, I owe it Puerto Rico because Puerto Rico is always going to be pronounced the same way.

20:33For sure. Brother, we appreciate the time on the Hall of Game, man. This is big, and it's a great opportunity, man. You've earned it, and I expect you to shine again January 31st. We're going to be tuning in. Thank you so much. Thank you, Xander. Yes, sir. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. we're gonna have on the show Bruce Shushu Carrington who at the moment is the WBC interim world champion but because Stephen Fulton didn't make weight in his last fight against Oshaki Foster his fight against Carlos Castro is now going to be for the WBC featherweight championship but this fight is at MSG this fight is right down the street from where he grew up in Brownsville Brooklyn, New York, and Brownsville specifically has had a host of great champions come through the sport of boxing.

21:20Shushu is trying to be another one. He's got all the vibes. He ain't got the down south vibe. He ain't got the Midwest vibe or the West Coast vibe. He's an East Coast, New York, Brownsville guy. Man, I'm really excited to have this young man on the show today. Man, I want to welcome to the Hall of Game one of the hottest young champions in the game, Bruce Shushu Carrington brother thank you for taking time at training camp I know it's not easy but thank you for tuning in with us today it's a pleasure man it's a pleasure I appreciate y 'all for having me Shushu you are the WBC interim featherweight champion right and this bout is going to be elevated to the full WBC title right thank god yes amen yes sir I wanted to make sure I got that right now you've been at training camp in Las Vegas man how have you been feeling you got a real fighter on the other side of the ring Carlos Castro we've seen him in action against Steven Fulton a lot of people thought he won that fight what are your feet what you feeling what y 'all seeing what's the game plan what's going on in camp man when I tell you like camp is going great this is probably the strongest I've been in camp the intensity obviously has picked up you know tremendously you know given the stakes of this fight I feel like at this moment everything is just you know hitting all cylinders this you know i'm saying um when it comes to carlos castro we have kind of really really breaking them broken them down in terms of his strengths and his weaknesses and um really came to the approach of something similar to what bud did when they came when they fought canelo i heard bo mac he talked about like a lot of people focus on opponents weaknesses but you know we focus on their own strengths because if you can take their strengths away then what do they got You know, so we've really focused on that and zoned in with that.

23:08I like Castro as well because he's really a tough guy. He's a really tough dude. He's very durable. Like you mentioned, he's fought against Stephen Fulton. A lot of people thought he won that fight. And he's a very, very legit name for me to be able to get to the next level and get that respect that, you know, I genuinely feel like I deserve this point in my career. So, yeah, I'm super excited, man. We out there in New York City with it too. You know what I mean? here it's gonna be a great show yeah yeah i'm gonna get to that right now so this this is not just an elevated bout where you go from interim to a full world wbc title not just against a tough opponent but brother you you you down the street you grew up in in brooklyn brownsville to be exact at msg the boxing mecca talk me through that what are you feeling about that and what type of show is shushu gonna put on i want you guys to understand this fight wasn't even gonna like turn out the way it was supposed to like i was supposed to just fight just fight for my you know defend my interim title in puerto rico you know i'm saying and uh just certain things just fell into place to where okay now you're in a shakur stevenson to card that's already a big card on its own and that card is in new york city and then that card is in the big room not the hulu theater like the small theater because i've fought there about seven times but i've never fought in the big So you're fighting in the big room.

24:28I'm like, all right, cool. That's what's up. Then Stephen Fulton, he misses weight when he fights for Paulster. And then he relinquishes his belt and vacates. And now I get elevated to fight for the world title. Like, it just seems like everything fell into place. And it's just, you know, it's divine, bro, at that point. And that gave me nothing but, like, energy and motivation to just be even more locked in for this opportunity. and yeah I'm definitely it's so much energy going into this and I can't even go to sleep sometimes like I'll be sleeping next to my wife and I'll be like I can't sleep I'm like getting tense stuff thinking about the fight she's like hey relax go to sleep like it's overtime work mentally right now and I already know that I'm gonna win this fight what's the balance though everybody on this show right now understands what I'm saying where it's a big moment, life changing situation that can take you to a whole nother level.

25:29It's in front of the home crowd. It's a lot of pressure. All the stuff you just mentioned, interim bill, going to an official WBC bill. You win this fight, the money go up. You got family members, you got friends, and you got some people that don't rock with you too. They're going to buy a ticket too because you know that's how it go for the hometown. But what is the balance between or how do you compartmentalize the moment? I'm eager, I'm ready, I'm excited, it, but I got a job to do. And I'm not a spectator. I am the event. How do you do that? Well, to be honest, I pray a lot. I pray a lot to keep my mind really stable and stay really grounded.

26:05You know what I mean? I really got to not get ahead of myself. I focus on not getting too much ahead of myself, thinking about too much of the future. You're like, all of that stuff is not going to happen if you don't take care of this. You know what I'm saying? I'm training my butt off each and every single day, waking up 3 o 'clock in the morning, training three times a day, and all of this pain and all of this work can't be for nothing. Like, when I think about the fight, I think about me winning, but then I also entertain what would happen if I lose. And when I think about that, I'm like, I refuse for this to happen.

26:41This cannot happen. This will not happen. So yeah, that's kind of the mentality I kind of go with. That's kind of what keeps you up at night too, right? That this can't happen. Because when I was in training camp, that could not happen. That's the only reason I wouldn't sleep because what you're talking about right now, that can't happen. So that's the thing that would not allow me to relax or let my guards down even if it was time for me to rest. At all. So let me ask you a question. Did you get out of New York to train or do you normally train in Vegas? No, I live in Vegas now. I've moved out to Vegas.

27:12Every single one of my training camps has been in Vegas ever since my pro debut. um i've uh i remember i did not i always knew i was gonna leave new york at some point but i just didn't know where yet right and my pro debut i fight on a tyson fury wilder three card and my training camp out there was so different and addictive because in new york around that time like my name is what it is and a lot of people they make an excuse not to want to spar me and then sometimes even the traffic getting from place from here and there gym to gym it's kind of a a little annoying so the the the access of good work wasn't always the best right when i go to vegas though it's like everybody's there to work and then all the who's who's they come there to get some work and then the the boxing media because so many fights happen out there it's it's like it's it's amazing on top of that with the heat then it costs a living you know i mean like a lot of things kind of like went in my favor towards like this is what i need in order to focus and get on the next level because i love training like inspiring these world champions that's out here and because it gives me a it gave me a way to gauge how good i am and how good i thought i was and how much work i need to put in in order to feel like i can you know get into that title contention.

28:36And then it's so much more solitude compared from New York to Las Vegas. People, they think of Las Vegas and they think of the strip, they think of the parties, the gambling, da-da-da. You drive 10, 15 minutes away from that, it's a total different type of environment. Everybody, you know, you got to drive everywhere. You don't have to walk around and bump into people, you know. People are more polite and nice. Like I said, it's more solitude. It ain't no strip. It ain't no bright lights on that on that mountain, Mount Charles, early in the morning. Not at all. Not at all. It ain't no bright lights on that mountain.

29:09I swear. Trust me. Not at all, bro. I swear. Hey, man, Coach K, if you had me running up that joint with the weight of Vestor and running up sprints too, I'd be like, dang, this is crazy. But once you're done doing those workouts, man, you really think to yourself, like, man, I've got to be successful because I'm putting so much work in there. I have to be the best. And that's what I'm striving for every single day. Last but not least, my last question. So being on the court that you're on, being that you have a great opponent in front of you, is it possible that you come in there to steal the show?

29:46Come on, man. It's New York City. It's the Shoo Shoo Show, man. Come on. It's the Shoo Shoo Show. So it's not me really stealing the show. It's my show. You know what I mean? It's always going to entertain. It's always going to be what it is. And the people that buy the tickets to watch me fight, they already know what it is. and the people that don't know, y 'all gonna come and find out January 31st. That's what I'm talking about. Looking forward to a great fight, brother. Looking forward to a great fight. Appreciate it. Couple more shoot. Talk to me about that. All of that we just heard and seen right there.

30:14Like, that's not West Coast flavor. That's not Down South flavor. That's not Midwest flavor. That's East Coast flavor. Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York to be exact. What is that? Talk to me about that. Man, I think, you know, when Jay-Z talk about the Empire State of Mind, you know what I mean? Like, it's something where you can't relate it to anywhere else in this world. Because New York, the mentality is always hustle and bustle. You got to talk fast and you got to make sure you listen fast too. Because ain't nobody going to slow down for you. You know what I'm saying? So that's where you got to have the gift of gab.