Xander Zayas: Super Bowl with Bad Bunny, Boots Ennis Showdown & Untold Stories

7:01Ak:I wouldn't say A's and B's, but I wasn't getting F's. B's and C's? So wait a minute. No B's?

7:07Barak:A's and C's, for sure. Just over B, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Either I'm doing really good, or I'm just making it.

7:14Xander Zayas:I'm passing the class. Were you the type that you had A, like, in Jim Motley? Jim class? Like, yeah. And lunch.

7:21Ak:Jim and lunch. Listen, I had A's in P.E. and Spanish.

7:29Barak:So, wait, wait. Why in Puerto Rico are they teaching Spanish? Because it's like, why in the United States they teach English? Got me.

7:38Xander Zayas:You got me. Let's talk about your personal life. you were raised with a stepfather. I don't want to disrespect him because I don't know some people call that your father.

7:50Ak:He's my dad. He's my dad. To me, he's the person that raised me. He's the person that made the man that you guys see today. But he's my stepdad. I just hate that word. I don't like calling him that. I agree with you. That's why I said I don't want to disrespect him. So yeah, so definitely, that's my dad, yeah.

8:04Xander Zayas:How old were you when he entered your life? I was 11.

8:10Ak:11? 11, 10, probably something like that.

8:13Xander Zayas:Did you have a relationship with your biological dad?

8:15Ak:Yes, yes. I knew him. I had a relationship with him. Now I don't, but I did have a relationship with that person.

8:22Xander Zayas:When did that disconnection happen?

8:25Ak:I want to say right after my pro debut, some issues with the personal family, and then we just separate ourselves.

8:33Xander Zayas:But growing up, did that affect you at all in life, like him not being there? I'm telling you, before your stepdad came into your life.

8:39Ak:Yeah, no, I wouldn't say it affected me. I mean, my mom was a warrior. You know what I'm saying? My mom figured it out. She always had an answer for everything.

8:49Xander Zayas:But I'm talking about you personally.

8:51Ak:Yeah, but that's the thing, though. As a kid, it never affected me because I never needed anything. Thankfully, mom always had to figure it out. Mom always had an answer.

9:01Xander Zayas:But I'm not talking about financially or paying the bills or putting food on the table. I'm talking about emotionally, did you feel like there was something missing? as far as a father figure? No, no. No? Okay.

9:11Ak:No, mom played both roles pretty well. I respect that. Mom played both roles, obviously, until my dad came into my life. So it was pretty easy. Again, I didn't notice at that time.

9:21Barak:Did you click with your stepfather immediately? No. What happened? Tell me about that.

9:25Ak:So I was coming out of basketball practice, and mom comes up to me. She's like, I want to present you somebody. I'm like, all right, cool. I go up, and I got a meme mugging him. And he said, yo, I was super hungry. And he knew I was hungry. I came off of boxing and basketball practice. And like, want to go eat? I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, we cool now. So it was literally five-minute meat mug. Got you with a sandwich. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was in Puerto Rico, right? That was in Puerto Rico, yes.

9:55Barak:So he said, tiene hambre.

9:56Xander Zayas:Tiene hambre.

9:57Barak:Let's go hungry. So who brought you to the gym if he wasn't around at the time?

10:01Ak:Mom. Mom was the one that put me in boxing. Wow. I mean, again, I wasn't being a kid at that point. When I was getting bullied, I wasn't in Puerto Rico. You go out, you play. The only time you get to go home is when mom calls you home. Even when you want to get water, you're thirsty. Make sure you stay out because if you go home, mom is going to tell you you got to stay in. So I just didn't want to be that type of kid. I didn't want to play. So she needed to figure something out for me to be regular. So I know we're joking and all of this, but it seems like the bullying was a real issue. Oh yeah, no, for sure.

10:36Ak:Really? Yeah, yeah. At the beginning of my life, like for sure it was real, like, problematic.

10:41Barak:Like you had days where you just coming home crying and you were basically hiding from everybody.

10:45Ak:Yeah, I didn't want to play. I didn't want to go out. I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to stay home. Did you not want to go to school even? No, because it wasn't in school. It was more in the neighborhood. In the school I was cool. I had cousins that were, you know, bigger and they were always looking out for me. But in the neighborhood, it was just me.

11:03Barak:So how long did it go on before you went to your mother or whoever you went to to tell her what's going on? She saw it.

11:09Ak:She saw it. One day she literally went to pick me up from the park and I was getting beat up. So she's like... What did she do?

11:15Barak:Did she take off her...

11:16Ak:No, no, she... Like, obviously she couldn't hit the other kids because, you know, they're not her own. so she couldn't, she could have hit them. But obviously she separated them from me and she took me home and I'm like, I don't want to go out anymore. This is why I don't want to go out. I was like maybe six, five years old. And then she put me in boxing to learn how to defend myself. And from the get-go, I just loved it. Did you go back?

11:43Barak:Did you go back to the release? That's what I was going to say. Never, never, never. You ever run across any of them?

11:47Ak:Yeah, yeah, we cool. Like, I can see them and I can shake their hands.

11:50Barak:I bet they're cool with you now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but even after, I feel like they saw the confidence I gained,

11:58Ak:and they kind of understood, okay, let's not mess around with the kid. But you didn't want any revenge? I didn't need to. I didn't need to. I feel like that comes with the discipline, though.

12:07Xander Zayas:So when your stepdad, when your father came into your life, you had already been boxing for a while, right? So you already knew at that point, this is going to be my career.

12:16Ak:No. No.

12:17Xander Zayas:So when did that happen?

12:19Ak:So, again, at the beginning of my life, I was so ahead of all the kids. And when it came to boxing, I was just so natural.

12:30Xander Zayas:Right.

12:30Ak:I had the talent. I didn't work hard. I didn't do anything special. I was just showing up, right? Right. So I remember I could go days without training and then go to a fight the next weekend and just beat people up. Right. Wow. Just because. So it was just natural for me, right? So I didn't think that I was going to be a fighter then when I met him. I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to be. I mean, I like boxing. I love fighting. But let's see where it takes us. And then one day I used to, when we moved to the States, I used to travel to Puerto Rico every summer to visit family. And I used to come back.

13:08And, man, at that point, you know, everybody was talented too.

13:12Ak:So it was a bit tougher. I was coming back and losing tournaments, losing fights that I was supposed to be winning because I was more talented. If I had the work ethic, I would have just, you know. And he set me down. It was literally a conversation like this. He set me down and he's like, hey, what are we going to do? Are we going to keep wasting money? Because obviously in the amateurs, everything is fine. Yeah, my parents had to pay everything. And I have a sister, so, you know, they got to make sure that she's also taken care of. So they're like, what are we doing? Are we going to waste money on this, and you're going to take it as a hobby, or are we actually going to put in the work and make sure that we, you know, we're doing it the right way?

13:53Ak:And he told me, I'll give you a week to think about it. Take your time. Just come back to me. Right there, I told him, I don't need a week. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to stop going to Puerto Rico every summer. I'm going to be here putting work. And from that day, man, number one in the nation, every weight class that I touched.

14:11Barak:Wow. Who was your rival during that time in the amateurs?

14:15Ak:Man, I wouldn't say I had a rival. I remember guys hitting me up like, yo, where are you going? So they could change to a different way. And I'm like, bro, you got to fight the best. I never looked at a bracket and back in the amateurs and say, oh, man, this guy's there. I want to move a different way. Let's move up or let's move down. But that guy's there. Oh, let's go get him. My last tournament, my last tournament was my first tournament in the youth division. I was still 16 I was fighting 17 18 year olds I didn't care who was in that bracket I was running through everybody and I did so there was nobody

14:49Barak:that beat you back in the days and you was

14:51Ak:yeah actually one guy one guy had like a a little bit of a rivalry we fought plenty times we fought what maybe four or five times Miguel Santana we fought maybe four or five times so we kind of like split bouts with each other and it was it was funny because he was also from Florida he's also from He's from Kissimmee, so he's a couple hours up from me. But every time we go to regionals or we'll go up there and he'll come down here, we'll just fight each other. And we knew we were going to fight each other.

15:21Xander Zayas:Have you ever fought anybody that we would know in the amateurs? That's on the scene now, on the professional scene now?

15:28Ak:Yeah, so Daniel Blankas. Daniel Blankas, he's with Benavidez's team. Omari Jones. Oh, okay. Omari Jones, I fought too. How did those fight play out?

15:39Xander Zayas:I'm saying, I don't know. That looks like a winner's smile.

15:41Barak:I guess you won those fights.

15:43Ak:I beat them both in the same tournament. Wow, same tournament. Yeah, same tournament, back to back. So I beat Omari first, and then I beat Amari.

15:54Barak:You just said the same name.

15:56Ak:No, Omari and Amari.

15:59Barak:It sounds like the same thing to me. One is with O, Omari, one is with A, Amari. So who was the man back there? Somebody that you're watching like, all right, he's killing everybody. I can't wait to get him. But you just never fought him.

16:13Ak:I feel like that was me, though. Like, everybody was like, I got to fight him. Blue hair, gray guy, like, that's the guy. And I'm like, all right, come for me. Like, it was never like, again, I just never looked at a bracket and say, man, this guy is scary. Or like, man, this guy is going to be tough. I'm running through them. I'm running through all of them. That's where the confidence comes from. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Like, I always tested myself. And that's why, like, I don't shy away from anything because I know I'm battle-tested. I've never taken the easy route. I've never... If you ask anybody, the argument with top ring, even coming up as a professional, was always me trying to get tougher fights.

16:53Ak:They're like, no, it's, you know, we got to take the right steps. And I'm like, no, I just want tougher fights. So it's never about me being afraid of anybody. Like, I've never... If they breathe and they have two hands just like me, it's fair game.

17:06Xander Zayas:So it wasn't you when people complained because when you were coming up there was that criticism like he's not fighting a real threat. Like it was never you in those meetings requesting easier fights. Yeah, never, never.

17:18Ak:It was always I'm telling you like you could ask anybody Brad Goodman for example he's one of the matchmakers. He will always tell you like the kid always just wanted to fight more and more and more. And even when they gave me more and more and more I just kept looking better and better and better because that's the way That's the way it is, though. You know, like, you can't sit here and say I'm the best, and you haven't gone through every motion. I've been through every motion. I've never shied away from anybody, you know? Pull me out. I want it. Let's go get it.

17:51Barak:So who was your toughest fight in the pros so far? Man, in the pros, I wouldn't say tough, but durable.

18:01Ak:Definitely Abbas was durable, and the guy before when I first won my world title, he was durable. But tough in a sense that I was, like, really locked in for that fight. I knew, like, I'm, like, there's no mistakes to be made in this fight was Roberto Valenzuela. Wow. Because he was experienced. Because he was 21 with 20 knockouts or something like that. So in paper, he could crack, right? He could punch. So I'm, like, I got to be locked in. I have to be. And first time he hit me, I'm like, okay, I can see why he got 20 knockouts, right? So let's stay locked in. Let's stay composed. So that was, like, I wouldn't say toughest, but in my head, I knew I'd have to be really locked in on that fight.

18:43Ak:Gotcha.

18:44Xander Zayas:I have to, backing up real quick, why did your family move to the United States from Puerto Rico?

18:49Ak:Better opportunities. Better opportunities, looking for a better future for me and my sister. I feel like in Puerto Rico, we were good, but we knew or they knew we could have been better, and that's why we moved.

19:02Xander Zayas:So, interestingly enough, you know, you got people like Jake Paul and other people with money moving to Puerto Rico to allegedly, you know, it's easier on the, in taxes, right? It is. So, Puerto Rican people are prideful, right? Like, you're Puerto Rican, especially in boxing, they're going to stand behind you. Yes. Do you feel like you ever want to live in Puerto Rico again?

19:24Ak:I would love to. I would love to at some point in my career, but not yet. Not yet. Maybe when I retire. Oh, after retiring. Yeah, yes. So you love Florida. It's not that I love Florida. I have, I mean, it's my home. You're creating the life here. Everything is there. Everything I need is there. The way that everything is structured for me in South Florida, it's easy for me to continue being there. But again, I don't know, maybe in the future I'll find that Vegas is better or Houston is better or even Puerto Rico, but I just don't see myself there yet.

19:55Xander Zayas:When you started thriving in the amateurs in America, Did you ever have anybody on the Puerto Rico amateur team trying to get you back over there?

20:03Ak:No, never, never, never, never did. But again, I just never fought in the elite level of the amateurs, right? I only got to the youth division. And right after my first tournament at the youth division, I went pro.

20:15Xander Zayas:You went pro, right.

20:15Ak:Yeah, so...

20:16Xander Zayas:How did you make... What made you make that decision and not wait for the Olympics?

20:20Ak:Because 2020 wasn't going to be the year. I mean, I was short in age. and they also, in a way, they had the team that was going already for the Olympics. You wanted to wait for 2024. They had to go to Triangle. I didn't want to wait. I mean, I would have been sitting here as a unified world champion today. Right, right. That's true.

20:38Barak:And they didn't fight till 21 anyway. Yeah. Amateur. So you would have been here for a while. So, you know, I saw something today on the Porter Way podcast. I saw Sean Porter say that he boxed you when you was a kid. So y 'all sparred when you was a teenager. Yeah, we did. We did sparred. We did sparred. He made it seem like, you know, you was kind of like easy work for him. How'd that work end up for you?

20:58Ak:Man, Sean is a good guy, man. Sean is a good guy.

21:01Barak:He said it in a nice way, but... Translation, easy work. Come on, you got to tell the truth. Is that recent?

21:08Ak:I just saw it today. No, I mean, no, it wasn't recent. It was like maybe 2020, 2019. Man, if he made it, if he said it was easy work... That's smart now. Let's do it again. I mean, when it's easy work and you think it's easy work, you get the guy back, right? You're like, hey, let's get some more work. I feel like, you know, he never called me back. He never called me back. So how do you feel it went? I feel like, again, he had a bunch of experience. I mean, you're talking about a former world champion. Right. But I feel like out of 10, I was a good 9.5. Wow. With him in there. I was a good 9.5.

21:51Barak:Was that the first time you fought a champion level fighter and you did well? No. In your eyes? No. Who was the first time?

21:58Ak:I mean, I sparred Robert Eastern, Adrian Broner. First time I did 10 rounds in my career in a sparring session was with Adrian Broner. All 10 with him? Yeah, all 10 with him. Wow, where was this? That was in South Florida. He did a camp in my gym.

22:13Barak:Who was the tougher fight? Well, tougher sparring, Adrian Broner or Sean Porter?

22:18Ak:Robert Eastern.

22:19Barak:Really? Yeah. You just forgot those two? Yeah, yeah, Robert Eastern. Why? Because he's tall? No, he's tall.

22:24Ak:He's lanky. The IQ. I mean, he could fight. You know, he will bang in there with me. Yeah. He will stand there. He will move. Right. That was the toughest sparring out of all the top guys that I spar.

22:37Xander Zayas:Who was Adrian Broner getting ready for when he did camping? I forgot.

22:41Ak:I forgot. He fought when he fought in the pandemic. It could have been Andy Pacquiao.

22:48Barak:No, it was the pandemic. It was a pandemic fight. Yeah, yeah, it was a pandemic fight.

22:51Ak:He fought in the Hot Rock, I think it was. So that was the fight that he was getting ready for me. Or, like, that I helped him.

22:57Xander Zayas:What professional fighters did inspire you? Like, who did you love to watch when you, I guess, amateur before you became pro? Miguel Cota, obviously. No, I'm talking about, like, active fighters, though.

23:09Ak:Oh, active fighters right now? Yeah, like, throughout your career, who are some of your favorite active fighters? Yeah, so, man, I like Shakur. Shakur's nice. Shakur's nice. I like Terrence Crawford. Terrence Crawford's good. Canelo Alvarez. Talking about one of the best to ever do it.

23:26Xander Zayas:When that fight happened, who did you think would win?

23:29Ak:I thought Canelo was going to win because of the weight. But man, Prophet's a bad man, you know?

23:37Barak:Did you think one day years ago that you were going to eventually be on the other end of that ring against Canelo Alvarez?

23:45Ak:Man, I dreamed of it. Okay. Shit. I dreamed of fighting Manny Pacquiao, too. So, you know, it's like you dreamed of it, but being realistically, I didn't think so. I didn't think it was going to happen. Who's a dream fight now? Who's a dream fight now?

24:01Xander Zayas:Is it this one? Is it Boots Enders? I mean, obviously, this is the biggest fight of your career.

24:07Ak:This is a big fight, but a dream fight, I don't know. Like, I feel like Virgil Ortiz is a dream fight. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why? Because what he means, Puerto Rico, Mexico. The history behind it, just two competitors wanting to face each other at their best time in their career. I feel like it just makes a big, big fight.

24:30Xander Zayas:And you were talking recently about, at one point there were some conversations about that fight. You wanted it to happen in Puerto Rico, right? And I noticed on that same post, in the comments, Virgil Ortiz's manager, Rick, who's cool, we know him, but he was saying that it's insanity, he said there was a real offer. Can you clear that up?

24:51Ak:Well, it wasn't a real offer in a way because a 50-50 split doesn't guarantee me a number. There was 50-50 splitting a pay-per-view, which again, you've never done a pay-per-view. I've never done a pay-per-view. How do you know those numbers are going to do? Right. How do you know? There was no guaranteed money. There was no guaranteed money. There was never a guaranteed money. And also they said, oh, it's got to be a met location for both of us. California? Come on now. You're Mexican, dude. That's the West Coast. That's where all the Mexican fans are. Right? So I was thinking, I'm the champion.

25:27Ak:Why not Puerto Rico? Oh, no, Puerto Rico doesn't sell. I sold my last fight seven figures in gate.

25:35Xander Zayas:Right. Just in gate.

25:36Ak:You get what I'm saying?

25:37Xander Zayas:Yeah. So it does sell.

25:39Ak:What about New York? New York was so solid. New York also was an option, but they just, again, they just didn't give me anything else. They didn't come back with a number. They didn't come back with just 50 split of a pay-per-view,

25:53Barak:but we just didn't have that number. Okay, I'm glad you kind of cleared that up. So just looking at both of them, the eye test, Jerron Ennis and Virgil Ortiz, who do you think is better? Who looks better?

26:05Ak:Jaren Boutenis, I think, is better. More athletic, better IQ. Virgil is just a strong guy. Virgil just punch hard. That's about it. And when you saw what happened when a guy that was able to take his power, he looked hurt. I thought he lost. I thought he lost against Boychuk. And he didn't look well against Madrimov. No, we mean Madrimov, he beat him up. He beat him up? He beat him up when Madrimov decided he was going to quit. When Madrimov decided he wasn't going to fight anymore, that's when he started beating him up.

26:38Xander Zayas:But there's a reason. He made him feel that way, though.

26:41Ak:He made him feel that way. But again, you're talking about a Madrimov that came off a loss against Terrence Crawford. Yeah, right. There was nothing to win for him, nothing to lose. He was like, all right, whatever.

26:53Xander Zayas:I mean, Madrimov did make it tricky for Ortiz at first, but then he adjusted and got you.

26:58Ak:But again, he was just more like, I didn't want to fight anymore. I'm just going to let this guy beat me.

27:04Xander Zayas:Okay, who would you say has the better resume has had the tougher fights between Jaron and Virgil?

27:12Ak:Man, I don't know. Because if we're talking about names... Just better fighters. But both of these guys have fought names, have fought big names that were out of their prime. It's easy to look good against a guy that is out of their prime, but still a big name. For example, Sebastian Fundora, he fought Keith Thurman. Keith Thurman was Keith Thurman in 2019. You get what I'm saying? So it's easy to look good. Yeah, definitely wasn't the same, yeah. So I wouldn't be able to tell you who's the better guy based on their resume because they fought pretty similar guys just outside of their prime. So they were supposed to do what they did.

27:52Barak:Well, I'm glad you brought up Fandora because what do you think of him as a fighter? I think he came back, beat the way he stopped Tim Zhu. He kind of switched up his game and showed that he's a much better fighter than people thought. What do you think about him?

28:04Ak:No, well, it's impressive that now he's using his jab for the first time. I mean, took him what? Look how he said that. 20-something fights? I mean, 20-something fights. It took him 20-something fights to figure it out.

28:15Xander Zayas:Well, people were complaining about him not using his length and giving up his advantage, you know, of his size, and now he's starting to do it. You can't get mad at a guy that likes to bang, though.

28:27Barak:You can't get mad at him, but this is boxing.

28:31Ak:This is not who's the strongest. This is not who has the biggest balls. It's about who's the smartest. Hit and not get hit. That's the whole science of boxing. That's why Floyd did it for so many years. That's why Andre Ward got out of the way he got out. Right. He's good. He's enjoying life. Right. It's about getting hit. It's about not getting hit. Hitting somebody and not getting hit.

28:53Xander Zayas:Better late than never, though. He's starting now. No, for sure. For sure.

28:57Barak:I mean, after getting knocked out. And he does it well, at least. So were you watching the Keith Thurman from Dora fight saying, okay, I see what I would have done?

29:04Ak:Thurman didn't go for the body at all. He was jumping to try to knock this guy out. You're not going to knock him out with one punch. I don't say lucky punches because I don't feel like lucky punches exist. I feel like you practice them and it was the right moment at the right time and you caught him. And I think Bala Mendoza, when he knocked him out, he knocked him out because it was the perfect timing, perfect shot. But if you see the fight, he started working to the body. He started slowing them down a little bit, dropping his hands. Most of these guys just want to knock somebody out with one punch, and it's just not possible.

29:37Ak:It's just the human body will tolerate just one at a time. One, two at a time. And now if you start putting combinations together, boom, boom, boom, you move, they can see you, and now you start touching them to the head, you start dropping the hands. There's a whole game plan behind it.

29:53Xander Zayas:Let's talk about Super Bowl real quick. obviously, how did that whole ordeal come about? Like, who called who with Bad Bunny? For those that don't know, you were in the Super Bowl halftime show with Bad Bunny.

30:06Ak:Yeah, so I'm good friends with Bad Bunny and his team. I work really closely with Rima Sports. They do all my stuff outside the ring, you know, just everything that you can think of.

30:20Xander Zayas:And that company works with him?

30:20Ak:Yes, that's the company that has him. They called my team, they called my dad, three weeks, maybe three, two weeks before the fight. And they said that he wanted to have me. He was going to have two actors actually do the same thing Emiliano and I did. Okay. But that he thought about it, and he's like, well, we have Xander signed to Rima Sports. Right. Why not have him here? Why not get the real fighter? Why not get the real fighter? Obviously, I was excited. I'm like, hell yeah. Yeah. From the get-go. But let me focus on January 31st at the time. Let me focus on the fight. And then we'll figure it out.

30:54Ak:And they kept in communication with my dad. They made everything work. And I got off the ring the 31st. On the locker room, we're getting tickets to fly out the very next day.

31:04Xander Zayas:What was that experience like once you got there, interacting with him and his team and the whole show? Like, did you watch them rehearse the show before it happened?

31:12Ak:Yeah, yeah, no, man. It was insane. Like, when we first got there, we weren't in the stadium. We were somewhere like in a tent. And they were like, they had everything there. They had all the dancers. and it was insane just seeing how everybody was so connected and how everybody kind of knew each other. A couple dancers came up to me. They knew who I was. They're like, yo, Xander, congratulations. Obviously, I also had like a black eye.

31:35Xander Zayas:Female dancers or male dancers? Both, both.

31:38Ak:You single?

31:39Barak:I am single. But this dude, man.

31:43Ak:Yeah, like I had a black eye, so they kind of like understood like, oh, he's a fighter. He just fought. so did they put makeup

31:50Barak:on that eye?

31:51Ak:no actually by the time the show came on I didn't have the black eye anymore but like when I first got there like I you know I was I was pretty beat up from the fight not beat up but you know I was sore but it was amazing just seeing how everything happened and I was actually a bit nervous going into it because obviously I don't want to punch this guy like this is the best artist in the world and I'm I'm throwing punches at him I might hit him. And also, like, during the practice that we were doing and stuff, they kept stopping us. They kept like, yo, we got to run this back. And we'll run it back.

32:31Ak:We got to keep running it back. And they'll sit us down, and then they'll have another group run another part. And I'm like, man, I don't know if it's going to be put together properly by the time. We're talking about a week out. We're talking about Monday. Oh, you were rehearsing for a whole week. I did. But everybody else was rehearsing for like a month or so. They were locked in there. Right. But just that week, they kept stopping us. And I'm like, man, I don't know if we're going to have it together. Because, I mean, again. But you did. It was a phenomenal show. Phenomenal show. It was incredible.

33:01Ak:And I feel like the experience was amazing.

33:04Xander Zayas:Watching it, though, after. Right? Because you were there live, right? When you watched it. Because me watching it, I almost got emotional, right? Especially towards the end. What did you feel? watching the show?

33:17Ak:Man, it wasn't so much because I already knew what to expect watching it. Like, I already knew what was going to happen. Right. But when we were rehearsing and I saw Lady Gaga and I saw Ricky Martin. Right. Oh, man. I remember I was having a conversation and they're like, who goes on stage? And I look and it's Lady Gaga just... Right. And I'm like, man, she's beautiful. Bro. She's just amazing. And then Ricky Martin just...

33:41Xander Zayas:The song that he sung, like that song, what's the name of the song?

33:49Xander Zayas:Yeah, so basically Bad Bunny's in that song, for those that know, is talking about what happened in Hawaii with the fires, the people coming in, buying up property, and kind of like they're losing the essence of the island. He doesn't want that to happen to Puerto Rico, which during the hurricanes and after, it started to happen, right? And probably still happening to this day. Do you feel emotion when you hear that song?

34:10Ak:Of course, of course you do. And then Ricky Martin is singing, and it's like, man, it was incredible. when I first went to meet him, again, I'm a big fan of him. So I go up to him, I'm like, hey, Ricky, Xander Zayas. He looked at me like, you're Xander Zayas? He knew who I was. I was like, whoa, that's incredible. That's crazy. I almost cried. I'm like, there's no way you know who I am.

34:29Barak:Were you nervous during the performance?

34:31Ak:I was nervous, yeah, I was super nervous. I remember Emiliano and I kept doing push-ups. We're like, let's do push-ups. I want to get pumped up. We're doing push-ups and we're like, yo, the camera's coming. I'm like, oh, be ready, be ready, be ready. And we kind of knew the cue. We kind of knew when he was going to pass by. But we're like, make sure you don't look. Make sure you don't look. And then you see him and Leanna looking at the camera. I'm like, this dude. You put a weird horse.

34:55Xander Zayas:I know, I know.

34:56Barak:What's wrong with you? I know. You know, a lot of people are saying that that was the best halftime show ever. Best performance ever. Do you feel that way? And what do you think that performance did for Puerto Rico with that bunch?

35:09Ak:Man, I feel like it was the best halftime show ever. because he didn't just show Puerto Rican culture. He showed Latino culture and American culture in general. Not just, that's why when he mentioned, like, America, he mentions every country in the American continent. You get what I'm saying? Because it's easy to just America and think United States, but it's Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, all this. You get what I'm saying?

35:34Xander Zayas:He had people, when you watch video footage of other Spanish-speaking countries watching the Super Bowl, He had everybody going crazy because he mentioned all of their countries. He mentioned everybody.

35:44Ak:He mentioned everybody. And that's what it's all about. He put, you know, the whole culture together, the whole continent together to watch this halftime show. And that's something that not every artist could do. Definitely the best show ever. Yeah, not every artist could do that.

35:57Xander Zayas:There's a viral video of him signing your shorts and writing like a whole paragraph, a whole book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you were standing up there for a minute like, go finish this thing, man. What did he write on the shorts?

36:07Ak:No, he said, El Campeón del Pueblo. People's Champ. People's Champ. And then he said, Sandal Sayas. And he signed it.

36:16Xander Zayas:You know what I like? The sound of and the idea of, on June 27th, Bad Bunny showing up to your fight, man. Like, how do we get that to happen? Come on.

36:26Barak:You know he's jumping in. Hey, Conejo, come on, let's go. It's in the works, or are you trying? Are you going to keep it on the low?

36:31Ak:We'll keep that on the low.

36:32Barak:I mean, is that a...

36:34Ak:Can you say that's a thought? I mean, I would love to. I would love to. Again, there's just certain artists that I always think about when I think about a walkout, and him, he's one of them.

36:45Barak:Has that done anything for your popularity, being in a Super Bowl halftime show?

36:49Ak:Yeah, sometimes. Some people just recognize me because of that. Yo, you're the Super Bowl guy, right? I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did your followers go up on Instagram? My followers went up a lot, like 100K. Wow. Yeah, like 100K. I mean, but throughout the whole week, throughout fight week and Super Bowl week, he went up like 100-something K.

37:06Xander Zayas:Has Bad Bunny ever tagged you or posted you?

37:09Ak:No, so he didn't...

37:10Xander Zayas:We got to get that to happen, man.

37:11Ak:He didn't post me. He posted a story when I first won my first world title. My first world title. So he had the concert he had in Puerto Rico, right? Right. And Tito Trinidad was there that night that I was fighting. He was in the concert. So they had a video, or he posted a video of, like, them announcing me as the winner. Tito Trinidad in La Casita with him and everybody. So that's the only time he posted me. And again, it was because of him. I didn't tell him. Nobody told him. They recorded the video. He liked the video. He like, send it to me, and he posted it. That's dope.

37:44Xander Zayas:Your second favorite fighter, Tito Trinidad.

37:48Barak:So did you try and make this fight for Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend rather than June 27th?

37:55Ak:No, no. It was always June 27th. It was always June 27th. That was never thought. No, it was date-wise, you know, looking at what I need in camp, it wasn't going to make sense for a Puerto Rican weekend for me. And they came in with the idea, but we told them, let's push it to June 27th. We already had the June 27th date.

38:15Xander Zayas:When you go back to Puerto Rico, because we're talking about this whole Bad Bunny thing, do you feel the love of the Puerto Rican fans, like being behind you, even though you don't live there, you still feel the same love?

38:28Ak:No, yeah, no, definitely. I remember the first time coming back as a champion or, like, going to Puerto Rico as a champion, I get off the airplane and everybody starts clapping. The whole airport starts. Like, my dad has a video. And I literally just stop. I'm like, there's no way. Like, they're clapping for me. Did you cry a little bit? I didn't cry, but I definitely, I feel emotional. I'm like, man, this is incredible. I mean, at the time, just a world champion for the first time, seeing the love from the people, it was beautiful.

38:57Xander Zayas:What has made you cry tears of joy in this sport? Like, at what point did you get emotional or overwhelmed with emotion?

39:04Ak:Winning the second belt. When I won the second belt, getting off the ring, I walk out, and my mom is there. That was the only day or the only time I cried right after getting my belt. I cried with her.

39:17Barak:It must be tough for your biological father because boxing is so important in Puerto Rico and to Puerto Ricans. And he has a unified champion son that he's not in touch with. So, you know, he wants to brag to his friends, but he's not there. Do you think about that sometimes? No, I never. No, well, you got your dad.

39:38Ak:Yeah, I got pups.

39:39Barak:Has he reached out to you at all?

39:41Ak:He did a couple times, but, again, it's just something that I don't like to talk about. It's just something that doesn't affect me I don't need in my life. Got you. I got pups.

39:50Barak:Right. I hope for your own sake, forgiveness. I hope you're able to give it to him eventually. And you don't have to make it public. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have to make it public because eventually you'll have kids. and you'll know what it feels like. You know what I mean? So earlier you spoke about the back and forth between you and Virgil Ortiz, but you also went back and forth with Devin Haney. Now, I always picture you as the guy who, you don't do much talking, you talk in a race. No, no, no, you talk and you talk well. You called him a diva. Why'd you call him a diva? His nickname's not Debo or something?

40:23Barak:Oh, Debo.

40:24Ak:Oh, I thought he's Deva.

40:25Barak:Oh, you lying. You lying. I thought it was that, man. Nah, nah, that's a joke. I can't get that confused.

40:32Xander Zayas:That's a joke. No, he's slick talking right now. So, look, his father, Bill Haney, Devin and they're both friends to the show. He'd been calling you out. I don't know. I didn't see a footage of Devin calling you out, but maybe he has, right? People are saying that he felt it was an easy world title to get at 154. What's your take on that?

40:56Ak:Again, we called him and we said we would love the fight. But at the same time, he, I mean, they always go on social media and they talk to everybody. He was talking, at that time, he was talking to Shakur, Roley, Ryan, me. Like, who do you want to fight? We called you. We want the fight. They never gave us a number. They never gave us an offer. They never said anything. It was just conversation. It's like, okay, you want the fight? Come up. So you don't think they really want the fight? They didn't want it. I mean, it was, they asked him a question. I feel like they asked that question, and that was the easiest or the first thing that came to his head.

41:33Ak:I don't think he understands what it is to be at 54. I don't think he understands the size difference.

41:41Barak:I think it was Keyshawn Davis that said, yeah, you pick on Xander or whatever, because I guess Keyshawn feels that maybe you're the easiest target or easier target than him. But what do you think about Devin Haney as a fighter?

41:53Ak:Devin Haney is a good fighter. I mean, inside that ring, he has good IQ, good speed, good boxing skills. But we know what happens every time they touch him, and we know what happens every time he feels uncomfortable. We've seen it. It's not the first time.

42:08Xander Zayas:So 154 would be way too much for him to deal with you.

42:11Ak:Oh, man, I mean, at 47, he's probably walking around. He's a big guy, so he's probably walking around 165.

42:17Barak:Right. I mean, people talk about his chinny. What you walking around at a fight night? You're about 180 right now. You about 180 right now.

42:26Ak:Let's keep it about 180 right now. Let's keep it about.

42:29Barak:You bigger than that? Damn!

42:30Xander Zayas:My cruiserweights in there. Let's talk about this fight, man. I do feel Jerron is a very talented fighter. I thought he was a big 147-pounder, so he still has decent size, but you're bigger than him. Yeah. Like, in stature. Without giving too much up, what worries you about him? Like, what do you have to be concerned with in the ring?

42:54Ak:His speed. His speed and his IQ. I got to always be 10 steps ahead of him. I can't give him no space. I can give him no chance. If he sees a chance, he's going to take advantage of it. I mean, he's a good fighter. He knows how to read another fighter. I mean, we've seen it throughout his career. So he knows how to read fights. He knows how to read a fighter. But he's never been uncomfortable either.

43:19Xander Zayas:People have been—this is what I've been hearing, right, for some experts off the record saying that Jerron gets hit, right? We all seen him get hit in fights. But people would like to say, well, it's because he's comfortable in there getting hit with those guys. He's a better defensive fighter than that, right? But he does get hit at fights. And that's what I say. That's for sure. So people are saying, a lot of people are starting to say, this fight is a lot more interesting than people would think. Xana's a big guy at this weight class. When you watch those fights and see him get hit, Do you think to yourself, like, wow, there's so much vulnerability there.

43:54Xander Zayas:Like, I know exactly what to do to this.

43:56Ak:That's what I think of myself. He better not get hit because, again, he's never been uncomfortable. He's been hit, but he's been okay. Like, I can still, he rolls with those punches. Right. You know, every time he gets his flush, you can see it. He gets uncomfortable, but then he gets back to it. He gets back, right. And these guys, they don't have the IQ. They don't have the technique to keep building on that, right? Right. I do, and you guys have seen it. I build on everything. On everything I do is just something added extra to that layer. And there's no fights that you can tell me, I haven't seen nothing new from you.

44:31Ak:There's always something that I get better at. There's something that I improve at. And this fight, I will continue to do that. Again, it's easy to be there and be comfortable with all these guys and be comfortable getting hit. But what when you're not? How is your brain going to tolerate that? How is your brain going to react to that? It's not.

44:50Barak:It won't be too late. I guess there's no real easy fight at 154 anyway, because you guys are killers. But no one really ever wanted to fight Jaron Ennis. No big names. Yeah. You know, and you got two belts already. You could have unified and tried to become undisputed, but you're fighting a guy that doesn't have a belt, but a guy that no one really wanted to fight. How did you make that decision?

45:13Ak:Well, it's like I told you earlier. I don't shy away from anything. I want to be the best. I say I'm the best. This is the way you make it happen. They say he's the best. Let's prove it. There's only one way to prove it. We got to get in that ring. At the end, it's easy to go on social media and talk all the talk. When we get on the phone and we make something happen, we want to make it happen. We want to make sure we make something happen. And all those guys, they always talk and go on social media back and forth. I give you one response and one response only. After that, we're picking up the phone.

45:42Ak:We're making a phone call. We won this fight. And that's what happened.

45:45Barak:You think the back and forth, like online or in press conferences and stuff, is going to be like it would be with Virgil Ortiz or someone else? I don't know. Because it seems like you like that. You like that verbal jousting. Yeah, I feel like... That's what it looks like.

46:00Ak:But I feel like every time, if you guys see out every comeback that I make or every statement that I put out, it's facts. I'm not lying. I've never said a lie. I could tell you a joke, but never a lie. I see that your jokes got a little bit of truth.

46:16Barak:You know?

46:17Xander Zayas:So do you premeditate some of the things that you say at press conferences? Do you calculate it?

46:26Ak:I wouldn't say premeditate. Premeditate? Yeah, I wouldn't say that, but I definitely think about some of the comebacks. Like, if he says this, I'm not getting back with this. You gotta be ready.

46:35Xander Zayas:But how important is that? Because promoting a fight outside the ring is important, regardless of what people say. And I don't mean not be yourself, right? But we live in a social media era. So if there's a verbal, you know, fight back and forth, a clip can go viral. For sure. It can bring awareness to a fight. That's the reality.

46:55Ak:For sure. I feel like there's a fine line between talking and having a back and forth and being disrespectful. I feel like I've never been disrespectful. And I never try to be disrespectful. That's not who I am. But I will always have a comeback for you and let you know, like, I'm in your head. Yeah, I ain't a sucker. Yeah, yeah, you're going to have to beat me here, too, because I'm good at it.

47:17Barak:Yeah, you definitely surprised me with some of the things you said online. What do you think about, bro, because before your fight, you got a big fight in May in Vegas. It's Benavidez versus Ramirez. What do you think about that fight?

47:28Ak:Man, that's a great fight. That's a great fight. I mean, Ramirez is a good fighter. I just feel like Benavidez is just a stronger fighter. I think Benavidez is going to win, And that's my opinion. Again, I don't know. It depends on how it plays out.

47:45Xander Zayas:Talk to me real quick about Amanda Serrano, what she has meant to Puerto Rican boxing and to the culture.

47:51Ak:Amanda's my big sister. Everywhere I go, I say it. Everywhere I go, I say it loud and proud. She's just an example, not just for me, but for every fighter out there, for every Puerto Rican fighter, for a female fighter nowadays. She's the prime example that anything is possible. Is she the GOAT in female fighting? I think so. I think so. I mean, seven-time world champion, undisputed. I mean, she got to be up there in that conversation. Obviously, there's a lot of big names now in the women's boxing world. Clarissa. Clarissa, Katie Taylor, Michaela. I mean, there's a lot of big names. But Amanda has been doing it for so long.

48:32Ak:She stayed the course the whole way. And now it's paying off, so it's amazing seeing it.

48:37Xander Zayas:Real quick, because I'm thinking about MVP, right? They're new. They haven't been here. But before you signed the top rank, there were other big promoters that wanted to sign you. Who were some of those promoters?

48:48Ak:Golden Boy, Matchroom, Showtime. All the big dogs. All the big dogs. They kind of wanted, like, they had conversations, and they wanted to, but... And you feel like you make the right decision? I feel like I made the right decision. I mean, they, if you look at, if you look back at all the stars, all the superstars, all the great names, they all came from, or at least, good majority of them.

49:13Barak:At one time. Yeah. At some point.

49:16Ak:All the fighters of all time.

49:18Barak:All right, so if you watch the show, you know we have a segment called Untold Stories. Yeah. So this is on the spot. Give us a story that you never told nowhere.

49:28Ak:Publicly. A story that I never told nowhere publicly. me? Um, dang, what could be a story?

49:42Ak:Third fight. My third fight as a professional. Um, I've been working with Paulina and Vital Team. They're my nutritionists. They work with Terrence Cryofer, Shakur Stevenson. Been working with them my whole life, my whole career. And they didn't know I couldn't have red sauce. Red sauce. Red sauce. Red sauce, like on pasta. You're allergic. Yeah, not allergic, just getting my stomach really upset. OK. And after wind, she gets me pasta, red sauce in it. What, you didn't see the sauce before? No, I saw it, but again, it's one of the things that you're like, I know it affects me, but I like it, so I'm going to have it.

50:21Ak:So I had it. Oh, man. Churra? Man. Worst decision I've ever made. Worst decision I've ever made. Bubble guts? Come fight night, come fight night. I had a white trunk, and I kept telling him, thankfully, he was a four-rounder. And I was... But the thing is, the first two... You crapped on yourself? No, no, no, I didn't. But the first two fights... We're going to spin it that way. Now, listen, the first two fights, I knocked the guys out in the first round. Right. Then this guy... He wants to be tough and go four rounds. He wants to be tough and go four rounds. I'm in the corner. I'm like, yo, Pops, I got to use the bathroom, dog.

50:50Ak:Why, you was in the corner? Yeah, and he's like, bro, you better hold it in. You got one more round. Go out there and do it. So a little bit didn't leak out? No, no, no, no, no, no. But that was the story nobody ever, like, nobody knew. So that's, yeah. That's funny.

51:02Xander Zayas:So as soon as you got to the dressing room, everybody else.

51:03Ak:I remember in the ring, Guardi Lopez goes into the ring like, yo, let's do an interview real quick. I'm like, you got to give me a second. You got to give me a second. I had to leave. I had to leave. One good body shot would have got you. Yeah, no, one good body shot. One good body shot. Easy. All over. But thankfully, the guy didn't have that much IQ, and he didn't think about the body much.

51:23Xander Zayas:Oh, man. All right, listen, you talked about Shakur Steve. before we get out of here, I would say, to me, he's probably the best fighter in the world today, in my opinion, like pound for pound. He's up there. There are a lot of guys. I like Bam Rodriguez. Keyshawn is creeping up. This fight against Boots, it's a massive fight for boxing, right? Should you win this fight and how you see it in your head, do you feel that you would deserve to be on the top 10 pound for pound?

51:49Ak:I feel like after winning June 27th, I could be considering the pound for pound, and I could also be confident for fighter of the year. So I feel like those are the two goals after June 27th.

52:01Xander Zayas:In your head, who would be your next three opponents? You could include Boots in this. Who's the next two after that should you win that fight? If there's no promoter issues, no network issues, who you want in what order? Boots.

52:18Ak:I want to say Josh Kelly. Sebastian Fundora. I want to say those two names. So you want to be on the street at 124? I mean, I would love to. I mean, if all the stars align, but... Who looks like the toughest fight out of those three? Sebastián Fundora, I feel like, because of the length of how tall he is, he's lefty. Right, right. You know, getting sparring for him is going to be difficult trying to find somebody that mimics him pretty well. So I feel like that's... And I've always said it. I think, like, out of all the champions, he's always been, like, not the toughest, but definitely the more awkward one.

52:53Got you Well listen

52:55Xander Zayas:June 27th It's going down Yes sir Yes sir Jerome Boots Ennis Barclays Center Wow And that'll be your first time Fighting at the Barclays Center

53:03Ak:That'll be my first time Ninth time here in New York though It's my city now So let's give a

53:08Barak:Give a percentage of The crowd That's going to be For you

53:11Ak:Oh man 75 % See

53:14Barak:You laughing Because you thought He was going to say like 99 or something right

53:17Ak:Because he's being modest

53:18Xander Zayas:75

53:19Ak:But 75 Again He's from Philly So Philly's pretty cool They're going to come. They're all going to come. Philly's pretty close. They're coming. They're going to come. He's going to have a crowd, but I feel like Puerto Rico is going to show up.

53:32Xander Zayas:Puerto Ricans are the first ones that came to New York and planted their flag here. You know what I'm saying? So I'm excited for this fight. Well, before the other Hispanics. Before Dominicans, Mexicans. Let's do the research. We had to fight to have a spot in New York. That's why everybody came after. It's a little history lesson, man. So show some respect to the Puerto Ricans. So I'm excited and kudos to you for taking this big fight. Thank you, brother. Looking forward to it, brother. Thank you, brother.

53:57Barak:Much respect for taking this fight. Thank you.

54:07Thank you.

54:10Barak:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.