We're ready for the second weekend in February with a heayweight main event in England, plus, star lightweight Keyshawn Davis joins us on the newest "Big Fight Weekend Preview." Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael return for their insight and takes. First, the preview Saturday's Queensberry main event from Manchester, England, as Derek "War" Chisora takes on Otto Wallin in an IBF heavyweight eliminator for the No. 2 position. Both are vets with Chisora being a British fan favorite and we'll s...
Feb 07, 2025•1 hr 9 min
We come off a weekend PPV in Las Vegas where Dan Rafael was ringside and we're ready to recap that card, plus Adam Azim's win in England and more on the "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast" Host T.J. Rives returns with Dan, who was literally less than an hour off the plane from Vegas back to his home in Virginia to give us the insigh on the PBC on Prime Video PPV. It saw David Benavidez decision David Morrell,in the main event to keep his WBC interim and win the WBA “regular” 175 lb. titles. What ...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 6 min
It's a big weekend in Las Vegas as two unbeaten rising fighers square off in a PPV main event and we're ready to preview the entire fight card and more on the newest "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." Host T.J. Rives returns with insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newsletter, who is live in Vegas. It's "PBC on Prime Video" (and PPV.COM) card, as l ight heavyweigts David Benavidez and David Morrell meet for Benavidez’s WBC interim and Morrell’s WBA “regular” titles Bigger...
Jan 31, 2025•1 hr 14 min
Coming up Saturday night in Las Vegas, unbeaten light heavyweight contender David Benavidez will meet fellow unbeaten David Morrell in a 12 round PPV bout to determine who is the likely title challenger later this year. But, before the fireworks on Saturday night hear from Benavidez with our own insider Dan Rafael on this special "Fight Freaks Unite Podcast." Dan and David talk the matchup for the WBC interim and WBA "regular" 175 lb. crowns and Benavidez's seemingly genuine dislike now for Morr...
Jan 28, 2025•13 min
Finally! We have a weekend with multiple prominent main events in Jaruary all over the globe. And, we're ready to go over it all on the newet "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast" Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newsletter return for breakdown on: Friday Ohashi Promotions card at Tokyo, Japan Naoya Inoue scores a KO4 over late replacement Ye Joon Kim of South Korea, retains undisputed junior featherweight title. Now what for "The Monster??" Then, onto S...
Jan 27, 2025•59 min
We are back with a prominent fight card in the U.S. for our latest "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Subtack and Newsletter return to go over: The Matchroom/DAZN card Saturday at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Diego Pacheco meets Steven Nelson for 12 rounds, super middleweights in the main event. What's Pacheco's upside and can the vet Nelson give him trouble? In the Co-feature, it's decorated former Olympic Gold Medalist Andy Cr...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 3 min
It's the newest editoin of our shows, but still, no fight to recap. However, host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newsletter are still here with much to discuss. First, they preview the Friday morning US time main event from Tokyo on ESPN+ -- Naoya Inoue vs. Ye Joon Kim, for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight title. Is there any real shot for the Korean and what's looming for Inoue? Then, some fight news: What's the latest on Canelo-Crawford and is t...
Jan 20, 2025•55 min
It's latest edition of the show, where again, there is not a significant main event fight in the world this weekend. So, host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael go right to the news and some nostalgia, even though it's the "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." They begin with former two time heavyweight champ Tyson Fury saying he's retired, again. Does anyone actually believe him? The guys go over it. Lots of news with TURKI ALALSHIKH and the Saudis looking to roll out some fights in the Spring an...
Jan 17, 2025•53 min
It's a brand new edition of our recap show with only one significant fight card world wide. So, that leaves our host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael with more time to discuss news and some excellent boxing and even, 80s U.S. Primetime TV drama debate! It's all on the "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast!" They begin with the brief Recap of Boxxer card from Sheffield, England, where super middleweight Callum Simpson scored a dubious TKO over Steed Woodall in the second round and retains British/Co...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 5 min
We're ready to recap a mid-week title fight for Cruiserweight champ Jai Opetaia, go over some fight news and have nostalgia on the newest "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast!" Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of BigFightWeekend.com and his Fight Freaks Unite Substack return to go over it all. That includes: Wednesday’s Tasman Fighters/Matchroom card in Australia with Opetaia defeating David Nyika by KO early to retain his lineal/IBF Cruiserweight titles. And, what' next for Opetaia – talk o...
Jan 10, 2025•48 min
We are back in the new year with our what is usually a "recap" pod, but we need to be creative on this edition and we'll explain more on the 'Fight Freaks Unite Podcast!" Host T.J. Rives and Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newletter return. With no major fight to recap they move righ to a preview of the Wednesday Tasman Fighters/Matchroom card in Australia (DAZN). This features Jai Opetaia vs. David Nyika, for Opetaia’s lineal/IBF cruiserweight title in the main event. Also, Au...
Jan 06, 2025•57 min
Happy New Year and welcome back to our kickoff episode of the shows for 2025. And, since there's not a significant main event in the world this weekend, host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael are taking the opportunity to go over the "End of 2024 Awards." First, they talk some quick fight news including the Fernando Martinez vs. Kaz Ioka title bout from Tuesday in Japan being postponed due to Martinez getting the Flu in fight week. When will this title fight be put back on? Dan has more. He also...
Jan 03, 2025•59 min
With the end of the year approaching we have a special conversation with our insider Dan Rafael and longtime championship referee Jack Reiss on this edition of the "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast." Reiss announced his retirement recently after 25 years as a referee. He is one of top referees for many years who has worked more than 1000 fights and more than 100 world title fights! Reiss most famously was the third man in the ring for the Wilder-Fury 1 battle in Los Angeles in December of 2018. ...
Dec 30, 2024•37 min
As we approach the end of 2024, we're back once more with our latest look ahead to the weekend, hear from a distinguished "third man in the ring" and more on the "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast!" Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack return to go over the latest that includes: A Preview of Tuesday, New Year's Eve in Tokyo, as Fernando Martinez and. Kazuto Ioka for Martinez’s WBA junior bantamweight title just five months after Martinez won it in a wild batt...
Dec 27, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Just days before Christmas we are back with a recap of the unified heavyweight title rematch win by Oleksandr Usyk Saturday night over Tyson Fury and more on the "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast!" Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack are back and they have the recap of the Riyadh Season/DAZN PPV card in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Oleksandr Usyk validated his May win by decisioning Tyson Fury in the rematch and retains lineal/WBC/WBO/WBA heavyweight crowns. What's ...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 14 min
It's a heavyweight title rematch as we near the end of 2024 and host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael return to preview Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II and the undercard and more on the newest "Big Fight Weekend Preview" Podcast! The guys begin with Saturday's Riyadh Season card on DAZN PPV Usyk and "The Gypsy King" rematch, for Usyk’s WBC/WBO/WBA and lineal heavyweight titles. Will it be a replay of the Ukrainian's great performance in May or will Fury get his revenge/titles back? Plus, Dan has m...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 10 min
On the latst edition of the show, host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and newsletter return to go over numerous fights this weekend. This included one of the most shocking KO/upsets of 2024, as well. That came in the Saturday Zanfer/ESPN+ show from Tijuana, Mexico, as little known Bruno Surace of France knocked about former super middleweight title challenger Jaime Munguia in his hometown! Big Dan has more on what happened and what does this do to Munguia's ...
Dec 16, 2024•43 min
We have fights all over the globe this weekend and we're ready to preview them, go over some fight news and some classic Arturo Gatti are all part of the "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." Host T.J. Rives returns with insider Dan Rafael of BigFightWeekend.com. First, they talk Saturday’s Zanfer Promotions/ESPN+ card from Tijuana, Mexico, as favorite son Jaime Munguia meets Frenchman Bruno Surace in a scheduled 10 round, super middleweight battle. Dan also previews the undercard bout with Alan ...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 2 min
It's the latest editon of the recap show as host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newsletter are back with plenty to go over from Arizona to Puerto Rico and even, Bulgaria. And, they add some fight news and great nostalgia . First, they go over Saturday’s Top Rank/ESPN card from Phoneix, as Emanuel Navarrete wipes out Oscar Valdez in their rematch and retains the WBO junior lightweight title. What's the future for both? Then, Rafael Espinoza stops Robeisy ...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 34 min
It's a jammed packed first weekend of December and we're ready to go over it all on the latest "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of Big Fight Weekend are back to go over it all: They start with the Top Rank ESPN card Saturday in Phoenix, AZ as Emanuel Navarrete meets Oscar Valdez in a rematch, for Navarrete’s WBO junior lightweight title. And, in the co-feature, Rafael Espinoza battles Robeisy Ramirez in another rematch, for Espinoza’s WBO featherweight ...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 27 min
It's fight week for the rematch for Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez as they battle for Navarrete's WBO 130 lb. world title Saturday night. And, before he headlines the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card in Phoenix "Vaquero' Navarrete joins our insider Dan Rafael one on one (through an interpreter).. They covered several topics: How he thinks this fight will differ from their action-packed first fight that Navarrete won by decision; what it was like having that bout promoted like the great fights be...
Dec 03, 2024•7 min
It's the latest edition of our show off the Thanksgiving weekend, as host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newsletter go over it all headed into December: They start with Saturday’s Matchroom/DAZN card in Birmingham, England Galal Yafai stop Sunny Edwards in the sixth round to win the vacant WBC interim flyweight title. Edwards looked like a fighter who is done and basically, said so after the 2nd round to his corner. What about that and the future of Yafa...
Dec 02, 2024•52 min
It's a post Thanksgiving edition of the show, as host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael return to go over the one prominent fight of the weekend and hear from a muti-division world champ and more on the "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." First, the guys talk Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing/DAZN card in Birmingham, England as former world champ Sunny Edwards battles. Galal Yafai, for vacant WBC interim flyweight title . These two have history as amateurs that make this bout more intriguing. Next, h...
Nov 29, 2024•1 hr 12 min
It's a special edition of our "recap" pod off a light weekend with no major main events world wide. So, both insider Dan Rafael and host T.J. Rives bring you extended, interesting interviews on recent action and upcoming possible matchups on the "Fight Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast." First, hear Dan with Eric Gomez, President of Golden Boy Promotions, who joins him off the "Latino Night" successful card 9 days ago in Saudi Arabia. Eric talks about Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez and the rest of the ...
Nov 25, 2024•56 min
It's defintely a different "preview" version of the pod, as there are no major fights worldwide to speak of this week. Still T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael are back to go over a bunch of fight news and some historic nostalgia anniversaries on the "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." Everybody is calling out Jake Paul off his massive event/financial windfall and the list includes– Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Oliver McCall, Tony Bellew, Artur Beterbiev and Daniel Dubois. The boys discuss the nonsen...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr 10 min
It was an exciting and wild weekend of action as the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson bout finally happened in North Texas, but the co-feature fight was the bigger action/drama. Meanwhile half way around the world in Saudi Arabia Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez was impressive to become unified at cruiserweight. And, we are ready to recap it all on the 'Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast." Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of his Fight Freaks Unite Substack and Newsletter are raring to go. They begin with the ob...
Nov 18, 2024•1 hr 50 min
We've reached the highly anticipated return of 58 year old Mike Tyson in an actual fight Friday night with Jake Paul in Texas. And, we're ready to preview that bout, the Saudi "Latino Night" card for Golden Boy Promotions and more on the "Big Fight Weekend Preview Podcast." Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael of BigFightWeekend.com are back to go over it all: Paul and Tyson are scheduled for 8 two minute rounds at AT&T Stadium, but the best fight of the weekend might be the Katie Taylor -...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr 22 min
It's a special one on one conversation on this edition of the podcast, as our insider Dan Rafael talks with one half of the cruiserweight world title unification bout in Saudi Arabia Saturday night on a mid-week "Fight Freaks Unite Podcast!" That fighter is England's Chris Billam-Smith who will meet Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in a 12 rounds round WBA/WBO cruiserweight unification battle to headline for Riyadh Season Promotions "Latino NIght" in conjunction with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promot...
Nov 14, 2024•15 min
It's the ring return of one of the modern legends in heavyweight boxing, as Friday night in Arlington, TX, "Iron Mike" Tyson is back (at 58 years old) to fight a modified bout with Jake Paul in a Nextflix main event. And, prior to the fight hear a conversation that our insider Dan Rafael had with Tyson just days before this latest comeback by the former undisputed champ. Why is Tyson, who last fought Roy Jones in an exhibition in 2020, doing this fight at his age? Does he think Paul poses a chal...
Nov 12, 2024•11 min
It's another jammed packed recap show/podcast off a weekend that saw Keyshawn Davis score an impressive early win Friday and then, both Jaron "Boots" Ennis and Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez successfully defended their world titles Saturday night. And, we recap those bouts, have some fight news and tremendous nostalgia on the "Fight Freaks Unite Recap Podcast." Host T.J. Rives and insider Dan Rafael are back to discuss it all: Davis scored a great KO over Agrentine Gustavo Lemos in his hometown of Norfol...
Nov 11, 2024•1 hr 11 min
