You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard By News Talks ed B.
Hi there and welcome into Friday's edition of the Sports Fix podcast.
Race.
Yeah, I look, I know, I'll get to you in a moment.
I'll get to you in a moment. Let me get the date out, March the fourteenth. What's coming up this weekend?
Ac race cars? Race cars? Oh man, sorry for my excitement.
I can't help me. So this is Christmas to me, It really is, and the things that Christmas going to occur every couple of weeks to receive.
I would never dampen your enthusiasm about the sport that is so dear to your heart. I know how long you've been a motorsport fan of listened in to your many hundreds of interviews about motorsport this past couple of decades, and look, I can understand it. You know, a keiw in a full time Formula One seat, this is worth celebrating, I think.
So. Look, we'll talk about it later on in the piece, I'm sure, as well as some other issues in the Sporting Day, But coming out. Interview wise, we're going to talk to Dean Long again about this chaos between WBO and IBC and IBF and X y Z and blah blah blah where it changes every half an hour. There's story. So you reckon, Dino knows what's going on, blood you hope.
So well, if someone does, he will know, or if he doesn't know, he'll at least be able to give you some entertaining comment about the alphabet soup of boxing belts that we find it sells in.
The middle of at the moment. So that's enough of us rambling on during the intro. Let's get into it in other news.
Let's start by checking out some of the big sports stories around today. Six rookies and radically changed teams highlight the new Formula one season. Only two of the ten teams have kept the same driver lineup from last season. Four time defending champion Max the staff and feels like he's driving into the unknown of it. I know that we are not the quicks at the moment, but as a very long season so a lot of teams can always, you know, change quite quickly. In Formula one Super Rugby,
Pacific's boss andsts. Initiatives like the Kids Superhero Round are important to expose the sport to a wider audience. The five New Zealand franchises have selected a character each from the Marvel universe to represent them via their jerseys this weekend.
Some people might go on, you know, why are they wearing different jerseys? But we can't stand still. Yeah, I'm really infused and excited for the clubs to try stuff. And if we try stuff and learn, that's great for the competition and we can go forward from there.
And Warriors halfback Luke Metcalfe trying to massage out any fan panic heading into tonight's Round two NROL match against Manly at Mount Smart.
We just got to get back for what we know wind this game.
It's a pretty easy fix from us, boy, so no one's really too worried.
We know what we need to do to turn it around.
Dissecting the sporting agenda, It's Sportsfix with Jason Vain and Darcy.
Walder Gree Everyone.
Welcome to the Sports Fix podcast. To former manager of Joe Parker, boxing aficionado mister Dean Lan again, get a Dino dars here, brother, I'm doing very, very well, really excited about what may or may not happen with the Joe Parker in the future. They're not too distant the long term. I don't know. You, of course, spent a lot of time in the shady world of boxing at
the heavyweight level. Can you explain to us in simple terms what's going on now with Dubois, Parker and Usik, because it seems to be changing with every passing minute.
It's pretty simple, really, Joe has been the WBO interim heavyweight champion for some time, so effectively in the number one position and or just above the number one position.
He's been made.
Mandatory right now by the WBO. Now that's fantastic us for Joe. So that means that Ersk has to fight him. Now Here's what's interesting is that in the world of boxing, a unification fight trump's a mandatory right, So Ersek if he chooses to fight Dubois, we'll see Joe wait until the next fight around, and then you'd have to think the winner of Dubois versus ERSK will fight Joe Parker because they want to unify and become the undisputed the
heavy eight champ of the world. Or you know, like I don't know exactly where the WBO are going to sit on this. They could potentially, you know, this week's up the IBF would do, but they the bodies do agree on this because they want a unifight champ, you know, so if he fights one or the other, one of them can get stripped, you know, and you end up fighting for the vacant title.
But more than likely Ers will fight Dubois because.
That's where the big money is, and they'll probably do that fight older thought in England to be bluntly honest, because that's going to drive a whole lot of paper view revenues for the Saudi's out of England.
And then I think Joe Parker will get his chance.
But whatever whatever happens, and whenever it happens, I can guarantee you this, Joe Parker one hundred is going to fight for the heavyweight title of the world, and more than luckily it'll be for the undisputed the heavy at
title of the world, which is exciting stuff. If he gets to fight Dubois for that, I believe you wins that fighters a bit tougher because Joe, you know, has struggled a little bit with south Pauls over at the course of his career, and Ersik might be one of the greatest South Pauls that have ever boxed, have ever boxed, But you know, Ers's only got two more fights left in him, and Joe Parker might be one of them.
Regardless of what happens next fight up, josenh for a massive payday and well deserved and I think you know at some stage you're going to see Joe become the world hippyweight champion again and maybe undisputed it.
So let's roll the clock back a wee bit. If he decides sick that he doesn't want to take on Joe park and he wants to go to Dubois, will he be stripped of that wb O belt? Will that be given straight away to Parker? So he receives that belt by default, So if he does fight.
That's not how it happens what happened. What happens is if a champion does get stripped of the belt because he didn't fighter is mandatory. What happens is the the champ will fight, or the number one will fight, or the man if we will fight the number one on number two contender, right'll be for what's called a vacant title.
But because the championship bodies, the IBF, the WBO, the WBA, and the WBC all agree that it's advantageous to have a unified title, you'll find that they don't if they if they fight for another title to help you fight, they don't have to fight their mandatory. Off the top of my head, now they've got all sorts of different rules, and they'll be all sorts of different discussions going on, and Joe might get paid step aside money.
It's going to come down to what the ruling bodies think.
But I think you'll find that this is just my opinion, is that he is that Ersek will fight Dubois because there's more money in that, and then will fight Joe and that.
Will be the end of verse x career.
He's only got two more fights left and I don't think I don't think they'll strip him. But you know, for not facing his mandatory, because he is facing he is unifying the titles.
But it can happen if they wanted to.
Look, the sanctioning bodies are fascinating, you know, and they make all sorts of the only one that I found was truly consistent to their rules was the IBF. And the reason for that is go back fifteen twenty years and make the most corrupt and crooked of all, and a lot of them ended up on the verge of going to jail and in court, and as the result, they stick to their rules like glue.
And I found the IBF great to deal with with.
The other with the others, it's a combination of the relationships that you have and the springs that you can pull them, what have you.
But my gut.
Feelers, you know, just Joe's in a fantastic position. It'd be brilliant if he could get to Fighter sick. But we'll just have to wait and see if that's what happens, and I'm sure there'll be people moving right now. I think I think Joe's being promoted by Queensberry, which is Frank Warren, And though we working hard to make sure that they get their piece of the action, having said that, I'm pretty sure that Frank Warren does du bois as well. So they're in a no new situation.
Why would the WBO make this announcement though, that they want to see usc fight Parker with that WZO? Why would they bring them?
Really, that's a really, really, really good question. And what I would do is I would written the WBO and I have a discussion with them, or indeed, you could bring George or Frank Warren and Mate, I'm sure I can give you both of their phone numbers and you can ring them up and find out because Mabe, you never know what goes on behind the scenes with these organizations. Maybe it was just the fact that the thing is duing, this is what it says in their rules, or maybe it's not.
Who knows.
So sometimes they can be quite interesting in the decisions they come with. But Joe's been sitting there for a very long time as the as the interim champion. This is well deserved and I really look forward to Joe getting his chance at the big time again and made. He's in for a massive heyday, you know, so good luck to my hope it goes well.
Yeah, we love watching him fight. He's really improved under his new coach, nutrition everything. And one last thing for you, Dan Lodgan is always sayings very much for your time, WI. Its great to catch up. How in flunch of Saudi Arabia being in this.
That's a really good question.
I would have thought that the Saudis are probably sitting the one side and the WBO make their own rulings and their own just let the IBF.
Do you know, because they like to think that they're independent.
But you know, I can't stand here and say that the money hasn't crossed people's palms.
I don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
And really there's only three or four people make these decisions there would they might have had it just a straight out committee meeting of the WBO and they sat around the table and decided this was There was a whole lot of decisions made, and obviously this is one that affects one of our national heroes, and all of a sudden, it's all over the newspaper, all over the news.
So I'm a little bit distance from it, but I do understand the nuances, and all I can tell you is this, Joe Parker is an absolutely brilliant position and made. He's looking forward I guess to cashing in number one but two getting to be the heavyweight championship.
Hey, thanks Dena, thanks for joining us here on the Sports Fixed podcast Sports Fact Sense Sense.
Look, I'm not a huge motorsport fan certainly like my podcast co host Darcy, but you can't help but be swept up in what is happening this weekend in Melbourne, a keiw with a full time Formula One drive and a Red Bull car alongside the four time world champion Max for Stappin the sentence itself seems crazy, but here we are. Liam Lawson has long been talked about as
a tremendous prospect. Greg Murphy told us four or five years ago that he was one to watch, but for him to actually get to where he is one of only twenty Formula One seats is incredible. It's hard to tell rarely from the outside, but it feels as though Liam Lawson is taking it all in astride. He looks calm and the media situations I've seen this week doesn't look like he's being swept up in it all and is ready to fulfill a dream he's had for a long time. This is where he's always wanted to be.
This is where he seems destined to have ended up. He had a crack last year, of course as injury cover, and then the musical chairs began at Red Ball and everybody wondered who'd have a seat when the music stopped. It always felt as though Liam Lawson was in the mix and so approved, and so this weekend Liam gets into that full time seat for the first time. There are many metrics being thrown around as to what success looks like for him in Melbourne this weekend. Just finishing
is one. Top ten is being talked about. Getting within three tenths of a second of Max Forstappin is another. It feels to me like just being there is a success because very very few from these parts have ever done it. And this is just the start. Let's not forget that this isn't a one off. This is the beginning of what could be a very special motorsport career. All eyes on Melbourne from five o'clock Sunday as twenty drivers start their engines and one of them is one of us.
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsfax.
Into the Chamber we go.
Well, as I've just said on the podcast, I'm not a massive motorsport fan, but I've been swept up by the whole Lillam Lawson thing. As you said at the Top Race Cars, it is for you across this weekend. Let's actually get to the nitty gritty of it. What do you predict for Liam Lawson on Sunday afternoon.
I think that the only acceptable result for Liam Lawson is a top ten finish, and even then it's a stretch. He'd probably be looking at top six, but I'd say top ten. Keep it on the ash, felt, don't stick it into the scenery. That's a bit. He's got to bring his car home. They're very valuable and we know if you keep pushing them into the side of the track, you're going to lose your drive eventually. So for him, they sayero point three seconds slower than maxfish Staff and
so that that's a key. But he needs to finish in the top ten at least that's my expectation. You know what, Piney, I found out something quite interesting on Friday afternoon, twenty six degrees over in Melbourne. Apparent it's thirty six toes on Saturday, and you know what's going to happen on Sunday. It's going to rain.
Oh wow, Well this.
Is great because we and Liam Lawson first got on an F one cart when he deputized for Daniel Ricardo. As he broke his hand. It was over in Zandvord a couple of years ago. It hoes down and he drove really well because kiwis love driving in the rain, all really good at So that in itself excites me.
All right, I've written that down, laws and good in the wet I've written that down also that that's the old adage. And you talked about it about getting around the race track. I mean to finish first. First, you have to finish, right, It's an old adage in all sorts of racing, bed, motorsport, horse racing, or even just running around a track. So okay, let's let's and I
hope we don't have to go down this track. But if things don't go well for Liam on Sunday, he either has a DNF or finishes nearer the back of the field. It's only the first one, isn't it. So what do we read into success, failure or otherwise this week in such a long season.
Yeah, they'll give them plenty of rope. I don't see them drop kicking after a couple of bad results at the start of the season. You also remember that Liam's never had any experience at Albert Park before. It's never driven there, which might count for something. There's a number of other rookies. If you was five other guys who've not driven before. You know, he's got a couple of
races under his belt. But I think they will give him some wiggle room, possibly even four races before they start going, well, you're not doing too well because they're not afraid Red Ball of drop kicking people. They've done it before and they'll do it again. So pressure makes diamonds, as they say when you're talking about cliches.
Jason, that's another good one. Well, okay, I won't worry about Liam. I am a bit worried about the Warriors if we can segue to them tonight at go Media Stadium up against the Sea Eagle, so I thought were terrific last week and beating the Cowboys forty two twelve, the Warriors off the back of their less than perfect opener in Las Vegas. Should I be worried about the Warriors tonight, I'd say, And this has been very generous around the Warriores, even the Warriors.
The Warriors, I've been told to be patient, which we've talked about this, so I flatly refused to be It's not on my makeup, but I would say that tonight's game represents the proper start to the season for the one he's in on Warriors. This is where it really starts. I think that Las Vegas was a gimmick. I wasn't entirely happy with it. I'm still not. I don't think it means anything. Yeah, competition points on the line. But now two weeks after that and they've been slapped in
the face, They've had that away experience. The season starts tonight at home, and so when they get the win, or if they get the win, I think we're in a much better position to judge where the Warriors are at.
Right, all right, Yeah, that's well, that's good analysis. Okay, I'm least worried about the Warriors now, Okay.
Ken to make you worry about something.
You're worried about the Hurricanes, Hurricanes Islanders tonight. Please give me some hope that the Hurricanes actually look I looked at the odds for this before we came to wear a dollar eighty seven h ta B can't split them coin flip for them. You've got no skin in this game, Hurricanes Orhighlanders.
I like the Highlanders for this, but the unpopular Highlanders who always seem to be looking up to the ward the top of the ladder, but never up there themselves. I don't think they've got anything to lose in the way they played the game, and I think the pressure on Clark and his men is enormous in what we've seen so far from the Hurricanes, they ain't handling that very well, like the Blues and the Canes basically sitting at the foot of the table. This is bizarre. But
what one eight seven apiece? How good is this for super rugby? That we've got two New Zealand teams and you can't split them And this is fantastic for people without any skin in the.
Game, and absolutely and look and no we neither of us have skin. And tomorrow Knights game Chiefs Blues. You talked about the Hurricanes needing a bit of a confidence boost and not being where they should be.
What about the.
Blue They could lose to the Chiefs tomorrow night easily and they could be what will that be?
One end four to start the season.
And I think that their Chiefs are much better possession because they got beaten last week. But it's nigh on impossible to have beaten Dura in their own backyard. But that's probably the punch in the nose they needed, not that they needed one. They're playing very very well, but they'll return to regular service come that game. It is in Hamilton as well. FMG Stadium is the Battle of the Bombays. And again we go back to the pressures
exerted on teams and how they're dealing with them. At the moment the Hurricanes and the Blues aren't dealing with them as well. But that can all change in the space of eighty minutes.
Right it can. Indeed, all right, Well, my brow is furrowed, but you know what, there's nothing I can do from here. All I can do is watch tonight my Hurricanes against the Highlanders, the Warriors against the Sea Eagles when out of his skin in the game, the Blues against the Chiefs tomorrow night, and the race Cars on Sunday desk. And I just say, as I said at the start of the podcast, I know how much this sport means to you. I know how long a relationship you've had
with Liam Lawson and his family. It was great to hear his old man on with you yesterday. Look, I just hope you enjoy it. I hope you are able to enjoy it without getting too tense and clenching the sides of your couch too much.
It's hard to watch Formula One hiding behind the back of the couch. I'll tell you that I'm in it for the joy. I'm in it for the color and the noise and the sound. When lose come off the track, it doesn't matter. I'm buying into this one hundred percent. The tenth New Zealander. Man, he is there. I'm so so so so calm.
Race cars. Out of the chamber, we go.
Eating a vix We've got just the ticket. It's Sports Fix powered by News Talks IVY.
And as we exit the chamber, we exit the podcast. The Sports Fix podcast for today, March fourteen. That is us for the week, but on Monday, a fresh episode will drop into your podcast feed, provided of course, that you subscribe to sports Fixed US.
And also on Monday night between seven and eight, Jason Pine with the actual sports talk you can relate to because you can talk with us. Jason Pine has got sports Talk seven and eight Monday, I've got it Tuesday, wentero A Thursday, Friday Night and of course Piney all weekend which is happening well. A hop skipp and a jump with Weekend Sport twelve midday till three o'clock Saturday Sunday.
Looking forward to that one. Piney, You enjoy your weekend, because I certainly certainly will see you bro.
See you bro.
For more from News Talks B listen live on air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio