¶ Boxing Champion's Journey to Success
Welcome to Vegas Circle Podcast with your hosts , paki and Chris . We are people who are passionate about business , success and culture , and this is our platform to showcase people in our city who make it happen . On today's podcast , we're going to be diving deep into what it really takes to be a two-time world champion .
What's behind the scenes with the boxing business ? So welcome to the circle , mr Jesse Vargas man . So good to finally have you in the circle brother .
Thank you Pucky , thank you Chris . It's a pleasure to be here . Yeah , man , I mean pleasure to be here Non-stop .
Yeah you've been non-stop man , so we ran into each poker . Yeah , how'd that turn out for you man it was .
It was good , a good learning experience . I mean , I didn't play his top five nor top 20 , unfortunately , but it was one of my first times playing poker . It was a good time .
Yeah and uh , actually my first time that I played poker was with uh , a friend of mine he's a big dj in town , steve aoki okay , and I actually won that poker tournament with you , yeah , a bunch of friends , it was one of my first times playing . It's actually my second time , but okay , first time for a large pot and uh , it went well .
So when I thought , hey , why not ? And then the celebrity , uh , poker , came in , yeah , I thought , hey , maybe I'll get just as lucky . But yeah no , I think it was just the first time .
Luck yeah them guys are the real deal too , man , I was watching the tables . I don't know , I don't even know how to play poker but , yeah , they , they were playing serious man .
Did you go with the strategy or anything , or you're kind of just like let me go , just have some fun .
You know what I was doing really well , and then this girl captivated my attention and from that point on . I was talking with her in the meantime that I was playing and she actually took my chips . That's funny .
That's probably her strategy , she distracted me and boom all my luck transferred over to her .
It was done Because I doubled up easy . The minute I got there , like within the first 10 minutes , I doubled up my stack , so I took somebody else out of the game almost . And then I mean , I was balling , yeah , I was feeling good about myself and I don't know , I started talking to a girl hey , so where are you from ?
She was saying like Idaho , or something like that . I know all right , cool . And next couple moves I lost one and I lost another one . She had double aces . I only had like two pair and those double aces I think she had like a three . She had three aces and a pair , so couldn't beat that . Yes , yeah , it was .
She got me with a big pot there yeah , yeah , it was no joke , man , seeing everybody in there . Man , it was good to see all the different personalities and athletes and the whole nine man , so it's good stuff , man . Yeah , it's amazing what's happening in Vegas right now , man .
I know you grew up originally in Los Angeles , right , and then you moved to Vegas . Is that what I'm understanding ? Yeah , so I was been in town , and whenever they say where you're from , honestly I just say Las Vegas yeah . I've been here all my life and it's been good . I love this city . I've seen it expand . I've seen it grow .
Yeah .
All my friends are from here . I have friends all around the world .
But I mean , this is where I grew up , for sure , man , because boxing is is no joke , man , it's . It's not for the , for the week at all , man , um one on one sport is no , yeah , it's no joke , man . When did you actually get in ? Like , when was your first kind of first time putting the mitts on .
Well , you know what ? My dad wanted me to be involved with an after-school activity . That's when , um , he gave me a few options . I started with soccer . Okay , um , I decided that they just run too much and I said it's fun , but I don't want to do the training . So I told my dad I was fine . I finished the season and then I transferred over .
I was watching john khan van dam at that time okay and I thought yo , I want to learn taekwondo , I want to learn how to fight . So , and that's when I came into taekwondo , because my father introduced me to the sport I I advanced to about I think it was orange belt okay , and then I left it , it was just .
I wasn't enjoying it .
And then my father took me into boxing and he bought me a biography within a week of me being in boxing and it was on Julio Cesar Chavez , on his history , the whole documentary how he started , why he started and how his success came . And I thought , wow , that's what I want . I want what he has , I want the world title .
I want the world title , I want the money , I want the fame . And that's when it started and I set my mind on the prize . I thought I put my goal there . I said , all right , I want to become world champion . So I'm going to become world champion . And I started at the Richard Steele Boxing Gym .
It was called Nevada Partners at that time , which is still here now , which is not a box gym anymore . I think it's like a culinary of arts where they teach that type of profession , but during my time frame I was eight years old going back to your question .
So I was eight when I first laced them up and I mean it was all on patience , it was all learning the proper technique . I remember very well it was still fascinating because I knew it was working to something right , even though the jab was slow . And then I had to just get the technique down .
First I was okay with it because it just seemed so cool in slow motion . I was like this is definitely going to work . So then I stayed consistent and , yeah , I mean , one step led to another . I wanted to become state champion , national champion , and then from there state , regional and national champion .
I did them all and then afterwards I said , well , I want to be world champion . The mind was always on becoming world champion , but it was one step at a time .
How important was it for you ? Not that you look back on it then . You did start young , at eight . Now , looking back on it , how much of your success do you contribute to the consistency of doing it at such a young age and having that same goal in mind ?
Or do you think , like it's , if you would have started five years later , do you think you would have had that same kind of level of ?
success
¶ Early Boxing Lessons & Success Journey
. I think the younger I mean , in my opinion , the younger I was , the easier I was able to grasp it right . Um , I think anyone , the sooner you get in , the younger you are to to record it mentally , I think , the easier it will get .
And thankfully for me it was easy because I could only imagine if I were to move in , say when I was 13 or 15 I'm mainly 15 , 15 the punches start to hurt a little bit more . I bet right , I mean when , when , when , when you get that thump on the top of your forehead , you're like , oh okay , that's a good punch .
You know what I mean when you're eight , nine , what I recall is just , you know , I mean not so much feeling the punches , but it was just knowing that you were getting hit right or the nose .
Actually , no , when you got hit nose , that one stung , that one did stand when I was , when I was uh younger , when I was eight , nine , so I try not to get hit there . Yeah , sure , yeah and um . So I guess let's see .
I mean , I would assume that when you're the punches , if you're just being presented to it or introduced to the sport , they're going to bother you and that's all you're thinking about . So it's difficult to calculate everything because you're thinking about the pain coming and the punches going the opposite direction , right ?
So the punches you're throwing , I would assume , would be more difficult in the sport of boxing . But anything you do , I think that it's just about repetition .
The longer you do . I think that it's just about repetition the longer you do it , the better you get at it . That kind of makes sense .
So because you started younger , you were able to learn a different facet of the game , versus just being like a fighter right , because if I'm 15 , if most likely I'm trying to do it , maybe I have some anger , I'm trying to let loose , or something like that versus doing it young now you're , you get the chance to learn the basics and kind of create that
muscle memory before you start feeling that , exactly Very interesting to think about .
When did you actually turn pro ? Like what age ?
I turned professional at the age of 19 years old . Okay , yeah , so .
I had just came from , so about 11 years in , you were about okay .
Yeah , I came out of the national Olympic team in Mexico , came over here , signed with Mayweather Promotions a nice contract and then you know , I remember that it was a special moment for me for my parents . Overall for my parents , I think I mean for me as well , but they always invested so much time in me .
They helped me out , and me and my siblings , sure , they always wanted to give us options and they knew that what I wanted to do , so they always supported me doing it Okay , and I would assume that not only did it pay off for me , but it paid off for them , because it was all worth it . It was a lot of work , a lot of time , a lot of money .
And they sent me out to Mexico for a year and they paid for everything , maybe with the promotions , or your parents , my parents . Oh , that's beautiful .
Yeah , they paid for everything . That's awesome .
They would always take me . There wasn't one day that I missed a gym , because they were always there on time . They were always there to take me , so I would assume that they feel fulfilled as well .
It's all because of them , for that many years right , and , like you said , it's not an easy thing . You get hit , you get knocked down , you get , you know , beat up . It's exhausting . I'm assuming it's like there's a lot happening Like you know what kind of how . You know I've been a handful of fights and I'm like I don't want to be in no more .
But like being in as many as you've been into like how do you handle that part ?
That's the thing about me , man . When I was a kid , I was always very competitive , so I didn't like to lose , yep . So I made sure to always be in the game . And being in the game , that was the difference between a winner's mentality and a loser's mentality . It's just like coming to win . Things aren't going my way .
Well , I'm going to find a way to turn it , and you find a way to turn it , like the next round or next minute . So there may have been bad days , but within those bad days , there were still things that I was overcoming at the moment . So it just brought me right back into it .
So it was still competitive , although I didn't like it and I would be angry for a week if I had one bad day . My parents would be mad at me as well . But overall , I mean it's about the consistency . It's about being able to take in the hard shots .
Not the hard shots , but the hard moments in life , right , where it's that moment of learning something new , or the moment where you got to , like , understand a different aspect of the game , or you just learn something new , you know . So it's a balance of numerous things .
For sure , but overall it's mentality .
If you don't have the right mentality , you won't be successful in that , and you won't be successful in many other elite sports or just careers in general . That's the mentality you have . It's in many other elite sports or just careers in general . That's the mentality you have . Is that competitive instinct ?
You know you were talking about like consistency , right , and Crystal was kind of tabbing on that as , like you know , I've got children , right , and you're always talking to them about hard work and things . But for people who don't really understand getting to be a world champion like yourself , right that you've done that twice .
How much are you training , like before you went to be , you know , 19 years old ? Like how many fights do you think you probably had in the ring before you ? Literally , you know , signed with Mayweather Promotions About ?
100 fights About 100 fights , yeah 100 fights . I'm sorry , 140 fights , 140 fights .
Yeah , 140 fights .
Oh wow , have had like 12 . I mean nationals where the rest of the states regional nationals .
Yeah , so that experience had a lot to do with it . Yeah , it's serious . That's a lot of fights , yeah .
Yeah , but before then going back to your question , I mean I was there on a daily basis from Monday to Friday . I was in the gym . Saturdays I was either running or in the gym as well , right , or help my parents in their small business that they had , as long as they had the proper age for it . But yeah , I mean I was in the gym .
I mean when other kids were out playing with their friends , I was in the gym . You know , I tried that once for like three , four months I just got into high school , and actually twice I tried it in middle school when I was 11 , for about a week and I saw that it was not the right decision to take .
So I kept my way , meaning hanging out with my friends and leaving the gym for a little bit , even for a week . I saw that it wasn't really catching my attention . I didn't like it .
Couldn't keep your focus .
Yeah , I felt like it was going downhill instead of uphill . And that's at 11 . I'm like , what am I doing ? Like I thought it to myself right . Like I mean I was with my boy , with my boys here kind of gangsters , I mean I'm gonna end up fighting them . So let me just stick in the gym like I knew myself , like I was always . I was .
It was always about respect , because my father taught it to me . Whenever I saw someone that was disrespectful , I made it be clear . I made it be so , going back to the moment that I opened up some time for friends . When I was 14 , in high school freshman , I hung out with them a little more often than I used to out of school .
So , and sometimes I'd go to the gym tired because I was hanging out with my friends all day , right , or the next day I'd be exhausted . And then in that timeframe I actually had a fight . I had a regional fight . I had already became state champion . Now we were going for regional champions and again I had invested a lot of time with my buddies .
So I was hanging out with them Just right after school . I'd hang out with them . That's what it was . I had my little lowrider bike with them because we had a little lowrider bike crew . So I thought that was cool .
But then the regional comes and I'm training , I'm hanging out with my friends and um , I ended up fighting that night and man I I didn't take a beating , but that was one of the hardest fights of my career in general and it was because I mean I wasn't focused . Yeah , I mean I got tired in the second half of the second round .
There was three rounds , uh , involved in that fight , right . So first round I beat him up . Dude , this guy was on the level , on my level . Second round I'm beating him up in the first part of it . Second part of the second round oh my god , I'm gassed . So now I'm like defending myself , like , oh man , this guy's strong .
Third round comes in and again I'm exhausted , right , and it's not looking good for me . I mean , the fight ended up finishing . He won the fight .
And .
I agree , he did win the fight , without a doubt , and I felt so embarrassed because the guy wasn't on my level and he was giving the decision . He beat me that night . I thought it was embarrassing so I said , all right , that's enough of this , I'm not hanging out with my buddies anymore . And then I went back into the gym .
I came back to the state championship , won it , regional championship won it . National champion won it . Did it again a second time for the PAL national championship as well . So it was two back-to-back national championships that I won because of the anger that I got from that fight .
From being embarrassed and not being focused . Yeah , humiliated to me .
That's what it was . That's what it was . That's a competitive instinct , right ? You think to yourself this should not be happening to me . I will not allow it anymore . So , then you learn , right , that's like good times , bad times , right , that bad time brought out better times in the future . And that's just the way life is .
It's not always going to be great , right , but if you fight hard , you'll be able to come out on top at the end . There's still going to be bumps along the road .
Sure .
But you know , I keep my mind strong on that because every time I've had bad times , it's not about giving up . I didn't give up . I just thought to myself , whether it was in boxing or in life , I'm thinking no , no , no , no . This isn't me , this isn't my lifestyle , this isn't what I want . So how do I get what I want ?
and then that's when I push forward . Age man , that's yeah you have some wisdom , because do that at a young age it's tough because most people get sidetracked so fast . You know what I mean it's easy to get sidetracked .
You're right , learning how to navigate those big moments . To seem hard because , like that's when your first time being that big stage right like therefore competing for something that's really going to elevate you , and yeah , I think that's the learn that , young I can imagine , helped you tremendously throughout your rest of your career .
Yeah , yeah , well , I mean it was tough , though I mean I had to go through some things to to get an understanding of it right sure of course my dad was there , my mother was there every step of the way , so they , they were able to inform me and guide me . um , as a kid , you don't listen that much to your parents , right ?
That's the only bad part about it . So some of the things would kind of just , you know , come in and go out the other ear , but other things would stick . And then , along with my point of view as well , as a kid , I thought you know what ? Because it's a lot . I mean , it's not just me saying , oh , I want to do the right thing .
It's me being humiliated'm saying yeah , it's a difference , yeah , it's a difference .
I didn't see it as me being wise . I mean , I just had to wake up because it's either you wake up or you stay . You know you dig yourself deeper . Yeah , that's real , that's not what I was going to do . I don't , I don't . That's not my lifestyle man . I hate , I hate that . Yeah , you know how you execute .
Let's talk a little bit about signing a contract . The boxing business I'm hearing is crazy . I mean , you know really what's behind the curtain , but signing like your first contract , is it that bad ? Or is it set up for the right person and you have to renegotiate later in life , like you hear the music stories and things like that .
I always say the first contract is horrible , but what was it like for you at 19 years , at 19 years old ?
I mean , I've heard bad stories right about other friends of mine or other fighters , you know , signing bad contracts . But thankfully , with me , man , I mean I've done really well when it came to that . You know , I had good guidance with my parents , sure , I think , with the exception of one contract . But at the end of the day I signed it and I got paid .
¶ Navigating Boxing Promotions and Ego
Um , I got kind of tied up a little more than I should have with that one , not that I should have , that's not even the way to put it . I got tied up when I should have not been tied up . Okay , right , but there's ways around it . You know you find yourself in . I shouldn't speak too much of it , but it can be tricky , is the way to put it .
If you don't have the proper representation in the middle of you signing the contract , it can get tricky . Thankfully , my first contract was with Floyd Mayweather , mayweather Promotions . It was amazing . We had a great partnership . It's more than a partnership . They were my promoters and that's what it was . But I loved working under them . They paid me well .
I loved working under them . They paid me well as long as Floyd was there . I felt well taken care of in the fights that I wanted . Not that I wanted , but because I always wanted the biggest fights possible . I remember Floyd was like , hey , you want Eric Morales . I was like , yeah , I want Eric Morales .
This was 2011 , when , I think , he had a fallout , his opponent had fallen out and then he was looking for another , another one , a late replacement , and I was fighting on the same night . Anyways , it was on the victor ortiz versus floyd mayweather fight .
Oh , I remember that yeah so and I told I told floyd , yeah , floyd , give me that fight , man , I want it please . I was only like 22 , but still , man , I was hungry , you know . And um , uh , he worked for it . He tried , yeah , unfortunately , um later on er Eric tells me that he had chosen on Kano Because not that he had backed out .
I mean , eric has tremendous heart , but he told me he was like , hey , they told me about you . But then I just said no no , no , give me this guy right here , and that's when his last name was Kano .
Forget his first name .
But he ended up beating him for the WBC world title and I ended up beating Josecito Lopez that night . So , yeah , that was just like one of my stories that I've never shared with Floyd Because we had such great communication . That's what's up , and I was always very happy to be part of Mayweather Promotions .
I was looking forward to being the very first world champion from Mayweather Promotion . Yeah , because we would have done it in a shorter time span than Golden Boy did . I think Golden Boy had Ivor Nermades as his first world champion in like four years from beginning to the moment he became world champion .
So from signing all the way to— that took him four years , I believe . So Wow , yeah , so it was pretty quick . Still , wow . I mean I think Mike did it a little sooner , but still pretty quick for a young world champion . So I told him you know I hope we can beat that record .
Unfortunately it wasn't able to happen , but you know we made it happen regardless .
Yeah , but you had some big fights , man . I mean , you fought from Pacquiao to Broner to what Timothy Bradley yeah , what was one of the toughest fights that you have fought , besides the one you were talking about when you were younger , but between maybe , let's say , pacquiao or anybody else that you can add on that card ?
I'd say Pacquiao man , because he was just so hard to estimate . Okay , With his footwork , his lateral movements , his speed , you had to identify exactly what was his next move and it wasn't easy . So , yeah , I would say Manny Pacquiao . And other than that man , probably like my ex-girlfriend .
She hit hard , bro , did you ever spar with Floyd ?
No , no , no .
I wanted to , but I never called it , though .
I would never disrespect Floyd that way . I figured the respect was solid .
Yeah , exactly I wanted to because you want to test yourself 100% .
But then again you think to yourself man , I'm not going to ask Floyd if I can spar him . That's like calling him out like I want to spar you , what's up . So I never wanted to disrespect him and I never asked for it .
People don't do that , though in the box to play Mike , michael Jordan or Kobe , I would do , I would want to test it , I bet .
Yeah , I mean we all do , but you can't do that in boxing . You could , you could , or is it ?
because you would Floyd , you know , with Mayweather Promotions .
I mean , he was my boss , Fair enough , Fair enough yeah fair enough , dillard Hoyer's right there and he's one of the top guys and hey , what's up ? Hey , you need some work let's get it right , it's different yeah , yeah , cause it's just competitive instinct that we wanna see who's better , and if he's better , it's alright , I'll work the next day .
You know that will help me improve and to work the next day to get better .
So that's just the way talent works , yeah , but how do you balance that ? You touched on a little bit there like the ego versus humbleness , right ? I feel like that's such a fine line in competitive sports where you want to be an asshole all the time , but you also know you're that guy , right . So how do you balance that ? A little bit in boxing .
That's actually a good question . I know you've been asked , but going back to that one , I'm going to tell you he was like my big bro , boss , when it came to floyd mayweather , floyd , okay , yeah . So I was like I would never disrespect him like that .
You know , you ever look at your big bro , you're like , oh , I ain't gonna , I ain't gonna call him out . It was like that . Yeah , and then going with your question , man , it's , it's , it's being humble , because it just depends that's mainly on on different characters , right ? Different people , different personalities . Me I was that guy .
Everybody knew in the gym or anywhere , like I came .
I came with the heat .
Yeah , you don't play , yeah so whenever I had like sparring sessions or whatever the case was , I didn't have to say anything because that's how I preferred it . I preferred just to always do my thing inside the ring , be respectful outside of the ring , but everybody knew what I was coming with . And then you got other guys like AB .
Right , he's just real loud , you know , that's just his style , right ?
AJ is hilarious , I'm sorry . Yeah , he's hilarious , 100% yeah .
As a matter of fact , I'll probably call him right now .
Put him on there . I'll call him out . Put him on there , yeah .
I've been trying to tell him we was gonna say , yeah , it was a draw , yeah , it was a draw , so we'd get another one . Um , but anyways , yeah , so you got different characters right . I mean , ab is like that , floyd he's more on the you know calm , serious , outside of the ring and then , like a few minutes before stepping in the ring , is the a unit .
Hopefully floyd doesn't . Uh , like I hate this , but he'll be like uh , I don't know who , say some funny thing .
Oh , the one was to get the ass whoop next you see what I'm saying , like little subtle , little comments , yeah , yeah and he would .
He would get back in the ring and do what he had to do with him , right , uh , which I really admired , but it was always very serious . Yeah , same with me , though I mean , in the beginning I was like that , until I had a trainer that he's like Jesse , stop being so mean . Like , be nice to these guys . These guys are here to help you .
Yeah .
And then that's when I kind of like transferred over a little bit Like , hey , how you doing .
You know yeah .
Which is a wrong decision to make All right . Okay , because dog once work time , yeah . And then that's when I learned , because I was young when he told me that . So I tried listening right to my peer , to my elders , but yo , I'm like , no , I'm not . Now that I'm older I'm like that's not the game . Yo , this isn't the sport that I'm in .
I'm not here to be nice . Yeah , you're , I'll be outside . Yeah , I'm a fighter I'll be nice to you in the streets the minute we're inside the gym . It's business , it's all business yeah , or even like just a quick pound , that's all I do .
Like it was so hard for me to listen to that dude even though I did and honestly I feel like it made me a little soft because once I got into the ring it felt different . When prior , when I was 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , I was , I was walking up to , even to the boxing gym , I'm ready to fight .
And then I get inside the ring , I'm going up those steps , I'm ready to fight , like why am I gonna be nice , I can hold a whole different , a whole conversation on this subject . Right , I'm not gonna get into it . But yeah , you get the point . Right , you get the gist of it .
¶ Boxing Mentality
How do you like ?
keep your so , like , for example , adrian broner , versus like a pacquiao , pacquiao , so respectful , very quiet . You know you probably can't get mad at pacquiao to get in the ring right , because he's such a nice , respectful guy . I don't know what he says in the ring , but but , adrian , like how do you keep your mind a lot like lose it ?
You know what I mean to go off and take . I know you have to be controlled , and is that that's boxing ?
yeah , you have to be controlled . Yeah , I mean , again , the competitive instinct comes , comes in , right . So when , uh , when I fall Pacquiao , I mean , yeah , he's smiling , but I know what he's there to do and I'm like , all right , well , I'm going to do it better , just get it , you know , and it's different . So that's the mentality . I mean .
It changes because you see me here , I'm talking to you nicely , but once you got , and then you talk to me , then it's different . You're not going to get too many words from me , right ? Yeah , it's just a different mentality , right ? The aggression is different , the view , the perspective is different .
So , yeah , I mean , you see me a couple days before the fight . I'm just like , yeah , I'm ready to fight and what I mean , this is what I'm going to do , and this is what I'm going to do . But then how are playing simple , straight , right down the middle or whatever . The case is right .
So my response would be different you feel like , leading up to a fight , you get triggered a little more easily , like in the regular world ? Most definitely , yeah . You're just building it up , I bet .
Most definitely yeah that's the best way to put it . Yeah , things change .
That was interesting so who's your GOAT ? I'm assuming I think I know who it is , but who would be your top fighters that you respect ? Dead alive , currently fighting .
Man . Honestly , for me it's hard to rate them . They're all great in their own right Robert Duran , sugar Ray Leonard , julio Cesar Chavez , floyd Mayweather , oscar De La Hoya I think Oscar De La Hoya was great . I mean , muhammad Ali was way before my time so I haven't really looked into him . James Toney I know he was pretty good .
A lot of people don't know about him , man but he was pretty legit . Didn't James go to UFC for a little bit too ?
He tried it , I believe .
Yeah , I remember that he tried it .
Yeah , but the UFC is a whole different ballpark , I know .
It's different .
It's like playing rugby and football . They're both throwing balls around , but it's a different sport .
You know what I mean ? Yeah , and are you still training now , like when we were talking before ? So you've got a fight coming up soon , or who will ? Be , your next opponent .
I'm still training , although I can't use my right hand right now . I had an injury .
Okay , yeah , so I'm problem to practice the left . Yeah , it's hard right now . What happened to your hand ?
I just injured it , man , I was on a flight , man , and you know rare scenario . Yeah , just a long story .
Say less , say less , but you're on the road to recovery and you still want to fight . Yes , awesome man .
I mean , don't think I hit a wall or anything like that . Yeah , I got you One thing . I'll tell you what . This is something that I should touch up on . You know a lot of people will think that boxers are aggressive . Yo , we fight for a living .
Like when we're outside of . Every time I ran into you you calm as hell . Yeah , yeah , I try to be right . Common collective just like yo .
My profession is about being aggressive . Let me , let me save that for when it's paying me money , sure ?
that's a good point . You know what I mean . A lot of people think like I mean I have an anitry .
I mean some people might , I may have hit the wall or something you know , I think they watch too many karate movies or something like that . You know I mean eyes . You know we as fighters , like you see any fighter out in the street . They're cool man , they're walking with confidence Like hey , what's up .
You see , Caleb playing what's up , you know , and Charlo , charlo's just a little loud but he's still cool .
I've actually ran into Caleb . Caleb cool as hell too yeah . But I know that he said something about his wife or something crazy , or that he was pulling what that is . I'm not sure what they say , but there was already beef beforehand which is different .
You see , when you got two fighters and there's already something that's been said or even misconstrued right , we're sensitive to little things like that which is because it's fighter on fighter is different , you know , especially when you're in the same division , it's like that competitive instinct .
You see what I'm saying , but yo you're in the street just talking , somebody's trying to , you know , test you . Like , man , get out my face man . Yeah , like you don't know what I can do to you . Yeah , like literally that's the first thing that comes to your mind . Like why am I gonna get aggressive for them ?
plus , they don't pay us because really you have to be , to be a fighter you kind of you have to be in control of your emotions , like you can't overreact recklessly , because that you would be a terrible fighter if you did that . Because you wouldn't be able to compose yourself in the ring .
Exactly . Yeah , yeah , yeah . So I mean , that's something that no one points out .
You know who I enjoy watching honestly is Javante Davis . Yeah , what's your take on Javante man ?
I really like him , man . I think he's one of the most talented athletes right now in the game . Yeah , I mean , he's a big punching power . I think that's his really . I mean one of his perks , one of his special attributes that he has like little mini Mike Tyson For real . Yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah .
Very exciting too .
Very exciting because you never know I mean they say don't blink , right , you never know when it could end with fighters like that , just in boxing in general . So I think he's very talented , although I think leo santa cruz was giving him the fight of his life , bro .
You know , it was competitive , it was good , yeah , but again , giovante has that one punch power that knock you out if he catches you right , and that's exactly what happened .
You know , um , leo santa cruz had the experience , right , he had , I could say he had the chin , like like uh , what I mean by that is like he had it until it was that one punch that just , that was not even 100% power , 200% power . The reason why I say 200 is because , all right , leo Santa Cruz made the mistake of doing the same move three times .
That's like me teaching a kid all right , slip my right hand , okay , you do it once . All right , he slipped it . All right , okay , you do it once . All right , he slipped in . All right , you do it again . You already got everything lined up perfectly . Do it again . All right , you just gave it to him , right , then he loaded it up .
I think that's probably one of the best load ups . When it comes to punches , yeah , the , the most powerful punches , because you were able to load up with everything you had .
Yeah , that's it everything you had .
You know what I mean I mean he could even jumped up with that punch if he wanted to .
Yeah , how do you feel about , like , the MMA ? I know we touched a little bit about MMA . Do you feel like and I know this is controversial , right , but you always hear people saying that boxing is kind of becoming boring , supposedly , and MMA is taking over . But what's your take on that ?
Do you feel like boxing is still here to stay and basically MMA is not taking over , or what's your take on ?
it . I think MMA is doing really well . Yeah , yeah , I mean they're bringing in tons of fans to the stadiums .
I mean they're going to have one big event at the Sphere , of course , yeah , 100% at the Sphere . Yeah , yeah , which should be good .
But overall , I mean boxing is
¶ Boxing and UFC Comparison and Dedication
boxing right ? Boxing is one of the first combat sports that has ever existed existed . It's never , it's not going to go anywhere . You know , I mean it will evolve , it will get . I I mean it's evolving now with the new youtubers , right , I mean jake paul and all them , that's .
That's a whole different audience that we're attracted to the sport of boxing , which is only going to help expand the sport . But overall , boxing ain't going anywhere and I assure you that . Right , if I , if I could , if , uh , boxing had a stock market , I'd invest in boxing for sure , because it's only going to go up , I assure you .
I mean , there's always going to be new fighters , always going to be , you know , new , because it's like the old generation is into it . The new generation is like still learning it . Right , they're like picking between UFC and boxing , but it's two different sports . They're all going to understand that eventually .
Again , I'll come back to that analogy Rugby , football Completely different , two different sports . You put a rugby player in the football field , the football player is going to run circles around him , sure . Same thing you put him in rugby , well , most likely football will get the hang of rugby quickly .
Yeah , it's like if you put a boxer in a UFC game , I mean we only have one chance . Let's get him from the outside or we better knock him out , right , that's our best shot . You put a UFC fighter in a boxer ring , he has no chance of at nothing .
Yeah , for sure you know , that's just the way I see it .
I mean we've been doing it since we're , I mean , eight years old , like it's Eight years old , nine , I mean Floyd , I think did it when he was five . Yeah , for real . He probably had diapers . He was doing it For real , but what I'm saying is , like you know , Javante , I don't know what age , but I assume at least 12 .
Yeah .
Right , maybe 14 at the most . So still 14 years to 24 , you know , that's 10 years deep UFC . It seems like a lot of maybe when they're teenagers or 20s . That's what I've realized because there's so many different techniques .
So you got wrestlers and now the wrestler needs to transfer over to a different type of technique that they use in that as well , because it's like what ? Five , six different techniques in it . Yeah , I mean , it's a lot to handle .
For sure .
So you got to learn everything .
Because they're very different , right , you can be fans of both , you don't have to pick one or the other people can like basketball I mean , uh , boxing , and they can like ufc . They'll make this comparison . It's like it's not fair . It's not at all like a real fair comparison .
I agree . I mean I like both as well . I'm a fan of ufc , I'm a fan of boxing , of course . I mean I'm gonna pick every day of the week . I'm gonna pick boxing over over , uh , ufc , but uh , yeah , ufc , but yeah , that's just my point of view . Just because I like the stand-up right .
I like seeing guys like , alright , they set things up , they'll set up a one-two , or they'll set up a feint , come back with a hook right over the top . I'm like , oh , that is nice .
That's something to admire right .
When it comes to UFC , it's just like what's coming A foot , a foot to face . And then the worst thing about it , man , in my point of view , is like when I see him grappling and I'm like , oh dang , that's it , and then that's it , it's just over . I'm like I see him being on the . You know , I like him being standing up fighting like chuck liddell .
I used to love when he used to fight rap age jackson knocking cats out yeah , it was different . Yeah , it's still cool now . It's just a little different . You got to appreciate it in a different way so would you fight an mma fighter ?
was that something ? If it was a big payday , would you do that . Why not ?
yeah , it'd be fun . Yeah , for sure . Good time , yeah , do you ever ?
practice like regular fighting outside of boxing . Like you ever , just for the fun of it , like go start trying to grapple somebody or something ?
honestly , my thing is boxing yeah yeah , yeah , I mean , that's what I really enjoy to do and I want to continue to perfect and strengthen . Yeah , I want to get stronger in my punches . Um , you know , I want to get better .
Make sure I'm just as fast or faster things of that sort , right , sure yeah I mean I'm completely content with whatever I accomplished so far . I feel like there's much more , though for sure , I feel like there's a lot more to accomplish , and that's the reason why I want to come back . It's not so much for the money , although I mean .
I mean I'm gonna , I'm gonna , I'm going to pick a meal over $500 every day of the week , 100% , but you know , I'm in it , more importantly , just to show my fans that I believe that there's more . There's a lot more for me to give , and I feel certain of it .
Yeah .
Yeah , but I look forward to coming back and doing it properly .
Let me see you come back . Man , that'd be good , man , that'd be really good , thank you .
Tell you what ? I'll tell you something now . I feel like the reason why I haven't reached my full potential or my peak is because I haven't really I've half-assed it in a way .
I don't think I would ever thought you would say that yeah , same thing ever believe it or not ?
yeah , really , yeah , like I wasn't year round .
I wasn't in the gym year round . Um , you know , as soon as I can do that , cut off like say hey , is it cool if I just do six weeks camp ? All right , cool , you know . So I'd always like find ways to count corners , and my father called me out on it all the time but . I wouldn't believe him .
I was like no , dad , I'm pretty dedicated , yeah , but uh , I I found ways to minimize , like uh , the workload I guess .
Is that right ? Okay , I wouldn't expect you to say that at all . Is that a good feeling , especially being a world champion ?
I would not expect you to say that yeah , yeah , I'm kind of upset at myself for that .
Yeah , okay , just backtracking real quick just because you brought that up . What is a day like with with tramp well , I'm sorry , with camp you're doing six weeks . You're all day , whether whatever it is running , cardio boxing , I mean , you're literally your whole day is is set up like that you have no off time , you don't have a life man .
Yeah , yeah , yeah , it's hard , bro , it's hard . So , yeah , it's just training . You wake up , you run , or if you do the the uh strength and conditioning in the evening time , you do it at night time and then you just come back and rest so say , I'll give you just an idea of it . So some would do it in the morning .
I prefer evening time to do strength and conditioning , so I'll wake up , I'll do boxing in the afternoon and the evening I'll do strength and conditioning . Sometimes I'll switch the times around for both . I'll do strength and condition early and then boxing in the evening .
But the second part , the most , the second most important part of like becoming a world champion or being at optimum level , is giving your body rest , sufficient rest .
Because if you don't give sufficient rest , that's where you tend to mess up , because you're not giving yourself like um , you're not performing at optimum level anymore because you didn't get the rest as the bond seat that the body requires . And that's where I'm at fault , for I was always like really hyper , like I .
I get really frustrated when I , when I'm just sitting in one room , I feel like I'm caged up , got you . So that's where my tiny flaws , because they weren't big flaws , they were tiny . That's why I still became world champion , but they were little flaws that make a big difference got you yeah , error .
You give yourself a little room for error , man , and you're going to pay a price for it .
So I got to ask you this with Floyd , right , he don't drink at all . No , nothing , no . And he looks like he's always ready to fight . He seems like he's never fell off . As far as weight , as far as the whole nine , his structure is the same . It seems like in camp , but outside of camp . You've seen that in the flesh 100% .
Yeah , I agree to all that because I mean , that's the thing about Floyd , that's why he reached the pinnacle of boxing , because I mean , his room for error was so small because he knew what he wanted to do and he knew what it took , and no one took him off that he was selfish , like no , no , no , I need my rest . I ain't drinking , you know .
I may go out with you , I'll have a good time , but I get my nine hours of sleep , you know . I don't know how many hours that , I don't know , but I just assume he'd wake up late . I assume he's got his nine , ten hours of sleep . He's ready to go gym time . And he was consistent .
I mean , although he says he retired for a certain time frame , I'm not sure if I believe that he completely retired , as in stopped training .
No , he's still sharp as hell . That's what I'm saying Super sharp yeah .
So that makes me think that he always stayed dedicated . Yeah , I mean listen . The smaller room for error that you leave yourself , the higher chances and probabilities of being successful , and that's why he is as successful as he is . No drinking , no partying like I mean he did have a good time with his friends , like quarter skating .
I mean I went to some of the parties , but he never drank . That's what's up . Yeah , so it's different . Yeah , he knew what was essential for him yeah .
So I know your parents have been big right . They've been in've been in your life with us being you know the circle . What's probably the biggest lesson that you've learned , whether it's boxing or just in life in general , or also who's speaking in your life and keeping you on the right path , the way you've been able to kind of keep yourself clean .
My parents did a great job of it . I give them all the credit so they take it all for sure . And then , other than that , yeah , I mean every now and then , you know certain things that maybe I didn't listen to , but I ended up learning the hard way , sure , yeah .
So , as I said earlier , right hanging out with friends , you know that didn't really benefit me ?
Yeah
¶ Boxing Career Financial Advice
, for sure . And with business advice man , specifically boxing advice man , what would you tell a young fighter right now that before they sign in their contract or you know they're willing they wanted to go pro , what would you share with them ? What's , what's the first things they do or the right perspective to have before signing that contract ?
first thing to do , I'd say get yourself a notebook and know what's what's important in different areas . Right , business . Two notebooks , one how to how to accomplish your goal is to become a world champion and stick to it . What to stay away from , what , what maybe ?
Uh , what can I say is what temptations are going to be out there and know how to avoid them . Yeah , yeah you gotta add the pros and cons and then , from what you've heard and other people kind of know exactly how to you know , stay away from those mistakes . For sure . Um , learn from others or from others' experiences . I'd say stay dedicated . Overall .
Number one thing stay dedicated , stay focused , keep your eye on the prize . There's room for entertainment , there will always be room for entertainment , but there isn't going to be that much time for you to accomplish your short-term goal and long-term goal . So make sure you're focused on that . Number one . Let's see .
When it comes to business , make sure you look over the contract . Have somebody that can guide you through that contract .
Make sure that it's someone you can trust .
Yeah , legal representation . I would say every dollar you make in boxing , or at least 80% of it , invest it in something or think of somewhere you can invest it . You don't need that much to live off of . Early on , all you got to do is train and eat .
You know what I mean . You got no time .
You don't got to wear a Bearberry bro . You don't got to wear a Versace . Just train , work , work , work . Of course you got to . I guess in a way , you kind of have to do it for social media reasons . Your personal brand yeah for sure , make your own personal brand . But if I were to do it , if I were to go back , I invested my money , thankfully .
But instead of investing 30% of it , I'd invest 85% of it and then live off of the investments of it and then live off of the investments , whatever the investment is giving you , live off of that and say that's what I'm going to live off of , because that money is going to be , is going to be worth so much more when you decide to retire .
Yeah , and honestly , yeah , I mean know exactly what you're spending , right , so keep track of your balance sheet . Um , know what you're spending on a weekly basis . Write it down , why .
Because this is going to take you a long way If you're able to just have a notebook , have two notebooks your balance sheet , how much you're spending , your expenses , your income it's only a one set income . In the beginning it's like a big fight . All right , cool . What am I going to spend this on ?
Then you write it down and then you're going to understand where the money's going and how fast it's going . Because you make it fast , you lose it just as fast 100 . So keep track of that . That will help you balance your income , balance your expenses and help you invest in something that that , uh , can be productive in the in the long term .
But get yourself someone that maybe just get just it's hard man . I wish I can say more , but if you can , if you can get a little bit of guidance from somebody as well that you can really trust , which is hard , very much so hard everybody wants something , yeah , 100% yeah , man , even the mentors sometimes want money , bro .
So you know what I'm learning , kind of getting coaching from a distance . You kind of see certain things . There might be things you can bump off to you know what ? I mean that's literally how I've been . I've had mentors all my life and you're right , they're expensive , but I feel like you can just you can learn off certain things .
You know what I mean and , yeah , I've always used it kind of like as a shopping cart method where I just take what works for me and my household . You know what I mean and what's gonna get me to the next level . That's the best way to put it .
I think you know just getting information right . Right . Retrieve information from everything online right now YouTube . Go to YouTube . Figure out how to manage your expenses . You know things like that I think are very important . You know , looking to like get information on what investments to get into . Thankfully , I had my father to help me out with that .
He was investing early on and he shared some information with me . As a matter of fact , I'm going to tell you about the first time that I actually had a lucrative paycheck . It was in 2011 . It was six figures and I thought to myself I'm just living right , I'm going to get a bigger paycheck . But I had recently had a girlfriend .
I remember I was spending money I was taking her out to . Finally , I was going out , taking my little break , going out to nice dinners , going out to the Aria . She's the one that introduced me to the Aria . Actually , I'd never been there before the . Aria Casino . She wanted to go to this restaurant , this restaurant .
I was like , hey , let's go , I'll take you , I'm selling good . Until that , first three weeks a month I get my credit card statement . It says $15,000 . A little less , I think , than $15,000 . What In one month ? No , my dad's right . I got to invest this quickly , 100% . And yeah , I said , all right , dad . So you said invest , invest in what ?
And then that's when I sat down and spoke to him , but because of the importance of that scenario , right Me realizing how fast my money was going In 2011, .
You said in 2011 , 2011 yeah , it was depleted .
So I was like yo , alright dad . So what were you saying here , here , here , alright , cool . And then it went from there . I started like saving up .
You're lucky . At 20 something years old you were able to get that . And if you were putting money away ?
at 2011 . You're doing good now , 100% , yeah , yeah , man , my father my father .
I mean , again , I didn't invest that much but say , with the money that I made , I definitely invested at least I shouldn't even say that but yeah , just a certain percentage , right , I wish I would have invested more , 100% , right .
But my father was always there to guide me and , thankfully , I mean , I don't really got to depend on fighting right now if I don't want to Good for you , man , which is the way my father wanted me to be . He was like , hey , I want to good for you , which is the way my father wanted me to be .
Like , I just want you to when you don't fight , I don't want you worried about money . And he told me that early . He told me that at 16 , right , I remember I was going to stop boxing . As a matter of fact , I was going to quit at the age of 16 and my dad had a conversation with me and I was like I told him dad , you know what ? I think ?
I'm gonna stop because I want to make some money . Um , you know , there's a couple of jobs I can get . I don't want to continue asking you for money , right , cause I want to take out my girlfriend to the movies . I want to take her out here . I want to take her out , I want to go eat .
And my dad , he had like one of the most important talks with me . He says , jesse , listen , he says so you're really good at what you do and I become a world champion . You have a high possibility of becoming a world champion . So do you want to continue this career ?
Or because , if you don't , you're going to have to be , you're going to have to get a job following orders from someone else , right , and doing whatever it is that they say , and you can't say anything against it or about it , anything to give them the contrary , you're going to do whatever they say for the rest of your life .
For sure you could just make money and live off of your investments if you do it right , and you won't ever have anyone telling you what to do .
I'm so happy your father's , I mean , because we didn't even get a chance to touch on that but like 78% of athletes broke within three years . Man , and that's excellent that your dad was teaching you that at 16 years old . It was bad .
My mother and my father , both of them would always my dad gave it more of an emphasis right , my mother , she was always there . She was always reminding me like , hey , you know , manage your money properly . She came in more , like when once I was making the money , sure , I mean , she was always there .
I'm sorry she was money , sure , uh , I mean she was always there , I'm sorry she was always there . But like she was like more like you know , the , the maternal , the mom , she's like all right , you know , are you okay ? You want something to eat ? How are you feeling ?
And then my dad was like tough , like you know , he's always like , hey , get your , get it straight , get it right . And then , uh , when the time came , he was able just to make things clear to me , right for me to understand . And , yeah , it was , it was , uh , blessing .
I mean , my father just did an amazing .
Yeah , my parents did an amazing job . That's why I said whenever it comes to my success , I give them all the credit .
Man , they seem great . Definitely we should meet them .
Give me some parenting advice . Yeah , straight up , man .
Yeah , that's great , I'm going to so we always talk about food , man , I know you talk a little bit about Aria , but we always ask our guests about favorite restaurants .
¶ Las Vegas Dining and Future Plans
What's your favorite restaurant in Vegas specifically ? Maybe when you're not in training camp you can have a little fun , man . But what's a good restaurant ? Maybe hole in the wall or fine dining that you like let's see , there's a lot of great restaurants in Vegas . That's the thing , man .
Yeah , I'm a big foodie , so I love it for sure but El Dorado , cantina El Dorado .
Cantina is great great tacos and the lobster tacos .
Right there are out of this world , and they're 24 hours too . Yeah , they are delicious .
You have two different locations . You have one in Summerlin , that's the one by my house . Okay , then you got one to downtown . Yeah , um , for tacos I go there okay um , let's see you .
Second person that said that cj watson said that too at the el dorado cantina . It's good man , I'm telling you I like that any time of day .
Their brunch is pretty good too , yeah , um , let's see you got mijo is okay , it's inside durango , that's that new spot , yep casino yep new casino in town it's pretty good .
I was surprised , it's pretty good . Yeah , casino , new casino in town it's pretty good . I was surprised by the food . It's pretty good . Yeah , ambiance is beautiful . It is yeah for sure .
Nico is okay inside Durango .
Durango has good restaurants the steakhouse at Nico , yeah , okay , I'm gonna say out of the strip at Durango yeah , you have Carbone , which is amazing .
Italian food , amazing italian food , delicious , man , um , sdk's , the ambiance , sdk is great . If you come out to vegas , you want to party a little bit , all right , have a nice dinner , or just you know . It kind of gets you going before you . It's like the pre-party before , uh , before the actual party , sdk , is always popping .
Yeah , that's the way to put it uh , zuma is great sushi . Yeah , amazing sushi .
Man , you're hitting on a bunch of them , man , you gave us a list of them . Yeah , you hit on all the ones that I like . Yeah , man , they're great man .
Yeah , catch is cool with like very . You know different menu because you got like from Asian fusion to steaks .
We just went to Cathedral . I didn't realize becoming literally like the Mecca for everything right now , for food , for culture . I mean , it's always been the boxing hub . Boxing capital of the world 100% UFC headquarters is here , so it's just too much going on , man , I love seeing what's happening with Vegas .
Yeah , man , I love it as well . What's next for ?
you man . You jumped in . Didn't you put your hat in for politics for a little while , right ? Is that still a focus ?
or is it ?
something else that you want to do . You know what man I ?
had high hopes Okay .
Because you want to be a congressman right .
Yeah , yeah , I had high hopes . I was hoping that I could represent my community to a certain extent . Sure , but you know what ? It's not for me .
Politics is no joke man . As much as I try , it's no joke man , it's not for me .
Yeah , I mean you always want to be helpful , but I think there's other ways to be helpful as well . Sure , you know , you get to listen in to everyone's point of view and everyone's perspective , and that's the type of man that I am . Right , I want to listen to everyone's perspective and then , you know , get a little bit here .
I mean , I've been helping , trying to find ways to help the community since I was 24 . So since I was a world champion even before , actually , okay , yeah , and helping out just the youth in boxing gyms .
Yeah , helping out with equipment yeah .
Equipment , advising and setting up new gyms as well . Okay , Right , and in troubled areas , but so I was always trying to be . I was always in that direction . Yeah , but so I was always trying to be . I was always in that direction . Right now , I'm like you know what , let me just step out a little bit .
They would just get more knowledge in different areas and that way , when they do come back and just try to be more helpful , I'm just more informed . That's what's up .
I think that's what it takes .
But yeah , right now I'm just listen , I'm relaxing . Yeah , you see me like I'm in Cancun because I'm chilling . I'm a boxing commentator as well . I'm not doing that right now .
Okay , yeah , I forgot , you did commentating yeah .
I first started in 2014 . Yeah , yeah , and you know , ever since then they kept hiring me . But right now , I'm just like you know what ? Let me just chill . Sometimes you just got to sit back , relax and gaining knowledge in different areas . So I want to get my business degree , okay . So that's , that's my main objective .
Awesome , in the meantime , that I'm going to have this injury , okay , and then , after I recover from the injury , then I'll be back in the ring , but the doctors haven't told me , you know , when I'm cleared , it's still very painful , unfortunately , Okay , but you know , hopefully you know I'm optimistic .
Get you back in there . Man Keep tabs on you man , thank you . What's your social handles , man , or anything that you forgot to leave us out on ?
No just thank you for your support . Thank you for tuning in to the Vegas Circle . Appreciate you . Make sure to come out here . If you're looking for a place to visit , stop by Las Vegas . You're going to have a good time For sure . Great food .
It's a great place to to visit and follow me on social media . Jesse vargas underscore it's the man , man .
So I appreciate you , man check us out thevegascirclecom .
Appreciate your time , brother . Thank you man . My pleasure man . Yeah , that's good man .