Transcript of Fresh Off His Bare Knuckle Win | Victor Ortiz | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby Ep. 309

1, 2, 3! How we doing?

Hey, I'm good.

How are you, Victor?

I'm Chase.

Hey, Alyssa. Nice to see you. Nice to meet you. So nice to meet you.

What can I grab?

I'm up for a coffee, just a black coffee on ice. Black coffee? No, what about cream, sugar? No, no, no, no, I'm kind of— I'm trying to watch my physique a little bit. Watch your physique? Okay, come on now. Okay, well, can you please have some tacos? I saw the tacos. Trust me, I was about to pocket one, and I was like, you know what? Take some. No, no, no, no, no, I can't.

¿Por qué?

Why? I have some. You watching that figure? The truth is, I'm a boxer. I'm very, you know, big in the athletic scene. So I'm just trying to cut some pounds. Okay. Prior engagement, so yeah. Prior engagement, tell me about it. What do you have coming up? So I grab a box of strawberries and a box of all kinds of different veggies, and then I just put them from here to there, here to there. Yeah, just, you know, just box them up. And you box them up? That's the kind of boxer you're confusing me, Victor. I don't know what you're talking about. What are you doing?

All right, all right.

Cheers. Cheers. Yeah, let me take you over here to Joe. Come on over, Joe. We have Victor. Hey Joe, how are you, brother?

Thank you so much for coming, bro.

Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you for having me.

What's up everybody? Welcome to a special episode of Koffees. I'm your host Joe Shelby. I'm so honored to be sitting down with former champion. Please welcome the one, the only Victor Ortiz.

Oh, thank you, my brother. Appreciate it.

All right, Victor, I like to start my show off with the same question, and this is awesome to hear from someone like you. What's your morning routine, man?

Morning routine, actually, it's surprising to many, right? I wake up at 3 in the morning every day.

Every day? Every day. What if you slept at 11?

You know, I've just— it's not— I don't know, for some reason my clock is just there.

Conditioned.

3 in the morning. I don't know, since I was a kid, you know. So 3 AM Sometimes I do 333, just a weird thing of mine, or different. And, uh, I— from there I start with a Bible study on my own. I know it's a little different than many. And then from Bible study, it's my run. It's my run, you know. So my run comes in about 5 AM. It's still dark out.

How many miles you running?

I do, I do 7, 7 to 8, uh, just a typical 7 to 8 every day, just I don't know. It keeps me feeling good.

Nice. Just a 7, 8-mile run. And then you start training.

Yeah, I'll take about 2 hours, and then I'll go to the gym. So my first training session is 10:00 AM. 10:00, 11:00 once in a while. I like to just be in the gym early. And well, depends on my coaches, because sometimes my coach, he likes to sleep in. Sorry, coach.

Nobody's gonna work as hard as you, bro.

Well, when I was a kid, I had a boxing coach named Ignacio Avila. We called him Bucky. He was known by Bucky. So when I fight, you see my trunk say Bucky. Um, Bucky said, Junior, if you're on time, you're late, and the early bird gets the worm. So that gentleman, may he rest in peace, is who led me to 3 in the morning always. And just growing up with no parents, that just kind of instilled in me. And he said, no one's working harder than you, Junior. If they're waking up, if you're sleeping in, you know, they're working more than you. So it just kind of stuck with me, and I just run with it, you know. I don't really wait for no one. And if you're going to say, oh yeah, I'm going to join you at 3:00 in the morning, if it's 2:55, you're late. You know, I have no time. I'm just— I'm stretching out, I'm doing my thing already.

Timeless words of wisdom, man. That's powerful.

That was all from Bucky Ávila, man. And I mean, that was my dad, my grandpa, my mentor, my boxing coach, my disciplinarian. He was a two-time Purple Heart in the Army veteran, and he was a boxer in the '30s as well.

So, so it's crazy. Your story is crazy, you know, from foster care to world champion. Yeah. And you went through just a ton of hardship And we talked about your rise from all the various hardships. I mean, from what happened to you with raising your brother to various convictions right before a fight. I mean, your story is just crazy, but at the end of it, you're triumphant. You're a man of God, you're a man of honor. And it's something that's so inspirational. I think the audience is gonna love to hear your story. And I hope it's, you know, it's no holds barred today. You go all in.

No problem.

So let's start with what do you, what are you really excited about right now? What is Victor Ortiz waking up at 3 in the morning and excited to dominate the day for?

Another, another day that God has given me, man. Realistically, that's my go-to, followed by my children. You know, when far from now, when boxing's over, I don't want to be remembered as the, oh, the greatest world champion, the this and that. No. He was a great dad, a God-fearing man. That's what I'm looking forward to. But at this very particular time, my fight that's coming, man, and I've been working extra. I know the gentleman that I'm fighting, I know he's no walk in the park. I understand that. I know what I signed up for. But that makes two of us.

And I don't think he thinks you're a walk in the park either.

Yeah, well. Words, words at times tend to carry weight. I know what I say carries weight, and I don't go out there to say something that I don't mean, you know. I think some things were said, misinterpreted maybe, but whatever the case may be, I'm ready.

You know, I train a little bit of boxing, and we box with big old gloves, you know. It's like What is the difference between training, regular training in boxing, and bare-knuckle training?

You know, there's, there's quite a bit of difference, man. Uh, I'll tell you this much, I've been boxing since I was 7 years old, right? 7 years old. I'm 39 now, but from 7 to just this past year, right, I've, you know, I protect my hands. I've broken my hands when I, when I when I fought and obviously training. But this time around, it's like I got, I got calluses now from, from training without gloves. And man, that hurts. I never understood like realistically how much it would hurt without gloves. It really hurts like every punch. But then you think about it and it's like, you know what, every punch that comes out of me is dedicated to my children and to my wife. Just to, hey, I'm paying the dues, you know, slowly but surely, daily.

God bless the family.

I don't recommend it. No.

I just saw my first bare-knuckle fight and it's crazy. I mean, it's the craziest of all combat sports.

Yeah, it's definitely different, you know. I believe if I wasn't a God-fearing man, I'd probably be really scared, but at this point in time, I'm reassured I'm okay.

What's your biggest fear going into that ring right now?

At this point in time, there is no fear, realistically. But then again, I can recapitalize on a couple things. I mean, just kind of thinking of, oh well, you might get cut, you might break a hand. You could definitely put a plethora of thought and things, but No, you just gotta know that you've worked hard, you've paid your dues, and you're here, you're present.

So what does this new life of success look like to you as a father, as a husband, as a servant of the Lord?

You know, it means a lot. It's definitely not the same. Um, once upon a time I lived worldly, I did everything worldly. At this point in time, I have a congregation that stands behind me at New Life of Oxnard. Along with, uh, Pastor Steve Abraham. And, uh, man, those are some beautiful people, beautiful folks, you know. They, uh, they spread the gospel like me, except way better.

You would be surprised how much you're spreading the gospel right now, the way you carry yourself and really the way you just speak joy, you know. Like, you've went through hell and back And guess what? You're triumphant. You're, you're joyful.

Well, you know that I've, I've read along the lines and I've, I've seen and I, and I've witnessed, right? Uh, you have to live by the fruits of the Spirit. Now I don't have them by memory. It's like 12 or 13 or maybe more.

I don't know. I thought it was 7.

I don't know, maybe, maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. It's, it's a lot to remember. And mind you, I, I, you know, love, joy, peace. Yeah, peace, uh, uh, happiness, patience. Uh, anyway, the bottom line is this: I failed Daily, bro. Yeah, I fail daily. Oh man, no, I mean, that's why I need Jesus, man. We all do, you know. Every day, uh, I pick up my cross and I follow, follow the man. And, uh, that's, that's what I'm trying to instill in my, my two, my three sons— Royal, Malachi, Ezekiel. I try to definitely go by what God has shown me, what Jesus has showed me, and You know, I try to live righteous. Am I righteous? No, absolutely not. Will I inherit the kingdom of heaven? I don't know. I would hope so. Yeah, but that's what we shoot for.

Yeah, all we can do is just keep fighting.

Yes, sir. That's all we do.

I think boxing really teaches you the fruits of the spirit because you just— because you get punched and you get up, and you get punched and you get beat up and just keep getting up.

I agree, man. The fruits of the spirit is something that is really instilled through the game of boxing. I mean, with the discipline alone, you know.

All right, Victor. Yeah, take us back. Take us back to Kansas. What was it like being a young fighter in Kansas, growing up in the middle of nowhere with foster parents?

You know, it's interesting. Um, they, they've called it a foster system, they've called it a this and that throughout the years. And you know, I've allowed it to a certain extent, but the bottom line is when I was 7, I went to school, a regular day. My brother, my sister as well, we all went to school, came home, but when we got home, it was to an empty household. Mom's stuff was all gone, cleared out the closet, everything. By this point in time, I was always in school, right? Of course. But it was one of those things where I always stayed after school because there was snacks and stuff. But by this point in time, my mom obviously being gone now, my dad was never really around because he was a truck driver, so he was always out doing loads or whatever it was. That particular day, getting home, my sister Carmen She came in crying. I remember my brother, they were both crying. And I said, why are you guys crying? My mom says— my mom's— my sister says— I called her mom for a little bit. My sister says, my mom's gone, Junior, my mom's gone.

She's crying, my brother's crying. I said, she's not gone, she's working, what are you talking about? And she's like, no, Junior, my mom is gone. And I was like, no, she's not, she's at work, dude. Well, no, my mom packed up her stuff unannounced, nothing. She just left. My dad was out working, and then dad got home a couple hours later. I was actually happy because for the first time in my life, I got to sit down and watch a whole episode of Power Rangers. I love the, I love the Red Ranger, you know, at the time. And I just remember, like, reality really struck because We went into my mom's room and dad's room and everything was just, it was gone. It was cleared out. I just remember, I can still remember like it was yesterday, you know, my sister and brother, they just, they were, man, they were like, "Mom's gone." And I was like, "She's not gone." But you know, throughout that time, my sister became my mom. You know, and then, uh, my brother— I was like, like a dad to my brother because now my sister had to step up and be mom to us.

And then my brother didn't have— because Dad wasn't around, he was always driving his rigs or doing boozing or whatever he wanted to do. So it got really rough around that time where Dad would come home, you know, off of some, some drinking and stuff. And, uh, I was, I was his favorite guy to take, take things out on, you know. But as I grew up, you know, I started having so much rage within me. But I was always a straight-A student. I was going to Kenneth Henderson Middle School. Now, I was a straight-A student. I would go to the after-school program because they had snacks. By this point in time, my sister had been raising us. And, uh, from there I'd walk down to Bucky, to Bucky's gym. And, uh, I just remember my brother would hang out with his friends, I'd hang out with my friends. But thanks to my friends as a little kid, which I still am very grateful for, I have a guy named Brandon Carmichael We talk all the time. I mean, we, we go some months without talking, we pick up where we left off. Just what, 2 weeks ago, I got to talk— I got to see Kyle Brown.

He was down in, uh, Rancho Cucamonga, just randomly. It was awesome to see him, Diego Lazarín, Anthony Rodriguez, Elias Vargas. And I remember I told those guys when I was a kid, I was 13, I said, hey bro, I'm gonna be world champion one day. Those guys let me borrow clothes, shoes. Their moms fed me. They never judged me. They said, "Get it, Vic. You could do it." They never said, "Nah, dawg, you won't do nothing." And it was like I told the future because some years later I called them and I said, "Hey, dawg, remember when I said I want to be world champion?" I said, "Pack your bags, motherfucker." We're doing it this weekend, dog. They're like, what? I was like, I told you, you guys are gonna be wearing Hugo Boss suits ringside, everything paid for. Just like you had my back, I have yours. So I had a good group of my friends show up. Elias, you know, he's married, he has his kids and stuff. It was one of those things where I should have put it out there to make sure he came, but he has his family. Anthony Rodriguez, we had lost contact.

So 3 of those dudes showed up and we came in, man, we conquered the world. But my boys cried. They were like, dude, you did it. Anyway, we fast-forwarded, but around that time in Kenneth Henderson, having good grades A lady that I would see every day after school was my tutor. That tutor was, is Sharon Ford. She said, "Sweetheart, you have good grades, but it seems like you're fairly mad at the world." I go, "No, I'm not mad." She goes, "You don't dress too well." I'm like, "Ah, it's okay." My hair was always long and just I wasn't the most best dressed kid, but I was very respectful. I was always doing my homework. But more importantly, I was there for the snacks. I wanted my snacks. Fat kid at heart. Yeah, fat kid at heart, man. I wanted my snacks. So one day Sharon Ford says, 'Victor?' 'Yes, ma'am.' She says, 'You come every day after school. Why?' I said, 'You guys have snacks.' She goes, 'Will you also do all your homework?' I was like, 'Yes, ma'am.' She says, 'Do you need a ride?' 'No, ma'am.' She says, 'I followed you a couple days ago.' Um, you, uh, you live pretty far.

Oh my God, yes ma'am. She says, um, let me give you a ride next time. I was like, nah, you don't, you don't want to do that. She says, no, no, I want to. I was like, well, you could take me out there, but yeah, you know, just drop me off a little far or something, you know. She didn't realize that the kid she's giving a ride to that day that said, "Don't follow me," they had already boarded up the house because mom was long gone, bills hadn't been paid, dad hadn't been around. There was boards on the windows. So my brother Temo and I, we would, uh, We'd go into the house, man, and wintertime would come around. It'd be so cold, man. I would hold on to my brother and I'd say, "Temo, it's OK. I'm still here, dude." I got you. But it gets me, man, because I've been there for this, for my brother, you know, since he was a kid. I had to be a dad. I didn't know how to be a brother. I was mad at the world just like he was. How was a little kid supposed to take care of another little kid, you know?

I had this dude by the hand. I want my mom. Shut up. She's not here. She's gone, dude. Leave it alone. And I was really mean. I was really hurt. But Bucky pushed me with that pain and that hurt to do something with myself. And at 13 that year, he says, mijo, Junior, you need to come to my house after school. Yes, sir. Yeah, okay. God bless his soul, but he had the, he had the lawnmower outside, man. He had the lawnmower, he had the gas tank. He says, Junior, today you're gonna mow my yard. And I said, okay. He had scrapers so I could scrape the paint off of his, uh, off of his house. And I said, Bucky, is this some kind of Mr. Miyagi stuff? Oh no, no, my boy, just, you know, just listen. Go ahead. So I did all the front yard, all the backyard, and he came outside and he goes, mijo, Junior, you know, uh, oh, thank you. He goes, uh, mijo, Junior, uh, you're, uh, you missed a spot over there, mijo. And you missed a spot over there too. It's like 90, maybe 100 degrees outside.

I said, I'm sorry, Bucky, I didn't see those. I'll get them for you. All right, Junior. Would you like some lemonade? Yes, please. Brings me some lemonade. Well, I was done cutting the grass. And he says, all right, mijo, we're going to go train shortly. Yes, sir. And then he says, I have something for you, mijo. And I go, OK. I was excited. I thought it was gonna be like $5 or something, because, you know, $5 is $5, man. I'm sorry, but still $5. $5 is $5, man. Shoot. No, he gave me a Sonic card with a free ice cream cone. I said, Bucky, you shouldn't have, you know. I was excited for a second. I mean, I was excited anyway because I got my free ice cream cone, but, but I was like, uh, thank you, Bucky. He's like, yeah, you know what, Junior, just hang out, hang around for a little while, you know. I'm gonna take you to the gym with me. Yes, sir. No problem. By this point in time, the lady— the day goes by. The lady reaches out to Bucky and says, you know that this young— this boy's been living by himself.

Bucky already knew. But Bucky insisted that I go stay with him, live with him. And I said, no, it's OK, Bucky. I think just being there for my brother and being there with my sister, it just— It meant a lot because by this point in time, now I'm, I'm 13. My sister actually got pregnant at 13, delivered at 14. So at this point in time, we have a baby there, you know. So I was around my sister all the time and taking care of my nephew Isaac. Isaac.

So there's just 3 of you, you're all kids? Yeah. In a house that's boarded up?

Yeah. Well, no, no, my sister is already— she moved on with her with her boyfriend at the time. By this point in time, she— it was interesting because she said, uh, "Junior, Junior, bro, I know I said I would never leave you, but I'm leaving." I said, "What do you mean?" "I'm moving to Denver." I skipped a big part though. Let me just— I'll come back to that part. So This woman that reached out to Bucky was Sharon Ford. She says, you know that Victor, that young man, is living without parents, right? Bucky said, well, I kind of got a little bit of, of that, but I didn't ask. So she broke it all down. This lady Sharon that followed me to the house, the boarded up place, followed me the next morning at school. She has a conference meeting and all my teachers are there. And I walked in and I said, whoa, they called me through the intercom. Whoa, what the fuck is going on? Watch your mouth. And I go, I didn't do nothing to nobody. And as far as I'm concerned, I have A's on all your guys' classes. So what?

Why am I here? Sit down. I'm not sitting down. I didn't do nothing. Sit down. I was very rebellious. What did I do? 'Sit down.' 'Yeah, but come on, man. I didn't do anything to nobody. I, I, I lit— check all the— check whatever, all your guys' classes. I'm passing everything. I have A's, straight A's.' It said, 'We know.' 'We know what?' 'We know.' 'What do you know?' Now Mrs. Ford-Sharon comes up, she grabs me. 'We know, sweetheart.' You know what? We know that you've been by yourself all— I was like, oh, oh yeah, yeah, it's been some years. Hey, but realistically, I don't want— I don't need to be treated like some, some different by any of you teachers, okay? I appreciate you guys' concern, but no. I'm just going to go. Just forget you guys saw or heard anything. That some of the teachers were crying. Some of the teachers were like, oh my goodness. And I go, no, no, no, don't give me that petty treatment. I don't need it. I said, I've been a street kid since I was a youngster, and I'm all right. Really. But you need— no, no, no, no, I don't need anything.

Please, just may I please go? So I go to class. Well, by this point in time, once again I'm at the after-school program, and a kid outside, Kenneth Henderson, calls me some very, very foul things. I remember his name too, but it's not worth mentioning today. The kid came at me and he let his bike ghost ride. And he says, what, you effing wetback? Mind you, I was hurt, man. I was a hurt young kid. So for him to do that and then go like this to me, that was a big no-no. So I said, let me show you my green card real quick. Which, I'm born in the United States, I'm born in Kansas, you know, so I put my hand in my pocket and I pretend like I got something out. Nope, I just popped the kid in the mouth and I broke his teeth. I broke, I think I broke his nose, and it was bad. So the kid ran indoors. I took off to Bucky's house like if nothing happened, went to the gym, worked out. The next morning, getting to school, I remember like it was yesterday. Officer Davis says to me, what's up, Officer Davis?

He says, uh, Victor, why did you do that? You're such a good kid. I go, I didn't do anything. Victor, we saw everything. I go, oh. I hate to do this, Victor. No, it's okay. You're doing your job. Victor, you are under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to blah, Miranda rights, right? My first time hearing that. Boom, I go to juvie. And then now I'm like, oh man, what am I gonna do? So Bucky shows up and he says, oh, Junior, You done it again. What were you thinking? I didn't teach you boxing to use it in the streets. I know. But Bucky, he did this. So what? But he did that. I don't care. I didn't teach you how to box to do this kind of thing. He says, you like how this looks on you? No, sir. You could have handled it different. I know. I'm ashamed of you. Stay quiet. Well, I was in for a little while. Upon getting out, Sharon, Mrs. Ford, says, hi Victor, how are you? Ah, been better. Yeah, I know, I heard.

Hey, listen, um You're a good kid. I said, I can be. I said, well, Mrs. Ford, I'm very nice until I'm not. I said, I get walked on all the time. Ironic, because I've been walked on a lot throughout my career, but now it's redemption. So regardless, I just said, you know, it's interesting how how things took place, you know, that guy started it. I said, I ended it. I said, yeah, I shouldn't have hit him, but you know. She goes, well, enough about that. Look, they told me that if because of what you did, you're going to be in the system now, foster care until you're 18. I said, I don't, I don't want to go there. It's not a choice. She goes, you're in the juvie system and you don't have parents, sweetheart. I go, I don't need nobody. She said, "Your brother's with the family now. Where are you gonna go?" I'm like, "I don't know." She says, "Well, I spoke to some people and I went to file for custody of you." Jokingly, she said, "The only thing is we're gonna change your last name to Ford." By this point in time, I had Ortiz stamped on my back.

You know, I'm 13 with a tattoo that says Ortiz. I started crying. I was like, why are you gonna change my last name? No, not to Ford. I'm crying. I said, Victor Ford, are you serious? I got a tattoo that says Ortiz, ma. What are you talking about? Oh, Victor Ford? No, sweetheart, we'll put a big circle with the check through like the cigarettes. No, I was so sad, man. I thought she was serious. Nah, man, but She filed for custody of me, man. And you know what that woman said to me? She would make me read, and I hated reading. Oh, I hated reading, right? She'd be like, sweetheart, you're not gonna go do anything until you read 45 minutes. I'm like, no, I don't want to read. Are you serious? I have straight A's in school. I don't need to read. Well, this is not your ruling. I was like, I haven't had parents, Mrs. Ford. I don't want parents. Well, that's not your choice, is it? I'm like, oh, she's like, you're not— if you don't read for 45 minutes, you're not going anywhere. I go, are you serious? I said, I had no rules by myself because I didn't.

I'd come and go as I please. I was very responsible, but I'd come and go as I please. Nobody told me what to do, when to do it, where to go, where to stay.

No.

I want to sleep under that tree, I'll go sleep on the tree. If I want to go over here, over there, I would. Didn't have a curfew or nothing. But even so, due to Bucky, had early mornings, I had everything, you know. So regardless, uh, it was one of those things where Sharon took me on and she said, sweetheart, how about this one? I make you a deal. You could read whatever you want, just give me 30 minutes of whatever you want. I got Sports Illustrated. I went to the boxing side. I read everything about boxing, and I said, hey, uh, Mrs. Ford, I'm gonna be the world champion one day. She said, you can do it if you really want to. I was like, I am. So she allowed me to really believe in myself and really push me. So it's a beautiful story.

What do you think you wanted most as a kid? What were you looking for?

You know what, brother, the bottom line is this: I believe I became very dangerous very, um, aggressive in the ring because I was searching for love. When I was undefeated, man, and I just remember I was 26-0, undefeated, the next pound for pound this, the next this and that, blah blah. Oh my gosh, everybody loved me. I think the love that I was searching for was false the whole time. It wasn't actual love. At the end of my fist, when I hurt somebody and I put him down, it was, oh, we love you, Ortiz. Then 2000, um, was it 2009? I believe it changed the trajectory. It changed my thought process. It changed everything. Maybe it was 2010 or something like that. My first defeat versus Maidana, man, I remember everybody switched up on me. Everybody turned their back on me, uh, everyone, even the ones that said I love you, you know. So from the De La Hoyas to just anyone and everyone, oh no, no, he's damaged goods, he's damaged goods, he's no good, he's done, he's done. And I'm just like Whoa, I thought we were friends, bro. Like, when you got handled by this dude, you got handled by that dude, I, I supported you, man.

Whoa.

I started really seeing that, whoa, this, this is not a— it's not a loyal game.

It's not.

It's, uh, it's, it's different, right? And, and it's sad because when I said I love you, bro, I meant it. You're my brother, bro. I meant it. I don't throw those, those terms around loosely, man. But when I experienced it for myself, you know what? Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. I found someone better, and his name is Jesus.

Let's go! Amen.

Yep.

Yeah, I mean, you're— I had no idea how touching your story really is. I had no idea, like, I got a lot— I got a lot. Look at the reflexes, bro.

It's spider senses, bro. I got bit by a spider one day, and then I stuff was coming out of my wrist. It was weird. It was so strange.

You got like Spidey senses getting ready. And I can't tell you, I've sat across this table from so many world champions. And it's funny, it's like when I was sitting with Shane Mosley, he's like, he told— I think he told his dad, he's like, Dad, I'm gonna be a, I'm gonna be a world champion one day. A lot of everybody tells him, I'm gonna be a world champion one day. Few people make that happen, like 10, right? Like, yeah, take us— like, take us back to the night where you actually became the world champion. How did that feel, man?

That was— well, check this out. Let's rewind though. So I'm in college now, right? Ventura College. I have two jobs working for Red Bull as a merchandiser, um, and I was working for construction. You know, I had adopted my younger brother, put him through high school and college off two jobs. I was in college. So I said, okay, I'm about to take the biggest step of my life. I'm gonna— since I lost to Maidana, they won't give me a rematch, no problem, we'll skip him. I'm gonna take on the pound-for-pound champion of all time, Andre Berto. Undefeated, 27-0, 21 knockouts. No problem. I go to Golden Boy. Hey Oscar, I know you guys won't give me the rematch, but it's okay. I want Andre Berto. Everyone on the table, they're sitting on the table. I'm in my Red Bull uniform. My van is downstairs with the lights flashing. I left my cell phone in Thousand Oaks in a fridge so they couldn't track me. So they couldn't track me. So I left my phone GPS. I get fired, bro. So I go there and I said, hey, Oscar, you know, after that fight versus Maidana, I know I would like the rematch.

Well, Victor, Victor, Victor, we can't really do that. We can't really do that. Why not? I didn't have to put my championships on the line, but you guys made me. 3-week notice. I told you my wrist was broken before the fight. Why can't I get my rematch? Well, Victor, Victor, it's just not gonna work like that. And I go, okay, so you made me put my belts on the line with a broken wrist and no rematch? Victor, Victor, it's just— it's boxing, it's boxing. Got it. Well, bypass him. I want Andre Berto, £147. Victor, Victor, Victor, that's called career suicide. Send the contract, please.

Why was it career suicide? Because he was the best fighter?

That's what Oscar said. Now mind you, on the same token, for the same date, Amir Khan fought that same day. He fought in London, England. So Oscar De La Hoya went to London, England and fed me to the wolves, so he thought. So I went from college to my college classes. I knew I had midterms coming up. So I went and I asked the deans if they can give me the time off to go and chase my dream. In a nutshell, it was, uh, do you know what the statistics are to go do something of that caliber? I said, excuse me, but what I tell myself between my ears is what's gonna happen. I make my own statistics. Oh, and you're cocky? No, just very secure. Right, well, let's make this very easy for you. It's either you, um, you do your midterms or you're gonna fail the classes. And I said, well, is there any way of me making up the midterms right now? I'll pass them all. Or let me just go fight and then I'll come back and I'll do the midterms. That's not how it's going to work. We would advise for you to just drop the classes.

You're going to fail everything. Thank you. Dropped all my classes, so I didn't fail nothing. I go to my job for Red Bull, and I asked Ray at the time, my boss, beautiful person, hey, yo, Ray, bro, I'm fighting for the championship. "Do you mind if, you know, you give me some time off?" "Well, Vic, that's a lot of days, bro." I go, "I know. It's okay, though. I'm gonna be world champion, brother. If you can't give me that time off, I understand." He goes, "I got you covered, Vic. Go show 'em what you're made of." "Thank you." Now I go to my construction site. We're building condos off of Wells Road. Hey, cabrón, what's up? Hey, dude, I need some days off, bro. I'm gonna go, you know, capture a championship. Mira, wey, check it out. If you don't come back with a belt, don't come back at all. All right, gotcha. You got it. So I get to Connecticut, and I remember, man, arriving to the MGM Grand in Connecticut. And I was like, whoa, posters of Berto and myself. And I'm like, wow. But it— I don't know nothing about betting, but it had like, from what I understood, I had zero chances of winning the fight.

So I didn't even care, whatever. But where it smacked me across the face was when Andre Berto's promoter and his girlfriend came up to me. Ortiz, Ortiz, come here, come here, Ortiz. Hey, what's up, brother? How you doing? I'm not gonna say his name. How you doing, man? Good to see you. Says, Victor, I need you to meet my girlfriend. This is, this is so-and-so. Oh, hi, so-and-so. I'm Victor, nice to meet you. She goes, no, no, yeah, yeah, so babe, this is a tomato can that we hired to get knocked out tomorrow night by Andre Berto. "Ma'am, with all due respect, please excuse my language, but your man here just effed up a really beautiful career. I'll see you tomorrow. Excuse me." I walked away. Allegedly, that promoter contacted my manager and said, What the eff did you guys do to Victor Ortiz, bro? He looks possessed. He responded with, you guys pissed him off. He's gonna be the world champion. So now everybody was panicked. And then we go to war. And it was a war, let me tell you, bro. Fight of the year. I knew I won the fight, so I was like this, even if they were to even say remotely that they gave the fight to Berto, I was like, whatever, I don't care, I won that fight.

My skull was cracked from here to here. This ear was ripped off. This— all this hand was shattered. This was broken. I didn't care. I left it in the ring. I said, God, please give me favor tonight. And he did. I come back to work. I, I was having such a hard time just taking in the fact that I became a world champion that I made sure I was home to clock in for, for Red Bull. I was like, I gotta go, I gotta go to work. I was like, I gotta go to work.

So you were a world champion, then you went to work the next day with the crack skull?

It's crack skull staples. It's the funniest thing. This is, uh, yeah, that's what you call hard work, bro. So check it out.

So that's grit to another level.

Check this out. So I'm at number one. I hope Red Bull gave you a raise. No, no, no, no, no, it was just It was just at 9:50, no, 8:50 an hour. Hey, hey, so check this out. So I'm sitting there and I'm stacking at Walmart on rows in Oxnard, California on my knees. I'm stacking up the Red Bull. I have a Red Bull case right here, 2 Red Bull cases. I have the dolly and I'm stacking up the fridge, stacking up the fridge. And then as I'm putting the Red Bulls in the fridge, a guy says, "Hey, I feel like I saw you fight." I looked at him, I'm all jacked up, you know, I'm like, my eyes are still messed up and my ears sewed on and stuff and my hands. I'm all jacked up, swollen everywhere. I was like, Oh yeah, that's pretty cool. He goes, did you fight this weekend? And I was like, you saw me? No, no, no, this guy— no, this guy fought on the East Coast. Um, you know, the, the guy, uh, he went to war, man. So you're working for Red Bull? I was like, yeah, yeah.

What was his name? He says, Victor. What's his last name? He said Ortiz. And I go, yeah, that was me, bro. He goes, no, no, this guy was on TV. I was like, HBO? Yeah, HBO. I was like, okay, right on. No, no, this guy has a tattoo on his back like this. And I go, could it have been this one? He goes, oh crap, dude, you're working for Red Bull! What are you doing? And I go, gotta pay my bills, bro. He goes, can I please get a picture with you? Look at how the world works. I go, yeah, yeah, sure. Can you please sign this Red Bull for me? I go, yeah, I got you, bro. So I, I'm getting a marker and signing the Red Bull for him. I go, hey, hey, hey, just one thing for you, bro, just before you go, you gotta pay for that Red Bull because that's not coming out of my check, homie. Look at, look at, look at, craziest thing happens, you know. I meet my beloved wife. We have a beautiful boy together. Her Nina says, Victor. Yes, ma'am. I don't think you know this man, but he's a dear friend of mine, okay?

You signed a Red Bull can for him in 2011 after one of your fights. Huh? Yes, you were stacking a refrigerator and a man came up to you named Mike. I go, I don't know Mike, but I know I signed that Red Bull can. Did he ever pay for it? I said, you're joking, what? Full circle. So my wife's Nina knows the man that has the can from 2011.

That's crazy.

Really crazy.

That's— yeah, that's for sure divine intervention.

Oh my gosh, it was— yeah, no, there's no coincidences. There's just like— there's no accidents. It's just— it was strange. It was beautiful.

That's amazing. Oh, oh, I want—

now we go back to the college thing, right? I had asked the, the deans, right, for the time off. The dean said, you know, it's silly to think that you can go and conquer the world, X, Y, and Z. Statistics say otherwise, blah, blah, blah, this and that. What I tell myself between my ears is not what you think. I believe in myself, X, Y, and Z. They pretty much made me make a choice to drop all the classes. If not, I was going to fail, whatever, cool. I drop all the classes. I come back. Now my brother's in college at the time. They don't remember who I was and who I am.

Your brother doesn't?

No, no, the, the teachers, the deans, everybody. So they asked me, can you please have your brother come talk to the classes? So I bring my belts, of course. And I said, yeah, absolutely. What kind of message can you share with this class today? I was like, yeah, you know what, um There's always going to be people who don't believe in you, and you just accept it. It's okay. But you must believe in yourself no matter what happens. Who knows, maybe one day you want to make up a midterm and that day just doesn't come about. Maybe you'll have to drop your classes, you know, stuff like that. I never told him who I was, but I signed everybody's autograph. I signed everybody's thing. Took pictures of everybody graciously, and I didn't even bring it up. Just walked out of there. Felt like a mic drop moment. But, uh, you know, before mic drop was a thing. Yeah, way before. Yeah, but still, you know, it was, uh, it was interesting.

Welcome to the Koffees Challenge. Today we have an absolute special show for you. In the left corner, we got one of the world's biggest social media influencers, Asher Lara, weighing in at £99 at 5 foot 11. He's going to take an absolute beating from world champion Victor Ortiz, the former WBC champion and headlining this month bare knuckle boxing. We got Victor Ortiz is about to lay a whooping on Asher Lara. Let's see.

Oh, is it too late to cancel? Oh my God. Oh my God. Be on the floor, be on the floor. Tisky, gotcha, gotcha. Damn, bro. Is that good? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's good. Did becoming a world champ feel the way you thought it would?

You know, it's interesting. I won the championship how a world champion's supposed to win a championship. Um, I can't speak for other champions, but I know when a champion is made. I know when one is not.

What makes a champion?

A champion is going through the adversity, through the ugly, through the nastiness, you know. You fight everybody, you fight anybody. I'm not on a— my record isn't perfect. We look at my record, I fought anyone and everyone. In today's generation of boxing, it's a, well, he's got a— he's got too many wins, you know. I don't want to get a zero. I don't want my zero to go nowhere. Like, nah, bro. Julio César Chávez Sr. says, uh, and Juan Manuel Márquez told me, you're one of us, Victor, which was a huge compliment. I didn't— I don't ever, ever want to stomp on no toes or take credit like that, but when Julio César Chávez or Juan Manuel Márquez tell you something like that, that's just a beautiful compliment.

Like, amazing.

Yeah, yeah. Like, today's generation is different, you know?

Pansies.

Yeah, say the least. Yeah.

I want to talk— you told me the coolest story before we started the show. The show— the story about Sly. Sylvester Stallone calling you, man. Tell the audience, let me tell you this story about when Sly called you.

Okay, well, it's a little embarrassing, but it's, it's a little in awe really, because, okay man, so I receive a phone call. Mind you, I was doing Dancing with the Stars, right? It's a TV show on ABC.. And not the best dancer in the world, no. But regardless, I did the TV show. As I'm doing this TV show, I was told that Sylvester Stallone's wife was a huge fan of the TV show. The TV show, she had told Sly, Sylvester Stallone, like, "Hey, there's a kid on the TV show that's left-handed. He's southpaw like you." Well, Sylvester Stallone, he knew who I was. He's a boxing enthusiast. So next thing you know, out of the blue, I received a phone call. It was, hello, hey, you know, may I speak to Victor? I'm sorry, yeah, this is he. Who's this, if I may ask? This Sly. Victor, Victor, this Sly.

Uh-huh.

Victor, you know, I want to talk to you about, you know, are you interested in making movies, you know? And I'm like, wait, who is this? The Sly, you know, I'm Sly, you know, I'm Sylvester Stallone, you know. Now mind you, this is embarrassing because I didn't know who Sylvester Stallone was. I know who Rocky is, I know who Rambo is, uh, I didn't know who Sylvester Stallone was, and I surely didn't know who Sly was. So I'm like, um, what exactly do you want? Uh, you know, I'm trying to see, you know, you're up for a movie, you know, you're interested. And I'm like, I get pranks, you know, my buddies, they prank with me all the time. They, you know, boys will be boys, you know, they always mess with me. So I'm like, hey, dog, realistically, man, look, look, mother— don't be calling my phone like this, dog. You playing your tricks. What's wrong with you, man? I hang up. I got a phone call again. Victor, Victor, listen to me, you know. I just, you know, I just want to talk to you for a second, you know. Just trying to see if, you know, you have any interest in, you know, doing a movie, or, you know.

I'm like Look, dog, realistically, bro, like, this isn't cool, man. Hey, you joking? What's wrong with you, bro? No, no, Victor, Victor, you know. I go, yo, man, realistically, bro, you, you sound a lot like Rocky Balboa, dog, you know. Hey, Victor, you know Rocky don't— he don't exist, you know, he's a character. And I go, well, you know what, bro, again, bro, back up, man. Oh, thank you, the barista. Thank you. No, thank you, appreciate that. So once again, you know, I'm like, yo, seriously dude, stop calling this phone. Like, what's wrong with you? I thought it was one of my buddies, you know. My buddies are infamous for playing pranks on me, man, and I fall for— I'm pretty gullible. I hung up. I hang up again. So now the third time He calls me back and I'm kind of between a little heated because I'm thinking, you know, someone's trying to play jokes on me, messing with me. I answer again, hello? Yo, Victor, Victor, you know, listen, listen, Victor, you know, I just want you to know, you know, I got your number from your agency, you know. I'm like, uh-huh.

And you know, I got your number from, you know, so-and-so, you know, and I just want you to know, you know, I'm like, oh. Dude, wait, who is this? Victor, you know, I just told you, you know, Sly, you know, Sylvester Stallone. I don't know who that is. I know Rocky is, bro. I know who Rambo is. Who, who knows who Sylvester Stallone is? I'm off, you know. So, man, I'm like, I'm so sorry, bro. Like, you just— the thing is, you sound a lot like Rocky Balboa, man. And he says it again, well, Victor, you know, Rocky, Rocky, you know, he's made up, you know, he's just a character. I don't understand what that means. I'm not an actor. I'm thinking like, bro, I like— Rocky's real to me, bro. Like, what are you talking about? Like, like, what, dude? It was, look, Victor, you know, we can talk more in depth, you know, Thursday, you know, 11:15, you know, don't be late in Beverly Beverly Hills. I'm not good with email. I'm not good with email. I'm not good with social media. I'm not, bro. Uh, so I kept that in my head.

11:15 Thursday morning, Beverly Hills. Don't be late. So it's over with, you know, my, my assistant Victor is going to send you, you know, the information, you know, an email. Mind you, I don't check email, none of that. That morning I called a buddy of mine named Victor Rodriguez. Hey Vic, um, you want to come with me to LA, bro? Just quick in-and-out trip, just there and back. Oh, hermano, well, you know, I'll join you, but the bottom line is I got work at 3 PM. Okay, well, bro, it's 9 AM, bro. Like, I'll bring you back, promise. All right, all right, cool. So now we're like by Thousand Oaks area., and we're driving. He says, hey, cabrón, you don't got the address? I go, oh yeah, bro, it's in my email right there somewhere. Here, the passcode is this and that. I get into my— bro, it's weird, this dude with a 3-letter name, bro, he contacted me yesterday, man. It's the strangest thing, bro. He sounded like Rocky Balboa, bro. It was weird, but that's where we're going right now. And he goes, Sly? That's the name, bro. Yeah. I thought it was like Fry, Shy, Stry, I don't know, but it was just a 3-letter name.

He goes, Sylvester Stallone. I was like, yeah, yeah, the information should be in there. He goes, only you, Victor, only you, bro. What do you mean? Cabrón, only you would do something like that. What are you talking about? I'm on the freeway, bro. I'm coming up on Westlake Boulevard. He goes, Sylvester Stallone? Yeah. Yeah, that's, that's the name, bro. Sly, right? The 3-letter name.

Yeah.

Rocky Balboa. I was like, that is Rocky. That was Rocky, huh? I exit, I park on the side of the road, and I'm reading the email, and I go, oh my goodness, bro, I hung up on him like 3 times, bro. I cursed at the man, bro. He goes, Victor, only you, dog. I go, dude, we gotta get there on time, bro. We can't be late, bro. He goes, and did you read the rest of the email? I didn't read the email. He says, it says come by yourself, dog. I'm sorry, but we have no time to take you home, bro. Boom, we're on the 101. Shoo, we get to Beverly Hills. Of course, leave it to Beaver, right? First parking spot I see, I take it. So I'm like, I park, you know, and I go inside and, you know, oh, you know, Mr. Stallone's not here for the day. And I'm like, well, it's interesting because I actually, you know, I have an email here from— and there's a big old Rocky, uh, statue right here. And I'm like, that's cool, that's Rocky Balboa, that's awesome, that's so cool. The lady's like, What is wrong with you?

I'm like, this is cool. This is— that is awesome. Sir, how may I help you? I go, I just, you know, Rocky Balboa, Sly Sylvester Stallone, he wants to meet this morning. He goes, well, he's not here for the day. I go, I don't know. This is an email. Yeah. How may I help you? She's just completely like shoots me down. To the point where I said, well, look, I'm here. It says 11:15. It's— I'm on time. Just if Rocky shows up, tell him I was here, okay?

Yeah.

I was like, I just— because, you know, my agency, I don't want them to come at me and like I'm irresponsible, stuff like that. She's like, yeah. All right, wow. She shoots me down. I'm leaving. I'm walking out the door and I see a gentleman by the name of Boaz. Boaz is the casting director. Victor! Hey, Boaz, how you doing, boss? Oh, how you doing, brother? You doing okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come, come, come. Why? The lady just told me like, uh, go home, pretty much. Who says this? That lady right there. Hi, Boaz. I go, hello. I told you, got an email.

Uh-uh.

Um, could you please get Mr. Ortiz a coffee? Boaz, can we get two? Hey, Boaz, man, may I get a A pastry too, you know, two of them. A muffin. Yes, yes, Victor, go to the second floor. I'm going to have a word with this young lady. I told you. Hey, hey, thank you for the, you know, the goodies. I appreciate it. Victor, come on. So we go upstairs. I'm like, yo, dog, this is crazy. Look, dude, that's, that's from, uh, that's from Predator, bro. Dude, that's from Oh, we're going around. That's from— there is, uh, what is that, um, The Top or something, where the, the hat where he's arm wrestling? Oh yeah, over the top, over the top, over the top, bro.

It's all right there.

Over the top, bro. Man, there's memorabilia from all the movies. I'm like, dude, this is crazy. Oh my gosh, look at this from Rocky, bro. This is from Rambo, dog. And then, uh, I go, I hear, uh, hey, you know, someone's parked in my spot. Victor, Victor, Victor, dog, here, here's my keys. No, no, wait, you parked it? I go, please? So then, hey, you know, you know where I come from, you know, we can, you know, that's kind of start some fight, you know. And I'm like, you're Rocky Balboa, dude, that's so awesome. He's like, oh no, no, no, Victor, Victor, listen, you know, 'Victor, you know, Rocky, you know, Rocky's a character.' I don't know what that means, bro. I don't know what that means. I'm just, 'You're Rocky Balboa, bro, or Rambo. Who's Sylvester Stallone, bro? I don't know.' He's like, 'Oh geez, kid, you know why you're here today? First of all, why'd you take my spot?' I didn't know it was your spot. 'Victor, you know, if you read, it says Sylvester Stallone.' I go, I didn't even know. I just parked. I was excited. Jeez, Victor, you know, you need some help.

I know that. I know that. So then, man, I'm like, I'm in awe. He goes, so Victor, you know why you're here today? And I go, no, I shook your hand right now. You're Rocky Balboa, bro. And he's like, no, Victor, you know, do you know what an audition is? And I go, No, no, no. Oh, Jesus, kid, kid, you know, all right, you know. So he grabs this booklet, throws it at me, boom. You know what that is, Victor? Expendables 3. Yeah, dude, this is that one movie on paper, right? He goes, oh, jeez, jeez, kid. Kid. And I go, I mean, it's called The Script, Victor. Oh, well, yeah, it's still a movie on paper though. Really? He's like, all right, Victor, you know, so today, you know, I'm gonna take you to this room over here, you know, and we're gonna have you do an audition. Okay, you doing— do you know what an audition is? And I was like, uh, trying something, I guess. I don't know. Takes me to this blue room. There's chairs. I didn't know what kind of chairs. They're director's chairs, right? So then there's one guy, one guy and a lady, and Boaz and Sylvester Stallone, Sly, Rocky, right?

And I am sweating bullets, sweating my armpits. I'm so nervous. And he goes, so Victor, you know, everything that says, you know, that says Mars on it, you know, you're gonna read it, you know. And, you know, anything that doesn't say Mars, you know, you let me read it. I was like, okay. So now there are cameras and everything is rolling, and I'm nervous, I'm sweating, and I can't get a grip on myself. Mind you, I just fought Floyd, you know, so I was still— I was trying to deal with the fact that that fight didn't end how it was supposed to. So I still have that anger and that rage, you know. So he says, all right, Victor, you know, when I start reading, you know, just the only thing that you need to do is where it says Mars, you know, you read that.

Yeah.

Oh, yes, sir. Don't call me sir, you know, sir's my father. I was like, oh, sorry about that, Rocky. You know, Rocky doesn't exist. Oh my gosh. All right, okay. So then, all right, action, you know. So then he goes, you look like a pug. So I'm like this, and I'm like, tough, tough, tough brothers, tough, tough streets, and so on. You know how that goes. Kid, you not know how to read? No, it's not that. It's not every day that I get to see Rocky Balboa. Victor, Victor, listen, you know Rocky don't exist. I said, look, with all due respect, I said, with all due respect, you know, I'm a kid from Kansas with nothing but dreams. I said, with all due respect, Sly, Rocky, Rambo, whatever you call yourself, I said, you gave a kid like me a blueprint, man. I said, you gave me a dream, bro. I said, I, I come from nothing, man, but you give a kid with nothing to maybe be able to maybe possibly dream of something, to maybe possibly take over the world. You gave me that, sir. So with no further ado, you're Rocky, sir.

Rocky's very real to me. Oh, all right, kiddo. All right, let's get to reading. Yes, sir. You look like a pug. Tough, tough brothers. Sorry. Duff, sorry, uh, Victor, Victor, look, you know, acting, you know, it's just kind of what you want it to be, you know. You could say your ABCs and, you know, in different ways, Victor, you know, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, P, or you could say A, B, C, D, E, F, G. It's two different things, Victor. Now let me ask you this. When Floyd Mayweather hit you with your hands down, how'd you feel? F that mother. Ah, we found it. Do that with delivering what you just said. You look like a pug. Tough brothers, tough streets, and so on. You know how that goes. All right, let's do a few more scenes. So then he got me to do more scenes and more scenes, and he's like, we found Mars. I go, wow, you could have just said that. I didn't say that. That was a cool story. That was Rocky, bro. I couldn't say that.

Rocky's very real, baby.

Yeah, Rocky's very real.

Yeah, you know, I want to talk about A couple other things. How did the rivalry between you and Brandon Rios begin?

You know, it's interesting, uh, I've never really considered it a rivalry. Um, I know since we were kids— matter of fact, he was one of my bullies growing up in Kansas. He's from Kansas.

Wow.

He's born and raised in Kansas. Well, he's born in, uh, Lubbock, Texas, but raised in Garden City, Kansas. But since I was a kid, he was, he was I was a nerd, man. All my buddies were the nerds.

We were—

we met no hard A students. Yeah, I played the piano, man. I was on choir for school, you know, didn't mess with people. But Brandon Rios was, uh, he was my bully. And the only reason he became one of my bullies is because my dad made me go to that gym, which was the Garden City Boxing Gym, which was ran by Bucky Avila, which his dad— Brandon Rios, his dad was one of the The coaches, he's a beautiful person too. His name is Manuel, Manuel Rios, a beautiful man. And that was also ran with Alfred Ritz and Coach Juan Aldana. So all these people were all in the same realm. The difference was I was trained by Bucky, Coach Juan Aldana, and by Alfred Ritz. Meanwhile, Brandon Rios was trained by his father. His dad is a beautiful person. For whatever reason, maybe it was me being too fat, maybe it was me being a— just, I had my hair parted sideways, whatever it was, I just, I bothered him and he didn't like me. My dad made me go into that gym for the first time ever. I was 7 years old and the gloves came up to here to me.

Never even seen a pair of boxing gloves in my life. I've never stepped in a gym, nothing like that. My dad made me go in that gym. It was the SIAC in Garden City, Kansas. And the kid that was in there had been boxing for a couple years now, had over 50 fights easily. And my dad made me go in there against him. And Brandon Rios had me, he whipping on me from corner to corner. I was crying. I was bleeding from my lips. Of course, you know, this kid— At 7 years old? 7 years old. Thinking that maybe my dad was gonna be like, it's okay, mijo. Like, you know, things happen. He knows, you know, he's been boxing a long time. Nope. I got to the corner crying. My dad took off his belt, grabbed me by the arm. He's coming down with the first hit, boom, for crying in front of everybody. Coming down with the second hit, my, uh, Bucky grabbed him by the hand, by the arm, says, you leave that boy alone. My dad says to him, you could peace, you could have that piece of, you know, he ain't gonna do nothing.

My dad leaves, he storms off. I'm sitting there crying. Bucky says, "What's your name?" I said, "Junior. Well, it's Victor, but they call me Junior." He says, "Junior, I'm gonna teach you how to box, Junior." I said, "I don't want to box, Bucky." "It's not a choice. I'm gonna teach you how to box. Matter of fact, how about we make a deal, okay?" Give me all you got, Junior, for one month. And in one month, you're going to put hands on that boy that made you cry today. I went like this, crying to smiling a little bit. You got it?

Mm-hmm. OK.

The name of the game is boxing. It's to hit and not get hit, Junior. OK? Does the name boxing have fighting in it? No, sir. Okay, okay, Bucky, do exactly as I say. That's where the 3:00 in the morning runs, 3:30 in the morning runs started. That's where all the eating oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, stuff like that started from him. He started noticing that when they put me right-handed— I'm naturally right-handed— jab, jab, 1, 2. For some reason I would come back this way. So he said to me, you're southpaw. I said, no sir, I'm Junior. He says, no, you're southpaw. I said, Bucky, I'm, I'm Junior. Well, I'm not Junior, but I'm Victor, but it's Junior. They call me Junior. You're southpaw, Bucky. I'm Junior. I'm not southpaw, my name is Junior. Well, it's not Junior, it's Victor, but they call me Junior. No, mijo, you're left-handed. No, I'm not, I'm right-handed. Then why are you fighting left-handed? No, I'm not. Position, get into position. 1, 2. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2. 1, 2. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.

Jab. See?

What? You're switching. No, I didn't. Get back to your position. Jab, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Why are you switching? I'm not— I'm switching? I don't know, Bucky. Well, you're right-handed. Yeah, but this feels— this, this doesn't feel right. This feels right. You're southpaw. You're southpaw, my boy. What's that? It's left-handed. Oh, but I'm right-handed. I don't know how it is, Junior, but you're southpaw. We're gonna teach you southpaw. So then a little time goes by, and a month exactly, I put hands on Rios for the first time, and I felt good about it. Well, we figured out that I'm left-handed. I just, everything was reversed, which gave everybody problems.

I heard from some credible sources about an event that happened at Eva Longoria's gala. What actually happened that night?

You know, that was random, you know. It's actually random you bring that up, but boy do I have a story for you. So, you know, one of my dearest friends, you know, big brother in Christ, you know. Sal says, hey Vic, we're going to go to this white party. And I go, dude, I'm brown, bro. No, white party, fool. Like, you know, I'm like, I'm just messing. I got you. He goes, all right, you know, many incredible celebs are going to be there. I'm like, that's cool. All right. And then so we're there. And I'm like, I'm enjoying it. I see George Lopez. I see all these big people. That's pretty cool. And then I go like this and I go, zzz. I zoomed in, like crosshairs. And mind you, I've never said to this point, I've never said nothing about Brandon Rios. I've never said a thing about him. And he's bashed me throughout the years. For what reason? I don't know. To feel good about himself? I don't know what it was. Put me down completely, made up stories about me that I've done things with certain people. No, I'm not a disrespectful guy like that.

Anyway, he defamed me, man, murdered my character. And I see him, big bro Sal goes, hey Vic, you good? Yeah, I'm good. We were late. We were late to the— yeah, we're late. So then, Vic, you good? Yeah, I'm good. George Lopez. Hey, Victor! What's up, George? You good? Yeah, I'm good. What are you looking at? I'm gonna use the bathroom, be right back. I wasn't using the bathroom. I was going up to Rios. I was heated because he had murdered my character, man, throughout the years, said so many wrong, ugly things about me. I've never spoke about him. This is my first time ever speaking on record about anything about that guy. I brought him from Kansas to California. I gave him the opportunity to get him signed with Cameron Duncan, Top Rank, Bob Arum, with the Garcias. I did that. I didn't take credit for it. It says in the Bible, when you give, you give wholeheartedly and expect nothing in return. I don't. But to bash me for only helping?

Christ was crucified, bro.

That's true. So give. Absolutely. So for me, it hit heavy when, um, my own brother, flesh and blood brother, tells me, what's wrong with you, fool? And I go, back up, back up, dude. Are you Team Ortiz or you Team Rios? Because right now you don't seem like you're part of me. And you know, my brother's growing— he's growing a lot of envy toward me, a lot of jealousy toward me. For years. It's okay, I've taken it. I took it all. But this particular time, I was, I was at a place where I hadn't found Jesus Christ and accepted him into my heart as my Lord and Savior just yet. Think, think back. I never would have done that now in a million years, but I went up to him. I was trying to throw hands on the spot. He had to grab his wife, put her between us. We don't want no problems. And I'm like, why don't you tell this? You know, it was ugly. My dear friend Sal was there, big movie producer. You got these big attorneys that are right there next to me. They're like, dude, the guy folded. And I don't say that to be rude or to flaunt it or to boast about it, no.

After that, when it was all said and done, we just, we left it there. But I thought for once it was gonna be like just an ending to everything. And I don't know, I haven't seen him since. But it's one of those things where— talk about a dog walking away with his tail between his legs. That's what it was. And I don't— like, again, I don't boast. People are like, oh, you're scared of Brandon Rios. Oh, you're scared of— no, no, no, no. There was big people in attendance. And George Lopez had to tell me, hey, why are you doing that, cabrón? 'You need to keep it in the ring, Victor.' I go, 'Get paid for it, Victor.' I go, 'I just— you know what, I'm just sick and tired. I don't need to get paid for it. For what?' I was like, 'Bro, I'm a good person, man. You got to bash me like that, destroy my character for what? What'd I do to you?' I was just— I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, to say the least. And you know what, I'm a very, a very loving person. Very forgiving.

But man, don't mistake my kindness for weakness. You know? His wife was like almost crying. That's a crazy story.

Well, I'm glad you put that issue to bed though.

Yeah, no, it's over with. I got nothing to say to him. I saw him, what, I'd say about 2 months ago in a fair down in Simi Valley, California. I tried to say hi. I didn't recognize him, but he had a Kansas City hat on. And I was like, "Oh, that's right. KC all the way, baby." He looked at me, he would not talk to me, wouldn't say nothing. His daughter waved. I said, "Hi, mi hija." And his wife waved too. But you know what? God bless them. God be with them. And that's all you can do.

Well, let's talk about what we all want to hear about, which is the Floyd Mayweather gossip. The day of the press conference. What happened?

Oh man, uh, well, first off, he goes, uh, I think I angered him before the press conference because he was, hey Vic, man, you got, you gotta come at me, man, and you gotta sell this fight. And I go, bro, Floyd, let me be honest, bro, people hate you, dog. I said, um, the moment, the moment this thing goes on sale, dog, the tickets are gonna sell like that, bro. Like, you're well hated, dog. He goes, oh really, it's like that? And I go Yeah, dog, you always walk around like you have a golden spoon on— that's not like— you have a silver spoon in your mouth, bro. You know how it goes. He goes, yeah, platinum. I go, platinum, silver, potato, potato, bro. You get what I'm saying? I was like, Floyd, again, people hate you, dog. I said, I don't hate you, but people do, bro. Like, I'm telling you, this goes on sale, I'm gonna tell you right now, like that. It's a, it's "Sold out." "Yeah, is that right, mother—" And I was like, "Yeah, it's right." And the press conference strikes, man. And he goes, "Yeah, it's like that." I was like, "Yeah, did you bring your silver spoon?" "Gold." "Oh, can I see it?" And he grabs me, wah!

Grabs me by my neck. And I was like, "Dang, you grabbed me hard, man. That kind of hurts." But by this point in time, I go, wait a minute, dog. He's trying to make you be like some little punk. So I honed down. I go, what's up then, motherfucker? I went into a different person in that second. And I was trying to attack, but his bodyguards grabbed me and grabbed me. And I'm like, well, do something. And they weren't strong enough to keep me away. And this dude's like, oh my gosh, I just messed up. Oh my gosh, help me. So it was just interesting, you know, but, uh, I wasn't lying. I mean, it sold out right away.

Didn't you give him something?

You know what, um, I was— yeah, it was, it was foul, but I— yeah, I was not— mind you guys, very worldly, very worldly. Um, that was BC, before Christ, right? Got him a— I got him a special box. It was a box that women use every month, you know. So I got a box of tampons, bro.

You got Floyd Mayweather a box of tampons? Yeah, yeah.

On the day of the press conference. Shameful. You know, I was young. I was dumb. You know, I— yeah, on the press conference. Yeah, it was very disrespectful. But you know—

How did Floyd Mayweather React when he got a box of tampons at the press conference?

He threw it at me for no reason. Just a gift. Think about it. If you think about it, it was just a gift.

Let me ask you, what was running through your head to give Floyd Mayweather tampons?

Should've got him some track shoes. That was wrong choice. Uh, again, again, it was worldly. I was young, just dumb, bro. You know, you live and learn, man.

I mean, I think you're calling them something, you know. Yeah, that's—

you can read between the lines, you know.

You've lived life in the public eye for a long time. What do you think that the public has misunderstood about you?

Oh man, the public has misunderstood many things. Um, you know, everyone— one day, uh, I was, I was joking but sarcastically because they're like, uh, Victor, something about a heart, right? And I said, well, I just looked on, I just looked on Google and it says Victor Ortiz does not have a heart, so just be careful. So they're like, that's— oh, come on, Vic. And I was like, that's what they're saying, that I'm not me. So, I mean, you grow up without parents, you grow up to take on the world, you grow up against all odds. Statistically speaking, you're not supposed to be anywhere near what someone like me has accomplished. You're not even supposed to graduate from high school, let alone go to college, University of Kansas, KU, fraternity brother. I mean, I don't know, man. No heart. That doesn't really align with me. My name is Victor. Victor Vicious. I didn't make that up, man. It was given to me. So, you know, it's interesting. I just think sometimes people are quick to speak, quick to judge. Yeah. Um, I've seen it. I've seen it all. Well, not— I haven't seen it all, but I've seen a lot, you know.

And you live and learn. Yeah.

You know, I'm really fascinated. I'm a big Kobe Bryant fan. And there's some rumors that during the time where Kobe was messing around a little bit—

I know where this is going. I know exactly where this is going.

During the time where Kobe was going through some drama, you might have been—

This is not funny, but it is funny because— OK, go for it.

You might have been dating Vanessa Bryant.

I don't know if that's true. Hey, hey, hey. This is what I like to say: wrong gardener, fool. Wrong gardener. And I was like, wrong gardener, bro. So there's no truth to that? No, wank, no. Check this out. So I get to the gym one day, and one of my buddies, his name's John Boy, Jonathan Namock, right? And then Chris Adams, and then Kai Ellison, they all got to the gym around the same minute slash, you know, hour, and they're like, Dude, dude! And mind you, they're all Lakers. I am not. I'm a Celtic since I was a little boy. I'm from Kansas, you know, and I just love the Celtics. My brother loved the Lakers. We were like this. He was a huge number 8 Kobe Bryant fan. I never have been. So he comes in, John Boy comes in, Vic, Vic, huh, huh, huh! I go, what's wrong with you, dog? He's like, dude, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, bro, seriously, what are you talking about? Google. Whoa, whoa, what is that? Vanessa Bryant. Who's that? So I have to Google the woman, and I'm like, oh my gosh, no, no, no, no, no, no, nuh-uh.

They're like, what do you mean? I was like, nah, bro, I, I don't know who that is. So I'm like looking at her, I'm like, and she's not my type. I mean, I just said that I was young, you know, she's a beautiful woman. Yeah, but hey, no, not for me. Anyway, it kept going, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't know who started the rumor, where it came from. I kind of have some guesses of who may have started what, but I'm not sure. Um, I'm out one day grabbing some food, and they come up to me and ask me about the situation. And of course, young again, right? Young, Hollywood, public eye, just worldly, right? I said, before any interview on TMZ, before any interviews take place, I just want everybody to know I'm a Boston Celtics fan. I said, um, nothing against Kobe or any of you guys, but let me just make something clear. I'm not a homewrecker. And then of course, like, stupid, I just— dumb— I quoted Bill Clinton, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, just like that. Just, just worldly, bro. And, um, I threw jokes in there, right?

But I was being serious because I didn't even know this woman. I'd never even been under the same roof as this woman. And, uh, so anyway, this, this whole thing took off like wildfire, man. And, and, uh, oh yeah, you know that because I said no, I'm not a homewrecker. I wish that they, they really fixed their issues. I'm not like that. I don't step into boundaries like that. Like, I, I really— that's not me. And I really hope that you, Kobe, and Miss Vanessa, you guys fix whatever you guys have. I have no idea. I'm out of it. So a few days later, I'm sparring with Manny Pacquiao.

And I heard you knocked him out cold turkey.

I get punched for a living, so I forget things. So read between the lines. I don't know. So then I was sparring with him and with— Michael Katsidis from Australia, world champion IBF. And as I'm doing all this, I see a big old dude walk into the gym. I'm like, whoa, oh my gosh, that's Kobe Bryant. I have sparring gear on. He don't like me. The feeling's mutual. I looked at him and I'm like, what's up, how's the weather up there, dude? What's up? My bell's about to ring. I come back in. And he's just staring at me. I'm looking at him too, like, what you looking at, bro? Like, it was, it was like, uh-uh. So I just, it was like this, bro. Uh, but it was heartbreaking when he, when he passed, just for the world, you know. I was not a Laker, but I mean, I, I feel for the loss of his kids and his wife. And, and, but truth be told, Jesus Christ in my heart That is not my place. That is not where I went with it. That— no, I don't know Miss Vanessa Bryant and never met her.

Again, I don't know who started the rumor, but, uh, but it's interesting because about 6 months ago it said, uh, maybe 7, I don't know, it says, uh, I got a, a little bit of a screenshot and it was The last 5 people that Vanessa Bryant dated before the passing of Kobe Bryant. Oh, timeout, dog. I mean, I made top 3, but anyway, anyway, I'm just kidding. I'm just joking. I was like, oh my gosh. So my, my wife says, are you serious? She, I, you know, she knows I'm just joking. I'm like, babe, that did not happen. I said, I promise on my 3 sons and on us, no, I, I don't know the woman. And that's when I, when I, when I say, hey man, they say, oh, we saw Vanessa Bryant and Victor Ortiz, uh, in, uh, um, right here by the airport, kind of, uh, what's it called? It's John Wayne. No, no, it's out here, but it's right before you get— it's on off of Lincoln, um, between Venice and the airport. There's a— in LA. Yeah, right here. Yeah, it's like not far. Anyway, um, they were like, yeah, we, we saw them there having breakfast.

I'm like, you know, there's a lot of Mexicans, right? Like, it wasn't me, bro. And I don't think— I mean, I'm probably shorter than her. I don't know, I'm only 5'9". She looks fairly tall, man. I mean, Kobe Bryant was really tall, and, and when you see them next to each other, they're, they're like complementing each other's height, so I don't know, man. I'm, I'm not that tall, bro. You're not her type. Yeah, I'm not her type either. No, no, I'm too, uh, no, no, no.

When did you realize that boxing is as much of a business as it is a sport? And it's a pretty twisted business, like a ruthless business.

You know, I didn't really realize that boxing was a ruthless business until I lived it, right? Again, the betrayals, the false promises, the neglect, the heartbreak. But when you figure it out, you know, it's— you live free, you know. I don't— I take everything as a grain of salt, you know. Promoter this, promoter that, a fight here, a fight there. It's a grain of salt, man. Um, I don't know if it's always been that way, but what I've seen in the last, you know, 23 years as a professional boxer, I've seen a lot.

You're gonna have a good answer to this one, but looking back over your career, do you think there was people that you trusted that you shouldn't have?

Man, looking back on my career, bro, trusting in people who don't deserve it, not even the time of day, right? Um, oh yeah, absolutely. You know, um, but I believe it all came down to one thing in the end, and it was the decisions that I ended up making, right? And following Jesus, where he said, uh, for what would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? And that, for me, bro, that's where it's at, man. Again, you know, those people who've done their wrongs, who've done their dirty, they know it. They don't even be called by name. Just looking at me right now, I can assure you some of the closest next to me and around me guarantee you they're burning up inside because I'm back. We talking about that motherfucker supposed to be dead.

Why? Hi, I'm back. I'm back.

Yeah, so happier than ever. Yeah, bro, I— why not, man? I have another day of life. I have 3 sons, Royal, Malachi, Ezekiel. I have a wife, man. I mean, somebody wanted to marry me. Why wouldn't you? They—

bro, you're a good-looking guy, sweetest guy.

Ah, thank you, bro. No, no, it's, uh, very blessed, brother.

You are blessed. Yeah. You know, unlike most boxers, you've lived like— you've went through so many chapters: boxing, television, movies. And now there's a new chapter you're beginning: BKB, bare-knuckle boxing, the most brutal combat sport known to mankind. Yeah, that's a whole new chapter. You're taking it on at 39. Already a champion. Is there anything that innately feels, you know, worrisome about that? Or how do you feel about that going into that next chapter? We talked about this earlier, but what do you think for the audience?

You know, going into this next chapter, I believe I've found my, my peace and comfort within just trusting Jesus Christ, brother. Um, this, this whole fight experience, this whole opportunity that presented itself, it literally came from Jesus, bro. I prayed to him day in and day out. I fasted 3 days, no food, no water. I said, God, this is what you want me to do, allow it to be so. But if not, close the door. But I do ask you, if you close the door, I don't ever want to hear the word boxing ever for as long as I live. I will serve you day in and day out. And I don't want to hear the word boxing, but you have to be clear to me, transparent. Glory to him, because hey, he showed up through and through.

Beautiful. So now that's it. This new bare-knuckle boxing chapter is open. Yeah. And who knows, you're going to probably be the champion. You're headlining. Whatever God's will is, brother.

I don't, I don't make the will of God, you know. I just follow it.

You are about to be the biggest fighter that BKB's ever had. Biggest brand, the biggest name. And hopefully you continue with that message once you get that, you know, next belt. You know what, that's—

there shouldn't be regrets in life, right? But I could, I can honestly tell you right now, brother, that there was one thing missing, maybe a few. When I was the reigning world champion, the young, cocky, conceited, all about me type person. And that was Jesus, bro. He says he calls us to be built on the rock, the rock which is Jesus God. I wasn't. I was built on sand, bro, those years. And I'll tell you right now, there's no limit, brother.

In boxing, what's one fight that you wish would have happened? And in BKB, what's one fight that you want to happen?

I believe a fight that got away, that slipped from me, from my fingers, was Canelo. Canelo, huh? Saul Álvarez, AKA Cinnamon Rolls. Um, very well protected. Very well guarded. But you know what? Hey, they did their thing with them. Um, it is what it is. But in this day and age, this new chapter, this new journey, line them up, bro. We're here, we're present. Anybody, we're ready.

Let's go. Victor, what do you hope that your children remember most about you?

Oh man, what do I hope my children remember about me is, uh, My dad was a God-fearing man. My dad put Christ Jesus before anything and anyone. But Daddy, you're the world champion. No, Jesus Christ is Papa. Daddy's but a servant. That's all.

20 years from now, what do you hope the world remembers about Victor Ortiz?

Just that, hey, 20 years from now, I really hope that They remember me for my, for my faith, for the message, for the gospel, for the glory I gave to God, for the, the lives that I— the souls that I won for the kingdom of Jesus, bro. This is, this is all materialistic. We're here for the time being, man. 20 years, what, I'll be— I'll probably have a— I'll be on a, uh, what do you call it, a wheelchair with some lowrider wheels on it. I'm just kidding. That'd be funny though. But, uh, um, no, no, it's just, it's materialistic, brother. So as long as my, my boys, and 20 years from now I can raise them with love, integrity, and honor, then I've done something right, bro. But most importantly, with Jesus Christ at the center of it all, built on the rock, then I've done something right. Not perfect. We're trying. We're all trying.

We're all fighting this good fight together. Yes, sir. Now we're going to start this wonderful game show. Yeah, it's called What Would a Champion Do? You're getting booed as you walk into the arena. What does a champion do?

Keep going, keep trucking.

You're down on the scorecards heading into the final round. What's a champion do?

Bite down on that mouthpiece and give it your all and try to go for the knockout.

Your team and fans don't believe you can do it anymore. What's a champion do? Smile and watch. Your child says, "I wanna quit." What's a champion do? Get up, papi. Do it again. Money starts changing your friendships. What's a champion do? Leave it alone, man.

Money is— it can be the root of evil, but it can be a root to help. Stay on that, stay in your lane, you know. Money is not going to make you happy.

When your combat career is finally over, what's a champion do?

That's actually the hardest one you've asked. Give back, brother, as much as you can, from your children to just other people. You know, um, it's interesting because everyone says, oh, you're gonna be a great boxing coach, but realistically I've always said no, no, no, when my chapter's over, it's over. But if my sons want to box, and we have to protect those boys, man, I know the game very well, so I can help. Matter of fact, I've been helping a lot throughout the years, you know, youngsters and up-and-comers and whatnot. I think the wisdom that I've gained, it's allowed me to help people. Hey, Papa, don't step on that mine, man. Careful. Hey, don't get bit over there. Hey, careful back there. I don't tell them what to do, but I'm like, hey, cuidado, eh? Careful.

Victor, you've been an absolute blessing to have on this show. I hope to have you back again. If people want to connect with you, learn more about you, and maybe you want— they want to be drawn to Jesus again. Maybe they need to hear the word of the Lord. Maybe they need some comfort. If they want to connect with you, how can they find you?

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, Instagram, it's itsvortiz. Itsvortiz. People are like, oh, it's Vortiz. I'm like, no, no, it's Vortiz. Reason behind that is somebody stole my name one day. They're like, I'll sell it back to you for for $50,000, and I go, nah, dog, I'm good, you can have it. So then, uh, Twitter, or whatever it's called nowadays, uh, it's Vicious Ortiz. Um, what is that other one? Some— the, the new TikTok? I don't even know. I think it might be Victor Ortiz WBC. I don't know, I'm not the media person, so— but that was fun. Yeah, check me out on Bare Knuckle Boxing. Um, I think it's barenuckleboxing.com. Let's go. Yeah, and, um, I, um, I just hit a young man named Asher so hard, I think I, I may have maybe punctured his lungs or something. I, I don't know, we got to check him in a little bit. Yeah, let's go check him out. Maybe, maybe hopefully he's alive. CPR or something. It's brutal. So sorry, guys.