P.O.P. Picking Off Punches

Interview with Michael Spinks

Sergio and Derek interview Michael Spinks who won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Michael held world championships in two weight classes, the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 t0 1985 and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985-1988. Spinks is the brother of former world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks. Michael has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. The International Boxing Research Organization and BoxRec rank Spinks among the 10 greatest light heavyweights of all time.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Spinks#cite_note-11

The Career of Arturo Gatti

Sergio and Derek interview George Jakovic, an Emmy winning Feature Producer for 14 years at HBO Sports about the life and career of Arturo Gatti, world champion in two weight classes.  He also participated in The Ring [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_(magazine)] magazine's Fight of the Year [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Magazine_Fight_of_the_Year] a total of four times (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003). After his death in 2009, Gatti was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Boxing_Hall_of_Fame] on December 10, 2012, in his first year of eligibility, becoming the tenth Canadian boxer to be so inducted.

Interview with "Irish" Micky Ward

George Michael Ward Jr. (born October 4, 1965), often known by his nickname, "Irish" Micky Ward, is an American former professional boxer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_boxer] who competed from 1985 to 2003. He challenged once for the IBF [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Boxing_Federation] light welterweight [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_welterweight] title in 1997, and held the WBU [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Boxing_Union] light welterweight title in 2000. Ward is widely known for his trilogy of fights with Arturo Gatti [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arturo_Gatti], two of which received Fight of the Year [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_magazine_Fight_of_the_Year] awards by The Ring magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_(magazine)], as well as his relentless pressure fighting [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_fighting] style. Ward was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Wahlberg] in the 2010 film The Fighter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighter], which was based on his early career.

Interview with Rock Newman

Roderick Eugene Newman better known as Rock Newman talks with Sergio and Derek about his 3 decades in the sport of boxing. We learn about his supportive relationship with Mayor Marion Barry during his turbulent political career. Finally, Rock speaks about managing the career of Riddick Bowe.

The 1996 Riot at Madison Square Garden

Sergio and Derek discuss what happened on July 11th 1996 in Madison Square Garden with Curran Bhatia, who spent nearly a decade at HBO and has produced/directed long-form documentaries, features, and 250+ live events.