Speaker 1: 1:26

Danielle, your daughter just had an epic slumber party yeah, she did.

Speaker 2: 1:30

She just turned 10 and we rented these tents that they set up in your living room and they had. They all have like a theme we dream, dream big tents I love that and they actually got the idea.

Speaker 2: 1:41

The owner was there setting up. They were in australia, of all places, her husband's from there and they had had it and so she couldn't find anything like that here and so she brought it back over here and she has a million different themes, like she did preppy aesthetic for my daughter, which is just like smileys and thunder bolts and everything which I thought. Preppy was like prep school, but it has a whole new meaning now. Apparently preppy is with the ipad. Kid generation is like a whole different. It's like their nirvana shirt and what you know rainbows and smiles. Yeah, it's not like prep school.

Speaker 1: 2:13

Sorry, that's called grunge. No, it's not it's different it will always be grunge for me. No, it was really cool.

Speaker 2: 2:19

So we had like eight girls over and we just did like pizza cake. I let them use the hot tub and they did a polar plunge in our pool which was I don't know how they did it. I can only do it like once or twice. They did it like 20 times and they couldn't feel their legs anymore. So, then we went inside and they did like face masks, movies, all that, so it was really cool.

Speaker 1: 2:38

That's fun, those slumber parties are great and Dream Big Tents is awesome. I'm friends with Jennifer and we've done them Like. We've even rented them, like when there's, you know, like a holiday break or something Like we rented them for Thanksgiving break and it was a really great treat for the kids. Did any fights break out at the slumber party?

Speaker 2: 2:56

So no fights broke out, but they did talk about some fights at school. And actually I was just talking to my daughters on the way to school about bullies because I'm not kidding you, there were. Both of my daughters have had some pretty aggressive, like bullies. And so I was trying, like I am not the mom that's like civil disobedience, like don't fight back. I am the mom that, like if someone puts their hands on you, you have every right to defend yourself, but we don't have to tell our next guest because he's a professional boxer for a living right.

Speaker 4: 3:26

Yes, yes, yes, I am, yes, I am.

Speaker 2: 3:28

So tell us about that. We were just talking about off air, that you just knocked someone out with a body shot recently.

Speaker 4: 3:35

So Saturday, two days ago, I had my third professional fight and everything about this fight was about vengeance. I felt like boxing disrespected me and took a victory for me in October and I lost a split decision in my home state that I really didn't feel like I lost, and so the whole theme this whole time was about vengeance. Man, I got in the best shape of my life. There's nothing that motivates you more than a loss. So, yeah, it was crazy, man, it was electric. We were at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Springdale and it was sold out. I mean 1,200 seats. It was crazy.

Speaker 4: 4:06

And so you know, music playing, walk out. Everything happened. And you know, when I was fighting the guy, I was 280. And, yeah, man, I dropped him with a five, which is a lead uppercut to the body, and you know, I was in the middle of throwing a combo and he was falling to the ground. I really didn't notice it until I hit him with my right hand. He was already on the way down, and then I threw another punch. After that he was gone already.

Speaker 4: 4:27

So oh my gosh, it was just kind of muscle memory how it goes. I didn't. I didn't throw the shot to knock him out, but I mean that's the one that dropped him, so it was it was. It was amazing because my lead uppercut is one of my favorite punches, but it's not something I get to drop people with a lot, but I do. I do like going to the body and it was cool to get a ko in the first round dang, that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 4:47

Now daniel, introduce him properly, so that our listeners know that there's not, he's more than just a boxer. He's got a lot of other things, yeah, a lot of other feathers in his hat.

Speaker 1: 4:56

So our guest here today in the studio is bernard oliver and I met bernard at the roger short film festival. Okay, I was wondering how y'all met. Yeah, and he made a short film documentary about boxing and we had some really great conversations.

Speaker 2: 5:12

I found out that not only is he a filmmaker, but he is also a boxer as well and is just a trainer and does all sorts of things working with youth, working with older ladies and older people in the box older lady like like 40 no, they're like 70s and 80s like legit, like the videos are the best ever, because I just my my kids actually asked last night if, when we grew up, like my six-year-old asked if things were in color, I'm like, are you asking if I grew up in a black and white world, like film Is? That what you're asking me right now.

Speaker 1: 5:47

I know I was born in the 1900s, but come on, come on. My kids like to say that all the time you were born in the 1900s.

Speaker 2: 5:55

And I'm like isn't that wild.

Speaker 4: 5:57

We were born in the late 1900s and I'm like, isn't that wild?

Speaker 1: 5:59

we were born in the late 1900s now, it's so weird, all right, so, bernard, tell us a little bit about how you ended up here in northwest arkansas and a little bit of your journey getting into boxing and film yeah, so I was born actually in el dorado but my mom moved us to dallas, fort worth when I was young.

Speaker 4: 6:17

She felt like that there was a lot more opportunity in Dallas-Fort Worth and that we would grow up in a much better place. And yeah, and it was true. So I grew up my entire life and raised back in Texas, so Texans hated me. Then I came back up here to play football in Arkansas and I got called a Texan in college so I never got to belong really, but it was cool.

Speaker 4: 6:38

You know, I came back up here to play football at heart condition. I couldn't play football anymore. I wasn't like recruiter or anything, I was, I was a walk-on. But I was really cool with all the coaches and coach Ely and coach Campbell that were there under Houston nut back then and I just I couldn't. I couldn't play because of my heart.

Speaker 4: 6:51

And then I was freaking out because I had heart problem. I didn. I eventually, after going to the cardiologist for four years, he was like yo, you're as healthy as a horse, he's like you can go play football again. And I was kind of shocked and I was like I thought I was going to have this heart issue which was muscular hypertrophy in my left ventricle, which just meant my ventricle was getting bigger. Your heart's a muscle and it only has so much room in the chest cavity, so if it gets too big'll die and so, uh, you know, it's really funny because people are like bernard, you always have so much heart and I was like, yeah, that's right, I really do too much this explains so much about you.

Speaker 2: 7:26

He doesn't have a lot of heart yeah that's your condition is a big heart.

Speaker 4: 7:30

Yeah, I know right, it's cute that because I didn't die.

Speaker 1: 7:32

It's cute, but it's yeah it's cute because you yeah, we're glad that you didn't die.

Speaker 4: 7:36

Yes, so it went away, though, and I mean it's kind of inexplicable. I guess you know I wasn't working out three times a day, stressing 270 pounds in my body anymore, so I just kind of credit health and you know, boxing and playing basketball like five times a week back then. I credit that with, of course, god, because I always tell people that I just feel like God touched me and put his hand in my life. It feel like God touched me and put his hand in my life, was like, hey, man, you know you're healed now. And so I was like cool, I'm way too small to play football now, but I'm boxing, so maybe I can pursue boxing. And that's how it happened. I boxed when I was 17, but it was to get better at football, and I was like well, maybe now I can start looking at competing, and that's how I got here.

Speaker 2: 8:11

Isn't that amazing how things that you think are like something that happens to you, that maybe you're upset about at the time, you think that door is closing, but like god, because I I believe in god as well can lead you somewhere else, to something so much more fulfilling and amazing all the time.

Speaker 4: 8:28

I mean that that is. We definitely don't maybe not understand it when it happens. I mean there are doors that get closed and there's like I was I really needed that door to be open and then you go somewhere and a door you never thought was going to open.

Speaker 4: 8:40

It opens up like I never saw myself as a boxing coach or professional boxer. I was always interested. I grew up being interested. But man, I have. It's crazy because I've touched so many people's lives as a coach and like a counselor and all this other kind of stuff. Man it is.

Speaker 4: 8:54

It is wild to me that that I was, I was blessed enough to be put in this world to change other people's lives. I mean, I've had people come up like coach, I was gonna kill myself and because you, because you talked to me today, I didn't, I didn't go home and do that. You know, of course they tell me later but I'm like man, what? Yeah, I was just, I was just coaching. You know, I wasn't, you know, trying to do that and it's, it's amazing to me and that's happened more than once actually.

Speaker 4: 9:17

And then boxing is a very, very dope sport because it helps a lot of people with a lot of different things. All kinds of kids have come through the gym with autism, adhd, you know, diabetes, you know struggling with all these things that you know. People are kind of like at their wit's end and boxing not only helps them mentally deal with it, but it helps them physically deal with it, and so it's an amazing thing to be able to see a door open. I never thought I was going to be in, and it continues to happen throughout my career as a filmmaker and as a boxer. It continues to how I just get these doors open. My teammate, calvin, always says when you walk in your purpose, things just happen for you.

Speaker 1: 9:52

Oh my God, I love that. It's pretty cool.

Speaker 4: 10:00

And Calvin was the subject of your short. Yes, he was. So my documentary is called Lost in the Sauce the Calvin Henderson story. It's a it's a biopic about Calvin and the things that he was going through in the time of his march to a world championship fight. And after the documentary was completed, he actually did get a world championship fight and he did really well. There's some controversy there since then. We're hoping that he's going to get another world title shot because he has not lost a fight since then. So he's as of saturday, he got a knockout too right after me. He uh, he is 18 and 2 with 13 knockouts and he is still a world title class boxer. He's actually ranked number 10 in the world.

Speaker 4: 10:32

So oh my gosh right, yeah, he, we're the. The documentary is really cool because the documentary follows, you know, from his early life all the way up to the point where he fought on showtime for the first time. So it was really really cool to do that. I actually got started doing it because I was super angry that nobody was talking about calvin and I was like yo, we have a world title contender in north of sargasso and nobody will talk about.

Speaker 4: 10:54

I reached out to news stations, I reached out to you know my contacts and like nobody was taking the story, nobody was coming to talk to him. If somebody did, they say come talk to him, and they'll be like, ah, you know, we got busy and I'm like how do you get bit? Like, would you be busy Not trying to knock the Razorbacks, but would you be busy if the Razorbacks play the football game, you know? So it's it's. It made me very angry and able to sit there and tell his story, because nobody can tell his story like me, because I'm in the trenches with him. And so me as a storyteller and me as a boxer came together in a beautiful, beautiful way that I've always chased since I was in college to make, to merge my athlete and my nerdness and my, my storytelling together and it came together so good it really did, he won.

Speaker 1: 11:35

he won in the film festival, he won. I saw that what was crazy about it is they didn't originally have a category for documentary shorts, and so they added it because of his film.

Speaker 2: 11:48

So you're a trailblazer too. He's 100% a trailblazer.

Speaker 1: 11:52

I like to believe that he could tell you about our little meeting and how I gave him pointers on what he could do better in his documentary and his short documentary and then he won. Are you crediting yourself right now? No, I'm not crediting myself. No, I, it was, I'm just totally kidding. No, it was embarrassing because I was like before, like after seeing his documentary I was like this is an awesome or, in the words of Bernard, this is dope documentary. But I was just giving him like some technical yeah advice, like hey yeah I've done this.

Speaker 1: 12:22

You could have done this with lighting a little because you wouldn't just go for this, this was your study yeah, and I just was like just who I am as a person when I see something really good in somebody and like I mean, great storyteller. I was like, oh, if you just did like this one little thing with lighting or whatever you can take it to the next level and then it's like the next night he gets announced as a winner and then they have this new category.

Speaker 3: 12:43

And I'm like Hmm.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Foot in mouth Danielle. Foot in mouth Danielle? Not at all.

Speaker 4: 12:48

Not at all. Not at all.

Speaker 1: 12:50

You just are very and Bernard's so great. He like yes, he took it very well. Yeah, because it was really it was, it was good it was a great conversation.

Speaker 3: 13:01

It started a great friendship.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Yes, I've really enjoyed getting to know you and seeing the work that you do. I keep saying I'm gonna come and take some boxing lessons and I really need to do that oh, I used to do kickboxing.

Speaker 2: 13:10

That's a little different.

Speaker 4: 13:11

Yeah, it's a little different.

Speaker 2: 13:12

We're traditional boxing, yeah I know yeah but I do love boxing. One of my favorite fights I ever went to with Manny Pacquiao and Margarita.

Speaker 4: 13:19

It was a long time ago.

Speaker 2: 13:20

That's a dope fight, though, but I used to work at a hotel and I would get like the areas ready that they would practice in. And Manny Pacquiao, let me just tell you he I just such an honor to meet someone who now he's like a politician but he would fly like multiple private jets of his friends and family and just took care of them and like just what a nice guy. I mean both great, both nice guys, but it was. It was a crazy fight. It was really cool.

Speaker 2: 13:44

It was the first time I've ever actually been to a boxing like it was in the um. I lived in dallas at the time. Yeah, it was at the cowboy stadium. Oh yeah but it was really cool.

Speaker 1: 13:54

I'd love to watch more boxing yeah, so tell us a little bit more about boxing here in northwest arkansas, like where's your gym that you work at, how could somebody get involved?

Speaker 4: 14:02

and yeah, tell us a little bit about that so we're right in the heart of springdale, if you are familiar with, where diamonds meat market is, game exchange, which is one of my sponsors, george's Chicken they're all over in the area near the gym. So we're off Turner and Robinson. 2100 Turner Street is our gym and we take all fitness levels so it's not just a competitive gym. I always tell people 1% of the people in the gym are competitors and 99% of people are fitness people. So we teach everybody traditional USA style boxing. That's going to cover stance, offense, defense, counterpunching. You know how to move and all those other kind of things in your stance and keep those things great. And so we've gotten to do some really, really cool stuff with people around. We have a Parkinson's program, so if anybody listening knows anybody with Parkinson's disease, please send them my way.

Speaker 1: 14:46

That's incredible.

Speaker 4: 14:47

Yeah, we partner with Encompass Health in Fayetteville and we have Dr Diamond and Mary Plumlee, who is the most amazing person in the world. Mary is so cool, she does all of our evaluations and then we teach them out of box. We have a youth program that we start at seven years old, seven to 12. Then we've got 13 and up program. So there's no reason not to come to the gym. It's a straight right boxing and fitness in Springdale and we welcome anybody at all fitness levels. So the cool thing about that is that there's a free class every Saturday at 930 and you have to take it because we make people take it. If you absolutely cannot make that class, there's a virtual option and when you finish out of the virtual or the in-person, you get free classes after that to make sure that it's something that you want to pay for.

Speaker 4: 15:33

So we make sure that everybody knows what they're doing, knows what they're getting into. We're not like uh, we're not like a big gym where we're like we get paid off of contracts. We do get paid off your contract, but I don't want you trapped in a contract. I want you to like it being here, I want you to be here and I want you to learn and I want you to get better. And people have lost like 100 pounds, 80, 80 pounds here. Parkinson's, our Parkinson's program, is so amazing because you see the people who are their tremors go away.

Speaker 2: 15:54

And that's yeah, I know, isn't that crazy.

Speaker 4: 15:56

Dina is always a person I point to. She has kicked leukemias, I'm going to say, but she's kicked leukemias, but a lot like four times. But she, she first started our program, I think seven years ago when we started and I believe it was about four to six weeks into the program. She, she came up to. She's like bernard, look at my hand. I was like looking, I thought she like hurt her hand. I was like you know, trying to wrap her hand a different way, and she and I and I was like dina, what am I looking for? Because I don't see anything. She's like bernard, I'm not shaking. And I was like like it was just like a cold, like warm feeling went over me. So it was, it was like it.

Speaker 4: 17:00

It was very weird and I was just like is that that's from you doing boxing? She's like bernard, I've had tremors for years. She's like I've never. I, you know smoke, weed, all kind of stuff, medication, everything. She's like that. This is. And she has not had a tremor since then and it's crazy. It's crazy. So that happens with some people too. But yeah, all kinds of things get involved in the gym. There's no reason not to come. I love. I love my job. I love my job every day, it's even when I hate things.

Speaker 1: 17:24

I love my job sure, when I hate things yeah, we all have amazing story. Wow, I love hearing that. I love hearing that that you're making a difference in someone else's life, doing something that you love and that has just got to be so rewarding, yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:41

And it sounds like a mind, body and even like soul connection, because I I don't box per se, but I can see how the focus, that style of of working, out or just like connecting would make you be present and yeah, and then you say per se, but I signed this up for the Saturday.

Speaker 1: 18:02

Oh, you did so, hope so, we're gonna, we're gonna find, our holy grit is that what you're saying. Yeah, let's go. Yes, yes, yes, we are look. Yeah, I signed us up, we're going. I'm glad you said all skill levels.

Speaker 4: 18:15

Yes, yes, we actually prefer people who've never boxed before. Really, yeah, because we don't have bad habits. Yeah, I don't have to break bad habits. There we go I always heard that Love it.

Speaker 2: 18:25

Yeah, I have gloves.

Speaker 4: 18:26

Yeah, come on, bring them. Okay, Because we got gloves for you but if you have your own, that works too, as long as we approve them.

Speaker 2: 18:37

As long as you approve them, just bring them.

Speaker 4: 18:39

They may not get approved, but just bring them, just bring them. Sometimes you find a gym, just in case. Sometimes you find a gym. This Saturday we're going All right. That's what's up.

Speaker 2: 18:48

We'll get that on video we are 100%.

Speaker 1: 18:51

We're going to come live to everyone from Straight Right, boxing and Fitness. So I want to jump back to your short documentary. Tell us a little bit. Do you think that after making that documentary and you won an award at the Roger Short Film Festival, did you see any sort of like improvement on the attention on Calvin? Like, or just that people were finally taking notice?

Speaker 4: 19:15

I did yeah how has that changed?

Speaker 1: 19:17

here in Northwest Arkansas and I know a lot of people have kind of different opinions about boxing- Like there are. There's a group of people that they have a negative opinion about it and so how have you seen an improvement in, you know, drawing attention to it in a positive way through your film and through the work that you're doing, not only on Calvin but, like also just in, on boxing in general?

Speaker 4: 19:39

Yeah, it has a lot to do with our involvement in the community. It has a lot to do with giving back and I don't think that, you know, boxing doesn't really give back to itself that much. You look at a lot of superstars, you look at your favorite boxer. Did they give back to any of the younger boxers coming up? You know, muhammad Ali is an amazing example of a human being outside of being a boxer. We call him the greatest because he is the greatest. There will never be anybody that will ever beat Muhammad Ali at being the greatest, because this man talked to people off of ledgers that were going to kill themselves or went and stopped a war from happening overseas, in Africa or in the Middle East. I don't know anybody else that gets a call from the United States, it's like, hey, can you go talk to this dictator so they won't start a war?

Speaker 4: 20:23

You know, he helped the homeless. He man, he was just an amazing person, and I think that I see a lot of that in Calvin and you know, that's why it made me so angry that I was like this guy gives everything. He gives his soul to everything, and he gives his soul to boxing and nobody's talking about him. And so I think it has a lot to do with our involvement in the community. Coach Kevin is my, my coach, kevin Lightburn. He is very, very involved. He if it wasn't for him, I would not be boxing. He took a chance on somebody who had never boxed before and taught me to do what I'm doing now.

Speaker 4: 20:53

I was ranked number seven in the country. I was Olympic hopeful in 2020. All these things I never saw happen. Multiple Golden Gloves, state regional champion, national competitor, national title champion. I have all these accolades because my coach was so amazing. He gives his heart and soul to it as well, so it passes on to Calvin and I. We're very, very involved with youth and so I've seen a lot of improvement since the documentary. Just on telling his story because you watch the documentary Calvin is not just a boxer, he's a dad. He's an amazing dad. He's an amazing father. He's a leader in his church. He is a leader in the streets, he's a leader in the gym it's so many things that he does. He's a drummer, he's a musician, you know. He came up here and walked onto the U of A band and won a full ride. Scholarship Like this dude is amazing, right. So you think I'm cool, kevin's cool too.

Speaker 1: 21:39

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 21:40

And then coach Kevin has all the accolades. You know, anybody who's ever boxed in Arkansas it has been coached by my coach, by coach Kevin. He coached Jermaine Taylor who is who was at the time one of only like six people who have ever been undisputed. So that's a very, very short list. It's a little longer now. I think there's like nine to 13 people now, but when Jermaine got there, I think there was like six people ever in the history of boxing that were undisputed, and so it has a lot to do with the giving back. Like I said, the improvement that I see is that when you see somebody no-transcript you are usually.

Speaker 4: 22:45

Uh, you know, that's a good question. I think a lot of people know I'm a filmmaker now so they're gonna guess that. But man, people are always they, they're always lost because they're like who, who, I don't even know who to pick on this kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 22:56

These guys are a bunch of nerds, yeah exactly. Deep down. I'm only saying that because you said nerd.

Speaker 4: 23:02

No, I'm a huge nerd.

Speaker 2: 23:03

So I kind of want to know what the nerdiest thing is about you like a movie, book or interest hobby.

Speaker 4: 23:10

Oh man, there's so many. I'm a a comic book artist when I was a kid, but I'm huge in the anime. Anime is like I have forgotten more anime than most people know, and I liked anime when you got stuffed in lockers for it, Not when it was cool. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 23:25

When you got stuffed in lockers.

Speaker 4: 23:26

Yeah, people always like Bernard, you weren't getting stuffed in lockers. I was like I wasn't always this big. Yeah, so yeah, so yeah, I mean I, I'm huge anime nerd man. Art is beautiful to me. I love being able to go to places like crystal bridges because I just love art. I love being around creatives. I'm a creative, so I love being around other creatives. Yeah, I'm a huge nerd. Huge, not anything. I mean music. I mean there's so many things that I can point to.

Speaker 4: 23:48

Yeah, I've been called a nerd too yeah I've been called a sky nerd because I like astronomy and stargazing.

Speaker 2: 23:57

I also read all the Lord of the Rings, so that makes me ultra nerdy. I think Huge Lord of the Rings fan.

Speaker 1: 24:02

You are too. Yes, you're a good company, and then she's a cool girl on the side over here quoting Kelly Madison so, you know there's the balance, Isn't?

Speaker 2: 24:14

that kind of nerdy too, though. So you know, there's the balance isn't that kind of nerdy too, though quoting movies all the time.

Speaker 4: 24:21

Yeah, maybe it's geeky lord of the rings movies. I don't quote lord you're quoting billy madison

Speaker 1: 24:26

okay, okay, yeah, balance danielle balance I'm seeking balance. She's amazing. She is amazing at quoting movies I just remember she'll be like where, like where's that from? And I'm like crap, I'm a filmmaker and I cannot place where that is from.

Speaker 2: 24:40

Like she's like amazing at quoting films, so Well, I'm glad to know a little bit more about your side interests, because you know we do. We all have all these different hats, mm, hmm, so, yeah, yeah, ok, so we know about your nerdiness. When did you move here from Dallas?

Speaker 4: 24:58

That was 2007. I came up here for college.

Speaker 2: 25:01

OK, ok, so you came here for college. I have to ask you this, because I'm from Dallas what restaurant or food do you miss the most?

Speaker 4: 25:08

Oh, that's a good. There's so much food at home. That's one of the things we are not comparing food and Dallas?

Speaker 1: 25:14

No, but I want to know what he misses.

Speaker 2: 25:15

Do you miss like gas station, tacos or Tex-Mex or what I will?

Speaker 4: 25:18

be honest. There is a place which it may not be the safest place to go to, because it is deep over in the hood, but it's called Tejanos.

Speaker 4: 25:26

There was a place, and I don't even know if Tejanos is still there, but it was started by people that their family were Mexican immigrants and they came over and you know they called people in Texas Tejano because they're you know they're from Mexico and I don't know the whole explanation behind that, but Tejano's was amazing. They had this thing called a taquerito and it was. This plate was like the fourth of this table and they bring out this burrito taco mix thing. That was amazing. It's like a burrito, a taco, an enchilada, like all mixed in one.

Speaker 2: 25:54

Yeah, so good, see, that's why I had to ask him, because it's always like the place I went my husband worked for like liquor store chains. It was this warehouse behind the like warehouse where they kept all the alcohol, and I don't even know if it had a name. We would just go there at lunch break.

Speaker 4: 26:08

Yeah, there's places like that. And there was like Fuel City Taco, like all these little taquerias that you just had to know, like the street, the cross section, but then you can go like okay, you know, I liked metidos, or I mean there's like chains, yeah, like papados, papados, stuff like that, yeah, but you, yeah, definitely like tejano's, like you gotta know somebody's sister, mama, cousin, that on this side of the family, like then you can get there, you get a roadmap to it okay.

Speaker 2: 26:35

So I wanted to ask you this, because you're an athlete are you? Are you one of those people that can just eat whatever you want and still have? A six pack okay because those people kind of make me mad because I do not have a six pack. I wish I was blessed with that but, uh, so are you super clean eater? You just kind of try to eat wholesome, like what does a day of eating look like?

Speaker 4: 26:56

for you. I went on a journey a few years ago because when I came to the boxing gym I was 270 and I went on a journey. I fought at super heavyweight and super heavyweight is a class above heavyweight. Cruiserweight would be like 200 in the pros.

Speaker 4: 27:10

And like that's two, I think it's 203 now is heavyweight in the amateur.

Speaker 4: 27:14

So there's a class above heavyweight called super heavyweight.

Speaker 4: 27:17

So I fought there for a while, man, and I was really, really like I just found that I couldn't do what I knew how to do, like my boxing IQ was a lot higher than what my body was doing and I was like, yo, I'm going to for six months, I'm going to eat, sleep and poop boxing. And I lived in the gym for like six months and I woke up in the morning, I worked out and I lost 60 pounds. So I was 260, sorry, I lost 60 pounds and I went down to 200 and it took me another six months to get used to my body being that much lighter. And then so during that time, I went on this crazy journey where I just I learned about, you know, foods and how it, you know, affects your body, food coloring and why things are this way, and I basically got to the point where I was like, if you don't slaughter your own animals and grow your own food, you're probably eating some bs in america oh, for sure it's scary, you know so I try to.

Speaker 4: 28:02

I try to keep things very healthy. I try to eat green it's a perimeter shopping. Yeah, yeah, I mean you get to the point where you start looking at ingredients and stuff and I was like I put everything in my basket bag and I was like I all I can do is take produce which probably doesn't have all the stuff it used to have back in the day and because they're all kind of additives and things, how they grow things don't get me started on that oh, don't my kids call me the organic mom?

Speaker 2: 28:24

yeah, because they think it's a bad thing. Not that I buy all organic. Or I guess people say like almond mom, because I like try to perimeter shop the store, I like try to teach them to read the ingredients.

Speaker 4: 28:36

Got to.

Speaker 2: 28:37

And unfortunately that's just kind of the world we live in right now. But you just have to teach a little. I mean I try to do like 80-20, like 80% of the time, and everyone's different with their food preferences and choices, Like we live in America. That's a great thing about it. You can just do what you want.

Speaker 2: 28:56

But I think like you're saying you just got to be careful and make sure you read ingredients, you know what the fillers are, because I feel like it does slow your body down, especially if you eliminate all of it and then introduce it back yeah I feel like you can tell oh, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 4: 29:07

Yeah, I think I dropped down to like 193 pounds and I fought pretty much around. I had a six-pack first time my life was great. I only had it for six hours, but I've never had one.

Speaker 1: 29:17

I've only had it for six hours, six hours.

Speaker 4: 29:18

I'm serious, so I cut weight. I've never had a six pack as a baby.

Speaker 1: 29:21

I cut weight and I got down and I was in my.

Speaker 4: 29:25

It was so funny. My teammate was asleep in the bed next to me and I was, you know, I was like you know, like brother. I was like I like I have a six pack and I was like john wake up, and john was like, snoring, he was out. And so the next morning, you know, you have to hold your weight. So next morning I fought, won a championship, went out, ate ice cream six pack gone.

Speaker 2: 29:45

What oh, ice cream? You know what isn't it worth it, though it was worth it. It was worth it so I try to eat about balance.

Speaker 4: 29:54

Yeah, super about balance.

Speaker 2: 29:55

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 29:55

Super about balance.

Speaker 2: 29:56

I love ice cream.

Speaker 4: 29:57

Yeah, I love ice cream. Cinnamon rolls.

Speaker 1: 29:59

We're about to get into an ice cream Cookies and I'm really hungry right now too, so this is not good. I think we should wrap this up and go get some lunch. I know when can our listeners find you on social media and yeah, your gym, your film your film, yeah, you personally, so I'm super on Instagram all the time.

Speaker 4: 30:19

Uh, not cause I want to be, because you do have to mark yourself. It's sniper smooth. That's S M O O V E at the end, not TH. There's too many smooths out there that fight, so I had to be a little different.

Speaker 4: 30:29

The gym is at straight right NWA. That's the Springdale gym. We also have a Little Rock gym too, and that's Straight Right LR. So Straight Right, little Rock. And then my company is Nerd Athlete, but it's easier just to get to me. If you message me, you're definitely going to be able to get to either the gym or my company or whatever. Just message me. I'm the person that talks to all the people that come in. I'm the operations director at the gym, so I definitely deal with all the people. That's just a fancy way of saying I do everything. But yeah, those are my socials. Best way to reach me is on Instagram, facebook. You might never get to me, but yeah, I understand that.

Speaker 1: 31:02

Yeah, all right. Last question Tell us what you love most about Northwest Arkansas, whether it's a place or just something about this community.

Speaker 4: 31:11

The film community is amazing here. I mean, they are very inviting. I have not had a bad experience with the film community and I thought that everybody was going to be stuck up in Hollywood and all this kind of stuff.

Speaker 4: 31:21

But there's people like Danielle that I meet and she gives me all these pointers about my film and I want critiques like that and people want you to be successful in the film community here. They want to help you, not because it helps them, but because they just want to see you be the best that you can be. And I'm constantly shocked by the film community here because it's one of the coolest communities to be in. The creative community is kind of involved in that too. Creative community is really dope. That's probably the biggest thing, besides, of course, my boxing gym, but, yeah, definitely the best thing I love about North of Sarcassan.

Speaker 2: 31:51

Awesome. Well, thanks for coming on, thank you for having me Really enjoyed getting to know you more. Hey, thanks so much for listening today. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also follow us on Instagram at peopleofNWA. Thanks so much.

Speaker 3: 32:04

People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Daniels Produced by me, brock Short of Civil Republic Productions. Please rate, review and like us on any podcast platform where you listen. For more information about today's guests and the show, please check the show notes. Thanks for listening.