Newest Interviews on TheBoxingBar Podcast

 In the next few weeks, I will be bringing on some interesting people from Ventura County to interview for TheBoxingBar podcast. The first one is historian, author, and well-known local ghost hunter Richard Senate. Mr. Senate talks about many of the local hot spots for ghosts in Ventura County. Richard has written a number of books which can be found on Amazon or his website richardsenate.com.

Ricky and I had a blast talking with the “Ventura County Ghost Hunter” Richard Senate. Check out this interview! 

 Here is our interview with 1996 boxing Olympian “Dangerous” David Diaz of Chicago, IL. He represented the United States in the Atlanta games on a terrific team which included Floyd Mayweather Jr., Fernando Vargas, and Antonio Tarver. Diaz debuted on November 30, 1996 in Albuquerque winning by unanimous decision. He won his first twenty-six straight professional bouts until losing to the crafty Kendall Holt in 2005. David took on some other very tough competitors in his career like Emanuel Augustus, Humberto Soto, Erik Morales, and Manny Pacquiao. His last fight was in 2011, ending his career with a record of 36-4-1. 

 Joel “El Platanito” Salas started his professional boxing career on June 25, 2000. Salas fought fifteen professional fights and stopped fighting in 2003. Joel is the son of Jose Salud “El Platano“ Salas. Jose was from Puruandiro, Michoacan, Mexico but later trained in Mexico City and almost made the 1968 Mexican Olympic team for the games which were held there in Mexico City that year. “El Platano” trained under the guidance of legendary trainer Lupe Sanchez and fought alongside and got to know many greats like Ruben “El Puas” Olivares, Salvador Sanchez, Jose “Mantequilla” Napoles, Lupe Pintor, Rafael Herrera, “El Chango” Carmona, ect... Great story!

Before talking to him, I didn’t know much about him personally. I always figured that because he had covered so many sports for all those Olympic games, that was how he was placed to cover boxing. With no real knowledge of the sport. I guess his old boss at ABC thought the same. Boy, were we wrong! In April, Mr. Lampley came on TheBoxingBar podcast for an interview just a couple of weeks after the passing of one of his fellow commentating friends, George Foreman. Just a few weeks after this interview, Jim’s autobiography was set to be released in early May which had already been given the title with the opening words of “It Happened …”, which was the phrase that he yelled out on TV the moment George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer and became boxing’s oldest heavyweight champion. “It’s freaky to me”, said Lampley during the interview while still in shock of Foreman’s passing. 

This was a fun interview for me listening to all the stories first hand from that all familiar voice. A special thanks to Mr. Jim Lampley! 

 Gilbert Esquivel is what you would call a real "O.G." in the comedy world, especially in the Latino stand-up comedy scene. Gilbert started as an actor being an extra on TV shows and films. He is one of the most respected comedians around. He mostly does private shows today, but if you happen to hear he will be performing, go check him out! We had a great time talking to him on the podcast recently. 

 If you don't recognize his face, you probably don't watch boxing too much today. Jacob "Stitch" Duran is one of the most respected and popular cutmen in decades. He's even been on many films like all the Creed movies working Michael B. Jordan's corner in those films. Duran is from a small town in the Central Valley in California, Planada. Recently, he was inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2025. Check out his books and upcoming documentary. Cheers to "Stitch" Duran!