Latest news with #Uncrowned
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TUF is cooked, Tom Aspinall trolls Jon Jones, troubling BJ Penn news, more May 30, 2025
TUF is cooked, Tom Aspinall trolls Jon Jones, troubling BJ Penn news, more | The Craic | May 30, 2025 Petesy Carroll is joined by Uncrowned's Ben Fowlkes and Drake Riggs to discuss the return of the Ultimate Fighter and whether the series is past its expiration date. Plus, conversations about the continuing Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall saga, troubling news about BJ Penn, and more.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jermall Charlo is having fun again, but big questions still surround his return to the ring
Jermall Charlo is saying all the right things ahead of his return to the ring Saturday against Thomas LaManna at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. 'I'm excited,' he told Uncrowned. He said he'd welcome a future fight against rival Caleb Plant, who boxes Jose Armando Resendiz in the main event of at the same show, and would fight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez if the opportunity presented itself too. He's even prepared to fight more frequently. Advertisement Charlo, a former two-weight world champion, is one of America's best-known boxers. He has an identical twin named Jermell, who is also a gifted fighter. Combined, they were a driving force for Premier Boxing Champions when the organization aired its events on Showtime Sports. Jermall, though, has been inactive. We've rarely seen him. He's only fought three times in the past five years. The sport of boxing has changed dramatically since he last held a title in 2021. His next bout will be his first on PBC's new broadcast partner, Prime Video, which is a partnership first announced at the end of 2023. There are numerous reasons for Charlo's absence. "When you can't stabilize your mind to think forward, that's where I was at. Not being able to explain it to anyone. Always shielded. I had to fight through my learning experience,' he said on PBC's YouTube channel regarding his struggles with mental health. He told the NY Post two years ago that he was 'dealing with all kinds of cases of [being] bipolar.' He said he turned his back on the world. His brother, Jermell, once said the reason he got the "Canelo" fight in 2023 instead of Jermall was because Jermall wasn't 'in the right mental state' to compete. Advertisement Jermall, though, faced his battles on his own terms, and got better at his own pace. Patience, he said, was key. Charlo's willingness to discuss his vulnerabilities so openly is important because a stigma remains attached to the condition. McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility of Harvard Medical School, notes that only "25% of Black people seek mental health treatment when needed, compared to 40% of white people." Christine M. Crawford, MD, MPH, specializes in psychiatry, completed her fellowship at McLean, and said: 'African Americans silently live with mental health challenges for fear of being judged.' For Charlo, there was a period in his life when he 'didn't know what mental health even was.' Advertisement 'A lot of people shy away from showing that sensitive side of themselves," he said in 2023. "Because I'm the champ, they look at me like they expect greatness. And sometimes I don't have that greatness to provide. Then I'm not mentally focused. Now I'm mentally focused, I feel like I'm a better person.' After previous absences from the ring, Charlo has spoken of the need to 'rebuild himself' mentally. And that has never been more apparent than after speaking to him this month. He certainly seems rebuilt. I've been interviewing Charlo for six years. But after speaking to him in 2023, something seemed amiss. He looked vacant. His hair was dishevelled. He was uninterested. Never have I advised a fighter not to fight, but that was the one occasion I was close to penning a column saying his bout against Jose Benavidez Jr. should not go ahead. I even heard from a source close to Charlo that they shared a similar concern. Regardless, Charlo outpointed Benavidez by a 100-90 margin on one of the judges' scorecards. He won with ease. I didn't get to tell Charlo how wrong I was until this month, upon his return to the sport, after another extended spell away. Advertisement It was great to see him smile again. Talking to him in 2025 is like speaking to a different person. He's more engaged, and appears more content. "Having my brother [in camp helps], but on top of that, I rebuilt my team,' he said. This has energized him, he added, because he's now got 'a brotherhood' around him. 'We all believe in God. We're all strong, just knowing things come and go, I got rid of a lot of the drama. Got things out of my life that I won't get that back again. I feel a lot better. It's one of the best camps I had. There's laughter. Fun. It's not about material stuff no more.' Charlo's return to the sport comes at a pivotal time for American boxing considering the significant influence that Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season has. Whether Las Vegas' status as the Fight Capital of the World is under threat from Saudi Arabian finances remains to be seen. But Charlo has been watching with interest from afar. Advertisement His fire, he said, 'is lit.' He added: 'I can't wait to get in there and show the world. I've been waiting on management, promoters, team, to be right, mentally and physically, and give everybody what they want to see [against LaManna].' The biggest difference in the fight game from when Charlo was last the champ, to now, isn't just what Alalshikh brings to boxing, but also the presence of internet sensation Jake Paul. The sport 'is picking up.' Jermall Charlo was sensation in his most recent fight against Jose Benavidez Jr. () (David Becker via Getty Images) 'We're getting back to where we left off," Charlo said. "A lot of things have changed. It's a different era, we're going to the last part of the 2020s and it's a new generation of boxers, going from real-world champions, out of weight classes — which is crazy to me — getting to a point where Floyd [Mayweather] fought a big guy [Logan Paul], now it's going to YouTube, random rappers becoming boxers. You can be a painter, and as long as you can talk a little bit, it can be a pay-per-view bout. It's different.' Advertisement Though there are others, few have crossed over from the influencer scene as well as Paul, who has an 11-1 (7 KOs) pro record and has brought many of the world's best female fighters under one roof at Most Valuable Promotions — a firm he co-founded alongside former UFC executive Nikisa Bidarian. Paul returns June 28 against former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at a Golden Boy co-promoted show on DAZN. 'He was the first one to do it,' Charlo said of Paul, before remarking that other creators from YouTube are now 'over-saturating' the market and not respecting the sport. 'They haven't known how to put blood, sweat, and tears into it. That's when they're not taking boxing that serious.' Charlo wants to take the sport 'back to how it used to be,' he said. 'Boxing is not the same no more.' The sport in the U.S. would no doubt get a boost from a more active Charlo — one who is serious about boosting America's standing in the fight game. The biggest question that remains, though, is while he appears back to his old self outside of the ring, it's unclear, after another 18 months away, whether Charlo can still be his old self inside of it.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'It didn't break me': How Caleb Plant turned a life of immense hardship into 'a badge of honor'
LAS VEGAS — It's the early 2000s and Caleb Plant is just a boy. He gets food from social services and witnesses foreclosure papers from a young age. He frequently moves from trailer to trailer, never knowing stability. He saves up money from school, 'a dollar here and there,' so that he can get himself, and his sister Madeline, something that will provide greater sustenance than the canned goods donated to the Bethesda Center in Ashland City, Tennessee. He is only 9 years old and he's already seen hardship that other kids with PlayStations and Xbox consoles won't be able to relate to. 'There are some families that are more middle class, some who are below middle class … and we were below that,' Plant tells Uncrowned ahead of his return to the ring. Advertisement On Saturday, Plant fights Jose Armando Resendiz atop a Premier Boxing Champions on Prime Video PPV card at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. It's not the first time his name has decorated billboards across the famed Las Vegas Boulevard, more commonly referred to as the Strip. Plant is a staple in the fight capital of the world. He's married, has a growing family, and invests in the NFL, real estate, and stocks. He drives a '72 Chevelle and an Impala. He has a ridiculous sneaker collection. It's a far cry from his past, when he struggled through life in Ashland City. When Plant was in class, he'd doodle over pieces of paper, rather than focus on his studies. 'Why ain't you doing your work?' One teacher asked a 9-year-old Caleb. 'What are you doing?' Advertisement 'I'm practicing my autograph,' he said. 'For what?' 'I'm going to be a world champion one day.' 'Well,' the teacher said, 'You need a Plan B. What if that don't work out?' Plant played football, and loved it. He excelled in sports. But as soon as he started boxing, he didn't want to do anything else. 'There's honor in all work,' he says, but as he has ADHD, he knew he'd never be able to sit at a desk for an office job, nor stand for an extended period of time packing groceries. He knew he was born to fight. 'I don't need a Plan B,' he told the teacher. 'It's going to work.' Almost 20 years later, Plant — by this time an American success story — had already won the IBF super middleweight championship, and brought a pro fight to his home state for the first time in his career in 2020. He outclassed Vincent Feigenbutz from the opening bell, and forced a referee's stoppage in the 10th round at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Advertisement That teacher, the one who told him he'd need a Plan B, attended. 'Damn, if he didn't go out and do it,' she said. Caleb Plant poses with his IBF championship belt after defeating Vincent Feigenbutz at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. () (Brett Carlsen via Getty Images) Nothing ever came easy for Plant. Even after leaving Ashland City at age 21, and moving to West Nashville, hardship continued to follow his life. His 19-month-old daughter, Alia, passed away in her mother's arms in 2015. She had seizures since birth. 'Shortly after that, her mom left,' Plant says. He then lost his apartment. 'Things were going downhill for me.' Plant, a 5-0 pro at the time, told Alia before she died that he'd become a world champion. But he knew he still needed to get his life together. 'I was making money through boxing, and other ways, and I felt my career was taking off,' he says. 'I didn't want to jeopardize that. So I stopped making money from other ways, and moved to my friend's house. It was right down the street from the gym. I can't let this opportunity slip.' Advertisement It's sometimes 'a little heavy' for Plant to look back at his earlier life. 'If my life was one big f***-up, then that s*** would be a lot heavier as it would be one more thing added to the list,' he says. 'But I went out and made it happen." 'I made it through that. It didn't break me. I could have folded, quit, stayed in a futon inside an abandoned office building, not having a lot of food. Being in the trailer, being the kid in the middle of nowhere, nobody boxed there, and so nobody thought I'd make it. I pulled up to national tournaments and nobody thought I'd be here. 'I did my thing.' Advertisement It's 'a badge of honor' that he's taken into his high-profile fights, regardless of whether it's a marquee match against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2021, which he lost, his comeback knockout win over Anthony Dirrell the following year, or subsequent showdowns against David Benavidez and Trevor McCumby. It's a badge of honor he'll take into the Resendiz fight, too. Caleb Plant is never one to back down. (Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports) (USA TODAY Sports / Reuters) Plant's story is as relevant in 2025 as it was when he first told it. The United States' tariffs were ever-present in the news on the same day Uncrowned spoke to the fighter. 'The higher tariffs will result in higher prices' for consumers, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a recent earnings call to investors. MSNBC reported that the price increases hurt low-income Americans in rural areas the most. The Budget Lab of Yale shows the tariffs disproportionately affects 'clothing and textiles, with apparel prices rising 17%.' Rents are also rising in numerous markets, per CBS . Advertisement 'Poor is poor, regardless of what year you're in,' Plant says. 'It's not an easy thing. It's stressful.' The fighter has a message for anyone experiencing hardship in 2025, like he did from birth in 1992 through to the mid-2000s. 'You can chase money all day long and it'll keep running and running [away]," he says. "Maybe you just keep skating by. The real secret to being successful is creating a skill. Becoming good at something. And it needs to be something you love. Because eventually it'll get hard, something will get in the way. It's raining, your car is messed up. And so if you don't love it, you'll end up quitting. Because it's too hard. So you have to find something you love. Being in the trailer, being the kid in the middle of nowhere, nobody boxed there, and so nobody thought I'd make it. I pulled up to national tournaments and nobody thought I'd be here. Caleb Plant 'And you gotta keep cultivating that skill until you're really good at it. Then the money will come to you. 'Oh man, we need you for your skill. We'll pay you this.' You build your reputation and move up the ladder. That's only the way to beat that. 'I'm going to work this job, get a second job, a third job.' You're just going to run yourself into the ground. Advertisement 'You gotta create skill, and create a way to let people know you have that skill so the money comes to you.' Hardship no longer follows Plant as severely as it once did. He wants to handle his business on May 31, 'and keep moving forward after that.' 'If everything works out like it's supposed to," he says, "we have a big fight at the end of the year.' That big fight may well be against Jermall Charlo, who co-features in the end-of-the-month show alongside Plant, against Thomas LaManna. Should that fight come together, then few should bet against Plant because, damn, just ask his school teacher. He may well just go out and do it again.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Caleb Plant laser-focused on Jermall Charlo after Jose Armando Resendiz: 'I'm going to step on him'
When Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney co-headlined a show against different opponents at Times Square on May 2, plans were in place for the two rivals to meet in a long-awaited rematch in October if both had won. Instead, Rolando "Rolly" Romero tore up the script and upset Garcia by unanimous decision, forcing plans for a Garcia vs. Haney rematch to be temporarily shelved. Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo hope to have better luck when they share a bill in separate fights Saturday at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, with a view toward sharing the ring with each other later this year should both emerge successful against Jose Armando Resendiz and Thomas LaManna, respectively. Advertisement "I will say this has been happening in boxing for years and years and years, I mean tens and twenties and thirties of years," Plant told Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "It's been going on since way back — two guys get on a card, main event and co-main, and then they run it after that. "Now, as of recently, there have been some mishaps. You spoke to the Devin and the Ryan situation, and you know, it was [always a possible outcome]. I did want to go right into the Charlo fight, but obviously he's been inactive for a little bit, and he wanted to get active and get a tune-up fight or whatever you want to call it. And I felt like this was my fastest way to a big fight that I really wanted." Advertisement "At the time, [Saul] 'Canelo' [Alvarez] and [William] Scull were busy," Plant continued. "[Jaime] Munguia was busy with Bruno [Surace], Edgar Berlanga doesn't want to fight, so I can't force his hand. ... This was my fastest way to a big fight, so I did what I had to do." Charlo has recorded just one ring appearance in almost four years — an underwhelming 10-round decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr. in November 2023. In the past few years, the former middleweight champion has been battling drug and alcohol addictions, as well as mental health issues, so it's understandable why he'd want an easier return fight before potentially taking on Plant later this year. Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) and Charlo's rivalry infamously escalated at the weigh-in for the Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence fight in July 2023, where Plant was filmed delivering an open-handed slap to Charlo's face. Plant claimed that Charlo disrespected his marriage and grabbed him by the beard, so he was forced to retaliate. Another foe floated for Plant, aside from Charlo, was the once-beaten contender Edgar Berlanga. Berlanga challenged Alvarez for the unified super middleweight title this past September but lost comfortably by decision. Plant and Berlanga have engaged in a public back-and-forth in recent months, which began during the buildup to Berlanga's bout with Alvarez. Plant faced Trevor McCumby on the undercard. Advertisement "I think it's more for just promo," Plant said of Berlanga's desire to fight. "My manager has reached out to his manager and we wanted to do something, I think it was in late July, and now here he is fighting in late July anyway, I believe. As of now, I've got a big fight on my hands and I'm not too focused on him. Like I said, if he wants to be part of the witness protection program and doesn't want to fight, I can't force his hand." Although much of the talk this week remains on his rivalry with Charlo, Plant refuses to look past the man who'll be standing in front of him on Saturday. For the 26-year-old Resendiz (15-2, 11 KOs), a win would be life-changing, and Plant knows well how much that can spur on an underdog. But one thing's for certain: Resendiz will not be emulating Scull on Saturday. When given an opportunity on a televised card, Resendiz has shown that comes to fight. Exciting and competitive bouts with Jarett Hurd, Elijah Garcia and Marcos Hernandez have ensured that Resendiz continues to be a feature on Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions' cards. "This is a big moment for him," Plant said of Resendiz. "I've said this in a lot of interviews leading up to now — I remember what it was like for me coming up and having a big moment like this, and how much it meant to me and how hard I worked for it. And I'm assuming that he's coming with the same mindset, [the] same mentality, so he has to be taken seriously. Caleb Plant faced off against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in November 2021. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON via Getty Images) "He stopped Jarrett Hurd at 160 [pounds], now he's moved up to '68 and got a win there, and looking to come and take my interim title. So I know he's tough, I know he's coming to lay it all on the line, but my skills are far superior and there's levels to this. The experience that I've had facing all the world champions I've fought: 'Canelo,' David Benavidez, former two-time world champ Anthony Dirrell, Jose Uzcategui [was a] world champ, even [Rogelio] Medina was a tough competitor, a tough title eliminator. Advertisement "I feel like all that experience will be a major key in this fight. I've had a great camp. I'm super focused, super locked in and I'm going to step on him." Plant hopes that a strong win streak at super middleweight will eventually lead to a second meeting with Alvarez. But Alvarez already has a tough task in front of him with the former two-division undisputed champion and pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford in September. Despite the two-division gap in weight between Alvarez and Crawford, Plant refuses to rule out Crawford's chances. "I give [Crawford] a shot. I don't know who wins, and obviously there's weight classes for a reason, but at the same time, Terence is a special, special person," Plant said. "Special ability, special mental fortitude, special strength, and you can't put too much past Terence Crawford, especially once he's got his mind made up and really wants it, so we'll see. Advertisement "I think both have things that fall in their favor, but that's what makes this so interesting. That's why everybody is going to tune in to see what's going to go on, to see what's going to happen. When it's two special fighters like this, I think it's most fair to just let the bell ring and let them handle it. "I feel like this Crawford-Canelo matchup will be a lot more fan-friendly [than Alvarez vs. Scull]," Plant continued. "'Bud' isn't just going to be running around the ring for 12 rounds, I can assure you that. That's not in his blood, and obviously not Canelo's either, so I think it's going to be a fan-friendly fight."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dan Hooker, Tim Welch, Joe Pyfer, Sean Grande in studio, On The Nose and more
Catch today's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" live on Uncrowned and YouTube at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT/6 p.m. UK time as Ariel Helwani and the Boys In The Back set the table for the combat sports weekend with a loaded lineup of guests. Wednesday's rundown can be seen below. 1 p.m. ET: Ariel answers all your questions on the latest edition of On The Nose. Advertisement 2 p.m. ET: Tim Welch, the longtime coach of UFC superstar Sean O'Malley, previews their upcoming rematch against Merab Dvalishvili. 2:30 p.m. ET: Joe Pyfer looks ahead to his UFC 316 showdown against Kelvin Gastelum. 3 p.m. ET: Ariel and the gang field your YouTube Superchats. 3:30 p.m. ET: Dan Hooker checks in with the latest in his life. 4 p.m. ET: Longtime Boston Celtics announcer and former Bellator commentator Sean Grande joins us in-studio. Catch all new episodes of "The Ariel Helwani Show" live every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET on Uncrowned and The Ariel Helwani Show's YouTube page. To listen to every episode, subscribe on Spotify or iTunes.
