PMNM: The About Billions Episode

The Pay Me No Mind podcast’s co-features were Adrien Broner and About Billions Promotions CEO Ravone Littlejohn

I put together the latest PMNM episode to support two key upcoming professional boxing events taking place in Ohio. Undefeated IBF World lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. and WBA/IBO World bantamweight champion Rau’Shee Warren  headline the Feb. 10 card set to take place at Toledo’s Huntington Center. Showtime Boxing revisits Cincinnati eight days later, on Feb. 18, to hold its super lightweight showdown between former four-division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner and division upstart Adrian “El Tigre” Granados in the Cintas Center at Xavier University. About Billions Promotions is the promoter of record for both events.

In order to support those events securing time with the episode’s guests was critical. Fortunately, everything came together and the podcast includes segments with lightweight Jamel Herring, a pre-recorded clip of an on-location interview with super lightweight Adrien Broner, and the featured interview with About Billions Promotions CEO Ravone Littlejohn. You may be aware of the major football game taking place this Sunday, so GoingFor2 writer Matthew Garrett leads off the show’s guest segments to discuss the Championship Sunday edition of his Four Down Territory column.

As PMNM continues to settle down in its new digs, the Oxford Block Productions studio, the opening segment will continue to evolve. This week’s topics are SB LI predictions, King James versus Sir Charles, the success of BET’s 3-night The New Edition Story, episode three of BET’s Being Mary Jane, and the major Feb. 6 ESPN move for the former His & Hers’ hosts Jemele Hill and Michael Smith. The intro wrapped up with some quick boxing announcements – FOX Sports 1 aired Sammy Vasquez versus Luis Collazo during post-production.

Matthew Garrett joined the show to break down his four thoughts from this week’s 4DT, and while the AFC and NFC Championship games were reviewed, the key discussion was whether the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Killer B’s big three will remain intact for next season. Garrett weighs in with his SB LI winner, but we also share a moment of confusion regarding how entertaining play-maker Antonio Brown became such a distraction so quickly. Be sure to take a moment to check out the GF2 staff’s joint Super Bowl LI  preview article.

Originally from New York, Cincinnati-based lightweight Jamel Herring (15-1, 8 KOs) called in to PMNM following one of his final nights of training camp. Herring fights next week on the undercard of the Easter Jr-Warren show, so the discussion kicked off with his plans for his recently named opponent Art Hovhannisyan (17-3-3, 9 KOs). This fight marks Herring’s first action since his July 2016 10th-round technical-knockout loss to worldwide eighth-ranked BoxRec lightweight Denis Shafikov. Herring faced Shafikov, a fighter with world-class experience, in just his 16th pro bout; he made no excuses for his loss, but his attitude towards the disappointing setback bodes well for his mind state and confidence as he enters the ring next Friday. The native New Yorker also reveals who his ideal choice would be for a rapper to walk him out to a fight – Herring’s choice is a stark contrast to gym mate Adrien Broner’s recent choices.

After Herring’s segment, I’ve added the audio of the full one-on-one interview I shot with Adrien Broner after one of his recent training camp workouts with sparring partner Hector Munoz at his home base the Oasis Elite Boxing Gym. The video clips are available on the Pay Me No Mind YouTube channel. AB breaks down what fans can expect when he faces the upset-minded Granados on Feb. 18. The most interesting moment was Broner’s convincing reply concerning the reality of a Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. I’m not putting words in AB’s mouth, but I got the feeling big bro Mayweather discussed the potential numbers associated with this anticipated match up while Broner was in Las Vegas getting in some much-needed R&R.

The podcast wraps up with a conversation with About B’s CEO Ravone Littlejohn. Littlejohn expressed his personal sense of accomplishment, as well as that of About Billions Promotions, in bringing these two exciting cards to fruition. In addition to sharing some thoughts on About B’s being “the new kid” on the block, Littlejohn discussed some lineup tweaks to the Toledo and Cincinnati cards. In particular, I asked about his handling of the unenviable task of smoothing out the outfit’s relationship with Roc Nation Sports regarding the addition of RNS featherweight Tyler McCreary to the Toledo card. McCreary is a Toledo native and a good friend of Robert Easter Jr. frequently seen in pictures on the champ’s Instagram account as a member of his “The Bunny Team”. What made this challenging, you ask? Back in January of 2015 the outspoken Broner publicly scoffed at a reported $40M deal presented to him by Roc Nation Sports. In response to McCreary’s fight being finalized the prospect recently tweeted his own announcement in patent Golden Child fashion.

February 10th I'm back fighting in my hometown alongside two world champions my big brother @roberteaster_jr & @rausheewarren pic.twitter.com/9YN7zvjLBk

— Merk (@TylerMcCreary) January 25, 2017

Littlejohn’s segment finished on a positive note as he provided some updates on the additions of a pair of undefeated Cincinnati prospects to the Showtime Boxing undercard – rangy welterweight Jamontay “Suave” Clark (10-0, 6 KOs) and cruiserweight Santino “The Great Gambino” Turnbow (3-0, 2 KOs). Those additions enhance the local interest tremendously, and the inclusion of Washington D.C.’s former world super lightweight champion Lamont Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs) versus David Avanesyan (22-1-1, 11 KOs) bolsters the card for the worldwide TV audience. Avanesyan defeated future Hall of Famer Shane Mosely by unanimous decision in his lone bout in 2016. Fireworks are expected, as highly-ranked light heavyweights Marcus Browne (18-0, 13 KOs) and Thomas Williams Jr (20-2, 14 KOs) round out the televised portion of the evening.

Lastly, I suggested to Littlejohn that it seems like these two bouts would exhaust the immediate opportunities for any subsequent big time boxing events in Ohio, and asked him to speak about upcoming plans for About Billions Promotions. He explained that there are world title plans to work on provided that Broner is victorious against Granados, and that he intends to begin securing competitive fights in Cincinnati, or nearby, for some of About B’s younger fighters.

The podcast continues to grow and improve. Please check out the other two podcasts on the TalkLoudRadio network, and take a moment to subscribe or leave a review for any of the shows on iTunes. I would also suggest that listeners check out the free Podcast Addict app, and subscribe to TalkLoudRadio by finding us with the search engine. And of course, the podcasts are also available on www.Podbean.com.

This weekend enjoy the big game nobody can speak of by name nowadays, but for all your sports action needs over the next two weekends the About Billions Promotions team’s got you!

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