Combat legend Judo Gene LeBell made his second appearance on Submission Radio this week.
Gene discussed his views on Ronda’s fighting future citing he’d like to see her retire while she’s on top and avoid the path many of his combat friends took by sticking around too long “I personally would like to see her retire while she’s on top. And if you think of Joe Louis, he fought too long. Muhammad Ali fought too long. You know, everybody eventually will get beat. There’s a tougher guy that comes along, and you’re not that tough anymore.”
Focusing on her next fight at UFC 193 Gene dissects Rousey’s fight with Holm “Well, the only way she could beat Ronda is boxing. She isn’t gonna beat her on the mat, she isn’t gonna beat her at Judo, she isn’t gonna beat her at wrestling. I’ve watched a lot of film on Holly, and she’s good. She’s very, very good. She usually hits and hits hard, and then when she backs up, she moves to her left. Very predictable. I’m a big one of watching old films if you’re gonna fight. Football players watch and see people’s habits, and they usually don’t change.”
Another fight Gene would like to see Rousey have is with Cris Cyborg however LeBell doesn’t hide the fact that he’s prejudice when talking about how the fight would play out “Well you know, I’m prejudiced. Gene LeBell should keep him mouth shut. But at this time, it’s like when Joe Louis was in his prime, Muhammad Ali was in his prime, Henry Armstrong in his prime. Everybody else is fighting to be second favourite. Well that’s the way I feel with Ronda right now. She’s on top of the world. It’d be a great fight, because this gal, she can fight, she can box, and if she cuts Ronda, the finish could be something else.” Much like Ronda’s camp Gene doesn’t believe the fight should take place at anything but 135 “Why should she go up? She’s the champion at 135. Let them come to her, to Rowdy Ronda. Let them come to her and then fight. I don’t know if it will ever take place. I’d like to see it as a fan, take place, because I like to see the best go against the best.”
Read the transcript below where Gene discusses Mayweather vs. Rousey, how Floyd stacks up to the all time boxing greats and his memories of Roddy Pipper.
Full interview: http://bit.ly/1WdygSN (Starts at 53:30)
Transcript
On if Gene believes Holm’s 19 boxing world championships will matter in her fight with Rousey at UFC 193
“Well, the only way she could beat Ronda is boxing. She isn’t gonna beat her on the mat, she isn’t gonna beat her at Judo, she isn’t gonna beat her at wrestling. I’ve watched a lot of film on Holly, and she’s good. She’s very, very good. She usually hits and hits hard, and then when she backs up, she moves to her left. Very predictable. I’m a big one of watching old films if you’re gonna fight. Football players watch and see people’s habits, and they usually don’t change.”
On if Gene believes Mayweather would ever have an exhibition match with Rousey
“First of all, a man against a women….it isn’t gonna go, because a man is physically a lot stronger than any women in comparison. And to me, it’s just something to talk about. A lot of the women swimmers now are swimming a lot faster, hundreds of yards then they did in the Olympics 40-50 years ago, ‘cause they’re learning better methods and they’re faster. But so are the men. You know, they had a tennis match between a women and a man. Well, the man was over the hill and was a bum – [Billie Jean] King was the women, and she beat him. To me it’s like a sideshow. It is something to talk about. Who’s the king of the mountain?”
“I don’t think in a physical place…they [women] gotta be a big underdog. You get the best women basketball players in the world and if they win against a mediocre basketball team of men, the men have gotta win practically every time. So it’s a handicap.”
“I don’t think it would ever happen. I think it would be bad. I’d personally like to see Ronda fight Cyborg. But she’s gotta get over Holly Holm first, and if Holly Holm hits her, she could hurt her, cut her. Ronda is very good with the gloves. Maybe she’s not in Holly’s class for sure, but her other accolades gotta make her a winner, and she’s devoted. I mean, you go into the gym [with Ronda] and people want to talk to her, rub elbows. She doesn’t even look at them. Why? Cause she’s working out. She is the most focused athlete I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot of them and in a lot of different sports. And they joke and they get on their cell phones and texts and everything. When she’s working out, boxing – and she’s good at boxing, Judo, grappling, whatever – she doesn’t see you. You could be the famous movie star, she wouldn’t even look at you.”
With Gene being around Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson, where does Floyd Mayweather rank as the greatest of all time?
“Well Floyd to me is as good a Welterweight or a fighter as has ever lived. He’s not as entertaining as Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, but they’ve both lost. Mayweather has never lost. And he fought the ‘bum of the month’ and good people. He fought everybody. And he made a lot of money. His personality, a lot of people don’t like him for particular reasons which I’m not getting into. I admire his ability in the ring, and when he trains, he trains hard. Now he’s retired and gonna spend his millions of dollars, and more power to him.”
“He’s one of the best that’s ever lived in his weight area.”
On if Gene believes that Cyborg is clean and off steroids these days
“I don’t know if she’s clean or not. I’m assuming she is. I hope she is. A lot of people knock Cyborg, but man, she’s probably in my opinion the second best women martial artist that ever lived. Did I say second best? Yeah. But it would be a good contest between Miesha and Cyborg. Everybody can get beaten. Ronda has all her fights [won in the] first round, but Miesha went three rounds with her. But always you had a feeling, well anytime she’s gonna finish it. Cyborg is an animal, well-conditioned athlete, and I thought it would be a good contest if the winner goes against Ronda.”
How would Cybrog vs. Rousey play out if it ever does happen?
“Well you know, I’m prejudiced. Gene LeBell should keep him mouth shut. But at this time, it’s like when Joe Louis was in his prime, Muhammad Ali was in his prime, Henry Armstrong in his prime. Everybody else is fighting to be second favourite. Well that’s the way I feel with Ronda right now. She’s on top of the world. It’d be a great fight, because this gal, she can fight, she can box, and if she cuts Ronda, the finish could be something else.”
On if Ronda should fight Cyborg at a higher weight
“Why should she go up? She’s the champion at 135. Let them come to her, to Rowdy Ronda. Let them come to her and then fight. I don’t know if it will ever take place. I’d like to see it as a fan, take place, because I like to see the best go against the best.”
Gene talks about his special relationship with Roddy Piper and remembers a chat he had with Pipper two days before he passed away
“Well Roddy Pipper, he’s good. I mean, when I say good, I don’t take that lightly. He would have made a fortune off MMA, but he was making a fortune doing Piper’s Pit. And every time he got in a bad mood he’d call me up ‘come on, we’re going down to the gym and wrestle’. And he spent a lot of time on an airplane, going from town to town. He had a little radio program here I was on, and two days before he passed, I was with him and he said he wants to come down on Monday to the dojo and workout. And I said ‘no problem’. I says ‘how do you feel’? He says “I’m tired. Gene, I’m really tired”. And you burn the candle at both ends, it’s gonna come up and get you in the middle.”
“So anyway, he at 61, he passed. And I used to – I have a terrible memory. But I used to tell him, every year his birthday was April 17th and 1954. And I said ‘oh, it’s you’re birthday’, you know and he always asks ‘how do you remember?’. Well I do things through association. I won Judo nationals through that date for the US on April 17th 1954. So you know, now I am 104 and going up, but he was a good guy.”
If Gene believes Ronda would make a good Pro Wrestler in the WWE after her MMA career
“She could become one and she would be very good, but why? Because she wouldn’t go on the road, and drive from one town to the next to make things. She might do a spot-show once in a while, but it’s better to do movies. ‘Cause in movies, if they play it again, even if you have a small part – like you talk about Rocky. I get residuals. I must have gotten thousands of dollars in residuals from that, and in dollars, American dollars. And once you do wrestling, that’s it. Plus I got life time insurance, which is very important and for me and my family, and that’s a good thing. I love pro wrestling. I wrestled pro on-and-off for 20 years. I love it. It was the way of life. But I think she’s better off doing movies, and I personally would like to see her retire while she’s on top. And if you think of Joe Louis, he fought too long. Muhammad Ali fought too long. You know, everybody eventually will get beat. There’s a tougher guy that comes along, and you’re not that tough anymore. You think you are in your head: ‘I think I can beat the world’. And then I go out and I stumble on the mat and look for my glasses to see where my opponent is. In other words – of course I’m teasing – but there’s a time to retire. And she said ‘when I’ll retire, you’ll never hear from me again’. She’s gonna become a beach bum and just surf.”
On if Gene discussed that she needs to retire and not hang around too long
“Oh I told her that. I don’t want her hurt by fighting too long. And you can be the best in the world and catch a punch or a kick and it can hurt you. I’ve got injuries that, you know, they were over within a couple of days when you’re young. 20 years later, you come back and you’re limping around, ‘oh I remember when I hurt my knee’ and it comes back on you. The only initial investment you have, Denis and Kacper, is your body. You know, that’s in MMA, Football, Soccer, Basketball. Your body is your initial investment. I recommend all MMA fighters get a second job. In other words, I’ve had people that are real good, and then they can’t make it anymore and they made lots of money, and then they’re out of a job. Have another vocation, another avocation, another job. Something that you can go back on.”
