Class Act and Worcester's Champion "El Gallo" Jose Antonio Rivera stops by for a chat

Ok so here we are on episode number 6. Wait...Let me rewind this for a second. That Snowman in my backdrop was my Dad's favorite Xmas decoration, one of many. The placement is over my shoulder and it's not an accident. Because tonight, he would be over my shoulder watching me shoot the shit with a 3x World Champion and I can just hear his words so loud. "Nice Job Kid!" "Don't Stop Now, Keep Going" And in my shitty Italian accent, "Don't Let Nobody Tell You Nuttin". Sports is what I basically set out to cover, but I'm uncovering much more than I thought. I'm learning about who these athletes are as human beings. Learning about their character and what drives them to be great. Boxing is a topic that has just flowed so nicely here in this city, as I said in last night's ZoomCast, I really never knew how strong boxing was and is in this area. We have had, have and will continue to breed champions from this city and its no secret it's due to the fighting hierarchy here. From "The Godfather" Carlos Garcia, to Bobby Harris Sr and Jr, The Ball Family, Fitzy and The Camp Get Right Crew, "La Bomba" Edwin Rodriguez, Rocky Gonzalez, The Minor Family and none other than my new friend Jose Antonio Rivera, "El Gallo". And props to Jose for this impressive backdrop Haha.

After I confirmed the guests for this weeks show I really set out on a mission to gather background vids, clips, highlights, anything at all to make this one interesting or watchable. What I didn't realize is that I wasn't doing it for the show, I started zoning in and really watching how Jose fought. Amazing. Just drives forward and sticks to his plan. No quit and just drive, keep moving forward. Impressively tactical. You can see him getting smarter and more tactical as his career goes on from fight to fight. Honestly. He is the definition of a fighter. Extremely smart boxer, but a fighter. Heavy hands when he needs them. I had a lot of fun pulling graphics for the promo yesterday of opponents looking up at him from the mat, dumbfounded.

Or in more clear terms, knocked the F out! Woooooooooooooo! Each fight I watched, I tried to catch his interviews before or after. You just couldn't find a more genuine, humble dude with more heart is how it appeared on TV, confirmed in person. We had some good laughs and discussed his willingness to fight Oscar De La Hoya who is flat out ducking him. Now I so want to talk junk about The Golden Boy but I will refrain lol but Jose of course remained humble and respectful, much to my dismay, on this matter.

So after some light tech support I finally got my friend Rashad Minor into the Zoom Room. Here is honestly where the best part of my night and this project unfolded. What it is all about. The name of my new venture is Shamrock Sports 5-0-8. I love Worcester. I was born an raised here and hate when I hear the negativity about his city with no balance. By no balance, I mean, it seems no one points out the positives. There's so much good here. We are a city full of people who are flawed and have made mistakes. We are also a city full of heart. A city full of loyalty. A city full of respect. So my goal is real to keep that balance in sports here, and spotlight the good, decent human beings that have made a positive impact on this city and wish to continue to do so. Rashad Minor from day 1 always intrigued me. As I stated in the podcast I peaked athletically when I was 12. I became a sports page kid and these high school athletes became almost NBA players to me while I was keeping stats. I was on the South Side of the City so I didn't see to much of North High up close, but we knew. We heard and saw highlights these monsters over there just dunking on everyone. Rashad, Joey and Demarr...Ok that's for the next basketball podcast but that's what I knew about Rashad. Ummmmm yea so Rashad also hit the boxing ring and I referred to him before he got on the show last night as a Knockout King....Here's kinda why lol

And Lewis Cotuna gets the "Mcneeley WTF were you thinking getting into the ring with this man" Award of the evening. Boooooom!. But to get back on track here, I got to personally meet Rashad later in life as he was working security at one of my friend's establishments. First of all Rashad had grown quite a bit and was a bit intimidating. We always used to discuss how you could even hurt this man if you were to fight him. I'm not sure who beat him in the ring but he does have 1 career loss and I'm just going to assume it was that man's lucky day. But what stuck out, still does and will forever is the humility from him. After some thought, and sharing stories with these guys it started to look familiar. There's more to this boxing brotherhood than I recognized my whole life, Here are these expertly trained, hulking human beings that could probably tactically box your eyebrows off, or just fold you up like a lawn chair in seconds, and they just display the humility, respect and kindness with confidence. Loyalty. Check the video out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_qu3PUrcA0&t=3307s at 55:35 and listen to Rashad's words about his friend and mentor Jose Rivera. That's what this city is about right there. Both these men loyalty and respect of each other, this city and the brotherhood of boxing. It was an honor and a privilege to hang and chat with you guys. Woooooooooooooooooo!