Trainer Derrick James on “Fight Freaks Unite” Podcast

Trainer Derrick James has been one of the best in boxing for the past several years. He is the only trainer who currently trains two unified world champions, undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and three-belt unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr.

They are both coming off significant wins. Spence unified three 147-pound belts by 10th-round knockout of Yordenis Ugas at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX in April. Then, Charlo unified all four 154-pound belts by 10th-round knockout of Brian Castano in their rematch last month in Carson, CA to become undisputed champion.

Derrick and I discussed both fights, with his thought on both of their performances, and what might be up next for each on a new edition of the “Fight Freaks Unite Podcast.” You can hear our conversation in its entirety by clicking play below,

“I think that no matter, regardless of what kind of performance they put on, there’s always something that they can do better. Even though they were good at something? We can do it better,” James said on idea of improving, even when you’ve won numerous championship fights.

“So it was like ‘it was good’ (Spence TKO win), but we gotta get back in the gym. We gotta get back in the lab and get it right or be better….If you wanna be great, you gotta keep building. You can’t be satisfied with your performance.”

We talked about the prospect of Spence against Terence Crawford for the undisputed welterweight title, a fight that is being negotiated, as well as possible Charlo fights against mandatory challengers Tim Tszyu (WBO) or Sebastian Fundora (WBC) perhaps later this year.

We also talked about the lack of a “trainer of the year award” on his resume and his work with the outstanding lightweight up-and-comer Frank Martin and more.

It’s a fascinating look from James into the preparation and work put in, prior to championship performances, that you’ll find interesting on “Fight Freaks Unite.”