On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin on the WAAR Room on Angry Afro Radio. A video of this discussion has also been posted on the Angry Afro Radio YouTube page.We spoke with her Monday, July 26.On July 24, unbeaten heavyweight contender Joe Joyce fought journeyman gatekeeper Carlos Takam at London's Wembley Arena in a quest to get a shot at one of boxing's many sanctioning body belts. Joyce was awarded a sixth-round TKO stoppage, but many questions were raised by his lackluster performance, including if the referee stoppage was premature. Takam landed hard overhand rights in the early rounds, although by the fifth round the momentum had shifted to Joyce.We discussed what Joyce's performance signifies, what we perceive to be his strengths and weaknesses, where he stands compared to other heavyweights, what may be next for him, and much more, including what is happening in the heavyweight title picture.With the Olympics proceeding as Tokyo's coronavirus pandemic worsens, we also discussed the article on the No Holds Barred Patreon page entitled I'm Sick and Tired of the Fucking Olympics.We discussed why the use of the word "fucking" was appropriate to describe this disgraceful and dangerous event, what alternatives can be developed to the increasingly unpopular and corrupt Olympic movement, and much more. (Note that our discussion was recorded Monday, July 26, before the news came out Tuesday, July 27, that star gymnast Simone Biles had withdrawn from her Olympic gymnastics competition, citing her mental health struggles.)Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.Now you can also support our independent, No Holds Barred journalism by purchasing items such as T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, mugs, pillows, masks, and even mini-skirts at the new No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman shop on Redbubble. (It has also been recommended to me that people choose sizes on the large side, as some items may run small.) You can browse all the items for sale and then place an order here.The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.No Holds Barred is sponsored by:LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com.Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.Thanks, Eddie GoldmanEddieGoldman.com

No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman

Episode 1458: No Holds Barred: Joe Joyce vs. Carlos Takam Breakdown, and the Fucking Olympics, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin on the WAAR Room on Angry Afro Radio. A video of this discussion has also been posted on the Angry Afro Radio YouTube page.We spoke with her Sunday, July 18.There was an attempt on Saturday, July 17, to unify the four major belts in boxing's 154-pound division, as unbeaten fighters and belt holders Jermell Charlo and Brian Castaño fought in the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, headlining a card shown on Showtime in the U.S. After 12 rounds, the consensus seemed to be among boxing observers online that it was a good, close fight, but that Castaño had done enough to win.The verdict, however, was a split draw. While many people accepted this decision since there were many close rounds and no fighter blew out the other, the score of one of the judges of 117-111 for Charlo was so ludicrous that Charlo himself even said it was too wide. Both Charlo and Castaño said after the fight that they would welcome a rematch, but boxing's absurd system of multiple sanctioning bodies which each have their own mandatory challengers might prevent or delay that from happening any time soon, if ever.The result was that there was an entertaining main event on an entertaining card, where the entertainment was ruined by the judging and overall lack of good governance in boxing.We thus discussed this fight in this context of examining boxing's governance, how the general issue of governance is rarely discussed in boxing, how bad governance has been a major factor in boxing's decline, and what good governance constitutes. We also discussed new alternative forms of organizations for pro sports that are emerging, why sports organizations must work outside existing structures like the disgraceful International Olympic Committee, and much, much more.Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.Now you can also support our independent, No Holds Barred journalism by purchasing items such as T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, mugs, pillows, masks, and even mini-skirts at the new No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman shop on Redbubble. (It has also been recommended to me that people choose sizes on the large side, as some items may run small.) You can browse all the items for sale and then place an order here.The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.No Holds Barred is sponsored by:LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com.Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.Thanks, Eddie GoldmanEddieGoldman.com

Episode 1457: No Holds Barred: Charlo-Castaño, Bad Governance, and the Decline of Boxing, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin on the WAAR Room on Angry Afro Radio. A video of this discussion has also been posted on the Angry Afro Radio YouTube page.We spoke with her Monday, July 12.It was yet another fiasco for boxing and its heavyweight division last week, as the postponement of a fight few wanted to see, the third meeting between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, was announced. There were, however, few details initially released about just why this fight had to be postponed from its July 24 date, although media reports indicated that it was because Fury and several members of his camp has tested positive for Covid-19. This was later publicly confirmed by Fury's co-promoter, Bob Arum, after we recorded this show.We discussed the incredible stupidity and short-sightedness of these fighters not getting fully vaccinated and their promoters allowing this, what this means for this fight and the ever-shrinking possibility of a heavyweight title unification fight between Fury and Anthony Joshua, the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic and the vaccine rollouts, the possible need for booster shots, and much more.Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.Now you can also support our independent, No Holds Barred journalism by purchasing items such as T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, mugs, pillows, masks, and even mini-skirts at the new No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman shop on Redbubble. (It has also been recommended to me that people choose sizes on the large side, as some items may run small.) You can browse all the items for sale and then place an order here.The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.No Holds Barred is sponsored by:LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com.Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.Thanks, Eddie GoldmanEddieGoldman.com

Episode 1456: No Holds Barred: Waiting for the Heavyweights, July 2021 Edition, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin on the WAAR Room on Angry Afro Radio. Videos of this discussion have also been posted on the Angry Afro Radio YouTube page. We spoke with her Thursday, July 1. We discussed defending the rights of all LGBTQ athletes, including Caster Semenya, the South African runner and two-time Olympic gold medalist, who was kept out of the Tokyo Olympics by the discriminatory policies of World Athletics against intersex athletes, and weightlifter Laurel Hubbard from New Zealand, who is set to become the first openly transgender woman to compete in an Olympics. We strongly defended their human rights, and those of all other athletes, to play, fight, train, and compete. The Tokyo Olympics are still set to start July 23, despite a new surge of Covid-19 cases in Tokyo and the rest of Japan, and even worse surges and lockdowns in many countries. We discussed how all these organizations which are involved in running what could very well be a major international superspreader event have betrayed the athletes and the public at large. We also discussed the weak slap on the wrist Russia received for its state-sponsored doping program, and how numerous Russian athletes are still slated to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. Plus, we slammed the theocratic and authoritarian Iranian regime for its ongoing attacks, threats, murder, and torture of Iranian athletes, and the forcing of Iranian athletes to throw contests to avoid facing Israeli athletes. Moving over to the lovely world of professional boxing, we discussed the upcoming trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder on July 24, which few people want to see. We discussed its most likely outcome, and how it seems that Wilder has become unhinged leading up to this fight and what that may mean when they do fight. In addition, we discussed the potential fight between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, which has still not been officially announced, and what this means for the heavyweight division and a title unification fight between Fury and Joshua. And we talked about racism and white supremacy in baseball, social audio apps including Cubhouse and Spotify's Greenroom, and more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content. Now you can also support our independent, No Holds Barred journalism by purchasing items such as T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, mugs, pillows, masks, and even mini-skirts at the new No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman shop on Redbubble. (It has also been recommended to me that people choose sizes on the large side, as some items may run small.) You can browse all the items for sale and then place an order here. The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1455: No Holds Barred: LGBTQ Rights in Olympics, Tokyo's Covid Surge, Fury-Wilder 3, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Ed Suczewski, a U.S. sumo champion and president of the U.S. Sumo Federation. We spoke with him by phone Monday, June 7. Our main topic was the 2021 U.S. National Sumo Championships. This event will be held Saturday, June 19, at Dreamland at 2770 W Hwy 290, Dripping Springs, Texas 78620, which is located about 23 miles west of Austin. This is an outdoor venue. Tickets are sold out online, and there will be a live stream. The 2021 U.S. National Sumo Championships will be held at a time when sumo in the U.S. is in the midst of a revival. "Anytime people are going through something, they look for something else they can turn to. And I think for a lot of people, sumo is that thing," he said. "Life sometimes can just be full of all kinds of b.s. You put on a fake face at work. You put on a fake face in various relationships. But sumo is the realest, realest thing you can possibly be. "You step in that ring. It's win or lose. It's ancient, primitive kind of battle. It connects us back to something that's ancient and inside all of us. And I think people turn to that. "So you're dealing with all this stuff with the pandemic. I think it's got people looking for something, looking for an outlet, looking for an escape. And I think more and more people have been turning to sumo for that, to connect with something a little bit deeper. "And I think especially now, with the Covid situation sort of improving and more people getting vaccinated, a lot of people have been thinking about coming out of the woodwork and maybe planning on it for the last year or two, now they're finally taking those steps. "So we've seen more and more clubs popping up. More and more girls in the sport. More athletes coming out to try it." The U.S. Sumo Nationals will determine seeding for the 2021 North American Sumo Championships, which will be held December 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In turn, the North American Sumo Championships will be a qualifier for the World Games, which will be held in July 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama. The top three finishers in their weight classes at the North American Sumo Championships will qualify for the World Games. So the 2021 U.S. National Sumo Championships begins a process which will likely see many U.S. sumo wrestlers competing on the world stage. This is especially important, since the 2021 World Championships had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. We also discussed some of the top athletes who will be competing at the 2021 U.S. Sumo Nationals, the format including weight classes and men's and women's divisions, how sumo is attracting athletes from many martial arts and combat sports and also American football, why we should remember and honor the late sumo world champion Manny Yarbrough, and much more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content. Now you can also support our independent, No Holds Barred journalism by purchasing items such as T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, mugs, pillows, masks, and even mini-skirts at the new No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman shop on Redbubble. (It has also been recommended to me that people choose sizes on the large side, as some items may run small.) You can browse all the items for sale and then place an order here. The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1454: No Holds Barred: Ed Suczewski on 2021 U.S. Sumo Nationals

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Mariah Holmes, a sumo wrestler, a member of the 2020 U.S. National Team, and a vice president and trustee of the U.S. Sumo Federation. We spoke with her by phone Saturday, May 29. Before starting to train in sumo in 2018, Mariah Holmes was a rugby player. While she no longer competes in that sport, she found that sumo was unlike rugby or any other sport in which she had been involved before. "To me, sumo is not like every other sport. There's something really special about sumo," she said. "With rugby, I've done sports before, and so I've always been an athlete. But I think even for people who aren't athletes, they come into sumo and you realize right away, so it's not just physical. Yes, there is a huge physical aspect. So if you're hardcore, you want to have sweating, and you really work your body. Yes, there's a physical aspect, and you hit hard those tachiais [note: the initial charge of the wrestlers which starts a sumo match]. "They're no joke. But there's also this mental aspect that I think a lot of sports are missing. And it's almost like I've heard it described as playing a physical game of chess. "So you have to be always thinking about your opponent's move and what's going to happen next, and if I do this, what kind of position does it put me in. And so it's a very mental game." Unlike professional sumo in Japan, women are both permitted and encouraged to participate in amateur sumo at all levels. But, she noted, there are still not enough women training and competing in sumo. Some sumo clubs and training sessions will just have one woman, meaning they must wrestle with men. "We want to have hundreds of women," she said, and is involved with a women's commission for the U.S. Sumo Federation. We also discussed the next major event for sumo in the U.S., the 2021 U.S. National Sumo Championships. This will be held Saturday, June 19, at Dreamland at 2770 W Hwy 290, Dripping Springs, Texas 78620, which is located about 23 miles west of Austin. The next major events scheduled are the North American Championships in December, and the World Games in July 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, we discussed why sumo is such an artful sport, how it can grow its fan base in the U.S., how the sumo culture of respect and calmness sets it apart from most other sports, and much more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content. The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1453: No Holds Barred: Mariah Holmes on Women in Sumo, U.S. Sumo Nationals, and Why Sumo is Special

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin. This discussion will also be posted on the WAAR Room. We spoke with her by phone Sunday, May 9. On Saturday, May 8, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez stopped Billy Joe Saunders with an eighth-round TKO in front of a reported 73,000+ fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Canelo displayed devastating power to defeat the previously unbeaten Saunders and cause multiple fractures to his orbital bone, necessitating surgery. With this win, the immensely popular Canelo, who already held two of the four major super middleweight belts, captured his third and cemented his status as the consensus top pound-for-pound fighter. We discussed controversies emerging from this fight, including how the fight was progressing at the time of the stoppage, why it was correct for Saunders's corner to stop the fight when they did, why Saunders did not quit, how the view of some in boxing that fighters must "go out on their shields" is barbaric and antiquated, what might be next for Canelo in his quest to capture all four major super middleweight belts, and much more. This past week also saw major developments in the fight to cancel the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to begin July 23. A highlight was the posting of a petition in both Japanese and English, started by Japanese lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, entitled "Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to protect our lives". With much of Japan, including Tokyo, under its third state of emergency since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as of Sunday, May 9, this petition has gotten well over 300,000 signatures, a record pace. The petition notes that "as numbers show, the widespread outbreak of COVID19 has not at all been under control. While vaccination started at the end of last year, its distribution is limited to economically developed countries and thus the pandemic is far from over." Japan is currently in its fourth wave of the pandemic. Coronavirus infections have been rising of late, including a record number of severely ill patients with severe symptoms due to the spread of more contagious variants. There has also been a very slow rollout of the vaccine in Japan. Dr. Kentaro Iwata, a physician, professor, and infectious diseases expert at Kobe University, was quoted as saying that "even thinking about the Olympics is just ridiculous" while health workers in Japan's over-burdened medical system "are really fighting a life-and-death situation." We discussed the growing international opposition to the Tokyo Olympics, how this is a defining moment for sports activism, how the IOC oligarchs' plans endanger the health of both the people of Japan and the Olympic athletes, how the athletes will be screwed by the IOC's machinations whether the Tokyo Olympics go on or not, how plans to vaccinate Olympic athletes ahead of the elderly and ill in countries with limited or no access to vaccines is unjust and unfair, why athletes should plan their careers outside the failing and corrupt Olympic movement, and much more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. (Photo of Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders by Matchroom Boxing.) The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1452: No Holds Barred: Canelo Stops Saunders, Stop the Tokyo Olympics, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with sumotori, judoka, writer, and intellectual Kevin Carter. This is the second part of a two-part interview. We spoke with him by phone Wednesday, April 14. In the 1990s, sumo in Japan began to reach a wider international audience, including in the U.S., with the emergence of several stars who were not Japanese. "You had Akebono, Musashimaru, Konishiki," Kevin Carter recalled. Konishiki, an American born in Hawaii, was the first non-Japanese-born wrestler to reach ozeki, the second-highest rank in sumo. Many believed that he would have been promoted to yokozuna, the highest rank, had he been Japanese. In 1993, Akebono, also an American born in Hawaii, became the first non-Japanese-born wrestler and the first American to be promoted to yokozuna. Musashimaru, born in American Samoa and who grew up in Hawaii, became in 1999 the second foreign-born wrestler to be promoted to yokozuna. "And then you had a few other Hawaiians who were in juryo, which is the second top professional division. So these guys were also in the top 50. You had those three top guys, and you had maybe three, four, or five guys who were one step below. And they were all thriving. The Hawaiians were really thriving. The Americans were really thriving," he said. But that success, though increasing sumo's worldwide appeal, did not sit well with many who ran the Japan Sumo Association, which governs the sport in Japan. The result was a blanket decision which reverberates today. "And then they banned all foreigners from coming in." With that, sumo's popularity, and where it was practiced outside Japan, radically changed. "When that happened, that basically put the kibosh on Hawaii. There was nothing for the Hawaiians to aspire to anymore. They really, they were basically told, 'We're not taking any of you for any reason.' "There was like a ten-year period where very few foreigners were coming in. They let a few guys in from Mongolia. They let a few guys in from China. But they had cut off other parts of Europe for a little while." And for some, this discrimination persists. "They still have an unspoken ban on Hawaiians, just like they have an unspoken ban on Africans and other Black people," he noted. At the same time, his own active participation in sumo competition was coming to an end. His last match was in 2002, but he still kept up with the sport. In 2005, it appeared that sumo would take a major step forward as an international sport with the emergence of the World Sumo Challenge. Their inaugural event was held October 22, 2005, at Madison Square Garden, and was shown on tape delay on ESPN2 that December. This was a professional event featuring top sumo wrestlers from around the world, planned to lead to a worldwide tour the following year. Some of the same people who organized the 1998 "Night of the Giants" sumo event in Atlantic City, New Jersey, were also involved in the World Sumo Challenge. One of them was Kevin Carter's old sumo coach, Yoshisada Yonezuka, who ran the Cranford Judo Karate Center in Cranford, New Jersey, and who also had trained Manny Yarbrough, who also was retired from sumo by this time. It would have seemed logical for the organizers of the World Sumo Challenge to have brought in Kevin Carter, with his experience and record in many areas of sumo. He also lived reasonably close to New York City. But, surprisingly to him, the call never came. With that snub, it was the end of the line for him in sumo. He said his attitude then was, "Fuck sumo." While the World Sumo Challenge drew some 8000 mainly enthusiastic fans to Madison Square Garden, their 2006 tour was a bust. Now called the World Sumo League, they had no TV deal, fan attendance in the arenas was quite low, and the tour was abandoned midway, never to be resumed. All these blunders drove one of its most serious devotees, Kevin Carter, from the sport. He no longer even followed it closely or watched sumo events. The appeal of the sport, though, and his love of sumo, were still lingering. In more recent years he has done some refereeing and judging, and was asked to be a referee at the 2020 U.S. National Sumo Championships, organized by the U.S. Sumo Federation. He wanted to do this, but was only unable to do so because of job commitments. In the meantime, he also became a black belt in judo. As we have noted many times, there has been a marked and recent revival of sumo in the U.S. New clubs have been formed and new tournaments have been held, a growth impeded mainly by the coronavirus pandemic. With mass vaccinations going on in the U.S, expect sumo to thrive even more, and, unlike in Japan, among a very diverse cross-section of people. And while just what Kevin Carter will do in sumo today is not clear, he wants to, and certainly should, return to playing an important role in the sport. "I really would enjoy seeing that revival and being part of that revival," he stressed. So this story of Kevin Carter and his love of sumo is not yet over. There hopefully will be some more fond chapters to come, because, as the late Teddy Pendergrass sang: "So good, so good, so good, "When somebody loves you back." Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1451: No Holds Barred: Kevin Carter on the Rise and Decline and Rise of Sumo in America (Part Two)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with sumotori, judoka, writer, and intellectual Kevin Carter. This is the first of a two-part interview. We spoke with him by phone Wednesday, April 14. For Kevin Carter, sumo has been a lifelong passion. While growing up, "I would come home after school, and the only thing I really watched on TV was sports," he said. "I watched a lot of baseball, football, basketball. I also played hockey, too. But I was watching every Saturday that I could, and very occasionally they'd put on sumo. "I immediately fell in love with sumo. It was like, 'this is great, man!' These are guys who are obviously athletes." This was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and many of the greats of Japanese sumo at that time were sometimes featured on the sports highlight shows of that era. "I just totally fell in love with sumo." He still had not competed in sumo, though. When he was at Harvard, he played football. He had developed an affinity for Japanese culture by the time he began a career in journalism, covering sports for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Later he began writing about culture, music, and arts for that newspaper. One day while watching Philadelphia's channel 10 (WCAU-TV, which was a CBS station at that time), he saw a feature on a huge African-American wrestler named Manny Yarbrough. He immediately resolved to do a story on him. That led him to interviewing both Manny Yarbrough and his judo and sumo coach, Yoshisada Yonezuka, who ran the Cranford Judo Karate Center in Cranford, New Jersey. It proved to be a life-changing moment. "I want to do this, too," he said, and so he did, in both sumo and judo. Among the sumo events in which he competed, he recalled, was a special U.S. vs. Canada tournament in 1993 in Hamilton, Ontario. He finished with a record of 9-6 and won a technique prize. He continued training with Manny Yarbrough, who was having greater success than him. In 1992, the first amateur sumo world championships were held. Manny Yarbrough won a silver medal that year in the open weight division, the first of five world medals he would win. In 1995, Manny Yarbrough won a gold medal at the amateur sumo world championships, still the only American to win a world championship at this event. Many members of the U.S. team at that time were Hawaiian. Kevin Carter described that period as a "dynasty of Hawaiians in amateur sumo." Sumo had become popular in Hawaii at least as early as the 1960s, and was a school sport there as well. In 1995 and 1996, he did his graduate work in Asian history at the University of Hawaii, and had a chance to train and compete in sumo while there. After a brief foray into MMA, Manny Yarbrough went from amateur sumo into a venture trying to establish professional sumo in the U.S. In 1998, an event called "Night of the Giants" was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at what was then the Trump Taj Mahal. It was taped for delayed showing on ESPN, and Kevin Carter worked with the show's promoters as a TV commentator and in helping run the tournament. But many things went wrong with the show. First off, the promoters wanted to build it around Manny Yarbrough, who by that time had built a following, especially in that region. But Manny lost in the first round of the tournament, which was eventually won by Mark Robinson, who had already defeated him in the 1996 amateur sumo world championships. In addition, there was no agreement on how this show and event would be positioned. Many of the people running it wanted it to be a spectacle, a la the WWF of that time, while others, like Kevin Carter, wanted it run like a sport. With all these problems, he said, the show was "one and done." That failed event and what was happening in general with American sumo would also prove to be the beginning of the end of Kevin Carter's involvement in the sport, at least for some time. We will discuss that more in the upcoming second part of our interview. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1450: No Holds Barred: Kevin Carter on the Rise and Decline and Rise of Sumo in America (Part One)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin on the WAAR Room. We spoke with her by phone Sunday, April 11. It was just confirmed a few days ago by both fighters' camps that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have been made several concrete offers for where and when their heavyweight title unification fight might be staged this summer. The reported favorite location is Saudi Arabia. One reason for this is the difficulty of holding this fight in a large venue in the U.K. or U.S., which usually holds such events, because of pandemic restrictions. Another is that the monarchs in Saudi Arabia are willing to overpay to host this fight in order to claim to the world that they are building a modern, tolerant country, despite their horrific record on human rights. When Joshua first fought in Saudi Arabia in December 2019, and Fury performed on a WWE show there in October of that year, there was limited and muted criticism of them for bringing their business to this despotic monarchy. But much has changed in the world since then. In February of this year, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, now under the Biden-Harris Administration, released a report on the 2018 assassination of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report concluded: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," who was a long-term resident of the U.S. and wrote for the Washington Post. Muhammad bin Salman is the de facto ruler of this monarchy. In 2020, a documentary on the assassination of Khashoggi entitled "The Dissident" was released. It was directed and produced by Bryan Fogel, who also directed the award-winning documentary "Icarus" on the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal. "The Dissident" has already won several film awards and been nominated for others, but is now only available on video-on-demand because of the refusal of many large streaming sites to buy it so as not to upset their business dealings with the Saudi monarchy. Besides focusing on the story of the Saudi activist and video blogger Omar Abdulaziz, the film includes an interview with Hatice Cengiz, who was Khashoggi's fiancee. She is an academic, researcher, and writer. With the news that Saudi Arabia is the frontrunner to host the Fury-Joshua fight, which will be boxing's biggest fight in years and a major world sporting event, Hatice Cengiz has issued a statement to The Telegraph of the U.K. urging both fighters and their camps not to have this fight in Saudi Arabia: "Sports should not be used for politics, nor to whitewash atrocities. Jamal was brutally murdered and it would be shameful if the man who stands accused of ordering it were allowed to benefit from this famous and profitable boxing match. I urge the organisers not to give him this reward for his crimes. We should instead stand together for justice and humanity." Note also that The Telegraph regularly covers boxing. At the same time, there is a "Justice For Jamal" global campaign being organized that calls for a boycott of events hosted or supported by the Saudi dictatorship: "Until there is #JusticeForJamal, no government or company in the world should do business with Saudi Arabia's criminal regime." All of this, plus the silence of the boxing media on these issues, is the focus of this edition of No Holds Barred. (Photo of Tyson Fury from Mikey Williams/Top Rank. Photo of Anthony Joshua from Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.) Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The Podomatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 1449: No Holds Barred: Fury vs. Joshua, Saudi Arabia, and the #JusticeForJamal Campaign, with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin. This discussion will also be on the WAAR Room, which is hosted by Chris Baldwin.. We spoke with her by phone Sunday, March 28. Our topics included: *** Dillian Whyte scored a fourth-round stoppage over Alexander Povetkin in their heavyweight fight Saturday, March 27, in Gibraltar, to avenge a knockout loss to Povetkin last year. We examined what this means for the careers of both Whyte and Povetkin, Whyte's notable act of sportsmanship right after the fight was stopped, what may be holding up the signing of the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua fight to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and what it all means for the heavyweight division in general. *** At the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, held March 18-20 in St. Louis, history was made as five of the ten national champions were African-Americans, the most ever. But there are some in the American wrestling community who reacted negatively to pointing this out and celebrating this achievement. We discussed the ongoing saga of the battle against racism and white supremacy in wrestling. *** The 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is scheduled to take place July 13 in Atlanta, Georgia. But the State of Georgia just passed new voting regulations which many are calling racist and a thinly-disguised revival of Jim Crow-era voter suppression of the Black vote. Now a discussion has started in baseball circles about moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta. Among those raising this possibility are Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts, who will manage the National League team since the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, along with former player Tony Clark, who is now the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, and Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees' slugger and designated hitter/outfielder, who was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 2017. *** While most attention in the sport of sumo has been on the top division wrestlers who competed at the March Grand Sumo Tournament, which concluded Sunday, March 28, in Tokyo, one of the wrestlers in a lower division suffered a frightening injury. Known as Hibikiryū, when he lost his match by being thrown to the ground, he landed on his head and then lay there motionless. It took several minutes before anyone attended to him, even though many people were around the ring at the time. Eventually he was carried out on a stretcher. Reports on his condition have been sketchy, with some saying that he is paralyzed below the neck. We discussed health and safety in Japanese professional sumo, and what those involved in amateur sumo in the U.S. and elsewhere can learn from this situation. (Photo of Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.) Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

No Holds Barred: Dillian Whyte and the Heavyweights, Racism in Wrestling and Baseball, and Sumo Injuries, with Chris Baldwin

On this special edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin. This discussion will also be on the WAAR Room, which is hosted by Chris Baldwin. We spoke with her by phone Monday, March 22. We discussed the 2021 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships which were held March 18-20, and some of the lessons from it, including problems holding back the sport of wrestling, and the potential of sumo. We spoke about the growth of LGBTQ sports, including the World Gay Boxing Championships, founded by Martin Stark, which will begin in 2023, and which will be featured on a virtual live event hosted this week by Unleashed LGBTQ. We also discussed the 2022 Gay Games in Hong Kong, some of the most memorable interviews conducted for No Holds Barred, this past weekend's knockout victories by Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Artur Beterbiev, how No Holds Barred has and always will combine analysis of combat sports competitions with critical views of the social issues and questions in these sports, and more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

No Holds Barred: The Birthday Show, with Chris Baldwin

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman marks the 15th anniversary of this podcast, No Holds Barred, with a monologue on the show's history, principles, and evolution. Where boxing and various styles of wrestling presently stand, the corruption embedded in the sports world, the banality of the combat sports, bright spots like the revival of amateur sumo in the U.S., and much more are assessed. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 722: No Holds Barred: Our 15th Anniversary Show

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with investigative journalist, academic, consultant, and expert on match-fixing and corruption in international sports, Declan Hill. We spoke with him by phone Friday. It is well-known that there is widespread cheating and corruption in world sport, including state-sponsored doping. But corruption in world sport is so deep-rooted that state-sponsored organizations and media sites are popping up that claim to be anti-corruption, but which actually promote the corrupt activities of their sponsors. "Follow the money," advised Declan Hill. "This has been going on for almost a decade now. And it's linked, listeners, to two of the greatest geopolitical scandals in sports. And when I say geopolitical, I'm not exaggerating. This is like John le Carré, those international spy thrillers, meets 'Chariots of Fire'. This is big-time, major politics, and it's about the survival of states," he said. "We're moving beyond sports corruption. We're moving beyond match-fixing. We're moving beyond doping," he noted. "The two classic actors, the ones that are head and shoulders above everyone else, are of course the Russians, and the Qatar people. And they are into sports for two diametrically different reasons, but it is both conditional on the existential strength of their current governing regimes." We discussed the reasons Russia and Qatar are among the world champions of sports corruption today, with the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups as prime examples, and how they each are spreading propaganda to obscure this. For real exposures and reporting on sports corruption, he said that the "gold standard" is Play the Game, with its biennial international conferences and web site packed with informative analysis. We discussed some of the dirty details of how sports corruption and spying on journalists are carried out; how a giveaway that something is not genuine anti-corruption analysis is if it puts the main blame on individual athletes rather than countries' sports systems for doping; how Qatar has used a system of "modern-day slavery"; how the spread of legal sports gambling is making many sports like horse racing, where people watch not for entertainment or to see who wins but mainly for betting purposes; the continued "sports-washing" of tyrannical regimes which overspend to attract major sporting events; the challenges facing honest journalists as much of the media and in particular sports media are in decline; the importance of organizations like Human Rights Watch in fighting sports corruption; and much, much more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content. The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 721: No Holds Barred: Declan Hill on Russia, Qatar, and the Many Faces of Sports Corruptionde 721

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Eros Armstrong, the women's heavyweight sumo wrestler on the 2020 U.S. National Team. We spoke with her by Skype Wednesday. Based in Austin, Texas, Eros Armstrong has already found much success after competing in sumo for just a little over a year. Previously she had wrestled in high school and college, and trained in boxing and the hand-to-hand combat techniques of the military. But for her, sumo wrestling is special and "different from the brutality of boxing and American wrestling." Sumo wrestling, she said, "when you step into that ring, it's like soul combat. It's the only way I can describe it. "You go in there. You're getting in the zone. As soon as the clap happens, it echoes throughout your whole being. And whatever was a problem in the outside world just melts away. The only thing that's there is that center, your center. You're in the center of the center. And the person that is in there with you is going to move. That is all that matters, is that they will be moved, out of the center." She added, "You can't really understand it until you do it. And that's the only way I guess I can explain soul combat." Besides training for national and international competitions, and hoping that one day sumo becomes an Olympic sport, she is devoting particular energy to getting more women to compete in it. Towards that goal, she is working with her club, Dark Circle Sumo, in hosting the first Women's Invitational National Sumo Tournament, or W.I.N. Sumo Tournament, scheduled for March 6, 2021, in Austin. A women's sumo training camp is also being planned for before the tournament, all of which takes place right before International Women's Day 2021 on March 8. "Women are built for sumo, especially with that lower body strength," she said. "I hope you're going to tell your friends about sumo wrestling," she noted. "If you've got sisters or aunties that you want to push around, get them to Austin, Texas, March 6, or before that so that they can get a little bit of a foundation in the sumo wrestling." We also discussed more on how she first got involved with sumo, how her military and wrestling training were not nearly enough for sumo, how she was "extremely lucky" to find sumo, how she has learned so much from training with Justin Kizzart of Dark Circle Sumo, training and competing during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, how sumo involves people from many different sports and backgrounds, the culture of respect in sumo, how she is dedicating herself to sumo, and much, much more. Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more No Holds Barred content on the combat sports and martial arts, for only US$10 a month. The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store. The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow. No Holds Barred is sponsored by: LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com. Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com. Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios. Thanks, Eddie Goldman EddieGoldman.com

Episode 720: No Holds Barred: Eros Armstrong on Sumo, Women's Invitational National Sumo Tournament, and Soul Combat

No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman, who is widely known as the "conscience of combat sports", the "godfather of MMA media", and "the voice of catch wrestling", covers all the major combat sports, including wrestling, mixed martial arts, grappling, and boxing. It is called No Holds Barred because the show is dedicated only to telling the truth.