Metta Artest appeared on The Ak and Barak Show to discuss his early days as a potential boxer. He also gave his take on Lamar Odom fighting in an exhibition.
Artest also covered some thoughts on the NBA, Ryan Garcia, Fury vs. Joshua, and Canelo.
The best bits from the interview are below.
Listen to the full exchange on Sirius XM or DAZN.
• Ak asks him about the Nets loss to the Cavs
o Metta says you win some and you lose some, doesn’t blame anything on Kyrie.
* With Kyrie just making his return back it’s expected they weren’t gonna jump in great automatically
o Says the Nets will make it far with the big three: Kyrie, James Harden, and KD
• Celebrity boxing Lamar Odom
o Metta says it depends on the person. If they are gonna offer a lot of money to box, “just don’t get hurt.”
o Metta says he won’t box
o “If Lamar wants to do it, more power to him.”
• Metta Artest on himself boxing
o Ak says he did it back in the day for free
o Metta’s dad was a boxer. When Metta was 24, he always wanted to be a pro fighter.
o When the Malice at the Palace happened, he got discouraged and lost every single deal and was suspended indefinitely. He didn’t want to announce that he was going to go into fighting after this.
• Metta on Ryan Garcia
o Ak asks if Ryan has a shot against Tank Davis
* Metta says it’s different once you get into the ring. It’ll all come down to who is more composed that night, who is throwing better punches.
o Says it’s hard to say who the better fighter is from previous matches.
• Metta on Canelo
o Says he is the best defensive sports athlete.
* Canelo is campaigning at 168 right now and wants to unify the division.
o Ak says a lot of people think Caleb Plant is the one that can beat Canelo.
* Metta says he doesn’t know too much about Caleb Plant.
o “Canelo is unbelievable.”
• Metta 2021 involvement in boxing
o Has a business management company he invested in about 6 years ago
* The lady running the company got Canelo as a client
o They just merged offices with Ca
* Owns 10% of shark sports
o Majority manager for Anthony Sims
• Fury vs. Joshua Prediction
o Mentions Deontay Wilder
“This guy is an all-time great.”
Says they couldn’t wait for him to lose because they don’t want to talk about him anymore
Has no opinion on spiking drinks
o Metta says Joshua is tough and is always thinking about his career
o Says Joshua can stay so professional even when people get under his skin. Tyson Fury is the opposite. He says whatever he wants.
o Says Fury is the best, slick with a great jab, and “is only getting stronger.”
