Lydell Rhodes is 33-9 with 17 knockouts. He fought a world title eliminator his opponent's own coach told him he'd won, watched the fighter ranked seventh skip past him to the belt, and came home to Oklahoma City to build the thing he never had growing up. This is a conversation about obsession, being robbed, and what you do next.
What this explores:
- The Pepsi warehouse job at 4 a.m. that turned him into a fighter
- Getting kicked out of UCO — and why he calls it the best and worst thing that happened to him
- What he learned training alongside the Mayweathers, Manny Pacquiao, and Zab Judah
- The title eliminator against Edner Cherry, and the fighter who leapfrogged him to the championship
- Why Oklahoma has all the talent and none of the infrastructure
- Coaching, promoting, and the first combat sports event on the downtown canal
Chapters
00:00 Welcome · 03:47 Growing up in Spencer and Choctaw · 05:03 UCO · 07:33 Pepsi at 4 a.m. · 09:33 Obsession · 12:31 The record · 16:21 The Cherry fight · 18:04 Five minutes before the walkout · 20:02 Fight night on the canal · 21:17 Bringing Las Vegas home · 23:19 The gym · 25:55 The mental game · 34:26 Why Oklahoma starts late · 36:15 What's next
About the guest: Lydell Rhodes is a professional boxer from Spencer, Oklahoma who trained in Las Vegas alongside the Mayweathers and rose to a world title eliminator in the super featherweight division. He now coaches at Western Avenue Boxing Gym in Oklahoma City and co-promotes fights through Hackman Boxing, working to build a competitive boxing pipeline in Oklahoma.
Find Lydell — Western Avenue Boxing Gym, https://www.westernavenueboxinggym.com/ · Instagram @lydellrhodes · Hackman Boxing, hackmanboxing.com
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