Fighter Health Podcast

This week, we feature the first of three episodes recorded at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. Each episode will feature three quick interviews from Hall-of-Famers and others from the boxing business. This week: former ringside physician and 2026 IBHOF inductee Dr. Flip Homansky, 2023 inductee and former two-weight champion Tim Bradley, and former heavyweight challenge...

Few people in boxing are in less need of an introduction than Christy Martin. Hall of Famer, former world champion, women's boxing pioneer, Sports Illustrated cover girl, Martin is now a boxing promoter. But she is so much more besides. She was shot, stabbed, and left for dead by her former husband. She suffered a stroke after a routine operation. And she is the founder of Christy’s Champs, dedica...

On February 22, 2026, after eight rounds of her scheduled 10-round 140 pound title defense against Edith Soledad Matthysse, Samantha Worthington was on course to improve her record to 13-0 and potentially set up a lucrative clash with Katie Taylor. But then the evening took a sudden and dramatic turn. In this special episode, Worthington talks about her life, her career, her faith, and the night t...

Josh Dubin is the Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law and was the first-ever Innocence Ambassador Advisor for The Innocence Project. He is also an accomplished, exerienced, and highly regarded legal adviser to a number of boxers past and present, including Lennox Lewis, Andre Ward, and Shakur Stevvenson. In this episode, he talks about his involvement in bo...

Randy Couture is one of the most celebrated and accomplished mixed martial artists in history. He is a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He is the first fighter in history to win a UFC championship in two different divisions, is tied for the most wins in UFC Heavyweight Championship bouts, had the most title re...

Dave “Scooter” Honig is perhaps the best-known celebrity fitness trainer in the business, having physically transformed the likes of LL Cool J, Hugh Jackman, and Leonardo DiCaprio. He has also long worked with professional boxers, including most recently 140-pound titlist Richardson Hitchins. In this episode, he shares some of his techniques and tips and offers advice to boxers on how to maximize...

Philadelphia-based trainer Stephen “Breadman” Edwards is one of the most insightful voices in boxing today, and in this episode he talks to us about boxers who love training to be as punishing as possible, rules that need to be standarized across the sport, dealing with defeat, the complex relationship between fighter and trainer, fight week routines, and so much more. This is a public episode. If...

Famed as much for his mental fortitude as for his boxing skill and career longevity, Bernard Hopkins is one of the greatest boxers ever to compete professionally. He made a record 20 successful defenses of his middleweight crown before jumping up in weight, at age 41, to capture light-heavyweight gold. Now a partner in Golden Boy Promotions, Hopkins is passionate about fighter welfare, and in this...

Jim Lampley is not just a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame; he is one of the most recognizable faces and voices in the sport. After calling HBO fights for three decades, he recently published his autobiography, and in this episode he discusses his formative years, the influence of his mother, the various stages in what he calls a “uniquely lucky” life in sports broadcasting, watchin...

Apologies for our prolonged absence. Blame it on the distractions of summer. But we're back with a new slate of interviews lined up, and we begin with one of the best-known and most influential voices in the sport: New Jersey boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard. Larry was a Golden Gloves champion as an amateur boxer, became a referee in 1978 and was appointed to head the New Jersey athletic commissi...

Dr. Rudy Mondragón is an Assistant Professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He was formerly a UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Los Angeles. He brings a different perspective to boxing, examining the inequities in the sport’s labor market and drawing parallels with agricultur...

Alan D. Rogol, MD, Ph. D is Professor Emeritus (Pediatrics and Pharmacology) at the University of Virginia and an expert in the human endocrine system. In this fascinating conversation, he leads us through the basics of the endocrine system and how various PEDs and other substances affect it. He also discusses the tricky issue of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), and when to treat them with suspi...

Marc Ratner is probably the best-known regulator in combat sports. From 1992 to 2006, he was executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, after which he became senior vice president for regulatory affairs for Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). In this rare interview, he shares memories of events such as The Fan Man and the Bite Fight, discusses the challenges with such issues as...

Bruce Trampler has been the chief matchmaker for Top Rank for 45 years, and has also seen boxing from just about every angle: as an amateur boxer, a trainer, a cut man, a referee, a manager, and a judge. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010. In this episode, he explains the art of matching boxers strategically but carefully, about what he looks for in a young boxer, a...

How do referees prepare for fights? How do they know when to stop a fight and when to let it play out? What are judges looking for when they score a bout? What do inspectors do? What do officials wish fans and media understood better? Referees, judges, and inspectors aree vital elements in making boxing fair and safe, but their work is frequently little understood or maligned. Kenny Bayless and Ro...

When an athlete tests positive for a banned substance and claims it was the result of a contaninated supplement, eyes generally roll. But while it can simply be an effort to deflect blame and responsibility, contaminated supplements are a real issue and a genuine problem. In this episode, Oliver Catlin - president and co-founder with his late father Don of the Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG...

In 2003, Taylor E. Hooton, a 17-year old high school student from Plano, TX, took his own life as a result of using anabolic steroids. His family established the Taylor Hooton Foundation to educate youth and adult influencers on the dangers of anabolic steroids, human growth hormone (HGH), dietary supplements, and other Appearance and Performance Enhancing Substances. In this episode, Taylor's bro...

Professional prizefighters are, by definition, among the bravest people on Earth. Simply doing their job carries a not inconsiderable risk of death or acute and/or chronic brain damage. But that doesn't mean that they can't be, like the rest of us, bundles of insecurity and mental health issues. Those issues can put a fighter at greater danger - for example, because of a fear of retiring and facin...

NOTE: This episode was previously posted with an editing error. We have re-edited and re-uploaded it. This episode's guest is Dr. Daniel Eichner, President and Director of the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Utah, one of just two World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA)-accredited labs in the United States. Having previously served with both the United States Anti-Doping Agenc...

Tim Bradley, who won world titles at 140 and 147 pounds and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2023, has long been one of the most open and honest people in the sport. In this episode, he talks about what he misses about being in the ring (spoiler alert: pretty much nothing), about the post-concussion symptoms he suffered following a fight with Ruslan Provodnikov, and about...

The podcast returns after a break for the holidays with a brand new episode. Joining us are Drs. Nitin Sethi and Michael Schwartz, who help oversee fighter safety in New York and Connecticut, respectively. They talk about licensing fighters, when to stop fights, testing for PEDs, and their biggest concerns for fighter safety and welfare. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

In this episode, we're joined by John Hornewer, veteran lawyer and adviser to multiple champions including Chris Byrd, Roy Jones, Lennox Lewis, and Wladimir Klitschko, among many others. John talks about the many things that go into looking out for a fighter, from contracts and purses to confirming the ring is the agreed size. It's a great conversation with someone who is well-known in boxing circ...

Andy Foster has graduated from being an MMA fighter in Georgia to the Executive Director of the California State Athletic Commission. In this episode of the podcast, he discusses how California approves fights, licenses - and unlicenses - fighters, overseesdrug testing, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, vis...

In the very first episode of The Fighter Health Podcast, VADA's Dr. Margaret Goodman addresses some of the myths and misconceptions about VADA and what it does and doesn't do. She describes the process of testing fighters for PEDs, what VADA tests for, and what happens when an athlete provides a positive sample. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or...