Justin "JoyBoy" Ibarrola talks Misfits Boxing title fight!!

Hey, what's going on? Welcome back to our BKFC Reddit. Ask me anything special. Misfits Championship Boxing Edition with our good buddy Justin Joyboy Iberola. How are you doing, Justin? I'm doing amazing. Best I've ever felt in a very long time since, I don't know, my last fight in December. So we're feeling good. It's been a long time since I stepped in the ring, so I feel ready to go. I'm getting antsy. I'm ready to start throwing some hands. It has been a minute since we've seen you, and I was almost wondering if you were getting the BKFC treatment over there, where they're like, oh, we'll fight you, but it's going to be a while. I'm excited to see you, though, coming up for a title already. Yeah, I know, right? So they took the champ, and they're like, the champ deserves to be the champ. So they gave me that title shot. And Misfits is still, especially the lightweight division, they don't really have a lot of fighters. And I don't know, there's probably like four I can name. So I know they're eager to make fights happen in there. So with me stepping up and fighting for the title, I'm sure to make that happen. Once I win that belt, we're going to be making tons of fights happen on Misfits. So I'm excited. Your last fight, you fought outside of the country. You're getting to fight in front of your hometown. It'll be much easier for your people, especially your coach, to make it. So how big is it that you do get to fight in front of your home? Because you were a huge draw in Miami, and I feel like Misfits knew that, and so they're also giving you this chance here. Yeah, no, I'm super excited. It's kind of amazing that my first, I say, quote unquote, first boxing fight back, because I don't really count the last one considering the circumstances. But being my first boxing fight back in Florida, South Florida, I mean, tons of people are excited. A lot of people started to really get to know me as the bare-knuckle fighter. They kind of forgot that I boxed. So a lot of people are getting super excited that I'm getting the gloves on, and I get to showcase what I really be doing in that ring. Because bare-knuckle fighting, it does bring a different style out of me, but a lot of people have never seen my boxing style. So they're in for a big surprise, because I fight completely different. I'm more aggressive. I punch just as hard. And yeah, I mean, we're gonna, I bring a lot more volume, so it's gonna be an exciting show. Like, just looking at your physique, you look bigger than any time that I've seen you in BKFC. Like, your arms look more defined. You're more muscular, more veiny. Like, I mean, I feel like you're transforming into something that's gonna be a very scary opponent in the ring. Hell yeah, bro. Listen, the biggest part of that, you know, I gotta thank Anne-Marie, my strength coach for that. She, this time around, normally when I work with Anne-Marie, it's on a per-fight basis. You know, we hear about a date, and we kind of get right into the camp. Ever since my title fight with the BKFC in Reber, I've been in camp with Anne-Marie ever since. So from our last camp, which started about, what, August, September of last year, I've been training with her in the weight room ever since. It's pretty much been an entire year, every single month, every single week. We took, you know, we call it off-camp training. It's what we do on off-camp when we don't have a fight going on to stay ready and prepared. And just, you know, never settling down. So that's the biggest difference. I think that's why we see the difference in my physique. It's like, I just, there was no break time. We kept it rolling. Okay, BKFC was just in town, and Charles Felony Bennett did a little bit of a slow walkout. But everybody in the chat was like, that's nothing compared to Joy Boy's slow-ass walkout. So you still hold the titles for the world's slowest walkout to the ring. Were they saying that for real? Oh yeah, for real. People were like, ******* hurry up. And then somebody said, well, at least it wasn't Joy Boy walking out to the ring. Hey, you gotta go with the intensity of, you know, you gotta commit to like the aura that you're trying to bring into the crowd, you know? And part of that is the little bits and pieces of anticipation, you know? Listen, I love BKFC, but the one thing I really like about Misfits so far is that the walkouts are crazy. We saw Maddie the Jedi do just a ******* phenomenal, cool walkout. Do you, I mean, like I said, we know that you love a good walkout. Do you have anything planned for this one? Of course I do, of course I do. I'm not gonna spill the beans just yet because it goes with the whole theme I'm trying to go for. But I will say this, we're gonna kind of run it back some similarities to one of my past BKFC walkouts that I thought should have got a little more attention. So we're gonna run that back a little bit, but just a little bit of differently. We're gonna swap some things out, but we're gonna bring back a walkout that I did for one of my fights in the BKFC. Okay, again, you know my crowd is the bare knuckle and they don't necessarily know a whole lot about Misfits, but I **** with you, so I will absolutely cover you no matter what you're on. But what can you tell us about Fox the G? I mean, other than it's a semi-cool nickname. Yeah, the kid can box for an average person, but that's as far as it goes. He's gonna have confidence because he's been beating people. Everyone's gonna have their confidence because they're on a winning streak. That's cool. But man, if you underestimate me, if you think I'm just another bare knuckle fighter who's just retardedly walking through punches and ******* brawling like an idiot, then you're in for a ******* rude awakening. And I feel like I say that about my opponents a lot, the whole rude awakening thing, because no one's as smart as me in that ring and they fail to realize it once they get hit. So Fox the G, I'm gonna give him his props. He's been doing his things. I'm gonna give him some respect because he's going in there with the bare knuckle champion of the world. Not a lot of people have the balls to do that. And guess what? He didn't even hesitate to say yes. So I respect him for that, but I'm gonna ******* break this kid. Honestly, it's the easiest fight out of my entire career. And it's the best version of me you guys are gonna get. So that right there speaks for itself. We're going in there to make a statement. We're not going in there to be on the same level as Fox. We're going in there to show the difference between an influencer boxer and a real ******* boxer in his prime. The one thing that I'm really enjoying too now is it seems like you're getting more and more of the attention that you deserve. Listen, you ran off an oppressive record. You made everybody look silly for quite a few fights in bare knuckle. And I feel like you were just outclassing people, but you weren't necessarily getting the attention. BKFC clearly was not promoting you. You are getting more of that now with Misfits. Like how excited are you that you were able, the Misfits took a chance on you. And I feel like you're rewarding them with showing them like, look, I am this star in the making and you guys keep behind me and we'll go long places. Yeah, no, I'm super excited, you know, not to throw any negatives out there about BKFC, but they definitely failed on their part for promoting, you know, the right fighters. You know, like I said, they're over here promoting a bunch of ******* retards. You know, I got all these ******* shenanigans going on. I'm winning fights. I'm pretty much untouchable and ******* no one knew about it. So yeah, I'm a little pissed off about that. That was a big deciding factor of why I left in the first place because I knew Misfits was just going to ******* deliver a lot more, you know, they know how to appeal to the fans. They know how to bring out, they, you know, the entertainment of their fighters. You know, they know how to capitalize on people's personalities. And, you know, that just is what it is. You know, it's not that I have anything bad about Bare Knuckle. It's just that it wasn't the right platform for me. You know, it wasn't the right fan base for me, but Misfits sure as hell is. And it shows, you know, I think Misfits has posted about me and tried promoting me a lot more than BK has in the last nine fights. So that goes to tell you already, you know, how much in a better position that I am and how much more respected I am with this organization. Like, you know, Mams Taylor, you know, he looks at me and he sees a ******* superstar. He doesn't just see a ******* money grab, you know what I'm saying? He sees somebody who can really build a following and really attract a crowd. And, you know, it feels good to finally feel appreciated in that way. So I'm super excited and I'm super thankful to be a part of Misfits. One of the things I've enjoyed in this evolution of Joy Boy is, look, we used to see the party guy. We saw the guy who was like blacked out, drunk, like a couple of days before the fight. But listen, this new Joy Boy with his daughter and going places, like tell me about that dad life and just how much grateful you are to be a dad now. Oh man, I'm super grateful about being a father now, bro, it's like, there's no other blessing, you know, it definitely chilled me out a little bit. I'm still the crazy little ****** that you guys get to see. I still, I'm still a little bit, I'm not a party animal, but I still like to let loose a little bit, you know, and have fun and just enjoy my time. But definitely, you know, having a daughter, you know, humbles me from doing all that ---- because, you know, I don't want videos popping up of me and just looking like an idiot and setting a bad example for her. You know, I want her to be a good girl once she's old enough to realize what's going on, you know, but I also don't want to, you know, I don't want to change as a person. That's just who I am, you know, I like to have fun. I like to bring joy, you know, even if I look like a ******* idiot, I embrace being an idiot. I embrace being a fricking, you know, looking, you know, stupid on camera. Like, you know, it's just kind of like one of my things to like embrace the embarrassment that comes with it and like just get comfortable with people seeing it. But definitely having a daughter, you know, gets me a little more hesitant in those moments just because, like I said, you know, I don't want her thinking I'm some ******* fool. You know, I, you know, I want to be a good representation for my daughter, especially when she gets older and she starts making connections of her own. And then, you know, people know her as my daughter and then they know me as her father. Like, you know, at the end of the day, every decision I make going forward is because of her and for her. And, you know, that's not going to change the person who I am, but it's definitely going to change the, you know, some of the decisions that I make. Okay. You have a big fight coming up and we know when there's a big fight, usually you bring some like interesting people from the outside to come help you train. Now you brought in a giant mountain of a man who is a world champion fighter to come spar with you. What the hell is that all about? Tell us about bringing the champion. So Tyson, so Sugar Hill is, is, you know, he's been doing all his camps here at our gym. He loves us here. He's been training his fighters here for about the last two years. And, you know, Tyson Fury, he, he, he hates flying to the UK. So he was like, hey, Tyson, get your ass over here. We got a fight coming up. You know, I'm still in discussion. I can't say much about that, but you know, Tyson has a fight coming up. He's doing his fight camp here with us at Delray Beach Boxing Club. And, you know, sometimes we like to have fun. We get in the ring and we just, again, I really liked Tyson after getting to know him for a little bit, because he's kind of, you know, he kind of represents what I, what I try to represent. And that's just the fun in the game, man. You know, so we, we like to goop off. We like to have fun, not be too serious, but be serious enough to where we get ---- done. When you spar, I mean, does he let you go pretty hard on him because he's a mountain of a man or does he? Yeah, he's like, hit me. He's like, hit me, man. You know, I'm over here. You know, I'm pretty sure I haven't, but I'm pretty sure if I hit that man in the gut as hard as I can, he wouldn't even feel a thing. But he's yeah, man. He's and listen, a guy of that size, he was over here just flicking little jabs at me. And you can do it a heavy man like that. You really feel those punches, even though it's just like a flick in the fingers. It's kind of crazy that there's levels to this game and you are like on almost a vertical climb, but then you meet somebody like Tyson who is at the top of the mountain. And is it extra motivation? Do you pick his mind and you say like, Hey, look, I want to be where you're at. Like, how do I get there? Or? I'm more of an observer. You know, I don't, you know, I ask questions if I feel like I'm unable to understand, but I feel like just watching them, I'm able to understand everything that comes out of his mouth. Kind of the way he looks at fighting and just, and yeah, you know, I do pick up on those things with different fighters that I meet along the way. That's what made me into the fighter that I am right now. You know, I pick people's brains and not only do I pick their brains, I actually execute what they tell me. So that's what's really made me a great fighter. You know, it went from, you know, this guy who gave me a little tips to this guy who gave me a little tips. And, you know, I'm a versatile fighter. I take every bits and piece from all these different directions and I put them together into my own. You know, I don't just, I don't just tie myself down to one style. And I think that's what really makes me a dangerous fighter. It's like, I can ******* do everything. You know, you show me and I will execute. Now I will agree. You're very good at an observant, but I will think, and I think, and I watch and I, you know, observe too. You have come a long way as a coach and I see all your students and I see like how loved you are. And like, and I feel like you being like the best version of a coach has really impacted your fighting style also. And like I said, I just want to give you a big shout out because like I said, I see how many students show up to boxing, people who have never boxed before, but they see you doing it and they suddenly want to be like you. And like I said, I think it's a good compliment. Yeah. I appreciate that a lot, man. Cause it's kind of, it's kind of like why I do everything I do. You know, you know, I was, I was a very shy introverted kid as we talked about before. And, you know, embarrassed kid and just didn't know how to express myself. And, you know, I, I just hope, I hope when I'm boxing and I'm training other people that I bring that out of them, you know, like boxing is a very humbling sport, but not just because of the, not just because of the physical traits, because of the mental traits as well. You know, boxing teaches you patience. It teaches you calmness. It teaches you, you know, humbleness. It's just, it's, I think it's really a good thing for everybody to get into, you know, you don't have to, you don't have to spar. You don't have to get your ass whooped, but it's just something I tried. It's a way for me to just express emotion, you know, and I want, I want to, I want people to learn from that, take that from that, you know, see how I express myself from it and then kind of just copy, copy me, you know, cause it really helps, you know, especially the kids who have trouble expressing themselves or, you know, have fear in their heart and, you know, are scared of doing these things. You know, boxing really just helps with that, with my entire life when it came down to that. So fans that don't know, your nickname is Chubby. You like to eat. You have to get in shape for this coming fight. What is, what is going to be your cheat meal? Like what is your, like, once you make weight, what are you going to go pig out on? Every time I weigh in, the first thing I put in my mouth is vanilla ice cream. Every time I step off that scale, we go wherever the closest ice cream spot, we go grab some vanilla ice cream. That's a, that's a, that's a tradition right there. So I'm an ice cream guy. It cools down your body. It's sweet. It's delicious. That's what, that's what we eat after, after weigh-ins. All right. So 2026 is almost over. Like, is, I mean, do we see you try to get another fight or are you kind of just cruising through the holidays to be with the family? What, what's your plans for the rest of 2026? You know, I don't think there's a freaking holiday in the last three years that I actually got to like enjoy and take my time to be in the moment and actually, you know, have fun because of fighting. So I don't know. I'm like kind of obsessed with fighting right now. Like I want, I would love to get a third, another fight this year. You know, I want to be as active as possible. I was the most active fighter on the BKFC roster. I would like to keep that going even with misfits, but we'll see. I don't know. I wouldn't mind taking the last three months of the year off after my fight. I wouldn't mind maybe come back the first quarter of 2027, January, February, March, whatever they have planned. You know, even if it's a last minute fight, I plan on being in shape. I don't give a ****. Even if they call me, you know, three weeks before a fight again, I'll ******* say yes and we can get it going. So I'm eager to fight, but also I wouldn't mind, it wouldn't bother me if this was my last fight for the year. So I know you don't follow BKFC nearly as regularly as you did before, but you have a big fight coming up in Jamel versus Dotson. That's a fun fight. Strode just beat Cutman. So he gets to face a winner. I mean, how do you see those kinds of fights, you know, shaking down? And at any point, do you think, man, these guys are getting big fights and all I asked for was big fights. And then the second you leave, suddenly all these big fights aren't shaking down. Yeah, man, you know, without sounding like an angry old grump all the time, you know, it's annoying. It is annoying, you know. First fighter, you know, the first fighter I ever called out after I won my title, even before I won it, I knew I was gonna win it, was who? Jamel Herring. You know, I was told he needed two more fights. I was told he wasn't ready. And then lo and behold, he was the first person to fight for my belt once I left. So, you know, again, without sounding like an angry old grump, it is kind of annoying just to see all these things happening and planning out. I was also calling out John Dotson and now they're fighting each other. It's like, dude, you know, I'm not over here saying no to anybody, but I'm over here definitely trying to make the right fights happen. And hey, you know, we're gonna do that in Misfits now. I know I probably won't fight another bare knuckle fight unless they offer me a good six figure contract. But other than that, I'm rolling with the gloves till, you know, I'm the money man. You know, we gotta pay the bills around here. We gotta make the biggest fights happen. I don't care if it's with gloves or without gloves. You know, I'm gonna fight whoever's gonna put the, cash that check, you know. Now, are you somebody who's open? Listen, you were the champion. You're undefeated champion. You're currently on your, well on your way to becoming the champion. I think that BKFC and Misfits could do crossover. I would love to see like, if Jamil gets by John, you know, granted he's supposed to fight Stroke, but I would love to see them say like, hey, look, we're gonna do, like we're gonna send our champion to fight you over there or vice versa. Like, listen, throw some money. They're doing the Fox deal. Like save some money, give Justin a paycheck and like run it in bare knuckle. But I think the crossover could be huge. Like Chris Camozzi talked about the crossover being huge. And I think both of the companies are well on their way up, but crossover just brings in more eyes all around. I would love a crossover, you know? After thinking about it, I was like, man, I would love to box Jamil. Cause you know, I know I'll kill Jamil in bare knuckle. I know I'll kill Jamil. He's just not, he's not as fast as me anymore. He's not as strong as me. He's not explosive as me. He doesn't have the bare knuckle experience like I do. And I'll just ******* crack his old ass. You know what I'm saying? Like I punch ******* hard and I'm accurate. But in boxing, it'll be interesting to see how he, I would love to fight him on a Misfits boxing card too. I'd like to fight John Dotson on a Misfits boxing card too, you know? But if I'm gonna fight either of those guys, bare knuckle, you know, I have raised my payment standards. So that probably will never happen. But you know, if we can, if we can find something, find a big name, find a big fighter, I'm, I'm there. I'm there. There's no, there's no shying away from any of these guys. All right, Joy Boy, listen, I know you're at the gym and you're training and you're coaching and you're trying to get your own workouts in. So I appreciate you making time. It didn't happen yesterday. We got it done today. I appreciate so much. Is there any message, anything you want to get out there for the fans before we call it a day? Oh, look out guys. I'm not just an old ******* dummy, bare knuckle fighter looking dumb on the streets. I'm a real ******* technician in the ring and you guys are about to see it. We are coming for a stoppage. Normally I don't call a stoppage. I don't like calling stoppages. But listen, I'm here to make a statement. I'm fighting a boxing influencer. I gotta make, I gotta show the world that there are levels. I gotta show the world that I'm not just a misfits influencer boxer. I'm the real ******* deal. And I gotta ******* come in here and crack this dude. I got three minutes around now. I don't got two no more. I got three minutes around and we all know after that first round, I like to turn things up and get stoppages. So we'll see, baby. Anne-Marie's gonna have you dialed in. You're gonna be in great shape. I expect an ass kicking, like, but listen, like no matter what happens, you're a great friend of mine, a great friend of the show, and I appreciate everything and I'll support you no matter how I can. Yes, sir. Thank you, man. You always been a real one. Love talking to you. All right, Joe, boy, take it easy, man. Thanks, man. You too, bro. Have a good one.