Episode 295: Manny Fernandez

08/26/24 • 77 min

Manny Fernandez grew up in Topping, Virginia in Middlesex County on a thirty acre farm with a nurturing mom and a Dad that he described as tough. He is very thankful for that combination which has helped him to be well mannered, respectful and have gratitude for what has happened in his life. What has happened is that Manny started fighting when he was 18 years old, has fought all over the world and has one world championship under his belt .., so far. Manny started in MMA, has done some Brazilian Jujitsu, but has been fighting Muay Thai since 2020 and that is his sole focus right now. Paul learned about his style, his regimen to get to fighting weight and who he looks up to in the professional ranks of all fighting. Paul also discovered one activity that Manny learned to help his brain adapt so that it would make him a better fighter. They finished by talking about Manny’s future and about his girlfriend Jordan who has been a great source of support for Manny.

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Episode 294 (SB3): John Finn & United Real Estate

John Finn joins Paul on the podcast to discuss growing up in Richmond, sports memorabilia and his family lineage to name a few. John grew up in different parts of Richmond and he and Paul discussed going to different schools and his experience with school integration. They talked about the bad, but mostly good experiences and how his first year was very formative. Paul learned about John’s collection of sports memorabilia and some of the incredible athletes that were represented in his collection. John spoke to Paul about his family lineage and the types of businesses his father all the way back to his great great grandfather were in and about his career path and current business. The also talked about his time at VCU and the fraternity that he belonged to which he is still involved with to this day. They finished by talking about his wife Laurie and their two sons.

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Episode 296: Eric Ash

Eric Ash grew up in Virginia Beach, moved to Mechanicsville when he was 11 and he told Paul it was a change going from city life to a more rural setting. He said he has positive memories of growing up in both places. Eric played baseball and football growing up, but he started training as a boxer when he was 12 and had his first organized fight when he was 15. Little did Eric know, but that was a foreshadowing of his life and career to come. Why boxing? It was first due to watching it with his grandfather and then he met a trainer, Tom Brown, who instilled his passion and love for the sport. Eric went to VMI and the main thing that took him there was that they had a boxing team. He was captain three out of his four years there and after being in the car sales business for years, it was a chance encounter with his college coach that led to him switching careers and being a boxing trainer and promoter. Paul learned what a day in the life of Eric Ash is, they discussed some of the history of boxing and they talked about what it takes to promote a fight. They finished by talking about an upcoming fight night on October 5th in Richmond and about his wife Liz who manages the gym and handles the business side of promoting the fights.