There’s a reason that texas hold’em pro Antonio Esfandiari is obtaining such long shots to beat comedian/actor Kevin Hart in their approaching boxing match. Esfandiari isn’t also near to the sort of athlete that Hart is as well as it’s shown in his method for the suit that’s just a couple of weeks away from taking place.
The only advantage I really have is reach and height,” said Esfandiari. “So my only chance of winning is to use that to my advantage. I’ll probably take a more defensive approach. I’ll just try and keep my distance and hope that he leaves something open and I catch him with a dirty hook or something.
Esfandiari is obtaining 35:1 probabilities from Hart and also the stakes of the wager, just like the battle itself, have not and also will certainly not be revealed to the public. It will certainly occur within the next couple of weeks at a venue in Los Angeles that has yet to be established.
The duo chose that by shutting the fight to the public they will keep the battle better to what it was initially intended to be.
There’s no way that anybody can see it, unfortunately,” Esfandiari said. “We just decided it was better to kind of keep it how it started as a bet between two friends. We’re not really trying to publicize it. We thought at some point we might air it because everybody wanted to see it, but at the end of the day, we decided it was better if it just kind of stayed between us and our friends that are there.
Hart will have a film team there, however it is still undecided if the footage will be released in the future.
If Esfandiari goes the range, the fight will certainly be 3, three-minute rounds. Conditioning has been Esfandiari’s Achilles’ heel because he accepted the battle.
“When I first started, my biggest weakness was cardio,” he said. “The last 1 years of my life, I’ve been doing a lot of weights and yoga. Not a lot of cardio. I hated running.”
He’s boosted tremendously in his cardiovascular conditioning since his training began, nonetheless. Numerous months ago, there was no opportunity he can box for nine minutes. At the end of his newest session, he had the ability to compete throughout of the match.
“I just did three rounds, three minutes,” said the three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner shortly after his latest workout. “Obviously I struggled, but I got through it. Whereas six months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do 20 seconds.”
As far as Hart’s training goes, he is taking it much more seriously than Esfandiari expected.
“In the beginning, I didn’t think he was taking it that seriously,” said Esfandiari about Hart’s training. “But in the last few months, I know he’s been training really hard and he’s been sparring as well. I saw a bunch of sparring equipment in his room and I was like ‘Oh crap.’”
He’s obtained an excellent factor to be anxious. As Mike Tyson famously claimed, ‘Everyone has a plan until they obtain punched in the mouth.’
Esfandiari does not have much experience with being typed the mouth.
“Before sparring? No.,” said Esfandiari. “But now I’ve gotten decked a bunch of times. A bunch of bruised ribs, my jaw got knocked out of place a couple times. Several bloody noses.”
His injury issues are centered around his face and also ribs. The gear that he has actually been sparring with gives some defense to his face. When he steps into the ring with Hart, they will be using the same headgear made use of in amateur boxing, which secures the head, however not his face.
“I’m really worried about breaking my nose,” said Esfandiari. “As we know, I’ve got a bigger than average nose. I’m definitely worried about breaking my nose and I’m also worried about breaking my ribs because he keeps joking about coming after my ribs.”
The fight is taking place concerning a month before the WSOP begins. Despite the recovery time, Esfandiari does not see this hindering his summertime texas hold’em routine.
“The World Series is still a few months away, so I don’t really see it having an effect on that,” he said. “Plus, I don’t see myself playing as many events as I used to back in the day. Last year, I cut down a lot. This year, I’ll probably only play a few big ones. I kind of just want to be with my kids.”
He kept in mind that in between cardio workouts and boxing training sessions, Esfandiari is exercising between seven as well as nine times a week. Despite the immense quantity of time concentrated on his exercises, he still locates time to grind some cash money game sessions.
He has some additional energy at the table many thanks to his recent training, but this will certainly be the last time that he steps in the ring.
I figure this is kind of a one and done,” said Esfandiari. “And at the end of it, I don’t want to say that I didn’t give it my all. I also don’t want to get my ass kicked in 30 seconds and be like ‘Oh, that was cool.
