Ahmed Bellozo, known as OnTheTira, joins Popeye Ray and Brother Mark to share his story of gang life, 23 years spent in prison, and an addiction that followed him from heroin to prescription pills and fentanyl.

Ahmed talks about first using heroin behind bars, facing cancer and severe pain, and eventually seeking help through Narcotics Anonymous. He also shares how he built a new life as a community reporter and, more recently, was baptized and committed his life to Jesus. Now facing cancer again, he speaks honestly about faith, friendship, and the hope he has today.

If Ahmed’s story speaks to you, share it with someone who needs to hear that change is possible. Subscribe to Third Man in the Ring for more conversations about faith and redemption.

Pastor Mando Vera was once known as “Monster”, a gang member caught in violence, addiction, and incarceration. Today, he returns to the same streets with a message of faith, forgiveness, and hope.

In this episode of Third Man in the Ring, Popeye Ray sits down with someone he personally knew from the neighborhood. Mando opens up about growing up in an abusive home in Bassett, California, entering gang life at a young age, being shot and stabbed, battling drugs and alcohol, and reaching a point where he nearly lost his family and his life.

Mondo also shares something many testimonies leave out: after first accepting Christ, he fell back into addiction. That relapse cost him his job, car, home, and almost everything that mattered to him. What he expected to be a few months in a Christian recovery home became two years of restoration, leadership, and preparation for ministry.

Now an ordained minister, evangelist, and chaplain, Pastor Mando serves people in hospitals, jails, recovery homes, and neighborhoods that once considered him an enemy.

#GangMemberToPastor #christiantestimony #testimony

Three-time heavyweight title challenger Chris Arreola joins Ref Popeye Ray on Third Man in the Ring for a candid, funny and unfiltered look back at his life inside and outside the boxing ring.

Chris takes us from beginning boxing at seven years old and competing in more than 150 amateur fights to facing some of the biggest names in the heavyweight division, including Vitali Klitschko, Bermane Stiverne, Tomasz Adamek, Adam Kownacki and Andy Ruiz Jr.

Chris speaks honestly about the fights he wishes he had trained harder for, the distractions that came with success, his struggles with weight and why he refuses to blame anyone else for the choices that affected his career. He also explains the mentality that kept him fighting through injuries and punishing rounds because the fans deserved their money’s worth.

Chris and Popeye also discuss controversial judging, the influence of the crowd, today’s heavyweight division, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, the bare-knuckle offers Chris has received and whether he still has the desire to fight again.

Away from boxing, Chris reflects on his father’s influence, raising his own children, possibly opening a boxing gym and why simply being present is one of the most important things a father can do.

Subscribe to Third Man in the Ring for more candid conversations from inside the world of boxing.