Antonio Sabato Jr

Power 98.5 Satellite Radio

Antonio Sabàto Jr. is an Italian-American actor, model, and television personality, born to Italian film star Antonio Sabàto Sr. and Czech-born Yvonne Kabouchy. His maternal lineage includes a Czech aristocrat and a Holocaust survivor, reflecting a rich and resilient heritage. Rising to fame in the 1990s as a Calvin Klein underwear model, Antonio became a household name through his role as Jagger Cates on General Hospital and later starred in The Help on the WB. A devoted father, he shares daughter Mina Bree with longtime partner Kristin Rosetti and son Antonio Harvey Sabàto III with Cheryl Moana Marie Nunes. Antonio is a passionate collector of Batman memorabilia, owns a custom Batman motorbike, and sports a hidden tattoo of a yellow moon with a black Batman symbol. He’s known for his adventurous spirit—skydiving, racing cars, and exploring art galleries—and maintains strong ties to his Italian roots in Rome, Palermo, and Sardinia.  Antonio does not drink or smoke, and his charisma earned him the 2008 Fox Reality Channel Really Award for “Favorite Hottie” following his win on Celebrity Circus. A former boyfriend of Nicolette Scorsese, he has also made headlines for his political endorsements and public appearances.

Transcript

00:00this is dan akroyd he's progressive he's beautiful he's thoughtful he's intelligent

00:08he's powerful he's positive he is stephen cuoco on power 98.5 satellite radio

00:15empowering listeners from the u.s to the uk live on air with stephen cuoco

00:22we don't play the social game we are social power 98.5

00:30good morning good afternoon and good evening no matter where you are in the world you are listening

00:38to live on air with stephen cuoco on power 98.5 satellite radio all the latest and greatest in

00:45news sports entertainment reality tv and today we're going to be covering celebrity boxing and

00:51more with my good friend antonio sabato jr we're both here on the east wait a minute are you still

00:58on the west coast antonio or are you on the east no i'm on the east coast i left the west coast a long

01:03time ago are you permanently here i'm on i'm in florida permanently i've been living here for

01:09almost 10 years oh wow oh so that's why you've got this uh sparkly good tan going on here yeah you got

01:16that right you are in decades decades worth of there needs to be awards for someone like you

01:28for everything you've accomplished well we're just starting out this is the beginning we still got a

01:34long way to go uh we've got acting we've got uh race car driving we've got now boxing i don't even

01:42want to call it celebrity boxing because you're showing up to this event oh this is a serial this

01:47is a serious event this is a serious boxing event i'm very proud of uh the work that i put in into

01:52the sport for many years and now i'm going to showcase my talent so i'm very excited about that

01:57so can we say this is as you said serious but they're calling it celebrity boxing because of who

02:05you are and who your opponent is but once again you're you're conditioned you're showing up you

02:11work out seven days a week twice a day from what you told me yep yep correct this is just a celebrity

02:19boxing obviously for for my background as an actor and all that stuff but it's also it's not a sanctioned

02:24fight so i'm fighting in my my weight category which is 168 super middleweight but it's not sanctioned

02:31that's the only difference but it is a boxing event uh everything goes down the same way and uh

02:36you can get knocked out the same way and you can fight the same way and it's it's it's a sport it's

02:41just not a sanction that's all is this going to continue to be an ongoing sport for you yeah well

02:48it's been my sport for my entire life and i love it so much and and now because it's really taken off

02:53see i i started this celebrity boxing years ago i in the 90s me and my trainer chris steel we uh we

03:00were going to fight roy jones for a celebrity match uh that didn't go down because we're both

03:05extremely busy at the time but we uh we had a contract we were going to go so this whole

03:10jake paul and all these youtubers and all this other celebrity boxing going on i started a long

03:16time ago it's just didn't it didn't come in fruition but uh i i feel that this is my time and

03:21that's uh that's my time to do it to shine and i'm going to showcase my talent september i want

03:27to have another fight in december at the end of the year so i'm looking to do at least two fights

03:31this year so we're uh do we have it's this saturday though the 28 7 30 you're going to be at harris

03:39correct yeah that's a that's a press conference uh we're gonna we're gonna really start the pre-camp

03:45because the next week i'm going to be in camp uh in los angeles at venice beach a steel boxer with

03:50chris uh chris steel my trainer my coach and the entire team and we're going to have a nine weeks

03:56of uh training camp and then the fight is uh in september september 26th uh yeah in uh in

04:03philadelphia do you believe antonio when you show up for this they're going to really experience

04:09what boxing is all about different from what we've seen with the paul brothers yeah well i i feel that

04:18boxing over the years you know my favorite times of the boxing era were the 80s you know the the

04:25sugar ray letter the haggler to tommy hearns and tommy hearns is a friend and i know his son too

04:31his family good people uh you know my my my my manager she's a hall of famer jackie jackie

04:39callen and she took she took me on she really believes you know she has an experience of years

04:45of years of of managing the top notch champions right and she saw me and and and and she really

04:53believes in me and that made me feel this is the right team that i have it's just perfect you know

04:58and and to have her in my corner to have chris steel in my corner uh it's it's fascinating and

05:04it's beautiful and uh it's just it's at the right time and like i said the 80s were were a time where

05:10boxing was you start can move the the finesse of boxing was different and now i mean nowadays

05:17everybody just fights the same way they square off they fight the same way the big the big shots

05:23and the the dancing the the finesse the long jabs all that stuff technique and all you know it's kind

05:31of out the door everybody fights the same exact way and i don't fight that way i i make the sport

05:36look beautiful uh in the ring uh and there's something about it that i've always enjoyed the

05:42sugar ray leonard and also muhammad ali with the way they they did things and made you know they

05:46they used to hit have that snap that people went down and you're like how did that happen that's

05:52that's fake now you want the big shots and you want the knockouts that's that's you know and i'm

05:58gonna get to knock out and i'm gonna get all those things but i'm gonna make it look a lot better

06:01and uh and the way that i train the way i take the sport serious i don't just train for nine weeks

06:07i mean of course i'm going to camp now and i'm taking it to another level but i'm constantly

06:12training seven days a week 365 all year long for decades not just now i'm not just starting the box

06:20because i'm doing a celebrity match uh i've been boxing my whole life and so i want to i want to have

06:25my time to showcase what hard work and dedication and in your 50s you can do uh when the whole world is

06:33saying well you know i'm gonna get knocked out i'm gonna lose you know you're over the hill all

06:38this negativity does not touch me i'm untouchable i'm in a way right now like a racing horse that

06:44the negativity only makes me stronger people that are doubting me are going to come and watch the

06:49fight uh the way the attention that we've been getting on this fight is astronomical i see it on

06:54the numbers i see it on the views i see it on on the way that people you know they they want to

06:59see me lose and then the people want to see me win so you get the best of both worlds but i'm going

07:04to showcase something that is really awesome and and i can't wait and it's just uh it's a matter of

07:09time and i and i was just so driven by this for a long time and uh and it's finally happening i'm

07:16excited for you and i'm proud of you seriously thank you very much to go through the history

07:22of your accomplishments it's beyond the scope of what we see when we think about actors and

07:31professional fighters and race car drivers like yourself once again for those that are tuning in

07:38we've got antonio sabato jr we are here to talk about everything from acting to racing to home family

07:45and the press conference that is happening at harris in philadelphia this is on saturday june 28th at

07:537 30 where is the official fight is it going to be at harris here uh i think they're getting the venue

08:00right now i think it's going to be announced this this saturday at the press conference uh but they

08:05have uh apparently they have a beautiful venue with thousands of seats that uh it's probably going to

08:11be sold out and it's going to be sold out very quickly and um and it's going to be in downtown

08:15philly um for me right now celebrity boxing is taking care of all that finally right now with

08:22you know we put all the you know the contracts and all the political stuff and all the business

08:26size out of all the stuff out of the way right now for me is just training to a whole new level i

08:32really want to test myself and go where i've never been before and i've been pretty far and i've

08:38done things and most people dream of and impossible things and i just uh i'm so focused and excited

08:44about this training camp and what i'm about to do um in this time of my life you know 53 years old

08:51and i've been through so much like you said and i'm and and i have a family who backs me up i have my

08:57children who backs me up i have a world who's there backing me up and and it's just it's fascinating and

09:04and to take yourself and always challenging yourself i always challenged myself you know it

09:09wasn't when i was when i was turning pro as a race car driver oh you can't drive you know it's a young

09:14man sport blah blah blah and i did it uh and i've always wanted to race and i'm i'm and i'm still

09:20gonna go race and i'm still gonna race and i'm still gonna make movies and i'm still gonna do all

09:24those things people say now that you're boxing and you're making movies yeah i got a movie coming out

09:29i just finished doing another one i don't stop i don't do things like everybody else i don't follow

09:35the herd like you know i'm doing movies i'm producing films i'm i'm writing a book it's out

09:41i have a movie coming out i'm boxing i am planning on racing next year for for car companies like

09:48mclaren or teams like mclaren i want to race a limon i want to finish doing something like 24 hour

09:53limon i raced at indianapolis which was a goal for me and and uh and my father was alive when that

09:59happened so he saw me do that so i have a lot of goals and life is never over until it's over so

10:06all those dreams and all those things that you want to do do them no matter what time or age you're at

10:14you're just going to keep on going so i have a lot of stuff to do that i want to do it's going to

10:19happen and you know i don't really sleep that much i'm always seven days a week going that's just

10:24my personality i need to always keep pushing and always finding out what the limit and if i find

10:31that limit i want to keep going to the next limit and uh and now it's boxing and uh with everything

10:38else going on so let's go for it let's just do it all everything what i hear is purpose you enjoy

10:44having purpose life is about purpose it's about leaving a mark it's about you know when this is over

10:50and we go to heaven and and this whole life and those material stuff is gone what do you want to

10:56what do you want to leave behind and i want to leave something to my children to to my wife to

11:01my family go you know that guy right there he never gave up you know when they tried to blacklist me in

11:07hollywood because my political view was different than theirs i didn't care it didn't matter to me you

11:12want to take all my jobs away i'm going to find jobs you don't want to hire me in the city i'm going

11:16to move out of the city i'm going to start a new business you don't want to hire me anywhere i'm

11:21going to go in construction you don't want to hire me in construction i'm going to go in real estate

11:25you don't want to do that i'm going to make movies one day and i'm going to start here and i'm going

11:28to do this and i'm going to do that i'm never going to give up you're never going to put me in

11:32the corner you're never going to tell antonio sabato jr what to do and how to do it and hollywood

11:37has always been like that you got to keep your mouth shut when you go to parties you got to be a

11:41certain way you got to smile i've never been that way and i never will be i'm going to be

11:45myself 24 hours if you don't like it it's not my fault i could care less we're not here on this

11:51planet to make people happy we're here on this planet to live a fulfilled life to live a healthy

11:57life and to showcase what we can do as humans and to be good about obviously but it's like that

12:03saying you know you're on the you're on the plane you put your mask first before you put on somebody

12:07else it means you take care of yourself first before you start taking care of other people

12:11and and that's what i do it if i'm not happy if i don't do things that are good for me to make me a

12:18better human being which means pushing myself learning doing all this and going through grief

12:22surviving grief doing all these things how how do you expect to help people you know there's

12:28certain individuals that like to help people all the time and they forget about themselves

12:31and they get overweight and they say they stop taking care of their physical aspect because they

12:36care that's fine that's who they are i want to take care of myself spiritually physically

12:41and mentally and then i'm going to take care of the people that i love and i'm going to take care

12:45of the world and i'm going to go after everything but i got to be in top shape shape here and physically

12:51and spiritually and have that connection so and i want to live my life based on my principles

12:56not the principles that is given by society not by principle that is given by hollywood in the

13:02situation or or this or that i'm going to find my own principles that were implanted by my bloodline

13:09i grew up in rome italy my mother was born in prague in the czech republic she had to deal with

13:15you know things that most people never even i mean the socialist i mean her her mother escaped

13:21hauschwitz and her parent and her family was killed and taken on a train and killed in hauschwitz during

13:27world war ii my grandmother was killed by the russians which is my mother's mother

13:32my mother couldn't even go back to prague to to be with her own mother because she was not allowed

13:39my father was born in a small village in monte leprez alzado palermo and created an amazing

13:46career as an actor by wanting and all that it's in my bloodline i i'm i have a bloodline of warriors

13:52gladiators of people that never give up when when they see death and they see destruction we you know

13:59we we lost a home to a fire we lost everything in rome me and my sister and my and my father and my

14:05and my mother and our little dog were stranded watching our home being burned to the ground

14:10and there was no friends around all those hollywood italian actors that were there supposedly my father

14:16helped out where were they they were not there there was nobody there oh can we stay at your house

14:22you know unfortunately our home is there is you know we have two little kids over here

14:25we're on the street no nobody took us in you know who took us in a stranger that we just met

14:32my mother met a stranger the next day and said listen we have nowhere to go none of our friends

14:39want to help us do you have any place we can stay she said yes and to this day she's a close friend

14:44of ours so that's the type of people that we and then we came to this country moving to america

14:50legally without taking any dime from this country proud to become americans doing it the right way

14:56legally you know we came here to america the first time we ran out of money my father decided my mom

15:03decided to go back to italy imagine moving your whole family from country to country back and forth

15:08you know i'm talking about selling your furniture buying stuff you know traveling you know with your

15:12backpacks to another country and then going back to italy and then and then i'm living in rome again

15:18after i lived in america for two years and then come all these things can break you or they can make you

15:25invincible and that's what my family is my family is made of invincibility of where you know you put

15:31these walls we're going to go through the walls we're going to climb the walls we're going to go around

15:35the wall we're going to make it through and so that's the type of person i am so that's why i'm fighting

15:40because in this world we fight in different ways sometimes we put gloves on sometimes we fight on

15:45our daily lives sometimes we fight with our partners and life in general fighting is part of living and

15:52i've been fighting my whole life and i've always won and i'm going to continue winning and with that

15:57mentality you can't lose you just can't and that's implanted in me by my family and by god above

16:02i want to thank you for that it's my pleasure i can only be real people say you know when i do

16:10lies when i do this new social media and we talk to people and they go wow you're the most

16:14real person i mean i cannot be fake i cannot show you something that i'm not i cannot talk to you or

16:20anybody else and give you a different sense of who i am i cannot do that i cannot it's against my it's

16:27like lying and lying is just one of those things that and we do you know people do that a lot

16:32especially nowadays because they have their phones and they can lie they can make and a small lie

16:36becomes a bigger lie or a small light stays a small forever and then it's okay to lie i just

16:42can't i just cannot live in a lie i have to live in total total honesty and truthful uh truthfulness

16:48in my life and uh in my work and my sports and my and everything that i do it's got to be honest

16:54to 100 not 99 it's got to be honestly 100 and if they get hurt from it or people get their feelings

17:01hurt i don't care it doesn't matter to me for me while it matters is that i'm you're asking me a

17:07question and i'm giving you my honesty my 100 honesty speaking of questions i have some for you

17:15would you like to honestly answer them absolutely 100 percent

17:18in your film grace by night you explore redemption what personal moment in your life

17:29most mirrors that journey of rebuilding from the ground up

17:34wow that's that was really me living that moment i went through some very personal things at the time

17:42uh in relations to my work and people that let me down and people that try to hurt me people that

17:47try to take me take me down personally for their own personal reasons uh and i was coming from a good

17:53place of helping people again helping being honest was taking the was being taken advantage of

17:59and that whole time uh also being blacklisted and having no jobs no way to pill you to pay your

18:06bills and you know putting a helmet on and going in construction and working in concrete business you

18:11know the concrete business i was i became you know and the way i was treated in that world in

18:17construction and people knowing construction is one of the toughest industry ever they treat you like

18:22you're a piece of dirt they teach you like you're a piece of concrete and the way they talk to you

18:27the way they it's just the worst and so i had to really swallow my pride and live through years of

18:34being treated like a peasant and uh and and this is coming after 30 years of being in the industry of

18:40working with steven spielberg had the locklear aaron spelling doing over 100 movies and tv shows

18:46and making a lot of money for a lot of agencies in hollywood who by the way when i was blacklisted would

18:52never represent me would never i've never i've not had a theatrical agent since then i represented

19:00myself i have a sports agent donna who's amazing who's there supporting me who's actually doing a

19:07lot for me i have really good people in my in my world but nothing in the theatrical world

19:12and um and those people that i made money for many years they never they never could care less

19:18for me at all so during all that time and then getting the chance to play this amazing film

19:24was just just incredible it was therapeutic and then going through my rehabilitation you know i was

19:32addicted to to drugs you know i i was i was taking pills i was my marriage and just all these things

19:39were going on but god was working in me going i'm gonna make you go through that so you can go through

19:46it and out of it and i did you know when i went to therapy and i went to uh therapy and when i went to

19:52when i went inside the the hole you know as i call it in pasadena when i went to rehab

19:57that was the best time of my life where i really found myself where i was away from technology i was

20:05with people that were either coming from prison or going to prison people who died in front of me

20:10pretty much i saw death with my own eyes i was in a dark place but that darkness turned out to be

20:16the light because i found out really what kind of person i am you know how far i can go and so i took

20:23all that and going through all that and then the political world i'm trying to do the right thing for

20:28our country and then all those things happened but they were building there was like there was like

20:33the fortress was like these shields were coming around me i didn't know but it was coming like i was

20:38getting stronger by the minute and then i played this role of john in grace by night and i really

20:45lived it you know and you know that's why i got awarded a lot of awards and the movie just i wish

20:50the movie would have went in the theaters the producers and and the director let it fall because

20:56that movie deserved to be in theaters deserved to be fought for i i fought for it and but it was it was

21:01out of my hands but still the movie is beautiful and i and i and i hope that the world gets to see it

21:06go and rent it or find it on tubi or prime or whatever it is because grace by night is definitely

21:13one of the best films and that to live through that as an actor you know they say you know i grew up

21:19watching you know marlon brando and paul newman and redford and you know steve mcqueen all the great

21:25ones and my father too and you hear these stories about living through a character like really living

21:31through it and i lived through it and uh and it was amazing and it was amazing experience and uh i

21:38will cherish that movie and that experience always uh and that you know was was something that uh i

21:45will never forget it was it's just one of those films and it shows i think it shows because i see it

21:50and i see the pain and the struggle um that i was going through uh and the characters going through

21:57and it's it's it works beautifully and i hope the world gets to see it

22:01you've spoken about being blacklisted in hollywood how did that experience reshape your definition

22:11of success and belonging well first of all success to me what does that really mean you know is it

22:19the money you make is it the movies that you make is it who you're working with to me none of that

22:24really matters success is how you feel inside do you have peace you know do you are you a peaceful

22:31person can you sleep good at night and go i'm with the right partner i'm in the right house i have all

22:38the things that i need i have connection and understanding with god that is a personal thing

22:44that not a church or a priest or a preacher or anybody has there with me it's me and the spirit of

22:50god and nobody can take that away so that peace that you have is more precious and more important

22:57than the success and more important than money because when you find yourself peaceful is where

23:04you can create the success when you find peace you don't need the crowds you don't need the hollywood

23:11you don't need the agents you don't need all these people going la la la because you're already

23:15fulfilled you already have that peace in you so by going through all that in my 40s and now i find

23:23myself at 53 i'm at peace with myself i make the right decisions i know who i need who i don't need

23:32i have the right partners i have the right all those things are right there all the pillars

23:37that support me are there fully and everything else is gone deleted blocked gone forever so hollywood

23:47will never touch that you know uh the power that they have in that town it's only scared of me

23:54they're only they only fear uh i am more powerful than they could ever be so i'm glad that's the piece

24:03that's the success that i want that because i see a lot of people in hollywood who call success and

24:09millions of dollars and doing these huge films and all that stuff and they're not at peace

24:14they don't even see their own families they don't even get along with people they're supposed to love

24:20and they're being fake all the time so they're living in a lie i'm at peace i can conquer anything at

24:27this point and um so most people in that world would wish and they and that's priceless what i

24:34have it's priceless you can't pay for it you wish you can't because that world and any world that you

24:41have a lot of money and a lot of deceit uh who are you going to trust who are you going to who are you

24:49going to yeah who are you going to go to and i want to expand a little bit on this because i found

24:54it absolutely unconscionable because i was surprised by this so we're going to go back to

25:00march 3rd of 2020 this is by variety i couldn't believe it when i read this

25:06it's just absurd antonio sabato jr on how supporting donald trump ended his acting career

25:15and here's what you had shared i had to sell everything sabato reveals in a phone interview

25:22with variety from his new home in florida you said i had to pay all my debts i was blacklisted

25:29all my representatives left me from agents to managers to commercial agents i literally had to

25:36move find a new job to survive and take care of my kids it's been terrible it's mind-blowing it's

25:44disgrace it's a disgrace it's tough because if you're in an environment in hollywood

25:50and you have something to say that they don't like they're going to let you know is this still

25:57a repercussion today in 2025 not for me not for me no no i'm i'm bulletproof that that is the person

26:09that i was just describing going through that at the time and i didn't know at the time that i was

26:15becoming stronger than ever i was becoming a superhero in every way they can't touch me ever

26:20again that will never happen again god put me through that to go to to have me go through it

26:27and i went through it and i'm glad i went through it because right now the forces the evil forces

26:34all the forces that try to destroy will never touch me again ever and they can't i'm indestructible now

26:45in every way shape or form so like that you know i'm at peace and that peaceful warrior that i am now

26:51is the greatest thing that ever happened to me you know i'm a better person all the way around and

26:56stronger than ever i mean that's why i'm fighting that's why i'm racing that's why i'm doing all the

27:01things that i'm doing and i don't even worry about you know there was a time in my life where it was

27:08there was a lot of praying involved you know god helped me god send me this send me that show me the

27:14way and for me personally my relationship with god went through a whole different level because right

27:21now i don't pray like that i don't say god give me give me give me i don't even actually pray to god

27:27about wanting anything because i know what i gotta do god is my father and it's my father he says to

27:34me you're my son i'm not gonna give you everything on the platter you're good enough to earn it you're

27:41good enough to go in the field and cut everything and do whatever you gotta do you're good enough to

27:46build your own house and i'm gonna be watching because i'm proud of you so my prayers to my father

27:52god is not give me give me give me my prayers to my father is thank you lord and that's it everything

27:59else i got it everything else i'm doing i got it i don't need your help father i don't i appreciate

28:06you and i love you but i don't need your help i got it and when i got to that point of knowing that

28:13i have everything in myself that god gave me by the way because he gave me that and i realized that

28:21he already gave me everything i needed see people forget and they struggle with with praying and

28:27praying and wanting and wanting the money and wanting their relationship to finish or what and

28:33god is laughing going why are you why are you why are you asking me why are you praying to me about all

28:39this stuff you already know what you gotta do you already have everything you got you already know

28:45you're you're you have all the elements all the tools to get everything you need and and some

28:53the whole the world that you are describing to god you already have he already made you perfect in his

29:01own image what else do you want so when i got to that point to the struggle i realized that i got

29:07everything and when i realized that i want this and i'm gonna get it i want this and i'm gonna get it

29:13i want this and i'm gonna get it it's all there it's all there already the money that this that that

29:22all is there for me i don't even worry about it because right now i'm like a racing horse to do what

29:28i gotta do and i appreciate him for that and i appreciate my father that did not give me everything

29:34in a silver platter that told me to go in the fields and you're gonna have tough days but you're

29:41gonna go through it because you are my champion and so when i believe in knowing myself that i am

29:48that person that i am that hero that i am that champion that warrior that gladiator already every

29:53day of my life man i went through a whole different stratosphere you know and they say how do you do this

30:01because that's how i do it how do you train how do you do this how do you do all these things how do you

30:06do movies and fighting and because i'm just told you that god gave me everything i need already and

30:13now that i'm i already know what that bat suit you know the batman suit is already there i already

30:17know that my destiny is set and nobody's going to come in the way sky's the limit sky's the limit

30:25so i am i'm at a place right now and if i can share that to people that are lost praying all the

30:31time on their knees please please help me and god is still going if you find the way and actually

30:37take your step back and look in the full picture and go why am i begging for this why am i begging

30:43to god to give me a better life i already have that life i already have it i already know what i gotta

30:50do i already know what what's in me already so and i think people forget that people forget and

30:57they're distracted and they see the darkness and and they and they and they become weaker and weaker

31:04instead of knowing that man you're a lot more powerful than you think you have no idea what you

31:12could possibly do i mean look we build pyramids we build the coliseum we build the 16 chapel a man

31:19painted it upside down for three years how do you think he did that we have given up on humans as

31:26beans astronomically great because we are praying and giving up and going yes give me give me hollywood

31:33give me agent give me see it works the same way drugs give me my partner that i hate so much give me

31:40all these things are working all upside down they're all working against you and if you find that you can

31:47slow down and go man i really wasted my time and now i see it in a different way and that's what

31:54changes everything so the best years of my life are right now and the things that i'm going to be

32:00doing right now oh i'm just so excited i am so happy and excited about what the world is is going to see

32:08with me it's i am i give myself a hundred percent of credit i love myself so much that like i and the

32:16love that i give myself that i know that i have i give to my wife i give to my kids i give to my work

32:22i give to god i give everything because there's more there's just more and my performance and this

32:28whatever i do and so i'm going to achieve everything it's great i am just uh in a different level right

32:34now i can feel it not any yeah yeah it's true

32:41if you could write a letter to your younger self on the set of general hospital what would you warn

32:49him about and what would you thank him for i would say even back then i would say

32:56everything's going to be all right everything's going to be just fine you just hold on you just

33:05hold on and don't give up and everything's going to be fine and i would say at the time

33:11you're doing just fine just keep doing what you're doing you know i don't you know people always say

33:17you know i i loved you when you were in general hospital or when you did this show and i'm like

33:22i never look back i never that was a time in my life and i appreciate everything that i've done

33:29but there's so much more importance and beauty in the present of right now what's going on right here

33:39that people forget because anytime you go back anytime you they want you to go back because they

33:47want they want to live that moment again it takes it away from the precious time that we have

33:51right here you know what i'm saying and so you can't go back you can't go back in that time

34:00you got to live in the present right now so important to live right now because if you don't

34:05live for the moment anytime you give the credit to that world that you can't have again it takes

34:12it away from the present of right now and that's why it's called a present because it's a gift

34:17to be in the now and if you're here now present in everything that you do you're really active like

34:24i've been i've been talking and blabbering for for a while now you appreciate the life that you're

34:31given where i don't know it's just the amount of love and affection and energy you can give back to

34:39the world when you live it that way i've always seen it with people that i that i admire you know

34:45michael jordan a person that i hung out with i admired that and i always wondered how do you win

34:50these championships because he lived in the moment michael schumacher seven-time world champion god

34:56bless his soul my father the way he'd lived his life to the moment the way he laughed and and and

35:01there was issues that would come in and i would say dad papa i'll call papa i said papa um why aren't

35:09you worried and he'd be like worried about what and i never understood that and now i get it worry

35:17about nothing live in the moment don't worry about anything because that worry of things that you can't

35:23control takes it away from the gift that you have of living in the present and that it means a

35:30truthful honest present and once you live in that honesty like i said peace you can't it's priceless

35:39you can't you can't exchange it you can't pay for it you can't order it on amazon um it's it's

35:47something that few people that we admire that most people admire have and it's called peace

35:52you've lived in the spotlight and in the shadows what has anonymity taught you that fame never could

36:04well famous it's a funny word fame you know what is what is fame you know i'm the only famous person

36:13in my life truthfully has been two people in my life who are really truly been famous

36:20that is jesus christ and my father and they both have something in common they're both the father

36:28figure in my life and everybody else has not what you know fame is based on your last project on the

36:34money or how much success is but fame is is comes and goes it's like a it's like a cold it comes and it

36:46goes it comes and it goes and uh but that piece again is more precious more important so what the

36:54industry has taught me by being at very highs and very lows is that it never matters never none of it

37:00matters none of it truly matters um because if you take one away then it reflects on the other you know

37:08if you're famous one day and you take it away can you live without and most people go to

37:12you know addiction and most people fall off the the the the wagon and and suicide and and the list

37:20goes on because that fame is not there how many children in hollywood who become really famous and

37:26all of a sudden they're not getting hired anymore because they are basing their lives on that fame

37:31because they're not liked anymore they change their aspect they're not kids and cute anymore they're

37:36becoming teenagers and they become and all of a sudden things change and you're not wanted anymore

37:40but are you wanted by who exactly you know so that's weakness and so to me fame is a strange word

37:52it comes and it goes like a cold and um to me the ultimate word is peace

37:58because peace can give you peace no matter what in the storm in the sunlight in the calm in the ocean

38:09or whatever your peace you can conquer anything and if they take that material stuff away that movie

38:15that fame that agency or whatever it is in hollywood you're still okay with it and uh and i wish that

38:23everyone could find that peace because ultimately you will win by having that peaceful warriors will never lose

38:30what's a belief or value you've held on to that the world tried to take from you but you refused to let it go

38:44my faith my faith with jesus christ that is a personal faith it's not with the church it's not with the pastor

38:51it's not with the preacher it's my relationship with christ that is between me and jesus christ and

38:58nobody will ever know that hollywood or everybody else tried to because even even the christian

39:06community has a way of being perfect and trying to teach you how you're supposed to the gospel and

39:11all this you're not going to teach me anything you're not going to tell me how to speak to my

39:15to my jesus christ nobody will not a church not a pastor not a verse from the bible nobody it's me and

39:23jesus christ alone and so over the years i've always been like there's purpose and how you're

39:28supposed to and how you're supposed to do this and i know the relationship with me and christ from birth

39:35that i've had even before birth because christ already knew about me is precious and everyone

39:42should have that relationship because that relationship will build and get stronger and stronger

39:46whereas churches have failed preachers have failed pastors have failed oh my goodness pastors

39:53that i've never cheated and have failed over and over and they have lied but my relationship with christ

40:00has always been solid always so yeah and probably more than ever because and i'm not the one coming

40:09with the bible and going you know you got to follow this or you got to do this you got to go with the

40:13church you got no no no no no if you ask me my relationship and i'll tell you exactly what my

40:17relationship with jesus christ is between me and him you don't have to be in this conversation you'll

40:22never be in this conversation it's between me and jesus and if you don't believe in any of it

40:27it doesn't matter to me one bit um my purpose is to keep having that relationship

40:34that's it because that relationship makes me at peace makes me whole and uh and i appreciate that

40:45uh others others opinions or people's opinions or humans opinions especially not in my life

40:52means absolutely nothing you hit the zero nails through the board with one hammer swing on that i love it

40:58yeah yeah you're in sync you've trained for the ring and for the screen how do you mentally prepare

41:08for a fight versus a film role and which one demands more vulnerability they both do i mean that the

41:17fighting world the world and and the acting world are very similar because you're you're fighting for

41:22something that you don't know the outcome of but you do know that if you put as much work

41:29and concentration and dedication to something that the outcome will be great like to really

41:36focus and do something so perfectly that every minute every every being every part of your being

41:45is part of that that the outcome can only be great there's no insecurities there because the work

41:51and dedication is greater than anything else it's greater than any of anybody else nobody's ever seen

41:58what i do especially the the dedication and the hard work i don't see it i don't see it with professional

42:03athletes you know the the way that i work on things and i back it up i'm not the one to say oh i work

42:11really hard it's me i don't need attention but i take pride in doing something that one percent of the world

42:19is doing and um and that also happened in the in show business because when i do movies i take

42:27the time to get to know the crew i take the time to get to know everybody on the set i don't come in

42:34and go and i'm the actor i'm just going to talk to the actors actually the actors are the last person

42:38people i talked to i want to talk to the makeup artist i want to talk to the transport guy

42:44i want to talk to the guy who's making the food for me you know what i mean those people who work

42:49really hard the the the carpenter who build the set the electrician who put the set and put the cables

42:55down this and and and protected me from not stepping on that cable and getting hurt or the stunt guy

43:02you know i want to talk to those people because those people make the film so my father always taught me

43:08that you go to work you punch in and you punch out you know they they ask me who you hang out

43:14with in the business who's your favorite actors or what i don't i have out of all the actors that i

43:19know nothing to take away from them but but actor a very specific type of people and i'm a normal guy

43:27when i go home i don't want to talk about acting i want nobody wants to hear that i don't talk about

43:31myself i'm talking to you because we're doing an interview but when i'm at home i don't talk about

43:35my movies all the movies that i've done and you know when i go on movie sets i i i want to be real

43:41to the people that i'm talking to and i want to be one of the guys you know i punch in and punch out

43:47you know i have a great friend of mine his name is robert rabia he's my best friend he lives in

43:51australia he's he's a true friend of mine he's my brother he's a well-known actor but besides that

43:58i know a lot of people in the industry i know a lot of people that i work with that i have great

44:02respect but they're not my friends i mean friendship is a different story they are acquaintances

44:09they're you know they're we work together if they need me for anything they can call me and you know

44:13i'm the most professional guy to work on a movie set never had issues i never dated anybody i work

44:18with i never mixed the two but i have real people you know and i don't need that many people anyway i

44:27don't need the entourage i already had that i already had i already had the entourage people

44:31that came and i and i helped them out build them out of prison did all this stuff for many years i'm

44:3653 i lived a full life but i don't have those people in my life they come and go i have my girl i

44:42have my kids i have a few friends that i really love i have my family in italy and that's it and if

44:49they want to hire me they know how to find me if they want to act who's going to push the limits

44:53they got me i'm never going to let them down i'll be the first one on movie set and the last one to

44:56last one to leave and i'll make sure that the movie is perfect and i'll do my job even even more

45:02so they know that um but i'm not the one that goes and hangs out with all these actors and all this

45:09other stuff and talks and does and does the the line game and the and the all those the plane the

45:15show business type and i'm not i'm not that i'm not that i want to do it my way which is real and um

45:23and everybody wants to be a star on the movie set there's no stars there's no such thing i'm an

45:29actor like everybody else you're an actor like everybody else we're part of this movie we're

45:32doing we're playing games we're portraying something that we're not we're having fun it's a circus

45:39and we're getting paid for it but don't treat it like you walk on water because you're not jesus

45:45and most actors do they think that because they're doing films and doing this they they live on a

45:49different stratosphere or they're more important than other people no they're not you're not and

45:54neither am i and um so that's the type of guy i am and so i'm going to keep making movies my way and

46:02with that type of attitude and and and the good people who know me and if you want to have me if

46:07you want to be my friend then you're gonna have to put the time and earn my friendship

46:10because if you do earn my friendship you're going to have a guy next to you who's going to die for

46:17you and there's not many people that will do that especially with honesty and truthfulness which most

46:23people in hollywood don't do because they'll lie to their teeth to get the job they'll lie to keep

46:29your friendship they'll lie to their agents just to be in that environment they'll put their feelings

46:34aside or their true sense because they don't want to get fired with me there's none of that you ask

46:40me something like i said it doesn't matter where i'm at if i'm a press conference front of vanity fair

46:43or the hollywood reporter or the president of paramount pictures i'm going to tell you how i feel

46:49i'm not going to hide away and go oh i got to keep my mouth shut because he's here now that's not me

46:55and um you know it's like living these two lives that hollywood lives you know they talk a big game

47:02about this on the red carpet and they go home and they're drinking six bottles of wine and getting

47:07wasted and then 20 minutes earlier on the red carpet they said well i don't drink i am just clean as a

47:14whisper or i see my family and then some of these actors haven't seen their siblings or their daughters

47:20or their sons in 30 years you see what i mean so i don't lie i keep it honest and uh that's my life

47:30and that's the way i want it that's the way i live it i'm gonna say that is absolutely true that's

47:35why i tell people all the time don't get fooled by the facade it's all smoke and mirrors it is it is

47:45correct a hundred percent you've raised children while navigating public scrutiny what's the most

47:52important lesson you hope they learn from your journey well that their father loves them more than

47:59anything that he's a real guy that there's nobody like their dad somebody who's who's gone overboard

48:07for them and and did everything could possibly do to be the best father possible to be truthful to

48:14showcase that you know also i was not perfect as a father as i was trying to be perfect as a father but

48:19as a human being i was failing at times and also those failures they know that it's part of lives and they

48:25also see that wow my father was honest enough to tell me and my my father was honest as to live an

48:32honest life and and to fight for his beliefs and they have it in them they have it in them uh my

48:39children do and also i keep my my children very private i'm not like one of these hollywood people

48:44that showcase every move they make on social media i know it's part of of our lives but they wake up in

48:50the morning they have to be showcasing everything you know they got to take their kids to school

48:54showcase that they got them every move is made no i i try to keep especially my children very private

49:06and my girl too my partner is very private to me um i'm very proud of her but i also keep my

49:12my my precious things in my life very private if you could direct a film about your life what scene

49:22would you insist be shot in one take and why i would probably have a scene with me and my father

49:31in one scene yeah i would i would i would uh and there's a story that my father wrote called moments that

49:39count um in life moments that count in life but it's moments that count um about a boxer and i'm

49:48going to make this film and um there will be a scene in there where he will talk to his father

49:55and um and i'll be talking to my dad in that scene and um i will make it someday we did it in grace by

50:03night too by the way when when when john's father was in in in the bed pretty much living his last

50:09moments before he went to heaven john's father but um i'm telling you that movie that movie was

50:16had a lot of things that just really made me a better person i'm glad i did it i'm glad that movie was made

50:27what legacy do you want to leave not just in entertainment i got a look at my question or politics

50:34but in the hearts of those who followed your story

50:41it always goes back to the same thing where you know i believe that um life is precious and i know

50:47i want to leave a mark where and it's always the same thing you know when you hear it all the time

50:53you know never given up but it's really true it's like christopher columbus trying to trying to reach the

50:59motherland on the other side and all the sailors are giving up and they want to hang this man and

51:05kill him and go back to go back to spain and go back to italy and he's like give me a chance we're

51:11almost there we're almost there we're almost there we're almost there and to have that faith and ultimately

51:17i guess it would be faith to have faith what is really faith you know how far are you willing to hold

51:24that faith and um faith if has done miracles faith and hope has done so many miracles for people to

51:34stick it around and go i never give up you know i could have i could have given up i could have i

51:39could have let myself go i could i could have taken my life i could have taken my life but i'm still here

51:47what happened if i did take my life you know and look how many things you're doing great by

51:57having that faith and holding on and not giving up that precious life and i think people give that

52:02precious life away and you'll never know and so hold on to that faith because

52:09what if you do reach the motherland you know so i guess i would leave that i would leave having

52:21faith and hope and and never giving up until you reach that motherland until you reach your dreams and

52:26your goals no matter what if there's one thing you want to set the record straight about

52:35what would it be i'm not going anywhere i'm not i'm not going anywhere i'm never going to retire

52:44i'm never going to stop making movies i'm never going to stop boxing i'm never going to stop racing cars

52:51i'm never going to stop my loving my girl and my children and and making the impossible possible i'm

52:57never going to stop doing that period i'm never going to stop loving jesus christ so all those things

53:02yeah and uh and i'm never gonna stop stop loving my country of italy my the passion that that

53:09country has in my bloodline the italian passion which is beautiful and uh and and what this

53:16country of america has taught me you know as well so yeah i'm not going anywhere anything you want

53:24to close with i just want to thank you for having me on i um i want to thank all the fans everyone

53:31who's watching all the viewers and listeners um i want to wish everyone nothing but the best uh in

53:38everything that they're doing or going through um yeah i think uh i want to i want to leave them with

53:45the best is yet to come you know keep smiling keep breathing keep looking at the sun and the moon

53:54and uh and look in the mirror you know look in the mirror look at yourself and go

53:59hey i'm not too bad i'm not too bad no you're not you're outstanding man this has been incredible

54:09i'm always here for you no matter what and if you ever need an actor for your film oh yeah please

54:14sure we always do the pr for free i'll come in and i'll i'll help with with the pr of it

54:20listen let's let's hope that i'm in a position to do that for you and so many others and and give

54:26more productions and and be able to do that which is going to happen and um yeah let's let's let's

54:32see what happens the best is yet to come absolutely so once again we've got antonio sabato jr he's a

54:38race car driver an established actor model professional boxer and he's going to be at harris in philadelphia

54:46on saturday uh the 28th this week at 7 30 p.m you can rsvp at x rumble.com especially if you are a

54:57journalist i don't know if they do are they doing anything outside of the media or is this just yeah

55:03yeah anybody can show up just rsvp and obviously we want the fans the the viewers uh anyone can show

55:08up yeah you're welcome and this is just the press conference the official fight we need to find out

55:15later on or we will yeah you will find out that night it's going to be in downtown philadelphia

55:20you'll be able to find everything out at celebrityboxing.com they also have an app celebrity

55:25boxing get downloaded and we'll post the venue you'll be able to buy tickets next week for the

55:31fight uh september 26th in philadelphia and um and you'll be able to watch it and see it in person as

55:38well starting very soon and you can get everything at celebrityboxing.com or the app and all things

55:45is antonio sabato jr that we are connected on instagram but that is your name full handle yeah

55:51yeah my full handle is antonio sabato jr on instagram uh and also celebrity boxing puts a lot

55:58of stuff out there as well but yeah check me out on instagram that'll be the easiest way and

56:02i'll post all the things that i can as soon as i know i want to thank everyone who's tuned in

56:08to live on air with steven cuoco on power 98.5 satellite radio power 985.com download the app

56:15tune in on alexa power 98.5 is available on apple music and we stream live on like seven eight other

56:21platforms such as live radio fm streamer my tuner live fm and more if you happen to miss this live

56:31live live live episode on power 98.5 it will be available on any one of your favorite podcast

56:37platforms spotify iheart radio apple music and amazon music but we always want you to be here

56:44first and foremost is on power 98.5 so check the schedule this episode will re-air again as a live

56:53i'm thinking will probably be tomorrow's friday maybe saturday sunday i mean we've got to get it in

57:01for like at least the 28th so i'm going to say check the schedule we're going to either have it

57:05for friday or on saturday and like i said this should be available on your pod favorite podcast

57:11platforms uh no later than by saturday as well uh any upcoming films post-production pre-production

57:20anything like that that we should be watching on top of oh yeah this this fall i have a movie coming

57:25out a horror movie called 426 from uh ephesians 426 it's a full distribution nationwide it'll be

57:32in theaters this fall 426 red is are they having a red carpet opening premiere they will have it i

57:38think in detroit where we shot it so yeah we will have it in detroit this fall and uh i'm very excited

57:46about this film this is another good one real good one and then also grace by night i've got to watch

57:51that one yeah grace by night all right that's awesome first time i ever heard of a red carpet

57:57premiere in detroit yeah it's a beautiful town i really love shooting there and working in detroit

58:03it's really one of my favorite towns it's really blown up i'm really i'm really happy about what's

58:07going on in detroit in the film industry but also overall it's i was just there uh playing golf with

58:13mark walberg and uh and wonderful um champions boxers and stuff and um it's beautiful it's a beautiful

58:20town well thank you again and thank you to everyone we love you be well live well as antonia had shared

58:31you know hold your faith close to you if you are a person of faith and are faithful and remember you

58:37have it all within you have a great day everyone

58:39on your socials and let's connect

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