Why Every Man Should Learn to Fight (It's Not What You Think)
My interview with Ed Latimore.
In a world where 27% of men under 30 are virgins and male testosterone has dropped 59% since 1972, former heavyweight boxer Ed Latimore believes the solution isn't what most people expect.
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It's not about violence or aggression—it's about something much deeper that our society has forgotten.
Ed grew up poor and black in an environment where everyone expected him to think a certain way.
Instead, his experiences led him to embrace self-reliance and personal responsibility—values that naturally aligned with what some call "conservative" thinking, though Ed sees it simply as living in reality.
But Ed's most controversial insight isn't political. It's about masculinity itself, and why the modern world is systematically destroying young men through comfort, convenience, and the elimination of necessary hardship.
The conversation took an unexpected turn when Ed referenced a 1980s interview with Yuri Bezmenov, a defected KGB agent who outlined the Soviet plan to destabilize America psychologically. "We don't need to come in and take over a country violently," Bezmenov explained. "First, we'll co-opt your institutions over 15-20 years, make everyone sympathetic to Marxist causes, and eventually people will be so confused you could show them facts to their face and they'll say 'No, you're crazy.'"
Ed believes this psychological warfare, combined with social media algorithms that amplify the loudest and most negative voices, has created a generation of men who retreat from reality into digital comfort zones.
Connect with
Website: https://edlatimore.com
Twitter: @edlatimore
Books: Hard Lessons From the Hurt Business: Boxing and The Art of Life
The Fighting Solution
Ed's prescription isn't about becoming a professional fighter—it's about what happens when you commit to training for a fight for 6-12 months:
Physical Transformation: Whatever your weight or health issues, you'll fix them. The opportunity cost of gym time means you won't be sitting around wasting time on Netflix or TikTok.
Real Friendships: "If you train in a gym for a year, it will be impossible to not have friends. You'll be kicked out if you're not able to work with people." Fighting gyms create bonds through shared struggle that can't be replicated in digital spaces.
Attraction and Confidence: "If you can take care of yourself and you're strong and together, you're going to attract women into your life. That's a problem a lot of guys don't even get to solve because they haven't solved the first one—getting a ticket to the dance."
Facing Fear: Any combat sport forces you to confront fear in a controlled environment with real consequences, building resilience that transfers to every area of life.
The Psychological Immune System
Ed draws a fascinating parallel between physical and psychological health using insights from "The Epidemic of Absence," a book about allergies:
"As a country's GDP goes up, its incidents of food allergies also go up because the environment becomes cleaner. Your immune system doesn't have anything to fight, so it attacks harmless proteins in peanuts or shellfish."
The same principle applies psychologically: "We don't have anything to conquer, anything to put the human nature of conflict behind. So we invent it. We find it in each other."
Without real challenges, men create artificial conflicts—political polarization, online arguments, and cultural battles that serve no productive purpose.
The Toxic Masculinity Trap
Ed refuses to accept the term "toxic masculinity" because it hijacks the conversation: "I would bet no positive, masculine male came up with this phrase. It was either a woman or a wolf in sheep's clothing."
The real issue isn't that masculinity is toxic—it's that we've removed all the positive outlets for masculine energy while demonizing the traits that built civilization.
"What we do see is that we got a lot of guys who are affected, who are behind in every metric of life. We are behind women significantly in graduation rates, employment, and social development. But no one wants to address that because they're still parroting statistics from the 1970s."
The Retreat from Reality
Modern life offers infinite ways to avoid discomfort: "Netflix is incredible. I popped on TikTok last night and before I knew it, I had wasted 15 minutes watching some kid play Mortal Kombat. There are so many ways to numb yourself and be a passive consumer."
Ed contrasts this with how previous generations built resilience: "When we were growing up, if we wanted to talk to a girl, we had to ask for her phone number. Sometimes you got clowned and everybody knew. Then you had to call and probably talk to her father first. All of that is resilience-building activity where you face the possibility of rejection."
Today's men can "slide into DMs" without ever facing real rejection, missing crucial opportunities to build emotional resilience.
The Parenting Crisis
Ed's most passionate moment came when discussing parenting: "If you're not involved with your children's life, that triggers a cascade effect. You're not teaching them how to interact with people, and they're going to end up creating another kid who goes underground to forums or joins gangs because 'they get him.'"
The solution requires intentional engagement: "You need to talk to your children. You need to interact with them. You need to discuss what you're doing at work, why you're making decisions. If we're not engaging with our kids, we're opening the door to crazy people with agendas."
The Rub
Ed Latimore's message isn't about returning to some mythical past—it's about recognizing that comfort and convenience, while pleasant, don't build character. In a world that's systematically removing challenge, hardship, and real consequences from young men's lives, we're creating a generation unprepared for reality.
Learning to fight isn't about violence—it's about learning to face fear, build genuine relationships, and develop the confidence that comes from knowing you can handle whatever life throws at you.
As Ed puts it:
"You don't have to win all your fights, but you do have to fight all your fights."
The question isn't whether you'll face adversity—it's whether you'll be prepared when it comes.
This is the way.
Hanley
P.S. Find more episodes of The Ryan Hanley Show.