RIP OLYMPIC BOXING, SOUTHEAST ASIA EURO TOURNAMENT, SAUDI ARABIA BUYOUT, MORE… || FIGHTHYPE.COM

This Thursday, like every Thursday, I ask you to pull up a chair next to my bulging, bulging bag and watch me fire a barrage of salty, viscous truths into the faces of boxing’s idiot purveyors. This week, we have questions/comments about champion-bashing, Eastern Europeans being demeaned, the death of Olympic boxing, and maintaining dignity in the face of Saudi takeovers.

Keep your dignity, boxer!

Hello Chief!

I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing, the absolute lack of dignity of many involved in the boxing industry. It was astonishing, to say the least. Of course, I’m talking about the Saudi guy who took on the role of boxing dictator.

There were many things that surprised me. But what really caught my attention was his induction into the Nevada Hall of Fame.

Of course you’ll be on the right side of history when this Saudi nonsense is over. But seeing Oscar de la Hoya and Roberto Duran on their knees, worshipping a guy just for his money, is really, really sad.

Imagine you are ODH. You have won everything. You are a legend. Your brand means gold. In the case of Mano de Piedra, you are probably the best lightweight ever and probably the best athlete in the history of your country. Yet you agree to lower your value by acting like a rich man’s pet. By the way, it is incomprehensible, impossible, a real test of one’s patience to see someone say “sir” to this guy. Come on!!!! By the way, thanks Canelo for not jumping on the Saudi wagon (at least for now).

Sorry to complain. It’s just that this is so obvious it’s unbelievable. Boxing is selling its collective soul.

– Carlos, from Hermosillo, Mexico

Hi Carlos.

I’ve reached the point where I’m speechless about the undignified nature of boxing and the painfully short-sighted “take the money now, forget about tomorrow” business strategy. People are probably tired of me talking about it.

It’s baffling that the boxing businessmen can’t see where all this could be (and probably IS) going. Turki isn’t here to “save” boxing, he’s here to TAKE boxing — or at least bring enough boxing back home to help his country in its quest to turn Riyadh into a global tourist attraction and sports/entertainment hub. He’s here for that, and the boxing businessmen are shoving the keys to the business into his hands, beating up their own people and upending their own plans all for a quick buck. I’ve said it before, but all of these people — the promoters, the managers, the networks, even the media — are all putting themselves out of business by working with the Saudis.

Yes, in the short term we will have some decent matches, but handing everything over to a murderous dictator with no history of fair business practices and no long-term commitment to the sport, who is outside our jurisdiction, is not good for the long-term health of the sport. And we will see that soon.

Go ahead, take criticism

Hey Paul,

Why do some fighters get criticized for not looking great when they step up in weight/fight? To me, it makes sense that your fights are going to be more competitive. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but for my money, I really like competitive fights. As a fighter, you’re not going to look great against everyone. Benavidez, Morrell, Crawford, and now Vergil Ortiz are all under scrutiny for their latest performances. I really enjoyed the Ortiz-Bohachuk brawl, regardless of the controversy. It reminded me a little of Corrales-Castillo I.

I wish we had more exciting fights, and more fighters who dare to challenge themselves to become greater.!

Best regards.

–Reggie Cannon

Hey Reggie.

Fans are just fickle. Boxing fans are especially fickle. People just want to complain about everything and social media has given people a platform to do that. What you often see is people who are bitching about how bad a fighter looks are people who have some sort of agenda against them. People are just running around with a raging confirmation bias, trying to reverse engineer themselves to be right.

Just do what I do and what smart boxers do – ignore them. Complaints and criticisms mean nothing.

Disrespectful to Eastern Europeans

Paul,

Fans of the sport must be worried that Eastern European talent is being overlooked or ostracized.

Now that Madrimov has had a good fight with Bud, Madrimov is now in a no-fly zone for any American/British promoters. Damn you Uzbeks. [Olympic] Boxers won gold in five of the seven men’s categories. I doubt any of them, apart from Jalolov, will achieve anything significant in the professional categories. Not by skill, but by chance. What do you think about that?

This naturally leads to my next question. What is happening to Olympic Boxing? Is it even a sport? No helmets? Jalolov, who is 14-0 with 14 knockouts, won easily. I just don’t understand what Olympic Boxing has become. I know there is a problem with it even being a sport in the next Olympics. I remember when the Olympics was the gateway to the professional ranks. What happened?

– Greg

Hey Greg.

I happen to think that Eastern European fighters get way too much respect from the boxing media. Unfortunately for some of those fighters, media love has nothing to do with marketability or moneymaking potential.

As much as we might like to think otherwise, boxing stardom is not necessarily a meritocracy. The best fighters are not always the biggest. Fans buy what excites and entertains them, and many Eastern European fighters do not inspire the same excitement in Western consumers. Trust me, if these guys had the money, the boxing world would be fighting to put them on the main stage.

There are many factors that come into play with these fighters and their inability to sell. Language issues come into play. Often being more reserved and less outgoing is a factor. Even something as silly as having a name that is hard to spell can be a factor.

In Madrimov’s case, doing well against Crawford did little to boost his box office appeal. If anything, it hurt his ability to get big fights down the road, as he’s now established himself as a high-risk, low-reward opponent. The Saudis may keep him in the big fights, but those guys operate at a loss and their business model is certainly not a realistic boxing business model.

What about Olympic boxing? Amateur boxing has done a lot of damage to itself over the years, eventually leading to the sport no longer being an Olympic event. The implementation of the punch points system stifled the amateur game – and led to a flood of professional boxers who touch-touch-touch, point-first. The removal of helmets was a step in the right direction, but too little, too late. Ultimately, their failure to curb corruption was the final straw for boxing.

It’s a shame. Losing the Olympics would be a huge blow to the development of martial artists. And, symbolically, it’s a tough loss.

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