There was only a black door on the ground floor of a drab building somewhere near Royal Park in an uncharacteristic part of North London.
That wasn’t the only mystery of the day.
Inside is a boxing gym and the rest, as it is said, is history. There was a topless man in a denim suit and cowboy boots. There are other cowboys, lots of them. Every ten minutes, a new outcast from the outcasts arrives. And there will be noise, jostling, filming and each fighter will enter the ring for his part.
They are raw, some very poor. And I’m just talking about the coaches. There are exceptions, for sure. Mark Tibbs is regal and his boxer, Elle Brooke, is the classiest thing on display. Elle is a good little warrior now. Too many other trainers let their fighters throw ridiculous routine punches from some imaginary boxing world. A lot of people are living the boxing dream behind that black door.
I guess, it all happened in another world of boxing. Welcome to the world of cross boxing.
News last week that DAZN had agreed to an impressive five-year deal with Misfits Boxing, a company run and founded by KSI, Mams Taylor and Kalle Sauerland, seemed to resonate with a lot of people in the long-standing boxing world. uncomfortable.
I attended the open training session and believe me, the outrage is unwarranted. It’s not necessary. This is not a military coup from within, these happy, crazy and lost souls won’t come in the middle of the night for your DVD collection of Ray’s “Boom Boom” battles. Mancini.
If in three years DAZN gives up real boxing and just shows Misfits boxing, it’s not because the topless cowboy has perfected the bolo punch, but because boxing has refused to change, preferring question and listen. And, if I heard one more person say to me, “That’s not real boxing,” I would probably scream. It doesn’t mean real boxing, it’s their boxing – it’s cross boxing.
The men running this show took elements of the UFC and WWE and created a boxing franchise; they took the ring, the glove and the bell from boxing. What else can they get from us? Our secret payment method? We don’t have the ability to make fighting happen? The refusal to use common sense? Our long tradition of brutal nonconformity? Our ability to put on demonic undercards? Whisper away, but Misfits don’t need us!
Last week, deep in the harsh boxing heart of Wembley Arena, the fans, the Misfits loyalists, changed the game. They come early and stay late – so do the UFC guys. It’s full of people, vibrant and they love it. A head-to-head comparison with Anthony Yarde and Artur Betterbiev will be available next Saturday. Sadly, that doesn’t look favourable, and surely someone on Twitter will tell me Yarde is going to take down KSI. A better fight might be KSI against Tommy Fury.
This game, our sacred business, should tell great battle stories. Rage against KSI works, but so does Virgo Idris against Fury. You see, Virgo is undefeated in 13 professional matches. At Wembley, he beat Anthony Taylor, one of the stars to pass two. Taylor beat Jack Fincham in Dubai in a no-judgment fight; Fincham won Love Island and Virgo and Fury were both contestants on Love Island. Virgo knows too much about Taylor. Sweet Idris then screams for Fury. It’s all funny stuff, but it works.
Anyway, back to Wembley: And, for sure, a lot of bad fights compared to semi-final day at Haringey BoxCup. However, I do know that the organizers of the BoxCup desperately want one of the Misfits to help sell out that event’s tickets and secure its future. No one from within the professional boxing world has offered a dime. Not a penny.
The fighters I met behind that black door were all newbies. They’re loud, polite, funny, and in the ring, they all do their best to look like seasoned pros. Some are terrible and others show some potential. The loudest have challenged known and unknown warriors. There’s a lot of competition in this scandalous world of YouTube, OnlyFans’ obsession, and the lucrative field of being an influencer. “We have a lot of matches to make, but it’s not always that easy,” Taylor said. By the way, he also told me that Misfits now make every boxer fully aware of what they are being paid for. It turned out that one or two managers on previous shows had taken a very generous percentage and the fighters were unaware. Too much, that would never happen in real boxing. That’s right.
If fighting fighters make you extremely angry but you have no other reason than they are all trash, then maybe you need to sit in a dark room for a bit. Put Salvador Sanchez against Azumah Nelson and take a breather. Nelson paid a great price for that fight, and his people desperately hope he doesn’t get over the shock. He was told not to try too hard at one point! That is a disgrace. One day Azumah told me that story at his house in Accra. I was offended, almost in tears as the great man spoke. He was banished, but we still loved and watched the fight. It’s old boxing, old school.
Here’s an idea for all those who are angered by KSI and his group of merry men and women, why not channel your anger into charity and donate a dime to Ringside Charitable Trust? That way, you’ll be an angry fan supporting struggling boxers, not just an angry fan.
OK, rant over.
*** To donate to the Ringside Charitable Trust, visit ringsiderestandcare.com ***
