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Welcome to day 204 of Saudi Arabia saving boxing by smothering the life out of the American boxing scene.
If it feels like it’s been ages since we had a quality high-end domestic show in the States, that’s because it HAS been ages. It’s been since June 15 and the Tank Davis/David Benavidez double-header, to be exact (204 days ago), since we’ve had a big show put together by an American promoter, in the United States.
So, yeah, Turki and the Saudis are saving boxing.
But I digress.
There is no boxing to speak of these days and nothing really noteworthy until the January 24 Naoya Inoue slaughter of Sam Goodman. And if we’re talking an actual competitive fight, then you’d have to wait until David Benavidez vs. David Morrell on February 1, delivered with a damn fine Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton 2 prelude.
For now, boxing fans have nothing to talk about beyond social media gossip and memories of better days.
In that spirit of nothingness, here are my thoughts on a few things of (my) interest these last few days:
– Per social media rumblings, Devin Haney is preparing for his comeback. And so what?
Haney will always bear a scarlet letter for me as the guy whose lack of preparedness and general overconfidence allowed Ryan Garcia to become a main stage presence like stinkweed growing between the cracks of a sidewalk.
For as much as I admired Haney’s business moxie in taking short money to get the Kambosos fights that would allow him entry to a next-level opportunity, I recognize that everything after that has been less than scintillating.
Yeah, he twice outclassed a very easily out-classable George Kambosos. He followed that up by barely losing to (in my opinion) a significantly smaller Vasiliy Lomachenko and then decisioning a dead-legged Regis Prograis.
His subsequent whupping by a sloppy-as-hell Ryan Garcia was prodigious when it comes to a loss against a 6-to-1 underdog. It was the kind of worldwide de-pantsing that saps a young man’s confidence and, in many fans’ minds, turns him into an afterthought. Garcia testing positive for the banned substance ostarine seems to have provided Team Haney with false confidence, but, believe me, Haney is shook and his “shookness” will present itself the first moment he finds some real resistance in a solid opponent.
– It’s disgusting how dismissive some people have been when it comes to the career and achievements of Claressa Shields, just because they “don’t like her personality.” Some boxing people need to grow the fuck up.
I remember several years back, when Shields was turning pro. I was practically laughed out of the room by some boxing old-timers when I said that Shields and female boxing, in general, were going to become a draw in the coming years. Well, I was right.
Women’s boxing is still plagued by the lack of a deep talent pool, but this is just, really, the first generation of female boxing being a legit partner to men’s boxing. Ladies like Shields, Amanda Serrano, and Katie Taylor are inspiring girls to pick up the gloves and we should see more depth in the years to come.
As for Shields– what else does she have to do to earn respect? She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a four-division world champ as a pro, with undisputed 4-belt champ status in two of those divisions. She’s fought who’s out there and has never even come close to losing in fifteen fights.
Again, boxing people need to grow the fuck up. This ain’t a “let’s be friends” popularity contest. Give the woman her due.
– Have you noticed that there’s been zero “how many buys did it get” talk when it comes to the December 21 Usyk-Fury 2 pay-per-view? I wonder why that is, while select other shows seem to be plagued by sales queries starting the Monday after the event. It couldn’t have anything to do with paid-for narratives being pushed online…
– Well, FFS, there’s really not a lot interesting happening. There’s so little of note that I’ll close this week’s Notes from the Boxing Underground column with a personal follow-up on last week’s column where I openly debated leaving this boxing world behind.
And, well, I still don’t know if I should be done with it.
Everything inside my brain tells me to ditch this rotten mess and the people who go out of their way to try and starve me out of the business. There’s a little spot in the heart, though, that wants to keep fighting. When I see the normalizing of boxing history and journalism being co-opted by a murderous monarchy for the purpose of hiding bloody hands rather than cleaning them, it hits me right in the gut. And then seeing some of these wildly compromised media people on social media actually bragging about how rich and powerful their “excellency,” Turki is? Yeah. Anyone who is even half-a-man and one-quarter invested in things like ethics and morals should be cringing.
The truth is that if I go away, there IS no voice of dissent to all of this. And, eventually, this stuff becomes standard, normalized, and legitimized. Even WITH me around, this is bound to happen, though, because the big media voices have way more reach than me. But at least someone, somewhere will be pushing back.
No matter what I decide in the coming days, my love for the sport remains intact.
I want to thank those who’ve reached out to me over the last week and have offered kind words, inspiration, and some ideas on how to proceed. I appreciate your input. We’ll see how this goes.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.
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