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Well, this was like finding a crisp twenty dollar bill on my front porch after an editor’s check gets held up in “processing” for the second straight week.
The newly re-launched, “new era,” Saudi-fueled, Turki-run Ring Magazine website actually had the audacity to run a column about ethics in journalism.
Holy-fucking-shitballs-in-your-keffiyeh!
Seriously, I forgot that Ring TV was even back. Saturday night, though, I was stuck for Notes from the Boxing Underground ideas and decided to check out the site for the first time in a long while.
My notion was to maybe make a tally of how many times the staff of Turki Alalshikh’s easiest acquisition paid homage to Turki and lathered his belly like the good concubines that they are. Lord knows, Ring Magazine’s social media feeds have become cringe-worthy virtual tongue baths paying tribute to the figurehead for Saudi Arabia’s boxing takeover, with some of the garbled mess seemingly written by the man himself. For example, there was this puzzling gem from a few days ago: “Turki Alalshikh exclusively announced for The Ring Magazine…The Ring is the Bible of Boxing and we are close to see the white smoke in the horizon…2025 will be a crazy year for boxing and I mean it.”
Indeed.
Anyway, I was barely on the site for thirty seconds when this headline jumped into my eyes like a burning-hot habhar shaqra seed:
“The Idec Index: Beware Boxing Fans, You Can’t Believe Everything You Read On The Internet”
Ooooh, this little editorial was going to be good. “Good” in a sadistically ironic way, of course.
First, because Keith Idec is not exactly known for his fluid, Hemingwayesque prose. He’s more of a “write-the-same-article-several-times-a-week-for-a-decade” kind of writer. That’s not necessarily a knock on the guy, though. I mean, shit, not everything can be “A Farewell to Arms.” Shampoo bottles need writing, too!
But, no, the really “good” part of this Ring TV column was what I knew would be coming– and I wasn’t disappointed.
In the sand-colored new pages of “new era” Ring Magazine was Idec’s epically tone-deaf, self-righteous blasting of faux journalists who needed to strengthen their “ethical standards” and who should avoid “sullying” their “own outlet’s reputation through questionable behaviors.” This, of course, written by a guy who works for a guy with a very sketchy past and a public bromance with people wanted by the FBI in connection with the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The not-so-funny reality in all of this Saudi/Turki takeover stuff is that the same Saudi monarchy funding this whole endeavor is also funding some serious crimes against humanity– and I’m not just talking about charging 8 bucks shipping, per issue, for the re-born print edition of Ring Magazine.
Idec has taken up for Alalshikh before, once amusingly opining how an introspective Turki (who recently had some kid sentenced to 19 years in prison for an insulting soccer-related Tweet aimed at him), in a “quiet moment,” would probably take back the harsh words he publicly aimed at Canelo Alvarez.
I mean, what can I say? Some people really, really like the people who sign their paychecks.
By the way, the kudos thrown in his column to DAZN’s coverage of the inaugural Ring Magazine black-tie awards gala was also a nice touch, a true lesson in “ethical standards” and surely a harbinger of further “ethical standards” to come.
Idec’s entire piece was astoundingly lacking in self-awareness, like obese self-proclaimed “Boxing Lifer” Rick Glaser cracking fat jokes about Dan Rafael…or Turki talking about Ring Magazine being a “fully independent” media venture.
Something like this, because it IS so brazenly tone deaf, makes you wonder whether it’s really just part of an editorial decision to sand blast a narrative off a wall where simply re-painting it would no longer suffice.
In the coming months, as stated by Alalshikh himself, the goal is for Ring Magazine to become a de facto promoter, sponsoring boxing events which his staff will then cover, glowingly. We already see them selling the shit out of a cynical Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jr. pairing (Per Idec: It “should satisfy boxing fans far and wide”) and bukkake-basting Turki from all angles, at all times.
Things will get worse as these Ring Magazine/Turki/Saudi shows roll out and it becomes imperative for Ring staff to sell the events and their pretend rankings/titles like their jobs depend on it (they will).
Maintaining moral/ethical high ground during the days of the Oscar De La Hoya-owned Ring Magazine was tough, but writers were lucky that Oscar was wildly disinterested in mundane office-level supervision. Under Turki, these people will be made to put out, like the you-know-whats that they are.
It would be advisable for anyone working for new Saudi-owned media, like Ring Magazine, or Saudi-influenced media, like Yahoo’s Uncrowned, to refrain from talk about ethics and morals. It’s silly to the point of being creepy, a little like getting a lecture from an old crack whore about the virtues of chastity and sobriety.
In the meantime, fans would be wise to heed Idec’s words. They really CAN’T believe what they read on the internet, especially when it comes to boxing.
As long as boxing media is controlled by enemies of free speech who’ve purchased entire publications for use as promotional tools, you won’t be able to trust anything you see or hear.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com
