TANK-ROACH AND A GOOD-BYE TO BOXING || FIGHTHYPE.COM

Hello boxing fans and dedicated haters. Here’s another week’s worth of my bulbous sack, bulging with gooey, salty truth, in your face. Enjoy. This week, we have comments/questions regarding the Tank Davis-Lamont Roach debacle and a good-bye to boxing.

The Tank-Roach Mess I

Hey Magno,

I usually don’t write in back-to-back weeks, but I had to this week. I read your comments from this week’s “Notes”. It was spot on. The judges actually did a good job scoring the bout. So, there was no robbery in that sense. But the incompetence of Steve Willis is inexcusable. You either know the rules or you don’t. This young man Roach was on top of his game and should have been rewarded for his preparation and game plan. Instead, he has to settle for a draw and will again get the lower purse for the rematch. Meanwhile, Steve Willis will probably get the call for more PBC events because he clearly favors the house fighter(s).

As for Tank, he needs to decide if he really wants to continue fighting. Not to take anything away from what Roach did in the fight, but Tank looked uninterested. He still has the name recognition to sell out arenas. But one too many lapses in focus could change all of that.

Regards.

– Reggie Cannon

Hey Reggie.

Gervonta Davis has been looking increasingly disinterested in boxing for awhile now. On Saturday, he just came across the wrong guy to be disinterested against in Lamont Roach. Unlike so many other Tank opponents, Roach was not overwhelmed by the event. He just did his thing and showcased a controlled style that required a flat Davis to give more than he had. Davis has gotten into the bad habit of coasting in his fights and, as I said awhile back, he was eventually going to come across someone he couldn’t half-ass his way against before turning on the burners to close the show. Roach was that someone. 

I’m guessing that we may see Tank at 100% for the rematch. From what he’s been saying, he looks to have a serious case of wounded pride and there’s now a chip on his shoulder to redeem himself. We’ll see, but this kind of malaise happens when a well-paid fighter is not being challenged. Davis needs to step up with a different degree of opposition or just leave the sport entirely. It’s impossible to be halfway in and halfway out if you want long-term success in boxing. 

The Tank-Roach Mess II

The referee Saturday night was star struck and we’ve seen this guy in the past become a fan while refereeing fights. So I’m not surprised that it was him who gave the A side the favorable treatment. However, as shady as boxing can be. I still find reason to believe that they still would’ve robbed Roach of a victory. On two of the three cards the judges had Roach down going into the 12th. I thought roach was up 6 rounds to 5 going into the 12th.

Lamont Roach gets major props for his effort and sticking to his game plan. His most impressive feat was staying disciplined and dedicated to his game plan. He didn’t waver at all and stuck with it all night. He never got rattled or baited. 

Do you think Tank got exposed or was this just an off night?  Whether he was exposed or not, his heart as a fighter must be questioned. Does he even want to be the face of American boxing. Is he cherishing the position that he’s in? 

We’ve seen Tank go all in on bashing his former mentor and promoter Floyd Mayweather.  Contrary to Tank’s effort, Floyd would never exert a fraction of the carelessness Tank showed on Saturday night. The path Tank has been on over the past few years has stenches of an Adrien Broner like ending.

– Na’-il Rahman

Hey Na’-il.

Like I mentioned above, I’ve seen Tank become increasingly disinterested in boxing over the last few fights and that happens when someone is just not being challenged. An athlete loses his purpose if not properly challenged or engaged. I think that’s what Tank’s problem is right now. Mayweather was a special breed. He was self-motivated to an almost obsessive degree and he just never let his competitive spirit slip. Most people are not like that, though…not even elite-level athletes. 

Saturday WAS an off night for Tank, but it was off because Tank just couldn’t summon the fire against someone who wasn’t going to make the mistakes that generally allow Tank to slip his way back into a fight. I don’t think we’ll see an Adrien Broner-level fall from grace, but Tank will be beaten if he can’t find that internal motivation to execute at his highest level. 

Good-bye Boxing

Hello Paul,

I hope this email will find you. I still am not 100% what I want to convey with it, maybe just vent my frustrations, maybe it will be a pointless exercise in excuse-making, maybe it’s that I suck at goodbyes.

Theoretically speaking I should write two separate letters, one to you, one to boxing itself. But since for years I couldn’t conceive the existence of boxing without your opinion (as often you represented the lone sane voice), I’ll do one for all.

Lately I’ve become more and more indifferent towards the sport that I once held in high regard/esteem. For two decades I found archives, footage, fights from the 70s on, and kept all of that religiously, re-watching old fights from time to time, interviews. I listened to different voices as an exercise to be open-minded as one possibly can.

No, I am no boxing expert, never claimed to be. Just a dude who needed his sort of “weekend boxing fix”.

I was in love with what the sport represents at its core and tolerated all the circus around boxing as a sort of “necessary evil”. I was even guilty at one point having absurd “allegiances” towards fighters and promoters. guilty as charged. I was pro-Mayweather, never pro-Pacquiao. Over time I found the absurdity of it all, as I started to really appreciate the sport at its core.

Back in my youth I spent hours reading articles, daydreaming about possible fights that more often than not were “cockblocked” by promoters and or fighters themselves. Discussing about P4P standings, ranking fighters all-time and such bullcrap. Again, guilty as charged. I was a “mark” (wrestling lingo).

Lately I don’t see myself being able to enjoy boxing like I used to. The constant shilling of commentators, post-fight analysis as enjoyable as a prostate exam….it was there before, only that now I can’t take it.

Point in case: Fury vs Usyk 2. What I saw was two guys past their primes (age matters!), failing to create any sort of excitement other than “near-misses”. As I had to listen to every commentator and pundit calling it “one of the greatest fights of all time”, it kind of clicked in my head. Like turning of a switch. I said to myself: “No more, I can’t heart it. I don’t want any part of it.”

I will be forever grateful to boxing for the good times, the excitement needed to wake up at 3am in Italy, watching silently every undercard till the main event as my then girlfriend now wife was sleeping. But as I am getting older, I am getting more and more fed up with boxing’s politics that I reached a point of non-return. Having a two year old daughter who needs attention also helps in understanding that my world doesn’t have to be as frustrating as it is, Why should I keep adding stressful activities?

I know, maybe I was never a true boxing fan after all. Maybe I was just a poser. I’ll leave you and only you to draw the conclusion. You’ll be the judge. “I’m fair but I’m firm” (ah, the old Mills Lane).

I don’t think I’ll ever come back because deep down I realized that the sport of boxing is FUBAR. Fucked Up Beyond Any Repair. Its failure to act in every single way like some sort of regular sport is appalling, as of late. And reducing everything to two noble warriors fighting it out for survival every single fight is getting old.

Over the years (since 2012 I think) I read many of your scathing rants, ironic pieces, pleas to sanity, etc etc. You know I’ve been as faithful as they come.

One analogy that now comes to mind is you likening boxing to a shitty fast-food restaurant, hell-bent in serving shit-sandwiches and telling customers that “they better be thankful for it”. Or boxing being an abusive partner and us fans being the abused wife. Again, spot on.

What I am trying to say is that I just don’t want it anymore. I quit.

To boxing (in the words of Jim Cornette): THANK YOU, FUCK YOU, BYE.

– Edoardo from Italy

Hey Edoardo.

I get emails like this all the time from other fans, just not as heartfelt and post-worthy as yours. The sport is losing many of its die-hard fans, for the same reasons you mentioned. Throw in the two and sometimes three-tier paywall system in place now, plus foreign interests removing the sport from where its fans actually are, and I totally get it. I see it in my own personal circle of friends who have gone from die-hard, watch-everything fandom to utter disinterest in a matter of just a couple years. These are people who used to have Friday Night Fights watch parties and, now, they don’t even marginally follow the sport. 

As for falling out of love with boxing. It happens. Maybe I shouldn’t admit this as a boxing writer making his living in boxing, but I’m not particularly fond of the sport right now, either. 

The old saying is that if you saw how sausage was made, you’d never eat sausage again. That’s also true for boxing. Once you really, really learn all the games and sleight of hand, it’s hard to love the sport. What works for me, though, is to focus just on those honest moments in the ring, when it’s just man vs. man and know that what goes on in boxing’s name is something completely separate from the actual fighting. It also helps to tune out boxing media as a whole and let the propaganda and bullshit just wash past you. 

Boxing is a beautiful woman…who smells like piss and farts. So, if you want to come back, just put a clothespin on your nose and go in hard. 

But I definitely hear you and I truly appreciate you reading all of my ramblings for all these years. I hope you do find your passion for the sport again and come back, because what we really need to make things better is people who actually care, feel, and want to do things right. 

Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.