Usyk-Fury 2 was an honest battle. It was partaking, however not thrilling. It was a reliable contest between two superb fighters the place the higher man (Usyk) gained through three honest judges’ scorecards that tallied a 116-112 rating apiece.
What extra might be mentioned? Usyk is superior. Fury couldn’t resolve the riddle. Usyk outworked Fury en path to a second straight factors victory. That’s it. It was nothing worthy of a complete Notes from the Boxing Underground column. And, sorry, however I’d moderately jab shrimp forks into my eyeballs than write a 1,200-word “Usyk is an all-time nice” piece. I’ll depart that tedious monkey work to the stooge writers making 5-times my wage as junior publicists.
The larger story, a minimum of for me, was the media protecting the occasion, more and more comfortable working underneath the boot of an more and more in-full-control Saudi Arabian authority.
From the lead-in to Usyk-Fury 2, by means of the precise bout, and much into the aftermath, the boxing media didn’t conceal its willingness to play lapdog to the Saudi overlords holding crumpled greenback payments inside balled fists in entrance of them. However I’ve one thing larger and higher to handle the rising pimp/ho vibe in boxing nowadays slated for subsequent week’s Notes from the Boxing Underground. Keep tuned.
However whorish structure apart, the media additionally performs a giant function within the Oleksandr Usyk reign and the type of distortion of actuality that continues to make sure boxing stays a distinct segment sport, completely indifferent from the mainstream.
One can be naive to miss the truth that, for nearly as good as Usyk is within the ring, WHO he’s performs simply as a lot of a job within the gushing man-love the media showers on him.
He’s a unusual, non-threatening, agreeable, deferential Japanese [WHITE] European with an embraceable backstory. He’s Gennady Golovkin 2.0,. new and improved– solely he fights and WINS the large ones.
He matches all the factors of somebody the media will fap themselves foolish over.
However, as with Golovkin and a number of other different media-adopted Japanese European favourite sons, Usyk doesn’t actually transfer the industrial needle within the West (and not likely within the East, both). Regardless of holding probably the most prestigious title in all of boxing– undisputed heavyweight champ– there are giant swaths of the globe the place the query of “What do you consider Usyk?” will draw the response of “What’s an Usyk?” (True story…from private expertise in Mexico, with an Uber driver boxing fan).
Usyk could be very lucky to have risen to the highest through the energy seize of prodigious cash mark and Saudi sportswashing figurehead Turki Alalshikh, who has lavished him with unbelievable riches (reportedly, a complete of $159 million, assured, for his two Fury bouts), regardless of sporting a degree of marketability that hasn’t even permeated the house Saudi market internet hosting the 2 Fury fights (per esteemed boxing scribe Donald McRae).
Irrespective of how a lot crowd noise is pumped into Kingdom Area in Riyadh and the way a lot the paid-off media hard-sells all issues Saudi like organ grinder monkeys hustling for unfastened change, the free market all the time tells the ultimate story. And, on this case, the ultimate story is that there’s a particular disconnect between his star energy as portrayed by media and the fact of simply how massive Usyk is.
This doesn’t take away from the truth that Usyk is a good fighter worthy of accolades and, ultimately, first-ballot Corridor of Fame entry. This can be a complicated world we stay in, and one the place it’s completely doable to discover a pearl of positivity buried inside a pile of fetid bull shit.
However this cynical detour from the precise battle on Saturday brings us to a bigger level.
Whether or not smothered by grasping, spiteful, short-sighted promoters or propped up by murderous oil-rich monarchies, boxing stays as indifferent as ever from actuality, residing in a bubble the place we inform one another that non-stars are stars, marginal occasions are mega-events, and that competent prize fights are all-time classics. We inform one another these lies on the expense of accepting the reality and dealing in the direction of a greater tomorrow.
In what world is empty idolatry, inflated by paid-for media cheerleading for reveals that hemorrhage cash, at a lifeless venue, in an detached area of the world, on the opposite aspect of the planet from the place the buyer boxing greenback REALLY issues, good for the game? For nearly as good as Usyk is, his existence and propagation as a celebrity is just a bubble inside a bubble inside a bubble. Empty energy to fill one’s stomach and please the palate, with out offering the physique any actual nourishment. In its personal means, it’s simply as phony as one thing like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.
We might get good fights, nice fights, from Usyk for the remainder of his days. He might double-up and triple-up the burden of his resume till the tip of his profession. And it actually wouldn’t imply a rattling factor to the game’s massive image. No person’s watching, no person’s caring, and, so, it actually doesn’t matter.
However generally empty energy are okay. Typically, in boxing, it’s alright to simply get pleasure from one thing cool, no matter whether or not it has any actual which means past being cool for you.
Advantageous.
However when can we begin enthusiastic about the big-picture stuff?
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