Reality be instructed, Terence “Bud” Crawford is my favourite energetic fighter. And it WAS good to see him take middle stage at his boxing-equivalent quinceañera Saturday evening at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, all eyes on him as he belle-of-the-balled his manner into the primary occasion versus Israil Madrimov.
And, perhaps if he had dominated his awkward, make-no-exploitable-mistakes opponent, I’d be extra tempted to give attention to the battle as a substitute of all of the bullshit that evening. However, for crissake, I had seven hours to stew on the funky smells coming from underneath the thobes and a reliable twelve-round choice wasn’t gonna be sufficient to shift my consideration.
Geez, the place the fuck do I begin?
I suppose we will begin with the entire “That is the most important evening of boxing in US historical past” line used all all through the construct as much as the occasion after which sprinkled into the published. Todd Grisham calling this present “The largest card boxing has ever seen” is both Grisham being actually, actually dumb or actually, actually keen to maintain his job by, oddly sufficient, utilizing the identical phrasing wannabe boxing dictator Turki Alalshikh makes use of on social media when describing any occasion he sponsors.
And, talking of Ring Journal Dougie Fischer’s Excellency, Turki…
I don’t care how you are feeling concerning the Saudi involvement in boxing, however you are not an American in case you did not get douche chills with the best way grown-ass boxing males had been tongue-bathing Alalshikh all all through the night.
Wealthy Marotta being introduced out like a pale, shaky villager paying respect to a volcano god to make Turki an honorary member of the Nevada Boxing Corridor of Fame was particularly cringey. Name me Magstradamus, however I see the Nevada Boxing Corridor of Fame being actually, actually embarrassed in a couple of years when actuality comes knocking at their particle board door. Mark my phrases, their aggressive salad tossing and rush to make Turki an honorary inductee will go down in historical past like a Ted Bundy for Senate endorsement.
In any sane, affordable world, an occasion organizer scheduling a “pay homage to me” phase into his present can be a serious crimson flag. Boxing, nonetheless, likes to disregard crimson flags if there’s a handful of fast greens to be made.
And, yeah, I get that I’m the one one in boxing media really voicing criticisms concerning the Saudi boxing initiative and that cute battle fan, Turki, who just lately posted pictures the place he’s sharing laughs and pledging brotherhood with two guys the feds have focused as culprits within the brutal 2018 homicide of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. However that doesn’t imply I’m the one one who has theses criticisms, considerations, and misgivings. Many within the media share my standpoint, however the enterprise politics of working for a corporation now in “partnership” with Turki and the Saudis makes talking out a job-killer.
These “partnerships,” prolonged via Golden Boy, Prime Rank, DAZN, Matchroom, Queensberry, and two sanctioning our bodies (WBA and WBC), imply that just about each media voice is compromised to some extent. These indirectly purchased, must lease themselves out if they need entry to fighters, promoters, and occasions.
That a lot was apparent in the best way this Riyadh Season card was hyped and the deference proven to at least one man, entrance row, middle, who controls all the cash and wields all the ability from the Saudi sportswashing funding. That’s why this card– with 4 HBO Boxing undercard-level fights and two “free preview”-level meant squashes– may very well be bought as “The largest evening of boxing in US historical past” and get completely no push again from media.
I’ve made my case a number of instances as to why I’m extraordinarily skeptical about this Saudi boxing takeover. I gained’t take that deep dive once more on this column. However I offers you the Cliffs Notes model.
It’s exceedingly unwise for a poorly organized, simply corruptible sport at hand over a lot operational energy to, primarily, a dictator with a still-bloody current, who affords zero transparency, has no historical past of free market truthful play, and shall be solely outdoors of your jurisdiction.
For me, seeing this Saudi and boxing mash-up is a bit like seeing your sister relationship a drug vendor. Issues shall be swell at first, with numerous cash being thrown round and payments being paid, however you already know there’s solely going to be grief and drama down the road.
It’s tempting to say that getting some good fights within the quick time period is all that issues. It’s all the time simple to not give a fuck about something past your arm’s attain. However there need to be some grown-ups within the room, someplace, declaring the very actual and really terrible receipts that always include making ill-advised offers.
The humorous half is that each one of those people– promoters, managers, media– are literally placing themselves out of enterprise by taking part in lapdogs to the Saudi cash. They’re making themselves irrelevant to their very own enterprise by handing over their energy to an entity that has no loyalty to them and to an individual in Turki, who has already tipped his hand that full energy is his final objective.
This ain’t like new media nerds at Triller attempting to placed on reveals or Al Haymon together with his enterprise diploma attempting to out-Harvard the boxing lifers. Turki and the Saudis are taking part in for actual and there are innumerable methods this entire deal may get very ugly.
The outdated saying is {that a} rising tide lifts all boats. A hurricane, nonetheless, lifts all boats to spoil. And, opposite to paid-for opinion, that’s precisely what this Saudi boxing invasion is likely to be.
So, okay. I’m completely happy for Terence Crawford reaping the advantage of this takeover dynamic and completely happy for the opposite fighters creating wealth. I’m additionally completely happy for followers feeling content material with the product their watching.
However all this Saudi stuff is “cope with the satan” shit and most of what followers love about it’s actually simply the results of hyper-focused public relations smoke and mirrors.
If there’s one good factor that would come from this, nonetheless, it’s that the eventual collapse of the Saudi/boxing marriage would possibly carry a couple of collapse within the sport that necessitates a wholesome rebuild. Boxing bossmen, with out murderous tyrants pulling them into darkish locations, would possibly then be taught the last word lesson from this mess– cooperation and fan outreach are the keys to a profitable boxing product.
Obtained one thing for Magno? Ship it right here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com
