In this holiday edition of Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack, I shove my big candy cane down the Christmas stockings of boxing ignorance and then pull out to shoot loads of milky eggnog all over boxing’s Grinches. This week, we have comments/questions regarding Tank-Haney, Day of Reckoning, and Fighter of the Year.
Tank-Haney
Hi Paul.
What do you make of all this Devin Haney-Tank Davis beef and controversy on social media? Bill Haney says Tank turned down a $20 million offer. Leonard Ellerbe is all over saying Tank will be the one putting the terms for the fight. Is this going somewhere or is it just smoke and mirrors?
– Simon
Hey Simon.
As a general rule of thumb, I don’t believe anything I read or hear via social media beef. None of it. Actually, I tend to believe that those making noise, trying to negotiate a fight publicly are probably not really all that serious about making the fight. Unless someone is really naive in the business, they have to understand that negotiating in public makes a deal infinitely harder to put together because ego and saving face then factor into the efforts to reach an agreement. Neither side wants to be the one to concede anything if they have to concede it in public, in front of the entire boxing world. And, since I don’t think Bill Haney is naive to the boxing business, I’m assuming that there’s a significant amount of clout chasing (as the kids say) when it comes to calling Tank Davis out. Whatever the case, IMO, the more social media snippiness we see about Haney-Davis, the less likely the fight will happen.
Day of Reckoning
Hey Magno.
Is Saturday’s Day of Reckoning card worth the money? 40 bucks is about half of what regular PPV cards cost these days. There’s a lot of talent on the card, but no really big fights. I’m 50-50 on ordering. Which way are you leaning?
– John from Dallas
Hey John.
I’ve heard some people talking about how this card is “loaded” or “stacked” and that leaves me scratching my head. I mean, I guess, in the literal sense, that card IS stacked-- as in one undercard-level fight stacked on top of the other.
Let's be real here. The Day of Reckoning is really Costco-style Boxing in Bulk. I have no problem with people spending their money on whatever they want, but there ain't a single "good" PPV-level fight on that big-ass card. And if I’m not mistaken, a lot of the people hailing the quality of this card are the same ones who constantly complain about inferior cards being put on pay-per-view and the overall shitty quality of pay-per-views in general. If Wilder-Parker were atop a PBC PPV and Joshua-Wallin atop a DAZN PPV, the internet would be overrun with bitching.
Yeah, the asking price is $40 for this one, about half the usual asking price for a boxing pay-per-view (because it’s basically being subsidized by the Saudis, serving as an infomercial for their tourism department), but that doesn’t necessarily make it a value. It’s kind of like celebrating a $2 Big Mac at McDonald’s, but it doesn’t come with meat or special sauce. Is that a greater value than paying the usual $4 for a regular Big Mac? That’s up to the individual. As I say with all pay-per-views-- value is up to the consumer. The card is free here in Mexico, so I don’t have to make the decision to purchase or not.
Fighter of the Year?
Hey Paul.
I’d love to get your opinion on who should win Fighter of the Year honors in 2023. If Inoue beats Tapales on December 26, I think he takes it in my opinion.
– Paul D.
Hey Paul.
I honestly don’t care about that kind of stuff and I put zero thought into trying to find a definitive answer to something that everyone else may have a different definitive answer to. I don’t want to be rude, though, so I’ll give you my thoughts. Fighter of the Year is Terence Crawford. He only fought once, but there’s nobody who’s scored a bigger, more significant (and impressive) win this year. Not having a second fight of the filler variety doesn’t make a bit of difference. Inoue is the runner-up. David Benavidez also deserves some recognition for two dominant wins against very good opposition (Plant and Andrade).
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.