Why is it that boxing’s moral high ground always stays at gutter-level?
Maybe it’s the fact that, unlike other major sports, boxing’s media voices are gutless and eager to turn tricks for those who run the big shows. I guess that’s what you get when an industry is jam-packed with morons and weaklings who need and/or crave the approval and financial support of those they cover.
But let’s not dwell on this long-established fact. Let’s talk about Sergey Kovalev and something I will bring up each and every time he fights because nobody else has the balls or the moral integrity to do it.
Simply put -- from where I sit, Sergey Kovalev is a racist piece of shit.
If you follow his story and have the ability to be honest with yourself, this is something more than obvious and it pre-dates the vile “Adonis Stevenson is a Monkey” Tweet the Russian thought was so funny awhile back
Kovalev, who will be fighting for the vacant WBO light heavyweight title against mega-meh patsy, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy on HBO this coming Saturday, has a history of making disparaging, race-based remarks aimed at black fighters, referring to Grover Young as a “thoroughbred nigga” in 2011 and making other comments that could be perceived as racial insults regarding opponents Ismayl Sillah, Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal, and Andre Ward. In 2013 he also made the following statement in an interview with Russia’s All Boxing website:
“I'm not a racist, I know that everywhere there are good and bad guys, but the ‘tanned’ every day I like less. I live in Florida, there are many illegal immigrants, natives, I can see how they behave.”
The Google Russian-to-English Translator is rough in some spots, but it also happened to capture other incriminating phrases that are clearly intended as race-focused attacks such as “Dark-skinned like a lot to talk… All of them talk a lot, and then firmly ‘sleep’” in reference to Bernard Hopkins and “It was a shame that this ‘tan’ to earn easy money” when speaking about his 2011 technical draw with Young.
Kazakh former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world titlist, Beibut Shumenov, who counts Russian among the five languages he speaks fluently, later confirmed that nothing was lost in translation.
“I was shocked when I heard about his racist comments that he said in reference about African Americans,” Shumenov told RingTV in 2014. “There was no misinterpretation or lost in Russian-to-English translation of what he said…He will have to live with the derogatory words that he said in print and video.”
But with Shumenov's stamp of confirmation or not, the body of evidence is there. The will among members of the boxing media to call a spade a spade, on the other hand, is not.
The media’s lack of reaction and subsequent non-treatment of this issue -- over and over and over again -- just reminds us that the boxing media is overwhelmingly white, middle-class to upper middle-class, and far, far removed from the world and culture that they cover. To a great degree, they are comfortable men “slumming” in a “dirty” hobby that allows them not to care about things that would have them outraged in the “real” world.
Even if one were to buy the never-ending Team Kovalev excuse of he’s just a dumb foreigner who doesn’t understand America yet, at what point does the free pass stop? Would any other major sport in America act this way in the face of such repeat offenses?
I’m not calling for Kovalev to be banned or even suspended, necessarily. A racist asshole, in my opinion, still deserves the right to earn a living from his abilities on the open market. It would just be nice -- for once -- if the boxing media had the courage to get things right, to tell the stories that need to be told and insist on the sport lifting itself up from the gutter.
Until I’m not the only boxing writer who seems to care, I’ll keep reminding the world of what we’re seeing.
Quick (S)hits
-- Until Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder actually fight, I propose we not discuss either fighter anymore. Joshua-Wilder is the only heavyweight fight worth making on the main stage and it’s absurd that we’re being made to wait while both dick around with soft touches. I understand “marinating” a fight, but you don’t marinate a steak indefinitely if you’re cooking for the starving masses.
-- Ishe Smith and Julian “J-Rock” Williams put on a hell of a show Saturday night on Bounce TV. Despite an oddly one-sided set of scorecards in Williams’ favor (99-91, 98-92, and 97-93 -- I had it 96-94 for Williams) and the fact that fans practically need to click through their entire channel guide to see if they even have Bounce TV, this show delivered. For me, this was Smith’s best and most entertaining performance to date. Even at 39, I think Ishe has some more life in him, especially in a junior middleweight division where the second tier is nearly as intriguing as the top tier. As for Williams, well, he’s a sharp offensive fighter with a great attitude, but deep defensive deficiencies. His inability to hit while not getting hit will keep him from the elite level, unless he can make the necessary changes in style.
-- Speaking of “J-Rock,” I think Miguel Cotto and his team missed a huge opportunity by not reaching out to him and Al Haymon for the opponent slot in Cotto’s upcoming career finale bout. Williams would’ve been the perfect fit as someone big, young, credible, and able to knock the Boricua future Hall of Famer’s head into the fifth row -- yet ill-equipped to actually win. I think Cotto would’ve boxed circles around Williams and may have stopped him by round nine. And, by doing so, would’ve received much more credit than he’ll get for stopping no-hope welterweight import Sadam Ali
--Jessie Vargas makes his PBC debut on December 15 against Aaron Herrera and you can just feel his bank book starting to bubble over in anticipation of the future deposits. If you’re a welterweight, the place to be is with Al Haymon and PBC, that should go without question. Vargas may rank somewhere between Omar Figueroa and Shawn Porter when it comes to overall ability, but he’ll definitely get his chance to work his way up the ladder and he’ll make some good money on each and every rung.
-- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is rumored to be sizing up a bout with Alfredo Angulo for his January, return-to-action date. I hate to say this, but there’s a part of me that actually likes this fight -- it’s the same part of me that likes watching trashy B-movies and “Best of Street Fights” videos on YouTube.
-- Can we stop hearing about how Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux is already sold out? We’re talking about The 5,500 seat Theatre at MSG, not MSG itself, for crissake!
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.