Truth be told, Terence “Bud” Crawford is my favorite active fighter. And it WAS nice to see him take center stage at his boxing-equivalent quinceañera Saturday night at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, all eyes on him as he belle-of-the-balled his way into the main event versus Israil Madrimov.
And, maybe if he had dominated his awkward, make-no-exploitable-mistakes opponent, I’d be more tempted to focus on the fight instead of all the bullshit that night. But, for crissake, I had seven hours to stew on the funky smells coming from under the thobes and a competent twelve-round decision wasn’t gonna be enough to shift my attention.
Geez, where the fuck do I start?
I guess we can start with the whole “This is the biggest night of boxing in US history” line used all throughout the build up to the event and then sprinkled into the broadcast. Todd Grisham calling this show “The biggest card boxing has ever seen” is either Grisham being really, really dumb or really, really eager to keep his job by, oddly enough, using the same phrasing wannabe boxing dictator Turki Alalshikh uses on social media when describing any event he sponsors.
And, speaking of Ring Magazine Dougie Fischer’s Excellency, Turki…
I don’t care how you feel about the Saudi involvement in boxing, but you're not an American if you didn't get douche chills with the way grown-ass boxing men were tongue-bathing Alalshikh all throughout the evening.
Rich Marotta being brought out like a pale, shaky villager paying respect to a volcano god to make Turki an honorary member of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame was especially cringey. Call me Magstradamus, but I see the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame being really, really embarrassed in a few years when reality comes knocking at their particle board door. Mark my words, their aggressive salad tossing and rush to make Turki an honorary inductee will go down in history like a Ted Bundy for Senate endorsement.
In any sane, reasonable world, an event organizer scheduling a “pay homage to me” segment into his show would be a major red flag. Boxing, however, likes to ignore red flags if there’s a handful of quick greens to be made.
And, yeah, I get that I am the only one in boxing media actually voicing criticisms about the Saudi boxing initiative and that lovable fight fan, Turki, who recently posted photos where he’s sharing laughs and pledging brotherhood with two guys the feds have targeted as culprits in the brutal 2018 murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But that doesn’t mean I’m the only one who has theses criticisms, concerns, and misgivings. Many in the media share my point of view, but the business politics of working for a company now in “partnership” with Turki and the Saudis makes speaking out a job-killer.
These “partnerships,” extended through Golden Boy, Top Rank, DAZN, Matchroom, Queensberry, and two sanctioning bodies (WBA and WBC), mean that almost every media voice is compromised to some extent. Those not directly bought, need to rent themselves out if they want access to fighters, promoters, and events.
That much was obvious in the way this Riyadh Season card was hyped and the deference shown to one guy, front row, center, who controls all the money and wields all the power from the Saudi sportswashing investment. That’s why this card-- with four HBO Boxing undercard-level fights and two “free preview”-level intended squashes-- could be sold as “The biggest night of boxing in US history” and get absolutely no push back from media.
I’ve made my case several times as to why I’m extremely skeptical about this Saudi boxing takeover. I won’t take that deep dive again in this column. But I will give you the Cliffs Notes version.
It’s exceedingly unwise for a poorly organized, easily corruptible sport to hand over so much operational power to, essentially, a dictator with a still-bloody present, who offers zero transparency, has no history of free market fair play, and will be entirely outside of your jurisdiction.
For me, seeing this Saudi and boxing mash-up is a bit like seeing your sister dating a drug dealer. Things will be swell in the beginning, with lots of money being thrown around and bills being paid, but you know there’s only going to be grief and drama down the line.
It’s tempting to say that getting some good fights in the short term is all that matters. It’s always easy to not give a fuck about anything beyond your arm’s reach. But there have to be some grown-ups in the room, somewhere, pointing out the very real and very awful receipts that often come with making ill-advised deals.
The funny part is that all of these people-- promoters, managers, media-- are actually putting themselves out of business by playing lapdogs to the Saudi money. They are making themselves irrelevant to their own business by handing over their power to an entity that has no loyalty to them and to a person in Turki, who has already tipped his hand that full power is his ultimate goal.
This ain’t like new media nerds at Triller trying to put on shows or Al Haymon with his business degree trying to out-Harvard the boxing lifers. Turki and the Saudis are playing for real and there are innumerable ways this whole deal could get very ugly.
The old saying is that a rising tide lifts all boats. A hurricane, however, lifts all boats to ruin. And, contrary to paid-for opinion, that’s exactly what this Saudi boxing invasion might be.
So, ok. I’m happy for Terence Crawford reaping the benefit of this takeover dynamic and happy for the other fighters making money. I’m also happy for fans feeling content with the product their watching.
But all this Saudi stuff is “deal with the devil” shit and most of what fans love about it is really just the result of hyper-focused public relations smoke and mirrors.
If there’s one good thing that could come from this, however, it’s that the eventual collapse of the Saudi/boxing marriage might bring about a collapse in the sport that necessitates a healthy rebuild. Boxing bossmen, without murderous tyrants pulling them into dark places, might then learn the ultimate lesson from this mess-- cooperation and fan outreach are the keys to a successful boxing product.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com