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MAGNO'S BULGING MAIL SACK: RIP OLYMPIC BOXING, EASTERN EUROS, THE SAUDI BUYOUT, MORE...

By Paul Magno | August 15, 2024
MAGNO'S BULGING MAIL SACK: RIP OLYMPIC BOXING, EASTERN EUROS, THE SAUDI BUYOUT, MORE...

This Thursday, like every Thursday, I ask you to pull up a seat alongside my bulging, bulbous sack and watch me shoot a load of gooey, salty truth right into the faces of boxing’s purveyors of ignorance. This week, we have questions/comments regarding flak for fighters moving up, dissing Eastern Europeans, the death of Olympic boxing, having dignity in the face of a Saudi buyout.

Have Some Dignity, Boxing!

Hi Chief!

I can not believe what I’m witnessing, regarding the absolute lack of dignity of many people involved in the boxing industry. It’s astonishing, to say the least. Of course, I’m talking about the Saudi guy assuming the role of boxing dictator.

Many things have me astonished. But what really caught my attention was his induction into the Nevada Hall of Fame.

Of course you’re gonna be on the right side of history once this nonsensical Saudi fest is over. But seeing Oscar de la Hoya and Roberto Duran on his knees, adulating a guy just because of his money, is really, really sad.

Imagine being ODH. You won everything. You are a legend. Your brand means gold. In the case of Mano de Piedra, you’re probably the best lightweight ever and maybe the best athlete in the history of your country. And yet, you agree to devalue yourself by acting like a rich man’s pet. By the way, it’s unfathomable, impossible, a true test to one’s patience, to see someone tell this guy “your excellency”. Come-fucking-on!!!! Thanks Canelo, by the way, for not jumping into the Saudi wagon (for now, at least).

Sorry for the rant. It’s just that this matter is as obvious, as it is impossible to believe. Boxing is selling its collective soul.

– Carlos, from Hermosillo, Mexico

Hey Carlos.

I’m at the point where I have no words for boxing’s lack of dignity and painfully shortsighted “take the cash now, forget about tomorrow” business strategy. People are probably tired of me talking about it, too.

It’s just absolutely befuddling that boxing businessmen can’t see where all this could be headed (and probably IS headed). Turki is not here to “save” boxing, he’s here to TAKE boxing-- or at least take enough of it back home to help in his country’s efforts to turn Riyadh into a worldwide tourist attraction and sports/entertainment hub. He’s here for that purpose, only, and boxing people are shoving the keys to the business in his hands, getting their guys beat and their own plans upended for a quick buck. I’ve said it before, but all of these people-- promoters, managers, networks, even media-- they’re all putting themselves out of business by working with the Saudis.

Yeah, in the short term we are getting some decent fights, but turning things over to a murderous dictator with no history of business fair play and no long-term commitment to the sport, who is outside of our jurisdiction, is just not good for the long-term health of the sport. And we’ll all see that soon enough.

Moving Up, Taking Flak

Hey Paul,

Why do some fighters catch flak for not looking as great when they step up in weight class/competition? To me it is only logical that your fights are going to be more competitive. I'm sure that I am in the minority, but for my dollar, I actually like competitive fights. As a fighter, you are not going to look great against all opponents. Benavidez, Morrell, Crawford and now Vergil Ortiz are all being scrutinized for their latest performances. I actually enjoyed the Ortiz-Bohachuk scrap, regardless of the controversy. It reminded me a little of Corrales-Castillo I.

I wish we had more entertaining fights, and fighters that challenge themselves to be great.!

Regards.

--Reggie Cannon

Hey Reggie.

It’s just fans being fickle. Boxing fans are especially fickle. People just want to bitch about stuff and social media has given everyone a platform for doing that. What you’ll usually find is that the people talking crap about how bad a fighter looked are those who wielded some sort of agenda against him/her anyway. Everyone’s just running around with raging confirmation bias, looking to reverse engineer themselves into being right.

Just do what I do and what smart boxing people do-- ignore them. The griping and the criticism means nothing.

No Respect For Eastern Europeans

Paul,

It should bother fight fans that very talented Eastern European talent goes unnoticed or blackballed.

Now that Madrimov fought so well against Bud, Madrimov is now in the no-fly zone for any American/British promoter. Heck, Uzbek [Olympic] boxers struck gold in five of the seven men’s categories. I doubt any of them, besides possibly Jalolov, go onto anything substantial in the professional ranks. Not due to skillset, but due to opportunity. What are your thoughts on that?

This naturally segues into my next question. What's going on with Olympic Boxing? Is it even going to be a sport? No headgear? Jalolov who is 14-0 with 14 KO's winning with ease. I just don't get what Olympic Boxing has turned into. I know there’s issues with it even being a sport in the next Olympics. I remember when the Olympics were a gateway for the professional ranks. What has happened?

– Greg

Hey Greg.

I happen to think that Eastern European fighters get shown an inordinate amount of deference by boxing media. Unfortunately for some of those fighters, media love doesn’t have any connection to bankability or marketability.

As much as we’d like to think otherwise, boxing stardom is not necessarily a meritocracy. The best fighters aren’t always the biggest fighters. Fans will buy what excites and entertains them and a lot of the Eastern European fighters just don’t inspire consumer excitement in the West. Believe me, if there were money in these guys, boxing people would be falling all over themselves to get them on the main stage.

There are a lot of factor at play when it comes to these fighters and their lack of salability. Language issues come into play. Typically being more reserved, less outgoing is also a factor. Even something as silly as having hard-to-spell names can be a factor.

In the case of Madrimov, doing well against Crawford did almost nothing to boost his own box office appeal. If anything, it hurt his ability to get big fights down the road since he’s now established himself as a high risk opponent that brings low reward. The Saudis may keep him in big fights, but those guys operate at a loss and their business model is most definitely not a realistic boxing business model.

As for Olympic boxing? Amateur boxing did themselves several huge disservices over the years, ultimately resulting in the sport no longer being an Olympic event. The implementation of the punch point system strangled the life force from the amateur game-- as well as leading to a crop of touch-touch-touch, points-first pros. The removal of headgear was a step in the right direction, but it was too little, too late. Ultimately, their inability to curtail corruption finally delivered the death blow for boxing.

It’s a real shame. The loss of the Olympics is going to hurt fighter development greatly. And, just symbolically, the loss is a tough one.

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.

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