Welcome to a special Thanksgiving edition of Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack where boxing’s bad guys are forced to gobble, gobble on the gooey, salty, cranberry-infused truth coming straight from my bloated sack of giblets. This week we have comments/questions regarding Ryan Garcia’s exhibition, boxing’s move to Saudi Arabia, and my personal happy boxing moments.
Movin’ to Saudi Arabia
What's good P Mag?
Happy Thanksgiving brotha to you and your family. It seems that big fights are steadily moving to Saudi Arabia and less everywhere else. A lot of fans seem okay with this as long as we get as they put it "we get good fights". What are you your thoughts?
– Rob
Hey Rob.
They’re SAYING they’re okay with it. Their actions, though, don’t show their happiness with “getting good fights” under these terms and conditions. Pay-per-view sales for these Saudi shows have been weak. Boxing website traffic has been dropping immensely, indicating a shrinking amount of interest. Even social media trending numbers are down.
The truth of the matter is that boxing fans want good fights, but they also want their fights at a convenient time of the day, in an exciting environment, and on shows that are actually engaging. They also want to be able to go out and see a big fight in person occasionally. The Saudis aren’t delivering any of that. Boxing fans consume their product on a much more personal level than other sports fans do. They have a personal connections with the fighters and the matchups. The sport being pulled from the fan base is taking the lifeblood from the American boxing scene and all data is showing that, even if the bought-off press and some vocal fans are telling the exact opposite story.
I don’t see anybody ecstatic about tuning into a show at 11 am on a Saturday, sitting through hours of filler around the matches, and then seeing the fights in a sterile, lifeless arena that has about as much energy as a college Humanities 101 lecture hall. Golden Boy’s recent Latino Night card, for example, would’ve been rocking an arena hard in Southern California or Texas or Arizona. In Saudi Arabia, it came off as a pandemic show with cardboard cutouts in the crowd. That kind of stuff DOES matter to fans, even if they don’t vocalize it (or even consciously realize it). The lack of buzz for that generally good card should’ve been eye-opening when it comes to the perils of removing fan energy from a sport that is fundamentally built ON fan energy.
In an 8-month span between the Tank Davis/David Benavidez twin bill this past June and the Benavidez-Morrell card in February, the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson card will go down as the only major boxing event on US soil by an American promoter. That kind of stagnation is pure death. It’s a slow necrosis in boxing’s limbs, headed towards its trunk.
What’s lost in this orgy of instant Saudi boxing gratification is the fact that this is very much a takeover of the sport for the Saudis’ own purposes. It’s a move to own boxing and make it their own personal sport for exhibition in their own land. These high-profile fights being made and the money dished out to boxing industry people are just the lures to draw us to the hooks. I’ve been making my case on this issue for awhile now, and pretty much getting nowhere. But people can read my case against a Saudi-run boxing in this past Monday’s Notes from the Boxing Underground column right here at FightHype.
Ryan Garcia, The Comeback Before The Comeback
Hey Magno.
I just saw where Ryan Garcia is returning to the ring in an exhibition in Japan, against the guy who did pretty well against Manny Pacquiao in an exhibition. I’m no expert when it comes to the politics and enforcement of rules and regulations, but wouldn’t this be a violation of his suspension for PEDs use? It doesn’t matter who would win this exhibition, but do you see someone stepping in to stop the fight before it even happens?
– John
Hey John.
If I were king of boxing, this exhibition stunt by Garcia would cost him another year of suspension. Of course, he’s giving a big middle finger to the NYSAC and to boxing regulation in general by making money fighting-- during a suspension for a violation he never really accepted accountability for, by the way.
From the latest news, however, it looks as though Golden Boy may put the kibosh on Garcia’s exhibition. Oscar De La Hoya released a social media statement on Tuesday saying that his company owns exclusive rights to all Ryan Garcia fights and that this one is not Golden Boy-authorized and, therefore, is not something that will be happening. This may change if Oscar gets his beak wet from the event organizers in Japan. But, as of right now, I’d say this exhibition isn’t a sure thing to happen by any means.
P.S, My dislike for Devin Haney grows daily for not getting rid of this dip shit.
Warm, Fuzzies
Hi Paul.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Here’s a holiday softball for your mail sack.
What’s your happiest boxing memory?
Take care. You are appreciated.
– The Cincy Kid
Hey Cincy Kid.
I could get deeply cynical with this and say that I was never quite as boxing-happy as when Yori Boy Campas beat the snot out of Tony Ayala Jr. and made him quit.
But I’ll go warm and fuzzy here and say that I’ll probably never be as happy and content with a boxing product as I was watching Fight Night at the Forum and HBO’s Boxing After Dark in the 90s. Those shows will always be happy places in my boxing brain. Other happy boxing memories center around my personal involvement in the sport-- getting fighters paid their promised purses as a manager and, as a trainer, watching kids develop into confident, fundamentally decent human beings under my watch.
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.