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Hurray for mediocrity!
Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia was introduced late final week, a (poop) scoop pinched into the boxing information punch bowl by the at all times annoying, does-not-know-anything-about-boxing-and-doesn’t-even-seem-to-particularly-like-boxing Ariel Helwani.
No one (and not using a cash curiosity within the occasion) needs to be in the slightest degree enthusiastic about Joshua-Ngannou, apart from possibly Helwani, who’s such an Ngannou fanboy that I’d lay even cash on there being mason jars filled with drinkable Ngannou sweat in his fridge (additionally nice for making Ngannou sweat popsicles in the summertime!).
In any other case, for any cheap and sane human being boxing fan, this combat is what it is– a cynical cash seize that isn’t solely a waste of time, but additionally an excessive cockblock to the pure circulation of what SHOULD be taking place on the excessive finish of the heavyweight division. I may rattle off a minimum of a half-dozen names of high heavyweight contenders who may/needs to be preventing Joshua, however none of them will get that chance subsequent as a result of there’ll be a clown present scheduled for that date, sponsored by a nation that solely cares about washing the blood away from its burgeoning tourism division.
And, in case anybody even remotely educated must be reminded once more, Ngannou did NOT beat Tyson Fury again in October. He misplaced a fairly-one sided choice and solely “received” this second go at a boxing cash combat as a result of he scored a flash knockdown in opposition to a mind-muddled, largely disinterested Fury and didn’t look as horrible as many thought he’d look.
However, yeah, mediocrity guidelines in boxing at present, so long as it may be packaged in such a option to tickle the withered cockles of the boxing media, who can repeat nothingness typically sufficient to trick followers into considering it’s truly somethingness.
For instance, Oscar De La Hoya gave happy-tail media a tour of his new Vegas mansion a day earlier than his man Vergil Ortiz Jr. obtained again into the ring for the primary time since August of 2022 (along with his final combat of any consequence being in August of 2021), after a sequence of sicknesses, missed weights, and common fuck ups.
The top results of De La Hoya’s hospitality?
Plenty of fluff items about Ortiz and his return to the ring. And even when Ortiz’s much-blathered about debut at 154 was scuttled when the contracted weight was pushed as much as 156, no person in that media gaggle stated a word– regardless of Ortiz’s lack of ability to make weight being THE story of his profession for the final three years or so. Why would they? Oscar was so good to them at his completely superior mansion. He posed for footage with them. Plus, there was champagne!
By the way in which, I’m simply letting that if De La Hoya ever gave me a “tour” of his mansion, I would slip away and squeeze out an higher decker in all of his bathrooms after which attempt to nab some incriminating kitchen utensils close to his main bedroom.
And that is exactly why I’m just about unemployable on this present boxing media world. Simply to SAY such a thing– GASP– after such hospitality!
By the way in which, Ortiz’s comeback bout with no-hoper Fredrick Lawson was every little thing you’d’ve anticipated it to be. It was a blowout. However Golden Boy’s saving grace, one other Tony Weeks shit stoppage, will deflect consideration from the truth that Lawson had no enterprise being within the ring with a monster like Ortiz, particularly not in the principle occasion of what’s purported to be DAZN “premium” content material.
Weeks would high himself on Saturday, waving off the competition on the 2:33 mark of the primary spherical, simply as Ortiz started to unload on the hapless Portland-based Ghanaian. It wasn’t as irritating of a stoppage as his screwing of Ismael Barroso versus Rolly Romero final Might, however solely as a result of Lawson had already been wobbled by an Ortiz jab and no good boxing particular person anticipated something greater than a KO loss from him, anyway. This laugher wasn’t going previous two, even with the ghost of Steve Smoger refereeing.
However, talking of Ismael Barroso…
The 40-year-old Venezuelan’s first-round starching of the annoyingly smug UK “subsequent massive star” and up to date Golden Boy signee Ohara Davies was a factor of lovely divine justice. After being on the sharp finish of a brutal world title screw job versus Rolly Romero eight months in the past, Barroso took issues into his personal fingers and cracked Davies’ potato crisp chin to seize the interim WBA 140 lb. title and guarantee a minimum of yet another main payday. Last combat stats? Barroso: 8 of twenty-two whole punches landed. Davies: 0 of 9 whole punches landed.
As I stated a pair weeks again when the UK’s Sunny Edwards was starched by Bam Rodriguez:
“Most UK fighters are wildly overrated once they come as much as compete on the world stage, particularly on the decrease weights. With the restricted expertise pool from which to attract opposition and sparring of their dwelling area, you merely don’t know what’s what with smaller UK Brits till they compete within the Americas or Asia.”
Barroso over Davies (on the primary US-based TV boxing present of the yr), nevertheless, was the one shiny boxing second of the final week or so. Boxing is beginning off 2024 with a determined “meh” vibe to it. Let’s hope issues get higher….or a lot worse (so I can have extra materials for these hateful columns of mine).
Obtained one thing for Magno? Ship it right here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com
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