Am I alone here? Maybe so, it might be that I’m a Gen X crank who is stuck in place, unable or unwilling to move with the times, and accept the fight game for what it is. As I took in the latest Ryan Garcia “news,” and spent time and energy examining the recent chapter in the life of the young gun gone off the rails, IÂ winced. Not so much because of the nature of Ryan’s misstep–but more so because of the state as a game as a whole. It’s not good.
This summer schedule outright sucks, can we agree? And because of a dearth of action, of meaningful matches, fight fans are left in a spinning pinwheel phase.
Maybe you are pumped the see if Shakur Stevenson (21-0, just 10 KOs; age 27) will overnight turn into a Terence Crawford type instead of the hyper defensive specialist in evasion who sees himself as a master craftsman even though average Joes typically turn off his fights by the midway point? We shall see Saturday night–or more likely, YOU will see and I will be asleep while Shakur is doing his thing…which is putting fans, instead of foes, to sleep. The Newark, NJ native meets Artem Harutunyan on ESPN, and Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title will be up for grabs.
OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL.@ShakurStevenson & Artem Harutyunyan are ready for our Brick City battle 💥#ShakurArtem | SAT 8:30PM ET | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/aiAbyckLpQ
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) July 5, 2024
You aren’t jazzed for that one, either? Maybe you aren’t familiar with Harutanyan, a 33-year-old Armenian living in Germany, who has just 13 pro fights on his resume. But this is where we are–it is a strange age for boxing, which once again is in a state of flux (is it ever not?).
Save Us, Turki!
Big picture, folks are embracing the Saudi all-in and looking to Turki Alalshikh as the icon who will lead us fans to a promised land, where the best fight the best, there are no “sides of the street” complications to keep meaningful fights from getting made. Longer term, fans are hoping this is a new era, we maybe will call it the “post Haymon” era, will feature more so a “league” as crafted by the Turk. I have TRIED to look on that bright side, but it is hard when I look at the sched, and find myself tuned out.
That bums me out, I’d prefer to be in an upbeat mode, as I was when they made Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia, PBC and Oscar de La Hoya put egos and turf guarding aside, to make a compelling scrap. The momentum from that pairing, alas, didn’t really hold. The Saudis have done well to put together quality cards, but the other players have not been as successful.
Top Rank Has Been Solid, But…
Top Rank is churning, that well-oiled machine is a consistent purveyor. It feels, though, like their batch of up n comers haven’t broken through. Makes sense, those rising talents are still in record building mode, so we aren’t seeing stiff tests as much as learning sessions. Promotion, in this age, is such a different animal, with the athletes being responsible for building up their fanbase. Problem is, most don’t have a great handle on how to do that, or if they do, they rely on X beefs and TMZ-suitable behavior.
ESPN bears some blame for this; instead of using on airtime to introduce watchers to the fans, and turning out features to do the same, we get talking heads yapping in between fights. Blame the age we are in, which encourages everyone to be a version of Stephen A Smith. Tim Bradley is all over the place, show to show, as he attempts to inject his personality into the mix instead of functioning as an analyst used to, to complement the action.
PBC Nearing End of the Line?
PBC is…nearing the end of the line? The Haymon Boxing roster is trimmed, they have no platform or funding partner to fuel shows, so PBC boxers are getting even fewer opportunities. Where in the world is Al? Who knows? There is no media to speak of asking what the heck is going on, has Haymon handed over the keys to behind-the-scenes players? Will they continue to do a slow bleed, with fighters quietly changing lanes, and hooking on with other entities? And are they just a PPV-centric place, now? A recent NY Times story on the streamers didn’t mention boxing as one of the sports offered on Amazon, leading one to wonder how strong the PBC-Amazon relationship is.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom is in a weird place. They have their talent in splashy Saudi shows…and then Hearn balances it out by staging basically AAA fare, like the Saturday Johnny Fisher-Alen Babic topped slate in London. It is 11-0 vs 12-1, two heavyweights who if this were 15 years ago would have been fourth from the top of the card.
DO. NOT. BLINK. 🧨🧨🧨 @JohnnyFisherBox @AlenBabic11 #FisherBabic | @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/SeHGvsibfK
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) July 5, 2024
“Better” bouts are reserved for PPV, as you have noticed (unless you are a Firesticker or have just stopped caring, as many older fans have, because all the outlets and costs make it onerous to stay on top of the action). Matchroom backers will say hey, what about AJ? Yep, he is a bright spot, after being dissed and dismissed, he’s re-ascended in the hearts and minds of UK fans, who eagerly await his Sept collision with Daniel Dubois. That one is to be funded by the Saudis, with costs being defrayed by a PPV charge. Do not get me started on that construct, please. It defies reasoning, especially in this current economic climate, with inflation eating into discretionary income stashes.
Looking for a bright side here. Maybe you are pumped for the Saturday Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal main event, also a PPV offering. I am not, and the presence of Danny Jacobs on the menu won’t lure me in to watch Saturday. A better bang for the buck alternative is the Golden Boy show, which features William Zepeda, an underrated talent, in a lightweight title tussle. Zepeda is a guy who is held back by the times, as promoters are not as skilled or successful as they were, because there is no HBO to help show fans why they should care about him. In house promotion is not as effective as coverage from outside outlets, because promoters are not bidden to be unbiased or objective.
Sober Oscar Is Having Fun
Bigger picture, Golden Boy is trying to find their way in the wilderness, with a revitalized Oscar De La Hoya acting sober and, indeed, showing a flare for using social to make points and stir the pot. Admission: Oscar cracks me up taking potshots at Canelo, and I appreciate his adherence to old school fighter values, preaching that pugilists should act like athletes, instead of boxer-businessmen.
Sad, maybe, to say, but the shift of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul not-an-exhibition to November hurt. Many of you were indeed looking forward to that one, understandably. The thought of Tyson knocking Jake the f*ck out is intriguing, no? And that Netflix subscribers would be able to watch, that was one element I dug. Jake Paul has the right idea, offering content for $6.99, pretty much, the cost of ad-tier Netflix. Aside from Abe G, who else is thinking about our wallets, emaciated, abused, overwhelmed?
OK, let me look to provide balance now. I can assure you, and myself, that plenty of the scraps that I feel ho hum about on paper will play out in entertaining fashion. Indeed, that is a new age reality, so very often the big ticket bouts play out as more sizzle than steak, but less heralded matches often reward die hards with thrills and chills.
It is quite possible that the Terence Crawford vs. Israel Madrimov match will reward PPV buyers, and my puzzlement at how Crawford will go more than a year without a fight after he destroyed Errol Spence and had momentum on his side. Maybe that is just a matter of me needing to accept new realities, that the big guns are likely to fight once or twice a year. It makes sense, with the purses the 1% make, why would they/should they fight four times a year?
Speedbag
Ryan Garcia, oh my. He stepped in it big time, didn’t he? You saw the WBC drop the hard hammer on “King Ry,” suspending him for an indefinite time frame. It probably helped that he isn’t holding a WBC belt, yes?
I posted to X my theory on that whole mess. I am guessing, and it is an informed guess, that Ryan is indeed off the rails. But this isn’t “partying,” pure stupid self-indulgence. The young man’s persona shifted after the Gervonta Davis fight, then even more after beating Devin Haney, and his dad pretty much put it out there. Ryan is doing his own thing and has been drinking to excess. I am not privy to what Ryan‘s diagnosis is, though he has been open about suffering from severe anxiety. Losing to Tank had him deep in his thoughts, and for some of us, that isn’t the best place to be. Not if one isn’t maintaining a mental health protocol…and Ryan has not been for a spell.
It is of course easy and tempting to kick ‘im while he’s down, but it reads to me like someone who is off their meds. Looks from afar like he’s been in a manic state. It is one of those things that unless you have experienced it, it is impossible to conceive of. That mania can spur feelings which do not feel “off” to the person affected. Being “off the rails” actually feels thrilling. It is a state of freedom unencumbered by traditional constraints. Euphoria, basically. But in actuality, Ryan Garcia isn’t himself, his best self. His mind is playing tricks on him. Breaking news: Ryan has apologized, and has said he is going to rehab.
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