BN weekly columnist Joe Hughes requires a ‘Tank’ step-up and warns that each one that glitters in boxing will not be essentially gold.
There has been information this week of a possible takeover of the world’s greatest boxing promotional corporations by representatives of Saudi Arabia. This might drastically change the game, hopefully for the higher.
Creating a ‘World Boxing League’ has been spoken of earlier than however by no means as realistically as it might be now. The a number of top-level promoters, all with their very own particular person contracts between themselves and boxers, managers, sponsors, TV corporations, and many others. make it very troublesome to place one huge combat collectively, particularly when two boxers from rival promotional outfits are concerned, not to mention the variety of fighters now spoken about being introduced collectively.
However, there has by no means been an get together with something even near the form of monetary backing of Saudi consultant Turki Alashikh. It’s a really actual risk that he might purchase out all the opposite promotions, or no less than the contracts of mentioned promotions, giving him management of the careers of the largest names within the sport.
Turki Al-Sheikh (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It might open the door for some big fights and enhance the regularity of such occasions. It might additionally injury the game in unforeseeable methods. Competition normally breeds success and having top-level boxing promotion turn out to be a proverbial one-horse race might have a detrimental impact after the preliminary pleasure of the primary wave of massive fights coming collectively. We may very well be coming into uncharted waters for boxing.
One of the largest stars that may very well be lured by the Saudi cash into taking the fights we need to see, competes this weekend. Gervonta Davis is undoubtedly the most effective lightweights on this planet, possibly even the most effective fighters on this planet, pound for pound. He has but to show it, nevertheless.
His profession has been let down after let down when it comes to the opponents he’s confronted. This weekend, he faces Frank Martin in what needs to be a very good combat however there are numerous different extra engaging matches he may very well be concerned in. Shakur Stevenson, Vasyl Lomachenko and William Zepeda are however a number of of the matches at light-weight that will be higher.
Previously, he appears to have been steered away from Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney and the aforementioned Lomachenko, simply to call a number of. He might maybe be the very best of the lot, as his greatest win, a one-sided beat down of Ryan Garcia, confirmed. But he must show it within the ring by beating the very best fighters on this planet.
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