NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA legend Renzo Gracie.

Although he is now 51 years old, Renzo Gracie is still fighting. His next competition will be an MMA fight against another veteran, Yuki Kondo of Japan. This will take place on the ONE: REIGN OF KINGS card put on by ONE Championship, on Friday, July 27, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Metro Manila, Philippines.

ONE: REIGN OF KINGS will be shown on many TV networks around the world, so check your local listings. It will also be shown for free on the ONE Super App.

We spoke with Renzo Gracie by phone this past Thursday.

Asked why he would still compete in a professional MMA fight at 51, he even questioned if this will be his final fight.

"I don't even know if it's the last fight. I'm going in there to have fun. I'm doing it because I love it. You know how much I love it.

"I was busy the past eight, nine years like crazy, blowing up my schools, working my business, which I became very successful. It was worth it every step," he said.

"But I have to do what I love. And I was waiting, and I kept training. I didn't stop. I'm feeling great. I can't wait to be back in the cage and test myself.

"And not only that, I'm waiting to acquire the knowledge of stepping in the ring at 51. I know it's going to be something different and very unique."

We also discussed: how this fight was made; how he matches up with Yuki Kondo; how different types of grappling such as catch wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu merged in MMA; how ONE Championship has grown and is featuring fights from several martial arts on their shows; how he has had to change his approach to this fight at age 51; what techniques to expect in this fight; plans to compete in a grappling superfight at ADCC 2019; why grappling is still necessary and mandatory for MMA and fighters cannot be one-dimensional; the success of the Muay Thai team at his academy; the opening of a new academy on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the fall; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: ADCC, BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, MMA, No Holds Barred, ONE Championship, Reign of Kings, Renzo Gracie, Yuki Kondo

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Anthony Joshua, Alexander Povetkin, Katie Taylor, and our media colleague Kristal Hart of the "Kristal Hart Show" at last Tuesday's New York media event announcing the U.S. debut of the streaming service DAZN.

The 28-year-old unified heavyweight champion Joshua from the U.K., with a record of 21-0 with 20 KOs, fights Povetkin September 22 in London on a card shown in the U.K. on Sky Sports Box Office and in the U.S. as the headline fight for the first live show in the U.S. on DAZN. Povetkin, who turns 39 on September 2, and from Russia, is a former WBA champion and has a record of 34-1 with 24 KOs.

We got comments from Povetkin on what to expect in this fight, and some very brief comments from Joshua.

Unified women's lightweight champion Katie Taylor, with a record of 9-0 and 4 KOs, has a very busy schedule coming up. She fights July 28 in London on the Dillian Whyte-Joseph Parker card, and returns on October 6 in Chicago against Cindy Serrano, on a card which will be shown in the U.S. on DAZN and presumably also Sky Sports in the U.K. She discussed her career plans, the growth of women's boxing, and more.

Last but not least, we spoke with our colleague Kristal Hart summing up what we had just learned about DAZN and the combat sports.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: Alexander Povetkin, Anthony Joshua, boxing, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, Katie Taylor, Kristal Hart, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Scott Coker, president of Bellator MMA.

We spoke with him at the media event announcing the U.S. debut of the streaming service DAZN, which took place in New York Tuesday.

Bellator will provide an important part of DAZN's programming, which in the U.S. at first will feature the combat sports of boxing and MMA.

With DAZN launching September 10, their first live show will be on September 22, and headlined by the heavyweight boxing title fight between unified champion Anthony Joshua and former WBA champion Alexander Povetkin, from London.

DAZN's first live Bellator card will be shown the following week, on September 29, and exclusively in the U.S. on DAZN. It will feature Gegard Mousasi vs. Rory MacDonald in a middleweight title fight, and veterans Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva. Bellator returns to DAZN October 12 with a card headlined by Matt Mitrione vs. Ryan Bader in their heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals, which will be simulcast on the Paramount Network. Bellator, with the new rights fees from DAZN, will be having a ten-man welterweight Grand Prix tournament, also exclusively on DAZN.

Asked about the structure of the arrangement between the Viacom-owned Bellator and DAZN, Scott Coker said, "It's just strictly a license deal, but it allows us to put some of our biggest fights on this platform, because they want to be in the big fight business, and we're going to deliver that. So to me, it was a win-win."

He added, "This is the ground floor. And this will become a full-blown sports channel at some point. But when you talk about combat sports, man, Eddie, what a great value."

By the time DAZN launches in the U.S. in September, it will be available in seven countries.

"I've heard rumors that they're going to expand into another ten countries before the end of next year," he said.

We also discussed the many fights coming up in Bellator, how this deal lets them show pay-per-view level fights on DAZN for the regular monthly fee of US$9.99, Bellator's mix of veteran and up-and-coming fighters including young wrestlers, how Bellator is recruiting top Olympic-level wrestlers, why Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest MMA fighter of all time, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: Anthony Joshua, Bellator, boxing, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, MMA, No Holds Barred, Scott Coker, streaming

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with James Rushton, the CEO of the DAZN sports streaming media company.

This week it was announced that DAZN, which is already in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, and Canada, and will soon launch in Italy, would be starting its OTT (over-the-top) streaming service in the U.S. on September 10. The first live offering will be the September 22 card headlined by the heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin. About 70 fight nights a year, in both boxing and Bellator MMA, are planned for their U.S. service, with more sports expected to be added in the future. The initial price will be $9.99 a month, with the first month free.

We spoke with James Rushton about DAZN's plans for the U.S. at the kickoff media event in New York on Tuesday.

In addition, we open with a commentary on that media event, and an analysis of what DAZN is offering, why it is impressive, and what they need to do to succeed.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: Anthony Joshua, Bellator, boxing, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, James Rushton, MMA, No Holds Barred, streaming

By Eddie Goldman

This is shaping up to be one of the most important weeks for boxing this year, and surprisingly so during the hot and sweaty summer months we are enduring in the Northern Hemisphere of our struggling planet Earth.

This Saturday, July 21, at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow, Russia, another potential fight of the year candidate will take place, the cruiserweight finals of the World Boxing Super Series. In it, the WBC and WBO champion, Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine, with a record of 14-0 and 11 KOs, will face the WBA and IBF champion, Murat Gassiev of Russia, with a record of 26-0 and 19 KOs. Two undefeated champions, all four major belts on the line, and the winners earning their place in the finals by triumphing thus far in this eight-man tournament. Plus, each of their semifinal fights, where Usyk got a majority decision over previously unbeaten Mairis Briedis in January, and Gassiev stopped previously unbeaten Yunier Dorticos in the 12th round in February, with each victor having two of those major belts with their wins, were, in my opinion, leading candidates for fight of the year so far in 2018.

Since this was one of the rare times that boxing behaved like a real sport, it was no coincidence that the American TV networks passed on showing this tournament. Instead they fed us, and increasingly made us pay extra for, their steady diet of purposeful mismatches, showcase fights, and recycling of faded former belt holders. Even this cruiserweight final, which will be shown in numerous countries, has no U.S. TV outlet just a few days before the fight. It thus is likely that the World Boxing Super Series, as they have done in the past, will stream this fight in the U.S., hopefully for free.

For the upcoming season two of the WBSS, however, what was essentially an American boycott of the product will end. The new streaming service DAZN, which launches in the U.S. this fall, has picked up the rights in a reported three-year deal. Along with everything else DAZN will be showing, including 32 shows from Matchroom Boxing, equally based in the U.S. and U.K. or nearby, this could quickly make DAZN the number one video source for boxing in America.

This Tuesday in New York, there will be a media event where the details of DAZN’s U.S. launch will be announced, including when it starts and how much it will cost. It has already been confirmed with Matchroom Boxing that both Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin will be in attendance at the media event, which is also supposed to be live streamed.

With the announcement Monday that Joshua and Povetkin will be facing each other Sept. 22 in London’s Wembley Stadium in front of an expected crowd of 90,000 or so, and shown in the U.K. on Sky Sports Box Office, it thus seems quite likely that Tuesday will be the official announcement that the Joshua-Povetkin fight will headline the DAZN U.S. debut show. The only surprise would be if that were not the case.

While some “Make American Boxing Great Again” types are whining that Joshua is not next facing WBC champ Deontay Wilder of the U.S., this fight with Povetkin is the right fight at the right time for Joshua, and actually in many ways more important that a unification fight with Wilder.

First off, Joshua, 28 years old and from the U.K., and with a record of 21-0 with 20 KOs, holds the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts. His goal, obviously, is to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, a distinction not achieved since Lennon Lewis did it a generation ago. Povetkin, who turns 39 on Sept. 2, and from Russia, has a record of 34-1 with 24 KOs. Both Joshua and Povetkin have been Olympic gold medalists. Povetkin is the WBA mandatory challenger for Joshua, and also the WBO number one contender, and thus maybe a mandatory there as well, although alphabet soup sanctioning bodies work in mysterious ways.

If Joshua wants to become undisputed heavyweight champion, he must juggle the requirements of these various outfits to retain all the belts. That means occasionally at least fighting one of their mandatories. If, as he is favored to do, Joshua defeats Povetkin, then he can face Wilder at a later date for all four major belts. And that fight then would be massive as well.

But there is more to this fight than simply satisfying the need to face some mandatory challenger deemed worthy by a sanctioning body. Povetkin, though aging, is a legitimate heavyweight contender, and a dangerous one at that. Among the fighters whom Povetkin has defeated are Chris Byrd, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA belt in 2011, Marco Huck, Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam, Mike Perez, Mariusz Wach, Johann Duhaupas, and Christian Hammer. In his most recent fight, on March 31 of this year, he knocked David Price out cold in the fifth round. Of course, Povetkin had himself been knocked down in the third round and Price has a history of being knocked out. While Povetkin has certainly slowed a bit with age, this was a scary knockout and still showed that he has power.

Povetkin’s only defeat was a lopsided decision loss in 2013 to a still-dangerous Wladimir Klitschko, in which Povetkin hit the canvas four times. But even then, five years ago, Klitschko, who was in those days winning most of his fights by knockout or TKO, could not stop Povetkin.

Now compare that with the list of opponents Wilder has defeated. His best win was also in March of this year, when he stopped Luis “King Kong” Ortiz. Before that, his opponents comprise a list of has-beens, never-wases, and never-will-bes, carefully handpicked by his advisor Al Haymon and the suits at his main TV network, Showtime. His only value is that he holds the one piece of the puzzle missing for Joshua to claim to be undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Yes, Wilder has a powerful right hand, but his boxing skills are so laughable that he has earned an unofficial nickname of “Windmill”.

Only some Americans have drunk the Wilder Kool-Aid and passionately want a Joshua-Wilder fight. That will likely come one day, as it is certain to be a big money fight, but it is also a fight that Joshua really doesn’t need except for winning that additional belt. Wilder is not a big draw either on TV or in arenas, be they in his home state of Alabama or in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he has failed to sell the place out in his three appearances there.

Povetkin is more of an international star anyway. Many of his earlier fights have been in Germany, with his more recent ones being in Russia and his last one, with Price, as a co-main event on the Joshua-Joseph Parker card in Cardiff, Wales.

So Joshua fighting Povetkin next makes sense in more ways than one. Of course, Joshua is younger, stronger, more agile, and more powerful than Povetkin, and expected to win. But at this point, there is no one in the heavyweight division who could conquer the popular and charismatic Joshua.

If Joshua gets past Povetkin, there is also no urgency for him to take on Wilder next. Some in the dwindling American boxing media might howl, but most of them know as much about boxing as the author of “Howl”, the late Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. If you’re not familiar with that poem, you can look it up online if you really want to, as I won’t distract you with it.

Lurking somewhat out of the shadows nowadays is former heavyweight champ, and still undefeated, and still, surprisingly, listed as just 29 years old, Tyson Fury. His comeback fight, after a two and a half year layoff due to a drug suspension and major physical and mental problems, in June was a complete farce, where he faced cruiserweight Sefer Seferi. The most notable moments were both men dancing the Ali Shuffle, and Fury stopping to look at a real fight in the crowd during the second round. Seferi quit after four, and before even anything resembling a sparring session had commenced.

But a Joshua-Fury fight, with all the expected clowning and jabbering leading up to it, would likely break all U.K. records for a boxing event and would also be a humongous worldwide spectacle. If Fury could in his next fight, in August against the faded Francesco Pianeta, demonstrate that at least he can still fight on a more or less decent level, then a cashout fight with Joshua may not be far off. Joshua has to get Fury before Fury possibly self-destructs again, an unwelcome but far from remote occurrence.

Joshua has also made clear on many occasions that he wants to fight all over the world, including in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Already opponents are building, or perhaps padding, their records to be in place for those paydays. Where does that leave Wilder, and a fight for Joshua in the U.S.? Take a number, and be seated, please.

THe world of boxing in 2018 appears to be rapidly changing. Europe and mainly the U.K. are the main centers of world boxing and home to many of the most important and lucrative fights. DAZN in the U.S. could, if their streaming doesn’t suck, become more popular for boxing than Showtime, HBO, and ESPN. And New York, where the American headquarters of both DAZN and Matchroom Boxing USA are, could regain its status as the U.S. capital of boxing from Las Vegas, where the casinos seems to be otherwise focused.

It’s an exciting time for boxing, both in and out of the ring. Now, oh promoters, networks, managers, and fighters, don’t screw it up.

Labels: Alexander Povetkin, Anthony Joshua, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, World Boxing Super Series

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Raul Ramirez of the Catch Wrestling Alliance.

We spoke with him by phone Friday.

There is a lot happening in the coming weeks in catch wrestling, including a tribute to Joe Stecher, who was a world heavyweight wrestling champion in the days before professional catch wrestling ceased to be a sport. This event is called "Joe Stecher Days" and takes place July 14-15 in the village of Dodge, Nebraska, Stecher's hometown. Raul Ramirez will be there, along with wrestling author and historian Mike Chapman, who will be a guest speaker.

Also on July 14, there will be an eight-man catch wrestling tournament organized by the Snake Pit U.S.A. at the Primal Gym in Hamilton, New Jersey. There undefeated Catch Wrestling Alliance wrestler Curran Jacobs will be competing.

Next is the 2018 Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament, organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance, on August 4 at the Westside Training Center, at Cheviot Hills/Palms, 3272 Motor Avenue, Suite D, Los Angeles, California 90034.

We discussed all these, including Curran Jacobs's preparation for these tournaments, and how strength and conditioning is essential to being able to carry out his strategy.

"Personally I feel that that is the key to winning, regardless of your sport. So if you're really into competing at the highest level, having a good strength and conditioning coach is really the key," said Raul Ramirez.

"You do have to spend your time wrestling to get better at wrestling. But in order to minimize injuries, to make sure you're as strong as you can be, to make sure you have enough gas in your gas tank when you compete, especially in tournaments where you might have to have several matches, or at catch wrestling tournaments when we have a 20-minute match, you need this endurance. So having a good strength and conditioning coach can get your body to that level."

We also discussed that this year's Gotch Tournament will feature matches by both veteran wrestlers and new competitors, plans to hold mixed-styles grappling and catch wrestling matches in Singapore this year, and much more.

(Photo by Phil Monson, courtesy of Catch Wrestling Alliance.)

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: catch wrestling, catch-as-catch-can, conditioning, Curran Jacobs, Eddie Goldman, Frank Gotch, No Holds Barred, Raul Ramirez, strength

2018 1/2 #Boxing
by Eddie Goldman

While 2018 is about half done, I do not wish to present a complete and rather boring recap of everything that has happened in boxing. Rather, a more conceptual analysis of what has been emerging from the great disorder and chaos in the world of boxing is more useful and illuminating. I will thus leave an examination of most of the numbers to others.

What we saw on the latest edition of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN series Saturday night, July 1, was a microcosm of why boxing, even as it celebrates somewhat of a revival, remains a niche sport, especially in the U.S.

The main event saw 27-year-old unbeaten WBO super middleweight champ Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez of Mexico face 34-year-old previously unbeaten and previously little-known Alexis Angulo of Colombia. This fight took place at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

Ramirez is a darling of both Top Rank and ESPN, one they hope will become a major star. But as usual, they are trying to provide shortcuts, and thus detours, on that road to stardom.

Ramirez’s hand-picked opponent for this fight was actually ranked number eight by the WBO before this fight, despite his impressive sounding record, That record included no one of note in his eight years of professional boxing, which has taken him around the world, and no one who would qualify in any independent top ten ranking. Before the fight, even former fighter and now ESPN announcer Timothy Bradley said Angulo didn’t belong in the same ring as Ramirez.

Ramirez’s unbeaten record is also suspect. He has beaten some good fighters, including a faded Arthur Abraham in 2016, but again has beaten no one who would put him among the elite of his division. It is a wide open division, with many of the best in the world fighting in the World Boxing Super Series’ 168-pound tournament, but Top Rank shuns such direct competition in real life like vampires shun crosses in fiction. None of this, however, prevented Fan Rafael of Top Rank, er, I mean ESPN, from ranking Ramirez number one in the division.

Then the fight started, and mirabile dictu, it was not a mismatch. The older and slower Angulo was repeatedly able to land effective right hands on the taller southpaw Ramirez, although far from enough to capture enough rounds to win the fight. Ramirez was faster and more active, and after a while began to establish proper range to control the action. Still, as entertainment it was mostly a dull affair with few dramatic moments, and even fewer reasons to look forward to seeing the eminently hittable Ramirez fight again.

The results then came in, and even though Ramirez deserved to win, the scores were laughable, as two judges gave 11 of the 12 rounds to Ramirez and one gave him a shutout win. But what did we expect on a Top Rank card in Oklahoma, yesterday or today?

On top of that, when the decision was announced, ESPN, the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports, posted the wrong graphic, listing the winner as Alex Saucedo.

This card will mostly be remembered for that opening televised bout with local favorite Saucedo, which ended up being a bloody, Gatti-Ward-like brawl against Lenny Zappavigna in the 140-pound division. After multiple cuts to both guys’ bloodied faces, Saucedo recovered from being clobbered earlier to take control. The referee finally stopped the carnage in the 7th round. I think in Oklahoma they only stop fights when rigor mortis sets in.

It was actually the Saucedo-Zappavigna fight that was trending on Twitter in the U.S. during this fight, with only Angulo trending, lower and later, because he performed well above expectations.

And there there was even confusion on some fans’ parts of how to watch this fight in the U.S., since it was on the regular ESPN TV network, but NOT on their new paid app, pompously and inaccurately called ESPN+. ESPN+ subscribers are rudely finding out that it does not include many of the popular telecasts shown on ESPN TV on old-fashioned cable or satellite TV. Top Rank even went on Twitter to berate a fan who couldn’t find it on that app, and was essentially told to look on the other app. That’s why I call it ESPN-. Got it? Tweet me if you do.

ESPN, of course, was one of the many networks which refused to air the World Boxing Super Series in the U.S., preferring to weave its own legend about what is happening in that division with fights like these. It does little to aid Ramirez, since undoubtedly he would be competitive against top fighters like Callum Smith and George Groves, who fight in the World Boxing Super Series 168-pound finals, hopefully very soon.

This past week we started getting what was promised to be a steady series of major announcements from the World Boxing Super Series, although the date for the Groves-Smith final, delayed because of an injury to Groves, has yet to be revealed and maybe even decided.

While ESPN’s announcers gleefully dubbed the Saucedo-Zappavigna brawl the fight of the year, in this first half of the year, my top two candidates both came from the cruiserweight semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series, between Oleksandr Usyk and Mairis Briedis, and Murat Gassiev and Yunier Dorticos. And neither of these fights were picked up in the U.S. by the genius suits of ESPN, Showtime, or HBO.

We are also waiting on announcements of how people in the U.S. can legally watch the Usyk-Gassiev cruiserweight final on July 21, and then their season two tournaments in which they are slowly revealing the participants in their bantamweight and super lightweight tournaments, with more fighters and one more weight class yet to be announced. There have been all sorts of rumors and speculation that season two of the World Boxing Super Series will be on the new DAZN streaming service in the U.S., which debuts probably in September, and perhaps in other countries as well where DAZN has been in operation already.

With HBO’s boxing program seemingly on life support, ESPN being an outlet for the Bob Arum/Top Rank league, and Showtime an outlet for the Al Haymon/PBC league, boxing’s recent spurt upwards in popularity seems in jeopardy as fans demand the best face the best, which, as if you didn’t already know, happens in all real sports, to which boxing and other professional combat sports bear little resemblance.

That has opened the door for DAZN to excel rapidly in the still-lucrative American market, by making the world’s top fights easily accessible to U.S. fans.

Already their plans to show 16 top-level cards mainly from the U.K., which will be on Sky Sports there, including pay-per-views on Sky Sports Box Office, along with 16 cards mainly from the U.S., could quickly disrupt the balance of forces in the U.S. boxing business, and possibly vault DAZN into the number one spot, if they get the right fights and don’t screw up the streaming process, especially when they first launch.

At the top of their list seems to be getting unified heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua on DAZN. He now is a free agent with his Showtime contract having ended, although his promoter, Eddie Hearn, who also runs the boxing operations at DAZN, claims that he will throw open bids for Joshua’s next fight to ESPN, HBO, Showtime, and of course DAZN.

But with all the hoopla, Internet rumors, stories planted in the media to writers who act as promoters’ stenographers, and plain disinformation about a proposed unification fight between Joshua and Deontay Wilder, keep a number of things in mind.

It is Wilder who cannot sell out arenas or draw jaw-dropping numbers on TV, and is virtually unknown outside the U.S., who needs Joshua, the world’s most marketable athlete in any sport, and not vice versa. If this fight takes years to make or even never happens, few outside boxing’s extra-hardcore fans and boxing historians will give an Alabama rat’s ass.

Wilder’s only values to Joshua was that Joshua needs Wilder’s WBC belt to be considered the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and perhaps one day to fight in America as part of a world tour which his team has stated hopes to include Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and beyond.

Joshua’s rise to prominence, and also the coming of DAZN to America, are part of a series of developments where Europe, and mostly the U.K., have become the leading centers of world boxing. The biggest crowds, the biggest TV audiences, and the most popularity for boxing is in Europe, while the American promoters and networks play their hare-brained and short-sighted games. At least in places like the U.K., where the same sort of rubbish takes place, they have given the fans a steady diet of good, top-level fights, more than we see in America.

This is why if there is a Joshua-Wilder fight, it will be in the U.K., where arenas of 80- and 90,000 fans are regularly filled up. Since many expect Joshua easily to dispatch Wilder and knock him out cold, something the aging Luis Ortiz almost did earlier this year but couldn’t accomplish, there may not be much call for a rematch if Wilder is exposed. And if there will be a rematch after a Joshua victory, it then can be in the U.S. after those Americans deluded by Wilder’s bluster and propaganda have their eyes opened. And if it is on DAZN here, it could also establish that service as the number one video source for live boxing in the U.S.

For this year however, there was never going to be any Joshua-Wilder fight anywhere. All this back and forth was pantomime to build up their fight next year. And most of the boxing “media” gleefully fell for it and regurgitated the propaganda.

Joshua does need first to satisfy the fee-hungry WBA by facing his mandatory, Alexander Povetkin of Russia. Being undisputed heavyweight champion of the world does have some meaning to people, and if Joshua can do that, he can then ignore the parade of undeserving mandatory challengers of these sanctioning bodies and then be stripped of some of their belts, at which point no one will care since he will have beaten everyone of note. Lennox Lewis did something similar after unifying all the major belts of his era, and remained respected as THE heavyweight champion of the world until he retired as a fighter.

But Povetkin, who turns 39 in September when this fight will likely take place, will not be an easy opponent for Joshua. Povetkin still has power, as his decimation of David Price in his last fight showed, although Price did rock him in the third round for a knockdown. When Povetkin was supposed to fight Wilder a few years ago, I favored Povetkin. That fight was cancelled after a positive PED test by Povetkin. Of course, Povetkin is older now, but unlike Wilder, Povetkin is a skilled and experienced boxer. However, expect Joshua to knock him out eventually.

Wilder will likely next face his WBC mandatory Dominic Breazeale, who was knocked out by Joshua two years ago, and escaped with a win over mid-40-ish Amir Mansour in his fight before that, where he was knocked down by Mansour, who then did not come out for the sixth round, apparently because of an injury.

In the meantime, a babbling Wilder has been complaining to anyone who will listen about the fight with Joshua not taking place this year. He even has denounced DAZN, a brilliant move since DAZN is offering yet another alternative for fighters to get a payday and is competing with the established U.S. TV networks. Yup, fewer choices is just what boxers need.

Wilder’s disgraceful behavior also includes WWE-style rants, aided by a former fighter for the almost-WWE company UFC, and aired by Showtime. Bringing in a UFC guy to talk about boxing is one more step in the decline of the boxing media, and Showtime’s general coverage has been going to shit since they sanctioned the despicable Mayweather-McGregor circus last year.

Wilder has further disgraced himself by going to the White House to appear with the disgraceful Trump when his pardon of Jack Johnson was announced. While other athletes of conscience have refused to meet with Trump, Wilder stands beside him for photo ops. This Jack Johnson pardon, by the way, may be another scam by Trump, as it was suggested by his buddy and supporter Sylvester Stallone, who a few days later by some miraculous coincidence said he is in the process of doing a film about Jack Johnson. We can expect that, unlike some other rumored video footage of Trump, this ceremony will make it into the film.

Making all this even worse, now Wilder is using his Showtime platform to make the ridiculous demand that a revenue split with Joshua be 50-50. Once again this shows that Wilder really isn’t serious about fighting Joshua now, and prefers his usual diet of Breazeale, Stiverne, and Malik Scott. It is a stupid negotiating ploy because it gives the Joshua camp an easy excuse to fight Povetkin, and then Tyson Fury, or even Dillian Whyte if he beats Joseph Parker on July 28, and make as much or more, while Wilder fights in front of a few thousand in Alabama or Brooklyn, and a relatively small audience on Showtime. There is also no guarantee that Wilder even beats Breazeale, or doesn’t get rocked or hurt by him.

All sorts of supposed experts have flooded the Internet with what think they know happened in the negotiations for Joshua-Wilder because they read what Hearn and Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, publicly said. Unless you heard their conversations and actually saw their correspondence and proposals, you do not, period. Do you believe what happened between Trump and Kim Jong-un simply by reading their official statements and reports? I thought not. Then you won’t be surprised when the Trump Tower Pyongyang opens, or Joshua vs. Wilder is quickly signed for next year.

So get ready for several important top-level fights in the second half of this year. Get ready for the debut of DAZN boxing. And stay ready for more disorder and chaos in the boxing world. We no doubt will find out quickly if all of these are good things, or not.

Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, DAZN, Deontay Wilder, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, No Holds Barred, Showtime