NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete.

A former World Anti-Doping Agency deputy director general, Rob Koehler is leading this "international athlete-led movement that will inspire and lead positive change in world sport, and collectively address the balance of power between athletes and administrators," according to its web site.

We spoke with him by phone Monday.

While he agreed that Global Athlete is an advocacy organization, he noted that it is developing into much more than that in collectively dealing with athletes' problems and fighting for their rights.

"When they have problems, when they have issues, we either help them from behind, or we join together in terms of making statements and pushing things. We've provided legal support. We've provided assistance in so many different areas, that right now it's advocacy. But we see in the future that being a collective group to stand together on issues collectively that are one hundred percent athlete-supported and athlete-driven, we'll start to make change," he said.

Yet there still is enormous resistance from the powers-that-be in world sport to these efforts.

"One of the things that, it's mind-boggling to me, and I still cannot understand," he continued, "why sport governance and sporting organizations do not see the benefit in bringing athletes along with them and together as a collective to try to make sport stronger, safer. And when you have collective athlete engagement and collective bargaining, you end up with growing the sport, not limiting it."

Most of the focus of Global Athlete now is on the rights of athletes in the Olympic movement. But there are also major popular movements and mass sentiment in many places around the world against those areas hosting the Olympics and other mega-events. One way of addressing that, he said, is to guarantee that the athletes are part of the process that goes into deciding just what the Olympics and these major events do.

"If athletes were a part of the decision-making and were a part of shaping what the Olympics should look like in the future, or in a World Cup, you all of a sudden have brand recognition, so you've attached your own brand to that brand when you become part of it. And when you become part of something and you want to see it in a better spot, you're going to be held accountable for it," he said.

"Money has overshadowed what the Olympic brand used to be," he said. What is needed is "a new type of approach and a new type of Olympics that meets all those, that addresses the criticisms that are out there."

The latest chapter in the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal involves Russian authorities providing doctored and fabricated data and evidence about the findings of the Moscow laboratory's doping test results to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

He said he and Global Athlete would support a "ban of Russia at the Olympics, to try to bring about some institutional change in the country. Because if the leaders of the sports can continue to manipulate and manage things and not have any dire consequences when they go to the Games, when are we going to see change inside?"

We also discussed how the funding they receive from the FairSport foundation is not attached to Global Athlete's decision-making, how Global Athlete has helped athletes in sports including karate and weightlifting, the development of alternative organizations outside the Olympic movement such as the International Swimming League, the plans of Global Athlete for the future, and much, 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 at Apple Podcasts.

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: athletes' rights, Eddie Goldman, Global Athlete, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Rob Koehler, Russian doping scandal, WADA

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses this past Saturday's rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Luis "King Kong" Ortiz, won by Wilder with a one-punch knockout near the end of round seven. The topics include what this all says about Wilder, what his future may be, how this affects the future of the heavyweight division and the quest to establish an undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and much more.

(Photo of Wilder and Ortiz by Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions.)

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 at Apple Podcasts.

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: boxing, Deontay Wilder, Eddie Goldman, heavyweight, Luis King Kong Ortiz, No Holds Barred, rematch, unification

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the upcoming rematch between WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) and challenger Luis "King Kong" Ortiz (31-1, 2 ND, 26 KOs). This takes place Saturday, November 23, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will be shown in the U.S. on Fox pay-per-view and in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

Their first fight took place March 3, 2018, in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In what had been an exciting and close fight, Wilder dropped Ortiz twice in the tenth round to earn a TKO win and retain his belt.

Both fighters had been undefeated at the time of their first fight, so the question remains whether or not Ortiz can determine why he lost and make adjustments. Their first fight is analyzed, including the role of Ortiz's conditioning, as he faded as that fight went on. The factors that may, or may not, be different in the rematch are discussed here, and much more.

(Photo of Luis Ortiz by Team Ortiz.)

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 at Apple Podcasts.

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: boxing, Deontay Wilder, Eddie Goldman, heavyweight, Luis King Kong Ortiz, No Holds Barred, rematch

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Balogun Ojetade, the founder, director, and master instructor of the Afrikan Martial Arts Institute.

Our main topic was an event scheduled for next year, on October 9-11, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia, called WarriorCon.

We spoke with Balogun Ojetade by phone Wednesday.

"WarriorCon is a convention that is comprised of panel discussions and workshops, and features the indigenous martial arts of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas," he said.

"We're going to have 52 Blocks, Laamb, some of the northwestern and possibly northeastern African martial arts," and training and demonstrations of many other styles and systems as well.

We discussed the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for WarriorCon, how the recent rise of interest in African and African-American martial arts and self-defense is related to the rise of white supremacy, the importance of the African Warriors Fighting Championship, the use of these techniques shown at WarriorCon in various combat sports, and much, 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 at Apple Podcasts.

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: Africa, African-American, Balogun Ojetade, Caribbean, Eddie Goldman, indigenous, martial arts, No Holds Barred, self-defense, WarriorCon

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the November 2 fight between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev, and the ill-conceived decision by streaming service DAZN to delay its start until after a UFC event on another platform was completed. This outraged many in boxing, as the Canelo-Kovalev fight only started after 1 AM Eastern Time. Also discussed are how this was a gross insult to the core audience of boxing fans DAZN has built in the U.S. for the past year, what this might mean for DAZN amidst the very competitive "streaming wars", and much much more.

(Photo of Canelo and Kovalev by Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos/Golden Boy.)

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 at Apple Podcasts.

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: boxing, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Saul Canelo Alvarez, Sergey Kovalev, streaming