NO HOLDS BARRED

We spoke with her Tuesday, August 10.

The Tokyo Superspreader Olympics ended Sunday, August 8, but the surge in cases of Covid-19 in Japan is continuing. We discussed how the Olympics were a key factor is worsening this pandemic, where now only patients with severe symptoms can be hospitalized to prevent a hospital bed shortage.

The competition in Tokyo also saw the disgraceful action of a coach punching a horse who refused to perform in a modern pentathlon event when ordered by the rider. In wrestling, while accolades poured in for American heavyweight wrestler Gable Steveson's last second takedown to win his men's freestyle wrestling gold medal match, it appears that real wrestling will benefit little from the notoriety. Media reports indicate that he is likely soon headed to the fake wrestling world of the WWE. The much-touted 97 kg men's freestyle wrestling gold medal showdown between Russian Abdulrashid Sadulaev and American Kyle Snyder was won by Sadulaev, who scored no takedowns, 6-3, and showcased the absurd rules of the Olympic wrestling federation, UWW. In boxing, Cuba dominated the men's division with four gold medals. But we will only see these talented Cuban fighters as pros if they take the dangerous step of defecting from Cuba, since their government prohibits it.

Karate made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics, and instead of the sport building its worldwide reputation, the ludicrous rules of the Olympic karate federation, WKF, drew the most attention. The men's 75 kg gold medal kumite match was won by Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran. But in that final, he was knocked out by a head kick from Tareg Hamedi of Saudi Arabia. Hamedi was disqualified and had to settle for a silver medal because he followed through on his kick, rather than stopping or pulling it back before it landed at full force.

This issue in karate had been examined on No Holds Barred back in 2018 with karateka and coach Elhadji Gaye Ndour, who also had been disqualified in amateur karate events because, he said, he hit or kicked his opponents "too hard" or even scored knockouts. He had gone on to fight in the professional Karate Combat organization. You can play or download that show here.

We thus discussed a recent episode of the Karate Combat TV show, this group's rules, how it is being presented and positioned on TV, and more.

In pro boxing, of course, controversy and corruption are unending. We discussed the dreadful August 7 PBC on Fox show, which saw a robbery even more egregious that is usual for boxing. In a fight for one of the WBA's billions and billions of belts, Mychal Fox completely dominated Gabriel Maestre, but it was Maestre who got a unanimous decision win.

We also previewed this coming Saturday's trilogy fight between WBA super flyweight champ Joshua Franco of Texas and former champ Andrew Moloney of Australia. In a thrilling upset, Franco won their first fight in June 2020 by unanimous decision. Their November 2020 rematch, however, ended in chaos and controversy. Moloney had appeared to get a second-round TKO win because of major swelling under Franco's right eye, but controversial referee Russell Mora ruled that the damage was caused by an accidental headbutt. A befuddled Nevada commission then had a video review lasting almost a half hour, and also seemed to botch the verdict by upholding Mora's ruling. It was thus declared a no decision since the fight was halted by an accidental foul and had lasted fewer than four rounds.

Now their third fight takes place Saturday, August 14, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Oklahoma, near Tulsa. It will be shown live in the U.S. on both ESPN and ESPN+.

We got comments from Andrew Moloney from a recent Zoom call where he explained how he has improved since his previous fights with Franco.

And we discussed more about the corrupt Olympic movement, Errol Spence Jr. pulling out of his fight with Manny Pacquiao because of a torn retina, and much more.

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