Thursday, June 23, 2022
No Holds Barred: Usyk-Joshua 2, Sportswashing, and the Growth of Saudi Boxing, on The WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin and Malissa Smith
We spoke with them by Zoom Tuesday, June 21.
The kickoff press conference for the rematch between WBA-IBF-WBO heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk and the fighter he defeated to win those belts last September, Anthony Joshua, took place Tuesday, June 21, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That fight is scheduled to take place there August 20
Locating this fight in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a monarchy and theocracy with a well-known abysmal human right record, has prompted many to accuse the Saudis of "sportswashing", a term which means "attempting to detract attention from the country's human rights record".
Amnesty International UK had requested that Anthony Joshua speak out against these human rights violations. But asked about this after the press conference, Joshua brushed off these concerns and told reporters, "I don't know what that is. I'm here to win the heavyweight champion of the world. I like Saudi. I think Saudi's good. I'm having a good time here. I'm treated really well. All that allegation stuff, for me, I'm not caught up in any of that stuff. I'm here to have a good time, mix with the local people, bring entertainment to Saudi."
Yet to understand why the Saudis are reportedly paying tens of millions of dollars to host this fight, and have attracted many other high profile sporting events, it should be understood that their motivation is not only to detract attention from their human rights record. Saudi Arabia is using their hundreds of billions of petrodollars accumulated over many decades to try to diversify the economy, reduce their financial dependance on petroleum revenue, and further develop their sports, entertainment, and tourism sectors.
Saudi Arabia's modernization plans also include the enhancing of sports training, facilities, and competition for Saudi youth. In particular, they have been developing a growing amateur boxing program for both young men and women, and are actively engaged in the international Olympic boxing movement. Bringing major fights like this one to their country is in part aimed at encouraging more youth to participate and train in boxing.
We discussed all sides of this, how most of the Western media has a one-sided view of the social and economic significance of this fight taking place in Saudi Arabia, and much more.
Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.
You can play or download No Holds Barred on Anchor, Patreon, and the Internet Archive. If one link does not work, please try another.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, heavyweights, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Oleksandr Usyk, Saudi Arabia, sportswashing, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Monday, June 20, 2022
"Don't Bring Your Crayons to Usyk-Joshua 2" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
A subscription is required to read it, so subscribe today to support independent journalism.
The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/dont-bring-your-68005641.
Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, Crayola, crayons, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, homosexuality, human rights, Jeddah, LGBTQ, No Holds Barred, Oleksandr Usyk, Pride Month, Saudi Arabia
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
No Holds Barred: Heavyweights Everywhere, First Women Boxers in Hall of Fame, on The WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin and Malissa Smith
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleagues Chris Baldwin of the WAAR Room and Malissa Smith of Girlboxing on the WAAR Room. A video of this discussion has also been posted on the WAAR Sports YouTube page.
We spoke with them by Zoom Monday, June 13.
Between this weekend's wild Daniel Dubois versus Trevor Bryan fight, with a 90-year-old Don King reminding us he's still in the game, to Anthony Joshua's landmark deal with DAZN, there's a lot of action in the heavyweight division. We talked about it all, plus the possibility of an announcement coming real soon for UsykJoshua2. And yes, everything is very, very fluid.
We also talked about the once-in-a-lifetime "Trilogy" at the International Boxing Hall of Fame this past weekend combining a celebration of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 inductions due to the COVID pandemic. Most notable, however, was the first ever inclusion of women boxers in the Modern and Trailblazer groupings to include:
Women Modern Boxers: Christy Martin (2020), Lucia Rijker (2020), Laila Ali (2021), Ann Wolfe (2021), Holly Holm (2022), and Regina Halmich (2022).
Women Trailblazer Boxers: Barbara Buttrick (2020) and Marian "Lady Tyger" Trimiar (2021).
Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.
You can play or download No Holds Barred on Anchor, Patreon, and the Internet Archive. If one link does not work, please try another.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
Labels: boxing, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, Hall of Fame, heavyweights, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports, women boxers
Sunday, June 12, 2022
"The Surreal Tale of Daniel Dubois vs. Trevor Bryan" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
A subscription is required to read it, so subscribe today to support independent journalism.
The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/surreal-tale-of-67689090.
Labels: Daniel Dubois, Don King, Eddie Goldman, heavyweight boxing, No Holds Barred, Trevor Bryan, WBA
Friday, June 10, 2022
No Holds Barred: Kali Reis on The WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin and Malissa Smith
Our guest was boxer, actor, and activist Kali Reis, who holds the WBA and WBO 140-pound belts.
We spoke with them by Zoom Monday, June 6.
Besides discussing her boxing career, we discussed her film "Catch the Fair One", for which she was nominated for the prestigious International Spirit Award for best actor. In it she portrayed a Native American boxer who risked her own life to enter the world of sex trafficking to find her missing sister.
Every year, thousands of Native Americans go missing or are murdered. To this date, there is still no database keeping track of these statistics.
The film was co-written by Kali Reis and Josef Wladyka and stars Kali and former women's pro boxer Shelley Vincent.
See this movie on Amazon Prime. Support independent film.
Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.
You can play or download No Holds Barred on Anchor, Patreon, and the Internet Archive. If one link does not work, please try another.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
Labels: boxing, Catch the Fair One, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, Kali Reis, Malissa Smith, Native American, No Holds Barred, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Saturday, June 04, 2022
"Waiting for the Heavyweights, June 2022 Edition" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
A subscription is required to read it, so subscribe today to support independent journalism.
The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/waiting-for-june-67361806.
Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, Eddie Goldman, heavyweight, No Holds Barred, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury
