NO HOLDS BARRED

(Photo of (L-R) Arash Usmanee, Mike Tyson, and Argenis Mendez, by Tom Casino / Iron Mike Productions)

(Image credit for PBS Frontline's "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis" courtesy of Nick Veasey / Getty Images)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the concussion crisis in contact and combat sports, the coverage given it in the sports and general media, and the bubble in which the combat sports in particular live on this issue.

This past Friday night, August 23, ESPN's Friday Night Fights aired as a main event an exciting but brutal fight, where IBF junior lightweight champion Argenis Mendez (21-2-1, 11 KOs) retained his belt with a controversial majority draw with challenger Arash Usmanee (20-1-1, 10 KOs). This took place at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, and was promoted by Iron Mike Productions in association with Greg Cohen Productions, with Mike Tyson prominently sitting ringside.

Earlier that day, the entire credibility of ESPN's journalism had been called into question. An article in The New York Times, entitled "N.F.L. Pressure Said to Lead ESPN to Quit Film Project" by James Andrew Miller, reported that ESPN had pulled out of a collaborative effort with PBS's "Frontline" series on a documentary film called "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis". According to "Frontline", this two-part documentary, which will begin airing October 8 and 15, would examine "whether -- as thousands of former players allege -- the NFL has covered up the risks of football on the brain." The Times' article said that after 15 months of collaboration with "Frontline", ESPN pulled out of the project Thursday after a "combative meeting" involving four top executive from ESPN and the NFL. While ESPN later denied that it had caved in from pressure from the NFL -- whose "Monday Night Football" on ESPN is the highest-rated show on cable TV in the USA -- few were buying this story, and a furor erupted online over ESPN's commitment, or lack thereof, to independent journalism.

Interestingly, as if to counter this outpouring of criticism, ESPN did air a brief discussion Friday afternoon on "Outside the Lines" about a new study published in the American Academy of Neurology's journal "Neurology" about these issues. The study, authored by Robert A. Stern, PhD, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Boston University School of Medicine, said that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and repeated head injuries, including concussions and subconcussive trauma, in athletes, may adversely affect their memory, mood, and behavior. Dr. Stern was interviewed on "Outside the Lines".

The combat sports world, and in particular what calls itself its media, generally continued on, as if none of these controversies had taken place.

The bubble in which the combat sports live is thus discussed, including its seemingly inevitable bursting.

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Labels: Arash Usmanee, Argenis Mendez, boxing, bubble, concussions, CTE, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, football, Friday Night Fights, Frontline, Mike Tyson, MMA, New York Times, NFL, No Holds Barred, PBS

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by explaining how the lords of boxing completely blew an opportunity this past weekend to showcase a number of top fights and fighters to large audiences on free television, while another event, the UFC, was having another expensive pay-per-view. If you were one of the few to have viewed the Brian Viloria-Jesus Iribe fight, for example, you were in select company, although for now this fight is available on YouTube.

The battle for boxing to maintain whatever little credibility it has left by having a rematch between Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Diaz, in New York, and with neutral officials, continues. While the lords of boxing are trying to salvage business models based on obsolete technology, the real boxing fans are utilizing current mass technology to organize against the injustice which occurred August 22 when Diaz was awarded a lopsided unanimous decision over Malignaggi in a fight which the vast majority of observers thought that Malignaggi had comfortably won. You can now make your voice publicly heard by signing an online petition demanding a Malignaggi-Diaz rematch.

We discussed this fight, and what we can do to fight for a rematch, with Paulie Malignaggi this past Wednesday night, when he was attending the latest Broadway Boxing card at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York, where he also was a television announcer.

On this card, 23-year-old super featherweight prospect Argenis Mendez (14-1, 9 KOs) looked impressive in his first Broadway Boxing main event by scoring a fifth-round TKO over veteran Anthony Napunyi (14-7, 7 KOs). We spoke with him right after his fight, along with his training partner, unbeaten lightweight and former WBO super featherweight and super bantamweight champion Joan Guzman (29-0, 17 KOs). And we also spoke with promoter Lou DiBella about what he is doing to secure a rematch for his fighter, Paulie Malignaggi, with Juan Diaz, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

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Labels: Argenis Mendez, boxing, Brian Viloria, Broadway Boxing, Eddie Goldman, Golden Boy, HBO, Jesus Iribe, Joan Guzman, Juan Diaz, Lords of Boxing, Lou DiBella, No Holds Barred, Paulie Malignaggi