NO HOLDS BARRED

 

My latest piece, "Make No More Clown Fights in Riyadh or Anywhere Else", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: boxing, clown fights, Conor McGregor, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Riyadh Season, Saudi Arabia, Terence Crawford, Turki Alalshikh

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses Floyd Mayweather's tenth-round TKO in a dominating boxing match against UFC fighter and novice boxer Conor McGregor. Who was right and who was wrong in their prognostications about this fight, punching skill and technique in boxing and MMA, what real fighting looks like, deconstructing this entire sorry spectacle, what's coming up in real boxing, and more are discussed.

(Photo of Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor, Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions.)

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.

USA Combat Wrestling, the official U.S. governing body for combat wrestling and U.S. delegate of the International Combat Wrestling Federation (FICW), which was founded by the legendary wrestler Noriaki Kiguchi of Japan. For more information, go to CombatWrestling.us.

Labels: boxing, Conor McGregor, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, MMA. spectacle, No Holds Barred, sucker

by Eddie Goldman

There has suddenly been renewed interest in an obscure 1947 short film produced for the then-called U.S. Department of War called Don't Be a Sucker! The basic theme of this film is anti-racist and anti-fascist, and exposes those who would like to bring Nazism to America.

While this 70-year-old film is surely quite dated, and its message severely limited by the prevailing prejudices of the time, it nevertheless has been reposted online by many following the recent riot by various fascists, Nazis, and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The film gained even wider attention when Trump declared that the fascist rioters included "very fine people" -- exactly the kind that the U.S. War Department warned against in this film.

While fascism, white supremacy, etc., may be the real big cons, the combat sports world is full of its own, however lesser the consequences may be. The biggest con today, which is apparently getting lots of modern-day suckers to empty their wallets, is the upcoming farcical mismatch between Mayweather and McGregor. And true to many cons, this one has utilized racism, misogyny, anti-LGBT bigotry, and vulgar hysteria to try to peddle its damaged goods.

Some of the best minds in boxing and the combat sports, each with many decades of experience in them, have already commented on and deconstructed this scam. There is thus no need to repeat what has been said and written, nor any desire on our parts to revisit an issue which we would have been quite content to ignore and leave to those either who are part of this con job, or who have no knowledge or understanding of how they are being played for suckers.

So if you haven't already checked these out, here are the links to these articles and podcasts:

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Vs. Conor McGregor Is The Second-Biggest Possible Fuck-You, by Charles Farrell.

Mayweather-McGregor: "The Sting", by Frank Lotierzo.

No Holds Barred: John Perretti on the Mayweather-McGregor Scam.

No Holds Barred: The Disastrous Mayweather-McGregor Con Continues.

Labels: boxing, Charles Farrell, con, Conor McGregor, Don't Be A Sucker, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Frank Lotierzo, John Perretti, MMA, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the escalating con game being used to promote the so-called Mayweather-McGregor "fight"; how they are cynically using racism, misogyny, and anti-LGBT bigotry to sell it to marks; the growing backlash against all this; and how this con game is severely damaging the brands and images of Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor, UFC, and Showtime.

(Photo of Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in London by Esther Lin/Showtime.)

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.

USA Combat Wrestling, the official U.S. governing body for combat wrestling and U.S. delegate of the International Combat Wrestling Federation (FICW), which was founded by the legendary wrestler Noriaki Kiguchi of Japan. For more information, go to CombatWrestling.us.

Labels: anti-LGBT bigotry, boxing, con job, Conor McGregor, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, misogyny, MMA, No Holds Barred, racism, scam, Showtime, UFC

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.

Our topic was the absurd boxing match planned for August 26 between the recent top pound-for-pound boxer, Floyd Mayweather, who is 49-0, and UFC fighter Conor McGregor, who is 0-0 in boxing.

We spoke with John Perretti by Skype Thursday.

While most people in boxing circles see this fight as a disgraceful spectacle and money grab with zero chance for McGregor to win, there are many people in MMA circles, who have little or no familiarity with boxing, who actually are true believers that it could be a competitive fight. It was mainly to dispel such notions that we focused our discussion.

"The beauty of boxing is in the rules," he said, "because you cannot hit from the waist down. With not hitting from the waist down, that creates the ability of somebody like Sugar Ray Robinson to be able to do the things that he could do in the ring because he had the mobility of his legs and he had no worries about anybody attacking his legs.

"Now that's where mixed martial arts and kickboxing change the world. And when you land elbows on a guy in boxing, it's illegal. But when you land elbows on a guy in muay Thai, it's perfectly legal.

"So I don't know what this is about," he continued, "but I will tell you that if this goes more than six rounds, there's a reason for it, and it's not because of the prowess of Conor McGregor."

We discussed the possibility that "something odd" may occur in this spectacle, why most boxing people see this fight as a joke but many MMA people don't, the ignorance of boxing and misinformation spread about it by many MMA commentators, why the Nevada commission approved a fight between 49-0 and 0-0 boxers, 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 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 2017 Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Saturday, July 15, 2017, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance (CWA) and co-sponsored by City of Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, Sprout Living (official protein powder of the CWA), and Ultima Replenisher (official electrolyte drink of the CWA), the event will take place at Humboldt High School. 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.

USA Combat Wrestling, the official U.S. governing body for combat wrestling and U.S. delegate of the International Combat Wrestling Federation (FICW), which was founded by the legendary wrestler Noriaki Kiguchi of Japan. For more information, go to CombatWrestling.us.

Labels: boxing, Conor McGregor, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, John Perretti, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, scam, spectacle