NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the controversy from the ending of Saturday's Vasyl Lomachenko-Guillermo Rigondeaux fight, where Rigondeaux decided not to come out for the seventh round, citing an injury to his left hand. The whole issue of quitting in boxing is discussed and why in this and other cases it should not be opposed. Also discussed are the disgusting attacks on Rigondeaux from some alleged boxing "writers", why the standard of "going out on your shield" is barbaric, the importance of boxing and combat sports for self-defense, and 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 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, combat sports, Eddie Goldman, Guillermo Rigondeaux, No Holds Barred, no mas, quitting, self-defense, Vasyl Lomachenko

by Eddie Goldman

ESPN has put out a press release propagandizing that Saturday's fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux is "the biggest boxing match of the year". This is pretty funny, since it is being held in Madison Square Garden's Theater, which is not even the biggest room in that building, and in whose main arena Miguel Cotto dropped his retirement fight to Sadam Ali just last week.

And, of course, it ignores (and insults) what was really the biggest fight of the year, the April 29 heavyweight classic between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 people in London's Wembley Stadium, which broke U.K. pay-per-view records, and was viewed by tens of millions of people around the world.

As for TV, being the biggest fight on U.S. TV this year (since for most American hacks and flacks only America is great for sports and matters) is a possibility, but will be difficult to achieve. So far that honor belongs to the fight between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia on CBS March 4, which peaked at 5.1 million viewers and averaged 3.1 million viewers. So we shall know the ratings for Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux sometime shortly after the show airs.

What is significant, behind all the cliches, hype, and rubbish, is that for this fight at least, ESPN is providing much support on its various networks and online. The press conference was shown on ESPN3, the weigh-ins will be televised on ESPN2, and Lomachenko, the Top Rank fighter being showcased ahead of Rigondeaux, was on SportsCenter. They also have several supporting preview articles, although expert analysis of this fight is far better in many non-ESPN places.

For some unannounced reason, Teddy Atlas will not be this fight's live blabbermouth. Those positions are being filled by Mark Kriegel and Stephen A. Smith, so expect the commentary to be best experienced with the volume muted.

For U.K. viewers, this fight is on BoxNation, which might provide more professional commentary and analysis.

My preview, "Will Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux Be Arum's Revenge?" can be seen here.

The ESPN press release mentioned above can be seen here.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, Guillermo Rigondeaux, No Holds Barred, Vasyl Lomachenko

by Eddie Goldman

(Here is a very slightly edited transcript of the section of the latest edition of the No Holds Barred podcast on the upcoming fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux.)

This coming Saturday, December 9, in Madison Square Garden's small 5000-seat room known as the Theater, and televised in the U.S. on ESPN and in the U.K. on BoxNation, there will be another fight with great appeal to the true believers in boxing, but which also might require a miracle for the scores to be fair and reflect what goes on in the ring, should it, as most expect, go to the judges. That is the showdown between the two double Olympic gold medalists and among the best if not THE best technicians in boxing today, WBO 130-pound champion Vasyl Lomachenko and WBA 122-pound champion Guillermo Rigondeaux.

To get this fight, the older, shorter, and smaller Rigondeaux had to move up two weight classes and fight on a card promoted by Top Rank, the outfit that dumped and trashed him after he decisively outboxed and schooled the talented Nonito Donaire in 2013, whom Top Rank was pushing at the time.

Could this fight end in another fair decision? Will Santa Claus make an appearance in your chimney? Do people even use chimneys anymore? Will Arum and company let Rigondeaux win if he fails to knock out Lomachenko a couple of times? Our colleague Charles Farrell is writing a piece on this, so hopefully it will be posted soon, and make sure to read it when it is up.

Top Rank fled the declining HBO boxing program earlier this year for ESPN, meaning they now have expanded reach for their fights on TV on this regular cable network, and through its app, much more than through the premium network HBO. On Saturday, November 11, the Top Rank boxing show on ESPN in the U.S. got about twice as many viewers as the HBO card on that same night. ESPN's card featured Artur Beterbiev vs. Enrico Köelling for the IBF light heavyweight belt and Jose Ramirez vs. Mike Reed. HBO's card was headlined by Daniel Jacobs vs. Luis Arias. So Top Rank's strategy seems to be working so far, with more evidence coming this week as the Lomachenko-Rigondeaux card goes head-to-head with an HBO live show.

This one is a Golden Boy show, headlined by Miguel Roman facing Orlando Salido, who, not fighting by coincidence on the same day as Lomachenko, handed Lomachenko his only pro loss back in 2014 in Lomachenko's second pro fight. But that will likely not be enough to make this show competitive in the TV ratings department with Lomachenko-Rigondeaux on ESPN.

It is of course within reason that Lomachenko might legitimately defeat Rigondeaux. Lomachenko, though many fighters avoid him, has been more active than Rigondeaux, who has had various fights fall through. This will be Lomachenko's third fight this year, and second for Rigondeaux, but who only fought that one controversial round against Moises Flores in June in a fight which ended after Rigondeaux decked Flores just after the bell and he did not continue. Rigondeaux only fought once in 2016 and 2015, while Lomachenko fought twice in each of those years.

Size and age will matter as well, although Rigondeaux has shown no signs of slowing down in the ring. But he sometimes doesn't have the explosive, eye-catching style which judges usually favor. Lomachenko could be the more active fighter also. Both men are defensive wizards and accurate punchers, and also southpaws. Rigondeaux has underrated power, with the Flores fight and his breaking Jazza Dickens's jaw with one punch in his previous fight being examples. Rigondeaux will certainly need that power against Lomachenko, but unless he is able to connect squarely and visibly, all the factors working against him may result in a Lomachenko victory, disputed or not.

Either way, it appears the working script for this fight is entitled "Arum's Revenge". The unanimous decision for Rigondeaux against Donaire, also in New York, upset both Arum and many tools and fools in the Boxing Writers Association of America (lol). Will they bow to fairness this time, or will there be more of boxing's patented trickeration? We shall find out soon.

Labels: Bob Arum, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Guillermo Rigondeaux, No Holds Barred, Vasyl Lomachenko

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses Saturday's controversial stoppage victories of Andre Ward over Sergey Kovalev and Guillermo Rigondeaux over Moises Flores, and how the blundering of the Nevada State Athletic Commission obscured the great performances of these two top-level fighters.

(Photos of Andre Ward and Guillermo Rigondeaux-Moises Flores by Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Roc Nation Sports.)

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: Andre Ward, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Moises Flores, Nevada State Athletic Commission, No Holds Barred, Sergey Kovalev

(Carl Frampton-Scott Quigg photo: Mark Robinson)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the upcoming Carl Frampton-Scott Quigg and Guillermo Rigondeaux-Jazza Dickens super bantamweight fights, and gets comments from the fighters.

The long-awaited title unification fight between the two unbeaten fighters, IBF champion Carl Frampton and WBA champion Scott Quigg, will take place Saturday, February 27, in the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. It will be televised live in the U.K. on Sky Sports Box Office and live in the U.S. on Showtime Extreme.

Frampton (21-0, 14 KOs), of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is known more as a boxer. Quigg (32-0-2, 23 KOs), of Bury, Lancashire, United Kingdom, is seen more as a puncher.

On Saturday, March 12, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters and technicians in the world, and also one of the most avoided fighters in the world, two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0, 10 KOs) returns to action. He will face a huge underdog, the 24-year-old British super bantamweight champion James "Jazza" Dickens (21-1, 6 KOs). This fight, on the undercard of the Terry Flanagan-Derry Mathews WBO lightweight title fight, takes place at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. It will be shown live in the U.K. on BoxNation. Thus far, no U.S. telecast has been announced.

We spoke with Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and Jazza Dickens on recent media conference calls to get their views on their fights and their plans.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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 free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: boxing, Carl Frampton, Eddie Goldman, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jazza Dickens, No Holds Barred, Scott Quigg, super bantamweight

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell.

Charles is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard.

The eyes of the combat sports world and the sports world in general will be focused on boxing this weekend, as two of the top fighters in the world are in action Saturday, May 4. Welterweight and pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. will face Robert Guerrero in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, while heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko will fight Francesco Pianeta in Mannheim, Germany.

Charles, however, reserved his highest praise for the top 122-pound fighter in the world, Guillermo Rigondeaux, who won an impressive decision victory over Nonito Donaire April 13 in New York.

"I was more than impressed," Charles said of this fight, in an interview recorded Thursday by phone. "I'm comfortable saying that it's the best performance I've seen by anybody in the last half-decade." He added, "That was a performance for the ages. It was a virtuoso performance."

We discussed why and how Rigondeaux was so brilliant in this fight, as well as the myriad of supposed boxing experts and writers who panned it and just did not understand what Rigondeaux was doing to dominate Donaire.

Neither of us expect anything close to an upset in the Mayweather-Guerrero or Klitschko-Pianeta fights, which we also discussed, as well as the careers of both Mayweather and Wladimir and his brother, Vitali Klitschko. We also discussed whether more people will watch Mayweather-Guerrero or Klitschko-Pianeta, why the Abner Mares-Daniel Ponce de Leon featherweight fight might steal the show featuring Mayweather, a relatively impressive performance by heavyweight Bermane Stiverne against Chris Arreola last week, why the best TV boxing commentary in the U.S. is by present and former fighters, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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Labels: boxing, Charles Farrell, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Klitschko, No Holds Barred, Robert Guerrero