Friday, February 13, 2026
"Calls Grow to Kick Russia and Iran Out Of World Sport" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
My latest piece, "Calls Grow to Kick Russia and Iran Out Of World Sport", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/calls-grow-to-of-150671931.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, IOC, Iran, No Holds Barred, Russia, Ukraine, Winter Olympics, wrestling
Tuesday, December 03, 2024
"Why Putin Iced His 'Friendship Games' Now" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/why-putin-iced-117229968.
Labels: Abdulrashid Sadulaev, boxing, Eddie Goldman, IBA, IOC, Kremlev, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Putin, Russia, Trump, Ukraine, UWW, WADA, World Friendship Games, wrestling
Thursday, August 15, 2024
"Unfair! Stop The Attacks on Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting!" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/unfair-stop-on-110182841.
Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, IBA, Imane Khelif, IOC, Lin Yu-ting, Myron Genel, No Holds Barred, Paris Olympics, Rose Eveleth, Russia, Umar Kremlev
Monday, August 05, 2024
The WAAR Room: Olympic Boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, and the Ongoing Plight of Female Athletes
The controversy was fueled by the Russian-led and -financed International Boxing Association (IBA), which disqualified both Khelif and Lin at the world championships they held last year. At the time they only gave a murky reason for doing so. Since last June, IBA had its recognition withdrawn as the Olympic boxing federation by the IOC because of a history of bad governance, lack of financial transparency, and corrupt judging and refereeing. IBA was first suspended by the IOC in 2019. The IOC directly organized the boxing competition at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics through its own task force.
The charges against Khelif and Lin by the IBA are that they were shown to have XY chromosomes, which mainly but not exclusively exist in males. Yet the specifics of this test have not been revealed by the disgraced IBA, and have been dismissed by the IOC as "not legitimate", which has also confirmed that these two boxers are indeed both female. The IOC used the eligibility rules of the Rio and Tokyo Olympics for Paris, under which both Khelif and Lin qualified. In fact, both Khelif and Lin have been fighting in international amateur competition for many years. They also both fought at the Tokyo Olympics, although neither won a medal there.
We thus discussed the many aspects of this situation, including how Russia is using this situation to try to disrupt the Paris Olympics and to spread anti-LGBTQ propaganda, how the two fighters have faced an onslaught of lies and misinformation including that they are both "men" and "transgender", why the IBA's test of them is not legitimate, how this controversy adversely affects all women athletes, how legitimate questions about women and gender including eligibility in sports have been obscured by all the hate and lies, and much, much more.
You can watch The WAAR Room at https://youtu.be/bONVwyBTe30
.
This show was recorded August 4, 2024.
Labels: boxing, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, IBA, Imane Khelif, IOC, Lin Yu-ting, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Olympic boxing, Paris Olympics, Russia, Umar Kremlev, WAAR Room, women's boxing
Friday, August 02, 2024
"How Russia Sabotaged Women's Olympic Boxing" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-russia-109351194.
Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, IBA, Imane Khelif, IOC, Lin Yu-ting, No Holds Barred, Paris Olympics, Russia, Umar Kremlev, women's boxing, World Boxing
Monday, March 27, 2023
"Continue The Ban On Russian Sport" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
My latest piece, "Continue The Ban On Russian Sport", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/continue-ban-on-80647205.
Labels: Belarus, Eddie Goldman, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine
Monday, February 20, 2023
"Resistance To IOC's Appeasing Russia Grows" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/resistance-to-78948999.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine
Sunday, February 05, 2023
"Boycott Of Paris Olympics Possible As IOC Plans For Russians To Compete" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/boycott-of-paris-78251500.
Labels: boycott, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine
Sunday, January 01, 2023
"Some No Holds Barred Hopes and Predictions for 2023" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
My latest piece, "Some No Holds Barred Hopes and Predictions for 2023", is up on the 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/some-no-holds-76662339.
Labels: . boxing, Daniel Kinahan, Eddie Goldman, IBA, IOC, No Holds Barred, Russia, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky
Sunday, October 09, 2022
"IOC vs. IBA, Fight of the Year Candidate!" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/ioc-vs-iba-fight-73092459.
Labels: Boris van der Vorst, boxing, Eddie Goldman, IBA, International Boxing Association, IOC, Kamil Bortniczuk, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine, Umar Kremlev, WACA, World Anti-Corruption Agency
Wednesday, October 05, 2022
No Holds Barred: The Olympic Boxing Debacle, 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, October 3.
We had an in-depth discussion of the "extraordinary congress" of the IBA, which was held September 25 in Armenia. This congress was a complete debacle and only set the stage for IBA's suspension from the IOC being turned into expulsion, and boxing being completely dropped from the Olympic program starting in 2028.
Since we recorded this show, there has been another development which will likely only hasten Olympic boxing's demise. Going against the recommendations of the IOC and what virtually every other international Olympic federation has done following Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, IBA will now allow boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own national flags and identities, playing their national anthems for tournament winners. We also discussed the implications of this for both professional and amateur boxing.
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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
Labels: Boris van der Vorst, boxing, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, IBA, International Boxing Association, IOC, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine, Umar Kremlev, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Friday, September 30, 2022
"IBA's Congress Was A Debacle" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/ibas-congress-72673577.
Labels: Boris van der Vorst, boxing, Eddie Goldman, IBA, International Boxing Association, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine, Umar Kremlev
Monday, September 19, 2022
"Putin's Plan To Wreck World Sport" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
My latest piece, "Putin's Plan To Wreck World Sport", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/putins-plan-to-72176884.
Labels: boxing, doping, Eddie Goldman, IBA, International Boxing Association, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympic movement, Olympics, Russia, SCO, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Umar Kremlev, Vladimir Putin
Friday, May 27, 2022
No Holds Barred: Bye Bye, Olympic Boxing? 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, May 23.
The beleaguered International Boxing Association (IBA), at their recent congress, only allowed sitting president Umar Kremlev of Russia to run for that office after disqualifying his only opponent a day before the election, and also disqualified four candidates from running for their board who had raised some criticisms of the direction IBA has taken. This stunt did not sit well with the IOC, which had already suspended IBA, and said it was closely monitoring what was supposed to be a governance reform process for IBA.
At the same time, relations between the IOC and Putin's Russia have been at a low point since Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine right after the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics, which was supposed to be a period of peace called the Olympic Truce. For years the IOC has appeased Russia, following their violation twice before of the Olympic Truce, with the attack on Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014, and their recalcitrant and defiant actions involving their state-sponsored doping program. All these resulted essentially in slaps on the wrist. But IOC president Bach last week said that Russia was responsible for "personal threats to individuals from the IOC and Olympic Movement." Only this might have been the breaking point for Bach.
We discussed why it is not surprising that a Mafia regime like Putin's tried to threaten and bully the IOC, how IBA's reliance on Russia for funding through the state-run Gazprom energy giant may have doomed their chances of being reinstated by the IOC, how all this further jeopardizes Olympic boxing which already has been excluded from the program of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, how the demise of Olympic boxing will damage and possibly destroy both amateur and professional boxing, who might potentially replace Russia as a benefactor of Olympic boxing, and much more.
In addition, Malissa Smith kept us up-to-date with some important news about women's boxing.
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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
Labels: Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, IBA, IOC, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Olympic boxing, Russia, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Friday, May 13, 2022
No Holds Barred: Bivol Beat Canelo But Should Have Been Banned, 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.
On Saturday, May 7, pound-for-pound king and super middleweight champ Saul "Canelo" Alvarez lost by a clearcut decision in Las Vegas to unbeaten Russian fighter Dmitry Bivol, who holds the WBA light heavyweight belt. We discussed this fight, but also why, when the U.S. is sanctioning Russia for its criminal war of aggression in Ukraine, Russian boxers should not be permitted to fight on U.S. soil. Tune in now to hear our breakdown on the fight and why sanctions are so important in the war against Putin's propaganda machine.
(Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.)
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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
Labels: . boxing, Chris Baldwin, Dmitry Bivol, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Russia, Saul Canelo Alvarez, Ukraine, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Friday, March 18, 2022
No Holds Barred: Russia, Ukraine, the Olympics, Kinahan, and Corruption, on The WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin and Malissa Smith
We spoke with them by Zoom Monday, March 14.
Our wide-ranging discussion first focused on the continuing role of Russia in world sport, including in professional and Olympic boxing, even as Russia's war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine intensify. We discussed revelations that Umar Kremlev, president of the Olympic boxing federation IBA, has a history of ties with the Russian motorcycle club Night Wolves. Since 2014, the Night Wolves have been been under sanction by the the U.S. Treasury Department: "The Night Wolves have been closely connected to the Russian special services, have helped to recruit separatist fighters for Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine, and were deployed to the cities of Luhansk and Kharkiv." The IBA also has kept Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy company, as a "general partner". And in professional boxing, Russian fighters like Dmitry Bivol still get major fights, despite worldwide boycotts against Russian sports organizations and athletes because of Putin's criminal war of aggression against Ukraine.
We also discussed the increasingly prominent role of Daniel Kinahan, the alleged Irish head of an international drug cartel, in boxing. While the Irish media has been exemplary in exposing Kinahan, most of the world boxing media either remains silent about him or tries to cover up his real role. Kinahan is holed up in Dubai, which has not yet extradited him to Ireland. But Dubai is now hosting more and more major fights.
Also, we discussed how all this corruption means that there is no longer a basis for fair, all-inclusive world sport, and that the Olympic movement, which is collapsing, needs to be replaced. We discussed the role of gambling in boxing, sportswashing, how boxing is becoming so expensive to watch that it has become a luxury sport, 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: boxing, Chris Baldwin, Daniel Kinahan, Eddie Goldman, Girlboxing, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine, Umar Kremlev, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Thursday, March 03, 2022
No Holds Barred: We Stand With Ukraine, on The WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin and Malissa Smith
We spoke with them by Zoom Sunday, February 27.
We discussed the need for a ban on Russia from world sports after Putin violated the Olympic Truce agreement and attacked Ukraine.
This is the third time since 2008 that Russia has violated the Olympic Truce and launched military attacks. Russia and its proxies attacked the country of Georgia in 2008 at the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics. Russia attacked Ukraine and annexed Crimea during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Now mere hours after the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics had concluded, Russia launched its vicious and illegal land, sea, and air assault on Ukraine.
A ban on Russia may mark the end of the era of all-inclusive world sporting events. But the price for continuing to include Russia and its gang of cheats, dopers, and murderers in world sport is the complete abandonment of any principles associated with real sport. And such inherently corrupt sports organizations do not deserve to exist. The sustainability of an Olympic movement including both democratic and authoritarian countries, where human rights do not exist, has long been questioned as well.
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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, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine, WAAR Room, WAAR Sports
Tuesday, March 01, 2022
Defend Ukraine! Why I'm Resigning from the National Writers Union
My latest piece, "Ban Russia From World Sport", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.
This article is free to read, but please subscribe today to support independent journalism.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, National Writers Union, No Holds Barred, NWU, Russia, Ukraine
Saturday, February 26, 2022
"Ban Russia From World Sport" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
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The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/ban-russia-from-63090632.
Labels: ban, Eddie Goldman, invasion, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Russia, Ukraine, world sport
Monday, September 23, 2019
No Holds Barred: Jens Sejer Andersen on Olympic Scandals, Athlete Power, and 2019 Play the Game Conference
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen, the international director of Play the Game.
This year's conference, the 11th of Play the Game's biannual events, will be the first one taking place outside Europe and in the U.S. It will take place October 13-16, 2019, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Colorado Springs.
This is THE major world event advocating sport reform. More details on the conference can be seen here.
We spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen by Skype Monday.
World sport has been beset by a seemingly endless and growing number of scandals, including the FIFA corruption and bribery scandals, the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal, the rape and sexual assault scandals in many sports, and countless more. But there has been "one very interesting impact of the combination of scandals," Jens Sejer Andersen noted.
"It is that athletes now, especially elite athletes of course, are starting to speak up. They are starting to say, 'Hey, we do not really feel protected by our top leaders. We do not feel our interests are represented well,'" he said.
"And that is a trend, a global trend now, that more and more elite athletes organize in unions, or they form interest groups, or they form independent committees to take care of their interests vis-a-vis their national and international federations.
"And that's why we have called our conference this time, the subtitle is 'Athlete Power On The Rise'."
We discussed this trend of the rise of athlete activism, why this year's conference is in the U.S., what may happen with the re-opening of the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal due to new allegations of tampering with the data retrieved from the Moscow lab, the effect of these scandals on the future of the Olympic Games and movement, how the fight against sports corruption has broken some "taboos", and much, much more.
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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:
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Labels: athlete activism, boxing, corruption, doping, Eddie Goldman, IOC, Jens Sejer Andersen, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Play the Game, Russia, sport, sports, wrestling
