Thursday, August 12, 2021
No Holds Barred: Superspreader Olympics End, Karate KO Controversy, Franco-Moloney 3 Preview, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague Chris Baldwin on the WAAR Room on Angry Afro Radio. A video of this discussion has also been posted on the Angry Afro Radio YouTube page.
We spoke with her Tuesday, August 10.
The Tokyo Superspreader Olympics ended Sunday, August 8, but the surge in cases of Covid-19 in Japan is continuing. We discussed how the Olympics were a key factor is worsening this pandemic, where now only patients with severe symptoms can be hospitalized to prevent a hospital bed shortage.
The competition in Tokyo also saw the disgraceful action of a coach punching a horse who refused to perform in a modern pentathlon event when ordered by the rider. In wrestling, while accolades poured in for American heavyweight wrestler Gable Steveson's last second takedown to win his men's freestyle wrestling gold medal match, it appears that real wrestling will benefit little from the notoriety. Media reports indicate that he is likely soon headed to the fake wrestling world of the WWE. The much-touted 97 kg men's freestyle wrestling gold medal showdown between Russian Abdulrashid Sadulaev and American Kyle Snyder was won by Sadulaev, who scored no takedowns, 6-3, and showcased the absurd rules of the Olympic wrestling federation, UWW. In boxing, Cuba dominated the men's division with four gold medals. But we will only see these talented Cuban fighters as pros if they take the dangerous step of defecting from Cuba, since their government prohibits it.
Karate made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics, and instead of the sport building its worldwide reputation, the ludicrous rules of the Olympic karate federation, WKF, drew the most attention. The men's 75 kg gold medal kumite match was won by Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran. But in that final, he was knocked out by a head kick from Tareg Hamedi of Saudi Arabia. Hamedi was disqualified and had to settle for a silver medal because he followed through on his kick, rather than stopping or pulling it back before it landed at full force.
This issue in karate had been examined on No Holds Barred back in 2018 with karateka and coach Elhadji Gaye Ndour, who also had been disqualified in amateur karate events because, he said, he hit or kicked his opponents "too hard" or even scored knockouts. He had gone on to fight in the professional Karate Combat organization. You can play or download that show here.
We thus discussed a recent episode of the Karate Combat TV show, this group's rules, how it is being presented and positioned on TV, and more.
In pro boxing, of course, controversy and corruption are unending. We discussed the dreadful August 7 PBC on Fox show, which saw a robbery even more egregious that is usual for boxing. In a fight for one of the WBA's billions and billions of belts, Mychal Fox completely dominated Gabriel Maestre, but it was Maestre who got a unanimous decision win.
We also previewed this coming Saturday's trilogy fight between WBA super flyweight champ Joshua Franco of Texas and former champ Andrew Moloney of Australia. In a thrilling upset, Franco won their first fight in June 2020 by unanimous decision. Their November 2020 rematch, however, ended in chaos and controversy. Moloney had appeared to get a second-round TKO win because of major swelling under Franco's right eye, but controversial referee Russell Mora ruled that the damage was caused by an accidental headbutt. A befuddled Nevada commission then had a video review lasting almost a half hour, and also seemed to botch the verdict by upholding Mora's ruling. It was thus declared a no decision since the fight was halted by an accidental foul and had lasted fewer than four rounds.
Now their third fight takes place Saturday, August 14, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Oklahoma, near Tulsa. It will be shown live in the U.S. on both ESPN and ESPN+.
We got comments from Andrew Moloney from a recent Zoom call where he explained how he has improved since his previous fights with Franco.
And we discussed more about the corrupt Olympic movement, Errol Spence Jr. pulling out of his fight with Manny Pacquiao because of a torn retina, and much more.
Please also subscribe to the No Holds Barred page on Patreon for much more exclusive premium No Holds Barred content.
Now you can also support our independent, No Holds Barred journalism by purchasing items such as T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, mugs, pillows, masks, and even mini-skirts at the new No Holds Barred with Eddie Goldman shop on Redbubble. (It has also been recommended to me that people choose sizes on the large side, as some items may run small.) You can browse all the items for sale and then place an order here.
You can play or download No Holds Barred on Podomatic and the Internet Archive. If one link does not work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on these sites and apps:
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:
LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.
Skullz Fight Shop, home of the Skullz Double-End Bag, the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Fight Shop - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://skullzfightshop.com.
Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.
Labels: Andrew Moloney, Angry Afro Radio, boxing, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, Joshua Franco, karate, No Holds Barred, superspreader, Tokyo Olympics, WAAR Room, wrestling
Monday, August 09, 2021
"Goodbye to the Tokyo Superspreader Olympics" 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/goodbye-to-tokyo-54692483.
Labels: coronavirus, COVID-19, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, superspreader, Tokyo Olympics
Sunday, July 25, 2021
"I'm Sick and Tired of the Fucking Olympics" 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/im-sick-and-of-54083557.
Labels: coronavirus, COVID-19, Eddie Goldman, IOC, No Holds Barred, pandemic, Tokyo Olympics
Friday, January 22, 2021
"The Death Rattle of the Tokyo Olympics" on No Holds Barred Patreon Page
My latest piece, "The Death Rattle of the Tokyo Olympics", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page. A subscription, for the suggested monthly price of US$10, is required to read it. The article is at https://www.patreon.com/posts/death-rattle-of-46529758.
Labels: cancellation, coronavirus, Eddie Goldman, IOC, Japan, No Holds Barred, Patreon, Thomas Bach, Tokyo Olympics, Yoshihide Suga
Sunday, August 23, 2020
No Holds Barred: Rob Koehler on the Boom in Athlete Activism and Sports at a Crossroads
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete.
We spoke with him by phone Thursday.
With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic upending sports, the massive Black Lives Matter anti-racist protests since the murder of George Floyd, the uncertainty surrounding the postponed Tokyo Olympics, and a host of other relevant issues and factors, the result in recent months has been a marked increase in activism by athletes around the world. And that, said Rob Koehler, is a good thing.
"I think we're seeing some really good stuff coming from athletes," he said. "More than ever I've seen athletes speaking up on issues. They are not taking the status quo anymore. They are standing up on issues."
More and more, athletes are forming their own independent organizations.
"We're going to see it more. And the more athletes speak up, I think the more athletes will come forward, because power in numbers makes a huge difference," he said.
"Everyone wants to see sports succeed," he noted, while pointing out what else needs to be done.
"It's time to change. We're at a real crossroads here, in terms of do we make sports look different? Do we make sports stronger? And how do we do that?" Key to that is "engaging athletes, empowering athletes to have independent collective voices."
For the future, Global Athlete has some ambitious plans.
"We're going to continue advocating and continue to work with the various athlete groups across the world that are standing up on issues," he said. "We really want to see more organizations and want to help support and assist development of more organizations like the Athletics Association, where they are operating independently. We are working with three other sports right now, athletes in three other sports, to move forward and establish a similar structure.
"So I think for us, that's the way we'd like to see things move forward, where athletes get together, they develop their own structure, and they make it a global representation on an international level. That's the way I see the future going to the mid- to short-term."
We also discussed the growing athlete opposition to the International Olympic Committee's Rule 50 which bars podium protests; why athletes are humans first and athletes second; ensuring that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is implemented and enforced in world sport; why countries with a bad human rights record should not be permitted to host international sporting events; the upcoming case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport about Russia's state-sponsored doping program and its being banned from the Olympics; how in light of the ongoing pandemic there must be a realistic roadmap for the return to training and competition in preparation for the Summer Olympics; how a cancellation of the Summer Olympics will have an adverse effect on athletes; 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 Podcasts.
Also, No Holds Barred is available at Apple Podcasts.
No Holds Barred is also available on Spotify.
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:
LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.
Skullz Combat Sports Equipment, creator of the patented Skullz Double-End Bag, is the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Combat Sports Equipment - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://instagram.com/skullzcombatsports and https://facebook.com/skullzcombatsports.
Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.
Labels: athletes' rights, Eddie Goldman, Global Athlete, human rights, International Olympic Committee, IOC, No Holds Barred, Rob Koehler, Rule 50, Tokyo Olympics
Friday, April 03, 2020
No Holds Barred: Rob Koehler on Athletes' Key Role in Forcing the IOC to Postpone the Olympics Amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete.
We spoke with him by phone Thursday.
For weeks the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, insisted that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would go on as scheduled starting in July, and even after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11. That only changed on March 24, when the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee did an abrupt about-face and announced that the Olympics would be postponed. Later on March 30, they announced that the new dates would be July 23 to August 8, 2021, for the Olympics and August 24 to September 5, 2021, for the Paralympics. But these changes were only made after many athletes and sports organizations were vociferously protesting, demanding a postponement, and saying they would not participate on the originally planned dates to protect their health.
"The International Olympic Committee and Thomas Bach, I think, really didn't manage this in a way that had the athletes' rights respected in the manner that they should have been," said Rob Koehler.
A pandemic was declared, Olympic qualifying events were being cancelled, many professional sports organizations postponed or cancelled events, training facilities and gyms were being closed, borders were being closed, people were self-isolating, positive tests and deaths from the coronavirus were mounting, and some countries instituted lockdowns. But the IOC was "telling athletes to continue to train, continue to go forward with their preparations for the Olympic Games, which for us and the athlete groups we spoke to was an out-of-touch message" that ignored the "number one thing," public health, he said.
"We rallied the troops. We worked with different sports, athletics, the different countries to look at the message we wanted to send to the International Olympic Committee. And we called very openly and very vocally for the IOC to make an announcement that they're postponing the Games. They owed the duty of care to athletes. They were acting very irresponsibly. And I think the athletes' voice, the way they spoke up, forced the IOC to make a decision that they should have made a week before, and that was to postpone the Games," he said.
"We understand it's a very difficult situation, there's a lot of moving parts, it's not an easy decision, but all athletes needed to hear was, 'it's being postponed and we'll figure things out and we'll let you know once we figure things out.'
"And the athletes forced that card on them, and I was proud of every athlete that stood up."
We also discussed how many athletes competing in professional leagues have representation while many Olympic athletes do not; various models for independent athletes' associations; the need to support athletes' mental health with the postponement of the Olympics; how it is not yet known if athletes will be able to train in time to prepare for an Olympics starting in July 2021; the fiasco of the IOC-run Olympic boxing qualifier in London which was only cancelled midway after it had started and saw several boxers and coaches test positive for coronavirus afterwards; alternatives to the Olympic movement; 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 at Apple Podcasts.
No Holds Barred is also available on Spotify.
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:
LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.
Skullz Combat Sports Equipment, creator of the patented Skullz Double-End Bag, is the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Combat Sports Equipment - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://instagram.com/skullzcombatsports and https://facebook.com/skullzcombatsports.
Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.
Labels: athletes' rights, coronavirus, COVID-19, Eddie Goldman, Global Athlete, International Olympic Committee, IOC, No Holds Barred, Rob Koehler, Tokyo Olympics
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
No Holds Barred: Caradh O'Donovan On Coronavirus, Combat Sports, and the Olympics
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with former kickboxer and current member of the Irish karate team Caradh O'Donovan.
We spoke with her by Skype Sunday.
With karate being included on the program of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she had hoped to represent Ireland there. Now, in light of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, she and athletes in all sports and all countries may not be able to realize their dreams of competing in the Olympics. Most Olympic qualifying events have either been cancelled or postponed, and when or even if they will take place are at best uncertain.
Speaking about the Olympic qualifying events, she said, "My personal view is that everything should be stopped." Even if the European karate championships, which were cancelled, were still going on, she said she would have pulled out of them.
"I think that people who are making the decisions should be taking the health and safety of people first, not just the fans, but every single person that's involved in the sport. And sometimes that means making calls that means, yes, will probably cost a lot of money and upset people, but it might be for the greater good," she said.
While most Olympic qualifying and other sporting events are now off, still, as of Monday, March 16, the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 have been insisting that the 2020 Olympics will start on time as planned on July 24.
"It just seems to be a really out of touch position to take on it," she said, "because this is a serious virus that's going around, and it's killing people in so many different corners of the world. I just think the attitude is very flippant and maybe it trivializes what's going on."
She added, "Obviously you can't say for sure, but it does appear to be that the bottom line is money, and those decisions will kind of be based around protecting that and protecting the organization."
Perhaps it will take athletes and fans speaking up to get the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to change their position, but "I just don't see it going as smoothly as they want it to be."
She said all this as someone who is 35 years old and is competing in a sport, karate, that is on the Olympic program for 2020 but not for 2024.
"This is coming from me, who wants to go. This has been my dream forever to get to these Games," she said.
"The entire world is shutting down. Businesses are being impacted. Yet the Olympic Games is just going to come through this unscathed? It just doesn't seem realistic."
We also discussed what she has been doing while training facilities are closed down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the great likelihood of transmission of the virus in combat and contact sports, her new role on a weekly sports radio show at a time when there are no sporting events, and much, much more.
(Photo of Caradh O'Donovan at 2018 Irish Kenpo Karate Union Open by Noel Bergin.)
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 at Apple Podcasts.
No Holds Barred is also available on Spotify.
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:
LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.
Skullz Combat Sports Equipment, creator of the patented Skullz Double-End Bag, is the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Combat Sports Equipment - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://instagram.com/skullzcombatsports and https://facebook.com/skullzcombatsports.
Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.
Labels: Caradh O'Donovan, coronavirus, COVID-19, Eddie Goldman, International Olympic Committee, IOC, karate, kickboxing, No Holds Barred, Tokyo Olympics
