NO HOLDS BARRED

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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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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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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.

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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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On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews a unique event combining mixed martial arts and the current struggle against fascists and racists in Europe. This is the Second International Tournament in Mixed Martial Arts Among Anti-Fascists of Europe, known as "No Surrender!! II" It takes place Saturday, April 17, in Kiev, Ukraine.

We spoke with one of the organizers of this event, known as Anton, who is an anti-fascist activist. The rise of fascist and neo-Nazi elements in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union has resulted in resistance by the people there, but also the death of some prominent opponents of the fascists. Because of the current danger to those who are active in this anti-fascist movement, this mixed martial arts event will be closed to the public and its location kept secret.

The background to these important developments was explained by Anton, who stressed that a key motivation in organizing such events was to train the members of this movement in self-defense. As the announcement of this event stated, "The tournament is intended to continue the tradition of learning and use of fighting arts not only in the ring or mat, but also in real life situations. Invited to apply are all the caring people who refuse to be reconciled with the dominance of the Nazi terror in the streets of their own cities."

This is thus also an amateur event using modified MMA rules. But it is also an historic event, as it shows that the sport of mixed martial arts can be used to promote positive values and play a progressive role in society. That was central to our discussion, as we try to bring information about all this to the world.

You can find our more details about this event and the movements and organizations behind it at: http://avtonom.org/en/node/9247.

You can also see some of the type of fighting which will take a place at this event at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi0DRhbouZo.

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