Monday, July 01, 2024
The WAAR Room: The Saudi Boxing Power Grab, Conflicts of Interest, and No Space For Women
We started discussing the Saudi boxing takeover and the secretive, proposed new global "league" or governing body, that already has seen numerous conflicts of interest, for example with certain fighters being favored as Riyadh Season ambassadors. We discussed how many of the internationally accepted principles of good governance are already being violated. And we discussed the case of Egyptian worker Ahmed Mohamed Omar, who was reportedly given a 19-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia for a tweet he made criticizing Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh about football, and what this means for boxing.
So far, all the Riyadh Season-sponsored boxing shows have featured only men's boxing, even though women have previously boxed on professional and amateur cards in Saudi Arabia. This includes announced fights for their shows on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, Sept. 21 in London, and Oct. 12 and Dec. 21 in Riyadh. We discussed how what the Saudis are doing by excluding women is deleterious both to women's boxing and to boxing as a whole.
Plus, we also discussed the upcoming congress of the Asian Boxing Confederation where they will vote on whether to join World Boxing, the fight to save Olympic boxing, and more.
You can watch The WAAR Room at https://youtu.be/95aGIbbXxEs
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This show was recorded June 30, 2024.
Labels: Ahmed Mohamed Omar, boxing, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, governance, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, Saudi Arabia, WAAR Room, women's boxing
Friday, May 10, 2024
"Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia, and Solving the Crisis in Boxing Governance" 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/turki-alalshikh-103980780.
Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, General Entertainment Authority, governance, No Holds Barred, Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh
Monday, August 21, 2023
The WAAR Room: Corrupt and Dirty Boxing Edition
You can watch The WAAR Room at https://youtu.be/IMwG1rxEZEo.
This show was recorded Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.
Labels: Alycia Baumgardner, boxing, Chris Baldwin, doping, Eddie Goldman, governance, heavyweights, Malissa Smith, No Holds Barred, WAAR Room
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
No Holds Barred: Charlo-Castaño, Bad Governance, and the Decline of Boxing, on the WAAR Room with Chris Baldwin
We spoke with her Sunday, July 18.
There was an attempt on Saturday, July 17, to unify the four major belts in boxing's 154-pound division, as unbeaten fighters and belt holders Jermell Charlo and Brian Castaño fought in the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, headlining a card shown on Showtime in the U.S.
After 12 rounds, the consensus seemed to be among boxing observers online that it was a good, close fight, but that Castaño had done enough to win.
The verdict, however, was a split draw. While many people accepted this decision since there were many close rounds and no fighter blew out the other, the score of one of the judges of 117-111 for Charlo was so ludicrous that Charlo himself even said it was too wide.
Both Charlo and Castaño said after the fight that they would welcome a rematch, but boxing's absurd system of multiple sanctioning bodies which each have their own mandatory challengers might prevent or delay that from happening any time soon, if ever.
The result was that there was an entertaining main event on an entertaining card, where the entertainment was ruined by the judging and overall lack of good governance in boxing.
We thus discussed this fight in this context of examining boxing's governance, how the general issue of governance is rarely discussed in boxing, how bad governance has been a major factor in boxing's decline, and what good governance constitutes. We also discussed new alternative forms of organizations for pro sports that are emerging, why sports organizations must work outside existing structures like the disgraceful International Olympic Committee, and much, much more.
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Labels: Angry Afro Radio, boxing, Brian Castaño, Chris Baldwin, Eddie Goldman, governance, Jermell Charlo, No Holds Barred, WAAR Room
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
No Holds Barred: Raul Ramirez on June 7 Catch Wrestling in L.A.
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Raul Ramirez of the Catch Wrestling Alliance.
Their first event, the Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth, will be held Saturday, June 7. The location is the Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA, at 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095-1612.
Eight catch wrestling matches are scheduled, where you can only win by pin or submission. There are no points or judges.
We spoke with Raul Ramirez by phone Monday.
The most recent addition to the lineup is Colleen Schneider, a catch wrestler and MMA fighter who trains with Josh Barnett. She will face Jennifer Thomas in one of two women's matches. She replaces Qin Yunquan of Singapore, who had to withdraw because of a knee injury.
"I think everyone's really locked in now," Raul Ramirez said, as we discussed the entire card.
Essential to reviving catch wrestling today is learning the historical lessons from the 1800s and early 1900s, when professional catch wrestling completely degenerated into a staged spectacle.
"We can't be making the mistakes of the past. But luckily," he said, "we got a lot of history books that document all of the details of what not to do."
The general methods of good and proper sports governance have improved and developed tremendously since the early days of catch wrestling, and we agreed that this incarnation of catch wrestling must strive for excellence, both on and off the mat.
"We got to keep this more democratic. We got to allow for different voices to be heard," he said.
The Catch Wrestling Alliance is already working with many schools around the world to accomplish these goals, including the home of catch wrestling, the Snake Pit Wigan.
"It is truly an alliance where we're trying to work together to create good governance and keeping the wrestlers happy, but also healthy as well," he noted.
We also discussed the importance of former college wrestlers like former Michigan State captain Curran Jacobs entering the ranks of catch wrestling and how that will likely affect the sport, the many awards which will be presented at this event honoring catch wrestling and grappling greats, the catch wrestling memorabilia exhibition at this event organized and hosted by wrestling author and historian Mike Chapman including artifacts from the days of Frank Gotch, and 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 free to listen to and is sponsored by:
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City July 26 and 27, 2014, for the fifth annual MMA World Expo, featuring the Fighters Source U.S. Nationals amateur MMA tournament, two days of ADCC no-gi and gi grappling tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, 2014, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth. This invitational event will be held under catch wrestling rules, where you can only win by pin or submission. It will take place Saturday, June 7, in Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. For more information, go to catchwrestlingalliance.com.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to http://takedownradio.com.
Labels: alliance, catch wrestling, Colleen Schneider, Curran Jacobs, Eddie Goldman, governance, Los Angeles, Mike Chapman, No Holds Barred, Raul Ramirez, Snake Pit Wigan, UCLA
Thursday, December 15, 2011
No Holds Barred: Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and Boxing Governance
Photo by: Tom Casino / Showtime
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Super Six World Boxing Classic finalists Andre Ward and Carl Froch, and discusses why the bad governance in boxing made this super middleweight tournament necessary.
On Saturday, December 17, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) will face WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) in the finals of the two-year-long Super Six World Boxing Classic. This fight will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports. The winner will earn the right to be called the best super middleweight in the world.
We spoke with both Andre Ward and Carl Froch at the kickoff news conference in August for this fight, which had originally been scheduled for October 29 but had to be postponed after Ward suffered a cut during training. We discussed what to expect in this fight, as well as the need for a boxers' union. We also previewed this fight with New York TV host Kristal Hart, whose show airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.
In addition, we open with a commentary on why it took an American television network, Showtime, to organize a tournament of the top fighters in the world in this division, when legitimate sports regularly have competitions pitting the best against the best.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.
Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com
Labels: Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Eddie Goldman, governance, No Holds Barred, Showtime, Super Six World Boxing Classic
