NO HOLDS BARRED

 My latest piece, "Intellectual Cowardice, the Case of Salma al-Shehab, and Usyk-Joshua 2", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, Eddie Goldman, George Orwell, human rights, No Holds Barred, Oleksandr Usyk, Salma al-Shehab, Saudi Arabia

 My latest piece, "Usyk-Joshua 2 and the Rise of Saudi Boxing", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: Abdullah Alharbi, Anthony Joshua, boxing, Eddie Goldman, human rights, Jeddah, No Holds Barred, Oleksandr Usyk, Rasha Alkhamis, Saudi Arabia

My latest piece, "Don't Bring Your Crayons to Usyk-Joshua 2", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: Anthony Joshua, boxing, Crayola, crayons, DAZN, Eddie Goldman, homosexuality, human rights, Jeddah, LGBTQ, No Holds Barred, Oleksandr Usyk, Pride Month, Saudi Arabia

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

Go to the article on Patreon:

Ruiz-Joshua 2: Assholery in Arabia

Labels: Andy Ruiz, Anthony Joshua, boxing, doping, Eddie Goldman, Eddie Hearn, human rights, No Holds Barred, Saudi Arabia

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the increasing number of grave crises and scandals facing the International Olympic Committee (IOC), its sports federations, and the Olympic movement in general.

This week many of these were highlighted in a 192-page report issued by the World Cup and Olympics Popular Committee of Rio de Janeiro, also known as the Comité Popular. This was the fourth such report issued by this group since 2012 in their series known as the Mega-Events and Human Rights Dossier.

This year's report is called Rio 2016 Olympics: The Exclusion Games.

The report details the many ways in which the preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics have led to mass evictions, virtual slave labor, "social cleansing", privatization of public resources, militarization of Rio, and even the deaths of many, and principally poor Black youth.

We also hear some brief comments by IOC president Thomas Bach at the conclusion of this week's IOC Executive Board meeting belittling the struggle against corruption and human rights abuses.

Also discussed is the corruption in numerous Olympic federations including FIFA and IAAF among many others; the rejection by the people of a growing number of cities of hosting the Olympic Games, including Hamburg and Boston; the continuing failure of the International Olympic Committee leadership to take any effective measures against corruption and human rights abuses; why aspiring sports groups should NOT plan to join this corrupt Olympic movement but must organize themselves independently and with the athletes at the fore; and much more.

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, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.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: Comité Popular, corruption, doping, Eddie Goldman, Exclusion Games, FIFA, human rights, IAAF, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Rio de Janeiro