{"id":120264,"date":"2023-06-05T10:12:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T15:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=120264"},"modified":"2023-06-05T10:12:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T15:12:54","slug":"boxing-is-still-here-even-if-not-remotely-close-to-the-golden-eras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=120264","title":{"rendered":"Boxing Is Still Here Even If Not Remotely Close to The Golden Eras"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=120264\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=120264\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-111944 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Boxing-Ring-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Boxing-Ring-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Boxing-Ring.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Donald \u201cBraveheart\u201d Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An opinion piece from the only Donald worth listening to\u2026<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Full Stop \u2013<\/strong><\/em> In British English grammar a full stop is a lengthy pause, in the US, you call it a period. In the UK that tends to suggest feminine products. Here it means a period of time where<br \/>\nI look at something in boxing in a little more depth. I am typing from my perspective of a fan who watches the sport closely. It\u2019s an opinion. It is my opinion. Don\u2019t like it? There are other opinions out there but if you don\u2019t like it then good, debate and democracy are a good thing. If you do like it, feel free to spread the word.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What a state\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the UK there has been a video posted ringside, of an impromptu conversation between Derrick Chisora, a former two times heavyweight titlist, former Olympic Gold medalist, Audley Harrison and former WBA world heavyweight champion David Haye. The question posed to them was, how bad is the current state of heavyweight boxing.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Their answer, collectively, was simple \u2013 it\u2019s in fine fettle.<\/p>\n<p>I would not only agree but add that I think heavyweight boxing has not been in such rude health for some time.<\/p>\n<p>Now old timers will look back at that point where there was Ali, Foreman, Wepner, Frazier, Norton Bonavena and so on\u2026 They may even go back to when Tyson and Lewis were at the tail end of their careers and the Klitschkos came in.<\/p>\n<p>Aint nobody making a case for the dominance of the Klitschkos being a golden time, but to be fair to them, this is due to a lack of any real opposition. When it arrived, with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, their reigns came to an end.<\/p>\n<p>My reasoning behind why I think heavyweight boxing is healthy is fourfold.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, people are talking about it. You go and buy a newspaper or look at a mainstream media website and there it is. Tyson Fury has said this, AJ is ducking that, Deontay Wilder should be taking on this and Oleksandr Usyk is a master at everything. People are interested in what is happening who would normally not give a stuff about it. Journalists who were in the wilderness for many years, trying to scrape a living together from the scraps off the boxing table are suddenly in demand. People want them to opine on the subject matter because there is a demand from the people through the mainstream: and that aint fake news.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, it asks fundamental questions. As the sportswashing of the Arab world goes into overdrive, boxing is right at the heart of it all. IF the December showdowns that are planned \u2013 Usyk v Fury and Wilder v Joshua \u2013 happen, it will ask boxing as a sport to value money above the morality of propping up a regime that has no real right to claim a place at an equality table. Other sports \u2013 soccer and Formula 1 \u2013 have already been bought. But boxing, with its highlights and focus has greater sway, because it is a single event, and it should not be in the Middle East the way it is \u2013 in my opinion. But it is a focal talking point, which may see us all having to answer questions whilst the promoters, boxers, managers and ne\u2019er do weels and hangers on make hay.<\/p>\n<p>Thirdly, money. There is little doubt this is attached to the former point as the amount of cash swilling around the sport is eye watering. The difference from then to now is that most of it is now beginning to filter into the pockets of the boxers. It is, however, filled with inequality. There needs to be a better spread, better care taken of former boxers and more invested in the legacy of the sport than the legacy of individuals.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the one thing that matters most \u2013 we have four exceptional athletes in the sport of boxing at the very top of the heavyweight game. Anthony Joshua has power but a flawed mindset of recent fights. He needed to knock out Jermaine Franklin and failed. Questions have been asked and now they are being asked again. Deontay Wilder has exceptional power in his right hand. Wilder is a fan-friendly heavyweight. With the right promoter, that can bring in the fans \u2013 but he needs the right promoter. Tyson Fury, if he can shut up for long enough, is a master craftsman, a tactician with skill that belies his size. That\u2019s if he can keep his mouth shut for long enough to shut other people\u2019s mouths with his fists \u2013 he always needs a best friend, that can muzzle him. The greatest tactician of the four, the greatest boxer is the matrix with three of the four belts \u2013 Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk is the best of his generation, but only if he beats Tyson Fury. Fury is the best, but only if he beats Usyk and AJ. Wilder may look like he makes up the numbers, but his legacy was to go for so long and not get beat. Now, he can become the best if he beats all three, but nobody wants to see Fury\/Wilder IV\u2026 yet.<\/p>\n<p>And the level below has Britain\u2019s Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois, Mexico\u2019s Andy Ruiz Jr., New Zealand\u2019s Joseph Parker, Croatia\u2019s Filip Hrgovic, Sweden\u2019s Otto Wallin, China\u2019s Zhilei Zhang and the Congo\u2019s Martin Bakole \u2013 though he may be an honorary Scotsman. In the US there are a few kicking around to add to that list and that is where the heavyweight championship has been most treasured \u2013 the US. How can it not be, as golden eras have needed a contender from the US to make it a global phenomenon. But that has shifted as other countries pile into the rankings but for now it looks like Frank Sanchez or Jared Anderson are the most ranked by the bodies that matter.<\/p>\n<p>Where it sits at the moment, however, is a crossroads. It does not matter one jot if there are great heavyweights, great fights to be made and plenty of money with which to make them. A golden era is defined by memory. Memory is only about facts. If the fights do not happen than we are left with what ifs and what could have beens. That is no golden age but a lost age. So, promoters and fighters need to make the fights\u2026<\/p>\n<p>And of course, that\u2019s so damn easy in in the boxing world\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Donald \u201cBraveheart\u201d Stewart An opinion piece from the only Donald worth listening to\u2026 Full Stop \u2013 In British English grammar a full stop is a lengthy pause, in the US, you call it a period. In the UK that tends to suggest feminine products. Here it means a period of time where I look [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[31006],"class_list":["post-120264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing-is-still-here-even-if-not-remotely-close-to-the-golden-eras"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120264"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}