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Thread: Boxing

  1. #331
    https://books.google.com/books?id=A-...20blow&f=false

    Looks like boxing had this before it showed up on karate's tournament scene.

    Which is older again ? Point being all arts have everything if we can only see. Often that means looking for decades before ones eyes open and omg there it is.
    Individuals may have specialized and focused mainly on only certain aspects of an art do to circumstances, environments, rules, etc. Later versions may drop once common ideas because of the evolution of the art. Evolution is not always good but may be necessary to become adaptive to immediate particulars.

  2. #332
    Quote Originally Posted by boxerbilly View Post


    Baer used an engine as Sifu Sergio calls it, similar to what Sergio speaks of in Cataphract's Martial Man thread.

    Also shows Baer briefly training fouls on a bag. Plus a fight clip where Baer uses quarter/ half pivot blows. AKA back hands. A full pivot would be what many of us would call a spinning back fist. These are the blows banned from boxing as to dangerous. Many people are under the impression its that front hand karate type tag backhand. Stating it is to hard to see. Maybe. But Ali used that all the time. Of course he also was not awarded points for blows landing on areas other than the front of the glove. If the backhand lands with the front of the glove it is generally considered a legal jab. Meaning a lot of his jabs did not count. But the killing blow was the half and full pivot blows of old. Along with hacking. One may call those chops. Done with hammer fists, forearms and edge of hand if ungloved.
    the hacking you mentioned is called a bolo punch in some fma circles. the first thai boxing school I trained at also taught kali, wing chun and jkd, so we were taught that punch, but they made it known that it was banned. Baer throws some pretty mean bolos in that clip, so now I am wondering when is was banned. he blatantly used a backfist as well.

    the flicker jab can sometimes come from an angle that looks like a back fist in motion, but still lands with the front of the glove. a lot of boxers will work using the shoulder, elbow, etc. this is where the term dirty boxing comes from.
    i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.

    -Charles Manson

    I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.

    - Shonie Carter

  3. #333
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    RIP Mike Towell

    Scottish boxer Mike Towell dies after bout
    By Laura Smith-Spark and Sarah Faidell, CNN
    Updated 9:45 AM ET, Sat October 1, 2016


    Boxer Mike Towell, right, takes on Danny Little in a 2015 welterweight match in Glasgow, Scotland.

    Story highlights
    "He fought right to the end," Mike Towell's girlfriend says
    "My heart goes out" to Towell's family, opponent Dale Evans says

    London (CNN)A 25-year-old Scottish boxer has died in Glasgow after being carried out of the ring on a stretcher when his fight was halted in the fifth round.
    Mike Towell faced off Thursday night with Welsh boxer Dale Evans in the British welterweight title final eliminator.
    After the match, Evans tweeted that his thoughts and prayers were with his opponent.
    Follow
    Dale Evans @DaleEvans_912
    All of my thoughts & prayers are with Mike, family & friends right now. 🙏🏼👊🏽 Celebrations can be put on hold for tonight until we hear more
    4:06 PM - 29 Sep 2016
    196 196 Retweets 740 740 likes
    But Friday, the St. Andrew's Sporting Club in Glasgow said Towell had died but did not specify the cause.
    Follow
    St Andrew's S.C @StAndrewsSC
    Official: Within the last hour Mike Towell passed away - he will always be in our hearts #RIPIronMike
    4:23 PM - 30 Sep 2016
    629 629 Retweets 687 687 likes
    A Facebook post from the club said: "Mike collapsed in the ring at the Club after he was stopped in the fifth round and was rushed to hospital after receiving attention from the ringside medical team.
    "Sadly 'Iron' Mike -- who was 25 -- could not recover from his injuries and died peacefully late on Friday night with his family at his bedside."
    The club described the fighter, from Dundee, as "one of Scotland's most exciting boxing talents."
    Chloe Ross, Towell's girlfriend of eight years and the mother of his young son, posted a heartfelt tribute on Facebook.
    "Michael had severe bleeding and swelling to his brain. He had been complaining of headaches for the last few weeks but we put it down to migraines with the stress of his fight," Ross wrote.
    "It has been the longest 24 hours of our lives. My baby has lost his daddy. But he will be so so proud of his dad in what he achieved."
    Towell battled to live, even after being taken off life support, she said. "He managed 12 hours, 12 whole rounds off his life support, he fought right to the end. ..."

    Opponent 'devastated'
    In a statement released through the club on Twitter, Evans voiced his sadness over what happened.
    "I am devastated and all my thoughts are with Mike and his family. The ingredients were there for an entertaining fight and it was that, we are both punchers and so sadly for Mike he came out the wrong side," he said.
    "He is such a fantastic fighter, you are happy to win but all I wanted to do was get the victory. Not this. I never wanted to see my opponent being stretchered out of the ring.
    "Who would ever want that sight? That was so hard for his family and my heart goes out to them."
    Boxing fans took to Twitter to pay tribute to Towell, using the hashtag RIPIronMike.
    Chris Jenkins, whose Twitter bio identifies himself as a boxer, called Towell a "true warrior in and out of the ring."
    Follow
    Chris Jenkins. @ChrisRokn
    #RIPIronMike taken away doing what he loved true warrior in and out of the ring thoughts & feeling to his family & friends rest easy champ.
    12:18 AM - 1 Oct 2016 · Ystalyfera, Wales, United Kingdom
    4 4 Retweets 22 22 likes
    Another boxer, Anthony Fowler, tweeted, "What a tragedy it is when a man loses his life competing in the sport he loves."
    Follow
    Anthony Fowler ✔ @afowler06
    What a tragedy it is when a man loses his life competing in the sport he loves, devastated to hear the news of Mike Towell #RIPIronMike 🙏 pic.twitter.com/1GGDbg31Xe
    1:42 AM - 1 Oct 2016
    52 52 Retweets 144 144 likes
    CNN's Milena Veselinovic contributed to this report.
    So tragic.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #334
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    So tragic.
    Greetings,

    Gene,

    I smell an all out investigation and lawsuit with this one. I do not think this guy should have been allowed in the ring. Before I even finished reading the article, I knew that there had to be something wrong, pre-existing, with the guy before the fight took place. This was really a terrible event and I feel his demise could have been avoided.

    mickey

  5. #335
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  6. #336
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    Tyson Fury

    Sad to hear. Another Tyson Champ. Another scandal.

    Tyson Fury vacates WBO and WBA heavyweight titles to deal with 'recovery'
    9 hours ago


    Fury is unbeaten in 25 fights but has not fought since 29 November 2015

    Tyson Fury has vacated his WBO and WBA world heavyweight titles to deal with his "medical treatment and recovery".

    The Briton, 28, has admitted taking cocaine to deal with depression and could also lose his boxing licence on Thursday.

    He has not fought since beating Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 and has twice withdrawn from rematches.

    "I now enter another big challenge in my life which I know, like against Klitschko, I will conquer," Fury said.

    He said it was "for the good boxing" and "only fair and right" to give up his belts.

    "I won the titles in the ring and I believe that they should be lost in the ring, but I'm unable to defend at this time and I have taken the hard and emotional decision to now officially vacate my treasured world titles," he said.

    In a statement, Fury's promoter Hennessy Sports said the decision would "allow him the time and space to fully recover from his present condition without any undue pressure and with the expert medical attention he requires".

    Mick Hennessy added that the decision was "heartbreaking".

    Uncle and trainer Peter Fury has said Fury will return "stronger" and "reclaim what's rightfully his".

    Fury withdrew from his latest rematch against Ukraine's Klitschko, scheduled for 29 October, because of mental health issues.

    He then admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that he was taking cocaine to help deal with depression.

    The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) met on Wednesday to discuss that revelation, as well as other comments by Fury, and could decide to strip him of his licence to box.

    The WBO and WBA had already said Fury could lose his titles because of inactivity.

    Meanwhile, promoter Eddie Hearn has said a deal is "very close" for Britain's heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to fight Klitschko for his IBF belt and the now vacated WBA title.

    It is thought New Zealand's Joseph Parker and Mexico's Andy Ruiz Jr could now contest the WBO title.

    Mike Costello, BBC Radio 5 live boxing correspondent

    "First of all, Tyson Fury needs to get himself medically fit then it's up to him and his uncle and trainer Peter Fury and promoter Mick Hennessy to decide what route they want to take.

    "Will he be fit enough and able enough to go straight back in for a world title shot or will he need a warm-up contest before he fights again? It's so unclear at this stage because of the medical situation."

    Fury timeline

    29 November 2015: Beats Wladimir Klitschko to become the WBA, IBF and WBO champion
    8 December 2015: Stripped of his IBF title for failing to fight the mandatory challenger
    24 June 2016: Postpones July's rematch with Klitschko after injuring an ankle in training
    4 August 2016: Charged with a doping offence by the UK's anti-doping body
    23 September 2016: Postpones rematch for a second time because he is "medically unfit"
    3 October: Appears to retire from boxing, tweeting: "I'm the greatest, and I'm also retired." Three hours later he reverses the decision, tweeting he is "here to stay"
    5 October 2016: Reveals he has been taking cocaine to help him deal with depression
    10 October 2016: Given extended deadline to convince the WBO not to strip him of his world heavyweight title
    12 October: BBBofC meeting starts looking at Fury's boxing licence
    12 October: Vacates WBA and WBO titles

    What boxing authorities have said

    WBO chairman Luis Batista-Salas had said Fury could lose his belt because of "inactivity, breach of contract and performance-enhancing drugs and stimulants".

    The WBA president Gilberto Mendoza said Fury deserved a chance "to overcome this situation", but added the Englishman could ultimately lose his title.

    There is an option that Fury can be declared as a 'champion in recess'. This means Fury is the mandatory challenger for the belt when he returns to the ring.

    Fury is also facing a UK Anti-Doping hearing next month with reports claiming he tested positive for banned substance nandrolone in February 2015.

    'None of us know what he is going through'

    Trainer and uncle Peter Fury: "It's driven him to despair. I see him being back in the gym in March or April. He'll resume his career."

    Billy Joe Saunders: "It is a big mistake, taking his boxing licence away. It is like taking food from a baby," he added. "He needs the licence to pull through."

    IBF champion Anthony Joshua: "Tyson is a fighting man, a real talent and he is good for boxing in his own way. It's too easy to point the finger because none of us really know what he is going through."
    Gene Ching
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  7. #337

    52


  8. #338
    Quote Originally Posted by boxerbilly View Post
    off topic, I actually met zab. He was cool, but I had an altercation with his brother. had to put him out of a club I was working.
    i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.

    -Charles Manson

    I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.

    - Shonie Carter

  9. #339
    Quote Originally Posted by SevenStar View Post
    off topic, I actually met zab. He was cool, but I had an altercation with his brother. had to put him out of a club I was working.
    That's always pleasant. Telling VERY skilled dudes that can potentially drop you with one, time to go dude.

    Years ago. Charles Murray had a stand off with like a dozen police officers. I forget why he was upset. They did not want to shoot him but he warned any that got to close where going to get knocked out. It eventually cooled out and he was arrested.

    I got into a tussle with a bunch in San Clemente . Like 6. Mainly wrestling as I was refusing to be hand cuffed and just kept playing rubber man and pushing and thye got in each others way. Took all of one monster cop to pick me up and slam me. Okay Im ready to be handcuffed now, LOL.

    Another time I was acting up and got the billyclub reminder.

    What was I thinking ? I was not thinking.

    Im still a bit of a hothead. ******. I appologoze for my fits fellows.

  10. #340
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    Paul Gonzales

    We don't always cover boxing in our Busted Martial Artists thread, but he is an olympic gold medalist.

    SEX CRIMES 3 days ago

    Olympic gold medalist arrested for alleged lewd acts with a minor

    Fox News


    Former Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzales is accused of sexually assaulting minors. (Los Angeles Sheriff's Office)

    A former Olympic boxing gold medalist has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor, Los Angeles law enforcement said.

    Paul Gonzales, 53, was arrested Friday and was charged with eight felonies including four counts of lewd acts upon a child, sheriff’s officials said in a news release.

    Additional details about the allegations were not immediately provided; however Special Victims Bureau detectives were looking for any additional victims who may not yet have come forward with complaints. It's unclear if the charges involved one or more children.
    View image on Twitter

    LA County Sheriff's

    @LASDHQ
    #HappeningNow #LASD Dets seek public's help in seeking additional victims in case . Susp arrested for lewd acts on a child.


    10:29 AM - Jan 5, 2018
    Replies 11 11 Retweets 9 9 likes
    Twitter Ads info and privacy
    “Based on the allegations in this case, and the fact suspect Gonzales has trained and mentored kids at the boxing gym for the past ten years, detectives believe there may have been other children in the past that were sexually assaulted by suspect Gonzales,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, according to FOX11.

    Gonzales represented the United States at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, taking home the light flyweight gold medal in boxing.

    Paul Gonzales Jr of the United States stands above silver medallist Salvatore Todisco of Italy on the podium and celebrates winning the Men's Light-Flyweight Boxing final on 11th August 1984 during the XXIII Olympic Summer Games at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California , United States. (Photo by Getty Images)
    Paul Gonzales represented the U.S. at the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles, taking home the gold medal. (Getty Images)

    Most recently, he served as the head coach at the Eddie Heredia Boxing Club where he worked for 10 years as an employee for the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department, authorities said.

    The Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department did not immedately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

    "This is shocking. It’s surprising," instructor Adrian Villanueva told reporters. "He’s a good coach. He’s always here for the kids and, you know, anyone who needs advice."

    Gonzales is currently held at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles on $575,000 bail.
    Gene Ching
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  11. #341
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    Time to shine?

    With MMA Losing Steam, 2018 Is Boxing’s Time to Shine
    With the popularity and buzz surrounding MMA fading, boxing is poised to recapture the combat sports spotlight.
    BY WALLACE MATTHEWS
    Matthews has covered boxing since 1983 and followed the piece of Holyfield's ear on its journey covering the fight for the New York Post in 1997.
    FEB 13, 2018


    Conor McGregor, UFC's biggest star, has not fought in the octagon since November 2016. Image via Getty/Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC

    The vaulted ceilings and marble columns of New York's Cipriani’s were bathed in soft blue and red spotlights. Along the side walls of the magnificent room were two open bars, the bottles lined up like rows of soldiers, and the glassware sparkling under the arc lights. Tuxedoed waiters and waitresses carried trays of canapés while a giant TV toward the back of the room played an endless loop of high-resolution images.

    “I can’t believe this. It’s like the Academy Awards,’’ said one wide-eyed guest.

    More like the cocktail hour at the wedding of Don Corleone’s daughter. But the truth was even stranger than that.

    The formal affair was thrown in honor of Showtime Sports announcing its 2018 boxing schedule—or more accurately, for just the first six months of 2018—an ambitious slate of 10 shows featuring a dozen world title fights spread across a half-dozen locations. Not bad for a sport perpetually on the respirator, ravaged by a cascade of woes ranging from an aging fanbase, a dearth of compelling performers, and a formidable young challenger called mixed martial arts.

    But like a lot of popular narratives, this one turns out to be not entirely true. For one thing, boxing’s fanbase is getting younger, not older. For another, the fight game has seen an influx of young talent that gave boxing a much needed shot in the arm in 2017. Talk to the right people, and they'll tell you that the young interloper called MMA-slash-UFC may have peaked.

    While the Showtime announcement wasn't headline news around the sports world, the shockwaves were felt across the small landscape of combat sports. Most especially 2,000 miles away in Las Vegas. That’s where the Ultimate Fighting Championship is housed, from which president Dana White has been predicting the death of boxing at the hands of mixed martial arts for the better part of a decade.

    "My honest opinion of boxing is that boxing will go away," White said in 2010. "I don't wish it any ill will. It's not because the sport isn’t good or anything like that, it's just that it's so fragmented, and so many bad things have happened. Nobody is going to stick their hand in their own pocket and spend their own money to save the sport of boxing, nobody is going to do it."


    The explosion of MMA allowed UFC co-owners to cash out in 2016, selling it for a reported $4 billion. Image via Getty/Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC

    Well, approximately 25 years after its introduction, MMA and other submission-type combat sports seem to have run into a wall. The word industry insiders and observers use, time and again, is “plateaued.’’ So much for the popular narrative that MMA would be the asteroid that would render boxing, like the dinosaurs, into extinction.

    “It hasn’t happened and it’s not going to happen,’’ said Dave Meltzer, publisher of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and one of the main chroniclers of mixed martial arts since its inception approximately 25 years ago. “If boxing dies, it won’t be because of MMA. It will be because of boxing.’’

    Like Hyman Roth in The Godfather dying of that same heart attack for 20 years, boxing—which has existed in some form or for 5,000 years—continues to soldier on, and even to thrive in spite of itself.

    Boxing’s wounds have been self-inflicted. There's the fragmentation of its championships due to the rise of its corrupt “sanctioning organizations.’’ It's watered down titles by means of shoehorning “junior’’ divisions between the original eight weight classes. The decision to put all of its biggest events on Pay-Per-View is greedy and short-sighted, limiting the size of its audience to a small core of diehards.

    Still, the biggest sporting event of 2017 was, essentially, a boxing match: the freak event matching "retired" five-time world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. against UFC star Conor McGregor. The bout sold more than four million PPV subscriptions at an average of $100 per home, enriching the fighters to the tune of a reported $300 million for Mayweather and $100 million for McGregor, who as a boxer was making his professional debut.

    Take Mayweather-McGregor out of the equation and boxing still remains the undisputed champion of combat sports. Despite the hype, most of it flowing from the mouth of White, the bombastic face of UFC, the seven top-grossing combat sports events of all time are boxing matches, and if you include the outlier—Mayweather-McGregor—boxing has the top eight spots.


    Deontay Wilder and Berman Stiverne in 2017. The purses for the top performers in boxing compared to MMA are ridiculously inequitable. Image via Getty/Al Bello

    The purses for the top performers in each sport are ridiculously inequitable—again, removing McGregor’s estimated $100 million purse for the Mayweather circus from the mix. Boxing set the world on its ear nearly a half-century ago when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were paid an unheard-of $2.5 million each for their epic 1971 battle.

    By the 1980s, it became routine for boxers in high-profile main events such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, and Larry Holmes to earn upwards of $10 million for a single night’s work. More than 20 years ago, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson were paid $30 million each for their second fight, and as far back as 1927, Gene Tunney cashed a $1 million check for beating Jack Dempsey in the fabled Battle of the Long Count.

    And yet, no UFC main event had been guaranteed for anything even close, until the $800,000 paid to Anderson Silva in 2015. UFC’s first million-dollar guarantee went to McGregor in March 2016, and McGregor was arguably as big an attraction in MMA as Tyson had been in boxing. And it is impossible to know for sure what percentage, if any, of UFC’s formidable Pay-Per-View revenue actually goes to the fighters.

    A big part of the reason is that unlike boxers, MMA fighters are not protected by the Muhammad Ali Act—a federal law enacted in 2000 to ensure physical and financial protection for boxers. MMA fighters, even the stars, have very little power to negotiate their own purses.

    It is true that undercard fighters on MMA events often are paid more than boxers in a similar position. UFC contracts generally call for a minimum $10,000 purse with a matching bonus if the fighter wins, but those fighters are usually far more experienced than their counterparts who fight in boxing preliminaries.

    And because of White’s all-powerful position as the one and only real promoter of his sport, there is no comparable outlet for MMA fighters to peddle their skills. It is not unlike the way Vince McMahon runs WWE, in which matches were marketed as events more than matchups of individual fighters, which kept the athletes subservient to the organization.

    As a result, MMA/UFC has been unable to develop young stars to take the place of McGregor and Ronda Rousey. Combat sports, which thrive as much on personality as performance—like Mayweather and McGregor—wither when the fighters become faceless and interchangeable.

    “My thought is we’ve kind of hit a plateau,’’ said Chris Palmquist, a combat sports journalist who is the COO of MMA.tv. “We’ve definitely seen it. Doesn’t mean it won’t get out of that plateau and grow again. There was an explosion three or four years ago, but the loss of stars like (Ronda) Rousey has hurt, and McGregor hasn’t fought in MMA in over a year.’’
    continued next post
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    Continued from previous post


    Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter in 2016. A recent Washington Post/UMass Lowell poll revealed that 28 percent of U.S. sports called themselves fans of boxing, as opposed to 25 percent for MMA. Image via Getty/Ed Mulholland

    Currently, boxing's star power outshines MMA with heavyweights like Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua; welterweights like Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia, and Jeff Horn; and middleweights like Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.

    Right now the biggest name in MMA is probably George St-Pierre, who had to be lured out of retirement to provide the UFC with an attraction to replace McGregor. And St-Pierre, or GSP, as he is known, is suffering from an illness that night keep him out of the octagon for all of 2018.

    Rousey announced her future is in wrestling and no one knows if the unpredictable McGregor—who shouted, “Watch me take over boxing!’’—will ever fight again, in the octagon or in a boxing ring.

    To illustrate the dearth of quality attractions in MMA/UFC these days, insiders talk of a projected bout between the oft-suspended Jon Jones and 40-year-old Brock Lesnar as a “dream matchup.’’ As a result, not only has MMA not pulled away from boxing, as many expected, it has in fact lagged behind.

    “MMA had big declines in everything but revenue in 2017,’’ Meltzer said. “And the revenue increases were all because of one fight [Mayweather-McGregor].’’

    The explosion of MMA a couple of years ago, allowed White, the president of UFC, and Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the co-owners, to cash out in 2016, selling UFC to the William Morris Endeavor-International Marketing Group for a reported $4 billion.

    "THE BOOK ON UFC HAS YET TO BE WRITTEN. BUT IT'S PRETTY CLEAR THAT REPORTS OF THE DEATH OF BOXING ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED."

    A big part of the sales pitch to WME-IMG was that UFC, which was near the end of a $168 million TV deal with Fox Sports, would be renewed for something like $400 million in 2018, according to industry insiders. But negotiations have reportedly have hit a snag, with Fox offering something like $200 million, due to declining ratings in 2017.

    The primary reason for that decline is because MMA, and particularly UFC, has not performed as expected with its much sought-after younger demographic.

    White was quoted as saying, “UFC is definitely a younger guy’s sport. Our target audience is anywhere from age 17 to 35," but in actuality the audience is getting older. According to a Sports Business Journal report published in June, MMA had a decidedly younger audience than boxing in 2006. The median age of an individual identifying as an MMA fan was 34. The median age of a boxing fan was 47.

    Ten years later, Sports Business Journal says the median age for fans of both sports was exactly the same: 49. Which means, of course, that while the original MMA/UFC crowd has aged, the sport has not attracted many younger fans.

    Perhaps most surprisingly, the median age for boxing and MMA was younger than that of the NFL (50), college football and basketball (52), and MLB (57). Only the NBA (42) and MLS (40) had younger audiences, respectively. And a recent Washington Post/UMass Lowell poll revealed that 28 percent of U.S. sports fans called themselves fans of boxing, as opposed to 25 percent for MMA.


    Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in 2017. McGregor is estimated to have earned a $100 million purse for putting on the gloves vs. Mayweather last August. Image via Getty/Christian Petersen

    The truth is, while professing to have learned from the mistakes of boxing promoters—“I watch boxing to see how not to do it,’’ White has said—UFC has, in fact, repeated many of boxing’s most egregious errors by watering down its championships, creating “interim’’ titles, and over-saturating the marketplace with too many events, a mistake the NFL seems to be making as well.

    And due to complaints from some of its athletes about their inability to negotiate purses in line with UFC’s astronomical profits, MMA might soon find itself compelled to abide by the provisions of the Muhammad Ali Act. A hearing was held on Capitol Hill in November on the matter, with Randy Couture, one of the UFC’s biggest former stars, giving strong testimony in favor of regulation.

    “The book on UFC has yet to be written,’’ said Stephen Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports, “but it’s pretty clear that reports of the death of boxing are greatly exaggerated.’’

    Espinoza worked with Dana White on the Mayweather-McGregor promotion, an association that ended acrimoniously when White accused Showtime of under-reporting the bout’s PPV numbers.

    White, who declined a request to be interviewed for this story, went public with their feud, calling Espinoza “a weasel,’’ and vowing never to work with Showtime again.

    But where, exactly, will he work next?

    Although he retains his position as president of the UFC, in November White told the Los Angeles Times, “I’m getting into boxing 100 percent.’’

    Of all the available evidence showing that boxing has more than wrestled MMA to a draw, that might be most telling of all.
    Personally, I've always felt that boxing is a better stadium sport. You can see the action from ****her away. For MMA, I always end up watching the bulk of it on the big screen monitors.

    Thread: Boxing
    Thread: Boxing vs. MMA
    Gene Ching
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    Canelo Alvarez 5-year, 11-fight deal = $365M

    Richest contract in the history of sports

    Canelo Alvarez signs 5-year, 11-fight deal worth minimum $365 million with DAZN
    Oct 17, 2018
    Dan Rafael
    ESPN Senior Writer

    As the old saying goes, as one door closes, another one opens.

    Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions stable of fighters, including Canelo Alvarez, the unified middleweight world champion and boxing's biggest superstar, have long been stalwarts of HBO. But with the premium cable network's recent announcement that after 45 years of putting on most of the biggest fights in boxing it was bowing out of the sport at the end of the year, they were in need of a new broadcast home -- and they have landed a very lucrative one with new sports streaming service DAZN through 2023.

    In a record-shattering deal finalized early Wednesday morning, Alvarez signed a five-year, 11-fight deal worth a minimum of $365 million with DAZN, which only launched in the United States in September.

    It will commence with his move up to super middleweight to challenge secondary world titlist Rocky Fielding on Dec. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York, where they will meet face-to-face at the kickoff news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

    Alvarez's deal is the richest athlete contract in sports history, eclipsing the 13-year, $325 million agreement that New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton signed in 2014 when he was with the Miami Marlins.

    "Canelo is the highest-paid athlete in the world. He's extremely happy," De La Hoya told ESPN after Alvarez signed.

    HBO had the right of first negotiation and a last-look provision for Alvarez's fight with England's Fielding (27-1, 15 KOs), and the network made an offer for an HBO PPV event, but it elected not to match the one made by DAZN.

    Although rumors that the deal was imminent have swirled for a few days, it was not finalized until after 1 a.m. ET Wednesday, when Alvarez, accompanied by manager Chepo Reynoso and trainer Eddy Reynoso, signed the contract following a lengthy meeting with De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez at a hotel in New York's Times Square.

    Alvarez is boxing's biggest pay-per-view star of the post Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao era, generating hundreds of millions of dollars for events on HBO PPV and, before that, Showtime PPV. But the move to DAZN will take him off HBO PPV -- where his fights cost around $80 apiece for viewers -- and place his two fights per year on the all-sports streaming service that charges $9.99 a month for a slew of combat sports offerings.

    When Alvarez was fighting on pay-per-view, he would earn money for every buy above a set threshold beyond his guaranteed purse. But even though DAZN doesn't offer pay-per-view, Alvarez can still earn even more money beyond his guarantee based on specific subscription benchmarks that DAZN can reach during the course of the deal.


    Canelo Alvarez, right, signs his record DAZN deal with Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. Courtesy of Oscar De La Hoya

    "This is only from my hard work," Alvarez told ESPN shortly after he signed the paperwork. "The most important thing to me was being able to give the fans the opportunity to see me fight without having to pay the $70 or $80 for my fights on pay-per-view. That was the most important thing, more important than what I am making.

    "It's very important for me to give the fans the biggest fights and the most important fights, and I promise you I will always do that. The December fight with Fielding is a dangerous fight. I am moving up in weight, and I don't know how my body will feel. But I always want to take on challenges, and I am very happy my fans will be able to see me fight for a small cost."

    Alvarez said he was not worried that he was moving to an unproven broadcast platform.

    "Never. I was never worried because I'm very confident in myself," he said. "I know how important I am to any platform I go to. I am very grateful to HBO and to Showtime for what they did for my career, but I am happy we're moving forward and that I will be able to fight on a platform that is the future. I've always liked a challenge, and this is yet another challenger in my career.

    "Being part of this historic deal will require me to prepare myself even more and offer fans even better performances. At the same time, I am humbled to be selected to lead this new vision for the sport of boxing, which will without a doubt be for the benefit of the fans."

    Although Alvarez is the centerpiece of the deal, De La Hoya had leverage to use Alvarez to secure dates and license fees from DAZN for his company's non-Alvarez events. The deal, for which financial terms were not disclosed, calls for Golden Boy to put on up to 10 "high-caliber fight nights" per year that will stream live on DAZN beginning in early 2019.

    Those fights would include Golden Boy's other top fighters, including junior welterweight and former three-division world titlist Jorge Linares, junior featherweight titlist Rey Vargas, middleweight contender David Lemieux, featherweight contender Joseph Diaz Jr. and junior featherweight contender Diego De La Hoya, as well as junior lightweight Ryan Garcia and junior welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr., two of boxing's top prospects.

    "This is huge for boxing, huge for Canelo and huge for Golden Boy," De La Hoya said. "Golden Boy is at the forefront of something very monumental for the sport of boxing."

    Because of how well the pay-per-view sold, Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs), 28, of Mexico, earned around $50 million for his rematch with Gennady Golovkin, whom he outpointed to win the unified middleweight title on Sept. 15 in the year's biggest fight. Now, Alvarez will get a fee from well-funded DAZN for his events as the streaming service tries to make inroads in the United States after previously launching in Japan, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Canada, where the Golden Boy and Alvarez fights also will be included with subscriptions.

    "This is easily one of the best days in the growing history of Golden Boy Promotions," De La Hoya said. "We are committed to making this sport as accessible as possible and at an affordable price for all the fans. My dream has been to make boxing a sport for all. DAZN has the perfect platform to make this dream come true, and with the biggest star in the sport at the helm of this journey, I have no doubts that we will succeed in unimaginable ways."

    When HBO announced in late September that it would cease televising boxing, De La Hoya and Gomez immediately began looking for a new home. They talked to ESPN, Turner and Showtime, with which they once had a deal and where Alvarez had his biggest pay-per-view fight (a 2013 loss to Mayweather).

    But about two weeks ago, De La Hoya and Gomez also met with John Skipper, the executive chairman of Perform Group, DAZN's parent company, in Los Angeles. De La Hoya and Skipper already knew each other from when Skipper was the president of ESPN and Golden Boy had a limited deal for a series of boxing events on the network; and they were able to make this deal in relatively short order because De La Hoya needed a home for his fighters and Skipper, with money to spend, needed content for the new service.

    "We were able to reach a conclusion of what Canelo is worth today and what he is worth tomorrow, and we worked out this deal," De La Hoya said.

    Said Skipper: "We are thrilled to be exclusive partners with Golden Boy Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya. By bringing Canelo's fights to DAZN, we will turn his pay-per-view success into a growth engine for subscribers -- a truly transformational moment for our business and the entire industry."

    By signing Alvarez, DAZN now is the home for boxing's two most significant superstars, as it also is the American broadcast location for unified heavyweight world titleholder and British fighter Anthony Joshua. Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, signed an eight-year, $1 billion deal with DAZN in May to deliver 16 events annually in the United States, along with the 16 per year he already was putting on the United Kingdom. That deal kicked off Sept. 22 with Joshua's title defense against Alexander Povetkin.

    The deal with Golden Boy also will give DAZN access to the roughly 7,000-hour library of Golden Boy's fights, including from De La Hoya's Hall of Fame career. Golden Boy Media and Entertainment also will produce various shoulder programs to complement the live events.

    DAZN, whose other boxing property is the World Boxing Super Series and its three second-season tournaments, is the latest entrant into a crowded boxing broadcasting field, even as HBO winds down its historic run.

    ESPN and Top Rank recently tore up a four-year deal made in 2017 and entered into a new seven-year agreement that runs until August 2025 and calls for 54 live boxing events annually between ESPN and ESPN+. Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions recently completed a four-year rights deal with Fox that begins in December, and it also finalized a new three-year deal with longtime partner Showtime.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  14. #344
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    Christophe Dettinger

    JANUARY 7, 2019 / 10:49 PM / 3 DAYS AGO
    French ministers aghast at support for boxer who fought police
    Sudip Kar-Gupta, Emmanuel Jarry
    3 MIN READ

    PARIS (Reuters) - A former French boxing champion who surrendered to police after he was filmed raining blows on riot officers during a “yellow vest” protest has received tens of thousands of euros in public donations, infuriating government ministers.


    Former French boxing champion, Christophe Dettinger (R), is seen during clashes with French Gendarmes at a demonstration by the "yellow vests" on the passerelle Leopold-Sedar-Senghor bridge in Paris, France, January 5, 2019.. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

    A website set up to raise funds for the boxer Christophe Dettinger showed early on Tuesday that it had received pledges of more than 114,000 euros (£102,316) to help him.

    Saturday’s assault by Dettinger on police blocking a bridge over the river Seine has come to symbolise the increasingly violent nature of the protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

    Some among the protesters have hailed Dettinger a hero, but senior officials took offence.

    “Contributing to a fundraising kitty to support someone who attacked an officer is tantamount to being an accomplice to these grave acts of violence,” said Marlene Schiappa, junior minister for equality.

    Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud called the campaign “incomprehensible”. “How can these people tell their children, the young, that violence is the answer?” she told CNews television.

    Leetchi, an online fundraising platform and unit of Credit Mutuel Arkea bank, later on Tuesday said it was no longer disclosing how much had been raised. It then closed the page to further cash contributions, though it said all citizens had the right to raise funds to defend themselves.

    “We will of course be very vigilant over how this money is used,” Leetchi said in a statement.

    “We will run checks to ensure it is only used to pay legal bills on presentation of a lawyer’s bill.”

    Several Facebook pages entitled “Support for Christophe Dettinger” have been set up. One had more than 3,000 “likes”.

    “I REACTED BADLY”

    Dettinger turned himself in on Monday, saying he was trying to defend himself and other demonstrators, though he acknowledged: “I reacted badly”.

    The boxer remains in police custody.

    The twice national light-heavyweight champion was caught on camera jumping over the railings of a pedestrian bridge blocked by baton-wielding police before swinging blows at two officers, forcing them to retreat.

    One was floored briefly, where Dettinger was seen kicking out at him, but the policeman managed to get up and retreat. Punches also connected with an officer’s head, footage showed.

    Nicknamed the “Gypsy of Massy”, the 1.92m (6ft 4in) tall boxer was taking part in an eighth Saturday of anti-government protests that have undermined Macron’s authority.

    “Good luck to you, hero of the people!” wrote one supporter, Karim Slimani, on Dettinger’s fundraising website page.

    The “yellow vests” movement - named after the fluorescent jackets all French motorists have to carry in their vehicles - started in mid-November as a protest against a fuel tax but have since grown into a broader backlash against the government.

    Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Michael Perry and Andrew Cawthorne
    I dunno - politics aside, based on this story, I have to side with the cops. Dettinger jumped over the rails. That doesn't sound like self defense.
    Gene Ching
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  15. #345
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    Maxim Dadashev

    I thought about posting this under the MMA deaths, but boxing felt more like something that should be posted in Martial Arts Deaths

    Boxer Maxim Dadashev, who suffered severe brain injury during Friday fight, has died at 28
    By ANDY CLAYTON
    | NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
    JUL 23, 2019 | 11:49 AM


    Maxim Dadashev receives attention in his corner after his corner threw in the towel following the eleventh round of his junior welterweight IBF World Title Elimination fight against Subriel Matias (not pictured) at The Theater at MGM National Harbor on July 19, 2019 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

    Russia-born boxer Maxim Dadashev has died from injuries suffered in the ring. He was 28.

    His death was first confirmed by his trainer James “Buddy” McGirt and Donatas Janusevicius, Dadashev’s strength and conditioning coach, and later by the Russian Boxing Federation.

    “The Russian Boxing Federation expresses deep condolences to Maxim’s relatives and close ones,” the federation said in a statement. “We mourn together with you.”

    The rising star — who beat two former world lightweight champions, Darleys Perez and Antonio DeMarco, last year — was promoted by Top Rank Boxing.

    “Maxim was a terrific young man,” Top Rank boss Bob Arum said in a statement. “We are all saddened and affected by his untimely death.”

    Dadashev, who collapsed after a loss to undefeated Subriel Matias in their junior welterweight (140-pound) bout at the Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Friday, underwent surgery early Saturday morning to relieve swelling on his brain.

    He was then reportedly placed in a medically induced coma.

    Dadashev, originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, who had not lost in 13 previous fights, collapsed in the aisle as he tried to leave the ring under his own power, and vomited, before being placed on a stretcher and rushed to a local hospital.

    The fight — an IBF World Title Elimination fight, with the winner earning the right to challenge IBF title-holder Josh Taylor — had been stopped by McGirt before the 12th-round bell.

    McGirt was seen on video pleading with Dadashev to let him end the fight.

    “Max, you’re getting hit too much,” McGirt said after the 11th round. “Please, Max, Please.”

    Dadashev wouldn’t give up so McGirt ended the fight by telling the ringside physician, “That’s it, doc.”

    “I didn’t want him to go in the 12th round either,” Dadashev’s manager Egis Klimas told ESPN after the fight.

    But he didn’t think his boxer was in serious danger.

    “It never looked like Max was, like shook down, or he was already, like, going down,” Klimas said, “I never saw that.”

    The fight was the co-main event on the Friday card aired by ESPN.

    “I just hope that Maxim is all right,” said Matias after the fight, per The Washington Post. “He is a great fighter and a warrior.”

    The neurosurgeon who performed the two-hour surgery on the boxer Saturday morning told his manager that Dadashev was showing signs of severe brain damage, ESPN reported.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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