Boxing must change, writes Anish Parekh
Global Boxing News writer Anish Parekh says it's time to clean up boxing
Back in 2016, I wrote my first piece about how boxing resembled the classic western movie, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Whilst back then I was enamoured by all aspects of the sport and the business, fast-forward to 2021 and the growing influence of the the bad and ugly forces within boxing is beginning to leave me disillusioned with boxing.
Boxing has been littered with incidents of corruption and links with the criminal underworld but the egregious manner in which it willingly invites such questionable characters to sit at the top table is dumbfounding.
The recent BBC documentary brought Daniel Kinahan, the alleged crime boss and founder of juggernaut boxing management company, MTK Global, into focus. A man connected to numerous execution styled murders, which if true makes him ironically, a more dangerous individual than any of the boxers he guides.
He has been credited with the agreement of a two-fight deal pitting Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua in a contest to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Considering the likeliness that the initial bout will take place in Saudi Arabia, whose human rights record is atrocious, and we have the biggest fight of this generation being shook on by some of the dirtiest hands in the sport.
The power-brokers of boxing, who live and die by the old adage that money talks, are apathetic to the shady figures whose vast sums of money drown out any sound of the gruesome and grisly tales in which they feature prominently.
The promoters of such a super-fight are smugly proud of the fact that they could slightly deflate their enormous egos enough to successfully negotiate a deal. To them, the ethics of the deal is irrelevant – fans should simply be grateful to witness an undisputed heavyweight clash for the first time in 20 years. If what is rumoured is to be true, they will have to demonstrate their gratefulness in the form of an extortionate £40 pay-per-view. An astounding increase in pay-per-view fee at a time when the global economy is at its most fragile.
Excitement for such a showdown is palpable amongst fans. For so long they are teased to see the best compete with the best, only for such matches to materialise once the fighters are past their peak. Mayweather-Pacquiao being the prime example, with current day welterweight supremos, Errol Spence and Terrence Crawford, threatening to follow suit. So it is somewhat comprehendible that many fans turn a blind eye to the villainous characters dictating the sport behind the scenes, if it means they can finally see the blockbuster bust-ups that they have longed for.
Compounding matters are the sanctioning bodies who continue to dismantle the integrity of the word ‘champion’, with their confusing array of world title belts including but not restricted to: franchise champion, super champion, regular champions, emeritus champion, interim champion – resulting in boxing becoming a splintered sport that appears to reward participation over meritocracy. An insistence for their champions to compete against mediocre opponents as their mandatory challengers, rather than the holders of other titles tells you all you need to know about how much these sanctioning bodies value the need for boxing to recognise one champion.
It is therefore easy to understand why UFC is on the rise, as despite – in my opinion – offering an inferior product at the highest level, they do enforce their elite talents to compete against each other, driving intrigue and interest amongst fans who are swiftly guaranteed to discover who the finest fighter in any division is.
I have not yet given up on boxing. At its best, it provides the most profound and symbolic metaphors for life, wrapped up, in up to 48 minutes of pulsating drama, filled with fascinating paradoxes – a sport that blurs art with science, and blends savagery with subtlety.
However, it is time for boxing to clean up its act if it wants to thrive and capture the imaginations of future generations. To do so, the wild west that is boxing will need to make an effort to do more good, by dispelling themselves of the bad and ugly delinquents that continue to sully this wonderful sport.
Anish Parekh is 'The Boxing Fan Man' - you can follow all his articles right HERE
Follow 'The Boxing Fan Man' on Twitter: @theboxingfanman
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