Comments Thread For: How much could the Saudi Arabia mirage eventually cost boxing?

[boxingitis]

Tsk tsk tsk....if it takes all my life I swear I'll make you a believer! May vs Pac totaled almost 700 mill so it was a no brainer for them to work together. Wilder vs Fury was the biggest HW fight in the world at the time and the first big one in America in about 20 years so that was a no brainer. I have never blamed TR for not making a fight. I blamed Bud for resigning with TR in 2018 when he shouldve signed with PBC to fight all the WWs. Just like I blame Shakur for doing the same thing. Get yo facts str8t son!

You blame Everyone Except PBC. So Fury and Pac can bet with TR, but Not Crawford. You're some delusional person. Where were the Crawford and Shakur offers from PBC? If they were that great as you say PBC is, they would have signed with them. It’s doesn't take rocket science.

Crawford, Shakur, Ennis,are not signing with PBC for a reason, and Matias left, all Black if that rocks your boat.

[hennanra1000]

To be clear, what we are witnessing with the Saudi takeover of boxing, and all the potential negatives, is the out-playing of *capitalism. And, yes, it will, if left unchecked, end in a virtual monopoly which will vastly reduce the pay of everyone involved, except those Saudis at the top.

The alternative offered in this article, that of democracy, and having fighters and multiple promoters have a seat at the table and a vote again, to be very clear, is *socialism.

I've read Marx.
I'm not exaggerating.

And the truth is, the socialist vision is better here.

Incidentally, we see this sort of thing being played out all through American society right now as we come face to face with end stage capitalism. You might want to consider what the best solution is at the moment. Is it more and more control to the Saudi...er.... to the billionaires of industry? Or maybe, just maybe, should the people doing the actual work get the largest say about how the business is operated?

Just a thought.

The bigger question is why does equity and justice only come up when the monopoly of the USA is threatened yet for decades the level of criticism was aimed at fights NOT being made, now when they ARE being made it’s supposedly going to “kill the sport”. The hypocrisy is just stifling as same commentators were somewhat absent in last decade while monopolistic tendencies were killing the sport.

And i agree with your sentiments on more equitable distribution of wealth but unfortunately we know that will not happen - what Saudi has simply done is to talk the “language” that the key obstructionists (promoters and sanctioning bodies in US and UK primarily) understand - the language of $$$.

Eventually upcoming boxers will realize the insane amounts of money were merely a blip and they will get paid well with those reaching superstar status getting the premium pay days. Not so different to most other sports.

[Roj]

The biggest mistake Haymon made was (successfully) discouraging Wilder from singing the 2-fight deal to fight AJ because it would have meant working with Hearn//DAZN. It’s hindsight, of course, but we will now know Wilder would have likely beaten AJ, twice and PBC would have had an iron grip on the entire heavyweight division (which certainly would have pleased Haymon’s hedge fund investors). PBC could have avoided overpaying Wilder to fight guys like Brazeale to keep him happy about losing out on the AJ fight - and he would have probably not have gone into the black hole of fighting a bad matchup like Fury three times. Haymon and PBC have done some good things but they blew it by letting ego and control get in the way of a Wilder-AJ fight.

[spyker92]

The biggest mistake Haymon made was (successfully) discouraging Wilder from singing the 2-fight deal to fight AJ because it would have meant working with Hearn//DAZN. It’s hindsight, of course, but we will now know Wilder would have likely beaten AJ, twice and PBC would have had an iron grip on the entire heavyweight division (which certainly would have pleased Haymon’s hedge fund investors). PBC could have avoided overpaying Wilder to fight guys like Brazeale to keep him happy about losing out on the AJ fight - and he would have probably not have gone into the black hole of fighting a bad matchup like Fury three times. Haymon and PBC have done some good things but they blew it by letting ego and control get in the way of a Wilder-AJ fight.

Thanks, that made me laugh.

We now know Wilder would've beaten AJ in hindsight??

I think you've just proven that hindsight is not 20/20.

[Boxingfanatic75]

Incorrect. Riyadh Season IS another promotional outfit, one that is tied to Dazn, one run by someone who has already feuded with boxers, and vowed not to work with them because they won’t bow down and kiss his feet. And you lot are forgetting, Haymon worked with Hearn in the early days of pbc, there were matchroom fighters fighting on pbc cards when pbc was on free tv. it was only when Hearn tried to move matchroom to the usa and lure pbc fighters to dazn did Haymon realise what hearn wanted to do to him. Pbc has worked with golden boy, matchroom, and ESPN/top rank since. You guys who are anti Haymon just conveniently forget that and and clearly making the case that the article implied regarding Haymon. A Saudi is more acceptable than a foundational black American for elements in the usa and the U.K. that are given to race based nationalism

Sorry, have to disagree with you on this one. The free market moves where best value is realized and the all mighty green knows no color. He is correct, the gravy train will run dry, the buying public moves where the best deal can be realized and the rest takes care of itself. A successful business owner who seeks as many buyers as possible for his product won’t corner his market value to a subset of society. This has been tried in the past and it has failed. Boxing must branch out beyond what some perceive as “institutional” if it must survive. Those on the sidelines (the successful business owners) know this and are waiting for the bottom to drop. They’ll stick to their old successful model and win in the end regardless of color. There’s a reason why the longest standing corporations still exist with little to no monetary problems. Because their product captures the public at large.

Never forget, green knows no color. That is simple economics.

[Theshotyoudontsee]

It isn't a Saudi takeover of boxing. They are paying for certain fighters and fights. No one is obligated to work with them. Period. The end.

There will always be other promoters, they may have smaller names. But the beauty of boxing us two middle tier guys can create amazing fights.

All of the "who is the best, who is undefeated, who is the most skilled" stuff is great. But if the sport is going to survive, there needs to be a shift to the best matchups....the best FIGHTS. All of us will take two guys with decent skill, in there to draw blood, over incredibly skilled guys who put you to sleep for twelve rounds.

The shift needs to happen soon.

Let the Saudi's pay millions for fights. I guarantee you if promoters put cards on more like the Leo card weekly, the sport comes back big time.

Being the best means jack **** when no one wants to watch them.

[rickJen]

There's no single one size fits all solution in this sport. Believing so is a waste of mental energy. How can you even measure the insatiable greed of people who want infinite amount of money? Boxing will stay the same forever. It's a business, not a sport. Trying to make it to something it is not is silly. Teo Lopez for example is waiting for the Turki offer and discarded the fight TR scheduled for him. How can anyone have any control over people's greed?

Yeah, true. He admitted it himself that he's getting paid $2 million for stay-active fights even when he fights on Thursdays.
It was brought up when the talk of Shakur Stevenson is leaving TR came up. He and Shakur are making that much on non-big fights.
Haney won't even accept $1 mil+ for his mandatory obligation of Sandor Martin. It's waste of money according to Hearn and didn't place a bid.

[MusoMeanderings]

One doesn’t become a self made millionaire in several businesses, have a masters from Harvard, and have been apart of the biggest money makers on boxing history by being a bad businessman especially noting the barriers laid on his road to success.
Looking at it that way, to even suggest that he is shows tremendous bias to begin with…

Well, PBC fighters arent exactly fighting even remotely often. Many of them have psychological/law enforcement problems.

Not exactly a sign of a successful manager.

[noone]

The boxing establishment have made boxing the red light district of sports. So whatever the saudis do to boxing, they cant make it worse.

[Left Hook Louie]

How ironic is it that you start off saying "another Saudi hit price on boxingscene" and then go on another long winded rant on "another black hit price on boxingscene"...haha you can't make this shut up mane......doe!

In order to be a real boxing fan, one needs to be able to see what's happening in the ring with an open mind and clear understanding that what's happening is factual and empirical.
You are responding to someone who is clearly challenged in that department. I don't know why he's on these pages.
By the way, the USA is the greatest country that ever existed in history, mistakes and flaws and all.
That's what I believe, anyway.