Bill Simmons and Brian Kenny Podcast 9/20/11

[champ_kw]

http://www.grantland.com/podcasts#

It's refreshing to hear Brian Kenny talk about boxing without the propaganda machine of the "Mothership" being behind the scenes.

Highlights and key points:

*says that Manny balking at a blood test is su****ious and the different posturing with the dates is a bad look. The only way out now is accepting WADA random Olympic style drug testing.
*suggests that the difference in how Victor looked vs Berto and Floyd has a su****ious stench on it because the random test was implemented for Floyd and he looked like two totally different fighters.
*talks about how great defensively Floyd is and that they can barely think of 5 times where he's been truly hit flush with a hard shot in his entire career.
*would like to see a stat for a differential in how many rounds Floyd has won vs loss.
*says that people are hypocrits in their stance on steroids. People claimed they would have loved for a supposed clean baseball player like Ken Griffey, Jr to come out with a hard stance on advanced testing, but Floyd is unfairly dissed for doing exactly that.
*said that steroids have been around for so long and that they are extremely designer now and the best way to TRY to catch or deter is with random blood tests.
*great insight on the Hearns, Leonard, and Hagler trio as well a littel love for Gerry Cooney.

Overall a good listen and differs a lot from his ESPN persona as Floyd's resident nemesis.

[Nonitard]

Victor looked good against Berto because they are on the same level. The drop off in ability and talent is so ridiculous between the two- Vic and Floyd

I agree with a lot of what he said, but if Floyd is so serious about the testing, how come he doesnt having his other fighters who fight under his promotion undergo testing as well?

It would legitimize his stance furthur.

Also boxing is a sport without unions. The players in the NFL, MLB are represented by unions who have their own agenda. Floyd has the luxury of doing whatever the hell he wants, and more power to him that he took a stance on something he believed in

But he hurt his case by accusing someone without evidence, thus losing a lot of credibility and making it look like he was defaming Pac out of fear and envy.

[champ_kw]

Victor looked good against Berto because they are on the same level. The drop off in ability and talent is so ridiculous between the two- Vic and Floyd

I agree with a lot of what he said, but if Floyd is so serious about the testing, how come he doesnt having his other fighters who fight under his promotion undergo testing as well?

It would legitimize his stance furthur.

Also boxing is a sport without unions. The players in the NFL, MLB are represented by unions who have their own agenda. Floyd has the luxury of doing whatever the hell he wants, and more power to him that he took a stance on something he believed in

But he hurt his case by accusing someone without evidence, thus losing a lot of credibility and making it look like he was defaming Pac out of fear and envy.

I hear what you're saying. Is what Floyd saying and doing regarding testing selfish? Of course. I think the fact that it's costly to do, it would be hard to get a Jessie Vargas 6 round fight to cover the cost of it. A Floyd fight most definately will generate enough to where the cost won't be a hinderance. They also talked about how boxing will continue to be a niche sport due to the lact of a lone commission.

And the difference in how this perceived was being questioned from a fan/media standpoint. Basically saying, "if you support clean sports and up to date testing, you can't be mad at Floyd for doing just that, regardless of his motives."