This boxing world of ours, filled with politics and sloppy promotion-as-news, needs a bull-load of gooey, salty truth shot into its ear hole-- and I’m just the toro to do it. So, step back and watch me wash away the boxing ignorance. This week, we have comments/questions regarding the odd split-event Beterbiev-Bivol/Shakur-Cordina show, Saudi boxing involvement, more...
Shakur-Cordina, On PPV?
Hi Paul.
I had to rub my eyes and clean my glasses when I saw that Matchroom was planning on making Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina the main event of a DAZN PPV featuring the rest of the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard, with Beterbiev-Bivol airing on ESPN+. What are these people thinking? What kind of mental defective sucker would buy that show without the one fight (Beterbiev-Bivol) that would make it worth buying? What a way to begin the Matchroom-Stevenson alliance! My guess is that they don’t even do five-digit sales in the US. What say you?
– Jerry from Chicago.
Hey Jerry.
It’s spectacularly stupid. I get that Top Rank has the rights to Beterbiev fights, but I would have assumed that Matchroom was bright enough to come up with some sort of broadcast arrangement where they could at least broadcast Beterbiev-Bivol as part of their DAZN PPV show. There’s absolutely no way Shakur-Cordina does well on pay-per-view. This actually makes me wonder whether Matchroom’s signing of Stevenson wasn’t funded by the Saudis, at least in part. The first fight in their 2-fight deal will be an extreme money loss for Matchroom. No company running itself like a real company would voluntarily hemorrhage money like this.
The split-event nonsense is also horrible for fans who want to see the entire event. They’re going to have to pay twice to see all of the show. However, I will concede that it might be good for those who just want to see the main event and not all the filler beneath it.
After The Gravy Train...And A Thanks
As a Boxing fan for over 50 years, I've seen a few things come and go.
Unfortunately, the sport is now at a potential low ebb.
Despite Saudi deep pockets giving us some matches we have wanted to see, I wonder how many media companies will continue to invest money in a sport with a dwindling fan base and former champions, social media content creators, celebrity hacks and con men selling PPV exhibitions as Boxing.
Your article today on the possible end of the Saudi gravy train is stellar and must reading for any serious fan. It will be interesting to see which other writers pick up on the ideas in your story and make them their own.
Thank you.
Please keep doing what you do.
– John
Hey John.
I really appreciate your kind words. If I can be a bit indulgent for a moment, there’s no real reward in me trying to speak the truth as I see it in a way that may have some impact. Media colleagues don’t recognize my contributions and actually work to freeze me out of the discourse. Even the ones who like me and my work, will never say so publicly. They send me “attaboys” privately so their colleagues don’t see them doing it. There’s also no money in doing what I do. All I have to go on is the faintest notion that my words are resonating somewhere, which often crashes up with the reality that, if they do resonate, they probably will be stolen by media people with bigger platforms. This has been happening to me for 17 years now. So, when readers write to me and let me know that I’m at least a little bit good, well, it feels nice.
As for the Saudi stuff…
There are so many reasons why this deal with the devil will be bad for boxing in the long run.
One of the unmentioned dangers in all of this is that the Saudis’ interest in pretty much everything outside of oil is unstable and decided by the whims of one man-- Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We’ve seen massive changes in Saudi investment strategy and their view on business with outsiders, just over the last few years. So, what happens if we turn everything over to them, let them bankroll so much of the high-end activity and call so many of the shots-- and then they just stop? Where do we find the funding after we’ve cut ourselves off from the real world (even further)? How do we restart our business model when we suddenly have to start operating in the black again? How do we build stars when they’ve been sacrificed at the Saudis’ altar? The Saudis have no real commitment to this sport. In their investment portfolio, boxing has to be WAY down on the list. This Turki/Saudi stuff is just a knee-jerk money grab with zero thought of the future.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.