Beyond Boxing

Massive get well soon to Boxing King Media. We are all animals in the same ecosystem and we need each other to thrive. Best wishes and a speedy recovery.

Conor Benn's journey through UK Anti-Doping has been done in reverse. He started off with the least plausible defence and then ended up at the the most plausible defence - But a defence he already rejected as impossible. How he digs himself out of this hole will be interesting.

We really need a clear view on what the Sky Boxing strategy is. Apart from the Cruiserweights, where they have full control, they seem to be all at sea everywhere else.

Boxing loves a comeback and it has been a feel'good moment to have Teofimo Lopez back in form, with a career best performance. However, we should also cautious in writing off Josh Taylor. While he didn't win his performance was enough to have beaten any of his previous opponents.

Bit of a wind-down week in boxing this week as people prepare for holidays and bigger fights later in the years, but still some interesting stories developing.

The non-Bournemouth cards did a lot for the fans, but they could have done better. It is time to admit that Adam Booth is yesterday's man when it comes to boxing. It is also time we ask why Ireland cannot produce real champion boxers in the professional ranks.

The journey Chris Billam-Smith has been on, in and out the ring, is remarkable. It is also testament t the man's character that he has kept going in the face of adversity. It is hard to find a bad word to say about the man and the fact that he brought a world title to Bournemouth is incredible. There has to be a movie in that somewhere.

I do not think Lomachenko was robbed, but it was definitely a close fight and a reminder that, at that level, every round counts and you cannot afford to start slow. Huge praise to Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron for risking it all against each other can delivering for the fans. the men could learn from that.

The fact that Frazer Clarke and his team have pulled out of the purse bids to face Fabio Wardley is disappointing for the sport and its fans. One of two things must be true: 1. 258 MGT know Sky have little faith in Frazer so had to show that with this whole episode or 2. After spending heavily on fighter acquisitions, there is no budget for Frazer Clarke Either way, these look like stormy times for Sky and BOXXER. Someone from that camp needs to come out and reassure fans about..everything

Nothing makes me happier than reuniting with my brothers. As a three, we opened up a lane of podcasting where fans got to see beyond the spin and the subterfuge. So, today, we reunite, 7 years after we came together, like Voltron, and hopefully we are still that barometer of where the fans when it comes to boxing. We always wanted to be more than a podcast and hopefully, our enduring friendship demonstrates that.

Conor Benn is having a conversion on the road to Damascus. He is now open to fighting in the UK again, after being steadfastly against it. Maybe the reality of his options has dawned on him, and hopefully, the reality of a ban will also dawn on him too. For the credibility for the sport, he must be punished, no matter how much he is loved by the public.

It is a crazy and maybe sad situation that the biggest star of the summer will be Chris Eubank Jr. With no AJ, and increasingly, no Fury, this might be as good as it gets. Does this fight end any different than the last one? It's hard to see how.

It is always good when we get a superfight with box boxers in their prime. We got that with Davis v Garcia. Boxing is the winner here and as much as we may want to criticise the ending, we need to remember that it's not us taking those shots. There will be a lot of ex boxers with an opinion, but never got to this level. Don't be like them. Let u rejoice that we got a fight when we were promised. It is so rare.

In some ways i feel for Eddie Hearn. He gets wheeled out to talk about a lot of things he doesn't understand, and often gets it wrong. Then again, he brings it on himself. This Conor Benn issue is a mess, and it is on his watch. No idea if it is him or his dad that are calling the shots, but everything backfired.

Instead of seeing this as a loss and demotion for Joyce, see it as Zhang adding himself into the heavyweight mix and making it interesting again. We want to see Zhang tested now, which add spice to the division

Why are the Americans so much better at producing stars than the Brits are? Why is it that, every three years they unleash a new wave of talent, while we mine out veterans to within an inch of their lives? How do we fix British Boxing?

Amir Khan is not innocent, but he did show how you handle a doping violation. Conor Benn should learn from this.

Anthony Joshua was rightly criticised for his performance against Jermaine Franklin, who ended up enhancing his own name in the process, but are we being fair? It depends on how you want to frame AJ's career. Tune in and see where this episode lands on this topic.

When Dave Coldwell loses faith in you, and he is Matchroom through and through, you know it is bad. The performance was not a disaster, but it wasn’t the spectacular statement we were promised. Is that because Anthony Joshua is on the downside of his career? The demands of his style on is body are massive and the demands on his mind and spirit from the public are even greater. Is it all catching up to Anthony Joshua now?

What a mad journey that has led Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin to the O2 on April 1st. Whatever you think of AJ, the man did beat the odds of life and now sits in a position where he can take or leave boxing. The question is, after Saturday, which will he choose?

This weekend we had three televised cards, and all of them were weak. This country does not have the talent pool to be spreading fighters so thin. It will kill the sport, at a time when fans have very little to be excited about. When will we hold promoters, other than Eddie Hearn, accountable because they should have put him out of business ages ago. The fact that he is still top of the tree is a sad indictment of where boxing is.

Timing is everything, and from looking like a guy on the verge of a crisis, Eddie Hearn has come out fighting these last few weeks. Maybe he knows he is on borrowed time at DAZN, because the experiment is not working.

When you have Dan Azeez firing, and you've got Ben Whittaker to come, signing Joshua Buatsi seems odd. Not a signing borne from desperation but maybe muddled thinking. Josh has flattered to deceive for 6 years now, and you suspect that, at his age, making the necessary progress to be truly elite may prove difficult.

Big congratulations to Dan Azeez - European Champion! We all though Eddie Hearn was the problem, and that, if we moved him out the way, all the big fights would happen. Well, it turns out he wasn't the problem, we still can't get the fights we want. Now, people wonder why the Youtube market is growing rapidly.

Conor Benn, in another badly advised move, decided to go on the piers Morgan show. As much as Piers tried to low-ball Conor and throw him some crumbs, Benn kept shooting himself in the foot. So, I had to say something.

Warren Boxing Management look like they might be bringing small-hall boxing back. Is this a start of something new, or has the boxing market rebounded post-COVID? Also, this is the time i pause to reflect on Haye-Bellew and the pivoltal effect it had on my life in boxing.

A quick round up of everything that I have missed in the last week.

I guess Furyocity beats Prime. It is easy to hammer this as a gimmick fight, but all sports have gimmicks - events that sit outside the usual ebb and flow of the elite level of any sport. Boxing finally has its own version and it's a good thing. Where it's fair to challenge is whether it should have any boxing crossover at all. It feels like having current boxers and media figures connected leaves the fans confused. The real question is whether Tommy Fury could beat KSI.

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing Every successful sport needs a strong governing body. Boxing doesn’t have one. The BBBoC do an amazing job on almost every facet of the sport, especially safety, but the Conor Benn scandal has shown how limited they really are. You’d never get these issues with the NFL, NBA, of Premier League. Until boxing fixes that, it’s a sport that will struggle to grow.

It is a rough time for Matchroom at the moment. They really need a win. The stable is weak, the golden geese are laying no eggs and DAZN customers are sticking the knife in by cancelling their subscriptions.

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing With two of his cash cows coping with defeats and the other fighting a doping ban, Eddie Hearn has a lot on his plate. Making it harder is the reality that DAZN doesn’t need boxing in the same way and Hearn is an incidental part of its growth journey. How he copes with this will define a large part of his legacy. Currently, the glow recedes by the day and the halo has pretty much fallen off.

I will go on record and say Beterbiev will beat Bivol. Bivol is too conventional to be a threat, but it will be competitive

The aim in every title fight is to go the 12, do the championship distance, and prove you have the resilience and capacity to do it. Twice now, Anthony Yarde has started that climb, and twice he has had to stop. Is the real reason behind this the lack of competitive fights on his record. Would he benefit from a run at all his domestic rivals to build that resilience and in-ring stamina, which looks like the only missing piece?

Harsh reality is that the Eubank-Jones axis was doomed to failure. One finds t hard to coach and one finds it hard to listen. People need to choose their trainers carefully, because it's the fighter that has to live with the humiliation of a stoppage.

BEYOND BOXING EP138 - EUBANK JR - SMITH JR: PERFECT EXECUTION by Highfield Boxing

How many chances does somebody need to make a career for themselves? When you win everything you can as an amateur, and you still find yourself in 10-rounders nine years later, you have to ask where it went wrong. One place it didn’t go wrong was Hobson Promotions. There, your name was given meaning. In return, you were meant to hep elevate the promotion, but you chose to use Dennis Hobson as you stepping stone. If there is any justice, you will do the right thing and respect the man that made you relevant again.

I really hope that this egg supply crisis is solely down to Conor Benn.

Anthony Joshua’s career is a mess at the moment. Every drop of momentum has drained from his brand and career. How does he fix it?

BEYOND BOXING EP134 - WILL KSI TAKE EDDIE HEARN'S CROWN? by Highfield Boxing

Just a personal round up of the year, along with a few reasons to be cheerful. HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!!!

A quick(ish) round up of the year in boxing. Happy New Year folks...

Where did it go wrong for AJ? it was probably that night at Wembley in April 2017 when Wladimir Klitschko nearly turned the lights out on the Joshua Project before it really got going. Something scared him that night because he was never really the same. The weaknesses we saw there have never really gone away and as much as many tried to hide them, we could still see them. Even worse, Andy Ruiz and Oleksandr Usyk could also see them. How does AJ go about repairing those in time to save his career? https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing

What a performance from Dan Azeez, and we have yet to hit the ceiling on his potential. He did what he had to do, but did it well. He did it in a manner that will have a few contenders nervous. One thing about Dan is that he is a hard night's work for everyone. Looking for a big 2023 from him.

BEYOND BOXING EP129 - TERENCE CRAWFORD: SIMPLY GENERATIONAL by Highfield Boxing

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing Fury needed to be active, there were no worthy dance partners, so he helped a friend out with their finances. These things happen. It's a reminder to everyone to stay friends with people because you never know when they can help you.

BEYOND BOXING EP127 - MY FIRST WBM SHOW (THAT I KNOW OF) by Highfield Boxing

BEYOND BOXING EP126 - DILLIAN WHYTE - METAMORPHOSIS by Highfield Boxing

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing This is a good weekend for boxing. Four UK cards and one US card will keep us busy. So here’s a quick rundown of the last 7 days in boxing…helped by some Martell 😉.

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing Denzel Bentley has done it the right way, the old-school way. It allowed him to make the right kind of mistakes and learn from them. This was also true on Saturday night where he finally boxed for a world title and even in defeat, grew as a fighter and as a man.

BEYOND BOXING EP123 - 122 EXTENDED by Highfield Boxing