Boxing fans possibly witnessed the fight of 2019 on Thursday when Nonito Donaire passed the baton of the greatest competing bantamweight in the world on to Naoya Inoue.
The pair brought boxing back from the terrible despair of several deaths, injuries and high controversy, to fend off calls to scrap the sport completely.
Inoue vs Donaire
Two men who put it all on the line, without the need for trash talk or insults, solidified the euphoric experience trading blows can bring – inside and outside of those ropes.
Fast forward just 60 hours and the sport was almost killed by two jokers who seem hell-bent on ruining what we all love.
The fact that two complete amateurs, who swing windmills like fresh nine-year-olds, can take a massive amount of money from a farce – should NEVER be allowed to happen in the first place.
But for actual respected boxing people to give these less-than amateurs the platform some pro boxers could only dream of, it’s a testament to where we all could be headed.
Celebrity is taking over. And the Kardashian ear of pugilism could be upon us.
If we don’t act now to banish these absolute morons forever, the sport as we know it may never survive.
We could be looking at a massive change where those who can delight us all with there skills could eventually be fighting on undercards.
Superstars
The likes of Vasyl Lomachenko and even Inoue are not absolute superstars as it is (as they should be). That’s even if they are no doubt two of the best boxers in the world.
But as long as these Z-lister YouTube presenters are given this platform, the worse it will be for the magicians of the ring we love to watch.
A one-off YouTube event should STAY on YouTube. Only those thirsty for cash and imaginary future fans would act likes this is anything more than garbage.
Let’s be real. If we wanted to watch two people who can’t box have a fight we’d watch the Cinema carpark on a Friday night.
The fact these two idiots have built up a zombie-like following from playing video games and filming dead bodies shouldn’t be a good reason to put them on a pedestal.
Those who did should hang their heads in shame. And those who paid for it and watched it are part of a horrible problem that needs to be eradicated from our great sport.
CHARADE
Proper boxing fans are losing out to this charade. Somebody somewhere has to take a stand for the good of future events.
There is no doubt in my mind that the likes of Al Haymon and Bob Arum would never have even entertained the idea of promoting this trash. And the next time it haunts us all we have to take a stand and reject it out of hand.
Above all, the whole thing stinks of a money grab. It deserves ONLY to be showcased of the place it came from.
Please, for the good of boxing…get in the bin.
