Aug 16 | Itauma v Whyte, Cacace v Ford, Ball v Goodman

Eddie Hearn said ...................

There were big fights made before the Saudi mob appeared and there will be big fights made when they are long gone.

 

Yup and just cos 95% of what comes out hearn is bull, doesn't mean the other 5% isn't true.

Wasn't the norm, yes there were big fights but like 1 a year. Nothing like the number and regularity since the Saudis came in. And when they do bow out of they are not replaced it will go back to it.

 

Stick a pin in Hearn's cheek and you will find an outpouring of brown substance.

If it smells like shyte, it usually is shyte.

 

Eubank also confirmed it and let's be honest if in this case hearn was speaking bull then eubank most definitely would have called him out on it.

 

That fight would have happened anyway for whatever loot was available.

Neither are exactly interested in winning World Title Belts or shown much interest in fighting for belts.

Internal Body Odour belt not relevant for me.

 

Buatsi v Smith was a cracker to be fair

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He is trying to address it. I wonder if performance/KO bonus like the UFC would help.

 

You can't prove that, I can prove that it happened under the Saudis. I can prove that eubank said it wouldn't have happened otherwise.

 

Like I said any chance that eubank would have had to stick it hearn them he would and when hearn said it wouldn't have happened without the Saudi cash and eubank didn't correct him, or shut him down says more to me. The original fight didn't happen.

 

The same the other way round mate as the fight was scheduled before Turkey bought boxing.

The fight between their fathers was a much bigger World Title Fight watched by a far bigger audience.

Big fights were made long before Saudi Sportswashing Loot appeared and will continue to be made when the Saudi money disappears.

The quicker they fook off the better for me big fights or no big fights.

 

Big fights were made before the Saudi's came around, but they were few and far between.

Big fights not happening, a lack of genuine 50/50 fights, and poor undercards was the biggest gripe by boxing fans for years. Many people on this site have said that they were falling out of love of the sport and following it less in recent years due to this.

Are the Saudi's ideal? No. Far from it. But, we have seen some big fights, stacked cards, and competitive match ups since they came around. This is something you rarely got in recent years from Hearn, Warren, Arum, Hayman, De La Hoya, etc. Are all cards and fights great? Of course not. But, you get that in sport.

Obviously, the sports washing side of things isn't good, but then boxing has never attracted the most honest and nicest of people. Also, if I'm honest, I'm past caring. Boxing has been on the slide for years for a variety of reasons, some of which I mentioned above. The sport has literally had decades to sort it's **** out, but it didn't, and even got worse over the years. In fact, it's so bad that an egotistical, phone watching, sports washer can be seen as a saviour of the sport. That's how bad the sport of boxing was at, and the level of scum bags of the people involved on the business side of the sport.

So, **** it. Obviously, I'd love all the big fights to be in the west in front of rabid fans, but if it's a choice of the old ways or what we have now (good fights in front of 1000 rich disinterested Saudis) I'll take the latter.

A last point; we may start to get more fights in the UK and US. Turki has made many mistakes since he came into boxing, but he has also shown that he can learn from his mistakes; binning of the endless concerts between fights, his recent post about runners. Eventually, he will need to start making a profit from boxing, so he'll know that he stands more chance of turning a profit by having fights in front of tens of thousands of pissed up Brits rather than in front a few bored Saudi's.

 

Smith vs Buatsi was a classic — criminally underrated. And Shakur? A phenomenon. But these fights and fighters deserve the right audience and the right stage, not a silent Saudi void.

The payouts? Already beyond obscene — borderline theft in a lot of cases, for the snooze-fest PPV cards we’re being fed Pavlov style.

Fighters don’t need more incentives from Turki — they need a harsh lesson in what this whole sportswashing circus is really about: control, obedience, spectacle dressed up as sport.

If you’re gonna run for 12 rounds like Jerry on a golden leash, don’t expect a Saudi briefcase stuffed with loot.

In a land where thieves lose hands and rule-breakers face the whip, maybe the real punishment is public shame — robed in an abaya, head bowed, paraded through Riyadh’s square carrying the weight of a fight that flatlined.

Promoters? Tar them with their own hype and feather them with the ashes of their dead cards. This isn’t boxing — it’s a royal charade, and you’re the jester who forgot how to throw a punch.

 

When a boxer is securing his future, I highly doubt he gives two craps about the stage he is on

 

Boxing will become a monopoly under Riyadh Season soon and that is ultimately bad for the sport and the fighters in the long term.