Garcia vs Benn odds

I've no love for Hearn, but he must be laughing his **** off this morning. Zuffa have paid the price for White wanting to get one over on him.
As for Benn, hahahahahahahaha, couldn't have happened to a more unlikable, entitled runt. Its Eubank 3 or retirement.

 

Yet, we all know what's coming in around 6 months' time.

 

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The biggest manufactured hype job I've ever seen in all my years of watching boxing. Hearn steered him well clear of all his domestic rivals at British title level because he knew they would all beat him. Then he gets on the juice and knocks over a few retired old men who there to lose and all of a sudden we are being told he's a killer. But people fall for it.

Last night was about as big of a mismatch that you will see at World level and should put an end to the ridiculous nonsense we have to suffer hearing about Benn and his abilities. I'd be happy to never see him anywhere near a boxing ring ever again.

 

-Dana White

-Fighter pay issues

-Saudi involvement

-Trying to reverse the Ali Act

-Trying to monopolise Boxing.

 

I think some people talked themselves into believing he had the toughness and durability of his dad. He does not.

If he did have that at least he could have got through more rounds despite being outclassed with basic boxing ability and hand speed.

The Cedrick Peynaud loss showed where he is at as a fighter. He was dropped 3 times in that fight, and was on the verge of quitting at one point. Peynaud was a part time boxer, and a full time French pastry chef. At the time Benn was able to be full time and be dedicated to the sport and still had his arse handed to him. Although Boxrec will tell you he "won" that fight everyone who saw it knows he did not.

 

Going 1-1 against the weight drained corpse of Eubank Jr doesn't mean anything either.

 

So without cheering for Zuffa you could make a counterargument to all of the above.

Fighter pay issues - many old school promoters have stiffed fighters. UFC is an ongoing sustainable business and pays on that basis, if anything fighters don't understand business, thinking they should percentages paid show-by-show, or for selling their own tickets, rather than under a safer long term model with backup.

Saudi involvement isn't something anyone in boxing can be proud of. At least Saudi has taken ownership of Zuffa and isn't just privately subsidising an old rag-tag model and pretending not to be a promoter whilst making fights.

Ali Act - does nothing to stop some of the shady practices common in boxing. Promoters, managers and trainers may be separately licensed but still in cahoots and in tow with the "sanctioning bodies". Being signed to a unified body with healthcare, benefits, training facilities, etc, is at least one single unit holding it all together with levels of management.

Monopolising boxing is as impossible as it is with MMA. Trying to create a "Premier League" brand with some kind of real progression rather than loudmouth promoters getting their boxers up the levels, is no bad thing. It just depends if you want to see a Benn or a Catterall earn a fight (and that's where it gets messy promotionally as fewer would show up to watch Catterall, let's be honest).

It gets exposed a bit where you have Matchroom managing Aspinall and getting big money for podcasts and advertising deals, but which will make zero difference to his UFC competitive standing. That's as it should be and the likes of Hearn, Warren and the Sam Joneses of the world might make a better living as talent spotters / managers.

 

Everything else about Zuffa aside for a second, I thought the actual production was quite good. No pre fight national anthems or concerts nobody wants, minimal filler, passable commentary.

Negatives were that American thing where they cut off from the action and split the screens to show replays, and that real time marketplace prediction thing is pointless unless you're into stats.

 

Minus a point for Max Kellerman shouting at people...

 

I only tuned in when they were making the ring walks but sounds like a UFC event.

 

Saw that Garcia weighed 151lbs when he arrived at the venue. I’ve always been an advocate of fighting just below your national weight rather than this whole rehydrating 30lbs crap.

 

Ah heck I'll take him over the likes of Parsons!