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MAGNO'S BULGING MAIL SACK: GOLOVKIN'S RAGE, JOSHUA'S RESUME, ARUM, AND MORE

By Paul Magno | March 22, 2018
MAGNO'S BULGING MAIL SACK: GOLOVKIN'S RAGE, JOSHUA'S RESUME, ARUM, AND MORE

It’s Thursday once again-- time to take out my sack and let it feel the cool breeze. Lots of good stuff’s inside, so let’s take a look.

Anthony Joshua: Protected or Unappreciated?

Hi Paul,

I love the heavyweight scene atm - I was too young to enjoy Mike Tyson/Bowe/Lewis and Holyfield but I’m happy to see this uprising now.

I have an opinion – I don’t feel Joshua gets credit for his resume (And he’s perceived as the guy stalling the Wilder fight) why do you think this is?

The way I see it, he fought Klitschko, he signed to fight Pulev, replaced him with Takam and now he’s fighting Parker in unification.

He fought an undefeated Whyte which was a solid domestic level bout at a time where they were both domestic and he also fought Martin when he was undefeated and also an unknown quantity who many people rated quite highly at the time.

The way I see it, out of all the heavyweights he’s got the best resume and although Wilder is making all the noise about a fight – in reality it is Joshua that who is getting contracts drafted and signed.

I’m a fan of both, Wilder is Wild – but you can’t help but love his raw power and Joshua has the whole package plus a certain vulnerability which makes this fight huge.

I’m rambled on quite a bit – but ultimately do you think Joshua deserves credit or do you also think he’s been given a protected ride because “He’s Eddie Hearn’s cash cow”?

Regards

-- Syed

Hi Syed.

I’ve been pretty consistent on this issue, all around. I think Joshua (and Wilder, for that matter) have weak resumes for “world” champions. I don’t say that to disparage him, just to point out that it’s a bit absurd to have fighters winning and defending world titles while still being “works in progress” when it comes to development. That’s just me being a stickler for old school quality control. 

But Joshua is no worse than a lot of these champs-in-training and, at the very least he’s been willing to elevate his level of opposition while developing. The man is the “real deal” and is the best and biggest in the division right now. I like his mental makeup and I expect a long, distinguished reign from him. 

As for the Wilder fight, I don’t think for a second that Joshua and Hearn are running scared. They are acting like people with plenty of big money options on the table who want to scoop up that cash as it becomes available. Wilder’s only big money option is Joshua, but Joshua can make huge scores with just about anyone. Wilder’s desperation is understandable (as is the ire of the fans who want that fight), but so is Team Joshua’s desire to explore other options while building towards a Wilder unification.

Praise for Arum...Criticism for Showtime?

Hey Paul,

I remember you writing that Bob Arum wasn’t really serious about making Lomachenko-Linares and would end up making Lomachenko-Beltran. He’s now made one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year along with Canelo-GGG 2.

Are you going to write a story praising the fight and TR and GBP for coming together to make a fight a lot of fans want to see?

Also what do you make of Mikey Garcia? For all of his talent he doesn’t seem to resonate with fans. Not even 700,000 fans cared enough to watch his last fight. The Wilder Ortiz fight got a big number but the past 2-3 years Showtime has had mostly weak ratings. I see you go into HBO’s weak ratings but never into Showtime’s.

It’s really a shame because Showtime has been on a 2 year run with mostly good fights but doesn’t seem to be attracting more subscribers and fans.

-- Virgil Demayo

Hi Virgil.

I honestly don’t understand why people are trying to push Lomachenko-Linares off as some sort of super fight. It’s a very good fight, yes, but “highly anticipated?” I mean, I guess, if one is easily hyped about certain things…This is, however, Lomachenko’s first “real,” multi-faceted test since the Salido fight and I’m glad to see it get made. I didn’t think Arum would go with Beltran because he’s afraid of putting Lomachenko against Linares (now, Mikey Garcia may be a different story), it’s just that Beltran, as a Top Rank fighter, would’ve been an easier fight to make, especially given the conflicting fight cards Top Rank and Golden Boy had on May 12. Arum will make cross-promotional fights if he’s sure he’s got the goods—and he does with Lomachenko. So, I’m not shocked at all that this fight is getting made after the two promotional companies and ESPN hammered out a compromise on scheduling. I think Lomachenko wins decisively, btw. 

As for Showtime vs. HBO-- you need to take into consideration that HBO has more than twice the number of subscribers as Showtime. This skews the numbers and makes head-to-head comparisons difficult. Garcia’s 700,000, extrapolated to an HBO-sized subscription base, could translate into 1.4 million viewers, which would easily be the biggest HBO audience of the last two years, by far. If I bring up HBO more than Showtime, it’s because they have been seen as the industry leader and have the much larger reach. As I’ve written many times, though, boxing right now (at least in the US) is not bringing in a new audience at all. Whether it’s on HBO, Showtime, ESPN, or Fox—pretty much the same people are watching. 

Ryan Garcia...fix?

I'm not for or against Ryan Garcia. Just really starting to hear about him, but here is a link to a YouTube video of a fight of his.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Nnajf6kVg

I watched and at the 6:06 mark, during the replays, I watched slowly. He DID NOT connect with the punches thrown. If you see it other-wise please let me know. Hell, air me out as a hater if necessary, but this looks dirty, and I want to know from a boxing source if I'm being crazy.

-- Brandon

Hi Brandon. 

I don’t know if you’re crazy, but, IMO, that was a legit shot—and quite the quick, accurate one, too. 

I normally wouldn’t post an email like this, I’d usually just answer privately. But I do want an excuse to talk up Ryan Garcia a bit. To me, the kid has real star potential and the kind of charisma that is either going to make you love him or despise him. And he’s an aggressive power puncher, to boot!

Keep an eye on Garcia. 

GGGG—The Fourth “G” is for “Get ‘em”

Magno.

Your [sic] a Golovkin hater and Canelo lover. Love to get your take on Triple G putting your boy on blast last night [Tuesday night]. Flat out called your boy a cheater and said he had proof of Canelo getting injections in his muscles. LOL. And he still wants to fight Canelo. What you got to say about this? 

-- KC

KC. 

My boy? Who the hell is my boy? If I’m working with a fighter, earning a paycheck off a fighter—then—that guy is “my boy.” I honestly couldn’t give a rat’s ass about strangers fighting for millions in a ring. Why would I have a “side,” unless that “side” is the truth as I see it? 

Anyway, I’m gonna be a lazy slob here and just share what I wrote about this at my other gig on Boxing. com:

“There’s enough plausible deniability in the whole Canelo Alvarez affair to demand, at the very least, a degree of guarded neutrality. Testing positive for trace amounts of a banned substance three months before a fight—in a country known to have beef contaminated with that substance—when you’ve never tested positive for anything before? That’s hardly a “close the books, send him straight to hell” scenario. In a boxing world where there’s really not much importance placed on “real” PEDs testing and where the best available testing option is that which is purely voluntary, it’s hard to proclaim ANYONE innocent or guilty.”

And, as for Golovkin blasting Canelo, De la Hoya, the commission, and pretty much the entire sport…and then claiming that Canelo was dirty for their first fight?

Well, that’s his prerogative. Let him say whatever he feels is right. I don’t think it’s a very helpful frame of mind to be in, however, as he prepares for the biggest fight of his life. 

Again, lazy me will quote my other piece:

“Whether Golovkin is justified in saying what he did or understandably off the rails is beside the point at this moment in time for a fighter training for his biggest bout. Golovkin’s anger, frustration, and obvious fixation on injustices done to him is a sign that he is mentally rattled by this whole situation. From his words and those of his own promoter, Tom Loeffler, it’s clear that Golovkin has been inundated with various shades of conspiracy theories and support from fans and well-wishers who further stoked the flames of paranoia

Ideally, this is where trainer Abel Sanchez would step up and rein his fighter in, maybe try his best to cut him off from the flies in the outside world buzzing in his head. A fighter can’t work on a gameplan when pushed to paranoia and buried in a “whole world is against me” mentality. 

If the strategy is to prime Golovkin for an all-or-nothing push to knock Canelo out, then maybe this breeding of a fistic martyr complex might have some validity. Maybe. But it’s generally not a good idea to allow the weight of the world to be crammed inside your fighter’s head as he prepares for a major fight. “

We may be seeing the beginning of a Golovkin implosion. 

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.

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