Beyond Boxing

We finally get the Queensberry v Matchroom clash we were promised in the pandemic – only took us one vaccine and 4 boosters to get there. As boxing fans, we should be happy that we have a big card, which has meaning, supported by 5 really strong fights. The only dark cloud is whether we are running this Saudi experiment at the expense of our domestic British boxing product. In terms of British box...

What is going on with our promoters? It seems like chaos in the worlds of Hearn, Warren, and Shalom. It’s a great soap opera for men that like to be the little spoon, I guess. However, it doesn’t help make the sport stronger. The sad bit is, now that Eddie and Frank are forced to be cool, Eddie has taken to bully Ben Shalom. Yes…this is really how a middle-aged man is behaving.

Before anything, a few ‘thank yous:’ Alfie Warren - @alfieRwarren Warren Boxing Management - @warrenboxingmanagment Hannah Rankin - @team_rankin Rival Boxing Gym - @rivalboxinggymkingsx Amy Andrew - @amyandrewboxing Human Hussain - @numan007hussain Masood Abdulah - @mas_masood1 Steve Broughton - @sb_boxing_ We are in the era of boxing where we have media created personalities that seem to be every...

The world needs more superheroes… It’s very rare that you get a British title fight where two men leave everything in the ring, where two men go to places they’ve never been before, and where they find out things about themselves that they never knew. It is so rare to see that Sunday’s fight between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke, even though it ended is a draw, elevated both men to a new level o...

At some point, British boxing has to address its issues around doping. Doping in Boxing has massively watered down the credibility of the sport and left us in a position where we don’t believe results anymore. We don’t believe fighters are clean and we don’t believe our boxes are competing with honour. UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control won their appeal against the National Anti-Doping P...

What do you do if you’re Canelo? Do you chase legacy or do you chase money, or do you chase safety? It seems clear that Canelo is at the point in his career where he is chasing safety in terms of safe paydays and low risk fights, as if he’s built his legacy and has nothing further to prove. But, is this good for boxing when the main man in the sport, the money man in the sport, is not really tryin...

For as long as the Saudi Arabia money flows into boxing Frank Warren won’t put any of his A team in a UK ring. So, what we going to get on TNT sport and in UK venues will be Frank’s B team, and on Saturday we got a glimpse of that and based on Saturday it’s not too promising. Nathan Heaney showed that, without enough of those serious fights against your rivals, it becomes harder and harder to defe...

You can define being a professional as, the ability to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, in the way that it needs to be done. Anthony Joshua is the best example of being a professional from rarely being out of shape to very rarely being out the gym, he stays focused on his craft in a way that many of his rivals do not. What we saw against Francis Ngannou was the ultimate professi...

Why is boxing on the decline in the West? Part of it has to be the lack of genuinely competitive and interesting 'big men.' It seems that there is a dearth of real talent in the bigger weight classes, allowing other nations to dominate. In the UK is it a question or 'rubbish in, rubbish out' as many speculate?

In this episode I give a quick(ish) rundown of the things I missed between episodes 199 and 200. Boxing is in a perilous place right now, but the promoters are happy to ignore that as they do their pilgrimage to the bottomless pit of money. It cannot last forever and when it ends, will that be boxing done?

It is incredible that this version of the pod has made it to 200. 100% of that is down to you guys. You are the best audience anyone could hope for. As a group we punch well above our weight and we will only get stronger. There are also others I need to thank for where the podcast is today: Martin and Andi – No idea why Andi hasn’t just changed it to ‘Y’ already, but these two are the reason I’m d...

Joshua, Yoka, Dubois, how have three gifted athletes and boxers fallen so far below expectations? Also, will Day of Reckoning cut through beyond boxing ciricles?

Sometimes you watch a unification fight and expect a battle of equals. We didn't get that on Saturday. The gap in class surprised everybody and British boxing has to ask whether it builds boxers that are really good enough. At the moment, the answer is no.

Finishing off what I started on Saturday...like Jordan Gill

The Conor Benn saga reappears. The Board are taking a strong stance on Conor Benn boxing in the UK. Is it 'better late than never for them to be taking such a strong stance and can Matchroom find a way though?

Boxing has a handful of people, men and women, that actively shape the lives of our young. Some of those are also able to create some of the best boxers this country has seen. Mick Carney was one of those guys. 12 years later, we still miss him just as bad. A man that helped us become better, a man that brought us together under the banner of Fitzroy Lodge, will never be forgotten.

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing So, we got all the boxers we wanted to see this year, but none of the fights we wanted to see. However, all is not lost because the card on December 23rd will be a lot better than Carry on Camping and Bambi on ITV2.

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing The battle for the worst weekend in boxing intensifies. Lat weekend's action is right up there in the trash stakes. The Newcastle show was interesting as it was a reminder that the talent pool in British boxing is poor and has been for a while.

What you do outside the ring will show in the ring as Andre Sterling once said. What we saw from Fury was a man struggling to cope with the realities of his physical condition, and a man out of love with boxing. When you love boxing you are faithful to it, loyal to it and the rhythms and routines it demands. Fury faced a man in Francis Ngannou who had a real point to prove, and my goodness did he...

If anyone has had a harder 5 years in boxing than Isaac Chamberlain, please send them my way. Watching him win the British and Commonwealth was the definition of a feel-good story and what we watch boxing for. In contrast Jack Catterall is sill waiting for his fairytale moment and it is likely that wait will continue well past his retirement. (0% of boxing is making the public care about you. You...

Tonight, we have two boxing shows that are a hard sell individually, and a hard sell collectively. As much as we are happy the boxers are getting paid, the fans should see some value for their time and expenditure. Until promoters, managers and boxers understand this, we are digging our own grave for boxing. As fans we also need to do better and stop watching things we don't think are good enough....

Say what you want but KSI has built a boxing business without having to work with the boxing business. He is proof that, in todays era, you need to be interesting more than you need to be talented. Until boxing realises that, the sport will continue to decline as it is held prisoner by the type of people you’d never buy a used car off.

Leigh Wood is having the best Indian summer to his career. The king of comeback wins pulls another one out the bag. He showed the value in being ready in key moments. Leigh saw his opportunity and he took it. No matter the opponent, real champions always find a way to win. Leigh Wood did that.

Weight classes matter in a specialised sport like boxing. Jermell Charlo found out the hard way in his defeat to Canelo. We also saw the showcasing of a new star to emerge from Australia in Jai Opetaia. However, is he a bigger nae than Tim Tszyu? This will be Eddie Hearn's next challenge. At Boxxer, we are seeing signs that all might not be well and maybe there are deeper issues that explain why t...

Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk looks like it has been agreed, but we will believe it when we see it. If it does happen, it will be the last chapter of an era that promised so much but delivered so little. When that boxing recession does happen, do not be afraid to go out and do other things. Enjoy your life.