Friday, February 24, 2023
Paul-Fury: Will The Third Time Result In A Fight?
Thursday, October 27, 2022
BREAKING: Silva Cleared To Fight By AZ Commission, Paul Fight To Move Forward As Scheduled
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Paul-Silva: Another Novelty Or A Legitimate Test?
Ever since the influx of social media celebrities led largely by brothers Logan and Jake Paul began to enter the sport of Boxing one persistent question has continued to be asked, are they legitimate fighters or are they strictly appealing to a segment of the population for whom Boxing is a casual interest at best, a novelty? Although Jake Paul has compiled a record of 5-0, with 4 Knockouts in Boxing’s Cruiserweight division, he has yet to face someone with legitimate Boxing experience with his wins coming against a fellow social media influencer, a former NBA player, and two former Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) world champions, one of whom Paul fought twice. The second of those bouts against Tyron Woodley came as a result of a planned bout against unbeaten Cruiserweight prospect Tommy Fury, a boxer falling through due to Fury coming down with an illness and injury.
As most know, Paul attempted to reschedule the bout with Fury to take place in the month of August in Madison Square Garden, but for the second time, Fury was unable to hold up his end to bring the fight to fruition this time due to travel restrictions preventing him from traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States for the bout. Although this should not be viewed as something of Paul’s doing, the fact that a fight against a fighter with a Boxing background fell through twice followed by replacement opponent Hasim Rahman Jr. being disqualified from the bout by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) due to difficulties cutting weight in an attempt to move down from the Heavyweight division to face Paul, criticism of Paul and questions regarding whether he should be taken seriously as a boxer remain.
Following the fall through of both a second attempt to fight Tommy Fury and a planned substitution being KO’d by the NYSAC, Paul will go back to the well once again, this time against another former MMA world champion in the form of former longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight world champion and future Hall of Famer Anderson Silva. A fight that will take place on October 29th at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, AZ and will headline a Showtime Pay-Per-View card here in the United States. On the surface, this seems like, yet another novelty bout based largely on the fact that Silva is forty-seven years old and is several years removed from his competitive prime in combat sports.
The irony however, despite Silva’s Hall of Fame career in the sport of MMA is he actually began his combat sports career as a professional boxer and boasts a record of 3-1, with 2 Knockouts to his credit, which in an odd way presents something akin to what Paul would see if he took the conventional route to begin his Boxing career. Although Silva’s Boxing resume is not a long one, he did score an eight round split decision win in June of last year over former WBC Middleweight world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Silva’s last bout in a Boxing ring was a first round knockout over fellow UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz in September of last year on the undercard of the highly controversial bout between Boxing Hall of Famer Evander Holyfield and UFC Hall of Famer Vitor Belfort. Although that entire event is something that should be viewed as a bad moment in the history of the sport for several reasons, Silva nonetheless did show that he still had punching power at an advantaged age as he quickly took Ortiz out in eighty-one seconds. The obvious criticism of that particular fight even though Silva did produce a devastating knockout is he was facing someone in Ortiz, who did not have Boxing experience.
The question that should be asked as this scheduled eight round Cruiserweight bout approaches is whether Silva still has enough in him to hopefully provide a bit of a test of the twenty-five year old Paul. While Paul has scored knockouts of MMA world champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley in his aspiring career, both of those men had wrestling backgrounds before entering the Boxing ring to face Paul. If there is a difference for this fight even though he will again be facing someone who’s primary sport is not Boxing is, at his best, Anderson Silva was a devastating fighter that could hit opponents with both his hands and feet, resulting in several brutal knockouts in his Hall of Fame career.
Even though Paul has not taken the conventional route into Boxing, it should be pointed out that he is still very much a work in progress and if Silva has any semblance of his hand speed and punching power that he had during his prime years in the sport of MMA, this could prove to be a test that some including Paul himself may not expect. This observer believes that the answer to what Anderson Silva will bring into this fight will be answered very early as Silva has always been a slick fighter that looks to bait his opponents into making mistakes and attacking suddenly. Even with limited Boxing experience, Silva does hold a significant edge in overall combat sports experience compared to Jake Paul who is still a novice learning the sport. As such and keeping in mind the skills Silva has displayed both in MMA fights as well as in the Boxing ring, it is crucial that he use every bit of his experience to test Paul and make him uncomfortable. Jake Paul meanwhile has shown a solid right hand in his previous five bouts and it is logical to think that he will be looking to land what has proven to be a primary offensive weapon for him in this fight.
Although criticism will likely remain of Jake Paul as well as the concept of what has been dubbed “Influencer Boxing” regardless of the outcome of this fight, if Paul wins those advising him should say that it is time to focus on facing fighters with a primary Boxing background exclusively, if indeed he wants to be taken seriously as a boxer. For all his boasts, which like it or not does draw attention about how he wants to be taken seriously and hopes to become a world champion down the road, without focusing on facing boxers, and to be specific, fighters that will not only help him develop, but also if successful help him move up the ranks, same as any boxer attempts to do, he should not talk about facing anything resembling the top stars in the sport of Boxing, because frankly even though he has proven to be a good promoter, there will come a point where the novelty and curiosity of Paul will wear off. For the time being, it remains to be seen if Silva will be able to provide the unbeaten Paul a test.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
Paul vs. Silva takes place on Saturday, October 29th at Gila River Arena in Glendale, AZ. The fight can be seen on Showtime Pay-Per-View in the United States for $59.99. The event will be available through the Showtime app on mobile, tablet, and connected streaming devices/Smart TVs as well as through digital combat sports streaming network and pay-per-view platform FITE beginning at 9PM ET/6PM PT. Paul vs. Silva will also be available through traditional cable/satellite providers. Contact your cable/satellite provider for ordering information.
To order and stream on the Showtime app, download the Showtime app on your streaming device of choice or visit www.SHO.com/PPV to order and for instructions on how to download the Showtime app.
To order on FITE, download the FITE app on your streaming device of choice or visit https://www.fite.tv/watch/paul-vs-silva/2pbx1/ to order and for instructions on how to download the FITE app.
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
Friday, June 4, 2021
Mayweather-Paul: An Event For The Wrong Reasons?
In November of last year, the Boxing world was fascinated by the return of Boxing legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones who years after both men hung up their gloves as professional fighters decided to participate in an eight round exhibition event that was carried around the world on both digital as well as cable/satellite pay-per-view. The event, which this observer called a curiosity, was a success generating over a million pay-per-view buys at a $49.95 price point. Although the pay-per-view medium is one that has been in steady decline dating well back to before the ongoing global COVID-19 epidemic, it was impressive that two men in their respective 50’s could drum up such interest that extended beyond the Boxing enthusiast. While no one should have expected anything resembling Tyson and Jones in their respective primes, what was more impressive at least to yours truly was that the event was something that was intended to not only provide needed diversion, but also something that was a charity event that Mike Tyson even said it was a humanitarian cause for him at this stage of his life.
Since that event, which also signaled the entry into the sport of Boxing for social media platform Triller, there has been an influx of fighters from years past expressing interest in taking part in exhibitions and even one bout that will feature a former Boxing world champion in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. facing future MMA Hall of Famer and former UFC Middleweight world champion Anderson Silva that will all take place during the month of June and all targeted as pay-per-view events. While the Chavez-Silva bout, which will take place on June 19th in Mexico is the only official bout that will be counted as a professional bout, the event that has generated the most interest is the exhibition between soon to be inducted International Boxing Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather and social media influencer/YouTube star Logan Paul, which will take place on Sunday, June 6th at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL and be televised in the United States by Showtime Pay-Per-View.
Although this event, which will also feature professional bouts on its undercard is an exhibition, it has generated significant interest particularly amongst the casual sports fan. Why is that? At his best the forty-four year old Mayweather was among the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Mayweather, who officially retired unbeaten with a record of 50-0, with 27 Knockouts after defeating former two-division UFC world champion Conor McGregor in his last official fight in August 2017 still has a mystique in that whatever he does generates attention.
This was proven when Mayweather traveled to Japan to face then twenty year old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition that took place before a massive crowd in the Tokyo Dome as a special attraction on a Rizin MMA event. The exhibition on New Year’s Eve 2018, which was stopped in the first round as Mayweather made quick work of Nasukawa generated significant interest, but was blacked out from being viewed here in the United States, despite the Rizin MMA portion of the event being broadcast globally on FITE TV, was a mismatch that many expected, but did provide Mayweather with a significant payday from the Japanese-based MMA promotion.
Now in 2021, Mayweather is staging another exhibition against Logan Paul, but should the public expect anything different from Mayweather’s exhibition with Tenshin Nasukawa? In fairness, Logan Paul does have one official professional bout on his resume an eight round decision loss to fellow YouTube star Olajide Olatunji also known as KSI in November 2019, but it is hard to believe that Paul who will outweigh Mayweather by over thirty pounds, will have much success against one of the best fighters of his generation, despite having a height and weight advantage over Mayweather. The simple reason for this is Mayweather is by far more seasoned and has too much experience.
So why has this exhibition, which will be scheduled for eight three minute rounds, where both fighters will be wearing 10oz. gloves, and where no winner will be announced, though knockdowns and a potential knockout will be allowed, generated such interest? While this is only the view of this observer, it does have the element of curiosity particularly for the casual fan for whom Boxing is of sporadic interest.
While I have said in the past in regard to the subject of YouTube stars including Logan Paul’s brother Jake, participating in the Boxing ring that just because someone achieves some notoriety in a different form prior to entering the sport that it should not mean that said person should be dismissed as a boxer, what remains important to me is that everyone takes the sport seriously.
It may be something that is overstated at times, but Boxing is a combat sport and as a genre fighting sports are referred to as combat sports for a reason. There is always the risk of danger, injury, and unfortunately even death that each boxer faces each and every time they get into a ring. While some may accuse this observer of viewing things too seriously and not seeing things strictly for the entertainment value that might be involved, Boxing is an extremely serious sport and all involved need to take it seriously. It is not a joke and people have died in the ring,
While it may also be true that proceeds from this event may go to charity in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has not been made public, unlike the Tyson-Jones exhibition last November, it will be interesting to see how this event, which is priced at a $49.99 will do on digital as well as cable/satellite pay-per-view especially with several other pay-per-view Boxing events scheduled to take place during the month of June including one scheduled for June 26th, which will also be broadcast by Showtime Pay-Per-View,
Although yours truly sincerely hopes that this will be talked about in the days after the event as something that exceeded expectations and an occasion that will somehow elevate interest in the sport amongst new eyes that may not have watched Boxing before, it is hard to envision many including those of us who cover the sport especially given the circumstances of an ongoing crisis and economic recession viewing this with anything beyond a cynical view and may ultimately view this as a “Money Grab.” As for this observer, in closing, the reader who will probably tune into this event, if nothing else out of curiosity, should keep one thing in mind. “No Expectations, No Disappointments.”
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
Mayweather vs. Paul takes place on Sunday, June 6th at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL. The card can be seen in the United States on Showtime Pay-Per-View for $49.99 beginning at 8PM ET/5PM PT. The event will be available on www.SHO.com/PPV, the Showtime app, as well as cable/satellite providers throughout the United States. Contact your cable/satellite provider for ordering information or visit: www.SHO.com/PPV to order as well as for information on how to access the Showtime app on compatible streaming devices/platforms/Smart TVs
The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison