Get ready for the new sheriff in town

The New Order of Boxing is finally here. Fans and a few in the media have bitched about champion and top-rated pro boxers’ inactivity w/ once a year appearances by cats like Gary Russell, Bud, and GGG once he got the Canelo cash. The Charlo’s, once they got big drinking $$, Andy Ruiz, Thurman etc. NOW I hear bitching because the New Power Brokers-The Saudi’s, will force 95% of champs to fight-2-3 times per year, minimum. Turki Alalshikh is The New Sherrif in town. He has the Saudi Royal Family’s Wealth Fund behind him.  Unlimited petro dollars!  The fighters that try to milk the system and fight once a year will become obsolete immediately, within one year! What about the current crop of boxing ‘types’ that don’t like it?

Too bad. It’s going to happen. Right away; Fighthype’s Paul Magno cries that such a formula won’t work, “It will only last 18 months.” His math is that after matching and exchanging bouts w/ the champs and top 2-3 in each division, the compelling fights will have been exhausted. He claims world-wide boxing lacks depth. Example, the 130 lb. fighters will exchange dance partners, and then the division will ‘thin out’. He’s torturing his brain trying to do math. I, and The Saudi’s are executing calculus.

Once any division’s top attractions ‘thin out’ the players will just migrate to another division and compete with fresh meat. Mainstream 118-pounders will either go down to 115, or up to 122. Three to five pounds; no problem.  Bigger jumps are required for fighters north of 140. From ‘47’s to 68’s, it will be seven or eight pounds.  But those cats have bigger frames than the little guys, and so the effect of the jumps will be like what the lil fellers experience. So that should allow for engaging fights for another 18 months, right?  

So, that’s three years’ worth of great fights. But guess what? From the international pool of amateurs, the top shelves can be re-stocked in three years. How? Fighters coming up perform their best when fighting every two months. So, six fights over three years equals 18 fights. The elite stables will replenish. After 18 fights; no need to dawdle. Get in the mix with the big dogs… or the Saudi’s will put THEM on the shelf. New Sheriff. New Eco-System. FINALLY!   

Those Saudi’s have the cash to buy out Arum and his stepson, Uncle and Oscar, Hearn, and Frank Warren, and not even blink. Let’s not be stupid. They took the best golfers in PGA, right? The tour was organized, established, and tight. The Saudis slapped top players with greenbacks and they defected so fast golf’s collective head spun. Dropped a billion dollars like it was stale popcorn. They can damn sure buyout boxers who are, for the most part, uneducated. Their managers and many promoters are not the sharpest pencils in the box either: Exhibit A: Oscar.  

These Saudi cats will put together a controlling model by either buying INTO the sanctioning bodies… or buying the sanctioning bodies OUT… or over-pay and grind the competition to dust, thus making any die-hard heroes irrelevant. Money talks and bullshit walks. You can bet the alphabet-sanctioning bodies know their goose is cooked. So don’t be surprised when we see that the Saudis usurp total control over them at warp speed. Superior purses have a way of drawing action.  

The smart play for boxing media is to go to Saudi and go to the Crawford fight in LA and schmooze Saudi Boss Turki and his staff. Can a person get to Turki? Try it. Fortune favors the bold. Wake up and make connections with the Saudis. Who knows who you will meet that has influence.  Might be an assistant who just happens to be Turki’s son! Why would a member of the media NOT want to be in biz with the obvious New Bosses of the sport you’re employed to cover? Turki could bankroll a potent media concern to service and heap praise on his venture.  Maybe he bankrolls a few satellite news outlets? C’mon everyone. It’s time to feast. The food at the boxing table has never been so sumptuous and promising. Get yourself a plate or starve.