I suspect I need only cite Jake Paul to get any sports analyst worth their salt to commiserate over boxing matches becoming as rigged as Russian elections. Apropos of that, the following is from a Wednesday report in the London Guardian:
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A major investigation into boxing at the 2016 Olympic Games has identified seven to 10 suspicious matches where bout manipulation is likely to have taken place.
It is understood one of those fights involves the Irish boxer Michael Conlan, who lost on a hugely controversial split decision to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in a bantamweight quarter-final in Rio de Janeiro. …
Horrified senior officials within the sport also told this paper at the time that a cabal of officials were able to use their power to manipulate the judging system to ensure certain boxers would win.
When the tournament got under way, there was then widespread fury after a number of highly questionable decisions, with Conlan going as far as to blame Aiba of corruption ‘from the core right to the top’ after his defeat.
‘They’re fucking cheats,’ he said at ringside. ‘They’re known for being cheats. Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top. It’s about whoever pays the most money.’
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But, truth be told, even if you, as a casual boxing fan, are “shocked, shocked” by this report, you are probably one of those naïve souls who think professional wrestling is a real contact sport, not a fake performance art. And, given Russia’s notorious ban from the Olympics for state-sponsored doping, nobody should be surprised that it is caught up in this cheating scandal; hence my commentary “In Putin’s Russia Even Athletics Is a Criminal (Doping) Enterprise,” November 9, 2015.
But, ironically, even when boxing attempts to go legit, matches still end up looking like a farce. Surely this is all one can say about recent bouts that featured Briton Anthony Joshua, the former world heavyweight champion.
He lost another fight everyone expected him to win last Saturday night. Like his compatriot predecessor Frank Bruno, Joshua is chiseled like the Black Panther. But, like Bruno, Joshua has a glass jaw and, even worse, the mental toughness of a shrinking violet.
Everyone thought the Ruiz defeat was a fluke. But this one proves Joshua just does not have the stuff of champions. Shame. But I see no point in commenting any further.
In fact, apropos of Ruiz, this shocking defeat vindicated everything I wrote after that shocking defeat. The title to that commentary says it all, “Boxing Farce: Ruiz Beating Up Joshua Is like Fat Albert beating Up Black Panther.” June 5, 2019.
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Joshua vs Ruiz… Putin’s doping enterprise…