By Eóin Kennedy
It’s been a whirlwind start to the month of May in the boxing-land, so let’s run through some quick takes from where we currently stand in the world’s wackiest sport.
The Almighty B Sample
In 2024, the B urine sample is boxing’s equivalent of the glove that didn’t fit O.J. Simpson’s arthritic hand. Many a fighter has prayed that their second cup of whizz would exonerate them of the horrid allegation of being a drug cheat in a sport where lives are risked. Eddie Hearn made the B sample what it is today when Dillian Whyte was found with banned substances in his system in the build up to his fight with Oscar Rivas. Hearn’s daily marathon of interviews defending the then Matchroom fighter Whyte gave the alternate cup of wee-wee the recognition that it has today. Ryan Garcia now awaits his own B sample result with impatience and manic Twitter fingers. On May 22nd we will learn if boxing’s newest trending performance enhancing drug, Ostarine, actually was or was not in Garcia’s system to an extent that would be considered a violation of the New York State Athletic Commission’s Policy on the matter. If found guilty, it means Devin Haney may be about to beomce an undefeated fighter once again. Ryan Garcia? I guess you could say he was flying high in April, shot down in May.
Loser Leaving Town?
If boxing is a wacky sport, then I’m not quite sure what description accurately fits the bizarre universe of professional wrestling. Parallels can seamlessly be drawn between the two worlds. One fun concept that professional wrestling implements is the ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match. Rather than the loser actually being kicked out of a certain town, they would end up leaving the promotion. The most notable match in this genre is probably when two icons of the golden age of WWE, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior went head-to-head at WrestleMania 7 in California. This Saturday night, two of boxing’s top lightweights find themselves fighting on a very different west coast. Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos compete for the vacant IBF world title, but world honours are not what’s going to motivate these already decorated fighters. This is a crossroads fight and careers are potentially on the line. The loser won’t just be run out of Perth, Western Australia on Saturday night, they could be dancing their last dance in the ring too. Sneaky suspicion here that Kambosos upsets the odds.
Joker vs Joker
Already cemented as modern-day greats, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed heavyweight championship fight in Saudi Arabia next week gives both fighters the incentive of being the stand-alone king of the heavyweight division in their era. Regardless of how this fight plays out, we all know there is a rematch clause, and that Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are still active, and looking to fight the winner of this two-legged affair. Most likely the loser also if Turki Alalshikh is willing to splash enough cash. There’s no doubt that the current heavyweight cohort are about to enjoy an Indian summer in their careers thanks to the injection of Saudi money, and in all honesty more entertaining fights than Fury vs Usyk will transpire among the sport’s giants in the next eighteen months. Despite that, on May 18th (barring a draw), after all is said and done, only one top heavyweight of this generation will remain undefeated and claim the title of being the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis. In turn they will lay claim to the era in which they operated and stand alone as the rightful king. We think it will be a Gypsy King.
