At this stage its old news that Devin Haney intends to take Ryan Garcia to court in the aftermath of their infamous fight earlier this year and Garcia’s subsequent positive tests for Ostarine, but whether litigation of this nature is a good thing for boxing remains to be seen. Chris Algieri has been on the receiving end of a scary knockout loss to a fighter that subsequently popped dirty, Conor Benn, but despite his unique perspective based on lived experience, Algieri has publicly questioned how effective a court battle will be in tidying up the sport. The former world champion stated on the latest episode of Inside Boxing Live that he didn’t think even such a landmark case as Haney vs Garcia in a New York court room would have any tangible effect on boxing. Eddie Hearn gave his two cents and pondered that perhaps a precedent setting ruling where a fighter finally receives a punishment that is prohibitive enough to disincentivize fighters from doping could happen and could be a catalyst to cleaning up the sport. It’s a tough call and lends credence to the argument that boxing needs a centralized governing body. The New York State Athletic Commission decided Ryan Garcia’s punishment but only because the fight was in New York. The same misdemeanor in Arizona or Vegas or London can result in different sanctions. There’s no consistency in the enforcement of law in boxing and now its driving the Haney’s to litigation. Perhaps this would be an apt time to revisit restructuring the governance of boxing.
Edwards vs Yafai Announced
Something about the boxing world seemed a little bit quieter in the last few months and it finally clicked that it was because Sunny Edwards was flying under the radar. The former world champion remerged onto the boxing landscape in style last Friday night in London as he showed up in his finest mink coat to support the fighter he manages, Thomas Essomba, take on his older brother, Charlie, for the European bantamweight title. Charlie did the business, and an Edwards is a champion again in boxing. Both brothers are now on a mission to become two-time world champions. Charlie’s victory over Essomba puts him in a strong position to launch another world championship run and Sunny made up for his recent hiatus from our screens by popping up again on Saturday night at Matchroom’s show in Sheffield, a double whammy of Sunny. It was announced that he will take on domestic rival, Gal Yafai, on November 30th in what is an intriguing match up. Sunny Edwards is renowned for his elusive style, but Bam Rodriguez taught him what being hurt and stopped feels like and he also picked up a nasty cut in his last outing. Yafai will have to hope Sunny’s experience with Bam has raised doubts within himself. Sunny Edwards was the man of the moment in recent years when it came to the Britons in the lower weight classes, but next month don’t be surprised to see a passing of the torch , Gal Yafai can fight. This is a great fight.
Middleweight – Does Anybody Care?
Not to be disrespectful to any of the current fighters at middleweight, but how dead does that division feel right now? Zhanibek Alimkhanuly defends his IBF and WBO world titles on Friday in Australia against Andrei Mikhailovich and its going almost completely under the radar on what is an otherwise quiet weekend for boxing. There’s no doubt that Alimkhanuly is a top operator, but his rather dry persona combined with a lack of depth in the division means nobody is paying attention is spite of multiple world titles and Top Rank’s backing. Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin slugging it out for middleweight world titles in Las Vegas seems like a long time ago now, and the division badly needs a star. Chris Eubank Jr surely should be fighting for a world title by now but he’s doing that thing again, where he comes back from a year or so lay-off, hires a new coach, schedules a fight with a decent yet unspectacular opponent and tells us that after this fight, he’s going to conquer the world. How exciting.
