Regime is using sport as a tool for soft power but has failed to wash away sickening track record on human rightsLooking back, so much of it was already there on that night in Diriyah when a storm raged across the desert and Anthony Joshua made history – and £60m – by retaining his world heavyweight title belts. Not just the good, the bad and the ugly of Saudi Arabia’s sporting ambitions, but the half-truths and accommodations of those willing to take the money and look the other way.One moment from the fight in December 2019 lingers more than most: Joshua absorbing the cheers from the young crowd, many of whom were women in western clothes, before averting his gaze...
Promoter’s determination to press ahead with Middle East bout is inexcusable. Surely boxing has become a mockery if Benn plans to fight again without fully clearing his name?Eddie Hearn and Conor Benn have been tested over the last eight months in ways the promoter describes as “unbelievable” and his boxer compares to a “witch hunt”. Yet they will soon intensify the controversy should Hearn announce Benn’s return to the ring in the Middle East. Benn’s comeback will happen despite the fact that he recorded two positive test results for clomifene, a banned substance which can boost testosterone by 50%, when he was preparing to face Chris Eubank Jr in a bout scheduled for last October.Those results still hang over the...
Bout between KSI and FaZe Temperrr underlined the ‘sport’s’ growing popularity and poses questions for boxing itselfThe fighters circle each other uncertainly, a little skittishly, pawing at fresh air, loosening their limbs, feeling the spring and thud of the canvas under their boots. It takes them around 15 seconds to get bored of that and start swinging at each other.KSI flings a straight right that looks uncannily like a man falling into a bus. FaZe Temperrr, a little off-balance, responds with a check-hook that brings to mind a guy trying to pick up a cat in one arm. Approximately half a minute in they start trading, although again this description seems somehow inadequate. What really happens is that KSI runs...
Every week we see the commitment of young British Asian footballers and their parents – nobody here is making excusesWe were disappointed to read remarks made by Amir Khan this week. The boxing great chose the moment of his retirement to take a swipe at young British Asians in sport – and footballers in particular. He said they give up too easy and fall back on “excuses”. He said their diet is “appalling” and made up mainly of curries. Perhaps these were throwaway comments, but they perpetuate a myth and they need to be addressed.We work together as part of the Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (Aims) at the Professional Footballers’ Association. One of us is a lawyer, the other a...
Katie Taylor’s split-decision win against Amanda Serrano thrilled Madison Square Garden on landmark night for women’s sportWhat was billed as the biggest night in the history of women’s boxing somehow exceeded the breathless hype that preceded it. Whenever Katie Taylor was shown on the Jumbotron in the hours leading up to the main event on Saturday, the steady roar of the crowd jilted to ear-splitting volumes. It was the same for Amanda Serrano, only slightly louder. That crackling energy built throughout the evening, amid lusty singalongs of Wonderwall, Sweet Caroline and The Fields of Athenry, to the type of atmosphere not seen in the big room at Madison Square Garden since Félix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto.And that was before the...