Even the challenger’s win couldn’t ruin the atmosphere among a raucous 68,000 crowd at Tottenham Hotspur StadiumSpeak to those who were lucky enough to be at fights in this country and elsewhere at the height of the pandemic and many will tell you they did not feel that lucky at all. As was the case in other sports, the lack of spectators made for an eerie experience, but in boxing it also led to something altogether more disturbing – the sound of pain.You could hear every punch. Every thud to the chest, every crack to the head, and while as a journalist or general observer you know those echoes are always there amid the heat of battle it was unappealing,...
After losing in the quarter-finals I was distraught – a week later the hurt is still raw but there are reasons to smileI have been home from the Olympics for a few days and, while the hurt is still raw, I am feeling so much better than I did last Tuesday in Tokyo. Then, after I lost a split decision in my lightweight quarter-final against Sudaporn Seesondee of Thailand, I felt distraught. I had missed an Olympic medal on a 3-2 verdict.I am only 20 but I am not naive. Even before I won two fights to reach the quarters I had said the Olympic Games can make or break your dreams. I know it’s an unforgiving arena. But I...
I did not sacrifice everything all these years I’ve been boxing and training so hard to settle for a few good performancesThe moment, when it came, was really powerful. Last Thursday night, in our GB Boxing team room in the Olympic village, it finally hit me. This is real. I am about to fight in the Olympic Games and my hopes of winning a medal, with gold being my favourite colour, begin now.We had been in Tokyo for 10 days, staying in a hotel for the first week before we moved into the village and it had all felt a bit surreal. I had this weird feeling this was just another training camp and I couldn’t switch on totally. It...
Other sports watched with interest at how today’s tools were used for a fight with narrative, hype, personalities and jeopardySome food for thought. Last week, the Guardian’s report on the “special exhibition” between the Hall of Fame boxer Floyd Mayweather and the celebrity YouTuber Logan Paul, was the second most-read story on our entire website. Millions read it, shared it, devoured it. A million Americans also paid $49.99 to watch on pay-per-view. Beforehand Mayweather had described it as “legalised bank robbery”. And it was. Yet people still willingly stuck their hands in the air and handed over their cash. Related: Logan Paul v Floyd Mayweather ends in boos as each fighter makes millions Continue reading...
Exhibition between YouTuber and 44-year-old is a destructive, easy source of revenue – and a troubling prospect for the sportThe phrase “(Person X) has a punchable face” is a horrible thing. There is so much wrong with it. The idea people have any say in what their face looks like. The suggestion punching is an acceptable human response. It’s degrading. It’s cowardly. It stinks of all the worst parts of the internet, humankind’s angriest medium.And yet, with all due advisories, and having considered soberly all available evidence, it has to be said Logan Paul really does have a punchable face. Related: Buddy McGirt: ‘A lot of Derek Chisora’s fights have been real wars but I can look after him’ |...