Beyond Boxing

A man should be able to have a beer in peace without the media watching and reporting on it, but when it comes to Tyson Fury and his history with substance abuse and depression, it’s always a worry to his fans and those that care about him.

When you dig deeper, and you look below the surface. You remember that this is the guy who, as much as he tells you that he’s a fighting man in his heart and soul he’s not a born fighter. He’s a guy that had to learn how to be a fighter and that can play well for the public, but in reality, if that’s not who you are it could cause problems for you further down the line.

Top-level, Boxing is a rough rough spot. The one thing you should never do is deviate from who you actually are in a boxing ring.

On Saturday. We saw Deontay Wilder, try and be somebody he’s not. Now, the real questions to ask did that win over Robert Helenius and the effect it had on him post fight, did that change his outlook on knockouts or was the Tyson Fury fight so traumatic to him that he’s never been the same?

Maybe we will never know the answers, but the question do need to be asked

The waiting is over we finally get Matchroom versus Queensbury five versus five supposedly the best versus the best

If we are being honest, we know there is a large amount of politics at play here and if you’re being transparent Eddie has probably sent the B team out and Frank has sent his A team.

As great a card as this is we don’t feel that it’s as competitive as it would’ve been four years ago when there was supposedly real animosity between Matchroom and Queensbury this feels like forced niceness and the fans we have to ask whether they are being taken for a ride.

I was wrong about Usyk I can hold my hands up. I was 100% wrong about the man. He showed on Saturday night what it is to be truly elite

In a fight that was going against him for the first seven rounds, for him to turn it around, shows the mark of the man and shows why he’s a champion.

We have to see him as a great now.

We're finally here. We finally get one face, one king of boxing.

Now will it be Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk?

I don't think the answer is obvious, but I hope the analysis here helps.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how dangerous boxing is.

No parent should ever have to bury their child and this weekend was a reminder that for all the things we say, all the issues we talk about in boxing, boxer safety should always, and I mean always, remain top of that list.

We may not be where we want to be but we are further ahead than we were a decade ago.

However, that doesn’t ease the pain for the family of Sherifdeen Lawal. That doesn’t ease the pain for those who trained with him those who fought against him and those that knew him more widely.

These events are heartbreaking because we promise to keep your kids safe in our sport and when we can’t it hurts.

RIP SHERIFDEEN LAWAL. 

So Ryan Garcia fails a drugs test. He failed for Ostarine and he failed for nandrolone and these are worrying substances because no boxers should really have them in the system.

We’ve been through this so many times with boxers that it’s no longer a joke and everything that Larry said it’s turning out to be correct.

Now that Boxing has a massive drug problem and this drug problem is allowed to happen because of the cracks between the lack of a governing body. weak sanctioning bodies, promoters and TV networks who all incentives to make sure that the show goes on regardless of failed drugs tests?.

As always, click the link for everything.

https://linktr.ee/highfieldboxing

We’ve all been able to witness the Ryan Garcia’s victory tour and as much fun as it has been and as interesting as it has been, I think we’re at the point now where those close to Ryan Garcia need to put their arms around him and bring him back down to earth, getting back in the gym and getting back training.

The scandal around Team GB selecting Amy Broadhurst to represent them in the final Olympic qualifier might just be the biggest story in boxing this year.

When two people spend their formative years as rivals, it is hard to understand how intense a fight between them as men can be. Add to that, the eyes of the boxing world, and you have something that has the capacity to bend minds and upset odds.

Ryan Garcia surprised the world in beating Devin Haney, despite the antics leading up to the fight. In truth, if someone was going to expose Haney for the man he is, it was always going to be Ryan Garcia.

We finally get the Queensberry v Matchroom clash we were promised in the pandemic – only took us one vaccine and 4 boosters to get there.

As boxing fans, we should be happy that we have a big card, which has meaning, supported by 5 really strong fights.

The only dark cloud is whether we are running this Saudi experiment at the expense of our domestic British boxing product.

In terms of British boxing, the decline of London amateur boxing has been hard to take. We have become so smug, stealing ideas off the internet, and sharing clips of things we cannot do, or teach, that our boxers are suffering.

Until we can bring hard work back into our gyms. Until our coaches can emphasise their own skills, we will remain behind the rest. We could learn a lot from The North right now.