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Make boxing great again? Here are a few suggestions

Published

11 months ago

January 16, 2025

Make boxing great again? Here are a few suggestions

Boxing was great when there was one champion in each weight division and fans knew who the champions were. Boxing was also great when the heavyweight championship of the world was the most coveted title in sports and the only way the champion could lose his title was in the ring. Riyadh Season is now subsidizing the world sanctioning bodies by paying hundreds of millions of dollars in purses (which are cut for sanctioning fees) and millions of dollars more in direct sponsorship fees. It should continue its effort to unify titles (for example, Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury and Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol) and decline to do business with any entity that contributes to unfairly stripping a champion of his belt (as the IBF did with Usyk).I’m not looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. I know there were abuses back then. Black fighters were often denied equal opportunity. Organized crime controlled wide swaths of the business. But Turki Alalshikh has the power to set goals and implement them in a way that’s consistent with the things that made boxing great. I hope he chooses to do so.Boxing was great when fans knew what a skilled professional fighter was and didn’t confuse legitimate professionals with celebrity imposters. Riyadh Season should avoid bouts that feature fighters whose primary credential is their social media presence and marketing potential.Boxing was great when the ring was empty during fighter introductions except for the ring announcer, the referee, the fighters, and the fighters’ chief seconds. Fans don’t want to see sanctioning-body officials, hangers-on, and other non-combatants in the ring before fights. Riyadh Season should keep them out.

Boxing was great when big fights were contested regularly in major cities and fans poured into arenas and stadiums to watch them. And boxing was great when small fight clubs flourished with the best fighters from local neighborhoods fighting each other. There have been reports that Riyadh Season is planning a “boxing league” for young prospects in conjunction with TKO. League fights should be competitive match-ups contested in locales that the prospects represent. And major Riyadh Season fights should be held in cities throughout the world (as Riyadh Season has already done in Los Angeles and London), not just in Saudi Arabia.That’s a noble goal. And the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority has signaled its willingness to spend billions of dollars to achieve it.Boxing was great when fighters trained diligently without the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents. Riyadh Season should require and fund year-round Vada testing for all fighters who fight under its banner.Boxing was great when fighters shook hands at weigh-ins instead of cursing at and shoving each other. Riyadh Season should impose substantial fines for misconduct at fight-related events.On January 14, 2025, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh posted a message on social media that read, “MAKE BOXING GREAT AGAIN.”Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – a memoir titled My Mother and Me – is a personal memoir that was published by Admission Press.Boxing was great when tradition was respected and skills were more important than hype. Simply saying that a fighter is “great” doesn’t make them great. Saying that a fight is a “historic match-up” doesn’t make it a historic match-up. Riyadh Season should avoid disrespecting great fighters from the present and past by watering down the standard for greatness.Boxing was great when fights were shown on “free” television and fans didn’t have to pay a day’s wages to watch them. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is reportedly close to finalizing the purchase of a substantial interest in DAZN. That will give it added leverage in determining how much fans are required to pay to see big fights. Apologists for pay-per-view say that too many fights on free television “killed boxing.” That’s nonsense. The flow of professional and college football on free television in the United States didn’t “kill football.” To the contrary; it elevated football into a colossus.Boxing was great when there were knowledgeable writers who wrote honestly about the sport and business without fear of retribution. Riyahd Season should end the policy of denying accreditation to responsible journalists simply because they have written articles that the powers that be don’t like. Writers should not have to choose between giving up their credibility or their credential. The Ring (which Turki Alalshikh bought last year) should welcome writers with divergent points of view. And the Ring ratings should be determined by an impartial panel of experts who fairly rank all fighters, not just those aligned with Riyadh Season.

But we should not lose sight of the things that made boxing great in the past.

Related Topics:big black boxing business college college football football marketing media season skills social sports watch

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Haugen Sets Norwegian National Record at Youree Spence Garcia Invitational

Published

4 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John’s track and field team opened its indoor campaign by hosting the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island. Senior Nora Haugen started her indoor campaign by setting a program, national and facility record in the 600m. Her time of 1:26.91 is the fastest time in the NCAA as of Saturday evening. Haugen was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet for her results.

The Red Storm collected six event wins and 10 top-three finishes. In addition, five Johnnies etched their names on indoor top-10 all-time lists.

On the track, Haugen’s program record is the first to fall at Ocean Breeze this season. Chinenye Josephine Onourah won the 400m in a time of 53.13, which sits number two on the indoor all-time list. St. John’s took first through fifth place in the 400m. Freshman Nia-Ruby Forbes-Agyepong kicked off her Red Storm career with a top five finish in the 60m hurdles, stopping the clock in 8.90.

Both the 4x400m relay and the 4x800m relay quartets crossed the line first. The 4x400m squad finished 10 seconds ahead of second place, while the 4x800m group cruised to a 17 second margin of victory.

In the field, senior Jamora Alves started her indoor campaign with a second place showing in the women’s shot put. Her toss of 14.30m (46ft 11in.) is her second-best season opening mark of her career and gives her another top-10 performance in program history. Linn Hertz Saebbo won the long jump on her final attempt, leaping 6.05m (19ft 10.25in). The mark sits third all-time on the indoor list. Freshman Tatiana Camilo also made the long jump final, with a jump of 5.45m (17ft 10.50in) and Nyla Branche placed second in the high jump with a 1.62m (5ft 3.75in) clearance.

Youree Spence is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes in St. John’s history. She is an 11-time BIG EAST Champion and holds three top-10 performances across three disciples. The track and field legend and the meet’s namesake was in attendance, along with several other alumni.

A portion of the team is set to compete next Friday, Dec. 12, back at Ocean Breeze in the Wagner Seahawk Shootout.

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NCAA Tournament: Nebraska vs. Kansas State Volleyball Watch Thread

Published

5 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

#1 Nebraska vs. Kansas State

When: Saturday, December 6th, 7:00pm CST

Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, NE

Both Kansas State and Nebraska won their 1st round matches to create an old Big 12 matchup for Round 2 in Lincoln, NE on Saturday night. Though the Huskers played a little later, they probably have the upper hand tomorrow since they only had to play 3 sets while Kansas State had to battle through 5 tough sets against San Diego earlier on Friday afternoon.

Since the match is less than 24 hours away, you’re only going to get the spark notes version for this Kansas State team and a quick recap of their match against San Diego. Kansas State could be bringing a good amount of fans tomorrow as they are only roughly 2 and half hours from Lincoln.

Kansas State finished the 2025 season going 18-9, 10-8 in conference play, in the Big 12 conference and getting ranked wins against North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, Baylor, and Iowa State. The Big 12 was one of the most, if not the most, competitive conferences this year putting the most teams in the tournament in 2o25.

The stats get a little rough for K-State if you just look at the record between them and Nebraska. These two teams played their first match against each other in 1975 and the most recent one was in 2023 in the non-conference portion of the season. K-State is 4-81 against the Huskers, all time, with their last win coming in 2011 in the tournament. Nebraska hosted this match.

K-State’s top player, in their match against San Diego, was SR OH Shaylee Myers, who is a Lincoln Southwest graduate. She had 26 kills on 58 swings and hit .328%. She only recorded 7 errors.

RS-JR OH Aniya Clinton was another top Wildcat on Friday night, recording 19 kills in the 5 set match, hitting .304%. She also added 13 digs as well.

MB Jordyn Williams and Setter Ava LeGrand were the top blockers for K-State with Williams blocking 7 balls and LeGrand blocking 6. Brenna Schmidt is the Wildcats’ other middle blocker and she had a pretty good night defensively, but struggled offensively ending in the negatives with 2 kills and 3 errors. Schmidt had 4 assisted blocks and also had 1 of 2 solo blocks. Clinton had the other solo block.

Nebraska will look to continue their hunt for a national championship Saturday night against a Kansas State team that will be hungry to take out the only undefeated team left in D1 volleyball, and the predicted national champion. The match will begin at 7:00pm CST on ESPN+.

#1 Nebraska Cornhuskers (31-0, 20-0 B1G)

Kansas State Wildcats (18-9, 10-8 Big 12)

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Indoor Track and Field’s Mia Hoskins Breaks Weight Throw Record on Opening Weekend

Published

21 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NEW YORK — The Columbia track & field team began its 2025-26 season this weekend, competing in three meets in the New York City Area. The Lions had a successful start to the year, with many successful performances, which included a new program record.

The weekend began at the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival, where Columbia dominated in the field events. Tyler Yen and Madison Williams won the long jump events, posting 6.85m and 5.63m, respectively, to lead the pack.

Viktoria Mihaylova picked up a win in the triple jump, posting a 11.97m jump. Rocco Carpinello took second in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.58m.

In the distance events, Elia Ton-That had the top finish for the Lions, placing second in the 3000m with a time of 9:42.63.

On Saturday evening, the Lions continued to compete at the Armory in the TCNJ Indoor Open. The highlight of the meet came in the mile run, where Jacob Van Orden (4:08.14) and Maggie Boler (5:02.17) both finished in first place.

Moriah Luetjen took first in the 400m with a time of 57.09. In addition, Collin Moore (1.93m) and Norina Khanzada (1.68m) won the high jump events, Mignonne de Beer (5.72m) won the long jump, and Liam Wright (4.60m) and Lucy Markow (3.62m) won the pole vault.

Elsewhere, Columbia sent its throwers to compete at the Army Crowell Open, where history was made.

Mia Hoskins took second in the weight throw, setting a new program record with a mark of 17.94m.

Marcus Blasucci also placed second in the shot put, with the second best mark in program history at 17.59m.

Parker Kim won the weight throw with a throw of 19.70m.

Full results from the Armory Collegiate Distance Carnival, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

Full results from the TCNJ Indoor Open, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

Full results from the Army Crowell Open, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

ON DECK:

The Lions will be off the rest of December for the holidays, before returning to action in the new year on January 9 in the TCNJ Lions Invite at the Armory.

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

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Nebraska advances to Sweet 16 after sweeping Kansas State

Published

23 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Nebraska hosted Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.The Huskers got on the board first thanks to Harper Murray.Virginia Adriano forced a Wildcat timeout after a solo block and a kill. Nebraska led 13-7.Check out this incredible play.Nebraska won set 1, 25-17.Kansas State got on the board first, but the Huskers bounced back quickly.The Huskers won set 2, 25-21.The Wildcats got out ahead of the Huskers, but Andi Jackson was able to tie things up at five apiece.Adriano with a kill made it 18-12 Nebraska.With a 25-16 set 3 win, the Husker swept Kansas State to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 41st time in program history.Nebraska will play Kansas in the next round of the tournament. The time and date have yet to be announced.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |

LINCOLN, Neb. —

Nebraska hosted Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.