absolutely ridiculous to not rank fighters from Russia or Belarus. Its not their fault what their politicians do. I can understand not sanctioning fights within those countries, but penalizing fighters simply for their bloodline or heritage is insane.
I don't think the Ukrainian's from all sports who have had their training facilities and arenas destroyed by Russian missiles would agree with you.
Unless you're a Ukrainian international star like Usyk or Loma your career, no matter what sport you take part in, has been totally screwed and you may never get back to your sport even if you survive the war.
Those who repeatedly claim that sport should be independent of politics are being naive as international sport relies on good will and cooperation between nations and so politics is always going to be involved even in peace time and consequently even more so when war is involved.
The WBC's actions (normally I disagree with Sulaiman) are totally inline with most sports around the world. It isn't only a show of solidarity with Ukrainian sportsmen, it's also a way of shining a light on what the Russian regime is actually doing to Ukraine in the hope that the Russian and Belarusian public, over time, eventually realise what is being done in their name.
TBH I find it hard to feel any sympathy for Russian and Belarusian boxers/sportsmen considering what has been done in their and the wider Russian/Belarusian public's name by Putin - with the support of Lukashenko.
Replace Ukraine by your own country (UK? US?) and see if you would genuinely be happy with the rest of the world happily playing sport with Russian sportsmen like nothing's happened while your own sportsmen's careers are ruined and they, and your other countrymen, are being bombed, tortured etc., by the Russians. My view is that I would not be happy with that and would appreciate the solidarity shown by various sports including the WBC.
except its NOT solidarity, its simply virtue signal grandstanding. Do you honestly believe that if Canelo was Russian that Suiliaman's position would be the same? And why just Russia? Why not Congo, or The Philippines, or Syria, or the US, or 50 other countries who commit aggression against their own citizens or other nations? Those fighters have no control over their government, and no control over where they were born. Its ridiculous......
Whether it's solidarity, or whatever you want to call it, is subjective. Some WILL see things from the point of view of the Ukrainians being bombed, shot etc., and will find the sanctions on Russian/Belarussian sports people as a relatively trivial matter.
Solidarity, or whatever you want to call it, isn't the only reason why these sanctions have been set as I explained, if that's also not a good enough reason for you then fine.
Resorting to good old "whataboutary" doesn't add anything to your argument as there's a clear difference between what Russia has done in Ukraine and what they did in Syria. Putin was asked to aid Syria by President Assad - the Russians didn't invade Syria and only aircraft were used. There was nowhere near the number of men and equipment deployed compared to the invasion of Ukraine. The other stuff you mention is also not equivalent situations as you should know.
Russian and Belarussian citizens are all suffering because of Western sanctions brought about by Putin's actions (aided by Lukashenko). The Russian and Belarussian businesses and employees suffering because of these sanctions also don't have control over Putin and they didn't have any control over where they were born - but the Western governments don't cancel the sanctions because of this, as the sanctions is the only way of putting pressure on the Putin regime.
In this respect the Russian/Belarussian people are collateral damage which is very unfortunate. The same can be said for Russian/Belarussian sports people who are being sanctioned.
It's hoped that all this "collateral damage" will increase the pressure on Putin and build to a point where he is prepared to stop the war.
Ukrainians, who have no control over Putin and don't have any control over where they were born, are the real victims here not Russian/Belarussian people or sports people.
I find the vociferous claim that Russian/Belarussian sports people should be free to take part in international sports events as relatively trivial and ridiculous, considering that the Ukrainian people and sports people are fighting for their very existence. Therefore we shall have to agree to disagree.
Thoughts from the weekend of boxing or things and fights I enjoyed..........
Matice v Tapia what a great fight has it been mentioned yet ?
Nikoloz Sek what heavy hands and that is after not being in the ring for a while and having recovered from two disc injury going to watch this guy develop I hope
Bently proved a lot of things to himself and to the fight fans who watched the fight. See you cant always ignor a fitghter just bc a few people tell you it is not good match up. The fight was closer then the judges gave credit for but that is not new. What was new is that Alim looked bad a bit uncomfortable in the ring not coming up with any good idea on how to stop an opponent who was expected to only last two rounds or less.......They got to fight it in the ring not in the papers. Bently deserves another fight with a decetn pay day. See how he develops. Alim check yourself out man heavy hands were not that heavy over the weekend well your hands were not anyhow.
And finally was it not both entertaining and satisfying to see M. Love get beat and made to look the fool in the ring. come on man you clown during the fight and after the fight. Sparky had class and winning ways in the ring and outside the ring. He won the fight and he won some fans. And on top of that he was and is good for boxing We mention the UGLY lets mention the good when it happens in the ring OK alright. Hope many saw that fight and what transpired.......
> Got to admit that I thought Sunny would lose to Alvarado. Sunny showed grit and boxed brilliantly at times - very impressive.
> Conor Benn has admitted that he was also popped for Clomifene in July but managed to keep it quiet - so that's 2 pops for the same drug a couple of months apart.
In these circumstances the WBO shouldn't need to send him a "show cause" letter - he should be out of their rankings straight away.
😂 aye - well there’s a first time for everything I suppose.
Like all sanctioning bodies they’ll change them as soon as they’re inconvenient.
Had a chance to read the WBO letter now and although they reserve the right to do whatever they see fit when further information comes to light, I am surprised that they didn’t ask Benn directly about him keeping his first pop in July quiet.
The WBO only banned BJS for 6 months, if it’s the same for Benn it’s gonna look pretty pathetic compared to the ban he’s likely to get from UKAD if he doesn’t win his NADP hearing - at least 4 years.
Benn should be hearing from the other sanctioning bodies soon enough I suppose.
Yea but the system that is boxing hopes and lives with the idea that in time people will forget about the drug issues with Benn and they can continue to benifit financially from his name and behaviour. It would be nice if caught with a banned substance you got two years off with the next time being life time. But the games continue and so it goes and so it goes.
true at times like now I just get tiered of even noticing anything at all with the fight game. when I listen to the people who fall in line with anything they put out there as a fight or a excuse for why things happen in the fight game anymore it is as if the deal is done. They only want idiots and those who would rather not think for themselves as fight fans anymore. they are about telling the story no matter if there is any truth to it or not as long as they get to squeeze the last dollar out of the situation is all that matters. Nothing to do with sport, nothing to do with rules, nothing but the dollar ..................Maybe I should hang out with the happy idiots who beleive that female boxing is the greatest thing to come along in the fight game and that celebrity fights are so exciting that there should be more and more of them on PPV of course. EH............ forget about that I can see why the nubers of fight fans has gone so low and the prices so high, the numbers are low bc of what is being put out there and the price is so high bc the idiots will pay it...................
Agreed - unfortunately this is the way boxing will always be as the promoters, sanctioning bodies and TV/streaming companies have cornered the boxing market by pocketing all the money, controlling the so-called rules of the sport, controlling the fights that are made and controlling the information reported to the public by boxing journalists. Sad but true!
absolutely ridiculous to not rank fighters from Russia or Belarus. Its not their fault what their politicians do. I can understand not sanctioning fights within those countries, but penalizing fighters simply for their bloodline or heritage is insane.
I don't think the Ukrainian's from all sports who have had their training facilities and arenas destroyed by Russian missiles would agree with you.
Unless you're a Ukrainian international star like Usyk or Loma your career, no matter what sport you take part in, has been totally screwed and you may never get back to your sport even if you survive the war.
Those who repeatedly claim that sport should be independent of politics are being naive as international sport relies on good will and cooperation between nations and so politics is always going to be involved even in peace time and consequently even more so when war is involved.
The WBC's actions (normally I disagree with Sulaiman) are totally inline with most sports around the world. It isn't only a show of solidarity with Ukrainian sportsmen, it's also a way of shining a light on what the Russian regime is actually doing to Ukraine in the hope that the Russian and Belarusian public, over time, eventually realise what is being done in their name.
TBH I find it hard to feel any sympathy for Russian and Belarusian boxers/sportsmen considering what has been done in their and the wider Russian/Belarusian public's name by Putin - with the support of Lukashenko.
Replace Ukraine by your own country (UK? US?) and see if you would genuinely be happy with the rest of the world happily playing sport with Russian sportsmen like nothing's happened while your own sportsmen's careers are ruined and they, and your other countrymen, are being bombed, tortured etc., by the Russians. My view is that I would not be happy with that and would appreciate the solidarity shown by various sports including the WBC.
except its NOT solidarity, its simply virtue signal grandstanding. Do you honestly believe that if Canelo was Russian that Suiliaman's position would be the same? And why just Russia? Why not Congo, or The Philippines, or Syria, or the US, or 50 other countries who commit aggression against their own citizens or other nations? Those fighters have no control over their government, and no control over where they were born. Its ridiculous......
Whether it's solidarity, or whatever you want to call it, is subjective. Some WILL see things from the point of view of the Ukrainians being bombed, shot etc., and will find the sanctions on Russian/Belarussian sports people as a relatively trivial matter.
Solidarity, or whatever you want to call it, isn't the only reason why these sanctions have been set as I explained, if that's also not a good enough reason for you then fine.
Resorting to good old "whataboutary" doesn't add anything to your argument as there's a clear difference between what Russia has done in Ukraine and what they did in Syria. Putin was asked to aid Syria by President Assad - the Russians didn't invade Syria and only aircraft were used. There was nowhere near the number of men and equipment deployed compared to the invasion of Ukraine. The other stuff you mention is also not equivalent situations as you should know.
Russian and Belarussian citizens are all suffering because of Western sanctions brought about by Putin's actions (aided by Lukashenko). The Russian and Belarussian businesses and employees suffering because of these sanctions also don't have control over Putin and they didn't have any control over where they were born - but the Western governments don't cancel the sanctions because of this, as the sanctions is the only way of putting pressure on the Putin regime.
In this respect the Russian/Belarussian people are collateral damage which is very unfortunate. The same can be said for Russian/Belarussian sports people who are being sanctioned.
It's hoped that all this "collateral damage" will increase the pressure on Putin and build to a point where he is prepared to stop the war.
Ukrainians, who have no control over Putin and don't have any control over where they were born, are the real victims here not Russian/Belarussian people or sports people.
I find the vociferous claim that Russian/Belarussian sports people should be free to take part in international sports events as relatively trivial and ridiculous, considering that the Ukrainian people and sports people are fighting for their very existence. Therefore we shall have to agree to disagree.
Thoughts from the weekend of boxing or things and fights I enjoyed..........
Matice v Tapia what a great fight has it been mentioned yet ?
Nikoloz Sek what heavy hands and that is after not being in the ring for a while and having recovered from two disc injury going to watch this guy develop I hope
Bently proved a lot of things to himself and to the fight fans who watched the fight. See you cant always ignor a fitghter just bc a few people tell you it is not good match up. The fight was closer then the judges gave credit for but that is not new. What was new is that Alim looked bad a bit uncomfortable in the ring not coming up with any good idea on how to stop an opponent who was expected to only last two rounds or less.......They got to fight it in the ring not in the papers. Bently deserves another fight with a decetn pay day. See how he develops. Alim check yourself out man heavy hands were not that heavy over the weekend well your hands were not anyhow.
And finally was it not both entertaining and satisfying to see M. Love get beat and made to look the fool in the ring. come on man you clown during the fight and after the fight. Sparky had class and winning ways in the ring and outside the ring. He won the fight and he won some fans. And on top of that he was and is good for boxing We mention the UGLY lets mention the good when it happens in the ring OK alright. Hope many saw that fight and what transpired.......
Boxing is in a grim spot right now. Seeing all these stories in one article amplifies that fact. Sad.
> Got to admit that I thought Sunny would lose to Alvarado. Sunny showed grit and boxed brilliantly at times - very impressive.
> Conor Benn has admitted that he was also popped for Clomifene in July but managed to keep it quiet - so that's 2 pops for the same drug a couple of months apart.
In these circumstances the WBO shouldn't need to send him a "show cause" letter - he should be out of their rankings straight away.
WBO is following their rules. As they should at all times.
😂 aye - well there’s a first time for everything I suppose.
Like all sanctioning bodies they’ll change them as soon as they’re inconvenient.
Had a chance to read the WBO letter now and although they reserve the right to do whatever they see fit when further information comes to light, I am surprised that they didn’t ask Benn directly about him keeping his first pop in July quiet.
The WBO only banned BJS for 6 months, if it’s the same for Benn it’s gonna look pretty pathetic compared to the ban he’s likely to get from UKAD if he doesn’t win his NADP hearing - at least 4 years.
Benn should be hearing from the other sanctioning bodies soon enough I suppose.
Yea but the system that is boxing hopes and lives with the idea that in time people will forget about the drug issues with Benn and they can continue to benifit financially from his name and behaviour. It would be nice if caught with a banned substance you got two years off with the next time being life time. But the games continue and so it goes and so it goes.
Yep - it's depressing to think that cheats continue to prosper in boxing in the 21st century - but as they say "that's boxing!".
true at times like now I just get tiered of even noticing anything at all with the fight game. when I listen to the people who fall in line with anything they put out there as a fight or a excuse for why things happen in the fight game anymore it is as if the deal is done. They only want idiots and those who would rather not think for themselves as fight fans anymore. they are about telling the story no matter if there is any truth to it or not as long as they get to squeeze the last dollar out of the situation is all that matters. Nothing to do with sport, nothing to do with rules, nothing but the dollar ..................Maybe I should hang out with the happy idiots who beleive that female boxing is the greatest thing to come along in the fight game and that celebrity fights are so exciting that there should be more and more of them on PPV of course. EH............ forget about that I can see why the nubers of fight fans has gone so low and the prices so high, the numbers are low bc of what is being put out there and the price is so high bc the idiots will pay it...................
Agreed - unfortunately this is the way boxing will always be as the promoters, sanctioning bodies and TV/streaming companies have cornered the boxing market by pocketing all the money, controlling the so-called rules of the sport, controlling the fights that are made and controlling the information reported to the public by boxing journalists. Sad but true!