Last weekend, boxing fans were treated to another great fight between Gennady Golovkin II and Canelo Álvarez. The two middleweights fought to a controversial draw last year and fight fans from around the globe were eagerly awaiting the rematch. The fighters are interesting in that Álvarez is from Mexico, who some say fights less like a traditional Mexican fighter than Golovkin, who is from Kazakhstan. In fact, many Latino fight fans love them both equally. Álvarez/GGG Part 2 was better than the first fight with more action from start to finish. Most ringside journalists thought GGG won the fight, but Álvarez got the split decision from the official judges. Watching the fight on TV with the benefit of multiple camera angles, I thought Golovkin deserved the decision, but boxing is a difficult sport to judge and you can’t differentiate the harder blows as easily when you’re not ringside. Bottom line is that fight could have gone either way, and neither fighter won decisively.
Perhaps, the bigger story is that at 36 years old, GGG’s best fights are behind him and once he is out of the game, I fear the sport will continue its downward death spiral — which is too bad. I grew up watching Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Roberto Durán. I was a huge Oscar De La Hoya fan, and was even ringside when Mike Tyson bit of a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. Boxing has always been a big part of American culture, but after years of corrupt promoters and feeling duped by phonies like Floyd Mayweather, young fans have lost interest and have moved on to other sports like MMA. I hope for a boxing renaissance at some point but don’t see it happening. So let’s hope for GGG/Álvarez 3 — it might be the last great fight we ever see.
On Friday evening, the LA Dodgers won game one of the 2024 World Series over the New York Yankees in glorious fashion, with Freddie Freeman hitting a walk-off grand slam home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. For Dodger fans, the game could not have been scripted better...
I once read that sports are a universal language. Regardless of ethnicity or what language you speak, almost everyone speaks sports. No place has that been more evident than the Olympics, where every four years, we are moved by images of athletic rivals from around the world shaking hands and embracing each other in moving displays of sportsmanship.
The NFL markets its brand as well as any enterprise in the world. I heard a comedian once say that the NFL is so popular, it has its own day. NFL football is huge. Each NFL franchise brings in approximately $400M a year in revenue; almost double the annual revenue of NBA teams and 2 ½ times as much as MLB clubs.