The Hauser Report: The DAZN Experiment

Published

2 years ago

May 8, 2023

On March 3, 2023, I posted an article on The Sweet Science entitled “DAZN: Charging More for Less”. The article criticized DAZN’s boxing programming, its decision to move its most attractive offerings to pay-per-view (where they will no longer be included with the subscription price), and the network’s price increase which raised the cost of an annual subscription from $99.99 to $224.99. The article concluded by stating that I had cancelled my subscription to DAZN.

After cancelling my subscription, I received the expected “we’re sorry you’re leaving” computer-generated emails from DAZN. I also received quite a few emails from readers telling me that they agreed with the position I’d taken and wouldn’t renew their own subscription to DAZN when it expired.

More significantly, I received an email from Fred Mellor (vice president, communications for DAZN). A dialogue with Mellor followed with Fred voicing the view that there was reason for optimism with regard to DAZN’s boxing programming in the months ahead. I responded with a suggestion.

I would make a $225 contribution (the cost of a one-year subscription) to a mutually agreed upon charity. In exchange, DAZN would give me a complimentary one-year subscription. The charitable donation would ensure that there was no intent on my part to hustle DAZN out of $225. And at the same time, I wouldn’t be paying what I felt was an excessive rate for the subscription. Rather, I’d be making a donation to a charity that DAZN and I believed in. I would then take notes on what I watched on DAZN. And at the end of the year, I’d write an article on whether I thought I’d gotten $225 worth of entertainment.

Mellor agreed to the proposal. On March 17, 2023, I sent a check for $225 to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota and my new subscription to DAZN began. A progress report follows.

On May 10, 2018, promoter Eddie Hearn and Perform Group CEO Simon Denyer announced a joint venture at a press conference in New York. Speaking about what was touted as a one-billion-dollar, eight-year joint licensing agreement to provide content for DAZN, Hearn proclaimed, “We’re here to change the game and elevate boxing to a new level for fight fans in America. We have the dates, the money, and the platform. We were dangerous without this. But with this money and this platform, omigod! We have by far the biggest rights budget in the sport of boxing and we’re going to be ultra-competitive. We’re going to put on the greatest shows with the greatest talent. This is a brand-new era for boxing in the U.S. We’re here and we mean business. We have money never seen before in the sport of boxing. If I fail here, I’m a disgrace.”

Since then, DAZN’s boxing product has been pedestrian. And subscription buys in the United States have been a disappointment. According to Bloomberg, DAZN has lost more than six BILLION dollars since its 2016 launch.

More boxing is available to fight fans on traditional television and streaming outlets now than ever before. But most of it comes with a price tag attached in the form of a monthly subscription fee or one-time pay-per-view buy. The content itself also leaves a lot to be desired.

The biggest problem is that there are too many “A-side vs. B-side” fights.

Suppose you’re in high school. And the two toughest kids in school tell people that they’ve decided to settle their differences by fighting in a vacant lot after classes that day. You’d be inclined to watch it, right?

Now change the paradigm. One of these tough guys announces that he plans to beat up the class nerd after school that day because some other kids paid him to do it. They thought it would be fun to watch. That’s less appealing. Sickening, actually.

The latter scenario is akin to too many fights in boxing today. A-side vs. B-side fights lack drama. DAZN isn’t the only network to televise them. But it might be the worst offender among the major networks and it’s the only network that charges $225 a year (plus a hefty premium for PPV fights) to watch.

HBO at its peak was “the heart and soul of boxing.” DAZN has become “the home of A-side vs. B-side fights.”

To quantify this finding, I tracked the first twelve fight cards streamed by DAZN after my new subscription began. The survey doesn’t include DAZN’s “X Series” or comparable programming. These “trashboxing” cards feature what DAZN calls “crossover boxing talent” like “Fangs vs. Vampira” (two women fighters) and bouts involving a lapsed NFL running back, assorted social influencers, and combatants identified as “Viking, Sharks, Pizza, and YuddyGangTV.”

The survey numbers speak for themselves.

DAZN streamed 68 fights on the twelve fight cards that I tracked. In almost all of them, the A-side fighter was clearly identified in pre-fight press releases, listings on BoxRec.com, and (depending on local custom and promoter preference) placement in a particular corner on fight night.

The experiment began with Matchroom’s March 18 show in Newcastle and ended with Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder in Guadalajara on May 6. The A-side fighter won 62 of these 68 fights. The B-side fighter won five. There was one draw.

Three of the five upsets were on Golden Boy cards. One was on a Matchroom promotion and one was on a small club show promoted by Boxing Insider in association with DiBella Entertainment.

Matchroom was the most persistent purveyor of fights with predictable outcomes. Five of the twelve fight cards streamed in the United States by DAZN during this period were promoted by Matchoom. There were 28 fights on these five DAZN cards. The B-side fighter won one of them.

One win in 28 fights is a 3.6 percent success rate.

Let’s examine the cards more closely.

Matchroom’s March 18 offering from Newcastle began at 3:00 PM New York time. That put DAZN in direct conflict with round two of the NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament. Five fights were shown on DAZN. In each instance, one corner was the presumptive winner’s corner. The other was for the designated loser. Every A-side fighter on the card was undefeated, and the idea was to keep them that way. Jordan Ellison was the first designated loser. He’d already lost 44 fights, so not much was expected of him and he fought down to expectations. The other four fights had similar outcomes. I’m told that the main event in which Cyrus Pattinson (a 7-to-1 favorite) knocked out Chris Jenkins was a good fight. But Jenkins had won only one of his most recent five fights, and I’d turned off DAZN by then to watch basketball.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

That night, still competing with “March Madness,” there was a Golden Boy fight card on DAZN. Two early preliminary bouts were shown on DAZN and DAZN’s YouTube channel. During this early stream, an omnipresent banner across the bottom of the screen heralded the evening’s main event between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Gabriel Rosado. Except one day earlier, Ramirez had been 7.6 pounds over the 175-pound contract weight and that bout had been cancelled.

The A-side won both of the early preliminary fights.

The rest of the card was supposed to start on DAZN at 8:00 PM. But it didn’t. Instead, there was a 30-second graphic that repeated again and again until 8:45 PM when the live stream began. Four more fights followed. In the first, Dalis Kaleiopu decisioned Jonathan Perez (who had 34 losses). The rest of the card stayed true to form until the final bout when Mercito Gesta won a strange split decision in upsetting JoJo Diaz (the dissenting judge scored the bout 97-93 for Diaz while another judge had it 99-91 for Gesta).

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 1 win.

One week later, on March 25, DAZN streamed a fight card co-promoted by Golden Boy and Zanfer Promotions from Guadalajara. The opening bout saw 16-0, 15 KOs knock out 5-11, 3 KOs. In the main event, Jose Zepeda faced off against Neeraj Goyat. Goyat is from India (not known as a home for world-class boxing). According to CompuBox, Zepeda outlanded Goyat 218-to-44. All three judges scored the bout 100-90 in Zepeda’s favor.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

On March 31, DAZN streamed an eight-bout Wasserman Boxing card from London. The first fight saw 4-0 win a six-round decision over 4-27-1. In the main event, Harlem Eubank (16-0, 6 KOs) won a ten-round decision over Miguel Cesario Antil (who had one win in his most recent nine outings).

Fights shown on DAZN . . .A-side, 8 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

Do you see a pattern here?

Next up; the much-anticipated April 1 Matchroom card from London featuring Anthony Joshua vs. Jermaine Franklin.

The Joshua fight was one that I had looked forward to watching. The burden was on AJ (a 10-to-1 favorite) to make the fight. And he didn’t. Instead, he fought an overly cautious fight, jabbing and grabbing for twelve long rounds. His favored weapon (which the referee let him get away with time and again) was to hold Franklin’s head in place by pushing down of the back of Jermaine’s neck during a clinch and simultaneously throwing an uppercut. But AJ was unable to execute the maneuver well enough to do damage. The young Joshua would have knocked out this version of AJ. This version of Joshua settled for a 12-round decision over Franklin.

The entire Joshua-Franklin card was marked by long delays between fights and had the feel of an infomercial with puff-piece commentary and seemingly endless promos for future DAZN shows.

And remember; DAZN has regular commercials too.

Writing for Boxing News, George Gigney observed, “The objective of broadcaster DAZN appeared to be alarmingly transparent: hype Joshua up at every opportunity and shove their upcoming schedule as far down viewers’ throats as possible. The amount of promotion DAZN did of their own programming during this show was staggering. Boxing fans aren’t paying and tuning in to be told what’s coming up. They’re paying to watch fights.”

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins.

There’s more.

On an April 6 Golden Boy card from California, the B-side opponents had credentials like (1) had lost nine of ten fights dating back to 2018; (2) had suffered three knockout defeats in three fights dating back to 2019; and (3) winless in three fights dating back to 2018. These fights ran true to form. There was an upset in the main event when Angelino Cordova, who had fought only two fighters with winning records in his entire career, decisioned Angel Acosta.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 4 wins . . . B-side, 1 win.

That was followed by another Matchroom show; eight fights from San Antonio headlined by Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Christian Gonzalez. Rodriguez, a 15-to-1, favorite, won a 12-round decision. There was one upset when Marlon Tapales won a questionable split decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev. And Jose Lopez (4-2-1) fought Jesus Martinez (3-0, 1 KO) to a draw.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 6 wins . . . B-side, 1 win . . . 1 draw.

On April 22, Matchroom returned to DAZN with a fight card in Cardiff headlined by Joe Cordina vs. Shavkat Rakhimov.

Fights shown on DAZN . . .A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins

Then DAZN put its best foot forward and fell flat on its face.

April 22 marked the most anticipated fight of the year to date – Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia promoted by TGB Promotions (under the command of PBC impresario Al Haymon) in Las Vegas. Viewers didn’t need DAZN for this. It was a pay-per-view offering produced entirely by (and available through multiple platforms affiliated with) Showtime. But DAZN and Golden Boy have contractual relationships with Garcia and participated in the distribution. The PPV price in the United States was $84.99. DAZN subscribers could order the event for $59.99.

Except . . . There was a technical glitch that resulted in numerous DAZN subscribers who ordered the event through DAZN being unable to see the fight and others being charged multiple times on their credit card. Dan Rafael spoke for media and fans alike when he labeled the situation “an absolute mess.”

Simply put; a multibillion-dollar company (DAZN) owned by one of the richest men in the world (Len Blavatnik) had trouble delivering the pay-per-view stream of a fistfight.

Then, to make matters worse, DAZN initially balked at refunding money to fans who had been unable to see the fight or charged multiple times on their credit card, offering them a “free” code for the May 6 Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder PPV event instead. On May 4, Fred Mellor assured The Sweet Science, “Any funds that were incorrectly taken are being returned.”

As for the fights on the Davis-Garcia stream; the A-side fighter won both bouts on a free DAZN undercard by knockout. The four fights on the PPV card also ended in wins for the A-side fighter.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 6 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins

Moving along . . .

On April 27, DAZN streamed a six-bout club-fight card promoted by Boxing Insider in association with DiBella Entertainment in New York. Boxing Insider CEO Larry Goldberg has a financial model that differs from larger promoters. He doesn’t sign fighters to multi-bout promotional contracts. So while his match-ups sometimes favor fighters who buy their way onto one of his cards, he’s not adverse to competitive fights. In this instance, Goldberg and DiBella each had the final say on three of the six match-ups.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 1 win

On April 29, DAZN streamed four fights promoted by Golden Boy in Texas. William Zepeda, a 20-to-1 favorite, knocked out Jaime Arboleda in the second round of the main event. Marco Periban who has won only once since 2016, lost an 8-round decision to David Stevens. Diego De La Hoya was upset by Victor Morales on a second-round stoppage.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 3 wins . . . B-side, 1 win

That brings us to the May 6 (Cinco de Mayo Weekend) fight card headlined by Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder – a feel-good homecoming event with Canelo’s four super-middleweight belts on the line.

The fight was contested in Estadio Akron, a soccer venue in Zapopan (in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara). It was Canelo’s first fight in Mexico since he knocked out Kermit Cintron in Mexico City in 2011. Twenty-two Canelo fights and a dozen years had passed since then.

It was widely publicized that the price for Canelo-Ryder would be $79.99 without a DAZN subscription and $59.99 with one. DAZN’s home page listed the PPV price with a DAZN subscription as $54.99.

The first four fights on the PPV undercard went as expected. Most notably, Julio Cesar Martinez (a 10-to-1 favorite) knocked out Ronal Batista in the eleventh round.

Ryder had said all the right things leading up to Canelo-Ryder, declaring, “I’m not here for a holiday. I wouldn’t bring the team with me, have the team around me that I have, if I didn’t believe I could win.” But he’d lost previously to Callum Smith, Rocky Fielding, and Billy Joe Saunders (each of whom was soundly thrashed by Canelo) in addition to being knocked out by Nick Blackwell and decisioned by Jack Arnfield.

This was a step down in the level of competition for Canelo after consecutive fights against Saunders, Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol, and Gennady Golovkin. He was a 12-to-1 betting favorite.

Ryder fought with honor but didn’t have the tools to win. There was never a moment when the outcome of the fight was in doubt. Canelo dropped him in round five and cruised to a 120-107, 118-109, 118-109 triumph. According to CompuBox, he outlanded Ryder in every round, compiling a 179-to-80 advantage in punches landed. And Canelo’s punches were harder. Much harder.

I have no problem with Canelo fighting John Ryder in Guadalajara. The setting gave the event a nice feel. I have a big problem with DAZN charging its subscribers (who are already paying $225 a year) an additional $54.99 to watch it.

Fights shown on DAZN . . . A-side, 5 wins . . . B-side, 0 wins

So where does all of this leave us?

To repeat the numbers mentioned above; DAZN has streamed 68 fights from twelve fight cards since the experiment began. The A-side fighter has won 62 of these fights and the B-side fighter five. There was one draw

Did DAZN stream some good fights where the favorite won but was tested? Absolutely. But there were far more fights where the favorite wasn’t tested in ways that fighters can and should test one another. And the personnel on DAZN’s commentating teams vary depending on the particulars of each show, so there’s no consistency to bind the network’s boxing programming together.

As for the future; DAZN appears to be doubling down on its A-side vs. B-side formula. On May 2, it announced a three-year extension of its deal with Matchroom to stream fights in the United States and Mexico.

And the trash boxing will continue. On August 5, DAZN will stream Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz on pay-per-view. Joe Markowski (CEO of DAZN North America) calls Paul “one of the biggest names in boxing.”

Jake couldn’t beat Tommy Fury. Diaz has never boxed professionally.

In sum, DAZN is buying boxing content in bulk and streaming a lot of fights. But it’s not compelling programming.

The network also streams sports other than boxing. But pool and darts don’t interest me.

DAZN has a far more positive view of its boxing programming than I do. Two days before Canelo-Ryder, in response to a series of written questions addressed to Markowski, Fred Mellor told me, “We are proud of the continuously high-quality boxing schedule we have delivered to our subscribers since our market entry in 2018. We are also very proud of the consistent quality and breadth and depth of our schedule, which we believe is unmatched. Fight fans should stick with us for the rest of the journey.”

Asked why DAZN (unlike streaming services such as ESPN+ and Netflix) doesn’t announce the number of subscribers that it has in the United States, Mellor answered, “We do not release our subscriber numbers by geography as this will inevitably lead to us being defined by this limiting metric, which is not how we see the business being defined in the future.”

So to ask again . . . Where does all of this leave DAZN’s subscribers who are being billed $224.99 for a one-year subscription?

Think of a $20-dollar-per-person, all-you-can eat buffet. The buffet table has orange jello, baloney, carrots, wilted greens, pasta in a watery tomato sauce, and stale rolls, all of which look like they were left over from a discount-airline catering service. Then, lo and behold, you see a platter of freshly-peeled shrimp.

“This might not be so bad after all,” you tell yourself. But as you make your way toward the shrimp, a server tells you, “Sorry, there’s a supplemental charge of $59.99 for the shrimp. You only signed up for the regular buffet.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – In The Inner Sanctum: Behind the Scenes at Big Fights – was published by the University of Arkansas Press. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, he was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser: Callum Walsh Returns to Madison Square Garden

Published

3 days ago

March 17, 2025

Thomas Hauser

On Sunday, March 16 (the night before St. Patrick’s Day), Callum Walsh continued his move up the junior-middleweight ranks with a brutal first-round knockout of Dean Sutherland at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden. The seven-bout card promoted by Tom Loeffler featured seven Irish boxers. Walsh stole the show but two non-Irish fighters on the undercard caught the eye.

In the third fight of the evening, Cletus Seldin (known as “The Hebrew Hammer) took on Yeis Gabriel Solano. The last time Seldin fought at Madison Square Garden (March 15, 2024), he took the ring announcer’s microphone after a majority-decision win, dropped to one knee, held out a diamond engagement ring, and asked one Jessica Ostrowski to marry him. The future Mrs. Seldin (who was clad in black leather) said yes, and the happy couple paraded around the ring together. They were married on September 7.

“So I’ve got a ring now,” Seldin says. “And I love married life because I love Jessica.”

A cynic at ringside on Sunday night wondered if Jessica might serve Cletus with a summons and complaint for divorce in the ring after the fight. Not to worry. The couple seems happily married and, after Seldin eked out a majority decision over Solano (now winless in five fights dating back to 2019), Cletus and Jessica announced in the ring that they’re expecting the birth of their first child.

In the next fight of the evening, Irish heavyweight Thomas Carty (255 pounds) brought a 10-0 (9 KOs) record into the ring to face 409-pound Dajuan Calloway (10-3, 9 KOs, 1 KO by).

Carty-Calloway was a poor match for a prospect. A fighter gets relatively little credit for beating a 400-pound opponent. And the problems posed by a physical confrontation with a 400-pound mountain are considerable.

With fifty seconds left in round two, Carty collapsed to the canvas as Calloway spun him around on the inside. Thomas rose, limping badly on a clearly-injured left knee. And referee Jamil Antoine foolishly allowed the bout to continue.

Carty tried to circle away, fell again. And Antoine – more foolishly – instructed the fighters to fight on. There was a third fall that the referee ruled a knockdown. The bell rang. And then the fight was stopped. It goes in the record book as a knockout at 3:00 of the second round.

Worse for Carty, he now appears to be facing surgery followed by a long rehabilitation. There’s no way to know how much further damage was done to his knee in the forty seconds that he was clearly impaired and under assault by a 409-pound man who was trying to knock him unconscious.

But the night belonged to 23-year-old Callum Walsh.

Walsh is from Cork, Ireland, trains in California with Freddie Roach, and came into the ring with a 12-0 (10 KOs) record.

“He’s a pretty good fighter,” Roach says. “He’s getting better. And he works his ass off in the gym.”

Equally important in an age when social media and hype often supersede a fighter’s accomplishments in the ring as the key to marketability. Walsh has the enthusiastic backing of Dana White.

Callum seems more at ease with the media now than when he fought at Madison Square Garden a year ago. And he has a new look. His hair is shorter and no longer dyed blond.

“It’s a new year, so time for a new look,” Walsh explained. Later, he added, “I don’t want to be a prospect anymore. I want to be a contender. I expected the road to be tough. I’ve never had anything easy in my life. I’ve worked as a fisherman. I’ve worked on a cargo ship. I like this job a lot more. They have big plans for me. But I still have to do my job.”

Sutherland, age 26, was born in Scotland and has lived there his entire life. He came to New York with a 19-1 (7 KOs, 1 KO by) record and, prior to fighting Walsh, noted, “I’m under no illusions. Fighting an Irishman on St. Patrick’s Day in New York; it’s all being built up for him. If it goes to the scorecards, no matter how the fight goes, I’m unlikely to get the decision. But when the bell rings, it will be only me and Callum. I’ve watched his fights. I’ve studied his habits and rhythm. I’ve been through hard fights. He’s untested. This is my big opportunity. I’m not here to be part of Callum’s record.”

Talking is easier than fighting. When the hour of reckoning came, Walsh was faster, stronger, better-skilled, and hit harder than Sutherland. Indeed, Callum was so dominant in the early going that round one had the look of a 10-8 round without a knockdown. Then Sutherland was flattened by a right hook at the 2:45 mark and any thoughts as to scoring became irrelevant.

It was Walsh’s best showing to date, although it’s hard to know the degree to which Sutheralnd’s deficiencies contributed to that showing. What’s clear is that Callum is evolving as a fighter. And he’s the kind of fighter who fits nicely with the concept that Turki Alalshikh and Dana White have voiced for a new boxing promotional company. Whether they’ll be willing to put Walsh in tough is an open issue. UFC puts its fighters in tough.

****

There was a void at ringside on Sunday night. After more than four decades on the job, George Ward is no longer with the New York State Athletic Commission.

Ward was the model of what a commission inspector should be. I watched him in the corner and in dressing rooms countless times over the years. A handful of inspectors were as good as he was. Nobody was better. Later, as a deputy commissioner, he performed the thankless back-of-the-house administrative duties on fight night while other deputy commissioners were enjoying the scene at ringside.

George and Robert Orlando (who, like George, is a former New York City corrections officer) also normally presided over pre-fight weigh-ins. That’s worth mentioning here because it ties to one of the more unfortunate incidents that occurred during the tenure of former NYSAC executive director Kim Sumbler.

On November 1, 2019, Kelvin Gastelum weighed in for a UFC 244 match against Darren Till to be contested at Madison Square Garden. The contract weight for the fight was 186 pounds. It was known throughout the MMA community that Gastelum had been having trouble making weight. Before stepping on the scale, he stripped down completely naked and a towel was lifted in front of him to shield his genitals from public view. Then, to everyone’s surprise, his weight was announced as 184 pounds (two pounds under the contract weight).

How did Gastelum make weight? Video of the weigh-in showed him resting his elbow on his coach as he stood on the scale.

Why am I mentioning this now?

Ward and Orlando know all the tricks. While they were readying for the Gastelum-Till weigh-in, Sumbler told them that they were being replaced on the scales by two other commission employees who had been brought to New York City from upstate. They asked why and were told, “Because I said so.”

George Ward was one of the behind-the-scenes people who make boxing work. He’ll be missed.

****

Six years ago, Gene Pantalone wrote a traditional biography of former world lightweight champion Lew Jenkins. Now he has written – shall we say – a creative biography of lightweight great Freddie Welsh.

Welsh was born in Wales in 1886 but spent most of his ring career in the United States. He captured the lightweight crown by decision over Willie Ritchie in 1914 and relinquished it to Benny Leonard three years later. BocRec.com credits him with a 74-5-7 (34 KOs) ring record in bouts that are verified and were officially scored. If “newspaper decisions” are added to the mix, the numbers rise to 121 wins, 29 losses, and 17 draws. Many of the losses came when Welsh was long past his prime. He’s on the short list of boxing’s greatest fighters. The only knock out he suffered was when he lost the title to Leonard.

Chasing The Great Gatsby is styled as a biography of Welsh and also an advocacy brief in support of the proposition that Welsh was the inspiration and model for the title character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal novel The Great Gatsby. I’m unsure how factually accurate Pantalone’s work is in some places. Also, too often, he uses big words when small ones will suffice. For example:

“He was a pugilistic virtuoso, a pummeling poet with fists of fury and a keen intellect. His duality was evident in every aspect of his being, an amalgamation of the vicious and the benevolent.”

Over the course of 349 pages, that weighs a reader down.

Still, there are some interesting observations and nuggets of information to be mined in Chasing The Great Gatsby. Among my favorites are Pantalone’s description of Jack Dempsey training for his historic 1921 fight against George Carpentier at a “health farm” that Welsh owned in New Jersey; Pantelone’s description of how the stadium that hosted Dempsey-Carpentier was built; and Pantalone’s evaluation of the fight itself, which he calls “a spectacle of titanic proportions,” before adding,” The truth was inescapable. The fight had not lived up to its grandeur, but the event did.”

****

Several of the books that Robert Lipsyte has written during his storied career as a journalist focus on boxing; most notably, Free to Be Muhammad Ali and The Contender (a young adult novel). Lipsyte’s most recent book – Rhino’s Run (published by Harper) – is a young adult novel keyed to high school football, not the sweet science. But the opening sentence bears repeating:

“Punching Josh Kremens didn’t feel as good as I thought it would, and I’d been thinking about it for five years.”

Be honest! Don’t you want to read more?

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – MY MOTHER and ME is a personal memoir available at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/My-Mother-Me-Thomas-Hauser/dp/1955836191/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5C0TEN4M9ZAH&keywords=thomas+hauser&qid=1707662513&sprefix=thomas+hauser%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1

In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Ever-Improving Callum Walsh KOs Dean Sutherland at Madison Square Garden

Published

4 days ago

March 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Ever-Improving-Callum-Walsh-KOs-Dean-Sutherland-at-Madison-Square-Garden

Irish luck was not involved as Callum Walsh won the battle of hard-hitting southpaws over Dean Sutherland by knockout on Sunday.

One right hook was all it took.

“You’re never going to beat the Irish,” said Walsh.

In a contest between Celtic super welterweights Walsh (13-0, 11 KOs) retained the WBC Continental America’s title against Sutherland (19-2, 7 KOs) in quick fashion at the Madison Square Garden Theater in Manhattan.

Usually fights between southpaws can be confusing to both contestants. But Walsh had expressed a fondness for fighting lefthanders then vividly exhibited the reasons why.

Walsh, 24, a native of Cork, Ireland, now living and training in Los Angeles, quickly demonstrated why he likes fighting lefties with a steady flow of combinations from the opening bell.

He did not hesitate.

Sutherland, 26, had only lost once before and that was more than two years ago. Against Walsh the Scottish fighter was not hesitant to advance forward but was caught with lefts and right hooks.

After two minutes of scattered blows, Sutherland fought back valiantly and when cornered, Walsh tapped two jabs then unleashed a right hook through the Scottish fighter’s gloves that floored the Aberdeen fighter for the count at 2:45 of the first round.

“I’m feeling very good. Dean Sutherland is a very good opponent. I knew he was going to be dangerous. That was my best opponent,” said Walsh.

It was the fourth consecutive knockout win for Walsh who seems to improve with every single combat.

“I’m looking forward to the future. I’m getting stronger and stronger,” said Walsh who is trained by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. “Anyone that comes to me I will take him out.”

Other Bouts

Super featherweight Feargal McCrory (17-1, 9 KOs) survived a knockdown in the fourth to out-muscle Keenan Carbajal (25-5-1, 17 KOs) and batter down the Arizona fighter in the seventh and again in the eighth with volume punching.

Carbajal was deducted a point early for holding in round two, but regained that point when he floored the Irish southpaw during an exchange in the fourth.

Despite suffering a knockdown, McCrory continued stalking Carbajal and floored him in the seventh and eighth with battering blows. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. stopped the fight without a count.

A rematch between two Irish super middleweights saw Emmet Brennan (6-0) remain undefeated by unanimous decision over Kevin Cronin (9-3-1).

Cronin started quickly with a pressure style and punches flowing against Brennan who resorted to covering and countering. Though it looked like Cronin was building up a lead with a busier style, the judges preferred Brennan’s judicious counters. No knockdowns were scored as all three judges saw Brennan the winner 98-92 after 10 rounds.

Dajuan Calloway (11-3, 9 KOs) emerged the winner by technical knockout over Thomas Carty (10-1) who was unable to continue after two rounds when his leg tangled and thereafter was unable to stand. Because he could not continue the fight was ruled a technical knockout win for Calloway in the heavyweight match.

Also

Cletus “Hebrew Hammer” Seldin (29-1, 23 Kos) defeated Yeis Solano (15-5) by majority decision after eight rounds in a super lightweight contest.

Donagh Keary (1-0) defeated Geral Alicea-Romero (0-1-1) by decision after four.

Light heavyweights Sean O’Bradaigh (0-0-1) and Jefferson Almeida (0-1-1) fought to a majority draw after four.

Photo credit: JP Yim

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Nick Ball Wears Down and Stops TJ Doheny Before the Home Folks in Liverpool

Published

5 days ago

March 15, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Nick-Ball-Wears-Down-and-Stops-TJ-Doheny-Before-the-Home-Folks-in-Liverpool

Fighting in his hometown, Liverpool’s five-foot-two fireplug Nick “The Wrecking” Ball stopped TJ Doheny after 10 progressively more one-sided rounds to retain his WBA belt in the second defense of the featherweight title he won with a hard-earned decision over Raymond Ford in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Referee Michael Alexander, with the assent of Doheny’s corner, waived it off following the bell ending Round 10, much to the chagrin of the brave but mildewed Doheny who burst into tears. But then, Doheny’s right eye was closed shut and he was plainly exhausted. This may be the end of the line for the 38-year-old campaigner from Perth, Australia via Portlaois, Ireland who was 26-5 heading in following his first loss inside the distance which came against pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue.

There were no knockdowns, but Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs) was docked a point in round nine for throwing Doheny to the canvas after having previously been warned for this infraction. Earlier, both he and Doheny were warned for an incident that could have ended the bout prematurely. At the end of the first round, Ball extricated himself from a headlock by kicking Doheny in the back of his knee. The challenger’s leg appeared to buckle as he returned to his stool.

Going forward, Ball has many options. The 28-year-old Liverpudlian purportedly relishes a unification fight with WBC belt-holder Stephen Fulton, but the decision ultimately rests with Ball’s promoter Frank Warren.

Other Bouts of Note

In a 12-round bantamweight contest that was close on the scorecards but yet a monotonous affair, Liverpool’s Andrew Cain won a split decision over former WBC flyweight title-holder Charlie Edwards. The scores were 116-112 and 115-114 favoring Cain with judge Steve Gray submitting a disreputable 115-113 tally for Edwards. At stake were a trio of regional titles.

The science of boxing, they say, is about hitting without getting hit. Charlie Edwards is adept at the latter but the hitting part is not in his DNA. He was on his bicycle from the get-go, a style that periodically brought forth a cascade of boos. Cain, who trains in the same gym with Nick Ball, was never able to corner him – Edwards was too elusive – but Cain, to his credit, never lost his composure.

In improving to 14-1 (12), Cain achieved a measure of revenge, in a sense. In his last documented amateur bout, in 2014, Cain was defeated by Charlie’s brother Sunny Edwards, also a former world title-holder at the professional level. Heading in, Charlie Edwards (20-2, 1 NC) was unbeaten in his last 13 which included a comfortable decision over Cristofer Rosales in his flyweight title fight. Charlie relinquished that belt when he could no longer make the weight.

Showboating Cuban lightweight Jadier Herrera, who fought 13 of his first 14 pro fights in his adopted home of Dubai, advanced to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of spunky but outclassed Mexican import Jose Macias (21-4-2). The official time was 2:31 of round seven.

An all-Liverpool affair between super flyweights Jack Turner (11-0, 10 KOs) and Ryan Farrag (23-6) was over in a jiff. The match, which went next-to-last in the bout order, ended at the 42-second mark of round two. A barrage of punches climaxed by a left hook sent Farrag down hard and the referee waived it off.

The noted spoiler Ionut Baluta, whose former victims include Andrew Cain, forged another upset with a 10-round split decision over local fan favorite Brad Strand. The judges favored Baluta 98-91 and 96-94, out-voting the Italian judge whose 97-93 tally for Strand was deemed the most accurate by the TV pundits.

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