Substance over Form

In direct contradiction to my previous post and the dearth of exciting fights being made, individual fighters are making some moves that may end up being significant, as well as the more general news of the WBA and WBC adopting an 18th weight class.

Devin Haney is making noise about moving up a division with claims that his only remaining aspiration at 140 was to fight Gervonta Davis, who allegedly was uninterested in making the fight. Ignoring the obviously specious claim that Davis is avoiding Haney, this decision still has somewhat far-reaching consequences. This change leaves Shakur Stevenson, who may yet be the bets of the younger class, with a title. It also sets up a vacant-title determination match between George Kambosos and Vasyl Lomachenko. What a career-defining fight that would be for both men: Lomachenko looking to secure his flagging, but otherwise legendary reputation after losses to both Lopez and Haney–Kambosos trying to prove he’s a legitimate breakout star and not another Andy Ruiz fluke.

In the interim, Haney will be fighting Regis Prograis, the highly-anticipated star out of New Orleans whose missteps against Josh Taylor and lackluster performance against Danielito Zorilla have shaken confidence in his future. While there were always glaring flaws in Prograis’ technique, he seemed to be selecting opponents well and developing, so I don’t see any reason why he should be written off, especially given his absolutely incredible knockout ratio. The only fighter I can think of who rivals it would have to be Beterbiev. Having plied the trade there in Crescent City, there’s no question where my loyalties will be on fight night. That being said, Haney is more fundamentally sound. It will come down to heart and accuracy.

In the 140-147 pound range, another storyline has arisen in the form of disillusioned former star Ryan Garcia receiving a reality check from his promoters at Golden Boy. Similar to the debacle that played out between Alvarez, Golden Boy and DAZN, Garcia has been disputing terms of his agreement with the organization for some time now. Garcia, however, may not come out of these legal proceedings as well as Alvarez did (with a favorable verdict). If not, Garcia will endanger his own career by further antagonizing a promotional team whose influence cannot be avoided in the sport. De la Hoya’s passive-aggressive rejoinder tweet was farcical in its hypocrisy, painting Garcia as an unreliable source due to his “mental instability (which he’s documented himself).”

Garcia’s shockingly one-sided loss was a revelation to fans who had seen his talent and believed the hype about his future, but must have been profoundly more challenging to Garcia himself, who probably felt assured of his stardom. De la Hoya likely endured similar psychological turmoil after his comprehensive destruction by Manny Pacquiao. The difference is that Oscar was at the end of his career whereas Ryan, at the tender age of 25, is at the beginning of his peak. Who knows which transition would be harder to endure?

One of the sticking points for Garcia was, in his words, “the statements that Bernard made where he’ll decide if I’m going to finish or if I should continue boxing after this fight.” I have to say that strikes me as an undeniably legitimate point. I remember Hopkins coming out after the shocking loss almost immediately with a statement that implied that he might encourage Garcia to retire. Whether Hopkins seemed to be saying he would make the decision (rather than Garcia choosing his own path) is less clear, but regardless of the severity of the loss or even the exposure of Garcia’s flaws, it’s inappropriate for a promoter to follow any up-and-coming fighter’s loss with a statement about his potential retirement.

In the market of inappropriate comments, however, Hopkins does not have a monopoly. Garcia went on from the statement about retirement to make his own emotional remarks, starting with the reasonable argument that Hopkins should be the last person to tell anyone in their twenties about retirement when he didn’t quit until he was in his fifties. Granted, but then he brought up the Calzaghe controversy from almost 20 years ago, in which Hopkins revisited his former heel persona by stating repeatedly that he would never let a white boy beat him. From Garcia, this prompted the statement, “…last time I checked, he said he’d never lose to a white boy, and then Joe Smith Jr. knocked him out of the ring…”

Lastly, we have the question of diluted weight classes and splintered titles. The most recent amendment came from the WBC in 2020 when they created the Bridgerweight class between 200 and 224 pounds. No real lineage has been established in the class and being incongruent with other sanctioning bodies, the division has stagnated to some degree. Now, the WBA has embraced the change with its Super Cruiser division. In theory, I have no problem with creating infinite weight classes if it’s done to accommodate a surplus of competition that will be more exciting when broken down into appropriate divisions. As a matter of practicality, though, I do wonder about changing the structure for fighters in a 24-pound range that overlaps with the sport’s “glamor division.”

For example, the change would alter the stakes for the upcoming showdown between Fury and Usyk, at least officially, if not in the eyes of the fans. Fury routinely comes into a fight over 270 pounds, whereas Usyk is often under the 224-pound cutoff. Would different titles be on the line? Does it matter?

It might cause even more trouble if two of the four sanctioning bodies adopt the change and not the other two. These decisions all revolve around the core controversy for the sport, of course, which is that titles and title challenges mean very little when there’s no central officiating body and belts are broken down into perfunctory categories like diamond champion or super champion. In that respect, the UFC has the advantage, and given their recent success with Francis Ngannou showing boxing fans what he can do with his hands, this might be a good time to change the game and even the odds.

Unfortunately, there are no simple solutions short of a huge contingent of fans boycotting the bait-and-switch model of DAZN pay-per-views and the recent trend towards major fights getting a $100 price tag. While this kind of united effort seems unrealistic, it might be the only option if we want substantive change in our sport.