'Joshua vs Whyte isn't half as farcical as charging £26.99 to watch it!'
Just when you thought the heavyweight boxing division’s slide into farce could not get any steeper, along comes Anthony Joshua versus Dillian Whyte.
The fight is absolutely fine, there is a bit of history there, a bit of needle, it should not be too one-sided, even though Joshua is heavily odds-on. No, what is farcical - if entirely unsurprising - is that the broadcaster with the rights to the fight, which will take place on August 12 at the O2 Arena, will charge you £26.99 if you want to watch it.
Oh, and that is on top of the subscription you must already have with the channel. If you are considering paying twenty-seven quid for Joshua against Whyte, have you seen their recent fights?
Having twice been outclassed by Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua’s ‘redemption’ fight was a laboured points win over American journeyman Jermaine Franklin - the same Jermaine Franklin who had previously suffered a slightly harsh points defeat to Whyte. Prior to that win over Franklin, 35-year-old Whyte had been summarily dismissed inside four rounds by Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium.
Joshua, 33, has been beaten three times in his past five fights. It is the toughest of schools, boxing, but the fight-loving public is being insulted by the money charged to watch these fights - both on TV and in person.
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And while heavyweight boxing should be the sport’s blue riband division, it either rips off fans or leaves them bemused by the pantomime, by the calling-out and then the crying-off.
Since his trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder in October 2021, Tyson Fury has had two mismatches - that one against Whyte and one against his old mate Derek Chisora. A couple of weeks ago, Frank Warren said there would be a game-changing announcement about Fury’s plans soon. What happened to that?
At least Usyk - inactive since beating Joshua for a second time in August of last year - has scheduled a defence of his belts against Daniel Dubois for August 26. It is an intriguing match-up at best but it is hard to see Dubois making any sort of inroads against the Ukrainian.
Anthony Joshua is the favourite to win (PA)At least Joshua and Usyk are getting into the ring, unlike Fury, who should be cementing his place in boxing’s hall of fame, and should be making sure he is rated as the best pound-for-pound fighter out there and one of the best heavyweights of all time.
For months now, there has been talk of some sort of four-man spectacular in - yes, you’ve guessed it - Saudi Arabia in December that will feature Fury v Usyk and Joshua v Wilder. But we’ve heard that sort of stuff before. It’s becoming a farce.
If you pay £26.99 to watch Joshua against Whyte on your telly, you are being ripped off. And if you are a fan of one of THE greatest sporting battling grounds - world heavyweight boxing - you are being short-changed.
Circuit breakers!
It surely does not need to be pointed out that invading a Formula One circuit is somewhat different from invading Court 18 at the All England Tennis Club. Which is why it is to be hoped that Just Stop Oil activists keep their Silverstone protests - if there are any - on the safe side of the trackside fence.
And if they do endanger safety and security, that would be a PR own goal. They haven’t got great PR as it is, right now, even though their protests have, in the main, not been a threat to the safety of sportsmen or sportswomen or spectators.
Just Stop Oil protester during day one of the second Ashes (PA)For goodness sake, they sprinkled CONFETTI on Court 18 and threw some orange powder close to the Lord’s pitch. It is hardly a violent uprising and their cause is - as Lewis Hamilton has said repeatedly in the build-up to the British Grand Prix - one which should have a lot of support.
And they have the right to protest. But motor racing is such a dangerous sport that it can cause death. And no matter how just your cause is, to make it even more dangerous would be unforgivable.
Dillian Whyte casts doubt on Anthony Joshua rematch after "frustrating" talks
It's just not cricket
The drama provided by The Ashes has lived up to expectations even if the Australians have had the better of things. But the one downside remains the scheduling. To shoehorn five Tests into just under seven weeks is ridiculous. No wonder the physical toll is already proving to be a heavy one. These two sets of fantastic players have been let down by the authorities.
Xhaka the net!
In the financial madness of the football transfer world, it is hard to know what is a good price for a player and what is not. But £22million from Bayer Leverkusen for 30-year-old Granit Xhaka - one season a liability, the next a leader - seems excellent business from Arsenal’s point of view.
Granit Xhaka has left Arsenal (AP)One of the keys to long-term success is not just how well you buy, but how well you sell. A simple glance down Manchester City’s outgoings and incomings over the last decade will tell you that.
FA must stick to its guns
Let’s hope the Football Association does not sell off the international broadcasting rights of the FA Cup to the Premier League, giving it a huge say in how the most famous knockout competition in the world is run.
Because we all know how that huge say will work out. But any worry that the competition will be ruined by the Premier League must be balanced by the knowledge the FA have done their best to ruin it by playing the semi-finals at Wembley. That decision remains THE worst decision in the age-old governance of the great competition.
New balls, please
Mitch Marsh was hitting it so hard at Headingley and Mark Wood was bowling it so quickly that the red ball was sometimes hard to track by the spectator in the ground.
Sounds like heresy but would anyone be gravely offended if pink ball Tests became a norm rather than a novelty? And while we are at it, what is it with all these no-balls? The cameras mean they cannot be missed but they can endanger a batter and slow down over-rates that are already lamentable. The time has come for batters to get a free hit after a no-ball has been sent down. They would soon stop.
Tweet of the week
@mattletiss7: “The time to speak is now. A communist takeover is slyly being implemented, they’re very clever but they don’t fool everyone. Good will triumph over evil.”
It is one of the laziest, most offensive, condescending pieces of social media advice that people give to players and ex-players but … Matt, stick to football.
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