as Riad Mary performed a narcolepsy performance against Jared “Big Baby” Anderson On Saturday night, he landed the least number of punches in a 10-round bout in the CompuBox era, securing him an embarrassing third place spot on the leaderboard, the ESPN broadcaster reported. Tim Bradley He said he never wanted to see Marley again.
I felt the same way. Mahy may be a perfectly nice guy, but it was after midnight on a Saturday and he was doing his best to keep me awake while I agreed to cover a bout with Anderson on Boxing Scene. . There were boos from the crowd, domestic viewers threw up their hands in disgust, and I'm sure even Anderson wasn't happy that he wasn't involved more.
Since the game, writers and fans have criticized Mahy.Dan Rafael fight freaks unite Substack tweeted that the podcast recap was more interesting than the fight itself. The comment section is my article about battles has been flooded with comments such as, “Withhold Mary's salary now!'' and “The less said about Marley, the better. Lame duck ass fighter. ”
I can hear the same commenter writing new obscenities about what I'm about to discuss. I never disagree that the fight was boring, but I think there's a limit to how much criticism a fighter who refuses to fight deserves.
Let's take Mahy's performance out of the boxing context for a moment. Because of his display, ticket holders probably felt a little stiff for their money (although they still got to see a few other fights on this card). Efe Ajagba – Guido Vianello co-main), and those who watched the contest probably felt they had wasted their time.
But everyone who hates Marley would think he had the worst night of his life from the way he was talking about his performance. This wasn't pay-per-view. The card was being streamed on ESPN, but I don't think very many people paid just to see Anderson-Mahey. We've all seen a boring 1-0 baseball game that lasted three hours, but who wouldn't want to watch the Nationals again? What sparked the outrage over Mahy's performance was boxing's unique demands for all-action warfare.
To get another perspective, I spoke to BoxingScene contributor Thomas Gerbasi. Gervasi fought at the New York Golden Globe Awards in 1997. He was knocked out hard in the first round and was unconscious for 30 to 40 seconds afterwards.
“Yes, it's scary!” Gervasi told me. He knew that getting hit was inevitable. willie pep and Pernell Whitaker He was landing hard shots over and over again, staring across the ring at a fighter who looked like he was going to crash through the wall.
“After I got knocked out, I got even more scared,” Gervasi said. He didn't feel any pain when he was punched. In fact, he likens the thud to being hit over and over again in the head with a basketball. However, after being knocked out in that match, he doesn't remember anything about it, but is well aware of the dangers of boxing.
“You'll never see me attack guys who gave boring performances,” Gervasi declared. He listed several ways Mahy's lack of performance could be justified. Maybe he was aware of Anderson's lack of restraint outside the ring and wanted him to crumble, maybe he wanted Anderson to get tired, or maybe he just listened to everyone's opinions. Maybe he just talked about the next big thing in the heavyweight division and decided he didn't want to take Anderson's best punches.
“Maybe he just needed money. You never know,” Gervasi said.
“I think we need to at least show some respect to these men and women for getting in there for the fun of it. No one should be fighting! This is not what we intended. But , if you pass the medical exam, who am I to tell you not to do it?”
What is his view on the reception Marley deserves for throwing so few punches? “Don't you like this guy's acting? Don't look at him.” Seems simple enough. After all, maybe he doesn't need to yell at a fighter for 30 minutes of boring boxing.
On Saturday, Mahy stepped into the ring with the young heavyweight monster, determined to stay out of harm's way. Here lies the challenge. It's about getting rid of all the unusually high expectations and habits of boxing. Now imagine looking Marley in the eye and telling him you would never have done what he did.
I don't think you can do that reliably unless you are a fighter yourself. I know I couldn't.
I also can't imagine getting knocked out, getting a jab in the face, or even having a basketball bounce off your head. All I can imagine is posting it overnight at work. Because I did it. And because I wanted to earn money without having to struggle. Because that's what I wanted. I don't know exactly why Mahy fought the way he did, but I can relate to more than just a boxer's desire to have an action fight.
Boxing is complicated. Sometimes it's called sports, sometimes it's entertainment. In fact, he is fluid between these two states, and when he wants to box in one, he usually becomes the other. errol spence One day, his undefeated record is stolen from him by a talent from his generation, and he is called a bastard. Shakur Stevenson win, but then succumb because of a boring battle edwin de los santos Next.
So what is the goal of boxing? Is it to have as much fun as possible in this dangerous sport? Is it to win? Or is it to stay as safe as possible in this dangerous sport? I think all of those goals are valid.So, while I'm disappointed in Mahy's performance, I'm not going to pretend it can't be done. probably Reasonably explain why he fought the way he did.
I'm not advocating for Mahy to get more opportunities at the expense of the fighters (all of them) who worked harder to win. To make it a little less toxic to warriors who are susceptible to fear receptors. Arturo Gatti. Given the embarrassing loss, the booing from thousands of fans, and the fact that he will be unable to play in future games, I would go so far as to say that Mahy was punished enough for his safety-first attitude. There's no need to withhold his wallet on top of that.
It makes sense that Tim Bradley would star in Marley. Bradley has dedicated most of his life to the sport, competing against some of the best and most feared boxers of his generation. Manny Pacquiao (Three times!) Juan Manuel Marquez, Ruslan Provodnikov and showed amazing courage in those battles. For those of us who have never been in the ring, it's perfectly natural to point out our boredom and frustration with Anderson-Mahey. But to act like Mahy committed some sort of crime when he just tried a little too hard to avoid getting hammer punched by a rising heavyweight? Now it's time to get off your proud horse.
Owen Lewis is the co-founder of the website popcorntennis.com and the author of: golden rivalry, an online book about the match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. BoxingScene is the home of his first boxing byline.
