BENAVIDEZ, PBC, AND GARCIA/HANEY/TEOFIMO || FIGHTHYPE.COM

Every week here at FightHype, we make some space for a good, old-fashioned written word money shot from the depths of my bulbous, bulging (mail) sack. So, get ready for some of that infamous Magno-rific gooey, salty, sometimes NSFW truth. This week, we have comments/questions regarding David Benavidez, PBC, and that Garcia/Haney/Teofimo promotion. 

David Benavidez, Frozen Out Again?

Hey Paul,

Over the years I have become a fan of David Benavidez. While he’s not perfect, I am impressed with the way he has conducted himself over the last few years. Most of all because he didn’t continue to wait around on Canelo. Instead, he is trying to carve his own path to superstardom.  I do believe he earned the opportunity though. It just irks me that a guy like Edgar Berlanga was handed a fight with Canelo without doing absolutely nothing. Now he (Berlanga) has the audacity to think that he’s on a level where he can pick and choose who he fights. This guy thinks that because he survived not being knocked out by Canelo, he has earned the right to call shots!!! GTFOH!

My apologies, this email was suppose to be about DB.

Just want to know your thoughts on if you think the light heavies are going to try and freeze Benavidez out? I hope not because he is doing everything that we look for in a fighter to prove he is the best.  It would be a shame if he doesn’t get to fight at least Bivol or Beterbiev. If he can’t get one of those guys, where does he go from here?

— Reggie 

Hey Reggie.

I’m starting to get the feeling that Benavidez will be kept out of reach at light heavyweight, just as he was at super middleweight. Unless he signs on with Riyadh season to some extent, why would the Saudis and their promotional enablers want a fight that could see their strangle hold on 175 end instantly? It makes no business sense for them as they officially begin their own promotion/league/boxing company. The blame will be dumped at Benavidez’s feet, of course, because he’s a PBC guy. But, as you said, the guy is doing everything right. It won’t be his fault if he gets frozen out of his second straight division. 

PBC?

Hey Paul.

I’ve been thinking about this Turki move on boxing and how everything seems to be shifting in that direction. The one holdout seems to be the PBC, I know some of their fighters have fought on Turki cards, but I don’t see them working so closely with them like the other promoters do. That got me thinking about what their plan may be. Could they have something up their sleeves or are they just holding on to see how all this plays out? What’s your feeling on PBC and their future?

— Clyde

Hey Clyde.

Honestly? I don’t think there’s any sort of master plan. PBC is just trying to hold on and stay afloat. At least that’s how it looks right now. At this moment, they have Tank Davis, David Benavidez, and a small handful of other names. But, increasingly, PBC will need to deal with Saudi-aligned fighters to make some of the bigger, better possible bouts for their roster. That’s when we’ll see if the mutual loyalty between PBC and its fighters holds together or if the fighters, who have a greater degree of independence than most athletes working with boxing companies, will simply drift off to where they think the grass will be greener. 

Scum Fest, Brought To You By Ring Magazine

Hi Paul.

I don’t have a question, I just want to express my unmitigated disgust with the way this Ryan Garcia/Devin Haney/Teofimo Lopez card has been promoted and what’s gone down in boxing’s name with the full support of Turki’s Ring Magazine.

Ryan Garcia is a PEDs cheat who has said the most vile and racist things without ever getting any real blowback. Teofimo Lopez has gleefully made racist remark after racist remark and he continues to smugly embrace race baiting. Then, these guys all hobnob with rapist/sex trafficker/racist/scumbag Andrew Tate while passing along the photos like it’s a promotional selling point. 

What’s been going on in the name of promotion for this card is nauseating and what makes it worse is that Ring Magazine, our oldest and previously most prestigious journalistic outlet, is being used to legitimize all this garbage.

I was on the fence about Turki and the Saudi Arabian influence in boxing before, but this has pushed me far into the opposition category. Needless to say, I won’t be buying this show.

— John from NY

Hey John. 

I have nothing to add. You said it perfectly. Just in general, boxing has been way too permissive of racist talk and behavior. This card in particular features two of the worst recent culprits when it comes to that– Garcia and Teofimo. There just seems to be zero fucks given about the promotion of this card. Ring Magazine and the Saudis are just trying to push this one out there and get these guys back to Riyadh for the winner bracket fights. I don’t make a habit of clutching pearls, but there could be at least SOME decorum and class.

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