Boxing and the shame of unfair fights.

[GCburneraccount]

I found this boxing article interesting. Those who know the sport have a keen eye for what makes a fair fight, they know when fights cross the line and become shameful spectacles. The commercial pressures in the sport mean theres a long history of dubious fights that cross the line into shame and disrepute.

Interesting to compare with the boxing media response to the Paris 2024 DSD issues. Did the boxing journalists who see this fight as shameful say the same then? Or did they swerve it or minimise the issue? (not Ingle - he has done a decent job reporting on DSD/trans in sport).

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/dec/16/anthony-joshua-jake-paul-miami-joe-louis-al-mccoy-boxing

That's a really good point, GCburneraccount.
At least Paul voluntarily goes into bouts against men who are so much stronger and better at boxing than him. And there's the $$$$$$ of course.

I see he lasted 6 rounds against Joshua, so it was less of a quick dangerous farce than some of the Olympic fights...

Sean Ingle was really good covering the controversy around Khelif and Lin at the Olympics. I do think the boxing analogy is a really useful one relating to sports categories. Top featherweight boxers and top heavyweight boxers are both supreme athletes in their categories but it's clearly nonsensical to say a featherweight fighting a heavyweight makes any sense as a sporting competition. It's pretty much an exact analogy for female and male athletes. They can both be supreme athletes and worthy of gold medals but it makes no sense for them to compete against each other.

Thanks Burner and I agree. Sporting categories are vital for fairness. Though realistically the TW cheating in sport are doing more to alert the general public to the appalling implications of trans ‘inclusion’ than many of us could ever manage. It’s so obvious that these hulking great blokes have a physical advantage. Dreadful for the women who compete against them and for the many put off sport by this but it certainly takes the GC cause to sports fans.

Jake Paul is a cruiserweight. Anthony Joshua is a heavyweight. Normally, they would not be allowed fight each other, but this was an exhibition celebrity match.

Jake Paul's jaw was broken in two places by Anthony Joshua, which shows how important it is in men's boxing to keep the match-ups between comparable competitors.