(10 hours) #29 Boxing - SLEEPY Boring Objects (Jason Newland) (20th July 2022)

Hello there and welcome to Boring Objects. My name's Jason Newland and this is jasonnewland.com. Please only listen when you can safely close your eyes. Now, basically, basically what this is, is it's just me talking about a specific object or a specific topic, subject, whatever.

And the purpose of this is it gives you an opportunity to relax, maybe even fall asleep through boredom. Okay, so that's all it is. It's just a, it's a bit, bit of time to just let go and listen to me talking tediously about something that I'm probably interested in.

So yeah. So today, I think I will choose a subject that I'm very interested in. I'm going to choose boxing.

Now, I don't know if I've talked about boxing before on this podcast, and but I've bored a lot of people in the past by talking about boxing and I'm going to do it again. I'm going to do it this time specifically aimed just at that subject so that I'm unlikely to to drift off into other subjects. Not guaranteed, but generally, I will probably, probably aim at sticking to the chosen topic, which is boxing.

So my first memory of boxing is, yeah, my first real memory probably would be the Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes fight, which I think was 1978. I think. And my dad was, he liked to watch boxing.

He wasn't like a boxing fan the way I am, but he's, I think he might have been quite into it when he was younger, because he was watching it. I don't know. But it was a big fight.

The Muhammad Ali, Holmes fight was a big, big fight. And although it wasn't Muhammad Ali's last fight, it was his final big fight because he fought for the world title that Larry Holmes had. And it was his attempt to win the world title, heavyweight title of the world for the fourth time.

And I'm pretty sure that everyone that watched the fight kind of had the same opinion that it shouldn't have happened. And Ali shouldn't have even been in the ring with Larry Holmes at that time, because it was one-sided. And even, I mean, I was probably seven or eight years old at the time, even I could see that it was just one-sided and, you know, the fight needed to be stopped because Muhammad Ali was taking too many punches and it did get stopped.

He, I think his ring, his corner pulled him out of the fight. So that was my first memory. And then I remember watching Barry McGuigan on television and that he was another really, really famous fighter.

He was probably one of the most popular, most famous fighters, even though he was Irish, he still was like really popular, like both in Ireland and England, then probably in America and, you know, he was a popular, popular fighter and he was a world champion and he was also a celebrity as well. The only other boxer that I remember from my early days, and I'm thinking more, you know, early teens, would be Frank Bruno.

Now I was a fan of Frank Bruno, but Frank Bruno was more than just a boxer.

He was a celebrity. So he was on television, game shows, entertainment shows. He was famous because he was funny and he was lovable and everyone liked him.

And he was also a really good fighter as well. So I followed him, I kind of followed him as a celebrity, but not so much as a boxer, if that makes sense. And then about 1984, because I used to watch, they used to be boxing on in the afternoons, I think on ITV in England, and there was like sports.

Sports always used to be on on a Saturday afternoon on BBC One and ITV. And we're talking the early 80s when, you know, this is kind of the period I'm talking about, like 81, 2, 3, 4, 5, those kind of years. And quite often they'd be boxing on, so they might show a fight from America, maybe from the weekend that was, because the American fights would be on early hours of the morning for us, because of the time difference.

I think we're like six hours ahead of, say, New York, for example. And then, what was it? Well, maybe four hours, five hours, something like that anyway. So I used to watch boxing and I used to watch the Oddworld title and that, you know, on a Saturday afternoon.

But I wasn't emotionally invested, because I didn't know really who these people were. You know, I'd see them and I think, oh, he's nice, he punches nicely. Oh, look at him, look at him walking around the ring and punching.

And, you know, I didn't really know really what I was watching. And I knew that I loved Frank Bruno, because he was a celebrity, he was funny, he was famous. Then something happened, I'm not sure what it was, but in 1984, I suddenly became interested in boxing.

1984. I had, I don't know what it was, it was, my home life was very different at that time. So my dad was working all the time, but then my stepmom, she was also working.

And so I did, I kind of, the home dynamic changed quite a lot over the last couple of years. The like, yeah, 84, 85 time, kind of changed quite a lot. Plus, I had my own television for the first time in my bedroom.

So, you know, the only time ever, after six o'clock in the evening, I could choose what I watched. I had the television to myself from getting home from school at four o'clock till about six, because nobody watched the television at that point, except me. But once it got to six o'clock, that's it, everyone else kind of took over the television.

And maybe on a Saturday morning, I got to, you know, watch the cartoons and stuff. But having my own television, and it was an old black and white portable TV, it actually opened up my world, because I got to, for the first time, watch television programs I'd never seen before, or programs I'd only ever heard the theme music to, you know, but I wasn't allowed to watch them because they were on too late.

And now I could stay up as long as I wanted.

I had to go to bed at a certain time, but I'd be up half the night watching telly. It was brilliant. So I used to watch, I started watching boxing, and that there was a period when they started showing it in the evening, I think about once a week.

And they were showing fights from Hagler and from Hearns. And there was that build up towards the Hagler-Hearns fight. But they were fighting other fighters before that.

So that was where they were kind of heading towards. And it was exciting because if Hearns got through his fight, and Hagler got through his fight, then they could then fight each other. Isn't it weird how fight sounds very much like fart? If you say it quickly.

So I got all excited. I remember being at school really excited because Hearns was fighting that evening and Hagler was fighting and like, you know, I'd never really heard of these fighters before. Or maybe I'd heard of them, but I didn't really know who they were.

I didn't used to read the newspapers. And yeah, it was, it was quite new. And because that fight was so huge, it was a super fight.

It was really, in some ways, one of the first super fights of my generation, like of the 80s. I know it's not totally true because, you know, I suppose Leonard, when Leonard fought Hearns and Duran fought Leonard, you know, they were super fights, weren't they? But there's something about the Hagler-Hearns fight, Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler, that took the super fight into a different dimension. Yeah.

So there was that fight. And then a couple of years later, there was the Hagler-Leonard fight, which was an even bigger thing. So, you know, it's like that was one of the, it kind of took super fights into a, yeah.

I mean, I think the equivalent now would be probably when Mayweather fought Pacquiao or when Mayweather fought Notorious, whatever his name is, the Irish fella, McGregor. When he fought him, there was like two mega fights. Not good fights, but mega fights, you know, they were kind of huge super fights.

I'm trying to think of all other super fights. There's been some, there's been quite a few super fights that I've classed as super fights. But then there's ones that are just exciting.

When Lennox Lewis fought Mike Tyson, that was exciting. You know, that kind of in itself was a super fight. Because it was super.

It was exciting. I'm trying to think of what other fights. Oh, in my generation, in the 90s, the Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank fights, they were super fights, but they weren't super fights worldwide, if you know what I mean.

They were really, it was really an English thing going on. Even though they were phenomenal fights. It, you know, it was more about two British fighters, even though it's like for a world title.

I'm not sure if the first one was for a world title or not. I can't remember. They'd fought twice.

Vicious, vicious. It was vicious. Other world's super fights.

I suppose, I'm trying to think if there's any super fights. I mean, for me, because I'm a boxing fan, there's a super fight would be if Errol Spence fights Terence Crawford. That's a super fight for all belts and two of the best boxers in the world fighting.

Although my favorite boxer is David Benavidez. He's a super, I told you it was going to be boring, didn't I? He's a super middleweight, super, not just middleweight, he's a super middleweight. He's super.

I think a super middleweight is kind of like five pounds heavier than a normal middleweight. It's not a lot of difference, really. Anyway, he, he's one that this this bloke, he was a heavyweight when he was 15, or when he was 14, 13.

And he lost quite a bit of weight. I think he took up boxing to lose weight. And he turned professional, I think when he was 15.

But he started his career in Mexico, she could fight at 15 in Mexico. I think you have to be I think is either 16 or 18 in America. Or maybe 17.

So he won his first, he's the he's the youngest person ever to win a world title at super middleweight. And he was I think 20. It might be 19.

But 20 maybe and he's about 25 now. And he's won the world title twice, and he just won the interim world title. I'll explain all about that in a minute.

But you can't wait. So he won the world title. I think he defended it defended a couple of times, and then he lost it.

Because he went partying. After one of his fights, and he got tested and he was, it wasn't steroids, it was recreational pleasure. And he got he basically lost his title because of it.

Then he won the title back. And then when he went to defend it, I don't know if it was the first or second time, third time, I don't know, but he was too heavy on the scales. So he lost his title on the scales.

Can you believe that? And but when he fought the fight still went ahead. But his opponent who was challenging for the world title, still had the chance to win the world title. So if David Benavidez won, he won nothing, he won the fight, but that was it.

He lost his title regardless. But the other man, if he won, he would win the world title. But he didn't win.

Because David Benavidez is unbeaten in all his fights. I think he's had, he's only had three fights have gone the distance. All the others have been knockouts.

And if this isn't completely boring to you, it might just you know, you might find this relaxing just to hear someone talking about just something for half an hour or however long. If it's not completely boring to you, maybe check out David Benavidez. It's D-A-V-I-D and then Benavidez is B-E-N-A-V-I-D-E-Z, I think.

So he's currently the super middleweight interim world champion. What that means is, because the current world champion is Canelo Alvarez. So he won all the titles, all the belts.

And he fought Callum Smith, he fought Billy Joe Saunders and then Calleb, Calleb? Calleb, I can't remember if it was Calleb's first name or second name. But they're all really good boxers and he beat all of them. And he went the distance with Calleb Smith.

But he won, he knocked out, well, technical knockout the other two. And then he went up to light heavyweight and fought for the world title at light heavyweight. And he lost on points.

And now he's gone, he's going to fight Golovkin for a third time. And I guess middleweight or it might be a random weight that they've chosen. I don't know if he's fighting at middleweight to try and get Golovkin, Triple G's belts.

But by doing that, he's had two fights in a different weight class to the weight class where he holds all the belts. So he's not defended any of the titles. So what's happened is, I don't know if they've broken all of them up, but some of them have been taken over and people have fought for them.

So it's an interim. So what it means is, if, what's his name? I'm trying to get all these different names, it's hard. If Canelo Alvarez wants, basically, if he wants that title, he has to defend it against David Benavidez.

So he has to fight David Benavidez within a certain timescale. I don't know what that is. It might be a year, might be two years.

Who knows? They break the rules with Canelo. He pretty much does what he wants. But he does have to fight David Benavidez if he wants to keep that title.

And if he chooses not to defend it, David Benavidez is then made the full champion. Does that make sense? Yeah. Now, some people, I don't know why, they win the interim championship.

Some are even just given it because they're number one challenger. But they don't end up becoming the full champion. They like give it up and then move up a different weight or they just don't bother with it.

Well, keep hold of it. Because if that, if that, the champion chooses or cannot defend it, you're the world champion. You're the world champion, man.

Loads of people have gone that route. They've gone that way of like, you know, winning a world title by, because the other champion maybe is unwell or injured. Some world champions, they don't defend their belt because they can't make the weight anymore.

So they have a bit of time off. They might have a year or two. So the interim championship gets won.

And then they decide, well, I can't get down to that weight anymore. I'll move up. So the interim champion becomes the world champion, the full champion.

Or maybe they're injured. There's been a few boxers that have got injured where they can't fight anymore. Lots, lots of boxers have had that hurt their back or their knee or something.

And they just can't, they have to quit, have to retire. There was a, I think it was a heavyweight boxer and he was a KO expert, knocking everyone out. And very likely would have been a future world champion, heavyweight champion of the world.

But he injured his back in training and he had to quit. He had to retire. It's an unbeaten record, knocked 100% of his opponents out and he had to retire because he pulled a, I don't know, it was either pulled a muscle in his back or vertebrae or something.

It was very serious that he wasn't able to continue to box. There's a boxer called, it's not Ricky Nelson, it's Nelson. Why do I forget his, I forget on his first night, this is terrible, isn't it? But he's one of the greatest cruiserweights ever.

And he won the world title and he defended it loads of times. He held it for about six or seven years. Johnny, Johnny Nelson.

And he's a, he's really funny and he does, he presents Sky, I think, Sky Boxing. He's one of the presenters or one of the pundits on there, on the live shows. And what happened with him, he was the world champion, training through defence and his knee just went, his knee just collapsed on him and he had to retire.

And he is one of the greatest cruiserweights of all time, you know. And what happened with him is he didn't start out good. He didn't start out like a lot of boxers where they win everything and then they go on and he, his career was, wasn't great at the start.

And then he changed his mindset. He changed, you know, how he was. And then he became great, like great, great.

So a lot of respect for that man. But unfortunately, I never really got to see any of his fights because they were always on Sky and Sky, I never had Sky. I've got Sky now.

Well, I have access to Sky, the Sky Boxing, the sports channel because of the apps and stuff. It's a lot easier these days. But I never had Sky when I was younger.

So all through my childhood and all, well, not childhood, all through my early adulthood, when Sky was around, showing the, you know, the big fights from America, early hours in the morning and most of the Lennox Lewis fights were on Sky. I didn't see a lot of them. I got to see them eventually because sometimes they get shown on a sports channel, they get shown on a different like platform that, you know, maybe a week later or something.

But I didn't get to see them live. And it's such a shame considering how much I love boxing. But it's the lifestyle that I led.

I lived in little rooms with nothing in them, you know, just like a bed and a wardrobe. And I didn't have much in the way of an income. I was earning very, very low wages for most of my adult life.

And I didn't have access to it. But as time has gone by, of course, it's cheaper because the internet, you can, shouldn't be so hissy. I've got a pop filter.

That's better. Sounds like kettle, an old fashioned kettle. Yeah, it's easy now because we can stream.

So I'm quite, you know, I've got access to a lot more than I ever had before. But it's weird that I've had to wait until I was in my late forties to actually have access to things that I'd have loved to have access to. I'd have loved to have had access to this stuff when I was younger.

Like the Sky channels, the Sky sports, not, I'm not into other sports, really just boxing. That is my hobby, watching boxing. I suppose you could say my hobby is doing this as well.

But this is more than a hobby. This is a, this is a passion for me. This is big, really, really important to me, what I do online with the podcasts.

But boxing is, it's the thing that is just pure pleasure for me, watching it. And I watch boxing most weekends. Nearly every weekend there's boxing either on Sky, either, I mean, we sometimes have boxing on Channel 5 here on a Friday night.

There's going to be more stuff on Channel 5. There's a contract, new contract being made. The Sky, of course, they have their shows, they have the occasional pay-per-view show like with, you know, well, yeah, if there's a big fight, they'll show that on pay-per-view. Otherwise, they also have just a normal, the normal stream that you can watch.

It just costs money. You have to pay 24 hours viewing of the channels. I don't pay for the whole month because I don't need to, because I don't watch it regularly.

Then BT, they've now got an app that I can use, so that's good. So I can watch the boxing on BT Sport. And I've got sports boxing on DAZN.

So DAZN, probably every one in three weekends, there's a boxing on, either in the UK or in America. So it's pretty good. And then I've got another app on TV called Fight, F-I-T-E.

And they show, they give you access to watch shows that are not available anywhere else. So it might be a big fight, but it's just not available on UK TV. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.

So there was one the other night, but it was on, it was on BT Sport, but it was also on Fight. But there's been times when, I'm trying to think of an example. There was one fight I couldn't get.

So I went on to Fight and I watched it there. And it was so much, you know, it was like, okay, cool. So there's all these different places I can go to, to watch boxing from all around the world, mainly America, admittedly, and UK.

But there's places, there's boxing shows on DAZN from Spain, from Italy, from Romania, from France, from, you know, so there's lots of different places. And it's quite exciting, really, because it's showing you the future, the future champions. But yeah, I like boxing.

I hope that, I hope this didn't bore you too much. So that's half an hour of me talking about boxing. I could talk for longer, I guess.

But I'm feeling the toilets calling me so I need to go, go, go toilet. So thank you for listening. Remember to be kind to yourself because you deserve to be happy.

Lots of love. Bye.