In the shadow of giants
Following the family’s boxing lineage can be both a blessing and a curse
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Family ties
THE LONG READ
Earlier this month, Nico Ali Walsh - the grandson of Muhammad Ali - made his professional boxing debut. Wearing trunks apparently given to him as a gift by ‘The Greatest’ himself, Walsh won his first pro fight in short order.
Although this was an undercard bout on a somewhat low-impact Top Rank show, the mainstream media picked up huge on the debut, as much as they have with almost any other boxing news story so far this year. This is maybe unsurprising, given that Muhammad Ali remains one of the most famous people to ever live, and it guarantees Nico the opportunity to continue his boxing journey on a mainstream platform - but it does also increase the pressure for the young fighter.
How good is Ali Walsh? It’s very difficult to say at this stage. The stoppage in his first bout felt somewhat premature for sure, and being his pro debut his opponent didn’t seem up to much. He might become a contender in his own right, you never know, but that is a long way off at this point.
Boxing loves stories like that of Nico Ali Walsh. Perhaps the sport’s most enduring narrative is the young upstart fighter - in a move which many would call foolhardy - following their famous predecessor relatives into the world of boxing. The family tree is the most fertile of reservoirs for engaging pugilistic tales.
Diving into boxing with a family heritage to live up to clearly makes an individual a target for derision, but it can also allow fighters sustained opportunities which other boxers who didn’t have that same bloodline history would simply have not received.
It also feels somewhat inevitable - being part of the boxing lifestyle from birth, especially when your elders have often benefited greatly financially from their years in the sport, it must be difficult in many ways to not give the sport of kings a go. Muhammad Ali had nine children, so it’s not a surprise to see his family name continue to live on in the sport today.
Nico isn’t the first Ali family member to make their own splash in the fight game. Laila Ali, the eighth of Muhammad’s kids, entered boxing and made some waves in the late 90s and early 2000s. She might have been able to make an even bigger impact had women’s boxing been as established as it is in the current climate, but she still managed to break a few barriers at a time when the female side of the sport was generally met with a mixture of derision and confusion, all the while combined with the pressure of being the daughter of ‘The Greatest’. Her father tried to talk her out of joining the pro ranks initially but later admitted his mistake as she became a name in her own right.
Despite criticism - in particular from Ann Wolfe - that she avoided some other contenders, Laila certainly contributed to pushing forward the equality agenda in the sport and her name value brought women’s fights to major events. In perhaps the ultimate example of promoters utilising lineage, she even fought Jacqui Frazier (daughter of Muhammad’s great rival Smokin’ Joe) in the first boxing pay-per-view headlined by women in the summer of 2001.
Earlier this summer, on a card titled Tribute to the Kings, we saw both sides of the boxing family dichotomy play out in living colour in a single night. Julio Cesar Chavez - perhaps the greatest Mexican fighter of all time - returned at 58 years of age for an exhibition fight against Hector Camacho Jr. In the main event, his son Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who was once considered the heir apparent to his boxing throne, took another step backwards in a career blighted by ill-discipline and attitude problems. Jr. dropped a clear, decisive points loss to former UFC champion Anderson Silva, after once again failing to make weight. The writing was on the wall before the first bell had rung.
Despite Silva being an MMA legend with striking ability who had obviously dedicated himself to preparing properly for the fight, as a professional boxer Chavez Jr. should have controlled the rhythm of the bout more effectively. He was out-thought and out-punched by 46-year-old Silva, and only threw an average of 19 punches per round. It was a clear decision win for the Brazilian and another poor outing from Chavez Jr.
The fact that Canelo Alvarez - Mexico’s new hero and the world’s top boxing draw - worked the corner for his father’s earlier exhibition added an additional, odd dynamic to the event given the narrative purveyed by some that Saul is the boxing son JCC Sr. wishes he’d had. Canelo of course also dominated Chavez Jr. in a complete shutout points win back in 2017.
We often hear boxers reference coming from a ‘fighting family’ - have a listen to your average Tyson or Tommy Fury interview and you’ll probably hear it at least once. Having relatives involved in the fight game is an obvious gateway into the sport, but it’s also surprisingly rare to see both parent and child achieve glory at the top level. Both becoming a world champion is something we see even less often, and it’s something which the Chavez family have achieved.
The younger Julio Chavez, despite the often justified criticism he has received from the boxing world in the past AND the present, is still one of the more successful sons of legends, based purely on title achievements.
JCC Jr. became WBC middleweight champion in 2011. Despite not necessarily fighting the strongest competition to get there, when he stopped Andy Lee in the seventh round of a title defence - which drew a big audience to HBO in the summer of 2012 - I was fairly convinced he was the real deal. In the proceeding years, that proved to not be the best prediction and his attitude and lack of dedication made him a target of derision, but he still managed to navigate the pressure of his family’s history and become a genuine force in the sport for a period, however short.
He certainly wouldn’t have had the same sustained negative energy had he not had such a high-profile father to attempt to live up to, although equally, he may never have been in that position in the first place. You play the hand you are given in life.
The most noteworthy family dynamic of the modern era at the elite level would probably be that of the Mayweathers. Although the narrative was somewhat different - the senior family members hadn’t transcended the sport in their in-ring careers, and the promotion of Floyd’s early bouts was as much about his ‘stolen’ Olympic gold as much as anything else - the lineage of ‘Pretty Boy’ was still referenced in the very first round of his pro debut. His relationships with his elders would also go on to help shape his career from the sidelines, as he went on to eclipse their achievements and become a superstar many times over.
The Mayweather family had already made a mark in the sport. Floyd Sr. was a solid pro, whereas his brother Roger Mayweather became a two-weight world champion. Floyd Jr., their son and nephew respectively, ended up with a pretty successful run of his own, to say the least, and is still making insane money for spurious exhibition fights today. Father and uncle were key parts of shaping the younger Mayweather’s boxing career, with both Roger and Floyd Sr. (interspersed with jail time) handling training duties as the then-’Pretty Boy’ rapidly became one of the hottest acts in the sport.
In 2000, Floyd sacked his dad and restored his uncle as his trainer, a move that intensified back-and-forth dissension between the father and son. Senior spent years training Oscar De La Hoya in the 2000s, and almost trained ‘The Golden Boy’ in a superfight against his own son in 2007. It ended up not happening, however, in part due to that other everlasting boxing trope - Mayweather Sr. wanted too much cash. Senior would eventually return to train Floyd - by this stage the ‘Money’ man of the fight game - towards the end of his career.
In the UK, the high-profile ‘sons of legends’ in recent times have been Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn. The iconic rivalry between Chris Sr. and Nigel Benn is one of British boxing’s all-time greatest, and their offspring have become, or are becoming, some of the UK’s top stars thirty-odd years later.
I’ve covered Eubank Jr.’s enigmatic career in long-form recently for The 13th Round newsletter. He is still amongst the biggest active names in British boxing, despite quite a few false dawns - he now has a new promoter in Wasserman Boxing, has returned to his more natural home at middleweight and is once again saying he wants the Golovkin fight and world titles.
The issue around Eubank Jr.’s career has not been so much what he has or hasn’t done within it, it was the torrent of hype and mystique built up around him, in large part by his father. It would have been difficult enough to constantly be compared to Chris Eubank - a two-weight world champion, and one of Britain’s greatest and most famous fighters - but to have that whilst that same man was regularly proclaiming how his son was “going to be better than Floyd Mayweather Jr.” made the situation twice as complex for ‘Next Gen’. He is still to win that world title he claimed was his destiny, but he does now at least have a consistent trainer in the form of Roy Jones.
Conor Benn was also the subject of similar disapproval by the hardcore boxing fanbase when he was so heavily promoted at the beginning of his own boxing journey. As a promoter, it made perfect sense to highlight a name with such potential mainstream appeal. Conor was subject to a considerable amount of negativity upon turning over to the pros, however, given his recent performances and the excellent work done in conjunction with trainer Tony Sims he is now not too far away from stepping up to world level. Whether he will make it in that rarified air is up for debate, but Conor has certainly been placed as one of the top stars of DAZN and Matchroom’s new UK deal.
In researching my previous Eubank article, it was interesting to see the perspective Junior had on the intrinsic understanding between himself and Conor, given those whose footsteps they were following. The blessing of the opportunity your surname might give you also opens you up for comparisons and disdain - growing into a man under the spotlight is tough...
“I respect anyone who steps in the ring to put their health on the line but especially someone who knows what it’s like to be constantly compared to a father who was a world champion. It is tough. It is a huge burden, a huge pressure and there are very few people who could handle it...I dealt with it and Conor is dealing with it. I respect that”.
Conor and Chris are not alone in dealing with the burden.
Eddie Hearn is currently looking to repeat the trick with Campbell Hatton, son of Manchester great Ricky, with the incredibly raw Hatton junior’s every development being given a considerable platform on Matchroom shows. The jury remains very much out on the upside for Campbell, he certainly doesn’t look to be demonstrating the same level of potential the younger Benn and Eubank did in their early ring excursions. It can also be argued that it’s unfair to expect such an inexperienced fighter to learn on the job in such high-profile positions, but with his legendary father in tow maybe that would be unavoidable.
Whatever the future holds for Hatton, it’s more than likely that it will be given a considerable stage by Matchroom and DAZN, as his surname resonates with the wider audience.
For the promoters, lineage is a very easy story to tell. Bob Arum first promoted Muhammad Ali in the mid-60s, and now 45 years later has his grandson on his books. “Who would have believed that so many years later, we'd be promoting the pro debut of his grandson?”, said Arum when the signing was announced. “Hopefully, Nico will emulate his success. He's a young man of great character, which one would expect from Muhammad Ali's grandson.”
Talk about adding pressure, Bob - emulate possibly the greatest fighter of the lot? Nico has his work cut out.
Arum is, of course, just doing his hype job. Especially for older fans, the appearance of new talent from famous fighting families completes the circle for them as much as it presents an easy-win for those putting on the shows. For the fighters themselves, their name alone opens up an opportunity - but it is their talent and dedication which will dictate how long they can remain in the spotlight.
*It would be remiss of me to complete a piece on family ties in boxing without mentioning the terrible, untimely death of Sebastian Eubank - the son of Chris Sr. who passed away last month. Sebastian (who was himself 2-0 in pro boxing bouts) had only become a father this summer and was just a few days shy of his 30th birthday. A tragedy which puts everything in to context, thoughts and best wishes remain with the Eubank family.
THE BOXING AGENDA
Thoughts on the boxing newswire…
Thankfully, the Olympic boxing event turned out to be a triumph, exemplifying so much of what is best about the sport. Exhilarating matchups, outstanding talent with fantastic stories, and a general lack of controversy made it a refreshing change for a sport so often clouded in contentiousness. Team GB delivered its best performance for over 100 years, with gold medalist Lauren Price and silver medalists Ben Whittaker and Pat McCormack now seemingly set for boxing superstardom in the pros. Team GB’s performance of the event, however, came for Galal Yafai - not even seeded beforehand, he was majestic in navigating five difficult, diverse opponents to grab featherweight gold. Elsewhere, the Cubans were their usual outstanding selves with golds aplenty, and a disappointing Uzbekistan team were salvaged by the super heavyweight gold achieved by Bakhodir Jalolov - a fighter whose movement and skill set gives him the aura of a younger Klitschko brother, and who returns to the pros with the world at his feet. Finally, if I see a higher quality three rounds this year than those delivered in the lightweight final by Andy Cruz and Keyshawn Davis I will be lucky. I’ll be even luckier if we ever get to see them meet again over a longer distance, though given Cruz’s Cuban heritage and Keyshawn’s pro status that may prove little more than a pipe dream. The overall event was a huge success and certainly safeguards boxing’s future at the Games…
Is it me, or was there a distinct lack of buzz around the Matchroom Fight Camp shows on DAZN? I went into a fair amount of detail about the new megabucks deal a couple of months back, with a general conclusion of cautious optimism, but also signalled a warning about the risk of Matchroom shows being siphoned off into an app-based cultural ghetto if they weren’t careful. I surmised a potential solution involving secondary rights being agreed with a major platform such as the BBC for A/V content, as there is already a relationship with BBC radio. There has been some discussion from Eddie Hearn and others that this is being explored, but the ideal scenario would have been for this kind of content partner agreement to have been in place before the trigger was pulled on the DAZN deal. Without a route to a non-hardcore audience, you are merely preaching to the converted and will struggle to establish new mainstream stars, which is not only a huge missed opportunity but also will negatively impact British boxing. Matchroom fighters should be appearing across the BBC’s numerous platforms to upsell events as much as possible. Converting the casual audience was one of the huge successes of Matchroom’s long-standing relationship with Sky Sports, and is vital for the long-term stability of the UK fight game at the elite level. Some have questioned the quality of the overall Fight Camp cards and, although there were some standout moments and fights (Leigh Wood’s victory over Xu Can, the cracking Chris Billam-Smith vs Tommy McCarthy bout), it’s fair to say the shows were not a huge improvement on what we were seeing towards the end of the Sky deal. The good news is that the commentary - from Mike Costello, his stand-in for the first two shows Chris Lloyd and Andy Lee especially - was outstanding throughout, and the announced cards for September in Leeds and October in Liverpool look considerably stronger. When and how Matchroom deliver in the US market (there is nothing confirmed on the slate and their last American show was in May) is still certainly up for debate though…
Perhaps inevitably, time caught up with 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao in his hastily-arranged fight against Yordenis Ugas this past weekend, with the Cuban taking a clear and deserved points victory against a true legend of the sport. A big and meaningful win for Ugas, who isn’t an easy fight for anyone at welterweight, this could be the last stand for Manny - though the man himself has refused to commit to his future plans (let’s ignore his comment about Ugas being one of his “easiest opponents” for now too). If we are saying goodbye to Pacquiao the boxer, his retirement denotes the end of an era of fighters, one which boxing will, and does already, miss. With 72 professional bouts and such a long-lasting elite career against the best of numerous weight classes - compared to the current trend of top-level fighters competing once or twice per year and big fights falling through the cracks - ‘Pac Man’ exemplifies a different mentality to most, whether this is through their own choice, the direction of their management or just a general decaying of the industry as a whole. The depth of his resume is something very special. Canelo bucks the modern trend, aiming for three or more fights per year with very little break and looking to achieve things like becoming a division’s undisputed champion within a single twelve-month period. He may get close to Pacquiao’s total fight figure, but he is a rare breed in today’s game. A couple of small positives from Manny’s potentially impending exit. Firstly, I was actually glad he wasn’t in the ring with Errol Spence in hindsight, as it could have got quite rough in there for the legend. Secondly, Spence, pending the hopefully positive recovery from his eye surgery, and Terence Crawford have never needed each other more to make their legacy. It doesn’t look like they can rely on Manny’s name value anymore…
After a number of issues - from Jake Paul jumping ship to Lopez-Kambosos being perpetually delayed - the card for the next Triller Fight Club pay-per-view card on September 11th has taken shape…and it’s maintaining the same crazy energy. It features Oscar De La Hoya returning to fight Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz and Anderson Silva in a sanctioned boxing match, AND David Haye coming back to boxing to face Joe Fournier. Current fighters Jono Carroll and Andy Vences fill out the card. Say what you will about the ethical stance of these legends returning to fight, and the business strategy behind the Fight Club events as a whole (much of which I concur with), but as we fail to see the top fights being delivered - even when they are announced - there is at least a strange sense of intrigue in seeing these left-field matchups go down. While at the elite level it’s mainly speculation about fights that could happen but often don’t, on the fringes the older guys are actually getting into the ring. It might be eight two minute rounds, I may have my concerns about whether the fights should actually be happening, but at least it’s giving us something to talk about. Watch the latest Triller preview for the main event and tell me you aren’t at least a little bit intrigued by this one…
THE NEXT ROUND
A far-from-exhaustive rundown of upcoming boxing calendar highlights…
29th August 2021
Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley
Promoter: Showtime/Most Valuable Promotions / TV: BT Sport pay-per-view (UK); Showtime pay-per-view (US)
So it has come to this - Showtime Boxing, one of the long-term homes of boxing in the US, has taken the plunge and jumped into bed with Jake Paul, the world’s most high-profile boxing novice. But any sort of moral obligation to the sanctity of the sport can summarily get stuffed when the priority for massive corporate entities is revenue-generating, as much as the purists might find the whole thing distasteful. Jake Paul clearly does numbers, Showtime have seen those numbers, and with the sport usually unable to deliver the best fighting the best he now has the potential to be the top pay-per-view star in Showtime’s stable. After the move from Triller, Showtime is working with Paul’s newly-created Most Valuable Promotions on the event - and they are giving him the full promo treatment, including an excellently-constructed edition of their ALL ACCESS series…
The 30-minute promo piece does a great job of selling the bout, and it’s hyping a fight which is easily Jake’s most interesting so far - although, admittedly, that isn’t saying much. His opponent is Tyron Woodley, a former UFC champion who heads into pugilism after a glittering MMA career. He might be considerably smaller, much older and making his boxing debut, but Woodley has genuine striking ability and a fearsome reputation. This is no former NBA player drafted moonlighting in combat sports, but he is not a boxer. With so much money now tied up in the Paul boxing business, something tells me Woodley is a challenge his team are very confident Jake will be able to overcome, otherwise they would not have taken the risk. The undercard features the US debuts of Brits Daniel Dubois and Tommy Fury, with the latter seemingly being set up as a future opponent for Paul. It’s certainly not a traditional boxing pay-per-view, but as the industry rapidly changes around us it does feel like a snapshot of a prominent part of the fight game’s future.
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4th September 2021
Josh Warrington vs Mauricio Lara
Promoter: Matchroom / TV: DAZN (UK and US)
Following on from the Fight Camp shows and a multiplatform marketing campaign with the objective of establishing Matchroom’s new UK broadcasting platform, things feel like they are stepping up slightly with the next DAZN show. It is headlined by the high-profile, high-risk rematch between Josh Warrington and Mauricio Lara. If Warrington were to lose this one, especially in a similar conclusive manner to the first one, his future becomes unclear - something which he himself has acknowledged. Out of pretty much nowhere, Mexican Lara summarily obliterated the former IBF featherweight champion back in February, and will come into this one with justified confidence. A couple of things feel different this time, as Josh looks to avenge his sole career loss - Warrington will have the backing of a sizeable hometown crowd at Headingly Stadium in Leeds, and will also have his attention purely on this contest, without the carrot of other future big-money fights hanging in the background as it was earlier this year. It all makes for a very intriguing headliner. On the undercard, Conor Benn takes on Adrian Granados in a delayed bout which was originally the Fight Camp week one headliner. Though Granados does have a number of losses on his record, this does represent a solid challenge for an ever-improving Benn. A performance similar to his one-round blowout of Samuel Vargas in April would certainly be a statement. Katie Taylor also defends her undisputed lightweight world champion status against Jennifer Han, a former IBF featherweight champion; and there is also a potential banger as British lightweight champ Maxi Hughes continues his career resurgence as he challenges IBO lightweight champ Jovanni Straffon, another Mexican who has flattened a heralded Matchroom fighter this year. Straffon’s first-round stoppage win over James Tennyson was a surprise to almost everyone, but presumably mostly to Sky commentator Johnny Nelson, who had previously surmised that Tennyson was ready to take down Gervonta Davis. This will be Matchroom and DAZN’s first large-scale UK show together, and they will have analysed the delivery of the Fight Camp shows, so it will also be interesting to see what changes might be made on the presentation side.