The Opening Bell; A boxing podcast

Ryan Garcia defeated Conor Benn, stopping him in less than five minutes out in Las Vegas. The contest itself was immeasurably shorter than the build-up that focused on Benn's struggle to boil down to 147lbs but was this really a contest decided by one man's struggle to make weight?

In the Opening Bell studio this week is Tris Dixon, one of the most respected boxing journalists in the business, who answers the pertinent questions regarding Benn's defeat to Garcia. There is, of course, the battle with the scales to consider yet Garcia's triumph was both so emphatic and rapid it would be cruel on the victor to suggest he defeated an already broken man.

Yet it reignites conversation about when fighters should and should not weigh in. Evidence continues to mount that staging them the day before a contest is making the sport more dangerous than it already is. More so, it is only encouraging fighters to compete in a weight class that bears no relation to their actual size come the opening bell.

But was Benn hard done by at the finish? Some suggested it was premature stoppage while others have championed the compassion of the referee.

We look ahead at the rebuild job for Benn and the future of Garcia who, with this victory, finds himself as one of the most marketable fighters in the business.

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It's fight week in Las Vegas and Chris McKenna, nursing a minor hangover out in Sin City, is this week's guest on The Opening Bell.

Garcia makes the first defence of his WBC welterweight title against Benn. The fight is interesting for different reasons and worthy of several questions.

Does it feel like a big fight week? Why (oh why) is Benn No. 1 at welterweight with the WBC when he hasn't made 147lbs in four years? With that in mind, is Benn as weight-drained as the recent imagery makes it appear or is he, like Garcia, launching a few mind-game bombs? What does each need to do to win and, finally, who does win?

Fear not, we limit the Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury chat while wondering why Turki Alalshikh and Sela don't just stump up the cash to stage the fight in the UK.

We end on a high, just like Katie Taylor, and focus on her perfect end to a near-perfect career.

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In a startling collapse that culminated one of the most dramatic
heavyweight fights of the year, Moses Itauma ultimately met his match in the
shape of the rugged and unyielding Filip Hrgovic. But what came before that
fateful ninth round should tell us two things: Hrgovic is built differently to most
and Itauma, for different reasons, is also one of a kind.

So, what went wrong? Plenty
have suggested that Itauma merely misread his own gas tank and, with crucial
experience gained, will come back better and stronger. But one also wonders if
it will be as simple as that. The psychological scars could be substantial,
after all.

There’s also the performance of
Ben Davison to consider. Has he really gone from one of the best trainers
around to a clueless buffoon who doesn’t know when to throw a towel? Or is
someone like the precocious and instinctive Itauma simply impossible to teach
or manage?

Elsewhere, Chantelle Cameron
got past Mikaela Mayer, who again believed she deserved more from the scoring
judges after an entertaining scrap. And looking ahead, Katie Taylor prepares
for her swansong in a Croke Park showcase surely designed to ensure she’s still
singing at the end.

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Bell, comrades. And hit the subscribe button if you really want to make
yourself useful.

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Despite all the noise reverberating from the negotiations between
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury – noise that, unfortunately, we must address – a
meaningful, and potentially pivotal, heavyweight title clash occurs this
weekend when Moses Itauma duels with Filip Hrgovic.

Will this be the fight when we
see Itauma truly tested or, as the oddsmakers suggest, will it be another
one-sided triumph for the 21-year-old? And if Itauma does indeed do what is
expected and win convincingly, will he then be able to cope with the pressure
of being the youngest heavyweight belt-holder since the heady days of Mike
Tyson’s peak?

Last weekend, George Liddard
aced his latest test when he became the European middleweight champion and, in
the States, Teofimo Lopez was handed a get-out-of-jail-free card by Rolly
Romero.

We bring you an update on
Ringside Charitable Trust, and you can access their website here,
before hurtling back to 2013 and the night when cult hero Jhonny Gonzalez
marmalized Abner Mares inside one round.

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supporting The Opening Bell.

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What do we want? AJ vs. Fury! Where do want it? At this point, who cares…

Dana White this week came out and revealed he’s brokered the TV and site deals for Joshua vs. Fury but the old problem remains: Both fighters signed contracts with different locations, dates, and terms. Whether it happens or not, we are getting to the point of no return for this heavyweight showdown that, frankly, should already be in the past.

It’s an interesting discussion, though. What does the future for boxing really look like? Can Moses Itauma, for example, ever become a crossover star if he’s forced to fight behind hard-to-find paywalls from this point forth? Furthermore, what becomes of the sport at grassroots level if only those that are already in full bloom are getting any water?

Claressa Shields reminded of her star power at the weekend even if her opponent, Kaye Scott, was overmatched and outclassed from the start. We look ahead to Rolly Romero vs. Teofimo Lopez which undoubtedly is a good fight. But on what planet is it a PPV fight?

Finally, we go back to 2016 and the contest that arguably signalled the start of Errol Spence Jnr’s peak: The beatdown of the gnarled Leonard Bundu in Coney Island, New York.

Keep ringing that Opening Bell, folks. We thank you for your support.
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