The Opening Bell; A boxing podcast

Mere days after Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua is confirmed, we're told it's in jeopardy.

Matt Christie lets off some steam on the subject and the eternal circus that is the sport of boxing.

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Recorded at the EXACT moment when Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury was confirmed as a done deal for December 11 in Cardiff, The Opening Bell has another important announcement to bring you.

Our beloved Alex Steedman has chosen to leave the podcast. That's the bad news. And it's horrible, crushing news.

The good news is that The Opening Bell will continue - should, of course, you want it to.

Matt Christie, while paying tribute to the one and only Steed, explains the reasons behind Alex's departure and what he hopes The Opening Bell will look like in the future.

Stay with us, folks, we can get through this.
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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.

Thanks, as always, folks for the support.
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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.

Thanks one and all for listening and supporting The Opening Bell!
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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.

Spread the word of The Opening
Bell, comrades. And hit the subscribe button if you really want to make
yourself useful.

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