Chris Eubank Jr will walk tonight's fight, and fans should protest the extortionate pay-per-view price by boycotting
When Eubank calls out Golovkin, or Groves or DeGale and ends up not only fighting Renold Quinlan, but charging fans £12.95 to see it, you have to ask if he’s completely lost the plot?
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Your support makes all the difference.For a sport that is defined by and survived through working class people, it’s always pretty disgusting to see just how bad fans are treated sometimes.
Whether it’s ridiculous ticket prices for average live events or absurd fights being put onto PPV, humble boxing purists always seem to be forced to dip into their pockets a little bit more than other sports enthusiasts.
Sometimes it’s all for a good cause. On occasion, a fight can only be made because of PPV television. Mayweather/Pacquiao? That’s a PPV fight. Fury/Klitschko? Absolutely. Even Kell Brook vs Gennady Golovkin had a gladiatorial feel which intrigued and enchanted the nation.
Sky Sports and BoxNation have had a monopoly on paid TV live boxing over the past few years, with Channel 5 occasionally popping up with a card that seemingly only exists to promote a Home counties shopping centre.
But now, after years spent in the mainstream boxing TV wilderness, ITV are back with their own PPV offering. That’s right, the free-to-air stalwart wants your money, but instead of giving you a fight that demands payment, they have launched their new platform with a match that represents absolutely nothing.
If you’re reading this for the boxing analysis we provide for every televised fight in Britain each week, this week you might be disappointed. ITV’s box office main event features Chris Eubank Jr fighting Renold Quinlan, a boxer best known for feasting on the bones of a shop-worn Daniel Geale last year.
Eubank Jr is a good fighter. He’s possibly great, but instead of fighting top opposition he’s spent the last two years calling out every big name in the sport while falling out with promoters and competing against pretty average competition.
He must feel more like a stranger every time he comes home, because during the course of his 24 fight career he’s featured on more TV channels than a prime Katie Price.
All of the movement he displays in the ring has been cheapened and caricatured by the obnoxious behaviour that he and his dad have displayed in recent times.
Confidence, swagger and attitude are three terrific attributes when you can back them up, but both Eubanks have been dining at the table of possibility for far too long.
So when Eubank calls out Golovkin, or Groves or DeGale and ends up not only fighting Renold Quinlan, but charging fans £12.95 to see it, you have to ask if he’s completely lost the plot?
How can a boxer whose sole form of genuine popularity comes from Snapchat be in any position to charge anybody anything extra to watch him box?
How can a man who has eschewed class and decorum have the audacity to believe that this is an acceptable thing to do?
It can’t be money because he’d make 10 times more than he’ll earn tonight against a Golovkin, or DeGale, or anybody with an actual pulse.
What is it then? Where has this stubbornness come from, and where is going to get him? And perhaps more pertinently, who at ITV Sport had the flawed insight to think that this was a good idea, and then to go through with it despite an intensely disagreeable response from fans, pundits and fighters alike?
The world is changing for everybody, and it’s different for all. Some people are being drawn to greed, chasing the pound notes and the quick cash-in. These people are just looking to exploit and take advantage of others at all costs despite the future ramifications for everybody involved.
Others are trying to create a lifestyle which gives back to people and enriches lives. You can guess which side Eubank and ITV are on.
Boxing is a sport that can make and end careers with the flash of a glove. Both Eubank Sr and Jr know that better than anyone else. So why can’t they understand that the nuances of boxing apply to life as well?
Chris Eubank Jr is going to win tonight. He’s going to posture and look really good in spurts. They’ll be flashy combinations, back-turns and a lot of walking. His dad will wear something stupid and say something even worse. The commentary will be complimentary without being overly-schmaltzy.
Hey, the undercard is pretty decent as well. Adam Etches and John Ryder meet in a crossroads fight while David Price fights Christian Hammer. Oh, and did we mention the IBO super middleweight title is on the line for Eubank? And that ITV are billing this as a genuine world title fight?
Letters only mean something when they stand for anything. So ignore the IBO, and send in your thoughts to ITV by not watching tonight
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