Volume III: Better Late than Never
Chikadze may be old for a prospect, he's shaking up the rankings. And yeah, there was a Jake Paul fight.
After knocking out two longtime contenders (Cub Swanson and Edson Barboza) back-to-back it’s safe to say Giga Chikadze has arrived. What’s his ceiling? Is Amanda Serrano the P4P queen of women’s boxing? No, Tyron Woodley couldn’t stop the Jake Paul hype train. And after Ignacio Bahamondes’s head kick KO of the year contender last week I’ve added another section for the most brutal KO of the week, should there be any notable contenders, and boy was there this week!
On paper this was a relatively underwhelming card, and despite some exciting finishes it did end up being pretty forgettable. The main event, however, delivered excitement and lots of action, even if not as violent as we may have hoped.
Giga Chikadze (14-2) started off fast and strong; though Edson Barboza (22-10) was also fast, Chikadze was noticeably quicker, on both offense and defense. For two fighters who are such talented offensive strikers both had notable defensive success, both slipping and blocking kicks and punches. Despite Chikadze’s speed advantage Barboza also found success, particularly to the body. In the second and third round Chikadze’s speed advantage became less apparent due to a combination of factors. Barboza’s body shots were paying off relatively quickly, but perhaps equally important was Barboza’s defense as Chikadze had been throwing a variety of head kicks, axe kicks, and knees that were often dodged or blocked. Fortunately for Chikadze his gas tank didn’t give out before the end of the fight, but it was cause for concern.
In the third round Chikadze was able to land a series including a calf kick, left hand, and a right hand to the chin that wobbled Barboza. Barboza dropped to his back as Giga chased, diving for the ground and pound finish. Barboza displayed passable defensive wrestling to elude Chikadze’s onslaught and subsequent submission attempt, forcing Chikadze to give up, go back to standup, and regroup. Ultimately this only bought Barboza a short bit of time before Chikadze was able to stagger him again and the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
In the post-fight interview Chikadze called for the UFC to place him in the backup slot for the UFC 266 main event between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and second-ranked contender Brian Ortega on September 25. If not that, then Max Holloway is the only option Chikadze thinks is worth his time. “I would love to cover the title shot and be a replacement fighter. If not, somebody Hawaiian who’s in the division. He knows my name. I saw him doing interviews, and he said something like this, ‘Oh, yeah, I heard this Giga guy who kicks.’ I’m not just a Giga guy; I’m a guy who kicks the s—t out of people.” Giga said before continuing “I’m not interested in anything else,” Chikadze said at the post-fight press conference. “Like why? Everybody before this said no to me. I’ve been told that I’m going to fight a top-five guy and then the title. The top-five guy didn’t agree. Nobody agreed, and that’s why I fought Edson, who is a bigger name than top five. So I want to see myself on a top-five next week ranking, top-three actually.” As of writing this the UFC has not updated their rankings, but Chikadze may have done enough to jump into the title picture. He’ll need to work on his gas tank and be more judicious with his heavy kicks to ensure he doesn’t get too tired too quickly, but if he can improve that and his wrestling he’s definitely a strong contender for the belt.
Other Notable Results
Boxing
Amanda Serrano defeats Yamileth Mercado (UD)
Daniel DuBois defeats Joe Cusumano (KO 1)
Ivan Baranchyk loses to Montana Love (RTD 7)
Tommy Fury defeats Anthony Taylor (UD)
Though it pains me, I’d be remiss to not address the continuing Jake Paul saga and its impact on the combat sports world. Yes, Jake Paul won the fight. No, he didn’t continue his KO streak, but Tyron Woodley was unsurprisingly the best challenger Paul has faced so far. So where does this leave us? And if Jake Paul can drum up so much excitement for a fight, is boxing dead?
To give a brief breakdown of the fight Jake Paul was clearly the more experienced boxer. Woodley pressured and was able to land some solid punches, nearly earning a knockdown in the fourth round, but was not active enough to bank enough rounds to take the win. Though a great MMA fighter, Woodley didn’t have the boxing-specific ring IQ needed to set his punches up; if he was more active or had that boxing IQ the likely would have ended differently.
What does this mean for Jake Paul’s boxing career?
If anyone believed Jake Paul was a legitimate contender last night should have changed their minds. Paul looked sluggish after just a couple rounds and a more competent boxer likely would have capitalized. In the post-fight presser Paul discussed how tired he had been and how he may need to take some time off. He’s without a doubt one of the most competent celebrity boxers ever, but he’d be chewed up and spit out in a fight with any of the top hundred cruiserweights in the world. The likely next options are a rematch with Woodley, a fight with another former (or current) MMA fighter, or a bout with Tommy Fury (7-0) who fought on the undercard. Though an okay boxer, Tommy’s name recognition is a combination of sharing the surname of his half brother, heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and having appeared on reality dating show Love Island.
What does this mean for the sport of boxing?
No, boxing is not dead, no matter how many times Dana White may say so. This opinion has been around for decades and has been untrue just as long. There are common claims to back this up, but ultimately the majority of them are exaggerations or flat-out false.
“The best don’t fight the best in boxing”
Though the factional nature of the belts and promotion companies do get in the way of some of the best fights in boxing these fights do eventually happen, more often than not. In 2021 there have been two fights to crown an undisputed champion. Josh Taylor defeated Jose Ramirez to become the undisputed 140 pound champion in May and Jermell Charlo fought Brian Castano to a draw in July that would have given the winner undisputed status at 154 pounds. In the past two years there have been over ten fights across fourteen weight classes where the best in the division fought arguably the second best (with less uniform rankings this is based on general consensus). Though it may not be as frequent as MMA it’s not the massive problem it’s made out to be.
“MMA fans are younger, boxing caters to an older audience”
This is false, plain and simple. Per data gathered by the Sports Business Journal, as of 2017 boxing and MMA audiences had the same median age (49) and MMA’s had increased by fifteen years since 2006. Boxing’s increase was just two years, one of the lowest differences of any sport. Sports with audiences older than boxing? NFL, college football, and college basketball. There’s no real issue with the age of the fans.
“MMA is dominating PPV sales”
This one is also flat-out wrong. As of January 2020, of the top fifty-five most-sold combat sports PPVs of all time boxing dominated with thirty, MMA had sixteen, and the remaining nine were from wrestling events put on by the likes of WWE.1 Of the top ten boxing outnumbered MMA seven to three. Even when removing Floyd Mayweather, the undisputed king of PPVs, boxing remains on top with twenty-one. (If you remove McGregor, the most successful UFC PPV star, MMA has eleven on the list.)
The Takeaways
Is it discouraging that one of the most talked about stars in boxing is a YouTuber who has a litany of controversies? Yes. Is boxing alive and well with or without Jake Paul? Also yes. The fans are there and they’re not that old. They’re buying the PPVs. Fights, and good ones, are getting made. And perhaps most importantly, fighters are getting paid a fair share of revenue. Despite Jake Paul being a not-so-great boxer and even worse person, he has been shining a light on what many in the MMA community have known for so long: Dana White and the UFC chronically underpay their fighters. Though the factional landscape of boxing does raise some issues, the biggest benefit is that promoters are forced to pay fighters high wages. In boxing the talent usually earns anywhere from 70-90% of revenue. In UFC it’s about 20-30%. After all, there’s a reason so many UFC fighters are chasing boxing paydays.
The KO of the Week goes to Emily Ducote, who brutally finished Danielle Taylor Mortal Kombat-style to win the Invicta FC strawweight title.
Jermall Charlo was arrested on felony robbery charges following a dispute regarding a bar tab in San Antonio. Sentences run between two and twenty years and fines up to $10,000. His legal team has disputed the allegations.
Gervonta “Tank” Davis vacated his WBA Junior Lightweight title.
The WBA has almost completely eliminated “interim” titles effective immediately. The organization will now only use such titles in extreme circumstances.
Boxing
Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington, Saturday 9/4, 3:00PM (EST)
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MMA
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till, Saturday 9/4, 4:00PM (EST)
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There have been events in the past year and a half that would alter these numbers slightly, including McGregor vs. Poirier 3, which would land at the 8th spot.