The New Orleans fighter’s bout with Jose Zepeda resonates with everything that still makes the sport so vivid and fascinating even amid its troubles
“Nothing will kill boxing, and nothing can save it,” Larry Merchant, the great old American sportswriter and commentator, once said as he surveyed the enduring chaos of a bloody business which now operates even deeper in the shadows away from mainstream life and sport. His words have resounded again after a terrible second half of the year for boxing. A riveting fight between two contemporary artists of the ring in Terence Crawford and Errol Spence cannot be made and, instead, we face the depressing reality of Tyson Fury facing a damaged Derek Chisora for a third time next Saturday in a contest devoid of any meaning beyond the money it will make for those involved. Such a mess makes boxing seem more broken than ever.
Merchant is 91 and so he has not been seen during a surreal Thanksgiving week in the Californian sunshine as Regis Prograis and Jose Zepeda prepare for their world title bout this Saturday night in Los Angeles. This is a serious and compelling super-lightweight fight which, while it will definitely not save anyone, resonates with everything that still makes the best characters in boxing so vivid and fascinating when they occupy a space of real gravitas.
