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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jermall Charlo is having fun again, but big questions still surround his return to the ring
Jermall Charlo is saying all the right things ahead of his return to the ring Saturday against Thomas LaManna at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. 'I'm excited,' he told Uncrowned. He said he'd welcome a future fight against rival Caleb Plant, who boxes Jose Armando Resendiz in the main event of at the same show, and would fight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez if the opportunity presented itself too. He's even prepared to fight more frequently. Advertisement Charlo, a former two-weight world champion, is one of America's best-known boxers. He has an identical twin named Jermell, who is also a gifted fighter. Combined, they were a driving force for Premier Boxing Champions when the organization aired its events on Showtime Sports. Jermall, though, has been inactive. We've rarely seen him. He's only fought three times in the past five years. The sport of boxing has changed dramatically since he last held a title in 2021. His next bout will be his first on PBC's new broadcast partner, Prime Video, which is a partnership first announced at the end of 2023. There are numerous reasons for Charlo's absence. "When you can't stabilize your mind to think forward, that's where I was at. Not being able to explain it to anyone. Always shielded. I had to fight through my learning experience,' he said on PBC's YouTube channel regarding his struggles with mental health. He told the NY Post two years ago that he was 'dealing with all kinds of cases of [being] bipolar.' He said he turned his back on the world. His brother, Jermell, once said the reason he got the "Canelo" fight in 2023 instead of Jermall was because Jermall wasn't 'in the right mental state' to compete. Advertisement Jermall, though, faced his battles on his own terms, and got better at his own pace. Patience, he said, was key. Charlo's willingness to discuss his vulnerabilities so openly is important because a stigma remains attached to the condition. McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility of Harvard Medical School, notes that only "25% of Black people seek mental health treatment when needed, compared to 40% of white people." Christine M. Crawford, MD, MPH, specializes in psychiatry, completed her fellowship at McLean, and said: 'African Americans silently live with mental health challenges for fear of being judged.' For Charlo, there was a period in his life when he 'didn't know what mental health even was.' Advertisement 'A lot of people shy away from showing that sensitive side of themselves," he said in 2023. "Because I'm the champ, they look at me like they expect greatness. And sometimes I don't have that greatness to provide. Then I'm not mentally focused. Now I'm mentally focused, I feel like I'm a better person.' After previous absences from the ring, Charlo has spoken of the need to 'rebuild himself' mentally. And that has never been more apparent than after speaking to him this month. He certainly seems rebuilt. I've been interviewing Charlo for six years. But after speaking to him in 2023, something seemed amiss. He looked vacant. His hair was dishevelled. He was uninterested. Never have I advised a fighter not to fight, but that was the one occasion I was close to penning a column saying his bout against Jose Benavidez Jr. should not go ahead. I even heard from a source close to Charlo that they shared a similar concern. Regardless, Charlo outpointed Benavidez by a 100-90 margin on one of the judges' scorecards. He won with ease. I didn't get to tell Charlo how wrong I was until this month, upon his return to the sport, after another extended spell away. Advertisement It was great to see him smile again. Talking to him in 2025 is like speaking to a different person. He's more engaged, and appears more content. "Having my brother [in camp helps], but on top of that, I rebuilt my team,' he said. This has energized him, he added, because he's now got 'a brotherhood' around him. 'We all believe in God. We're all strong, just knowing things come and go, I got rid of a lot of the drama. Got things out of my life that I won't get that back again. I feel a lot better. It's one of the best camps I had. There's laughter. Fun. It's not about material stuff no more.' Charlo's return to the sport comes at a pivotal time for American boxing considering the significant influence that Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season has. Whether Las Vegas' status as the Fight Capital of the World is under threat from Saudi Arabian finances remains to be seen. But Charlo has been watching with interest from afar. Advertisement His fire, he said, 'is lit.' He added: 'I can't wait to get in there and show the world. I've been waiting on management, promoters, team, to be right, mentally and physically, and give everybody what they want to see [against LaManna].' The biggest difference in the fight game from when Charlo was last the champ, to now, isn't just what Alalshikh brings to boxing, but also the presence of internet sensation Jake Paul. The sport 'is picking up.' Jermall Charlo was sensation in his most recent fight against Jose Benavidez Jr. () (David Becker via Getty Images) 'We're getting back to where we left off," Charlo said. "A lot of things have changed. It's a different era, we're going to the last part of the 2020s and it's a new generation of boxers, going from real-world champions, out of weight classes — which is crazy to me — getting to a point where Floyd [Mayweather] fought a big guy [Logan Paul], now it's going to YouTube, random rappers becoming boxers. You can be a painter, and as long as you can talk a little bit, it can be a pay-per-view bout. It's different.' Advertisement Though there are others, few have crossed over from the influencer scene as well as Paul, who has an 11-1 (7 KOs) pro record and has brought many of the world's best female fighters under one roof at Most Valuable Promotions — a firm he co-founded alongside former UFC executive Nikisa Bidarian. Paul returns June 28 against former champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at a Golden Boy co-promoted show on DAZN. 'He was the first one to do it,' Charlo said of Paul, before remarking that other creators from YouTube are now 'over-saturating' the market and not respecting the sport. 'They haven't known how to put blood, sweat, and tears into it. That's when they're not taking boxing that serious.' Charlo wants to take the sport 'back to how it used to be,' he said. 'Boxing is not the same no more.' The sport in the U.S. would no doubt get a boost from a more active Charlo — one who is serious about boosting America's standing in the fight game. The biggest question that remains, though, is while he appears back to his old self outside of the ring, it's unclear, after another 18 months away, whether Charlo can still be his old self inside of it.
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
The bloom is off the Gervonta Davis rose after a referee's critical blunder
An egregious non-call by referee Steve Willis allowed Gervonta Davis to salvage a draw on the judges' scorecards in Davis's WBA 135lb title defense against Lamont Roach at Barclays Center on Saturday night. Davis (now 30-0-1, 28 KOs), has been fighting professionally for 12 years. At age 30, he's an elite fighter with a fervent fanbase that includes 7.6m followers on Instagram. He has yet to permeate the consciousness of mainstream sports fans. But for his admirers, every Gervonta Davis fight is a happening. Davis v Roach set the all-time event attendance record in the history of Barclays Center. The sold-out crowd of 19,250 engendered the arena's second-largest gross ever, eclipsed only by the Rolling Stones. In the ring, Davis conducts himself like a champion. He's a disciplined fighter who rarely makes foolish choices. Outside the ring, too often, he acts like a thug. Time and again, Gervonta has been involved with the criminal justice system. Several of these occurrences centered on the physical abuse of women. The most serious in terms of legal consequences to Davis resulted in his being incarcerated in 2023 after pleading guilty to charges related to a hit-and-run accident in which four people were injured. Former Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza saw Davis as a cornerstone of Showtime's boxing program before the network went out of the boxing business. Trying to put a positive spin on Gervonta's troubles with the law, Espinoza declared, 'What you get is authentic and raw. It's an undeniable part of culture and media today, and perhaps more now than ever before. The saying 'all publicity is good publicity' is probably more true. I'm not saying it's a good thing to have legal problems, and certainly not the kind of legal issues that Tank [Davis's nickname] has had. But in a grander scheme, that media world we live in, where people are talking about you, it's generally a good thing for your business or future.' That's a cynical approach. Moreover, while Davis had synergy with Espinoza, Gervonta has had a lesser relationship with boxing's new power broker - Turki Alalshikh (chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority). In January, Alalshikh declared, 'I want him [Davis] and I send message now [for] you to [PBC impresario] Haymon: Let's do job, brother. Davis, of course we want him in our country.' In response, Davis posted on X, 'They made me mad. If they want me, they gotta send me something to my front door .. like 2 Ferraris. Like before I even think about going over there.' Understandably offended, Alalshikh replied, 'I heard in the media, Davis said, 'Send to me two Ferraris to play in Saudi Arabia.' I said to him, 'We will send you two gloves if you want to play in Saudi Arabia; that's it.'' Davis habitually blows off promotional obligations and has been known to arrive hours late for important media events. The kick-off press conference for Davis v Roach was scheduled to begin at Barclays Center on 3 December at 1pm. Late that morning, the media was advised by email that it had been rescheduled for 3pm. Later in the day, the time was pushed back another hour. The press conference finally started at 5.30pm. Roach had won the WBA 130lb title by split-decision over Hector Luis Garcia in 2023 and was stepping up in weight to fight Gervonta. Most observers saw Lamont as a sacrificial lamb, which he acknowledged at the press conference, complaining, 'People talking shit about the fight.' During fight week, Davis's contempt for his promotional obligations was on display again. On Wednesday, he arrived at Gleason's Gym 45 minutes late for a promised 'media workout,' spoke with PBC host Miguel Flores for several minutes, and left the gym without throwing a punch or answering questions from the assembled media. When fight night came, the eight-bout undercard was a mix of faded former champions, champions with alphabet-soup belts, young prospects, and club fighters without a future. Most of the fights were mismatches. But the night was about Gervonta. Every other fighter on the card, including Roach, was fungible. The crowds at Davis's fights have a hard edge. Gervonta is an explosive fighter. When he fights, the arena pulsates with excitement. He's skilled defensively, counterpunches well, and sets up his power punches particularly well. He's also a southpaw, which makes the puzzle even more difficult for opponents to solve. Roach (who came into the fight with a 25-1-1, 10 KOs record) is a solid fighter. But he isn't a puncher and wasn't thought of as being on Davis's level. Gervonta was a 12-to-1 betting favorite. The fight started slowly. Davis typically waits for his opponent to make a mistake and counters with power. But Roach fought with equal caution and didn't give Gervonta much to counter. There was virtually no action in the early going. Lamont landed a meager seven punches in the first two rounds and Gervonta four. Only the sense of anticipation that accompanies a Gervonta Davis fight gave the proceedings drama. As the rounds passed, both fighters opened up a bit with Roach holding his own in exchanges. The crowd kept waiting for something big to happen. In round nine, it did. But it wasn't what anyone expected. Fifty seconds into round nine, Roach landed a jab followed by a solid right hand that landed flush up top. Davis took a knee. And referee Steve Willis blew the call. Despite starting a count, Willis allowed Davis to go to his corner where a cornerman wiped his face with a towel. Then, without calling a knockdown or otherwise penalizing Gervonta, Willis allowed the action to continue. That was a horrible mistake. A fighter cannot call a time-out in boxing. At the very least, Willis should have ruled that Gervonta taking a knee was a 'knockdown.' Further on the spectrum, he could have penalized Davis another point for corner interference or even (and this would have been going too far) disqualified him. Compounding the blunder; the New York State Athletic Commission has a video-replay review official on site who is charged with reviewing incidents of this nature. But the erroneous call was not corrected because the PBC-Amazon production team failed to provide a replay to the commission for review within the requisite one minute before the next round began. Eric Marlinski scored the fight 115-113 for Davis. Steve Weisfeld and Glenn Feldman had it even at 114-114. Two of the judges - Marlinski and Feldman - scored round nine for Davis, making Steve Willis's blunder a three-point swing on their scorecards. Had Willis properly called a knockdown, Roach would have won a 115 -112, 114-113, 114-113 decision. When the draw was announced, the pro-Davis crowd booed loudly. At first, it seemed possible that fans were unhappy because Gervonta hadn't been awarded the decision. But that possibility was erased when the crowd booed Gervonta during a post-fight interview as he explained that he'd taken a knee because, 'I just got my hair done two days ago and she put grease in my shit. So, the grease, when you sweat, it was coming into my face.' New York boxing fans have a sense of fairness even if some referees don't. What's next for Davis? For starters, Gervonta lost some of his lustre as a fighter on Saturday night. One also has to question. his state of mind. Ten years ago, at the dawn of his boxing career, Gervonta told David Greisman, 'I come from a dark background. I was in foster care and group homes and stuff because my mom was on drugs and stuff like that. [Then] my grandma got me back from foster care. I started school. I was in a new neighborhood. So I was a new kid on the block and I was light-skinned and I was short, so I had to fight a lot.' From those origins, a personality was forged and a fighter born. Now, after myriad troubles, Davis has been talking recently like a man who is reevaluating his life: 'Being betrayed, everything I've been through. That's me now just trying to separate myself from it. I'm trying to move further and further away from where I come from. I feel as if I can become a better person but it's not there yet. The person I can become, I can see it, but this [boxing] is holding me up from getting that. I still got to build myself up and be angry to fight. That's like contradicting myself.' 'It's stuff that I catch myself doing. I would do it and then I'd be like, 'If I didn't have this in me, it wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have snapped if I wouldn't have had the mean side in me. Or I could handle it in a better way than the way I went about it.' I got kids now. I don't wanna snap on my daughters. I feel as if I can remove everything and work on myself, like going back to school, getting therapy and moving on; I feel like as though that would change me as a man.' 'I want to do therapy, right? But I feel as though, if I do therapy, it would lose the fire that I have inside of me. I want everything out of me where so I don't think about even getting angry. I want to be much softer, be more humble and things like that. I don't want to box no more. After the second fight [in 2025], I'm out of the sport.' But first things first. Davis has unfinished business with Lamont Roach. In all likelihood, they'll fight again. But for now, the bloom is off the Gervonta Davis rose. Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@ His most recent book – a memoir titled My Mother and Me – is now available in stores. In 2019, he was selected for boxing's highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP TEAM: NBA CHAMPION MATT BARNES NAMED CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, BRIAN DAILEY NAMED PRESIDENT AND COO
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS today announced the appointment of co-founders Matt Barnes and Brian Dailey to formal roles within the company. Barnes, the NBA Champion-turned-media entrepreneur, will serve as Chief Executive Officer, while Dailey, a former Showtime Sports programming executive, will assume the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS was founded in 2024 following the closure of Showtime Sports, the television network division that helped launch the sports and culture-shaping digital series ALL THE SMOKE WITH MATT BARNES AND STEPHEN JACKSON in 2019. The ATSP ethos stems from its flagship series, focusing on unfiltered, authentic storytelling led by athletes themselves. "We founded ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS to change the game and that is what we are doing," said Barnes. "We are telling authentic stories that matter, and it's been an incredible journey to see the impact we've had in such a short time. Year two of this company is about expanding that vision and creating more opportunities for athletes to have a voice in how their stories are told." "The world of sports media is rapidly evolving," said Dailey, "and ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS is at the forefront of that transformation. We're not just creating compelling, important content—podcasts, series, documentaries and brands—we are leading a movement to amplify varied and diverse voices, inspire audiences and engage fans on a deeper level." In 2024, the company made significant strides to quickly re-establish infrastructure, launch new intellectual property and continue to grow its already sizable digital audience. It also launched a new content division, ALL THE SMOKE FIGHT, bringing its total digital reach to over 20 million. The company signed Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Andre Ward and Roy Jones Jr., to key roles and established a progressive distribution strategy across social platforms, YouTube, and all major podcast outlets. New deals are pending with major OTT and streaming services. Additionally, ALL THE SMOKE expanded its brand with a coffee table book from Simon & Schuster, a new premium Mezcal, a limited-edition sneaker collaboration, and a premium merchandise line. The company partnered with Live Nation to launch a live series, Smoke Tour Live, strengthened its alliance with online sports betting leader DraftKings, audio giant iHeartRadio and formed strategic partnerships with Meadowlark Media and Kevin Durant's Boardroom brand. Today, just one year after its founding, ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS produces more than eight regularly scheduled premium digital series at the intersection of sports and culture, including ALL THE SMOKE, UNPLUGGED, THE ART OF WARD, MORNING KOMBAT and, in conjunction with Kevin Garnett's Content Cartel, KG: CERTIFIED and TICKET & THE TRUTH. Additional series along with multiple documentary film projects are currently in development to be announced this year. Barnes, a member of the 2007 "We Believe" Warriors and the 2017 NBA Champion Warriors, transitioned into media following his 14-year NBA career. Along with fellow Champion and friend Stephen Jackson, Barnes founded ALL THE SMOKE in 2019, and the series quickly gained success, earning multiple awards and industry accolades, including the 2024 NAACP Image Awards, 2023 Webby Awards, and the 2021 iHeart Radio Podcast Awards. Dailey served as Senior Vice President of Sports Programming and Strategy at Showtime Networks from 2019 until the department's closure. His leadership played a key role in transforming Showtime Sports into a leader in innovative, culturally relevant sports content and distribution. Dailey's connections with athletes, artists, and creative brands set new standards in collaborative promotion and fan engagement. He has produced several unscripted sports films and series for both linear and digital distribution. Prior to Showtime, Dailey worked at ESPN, where he developed key partnerships and pioneered broadcast integrations. Media Contact:Chris DeBlasioE: Cdeblasio99@ @AllTheSmokeProductions * @allthesmokeprod * @ * All The Smoke Productions View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE ALL THE SMOKE PRODUCTIONS
