Boxing 2021 Tokyo | Talkin’ Fight

Boxers preparing for the Olympics include those in the Philippines is in the news on this episode, and is the news that gyms in the UK are opening. Join us on our on-going exploration of the Olympics to be held in Tokyo 2021, featuring Christian from the Friday Night Panel, and the route to the ring. Watch TalkinFight weekdays at 12, 4, 7, and 8:30pm EST on YouTube or LIVE at talkinfight.com/live @Olympic @IOC Media @torchrelay @AIBA
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#boxer #boxing #boxingtalkshow

Transcribed:

Hello boxing fans around the world.

Thank you once again for joining us on talking fight for another episode featuring christian from the friday night panel who’s going to talk to us about the olympics, in particular boxing at the olympics.

What have you ever found out today? Christian uh well other than you and i have the same stylist.

It turns out the red and white look today or i’m wondering if you just threw that on for uh, for carl and big t, i’m not sure you’re pandering is that what that shirt is.

Are we pandering now it has mud anyway.

Go ahead, go ahead, i was going to say it has more to do with that nevermind.

Well, i mean at least you come by it honestly.

At least you come by the shirt honestly uh.

I i wish i had good news for you today, graham uh, today’s a bit of a doom and gloom kind of day, though in the headlines yeah i mean well, i mean one of the big headline ever.

If you try to google olympic boxing right now, all you’ll do is you’ll just get bombarded with stories about the fact that clarissa shields has decided that she’s going to go, try her hand at mma for a bit doesn’t have a whole lot to do with boxing And more to do with a paycheck, because she’s more likely to make more money on that side of things, unfortunately takes her away from takes a talented boxer away from us.

But outside of that, there are some updates on a couple of stories that i promised that i would bring you updates on as we kept moving along and unfortunately, our friends in india have been hit yet again.

This seemingly never-ending uh string of woes for this olympic team, so in a blow to india’s women’s boxers preparedness for the tokyo olympics, their scheduled training competition trip to serbia was called off yesterday evening when as many as 21 female fighters and coaching staff members, including high Performance director, raphael, burr, berg, moscato real indian name, there bergamasca bergamascow there.

It is bergamoska raphael, berger moscow, uh and the chief national coach ali kammer tested positive for covet 19 infection and were subsequently shifted into a quarantine zone.

So a 10-member women’s boxing contingent uh, that’s excluding tokyo games, uh ticket holder, mccall mc mary calm was planned to fly to serbia today for an olympic exposure trip, but that has now been canceled after so many positive cases at the national camp for elite women fighters.

Now this obviously is mirroring what we were talking about uh last week we would hit the men’s side of the camp uh the training camp as well uh, the traveling party consisted, did consist of uh four other olympic bound.

Boxers sim ranjit cower in the 60 kilogram category, lovelina bogoran in the 69 kilogram category, puja rani in the 75 kilogram category, among others.

So earlier there were talks about sending them as well to an invitational tournament in prague in the czech republic, but that trip was also called off as a result of this in the latest development.

The sports authority of india yesterday evening informed that there were precautionary tests conducted at the indira gandhi, international facility and 21 national campers, including players and coaches and coaching staff, were found to be covet infected.

In fact, the entire assistant coaching staff has tested positive now for covid.

However, on i guess i don’t know if you could call this a positive note, but on a slightly positive note, none of the infected boxers at this point in time are the olympic bound boxers.

Those are currently holding a a ticket to uh japan so far, so for those who have tested negative they’ve been removed from the facility where they were training and are currently being quarantined on their own at the uh jl nehru stadium in new delhi.

So a sports authority of india statement read that sparring sessions and contact training have also been stopped for now.

So well, it’s good news that you know the actual fighters who are holding olympic tickets so far have not contracted the uh the virus itself.

It does greatly hamper their ability to prepare, not just because this trip from serbia has been cancelled on them, but also you know they just they’ve just taken sparring away from those.

Even those athletes who have tested negative they’ve taken sparring, uh training away from these people.

So now they’re down to pad work – and you know training on the streets like everyone else – is right now, which you know isn’t going to do them any favors as they’re in the actual run-up to the games themselves.

So now that the men’s side has already caught it now, the women’s side has it.

So hopefully you know this is them getting this all out of the way nice and early, and then we see a nice healthy contingent heading into tokyo, but i can’t help but feel that a lot of this is coming from things like the id like the decision To reimplement group dining at the training camps between different factions and different bubbles.

So it’s kind of again sad but predictable, and i’ve said that before these results are sad but predictable and all the best to everyone who is infected.

Hopefully everybody stays asymptomatic, at least, which i believe is the case at this point in time for the affected women boxers.

So nobody has been hospitalized as of yet but fingers crossed.

We wish everyone a speedy recovery, but moving on in our doom and gloom parade for the day, graham uh again, two officials in japan’s ruling ldb party today said changes could be coming to the tokyo olympics.

One of them suggested that the olympics themselves could still be cancelled and the other said that, even if they do proceed, it may be without any fans whatsoever.

So toshihiro nikai, the number two and secretary general of the ruling liberal democratic party, mentioned that the cancellation amendment.

So i mentioned the possibility of the cancellation only a day after tokyo reached 100 day to go mark.

Yesterday he made his comments on a tv show recorded by japan’s tbs tv, so nikai said if it seems impossible to go on with the games, they must definitely be cancelled if there is a surge in infections because of the olympics, there will be no meaning to Having the olympics asked if a cancellation was still an option, nikai said, of course, but he did add it’s important for japan to have a successful olympics.

It’S a big opportunity and i want to make it a success.

We will have many issues and resolve to resolve and prepare, but it’s important to take care of each one of them.

One by one, prime minister, toshihita suga, said in a statement that there was no change to the government position to do everything to achieve a safe and secure olympics.

That’S at this time.

Of course, tokyo organizers have said that they, the ioc and the international paralympic committee are still fully focused on hosting the games.

This summer they said, suga has repeatedly expressed the government’s commitment to holding the olympics.

Now this is in the face of coven.

19 cases have been rising in japan just on thursday, which is today, but obviously you know we’re 12 or so hours behind at the moment, japan’s second largest metropolitan area of osaka recorded a little over 1200 new cases, and this is the third straight day in a Row where their cases have surpassed a thousand tokyo itself hits another 729 cases its highest total in more than two months and japan has so far attributed about 9 500 deaths to coven 19.

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Now this is good, of course, by world standards, but poor uh by results.

In in asia and neighboring communities, tokyo and osaka have been under high alert status, since i believe it was the third of april, but officials are concerned that there’s little sense of urgency.

Experts on the tokyo metropolitan government task force have warned that a new variant could replace the conventional virus and trigger explosive infections.

By early may, tokyo, governor yuriko koike urged residents to take maximum protection and precaution and asked for non-tokyo residents not to visit the city tarakono.

The government minister in charge of japan’s vaccine rollout said that even if the olympics go on, there may be no fans of any kind in the venues.

He said that it’s likely that the olympics will have to be held in empty venues, particularly as cases surge across the country.

Now that is going to mean only television cameras and still cameras uh.

Well, that’s going to be the only thing around to record the action.

So we might see a bit of a hit in the broadcast quality that we’re used to at these tournaments as well.

I’M not, of course, to be joined by some reporters judges and match officials, but that’s going to be about it.

The delayed tokyo olympics are, as we all know, are set to begin july 23rd and the paralympics are going to follow on the 24th of august fans from abroad.

As we know, and as we’ve reported here before, have already been uh barred from from attending the games.

Now, even japanese spectators could be kept away.

So kono said earlier today in a tele on a television talk show.

I think the question is how to do the olympics in a way that is possible in this situation, and that may mean that there will probably be no spectators.

Now.

Conor did not suggest that the olympics would not go ahead but said that they could be held under, could only be held under a quote.

Unquote.

Certain conditions saying that the way that these olympics will be held will be very different to ones that we have seen in the past.

Tokyo organizers have said that they expect to make to announce a decision on this uh later on this month.

As to how many fans are going to be allowed at each individual venue, so once again, graham, we find ourselves in the position where the existence of the games themselves have been called into question uh at top levels of the japanese government.

So again, all doom and gloom on us today buddy we’re we’re hoping, obviously that the games are going to go ahead and even without spectators.

It’S still important to maintain that tradition, it’s important for the exposure for our athletes, um, and actually you know, and as i’m saying this uh carl from our from our friends over our last bell.

Boxing chat is saying it begs the question: should it go ahead without fans, and i would argue that absolutely yes, it should go ahead without fans uh, because we’re still watching we’re still fans we’re still here we’re still watching from home.

You know the vast majority of people who do view the olympics, you don’t have the you know the coin or the time to actually travel to japan, even in a normal uh setting to travel to japan.

To you know the hotel stay the airfare, the tickets themselves, and you know sustaining yourself over a couple of weeks, so most of us we’re going to watch it from home.

Anyway, we are going to see broadcast values drop as we have less broadcast staff.

So you may not get all the same camera angles and all the same replays in the same time that you might be used to, but i i think it’s a, i think a lot of us are going to be watching from home anyway and i think the Exposure is still just so important for the for our athletes, uh amateur athletes, who maybe one day they’re hoping to go pro or maybe they’re, just looking for that olympic gold.

All these athletes are on a clock.

This only happens every four years and both that most athletes are only going to get two, maybe three olympics at the top of their game, so missing.

Even a single uh, cancelling even a single olympics, can make a huge huge impact on the career of an athlete, especially those athletes who are coming from less developed.

Uh parts of the world where this is gon na be their major chance to be put into a spotlight my two cents on that took the words out of my mouth um.

I mean the only reason we’re here is because of kohit uh, quite frankly, and we’re broadcasting around the world we’ve got fans around the world, so i’m sure olympic athletes feel the same way.

I’M sure they’re not doing it for the few thousand people in the stadiums, but in fact yeah depends how you look at it, but uh.

Realistically, you know i mean there’s all sorts of professional teams playing without fans in the stadiums across north america uh and, of course, if tokyo does back out, there’s always orlando i mean they have said they’ll gladly take these games.

I think we might be a little close and there’s a few too many moving parts at this point in time, even just to consider the visa applications for athletes coming from around the world getting into the us, let alone the fact that florida itself is just a Petri dish for covet at the moment, so i don’t see them taking up orlando’s offer on that one.

But you know i know i know stranger things have happened.

You know you know we’ll will be interesting when it comes to olympics.

I don’t think there’s gon na be fans there, but i wonder if they’re gon na pipe in fan noise like they do.

I was actually just about to ask you that question.

I was about to ask you that exact same question: do you think they’re going to pump in the the fan noise, because i remember i was watching what was i watching the other day, something i think it was.

It was a.

It was a champions league match at the time and oh yeah, you hear the crowd going wild and you don’t think anything of you just watching going.

Yeah yeah wait a second.

You start looking good.

It’S completely empty uh stadium.

We’Ve seen the same thing in nhl games fans losing their minds only there’s nobody there right now, i’m wondering do they.

Are they doing that, though? Just for our benefit viewing from home, or they is that going over, the loud speakers in the actual arenas and stadiums like on the ice on the pitch are the actual athletes hearing.

This is why did job just popped into my head now? This question: are they hearing that or is that just in post-production? Is that just coming to us via tv magic? You know what, as as mike, and i often discuss uh one of the good things about not having fans at a boxing match right now.

You can actually hear the smack of leather.

You can hear the coaches yelling and screaming, and that’s kind of fun for a fan uh to listen to that kind of stuff, not just the experience.

Sometimes you’d hope that the sometimes you’d hope the coach’s instruction would be better than punch harder anything.

But you do you hear that when we have been hearing that in some of these matches that we’ve been watching, you know just you you’d expect more.

You know watch for the left hook or you’re.

You know, you’re dropping your no just punch harder, punch more you’re here only for yourself.

Oh there we go so uh.

Our friends in the uk have just popped in and premier league.

They are not pumping that into the stadiums only on the tv, so uh quiet for the athletes themselves.

I’M not sure what they’re going to be doing come the actual olympics.

So we’ll see yeah we’ll see.

But you know what, if you’re, watching the olympics days gone by uh on tv, for example uh and if you let’s say you’re, watching track and field.

There are so many different events going on simultaneously within that stadium.

It’S not like all sixty thousand or a hundred thousand fans are screaming for that.

One pole, vaulter they’re they’re, watching separate events as they occur on the field so well.

The track events are a bit of a difference, a bit of a different uh animal.

For that exact reason, you know: you’ve got that big stadium.

You’Ve got obviously the track going around the stadium, and then you have all these events happening in the in the middle of that, where yeah you might have uh pole vaulting over on this side, going on the same time, this standing long jump on this side or Something like that, and it really depends on where your seats are in the stadium, which events you actually get to get a good view of.

But i mean something like the boxing events: they’re not running four or five rings in one giant uh in one giant auditorium where you know, which which fight am i going to watch at any given point in time? So it’s a little bit different on our side of things they might and it also, i wonder about you – know swimmers swimmers don’t compete because of the fan.

Noise.

Uh divers don’t compete because of the fan noise matter of fact: the stadium’s really quiet when there’s uh diving going on just for example, so you know oh yeah you get thrown out or you’ll get thrown out of wimbledon for talking correct, so um you know.

Did you really need the fans uh? Yes, and no? I would answer yo yes, and no so anyway, uh, but you know what they uh.

The japanese olympic uh body were bragging quite frankly prior to all this, that they had sold the majority of their sponsorship rights to japanese companies and they were the highest grossing uh internal uh sponsorship sale ever for the olympic events.

So you know they’ve already sold the broadcast rights they’ve already made their money uh.

So the japanese people kind of don’t really need fans as in terms of generating money.

Well, it’s good because they’re not getting them from overseas.

They’Ve already decided that it’s just going to be a matter of on the domestic level, how many of those typica tickets were snapped up in the uh domestic sales and then once again, they’re going to have to refund all that money as well.

And then it’s going to bring them into the same thing, that’s going on with everyone else in the world going well.

Are we also going to get our service fees refunded, or is this just going to be a matter of here’s face value on your ticket? True true yep right.

The debate rages that another debate’s about to start here, because carl there says uh over in britain, says that boxing matches and crowd noise is much louder in the uk than the us according to fighters.

He says so he says british boxing fans are rowdier than american boxing fans now, having been to sporting events having been to sporting events in both countries, both of us have together, we’ve been to sporting events in both countries, um soccer or football again, depending on your Uh on your preferred flavor we’ve been to matches here in toronto as well as in uh, scotland, you and i together, i think you’ve been to more than i have over there.

It doesn’t really surprise me, because i’ve seen how much the brits are drinking before going into these uh before they enter these stadiums, but but walking you see it it’s a different atmosphere because, from what i’ve seen of sporting events in the uk versus here is here, You show up you, go you get a couple of pints, you go sit in your seat and you drink your pints here out.

You go get a couple more and then they cut you off partly through, whereas events that we’ve been into in the uk.

Everyone goes out before the event pre-games pretty hard and then in events that we’ve been to dry events dry and then all of a sudden, it’s dry, so everyone’s already had a few.

By the time they get to the stadium, i think, is the big difference and that might have something to do with the uh the volume.

And yes, of course, i i will admit carl, that not everyone in the uk is an alcoholic he wanted he.

He wanted me to mention that, yes, all right and before and after he says, and that’s why they’re not serving your drinks during the matches.

Yes, yes, uh.

When i, when i was at the uh football games in the uk, you had to drink underneath the stadium you weren’t allowed to drink in the stands.

T right on.

Okay, thanks very much christian appreciate that very comprehensive update on the olympics, both from india and japan, and thanks very much for the fans out there, interacting with us, fantastic uh again, you guys are always welcome to join us on this uh stream, so uh what it Was today’s thursday, so tomorrow being uh friday, we will we’ll see you twice not only for the olympic, but also the friday night panel sounds good.

I will continue to bring you guys updates, even if it is just doom and gloom.

Hopefully we’ll have some more uh.

Some more fun stories, some something up: light-hearted and uplifting.

Coming soon, assuming we get to go to the community, we get the games correct and we will i’m positive.

5 20.

we’re starting late over there you’re fine, the sun’s past the yard arm.

You’Re fine we’ll allow it all right.

Thanks christian bye, girl, bye, big t,