IT WILL take more than a thrilling encounter between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall to fix the problems that are piling up like sacks of rubbish during a refuse collectors’ strike. Shields and Marshall briefly freshened the air on Saturday night. They reminded us how appealing the sport is when it’s managed correctly. But the stench remains.
If I can smell it, and you can smell it, too many people from the outside world can smell it. Just ask the International Olympic Committee, who are on the brink of washing themselves free from boxing, once and for all. They’re not the only ones plotting their escape after observing what goes on in here.
In the build-up to Shields-Marshall, while boxing tried to carry on regardless, influential sportswriters focused more on what had happened the week before when Conor Benn failed a drug test. The papers were full of bad publicity. It can be frustrating when those writers swoop with a scandal and then fly away to leave the rest of us to deal with the
