JUDD CAN TRUMP THE REST WITH A £1.1M SEASON
SNOOKER
HOW long before boxing wakes up to the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs?
A six-month ban is no ban at all for Jarrell Miller, who tested positive for not one, not two, but three banned substances ahead of his ill-fated June date with Anthony Joshua.
I’m with Joshua (right): Must it take a death in the ring to make the sport come to its senses? Since Miller’s licence with the New York State Athletic Commission had in fact expired, they do not even have the capacity to punish him.
He is, therefore, technically free to apply for a licence with any commission. What message does that send? The time has JUDD TRUMP is chasing a huge double – a debut world title, and being the first player to earn £1million in a season.
The Juddernaut leads Geordie qualifier Gary Wilson 9-7 in their Betfred World Championship semifinal at the Crucible. And if Trump, 29, can lift the trophy come for boxing’s stakeholders and the controllers of other combat sports like MMA to invest in one umbrella authority with the powers to impose serious sanctions on any abusers.
I have advocated life bans before and reiterate that position now. Miller should not be allowed in a ring again, let alone after a notional six months.
If broadcasters can throw $365million at one fighter for five fights, it should not be beyond the ken of the big players, broadcasters, sanctioning bodies, and commissions to find the cash to finance the running of a new authority. If our sport is to retain a shred of on Monday night he will take his campaign cash to just under £1.1m with the bumper £500,000 first prize.
World No.7 Trump said: “I would love to be the first player to win £1m in a season, given Ronnie O’Sullivan (above) and others have not done it. If you’re getting credibility over its approach to drugs it cannot afford to stand by and allow this to continue. It’s nothing short of a joke.
How ironic that the cash bounty mentioned above was assigned to Saul Canelo Alvarez, who was hit with his own paltry sixmonth drug ban for failing two tests last year.
Canelo meets Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas this weekend in a middleweight unification bout, the second fight of his DAZN deal.
The real hero of the piece is Jacobs, who survived a rare bone cancer eight years ago to fashion what has been a terrific career Other than walking on to Dmitry players earning the million pound-plus mark then you’ve got to take it as a serious and higher-class sport.
“From where we were 10 years ago it’s unbelievable, I am very happy with the way the game is being run. There are four or five players earning £600k Pirog’s big right hand nine years ago while leading on the cards, the only defeat Jacobs suffered was dropping a close decision to Gennady Golovkin two years ago.
Since then he has taken the ‘0’ from three opponents, including the dangerous Sergiy Derevyanchenko, an elite Ukrainian amateur, last time out.
At 32, Jacobs is arguably passed his peak. Canelo, four years Jacobs’ junior, is approaching his which is why I see another W on his record, arguably by a wide points margin or a late stoppage.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @McGuigans_Gym @CyclonePromo or £700k a year plus. I’d need about £50m for winning the World Championship to go and live in Monaco though!
“In tennis, golf and snooker, about 25-30 years ago it was closely matched.
“Snooker went backwards while the other soared, but it is being taken seriously again.”