RIYALITY CHECK
BBC bosses may be feeling nostalgic about the return of live boxing to Saturday nights this month but the sport is unrecognisable from the days when Henry Cooper, Frank Bruno and Harry Carpenter were household names.
It is now dominated by Saudi Arabia with many of the year’s biggest fights staged during “Riyadh Season”, a series of bills that reward the best boxers in the world with enormous paydays. BBC Sport’s deal with UK promoter Boxxer will involve smaller-scale contests and is more about showcasing up-and-coming talent; but the shadow cast by the sport’s ultimate paymasters is inescapable.