FT reports an unequivocal pullback in Saudi spending on outside investments via its oil fund, PIF, which may explain why Saudi did not end up creating a reported $5bn boxing league but instead elected to form relatively more humdrum partnerships with various promoters.

Had it a draw #BeterbievBivol.

At the postfight presser Dmitry Bivol’s manager Vadim Kornilov had some heated words for the judge (Pawel Kardyni of Poland) who scored it 116-112 for Beterbiev: “When he comes back from Chechnya he should be suspended.” A reference no doubt to Ramzan Kadyrov’s appearance.

Hours before Usyk-Fury II, Lomachenko has published a cryptic (critical?) post featuring an image of his longtime friend and countryman Usyk standing in front of the iconic Foros Orthodox church in Usyk's homeland of Crimea. As always, the comments are revealing.

Filmmaker Claude Sautet was a heretic in the eyes of the French New Wave. But as Sean Nam writes, his hard-boiled character studies have outlasted fashion, becoming underrated classics of world cinema. thebaffler.com/latest/francai…

On the occasion of the centenary of his birth, I wrote for The Baffler about the misunderstood French film director Claude Sautet, a contemporary of the New Wave much maligned by critics but adored by the public, and his affinity to J-P Melville: thebaffler.com/latest/francai…

While his contemporaries shot close-ups of coffee cups and agonized over jump cuts, French director Claude Sautet went the commercial route. And yet, writes Sean Nam, his tales of ordinary people capture life as lived, not as wished for. thebaffler.com/latest/francai…

While his contemporaries shot close-ups of coffee cups and agonized over jump cuts, French director Claude Sautet went the commercial route. And yet, writes Sean Nam, his tales of ordinary people capture life as lived, not as wished for. thebaffler.com/latest/francai…

Looking forward to getting into this one

Honored to be profiled by Rick Assad5. I kvetch a bit here but I promise I'm nicer in person. (This was conducted last year, so before the recent news about TKO and Saudi Arabia). tss.ib.tv/boxing/feature…

FYI, ABC's Mike Mazzulli was all for treating Paul-Tyson as a legitimate fight when USA Today reached out to him before the fight in November. I asked him what changed, his response, "Everyone can go back on their opinions. We reevaluated."

For the latest issue of the tktk I wrote about Jake Paul and the scourge of Gimmick Boxing, and how these internet dilettantes, far from being a flimsy aberration, are changing the already much diminished pursuit of prizefighting for the worse: thebaffler.com/salvos/brawl-f…

There's a handful of real writers who haven't given up on boxing coverage as a worthwhile pursuit. I don't know why they haven't walked away like many others have, but I'm grateful for their dedication. Sean Nam is high on that list. thebaffler.com/salvos/brawl-f…

An incredible read on the state of boxing and its love affair with gimmicks.

In our new issue, Sean Nam explains how clout chasers ruined boxing—and greedy promoters and lax regulators helped. thebaffler.com/salvos/brawl-f…

The mathematics of starvation: how Israel caused a famine in Gaza "The mathematics of famine are simple in Gaza. Palestinians cannot leave, war has ended farming and Israel has banned fishing, so practically every calorie its population eats must be brought in from outside.