Do you still CARE about Joshua vs Fury?

0:02Gabby:This is a Global Player original podcast. I mean, I was thinking of comparisons this morning for Fury and Joshua. Will they, won't they? And Charlene and Scott from Neighbours was the best I could come up with. We're getting them at their worst, if I'm honest with you. You're not talking about two skilled fighters anymore. You're talking about two guys that would just have it out like they've just fallen out of a pub. So I do think this will deliver in that sense. He's the greatest European golfer, isn't he? Yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. There's an argument to put him as Britain and Ireland's greatest sports person.

0:39It's just what's going on? What's happened to that Arsenal team? And it feels like Pep's gone into his head.

0:54Gabby:Hello, chappers. Hi, chappers. Oh, we've gone chappers today. Fine. How are you? Chapa's the third. I mean, it feels like she should call you something like that when you come off Augusta, doesn't it? Congratulations on another marvellous weekend at Augusta. Yes, thank you very much. I'll take all the credit for it. It was, ah, look, there were a couple, we'll come on to it a bit more in a while, but there was a sort of two and a half hour period where it was just electric on the Sunday. and then McElroy did what all great champions do and managed to sort of snuff out any threat. But for two and a half hours, it was spine tingling again.

1:40I'm sure everybody listening or most people listening were along for the Rory coaster ride and we will discuss that and how he's become only the fourth person to retain the green jacket at the Masters and discuss whether he is now officially Europe's ever greatest. Sorry, discuss whether he is officially the greatest ever European golfer.

2:04Gabby:Something like that. Something. Greatest ever golfer European. Just throw them up in the air and see how they come back there. See where they land. I will link it because I did have a theory in Augusta and briefly touched on it when I was doing the coverage. But I can expand it with you because you do a lot of rugby union as well. but and this is linked to Arsenal and the Premier League title too I'm not sure how comfortable anybody is at the moment with being a front runner or a favorite in sport it's almost as if that mentality of maybe I don't know 10-15 years ago when there was a Tiger Woods or Chelsea when they were imperious or Manchester United and so on and so forth and they just put the foot down and kill off anybody else.

2:53Gabby:It seems to have gone completely the other way at the moment. And everybody wants to change. Arsenal are clearly not enjoying that. No. Or they're conspiring to look like they're not enjoying it. We will talk about Arsenal's weekend and Manchester City, conversely, just looking like the most relaxed, easygoing bunch of players having a great time, playing great football. The manager could not have looked more chilled. I mean, the whole contrast between Saturday and Sunday with those two was incredible. We'll talk about that. And whether or not it is finally on. I mean, I was thinking of comparisons this morning for Fury and Joshua.

3:28Will they? Won't they? And Charlene and Scott from Neighbours was the best I could come up with. One for the kids there.

3:38Gabby:I may come to regret this comment then when this fight goes ahead. But I think I was probably more invested in Scott and Charlene than Fury and Joshua at the moment. I'm a bit, I mean, here is something for the kids. I'm a bit meh about it. Hey. Really? Okay. Well, we'll see if we can get you a bit more up than meh. Welcome to the Sports Agents. Right. Last year, Mark, you said it was one of the greatest weekends of your career and would be difficult to eclipse. So did Rory manage to take you to a new level of euphoria in terms of your sporting experiences? No, I think this was just behind last year.

4:19Gabby:I don't think anything can top last year because of the drama of him trying to win the Masters for the first time, him going for the Grand Slam, his history with collapsing at the Masters, the comeback of Justin Rose, the fact that it was two of Europe's great then going to a playoff. I don't think anything could eclipse that. But there were times this weekend where you thought, and actually I'll include the Friday in that as well, because McElroy was sensational on the Friday on his back nine to go six clear at the end of Friday on 12-under. There were elements over the weekend of it being spectacular.

5:02But in the end, that last hour,

5:07Gabby:and this is the real beauty, I suppose, of having been there and done it for McElroy. The final hour felt quite calm. Not 100 % calm, but quite calm. Well, I'll tell you how calm it was. In the Match of the Day studio, we were happy just to have verbal updates in our ears. Now, that rarely happens. Apparently, Saturday night with Danny Murphy and Alan Shearer with Kelly, apparently that was all kinds of kind of, you know, guys, can you focus on what we're doing here? I managed, Ben Foster's a big golf fan. He had made his Match of the Day debut and we were in the afternoon kind of looking at it.

5:51But the editor that night, not a big golf fan. So he wasn't that bothered about it. So we managed to focus on the football. But I think that was testament to just how relaxed that last hour felt.

6:03Gabby:Even, so he had a two-shot lead going down 18. And I said to our team on Five Live, does he get the chance this year to enjoy going down 18? He's got a two-shot lead. And Trish Johnson, who has won 29 tournaments around the world, LPGA Tour winner, Solheim Kuppler, said to, and who's just a joy to work with. And she said to me, it all depends on his drive. and then he hit his drive so far right, probably further right than anybody had hit it all week, into the trees. It was like, you are kidding me. But that's why he is adored. That is why he is adored. We said this last year, didn't we? Because he's fallible, because he's human, because he displays, he's so likable, he's so relatable.

6:55You want to be his mate. He has that quality. I think a lot of sports stars are so on a pedestal and their world is so exalted. And the way that they travel with their entourages and everything. With him, you know, his mum was only there for the second time of any of his majors. And his mum and dad just looked so adorable. And just, you wanted to give them big hugs. That was different for me this year. The post kind of round euphoria had a different take on it. I feel like last year there was that relief. this year he was able to reflect a bit more on family and the world around him yes and his mom

7:31Gabby:and dad weren't there last year because they were in the middle of of moving house and i mean and hello do you not know when the masters is no rory get them a calendar but i and but they did have that thing ahead of this year of well when we weren't there last year he won it so maybe we should stay away which is such a which is such a parent thing and a family thing and a superstition thing so um and i've spoken to jerry on a couple of occasions rory's dad he's such a nice man um so the fact that they were there and going through that with him was nice and i i did love on the in his in his acceptance speech where he mentioned mentioned his wife mentioned his daughter poppy but also mentioned about his daughter that this is her favorite time of the year because there's unlimited free ice cream in the in the players lounge and and she actually put a hand over her head like i mean she's only six or seven i think she was like oh in that oh my god dad dad's mentioning me so embarrassing even at six or seven so it very much had a it very much had a had a personal touch to it um and you know from the course say this every year nobody's got technology you can only find out what's happening by looking at the scoreboards nobody has earpieces you can't listen to on-course commentary they were all rooting for Rory when when Rory's numbers went up that was when there were the biggest ooze or the biggest cheers um and that says something bearing in mind there were two or three Americans on that on that leaderboard trying to trying to hunt him down so it's um it it is it is the purest of all sporting events partly because it's so controlled and you you when you go there you know you know what the rules are and you have to abide by them but as we were saying on the podcast last week it is just so pure because everybody's in the moment nobody's filming it everybody's invested in the golf no other distractions and it it creates this perfect atmosphere.

9:42Gabby:It does. Which is interesting because one of the questions I wanted to talk to you about, and I heard you discussing this at the weekend, Tyrell Hatton was really the only live player to make an impression on the whole competition, really, at the end. And that has a completely different ethos, doesn't it? I mean, talk about atmosphere, it's very forced and very much a curated atmosphere. And it feels like a lot of the golfers must be asking themselves, why are we doing this? Is it working for us in terms of our career goals? Yeah, I think so. And I can't remember whether we did this on the pod last week, but if I sort of go back maybe a decade in golf, it did feel like there weren't that many big characters.

10:30It did feel like there weren't that many points of difference

10:35Gabby:between so many of the players. and they were just turning up every week and playing on the PGA Tour and one American under a baseball cap looked very much like another American under a baseball cap. Whereas now, you know, the Friday night, the Saturday night, you look at the leaderboard, you think, my God, this is fantastic. You know, two or three American Ryder Cup players on there, three or four European Ryder Cup players on there. The golf away from Liv or the players who stayed, it feels like there's a real sort of, there's real competition, there's real personality. I think that side of the sport, the non-lift side, is in great shape.

11:19Gabby:I really do. Rory became that kind of unofficial spokesperson, didn't he, and character for those who didn't jump across. And he carried a lot of, a couple of years ago anyway, he was carrying a lot of the politics, wasn't he? And so there's something quite karmatically beautiful, isn't there, about his ascent to the upper echelons of the greats of golf now, which you can clearly, you can say now, you know, he's equal to Faldo. Yes. And I love the fact that Faldo in his card was so kind of into the symmetry of 89-90 because this was, Faldo won in 89-90. And of course, Rory has won the 89th and 90th.

11:58Yes, yeah. It's like something kind of, yeah, but they're years and that's the amount. So they're not the same thing, Nick, but he loved it anyway. that tickled me I think it gave you a real insight into Nick Valdo's mind actually but he is now arguably because of his age and he's got plenty more years and confidence to win more he's the greatest European golfer

12:19Gabby:yeah without a shadow of a doubt I think because he's won them all and Seve and Nick Valdo who are probably the two that he had to go past as amazing golfers as they were and iconic as they were didn't win all four and Seve in particular is synonymous with the Ryder Cup well Rory is synonymous with the Ryder Cup now that baton has most definitely been passed so Rory has two green jackets has won all four majors has won a Masters back-to-back which only Woods, Valdo and Nicholas have done and is a Ryder Cup legend. He is Europe's greatest golfer. And there's an argument to put him as, and I read one article this morning on this, there's an argument to put him as Britain and Ireland's greatest sports person.

13:23Ooh.

13:24Gabby:There is an argument. There is an argument. There is an argument. achievements, popularity, global strength of sport, flair, and also going back to your point about the Saudi Arabian money, and I know he flipped and flopped a bit on it at the end and he carried that weight of it, but he did speak about it. So he's got opinion and personality to add to all of that. That's kind of a potent mix to put you, if not at the top, near the very top. When I say global reach of the sport, But what I'm comparing there is, for example, somebody who has a sack full of Olympic medals in a sport that is only really played or dominated by six countries.

14:06Sport is truly global. So that, I think, gives him a really strong contention against, you know, whether you're talking England football World Cup captains or you're talking, you know, kind of, I don't know, tennis players. Andy Murray would come into the mix, obviously, wouldn't he? He would. I mean, gosh, I didn't have this debate on a Tuesday morning in my head.

14:26Gabby:so so the god when you talk to people in golf they're very big on well if you win if you win a golf major or a tournament or whatever let's take the masters just gone rory had to beat 90 other golf he had to beat them all whereas if to win a tennis tournament you only have to be six sixty six seven depending on okay um and uh yeah but that's that's slightly fatuous isn't it I know, but that's one of the arguments that golf people use. You can't pay everybody. No, you can't. I know you can't. Right, okay. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, shall we say? I mean, what are Arsenal? I can't get my head around it, honestly.

15:07Having covered them so much early in the season in the Champions League and, you know, seeing them play some great composed, controlled football. It's just what's going on? What's happened to that Arsenal team? What do you think? it feels like Arteta has definitely watching him on the touchline it feels like he's become a little even more maniacal in his you know his behaviour and there are more people around him and they're doing things they haven't done and there's all that footage last week of them walking around with footballs five of them having a football on their head and that was a team building exercise and and then David Rea coming into the studio at Prime saying well I didn't do that because you know I was focusing on my job and I kind of thought well yeah that's kind of what you should be doing at this time.

15:50But maybe they felt they needed to have some kind of team building exercise after those two cup defeats. It feels like Pep's got into his head. That's what it, that's what it, you know, and it's impossible for us to measure that, isn't it? And it's impossible to us to ascertain. He didn't come in the studio pre-match, you know, pitch side as he normally does last week. They're changing things and they're changing players at a different stage of the game as well. You know, they're attacking players at the weekend.

16:15Gabby:They are. And he made that triple sub quite early, didn't he, on Saturday to try and get things going. I was watching that game in America with three Arsenal fans. So they had all sorts of differing opinions on breakdowns on what was going on. I have to say they were not confident from the very start about it, which is an indication probably of just the fragility of everybody connected to it at the moment. I think some of their players are not in the form that they were pre-Christmas. And that happens, doesn't it? But that question then is why? And we tried to get into this on Match of the Day on Sunday.

16:59And it's very difficult to drill down into this whole April thing, in terms of the duration of his time at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta's win rate in April is 41 % compared to 76 % in September. Wow. Conversely, Pep has, so he has 2.8 points per game or maybe 7 points per game, Pep, in April. And Arteta has 1.5 points per game. So he drops off. They drop off in April. That is a fact over his duration. Why? And, you know, Clarence Seedorf always talks about the best teams ramp it up and peak. And April and March are the months that they really turn it on. And Sir Alex Ferguson used to get that out of Manchester United.

17:45You could argue when they were going for titles that maybe Arsene Wenger kind of put in that kind of shift towards the end of the season. Certainly the best European teams are those that kind of come through. Don't they? Look at PSG. Yes. Terrible in the early stages. Barcelona are still in this competition. You know what I mean? Timing. Yeah, so timing is the thing that seems to be eluding Arsenal.

18:06Gabby:I also think, I don't think we should underestimate the transfer window that City had in January. I think to bring in Semenyo and Mark Gay just gave everybody such a massive boost. And they probably bought two players who would have been in the Premier League team of the year, even if they hadn't moved to City. They would have, you know, Semenyo's probably in the running for player of the year, I would have thought. And yet Bournemouth haven't dropped off since... And also that I think is slightly, whilst I take everything about Arsenal and the stats and so on and so forth, Bournemouth at home is a horrible game, I think, if you're going for the title at this stage of the season because they are so good and so entertaining and they will go to any team.

18:53Gabby:Look, they really ought to have got something on the opening day of the season at Liverpool and then they conceded two late goals because they were actually pushing for a winner, really, at Anfield on the opening day. They will go toe-to-toe with anybody. And in fact, I was saying during the game on Saturday, if you had to pick one team to pay to go and see as a neutral, it would be Bournemouth. For me, it would be Bournemouth ahead of any other Premier League team. Although I have to say, just on last night, and I've noticed you've not mentioned it. What happened last night? I would have paid to watch that game.

19:30because Leeds United were so good and so impressive. Did you not hear what happened?

19:36Gabby:No, what was that? I have a rule. I have a rule that if a football match takes place whilst I'm on a flight, it's never happened. It's a bit like, does a tree make a noise in a forest? If you haven't seen it before. Well, unfortunately for you, I saw it and United definitely lost and Leeds United, I think, now are definitely safe. And with 36 points, not the points tally, but I think what's going on with them competitively, and that is something that Spurs definitely don't have at the moment, is that competitive fight. And also, just that final thing, I said right at the start, do you think we are in an era where nobody wants to be the favourite or lead from the front?

20:19Gabby:And is that a tension thing? Is it this, we have this massive thing about, which I don't know whether, did we have it? Did we have it in Newcastle? Did it? Lost the title to Manchester United. We seem to focus more and more on people bottling it now. I don't know. I'm not blaming social media for this, but is that what's going on? I think I'd need more examples than just Arsenal. Well, in the Six Nations, nobody ever wants to be favourites. Everybody goes into a Six Nations saying they're the underdog. That was another example. And this is relevant. England's women, actually. The Red Rosers love that mantle.

20:54They love being that team that everybody wants to beat. So I'm not sure it's a universal thing that's going on in school. You're not having that scientific evidence, are you, really? No, I need a few more examples. Shall we move on? Next up, we're going to talk about Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, because after a decade of boxing and sports fans clamouring to see this, when it would appear that Netflix is going to show it in the autumn. Or is it? We'll talk about that with Ade Oladipo, the face of boxing on DAZN next.

21:29Gabby:Ade, let's be honest with people. Before we started recording, Gabby said to you, have you had a nice weekend? And you said yes, partly because you didn't go to the fight on Saturday. I didn't see it. I was only relying on a friend of the pod, Steve Bunce, to guide me through it. And he sounded bored stiff. It was that. It was that. And I guess the issue is when it's Tyson Fury and it's Connor Ben, you kind of oversold the product before they get in the ring. They're both so overhyped as just characters and individuals. So it probably will never deliver unless it's a Rocky IV moment. It's never going to be what you kind of have been sold.

22:14Gabby:And it was worse than that, unfortunately. Maybe not on Tyson Fury's part because his opponent wasn't the best. And ultimately just, I think you realized after a couple of rounds, he's not good enough to be in there with Tyson Fury. And Tyson Fury just decided not to step on the gas and really put on a show. It was almost cautious, cautious, cautious because of what could be next. And I don't want to risk a cut. I don't want to risk an injury. So let me just kind of carry this guy for 12 rounds. and Connor Benn maybe just wasn't good enough against his opponent, Regis Progre. So it wasn't the worst, but it certainly wasn't the best.

22:48Gabby:We have seen better in recent months. Who'd have thought that that was going to happen? I mean, what were the chances? I know. I'm glad he was so well lit in a position that the cameras could get to him. Cynical, moi. AJ, of course, didn't want to get up and say, yeah, let's have it on. But we are here to talk about the fact that apparently it is going to happen. And this autumn and in the UK and live on Netflix. So how big a secret was this? It wasn't one, let's be honest. I mean, AJ rarely turns up for boxing events and especially considering what happened with AJ four months ago. He's almost been keeping that kind of low key personality persona.

23:37Gabby:He's been out a bit more. We've seen him sort of, you know, do stuff for Oleksandr Usyk. He was at a fight recently for Chisora Wilder. But as you say, he was there for business. Eddie was there with him and Frank Smith was there. The whole brigade was there. So it was clearly, he wasn't just there on a watching brief. He was there to announce something. And then the announcement kind of didn't come. And I was like, okay, what's going on? Are we going to announce something or not announce it? And in the end, we got this standoff between two behemoths of the boxing world. And it was almost though one wouldn't take the orders from the other.