Somebody make "celebrity" boxing stop

One of the things in the world of sports journalism that completely boggles my mind is the fact that you can hardly get guys (and ladies) that don't cover boxing specifically to give a portion of a damn about a fight like Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey or Joseph Agbeko-Vic Darchinyan, but whenever "celebrity" boxing comes up, the vultures swoop.

I get that part of it is the TMZ culture that has engulfed too much of our media, and I don't want to go on a big tangent about it, but how does Jose Canseco "fighting" Danny Bonaduce become newsworthy as it semi-did last year? The latest "celebrity" boxing fiasco centers again on Canseco, who is 0-2-1 as "a boxer" and most recently turtled in an MMA fight he didn't belong in in Japan, who was set to fight chicken wing eating champion Bill "El Wingador" Simmons.

Canseco has pulled out, citing his father's illness as a reason, and will be replaced by former 1980s wrestling mid-carder and Hulk Hogan friend Ed Leslie, best known as Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake.

And people are paying attention to this like it's news, but relatively speaking there aren't many articles out there about Timothy Bradley and Nate Campbell next Saturday.

I've said a couple times in the past that I don't in any way like charity boxing or fundraiser boxing, and "celebrity" boxing falls in line. These people have to pass no physicals 99% of the time, usually don't know what they're doing, and it's a dangerous sport to take part in, even with headgear and every precaution. If Leslie or "El Wingador" wind up hurt, who's going to pay their medical bills? The "promoter"?

It's a non-story, and I'll admit I did this in part to get a photo of Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake featured on a boxing blog, so feel free to ignore. I do have legitimate gripes, but LOOK AT HIS OUTFIT HAHAHA!