SIMON SAYS
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THEY say all publicity is good publicity but anyone who believes it has got a screw loose.
All you have to do is take a look at what last week's "darkest day" has done to the image of sport in Australia - and indeed around the world.
This Simon Says is not going to focus on that scandal ... too many people are giving their opinion on the issue (in my opinion).
Instead, I'm going to focus on the publicity one sport has been generating for itself in recent weeks.
Boxing has never been on my list of favourite sports and I think it would be fair to say it hasn't got a massive following in Australia in general.
It wouldn't compare to sports like Australian football, rugby league, cricket and, dare I say, even soccer and rugby.
It's one of those minnow sports that is running every day around the country, but people only realise it's there when a big title fight pops up every couple of months.
A fortnight ago I sat down to watch a boxing event in full, for what was probably the third or fourth time in my life.
The excitement generated by the pre-fight drama had every man and his dog talking about the Anthony Mundine and Daniel Geale bout and I couldn't wait to watch them go head to head.
The fight itself was great to watch.
Despite knowing little about the sport, I genuinely enjoyed watching two of the best middleweight fighters in world boxing go at it.
What I didn't enjoy was watching Mundine carry on like a five-year-old at a supermarket checkout after he lost the fight on points to Geale.
It was embarrassing to watch.
You would have thought someone in Mundine's corner could have pulled him aside and whispered "you lost mate, man up and shake his hand".
Worse than that was how Mundine acted leading up to the fight.
He has always worn his Aboriginal heritage on his sleeve and that is great.
But to publicly criticise Geale - also of Aboriginal background - for his beliefs and heritage was a disgrace.
Then to do the same to rugby league legend Laurie Daley and others involved in the NRL was incomprehensible.
People close to Mundine came out and defended him, saying he merely puts on an act when trying to build up a fight.
If this is true, Mundine achieved his goal tenfold.
In fact he could forge a new career as a promoter.
Putting aside the Mundine-Geale fight, boxing has made headlines again in the past week.
Sonny Bill Williams beat Francois Botha in a controversial bout on Friday.
Botha was outraged the fight was cut to 10 rounds from 12, and has also claimed the SBW camp rigged the bout to cushion the young star's career statistics.
The South African then claimed he was offered money to throw the fight.
A bizarre set of circumstances to say the least.
When you look at each of these fights and the carry-on associated with them, a link is formed between the two.
Both Mundine and Botha are accomplished boxers who are nearing the end of their careers.
Williams and Geale are two young men with a lot of talent and a big career in front of them.
The two winners have remained unusually quiet during the entire process, essentially coming out of the whole ordeal as the "good guys".
They have gained everything and lost nothing.
Questions must be asked, not just of Mundine and Botha, but the entire world of boxing.
Were both these fights planned merely to generate interest in boxing and get it on people's lips, pushing aside for a minute cricket and football?
Geale already had the IBF middleweight belt and comfortably beat Mundine.
Williams and Botha were not competing for a title as it was only a 10-round fight.
Both Mundine and Botha will hang up the gloves in a year or two and people will forget all about their insane rants.
Mundine is one of Australian sports greats and will be remembered as such, if not a little controversial.
Ask yourself how much interest you had in boxing a month ago and how much you have in the sport now.
Not all publicity is good publicity, but in the case of boxing, the past two weeks have worked wonders.