WHAT is it about the human condition that tends us to take satisfaction in other people’s failures, misfortune and defeats? The Germans have a word for this particular phenomenon — “schadenfreude” — and it’s a helluva thing.

When Abdul-Bari Awad (Kid Galahad) hit the canvas heavily within seconds of the bell sounding the start of the 6th round of his maiden defence of the IBF featherweight title he won in the summer, such was the level of abuse directed at him on social media you would think that in losing the fight and title so emphatically to Spanish veteran Kiko Martinez, the 31-year-old was guilty of some heinous crime.

A stunned home crowd at the Sheffield Arena, along with the thousands witnessing Galahad’s fate at home, could only ponder once again the vicissitudes of a sport that operates on the basis of searing absolutes — victory, defeat, and nothing in between.

As if Galahad’s travails were not enough, his co-main event star, Doncaster’s Terri Harper, was also stopped — in her case in the 4th round by Alycia Baumgardner of the US to lose her WBC super-featherweight title.

Though Matchroom’s ubiquitous Eddie Hearn attempted to put a brave face on things afterwards, the drive home to Essex will doubtless have seemed significantly longer, the gold Rolex on his wrist heavier, for a promoter who’d just witnessed two of his world champions being so unceremoniously dethroned on the same night. 

Returning to Galahad, the animus directed at him is nothing new. For whatever reason or reasons, this is a fighter who has never featured highly in the affections of the British boxing public. The ban he received for failing a drug test in 2014 continues to follow him around like a bad stink, brought up by opponents time and again prior to fights, and he has failed to ignite the kind of support that the likes of Josh Warrington or Carl Frampton have at the same weight.

Perhaps he can take comfort in the wisdom that if you don’t fit in, you’re probably doing the right thing. What is not in doubt is that he can come back, which hopefully he does, while when it comes to the haters, ’twas ever thus and ever thus shall be.

Moving on, Vegas this weekend hosts an intriguing clash between Terence “Bud” Crawford — boxing’s current pound for pound king in the eyes of many — and Shawn “Showtime” Porter. Crawford’s WBO welterweight strap is on the line, but this is a contest that needs no belts or titles to make things interesting.

At 35, Porter is a veteran of a game he entered all the way back in 2008. His come forward marauding style makes him exciting to watch, and there’s a high chance that with his intensity and the relentless tempo he performs at, he will ask questions of Crawford that have not yet been asked.

At 34, Crawford is no spring chicken either. From the gang-infested streets of Omaha, as a young man he was shot at eight times. Seven times he escaped unharmed, the eighth time a bullet hit him in the head. Suffice to say then that nothing could ever come close to fazing him in a boxing ring. 

This is confirmed by the way he has breezed through all opposition to amass an undefeated tally of 37 victories in 37 fights with no draws or defeats and 28 KOs. 

It seems like yesterday that this writer was ringside in Glasgow watching Crawford dismantle Ricky Burns on the way to claiming the latter’s WBO lightweight title. It was a night made all the more memorable due to said writer’s car breaking down halfway along the M8 on the drive back to Edinburgh after the fight and being forced to ride the rest of the way home in a tow truck at one in the morning.

This was back in 2014, when Terence Crawford was still relatively unknown. Since then he’s fought and defeated an array of star names at lightweight, super-lightweight and now welterweight: Raymundo Beltran, John Molina Jr, Viktor Postol, Felix Diaz, Jeff Horn, Amir Khan, Kell Brook, the list is impressive. The level of opposition Shawn Porter has faced is likewise impressive, though in the process he’s tasted defeat three times. 

Terence Crawford is justifiably the favourite going in, but Porter and his trainer and martinet of a father, Kenny Porter, are coming to win, which suggests that this could be a candidate for fight of the year.

One fighter who is confident he has the beating of Terence Crawford is Scotland’s Josh Taylor, currently out in Vegas with his team for some warm weather training. It’s highly likely that after defending his WBC super-lightweight title against Newcastle’s Jack Catterill in February, the undisputed champion will move up to welterweight with this objective in mind.

In the event, fans will be treated to the rare sight of two southpaws and former undisputed champions at super-lightweight facing off against one another for the welterweight crown.

In other news, two of Crawford’s previous opponents, Britain’s Amir Khan and Kell Brook, have at long last agreed terms to fight one another sometime next year. This will be a catchweight contest with nothing on the line apart from pride and a payday. It’s a fight that should’ve taken place years before now, however, when both men were much closer to their respective primes, and this may well be reflected in the amount of interest the fight generates. 

Finally, rounding things off, there is talk of YouTuber Logan Paul fighting Mike Tyson next. I’m going to repeat that just in case you missed it the first time. I said “there is talk of YouTuber Logan Paul fighting Mike Tyson next.”

One can only presume that if this particular “fight” does take place, it will be held inside a circus tent.