There's many match-ups out there, the results of which could go a long way towards establishing something like the Master's winner, the NBA champions, the winner of the World Series, and of course, the Super Bowl champions. Given of course, though, that we indulge as viewers of a sport exploited, distorted and otherwise manipulated at the hands of smiley faced gangsters with or without law degrees, in addition to armies of self-serving trainers and managers, such a consensus is but a fantasy when it comes to boxing. But it doesn't mean we can't speculate and leverage our experience as spectators to reach our own version of the truth, when it comes to who occupies, in true fashion, the highest echelons of the sport. A great example is the junior welterweight division, one that's highly fractured at this stage by promtional duals, levied greedily and selfishly, and largely at the expense of the would be champion. Will JMM ever face Morales at this stage? Will Khan ever rematch Maidana, reasonably soon, to prove that in fact Maidana had simply not run out of time? And what about Bradley? Shouldn't he have his chance against the likes of Khan? Maidana? JMM? And no, I've not forgotten that JMM fights at 135. Will Guererro get his shot at the legend? What about Rios? Should his lack of mass appeal result in his being passed over for a shot at JMM, a fight he could clearly win, and for which he'd earn much acclaim in the case that he did? So why not forego for the time being the results of actual fights, the ones that matter most that so many have conspired to deprive us of? And instead use our knowledge and intuition, as finely tuned as its been when it comes to predicting the outcomes of fights, to decide with confidence and without regret who the champions are, and who the contenders may be? And some of us may even declare a prospect here or there, for what it's worth. No? I guess the point is, if we can expect more often than not for the fights that matter to never occur, is it not within our right to declare our own judgement of who resides over whom? And to do so with every bit of confidence that that sanctioning bodies do, the Ring Magazine being one? I welcome educated judgements as to who rules each and every division. And keep in mind that such an assessment, as potentially obscured by the lack of meaningful match-ups that have occurred in each weight class, in no way invalidates your opinion on the matter, just as it hasn't that of the very publications and sanctioning bodies that prevent and promote the absence of the truest result, the result of the actual match-up.
Its not always the gangsters directly. Wlad will never be undisputed, nor will his brother. Why? Because they have arranged that between themselves, a comfortable cartelised existence, borne out of their own interpretation of what it is they want from boxing. Its no different for other fighters. Some fights like Dariusz vs Roy never happened because both men had a comfortable little existence and were, as Governor Huey Long put it, each a King, in his own little Kingdom. Right. Jones probably would have beaten Dariusz, and it doesn't matter that they never fought, it doesn't matter that DM lost to Jugo, a guy Jones beat, and it doesn't matter that Roy has fought on past his best and lost to guys like Green. We know what the story is on that one. Its why I said what I said during the Morales vs Maidana fight- commentators need to shut the fuck up and stop trying to influence the fans. We know the score. True- but when you have a head-butter and a guy in Alexander who doesn't want to fight, and prefers to quit, then what can you do?? Hard to say. What value does Morales vs Marquez even have. Khan is a trick-of-the-loop man, like water or electricity, he will take the route of least resistance. We already largely know who-is-who in this thing of ours. If we only conveyed those sentiments in the PPV choices that we make, we would put a lot of sanctioning bodies out of business. Well if we don't do that, nobody will. Most of the boxing media have not reviewed Amir Khans #1 status in light of Morales decision loss to Maidana. Should they? I think they should, but hey, thats my agenda.
My bad. A Morales/Marquez match-up, at this stage, has no place in a conversation about the series of match-ups that could determine the best fighter in each division. Nontheless, it's a fight I'd love to see, even now. And it'd probably be competitive, especially at 140, where Morales would likely have a significant size advantage. I could imagine this a fight that would come off at the expense of a more relevant fight, one which could go a ways toward establishing a best in class.
Double L is a Fightbeat institution. I wish he would spread his wisdom and anger to other forums with more posters (idiots). It would make for some amusing threads.
I took a lot of acid as a younger man and it was way beyond anything I've ever thought about while my mind was racing 76000 MPH under the influence
You forgot FIFA World Cup Champions (Greatest Team Sports title on Earth) and therefore I categorically refuse to read anymore, let alone respond to this Yank-Driven filth! :giggle:
