Is that there's a TON of young talent. Shakur, Benavidez, Boots, Morrell, Vergil, Jesse Rodriguez, Haney, Fimo, Rayo Valenzuela... these are all super talents. Every single one of them is 25 and younger. Hell, I'll even throw in Ryan. He's not a super talent, but he's a super attraction, and he does have offensive talent. Point being: It's a goddamn shame that no good matchups are being made.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing the other days. They might not be any RJ level (or even lw Mosley) talent, but there's a lot of very good fighter and some divisions (lw and smw in particular) are very deep. Sadly, for whatever reason, it s super hard to have a meaningful fight recently. Hopefully, it starts getting better once the money (DAZN and PBC) dries up
He must have missed that fight . In Explosive's defense I thought Rayo had potential. Hopefully he can bounce back. After his knockout i'm not expecting him to be a future hof but he might be a fun fighter to watch.
Fuck me!! Rayo lost!!! Yeah, I admitted previously, I've been kinda out of the boxing loop since June. Was following other sports. I'm getting back in now. Had no clue Valenzuela got exposed.
Yeah, I missed it. Watching it on YouTube now. I like the kid, and I hope he can bounce back, but history of past prospects suggests that he's been exposed. Like you said, he can still be a very fun fighter to watch, but not much hope for him being a P4Pder.
Yeah, Rayo got beat by a Dominican. He should just retire. In all seriousness, I watched the fight. Rayo doesn't have a future beyond being an action fighter. His defensive reflexes are very poor, and his chin is weak. Best case, he can be improved, but his weaknesses are so glaring, that they aren't fixable. Worst case, he gets smoked by another journeyman.
The problem with good fights not being made is not going to end any time soon. It is a pretty regular thing to have a fighter say "get me somebody easy." There was a young fighter we had interest in- my partner had trained the young man's uncle years before. This fighter had a solid amateur career- went to a lot of tournaments where other good fighters competed, and he was taught a pro style from his first day in a gym. After he turned pro he sparred with Oubili, Donaire, Rigondeaux and Stevenson. He was 10-0, with 7 by ko...and quit because he needed to fight somebody with a winning record. Guys today worry about winning every round in sparring.
So it sounded like he had no confidence in himself at all. That's pretty much a big problem with today's fighters, they're all scared to lose or would rather do everything they can in their power to keep their unbeaten streak. This whole maintaining unbeaten record without facing any legitimate threats mentality is what's hurting boxing.
Sad but true. On the other hand I know a guy up here that is 3-14, something like that, learned to box by fighting. His high points have been dropping a split to a 17-0 RJJ fighter and beating a 5-0 guy....after which he started being unable to get fights unless he gave up weight. I think that his fight with Tommy Yu is on YouTube.
Funny you say that. I was at the gym this morning doing some cardio. This young black guy was on the eleptical machine watching Crawford vs Gamboa on his phone. Ofcourse we started talking boxing and I mentioned Spence vs Crawford not being made and what a shame it was. And what he said surprised me. He said it was nothing new. Boxing politics have always prevented fighters from facing each other. He mentioned how Leonard vs Hagler wasnt made until both guys were in their 30s. Also mentioned how Foreman vs Tyson was often talked about but never got made. I believe Tyson was a showtime fighter and Foreman was with hbo obviously. But anyhow either this guy was a total casual or made some sense.
Leonard was a special class of bitch. And in no normal world does Foreman Vs Tyson ever get made....I wouldn't rely on Hagler Vs Leonard 1982 or Foreman Vs Mike 1995 as proof of boxings bad politics problem. Foreman wa done in 1977. Mike should have been contemplating retirement by 1997....instead they were both hanging around. Leonard actually bailed on Hagler at a presser where it was expected he'd announce the Hagler fight. That's a special class of bastard right there
The Foreman-Tyson discussion was talked about in the late 80s/early 90s when Foreman made his comeback. Foreman was with Arum and Tyson with King. Arum and King occasionally worked together (Leonard-Duran), but it was well known that matchups between their fighters were difficult to make. Both appeared on an HBO card in 90’ after Tyson lost to Douglas. Tyson beat Tillman, Foreman beat Rodriguez. According to Foreman, Don King had earlier asked him to sign a contract on the dotted line to fight Tyson for 5 mil, and Foreman obviously declined. NOW THE FAT'S IN THE FIRE | Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com PUNCH AND DUTY | Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com Tyson ended up moving to Showtime a year later for the Ruddock fights, and then got locked up. Leonard was an asshole about the Hagler thing, using Hagler as a prop and then “retiring” on the spot. But they were two divisions apart and Leonard fought Benítez, Duran 2x, and Hearns within a 2 year period. Spence and Crawford are the two best WWs and have been fucking us for years.
Good memory. I forgot Foreman was with Arum. And yeah Bob and Don were like Hearns and Haymon today. Son in a way it's true boxing politics have always existed. Spence vs Crawford not happening is nothing new.
ANNOUNCED: KSI’s promotional company Misfits Boxing will stage a ‘tag team boxing match’ on the undercard of their next show MF & DAZN: X Series 005, March 4th in Telford. Luis Alcaraz Pineda & B Dave will face Austin Sprinz & Stromedy.
