Talk big shit and then have in-fight constipation. Seriously how many times have you seen that those who mouth off the most about what they're going to do pre-fight don't do a damn thing once the bell rings. Fuck the majoriity of them. Today's fighters(especially heavyweights) just like today's music performers suck balls. That's right I said it.
There are just far fewer talented and tough, well-schooled boxers now then there used to be; even as recently as 10-15 years ago there was a greater quantity of quality
The combination of dedication, talent, natural ability and toughness it seems are too tall an order for most in today's more privileged, less athletic society of xbox, playstation and wii. Especially in terms of American fighters.
sadly, that's how it is. Today's ( especially westerner ) kids want to look cool and get rich quick. And unfortunuately, this mentality reflects in boxing. Talk big, have the ''charisma'' and the look, get the big money fight but fight safely so it won't be too dammaging to your look or instead, fight a never ending strings of no hopers that you'll look great against a la Bute. Especially at hw, it seems that every of the fuckers are terrified of getting hit. Disgusting.
I'd say us fans buy into the hype less and less as time goes on...I fell for it tonight, but I haven't fallen for it in a long time before that. Guys talk and I pay no attention to it. Tonight I fell for it because I think the first heavyweight that goes after Wlad knocks him out. Used to fall for it all the time.
agREED. It's there to be seen, no matter how much the apologists try to pretend things are as good as they ever were.
Heavyweight boxing blows and has for a long time. Sadly, the rest of the weight divs are not far behind.
look. I agree with you. There are reasons though why this is happening. One is the feudal nature of the sport. Fighters always can run back to the USA, run back to Argentina, run back to Ireland, run back to Germany, run back to wherever they came from and be entertained by a sympathetic home press who will indulge them and entertain their sob-stories of how they were robbed, injured etc. The second is that fighters today get paid more than their predecessors. I don't mean they receive bigger purses. I mean they see more of their purses. They see more endorsements. They don't have to work as hard to get that £1m pay-day. It's not £10,000, $12,000, $15,000 , $35,000, $120,000, $150,000, $250,000 and then finally a title shot and a cool million. Look at Amir Khan. Get your face kicked in and 2 fights later get a title shot a $2m. Then there is the Ali influence. Nobody wants to wind up like that. Its the golden rule, the Rule of Bugner- its not just about the money. Its about the money and being able to spend it So run like fuck, flop on to the canvas, but be there at the end to make your money, make your excuses and then make your escape into the sunset. Thats the West today in large parts. Soft and Smart.
yup... and guys are continuously trying to apply the "people are bigger and faster than ever before" logic to boxing, which doesn't work... it's not a race, it doesn't take place in straight lines... organized pockets of similar, separate activity for the two participants don't exist
Well in general I can't say that I blame anyone for not wanting to take uneeded punishment. But work on and refine the defensive part of the game also. Blend it with an adequate offensive arsenal and you can be sucessful without being a punching bag as long as you don't hang around too long. I can remember when after the Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim tragedy people were as usual calling for the banishment of the sport. For a college class I was taking around that time we all had to come up with an essay and I chose to do mine in defense of the sport. I can recall one girl at the time saying that she felt like one had to be crazy to have someone beating you upside the head. It seems a lot of young people today agree with that.
Well Haye had athletic Grade-A boxing skills, such as the head-movement, a real defensive aspect to his game. You could say that his lack of an offensive threat hurt him, or his inability to establish it. One thing that really hurt Haye on the night was that, right from 2 years ago, he had resolved to overcome "these Germans", to get the better of "these Russians", to not be controlled by "these people". I don't know who first said that it is the curse of the addict to chase that which destroys them. But that was Haye. He became so addicted to this notion of "protecting himself" in Germany, that he over-egged the pudding. Trying to impress people with his vaunted "Atleffitism". Bending their ear about his Undisputed Cruiserweightedness. {Which he never was to begin with}. Try to make everyone see that Wlad was a boring, charmless financial cheat. Questioning the judges. Questioning the referee. Coming out late. Keeping people waiting. Flopping to the canvas. Looking at the referee. And when he had gotten what he wanted, and Wlad was docked a point, he went one further and tried again, and got a knock-down called against him even though there wasn't one, so pissed off had the referee become with him. Haye should have concentrated on fighting. He should have concentrated on rounds 1-12. Instead he concentrated on round 0 and round 13. I don't know if the American fans know this, but Haye made a big deal about getting his own food sent to Germany 2 weeks in advance. He made out the Germans were some sort of saboteurs and that their produce was infected, that "they rob and poison you over there". He was too besotted by the notion of storming Castle Deutschland and not besotted enough with figuring Wlad out.
