These days I always hear up and coming prospects say stuff like "once *insert dominant champions name here* retires, I'm the man to take over". I've heard Joshua say it about Klitschko, I've heard Broner say it about Floyd. Whether or not you think they're on the same skill level as the champion is irrelevant, my point is this - whatever happened to wanting to take down the guy at the top when they're on top? It just screams of a lack of faith in your own ability. It seems to be a common line used by the new breed coming through and it gets on my tits. I remember watching an interview where a young, unbeaten Mike Tyson is talking to (of all people) Jimmy Greaves, and he says the one thing which he regretted the most was that he didn't get the chance to fight Holmes when Holmes was champion as he would have set a better record and more importantly, he believed he could have beaten him at that point. What happened to that kind of attitude, man? I miss that unbreakable belief in your own talent, where young fighters wanted to prove they were the best. There are a few guys who have that attitude in this era, don't get me wrong, but I feel like I'm hearing that line more and more nowadays. Rant over.
Excellent point. Vitali did genuinely want to fight Lewis and be the man. I think Floyd is a cherry picking Hobo so no point in really being too harsh on the infinitely less talented Broner. It's all about money these days. Also....necessity is the mother of all invention. If its not necessary, why risk it. Joshua to be fair to him probably knows his career path and that of WK are very unlikely to cross. What he could say I suppose is "I want Povetkin next, then Fury, then Wilder...then a Unification".
I think it's closely related to the "I fight who my manager says". If their team downplays the fight against the champion the fighter then just moves on to "i'll take over afterward".
If a current boxer was on their death bed, and an interviewer asked them one last question, "Where do you think you're about to end up - Heaven or Hell?" The response would be, "I leave that up to Al Haymon."
A lot of these guys find the spot light without earning it. Beat a bunch of under sized former champions. Lampley calling their name in his faggoty way. These guys aren't stupid. They know they're not half as good as Lampley makes them out to be. They're looking for their next stiff to beat up.
