Clegg
09-10-2008, 03:39 AM
The nature of people in boxing is we build 'em up then tear 'em down.
How many times do you see Joe Calzaghe dismissed as a slapper? Or Ricky Hatton a hugger and hitter? It seems if they haven’t put in a performance like Jeff Lacy/Mikkel Kessler or Kostya Tszyu in the last couple of months their achievements are forgotten.
One funny comment I saw about Khan is that he is just another Prince Naseem! Like that’s a bad thing? You have to wonder about the kind of mind that equates a fighter who gets knocked out before stepping up to world class level, with someone whose only defeat after 16 world title wins was against a bona fide legend.
Many people wished him well when he came back from Athens with the Olympic silver medal around his neck but for others this was a target they have been waiting four years to shoot at.
Now it seems that so many boxing fans have joined these haters with their 'I told you so's'.
I have been upset at the way everyone is just laughing their heads off at his demise. I walk into my gym The Real Fight Club and everyone is saying ‘good’ at the beating he took, but when I ask them why they have to think for a while before answering.
Then it comes out ‘Oh it’s because he was too cocky and needed to come down a peg or two’ - what a bag of crap. Or even worse: 'It's good for boxing'.
How many fighters did he give terrestial tv exposure to? Just like Audley Harrison with the BBC, he got ITV interested in boxing for the first time in years and other promoters and fighters should be grateful for the benefits they gained from this.
Is it his fault there was so much interest in him? What should he have done? Fought in small halls when 10,000 fans are prepared to watch him? Or insisted on being at the bottom of the bill when people were paying their money to see him?
Is all the joy in his defeat simply because he was too successful too quick and it left a bad taste in your mouth. Come on people, where is the class?
The Nas lyric from his Lost Tapes album comes to mind: “The hood loves you, but they pray for the day a bullet hits your heart and ambulances take you away.”
I for one am still a fan of the young man from Bolton. I have always found him one of the nice guys of boxing, especially considering the hype that surrounds him.
I have to laugh when people call him cowardly. Did they not see him bravely try to get up from being floored for the second time in the first round?
It’s that show of heart and the fact he didn’t hide after his defeat that make me like the kid even more.
I do wonder how on earth you put your prospect in with a guy with 17 knockouts from 19 wins though. What the hell was his trainer doing picking a flipping hungry Columbian who is tall and an educated puncher. And one who was unranked so it’s not as if he gets any allowances for it? I wouldn’t trust Jorge Rubio to pick flowers for me let alone an opponent.
The decision to choose his opponent should have been in the hands of matchmaker Dean Powell who has done an excellent job from the day the kid turned professional.
In my eyes Amir was being guided in the right way but things got a little confusing when advisors with no boxing experience are leading a fighter on what to do. His personal advisors should advise him about personal stuff, but people who are schooled in the game should make the calls when it comes to his career, don’t you think? And his boxing needs to come first.
I know first-hand what it’s like to be stopped or hurt in a fight I also know what it’s liked to be floored or even to believe your own hype.
How many of the fans or writers know that feeling? The feeling of failure is a hurting thing that every time he closes eyes he will see the heavy hands of Prescott hitting flush on the jaw.
The funny thing is the actual moment of getting knocked down or dazed actually is a nice feeling, it’s a kind of buzz that doesn’t really hurt when you feel yourself floating to the canvas.
By the time you wake up the referee will be at count 5 or 6 and you will ask yourself what has happened to the 1,2,3,4 - well that's what happened to me and I could call many other names who told me the same story.
Can he come back from it? I really don’t know. Of course such a dramatic and early knockout makes you really doubt whether he will ever be able to take the shots necessary to win a world title. Your mind drifts to his knockdowns with Craig Watson in the amateurs, Willie Limond and Michael Gomez fights.
As I’ve said before I’d love him to leave Bolton for a while and go and spar in a tough American gym. Getting hit regularly in these circumstances might help condition him to dealing with powerful opponents and not come out as open and easy to hit as he has been. Obviously spending time in Freddie Roach's gym would be beneficial but from what I've seen Nirmal Lorick, John David Jackson, Naseem Richardson and Steve Frank would also fit the bill.
Just the actuality of being away from home would be character building. Ask Nigel Benn.
After his convincing loss to Michael Watson he did not fight in Britain for 18 months and in that time had tough fights with the likes of Sanderline Williams, before he won the WBO middleweight title from Doug De Witt and defended it against Iran Barkley. You could argue this period was the best of his career until his incredible, tragic, but career-defining fight with Gerald McClellan.
Amir doesn’t have to be away for the same time but I hope he does do this for a while. He will not be forgotten. The most important thing is to make the changes needed to get him back on track. It's not just a case of getting straight back on the horse, it's about consolidating the foundations to his set-up both mentally and technically.
And this will be best served by getting him away from the limelight for a while.
http://www.setanta.com/en/Blogs/A-to-Z-of-Bloggers/Spencer-Fearon/06/09/To-all-you-Amir-haters/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/boxing/
How many times do you see Joe Calzaghe dismissed as a slapper? Or Ricky Hatton a hugger and hitter? It seems if they haven’t put in a performance like Jeff Lacy/Mikkel Kessler or Kostya Tszyu in the last couple of months their achievements are forgotten.
One funny comment I saw about Khan is that he is just another Prince Naseem! Like that’s a bad thing? You have to wonder about the kind of mind that equates a fighter who gets knocked out before stepping up to world class level, with someone whose only defeat after 16 world title wins was against a bona fide legend.
Many people wished him well when he came back from Athens with the Olympic silver medal around his neck but for others this was a target they have been waiting four years to shoot at.
Now it seems that so many boxing fans have joined these haters with their 'I told you so's'.
I have been upset at the way everyone is just laughing their heads off at his demise. I walk into my gym The Real Fight Club and everyone is saying ‘good’ at the beating he took, but when I ask them why they have to think for a while before answering.
Then it comes out ‘Oh it’s because he was too cocky and needed to come down a peg or two’ - what a bag of crap. Or even worse: 'It's good for boxing'.
How many fighters did he give terrestial tv exposure to? Just like Audley Harrison with the BBC, he got ITV interested in boxing for the first time in years and other promoters and fighters should be grateful for the benefits they gained from this.
Is it his fault there was so much interest in him? What should he have done? Fought in small halls when 10,000 fans are prepared to watch him? Or insisted on being at the bottom of the bill when people were paying their money to see him?
Is all the joy in his defeat simply because he was too successful too quick and it left a bad taste in your mouth. Come on people, where is the class?
The Nas lyric from his Lost Tapes album comes to mind: “The hood loves you, but they pray for the day a bullet hits your heart and ambulances take you away.”
I for one am still a fan of the young man from Bolton. I have always found him one of the nice guys of boxing, especially considering the hype that surrounds him.
I have to laugh when people call him cowardly. Did they not see him bravely try to get up from being floored for the second time in the first round?
It’s that show of heart and the fact he didn’t hide after his defeat that make me like the kid even more.
I do wonder how on earth you put your prospect in with a guy with 17 knockouts from 19 wins though. What the hell was his trainer doing picking a flipping hungry Columbian who is tall and an educated puncher. And one who was unranked so it’s not as if he gets any allowances for it? I wouldn’t trust Jorge Rubio to pick flowers for me let alone an opponent.
The decision to choose his opponent should have been in the hands of matchmaker Dean Powell who has done an excellent job from the day the kid turned professional.
In my eyes Amir was being guided in the right way but things got a little confusing when advisors with no boxing experience are leading a fighter on what to do. His personal advisors should advise him about personal stuff, but people who are schooled in the game should make the calls when it comes to his career, don’t you think? And his boxing needs to come first.
I know first-hand what it’s like to be stopped or hurt in a fight I also know what it’s liked to be floored or even to believe your own hype.
How many of the fans or writers know that feeling? The feeling of failure is a hurting thing that every time he closes eyes he will see the heavy hands of Prescott hitting flush on the jaw.
The funny thing is the actual moment of getting knocked down or dazed actually is a nice feeling, it’s a kind of buzz that doesn’t really hurt when you feel yourself floating to the canvas.
By the time you wake up the referee will be at count 5 or 6 and you will ask yourself what has happened to the 1,2,3,4 - well that's what happened to me and I could call many other names who told me the same story.
Can he come back from it? I really don’t know. Of course such a dramatic and early knockout makes you really doubt whether he will ever be able to take the shots necessary to win a world title. Your mind drifts to his knockdowns with Craig Watson in the amateurs, Willie Limond and Michael Gomez fights.
As I’ve said before I’d love him to leave Bolton for a while and go and spar in a tough American gym. Getting hit regularly in these circumstances might help condition him to dealing with powerful opponents and not come out as open and easy to hit as he has been. Obviously spending time in Freddie Roach's gym would be beneficial but from what I've seen Nirmal Lorick, John David Jackson, Naseem Richardson and Steve Frank would also fit the bill.
Just the actuality of being away from home would be character building. Ask Nigel Benn.
After his convincing loss to Michael Watson he did not fight in Britain for 18 months and in that time had tough fights with the likes of Sanderline Williams, before he won the WBO middleweight title from Doug De Witt and defended it against Iran Barkley. You could argue this period was the best of his career until his incredible, tragic, but career-defining fight with Gerald McClellan.
Amir doesn’t have to be away for the same time but I hope he does do this for a while. He will not be forgotten. The most important thing is to make the changes needed to get him back on track. It's not just a case of getting straight back on the horse, it's about consolidating the foundations to his set-up both mentally and technically.
And this will be best served by getting him away from the limelight for a while.
http://www.setanta.com/en/Blogs/A-to-Z-of-Bloggers/Spencer-Fearon/06/09/To-all-you-Amir-haters/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/boxing/