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by David P. Greisman - Our warriors are underappreciated.
It seems a strange statement to make, particularly in a year in which boxing writers and fans are considering voting Arturo Gatti into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and particularly after a weekend in which two other junior welterweight warriors in Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado put forth a great battle of their own.
But it’s true — no matter how much we pay tribute to those who shorten their careers for our momentary entertainment, no matter how lovingly we speak of the gutsy and gritty performances of Gatti and Diego Corrales, and no matter how much mainstream attention went to Micky Ward after the biopic about his life and career became a hit.
They do not have to fight the way they do. They could be rewarded as much, if not more, for fighting differently. Yet they know only one way, and we are better for it, even if they are not necessarily so.
Fights like Gatti-Ward are the exception, in which the expected war is spotlighted in the main event and in which the fighters receive career-high paydays. More often than not they are on the undercard, there to help sell a show, there because their reputation precedes them. They will fight hard and come forward no matter the opponent, no matter the stakes, no matter the number of zeroes at the end of their checks.
In an ideal world, they would be the richest among their peers. Despite boxing’s description as The Sweet Science, it is the fights in which the momentum swings as much as the boxers do that earn recognition as the best bouts of each year. But most of the sport’s stars are those who need not be vulnerable so long as they are victorious. [Click Here To Read More]
It seems a strange statement to make, particularly in a year in which boxing writers and fans are considering voting Arturo Gatti into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and particularly after a weekend in which two other junior welterweight warriors in Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado put forth a great battle of their own.
But it’s true — no matter how much we pay tribute to those who shorten their careers for our momentary entertainment, no matter how lovingly we speak of the gutsy and gritty performances of Gatti and Diego Corrales, and no matter how much mainstream attention went to Micky Ward after the biopic about his life and career became a hit.
They do not have to fight the way they do. They could be rewarded as much, if not more, for fighting differently. Yet they know only one way, and we are better for it, even if they are not necessarily so.
Fights like Gatti-Ward are the exception, in which the expected war is spotlighted in the main event and in which the fighters receive career-high paydays. More often than not they are on the undercard, there to help sell a show, there because their reputation precedes them. They will fight hard and come forward no matter the opponent, no matter the stakes, no matter the number of zeroes at the end of their checks.
In an ideal world, they would be the richest among their peers. Despite boxing’s description as The Sweet Science, it is the fights in which the momentum swings as much as the boxers do that earn recognition as the best bouts of each year. But most of the sport’s stars are those who need not be vulnerable so long as they are victorious. [Click Here To Read More]
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