American Public
There aren't really ANY fighters, floyd included who are currently on the radar of the general American public. Boxing as a whole is not really what it was in the past so the public doesn't get familiar with great fighters. ODLH is really the last guy everyone knows about, and it would take another great, charismatic, likeable and exciting fighter to bring back the interest of the American public. Boxing is just not embraced like that anymore.
Floyd is barely known to the average non boxing fan, and his biggest break in the ODLH fight did garner some national mainstream attention but it probably turned more people off of boxing because it was boring as ****.
incidentally, i been meaning to ask; how much did JMM weigh against Diaz on the night?
JMM weighed 140 on fight night. He is a small lightweight and would be tiny against any 140lber or above.
It's not as applicable in lower weights, but for heavier weights like 175+ the talent pool is relatively smaller now than 50-75 years ago because of the growth and popularity of other major sports. Boxing USED to be the premier sport and the heavyweight champion was regarded as the best athlete on the planet, but that's no longer the case. Kids don't grow up wanting to be boxers, they grow up wanting to be Jordan, Randy Moss, A-rod, Tiger, Ronaldo, etc..Also those sports offer FAR more pay with less bodily harm. If you have an athletically talented son why would you push him into boxing when he could make x-times the amount of money, fame, and not risk brain damage.
Sports medicine and science has improved in A LOT of ways, but boxing isn't benefiting from all that. Training methods, technique and strategy have not undergone massive changes since back in the day. Boxing is so steeped in myth and oldschool-ness that people are still hitting tires and running in boots and shit today. Speed Bag, Heavy Bag, and sparring were the training standards 75 years ago too.
I didnt read the whole thread so i hope this wasnt covered yet.
Guys move up in weight for different reasons. A good contrast is Gatti at the end of his career and Cotto and 140. Both guys struggled to make that weight but the difference being that Gatti's body was worn and shot and couldn't get down safely at the end so he was forced to move up to 147 which was an unnatural weight for him because he was too small/slow.
Cotto on the other hand couldn't make weight because his body was probably growing and getting stronger, so when he moved up he was even better because 147 seems like a much more natural weight class for him. He's sharp, strong and doesn't need to dehydrate so much.
This is the first fight of Zabs in awhile where people aren't hyping him up saying that the "focused and hungry" zab is gonna show up, so maybe he actually WILL this time. Clottey isn't gonna be pressuring him like baldo or cotto so he probably doesn't have to worry about getting broken down. The weight is a little weird, but we'll see. Zab UD
This is really a non-discussion, but so many people here want to act like ****ing women. Both Margarito and Williams are badasses, and I really don't think either of them are afraid of anyone else, much less each other. There are REAL reasons for them not fighting just yet, namely money issues, the marketability of a rematch, and higher priority fights like the Cotto rematch. PWill is understandably upset because the guy that he beat last year is now the man, and is in position for money fights, so he's running his mouth a lot to get that attention, but he's just kind of SOL for the time being. I think the FIGHT WILL HAPPEN in late 2009, so long as Margarito beats mosley and then cotto, which is not guaranteed. So just relax your vaginas and see what happens.
Margarito has beaten Clottey, Cotto, Cintronx2, and will be favored to beat Mosley... He is basically one fight away(a rematch with Williams from cleaning out one of the deepest divisions in boxing. That is unless you believe that he needs to beat Berto too, but he is arguably very green.
While I do agree with the blanket statement that training, nutrition, etc. has improved over decades of time, boxing has not always been a part of that evolution. You have to understand also that all these "superior athletes" that are a result of these improvements are playing in other sports: Football, Bball especially. The talent pool of athletes that boxing draws from has gotten much smaller since the 70's and 80's because of the growth of other sports combined with the fact that you can make so much more money and take less damage on your body shooting 3 jumpers than you can getting ktfo. Therefore the "better, faster, stronger" argument holds far less weight in regards to boxing.
Boxing technique and strategy has not changed much either. A strong jab was just as important 50 years ago as it was today.
Yikes
Seems like straining himself so bad to make 135 for years after he should've moved up to 140 has damaged him a lot. His body just can't cut the wait anymore. Chico was in the same situation, and both men really should've moved up in weight far earlier to extend their careers. A shame what has happened since their first fight, it's pretty crazy.
Tyson in Black and White
I can't tell if any of Tyson's lines in Black and White are scripted or not because they completely sound like things he says in real life. Either way it is hilarious.
"If you can't be nice to somebody %100 of the time, you should kill them."
"You're not understanding my vernacular.":haha:
At the conference, Calzaghe dissed Hopkins, stating: “All this s*** about being the Executioner and
wearing that stupid hat and telling everyone he’s a legend, what the f*** is that?”
I think this is hilarious and true; BHop talks out of his ass most of the time trying to hype up his own shit. I know every fighter does it to an extent but the kind of game he talks compared to the game he brings to the ring are so far apart I can never take him seriously.
The Drug testing was ALWAYS all about leverage, posturing, and gamesmanship, and very little to do with cleaning the sport or anything like that, which is exactly why it has been so hard to get this fight signed. But with the better performance over their last 2 fights Floyd has more cards to play and will push the issue to where he wants it. Either way, this fight gets made soon, and hopefully you ignorant ****s on both sides will shutup about roids, tests, revenue split, and cut-off dates...
Let's get this shit on!!!!
True or not this bullshit is getting so tiring I don't care anymore. Some people are gonna hang on every word and rumor but at this point the fans are just getting cheated and yanked around way too much. I'd rather move on and enjoy the sport than speculate on this shit.