Accepted excuses.

[Marchegiano]

I am a bit surprised how much more the online fandom accepts excuses compared to my local fandom. It got me wondering what exactly is an acceptable excuse for a loss or duck and if the ones I see often are the most accepted or simply the most well known / discussed.


I see age quite often cited as a reason to excuse a loss or deflate a win.

I see money as an excuse quite often to excuse ducking.

Layoffs you see now and then for losses.

Locations or the general business end of things outside of simply money seems, tv for example, to be an acceptable reason for heaps of people for both losses and ducking.

Steroid usage


What I don't think I have ever seen in any thread are any mentions of excuses I personally think are at least just as valid as rust and age and such:


Fighting sick or already injured for a loss or refusing the fight for the same reasons as a ducking excuse.

Fighting despite a personal tragedy, death of a child or some such similar. Or refusing a fight because of a personal tragedy.

Camps being cut short or in some way interfered with.

Likewise, and I have never even heard of any fighter bringing this up let alone fans but I do think it is a legitimate consideration, what about unfair camp advantages. Access to trainers, access to facilities, access to sparring partners, that sort of thing.


Is it because people can easily see the age on records and are less likely to know a fighter fought with a broken arm or their wife died a week prior to a fight and such?

Or is the only acceptable excuse for ducking and losing money and age?


I did say just as valid, and I do believe they are but I also think excuses are equally weak and we ought not use them.

[IronDanHamza]

Any time James Toney looked terrible - Weight drained/out of shape.

Despite the fact there is literally no difference between any version of James Toney in regards to his weight/shape at Light Heavyweight and under.

[Willie Pep 229]

I am a bit surprised how much more the online fandom accepts excuses compared to my local fandom. It got me wondering what exactly is an acceptable excuse for a loss or duck and if the ones I see often are the most accepted or simply the most well known / discussed.


I see age quite often cited as a reason to excuse a loss or deflate a win.

I see money as an excuse quite often to excuse ducking.

Layoffs you see now and then for losses.

Locations or the general business end of things outside of simply money seems, tv for example, to be an acceptable reason for heaps of people for both losses and ducking.

Steroid usage


What I don't think I have ever seen in any thread are any mentions of excuses I personally think are at least just as valid as rust and age and such:


Fighting sick or already injured for a loss or refusing the fight for the same reasons as a ducking excuse.

Fighting despite a personal tragedy, death of a child or some such similar. Or refusing a fight because of a personal tragedy.

Camps being cut short or in some way interfered with.

Likewise, and I have never even heard of any fighter bringing this up let alone fans but I do think it is a legitimate consideration, what about unfair camp advantages. Access to trainers, access to facilities, access to sparring partners, that sort of thing.


Is it because people can easily see the age on records and are less likely to know a fighter fought with a broken arm or their wife died a week prior to a fight and such?

Or is the only acceptable excuse for ducking and losing money and age?


I did say just as valid, and I do believe they are but I also think excuses are equally weak and we ought not use them.

I referenced this complaint when arguing that Louis was mistreated (screwed with) by the NYSAC leading up to the first Walcott fight, and saw it as one reason Louis's performance that night was wanting.

[Marchegiano]

Any time James Toney looked terrible - Weight drained/out of shape.

Despite the fact there is literally no difference between any version of James Toney in regards to his weight/shape at Light Heavyweight and under.

Weight drained is one you see a lot! Can't believe I forgot it.

[Marchegiano]

I referenced this complaint when arguing that Louis was mistreated (screwed with) by the NYSAC leading up to the first Walcott fight, and saw it as one reason Louis's performance that night was wanting.

I didn't know that, I just thought Walcott was a tough character.

[DeeMoney]

I don't know where we draw the line between 'excuse' and 'legitimate reason'. I would argue that age has played a big part in a lot of outcomes (at least when compared to what the older fighter was in their prime).

I think injury is a valid reason in some case. You bring up the fighting despite a personal tragedy, and immediately thought of Hearns Leonard II, which one could argue played a role. Thats why you need a large sample size to really evaluate a fighter; sadly with only a few years within a prime, and fighting only a few times a year, we rarely get enough of a sample size.

[Willie Pep 229]

I didn't know that, I just thought Walcott was a tough character.

Walcott was a tough character. One could say he outboxed (an aging) Louis both times.

In Walcott II we saw a flash of the old champion when he caught Walcott with a perfect combination snatching victory out of defeat. I.e. Walcott was winning on the cards at the time.

The first decision was a gift, but one I wholeheartedly support.

Louis really got screwed around with leading up to the first fight, he just wasn't ready. He hadn't been shown the respect due a champion necessary to get himself properly prepared.

[TheIronMike]

During a fight anything like injury (broken bones, torn tendons ex.)

Anything mental (ie. family death/divorce) are not legit because you can simply stop thinking about those things for 45 minutes.

[markusmod]

Injuries for sure, layoffs, weight draining, illegal punches (to the back of the head or balls).

[JAB5239]

During a fight anything like injury (broken bones, torn tendons ex.)

Anything mental (ie. family death/divorce) are not legit because you can simply stop thinking about those things for 45 minutes.

Yet fight camps for world class fighters are anywhere from 2 to 3 months. Pretty hard to focus with such things going on around you to properly prepare.

Would you say the opposite was true for Buster Douglas? He never repeated the great performance over Tyson the rest of his career. Maybe he took that one time focus from his mother's death and could never repeat it again??