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By Greg Dawson: As a hardened fan of the sport of boxing I would suggest the whole Mayweather - Pacquiao saga is to the detriment of the sport. On the opposite side, we have the MMA/UFC where the powers that be create action packed events with most of the top fighters facing each other, with no contractual issues at all. At least from my vantage point that’s what I see happening, although I must admit I’m not tuned into the entire goings on within the MMA scene.
The smokescreen that developed with all the media outlets and promoters exaggerating the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight to epic proportions can obscure our vision. We are all forgetting the other great fights out there that can be put together.
Why where there no voices shouting from the rooftops for a Juan Manuel Lopez to fight Yuriorkis Gamboa? Both are undefeated and now competing in the featherweight division, and both have a common opponent in Rogers Mtagwa. In his fight with Mtagwa the Puerto Rican born Lopez laboured over the line as he gassed out in the later rounds, three months later Gamboa blitzed the Tanzania Tiger inside two rounds.
This fight would have been just as intriguing as any in the sport today, how would the ring savvy Lopez deal with the firepower of Gamboa, and how would the chin of Gamboa that’s already failed him on several visits to the canvas stand up to the power of Lopez.
Then we have the deep talented light welterweight division where any of the top 4 - Bradley, Khan, Alexander or Maidana, squaring off against each other would make for an intriguing night, hell if we want to follow in the footsteps of our hugely popular but younger cousin (MMA) why not have the top 4 light welterweights box-off against each other in a semi final, final, format where all the belts would be on the line and would spawn the first undisputed champion in the divisions history, although some would argue Kostya Tszyu was undisputed when he held three of the of the four linear titles.
The future of Boxing will never hang on one man, it has to deep and too long a history to depend on one soul. There have been eras where the sport has excelled, Ali, Tyson and the middleweight golden era but the truth is when you remove the hype and have a real look there has always been great fights out there to be made. The fighters may not have been household names, they may not have had big mouths but you can be rest assured there is always great fights out there.
Boxing will survive without sacrilegious promoters who drain the well that provided their waters, Boxing will survive without the Hollywood element that sucks the life blood from our sport and denies the fans the top fights.
Mayweather vs Pacquiao who cares, let’s move on.
The smokescreen that developed with all the media outlets and promoters exaggerating the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight to epic proportions can obscure our vision. We are all forgetting the other great fights out there that can be put together.
Why where there no voices shouting from the rooftops for a Juan Manuel Lopez to fight Yuriorkis Gamboa? Both are undefeated and now competing in the featherweight division, and both have a common opponent in Rogers Mtagwa. In his fight with Mtagwa the Puerto Rican born Lopez laboured over the line as he gassed out in the later rounds, three months later Gamboa blitzed the Tanzania Tiger inside two rounds.
This fight would have been just as intriguing as any in the sport today, how would the ring savvy Lopez deal with the firepower of Gamboa, and how would the chin of Gamboa that’s already failed him on several visits to the canvas stand up to the power of Lopez.
Then we have the deep talented light welterweight division where any of the top 4 - Bradley, Khan, Alexander or Maidana, squaring off against each other would make for an intriguing night, hell if we want to follow in the footsteps of our hugely popular but younger cousin (MMA) why not have the top 4 light welterweights box-off against each other in a semi final, final, format where all the belts would be on the line and would spawn the first undisputed champion in the divisions history, although some would argue Kostya Tszyu was undisputed when he held three of the of the four linear titles.
The future of Boxing will never hang on one man, it has to deep and too long a history to depend on one soul. There have been eras where the sport has excelled, Ali, Tyson and the middleweight golden era but the truth is when you remove the hype and have a real look there has always been great fights out there to be made. The fighters may not have been household names, they may not have had big mouths but you can be rest assured there is always great fights out there.
Boxing will survive without sacrilegious promoters who drain the well that provided their waters, Boxing will survive without the Hollywood element that sucks the life blood from our sport and denies the fans the top fights.
Mayweather vs Pacquiao who cares, let’s move on.
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