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By Jake Donovan - Once upon a time, Ryan Rhodes was supposed to follow his good friend Prince Naseem Hamed on the fast track to superstardom. He was even responsible for introducing the flip routine that the brash featherweight ultimately popularized by incorporating into his ring entrance.
Greatness was already bestowed upon him before he ever had a chance to prove it in the ring.
He was known as “****e Boy” at a time when the UK-based ****e Girls were among the hottest pop bands in the world. The nickname came about when Dominic Ingle – son of Rhodes’ former trainer Brendan Ingle (who also trained Hamed at the time) – commented that the scene inside of Rhodes’ locker room was so crazy that it resembled a ****e Girls convention.
The nickname stuck around for years. What never followed was the greatness so often promised.
Instead, Rhodes would spend much of his career living in the shadow of others like Hamed and considered to as an afterthought, yet another overhyped prospect who never came close to measuring up to the lofty expectations.
Eventually, even the nickname would become outdated and inappropriate – can’t remain a boy forever, nor would following generations even understand the reference.
Fittingly enough, after discovering redemption through maturity, awaiting the Sheffield-bred boxer in perhaps the biggest fight of his 16-year career is perhaps the most famous ****e in the sport today as he challenges undefeated Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a junior middleweight crossroads bout.
The bout marks his first trip outside of the United Kingdom, and also his first ever shot at a major junior middleweight belt. For this challenge, Rhodes travels to Alvarez’ native Mexico for their 12-round title fight, which will be carried live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark (Saturday, 10:30PM ET/PT). [Click Here To Read More]
Greatness was already bestowed upon him before he ever had a chance to prove it in the ring.
He was known as “****e Boy” at a time when the UK-based ****e Girls were among the hottest pop bands in the world. The nickname came about when Dominic Ingle – son of Rhodes’ former trainer Brendan Ingle (who also trained Hamed at the time) – commented that the scene inside of Rhodes’ locker room was so crazy that it resembled a ****e Girls convention.
The nickname stuck around for years. What never followed was the greatness so often promised.
Instead, Rhodes would spend much of his career living in the shadow of others like Hamed and considered to as an afterthought, yet another overhyped prospect who never came close to measuring up to the lofty expectations.
Eventually, even the nickname would become outdated and inappropriate – can’t remain a boy forever, nor would following generations even understand the reference.
Fittingly enough, after discovering redemption through maturity, awaiting the Sheffield-bred boxer in perhaps the biggest fight of his 16-year career is perhaps the most famous ****e in the sport today as he challenges undefeated Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a junior middleweight crossroads bout.
The bout marks his first trip outside of the United Kingdom, and also his first ever shot at a major junior middleweight belt. For this challenge, Rhodes travels to Alvarez’ native Mexico for their 12-round title fight, which will be carried live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark (Saturday, 10:30PM ET/PT). [Click Here To Read More]
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