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by David P. Greisman - The mismatch is neither new nor uncommon. Records have to be built so fighters seem impressive enough to draw interest. Prospects need to be built so that they can learn small but important lessons in each early fight, developing until they become contenders.
The “sports entertainment” world of professional wrestling has its squash matches. Joe Louis had his “Bum of the Month Club.” And nearly every boxing card has one color corner, blue or red, assigned to the fighter expected to win. The other corner across the ring is reserved for the man who is there to lose.
Losing is generally not the opponent’s goal, barring those foes who know that their role is to put up a variable amount of resistance in defeat. Yet these opponents tend to be selected to further a cause. Some are there to be blown out. Some are there to make the name fighter work. And some are expected to put up a good battle before falling short, thanks to a combination of their limitations and the name fighter just being that much better.
Saturday night’s card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, featured nine bouts, all of which ended with the boxer from the blue corner announced as the winner. Four of the winners were prospects early in their careers: Marcus Browne pummeled Paul Vasquez for 28 seconds, D’Mitrius Ballard stopped Barry Trotter in two minutes and 35 seconds, and Zachary Ochoa and Prichard Colon scored six-round unanimous decisions over Luis Cervantes and Lenwood Dozier, respectively. [Click Here To Read More]
The “sports entertainment” world of professional wrestling has its squash matches. Joe Louis had his “Bum of the Month Club.” And nearly every boxing card has one color corner, blue or red, assigned to the fighter expected to win. The other corner across the ring is reserved for the man who is there to lose.
Losing is generally not the opponent’s goal, barring those foes who know that their role is to put up a variable amount of resistance in defeat. Yet these opponents tend to be selected to further a cause. Some are there to be blown out. Some are there to make the name fighter work. And some are expected to put up a good battle before falling short, thanks to a combination of their limitations and the name fighter just being that much better.
Saturday night’s card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, featured nine bouts, all of which ended with the boxer from the blue corner announced as the winner. Four of the winners were prospects early in their careers: Marcus Browne pummeled Paul Vasquez for 28 seconds, D’Mitrius Ballard stopped Barry Trotter in two minutes and 35 seconds, and Zachary Ochoa and Prichard Colon scored six-round unanimous decisions over Luis Cervantes and Lenwood Dozier, respectively. [Click Here To Read More]
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