Why do boxing fans ask too much of proven fighters and less of unproven ones?

[Reigning Champ]

Consistently on this forum I see fans pushing proven fighters to face bigger challenges, even when they've proven themselves thus far. Whereas, unproven ones are given a pass. Not even trying to say fighters shouldn't challenge themselves (that's one of the ways this sport improves) - I'm all for that - but they should be treated equally.

The forum's first page for instance, Froch needs to move up, Cotto needs to fight Golovkin, Mayweather needs to fight Lara or Golovkin, the list goes on & on. All these fighters have proven themselves.

On the other hand, I hardly hear cries for the likes of Golovkin, Wilder, Joshua, Brook etc to face better challenges. Instead, they're given a pass, and permitted to fight mismatches.

Just doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

[Bram]

I think it's natural to expect more from people who have shown you more. If you've shown me you can be great - I want to see you be greater. If you haven't shown it to me, then I'm still in the stage of wondering whether or not you have it. And for me you're right. In your exact example. I'm a fan of Kell Brook's, but if he fights another Jojo Dan or Frankie Gavin in his next fight, I won't be angry at him and I'll watch it and cheer when he wins. Golovkin, on the other hand, at least for me, has 'graduated' to the point where I'm not looking forward to him fighting someone I KNOW he'll knockout easily. Joshua and Wilder, I don't care so much yet.

[Tom Cruise]

Consistently on this forum I see fans pushing proven fighters to face bigger challenges, even when they've proven themselves thus far. Whereas, unproven ones are given a pass. Not even trying to say fighters shouldn't challenge themselves (that's one of the ways this sport improves) - I'm all for that - but they should be treated equally.

The forum's first page for instance, Froch needs to move up, Cotto needs to fight Golovkin, Mayweather needs to fight Lara or Golovkin, the list goes on & on. All these fighters have proven themselves.

On the other hand, I hardly hear cries for the likes of Golovkin, Wilder, Joshua, Brook etc to face better challenges. Instead, they're given a pass, and permitted to fight mismatches.

Just doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

All these fighters are criticised (rightly or wrongly) for their competition level all the time.

[Kagami Taiga]

Yea, it's the typical bull**** that goes on around here. The more u pr u prove, the more u have to prove. Whereas the less u prove the more your fans wanna continue to see u coast in easy fights. Golovkin is a prime example of this. Ppl wanna see him fight cotto. Easy fight for him imo. But bring up Ward or Lara, and u will hear every excuse in the book. It's craziness. Golovkin does deserve to have his shot don't get me wrong but there are too many on here who are totally content with his current career when on all honesty it's completely lackluster.

[Reigning Champ]

Put it this way, Golovkin fought in the same Olympics '04 as Zou Shimming, Amir Khan, Povetkin, Solis, Dirrell, Andre Ward, Gamboa and Rigondeaux. Yet as a pro has faced the least challenges. It's about time he faces tougher challenges and if it means moving up then he should do exactly that. Instead of flounder around looking to face fighters that don't have a chance in hell, just for a measly belt. He's also not in his twenties anymore, so the clock is ticking.

[Larry the boss]

Great post and spot on

[Reigning Champ]

All these fighters are criticised (rightly or wrongly) for their competition level all the time.

I don't think they're criticized enough.

[Chuckguy]

So this is pretty much another GGG hater thread. Good to know.

[Reigning Champ]

So this is pretty much another GGG hater thread. Good to know.

Where's the hate? I don't see it. Critical - yes, but hate, no!

[ИATAS]

Put it this way, Golovkin fought in the same Olympics '04 as Zou Shimming, Amir Khan, Povetkin, Solis, Dirrell, Andre Ward, Gamboa and Rigondeaux. Yet as a pro has faced the least challenges. It's about time he faces tougher challenges and if it means moving up then he should do exactly that. Instead of flounder around looking to face fighters that don't have a chance in hell, just for a measly belt. He's also not in his twenties anymore, so the clock is ticking.

Easier said than done.

Obviously Golovkin has been trying to. He's attempted to fight Felix Sturm (GGG was his mandatory for two years), N'dam (was ordered to fight Golovkin twice, N'dam pulled out both times), Dmitry Pirog (withdrew after injury), Sergio Martinez, Cotto, Canelo, Quillin, Lemieux, Froch, Chavez jr.

Before he signed with K2 he had terrible management. He was with the same company that promoted Felix Sturm and fought out of Germany. He got d1cked around for years, chasing a fight with Sturm that would never happen. He had legal issues and was forced to fight in places like Panama and Kazakhstan just to stay busy. Once he was free of that he quickly landed a spot on HBO and has been getting better fights against top ten middleweights, but obviously has still yet to secure a big name. Again, no fault of his own as he's been trying. People have unreal expectations and say he should have fought Ward but Ward himself hasn't fought in two years due to his own legal problems and is just now free to fight his tune ups. This fight can eventually happen but there's no way it could have happened over the past two years as Ward wasn't fighting anyone, only fought legal battles in court.