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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Prowess can be as much about what you get away with as what you actually do.
This week’s example, one Gennady Golovkin.
But before the inbox fills up, let’s state a few undeniable facts off the top:
Golovkin is a beast. He comes to the ring impeccably prepared. He presents myriad problems for anyone he faces. He’s never looked anything less than in total control of every fight he’s had since cracking the public consciousness barrier a few years back.
And there’s no reason he wouldn’t be at least a 50/50 proposition – if not far better – to defeat any opponent that it’s within weight-class reason for him to meet.
The question, though, is where does fanfare end and reason begin.
For example, more than a few “journalists” have ground out more than a few digital column inches over the last several months, suggesting that the sport’s recently retired pound-for-pound kingpin – Floyd Mayweather Jr. – was nothing less than yellow for choosing not to meet the Kazakhstan native.
He’d do it if he were “The Best Ever,” they maintain, stubbornly ignoring that the TBE boast is far more about selling hats to rubes and far less about sealing legacies to purists. Ray Leonard did it, they insist, selectively ignoring that meeting a man who weighed-in 10 hours before a fight a generation ago is a bit different than meeting one with 36 hours between scale and introductions these days. [Click Here To Read More]
This week’s example, one Gennady Golovkin.
But before the inbox fills up, let’s state a few undeniable facts off the top:
Golovkin is a beast. He comes to the ring impeccably prepared. He presents myriad problems for anyone he faces. He’s never looked anything less than in total control of every fight he’s had since cracking the public consciousness barrier a few years back.
And there’s no reason he wouldn’t be at least a 50/50 proposition – if not far better – to defeat any opponent that it’s within weight-class reason for him to meet.
The question, though, is where does fanfare end and reason begin.
For example, more than a few “journalists” have ground out more than a few digital column inches over the last several months, suggesting that the sport’s recently retired pound-for-pound kingpin – Floyd Mayweather Jr. – was nothing less than yellow for choosing not to meet the Kazakhstan native.
He’d do it if he were “The Best Ever,” they maintain, stubbornly ignoring that the TBE boast is far more about selling hats to rubes and far less about sealing legacies to purists. Ray Leonard did it, they insist, selectively ignoring that meeting a man who weighed-in 10 hours before a fight a generation ago is a bit different than meeting one with 36 hours between scale and introductions these days. [Click Here To Read More]
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