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There's a lot to be said about fighters who stay in one division their entire careers. They tend to make more of an impact in their division since they remain there and once they become a major player, they tend to remain a major player the rest of the time they step into the ring.
Marvin Hagler hung around middleweight his whole career and got to face Duran, Hearns and Leonard but would definitely missed out had he moved up.
Kostya Tszyu fought anybody and everybody who visited 140 during his career, except of course, for Oscar De La Hoya- a fight I always wanted to see.
Carlos Palomino was a welterweight fighter his whole first career and just above that in his short comeback.
Willie Pep was a featherweight for the most part in his entire career. Of course, we know all about his legacy. It's hard to argue that there was a better featherweight.
Carlos Monzon, his victim Nino Benvenuti and Sugar Ray Robinson rival Gene Fullmer are all good examples of middleweights who stayed at 160 their whole careers and are remembered more so because of it, especially Monzon.
Jimmy Wilde also campaigned at flyweight for the entirety of his career with maybe a couple of exceptions. He's definitely one of the hardest punching flyweights of all time. Had he moved up, that power probably would not have been so prevalent.
Along with all of these are of course, most heavyweights. One particular example is Rocky Marciano, who preferred to fight around 180-185, what he considered to be his best fighting weight.
In this modern age, we have a few examples in Guillermo Rigondeaux, Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev. All three are sticking to their divisions, although I admit that Rigondeaux seems to be the only one with a determination to stick to his division.
Obviously money fights are what motivate most fighters, except Rigondeaux obviously. So moving up is what most fighters do. Of course, sometimes a fighter just outgrows his division as well. Erik “El Terrible” Morales definitely had to move up past 122 where he looked sickly in his first fight there with Barrera.
Most fighters compete in multiple divisions nowadays and with more divisions, of course, they are going to for the money. However, is this hurting them?
Oscar De La Hoya had no business at middleweight. Adrien Broner did not fare too well as a welterweight. Thomas Hearns was never impressive at cruiserweight. Roy Jones paid dearly when he dropped back down from heavyweight.
I understand the temptation to jump up or down, but at what cost? Losing in a big money fight does not always enhance legacy. In fact, many times it takes away from it. So is jumping up for a big fight worth it?
Amir Khan will find out soon enough and it very well could be. If he does get blizted though, where can he go from here? It is hard to get a lot of respect when you have been taken out three times, even against top opposition(although I don't consider Prescott to be “top”).
Golovkin seems to have refused to move up for Ward. I can respect that. I don't think he is nearly as effective at super middleweight. Just doesn't have the frame for it. His legacy may pay the price, though.
Every fighter has a prime fighting weight. If they are willing to leave that, then, fine. More power to them.
If they are not willing to move up, which would get them out of that prime fighting weight, I don't think that is something to be knocked over, though. After all, each fighter should give themselves the very best chance they have every time out.
Marvin Hagler hung around middleweight his whole career and got to face Duran, Hearns and Leonard but would definitely missed out had he moved up.
Kostya Tszyu fought anybody and everybody who visited 140 during his career, except of course, for Oscar De La Hoya- a fight I always wanted to see.
Carlos Palomino was a welterweight fighter his whole first career and just above that in his short comeback.
Willie Pep was a featherweight for the most part in his entire career. Of course, we know all about his legacy. It's hard to argue that there was a better featherweight.
Carlos Monzon, his victim Nino Benvenuti and Sugar Ray Robinson rival Gene Fullmer are all good examples of middleweights who stayed at 160 their whole careers and are remembered more so because of it, especially Monzon.
Jimmy Wilde also campaigned at flyweight for the entirety of his career with maybe a couple of exceptions. He's definitely one of the hardest punching flyweights of all time. Had he moved up, that power probably would not have been so prevalent.
Along with all of these are of course, most heavyweights. One particular example is Rocky Marciano, who preferred to fight around 180-185, what he considered to be his best fighting weight.
In this modern age, we have a few examples in Guillermo Rigondeaux, Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev. All three are sticking to their divisions, although I admit that Rigondeaux seems to be the only one with a determination to stick to his division.
Obviously money fights are what motivate most fighters, except Rigondeaux obviously. So moving up is what most fighters do. Of course, sometimes a fighter just outgrows his division as well. Erik “El Terrible” Morales definitely had to move up past 122 where he looked sickly in his first fight there with Barrera.
Most fighters compete in multiple divisions nowadays and with more divisions, of course, they are going to for the money. However, is this hurting them?
Oscar De La Hoya had no business at middleweight. Adrien Broner did not fare too well as a welterweight. Thomas Hearns was never impressive at cruiserweight. Roy Jones paid dearly when he dropped back down from heavyweight.
I understand the temptation to jump up or down, but at what cost? Losing in a big money fight does not always enhance legacy. In fact, many times it takes away from it. So is jumping up for a big fight worth it?
Amir Khan will find out soon enough and it very well could be. If he does get blizted though, where can he go from here? It is hard to get a lot of respect when you have been taken out three times, even against top opposition(although I don't consider Prescott to be “top”).
Golovkin seems to have refused to move up for Ward. I can respect that. I don't think he is nearly as effective at super middleweight. Just doesn't have the frame for it. His legacy may pay the price, though.
Every fighter has a prime fighting weight. If they are willing to leave that, then, fine. More power to them.
If they are not willing to move up, which would get them out of that prime fighting weight, I don't think that is something to be knocked over, though. After all, each fighter should give themselves the very best chance they have every time out.
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