All Legacies Are Being Tarnished

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Most definitely. As standards have fallen, so has the difficulty of fabricating the appearance of greatness. That's not to say the likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao weren't great fighters, but the reality is the guys in previous eras had it much, much tougher than they had it.

I always tell people to look at Ray Leonard's record from 1979 to 1982 - http://boxrec.com/boxer/269 - and remember that this was a guy who as superstar before he even turned pro.

Look at the route he had to take to establish his legacy. It's impossible to imagine any modern day American fighter with that sort of fame backing him having such a tough road today. Completely impossible.

But these days they all still want to talk about themselves as great champions, and their fans want to say that the old guys are overrated.

Oh I agree. The older guys did have it much tougher. Like you say, even Leonard as a star upon turning pro, had a rougher road than many guys do today. The old days had a lot of fighters fighting for several years and often having over forty or fifty fights before they even got a shot at a title and of course, with one champion, the defenses were generally much tougher.

I respect old and modern fighters of course, but the measuring stick has definitely been altered.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Boxing, as all sports in general, have changed dramatically as they are run more like corporate businesses and less like pure sport. Legacies of modern fighters will be affected.

When SRL was king you earned more money for the best fights. Now, in the era of the network deal, you can make a huge purse for just fighting anyone, so long as you fill your contractual obligation.

SRL used his "A side" power the same way ODH and Floyd did, that hasn't changed. Fights still "marinated". It's just that Leomard would make great money, then when a Benitez came around he get more, then when a Hearns came around he got even more.

In the era of guranteed network deals, its not a good investment strategy to have your fighters fight risky fights. If a network signs someone to a 3 or 4 fight deal what that really means is its 1 really tough fight and 2 or 3 "showcase" fights used to draw up interest for the big fight they want.

One can't establish a great legacy when 66-75% of your fights are easy showcase fights that function as an infomercial.

So very true. I'd love to see showcase fights done away with altogether. Mismatches or easy fights almost always end up being boring, predictable and pointless. It would be nice if they saved the toughest fights for TV and didn't bother to showcase anybody, but it's not a perfect world of course.

[The Big Dunn]

So very true. I'd love to see showcase fights done away with altogether. Mismatches or easy fights almost always end up being boring, predictable and pointless. It would be nice if they saved the toughest fights for TV and didn't bother to showcase anybody, but it's not a perfect world of course.

I think you still need to build fighters properly. Teddy Atlas was discussing how you build a guy with easy fights (80/20 or 90/10 chance to win) then work your way up to 60/40 fights then the 50/50 or 40/60 fights. Of course the purses were bigger as you went up in comp.

Now you have a guy that has 20-25 90/10 fights and then a network invests in him. he then gets 2 more 90/10 fights and then a 70/30 fight. re-signs and then 90/10 or 80/20 fights and maybe, if the ppv projections are big, a 55/45 or 60/40 fight, maybe even a 50/50 fight.

The 90/10 fights pay the same as the 70/30 fights so if I am a manager i'm going to steer my guy toward the easier fight every time.

Not until there is more money in 50/50 fights then there are 90/10 fights will this change. Maybe it will change if you reduce the difference in purse between a 50/50 fight and a 90/10 fight. I mean look at Canelo. He and ODH figure he can make almost as much from a Lemuiex fight as a GGG fight, so he is taking the easier road.

HBO doesn't care because it benefits them that the 2 don't fight. Why risk 1 guy losing and/or looking bad now when you can milk 2 fights out of each before they fight each other.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

I think you still need to build fighters properly. Teddy Atlas was discussing how you build a guy with easy fights (80/20 or 90/10 chance to win) then work your way up to 60/40 fights then the 50/50 or 40/60 fights. Of course the purses were bigger as you went up in comp.

Now you have a guy that has 20-25 90/10 fights and then a network invests in him. he then gets 2 more 90/10 fights and then a 70/30 fight. re-signs and then 90/10 or 80/20 fights and maybe, if the ppv projections are big, a 55/45 or 60/40 fight, maybe even a 50/50 fight.

The 90/10 fights pay the same as the 70/30 fights so if I am a manager i'm going to steer my guy toward the easier fight every time.

Not until there is more money in 50/50 fights then there are 90/10 fights will this change. Maybe it will change if you reduce the difference in purse between a 50/50 fight and a 90/10 fight. I mean look at Canelo. He and ODH figure he can make almost as much from a Lemuiex fight as a GGG fight, so he is taking the easier road.

HBO doesn't care because it benefits them that the 2 don't fight. Why risk 1 guy losing and/or looking bad now when you can milk 2 fights out of each before they fight each other.

Well, that's true. Still, I think legends are built off the harder fights instead of the easy ones. If Canelo-GGG never happens, you can bet Canelo's legacy will definitely be tarnished.

[PK3434]

It is just so easy to become a champion. It depends more on your adviser or promoter than the actual fighter. Now if a fighter becomes a champion and defends his belt for a long time, its likely that he is a beast but Ricky Burns and Adrien Broner are ****ing 3 division champions, which is really sad.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

It is just so easy to become a champion. It depends more on your adviser or promoter than the actual fighter. Now if a fighter becomes a champion and defends his belt for a long time, its likely that he is a beast but Ricky Burns and Adrien Broner are ****ing 3 division champions, which is really sad.

LOL.

Very true. I think Cotto being four divisions is a masterful feat of timing. Only in this era could that happen.