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Yeah, it's crazy to me. These same fans are the ones that try and poke fun and laugh at the old school fighters and just write them off and accuse people of overrating them for various reasons.
Good point on Holmes. People are trying to re-write histories now and I've never seen the careers of fighters like Holmes or Leonard re-examined until recently. Another one is Holyifled who I've seen people write off as not a great heavyweight because of the losses he suffered and the Bowe series.
I hope it phases out and more new Boxing fans are like UFC fans in that they see a loss for what it is and not a career ending event. That's the only thing I like about UFC fans. They accept it as part of the sport. If you fight the best available and seek those fights then everyone gets to play and more greatness is established by the fighter and other fighters and then we get better fights, rivalries. It sucks too many fighters protecting their "0" and marinating matches, freezing out other fighters, fighting to many soft touches when other fights are available.
Mayweather for example fought half of his career basically defending a lead (fighting to retire unbeaten was the #1 priority outside of $) hence why his fights were duds and he never fought a great fighter in his prime despite being the biggest shot caller in the sport during that time. He was a great fighter and he did it differently to others but it was a largely dull career in the ring. Most great fighters fight their careers chasing greatness and the best available fights but that's harder to find these days with the exception of the Eastern European guys who don't play the promotional game the way they do here or the U.K.
Good point on Holmes. People are trying to re-write histories now and I've never seen the careers of fighters like Holmes or Leonard re-examined until recently. Another one is Holyifled who I've seen people write off as not a great heavyweight because of the losses he suffered and the Bowe series.
I hope it phases out and more new Boxing fans are like UFC fans in that they see a loss for what it is and not a career ending event. That's the only thing I like about UFC fans. They accept it as part of the sport. If you fight the best available and seek those fights then everyone gets to play and more greatness is established by the fighter and other fighters and then we get better fights, rivalries. It sucks too many fighters protecting their "0" and marinating matches, freezing out other fighters, fighting to many soft touches when other fights are available.
Mayweather for example fought half of his career basically defending a lead (fighting to retire unbeaten was the #1 priority outside of $) hence why his fights were duds and he never fought a great fighter in his prime despite being the biggest shot caller in the sport during that time. He was a great fighter and he did it differently to others but it was a largely dull career in the ring. Most great fighters fight their careers chasing greatness and the best available fights but that's harder to find these days with the exception of the Eastern European guys who don't play the promotional game the way they do here or the U.K.
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