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Every fighter's playing the risk reward game, man. In the main younger fighters are willing to take more risks, more established fighters, fewer risks.. though not always of course. The discussion I was having above refers to the earlier part of his career - upto say mid 2014, early 2015, when he was still climbing the ladder but before the risk he represented justified the relatively low purses his opponents could expect. In short, before he was the guy with a target on his back. After that time certainly there's things he could have done differently - there's some I've mentioned myself in other discussions, though without full information of what the exact circumstances were I'd hesitate to second guess the decisions he made.
Probably he might have thought to offer to meet Cotto at a catchweight in 2015. I seriously doubt that fight was going to happen anyway since the WBC had been angling towards the Cotto - Canelo fight since 2013, but it would at the very least have been a good PR move on GGGs part if he believed he could safely make the weight (if he didn't then hell, I ain't in favour of fighters compromising their safety to make fights in any circumstances). If you're Cotto why in hell would you want to fight Golovkin when you got the Canelo fight lined up? If you're Martinez why the hell would you fight Golovkin when the Cotto fight is lined up?
Probably he should have offered to make the same offer to Canelo in 2016, again, my belief is that that fight ultimately happened exactly when Canelo chose it to (and also there were some hints that Golovkin was willing to compromise on weight in negotiations despite the defiant public stance), but we will never know now, and perhaps it could have happened a year earlier had Golovkin been bolder (though I think he would have been a fool to go below 157 in any circumstances). Course - neither weight nor money were the final reasons Oscar and GBP gave for ceasing negotiations in 2016 so the point is moot.
Should he have fought Ward potentially putting the Canelo / Cotto fight (to which he was mandated) at risk? Well it would have been a hell of a ballsy move but there would have been a big upside potentially. They took the more conservative route and honestly I find it hard to see why anyone would blame 'em under normal circumstances... if you were managing him what would you have done? The main issue comes with the fact that he had previously claimed he was willing to fight Ward, which made him an obvious target for ridicule when the offer came in and he didn't accept. Thing is for me I ain't gonna judge a fighter by what they say they're gonna do, but by what I'd expect other fighters to do in normal circumstances.
I don't call any other fighters shit like 'hypejobs' anyway, so I'm hardly going to say it about one of my favourite fighters, especially when I would expect other fighters to do the things folk seem to be criticising GGG for...
Mikey's to be applauded for going to 147 for instance (even if I think he's nuts), but I wouldn't say Regis or Taylor were hypejobs for not going up to 147 to fight top P4Per Bud, or that they're hypejobs for not offering to go down to 136 to fight Loma.
Anyways, man. I'm done... if you're in the business of calling top pro fighters hypejobs then you probably want to be having this conversation with the other dudes who use similar terminology, cos the whole things subjective anyway the way I see it. Hyperbole is hyperbole - whether it's 'too much hyperbole' is a fool's question. That ain't what I'm about though you'll find plenty here who are.
Tell you what though -if you're up for it I'd be interested to hear your take. It'll be a few words but try to give me an honest version of just how exactly you would have managed Golovkin's carrier from 2014 based on as many factors as you can figure in - his age, how good you think he is, what we know of his earning power (mr 97k) and so on. Try playing devil's advocate.. see how it'd turn out. Might be an interesting exercise.
Probably he might have thought to offer to meet Cotto at a catchweight in 2015. I seriously doubt that fight was going to happen anyway since the WBC had been angling towards the Cotto - Canelo fight since 2013, but it would at the very least have been a good PR move on GGGs part if he believed he could safely make the weight (if he didn't then hell, I ain't in favour of fighters compromising their safety to make fights in any circumstances). If you're Cotto why in hell would you want to fight Golovkin when you got the Canelo fight lined up? If you're Martinez why the hell would you fight Golovkin when the Cotto fight is lined up?
Probably he should have offered to make the same offer to Canelo in 2016, again, my belief is that that fight ultimately happened exactly when Canelo chose it to (and also there were some hints that Golovkin was willing to compromise on weight in negotiations despite the defiant public stance), but we will never know now, and perhaps it could have happened a year earlier had Golovkin been bolder (though I think he would have been a fool to go below 157 in any circumstances). Course - neither weight nor money were the final reasons Oscar and GBP gave for ceasing negotiations in 2016 so the point is moot.
Should he have fought Ward potentially putting the Canelo / Cotto fight (to which he was mandated) at risk? Well it would have been a hell of a ballsy move but there would have been a big upside potentially. They took the more conservative route and honestly I find it hard to see why anyone would blame 'em under normal circumstances... if you were managing him what would you have done? The main issue comes with the fact that he had previously claimed he was willing to fight Ward, which made him an obvious target for ridicule when the offer came in and he didn't accept. Thing is for me I ain't gonna judge a fighter by what they say they're gonna do, but by what I'd expect other fighters to do in normal circumstances.
I don't call any other fighters shit like 'hypejobs' anyway, so I'm hardly going to say it about one of my favourite fighters, especially when I would expect other fighters to do the things folk seem to be criticising GGG for...
Mikey's to be applauded for going to 147 for instance (even if I think he's nuts), but I wouldn't say Regis or Taylor were hypejobs for not going up to 147 to fight top P4Per Bud, or that they're hypejobs for not offering to go down to 136 to fight Loma.
Anyways, man. I'm done... if you're in the business of calling top pro fighters hypejobs then you probably want to be having this conversation with the other dudes who use similar terminology, cos the whole things subjective anyway the way I see it. Hyperbole is hyperbole - whether it's 'too much hyperbole' is a fool's question. That ain't what I'm about though you'll find plenty here who are.
Tell you what though -if you're up for it I'd be interested to hear your take. It'll be a few words but try to give me an honest version of just how exactly you would have managed Golovkin's carrier from 2014 based on as many factors as you can figure in - his age, how good you think he is, what we know of his earning power (mr 97k) and so on. Try playing devil's advocate.. see how it'd turn out. Might be an interesting exercise.
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