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You know how people are, the grass is always greener. Take the Lomachenko situation. He has become the money man of sorts below 140 pounds, but he's also a high risk fight. He wants to fight the best guys around his division, most of whom are younger than him, like Tank. But Tank's team is looking at that fight like, "yeah we could make say 3 mil from that fight right now, but we'd probably lose. If he wait another year or two, we could make 10 mil and have a better chance of winning."
Being so willing to fight the best is great for boxing, and great for Loma's legacy IF the feeling is actually mutual, but it seems that like relationships, being too easy to get can actually make potential partners have second thoughts. Loma has dared to be great so often, everyone, including Team Tank, is taking it for granted, and taking for granted that the offer will still be there, and be even better, a year or two from now.
Cuz like I said, the grass is always greener. 'We could get 3 mil now, but if we wait a year, we could get 10 mil.'
But what if Loma bluffed retirement? What if he said, "I'm not getting the fights I want, and my body is breaking down, so if I don't get the fights I want in 2019, I will retire from boxing. I've already gone to three divisions seeking the best opponents, but for the most part, they just don't want to fight me. If this sport is not up to my level, then it doesn't deserve me, and that probably explains why I am growing so bored and tired with it."
All Loma has to say is that, and suddenly the attitudes of boxers like Tank and their teams might change to, "F*** we better go get that 3 million before it walks out the door forever! F*** the 10 mil we might not even get 3 if we don't act now! Floyd call Arum right now I dont want to hear anymore excuses!"
See what I mean? GGG made the same mistake in failing to do this when he was younger. He made it clear he would be available pretty much forever as long as Canelo wanted to wait. He finally put his foot down at age 35 because everyone realized he was past his prime and in danger of losing by then. He basically acted in hindsight. The point is to put your foot down years BEFORE you decline, so as to avoid being put at a disadvantage in the fight, not to put your foot down when you're already years in decline.
Why don't more boxers do this? Even Loma should have done it years ago, probably right after making Rigo quit is when he should have done it, or after Linares, after either of those wins it would have been very believable, like "I just had this big win, but this was the last big name willing to fight me basically, and I've already accomplished a lot as you can see, so I may retire now." That would have been a wake up call to everyone around his division and their managers that if you want one of the last Loma paydays before he retires, you better reserve your spot in line right away. It creates a RUSH instead of what has been the case with Loma's career and before that GGG's career the entire time, the OPPOSITE of a rush, everyone WAITING and waiting for them to decline because they never put their foot down and make clear, "You're not getting a cent once I decline. Either fight me now, when we're both at our best, or I will take my ball and go home, even if I lose out on a payday too."
That's what you have to do when you're in a vulnerable situation like that, which is what being the older fighter is in boxing, a vulnerable situation. All your potential opponent has to do is wait for TIME to defeat you, TIME to drown you, so long as you let him make you wait for it to. So basically the only recourse for a fighter in that situation is to say, "I know you got me in a vulnerable, losing situation here, long term, because if you wait to a certain point, I will be too old to compete, but you will still be young enough, so at that point, you would beat me if we fought. And by waiting until that moment, the fight will also most likely be a big financial payday not just for you, but for me as well, which would incentivize many boxers in that situation to take the fight even despite being waited out until they were old. So I want you to know, if you try to use time to take me down, then I'm not going down unless I take you down with me. Meaning, I will prevent you from getting that payday even if it means I lose out on it to."
Because once you make that choice, then most likely, you won't have to. Once they realize you're really willing to do that, they will do the smart thing and get the money while they can, even if you're still in your prime, which means you will most likely win, which means even more money for you in your next fights, way more. Plus it's better for your legacy. But if you never make it clear, then as we've seen, these establishment boxers have no respect for the sport or fairness, and they will in fact wait you out to the very last minute that you allow them to, and make it an unfair fight. No one is going to look out for you, especially not them. Only you can do that, and this is how. So why don't they?
Being so willing to fight the best is great for boxing, and great for Loma's legacy IF the feeling is actually mutual, but it seems that like relationships, being too easy to get can actually make potential partners have second thoughts. Loma has dared to be great so often, everyone, including Team Tank, is taking it for granted, and taking for granted that the offer will still be there, and be even better, a year or two from now.
Cuz like I said, the grass is always greener. 'We could get 3 mil now, but if we wait a year, we could get 10 mil.'
But what if Loma bluffed retirement? What if he said, "I'm not getting the fights I want, and my body is breaking down, so if I don't get the fights I want in 2019, I will retire from boxing. I've already gone to three divisions seeking the best opponents, but for the most part, they just don't want to fight me. If this sport is not up to my level, then it doesn't deserve me, and that probably explains why I am growing so bored and tired with it."
All Loma has to say is that, and suddenly the attitudes of boxers like Tank and their teams might change to, "F*** we better go get that 3 million before it walks out the door forever! F*** the 10 mil we might not even get 3 if we don't act now! Floyd call Arum right now I dont want to hear anymore excuses!"
See what I mean? GGG made the same mistake in failing to do this when he was younger. He made it clear he would be available pretty much forever as long as Canelo wanted to wait. He finally put his foot down at age 35 because everyone realized he was past his prime and in danger of losing by then. He basically acted in hindsight. The point is to put your foot down years BEFORE you decline, so as to avoid being put at a disadvantage in the fight, not to put your foot down when you're already years in decline.
Why don't more boxers do this? Even Loma should have done it years ago, probably right after making Rigo quit is when he should have done it, or after Linares, after either of those wins it would have been very believable, like "I just had this big win, but this was the last big name willing to fight me basically, and I've already accomplished a lot as you can see, so I may retire now." That would have been a wake up call to everyone around his division and their managers that if you want one of the last Loma paydays before he retires, you better reserve your spot in line right away. It creates a RUSH instead of what has been the case with Loma's career and before that GGG's career the entire time, the OPPOSITE of a rush, everyone WAITING and waiting for them to decline because they never put their foot down and make clear, "You're not getting a cent once I decline. Either fight me now, when we're both at our best, or I will take my ball and go home, even if I lose out on a payday too."
That's what you have to do when you're in a vulnerable situation like that, which is what being the older fighter is in boxing, a vulnerable situation. All your potential opponent has to do is wait for TIME to defeat you, TIME to drown you, so long as you let him make you wait for it to. So basically the only recourse for a fighter in that situation is to say, "I know you got me in a vulnerable, losing situation here, long term, because if you wait to a certain point, I will be too old to compete, but you will still be young enough, so at that point, you would beat me if we fought. And by waiting until that moment, the fight will also most likely be a big financial payday not just for you, but for me as well, which would incentivize many boxers in that situation to take the fight even despite being waited out until they were old. So I want you to know, if you try to use time to take me down, then I'm not going down unless I take you down with me. Meaning, I will prevent you from getting that payday even if it means I lose out on it to."
Because once you make that choice, then most likely, you won't have to. Once they realize you're really willing to do that, they will do the smart thing and get the money while they can, even if you're still in your prime, which means you will most likely win, which means even more money for you in your next fights, way more. Plus it's better for your legacy. But if you never make it clear, then as we've seen, these establishment boxers have no respect for the sport or fairness, and they will in fact wait you out to the very last minute that you allow them to, and make it an unfair fight. No one is going to look out for you, especially not them. Only you can do that, and this is how. So why don't they?
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