Why you are bored to death with boxing

[aquariusone]

Halfway through the month of the New Year, there is no news in Boxing that is worth discussing. What is happening?

Does Showtime and HBO believe that the only things interesting nowadays are tennis, hockey, or UFC? Have they decided that boxing fans have jumped off the Arum, DelaHoya boxing money train? Just what is wrong with the sport of Boxing nowadays?

Why is it that in spite of the hoopla about two unbeaten prospects in the 140 lbs division over the last two years, only less than 500 tickets are sold for the Bradley/Alexander fight only a week from now? Yet, Jake Donavan of BoxingScene thinks that the winner of this bout would be regarded “best at 140”. Something is seriously wrong.

But this issue is not new. Dana White has been boasting that a few “cooks in boxing” are brewing boxing soup based only on how large their pocket becomes after the “boxing meal” – not based on what the public prefers to dine on.

Having followed some of the most explosive and devastating (entertaining) matches lately (Velasquez/Lesnar, Sonnen/Anderson, Leven/Akiyama, Sanchez/Thiago, etc.), I am beginning to consider changing allegiance myself.

Take the example of the DAVID HAYE case. Touting himself to be god’s gift to boxing out to destroy the Klitshcko’s and unify the heavyweight division, he backed out of the match saying that “he suffered a back injury”. What is the truth? Setanta Sports went bankrupt. Had the match been staged without PPV receipts (Setanta was to carry the broadcast in England), big-mouth Haye stood to lose the bankroll he was expecting. Money! Money! Money!

And look at Evander Holyfield’s latest statement: “I think we (Holyfield/Klitschko) could make $20 million each.”

What keep many “has been’s” like Hopkins, Jones, Holyfield, Mosley, returning to the ring? Money! Granted Hopkins embarrassed Jean Pascal of Montreal and screamed blue murder for what he calls a highway robbery but is there really much interest in seeing many “former champions” run around the ring hoping not to get killed?

And what about the shenanigans of Arum, King, and DelaHoya? You can actually put HBO’s Ross Greenburg in the same basket. The only fights they are willing to stage are those where in the event of either combatants losing or winning, they get to hire Brinks Trucks to deposit their loot in the bank.

The great boxing rivalries of the past are gone. The era of Hearns, Sugar Ray, Marvin Hagler, and Roberto Duran are a thing of the past. Those where the years where pure greatness mattered; not how much money there is. They were concerned of being the very best they can be by winning against the very best there is.

So fight fans, you are excused for feeling so bored these days.

UFC fans, don’t be so smug. Ratings indicate that there is only a 5% overlap in PPV results between MMA and Boxing (meaning that one sport does not impact the other – that revenues for either sport remain competitive, dispelling the prophesy that MMA will kill Boxing.)

There is only one blockbuster boxing match that may yet happen in 2011 spite of this money-motivated greed. Forget Mayweather!

PACQUIAO-MARQUEZ TRILOGY

[soulman]

I agree with you 100%. The Holyfield/Williams fight...... on PPV is a good example of the sad state of boxing.

I wonder who buys this stuff.

[rokko]

hey aqua good to hear from you. well arum and king are both going to have to pass the torch soon so oscar is going to be making all the big cards. not much to look forward to.

[Gamer]

Hey aqua. Glad to see you back bud.There could have been a marquez third fight but they say he wanted too much money They got shane instead for less and I almost forgot that this time marquez was the one asking for a catchweight and not pacquiao.You know my thoughts on catchweights. They should be banned and if marquez wants a fight he has to come up in weight.Everyone is after the money and because of it we miss out on great fights.

[The Cobra]

Well we`ll have no problem agreeing here my friend------boxing has been on a pretty steady decline for some time now as we both know but seems to be actually bottoming out at the bottom itself. I`m with you bud, forget Mayweather, forget a lot of `em----even the headliners of today wouldn`t have even made the cut years ago (save Pacman, Marquez, Cotto)----sad state indeed. Haye, Kitschkos and others would have been a little more than club fighters in the day. I don`t watch much anymore because I simply can`t be bothered most of the time.
As always Aqua----a great read, thanx............nice to see you post again

[aquariusone]

Agreeing again, are we?

Just to let you know...I have been around. I never left. I just decided to keep quiet, adhering to the saying that "If you have nothing good or intelligent to say, shut the bejibbies up!" But I must admit that I have been missing our "tug-of-war" on heated issues here. They are fun. It is like sitting down with pals over beer and nachos and banging heads on who will win, Amir or Marcos? Pacquiao or Margarito?

In a week's time, it will be Alexander and Bradley. Who will win? And why?

Now I'd like to know where you stand.

[The Cobra]

Agreeing again, are we?

Just to let you know...I have been around. I never left. I just decided to keep quiet, adhering to the saying that "If you have nothing good or intelligent to say, shut the bejibbies up!" But I must admit that I have been missing our "tug-of-war" on heated issues here. They are fun. It is like sitting down with pals over beer and nachos and banging heads on who will win, Amir or Marcos? Pacquiao or Margarito?

In a week's time, it will be Alexander and Bradley. Who will win? And why?

Now I'd like to know where you stand.

Yeah, agreeing all the time sucks----it don`t sell papers like they say LOL.

OK, since I`m getting first shot at this fight I`ll take Bradley to win by KO late in the fight.
Bradley is sort of a slow starter but he`s a determined SOB and IF Alexander knocks him down (which I doubt) it only fuels his determination. While Alexander does posess reasonable defensive skills I question his power---which he`s gonna need to stop the oncharging Bradley.
Even tho both these fighters are unbeaten I think Bradley has had the tougher challenges to date and he`s impressed me in that he`s taken on all challengers without blinking.
His utter determination, experience and firepower will make the difference here. I got Bradley late by KO (10th) after Alexander wears down from the pressure, but see neither fighter being able to dominate the other.

Your turn pal.....................LMAO


Oops----I almost forgot to throw the "southpaw jinx" into the mix...advantage Alexander, but it won`t be enough---LOL

[aquariusone]

Yeah, agreeing all the time sucks----it don`t sell papers like they say LOL.

OK, since I`m getting first shot at this fight I`ll take Bradley to win by KO late in the fight.
Bradley is sort of a slow starter but he`s a determined SOB and IF Alexander knocks him down (which I doubt) it only fuels his determination. While Alexander does posess reasonable defensive skills I question his power---which he`s gonna need to stop the oncharging Bradley.
Even tho both these fighters are unbeaten I think Bradley has had the tougher challenges to date and he`s impressed me in that he`s taken on all challengers without blinking.
His utter determination, experience and firepower will make the difference here. I got Bradley late by KO (10th) after Alexander wears down from the pressure, but see neither fighter being able to dominate the other.

Your turn pal.....................LMAO


Oops----I almost forgot to throw the "southpaw jinx" into the mix...advantage Alexander, but it won`t be enough---LOL

I can understand why you pick Bradley. Alexander did not look outstanding against Kotelnik. So let me first tell you a few observation. The Richter scale on this fight is flat. Very few are showing great interest in these two. Why is that? Both have speed and stamina. Both are undefeated. Both have titles (WBO-WBC). Yet, it seems that no one cares who wins or loses.

That includes me. That explains the lack of interest. These two are simply in an "elimination" match to see who gets to fight Amir Khan! So what makes Khan the center of attention? Because there is an equal number of fans who hate and love him. He is controversial. Alexander and Bradley are ... well.... ho-hum.. ok, I guess. (The question is why do they have a rematch clause? Who would want to see them "again" in the ring the second time?) If they want to grab headlines, either one should go against Khan; the winner of which would then rise in stature big time.

Finally, I'd pick Alexander (there we go disagreeing again) purely on statistics. He has a better record than Bradley (KO% 61.9 vs. 40.7); except for the UD against Kotelnik, Devon has had devastating fights against formidable opponents (including TKO of Urango, 4 KO/TKO, 2 UD) while Bradley has had no KOs in his last 6 fights. Bradley is flashy and delivers looping punches and looks busy. Alexander is a more technically skilled boxer.

Back to you!

[The Cobra]

We`re gonna agree again bud---except for the outcome. But like you said it`s a flat line for all the reasons you gave re Khan, he`s the "target cause he`s the draw right now" so right you are. Goes to show how little is happening right now in the boxing world---even Khan`s mouth is pale when comparing it to fighters of the past yet he`s becoming a huge draw, plus he`s got talent. LOL
I never bother much with stats---they mean nothing more than some good fodder when the fight starts. Every fighter fights a little different on fight nite depending on his opponent and comparing same opponents is pretty well meaningless---except for some good press.
I`m a big fan of your suggestion that the loser fights Khan---but if the match (Alexander & Bradley) is close and I think it will be, you can bet boxing will make a rematch to try and squeeze a buck out of it.
And again we`ll agree that Alexander is the more skilled boxer---------but how many fighters got in the ring with Marvin Hagler were better boxers than Hagler?? Answer-everybody...LOL....but they all went home losers (including Ray Leonard) no matter what a couple idiot judges say.
Regardless it`ll be a good one I hope---we`ll see bud.

[Yogi]

The reason that Bradley-Alexander fight isn't selling is because people look at the match and say, "who in the h3ll is Timothy Bradley or Devon Alexander?". Just what have either of these 2 done to cause waves through the boxing community? Lets pick a boxer say like Mike Tyson. He didn't just cause waves in the boxing community, he cause a tidal wave that washed through the boxing community. How did he do this? Well for one, he knocked a lot of people out. A lot of KO's though don't necessarily cause tidal waves. Look at Marcos Maidana for example. He has a high rate of KO's and yet he barely causes a ripple in the boxing community. What else did Tyson do to cause such big waves? Well the number 1 thing he did was he fought the fights. When I say that, I don't mean that he fought a couple of big name people, I am talking about him fighting several fights a year. There for the longest time, Tyson was fighting once a month and at the most he might go 3 months before having another fight. Back then, it was hard to talk about boxing with out talking about the man who was knocking out 7 people a year. Now a days, they only fight 2 fights a year. To have one boring technical fight and one good fight in a year, just isn't enough to separate yourself from anyone else. No, I was not a Tyson fan. To be honest, my best day in boxing was the day when a nobody by the name of Buster Douglas came along and knocked out the monster that was terrorizing the heavy weight division. Now this is where the problem lies, nobody wants to put in the work to be a Mike Tyson, they just want to wait for some else to put in the work so they can be the Buster Douglas.

If I was a boxer, I would rather be a Tyson then a Douglas. Sure Douglas will go down in history as the man that defeated the monster, but Tyson will go down as the man that terrorized the Heavy Weight division so bad, that peoples knees trembled at just the thought of having to get in the ring with him.

Maybe someday we will be lucky enough to see someone that isn't afraid to come forward and put in the work it takes to become a great champion.

[sharky20]

I have been a boxing fan for about 20 years now and in the last few years you can really see the decline of boxing in the sport landscape and the emergence of mma (ufc). Boxing is having less tv coverage on hbo, espn, showtime. Mma has taken over the combat sport fans. I dont know if boxing will ever die out entirely but it definetly could learn some marketing techniques that Dana and ufc are doing.

[The Cobra]

The reason that Bradley-Alexander fight isn't selling is because people look at the match and say, "who in the h3ll is Timothy Bradley or Devon Alexander?". Just what have either of these 2 done to cause waves through the boxing community? Lets pick a boxer say like Mike Tyson. He didn't just cause waves in the boxing community, he cause a tidal wave that washed through the boxing community. How did he do this? Well for one, he knocked a lot of people out. A lot of KO's though don't necessarily cause tidal waves. Look at Marcos Maidana for example. He has a high rate of KO's and yet he barely causes a ripple in the boxing community. What else did Tyson do to cause such big waves? Well the number 1 thing he did was he fought the fights. When I say that, I don't mean that he fought a couple of big name people, I am talking about him fighting several fights a year. There for the longest time, Tyson was fighting once a month and at the most he might go 3 months before having another fight. Back then, it was hard to talk about boxing with out talking about the man who was knocking out 7 people a year. Now a days, they only fight 2 fights a year. To have one boring technical fight and one good fight in a year, just isn't enough to separate yourself from anyone else. No, I was not a Tyson fan. To be honest, my best day in boxing was the day when a nobody by the name of Buster Douglas came along and knocked out the monster that was terrorizing the heavy weight division. Now this is where the problem lies, nobody wants to put in the work to be a Mike Tyson, they just want to wait for some else to put in the work so they can be the Buster Douglas.

If I was a boxer, I would rather be a Tyson then a Douglas. Sure Douglas will go down in history as the man that defeated the monster, but Tyson will go down as the man that terrorized the Heavy Weight division so bad, that peoples knees trembled at just the thought of having to get in the ring with him.

Maybe someday we will be lucky enough to see someone that isn't afraid to come forward and put in the work it takes to become a great champion.

It sure would be nice to have someone come along and breathe some life into the sport. One would be a start but the problem would be "who would he fight that had some merit"? Certainly nothing even remotely interesting in the heavys---but a phenom in welter or middles would be perfect cause at least there would be some opponents there to mow thru. No matter who you are or how good you are-------you`re only as good as your opponents allow.
Great fighters of their time fought great opponents---that`s what made the fights great and the fighters legends. JMO

[sharky20]

I think that Edwin Valero could have been a star. Too bad he killed his wife and himself last year.

[The Cobra]

Sorry had to go for a sec so I`ll continue-----
Take Ali for example---he revolutionalized boxing, he breathed life into a back room, dingy, dark, mob riddled sport by being a great fighter, a flambouyant champion of the people, he was hated, he was loved etc etc for all his antics, style, charisma and talent. But would he have had any of the claim to "The Greatest" without one Joe Frazier?? Not a chance, Joe Frazier in their epic trilogy made Ali`s claim more legitimate.
The same holds true for the battles of Hagler, Leonard, Hearns, Duran et al----had they not fought each other how great would we acknowledge their accomplishments?

[chuck]

i can qualify as once an avid, die-hard boxing fan...now converted to mma. i basically lost intrest in boxing around the time of the end of tysons era. just as an example. however the heavyweights were always a fav division of mine, and that division slumped horribly after tyson cleaned them all out. it was exciting growing up watching all that boxing had to offer. fighters fought more regular and the talent pool was broad. one of my fav fights of all time included hagler/hearns, dubbed as 'the fight, the war' or something like that..lol.
i also 'member my dad, getting us tickets to a the vegas fight holyfield/tyson....it was cancelled due to injury. we got the refund for the ticket, but still went to vegas. i still have the hat they produced, but the fight didn't happen until much later.
but yes, boxing is declining in popularity and mma is on the rise

[KIDWCKED]

I'm wondering if the decline in the heavy wieght division over the years has lost the intrest of many fans?Everybody knows who Pacquiao is as well as Mayweather..:ranton:

[Yogi]

It sure would be nice to have someone come along and breathe some life into the sport. One would be a start but the problem would be "who would he fight that had some merit"? Certainly nothing even remotely interesting in the heavys---but a phenom in welter or middles would be perfect cause at least there would be some opponents there to mow thru. No matter who you are or how good you are-------you`re only as good as your opponents allow.
Great fighters of their time fought great opponents---that`s what made the fights great and the fighters legends. JMO


Sorry had to go for a sec so I`ll continue-----
Take Ali for example---he revolutionalized boxing, he breathed life into a back room, dingy, dark, mob riddled sport by being a great fighter, a flambouyant champion of the people, he was hated, he was loved etc etc for all his antics, style, charisma and talent. But would he have had any of the claim to "The Greatest" without one Joe Frazier?? Not a chance, Joe Frazier in their epic trilogy made Ali`s claim more legitimate.
The same holds true for the battles of Hagler, Leonard, Hearns, Duran et al----had they not fought each other how great would we acknowledge their accomplishments?

That is true, sometimes a fighter can make a name by who he fights, but that doesn't always work that way. If you go ask people in the boxing community who is the great fighters of today, you will get answers like Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, and exec. Now if you go out on the streets and ask the average person who these people are, most of them aren't going to know who they are, but if you ask them who Mike Tyson was, most of them are going to know who he was. Tyson was getting to be a house hold name outside the boxing community before he grabbed his first belt. He did this fighting so many fights so close together that he just dominated the headlines. To seal the deal, after is got his first belt, he consolidated the belts and he went after anyone that was someone and took them out. That gave him the right to stand there and say, I am the best in the world and nobody can beat me. Since he dominated the headlines, consolidated the belts, and beat anyone that was somebody, there was no doubt in anyones minds that he was the best, no matter if they liked him or not. This could happen again in any weight class. If you had an up comer in the heavy weight division who fought 6 fights in a year and won them all, then went after someone like David Haye for his first belt, and after that he went after the and took out the Klitschko brothers, he would become an instance house hold name.

[aquariusone]

Many insightful comments on the topic. Indeed, you have me agreeing on all these points; in particular, about Tyson fighting so many times during the year.

The reason for that however, is clear - he knocked them out within three rounds. He did not even sweat.

[The Cobra]

That is true, sometimes a fighter can make a name by who he fights, but that doesn't always work that way. If you go ask people in the boxing community who is the great fighters of today, you will get answers like Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, and exec. Now if you go out on the streets and ask the average person who these people are, most of them aren't going to know who they are, but if you ask them who Mike Tyson was, most of them are going to know who he was. Tyson was getting to be a house hold name outside the boxing community before he grabbed his first belt. He did this fighting so many fights so close together that he just dominated the headlines. To seal the deal, after is got his first belt, he consolidated the belts and he went after anyone that was someone and took them out. That gave him the right to stand there and say, I am the best in the world and nobody can beat me. Since he dominated the headlines, consolidated the belts, and beat anyone that was somebody, there was no doubt in anyones minds that he was the best, no matter if they liked him or not. This could happen again in any weight class. If you had an up comer in the heavy weight division who fought 6 fights in a year and won them all, then went after someone like David Haye for his first belt, and after that he went after the and took out the Klitschko brothers, he would become an instance house hold name.

For sure bud---nice post.
All the years I coached --I drilled one thing into my kids` heads, "to be the best you have to beat the best...back doors don`t exist"-----------if you haven`t beaten the best, champ or not you have no claim of being the best.
Like you said---the press rules as far as making anyone in any sport a household name...there has always been a fasination with the heavys assuming a bigger guy will beat up a smaller guy. The thinking therefore would be that the heavyweight champ would beat the Middleweight champ so he must be better--------------go figure human nature.
The guys you named all pretty much have stood the test and survived to move on, they are very good fighters, exceptional to be accurate but maybe we just have a definition difference here in what you have to do to achieve my idea of greatness----of that group I`d only label Pacman in the "great" category, the others are very good fighters and may in time be great indeed------------but I`m a little stingy on the word "great", but that`s my hangup. LMAO

[aquariusone]

For sure bud---nice post.
All the years I coached --I drilled one thing into my kids` heads, "to be the best you have to beat the best...back doors don`t exist"-----------if you haven`t beaten the best, champ or not you have no claim of being the best.
Like you said---the press rules as far as making anyone in any sport a household name...there has always been a fasination with the heavys assuming a bigger guy will beat up a smaller guy. The thinking therefore would be that the heavyweight champ would beat the Middleweight champ so he must be better--------------go figure human nature.
The guys you named all pretty much have stood the test and survived to move on, they are very good fighters, exceptional to be accurate but maybe we just have a definition difference here in what you have to do to achieve my idea of greatness----of that group I`d only label Pacman in the "great" category, the others are very good fighters and may in time be great indeed------------but I`m a little stingy on the word "great", but that`s my hangup. LMAO

Here I am disagreeing with you again!

Being "the Champ" does not necessarily equate to being "great" and vice versa: one can be great without being the Champ.

Cases in point - Lennox Lewis and Larry Holmes. They were Heavyweight champions in their era but until the day they retired they were searching for "greatness" that they were never bestowed.

Meantime, the late Arturo Gatti, in spite of his losses (and Micky Ward, his perennial foe) were considered great boxers; so were Hearns, Duran, just to name a few.

Today, in spite of his unbeaten record, although he may be a "household" word, hardly anyone considers Floyd Mayweather "great"!

And to add to this, Edwin Valero, if he were alive today will never have been great even if he were to become champion. Why, his personal life was in shambles even while he was mowing down opponents with his deadly arsenal.

World respect is not earn by being a great boxer but by what one does outside the ring. George Foreman proves that. So does Pacquiao.

Tyson was a great boxer with a notorious personality - an oddity.

[The Cobra]

Here I am disagreeing with you again!

Being "the Champ" does not necessarily equate to being "great" and vice versa: one can be great without being the Champ.

Cases in point - Lennox Lewis and Larry Holmes. They were Heavyweight champions in their era but until the day they retired they were searching for "greatness" that they were never bestowed.

Meantime, the late Arturo Gatti, in spite of his losses (and Micky Ward, his perennial foe) were considered great boxers; so were Hearns, Duran, just to name a few.

Today, in spite of his unbeaten record, although he may be a "household" word, hardly anyone considers Floyd Mayweather "great"!

And to add to this, Edwin Valero, if he were alive today will never have been great even if he were to become champion. Why, his personal life was in shambles even while he was mowing down opponents with his deadly arsenal.

World respect is not earn by being a great boxer but by what one does outside the ring. George Foreman proves that. So does Pacquiao.

Tyson was a great boxer with a notorious personality - an oddity.

I think that`s what I just said???--------------------example "champ or not............" LOL
So we`re not disagreeing after all------pity. LOL

[Yogi]

Many insightful comments on the topic. Indeed, you have me agreeing on all these points; in particular, about Tyson fighting so many times during the year.

The reason for that however, is clear - he knocked them out within three rounds. He did not even sweat.

That is very true. Not everyone can fight fights as often as Tyson did because Tyson has all those early KO's so he didn't have to worry about recouping much in between fights. True, if you want to be a great like Tyson was, you will probably have to fight like he did. Now that being said, in todays boxing world, if you are someone like Berto, Martinez, Ward, Bradley, or exec and you want to separate yourself from everyone else, you have to dominate the news more then the others do. The best way to do this would to be fighting more then the others do. If they are talking about you more then they are anyone else, that is going to greatly raise your stock. It wouldn't be that hard to do since most of them are only fighting 1 or 2 times a year. If one of them would pick it up to 3 or 4 fights a year, even if the in between were somewhat easy fights, they would be talked about more then everyone else.

I am going to pick on Sergio Martínez for a second, just because he is crying foul that HBO scheduled a PPV fight for him the same day Top Rank schedule a fight for Cotto and Cotto is probably going to sell more tickets because of it. He just came off a big, quick, win over Paul Williams and if he would setup another fight with someone else right away, even if it was a fight to make him look good, he probably would be selling as many if not more PPV tickets then Cotto. Now if you just took that scenario, that would make 2 fights for him so far this year, add another 2 fights, one setup fight and another big PPV fight, at the end of this year, his stock would raise so much, he would be the fighter that everyone wants to fight.

If Sergio keeps going down the road that he is now, his next big payday would be something like another rematch against Paul Williams. Just how many rematches does everyone want to see with Sergio Martinez

Just so I am not just picking on Sergio, this would hold true for just about any of the good fighters out there. All they would have to do is want it bad enough to do it.

[The Cobra]

That is very true. Not everyone can fight fights as often as Tyson did because Tyson has all those early KO's so he didn't have to worry about recouping much in between fights. True, if you want to be a great like Tyson was, you will probably have to fight like he did. Now that being said, in todays boxing world, if you are someone like Berto, Martinez, Ward, Bradley, or exec and you want to separate yourself from everyone else, you have to dominate the news more then the others do. The best way to do this would to be fighting more then the others do. If they are talking about you more then they are anyone else, that is going to greatly raise your stock. It wouldn't be that hard to do since most of them are only fighting 1 or 2 times a year. If one of them would pick it up to 3 or 4 fights a year, even if the in between were somewhat easy fights, they would be talked about more then everyone else.

I am going to pick on Sergio Martínez for a second, just because he is crying foul that HBO scheduled a PPV fight for him the same day Top Rank schedule a fight for Cotto and Cotto is probably going to sell more tickets because of it. He just came off a big, quick, win over Paul Williams and if he would setup another fight with someone else right away, even if it was a fight to make him look good, he probably would be selling as many if not more PPV tickets then Cotto. Now if you just took that scenario, that would make 2 fights for him so far this year, add another 2 fights, one setup fight and another big PPV fight, at the end of this year, his stock would raise so much, he would be the fighter that everyone wants to fight.

If Sergio keeps going down the road that he is now, his next big payday would be something like another rematch against Paul Williams. Just how many rematches does everyone want to see with Sergio Martinez

Just so I am not just picking on Sergio, this would hold true for just about any of the good fighters out there. All they would have to do is want it bad enough to do it.

True enough bud, all of it-----------------fact is if someone does all the things you mention as far as increasing their fight schedule and they do get notariety from it. Who knows more may follow and make the fight game a little more interesting. Instead of these also-rans holding out for long periods of time cause they know there is nothing else in town.

[aquariusone]

I think that`s what I just said???--------------------example "champ or not............" LOL
So we`re not disagreeing after all------pity. LOL
Careful now. Some champs are just chumps! (Blimey! Didn't know you are from the old country, ole chap!)



That is very true. Not everyone can fight fights as often as Tyson did because Tyson has all those early KO's so he didn't have to worry about recouping much in between fights. True, if you want to be a great like Tyson was, you will probably have to fight like he did. Now that being said, in todays boxing world, if you are someone like Berto, Martinez, Ward, Bradley, or exec and you want to separate yourself from everyone else, you have to dominate the news more then the others do. The best way to do this would to be fighting more then the others do. If they are talking about you more then they are anyone else, that is going to greatly raise your stock. It wouldn't be that hard to do since most of them are only fighting 1 or 2 times a year. If one of them would pick it up to 3 or 4 fights a year, even if the in between were somewhat easy fights, they would be talked about more then everyone else.

I am going to pick on Sergio Martínez for a second, just because he is crying foul that HBO scheduled a PPV fight for him the same day Top Rank schedule a fight for Cotto and Cotto is probably going to sell more tickets because of it. He just came off a big, quick, win over Paul Williams and if he would setup another fight with someone else right away, even if it was a fight to make him look good, he probably would be selling as many if not more PPV tickets then Cotto. Now if you just took that scenario, that would make 2 fights for him so far this year, add another 2 fights, one setup fight and another big PPV fight, at the end of this year, his stock would raise so much, he would be the fighter that everyone wants to fight.

If Sergio keeps going down the road that he is now, his next big payday would be something like another rematch against Paul Williams. Just how many rematches does everyone want to see with Sergio Martinez

Just so I am not just picking on Sergio, this would hold true for just about any of the good fighters out there. All they would have to do is want it bad enough to do it.
Well, I am not yet prepared to crown Martinez a "great one" since I am unconvinced that his win over Paul Williams is nothing but a "lucky punch". Hence, I for one would like to see a "rubber match". Before that crucial short left, Paul was leading in my books.

But of course, if he gets past the next boxer he will face, Martinez could be the big star many are starting to consider.