alexander bradley represent new breed

[rokko]

By Dan Rafael <br />
ESPN.com <br />
Archive <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
American boxing superstars are few and far between these days.

[aquariusone]

I like Dan Rafael. He loves the sports and he talks about it objectively and does not risk being labelled as "biased" or prejudiced. I am glad that he prefaced his remarks with: "American boxing superstars are few and far between these days."

However, sports in North America has always leaned toward "American athletes". From south of Mexico to as far north as the Yukon, the media covers only "American" boxers, golfers, hockey players, etc. The media likes to call their champs as "world champions".

With the Williams sister not doing much in Tennis, and Tiger Woods losing his crown to Lee Westwood, we don't really see as much coverage of the sports as we did before. (Well, Tiger is really half Thai...so!)

With the heavyweight crowns held by the Klitschko's, there is not much roar about boxing in the division. They thought that Chris Arreola was going to be the next "great white hope" until he was humiliated by Vitali (and later by Adamek).

Now, all of a sudden, bells are ringing and cannons are firing loudly for the Bradley/Alexander fight. And here we are with the media glorifying these two boxers' courage in "putting their unblemished records" on the line and praising them for willing to rough it up for the sake of being regarded....are you ready for this...as
"the best in the world"!

To put in in a realistic perspective, Bradley and Alexander are better than......Floyd Mayweather because of their willingness to go against each other.

I agree with Rafael that these two are exciting boxers but I am not ready to jump the gun and infer that...er....they are the two best in the world in their division. They have a long way to go.

If only our North American media would really take notice of the sport of boxing not only on what goes on here but ... all over the world, boxing would be truly enriched. There are many champions out there worth watching:

CRUISERWEIGHTS: Jones, Panama; Huck, Germany; Wlodarczyk, Poland
LIGHT HEAVY: Shumenov, Kazackhstan; Pascal, Canada; Cleverly, UK
SUPER MIDDLE: Sartison, Germany; Frock, UK; Bute, Romania
MIDDLE: Sturm, Germany; Zbik, Germany; N'Jikam, Cameroon
SUPER WELTER: Cotto, Puerto Rico; Dzinziruk, Ukraine; Alvarez, Mexico
WELTER: Senchenko, Ukraine;M'Baye, France; Zaveck, Slovenia
JUNIOR WELTER: Khan, UK
Plus several Japanese, Filipinos, Cubans in the lighter divisions

Accustomed to having had many boxing champions in the earlier decades, Americans feel great drought. With the Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Evander Holyfields, Tyson, now closing the final curtains in their career and the world cheering Pacquiao, Marquez, Klitschko's, Cotto, Americans are hungry for champions - real champions. Not chicken champions like....oh well....let's not stir the pot.