rudolph_hucker wrote:CountHermanDeBanker wrote:
and now get it on with the Klitschko brothers or you will also become deemed a big pussy.
Of course you are the very man tto go up and tell him that ;)
I would not be the first to tell him, and until he retires without fighting either of them, will not be the last.
Put it this way, if I was in the fight game, I would want to go down in history and give it 100% shot at achieving that, you don't get that status by ducking fights, to be the best you have to fight the best and win. You go at it half hearted and you will just be vaguely remembered as a statistic.
Bruno was a terrible fighter in all honesty, but he had guts and heart to get in the ring with the best at that time and earned my respect for that, Tyson was just a brute force tank with speed and some hell kind of power, but he was prepared at such a young age to get in there with the best as well, neither of those can be really called legends, they had faults but they fought those in front of them and the best around them at the time, Benn and Eubank, McGuigan and Cooper were all in the same mold at most points in their careers. Ego and desire demanded it. Eubank was an enigma though, he openly admitted it was for the money, but at the same time his ego would mean he would not duck the big bouts at the peak of his career.
Ali, LaMotta, Marciano, Frazier, Mayweather, De La Hoya, Dempsey, Louis, Robinson, Leonard, Holmes.
None of those are remembered for ducking fights, they are legends because they fought all who came before them, pride and desire to be the best was more important than the financial rewards. You become the best, that side of things takes care of itself, but to be the best you have to put yourself on the line each and every time to become a great.
To be honest the Klitschko boys are just as bad for not wanting to fight each other. To a point I understand it is a little different, no siblings with respect for each other would want to purposefully knock seven bells out of each other for a belt, but it still makes a mockery of the sport. But I don't know the answer to that conundrum. Strip them of the titles? All fine until they eventually end up back at status quo as world champions, ducking the fight with each other, then what, strip them again - its ridiculous.
The various governing bodies should ensure mandatory challenges and challengers end up in unification eventually - boxing, particularly heavyweight, has been shit in reality since the late 70's, the rise of the super promotors ensured that - Don King and his ilk have a bloody lot to answer for, money came before the contest sadly and it has not stopped to this day. How the hell Harrison was even allowed in the same building, let alone ring, with Haye on Saturday night is beyond me. Oh wait, no its not, it was purely for money.
Now Featherweight through Super Welterweight has come on tremendously in the past 2-3 decades, partly in response to the decline in heavy and middle weight divisions and the shambles the various bodies of the sport have let it become. The whole lot need a major rethink, the problem is the heavyweight title is still the jewel in the crown for TV and ticket revenues, if that starts falling away, it takes a chunk all the way down the divisions and everyone suffers.
